February of twenty sixteen, you have come and gone. We barely knew thee.
I actually felt like this February went by at a pretty steady pace, to be honest. Perhaps it’s because I did so much work this month…it was A LOT, you guys. I worked an “extra” project with my Flix work. I submitted to my first-ever screenplay competition. I had allergies up the wazoo (that are *finally* feeling so much better). My wifey booked a big job. It’s been a lot…
And, you know what? I love it. I’ve loved every minute of it. I am SO HAPPY to have finally found some confidence in the screenwriting…some competence as well, I hope, or at least some CONFIDENCE. I struggled all last year and a big chunk of the year before it to find some consistency with the screenwriting. I couldn’t find it. For the life of me. But, with a deadline in my face for the month of February, and then in the following weeks afterwards, after writing that cursed pitch document that forced me to articulate and map out everything that I had been avoiding or didn’t even realize I hadn’t thought through with the pilot…all of that forced me to sit down and write every day, and so I did, and it’s made all the difference.
Guys, listen to me…you cannot EVER find confidence in your work if you lack consistency. Write every day. It’s as simple as that. Write. EVERY. Day. That’s the single hardest and more important part of being a writer…at least for me. I actually get stuff DONE when I’m writing every day. And, I think it’s good, too…or at least I hope it is.
I started a podcast with Josh called Two Guys One Trek that we’re both currently enjoying the pants off of. I tried today with my THIRD new Blue Snowball USB Mic…but all the ones have had a hiss in the bg that’s too noticeable to ignore. I’m resigning the effort. No more Blue Snowballs for this guy. They’re clearly reduced quality on them, which is such a shame. The two we have in home already are flawless. Wonderful devices. But trying to get a third so that Liz can still do VO work even if Josh and I are podcasting…well, that’s a bust. They’re just not making them like they used to.
This was also the month where Coops started to get overly dominant with Coco – to the point of some actual fighting between the two of them. That happened today, actually, during lunch time. The triggers are clear: food, and affection. The solutions are yet to be found completely…but we have ideas. I switched up the nighttime routine tonight, and there was no incident. We’re walking them a bit farther during nighttime walkies, and we’re also going to be firmer and more consistent when it comes to him barking at or just “watching” the front door. All of those things are indicators that his state of mind lately has been heightened, and that wound-up-ed-ness translates into aggressive behavior. We look at where the two are biting each other because we can see little tufts of fur where there’s saliva, and even with all the noise, I have yet to see broken skin, and all the marks are on backs and shoulders. No necks. No faces. This is good. No red zone-ing. It’s unstable pack behavior, jockeying for position. It means we’re not fulfilling a need as pack leaders. That can be fixed. It just needs to stop here and not be allowed to escalate any further. More exercise. More boundaries and limitations. More directed behavior.
I was supposed to finish The Martian Chronicles by today, but alas, I’m only half way through it. But, you know what? I’m two or three days away from finally fucking finishing Icarus, so I couldn’t really give two shits. The writing is more important than the reading.
Man…I’m pooped. That’s all I got tonight. OH! Except for that today the Ho and I got to hang out with Madhuri and Joe, and we went and saw Colony Collapse, which Joe was in and he was GREAT, and the show was legitimately really good. One of the best we’ve seen in a while. Really, really enjoyed it. And Boston Court is such a cool, cool theater out in Pasadena.
Anywho…here’s to February. It was a *great* fucking month! May March hold a candle to you! 🙂