I DON'T KEEP SCORE, I KEEP SCORING
- Morgan Smith
- Dec 30, 2024
- 7 min read
I wrote a lot in 2024. The last semester of my junior year, I took Intermediate Screenwriting, Women's Work in Hollywood, Intro to Media Writing, Arts and Culture Journalism, and International Media. All of these courses required "extensive writing," as it would be explained in their syllabi, but it's safe to say that I wasn't prepared for the benefits of such.
I wanted this year-in-review post to be about me (obviously), but within this blog is my portfolio. From each month of this year, I present a link or excerpt of my favorite things that I wrote. This is for my own logging of progression, but I hope that you see my improvements as well...
JANUARY: via my notes app-
for now
i'll finish the rest of my coffee
FEBRUARY: Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
"Blue Monk" being the first song on the set is WILD
Dinah going DOWN on that xylo
MARCH: Three Men and a Cradle (1985)
"If I were God, I would make Adam from Eve's rib."
Dream Scenario (2024)
the Sprite thing is good
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)
Scott: Well. Bye, and stuff.
Ramona: Yeah. 'And stuff.'
Did my first REPORT for the blog, which I recommend for all:
Reading, Eating, Playing, Obsessing, Recommending, Treating
...and did my first semi-formal Oscars post:
APRIL: Challengers (2024)
"What am I, Jesus?" scoffs "Yeah."
Excerpt from a History & Theory of Film Remakes paper on The Wizard of Oz (1939) and The Wiz (1978):
"There are stories out there filled with lessons capable of interpretation for all people, whether it be found in fortune cookies, nursery rhymes, or timeless films. Victor Fleming’s The Wizard of Oz (1939) instilled in every viewer that there is no place like home, but could all audiences see "home" with as much safety and reverence as Judy Garland? In 1978, Sidney Lumet brought The Wiz to the screen, adapted from William F. Brown’s 1974 play portraying a modern retelling of The Wizard of Oz through the lens of a Black woman in New York. Equipped with a $23 million dollar budget and starring the likes of Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, Lumet paved the way for a new-age Black blockbuster beyond the Blaxploitation genre from earlier in the decade. Swept away in backlash of an unfaithful remake, this foremost criticism lives to be a misnomer: The Wiz is not a remake, but rather an adaptation. The long-and-short mission of a remake is recreating a new version of a known story, “new” driven purely from the context of it being made any time after the original is released, with no intent of shifting the primary narrative and remaining faithful to the source material’s themes. An adaptation is a reimagining or reworking of an original story to a new audience, era, or commentary altogether. Sidney Lumet re-evaluated what people saw as a seemingly timeless tale, seen as practically untouchable. Although its reception reflected the opposition to his touch, The Wiz’s endearment grew to respect its intent to encapsulate a sign of the times. As hearts and minds open wider to the opportunity for another voice to be heard, “classic” can share its meaning with everyone."
MAY: back to the notes app...
i almost forgot that time was passing.
what do you mean i'm not still 13 and have an enviable amount of self esteem?
i think it's because i stopped caring what time may negatively represent.
because it also means that i'm alive.
Ikiru (1952)
i can't afford to hate people. i don't have that kind of time.
I wrote about my favorite movie ever (again!)
AND! aced my final Visual Communication for News final with a feature on one of my great pals Ryleigh Dunn!
JUNE: My favorite part about having short hair in the summer: everything. A specific sensory experience, do you ponder? Ice cube on the back of the neck.
Wrote about one of my first fantasy book adventures (courtesy of a book swap with Bradlee Brandt):
Got far more into these Apes films than I anticipated towards the beginning of summer, so it jumpstarted the Summer O'Series:
followed by a cop-out in the form of my manic pixie Dune phase:
JULY: Excerpt from "X FACTOR," my exploration of the newly-minted X trilogy:
"Ti West, heard of him from Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever or not, has firmly made his way onto the slasher scene. Releasing a trilogy in just over two years is a spectacle of its own, the first two released within six months much more, but West's collection of stories are carrying Halloween costumes and trending Tiktok audios galore, aka the true tellings of cult film status in this day and age."
& quotes from André Aciman's Call Me By Your Name:
iacta alea est
the die is cast
(caesar)
zwischen immer und nie.
between always and never.
"Do you really like to read that much?"
I looked at her as if she had asked me if I loved music, or bread and salted butter, or ripe fruit in the summertime.
Time makes us sentimental.
Perhaps, in the end, it is because of time that we suffer.
AUGUST: Going back to school meant listening to a lot of Adrianne Lenker, which led me to skimming some of her interviews. Here's a good quote:
"Art brings life, and openings, and portals into deeper ways of perceiving, and deeper ways of thinking and understanding things. It's always helped push movement and revolution to new levels, or it has assisted it. It's the motor oil for change."
An exercise for my Arts and Culture Journalism class called "The Hemingway Effect:" observe a real-life interaction, and describe in detail as much as you can (without being a creep).
"Two women sit at a 4-top in a bakery. It’s Friday lunch, the place is swarmed, but this environment clearly does not disturb their meeting. The milk frother hisses, orders are taken loudly over the glass counter dividing server and customer, and bells with a tone not unlike your hotel concierge reverberate the café. Clearly an unobstructed setting for their lunch outing, making no explicit indication of disdain or annoyance.
While they wait for their meal, perhaps their usual or something new, they catch up. Whether it has been in the span of two days or years, they talk closely and intently, even if only on account of a normal speaking tone being too difficult to detect. One woman opens her phone to play a voicemail for another, a perplexed look on her face as she explains the contents of such. They both lay an ear to the phone’s speaker, eyebrows furrowed and eyes searching for what the caller is inquiring.
A waiter with a carpenter’s apron and thin plastic gloves places identical sourdough sandwiches on the 4-top. Their consensus are not interrupted by the meal. Talking through bites and using incessant hand gestures, points are still well-made and listened to.
The sandwiches are eventually gone, and the conversations have taken many a turn in intensity and tone, judging from their lighter registers and lighthearted chuckles. A hand placed on another’s arm in comfortable camaraderie, a jutted pointed finger at the other’s face in exclamatory agreement, and their affectionate glances and supportive nods form the colloquial ingredients of “BFF.” Best friends forever."
From William Zinsser's On Writing Well to your favorite storyteller, here's your newest pick-up line:
You're such a rich repository of lore.
SEPTEMBER: Toronto, but y'all know that.
Potatoes and gravy prove themselves a lethal combo in all forms. Mashed on the side of Thanksgiving dinner or lumped onto a chicken fried steak follow as common associations to the Southern table, but when the gravy spills on some french fries with some curds of cheese, I’ve a feeling we’re not in the States anymore.
The guitar solo in Jean Dawson's "Bull Fighter."
Analysis of Anthony Bourdain for Arts and Culture:
"Concerning the erasure of warmth in writing, equipping audiences with precisely what they should know and knowing one’s audience aid in reaching the foundation of well-intentioned pieces of writing. Defining a style, remaining consistent, and general fluidity whets the blade of a withstanding writer. Anthony Bourdain’s article for The New Yorker “Don’t Eat Before Reading This” is a testament of the principles above. Not only are you immersed in the weeds with an iconic New York chef, Bourdain bares the kitchen’s soul to the grotesque, and with the tenacity and pacing of the hustle and bustle at which his industry operates. Bourdain’s testimony borders on the musings of a man living out his last days. The love letter to all parts of his work exercises the same emotions as any romantic relationship, sharing the quirks of community and hatred-turned-embrace of change. Instead of feeling prescribed and fed advice and sent out to walk out on my own, I felt led by a roughened hand with an intention to take what I can or explore what I see fit."
Via "THE SCREAMINGS," my post on the longest franchise I've watched consecutively: "Yesterday, I stepped outside and didn't want to curse the hellscape that has dried up my skin and bruised my skin with heat. The sun was out, the warmth was bearable, and it felt like fall."
Canadian Karen's are better.
On 9/11, we landed at 9:11AM.
SMALL SWEET COCONUT SUNSET coming soon!
Listen to any and all Mk.gee. I saw him in September and I'm still not living it down.
OCTOBER: From Courtney Brannon Donaghue's book The Value Gap (my Women's Work professor!)
"Often compared to sugary cotton candy, romantic comedies are collectively dismissed by critics and audiences as cloying, substanceless, and quickly consumed to be quickly forgotten."
Speaking of romcoms, we watched While You Were Sleeping, and I had some things to say:
Hot house, hot apartment even, and when she dips her cookies into her cat's milk, CBD chirped from the back of the class "no." The DISRESPECT for the felines in this story, y'all.
10/15 Screenwriting notes:
Top Gun is a music video
there is a difference between a sea adventure and a swashbuckler
NOVEMBER: Got home from Brooke's in a "Not Strong Enough" by boygenius and 1 minute of "Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles.
Susan Stumme, my mom's cousin, became a Jeopardy champ on November 7th. CHEERS!
do you understand that the world does not revolve around you and you’ll do whatever it takes, ruin as many people's lives, so long as you can make a name for yourself as an investigatory journalist, no matter how many friends you lose or people you leave dead and bloodied along the way, just so long so you can make a name for yourself as an investigatory journalist, no matter how many friends you lose or people you leave dead and bloodied and dying along the way? -derek zoolander, zoolander (2001)
friend of a friend.
DECEMBER: Emergen-C for those prone to scurvy ARGH!
5 songs that bring me peace:
"Don't Be Shy" by Cat Stevens
"Call It Fate, Call It Karma" by The Strokes
"Dear Theodosia" by Leslie Odom Jr. & Lin Manuel Miranda
"Honeybee" by Steam Powered Giraffe
"Strawberry Fields Forever" by The Beatles
famous for being raised on television; famous for being raised on the internet (post-y2k)
December 30th, 2024: The sun reflects off of my parents window at 7:45AM. My birdsong alarm at 7:30 suddenly feels premature. I've made it another year of loving to read, write, and make words for myself and others. My top artist was Jean Dawson, and his song "06 Burst" has my mantra for the year in its bridge. The title of this entry.
There's more than what she wrote, but for a recap, I'll cap here. Thank you for skimming, yapping, peeping, or lurking.
Cheers,
Mo.
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