Podcast Obsession

Living in Los Angeles you would think I'd have perfected the art of my commute entertainment.  I spend an average of roughly 7 or 8 hours a week in my car going to and from work, yet I've never really latched on to any one form of drivable entertainment to keep me from wanting to run my car off the 405.  I thought I'd gone through all the normal remedies - iPhone playlists, radio talk shows, phone call catch ups, etc, but I've only recently gotten in to a once foreign field - Podcasts.

I've caught a few minutes of various podcasts here and there but they never really stuck with me until I started listening to the most recent podcast craze, "Serial."  I'd heard about it long before I started but never really thought I'd have any interest in it.  Fast forward to a few months later, which ended up being two weekends ago on a trip home from Big Bear in the car with Christina, Konrad and Justine.

Side note for those of you that don't know the main characters in my story.  Christina is my fiance, and Konrad and Justine are two of my closest friends that also happen to be married.

We'd gotten the recommendation to start "Serial" from some other friends that we were in Big Bear with, so we decided to utilize the long drive to see if we were in to it.  Roughly two and a half hours and three episodes later - I'd say we were in to it.  After the first few episodes I definitely wanted to continue the journey with Sarah Koenig as she delved into the trial and conviction of Adnan Syed, but I wasn't sure I'd have the time to ever get back in to it.  That was a stupid assumption.  Much like the other goals I have in life, I've come to learn that "having enough time" is never an appropriate, or valid excuse to not do something that you want to do.  This blog is a perfect example and finding the time to continue "Serial" was one as well.  So of course I started thinking what time would be good for me to continue and then, duh, why not on my commute to and from work?

Turns out podcasts are a great way to pass the time in the stop and go territories of the southern California freeways.  I plowed through the rest of "Serial" by the next weekend.  Do I think Adnan was innocent?  Maybe.  Although I think I felt much like Sarah did - I struggled back and forth between his guilt and innocence.  I will say I lean more towards the innocent side, but it's hard to completely get on his side when I've only listened to the podcast.  I'll certainly be keeping my eyes on the articles that come up during his appeal process.

After I finished "Serial" my mouth was still watering for more podcasts so I had to find something else to binge on.  Lucky for me and being late to the game, I've found a plethora of new material that will keep me occupied for the foreseeable future.  I'm starting it off by catching up on every episode of the "Nerdist" podcast because I find Chris Hardwick to be very entertaining, and also because I'm somewhat of a nerd.  What's great about all the podcasts is that even as I'm catching up they're adding new episodes, so the new material seems endless.  They also keep my mind focused and I've also found that I learn at least one new thing per episode.  I'll gladly keep listening on my morning and evening commutes.

What podcasts do you listen to/recommend?

Coming Out of Retirement

4/8/2010.

That's the day that I published my last post on this site.  Just shy of 5 years of silence.  Something I know for a fact could never happen, at least for me, in real life.

Speaking of real life - mine certainly hasn't been as silent as this blog over the last 5-ish years.  I think this is the perfect time for a short list, so here are the broad strokes of what I've been up to:

-Graduated college
-Moved to LA (Downtown)
-Got a job as a production assistant.  Actually more than a few jobs.
-Stopped being a PA to pursue acting
-Christina moved in with me
-Stopped pursuing acting to work as a Production Coordinator
-Moved from Downtown LA to Sherman Oaks
-Got engaged to Christina!

Those are most of what I would consider the bold bullet points for the last 5 years.  In addition, I've read a bunch of books, seen an astounding amount of movies, played a lot of golf, drank more than my share of booze, and generally been enjoying life in sunny southern California.

So what am I up to now?  Planning for our Wedding on 8/8/15 in Cancun, Mexico.  Working as a Coordinator in MTV's Series Production department.  Enjoying the company of great friends in many places whenever possible.  And trying to live life to the fullest in every way.  Also - starting to write again.

I made a few resolutions for this New Year, and to write more was in my top 5.  I won't lie - I've been writing on and off on more than a few blog sites in the intermittent 5 years since my last post, but I've finally settled back in to this site.  I came back here because it doesn't cost me anything, and until I prove to myself that I'm really committed to a regular writing routine, I don't want to throw my money at a web hosting service just so it drains from my account every month.

The hardest thing I've battled when it comes to returning to a blog is my own head.  I've made plenty of excuses to not blog, and I've finally realized that I can't use a lack of time/ideas/etc as an excuse to stay away from one of the things in life I truly love.  One of my biggest bucket list items in life has always been to become an author, and I've read countless books and articles that say that the first step to becoming a better writer is to, guess what, write!  Write about anything, write often, just write.  A general consensus seems to be that writing as often as you can will only help fuel the creative juices and, even more importantly, hopefully help you become a better writer.  That's my goal for this - to become a better writer to the point where I feel comfortable and justified in writing my first book.

I've got many more goals, thoughts, and ideas that I'm looking forward to sharing on this newly re-activated blog.  I'm looking forward to the comeback, and I hope you'll enjoy it too.

PS: If you want to have a few laughs, check out my old posts.  I've decided to leave on here not for their outstanding prose, but because I feel like they serve as a fun reminder of times gone by and also will (hopefully) continue to show general improvement in my writing.