Welcome to 2009!:
This year has been steady so far. I've taken some significant steps towards realizing my goals these past three years. In 2005, I registered my cartoon sitcom idea; in 2006 I pitched it live as a finalist in a national contest; in 2007 by sheer serendipity I befriended Rainn Wilson and family, who serve as an inspiration that yes, Baha'is can become successful in Hollywood and still remain principled.
Ah, but 2008 will be one for the books. It will be the year I remember forever for numerous reasons, all of which will happen because of action I have done. I used to write "it will be the year I remember for numerous reasons, none of which have occurred yet. I'm still waiting for the world to lift me up and take me away to wherever I'm destined to go - like a leaf blowing in the wind. I lie there ready to be taken away, fearless, yet without any knowledge of my destination - never fighting the wind but allowing myself to swept away by the breezes and gusts of life's tests and trials. I will submit to my destination. I hope I will land in a river where I will be carried through the rapids of life, passing by high cliffs, falling off waterfalls, and arriving in the ocean where I will be swallowed by the fathomless sea, rich in pearls of immeasurable wealth."
Now I realize that plans and thoughts should be made, but action is where it's at. If anything good is going to happen in 2008, it's because I did done it myself.
My life in the material world is as follows: I've been at the same job for five years - selling teddy bears to retailers, charities, and soccer moms worldwide, and I've finished with my part time gig for now - teaching speech at the community college. I've spent a year in advertising and another year or so marketing cures for cancer. My honest intention of what I want to do with my life is to travel the world and spread love and fellowship and sew seeds us justice among all peoples. I will have many, many, friends in this endeavor -- I just know the idea will take off. :-)
What I Love:
I love being a Baha'i. I love my friends and family. I love all of humanity. My advice to those who want to love: even though you may get burned from time to time, keep going on, you're doing the right thing. Just remember Who you're doing it for and you'll be fine in the long run.
My Plans:
1. To create and market my TV series by taking advantage of the current confluence of the Internet and TV. To create a cash reserve, fan base, and the integrity and trust to complete future goals. Goal 1 is the linchpin of the other goals on this list.
2. To host a late night talk/variety show featuring little known, but interesting guests and musical acts from the US and around the world. To create an audience who will be aware of the waywardness and juicy potentials of the world.
3. To tour the continent of Africa by road starting in Morocco and finishing in the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. The three-point shot of this goal is to finish the tour by attending the World Cup, which will be hosted in South Africa in 2010. The game-winning point for this goal is to instigate the end of corruption and poverty with the help of several thousand other like-minded individuals.
4. To create a DVD project that explains and illustrates virtues for young children. The format will be a combination of both Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and the DVD series will be available for free.
5. To team up with some smart folks to open up diplomatic ties between Iran and the United States. If these two countries can be friends, any two countries can be friends - word?
6. To get a PhD in some field to where I can create a curriculum investigating and applying the practical use of humor in every real-life communicative setting - from interpersonal conflict to societal cognitive change.
7. To meet with the King of Swaziland and come up with a comprehensive program to elimate poverty and AIDS from the Kingdom and to create a model of this program for use in other African countries.
8. Hear this: I will fund a girl's orphanage in Tibet at the behest of Lama Lal of Dallas. It will not only help displaced girls, but will also help sustain the near extinct culture of Tibet.
9. To create a movie that teaches a message about how the solution to a problem creates new problems worse than the original one. The symbols I'd use are nuclear war, pan-continental Islamic theocracy, and cockroaches - naturally.
10. To create a movie set in post-apocalyptic America that tells the story of a tyrannical man who finds redemption through knowledge and subsequently suffers from it.
11. To create a movie set in Africa that will be a Charlie Kaufman-esque allegory about colonization in Africa using music as the primary metaphor.
12. Minor Project: I would like to start an all percussion band of the Afro-Cuban variety (listen to Cuevo y Cajon) and put the Hidden Words (a Baha'i Holy Book) into music. I'd call the group "The Hidden Rhythms." I'd be on cajon drum and the rest of you fellas can take your pick.
13. This will take me into my early forties, I'm sure I'll think of some other things to keep me busy into my fifties by the time I'm done with number eight.