Cruznotes by Jaime Alejandro | 8.21 Newsletter
scribblings and audio about the arts, process, and our favorite things.
Hi there,
This is Jaime Alejandro from cruzfolio.com. Thank you so much for checking out our newsletter! Here's our once-a-month mixed bag of podcasts about the arts, original content, and stuff to jumpstart creativity! If you haven’t already, subscribe today!
Arts Calling Podcast
Creative Drive Podcast
No Creative Drive this month, I'll be welcoming submissions again next week. We're coming back stronger than ever in September!
The Writing Record Podcast
Our Kid's Asleep Podcast
A huge favor: if you're listening to our shows, please consider leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts or tagging us online (Twitter, IG, FB @cruzfolio). It really helps us get the word out!
Nothing is mundane. Embrace the absurd. Love the quotidian.
I've been writing poetry on the go this month. I shared two tiny poems that were particularly successful. I'm typically homesick for my family in Mexico, so it ends up becoming a recurring theme. I started taking notes last year on my next poetry collection, which will focus on my relationship with my family. It's going to be a long term effort, but I'll get there eventually. (Check out more Quotidian poetry I've written over the summer at the cruzfolio journal). For now, here's a few of my August favorites!
*This last poem was inspired by this picture of a snail on a strawberry.
Time in the studio...
At the beginning of the month, I met up with my good friend Dust at his studio to record our next track for the Cruz+Jonez project. This is a beautifully fulfilling process: Dust provides musical ideas and melodies, and I go to work on the lyrics and singing. We both work full time, so it's hard to schedule things, but we're gradually arriving at a good working relationship. I'm learning so much from him about the craft, performance, and production.
I'm so grateful for Dust and can't wait to share our next track! In the meantime, here is our first release, Black Road.
The Inherited is a quarterfinalist!
This email showed up mid-month and I was most certainly caught off-guard by it! It's been a while since I've written a full-length screenplay, and I thought The Inherited script was to be retired or reworked into something else. Lo and behold, this shows up! The TSL Free Screenplay Contest received about 13,000 entries, so the script is in the top 7%. No matter what happens next, I'm over the moon! We'll see what happens now...
This is the dumbest thing.
We went over to my in-laws' place to check on their chickens while they were out, and I followed my stupidest intuition and made something that I thought would capture the vibes of that day. Why am I like this?
Lastly, August is a deeply special month for me. Madd and I celebrated our ten year anniversary this month, and we also had the pleasure of going to Maine (we booked our trip before the Delta variant became a thing, got our vaccines, and with all precautions in place, we vacationed!). Fourteen years together and ten of those married: it truly feels like we started dating last year. I am beyond grateful that I get to share this life with my beautiful, inspiring, and supportive wife. My best friend. My everything. My love. Thanks for building this life with me, Madd. We're just getting started!
Those Maine Sunsets were unforgettable. I wanted to write so much, but I chose to be in the moment and just enjoy the joy in front of me.
As always, thanks for taking the time to stop by, and don't forget to make art everyday, if you can. Much love,
j
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Purchase Jaime's Poetry Book | Purchase Madd's Audiobook | One-Time Contribution