I've been a fan of This American Life (no, not my American life--I'm talking about the show) for years now. It is one of the few works of media that remains undiminished in its capacity to enrich its audience, despite the sheer size and nature of that audience. Ira Glass, the show's creator, has managed to preserve its whole integrity. As an artist and a reporter, as a thinker and a contributor to the world of media, specifically to radio, he is unsurpassed.
You have to trust a man with a desk in the mountains.
I say all this by way of introduction, because what follows is a quote that has earned its trip around the Internet. I'm not much for quotes, typically. Too often they're mis-attributed, or you don't know enough about who said it to make any difference. But if anyone is qualified to make this case, it is Ira Glass:
A friend and fellow screenwriter (one of my peers at BU) shared this on Facebook, and I was sufficiently impressed to want to spend more than a follow-up comment on it. Perhaps I'll better remember it now that I've dedicated a whole blog post to it.
I've spent a good part of the last four months feeling crappy about my work. I decided after reading this that that's good enough. I've had my fill of humble pie. It's time to dig in and, as Ira suggests, "do a lot of work." I can look at my writing, at my efforts and sweat and blood, and I can say, "This isn't very good." And then, instead of whining about it, I can say OK, and push it aside, and get back to work.
Today, I let my inner-office nerd have full reign.
To start, a really, really cool stop-motion advertisement:
Are you a pen person? Do you get unreasonably excited when you discover the next "perfect" writing utensil? It's OK. I've discovered that there are a lot of us. And I have good news: I recently discovered the perfect pen:
Of course, it depends on what kind of pen you prefer, but if you're all about ultra-fine tip gel pens that don't smear a split second after the ink hits the paper, then I can safely say I know of no better alternative. You can get 3 for 5 bucks on Amazon. You're welcome.
Speaking of best things, when I ordered my last set of business cards, I went a little psycho looking for the best place to get them. After a whole lot of research (and an embarrassing amount of time), I came to the conclusion that OvernightPrints was it. I should probably qualify that by acknowledging that there are much, much more expensive options that will probably deliver much sexier products, but when it comes to quality/price ratios, OvernightPrints wins.
Here's why I've been thinking about business cards: I'm getting new ones! I spent a good portion of yesterday and today designing what will become the spine of my self-branding, and here is the sum of my work:
Option 1
Option 2
Option 3
As you can see, I'm struggling to decide how exactly to design the back. I need you. This is the moment you've been waiting for. Please vote on which option you think is most awesome. And feel free to elaborate if you'd like.
Also, is there a pen you adore, that you'd like to share abroad with songs of wonder and praise? Put that in the comments, too.
Sorry about last week. Not REALLY sorry, but a little sorry.
I have ten minutes to write this post.
Also, here's a funny New Year's video:
I learned something about goals. There's a sweet spot, between too- and not ambitious enough. I set a goal to write for six hours every day of the three weeks I have in Utah. That has manifested itself thusly: I have written for an average of 2 to 3 hours every day since I got here.
That could be considered a disappointing failure, but how helpful would that be? Also, not accurate. So I haven't been writing for six hours. Guess what I have done--written a lot. I've made a lot of progress on two feature ideas. The act of writing has started to become habitual. I'm not there yet, but I'm getting close. The trick is that six hours sounded like a reasonable goal, so I got up every day with renewed determination to meet it. If I had set the goal higher, I would have ignored it completely. If I had set it lower, I would have procrastinated to the point that I got much less writing done.
This is helpful in considering resolutions. In 2012, I want to be better about managing my time and diligently working toward the eventual fulfillment of my dreams than I did in 2011. In short, 2011 was great, 2012 will be better.
That's the overarching theme of my life. In a consistant effort to make today better than yesterday, each year ends up being better than the last. It's sure I don't always succeed in making every single day better, but the effort is what counts, the never letting up. The specifics will change constantly, but the idea is always the same. It's about movement, progress, growth.
Onward and upward. 2012, despite what Roland Emmerich might say, is really nothing more or less than one more year. And that's...well, it's pretty great.
Plenty of people play at it, some more successfully than others, but at the end of the every year, Christmas reminds us, quietly but firmly, that when it comes to the almighty 'stache...
No one beats Santa.
A warning: don't end with this first video (thanks Colleen).
A couple of years ago, before she left on her mission to Rome, Lauren Laws and I threw a party called... "Lauren Laws Presents a Jordan Petersen Christmas Extravaganza." It was legendary (5 points for the reference!) At one point, when the party had settled into festive dancing, we made a stupid little video. It's really, really dumb, but I really, really want to post it. If you see yourself in it, or know someone who is, comment! Let us be nostalgic together. After all, it was a golden era at BYU, now gone forever, but we'll have our lovely memories. And this remarkably stupid video:
Generally, I haven't been very enthusiastic about this channel (another Utah comedy thing), but this one got a little audible chuckle out of me, so...here you go! (skip this one if you're short on time)
Solid gift-giving advice:
I watched this year's Orabrush Christmas Special, and then decided I liked last year's better. It starts off a bit corny, but give it a minute and it turns into a pretty clever little satire:
Perhaps the best holiday arrangement of the year, Miranda's seasonal offering is at least six kinds of wonderful (can you count all six?):
OK, lest you come to the reasonable conclusion that I do not take Christmas seriously at all, I shall here introduce a tone of sobriety. First off, here is a link to the LDS Church's new "Bible Videos." I've been hearing about these productions for years now, so it's exciting to see them finally out and floating. All of the six that have so far been released (all under five minutes) are about the birth of Christ. Having seen them all, I can safely recommend that you check them out.
And, lastly, a really beautiful music video that I just discovered a few days ago. It's a song from one of the albums I mentioned in Monday's post, and the video came out in 2008.
Merry Christmas, everyone. May this weekend be whatever you most need it to be.
*****
UPDATE: If this had been posted when I was writing this post, I would most certainly have included it. Here's to hoping The Angel Murkurker gets back up and running next year.
Already you know (because I've said it forthrightly) that I love Christmas. This is at least in part because I love winter, in general. Every year, I go a little crazy about hot chocolate. I'm on this constant search for the perfect cup of cocoa, and I've found some great candidates.
But there's no better way to get the perfect cocoa than to make it yourself.
Today, I will share with you a recipe I created, which I have lovingly called:
Hot Chocolate FTW:
(makes 6-7 cups)
5 c. milk
1 c. 1/2 & 1/2
2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar (dark)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
Cayenne pepper (to taste)
1/4 tsp. salt
Combine ingredients in pot, wet first, then dry, heat to simmer, but do not boil. Stir constantly until ready to serve.
This recipe makes extremely rich, dark hot chocolate. Obviously, the better the quality of cocoa powder, the better the end product. This is a huge departure from any instant mix you may have tried, so beware. It's excellent, but people aren't used to hot chocolate that means business.
There are two perfect activities to combine with the consumption of hot chocolate: hanging out with people you love and watching movies. In fact, I devoted an entire article to excellent Christmas movies/specials for Rhombus Magazine. I don't write for them anymore, and in fact I think that the magazine has stopped updating entirely, but you can still find that article here - Christmas Watchlist (original title). I even specifically mentioned that perfect trifecta at the end (yes, I'm quoting myself):
It’s cold outside. Regardless of whether or not you have any interest in any of the titles I just listed, you will have wasted the season if you don’t spend a significant portion of it enjoying some great Christmas films with some hot chocolate and some great friends and family.
Sure it's wretchedly over-commercialized by corporations eager to fan the flames of unbridled consumerism, but that doesn't come from nowhere. As the indisputable king of all holidays, "the most wonderful time of the year" is an easy target for exploitation. So instead of bemoaning the nauseating frenzy of greed that threatens every year to totally overwhelm what is most often referred to as the "spirit of Christmas," let's focus on that spirit, and enjoy what it motivates.
And boy is there a lot of that to go around. I'm not much of a gift-giver, but I'm absolutely a sharer. To that end, I've decided to devote this whole week to sharing Christmas stuff I love. Much or most of the stuff I share won't have anything to do with film studenting, but I figure since I'm on break, so should the blog be. And this week, I care much more about Christmas than I do about being a film student. To start, here's this:
Since this mix is just a sampling, here is a list of my current favorite Christmas albums (linked to their respective Amazon pages for your convenience), from which I pulled most of the songs on the mix:
I also really dig the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas albums, and a lot of classics. But I find myself spending the most time on the stuff I listed above. After all, I figure I'll get exposed to all the classics in grocery stores and at home with family.
I'm always on the lookout for excellent new Christmas music. Do you have suggestions? What are your favorite Christmas songs and albums? Share them in the comments, for the joy of all (mostly me)!
*****
This first annual 2190 Christmas Extravaganza! will continue this coming Wednesday, and conclude on Friday. There will be three posts total, and, just like all the best gifts, the content of the remaining two posts will be a surprise.
Today I started outlining a feature I wrote two years ago. It's a script called "Abominable." It's about a boy who turns into a yeti.
I found this picture on the Internet
Before you laugh--OK, go ahead and laugh for a little bit. I want you to.
Anyway, the idea wasn't originally mine. It was this guy who wanted to have someone write a script about this concept. I thought why not. I wanted to write a feature anyway, and I needed the practice. Long story short, I ended up getting pretty into it, and I think I managed to come up with a decent story about a pretty absurd thing.
I didn't realize, before I started, that the simple exercise of outlining this thing would actually help me work out some problems that ultimately frustrated me to the point of dropping the thing two years ago. Turns out that outlining is helpful.
There's my student thought for the day.
Now, a Little Dignity:
For the record (if by "record," I mean this blog, then that phrase ends up dissolving into meaninglessness), I wanted to do a Friday 'Stache today, but didn't have time to collect a good set to post. However, I'm working on a pretty rockin Christmas post. Expect cool schnauz, startling generosity, and a whole lot of strong opinions, as always. This promised post will either appear on Wednesday or Friday. I haven't quite decided.
Now, I shall ready for my holiday, which will consist primarily of an intensive writing regiment I designed for myself in order to finish the first draft of a new feature and...other writing junk. I've committed to six hours per day during break. Perfectly reasonable.
Also, since this is an "Expert Film Student" blog, I shall wish you happy academic completions. Hooray!
