Burned

Whew. My older brother dragged me to Burning Man last week for the umpteenth time (his first) but, like every time, it was new all over again. I usually focus on seeing the art and my friends but I made a concerted effort this year to meet new people and talk to strangers. It's not my strong suit. It turned out well, though, and I feel re-energized to enter the fall season and network, network, network.
I have spent all of 2007 trying to find some additional direction with Medium Reality - things keep moving forward but in a way that sometimes seems random and erratic. I began the year with barely a mission statement but now have lots of documentation to help me guide my philosophy and what things I say yes and no to. Working now on fine-tuning spreadsheets for all of my scattered data, and entering everything into The New System. I am simultaneously juggling some larger scale unpaid efforts (a couple radically different book projects and an event at CELLspace next week, details following), freelance theatre work (Expedition 6, theatre with trapezes and OUTER SPACE!), and a menswear line that is really taking off. I am facing a real and serious likelihood of a solo show in a gallery here in SF. I am also slowly finding ways to balance personal time with a business that I love and desperately would like to watch flourish. I continue to chase after my own sanity.
Things, overall, are going very well. I feel like there is a way in which I am on a plateau, considering the next leap upwards. This fall is about finding more fancy people to work with and cementing relationships to build bigger projects on. 2008, look the fuck out.

So that's the long view. What's the short view? A lovely smoky voiced radio DJ just played me some Ruth Brown and Little Milton songs, and i am working my butt off to put together a discussion salon at CELLspace next week. It will focus on the production of arts and media in a non-profit and a for-profit business model, and the different things that can be accomplished in each framework. I'm trying to rustle up a few more panelists, a musician, and oh yeah some attendees. I'm really interested in the subject matter, and am really looking forward to hearing so many smart people talk about it. My friend Melissa, the new Executive Director of Black Rock Arts Foundation, will be there, along with two of my favorite genius local businesswomen (Marie from The Sampler and Miranda Caroligne) and lots of other old and new faces. See you there?