Welcome to the Russian roulette of newsletters
Welcome to ON SHUFFLE a place where I gather new music *finds*, delicious food discoveries, movies that touch me, and/or running thoughts of anything I can think of. Sometimes in Spanish, sometimes in English. Sometimes with friends, sometimes alone. Sometimes it will make sense, others it might just be a list of my favorite memes that week. It is a place for brains to run wild- mine and yours.
I like it random, but that name was already taken.
And without further ado for this issue you will be getting-
12 Months Oscar Challenge
Rabea’s 30 lessons in 30 years
Yummy Latin Music
Let’s begin!
12 Months Oscar Challenge
Alright! So, I love movies. I will not even try to explain how much I love them since cinema often becomes a place for hipsters to compete on how many facts they know about Quentin Tarantino’s upbringing, but bottom line is, I love the art because it gives me solace and for that reason, it gives me purpose and a way to interact with the world. I do have very strong opinions about why I like the movies I like and why I don’t like the ones I don’t, but today these are beside the point. The point right now is, I am trying to become a major filmmaker. I want the big leagues and everything- BAFTAs, Oscars, Berlin, Cannes all of it; and I am very tired of people telling me how to do it. In London so far, most peeps will tell you to go to film school, then start as a runner, do a couple of years of unpaid work, then direct music videos, then do commercial work, all while doing shorts on the side and sending them to festivals and eventually, someone will notice you and you will get the money for a feature. They also say that you will have to do a couple of features to get 1 good movie, AND THEN, you will be successful.
I hate this narrative.
I hate it because it is hugely inaccessible.
First of all, film school in the UK, the last time I checked was about 16K a year- I don’t have that money. Second, working as a runner for free means I would have to take days off from my 9-5 office job which actually pays the bills, to go do something that is not guaranteed to give me back anything. I already do shorts on the side which I do send to festivals which by the way, each category entry is on average £30- £80. So, in my context, even if I do 100 shorts, this ain’t a sustainable diet. SO, let me introduce you to my alternative plan of my own making…
12 Steps to Winning an Oscar in 12 Months (starting right now).
Come up with an Oscar-winning idea ✅
Write Oscar-winning script
Plan Oscar-winning shoot
Shoot Oscar-winning movie
Edit Oscar-winning movie
Finish Oscar-winning movie
Submit Oscar-winning movie to festivals
Get an invitation from the Oscars for my Oscar-winning film
Go to the Oscars with my nominated Oscar-winning film
Win the Oscar
Celebrate winning an Oscar
Go home with Oscar
The idea of this list is to once a month (that’s every fourth issue), in this very same newsletter, update its progress. As you can see, I’ve already come up with the first step, tho as you may understand, I will not be sharing any details of the actual project for a while. Until next month!
30 Life Lessons from Rabea’s 30th
“What did I learn? Who am I even?”
Practical advice
Never schedule a call after 9.30 pm
Never schedule a call before 11 am
Never skip breakfast
Brush your teeth every day (to avoid peeing yourself in the dentist when you have a panic attack in the middle of the appointment- this is a true story)
Don’t start driving a car if you don’t know where the Reverse is.
About University
Never go to Uni. Or at least go to a good one with a good reputation so that is useful.
Turning 30
“What did I do for 30 years?”
Time goes slower as you grow older. The first 16 years you’re really braindead cause you’re in school and people are telling you what to do but, as time passes it feels like it goes slower because you’re really taking all the decisions. And that’s a good thing.
About love
“Have I really learned something about it? (haha)”
Love will come to you anyways.
No point in being an insecure loser dating insecure losers.
Don’t pressure it.
Skincare
It’s a conspiracy. Skincare doesn’t actually make a difference.
It’s quite fun tho.
Always use sunscreen.
Diet
If you would get fatter by doing sports nobody would do sports.
“People say it’s fun, I don’t think it’s fun. They want to say it’s fun, but really all they want is to lose weight”
The body you have with moving as much as you want is the version you must like.
Beauty Hacks & Home Decor
Don’t spend money on cheap nail polish, it will make your whole look, look trashy.
Invest in a blue lamp.
Because you spend all your money on your nails, spend less on clothing by buying second-hand. It’s good for the environment and however it looks when you buy it, it’s how it will look forever.
You start to realize you’re getting old and getting less adventurous when you start buying candles.
Food
“Next 30 years, I want better food.”
Fast food is really tasteless.
Business
Choose your co-workers well. They might end up taking you to court.
Actually, in the end, the lesson is- don’t open a business.
Opening a business is way better than working for someone else.
Just try not working for 40hrs a week, is too much for a human being.
If you have house servants then you can work 40hrs a week.
Art
“Useless. No, art is great”
Real art makes me feel something every 7 years.
I love colors.
“I don’t dislike art, I dislike artists”
The nicest color is green. The shittiest shade of green is still nicer than the shittiest shade of red.
Humanity
“I think I can remember myself thinking as a kid, why are we here? What is it? Why?”
Teeth falling out is the beginning of the end. You can see your body starts crumbling towards death.
A therapist once told me that if you often ask yourself why you are here or what your purpose is, it is a bad sign and you probably have a poor mental health condition. So I don’t ask what is my purpose here anymore.
Latin Sunday Music
I just got back to London from spending 5 weeks with my family in Mexico, so naturally, I’m homesick. Here are some delicious goods that you would most likely listen to when you’re mum is trying to cheer you up (only 100% applicable if you have my mom).
(I know she is here twice, she is just that good of a classic)
That’s it!
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