Don't Be Boring. Don't Settle For Boring
That’s right. You heard it.
If you read Dead End Follies, there’s a strong chance that you’re not a boring person. But it’s not an either/or proposition. You can become boring if you let yourself be and if you mindlessly consume whatever’s being offered to you. In 2025, I’m going to challenge myself and I hope you will too. As some of you might have noticed, I became more ambitious with my content in 2024 and you guys responded and I’m planning to ramp it up for the upcoming year. I’m planning to do more. I’m planning to do better.
I’m also under no illusions that Dead End Follies is growing more marginal every year and I’m planning to embrace it even more. My motto for the last two years has been "f*ck what everyone else is doing" and these are words I live by. That means I’ll be where everyone else is, but I won’t be saying the same boring stuff they are and I won’t champion the same things. I definitely won’t be afraid to tell you if everyone else is wrong also. You might not agree, but I promise you that you won’t ever get bored.
Let’s work in five ground rules I have (and that YOU have) to adhere to.
1) No Marvel or Star Wars. Goes without saying. If you ever see a title related to any of these franchises goes forwards, it means that a) I was trapped in a social situation where I would’ve been a grinch to walk away from it b) I actually have something to say about it. I was caught in one of these situations over the Holidays and ended up watching Deadpool & Wolverine. You will NOT see a complete review on this site.
2) Don’t ever use the B(oring) Word without context. It’s a bad word. I hate it, but sometimes it’s applicable, like when a movie or a book is derivative or predictable. Then again, you can say a piece of art is derivative or predictable instead of using the B word. If you’re unstimulated by something, either find out why or just find better art to interact with. Saying something is B(oring) without context is being boring.
3) Slow down. Challenge yourself. As everything is delivered to you faster and faster, let it sit at your doorstep for a while, so that you can pick and choose what to pay attention to and not just pay attention to the latest thing that dropped. Watch long and difficult Hungarian movies about a man eating a potato for four hours. Read books over 500 pages long. Listen to Paysage d’hiver insanely long and difficult records. I’m planning on writing a little bit about painting this year.
4) Stop paying attention instead of criticizing. I’ve stopped caring about the existence of Taylor Swift a long time ago and you should do the same. Don’t define yourself by what you hate. Define yourself by what you like. What’s how the good guys win and the bad guys lose. I know it’s not algorithm friendly, but this site has never been algorithm friendly and it’s going great. Negativity gets reactions, but it will corrupt your soul.
5) Find like-minded people and check out what they like that you’re not already familiar with. My biggest source of new art to interact with are curators. I have many of these. People who’s aesthetic tastes and radars I trust. Do the same. Put yourself out there. Reach out and create a community, that’s what being an alternative culture is all about. We need one another to thrive.
As a token of my enhanced engagement, I am planning to invest more time on Goodreads and Letterboxd where we can talk to one another. Link up with me so that I can tell you how wrong you are about everything.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Muhahahaha!
