Nose Tall Joe

I've been thinking about my future recently. Following a suggestion by my boss at the Ports Authority, I've been wondering about starting my own business. The original suggestion was to create and manage newsletters for people and companies, since my boss has been getting compliments on the one I did for her. From there I could expand into other artistic work, like illustration, sculpture, or writing services. The thing is, I've found that two organizations in Charleston already use a company to handle newletters and e-mail lists. They even have some services offered for free. So, I've been wondering, and researching when I can, about where my particular talents might find an intitial purchase. What service could I offer that no one else offers or that I could do better, or what niche market has yet to be exploited? A recent idea was to try and become a freelance commercial writer. I intend to pursue this further, gleaning as much as I can from my boss. As always, if anyone has ideas to offer, please feel free.

Jeromie rather liked the idea, pointing out that as far as creative projects go, I'm much more comfortable and productive working on things that other people task me with. It's a conclusiong I've come to myself already. The task now is to find how it can be properly applied to my life. How does one who wishes to be so creative yet finds such difficulty in actually creating motivate himself to do more? I've always thought that in that far off "someday" I'd figure out what it was that I was supposed to; that thing which resonated, like a lost lover, with my soul. What of all of you? Is there something that, left to yourselves without distractions, you like to do above all else?

On another subject, I was talking to my new gal-pal Kaysha a few weeks ago when she told me hazy memories she had of a cartoon she had watched in her youth. I recognized the theme and thought it might have been one of the shows I had watched and adored in my youth, as well. So, curious, I did some Websearch and found the show that had tickled our mutual recollections for so many years: Noozles. It was one of my favorite shows, and I still remember pieces of it better than I would expect for the age at which I watched it. Is it any surprise, then, that it turns out to be anime? Indeed, friends, my attraction to Japanese animation has been a courtship played out for longer than I had imagined.

It doesn't end there, though. I found another site with a considerable list of classic Nickelodeon programming, the channel of choice in my youngest days. I watched almost everything listed on the site. The Adventures of the Little Koala, Bananaman, Belle and Sebastian, Count Duckula, Danger Mouse, David the Gnome, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Littl' Bits, Mapletown, Maya the Bee, the Mysterious Cities of Gold, Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea... Of them all, the Mysterious Cities of Gold and Spartakus stood out in my mind as the two shows that told grand, sci-fi stories (and I loved them for it), although I couldn't remember what Spartakus was called until I found it on this site. There are even cartoons I remember watching that aren't listed on here. You'll notice again, though, that most of these shows are Japanese. Spartakus was French and the comedies are British.

The coincidences start to pile up. I watched French and Japanese cartoons when I was a wee child. In college, I studied French and fell in love with Japanese anime. In Senegal, a French-speaking country, I participate in the first joint swearing-in of American and Japanese volunteers. I know I'm drawing connections that might mean nothing. If you believed in nothing but the world around us, then they would be fancies. And, indeed, they probably are. But I don't believe in that all coincidences are just that. What these coincidences are, I don't know, but I have ever so much fun thinking about it. Makes me wonder what's next. :)

Let's see... what am I forgetting? Oh, yes. Arnold, Beth, Roger, Hope, and I all drew lots recently for Secret Santa. I found the gift for my person tonight; I can't wait to see who gets me what. We also joined Tamara for a Stingrays hockey game Saturday night. I think it was my second hockey game, but it could have been my first if my memory is fooling me. I enjoyed it. Watching them play even game me an idea for a Deliria premise. Also, for those who don't know, Jeromie just quit his job at Benefitfocus to go do computer work for his dad's company. He's going to telecommute since his dad's in Mobile, AL. Wish him well.

And now, some links:

Jeromie's blog, with some recent updates.

My deviantART account, now with stuff on it.


Twilight out.