punch in your code and press the start button

So lately I've been eating, breathing, and sleeping The D-Pad.  With two and a half months to go, it's really starting to get some momentum.  Had a meeting last night with Al, Steve, and Vogel along with Selig, who'll be cohosting with me and Bebel (who was not present).  Went well, got a lot of the details hammered out, talked out a bunch of ideas, and it looks like everyone's on-board.  We're still on-target for our April 3 launch, a debut episode with Al, Steve, and Vogel as our guests.  And as far as guests go, we've already got 15 people lined up, good for at least 12 episodes.  And the list includes a pretty good breadth of talent and social scenes, one in particular (which I'm keeping under wraps for now) which could quite literally explode our audience.  Like, I'm a little nervous about it if for no other reason than wanting to be ready for tens of thousands of people to be tuning in.  Pumped.  Very.  Oh yes.

Working on a trailer, which we'll hopefully have ready by the time the PodSmiths network and websites launch in February.  Also starting a Kickstarter project tomorrow, for the Zoom 4Hn recorders.  I'm saving up the cash for it myself, but if folks donate enough to purchase them it would help us put more focus into the actual material, which would give us a huge leg up in the early game.

I am hoping this takes off, though.  Got big dreams for it, and it's just a matter of pushing it hard and seeing where it goes.

Let's-a go!
  rickie-d

and eleven gives you chills up your spine

Well it's a new year, and that means just one thing: resolutions.  So I thought I'd try and rustle up my best 11 resolutions for 2011.

1. Attend the taping of a television show.  Done.  Went today, actually, to go and see The Daily Show out in New York.  And it was... awesome.  Definitely going to make another trip out there again!

2. Start my own podcast.  Already starting on that one.  The D-Pad is launching in April, and I've already got over half a dozen guests lined up.  It's gonna be pretty excellent.

3. Lose 50 pounds.  And keep it off.  I've started to change my diet and exercise habits, working on doing some more to change things around.  Been saving up a bit to get an exercise bike, gonna get some new sneakers that aren't falling apart so I can do some walking/jogging/etc.  But basically I want to get myself under 200 lbs.  Let's see how that goes.

4. Land a $20/hr or higher job.  Right now I make $13.50 an hour.  It's a job, which is nice.  But I need to make more money if I want to crack into my college loans (now looking in the vicinity of $270k), and if I want to pay rent and not worry about if I can eat today.  Taking a look into a few possible opportunities, we'll see how it pans out, but at least for this year, my goal is $20.

5. Start/maintain a relationship that doesn't crash and burn before it starts.  Sad to say, I've built up some unfortunate reputations in my time at WPI.  Among other things, I have a reputation for relationships that disintegrate before they really get off the ground.  In 2010, I wound up doing that twice.  So needless to say, trying to make some changes there too.

6. Pay off all my non-college loan debts.  Pretty cut-and-dry, I have some old debt to deal with.  Gonna deal with that before the end of the year.  Sonner rather than later.

7. Successfully publish and/or pitch Crusaders.  Been working on it a while, and if I can clean it up and solidify it, I want to either publish it or pitch it and possibly make some cash in the process.  Probably looking to be in at least 10 parts right now, we'll see where it goes.

8. Perform regular standup/improv acts in the Worcester/Boston areas.  I need to freshen up in a big way and come up with some better, newer material, but I absolutely want to get back into standup and improv.  Gonna take a lot of work to get my chops back.

9. Become proficient enough at guitar/bass to actually jam now and then.  Been practicing a lot more lately, but I can do better.  Ultimately, I want to get good enough that I can at least mess around and have it sound... well, okayish.

10. Get a bartending license.  Pretty straightforward, I wanted to do this over the summer, but I ran out of time and money to get it done.  Honestly, I would fucking love to tend bar somewhere.  My grandfather actually owned a bar forever ago (he was actually a radio jockey too, funnily enough).

11. See Hollywood.  And leave the Western Hemisphere.  Sounds a little simple, but I've never been west of Austin, TX, and I've never left North America.  I want to see Hollywood because I want to get an idea as to just what the town is like, and I want to visit another country over the Atlantic.  England, France, Greece, anything would be excellent.

Well there you go.  My big resolutions for 2011.  In an excellent world, I can land all 11, but let's take it one at a time.

Turn and face the strange, ch-ch-changes,

  rickie-d

so this is the new year

Well, 2010 is over, and 2011 is upon us.  It's been... a rough year.

I got my second play, The Party Train, published in New Voices 28, and at the end of 2010 I was chosen to be a selecting dramaturg for the third time in a row, this time as an alumnus selecting plays for New Voices 29.  Graduated from WPI with a bachelor's degree in drama and theatre.  Command & Conquer 3: The Forgotten was released, and my big mug wound up on the front pages of Joystiq and Kotaku for a day.  Two monstrous romantic failures, the passing of my last grandparent, and the real world dropkicking me into submission highlighted the later months.  I got a job that has me working well into the night, at the cost of my sanity and my social life.

But I'm excited about 2011.  Lots of potential.  I announced recently on the New Year's episode of Open Lounge that I'll be starting my own podcast called The D-Pad in April.  Somewhere in the vicinity of a variety show, I want to use my passion for video games, movies, music, and all things entertainment to bring it to life.  It's definitely sort of an experiment, we'll see how it goes.

Short update, I know, but I haven't really been sleeping well lately, and it's been difficult to focus on this stuff. Lots going on.  Should have a better update next week, we shall see.

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
  rickie-d