Where Ya Been, Friend? (Looks Who's Back Again)

Dear Internauts,

Missed me? 

As I'm sure you figured, over the last few months, I've written and rewritten this blog post in my head more times than my insomniac mind can calculate. Granted I can't count too high even on a decent night's sleep.

Still, on something of a whim, I figured it's time for an update.

Have I kept up with my 2018 goals/not-so-resolutions? Sorta kinda.

Don't expect much — never be disappointed.

So far, though, I have done some stuff, like...

• Saw a few amazing and a few awful movies (you can guess which), including but not in the least bit limited to...
• La Mujer Fantastica
• Black Panther
• Winchester
• The Cloverfield Paradox
• Annihilation 
• Game Night
• A Wrinkle in Time
• Tomb Raider
• A Quiet Place
• Ready Player One
• Pacific Rim: Uprising
• Avengers: Infinity War
• Read some good books (still chasing for the next great literary/genre fiction high)
• Have been eating far more fruits and veggies and fewer deserts and junk food
• Haven't gone on as many walks as I'd like, but winter seems to be ending so we'll see
• Started meeting with a new therapist
• Stopped seeing that therapist (not a good fit when they spend 80% of the session talking about themselves)
• Started as the occasional driver for the Bridge, a local food pantry/clothing closet that helps a lot of families in the area (so far I only drove one person for a few months to and from some appointments, but it still counts)
• Found an abandoned pig in the snow and coerced it into letting me give it a ride to a nearby horse sanctuary for the night (it helped that the car and barn were a lot warmer than outside, and yes I called plenty of other places but the horse folks were the only ones who picked up at 8pm)
• Been trying to draw a whole lot instead of just zoning out as much. It's a way to practice and maybe get better at it but also take all the mess in my head and put some form to it if I can.
• Similarly, I've been writing songs again. (That's right, an actual music-related bullet point.) The key was really to stop putting so much pressure on my self to write the best song I've ever written on the first pass each time I picked up the guitar. Don't know why that took so long to shake, but music and lyrics are this strange puzzle. Sometimes everything just clicks as if from the aether, and sometimes it's more elusive than a wholesome presidential quote. Really it just took a bit of honesty and self-reflection, trying to remember what in life makes me feel genuine and riffing off that.
• With this new material, I had one less excuse not to return to the world of open mic nights. So far I've played at two in the past three weeks. I think we can do better, but self-confidence is a habit that's damn hard to unbreak.
• Like story writing, for instance. In the past I've alluded to the notion of me writing a novel of the word and/or graphic variety. For the first time in, maybe ever (or at least recent history), I've completed a big step toward that goal. How it works is I start out telling myself it will just be a simple outline of the big story beats, but then I get caught up in what happens between those points and then between those points in infinite scope until bits of dialogue and a billion footnotes of possibilities mean I rewrite the same beginning 138ish times with little forward progress. However, this time I actually have a beginning, middle, and ending. It sucks and is a ridiculous, incomprehensible mess of melodrama and no pacing to speak of, but it's my ugly baby eldritch monster. I sense great potential hidden somewhere in the wreckage of this mind and language collision. Next, I'll do a bit of format cleaning up so I can maybe read through the thing, then I'll set it aside for a while to come at it later with fresh eyes for draft two. After that, if it still feels like a graphic novel v. the more traditional variety, I can start on page breakdowns for each chapter/issue. Then comes thumbnails and layout stuff. Hopefully, by then my art skills will be at least a tad better, and I can start bringing this story to the visual realm. 
• But before I do all that, I've got another visual-type project to work on. Starting this week, I'll be deep-diving into an illustrated lyric video for my newest killer track. 
• Oh yeah, that's right. Did I not mention? I just release a BRAND NEW SONG. It's one of the tracks I first recorded with Joe Casey back in 2016 (along with 2017's Painkiller). It's called TO SAY GOODNIGHT. And if the all caps hyperlinks weren't clue enough, you can listen to, buy, and download the whole frickin' song right here!!! If you do listen, drop me your thoughts on it.
• Here's the cover art (like the video will be, it's somewhat inspired by a certain popular children's book). 
  
  
  
  
  
  So that's me at the moment. Hope you're doing well. I'd like to get back to doing this more, but I think I prefer it when I actually have something to really show you. If you'd dig it for me to get back to blogging more regularly let me know. 
   
  
  
  Thanks for reading,
  Odist