New Year's Resolutions
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful 2008, and partied well to see it out. But frankly, if I can be grumbly, 2008 was a thorough and dismal train-wreck of a year for me on all fronts and I happily drank myself stupid and flipped it the bird at midnight. However, moving forward, I've got a bunch of resolutions to help bury my least fave year (ever) in the past, and build a foundation for more stable living this year. And judging myself on my own list, it looks like I have a pretty fun year ahead of me!
1) Learn to cook more Chinese vegitarian food. There is a bevy of good vegetarian food from China's Buddhist tradition, and I should buckle down and add it to my repertoire.
2) Eat more Mackerel and small fish. While Mel has gone primarily vegetarian (perhaps ba-curious, but never the less), I still like meat in very small amounts. Coupled with the fact I actually tend to like the more oily fishes, like Mackerel, and they are vastly more sustainable than large, older fish that eat higher up the food chain, this resolution is merely a matter of going to the Japanese grocery store more often.
3) Go to each of the 4 major Los Angeles art museums at least every two months. LACMA, MOCA, The Getty and the Hammer are the ones on my list to make sure to check out. Perhaps it's MOCA's financial woes that put it on the verge of closing that has made me more sensitive to their existence... even if I don't always like the art or the curatorial choices.
4) Go to at least one gallery opening/closing per month. I hate most gallery parties, since they're so crassly commercial and scene-ster, but I have had lots of good conversations at openings historically, and I do need more exposure to the contemporary art world in L.A. on a professional level, so I just have to get over my dislike and trek out of my studio and grab one of those half-warm cheap beers on occassion.
5) Watch more movies. Or at least figure out why I'm watching less movies. Times change, and rarely watch art/forgein films anymore, which was always a staple of my creative intake for many years...
6) Jog twice a week at least. Three times would be better, but I need to stop "being overwhelmed and busy" and just cut into my schedule two 30-minute blocks of time to run. I feel better about everything when I exercise!
7) Be okay with one simple meal a week. Food, which I love, has become such a stress in some ways, since I try to outdo myself every night. Not only that, but it gets pricey, which makes me (and Mel) more stressed. I need to just get over my hang-ups and make mac and cheese and veggie dogs once a week and be at peace with it.
8) Drink more green tea (and a bit less booze). Speaking of which, I'm going to put a kettle on right now, and get working on this one.
9) Listen to NPR's program "Speaking of Faith" more often. Whatever your personal thoughts on religion, it's prominence both in America locally and across world politics is massive, and I think it would be a boon to spend a few of my minutes a week to listen to the only scholarly, journalistically astute program about religion.
10) Finally get a new camera. I've been putting this off for years, since it is a massive investment, and my fiancees are in shambles (like so many other people), but it has become a major inhibitor in both my artistic and commercial work. I have a digital SLR that was made when I was a freshman in college. And I have a graduate degree now... My parents have talked about some sort of matching loan, so, like so many of my other hang-ups, I just need to take a deep breath and move forward.
11) Hit my mark of one blog entry per week. I didn't do hideous last year, even amidst the chaos of my life crashing and burning on numerous levels, so this is mostly a reminder.
12) Add an online catalog to my web site, and as a corollary, get a few on the mini-books I've been itching to do done. I hate the commercial aspects of art, but if spending a few unpleasant minutes on an addition to my site, or slumming around openings handing out cards, means that I have more resources and time for my work, then I should do it.
13) Spend less money. This is a broad one, but more precisely, be more frugal. Finish what's in the fridge, go out less, go to less expensive places...
14) Practice my various "elevator speeches." For those of you who don't know, an elevator speech is a movie/business term for a 15-20 second pitch for your project. Basically the length that you could rattle off to a stranger in the span of a short elevator ride. Again, more obnoxious art-business crap that drives me nuts, but I know I ramble and am often obtuse, so this will be a good exercise in general to help me communicate more effectively.
15) Finally track down a bunch of the old 80's and early 90's occult anime movies and OVA's that I have a deep suspicion color my art aesthetic. Not that I think that a quick viewing would prove definitive, but after watching Kemonozume, I have a suspicion that the dark, surreal, disquieting qualities I spent so much of my youth watching my still linger in my sensibilities.
16) Let our friend Rand shoot the portrait of Mel & I that he's wanted to do for some time. He's been a supporter of my work, and has been asking to include a shot of a us in a project of environmental portraits he's been working on.
17) Finish presentation portfolios for the major projects I have in progress. I've been making this work for ages, I need to have it in a form I can show to people!
18) Visit Chinatown. I realized I've never spent any serious time on the walking mall in Chinatown. This is easily remedied, so I just need to convince Mel to venture out with me some time.
1) Learn to cook more Chinese vegitarian food. There is a bevy of good vegetarian food from China's Buddhist tradition, and I should buckle down and add it to my repertoire.
2) Eat more Mackerel and small fish. While Mel has gone primarily vegetarian (perhaps ba-curious, but never the less), I still like meat in very small amounts. Coupled with the fact I actually tend to like the more oily fishes, like Mackerel, and they are vastly more sustainable than large, older fish that eat higher up the food chain, this resolution is merely a matter of going to the Japanese grocery store more often.
3) Go to each of the 4 major Los Angeles art museums at least every two months. LACMA, MOCA, The Getty and the Hammer are the ones on my list to make sure to check out. Perhaps it's MOCA's financial woes that put it on the verge of closing that has made me more sensitive to their existence... even if I don't always like the art or the curatorial choices.
4) Go to at least one gallery opening/closing per month. I hate most gallery parties, since they're so crassly commercial and scene-ster, but I have had lots of good conversations at openings historically, and I do need more exposure to the contemporary art world in L.A. on a professional level, so I just have to get over my dislike and trek out of my studio and grab one of those half-warm cheap beers on occassion.
5) Watch more movies. Or at least figure out why I'm watching less movies. Times change, and rarely watch art/forgein films anymore, which was always a staple of my creative intake for many years...
6) Jog twice a week at least. Three times would be better, but I need to stop "being overwhelmed and busy" and just cut into my schedule two 30-minute blocks of time to run. I feel better about everything when I exercise!
7) Be okay with one simple meal a week. Food, which I love, has become such a stress in some ways, since I try to outdo myself every night. Not only that, but it gets pricey, which makes me (and Mel) more stressed. I need to just get over my hang-ups and make mac and cheese and veggie dogs once a week and be at peace with it.
8) Drink more green tea (and a bit less booze). Speaking of which, I'm going to put a kettle on right now, and get working on this one.
9) Listen to NPR's program "Speaking of Faith" more often. Whatever your personal thoughts on religion, it's prominence both in America locally and across world politics is massive, and I think it would be a boon to spend a few of my minutes a week to listen to the only scholarly, journalistically astute program about religion.
10) Finally get a new camera. I've been putting this off for years, since it is a massive investment, and my fiancees are in shambles (like so many other people), but it has become a major inhibitor in both my artistic and commercial work. I have a digital SLR that was made when I was a freshman in college. And I have a graduate degree now... My parents have talked about some sort of matching loan, so, like so many of my other hang-ups, I just need to take a deep breath and move forward.
11) Hit my mark of one blog entry per week. I didn't do hideous last year, even amidst the chaos of my life crashing and burning on numerous levels, so this is mostly a reminder.
12) Add an online catalog to my web site, and as a corollary, get a few on the mini-books I've been itching to do done. I hate the commercial aspects of art, but if spending a few unpleasant minutes on an addition to my site, or slumming around openings handing out cards, means that I have more resources and time for my work, then I should do it.
13) Spend less money. This is a broad one, but more precisely, be more frugal. Finish what's in the fridge, go out less, go to less expensive places...
14) Practice my various "elevator speeches." For those of you who don't know, an elevator speech is a movie/business term for a 15-20 second pitch for your project. Basically the length that you could rattle off to a stranger in the span of a short elevator ride. Again, more obnoxious art-business crap that drives me nuts, but I know I ramble and am often obtuse, so this will be a good exercise in general to help me communicate more effectively.
15) Finally track down a bunch of the old 80's and early 90's occult anime movies and OVA's that I have a deep suspicion color my art aesthetic. Not that I think that a quick viewing would prove definitive, but after watching Kemonozume, I have a suspicion that the dark, surreal, disquieting qualities I spent so much of my youth watching my still linger in my sensibilities.
16) Let our friend Rand shoot the portrait of Mel & I that he's wanted to do for some time. He's been a supporter of my work, and has been asking to include a shot of a us in a project of environmental portraits he's been working on.
17) Finish presentation portfolios for the major projects I have in progress. I've been making this work for ages, I need to have it in a form I can show to people!
18) Visit Chinatown. I realized I've never spent any serious time on the walking mall in Chinatown. This is easily remedied, so I just need to convince Mel to venture out with me some time.