2009 Art Goals List
I've had a few people ask me what my goals were for this year (in reference to my goal list from last year, here) and I had to be honest: I haven't done it yet.
Now seems as good a time as any.
Last year's list had failure built into it. I sometimes do that so that I push myself harder to really overcome the impossibility of it, or to help me re-define my standards. I COULD have completed that list, but there would have been a lot of junk out there with my name on it and I'm not in that space yet. Not that that excuses what I didn't finish: there were things on there I could have completed if I'd committed myself to them more.
This year I'm not doing that. I'm going to set a list of goals that I plan to complete by the end of the year. That's my first goal.
It would be easy to develop the list out of all of the things I didn't accomplish in 2008, but that's weak. Some of it I'll port over, but I want some fresh challenges on there, since I'm working harder at everything right now.
So my list for 2009 as of right now is:
1) Do the mile-long poem event.
2) Release "Best of" poetry CD.
3) Release "Watering Hole: Juke Joint Poems" CD.
4) Put on first solo art show.
5) Complete legit first draft of "Gospel of Smoke" novel.
6) Do a live breath show.
7) DJ in 3 new spaces.
8) Pick up 5 publishing credits.
9) Write a new screenplay.
10) Release a new music CD (artist undetermined. Suggestions?).
I like this list. It's a muscular list, a tight list, a serious list. It doesn't have some of the whining last year's list had. It doesn't have stuff on there I was going to do anyway (like the 24-hour feature or the Rust Belt). This is a list of stuff that I'll have to work at, but contains the right balance of challenge and reward. It tests all of my talents. It feels right.
And even at one-third the length of last year's list, it's still longer than your list, ya' bum.
Now seems as good a time as any.
Last year's list had failure built into it. I sometimes do that so that I push myself harder to really overcome the impossibility of it, or to help me re-define my standards. I COULD have completed that list, but there would have been a lot of junk out there with my name on it and I'm not in that space yet. Not that that excuses what I didn't finish: there were things on there I could have completed if I'd committed myself to them more.
This year I'm not doing that. I'm going to set a list of goals that I plan to complete by the end of the year. That's my first goal.
It would be easy to develop the list out of all of the things I didn't accomplish in 2008, but that's weak. Some of it I'll port over, but I want some fresh challenges on there, since I'm working harder at everything right now.
So my list for 2009 as of right now is:
1) Do the mile-long poem event.
2) Release "Best of" poetry CD.
3) Release "Watering Hole: Juke Joint Poems" CD.
4) Put on first solo art show.
5) Complete legit first draft of "Gospel of Smoke" novel.
6) Do a live breath show.
7) DJ in 3 new spaces.
8) Pick up 5 publishing credits.
9) Write a new screenplay.
10) Release a new music CD (artist undetermined. Suggestions?).
I like this list. It's a muscular list, a tight list, a serious list. It doesn't have some of the whining last year's list had. It doesn't have stuff on there I was going to do anyway (like the 24-hour feature or the Rust Belt). This is a list of stuff that I'll have to work at, but contains the right balance of challenge and reward. It tests all of my talents. It feels right.
And even at one-third the length of last year's list, it's still longer than your list, ya' bum.