Riding One Wave At A Time
(Sunday Paper, Volume II, Issue 38)
I'm going to use a couple of clichés to describe my work life recently:
1) When it rains, it pours.
Since I've started freelancing, the work tends to come in bunches - when I'm busy I'm super-busy, and then there are stretches of nothing where I'm searching for opportunities.
But in those stretches of nothing writing-wise comedy has kept me extremely busy.
It's weird how that has worked out - which brings us to cliché number two:
2) Riding the wave.
Over the past few years I've ridden whichever wave has taken me.
And lately that wave has been the writing wave.
OK. First let's address this: Only after I wrote that introduction did I sit back and think that maybe 'riding the wave' isn't as much of a cliché as I originally thought. But I think you get the point.
But the more important point is that - another cliché here - work has come in waves for me - a writing wave, then a comedy wave, then another writing wave. And I've been riding them individually.
I am happy with what I have going on - I've been fortunate that there's never been a point where one professional aspect for me these past few years has been too down. But right now I would say comedy has hit its lowest point in its three years, and writing is at its highest.
Which is good. The writing is the one that's more of a moneymaker. (Or, some would argue, it is the only moneymaker.)
And I'm still just figuring it out. As I've told you, I have a few steady writing gigs and am only just coming up with a great way to track hours and figure out how to best spend my working days (which will probably change when I figure out an even better way to track hours and spend my working days), but I set these little goals for myself and then meet and sometimes surpass them and that's been going great for writing.
Comedy has been tougher lately - and that's in no small part due to the fact that I've had to spend so much time with the writing.
Still, though, I have comedy bookings on the horizon, and the more I'm out there doing that the more comedy will crest again.
It's just that, you may remember, my goal for 2017 was to get out and do as much comedy as I possibly could.
I was doing great with that the first half of the year, maybe a little bit more. But this past month or so that goal has hit a wall.
So we'll see what the next few months bring. I'm still looking to get as much stage time as possible...but I'm also going to look to put in record numbers (for my freelancing career, to be clear) of writing hours (now that I have a good way to keep track of that).
So I'm already forming a new goal for 2018.
I nee to figure out a way to ride both waves at the same time.
Writing
*I think we mostly addressed writing above, but one more thing - now that the girls have started up dance again I might have some time to do a little more creative writing. Dance is just far away enough that it doesn't make sense to drop off (by the time I got home I wouldn't have time to do too much before turning back around to pick up) so I have some sitting time at the studio. Which is good for getting some writing done but not necessarily work writing. So I'm hoping I'll spend some time there on the laptop being productive instead of staring at Twitter for an hour-plus.
Comedy
*As previously established, it's not been a great week for comedy personally but also not in the wider Boston community. A young comedian passed away and it's been really difficult for a lot of people and everyone's processing it in their own way and I've been working through it from afar and I think I just need to get back on a stage and try to get back to comedy normal.
What I've Been Enjoying
*Oh. Here's another bummer. I have a friend who's in the hospital. Obviously that's not 'What I've Been Enjoying'. But he set up a Google Doc for, I guess, the frequent flyers - the people who have been asking him for the most health updates. It's a lot of medical information, but he's also someone whose writing I've enjoyed for as long as I've known him, so in addition to the important health-related stuff there are hidden gems about the day-to-day goings-on in the hospital. It's obviously not fun to read about a friend who's had to stay in the hospital for longer than I was anticipating...but he's made it kind of fun to read about. Here's hoping the Google doc won't be necessary for too much longer.
Here's the kind of thing I'm talking about:
It’s Tuesday. Know what I am looking forward to? Visit from a therapy dog. Happens every Tuesday and Thursday here. Last week Atticus, a laconic, been-there-done-that, ten-year-old golden retriever came to see me. His perky owner said to me, “If you want him on your bed, he’ll jump up there!” He shot her a look as if to say, “Lady, no way I’m going to get up on that bed.” Atticus and I bonded on his floor level, instead.
Notes
*I can't believe I didn't mention in the Notes last week the Cleveland Indians' win streak. It was at 17 when I published last week's Sunday Paper, and it stretched to a record 22 games before it ended this week. If you know me you know that I love nothing more than a good sports streak. I was hoping this one would go past what's considered the Major League record - 26 games (but it's a little complicated, so some would say Cleveland now owns the record) - but 22 was pretty great.
*If there's one thing right up there with a good sports streak it's 'fun things baseball players do in their down time' - and Cleveland is spoiled right now, because two of their players have been creating baseball likenesses of their teammates and it's amazing. I tweeted out a link to the picture in Sports Illustrated - I'll put that tweet below - but, hey, if you're on Twitter, give me a follow - @jsucich. Thanks!
*And if you didn't come through the Facebook page, I'd appreciate a 'like' there as well. Thank you.
*The good thing about watching the Jets lose on local television in Week 1 of the new NFL season was it showed me enough to realize they're not going to be worth much of my time for the rest of this NFL season.
*I like having the strict work routine, but the one thing that has suffered - as I've mentioned before when things get busy like this - is my exercise routine. There is no routine right now - it's, if I have a window of an hour or so I'll go for a quick run or just a brisk walk to get out and exercise. We'll see what happens when the weather turns cold...right now I'm just not able to find the time to get to the gym.
*Here's a positive note, though, from the lack of comedy lately - I have been saving a bunch of money on gas. I drive an awful lot for comedy.
*I really do appreciate you reading, if you've gotten this far. Thanks for taking the time to care about what I have to say.