Austin Improv

2009 sucked.

2010 can only be better.

Here are some of the goals that are going to make it better:

1. Get out of credit card debt.

2. Get my own wheels, either a scooter and/or a car.

3. Help The Institution Theater get a space.

4. Write another book. (currently working with Karen Wight, my partner in Imp on a book on Physical Improv which will most likely have an accompanying DVD).

5. Relaunch and maintain YESand.com.

6. Cooking classes.

7. Direct my first play.

8. Shoot the pilot for Vinyl Destination.

9. Finish my screenplay/graphic novel.

10. Figure out if that story idea is a screenplay or a graphic novel.

Of course, there are also things like Find Love, but that is not necessarily under my control, so it's not on the list.

What about you guys?

2009 was great, so 2010 can only be better!

Goals:

1. Continue to travel for improv: Seattle, Toronto, Minneapolis are all on the list. Meet more awesome people, make more connections, find more opportunities to travel.

2. Continue to develop new and exciting shows with pgraph and with the hideout. We have something very fun in the works for early 2010. Stay tuned.

3. Get rid of more excess possesions, including my cello. Would anyone like to buy a very nice cello?

4. Start making more things and get a store on etsy going.

5. Spend more time making things in general, especially sewing and knitting, which have fallen by the wayside.

6. Maintain good eating and organization habits.

7. Turn 28.

8. Maintain, nourish, and grow personal relationships.

9. Accept.

10. Quit my job and travel the US for a couple of months. Trust in the universe.

Mostly a theme of making things even better, following through on the good things I have going, and discovering more good things. With a few bold risks thrown in for good measure.

2009 was interesting
2010 I would also like to be interesting

1) Open a theater
2) Move into a studio apartment of my own
3) Spend time with the boy I like
4) Travel to more states
5) Spend time with my nieces and nephews

valetoile wrote:...
3. Get rid of more excess possesions, including my cello. Would anyone like to buy a very nice cello?
...

Nooooooooo! Keep the cello! How many people can (honestly) say that they play the cello, much less have one? A nice one! I still have the common, boring ol' tenor sax that I played from my junior high through my Longhorn Band days. Granted, I haven't played it in 30 years, but I might some day. On a bet. I only wish it was as cool as a cello.

Oddly, as I think about this, all of my goals can be distilled down to one very strange-sounding one:

- Be more selfish.

1) industry networking
2) finish "Toad Spell"
3) get fit

Continue to be present and thankful for what I've got.

I feel like I did a lot of blah blah blah in 2009, so the general goal in 2010 is to have a bias towards action. With that in mind...

Personal
- Run a marathon
- Cook more, drink less, live healthy
- Travel to someplace new
- Take more risks – be more vulnerable

Professional
- Stay employed but change it up
- Apply to and get into a top-tier grad school
- Add two more professional certifications.

Arts
- Get back to studying/performing improv in addition to work with the Hideout
- Pull off a successful event at the Long Center with Keith Johnstone
- Pull off a successful Leadership Austin class day on the Arts in Austin
- Exhibit my photographs...or at least get a web-site up. Keep practicing, learning and innovating.
- Follow through on a commission of a new piece of organ music written in honor of my father
- Curate and publish an album of contemporary organ music including concert premiere (multi-year project)

Civic/Community
- Complete Warehouse District Preservation initiative
- Research and write a book on the history of Austin Parks with proceeds going to the Austin Parks Foundation
- Find new homes for the two Moonlight Towers that are currently in storage
- Get a site-specific plan in place for Wooldridge Square by the end of its centennial year (June)
- Organize a volunteer work day in Wooldrdige Square and a Park(ing) day installation
- Lead the Downtown Commission to research, write and disseminate a white paper on best practices for the city-owned parking enterprises
- Re-brand the convention center district as the Railyard District
- Continue to grow my hair out for a donation, even though it's past the comfort zone of both me and my ex-marine boss (multi-year project)
- Break my no solicitation rule and raise money for a cause I really fucking believe in (finding said cause is implied).

Similar to Kareem's, but broken into two distinct steps:

- Ruthlessly excise from my life things that are not either useful or beautiful - or both.
- Create awesomeness for myself and others on a more consistent basis.

Simplify, regroup, explode.

kbadr wrote:Oddly, as I think about this, all of my goals can be distilled down to one very strange-sounding one:

- Be more selfish.

Or enlarge your idea of what being unselfish means.

Three main goals.

1. Get Things Done.
2. Get out of debt.
3. Lose 50 pounds.

It's also a new decade, so you can have new decade goals too.

I'm still putting together my list, I'll try to remember to share some of them here.

Roy Janik wrote: 3. Lose 50 pounds.

WTF? This is terrifying, and unnecessary. 20 would be pushing it, but at least it wouldn't make me fear for your health and well-being.

majcher wrote: - Ruthlessly excise from my life things that are not either useful or beautiful - or both.

This assumes an ability to immediately determine what's useful and beautiful. In my experience both of these sometimes take years to reveal themselves.

2009 was ok.
2010 will be ok, too.

Goals:
-Finish fixing up/redecorating my teeth.
-Finish a music album.
-Put on three Spaztique Explosive concerts.
-Finish a book.
-Get in shape.
-Get the hell out of ACC.
-Improv my ability to speak Japanese.
-Start learning Spanish.

and, above all else,

-Get in or start a narrative longform improv troupe.

I'm going to try and get less done this year. I almost got too much done and had less fun than I should have.

NO GOALS in `10!!!!!