a lame apology + a video that is the opposite of lame

Hey, guys.

Well, first thing's first - as you've all no doubt noticed, my follow-through could use some work. Like, a lot. Last Wednesday I sat down to write the promised blog post, and my brain froze up like a deer in headlights (and the fact that I hadn't actually done any work that day probably didn't help). You ever get that thing, you know, that really really lame thing, where you're so scared of screwing up that you don't try in the first place?

Yep. That's pretty much my M.O. Am working on it. But it still crops up from time to time. I'm sorry about that, and I'll try to do better moving forward.

ANYway, on to much cooler things, yes?




This video, I admit, is 20 minutes long, and I know that's a real long time in internet-video time. But just listen to  the first 120 seconds, and I'm pretty sure that Mr. Neil Gaiman and his made-for-audiobooks voice will have charmed you enough that you'll want to listen to the whole thing.

[A side note: if you don't know who Neil Gaiman is, you absolutely should. Run his name through the search engine at for your library, or on Amazon, or wherever. He has been responsible for many books and movies and comics that you will want to know about. Also, he's so cool, he's married to Amanda F***ing Palmer. Yes, that is what she calls herself. Minus the asterisks.]

Of course, if you really, honestly don't have time, here's my highly subjective guide to what I felt were the loveliest highlights.

(1:50) Why it's not just OK but awesome to have no idea what you're doing in your arts career.
(2:43) Why you should just go do that awesome thing you want to do with your life.
(3:40) How Neil visualizes goals, and how that helps to both reach them and keep from getting sidetracked.
(5:52) How to approach the likelihood (read: certainty) of frequent failure.
(6:24) Why you shouldn't just work for money.
(7:05) The problems of success, and how they're even scarier than the problems of failure because of, to quote his wife Amanda Palmer, "The Fraud Police"
(10:20) The #1 thing you should do when life gets tough.

(11:50) The moment when you can tell what you're doing is finally getting it right
(13:10) How people get jobs! including how Neil Himself first pulled it off.
(14:10) How people KEEP jobs. Hint: You need at least 2 out of 3 key attributes.
(15:07) The best piece of advice Neil was ever given. (From Stephen King, interestingly enough)
(17:06) Where real luck comes from
(17:20) How the creative world is changing, and how that affects us
(18:35) How to do things you don't know how to do

I hope you like the video, or whatever snippets of it you take the time to watch. Happy Thursday, thanks for reading, and unless I succumb to another fit of über-lameness, I WILL see you all tomorrow. :)