from ❤️🔥 Jess: you know you are a dreamer
I don’t go to work on Wednesdays anymore. This is the kind of thing that happens when you're a teacher. Kids go on vacation; you teach fewer hours. But financially I’m OK right now. I’m still living off that Covid money the government gave us back in 2020. And because I’m OK financially, it frees me up a little bit to do something else and that something else, I think, is going to be two videos a week
Yesterday, I was up early as usual--that’s one of the good side effects of my medication. It was raining, which was disappointing, because it rained all weekend, too. I've been trying to go to the beach for weeks now. So I made my coffee and ate some breakfast, and then I noticed that it wasn’t raining anymore. It was wet, and it was cloudy, but it wasn’t raining anymore, so I packed a bag, and I went.
I filmed Saturday's video at the beach. Not just the B-roll, but the A-roll, too, and when I got home, I put it all together. That part took me about an hour. I hadn’t planned to post the video on Wednesday, but when it was done I thought, why not?
I don’t know how long this energy or this attention will last, but I’ve learned to use it while it does.
So today is Thursday. I've been posting videos on Saturday. I don’t wanna break that routine, so I’m gonna come up with something else. Maybe I’ll make that video today. I’m going on another adventure; it’s a dentist appointment, but it’s across the river, which is always an excuse for a bit of exploring.
I've been thinking a lot about why videos right now. Why not just keep making zines or write more essays? The only thing I can think is that I'm burnt out on words. I hope it's not forever, but right now, videos feel doable.
So I'm gonna do.
Whether it's zines, or sourdough bread, or videos, I'm gonna do.
❤️🔥 Jess
Jess Driscoll
Your internet penpal
The last time I wrote, I told you I was going to a concert. These tickets had been in limbo since April 2020. It was a fantastic show: Joel Plaskett and Mo Kenney playing side-by-side, each taking turns to sing their own songs, rather than doing the regular opener/headliner routine. But it was also a hot show. Summer went long this year, well into October, and I was sweating before I got into the crowded venue. A handful of us were wearing masks. I kept mine on as long as I could. Then I sat...
Tonight, I’m going to a concert. I was supposed to see Joel Plaskett in April 2020. It was rescheduled for November 2020, then held in pandemic limbo until I got an email notification last week. This is the last piece of the beforetimes. The last bridge between then and now. The album being promoted is more than two years old now. It was the first vinyl I bought during my year of music, the year that forced me to buy a turntable just to bring more voices into my quarantine life. I’m gonna go...
It’s just before 6am, and I’m waiting for the light. That’s the thing about video. Unless you have a full studio set up, you can’t film until the sun is up. You can’t work to get ahead whenever you want. You have to wait for good conditions. In that sense, video is the perfect medium for us procrastinators. We love waiting. We love a credible excuse not to work. “Sorry, it’s cloudy; I can’t make a video today.” But the truth is that I could’ve made a video yesterday or the day before that....