Penpals is a column where our friends in the media write us a letter and fill in some blanks. Today’s penpal is Andrew Parker, a film and performing arts writer who has been working in the industry since he was 14 years old. His work has appeared in Reader’s Digest, The Boston Globe, and Now Magazine. He is currently the Film and Performing Arts Editor for the website Dork Shelf.
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Dear Clutch,
In the beginning I wanted to be a chef. But then I wanted to be a filmmaker. Then when both of those didn’t pan out I became a writer.
If I had to choose between knowledge and emotion I’d choose emotional intelligence.
My favourite thing about my job is that it’s literally one of the coolest things in the world anyone could get paid to do. But sometimes it can get a little overwhelming in terms of the workload.
When I need to cool down I go back to cooking. There’s something really calming about creating anything from scratch. Just a different form of creativity.
Print is never going to die. Social media is problematic.
At night I dream about being a professional wrestler.
Right now I’m loving spending most of my Sundays in bed with my phone turned off for the entire day.
My favourite facial position is “goofing resting face”.
PR professionals make me feel like I have a pretty easy job on some days. I wish they would keep in mind that even if we don’t agree on things that our lives can be equally overwhelming.
Before I go, I want you to know that you can always show confidence and remain humble and grateful at the same time. Those feelings aren’t mutually exclusive.
