I am sure some of you have heard of the Louisiana tradition of eating boiled crawfish. The season falls during the winter and Louisiana folk frequently get together to boil crawfish in a large vat, pour it across newspaper, and devour it while imbibing alcohol-primarily beer. Having moved to Los Angeles, I have missed out on this annual tradition. Luckily for the last 2 years, the fantastic Matt and Gina have thrown an annual crawfish boil in Camarillo. Today was the day. Great again, like last year. You never realize how you may appreciate components of your homeland until you leave it.

I began reading Robert Rodriguez’s Rebel Without a Crew today. It is a fantastic, dare I say inspiring book for aspiring filmmakers. It is great to read these sorts of books and see how much I have in common with this highly successful individual. It is akin to the life altering experience I had watching Ed Wood eight years ago. It reminds me that I was on the right track years ago until I let myself steer away into self doubt. Hopefully, this book is one of the many factors catapulting me out of the slump I have been in for over three years.

I spoke with my best friend, Bryan for a long time over the phone tonight. He turns 28 next week. Reading that book, having reevaluated my life for the last few months, and the gravity of our expedient aging led to much needed conversation. Hopefully, we and all my friends will take a look at our lives, decide what we want to do with them, and do our best to see it through immediately. The time for procrastination has ended.

Last night, I inked the last (16th) page of my submission for the Manga contest. Now, scanning, typesetting, toning, and printing only remain.