Blogging into the wind

I find blogging is such a self perpetuating cycle. When you blog and there’s no response, you assume no one is reading (which may or may not be true). Therefore you don’t write as much. Of course when you never update people are bound to stop reading. Chicken/egg, Yin/Yang, etc.

I need to get into the mindset of just blogging for me. Who cares if no one is reading it? I have been Twittering on a pretty regular basis, so that’s something!
Much has been going on. First and foremost, Jess’s job is moving to Seattle. This, of course, is huge. At first I most definitely did NOT want to move. I love Austin and I’ve spent the last two and a half years building up my connections and career in the TV/Film industry, an industry where your connections are far more important than your talent. I have a band I’ve been playing with for almost 15 years which brings in a decent income, is immensely talented and can be a lot of fun.
Upon more discussion and investigation, however, things have become much more murky. There is now a large part of me that wants to go. We have had many discussions on the matter and the good thing is that Jess and I seem to be in the same place mentally. We are considering it strongly but we’re pretty sure we’ll end up staying in Austin. This is by no means certain though. First and foremost we have to wait until we see exactly what her company is offering her. They would pay for moving costs, we know that. They will also be offering a pay raise but from our investigations we are fairly sure that the pay raise would be about half of the cost of living increase, so effectively she would be taking a pay cut. This is all speculation at this point, however.
They are also sending us on a 4 day trip to Seattle to evaluate it and get a better idea. This is also a factor. If we did move, I would be throwing away all the connections and work I’ve done here but apparently Seattle has a pretty good commercial industry and a good theatre community, so my career wouldn’t be completely shut down or anything. Initially we thought that being so close to Vancouver could also be a good thing since lots of TV and movie productions film in Vancouver. Upon further investigation though, it doesn’t seem like I would be able to work in Vancouver. First off I have no idea about non-canadian work permits and such and secondly many industry folks have told me that the Canadian film industry is not fond of hiring foreigners since they have a very well established industry work force of their own to fill those jobs.
As for leaving my band, that’s also not black and white. We are a great band full of talented guys. We play a lot of great variety of great songs that you will hardly hear any bands play and we make a decent income as one of the top bands in the small market we’re in. However, my 15 years with them has had it’s fair share of frustrations too and many times I’ve considered moving on. No one else in the band really has any desire to do any more than we’re currently doing. We’re maxed out. We’ve kind of stagnated and have just been coasting for some years now. Some gigs are great fun, some gigs are a chore where I’m there strictly to earn my pay. It’s a situation full of pluses and minuses.
One of the biggest factors is that we would, of course, be leaving behind the vast majority of our friends. That is a pretty big deal to us. On the other side of that coin, however, is the fact that Larry and Iskra are very much willing to move too and continue to live with us in our creative commune. It also sounds like Andy, one of longest and best friends who also works at the same company, is almost certainly going with his wife and child. There are several other friends at the company who may be going too.
I’ve read message board posts specifically comparing life in Austin and Seattle from people who have lived in both places, or are considering it and seeking advice. There has been much investigating and many conversations with many people. We are still greatly conflicted about it. If we do stay here, Jess would have to find a new job and we all know how much job hunting sucks. Especially in the game industry in Austin right now. We both agree that this is probably one of the hardest decisions we’ve ever been faced with, together or individually, in our whole lives. The good thing is that we are torn between two great choices, each with their own caveats and not between two crappy choices.
Aside from that I’ve been plenty busy acting. I was also in Dallas for two days doing a Production Assistant job which is always fun. It also gave me a great reason to stay and hang out with my friend, Esteban. Much Rock Band 2 was had.
In yet other random news, I got a Roland V-drum kit for my home studio off Craigslist for a great deal. With the addition of a converter box I’ll be able to use it to play Rock Band too! That will be awesome.
I’ll leave it that for the moment as it’s an epic with a lot to process. More news as it develops.