JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF BILL NYE DAY

I will not let this go

With each New Year, and with every December 31 that comes along, I have my annual bafflement that somewhere in the past few years, it was collectively decided that we’re supposed to abbreviate New Year’s Eve and call it NYE.

I must have missed that meeting, but this also gives me an excuse to turn every New Year’s celebration into a Bill Nye Celebration. It’s also acceptable to use it to celebrate Space Jam too, purely because the Bill Nye Theme mashes up so well with the Quad City DJs’ Space Jam.

Then again, literally everything mashes up with Space Jam:

If that isn’t your New Year’s Eve Playlist, you can kindly get out of my face.

Now, this year was notably devoid of one of my blog blitzes I had done the past couple years. Maybe not notably. But it’s been a very busy December (actually a very busy year but I’ll elaborate on that in a bit) and I didn’t have a huge desire to post a bunch of tweets, tracks or memes I enjoyed over the year. I also didn’t have time to illustrate a post apocalyptic Christmas tale like before.

I haven’t drawn in a while! And the reason for that is, I don’t know if my illustrations are bad enough to count as “stylistic suck” like they used to, and they’re certainly not in the “good” category either. Also time. That’s the other reason. I’d like to start illustrating more, and maybe putting those up on my Tumblr? Practice is the only way I’m going to get into the “good” category, if that’s ever going to happen. That’s one thing I’d like to happen in 2014.

Favorite Things of 2013

I’m gonna keep this quick. This is my favorite image of 2013:

I think it sums up the year pretty well.

This is my favorite non-Space Jam mashup of 2013:

This is my second favorite non-Space Jam mashup of 2013:

This is my favorite response to the most annoying trend ever:

Looking Into 2014

2013 was hard. Not gonna lie, it was one of the hardest ones I’ve personally had. I just kept having to move so many times, pretty much entirely due to having scumbag landlords. And early this year I’m going to have to do it again! This time I really want to make it count. Signing a lease on a studio would be like the best thing ever.

But that’s not even my main goal. The main thing I want to do is at least double my income from this year, from freelancing. Party due to the amount of time I had to spend on finding a place to live, and partly due to it being the first full year of freelancing and there were bound to be some hiccups along the way, but I’m coming into 2014 older, wiser, and having more than twice as many clients as I did this time last year.

My final goal is a creative one. I want to make Life After Fat, the web series I’m directing (with a very well-received pilot episode already) into something amazing. We’ve raised the funds, we’ve gathered a talented cast and crew, and the remaining 5 episodes are written. Production’s going to pick up in February, and I’m really excited, especially for Episode 5. You’ll see why later this year.

 

 

This is a thing that’s happening

Sometimes I need to be reminded of why I started this blog in the first place. Which was like, three years ago and change! Because a lot of the time I need to force myself to write/draw SOMETHING to avoid a multi month gap between posts. But there was a particular reason I started it, and that was to have an excuse to write things. And in a very 2013 way, it ended up taking a Buzzfeed article to remind me that, in order to be a writer (that is, to write things), I need to actually write things.

And that’s hard! It takes discipline to write things! It also takes discipline to edit things, find gigs, buy groceries, do laundry, and sign up for healthcare. Those, incidentally, are all things that I did this week but took longer than they would have if I had better discipline (that is, not browsing Buzzfeed articles, scrolling through Tumblr, or hate-reading my Facebook timeline.

But that writing thing? That’s something I can get on write now! (No.)* November, in addition to being a time where guys find an excuse to slack off shaving for an entire month, is known in writing circles as National Novel Writing Month, or annoyingly abbreviated as NaNoWriMo, which is absolutely the stupidest name I’ve ever seen for anything. And while I’m not exactly prepared to write a novel, or a screenplay or spec script or whatever, some bloggers have taken to it as an excuse to write a blog post every day, and calling it NaBloWriMo, which somehow manages to be even fucking stupider. In spite of that, I can get behind the sentiment.

I’m also glad that this idea came to me on the first of the month, and not sometime later this week when it would be too late to say I’m writing a post per day and have anyone take me seriously. Actually given my track record I still doubt anyone will take me seriously, but I’m going to make an attempt of it anyway. I would like for my writing to improve, and the only way to do that is to give myself a stupidly-named excuse to do it.

Here’s what to expect: Shorter posts than I’m used to writing, just to get them out there. Also less illustrations than I normally like to do. They take a while and I need to charge my iPad.

For today’s post I’m just going to outsource the illustration.

In the next post: I get really excited about media.

*I took the liberty of adding in your (the readers’) collective commentary regarding that pun.

BILL NYE DAY: THE RISE OF SNOOP LION

Once again, it’s time for the beginning of a new year, and once again people are driving me completely insane abbreviating New Year’s Eve as NYE. I really can’t explain why I find it so nails-on-a-chalkboard annoying. Perhaps it’s because I expect every acronym with NY in it to have something to do with New York, or perhaps I can’t see that cluster of letters without immediately thinking of Bill Nye. And my blog has certainly covered Bill Nye before, along with Snoop Dogg Lion and Macho Man Randy Savage (RIP), which I’ve sort of made into a New Year’s Triumvirate. I really, really hope that catches on.

Why isn’t this already a Saturday Morning Cartoon?

Let me at least make an effort to explain the insanity. Way, way back in the mid-2000s, the site YTMND (which is apparently still a thing?) had a clusterfuck of a meme called Snoop Nye the Slam Guy, combining three pre-existing memes involving the Bill Nye theme, Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” and the Space Jam theme, which was often accompanied by a photo of Randy Savage. Still with me here? Anyway, for some reason this relic of long Internets past stuck with me and I decided to blog about it. And then I made the dubious connection of NYE = Bill Nye, and decided to run with it.

On top of that, last year I made a list of 26 Things To Do Before I’m 26. And I did a pretty good job of crossing most stuff off of that list! So I’ll do the same thing for this year, with my list of 27 Things To Do Before I’m 27. I guess it’s just luck that my birthday falls pretty closely to Bill Nye Day.

27 Bill Nye Day Resolutions for Before I Turn 27

1. Let’s be honest here. I want to have some more crazy nights. Like, not all the time, but I’d like to have the option of ragers on the table.
2. Go to more shows. I got kind of lazy around the end of this year, and when a band I liked was playing, I was like, “I’d like to do, but I’d also like to sit and watch DVDs.”
3. Take better care of myself. Obama decided that 26 is the age where you have to provide your own healthcare, so I’m going to make this the year I start making healthier habits. More fruits and vegetables! Whole grains! Lots of water! In fact I’ll make water the only liquid I keep, aside from orange juice and coffee. And at least some sort of exercise. I don’t need to become a preachy health nut, but my youthful metabolism isn’t what it used to be. And no way in hell am I giving up cheeseburgers.
4. On that note, I need to be able to provide my own healthcare. I will accomplish that either by becoming a successful enough freelancer to afford Freelancer’s Insurance, or somehow find a part time job that miraculously provides health benefits.
5. Start dressing better. No need to buy more t-shirts; buy nice clothes that fit well and won’t unravel after 10 wears.
6. Take some day trips, on the LIRR, or the Metro North Railroad, or even to New Jersey.
7. Learn to log my hours. Include everything in invoices.
8. Keep a really good track of expenses and income.
9. Start #8 by getting ready for 2012 taxes. I don’t want to have to pay a ton like I did last year, so I gotta go through all the receipts and deduct ALL THE THINGS.
10. Have more varied tastes when it comes to music.
11. Make a new reel for 2013, and make a big portfolio update.
12. Invest in some lights. They’re not even that much! These were recommended by Vimeo.
13. Shoot more Super-8. ‘fetti 2: fête harder is begging to be made.
14. Shoot more music videos. This may overlap with #11 (I certainly hope it does)
15. Have a music video featured on a major music blog like Stereogum.
16. Get something into a film festival.
17. Hell, start writing a feature. There, I said it. If Lena Dunham can shoot a critical darling on a 7D, why not me?
18. Learn Not To Fear The Internet or: Learn To Stop Worrying and Love The Internet
19. That reminds me. Watch more movies, dammit. This shouldn’t even have to be a resolution.
20. Ride the H Train while it’s still a thing. Instagram that shizz.
21. Post regularly on The Once and Future Coffee Addict. Aim for once a week, but make sure it’s consistent (this may be the most challenging one).
22. Have your writing and/or illustrations featured somewhere like Buzzfeed, Thought Catalog, or some other trendy site.
23. In any situation, ask yourself: What Would Tavi Do?
24. Depending on the situation, feel free to substitute Tavi for any of the following: Conan O’Brien, Lena Dunham, Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Allie Brosh, Ryan O’Connel, Emma Koenig, Ira Glass, Florence Welch, Dee Dee (from Dum Dum Girls), James Murphy, Mr. Rogers, Bill Murray, Jake the Dog, Finn the Human, Batman, Will Patterson, Kristina Uriegas-Reyes, Zola Jesus, or pretty much anyone else you follow on Twitter.
25. Avoid snark at all costs; approach the world with genuine curiosity and a celebratory outlook.
26. If there’s one thing to cut back on, it’s derping around on the Internet.
27. Don’t change a damn thing about your coffee intake.