Where I've Been and Where I'm Headed

I've been going through some things!

Hey you beautiful people,

If you’re reading this you probably have a PRETTY good idea of who I am as a human being as well as a writer .

And you probably know that for pretty much my entire life I have struggled mightily with depression and anxiety. If I might humblebrag, I have written no less than two books about my lifelong battle with despair and hopelessness: 2009’s The Big Rewind and 2013’s You Don’t Know Me But You Don’t Like Me.

As with many people, my depression is cyclical. It goes in cycles and right now it is REALLY kicking my ass. I’m broke. I’m having a hard time feeling optimistic or hopeful about my career and my finances and two weeks ago I spent four brutal hours at the dentist having every single broken, cracked, cavity-riddled tooth in my body violently removed so that I could get the cheapest dentures available.

Dentures! At forty-six! That REALLY made me feel like a decrepit old loser. I can’t stop thinking about my dentures and the very real possibility that I will never be able to enjoy a meal without pain or discomfort. Also, I talk just like Sylvester the Cat, which is less than ideal.

I haven’t really eaten in the last two weeks. I lost 10 pounds but I’d much rather be able to do things like eat and talk and breathe and sleep the way I did pre-dentures than get down to my college weight.

So I’ve decided to take a mental health break until April 24th, which is also my 47th birthday. I’m way behind on work so I am going to use this publishing hiatus to get ahead on my James Belushi and Saturday Night Live movies projects.

So on April 25th I’ll publish the first piece in my Saturday Night Live movies project, on Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video and on April 26th I’ll “drop” my piece on James Belushi’’s first movie, Michael Mann’s masterpiece Thief.

Belushi first appeared as an extra in Brian DePalma’s The Fury but I wasn’t even able to spot him so I figure Thief is the best place to start my journey, in part because that movie fucking rules.

I’ve been doing a project on the Happy Place shop called The Joy of Positivity where I’m hand-writing recommendations for pop culture I love for the first 100 people to buy a copy of the Flaming Garbage Fire Extended Edition of The Joy of Trash. It’s gone very well and I’m down to my last twenty books so I decided to add The Joy of Positivity to Nathan Rabin’s Bad Ideas as well.

When I come back next week I will feature succinct Joy of Positivity blurbs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for all paid subscribers. I hit a wall with paid subscribers a few weeks back and I’d love to have something to break through that wall.

Oh, and I’ve seen two movies for this newsletter but was too despondent and distracted to write full reviews so know that I would have given The Super Mario Bros. Movie two and a half stars and the Dungeons and Dragons movie three and a half stars.

In conclusion, buy my book(s)! It gives me a big old serotonin boost anytime anyone buys a book directly from me at https://www.nathanrabin.com/shop and hoo boy could I use that now!

Smell you later! And I promise that my future communications will be much less depressing! But it’s hard not to be depressing when you’re feeling so depressed.