On top of attempting this whole “blog” thing, I do have goals and aspirations that transcend the confines of a dot com website. Some of these are pipe dreams, some of these are attainable enough with the proper planning, motivation and luck. Without further ado, I present to you my professional goals (i.e. things I want to do over the course of my adult life to fulfill my dreams and make some dead presidents) in no particular order:
- Self publish a novel for sale. This one shouldn’t be too tough, I’m actually 2/3s of the way on a first draft for my first novel. A science fiction piece about living multiple lives at random, interconnected but not in a way that you might think. It’s titled “Thrice in a Lifetime” and it is full of adventure, romance, comedy, drama, gender swapping and wonderfully realized characters. I know you’ll enjoy it!
- Sell a movie script to someone within the Film Industry. I have completed multiple movie scripts over the last few years, covering the comedy, action and horror genres. I’m slowly in the process of redrafting them, adding polish and whatnot. I need to get back to submitting them to competitions and look into sending letters of inquiry to agents and producers. It’s a slow and mostly unfruitful endeavor, but I must trudge on if I hope to succeed. If anybody has a contact or can help me here, let me know. I need all the help I can get.
- I wanna publish a Coffee Table book. Part of the reason I chose “Epic Bed Head” as a daily challenge was because I thought it might make for a really goofy conversation piece as a coffee table book. Plus, I figure if I share 365 pictures of my breakfast melon with the entire internet, it’ll just push me to think of crazier ways to keep this blog entertaining.
- Conquer social media! Build a loyal base of followers on Twitter, Facebook, and more to build the brand of “Nerfed Llamas” and to interact with the lovely people of this planet in new and exciting ways. I’m working on this one. I may be slow, but I’ll get there. Slow but steady wins the race! As the brand takes off, products could be created based on demand: t-shirts, art prints, etc.
- I wanna be in a rock band, 2 of them actually. This may be a little crazy, but just bear with me. This is not a career goal, this is more of a “I want to do this in my spare time if I can find some musicians who’ll have me” kind of goal. Band #1: the Dead Stacys – a nerdy little band that sings songs of all types of genres about nerdy stuff, like comics, science, TV shows, movies, etc. I’ve actually got a lot of this first album conceptualized, it sounds great in my mind. Band #2: Social Lubricant – a band whose goal is to take a genre, deconstruct it, and make the best possible album we can. I would want this to be more like a group effort band, with each person getting a chance to be the lead (like the Beatles or Kiss). Possible genres to destroy would be new wave, hard rock, pop, dance, etc. With a name like Social Luricant, you can expect a party each album. These are definitely pipe dreams, but if I get a chance, I will do them in a heartbeat.
- I want to publish a monthly independent comic book, likely just digitally. This one would be easier if I could find an artist who would like to do a screwball superhero team book. If not, I’ll start working on the art duties myself, but it may have to be bi-monthly if I’m the only one working on it. I hope to start this project shortly after summer this year.
- I want to perform a stand up routine in front of a live audience. This requires the writing of at least a 5 to 7 minute script. I have a few bits, but I don’t have a hook yet. When I figure it out, I’ll try it out on some folks, then make the leap on stage. This would be just for fun and to say that I did it at least once.
- I want to record a podcast, something that encompasses my loves along with my creativity. This too would be for fun. Not sure when this might happen. More than anything, it’s a time consuming project, and there’ll be a lot of editing involved. My time is already at a premium, so I’ll try to aim for later this year.
- This should probably be #1, but I want to redesign my blog, make it look nice, approachable, fun to surf. My goal is to have the site become a community, with a handful of contributors, pumping out some really cool and fresh content. I have a long way to go, and building up this site will go a long way towards helping me achieve the other goals on this list.
I have a few other ideas, and things I’d like to accomplish, but this is a great place to start for the next few years. I think when I turn 40 next year, I’ll update this list and we can see how much (if any of it) I actually accomplish. Wish me luck!
