We’re getting an apartment next year! First thing that came to my mind…

I should get turntables and hook ‘em up to the MacBook for when we have parties!

A fairly obvious first thought, right? I mean, given my extensive knowledge of turntables, scratching and that whole chestnut (read= zero knowledge whatsoever), it’s a pretty random thought, and one that I bet does not come to fruition. But this thinking brought me to a habit of mine…

The habit of hobbies, if you will. I like to do a lot of things, and as someone fondly pointed out last year, it’s hard to get really good at one or two of these things if you’re spreading yourself out over a lot of smaller distractions.

I’ve lately been into film, animation, and screenwriting. I’d like to think I do it with some success, though I have a lot of room to grow and this is definitely the area that I’m going to keep focusing and investing time and money and energy and what-not. But even within this I have wonders, like is spending the 10-odd hours to make WitWiE episodes worth the energy? Would I be happier to spend 10 hours outdoors making a film? Almost undoubtedly so, and so it’s in this that I’m wondering when’s a good time to sacrifice an interest.

I have really been having pangs for guitar lately as well, in so much as I’ve been plotting what I could get rid of in my room to make space for an instrument (with little success…). I’m going to play when I get home to see how much I will really dedicate to it, but if I brought it back down, would I play it? I remember bringing it last year after a quarter or two and the only thing I really remember is spilling lots of Kuan’s juice all over it. What would make this year any different?

I wish I were better at motion graphics and special effects, and I think there is something to be said for being a jack-of-all-trades and being masterful at a lot of different things, but I can’t shake the feeling that I should try and focus. I don’t know what I feel my rush is to become perfect at one thing, and I could certainly spare time to improve at others, but when I start following that line of thinking I end up making construction-paper-animations that take up my entire spring break…

And don’t get me started on comics. There’ve been so many starts, stops and varied successes in that field, and the idea that I should improve drawing before starting again, or do a photocomic again and then… bleh.

But I love to make stuff. It’s definitely my favorite thing, but “stuff” is a bit broad, no? I like being able to relate to lots of different people and hold lots of conversations about creative outlets. It’s cool being able to be jealous of a guitarist at a show because, while I’m not as good as he/she is, I know what it takes to be that talented and I gain an appreciation. I can appreciate people who do graphics work because of how long it takes while other people just look at it and pass it off as something aesthetic and “cool”.

At the same time, it’s not just about appreciation. I want to be able to make things at a higher quality than I do now. My work still feels really amateurish (Carmen, don’t try and give me a dollar, I already used that trick) and I’m trying to figure out how to give it a sharper, more professional edge, and I’m finding out that this edge, whether it’s guitar, painting, shirt-making, filming, editing, graphics, comicking, animating, singing, or ______-ing, it is going to take a lot of work to fine tune.

Too long? Practice does make perfect, and I’m trying to decide if I can have everything and be semi-decent at it all, or if that’s a little foolish, and if I want the professional quality, that comes at a cost.

Problem is, I like all these fun little side-projects, but if I keep them all and keep them side-projects, I don’t think I will ultimately be fully satisfied by any of them.

I guess another thing that prompted all this, if you’re interested in hearing even more about this is that I’ll be pretty busy next quarter with a handful of new activities that’ll require a more focused attention (UniCamp, and likely Project Literacy), as well as the stalwarts of resTV (MoneymoneyMONEY) and Campus Events Commission (because even though I have money, I’d rather see my movies fo’ free), and a few classes, so I’m wondering what the free time I have is going to go toward, and this is not to mention retreats for CEC, UniCamp and Girlfriend Camp (Santa Barbara!).

The film app for the first month, for sure. A few short films would be great. Some animations? Yeah! … but definitely in new mediums, and I think Einstein might not be that medium.

So, what’s that all mean, I wonder? Have I worked it out? It really seems like I should focus in on sharpening the abilities I already have, and not wasting time. I need to extend myself to a new level for each project, taking what I did wrong on the last one and righting it so I can see real improvement. Ultimately, this might mean dropping projects that are flat-lining or uninspiring. Maybe I need the challenge and motivation of new projects.

Since I’m not getting paid for anything that I do, I shouldn’t do anything I don’t want.

Honk if you made it this far.