Springing...

Man, I really, really hope the sun outside lasts. Tomorrow is April 1st which is the day my jogging season starts up again...and no that is not an April Fool's joke. I hate treadmills and I hate jogging in the freezing cold so I take December through March off. Sub-zero temperatures just take the spring out of my step.

I think this year I am going to start right out with a 4.5 miles course 3x a week again. We'll see how that feels. I'm long past concern about being a muscle man. I'd really like to avoid becoming my father...he is my height and walks around at about three bills. I'd also like to prevent heart disease and live a long, healthy life.

Things remain tremendously busy in the world of interactive development. I am following up on some very meaningful leads right now and it is giving me an early idea of what might be possible if I more actively pursue new business opportunities.

Life is good. The sun is out.

Grant me this...

I think I am going to get into the charitable foundation business. I can't believe how much money is available for organizations who want to make a difference. It makes me wonder why more people don't do it...Don't we all want to make a difference?

Step 1: Figure out how to get a grant.

I remembered some things my mom thought were really funny when we were kids. One was this bumper sticker which was on the bulletin board in my kitchen for as far back as I can remember. It read: "People who think they know it all really annoy those of us that do". This statement was burned into my brain, three times a day, seven days a week for about ten years. Explains a lot...

The other was a placard she had on the window of her car. It was shaped like those, once famous, 'baby on board' signs. Except, the one on our car said: 'nobody on board'. That is silly, but it still makes me laugh. Moms had a pretty good sense of humor, all things considered.

Con tranquilidad...

Bring it...

The spring that is. It was quite cold this morning as I walked the last few blocks to my office at around 6:45. The world was particularly quiet too...Davis square was all but deserted.

St. Patrick's day. Soon it will be Marathon Monday and then opening day at Fenway...And then, before long, the beaches will open. It's been a great winter though. The best I have had in years...In spite of the frightening and mundane daily reminders of how incompetent our financial leaders are in this country...Life is good.

Soon the people at the top will remember that a healthy middle class is necessary to their way of life...and things will begin to loosen up again. Maybe I'll get someplace to call home out of the deal. Who knows?

48 Hour Film Project Update

Life is good. The team is getting organized and we have secured our director. We also narrowed the field of actors and received permission to use any music from the first album of a hot local band. Now if they will just get the release forms up on the web!! I wonder if I can just use my own production documents?




Joe and I are sharing the role of Executive Producer. He will also write and I will make sure everything is happening on time and everyone is where they need to be during the contest weekend.

48 Hour Film Project

I am really excited after joining Faces for Radio, one of the team's in this year's 48 Hour Film Festival. FFR is made up of an eclectic combination of artists, technologists, humorists and poets. The team is self funded but we have gotten some donations on equipment and a location to work.

All the equipment and space we need is sorted out, which is good because when I was younger these would have been the impossible details. We also have all the fundamentals we need for the crew. Next we need to organize out the on-screen talent, which is going to be tough since we won't know what we need until the project starts. Finally there is scouting locations around our super secret home base of operations.

Rare resentment...

I ended up completely disassembling my macbook because there was a cd
stuck inside due to a mechanical problem. It was the most difficult
hardware job I have ever done. There's no nice way to say it...the
drive on this machine sucks. The design belies a complete absence of
common sense and practicality.

First of all, a cdrom drive shouldn't eat cd's after 3 years of
service. Fact. Second, a drive shouldn't be designed in such a way as
to put 'cool' before functional. Finally, one should not have to
literally pull the machine apart around an interchangeable device in
order to extract it.

Anyhow, I was able to put the machine back together and it lives on,
minus the cdrom drive. There were quite a few extra parts but they
seem to be useless...nothing about the computer is different although
I have a solo cup containing 24 screws, a dustcover, three bushings
and a couple of springs. (no kidding!)