On Writing with Chronic Migraines
It’s one of those writing nights where I’m able to sneak away from family responsibilities to work on my novel, so I’m up in the attic trying to cram in a few words before I wear out. In the scene I’m working on, my fictionalized grandfather, the hero of the novel, gets drunk and has an epiphany. Or at least he thinks it’s an epiphany until he gets sober again. But for tonight he’s staying drunk because I have a headache, and this scene is as finished as it’s going to get…
The Achilles Tendon Incident + Migraines (video)
Who wants to learn about my ruptured Achilles tendon alongside chronic migraines??? I’m guessing at least 23.78% of y’all wanna know! It's a fun ride! Check out the video… (Plus a second bonus video below.)
Present Before the Future: Chronic Pain & Creativity (video)
There’s been something on my mind lately about how I approach my chronic pain (migraines! 🤕) that has similarities to my approach with creative projects (writing! ✍️ YouTubing! 📽️ coding! 👨💻 podcasting!). It relates to the distinction between future-focused issues 🔮 and present-focused issues 🧘. And so I tried to capture it in this video…
8 musical shorts from an insecure writer (video)
About a year ago, somewhere in the dark corridors of 2021, I got stuck in my creative life. At the same time, I knew that my novel was going to come out with Red Hen Press in 2022 and I wanted to keep creating things. So what I did was take some of the basic stuff I learned about music from my friend Joey Helpish, along with some of the struggles I was feeling about the creative process… and I made eight, short, awkward, animated music videos about my creative struggles. In the past few weeks I’ve posted them on TikTok and Instagram, but since I totally don’t know what I’m doing on those platforms, I also compiled them together into one video (with some explanations between songs) for YouTube. And here it is. 📽📽📽
Pain Scale from 1 to Fuchsia (podcast)
I suffer from chronic migraines. Every week I have to work through the ups and downs of how I feel. In this Neurotic Tornado podcast episode, my wife and I talk about how we manage our lives alongside my chronic pain.
Writing Through Pain (video)
It's time for my yearly visit to the online surface — where I pop my head up, look around, and when I don't get enough likes (or I get too many likes), I go back into my hole until next year. This time I'd like to share with you a video I made about how I write alongside chronic pain...
on making a video about chronic pain
Hey! Were you thinking just now that you want to hear even MORE about my chronic pain?! Actually, this time it's more about how I made the video about my pain…
The Pain in My Head (video)
Who wants to watch a ten-minute video about chronic pain and headaches!? Of course you do! In this latest video, I walk you through the experience of having a nine-month headache... I've been a little bit obsessed with trying to think about (and talk about) the suffering associated with chronic pain. And so I made this delightful romp into my headache saga. I actually do intend it to be entertaining to watch, regardless of whether you can relate -- at the very least, it'll be easier to stomach than a presidential debate. This video will also be used as a quasi-valid excuse for why I haven't responded much on social media, or gone to many social events, or been productive at my creative projects in 2015, or failed in all the other ways. Enjoy!