1. Admittedly, on a bit of a gaming kick again, Xbox360. Finished “Batman: Arkham City” in a couple of weeks in March. Started playing “Bioshock Infinite” recently, mostly because I fell in love with this song:
If you haven’t heard “Beast” by Nico Vega yet, you gotta spin this. I can’t seem to stop.
2. Focused on an artistic project entitled “Jesse” for the band Microwaved right now. More to come in the near future.
3. If anyone seriously believes the predictions of Puxtatawney Phil from this season forth, I will seriously question their sanity. I hope that’s the last we see of Winter for a while.
4. I suppose I’ve been living in an Entertainment cave for a while. I had no idea that fellow Canucks Chad Kroeger (lead singer of the feces machine Nickelback) and Avril Lavigne (teen-angst, one-hit wonder queen) were dating. Evidentially, they’re now engaged to be married. Once, I was a fan of both Nickelback and Avril Lavigne; now, I just hope they don’t breed.
5. Blog readership numbers have dropped to abysmal. I suppose that’s what I get for taking some time off from blogging to focus on creative projects in other media. Concerned about the regression of audience, though. Perhaps this is the ebb-and-flow of trying to stabilize and grow a personal brand all alone. Perhaps my content and creative outlet isn’t near as interesting as I believe it to be. My “Behelders Project” post received 10 views and zero responses; those kind of engagement numbers lead me to ponder how much I should be connecting with an external audience, or if I should spend less time marketing and more time creating. It would be disappointing to have to give up on the external push of the Artemis Sere brand altogether, but perhaps I need to “recess” a bit–become less out-front with what I am trying to accomplish, and let production speak for itself. It’s obvious that I can’t pay to grow my engagement to comfortable levels with the style and content of art that I produce. I honestly don’t want to spend time blogging about social media or marketing, and would rather curate that content. Perhaps I’m just not good enough as artist to command a following. Common theme of this life. For a completely free offering, I expected a baseline level of response, but silence is altogether troubling.
6. Klout recently incorporated Instagram into their social scoring algorithm. I hope to write a blog in the near future about the power of social diversification. My Instagram audience now rivals both my Twitter and Facebook followers (almost combined), and increases regularly. It accounts for almost 50% of my Klout score as well. The power of pictures is almost immeasurable. Since starting on Instagram a little over a year ago, I have expanded my portfolio to 2,000 images with over 1,700 followers of my work. It seems to be the only growth area of social media for me, perhaps a reflection of where I tend to focus my creative.
7. Hit a renewed vein with my “Fetch” concept lately. I’ve reworked the concept many times over the last six years, but I feel like I am a lot closer to a direction I’m happy with, and one that is genuinely unique. Closer to the story that I’m excited to tell, and one that will scare the shit out of people. It will make people think, if I’m able to finish it in this lifetime.
8. I was featured in a full-page ad in ISHN magazine for a line of 3M(TM) Earmuffs recently. Comically, my forearm tattoos were digitally removed. While they were appropriate for the edgy eyewear marketing that I was featured in, not so for the mass-market safety Earmuff crowd.
9. Dropped my phone in water last week and needed to have it replaced. Got a new one via phone insurance a couple of days ago, and feel like I’m back on track again. I so love new tech and the ability to store our lives “in the Clouds”, download what we’ve lost at the touch of a button. Someday, that will be the common way of this creature.
10. I don’t think I’ll ever be alright with the Middle Eastern female fashion trend of using the headdress as a cell phone holder, snugly slid tightly to her cheek as she chirps away. I imagine instances of cheek cancer will rise in a certain ethnicity.
11.Turns out that I had to pay my Duty to Drive with care ticket, regardless of my plea to a Ramsey County Hearing Officer about my accident. Instead of being supportive of my minimization of loss of life and property, the State and People continue to draw blood.
12. “Let’s hope your mind can take it all…” Modestep at First Ave on 4/3 was divine. Can’t wait to see them again. Hopefully, I’ll get to catch them at another show this summer.
13. Army of me marches on–with fewer feathers, pounds and cares.