I have a feeling that if you’re reading this, you’re probably pretty distraught over the news of the election results. Perhaps like me, the tension leading to election night has brought on all sorts of anxiety, sleepless nights, and finally just bafflement as the results came rolling in and you thought: How in the world … Continue reading How to Survive a Trump Presidency (or how to keep your sanity in a soon-to-be insane world)
Some Great Reward: Boozing the Muse
No. I’m actually not talking about the name of a Depeche Mode album. I’m talking about the lubrication we artists and creative types often require before diving off the deep end. That device of loosening up the gears comes in a variety of flavors, but you might know them as drugs and alcohol. Modern pharmacological … Continue reading Some Great Reward: Boozing the Muse
Yucky nasty sticky stupid first drafts
I’m on a short hiatus from working on my feature, script “How to Eat Pho,” as the script is in the hands of two other writers, one I quote here as saying: “I’m gonna give this script a Brazilian." She's right. The work needs some serious revamping. So, while “Pho” is getting an intimate “shave" … Continue reading Yucky nasty sticky stupid first drafts
Reflections from the Half-way Line
Recently, on a road trip through South Texas, my mother told me she did not plan to live past 80. I turned to her and gave her a look like “What does that mean?” I suggested that she wait to see how things are when she is 80 to assess whether she is ready to … Continue reading Reflections from the Half-way Line
White People Get Away With Everything: How “Empowerment” Agendas Backfire
I try to blog once a month, but lately even that has been a tall order. (Sigh...with tiny violin in hand.) Between my day job and writing at night, working on film program applications, scripts I’m tidying up, petting attention-starved kitties, etc., the hum of fatigue rattles the walls of my skull. No amount of … Continue reading White People Get Away With Everything: How “Empowerment” Agendas Backfire
“Are you really Hispanic?”: Filmmaking and Ethnic Identity
My last name is Elmer, my father’s last name. He is of French, German, and Irish descent. He tells me he remembers as a boy listening to his grandmothers speak French to each other, while his relatives swapped out potato salad recipes on Texas ranches with strong names like “Voss” hanging from iron entry way … Continue reading “Are you really Hispanic?”: Filmmaking and Ethnic Identity
Cut out that erection!: some musings on “Erotic Art” and the ever-problematic penis
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” We all know this one. It’s probably also fine to say “Erotic is in the eye of the beholder” as well, except perhaps when it comes to commercializing erotic images, or defining fine art as erotic. I recently looked through a Juxtapoz Erotica book, expecting some diversity … Continue reading Cut out that erection!: some musings on “Erotic Art” and the ever-problematic penis
Have You Properly Masticated Your Art Today?: Problems with Art as a Consumable Supply
Having gotten through the "season of giving," I've come home with a small stack of contemporary novels I've borrowed from my sister, and several CDs of music another family member burned for me of new bands he is listening to. As I started to listen to the music and browse through the chapters of a … Continue reading Have You Properly Masticated Your Art Today?: Problems with Art as a Consumable Supply
Revision: What a Slow Agonizing Pain in the Tuckus!
Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do? Hemingway: It depends. I rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, 39 times before I was satisfied. Interviewer: Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had stumped you? Hemingway: Getting the words right. – Ernest Hemingway, The Paris Review Interview, … Continue reading Revision: What a Slow Agonizing Pain in the Tuckus!
What Puppets Are Teaching Me…
In my previous posts, I've been writing about my next feature project, How to Eat Pho, a black comedy that (for now) is about three distant sisters who have to get their shit together long enough to throw their dying ex-porn star dad his last birthday party. One sister is a mid-aged B zombie film … Continue reading What Puppets Are Teaching Me…
Nicole Elmer 