Sneak Peek from New Book

I’ve been busy, knocking out deadlines and trying to get at least one more major thing rolling prior to San Diego.  Blogging has suffered, but not really because of any of that.  I adopted a kitten, and I’m preparing to bring a puppy home next week.  My secret evil plan to use dual Puss in Boots looks from each of them whenever I’m pitching should secure more work than I can handle.

Speaking of, here’s a first look from my upcoming Radical book co-written with Troy Peteri.

TGIM – A New Weekly Feature

Here’s the deal.  No one, but I mean no one, likes waking up on Monday.  Love your job, hate your job, whatever.  Monday morning rolls around and signals the end to the weekend and the beginning of a five day trek to try and arrive at the next one.

I decided I would do my part to spread a little Monday joy to everyone in the struggle.  Each Monday I’ll be presenting Thank Goodness It’s Monday, and offer up a reason to be thankful.  Not necessarily because it’s Monday, but just in general.  Think of it as a weekly gratitude experiment.

Your TGIM for last week should have been the fact that it was the first Monday of the new year, and a chance to start your first work week off right.  This week I could be a lot more Monday specific as today holds both an industry mixer and dodgeball this evening, but I’m going to focus on the best thing to happen over the last couple of months, Netflix Watch Instantly.

They had just started rolling this out right when I left the service for the second time (never because I was dissatisfied, I just happened to get offered free Blockbuster).  When I came back, they had gone from limited viewing to unlimited, the only drawback being it didn’t work on a Mac.  Well, not only can you now watch on a Mac, but you can also watch on your XBox 360, Roku Box, and Tivo HD, but also an increasing number of BluRay DVD players.  They load in about 30 seconds or less, and the quality and selection are pretty kickass.

I’ve been able to watch movies for research (The Star Chamber, Premium, Strays), pleasure (err… Wild Things 2 and 3, which I only scanned for the naughty bits), and WAY too much television (Dead Like Me, Action, The Tick).  The only drawback is that sometimes entire seasons aren’t uploaded, so you’ll have to order a disc if you want the complete experience.

It’s a fantastic way to stay entertained on a lunch break or on days like Mondays when you’re just too out of it to head all the way down to the mailbox to retrieve your new movies.

This has been TGIM.  Authentic Impostor approves this message and thanks you for your time.

Template issues

So I spent the last couple hours searching for templates.  Downloaded the world’s most customizable blogger template…  Yeah, not so much.  It has a lot of cool stuff going on, and is infinitely cooler than Minima, but it was mucking up my own custom stuff in here.  Default with a messed up color scheme for now.

Anyone wants to help out (with this or the actual AI site), drop me a line.

So what’s the point?

I’ve blogged before.  Many, many times.  I’ve blogged for work, I’ve blogged for play.  I’ve blogged for joy and I’ve blogged for sorrow.  So what makes this one different?

Well, for starters, this is only phase one.  The blog will be a permanent element of what will eventually be a full-fledged website.  I just need the right hosting, design, etc.  First thing’s first, I’ve asked a friend to help me out with a logo.  I have a few other options, but I think he has the right sensibility for what I’m after.

This will be the place (the site, not just the blog) for people to get to know the professional Rob Levin.  Not the drunken twitterer with the constant updates, or the irate editor with the fantastic but often schedule challenged talent, but the man who writes, thinks, and maybe does a few other things.  It’ll be the place for coverage of my work, research snippets, and general thoughts on entertainment, culture, and sometimes life.

What it won’t be is a personal blog.  My relationships (outside of friendships I mention or professional relationships I have) will stay off of here, as will things like feelings.  The last blog collapsed under its own weight because of that.  This is about being a professional.  Not a bearded baby.

I have a couple of goals, and since we’re looking at this at the start of a new year, here they are in all their “he’ll break so many promises” glory:

• Daily updates – I’m assuming Monday through Friday, but if I’ve got stuff to say, weekends aren’t off limits.
• Monthly short fiction – I’d like to get this to weekly status, so I plan on rolling out some old stuff first while trying to stockpile the new
• Exclusive previews – If I’m working on a comic, you’ll see pre–lim stuff, stolen panels, etc.  If it’s prose or a screenplay, I’ll pull scenes, chapters, and the like.  I’m a firm believer that all things can be made better out of context.
• Kickass links – This is where I’ll drop the ball, as the operative word, kickass, is certainly debatable.  And there’s no way I can keep up with culture surfer (not to mention writer, filmmaker, musician, photographer, and inspiration) Bryan Hill, but I’ll post the things that come into my life and I think are worth sharing.  Or at least funny.
• Big-ups – Links to friends and other professional peeps who are all kinds of awesome, and why.  My goal is to share the wealth in terms of the creative community and the bodies of work that I’ve discovered.
• An ever evolving biography – My goal is to come up with the best one ever, so I’ll be revising it daily as part of that pursuit (maybe).
• Audio/video portions – Not necessarily podcasts, and not just talking head stuff, but likely just that.

I’m sure there’s a lot more, but a blog to me always seems like a living, breathing, constantly evolving organism.  It’s a lot like “the alien” that R. Kelly describes Trapped in the Closet as (and yes, that’ll get a whole big post).

So welcome.  I’m posting this (while sick) and then going right back on the new template hunt.  At some point I may switch over to WordPress or a custom design, but for now I’m back with my old pal blogger.

I’ll get the links and extra content on the sides going over the next week or two as well, and they’ll be constantly updated.  Feel free to comment, suggest, and do whatever else it is you do.  Thanks for reading.  And if you’d like me to write something for you, just drop me a line.