Sleeping In Pursuit Of Happiness And A Project Or Two

Okay, I actually haven't been sleeping, but that's a big dream of mine.  As is happiness.  I have been absent from this blog for awhile though.  This was an unintentional, yet welcome break for me that's allowed me to focus on a few other things.  Life has been rather busy. What, you may ask, have I been doing??!!

Work, lots of work.  For months it was literally all I did.  I've worked on several movies back-to-back. None of them are in theatres yet, but they will be soon.  One premiered at Cannes, directed by a filmmaker most people would know (Woody Allen.) Two films were period pieces and one is a quasi-sci-fi, not-too-far-in-the-distant-future thing.  All the time travel at work has made the contemporary world rather boring.  Odds are, my next project will be present day. This almost makes me sad.  We'll see...

 Apart from that, I'm finally getting to a place where I feel like I'm accomplishing some goals I set for myself long ago.  I still feel like an outsider alot of the time, but instead of letting this work against me,  I now "own" my awkwardness.  Sometimes, it puts me at a great advantage.  After all, outsiders tend to be more observant and are also often highly creative since we see the world in ways others don't.

I've put more time and energy into my writing.  Primarily I've been focusing on short stories, but I'm also currently working on a screenplay with a co-writer.  Rejection notices have become my friends, but lately I've gotten a few more of these neon green ACCEPTANCE notifications.  They're like little green monsters I'd be inclined to ghost-bust if I wasn't so happy to see them.  [Among those publications who have most recently published my work are Chicago Literati, The Gambler Magazine, Dual Coast Magazine, and The Grief Diaries. ]

It's very easy to let show biz suck every morsel of my life, but I've tried really hard to maintain a sense of work-life balance.  There are other things I'd like to do with my life.  The work-balance thing is a constant struggle.  These days, it's become a goal unto itself.  Like happiness...

Besides my own writing, I read a lot.  This has always been the case. Even if I'm working and I have a 4AM call time, I'll get up early to have coffee, read the paper or snag a few moments with a good book.  I just finished The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  Before that, it was Why (Not) Me by Mindy Kaling.  Now, it's Judd Apatow's Sick In The Head: Conversations About Life And Comedy.

WHAT ELSE HAVE I BEEN DOING?

- Bought a laminator (!!!) for work but ALSO to exercise my creativity and make my hand-designed greeting cards look even more professional. 
-Purchased my first major appliance!  A jet-black, General Electric Refrigerator.  (The old one, gifted to me by a neighbor 15 years ago, finally gave out.)
-Dated a bit here and there, mostly there.  I'm so confused.  It's always confusing, isn't it??!!
-Grabbing the mike at stand-up comedy open-mic nights.  (Might as well entertain people with my awkward weirdness...)
-Going to all the doctor appointments I've been putting off.
-Watching movies, TV, documentaries and stand-up comedy specials. 
- Dreamily planning vacations I can't actually afford.
-Finding ways to avoid driving my car unless absolutely necessary.  Mostly, it's been necessary.  (Thanks,  Los Angeles.)
-Visiting family, the few who are left...
-Improving my Spanish vocabulary.
-Teaching myself French from scratch thanks to Duolingo and Memrise.  (Uh-oh, now even my Spanish has a weird French accent.)
-Planning new adventures and plotting my escape (don't tell anyone...)
-Looking for work because for the 1st time in a long while, it's been S-L-O-W.
-Living life because this is all I have. 

©2016 by K.Liedle/@cococaffeine