Cigarette Burn Pictures

I have been super busy lately! I've mostly been busy with really fin stuff, but I kind of feel like The Flash just as he hits maximum velocity. Every atom in my body is vibrating. Anyway, I've been hired to animate a short book trailer, I've also been hired to write a short script for Cinevore (but more on that later). I also have two outstanding projects, one will end this week, and (hopefully) the other will follow soon after. Whew! I'm whipped. Rick Destree and I talked about the website, so the wheels are in motion for a premiere in early May, as well as a new Youtube Channel. My main goal is to make my blog and videos easier to find and just have both the YouTube and personal site feel simple and easy. 

I'd really like to write more, particularly about the conversation I had with my sister and brother in law about the nature of art, but I've been working all weekend long on scripts, video and animation and I can't muster the effort. However, if you need my insights on stuff, you can read my articles at Nerd Reactor or follow me on Twitter. 

Take care,

-Rob

I was in Boise, Idaho most of last week. If any of you ever get the chance to go to Boise, Idaho, I highly recommend that you do so. It's lovely.

Things are moving along slowly, but they're moving along nonetheless. I've manage to finish the third draft of my first television spec script and am expecting notes back from friends. I've received a few already that confirmed my suspicions and mean that I will have to shorten the beginning and lengthen the end. No big deal. Anyway, I hope it works, I'll be taking it with me when I head to L.A. in May for my alma mater's student showcase. If nothing comes of it, fine, but at least I can get some eyes on my work.

While, Victorian Cut-out Theatre is on a brief hiatus, I've been settling some accounts and writing non-stop. May 7th has me attending a showcase in Los Angeles in hopes that I can show off some of this writing. I'm told industry types will be there. The kind of people that sit in boardrooms all day and make big decisions about what kind of entertainment we should all be gorging ourselves on. I actually don't know if that last part is true, but it sounds plausible.

As some of you may or may not know, I was in Los Angeles this past week trying to find a place to live in time for our move in May. The move is an attempt to get me closer to my goal of making movies for money (a theme which is indicated by the Barton Fink still that accompanies this blog). The trip had its ups and downs, but for the most part I feel like it was a positive experience. However, we did not find a residence as I was hoping we would. This doesn't mean that we won't move to LA necessarily, but it does mean that we'll need to make arrangements for not moving in May. I will be on the West coast in this upcoming month, in hopes of meeting some folks to whom my writing may be of interest. But without a place of residence, flying out for possible meetings/events may have to be the standard course of action for now. LA Friends, don't lose heart, I may still find myself in your complicated collection of cities yet, just not this upcoming May.

So we leave for a home-finding mission to LA on Sunday. We’ll have a stop in Moab, to visit Denise’s Grandma and then it’s across the desert to the coast, where the mother of a friend has graciously allowed us to stay at her place. I couldn’t be more eager for this all to take place, as it will hopefully make the fear subside a little. We've made appointments to look at appartments, but I’m also hoping that we find a really great place just by driving around. I realize that the chances of us finding the perfect place* where we will happily spend the next 12 months is slim, but I’m hoping that fortune smiles and we get off to a strong start.

Have you ever experienced something in your life, a mundane or simple task, and thought “This is a metaphor”? That happened to me this weekend while dealing with my storage unit. And this simple task, something that any well-adjusted person would accomplish and then move forward without giving a second thought, managed to transform me into a vessel into which a cocktail of anxiety, regret and sorrow must be poured. Since you are not me, explanations are probably in order…

When I was in high school, I had the pleasure of being in a murder mystery, senior year. The piece was called The Butler Did It, which seems to be a common piece performed at high schools and community theatres. It is a send-up of Ten Little Indians (which…ahem, was performed under two titles), and includes every mystery archetype from Sherlock Holmes to Sam Spade all gathered together in a mansion for a night of mirth and…MURDER. I remember having a blast in that play, despite having broken my jaw in the middle of rehearsals. I healed and am told that my clinched teeth performance of “Chandler Marlowe” was perfect for the Humphrey Bogart analogue.