Goodbye 38, Hello 39

A somewhat self-indulgent post today. But this is my blog, so aren't they all self-indulgent?

Anyway, it's my birthday, it's gray and rainy outside, and so I thought why not take a few moments to reflect on the last year - which, in many ways, was not what I expected it to be. First, a year ago I was gainfully employed, nominated for several southeast region Emmy awards, and, while I had pretty good idea that the end was coming at GameTap, I also thought I'd pick up something new pretty quick. Boy, did I call that one wrong. Two months later, my unit was shown the door; three weeks after that, I won two of those Emmy awards:
That's me with the statue I took home (the other went with my co-winner Greg Taylor, who really deserves most of the credit for crafting the promo we won for) - it sits on my dresser, a glorious golden paperweight. I'd say that was the highlight of Elliot Year 38, but the truth is, for all the unanticipated difficulty I've had with re-inventing myself as a freelance producer of content - it's a longer process than I thought it would be, and the sorry state of the economy hasn't helped me or anyone - the real highlights are far less complicated and much more profound, and they greet me with a smile every single day...

...my daughter Hannah and my son Sam, who also has a birthday today, turning six, and who will always be the best birthday present I could ever get. Not pictured - because as good a job as we do taking pictures of the kids, we almost never take pictures of ourselves - is my lovely wife, Laura, who really is the most supportive person in the world. Daily reminders that I while I'm going through a period of professional re-adjustment that isn't the most fun I've had on a bun, I have it pretty damn great, and that I'm actually pretty damn lucky.

So, here's to hoping that Elliot Year 39 will see some of the professional things I set in motion during E.Y. 38 come to fruition, including:
-my comic book trailer business, starting with the release of the trailer I produced for Wildstorm.
-some motion comics work; I have some solid ideas for advancing the medium I'd like to put into action.
-Jeffrey Brown's Sketchbook
-a potential non-fiction comic book guide to a casual activity that people enjoy but which shall remain nameless at this juncture, as I don't want to give it away.
-The Package, my webcomic crime novella with artist Alexis Ziritt.
-Mekano Turbo, a comic I'm writing for Alexis.
-Sword-Maiden, a project I conceived of as a comic, but which I'm considering writing as a screenplay.
-a documentary project; we shot the footage for the pilot, featuring comics artist Cully Hamner, now we just need to get down to writing and putting the thing together.

A lot of stuff, all potentially fun, some potentially revenue producing - which would be nice. Most importantly, I have my family backing me up and keeping me hopeful.

-EB
p.s. Just had a birthday phone call with one of my oldest and closest friends from high school, David Sachs. Always great to speak with him - I think life for everyone would be better with a daily dose of David Sachs.

UPDATE: 9:35PM, 3/26/09 - I meant to mention this when composing the above, but forgot, I would guess because my neurons probably aren't firing like they were when I was 29, but other than that, I don't feel like I'm 39. I look in the mirror and I don't see a guy a year away from 40, so it's really hard for me to believe that I've reached the end of my thirties. I know this is a cliche, I know I'm not the first person to say this, think this, write this, but it's the truth. I still feel like a kid. Now I'm going to go read some comics.