Pilot Post
Today is April Fool's, but this is not an April Fool's Joke.
Just like the pilot episode of most TV shows, this is going to be totally weird. Although, much like your favorite syndicated TV show, this will get better with time.
I am still an alien to this app, so I’m unsure what date/time stamp this will give you when this is published. I feel the unnecessary compulsion to share with you exactly what’s happening. I am sitting here in my Greenpoint apartment, at my mahogany desk with the flickering wick of my Joshua Tree campfire scented candle and Edison bulb floor lamp accompanying me. Dark academia: my ideal sensory palette for late night writing. It is exactly 10:30pm EST on Monday, April 1st 2024. Against my better judgment, I am writing my first Substack post on the *cursed* day of April Fool’s, just hours after Mercury just stationed retrograde.
Dear Wind, meet Caution.
I ventured out here to the wild wild west of Substack almost 11 months ago to the day. Patti Smith brought me here. When I discovered her Substack, my excitement for possibility boiled and brewed over — same as it did when I first read Just Kids, first listened to Radio Ethiopia, and first saw her perform live at MSG.
“Oh, this is great! I’ll start sharing my writing on here for the world to see!”
“This is SO much better than the swirling, mind-numbing vortex of Instagram!”
“Wow, I think I just may have found the place to get over my crippling writers block and imposter syndrome!”
In retrospect, my naïvety is truly endearing.
In reality, I spent the past 11+ months ruminating on how the hell to get started. The agonizing “Coming Soon” autopost Substack created on May 10, 2023 did not help my case. I saw it as the equivalent of a blinking cursor on a blank document. A weekly planner with blank pages of weeks that came and went without a single etching of ink. Yet another source of self-imposed guilt and disappointment (as if I don’t already have a surplus of that).
I’m fairly certain it was the heavy rumination and nauseating pondering that brought me to this pivotal point of impulsive action. In true form, without a plan, I choose a moment in time that astrologers would deem highly inopportune to launch something new out into the ether. Whether you believe in astrology or think it’s a bunch of bullshit like one of my poetic heroes, Jim Morrison — I will say this, I have finally arrived, and much like Jim, I don't know whats gonna happen man, but I wanna have my kicks before the whole shit house goes up in flames.
As I said, I’m still an alien here. I do also like my wild wild west analogy from earlier, so let’s say I’m a cowboy alien trying to navigate this strange cyberspace of Substack. Much like everything else I’ve done in life, I’m here to learn as I go.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you and congratulations. You’ve made it to the end of the pilot episode. I will admit I lied to you before — things will continue to get totally weird.
Keep 'em coming Ney! Loved this first post.
YEE-HAW !!! ❤️