My productivity plan July 27, 2009

If WordPress was like Tumblr, I would reblog Phil Wells’s entry on his productivity update. I really like this entry. I love that Phil loves to make lists and see his improvement in some sort of tangible way. I am in the process of discovering the things I need to do/need in my life in order to be productive.

The whole month of July and the trip to Texas was extremely refreshing. The work was interesting and fun, and Rory & I laughed pretty much nonstop. It was exciting to find a kind of work that is interesting to me that is not a part of the arts. Maybe you are curious about what I was actually doing there? To sum it up, I helped facilitate events in small towns through Texas to promote a company down there. That’s the short of it.

One thing I absolutely loved was a break from my regular day-to-day life, and my regular day-to-day thought patterns. I was just present in Texas, working, or driving, or brainstorming… (Or having the occasional business meeting at the hotel pool.)

And Magic Week. Glorious, glorious Magic Week. Magic Week was my little week in New York in between trips to Texas, where I had nothing planned. I did something I have been dying to do for a while—took the LIRR to Long Beach all by myself and just enjoyed an afternoon by the water. This is something my artist has been absolutely craving.

I put this Julia Cameron quote up on my door, “If I let my artist do what it wants to do, it will cooperate with me in doing what I NEED it to do.” My artist does not want to sit at a computer and write stuff. It wants to be at the park playing, or having drinks with girlfriends, or riding my bike. But often I’m like—NO. You sit here and get something done so that future me can really enjoy life. The result is generally my artist sulking in a corner and me wasting time on facebook or gmail or seeing what the rest of the world is doing with their lives, instead of fully living mine.

But when I do go to the beach, or the park, or whatever it is that I would prefer to be doing, I end up being very productive & creative later on. Like Magic Week for instance— lots of fun & real relaxation was had, and I have a very full notebook as a result of it.

So my productivity plan? To play more! To go outside more. To go to dinner more. To explore the city, see live music, and spend time with friends. “To do what my artist wants to do so that it will cooperate with me in doing what I need it to do!”

I would like to introduce… July 25, 2009

Road Street Lane!

Rory and I have had so much fun together during our Texas tour that we’re expanding our act beyond the characters of Pembroke and Lu. We are now Road Street Lane, a musical/comedy/video-making duo. There will be more Pembroke and Lu, but there will now be many more characters & songs outside of those two. Stay tuned…

i like dis. July 24, 2009

I think that if it weren’t for denial, I wouldn’t be a comedian. Because to be a comedian, you have to go onstage those first few years and bomb. And you have to walk offstage and think, “That went great!”
Because otherwise, you wouldn’t get onstage the next night—you’d just think, “Human beings don’t like me.”

Mike Birbiglia, hilarity, in This American Life podcast

play ball July 23, 2009

One of the interesting things about this Texas gig is hanging out in small towns for a few days and being a part of the community. A couple of events we’ve done have been at baseball games.

Here’s Rory in San Angelo throwing the opening pitch at their Colts game. Please note the excited hop-skip post throw.

Here I am in Laredo throwing the pitch for the Broncos. Please note the giggle heard by the guy who’s filming it.

What am I doing in the arts? Natural ATHLETE right here!

i like dis. July 20, 2009

“It Never Gets Easier Than Now” to work out, start saving, start your own business or travel!

Every time I hear someone say “I’m too busy” to do something, a little puppy dies and I want to stab myself in the eye with a katana blade. I don’t think people realize how good we have it right now: We’re young, we’re only responsible for ourselves, and we can do basically anything we want. If you think about the responsibilities we’ll have in 20 years–or even 5–you start to appreciate that doing almost anything will never get easier than it is now.

–Ramit Sethi, the I Will Teach You To Be Rich guy

there are plane rides. July 20, 2009

and the sequel…

Working hard for a living. July 20, 2009

The hotel in Laredo is beautiful and feels very Spanish: in both its style and the fact that everyone here speaks Espanol. (We are literally one street away from the Mexican border.)

prickly pears

key limes

mangoes

89 cents!!!

“LIFE! Be in it!” (-Mrs. Rannells) July 15, 2009

Magic week has been excellent.

Yesterday I had lunch with my friend Maia at a little French cafe in Chelsea, Le Granne Cafe. Lots of chatting about being an artist in the city and the general ups & downs of it. One thing that came up was the idea of finding contentment in daily life. At one point she was traveling through Copenhagen doing a show and she thought to herself, “THIS is how my life should be! THIS is what I want in my life!” And she had to stop herself for a moment to say, Wait—This is my life.

I think whether it’s a show, or traveling, or relationship, there’s always a feeling of, “When is this going to end?” And that generally gets in the way of just enjoying the present moment, of being in this group, this relationship, on this particular adventure…

July has been a very fun month. I had a blast doing the job with Rory in Texas (with more to come), and it’s allowed for me to have a non-vacation week with very little work. I like this. I’ve found myself thinking during this week, “THIS is how my life should be!” Lots of time off to go to the beach or movies or out to eat. Well, THIS is my life right now. I am free to simply enjoy it!

The basic idea I’ve gotten from various inner peace dealie books I’ve read is that it all comes down to the present moment: to being fully present in the moment. I am reading The Alchemist right now (as well as The Gift). Here’s something I like that this seer dude says to the camel driver when the camel driver is obsessing over finding out his future:

How do I guess the future? Based on the omens of the present. The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better.

Maia & I were talking about a certain celebrity (who shall remain nameless on this blog) who is just a mess. We’ve both waited on PERSON a number of times and each time, this PERSON is unhappy and anxious and generally a big grump. This PERSON has success beyond what I can fathom but I have rarely seen PERSON smile amidst 1-hour to 2-hour meals.

I think now is the time to find that contentment with life, and the ability to fully enjoy either a day at the beach (though it will end) or a new relationship (though it could just be for a season) or some sort of joy in the survival job. If that’s not something we’ve got now, it’s going to be harder and harder to find it when the bar continues to raise.

a saturday afternoon July 12, 2009

I got a new little camera. I’m learning to use it!

i like dis. July 11, 2009

Your Zodiac Forecast from Jonathan Cainer
Virgo, Saturday, 11 July 2009
Your Week Ahead: Now you have everything you need apart, perhaps, from ‘enough money’. Before you groan and decide that without that, all is hopeless, read on. Money is not what you need. It may represent one ‘obvious way’ to fix a problem but it’s not the only way. Nor is it the most satisfying, effective or desirable. Forget the stuff. Forget too, all the concerns that are associated with it – or with the lack of it. Focus instead, on doing what needs to be done by any other method you have at your disposal. Apply inspiration, imagination and ingenuity and you will find you have something far more useful – and valuable.