1. Be less careful
• OK, this'll never be done, but I'm so freaking sloppy lately, I'm going to say I'm making traction
2. Wall in my home office / studio (DONE 12/03/2006)
3. Set up my audio studio equipment
• 12/04/2006 -- Not totally done yet, but I did get my preamp and desktop stuff set up, which let me lay down some tracks for the "Project X" trailer. And I need to do some $5 modifications to my $20 floor mic stand and boom that will make it like a $200 mic stand and boom.
4. Set up "Project X" Website (main)
5. Set up "Project X" Website (process/fan)
6. Complete the trailer and 3 episodes of "Project X" (write, storyboard, VO, shoot, post-production, and distribution)
• 12/04/2006 -- Got the audio down and mastered for the trailer); I may have overcommitted a wee bit on this particular goal.
7. Do something new and exciting in my toy job career
8. Write formal treatments for all of my projects (12)
9. Write treatment for an idea I’ve been avoiding
10. Write and perform stand-up during an open mic night
11. Finish another run of demo CD business cards (DONE 121/27/2006)
• Small run of 10, but enough for now.
12. Add "Tools" section for my Website
13. Redo my Website
14. Read the Game Producers Handbook
• 12/22/2006 -- I'm actually reading Get in the Game first, because I know several of the contributors, and I'll read the Game Producers Handbook after I've got the Big Picture concept.
15. Write more features analyzing the game industry
• 11/27/2006 -- I'm a lot more analytical in most of my daily posts, now, and I've added heavier analysis blogs, like "The economy and its effects on gaming ..."
16. Write letters of recommendation for everyone that’s worked for me, I’ve worked for, and worked with
• 12/15/2006 -- I've done several of these via LinkedIn.com, which is a good way for to stay focused on this effort.
• 12/27/2006 -- I did bunch more for some specific folks via LinkedIn, and have some fodder for letters of recommendation for a smaller subset of those folks.
17. Write a video game proposal
• 12/21/2006 -- I got the draft of the Concept Paper, Executive Summary, Sample Art and Milestones completed last night, and have my tech lead and some industry folks reviewing it.
• 12/28/2006 -- Microsoft got back with me today, and I'll probably be under NDA soon, so my updates to this one may go away, or become incredibly vague.
18. Write a business plan for a new endeavor about which I'm thinking
19. Install and compile sample games with XNA game studio
• 11/11/2006 -- Installed, and running, and did a bunch of research
20. Spend more time with family
    • Holidays are good for this, and the last few weeks have been great for it
21. Run three times a week
22. Go fishing (fly fishing)
23. Install ceiling fans throughout my house
24. Do some rewiring in my house
• 12/19/2006 -- Some of this was done as part of walling in the office, and some was fixed by finding the right (unintuitively placed) GFI reset switch. All that's left is to replace a thermostat, and I think I'll live with the other stuff.
25. Clean out my garage and organize my office and utility room
• 11/12/2006 -- Making traction (Craigslisted some crap, got rid of a bunch of empty boxes, built 3 sets of shelves)
26. Get a new dishwasher, since the built in blows chunks (literally) (DONE 11/14/2006)
• 11/11/2006 -- Dishwasher was delivered, now to install it; I've giving myself until Wednesday
27. Clean out my truck (ADDED 11/10/2006)
    • 11/15/2007 -- Um, I moved stuff from the front of the truck to behind the driver's seat, so it looks cleaner ...
28. Get a new microwave, since the old one died (COMPLETED 12/22/2006)
    • Ended up getting the old one repaired, which (though expensive), was cheaper than buying a new one.
29. Contact a company about doing a video game with their property (ADDED 11/11/2006)
• 11/13/2006 -- That was quick; initial interest is good, now I owe them a proposal
• 11/23/2006 -- More specifics from them, and what they want, and I sent some clarifying questions
• 12/22/2006 -- Completed a draft proposal, that's currently under internal review.
• 12/28/2006 -- Microsoft got back with me today, and I'll probably be under NDA soon, so my updates to this one may go away, or become incredibly vague.
30. Add tags to my blogs (ADDED 11/14/2006)
• 12/20/2006 -- Now that blogger.com has migrated to it's new "not-beta" mode, tags are part of the functionality. So I've started this effort, but have like 500 posts to go through and update. Add to this when they say "not beta", they're ... uh ... lying, and this will take a little more time. I'm debating which is less painful -- using Blogger's tag implementation, or moving everything over to my Moveable Type implementation.
• 12/28/2006 -- I've now got about 80 of my 480 past "Ramblings" posts tagged. There are some deficiencies with the new Blogger.com, so I'm working around those. It's like they're trying to move me to MoveableType.
31. Re-read script writing book (ADDED 11/14/2006)

Patterns in which I'm stuck:

1. My need to be right
2. My need to get it right
   • 12/23/2006 -- This post shows I may be making some traction in this area.
3. My need to be careful
4. Doing things on my own, and not asking for help
5. Being cut off from my heart
6. Toy job commitments
• This one could be taking care of itself
7. Laziness/Procrastination
8. Multi-tasking is costing my focus on things that may require focus
9. Lack of sleep
10. Am I doing too much?
11. Am I giving up the right things?
12. Caffeine?
• 11/13/2006 -- For last several days I've gone from roughly 4 cups of coffee and 1-2 Diet Coke / iced teas to a couple of cups of coffee; I'm not being legalistic about it, but I think I was a wee bit excessive before
13. Guilt about what I’m not getting done
• 11/14/2006 -- Y'know what, screw it. It already wasn't getting done before I started not doing it.

Labels: acting, acting process, biz