JANUARY - EPISODE ONE: WINER 2020

WISDOM OF THE SAGES
EPISODE I: WINTER 2020

Hello People of the World;

People are freaking out because we are in the middle of a nine-day streak of cloud coverage, meaning no sunshine. I remember when it would rain for days and snow for months. Weather changes. Who can predict it?

 All right, let’s get going:

1:[ I left the Mitchell Museum last month. No big deal. It was a good job that I enjoyed but I left to gain more hours at my Teaching Artist job. This job keeps me in the practice of filmmaking, which I need. I am hoping to revive some projects this year – Hamlet, Fortinbras, The Future, and the Native American Movie Riffing Project. Wish me luck…

2:[ Have an Art Exhibit coming up in February at the Evanston Public Library. ICONOLAST or How I Learned to Stop Worrying about “Native American Art” and Just Be Northern Arapaho”. It includes some new digital art that I have been doing and lots of my “Nameless” ledger art. I will be doing an Artist Talk on February 18^th. Come check it out….

3:[ My Bonnie and I went and saw “Knives out” again. This is the first film of 2020 and the more recent film, since “The Farewell” at least, that I have seen more than once. I cannot say there are films coming out soon that I am keen to see. I think the new Chris Nolan film “Tenet” is the only big film I am looking forward to. People get way too mad about movies these days when we should be more focused on more important things. My opinion…

4:[ I think I will be writing an upcoming review of “American Indian Stories” by Zitkála-Šá.  This is the first book I bought this year. I have not heard many Native people mention this book. I found it in the B&N DePaul. I picked it up because I am a great admirer and do my best to support Native American women authors. I am kind of despising this movement to replace Alexie as the Top Native American Writer with yet another Native man. Sheesh. I hate the concept of "replace the emperor with just another emperor", and that mentality that drives it. People always tell me Van Alst or Orange write about things many don’t know about. Yet, they have been reading Alexie for year; Not only that, but Erdrich, Harjo, Mailhot, Hogan, and many other Native women have been writing for just as long, or longer yet we never say that about them. Anyways.

The stories by Dakota writer Zitkála-Šá (1876-1936) recount her experiences living with her mother, then, leaving to go to boarding school. I am now up to her life as a teacher at one of those boarding schools. Layli Long Soldier's intro is great as she covers the things Zitkála-Šá was criticized for, such as her romanticizing her Native experiences, and such. I am very happy I found this. I love how now that I post about it, people are starting to pretend they knew about all along. It’s fun to see…

5:[ Hey, my Bonnie and I started Doctor Who Season 12 online! No worries, we paid for the privilege. We enjoyed the Capaldi series’ and last season, the first for Joie Whittaker, you is a PHENOMONAL Doctor. Yet, another thing folks are mad about… Jesus.

6:[ I am writing a second novel “A Rez Tale”. I recently crossed 180 pages on it. It is a blend of a satire of reservation grief porn and Chazz Palminteri’s play “A Bronx Tale”. It is coming along now as I have been working on this since about 2004. Hope to finsh a first draft by the end of summer and to get it edited before self-publishing in Decemebr at the latest. Then, back to my Blue Woman Anthology. Wish me luck…

That is it for this month.

This first month of the new decade is not any different from the last decade. Oh well. I am serious curious as to how it will all turn out. I am seeing shades of the Three Kingdoms around lately. Hoo-boy!

As always, I invite you to comment, correct, or contradict anything I write here. I am open to a critical debate. Thanks for taking the time to check out what I write here and I will see you in a month.

Until next time, remember “I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”

2020 Ernest M Whiteman III