fiction
Sean Arena
At the Bottom of Nothing

The sky was set ablaze in crimson and violet, suspended in eternal twilight. Whether it was dawn or dusk was indeterminable, but Sierra decided it was as you saw it. This was life at the bottom of the Cronus 7 anomaly, stuck in a narrow lifeboat on an infinite, black sea. No beginning, no end and no escape.

At the Bottom of Nothing
fiction
Sean Arena
The Rocketeer - Why We Fly

I have loved The Rocketeer ever since I saw Joe Johnston’s underrated film adaptation for the first time at the Commack Multiplex. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was based on a comic book and there was so much more for me to read.

The Rocketeer - Why We Fly
fiction
Sean Arena
Throw It On the Compost Heap

Neil Gaiman’s belief on inspiration is to keep a notebook he refers to as a compost heap. “Everything you read, things that you write, things that you listen to, people you encounter, all go on the compost heap, and will rot down, and produce beautiful stories.” The following is some bits from my own compost heap.

Throw It On the Compost Heap
rule of thirds
Sean Arena
Rule of Thirds: Little Women, Different Drum ...

2019 was full of some of the most stunningly creative and brilliant films I’ve seen. But the one I think that really got me was Little Women. It gets the Film-That-Made-My-Heart-Smile award.

Rule of Thirds: Little Women, Different Drum and The Starless Sea
personal essay, career
Sean Arena
You Are Not Your Job

After almost a year of scraping by, I had a maxed out credit card, student loans I couldn’t pay, rent I couldn’t afford, five dollars in my bank account, and a box of pasta to last me a week. I would buy expired food at the dollar store on the corner because it was half price, but even that had become too expensive. I sat on the floor of my bedroom, tracing the steps of every decision I’d made and wondered if I would be homeless in a week. I’d dug myself a financial grave. It was time to decide if I wanted to die in it or swallow my pride and ask for help.

You Are Not Your Job

film

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Scanning the Past: New Mexico, 2006

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Scanning the Past: New Mexico, 2006

In July 2006 – the summer before my freshman year at Drexel – I was 17. My father, brother, sister and myself visited family in Albuquerque, NM. It was my first time on a commercial airplane; until that point, the furthest I'd been from New York was Virginia. The borders of my sheltered life came tumbling down to reveal a much larger and magnificent world, waiting to be explored.

Rule of Thirds: Solo, Infinity War and Great Expectations

Rule of Thirds: Solo, Infinity War and Great Expectations

Over the last fifteen to twenty years, the quality of storytelling in pop culture has noticeably diminished. While you can’t expect the mainstream to be anywhere close to Dickens, it’s not unfair to ask storytellers to raise the bar. Lately, it seems like they’ve been barely passing under the bar in the world’s worst game of limbo.

Rule of Thirds: Carrie Fisher, Black Panther, and Kodachrome

Rule of Thirds: Carrie Fisher, Black Panther, and Kodachrome

At a time when so many women have finally come forward to tell their story, it goes without saying this book is important. It’s important not just for women, but for society as a whole. Listen closely and you’ll hear Fisher screaming in your ears.