Welcome to December, 2023

One Year Down! + The Top Jokes Of Last Month, Interviews, Stories, and Recommendations!

— This is a longer post than usual, so if you’re reading this via email, you might want to hop on over the the web version here to read the full thing! —

Table of Contents:

• December Letter From African America:

  • Full Circle

• Last Month Right Now!:

  • The Top Jokes of Last Month!

• What You (May Have) Missed:

  • Sci-Fi Fuel + Text Interviews + A New Short Story!

• Consider Consuming:

  • Recommendations galore!

• Somethin’ Else:

  • Mama Needs A Movie podcast!

• Song of the Month:

  • Hear My Train a Comin’ (Acoustic) by Jimi Hendrix

Letter From African America (December, 2023)

Dear readers,

Here we are, at a true full circle moment. Last December, I sent the very first post from this newsletter. I was freshly engaged, full of energy, and hopeful for what the new year of 2023 had to offer.

As a writer, I should’ve known there’s always a plot twist. Wait! Don’t take that the wrong way. The marriage is going great! But other things crept into the year: Deaths, strikes, global uncertainty, and don’t even get me started on these shoes:

So, instead of lofty goals for the new year, I’m focusing on something simple. In 2024, I’d like to be fully engaged with my boredom again.

Boredom and I used to be tight. Then I went off on a few adventures and laughed along with the“exciting” people as they gave it a bad reputation. It’s probably because of the name… and the definition… and the existence of books with the words “Boredom Beater” on the cover. But that’s all spin.

Boredom is only bad if you refuse to accept it. What do we fight for in life if not for the luxury of boredom? The hope of boredom for our children? And to have mild qualms instead of massive issues?

It’s not like the opposite of boredom is guaranteed joy. Want to fight boredom? Try starving, or roaming the streets with your head down hoping to spot loose change (something that was a pastime for me at one point in my life).

The zen nucleolus of boredom is where I’ve developed my best work, discovered the best work of others, and oddly felt the most myself. I think you can only be yourself when you’re with yourself, alone… away from eyes that perceive, project and transform.

But boredom is often also best when shared. When I really think about my fondest moments with family, it was when we were engaged in a communal boredom pre-whatever-the-internet-is-like-now. And some of the biggest laughs between friends were birthed through boredom. Not because we were fighting it, but because we extending our hands and asked boredom to dance.

I hope to cultivate more genuine time for myself in a cryopod of boredom this year. And I hope you will too. Next year, I’m launching a podcast all about being in that space with yourself and embracing your own self-defined genre (you’ll get more info on that in the coming weeks).

Lastly, if I have to name one major personal accomplishment from 2023 (beyond marrying the beautiful love of my life) its that I’ve found my voice again — comedic and otherwise. This newsletter has been a huge help in that regard. Thanks again for signing up for the ride.

Best,

-Tim

LAST MONTH RIGHT NOW! (BEST JOKES)

Each weekday I email five jokes. You all vote of your favorites, and then you vote of your favorites of those favorites. And here we are now with the Top Jokes of Last Month!

• WeWork plans on filing for bankruptcy. That is… as soon at they find a room that isn’t double-booked by another failed startup filing for bankruptcy.

  [read the other jokes from that week here]

• The House voted late Tuesday to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — the only Palestinian American in Congress. For those unaware of what a censure even is: It’s a formal vote of deep disapproval. Like, if in the middle of an intervention, the majority of your peers suddenly gave you the middle finger. Ironically, Democrats of color already call that “Tuesday.”

  • Defending her stance on Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime, Tlaib said, “It is important to separate people and government…” And there were a few surprise cheers from Republicans who thought “people” was gonna be the last word of that sentence.

    [read the other jokes from that week here]

• Instagram and Facebook are growing faster than TikTok. And its all because of remarkable new data which suggests that young people tend to become old people.

[read the other jokes from that week here]

• A population of hard-to-eradicate ‘super pigs’ in Canada is threatening to invade the US. Joe Biden currently has his hand hovering over a red button, muttering “Who wants some Canadian bacon?”

[read other jokes from that week here]

WHAT YOU (MAY HAVE) MISSED

• INTERVIEW: A [TEXT MESSAGE] Conversation With Actor / Author / Comedian DC Pierson (Link)

  

• INTERVIEW: A [TEXT MESSAGE] Conversation With Artist Rosy Cortez (Link)

  

• INTERVIEW: An [EMAIL] Conversation With Writer C. Elyse (Link)

  

• SHORT STORY: Data Collector from

  Alternate Timeline

  

  “We used to call these radios. Ever hear of that? Ray-dee-oh! Just a thing to catch songs, or news, or football scores from the airwaves. Now they tell us it captures souls.” He muttered again “…I never believed that crap…”

• NEWSLETTER: Sci-Fi Fuel from

  Alternate Timeline

  My Sci-Fi fuel updates have been going strong. Check out November issues 6, 7 and 8!

CONSIDER CONSUMING

There’s a segment in my

Alternate Timeline

Sci-Fi Fuel series called Incoming Transmissions full of recommendations on things to listen to, read, & watch. Some of them creep in here, but if you’re looking for more check out transmissions from SFF#6, SFF#7, SFF#8!

• READ: James III’s “Junior” Comic (2023)

  

  I met James III when we were both staffed as writers on the recent All That revival. He’s since started his own comic book company called Rule of III, and Junior is one of the first releases under the banner. You can purchase digital or physical copies of it now! (Link) Description: After death, a young man is doomed to work in the Netherworld post office under the tutelage of the Post Office Manager, who just so happens to be the father he never knew on Earth.

• WATCH: Scavengers Reign (2023)

  Beautiful sights, sounds, and sci-fi ideas emerge in every frame of this series. Do yourself a favor and watch the original 2019 short before you dive into the show! (Link)

• READ: What happens after you’re a superhero? by

  Mark Pagán

  As its “about” section explains,

  Mark Pagán
  ’s
  Other Men
  newsletter explores “the wacky world of masculinities and pop idolatry.” In this post, he dissects what it means to be an action hero through the lens of Richard Roundtree (a.k.a Shaft).

What happens after you're a superhero?

• WATCH: Nothing to Hide (Bad Kid Stuff) by vewn

  Victoria Vincent (a.k.a. vewn) is on of my favorite artists and animators. This cartoon is a nice place to start in your journey down the rabbit hole of the vewniverse. Also, its important to note that this Victoria Vincent is a completely different person from the Victoria Vincent below!

• WATCH: Never Trust a Skinny Food Therapist | Victoria Vincent | Stand Up Comedy

  And THIS Victoria Vincent is very funny!

• WATCH: Staff Favorite Moments: Bassist Will Lee | Letterman

  David Letterman has become a YouTuber?! Sort of. There’s been a lot of great stuff over at the Letterman YouTube page recently. And I love that many of the videos highlight the experiences of the show’s crew and band members.

• WATCH: Albert Brooks: Defending My Life | HBO

  This is a fine documentary full of new insights on a comedy legend. Its one flaw is that it relies a little too heavily on celebrity commentary when at its core, the film is a beautiful and revealing conversation between two friends.

• LISTEN: The Town - “Potential Backfires in the Actors AI Deal”

  If you’re wondering why many actors seem unsatisfied by the AI aspect of their deal with the studios, Justine Bateman expertly lays out the details here as well as a few frighteningly realistic hypotheticals for the future of an industry that’s relying less and less on humans each day.

• WATCH: Good Burger 2 (November 22 on Paramount+)

  Make no mistake — Good Burger 2 IS a sci-fi movie. I know, because thanks to James III (who helped write the film), I got to go to the premiere. As a fan of the franchise since my youth, I’ve always loved the “John Henry vs The Steam Drill” element of the first film.

  

  And that “fight the man” pulse continues in the sequel as our favorite duo fight a mega corporation that’s trying to replace the human component of the restaurant with robots.

• WATCH: Tiny Toon Adventures as a Metaphor for the Millennial Generation by Nickolas Nameolas

  There’s a beautiful absurdity to watching a well crafted analysis from a man holding a mike in his living room while looking off camera. I also know Nick, and its great seeing his work get more expansive and nuanced with each new video.

SOMETHIN’ ELSE

One of my favorite conversations this year was on the Mama Needs A Movie podcast talking about the film The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit!

SONG OF THE MONTH

This song and rendition by Jimi Hendrix is very near and dear to my heart. It highlights how, even on an acoustic guitar, Hendrix brought forth a unique and undeniably “him” sound. I used to listen to it a lot in high school when I was a moody kid with big life goals. There’s an innocent playfulness to Jimi before he really kicks into gear. I sometimes wonder if it was really just an act… some social magic trick to make his transition into a deeply emotional performance that much more impactful. This exact mystery is what always drew me in. This is the perfect song for moments of transition. The train has arrived to take us into 2024. What are you gonna do when you get there?

🎶 I'm gonna buy this town / An' put it all in my shoe / Might even give a piece to you / That's what I'm gonna do…🎶

Until next time, remember YOU ARE THE GENRE!

PAST LETTERS:

December, 2022 / February, 2023 / March, 2023 / April, 2023 / May, 2023 / June, 2023 / July, 2023 / August, 2023 / September, 2023 / October, 2023 / November, 2023