a man, a plan...

I double-clicked on OmniOutliner (my new favorite program in which to pretend I'm doing "work") yesterday, and proceeded to construct a list of all of the professional projects that I'm currently planning/working on/neglecting. I thought it would be a good first step towards being more productive in January (and beyond) but once I finished the list, my reaction was simply... "Holy fuck, how am I going to do all of this??" The problem is... there is so much short-term stuff that I can't even imagine when the long-term stuff will rise to the surface.

Anyway, just to give myself a feeling of accomplishment, I tackled one item right away... The Play. I got an email from my collaborator a few weeks ago informing me that he was pursuing another rewrite commission. So I emailed him to let him know that I was still interested in keeping involved and providing input on the manuscript as it evolves... basically so I can claim credit in my professional portfolio for someone else's work. I was up front about that. He seems fine with it.

He also informed me that not only is the Foundation seriously considering an extension of our grant (which would mean a couple hundred bucks for me) but that a small but well-regarded theatre in the Hamptons (with whom he has worked before) is interested in seeing the new draft to evaluate it for a possible production. So... what are you doing this summer Dave?" "Well, you know... same old stuff... working on my classes... vacation with the family... oh, yeah... and I'll be heading out to the Hamptons for the premiere of my play."

Take THAT, lackluster-profesisonal-portfolio!

As a result of the possible renewed interest in The Play, I'm also planning on registering the domain name www.the-name-of-our-play.com and putting up a small informational website with some excerpts and some links and some essays that I've written about the main character. It will look nice, it will get a few hundred hits every time somebody searches for this obscure figure in the history of science... and it will be a "significant contribution to the field" in the language of our university's expectations for professional output.

That's the plan anyway... we'll see if anyone is fooled.