Deliverable

I just finished installing (finally) the other closet door in my living room. I’m not going to lie to you… It was a real pain in the ass. (Only took about an hour and a half-ish, but it was difficult to get it to hang correctly…)

Not sure why I’ve let this project languish for so long, but I’m glad it’s done. I still have to paint it, but I figure I’ll do all of my painting in one shot to avoid having to do all the set up and cleaning up of the paint several times.

In the spirit of the post from last year that got 2006 off to such a good start, I give you “Things I’ll complete before 12/31/06″.

By 12/31/06 I will complete the following:

Personal

• Complete & UPS 10 copies of the “G” CD to K. (completed 11/21/06)
• Set up M’s gallery (completed 12/30/06)

School

• Set up AS org bio page (completed 12/8/06)
• Set up “Recommended Listening” section on AS site (completed 12/10/06)
• Set up online store (shirts) (completed 12/10/06)
• Set up online store (supplies) (completed 12/10/06)
• Set up email list of AS parents (completed 12/10/06) – Though I didn’t actually set up an email list online, I entered all of the parents addresses & email info into address book, and discovered that the new mail client with Tiger integrates alot more neatly with Address book than past versions. My goal in setting up a mailing list online was to manage this contact information better. I think having it all in Address book then using Apple’s Mail will accomplish this.
• Email parents of students with “holiday gift suggestions” (completed 12/10/06)

Household

• Clear table in front L.R. (completed 11/19/06)
• Purchase new sofa (completed 11/24/06)
• Redo hanging folder area in studio (completed 11/24/06)
• Install closet door in front L.R. (completed 12/5/06)
• Clear space beneath table in front L.R. (completed 12/5/06)
• Craigslist the 4-track (completed 12/13/06)
• Organize & redo cabinet space next to sink (completed) – I’m going to call this one done good enough for now. I plan to redo the kitchen in ‘07, so I’ll probably toss some more stuff then.
• Finish burgundy wall (completed 12/31/06
• Paint back LR closet doors (completed 12/31/06
• Install pulls on closet doors (completed 12/31/06)
• Touch up front LR spot by radiator (completed 12/31/06
• AC gone from Kitchen (completed 12/31/06)

Back in December & January, I had a great deal of success in setting clear goals and then completing them. February and March dropped off somewhat, but there were still successes. My recaps for those months are filled with very satisfying “strikethroughs” of the items on my “Things I’ll Complete by the End of the Month” list. April at first seemed a failure, but with further study revealed itself to be a successful month in many ways. So it is with May. As I go through “line item by line item”, I realize that I accomplished more than I’d originally thought. The thing that has been hanging over my head is the fact that I still haven’t finished my home projects, but I never made “finishing my home projects” a priority for this month, so I can’t very well beat myself up for the fact that it didn’t get done. The theme for June will be finishing, I think. Yes, these home projects are occupying space in my brain and yes I know I must finish these things. I’ll figure out a way.

So what am I to make of the month of May overall? One thing that I think will have a lasting impact on me will be the concept of the 30 Day Challenge. I am about half way through with 30 day challenges in practice and exercise. So far they’ve been very positive experiences. I feel momentum building, especially with my practicing. These changes that I’m making also feel sustainable for the long term, which I really like.

Yes, I did have a drop off in my “Headshot Thursdays”. Yes, it does seem as though acting has taken a backseat this month to other things, and I’m not certain why this happened. I had a flurry of success with auditioning in April, though I didn’t get a role. Ultimately I think it’s better that I didn’t get a role, because I think the “30 Day” thing is something that I really needed to get. My method for consistenly submitting myself for roles is solid, though it could use some tweaking & evalutation. I know that when I am ready to submit myself consistently again I will have this tool at my disposal.

When I ask myself the question “Am I better off now than I was when I began this process?” I must answer yes. It can be difficult sometimes to admit that though, because the milestones that I’m using to track achievement aren’t necessarily the ones that the world at large would applaud. It’s difficult to go back to a class reunion and say “Yeah, I’ve been really successful clearing the detritus from my living space and my life over the past year”. “I’m working to establish the basic good habits that are going to help me achieve greater success in the future” doesn’t have the same flashy ring to it as “I’m doing this gig and that gig with this famous person” or “My most recent song is on the Billboard Top 100 and I’m splitting time between my brownstone in NYC and my beach house in Malibu”. Oh well, I guess. I’m in it for the long haul and I told myself that I’d never quit. This is where I am at this point and I’ll work with what I have. So be it.

Almost as a postscript, I do have to mention that I put on a very successful recital at school with my students. They did a tremendous job, and I was very proud of them. The feedback from the parents was also quite nice, and I have a strong foundation to have an even stronger studio next year. I’ve also just realized that I had some other posts in May that included some pretty cool concepts.

In retrospect, not a bad month.

By 5/31/06 I will complete the following:

-Finances-

• Pay my bills on the first of the month (or the 31st of the previous month). (somewhat complete) – I didn’t incur any late payment fees but I need to remain vigilant with this until it’s an “I don’t have to think about it” habit.
• Begin using my discretionary account. Get a feel for how/if this is going to work. (incomplete) – I didn’t do this.

-Personal-

• Review my “Someday/Maybe” file. Weed out anything that’s no longer relevant. Bring into current month’s goals any projects that might be good for this month. (complete) – I seem to recall doing this at the beginning of the month.
• Respond to emails in a timely fashion (3 to 4 days maximum). Keep inbox “free and clear”. (mostly complete) – I let a few emails linger longer than I would have liked. This is an ongoing process that I need to be vigilant about until it’s an “I don’t have to think about it” habit.

-Book/Teaching-

• Maintain a work diary. (complete) – I did pretty well with this one. I like having a record of how I spend my days and will continue this practice.

-Music-

• Track weekly practice karma” (complete) – This has been good for me.

-Acting-

• Four consecutive Headshot Thursday’s (incomplete) – I’ve fallen down with this one. I need to reevaluate my process because there have been (and will be in the future) Thursdays where I just wasn’t able to mail before bed. I set it up to be an “all or nothing” thing… I need to refine my strategy.

-Website-

-Health-

• Track weekly health and exercise karma. (complete) – I did well with this, and think I’ve come up with some new habits that will serve me in the future.

-Home-

It’s interesting to look back at March , and compare it to this past month. April was also a mixed bag somewhat of a mixed bag. It was a very good month for my acting. I was consistent with my mailings every Thursday. I went on every open audition that came up, and I got called back a couple of times. The audition database has also helped out a lot. I identified and clarified a very important concept that should help me in future situations. (Actually as I look back, I see that there were two other good concepts that I identified & clarified.) I’m tracking my practice, my health and my exercise better. I had a really good chat with D.C. which gave me at least one good concept which I hope to implement this month. I was able to take class at AMS again, and had a couple of very good voice lessons. I identified a couple of public enemies that have been holding me back and came up with ways to deal with them. Good stuff all.

Maybe April wasn’t as much of a mixed bag as I thought. Certainly it wasn’t perfect. (And as I noted earlier in the month, that’s ok.) I have not finished my home improvement projects and I’m not certain why. It was hit & miss on some of the other things… (Tracking my finances with the new account, responding to email in a timely fashion, paying the bills on time). Again, not perfect but there was definitely progress. I think that’s what I need to focus on as I go into May. I’ll build on my successes and work smarter on the things that I didn’t do so well.

By 4/30/06 I will complete the following:

-Finances-

• Pay my bills on the first of the month (or the 31st of the previous month) (mostly complete) – Did this except for the rent
• Begin using my discretionary account. Get a feel for how/if this is going to work. (incomplete)

-Personal-

• Review my “Someday/Maybe” file. Weed out anything that’s no longer relevant. Bring into current month’s goals any projects that might be good for this month. (complete)
• Respond to emails in a timely fashion (3 to 4 days maximum). Keep inbox “free and clear”. (mostly complete) – slacked somewhat with this towards the end of the month, and with V’s email.

-Book/Teaching-

-Music-

• Attend R.L.’s master class on 4/2/06 (complete) – See my impressions here.
• Track weekly practice karma (complete)

-Acting-

• Four consecutive Headshot Thursday’s (complete)
• Take the “B4B” audition on 4/4/06 (or 4/5/06) (complete)
• Take the “Tailor Made” audition on 4/8/06 (complete)
• Take the “Spoon River audition” on 4/9/06 – I decided not to take this audition, but took another audition the same day instead.
• Create an audition database to track my auditions & headshots sent. (complete)

-Website-

-Health-

• Go shopping for the ingredients in my “master list” at least once. (incomplete) – I’m going to have to find new strategies for my diet.
• Visit the market near 86th that carries the mandarin oranges and/or pick them up from Fairway. Keep them on hand if at all possible for the duration of the month. (somewhat complete) – I purchased them a couple of times. I eat the darn things so quickly it’s difficult to keep up with buying them.
• Create a way to track my exercise & sleep habits via the blog (complete) I’m tracking this the same way I track my practice and it seems to work well.

-Home-

• Finish painting the burgundy wall (incomplete)
• Hang the closet doors in the front LR (incomplete)
• Paint the closet doors in the front LR (incomplete
• Paint the kitchen (incomplete)
• Re-install the blue lights in the kitchen (incomplete)
• Curtains: Hang them on the 3 remaining windows. (Clarify as month goes on…). (incomplete)

March was a bit of a mixed bag. There were some darker moments, but also some bright spots here and there. Having the cleaner clearer home has definitely been a great thing, but I truly need to just finish the damn burgundy wall already, hang the closet door, pick some freakin’ curtains, and paint the kitchen. Especially the kitchen… the disarray in there is way old.

The “I want to curl up into the fetus position” feelings of this past week (see “darker moments” above) seem to have subsided somewhat, which is not a bad thing. I’m trying to stay even keeled and just focus on the work. So far so good. (Knock on wood, fingers double un-crossed and all that.)

Going to keep this simple and short. Spring has arrived so here’s to new ideas, new beginnings and to taking the consistent actions that’ll make all my dreams come true.

By 3/31/06 I will complete the following:

Finances

• Get a copy of my credit report (completed 3/24/06) I downloaded the report from two of the agencies, and requested the 3rd via the phone. For the record, TransUnion’s ID verification process is absolute and total crap. I had to request that report via the phone because I had too many wrong attempts at their website.
• Accurately track “money in & money out” for this month (updated: see below)
• Set up a “discretionary spending” account (completed 3/17/06) See my post about this idea here. I’ll begin using this system when the account is fully operational.

Personal

• Purchase and mail an anniversary card for W.&B. (completed) It went out two days before their anniversary. They may have gotten it late, but they should have gotten it.
• Review my “Someday/Maybe” file. Weed out anything that’s no longer relevant. Bring into current month’s goals any projects that might be good for this month. (complete) I’ll make a habit of doing this at the beginning of each month.
• Respond to emails in a timely fashion (3 to 4 days maximum). Keep inbox “free and clear”. (complete) I did pretty well with this, and it felt terrific. I’ll continue this habit into next month.
• Make G.’s tape and get it to them in CA (completed 3/19/06) It’s amazing what a clear deadline (like having to make a flight) will do. It took about 5 hours or so, but I finished 6 of the best tracks, burned the CD, and took it to them when I visited on 3/20.

-Book-

-Music-
I’ve started to track my practice.

-Acting-

• Purchase Backstage one time this month. Read it and circle parts I might submit myself for. (completed: 3/30/06)
• Submit myself for the parts I circled (completed: 3/30/06)
• Go to the open call on 3/31/06 (completed: 3/31/06)

Website

• Beta test photography sub-domain with Plogger (incomplete: reassess next month)

-Health-

• Purchase a “quick easy healthy meals” cookbook (updated: see below)
• Choose recipes that I like from the recipe books that I currently have on hand (completed) Thanks M.! I now have some recipes in my wok book that I’ll try next month.
• Create a “master incredients” list from these recipes
• Go grocery shopping one time this month (updated: see below)
• Go shopping for the incredients listed in the “master incredients” list from above (complete)
• Keep a box of those tangelo oranges on hand for the whole month. It’ll help keep me from eating other crappy snack food. (mostly complete) I did pretty good with this one… though those little suckers are actually quite difficult to find this time of year. For the most part they did help with the junk food.

-Home-

• Finish painting the burgundy wall (incomplete: forward to next month)
• Make final decision on ledge for burgundy wall & install (complete)
• Decide on a b/w picture for the ledge (complete)
• Purchase a frame for the b/w picture (complete)
• Install the shelf set my folks brought me in the studio (complete)
• Hang the closet doors in the front LR (incomplete: forward to next month)
• Paint the closet doors in the front LR (incomplete: forward to next month)
• Paint the kitchen (incomplete: forward to next month)
• Re-install the blue lights in the kitchen (incomplete: forward to next month)
• Hang any remaining pictures (complete)
• Visit fabric store and decide on color/texture for curtains. Purchase fabric. (incomplete: forward to next month)
• Hang curtains on 3 remaining windows. (incomplete: forward to next month)

I wanted to capture some of my thoughts about this past month. As I reconcile the things I’ve focused on with my stated 2006 Yearly Goals, it’s very clear that I was in “create a nurturing home environment” mode. It wasn’t a conscious decision. Perhaps I’m avoiding moving forward with the real issues I need to be facing. Perhaps somewhere deep in my head I know that I must clear out the detritus in my life before I move forward. Either way I feel pretty good about the progress, though I’m not certain where it’s leading me.

Some Observations

• One thing about home improvement projects is that they provide you with clear cut goals that require clear next actions in order to complete. It’s been valuable to work on things like the building of my hall cabinet, the building of the radiator cover… building the screen. It’s been fulfilling to see the concrete results of my work.
• Clearly the reason I haven’t been submitting myself for acting projects was not the fact that I didn’t have headshots that I liked. My new shots are great, but I’ve not yet submitted myself for anything with them. It’s fear that hold me back, plain and simple. I must find a strategy to consistently overcome this fear if I am to achieve my acting goals for 2006 and beyond.
• I’m incredibly grateful for my parents. They very graciously came up and stayed for 4 days, helping me re-paint the apartment and finish other projects. I won’t say that I never would have finished these things without them, but it sure as hell would have taken me alot longer. I might have been sitting in squalor for months and that would have completely sucked. Mom, Dad… I love you and offer you many many thanks! Something useful that might be taken from this could be that one never knows when or where help my appear once you begin your quest for your goals.
• I must put my financial house in order. It’s been a source of underlying stress in my life that I’ve not been acknowledging. Just as physical detritus in the environment holds me back, so too is the lack of clarity in my financial life. It’s financial detritus and it must be cleared. I somehow must find the courage to do this.

By 2/28/06 I will complete the following:

–Book Stuff–

–Acting Stuff–

• Purchase Backstage on Thursday 2/2/06 (completed: 2/3/06) – Did this Friday instead of Thursday.
• Send out headshots/resume for parts I’d be right for (week of 2/2/06) (didn’t complete this)

–Music Stuff–

• Email C., re: get together on Thursday afternoon (2/2) for guitar hang (completed: 2/1/06) – update: This week’s no good for him. Possible follow-up next week. (update: 2/9/06) I got together with C. this afternoon.

–Home Stuff–

• Follow up with apartment mgr., re: Credit (completed: 2/1/06) – I’ll get the credit on my March rent. It’s the credit I was expecting and I should be able to purchase the paint as well as a few other home items with it.
• Call the apartment mgr., re: Have them fix the toilet (completed 2/3/06) – The sewer and water guy came and took the tank apart and found the blockage. What a hoot.
• Call the super, set up appt. to hang the closet doors (completed 2/3/06) – He’s supposed to come first thing Monday morning. (update: 2/6/06) See my post here. Ridiculous.
• Paint the Burgundy wall (mostly complete: I put a couple of coats the burgundy wall but had issues with the paint. I need to wash off any dust on the wall and try another coat. Moving the completion of this one forward.)
• Touch up the remaining white areas that need it in the back LR (completed when my folks were here)
• Touch up (paint) the area around the back LR radiator (completed 2/28/06)
• Assemble the Expedit bookshelf (completed 2/4/06 – Thanks M.! : )
• Put the back LR furniture back where it belongs (out of the front LR) (completed)
• Research and find the best and/or cheapest raw materials for the “window framing” project (completed: 2/8/06)
• Purchase the raw materials for the window framing project (completed: 2/8/06)
• Assemble the “window framing” project (paint and attach the frames to window) (completed)
• Purchase a 3 foot display ledge for burgundy wall (probably from Pottery Barn) (move forward – I have a two foot ledge that I may or may not use. Will make a final decision before next weekend)
• Visit fabric store, check out possible fabrics for back LR window (didn’t complete this – will forward to next month)
• Measure the space for the “hallway shelf/cabinet” project and diagram needed supplies (with measurements) (completed>
• Purchase raw materials for “hallway shelf/cabinet” (completed>
• Install “hallway shelf/cabinet” (completed when my folks were here)
• Purchase the raw materials for the shelf/cabinet cover and the underside molding (completed 2/26/06)
• Build & paint the cover for the hallway shelf/cabinet (completed: 2/28/06)
• Build a radiator cover (completed 2/21/06 – built it with my Dad)
• Assemble & paint old closet doors into new “screen” to hide storage area (completed when my parents were here)
• Paint the hallway (Mostly completed when my parents were here… see below for remainder)
• Cut in the corners/touch up (paint) in the hallway (completed: 2/28/06)
• Hang the mirror and pictures in the hallway (completed: 2/28/06)
• Paint the kitchen (moved forward)
• Paint the front LR (Completed when my folks were here)