Prep week in full swing.

And the prep is immense and somewhat behind the ball, I have to admit. We still have a few days to get things all straightened out but we could have definitely done most of this DAYS/WEEKS ago. Luckily, it looks like the crew is in good spirits. I am excited to see where this all goes!

Back in a bit of action.

I now have my computer back, after a five or so day stint on loan, and I can resume my variously rambling ways. I don't have much to say tonight... not that I don't have much going on in my mind... I just don't have much energy to speak. But I will resume again later... in due time... whatever that means. Ha.

Random breaks.

I currently am loaning out my laptop for the week so I don't have a computer with me at home(currently writing this from work.) I just wanted to throw an update in here before I left today. Things are moving along in all kinds of areas of the business. Hopefully it all turns into a big explosion of business insanity... you know... to even out all my regular insanity. Ha.

Perfection or diminishing returns.

This might be the main challenge of any artist as they consider whether or not to call a work of art complete. Certainly, as one pours more and more time into anything it should, as the focus matches the chronological advance, become a better and better piece of work... however... this always comes at a sacrifice. The sacrifice is the time/focus that could be spent more rapidly advancing some other project since the speed of discernible improvement increasingly slows drawing toward the pinnacle of the original project's completion. Put another way... work harder to perfect something that less and less people can see the improvements or call it good, knowing it could still be made better, in order to pursue better overall timing and life efficiency in other ways. It is a challenge for both the perfectionists and the schedulers/planners among us.

The long days do seem quite long.

And there's not much normal life stuff occurring lately, it seems. I think I probably should take a break at some point but I just don't see it coming for a while. I don't feel like I want it much, either, but wants and needs are not often the same thing.

Down to the last couple weeks of preparation.

And the insanity level is starting to go up. Sure, it's actually pretty low right now but by next weekend it should be in full swing and we should all be rip-roarin' to blaze on down the ol' production trail full-tilt!

Momentum builds.

It is a very slow but steady process right now. I think this means it is a good thing and that it should last for a while... hopefully forever, I suppose. I have lingered somewhere below the poverty line for basically my entire life and even though I am still basically in the same position I definitely see something different not too far ahead of me. It's nice to be optimistic once in a while. Especially to feel like I have a large bearing or influence on the potential successes I expect to reach.

Everyone is the same.

Sure, we all have totally unique lives, experiences, preferences, tendencies, skills, influences and so on... we ALL have a core, though, and at that core we all function based on the same needs. The core ensures that, broadly, the human experience is essentially the same. No matter where we fall in the spectrum of diversity in other ways, we all still meet our core needs in largely the same ways. We are social creatures, whether through familial bonds, friendship, work relationships or otherwise. We simply get to share our unique perspectives of the same human experience with each other through everything we do.

Break from script-writing.

I did a solid 35 days or so in a row but I have been somewhat flippant with my sleep scheduling lately so I think I have to put the writing on hold until I am better organized and self-disciplined with my time management. It's okay, though... I still have ideas stewing around in my head just waiting to emerge at some point in the future.

Adjoining the goals of multiple parties.

We'd all like to jump on a boat going to the same place but it just doesn't seem to be as common as we'd like when it comes to business. Well... that's probably a totally false statement... retail is doing a fine job of connecting products and consumers in the same, tiny little boat... HOWEVER, my statement is more aimed at the seemingly low frequency of various parties and the work they do lining up in the same directional angle with each other. It seems we have found this sort of thing right now and I am quite excited to see where it all heads from here!

The privilege of production work.

Well... there is way more than one privilege. But the one I'll mention now is the family-like bond that forms as we all work in the trenches. It can express itself in just about every way a family would, both in the good and bad forms, but definitely gains a similar potential for connection and friendship that is often shared in a familial unit. As a loner, self-exiled into his own work, I am definitely glad for the opportunity to reach out and back into this sort of dynamic. I am not built to be a loner, as one of the truly extroverted, and thoroughly thrive in the social settings I will find over the next couple months. It will be a much needed break despite it being quite the opposite of a break in most other aspects.

Brainstorming bazooka.

When you combine a bunch of creative people into a small office and decide to think about how to make money you tend to get a plethoric blast of ideas to choose from and I would definitely call it a fun sort of experience, to say the least. It's just another one of the bonus fun elements to my job that I am always excited to take part in. Bazoom!

Team comes together.

And even though it was just a small portion of the larger team as a whole it was still an inspiring event. We are brothers and sisters in arms, each fighting the battle of our respective craft's journey together. A unified vision extended through us all. I look forward(together) to seeing where we will all end up.

Life through many eyes.

Some of why we watch television is to get a glimpse into the lives of people we don't know, people who are interesting, or people who excite us in one way or another. We connect to their experiences, compare notes with our own, learn, adapt, empathize and connect to each other person who does the same. It's communal as well as individual. I wonder if the story tellers among us somehow do it all for a different set of reasons?

Snow is cool.

Because it's physically a much lower temperature than most of my life but also because of the peace and chaos that it brings with it when it comes in such abundant supply. I got to help put chains on my parent's car so they could actually drive out of our neighborhood but I also was the only person that showed up at work today... which basically made it feel like a weekend day, I suppose. I like a good change of action in a somewhat random, unexpected way and time. That might be connected to my enjoyment of changing up my facial hair with some reasonable frequency. I just like the strange sensation of discomfort/surprise/adaptation, I guess.

The actual snowmageddon.

Even though we are a couple or so months past the original estimation we have definitely arrived in our winter wonderland. It looks to be about a foot or so deep which is definitely the deepest I have ever seen in this area in my entire life. Probably close to the deepest I have seen anywhere that isn't a mountain(my trip to Ohio to shoot Hoarders was deeper, of course.) This is something to behold and I'm sure we will all see our Facebook feeds flooded with photos of it all. I should have brought my camera home so I could do some really artsy stuff but the ol' iPhone will suffice, I am sure. Fun times!

Kind of getting to a resting point.

I have three big projects still on my current plate but I might be able to make some big dents in all three of them tomorrow. Two of them might even be completable if I am quick/diligent enough. Then it opens up a little breathing space for a day or two, which will definitely be quite appreciated. Then, if I am lucky, my taxes will be the next big step. How much fun will that be?! Ha. Much fun. That's how much.

The occasional morning visit.

This tends to happen when my day is so long that I basically start to doze off while sitting at my computer before going to bed. I usually write my entry here after hand-writing my regular journal entry and sometimes I just don't have enough steam to do this until the morning. I also don't always remember to do it the next morning but here we are. Anyway... the morning mental exercise is a nice way to kick things off so I can't complain about it whenever I know I have the time to do it. There is definitely something to be said for the variation of a habit from time to time.

Business is always a messy thing.

And that's just part of the whole process. Even when working alone it will always be a challenge in a variety of ways. And it should be. The entrepreneurial endeavor can be highly rewarding but only because it will inevitably be highly frustrating from time to time... if not ALL the time. Ha. Thus, we merely learn to navigate it in all new ways with the different people we engage in the endeavor with.

On to the 40th year.

I've always been one who enjoys running up hills. This one is no different. I enjoy life. Sure, I might be moving a bit slower than the usual route would indicate but I'm fine with that. My pace isn't meant for everyone... or really anyone else, other than me. Big things on the horizon and there ain't no hill gonna get in my way.