Alive and Branching Out

I'm still alive, thankfully, and slowly returning to full volume.

Since I started this blog, the personal artsy blog as a concept seems to be fading away. I guess I should be on Substack or Medium, but I only have so much to say. I used to book review for the Oregonian, then I book reviewed here, then I wrote Goodreads reviews, and then...  Well, I still read, but I'm withholding my opinion.

Writing: Early in the pandemic, I wrote what I thought was a great COVID story, but I couldn't sell it. I also finished a novel -- and then slowly revised it. More to come on this, I hope.

But writing is a lonely task, so I've been branching out to some other arts. In early 2021 -- pre-vaccine for my age category -- I acted in a short film. We took COVID precautions, and all of my shots were outdoors. My main scene got cut, so I ended up appearing in about 0.2 seconds of "You Will See Us," an award-winning horror short, written and directed by my friend Jenn Wolfe.

Then, earlier this month, I acted in a feature-length film, also written and directed by Jenn. It's a small budget film, but not micro-budget. The cast and crew were great -- and the sets looked fantastic. I played a street drunk -- I have no lines, but I make two humorous gestures. I'll post more about this when the film is launched. Now I'm waiting for Hollywood to call.

This year and last year, I also worked on two monumental wood sculptures. It was very fulfilling to be part of a big group project and see it come together. I've also been picking up my sketchpad on occasion, which is gratifying in many ways. I've thought about combining my drawing and writing, but I don't quite have it in me to write a graphic novel or story -- and my illustrating chops aren't quite there. But a person can dream.

I hope to return with more updates without another two+ year interval.