Posts tagged Tom Petty

This is that time of year when folks begin posting about how this year they’re planning on changing a zillion things and making thinks different somehow.  For me, though, I’m not looking forward to changing… I’m looking forward to continuing.

2012 was a hard year, but that’s not a bad thing.  As friends and colleagues will tell you – I tend to be a workaholic.  I love it.  I love the feeling to things getting done and the creative process attached to it in my little geek universe.  My friends (my team) and I put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into a number of projects that are now continuing into 2013.

Hell.  We’re already in production for two unannounced things in 2014.

Seriously.

The best way to look forward, though, is to remember where you’ve been.  SO, here’s my recap of one of the craziest years of my life.  Enjoy.

JANUARY

• Reflected on a pretty exciting life thus far in this blog post.  No clue what the year was about to bring.
• We were in the thick of planning InvaderCON II: DOOMCON that month, too.

FEBRUARY

• Took the first of what would be many trips to Los Angeles to work on Anime Expo and Project Anime.
• Randomly took an air boat ride in the Florida swamp because, you know, I’m random that way.

MARCH

• Took another trip to Los Angeles for work on PA/AX some more.
• Took another trip to Los Angeles two weeks later… on my way to Japan for the first time.  I spent eight days being the tallest person in the room.
• I went to Tokyo Disney SEA.
• I went to Disneyland (in Los Angeles) with the voice of Gir.
• I won a $500 Apple gift card for telling a goofy story online about my old IIc.

APRIL

• Took a quick trip to Atlanta to look a party spots for some adult website.
• Was the best man in my best friend’s wedding… on a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas.

MAY

• Saw Tom Petty in concert!  I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.
• Went to Los Angeles again.
• Dealt with loss as my father’s wife passed away.
• Survived Year Two of Florida Anime Experience with the first ever appearance of Terri Hawkes (the voice of Sailor Moon!)

JUNE

• Back in Los Angeles again… this time to visit E3!
• Return to Los Angeles at the end of the month to set up for Anime Expo and Project Anime.

JULY

• Survived the hell, horror, and amazement of Anime Expo 2012.  My eyes were open to a lot of things that one week in Los Angeles.
• Found out a cheesy horror film I did in 1991 was finally coming out on DVD.
• Read the Steve Jobs book.  I’ve revisited a lot in that book since then (after years of being told that I am “an asshole just like Steve Jobs.”)
• Returned to Los Angeles for Anime Expo follow up meetings… and new perspective.
• Ran, successfully, InvaderCON II: DOOMCON in Los Angeles.  Amazing things happened.
• Finished laying the groundwork (after months of set up) for what has since become Talent For Cons by booking voice actors in Anime Expo and Florida Supercon.
• Announced a new show for the Jacksonville market called WasabiCon (since EXPcon had fallen completely off the radar.)

AUGUST

• Ran events at Gen Con in Indianapolis again.  Good times!
• I spent a lot of this month recovering from the Anime Expo/InvaderCON/Project Anime stuff in July.

SEPTEMBER

• Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia.  I helped some Edgar guy host events at a party at the Hard Rock Cafe there.  While there, I saw a sci-fi celebrities drunk daughter dance on a stripper pole.  (I love my life.)
• Lots and lots of catch up work that month…

OCTOBER

• Wound up visiting EPCOT on the 30th anniversary of the park’s opening.  Turned out it was a clever day to take my friend Marc Perez there for his first time.
• Launched the very first PinUpalooza.  It was a lukewarm event (after getting dates bounced around and whatnot) but we proved the event was a solid concept.  Already planning Year Two.
• Because one con just wasn’t enough, we ran WasabiCon that same month, too.  One of the best cons assembled in two months EVER.

NOVEMBER

• Took another cruise for my five year wedding anniversary with one of the most patient women on the planet.  This time we found ourselves in Belize and Cozumel, Mexico.  (It seems that I still need to write a blog post about this since I didn’t see one while writing this.)
• Spent Thanksgiving with my dad… because that’s what family does.
• Got blind sided (for the first time in my life) by a surprise birthday party.  I have some amazing fucking friends.

DECEMBER

• Launched ANOTHER new event in 2012 – Cosplay Christmas.  It was holiday goodness that will return in 2013.
• Went to Busch Gardens for the first time in yeaaars.
• Was a groomsman in the AMAZING wedding of Troy and Kim Doerner.
• Returned to Los Angeles for the first time since July to start work on Project Anime 2013 again.  Saw some geeky stuff.
• Spent the first Christmas in 13 years without my wife… but got to spend it with my dad.  My heart was happy, but my lungs were in pain.  (Long story.)

SO – cities I found myself in during 2012:

• Atlanta
• Cozumel
• Indianapolis
• Jacksonville
• Los Angeles
• Orlando
• Miami
• Naussau
• San Diego
• Tokyo

And now for that part we all do during a perceived time of renewal – plan for the future.  So what are my goals in 2013?  I have a couple of things to work on, sure, like anyone else.  I like keeping things simple, though, so here are the three things that I will concentrate on in this new year.

1. Lose weight.  (Cliche, yes, but truly needed at this point.)
2. Blog more.  (In reading about my past year, I realize that I didn’t write as much about most of it that I should have.)
3. Continue onward.  (I created a lot in 2012; now I have to build it up even more.)

So here we go…