So it’s May 6th and it’s time for my annual birthday review…three months late. \u00a0Crazy how this newsletter has evolved since I began it eight years ago as I left college. \u00a0What started as a quarterly update turned gradually into yearly intentions, and not it’s a struggle just to keep that afloat. \u00a0Entropy is crazy persistent, but the destruction of old habits opens up space for new ones. \u00a0I have so many habits these days it’s hard to breathe straight, but all of them are well-intentioned and I hope I can keep perspective.<\/p>\n
Goals for 29 Review<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Brunch Movie<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 So much completed, so much to be done.\u00a0 Trailer, website, fundraising, DVD creation, festival submission, premiere.\u00a0 This should really be goals one through five, but I don\u2019t operate that way.”<\/p>\n As with Bruce and Dom, this multi-year goal is a success with more to further. \u00a0We had our premiere March 6th at Videology to great success. \u00a0This summer there will be at least three more screenings of it and possibly a fourth, starting the first weekend in June. \u00a0You can watch the trailer here<\/a>. \u00a0DVD and festival stuff will follow in the coming year.<\/p>\n “Continue the AD Reading Series<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 I\u2019d like to make this happen every 2-3 months for as long as I\u2019m in the city, getting good documentation, increasing my network of writing connections and pushing my own writing practice.\u00a0 The goal is to pare it down to the essentials so I don\u2019t go crazy juggling too many projects.”<\/p>\n Accomplished. \u00a0We’ve done eight Reading Series’ now and each one has been it’s own social success. \u00a0Our next milestone is getting to that 10th edition.<\/p>\n “Make a documentary about the AD birthday project<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 We have some pretty good documentation compiled from our year of present making.\u00a0 My goal is to make a summation of the whole process for general consumption.”<\/p>\n This is a fail. \u00a0I still think it’s a good idea, but I’ll need to clear a good chunk of time to ever get it done.<\/p>\n “Get Election 2012 CD\u2019s made, send out copies<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Having the CD\u2019s made should be a fairly routing process, but I\u2019d also like to mail both election albums out to select people along with letters describing the content.\u00a0 This includes the Obama\u2019s, Andrew Sullivan, Calvin Trillin and other political figures and wonks.”<\/p>\n Also a fail. \u00a0Everything is ready, including the CD cover art, I just let it slip. \u00a0I think that time living off savings prevented me from making the investment. \u00a0It needs to happen, as the work is legitimate.<\/p>\n “Go through the audio archives<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 I have tons of recordings from the past few years I\u2019d like to go through and categorize for my own amusement and possibly larger, slice of life interest.”<\/p>\n I did a pretty good job on this. \u00a0An example would be an edition of the\u00a0Queen\/Mob archives<\/a>, which is a 40 minute compilation of our best jam sessions. \u00a0I also edited a bunch of old audio recordings on my website from back when I carried a recorder constantly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Accomplishments of 29<\/span><\/p>\n Leaving the Nursing Home<\/span>\u00a0– I’ve seriously begun to think of human beings as parallels to the periodic table of elements. \u00a0They will stay in one state until an outside stimulus graduates them to another energy level. \u00a0I don’t regret any of the time I spent at the nursing home, but it was time to move on. \u00a0Nevertheless, it can be hard to leave something so comfortable, and I’m happy with myself for doing it. \u00a0If you haven’t heard it,\u00a0here’s a story talking<\/a>\u00a0about my experiences there.<\/p>\n Brunch Movie<\/span>\u00a0– I’m pleased with the results of this two year project. \u00a0Getting through a project of this scope makes me feel good about myself and translates as a tangible accomplishment I can present to others. \u00a0The product is unique and a perfect example of what that portion of my life was like. \u00a0I hope to continue to make benchmark documents about my life as it progresses.<\/p>\n Sky-Pony Video<\/span>\u00a0– The video we did with Sky-Pony for\u00a0“Say You Love Me Like You Mean It”<\/a>\u00a0is something I’m very pleased with. \u00a0From conception to release it was about a six month process. \u00a0I’m happy to report lead singer Lauren Worsham just got nominated for a Tony for her work on “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.” \u00a0Go Lauren!<\/p>\n Reading Series Writings<\/span>\u00a0– The Reading Series’ primary function is to get me to produce new works for performance. \u00a0This year, I got two new CNF pieces about the nursing home and a job opportunity at the MTA, revised an old CNF piece about Seasick Mama and wrote a frank prose poetry piece about depression. \u00a0You can check them all out on the\u00a0AD Reading Series Youtube Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n New Job at Avalanche<\/span>\u00a0– Hard to imagine I’m working in an industry I wanted to work in from ages 9-19, but I’m in the video game business these days and it’s great. \u00a0After so many years doing one type of work, being able to spend my days being creative is a wonderful, dramatic, and still massive change to wrap my head around. \u00a0I’m learning so much about office life, full time city life and large scale creative projects.<\/p>\n Goals for 30<\/span><\/p>\n More Brunch<\/span>\u00a0– Have the summer screenings, get a DVD made, submit to festivals, get it online.<\/p>\n Video Sketch Project<\/span>\u00a0– Some friends and I have embarked on a new sketch comedy video project. \u00a0Planning started back in January and we filmed 5 scenes just last week. \u00a0Early returns are promising, so giving this it’s proper attention is an important goal for me.<\/p>\n Avalanche<\/span>\u00a0– Now that I have a job that’s creatively fulfilling, I’d like to learn how to to make my work hours the main thrust of my creative ambitions, leaving my personal time free to just be. \u00a0I worry about this struggle, of being able to let go of personal projects for the sake of leisure time.<\/p>\n Update my website<\/span>\u00a0–\u00a0The website needs a facelift and better navigation for all the content I’ve created over the years.<\/p>\n Script writing for movie project<\/span>\u00a0– I have an idea. \u00a0We’ll see what happens.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That’s it for another year. \u00a0I started doing this goals list at 24. \u00a0For some interesting data, I’ve accomplished 19\/32 goals (one year I did seven goals). \u00a03 of 5 a year. \u00a0Mister 60%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t