The April McFluctuation Monthly
April was the month for paper and cardboard and stretching. Ups and downs and all arounds.
Things I did or put forth into the world this April:
designed + taught an improv workshop called “Flounder No More”
hosted a comedy screening!
made two houses out of cardboard
drew two house commissions
dragged a string around for Frances
STICKER CHARTS ARE FOR SWEETHEARTS
Several people have mentioned that my convocation speech inspired them to start working on a project for half an hour a day. I love to hear that! My friend Sarah even made a sticker chart, and she wrote about it here →
How cool is that! This was her sticker chart for March:
For those of you who didn’t listen to a 45-minute speech of me talking in a chapel in Minnesota, the gist is that I track my writing (has to be for me, not for a job) by giving myself a sticker each day that I write for half an hour. Here are my calendars over the last four years, scanned:
And here is this month! Bees for spring.
I never write down what I got the sticker for on the chart itself, but off the top of my head, this month I wrote some sketches for an upcoming Spooky Dookie show, some scraps of scripts for a web series with Kim, and a draft of a short film.
WEBSITE REVAMP
It’s been on my to-do list and now it is to-done. I have revamped my website.
Originally, I drew some icons with pen in my notebook during a library talk with Viet Thanh Nguyen. Then I scanned them and added color with my boyfriend’s iPad.
But they ended up looking a little too Nickelodeon, so I painted some new ones. The final look:
Please note: the backgrounds are all construction paper that I scanned. I ❤ my scanner.
SHORT NIGHT
My friend Will and I made a web series, which is called Denise Sells Houses. We’re done with the episodes (count ‘em, 1 2 3 4!) but we’re not ready to put them online yet, as we’re going to submit to a festival. We wanted to do an in-person screening to celebrate finishing it, so we got a bunch of friends together to also screen new stuff. It was a true pleasure. I made a step-and-repeat by taping sheets of construction paper to the wall individually. I also made two cardboard houses (it ties in with the web series, just wait and see) and we raffled them off at the end.
At the end of the night, Sean, Will and I went to a 24-hour diner to debrief. I ate a veggie burger and wore a parka, even though it’s 65 degrees. And that’s Hollywood.
PAPER PAD
I am a fiend for thrifting, a gargoyle for a bargain. Last weekend, my friend Olivia texted that there was a very good garage sale in our neighborhood and that things were going fast. My body filled up with helium and I packed my purse in a panic. Sean had the car, so I called an Uber. Really, something comes over me.
At the garage sale, I bought two high quality rulers, a garlic press, a roll of brown butcher paper, and a pad of drawing paper. The paper is the reason I am telling this story. I thought “eh, it’s always good to have some paper that I don’t feel precious about.” My instinct was correct.
The next day, I sat down and drew with an abandon hitherto unknown in my adult life. I didn’t realize how much my sketchbook, with it’s nice thick paper and proper binding, makes me feel like I should make good use of each page. Even with cheap, garage sale loose leaf paper, I still feel a little tinge of “this is wasteful” when I do a quick, swoopy drawing, which is definitely the sound of my environmentalism and frugality singing in harmony. But I want to get over that, in this particular instance. It’s okay to have a bunch of drawings on paper, even if it means your grandkids have to deal with them one day and it all gets thrown away. In the grand scheme of things, it’s pretty minimal waste. Right?
This low waste mentality is why I like making things with cardboard from shipping boxes and using supplies up to the last drop, saving scraps of magazines for ages until they find a home. It’s why I try to source all my film equipment from eBay and OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace. Last week I met a man and his dog in a Starbucks downtown and bought two lavalier mics. The marbled construction paper I used for my website is actually from my childhood; I swiped it from my parents’ house at some point in my twenties and have dutifully moved it to each new apartment. I want to use everything up and give it a purpose and not let things go to waste.
Then, in terms of “content” or art in the world, I feel like there’s so much bad stuff (sorry) and I don’t want any of my stuff to waste your time. For my videos, I make multiple passes, adding layers and layers, tightening things up at each stage, adding more art, more sound, more jokes. High effort. Like, you might not like what I make, but at least you don’t feel like I dashed it off and disrespected you. I guess when I see work that’s sloppy and dashed off, I do feel disrespected (sorry). This is particularly true in live theater, less so online where you can just roll your eyes and swipe away. But for my own personal practice, for my own enjoyment and making, I think I could be more free and—ack—wasteful.
Anyway, the pad of paper rocks and I’ve been having so much fun drawing and painting on it and then tearing off the sheet and putting it in a stack. Which I will eventually put into a manila envelope. Which my grandchildren can throw away. God willing. But first, I’ll scan a few for you.
And this is just from this week! I’m rippin’ through!
WHAT’S BECOME OF MY CAREER?
It’s been a year now since I left my full-time acting gig at Second City and started my sabbatical. My sabbatical (self-funded, self-guided, the best) was nine months long and I planned and budgeted so I would not have to work at all. However, I ended up getting a lot of work and I took it. That’s how I realized I could potentially sustain a freelance career. So that’s what I’m doing now! I am freelancing. This past year has been a nice mix: freelance writing for Netflix Games and Jackbox Games, some commercial writing for Motorola, corporate improv gigs, teaching sketch classes, acting in a movie, drawing house commissions, painting album art work, teaching workshops, and a couple other scattered gigs. Being able to slot the work in and around my own projects has been the dream. I am really grateful. And I wouldn’t be a good freelancer if I didn’t add: hit me up if you have writing or acting or drawing needs! I’m good at all of those things. Forget niches! Niches get stitches. (Pronounced: neeches get steeches, thanks!)
The reason this is the April McFluctuating Monthly is because I have felt very up and down, often within the same day. Seesawing back and forth between nauseated and well, stressed-busy-running-about and having nothing to do, feeling solitary and super social, feeling ecstatic to be in nature—with mountains looming and flowers blooming and a public library down the road (I SO LOVE THE WORLD)—and also despairing. I started stretching every morning to help strengthen my legs and protect my knee. About three weeks in, my knee popped out and stayed that way for 45 minutes. During that 45 minutes, I thought about how I will live without using my leg, how Sean will have to carry me to the car, if they’ll sedate me, when I’ll get surgery, how I’ll pay for it. And then I placed my leg in the position it initially occurred in, and after a few minutes and without even feeling it, my knee clicked back into place and I was able to straighten my leg again. Suddenly my weekend was open, my bank account was full, and I could walk. Up and down and all around. Wobbly but stable. Fluctuating.
Bye!
Love,
Claire
Would absolutely love if my grandma had left a bunch of drawings I had to deal with.
I started journaling because of you. Sometimes just draw a little picture but your love of documenting and creation is contagious ❤️