thanks, 2008!!

Success comes to a writer, as a rule, so gradually that it is always something of a shock to him to look back and realize the heights to which he has climbed.
P. G. Wodehouse

Here we are...New Year's Eve. What can I say? It's been a pretty crazy, exciting, eventful year.

I know there are many different camps, if you may, when it comes to New Year's Eve. There are those who think it's an absurd reason to celebrate. There are those who see it as a time to make new resolutions and really attempt to stick to them, focusing on the fact that they haven't in the past. There are those who see it as opportunity to go out drinking. There are those who see it as a sort of catharsis through which they can rid themselves of the past year and begin anew.

Needless to say, I'm not from any of those camps. I think today is a great reason to celebrate, and I don't really drink. Yes, I resolve to accomplish certain things in the new year, but I don't necessarily see them as resolutions, but rather just a continuation of what I've been doing up until this point. Same with the idea of shedding off the past year, this whole notion of starting over - I'm not a fan of such expressions. It's kind of my qualm with the "live every day like it's your last" saying. Why be so negative? Why not live every day like it's your first?

It's all in how you perceive it.

I spend much of today with family, for starters. I also spend quite a bit of time cleaning and organizing my humble abode, yes, as a sort of cleansing and fresh, clutter-free start to the new year. And I also think a good deal about everything good that has happened in the past year and how I can build on everything that has happened thus far. Why think of a new year as starting from the beginning when you've already come so far? Of course, that goes for all of us.

So in that light, and with the hope you'll do the same for yourself, I've compiled some of the noteworthy moments this past year that have contributed to me being who I am right now. And because I'm a dork, I've categorized them...

Writing
- joined a writing group with friends, attended my first SCBWI conference, took 1st and 2nd place spots in two NYC Midnight writing competitions, interviewed Tim Gunn and covered the launch of CityView Racquet Club for Elements, among other articles, interviewed and wrote about several doctors and specialists for the NAVEL Expo magazine, started a tennis blog at racquetgirl.blogspot.com, continued work on my novel, signed on to co-write a medical nutrition book, was a featured speaker on a writing panel at NYIT

Reading
- helped organize my father's book signing at Barnes & Noble for Socrates: A Life Examined, read and became a follower of Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series, became a fan of Neil Gaiman's work, read a lot more in general

Acting
- got my headshots taken, took an on-camera film course, started weekly acting classes, attended my first Actorfest, was cast in St. George Productions' classic radio rendition of A Christmas Carol

Sports
- started tennis lessons again and joined a league, competed in a Genesis Adventures adventure race in Allamuchy, NJ with Alex, completed my scuba diving certification, competed in my second Urbanathlon with Alex in Chicago

School
- continuing my graduate studies at the City University Graduate Center and looking to graduate in the Fall of '09

Travel
- went to Switzerland with parents and younger sister, visited family in Texas, went to Chicago with Alex

Film/Photography
- bought a Canon HDV videocamera, bought a new Canon Powershot digital camera, took more pictures and captured more footage than I even thought was possible in the span of a year, organized more photo albums

And that's just some of the bigger things that I was able to compile based on my blog posts from the past year. It was a great year, a very special one, and one definitely to remember.

I hope all my friends and family out there reading this will do the same as they look back on 2008. We all deserve a moment to breathe, smile, and enjoy what we've worked so hard to achieve.

Happy New Year, guys...see you in 2009!!

vm...coming soon

Writing is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.
- Jules Renard

In a few days, January '09 will be upon us, and VM will be weeks away from being launched. The programming on the website will be completed, and then we'll have to start sending editorial content to the web designers. And while all of that is moving along pretty swiftly, there is still a lot to do, i.e. advertising and business specifics that often come off as so foreign and excessively boring. Fortunately, we have a number of friends and business contacts who are offering us some guidance and direction. Ultimately, it's up to us to put the pieces together and figure it out for ourselves, but as we all know, especially when it comes to the world of art/media/publishing, it's who you know and how you utilize those connections that can make all the difference.

We have about two weeks to make this all happen. Once the magazine launches, it will definitely be a moment to remember, but that, of course, is when the real work begins.

So let's do this...

merry christmas '08

I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.
- Charles Dickens

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!! I hope you are having an amazing holiday season and that you got everything you wanted, needed, and/or thought you deserved in the gift department.

Christmas definitely ranks up there as one of my favorite times of year. Last night was spent with family, this morning was spent with family, tonight I will spend it with future family at Alex's house, and this weekend we'll still be celebrating again with even more family members. The company, the food, the excitement - it all makes the running around and planning you've been doing all season that much more worthwhile.

As per usual with my repertoire of gifts, I focused on the practical as well as the creative. So Cereal-on-the-Go containers, gift cards, sneakers, clothes (you know they want), art portfolios, curly hair-specific shampoo sets, baking pans, wine, and marshmallow shooters (yes, marshmallow shooters) were included in the mix. Then there were the more creative, you-get-this-because-I-really-love-you gifts, like extensive photo albums, pocket photo albums, mat frames, picture frames, restored pictures, pictures you forgot were taken of you, and pictures you've always wanted to print and frame. Pretty much, if it has to do with photos, I probably gave it to you.

The gifts I received, in turn, were equally as thoughtful, including the most comfortable pajamas, silver bracelets, pen sets, a business card holder, Sour Patch Kids, a photo album to fill, three cookie sheets, two cooking pans, one crepe mix, a cool storage bin, a collection of Neil Gaiman books (like The Graveyard Book!!), a makeup bag, an assortment of lotions and shampoos, and mony, to name just a few. But perhaps the most touching of all my gifts came from somebody who, knowing me so well, also gave me bandaids, Neutrogena hand cream, and little hand sanitizer dispensers. My little sister made a collage of the two of us and all the inside jokes and moments (or as many of them she could fit) we have been fortunate enough to share. It's really quite awesome, and frame it I will.

So yes, a very Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night =)

in medias res

A sweet thing, perspective - a chance to see your enemies so small.
- Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

The past two months have been quite the whirlwind.

As many of you already know, I resigned my position as writer and editor at Elements magazine back at the end of October. After three fantastic years working there, I felt it was time to move on, specifically to focus all my efforts on my own writing, launching VM, finishing graduate school, and pursuing my acting. I'm happy to report that since then, I have been doing just that.

We've diligently been working on getting everything ready for VM's launch, I'm resuming my graduate studies in the spring, I've been taking acting classes for the past two months and performing in a theatre production, and I've been continuing my freelance writing. I've also picked up another project - co-authoring a medical nutrition book with an autobiographical focus. I finished the chapter outline and synopsis this past weekend. Now a book such as this presents a few challenges. The first is that it's about medical nutrition, and while I have experience with all the NAVEL Expo articles I've written, I am delving into a pretty complex field not my own. Second, it's autobiographical in part, and the life story we're following is not my own, meaning that I have to figure out how to write in someone else's voice, telling his story, while also keeping my own voice and style as a writer. A fine line to walk, indeed.

And in the midst of all this craziness, my website and blog are being redesigned, by the talented guys at digitalsoul designs. When all is finalized, two shall become one, and I will be a blog and a website closer to becoming greater than Neil Gaiman.

Now if I could only be wittier...

a christmas carol

I write plays because dialogue is the most respectable way of contradicting myself.
- Tom Stoppard

For the past several months I have been working with St. George Productions on a staged, classic radio rendition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, part of the company's Dickens Festival. Last month we did two performances in eastern Long Island at the Smithtown Historical Society, and just this past weekend we performed at Georgian Court University in Lakewood, NJ...only this time we did 18 shows, give or take a couple.

It was an absolute blast. We arrived Friday night and got situated in our home for the weekend - George Jay Gould and family's country estate mansion (their second residence), built in 1896. Beautifully preserved by the Sisters of Mercy, who inherited the estate after George Gould's death, it was like stepping back in time for a few nights. And for someone who has covered some of Long Island's historic estates and coordinated fashion shoots in several others, it was a real pleasure for me to see a remnant of the Gilded Age preserved so wonderfully. Plus, we got to stay in it, and I don't think I'll be saying that anytime soon about the Phipps mansion at Old Westbury Gardens. Not that I wouldn't want to, just that it might be illegal.

Here are some pictures from the weekend -

impromptu book corner

Never let inexperience get in the way of ambition.
- Terry Josephson

I think it's safe to say that I watch more movies then read books, but it's not because I'm a slacker, it's just that I'm passionate about both, and when you spend so much time writing (or staring at a computer screen attempting to write), it's sometimes much easier to kick back and watch a movie then engross yourself in more words on a page.

But with everything that's going on, since the last Fablehaven book I read, I have managed to finish two others -

Good to Great, by Jim Collins

This book is a must, especially considering the economic times and what we're seeing happen to businesses, specifically the big ones, right now. The subtitle is telling: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't. It's essentially a book about business, but as with so many things that are timeless, it's really a piece of research literature that speaks about life and what separates mediocrity from excellence.

In answer to his bestseller before this one, Built to Last, Jim Collins and his research team embarked on a five-year mission to figure out what it takes for a so-so company to become amazing. For comparison purposes, they created a set of rigorous criteria, and after combing through an unbelievable amount of companies, they came up with only eleven that fit the Good to Great model. The resulting findings delineated in the book are just fantastic. From leadership to discipline to attitude, through studies, interviews, and anecdotes, Collins finds that what it takes to become excellent isn't all that difficult, but it's the rigor with which these components were applied that launched these eleven companies to greatness. And surprise, surprise, what companies continue to do -like lavishly waste money on bonuses and private jets, bringing in big celebrity CEOs to reinvigorate the company, making a lot of noise about new initiatives and launches, diversifying too much without becoming excellent at anything - is the exact opposite of what needs to be done. It's all about consistently pushing the flywheel, letting results speak for themselves, and maintaining a certain level of humility through it all.

The book is a must. Every time you hear about these businesses that are asking for money, falling behind, giving excuse after excuse for shortcomings and mismanagement, you will think of Good to Great. I even want to know what Collins thinks about everything going on right now, especially considering that in the book he makes the crucial point that at no time can a company stop applying all the components of the Good to Great method. Do that, and the fall from greatness will be quick and the demise swift...unless you can get billions of dollars to help cling from the edge a little while longer.

The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz

Okay, so this one didn't exactly come out yesterday, but to whoever picks it up for the first time, it's a breath of fresh air. Considering that the book's subtitle is A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book, you might get the impression it's one of "those" books, the kind that you have to roll your eyes when you see someone reading, but it's completely not. Based on the knowledge and teachings of his Toltec ancestors, Don Miguel Ruiz presents the reader with four agreements to help live a better, more productive, fuller life. And it's nothing that we haven't heard before, necessarily, or that we shouldn't realize as true the moment we hear it verbalized. But in this book, so unbelievably simple in language and small in size (I read it in a few train rides to the city), it's all laid out so clearly. It leaves you thinking...of course it reads so easily because the lessons really are that simple. Try to apply the lessons, however, and that's when the complexities arise. The solution? Simplify, simplify, simplify your life. Don't hold on to grudges, to guilt, to regret, to anger. Give yourself more credit. Realize the potential you have to make everything okay. Live life today.

Ready for the agreements? Real simple:

1) Be impeccable with your word.
2) Don't take anything personally.
3) Don't make assumptions.
4) Always do your best.

So now that you know them, why read the book, right? Just trust me on this one. And when you're done reading it, you'll want to hold onto it, for when you need to be reminded again.