« The Texas Theatre | Main | Back to work »

November 28, 2010

Writing About Other Things Worth Writing About

The other day I thought about posting a recipe here, for the exceedingly simple (to the point of dullness) but extremely satisfying green smoothies I've been making for the past few weeks. But I held back for a second, and wondered if in doing so I'd be jumping some sort of shark - leaning into myopic trivia as a result of a massive deficit of film-related content. A second later, I remembered that, in so much as I've often claimed filmmaking to be as much a lifestyle as it is a career, a recipe for my new favorite drink is as film-related as anything else, in the same way that walking from one country to another as per Herzog's prescription is, or reading great literature or history books or playing hide-and-seek with little kids.

A realization that's unfolded before me with constant elegance these recent years is that filmmaking in and of itself will not make me happy. This is bluntly obvious - hence, my surprise to find it so consistently refreshing a concept to reflect on. I love my work, but when it's going poorly, it's a comfort to think that this isn't all there is. And when it's going good, or even great, that same thought is somewhat exhilarating.

I think about the fact that I am not expressly prolific. I've officially made one feature film so far; realistically speaking, I might at best make another every two to three years. In between, I'll make shorts and music videos and such, at a pace that I suppose suits me. One could do the math and do some temporal cartography and make certain guesses about my life's output, but I'd hate for that to be considered the full measure of my life. While I sometimes get frustrated that I'm not creating more, that I won't have a new film out next year, that I'll be a certain age before I achieve some careerist goal which various peers may have already attained, I know that ultimately whatever audience I create these works for doesn't care. There's the one film, and then there's the next, and if I'm lucky enough to have someone out there feeling some anticipation between each one, I know from my own experience that it ultimately has all the registry of an afterthought when pressed against everything else in this person's life. Which is why, in that bit of in-between-ness, I've got to get on with my own.

I enjoy my privacy. I enjoy a good secret even more, and find as I get older that I stray ever further in both of those directions. At the same time, I really enjoy sharing, which is why I write here; it's fun. It fills a certain exhibitionist need. In a minor way, it makes up for the movies I'm not constantly making. But when I go a month or two without publishing some semi-serious bit of critical thought or update on a project of my own, I get anxious and think that maybe it's time to jump the gun and shutter this site before before it truly slips into irrelevance. The source of this inclination is one part sincere and two parts misguided, because while I don't want to write anything that's not worth reading (god and the internet know I did enough of that in the past), I also would be deceiving myself to think that the true subject here is anything other than myself. And if I'm made up of more than movies, then why not own it?

I mentioned recently that I'd rather write about running than filmmaking, and this is true. I love running. When I have a bad day, I know that it can make me feel better. I have all my best ideas when my feet are hitting the pavement. It makes me feel better, in a way that is all my own (one's body is a the source of perhaps the most solipsistic artform there is). When everything else is spinning out of control, I can find solace in the fact that I have control of my limbs, that I can push them just so. Who knows how long I'll be able to do this; I'll take advantage of it while I can. Striving for excellence in this discipline will trickle into all the others, and in this regard writing about running is no different than writing about filmmaking. They're both things I keep getting better at.

* * *

So: that recipe for green smoothies. I must admit first that I'm stealing the idea of from James M. Johnston, who introduced me to the concept while we were making Pioneer, and that I've also been influenced by my lovely wife's new blog, which is in and of itself another explanation as to why I need to run so much. Also, this is hardly a recipe at all. Basically, what I do is this.

1. I take four great handfuls of organic spinach and put it in the blender - enough to make up two decently sized salads.
2. To this I add a bit of fitltered water and a big splash of Odwalla superfood juice - the green one, which is chock full of spirulina, wheatgrass and all sorts of fruits, including bananas. James recommends adding a fresh banana to the mix, but bananas are my second least-favorite fruit, and the Odwalla juice masks the flavor to the point that I can enjoy it.
3. I also sometimes add fresh apples or oranges, a scoop of Chia or flax seeds and sometimes a dash of almond milk, but really, the point here is the spinach (I've tried lettuce and chard as well, but it doesn't taste very good).
4. Once the blender is pretty full, I hit the liquefy button and grind it all to the finest pulp imaginable. It comes out to about four cups worth, which taste so good that I can't help but gulp them all down.

Even better than the taste: the rush that usually follows is better than any caffeine buzz I've ever had (admittedly, if I'm doing this first thing in the morning, I usually have coffee shortly thereafter). It's completely refreshing and energizing; it's like eating two huge salads in a few big gulps. I'm a big fan of juicing, particularly carrots and fruits, but the great thing about these smoothies is that you're getting the whole food, including the fiber, which is essential to improving digestion. Even more excitingly, because the greens are essentially predigested when you consume it, the chlorophyll and other nutrients in them will go to work on your body as soon as you take a sip, cutting down your bloodstream's acidity, increasing its alkalinity and generally doing you a world of good. Do it for a week and you'll feel right as rain.

Posted by David Lowery at November 28, 2010 1:57 AM