YONDER BREAKS

It's been a while...(and the pictures we had are faded). That's a Watashi Wa reference. My old blog on Xanga had a Watashi Wa quote on top, "Life doesn't always demand that we understand, just enjoy it." Good band. They also said, "I have learned that depression is when our eyes are on ourselves." Another true quote, at least for the mildly depressed. This is an update: I'm set to shoot a movie (the biggest one yet!) this June with Elliott Barker of Deep Grey Productions. I wrote and am co-directing it with him. We're in the pre-production process: casting, location scouting and most importantly -- fund raising! If you stumble across this blog, or even read it on purpose, please go to indiegogo.com/BrokenTogether and donate. Or at least tell all your friends to go there, because we need a little more money lest no movie gets shot! I'll keep this one short, although I have plenty to say. Thanks for your help all!

One of my earliest memories is playing in the living room while my family watched what sounded like a violent movie. I remember covering my eyes because it sounded like something I shouldn't watch. My parents asked why I did that, and I said it's because it was a bad movie. They said, "Are you sure?" I opened my eyes and it was a Chuck Norris movie... And suddenly it was okay to watch! I don't know why, but for some reason at that age it was okay to watch a violent film if it had Chuck Norris in it. I guess my father held him in high esteem (I grew up taking martial arts and my Dad often taught it) and so he was associated as a good guy. I don't know what that means, but I think of it sometimes and wonder why it's okay to watch a violent movie if Chuck Norris is in it. Maybe his movies are clean...I don't know. I haven't seen that many since then. I think growing up in a martial arts-friendly household led to the idea that violence wasn't...

The first post seemed a little negative, so here's another: Tonight I was trying to think of jokes because I've been thinking about doing stand up comedy one of these days. Some people think that's a good idea, and some don't...oh well, it's not like my life dreams are to be a stand up comedian... My thoughts brought me to remember the time my Dad (Rick jr.) and his Dad (Rick sr.) went hiking on the Appalachian trail (some people pronounce that Ap-al-AE [eh as in Canadian eh]-chen, but I hold that it's pronounced Ap-al-AH [like ahhhh real monsters]-chen). We came across the famous Appalachian trail shelters, where a bunch of strangers hiking the trail stay shut in a little cabin with a locked gate to keep bears out. When we got there, we met some of the folks that were striving to hike the entire trail (Maine to Georgia, about a 3-5 month commitment). They introduced themselves by their trail names and I discovered that everyone who does that is at least a...

I've been thinking about starting a weblog. Thanks to a challenge from Jason Epstein and The Art of Manliness , the folks on the internet can read my thoughts. I had one of these back in the day...a Xanga. Didn't last. Maybe this one will...