Heading to Bolivia January 6th 2011 - A Financial Summary

I'm heading to Bolivia with just over $800 in my bank account, about $5,000 in credit card debt, spread over 3 cards and no scheduled [paid] work in 2011. I think I have $2,200 in payment owed for some videos I directed in December 2010, so all hope isn't lost, but I have to come up with $1,000 each month to cover my student loans and car payment, so basically, if that money doesn't come through, I wont be able to pay my bills in January.

My mom came over and handed me a note the day before Christmas (I'm 27 and currently living in my parents house, you see), that said that I owed her $3,952 for my car insurance, cell phone and health insurance from 2010 and I still owed the same amount from 2009. So on top of credit card debt, I'm in debt to my mom for the total of $8,000. I still owe around $50,000 on my TCU tuition (graduated in 2004), after paying $600 each month for the last 5 years.

Once again, no resolutions here. I'm a servant of God and I work hard. Although life has been tough, I can still look back, and look at the present, and feel undeservedly blessed. Life has been and will continue to be awesome until my dying breath. I believe that and I live that way.

I do hope to one day make a surplus, but even that, I will give away.

Not A Resolution, A Fact

I'm going to increase my blog and web presence in 2011. I miss it and good things came from it when I was really active 2006-2009. Comin' back atchoo. Atchoo? Bless me.

Summer Travel And Corporate Video Directing

This summer has been good for freelance corporate video directing and shooting. By the end of the summer, I'll have spent a good chunk in downtown San Francisco. Last month I directed a corporate video at Disney World in Orlando (and it was one of the most difficult shoots of my life). Cole and I took a vacation to San Francisco last week and stayed in a hostel, then we drove up the PCH, stayed in bed and breakfasts and visited the Redwood National Forest. Then last night, Ben and I saw Paul McCartney at the San Francisco baseball stadium. Next week I fly to Pittsburgh to shoot an interview with the legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, then I'll take a jaunt back to DFW for a week and then head back out to San Francisco to shoot apartment commercials for the rest of August. It's been a very good summer. I love the summer. I love life. Thank you Jesus.

From A La Quinta In Sacramento

I'm laying on a double bed, propped against the backboard with three pillows behind my back. I'm slouching, creeping ever-closer to laying down. My eyelids are at half-mast. I'm still covered in sunscreen and I'm dreading the thought of falling asleep before taking a shower. I'm here shooting commercials for apartment complexes - a gig that has been very good to me over the last two years. Motels are lonely. I really don't like them, although the more days I stay here, the more at home I feel, and the better I sleep. Two more days of shooting and then I'm released on a vacation with Cole. We'll be staying in a hostel in downtown San Francisco for 3 days, watching fireworks over the bay on July 4th, and then driving up the coast for 3 days, to see the Redwoods and sleep in B&Bs. I'm very excited and I still can't believe God has been so gracious, to let me continue to live this life, to continue to feel so young and to be so happy.

Studying Cinema On Netflix Instant Watch

I've been watching films lately like it's my job. In a sense, it is my job. There is a certain kind of film that I'm fascinated by, it's one that I come back to again and again. It can be summed up essentially as "man in the wilderness." Although, that "man" can also be a female. Some of my favorite films in this genre are:

The Beach

Castaway

Empire of The Sun

Right now I'm watching a film from 1971 called "Walkabout." It's about a brother and sister who get stranded in the Australian outback and have to survive on their own. I desperately want to make a movie like this.

An Imperfect Beginning

I started my blog Deliberate Industries while working at my first job at a post house called Mad River Post in 2005. I worked in the tape vault and things were often slow, so I wrote a lot, sometimes three posts a day. I never really wanted the blog to be a personal journal - I felt that I had something to say and I was just waiting for my audience to arrive...they never really did.

But I just kept at it.

Writing on my blog has been a fantastic excercise and I've fallen out of practice lately. So I'm finally jumping back in with this new and improved personal, daily journal.

I can't believe that over the past 5 years, Blogspot (what was originally eblogger) has changed so little. On one hand, I enjoy the intuitive design, on the other, platforms like WordPress is far superior. Nonetheless, this is where I started and this is where I will continue. For now.