I've been sick for a week. I can't smell my feet or armpits, which is both a pleasant absence and concerning. A few days ago, I had a 103 fever and dreamed about the stop-motion science fiction film I've been working on since 2018. In my dream, I was in Los Angeles for meetings about the film, and they were going very well. Despite being too sick to leave my house the next day, my fever had lifted, and I felt an optimism that I hadn't felt in years.
A very smart person once told me in my early 20s that "I needed to decide if I wanted to use my creativity to help other people sell their shit or use it to sell my own shit." For the last 14 years, I've ping-ponged between these two avenues. I've talked before about some of my thoughts about AI and media changing, but I am pretty confident that most content made by corporations to sell their products will be made and molded by AI in the next 5 years, cutting out creative directors, photographers, film makers, project managers, and producers from the tit we've all been suckling off of for decades. This will also happen in Hollywood. My friends in Los Angeles are looking for work outside of the industry, learning trades, and moving away.
Two years ago, I finished the last big commercial I made during the COVID era, a greenwashing stop-motion film for Nike, and took a bit of a year-long walkabout figuring out what I thought was coming next. Eventually I settled on focusing more on selling my own shit, starting a substack, working on some brands with friends, namely HighWizard, and working on the film, Wake Me Up When We Get There, that I dreamed up in 2018.
Here are some photos from April and May.
Dutch oven Chicken is my favorite campfire recipe.
Thunderstorms in eastern Oregon.
Burning off the 10 year old hot tub cover.
A quick trip to New England.
Spring in Northern California.
Sunset and sunrise on Summer Lake.
Substack, for me, is a way to get back to the days of my blog, A Restless Transplant. I've got projects planned for this year that I'm excited about: an evolving video project on Lloyd Kahn, some build projects, more interviews, and a few videos. To me, having a blog is about the dialogue—something more intimate than Instagram with more thoughtful content. Thanks to everyone who has subscribed, especially those who have paid a subscription. Nothing's free in Waterworld, and if we are going to move past the algorithm where creators make things with the explicit purpose of getting enough views to sell some hot pockets in a 15-second ad at the start of the video, well, we're going to have to start paying independent people to make things we believe in.
You just summed up why I joined Substack. The thoughtful content and dialogue is refreshing for me
Hi Foster, I've followed your work on and off for about 8 years. I love good stuff made good. And that's what you do. Thank you.
A thought from this lovely piece came from the laissez-faire way you wrote about AI. I thought it was cool. It's as inevitable as the internet (though it's environmental impact will hopefully limit its reach).
But, we only need be afraid if we rely on it.
"My friends in Los Angeles are looking for work outside of the industry, learning trades, and moving away."
There is a deep sadness to this, but also a quiet hope. That we can return to a life smaller. A life better lived than the one spitting us out the other side.
That's what jumped out. Elsewhere, I'm also always skeptical of quotes that say "you either do A or B in life". Or even worse "you *must* do A or B in life". Something I'm realising.
Anyway, thanks as always. It's a pleasure to chill here for a few 🦦