APRIL 2026 UPDATE
unchanged + unremarkable edition
Greetings to you from spring in Portland, Oregon, where the trees are blooming and the organic kale burritos are social signifiers of one’s rapidly onsetting eco-fury. Let’s begin:
WHAT HAPPENED IN MARCH (BROAD STROKES):
- went to Bend for 6th grade girls state basketball championships and the Oregon Coast for spring break
- received an MRI
- wrote a 2026 artistic manifesto and began a pattern of looking and working outward
- worked on an upcoming EP and released one of the songs that will be on it
- attended an inaugural screening at Open Signal’s Microcinema. left electrified.
BEST THINGS I READ in March: Heartwood by Amity Gaige, The Come Up by Jonathan Abrams, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (holy crap, this book), Echo Park by Michael Connelly, On the Calculation of Volume (book one) by Solvej Balle (in progress).
BEST THINGS I SAW in March: Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes, Albert Brooks: Defending My Life, Trailblazers vs Clippers 3/31/26
Therein is the close of the reluctant toe in icy lake, now to dive straight in without upturning the canoe in these mild currents:
RADIO SIGNALS
If you add my trip to McMinnville at the end of February (see last month’s post) to two trips in March (Bend at the start of the month to attend state championships for 6th grade girls basketball and a trip near Arch Cape over Spring Break), I had 3 short jaunts in rapid-fire succession over several weeks that in their collective totality, setting aside their particular joys and grievances, have sent beacons and radio signals to me, as travel or anchor-raising can do. I’ve been doing my best since to receive, document and process all these signals. Some have to do with future creative projects, some with my ongoing relationship to time and mortality, a lot of it has to do with maximizing the usage of the person i put into the world and how best to optimize this in light of all the things I want/need to do before the game ends. (if that doesn’t make sense, that’s okay. this post is really a series of breadcrumbs for my past/future self). All by way of saying, it’s been a transformative few weeks, helping me reassert myself on several fronts. One of the things I did after McMinnville was to write a 2026 manifesto, a sort of artistic flag I planted to refer to daily to remind myself where to put focus. (note: this is the kind of thing the me in my 20’s would mock mercilessly but I’ve come to realize that guy was a lot of empty bluster so I am reticent to to accommodate him. ) The short of it is putting focus less on myself and more on the community, less on the response to my work and more on the work itself. tick tock and onward.
BRAIN SCAN
On Friday March 13 I had an MRI of the brain. I’ve had many of these over the last 22 years (dating back to my very first in December 2004, the one which led to my brain tumor diagnosis and which demarcates the singular before/after line of my life) but they always manage to reframe the context of everything. All aspirations, hopes, despairs, wishes wither under the cold fluorescent light as you’re inserted inside the tube and basic everyday thoughts, plans, schedules, annoyances, are instantly subsumed, rendered meaningless by the presence of the pounding, relentless nitrogen pump. I used to have these every three months. Three became six became twelve. Now I have them every three years to verify that what remains in my head after two surgical resections and proton beam radiation in 2005 hasn’t moved or changed or grown.
It was early morning. My tech was nice enough and no-nonsense. I laid in the tube and counted the moments. I was pulled out and injected with contrast. I was put back in the tube. I put focus on my breathing. I counted the moments, watching my fear and anxiety as it attempted to take form off in the distance, slowly approaching despite me shoo-ing it away. Eventually the scan was done. I put my gown in the the dirty gown hamper. I took my ring, wallet, and keys and clothes from the temporary locker and exited. I went home to my office and kept editing my film project until it was time for my day job. Time went by. I tried to forget the whole thing and get back to normal, as if a brain MRI was like getting an oil change or stopping at the store on the way home. A week later I received the report that contained magic words:
addendum: I have other annual checkups and blood draws to check other markers so in some ways this thing will have claws in me if i make it to 90 pr 100. But hearing these words is akin to getting a 3 year reprieve or shore leave or whatever metaphor is appropriate and is a reminder that if you are drawing breath and getting through the day without a medical situation pressing on your chest, you are eminently fortunate. (whispered: b/c it’s coming in some form. when not if. ) deep cleansing breath
NEW SONG
As impermanent marker I’m working on a 5 song EP at present (currently untitled) which will come out sometime in April or May. Here’s the closing song all my future dreams which was written and recorded on March 4 and concerns the aftermath of eternal separation.
PROJECT UPDATES
Sister/Brother (narrative feature, 75 min) - currently actively re-editing. It’s now officially been a gd decade since Erin McGarry and I met up in 2016 and hatched the idea for this movie (and to talk about best Disneyland practices with our then small kids. ) While the multiple delays and setbacks to get this film to the finish line are noteworthy I will save discussing them for another forum. Suffice to say if you have been keeping your eye on this one it’s finally come off the back burner and being attended to daily. More about the project here.
Apology Ghost (experimental narrative short, 5 min) out to festivals. more about film here.
How Do You Move in This World (experimental narrative short, 2 min) Super excited to report that this experimental narrative will world premiere this summer at the Vastlab experimental festival. Originally scheduled for March in Los Angeles, we will instead appear in the 2nd installment of this year’s fest, date and location forthcoming. Vastlab sent all the accepted filmmakers a list of 9 questions to answer about their filmmaking process. Here is my video response. more about the project here
Freak Farm (experimental short, 3 min) out to festivals. more about the film here
Grief Stick (documentary short, 17 min) out to festivals. A couple 2026 Los Angeles screenings are beginning to take form. stay tuned. more here
ETC
impermanence clock
days I’ve been alive: 19,649 | days until i turn 80: 9,570
music
As impermanent marker just released new song (see above)
running
5K upcoming April 4th. One of these posts I’ll get more into detail about the running stuff.
photography
if you want to purchase prints of my photos please go here. Sold one recently to Alex B and would love to get one to you, maybe for your other home in the high desert or for the studio in the rehabbed barn where you mean to work on your art but you usually just scroll on IG instead? think about it.
fivver account!
I offer film editing, screenplay proofing, and voice acting. Do you have need of any of those? Does your loved one or friend? If so please go here. I could really use the support.
Okay that’s it for now. Thank you for reading. I hope you are doing well and still planning to becoming your best self this year. What’s stopping you? Reach out. Let’s make this April the best one yet, k? xo