I have fifteen minutes before Gossip Girl starts. That’s not really enough time to do anything but blog. After giving several of the new Fall television shows a chance last week, I’ve pretty much decided on my TV watching schedule for the fall. As it turns out, my only TV nights will be Mondays (Gossip Girl, Heroes) and Thursdays (Smallville, The Office). I can’t watch House, because it’s on Tuesday nights, and Tuesdays are improv nights. I can’t watch the Sarah Connor Chronicles, because it’s up against Gossip Girl. I can’t watch Mad Men and Californication, because they’re on cable, and I only have free over-the-air HD programming. Lost, 24, and Battlestar Galactica have mid-season start dates, so I’ll worry about those later.

So, my weekly schedule for the fall is almost solidified…

Mondays: Walk/bike ride, Gossip Girl, Heroes
Tuesdays: Improv class
Wednesdays: Walk/bike ride, read/Netflix
Thursdays: Walk/bike ride, Smallville, The Office
Fridays: Open
Saturdays: WoW, Comic project
Sundays: Tennis class, Bibleicious project, Redskins

I came to Carpool in Herndon today, because it’s usually a really great place to bring a laptop and work with little distraction and a great atmosphere. If you come during the day or early evening, it’s usually pretty dead. Given its very fast, stable, and free Wi-Fi connection, it’s the ideal place to work. I came here today to sit down and write for a couple of hours. I wanted to make some headway on my two fall projects.

So, imagine my surprise when I entered the venue today at 3 PM to find it packed with loud, obnoxious WAKA kickball players. There’s a Saturday kickball division? And they’re all here? Today?

As I walked through the crowd of players to a table out on the patio, I started to recognize a bunch of them. In fact, I recognized the vast majority of them. They were all players I knew from the 2005 seasons in Vienna and Reston. I hadn’t kept in touch with any kickballers since “retiring,” so I definitely didn’t feel comfortable being in their presence now.

I grabbed a table as far away from the crowd as possible. But they were everywhere. I saw one girl, who I had a huge “kickball crush” on in 2005, and she (like me) had put on a few pounds since the last time I saw her. She was surprised to see me and flashed a smile of recognition as I passed her, but we didn’t talk. I think she has a kid now, who is running around from table to table. How many years has it been?

I see lots of folks I remember. I see couples, but they’re not the same couples. One girl, who used to be engaged, when I knew her in Vienna is now on the arm of a guy who was dating another kickball her when I knew him. It’s the same players, just different teams.

It seems this has been an unending life for these people. Season in, season out. Go play kickball, then come back to Carpool for drinks. Spring, summer, fall… Spring, summer, fall…

Do I really miss it? Do I miss this life?

Now that I think of it… no. I don’t miss it. Kickball reminds me of a time when I lacked the social skills I gained in the years that followed. I miss the instant social circles that kickball created for me, but I can now created more customized, targeted social circles of like-minded friends and networks.

I was intimidated when I entered Carpool today. But as I prepare to leave, I’m quite content with the realization that this is a group where I no longer belong.

Today ends my nine days of vacation. While I didn’t do many of the things I had originally intended (like bike riding and bar/café hopping), I definitely feel great about how I spent my time. I got in touch with the kinds of activities that give me the most peace and pleasure in life. And decided on my two fall projects.

When I get sick of technology (like I am right now), I reach back to more organic art forms, like writing and drawing.

During the first half of the week, I built the infrastructure of a new creative blog called Bibleicious. It’s a tongue-in-cheek gossip blog about the events in the Bible. While it’s inspired most recently by the show Gossip Girl, it is also a modern spin on an old writing idea I had in college, where I began writing diary entries for angels and demons. I’m really excited about this idea, because it’s one of those projects with multiple goals. I wanted to do more creative, fun writing, and a fake-ish blog was something I’d been considering for a while. Doing a daily blog means forcing myself to read through the Bible regularly each day/week. (I intend to write all six entries for the week each Sunday.) I’ve built the site and have done everything to get it up and running. All I have to do is start writing. And I can do that anywhere. I plan to find a nice, cozy place on Sundays to bring my laptop and write.

The second project for the fall is creating an indie comic. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and since I have no other distractions in my life, I figure now is the time to get it done. Even though I have no artistic abilities, I’m still going to do it. Lack of talent has never stopped me before. If there’s anyone who can get something done strictly through force of will, it’s me. I’m going to do it, even if I have to outsource the art. Every other aspect of comic creation (e.g., writing, printing, marketing) is something I can breeze through. I’m hoping I can will my way through the art, as well, because there are so many other benefits to having drawing skills outside of this project. As for the story, I’ve been working on that for a while. Without giving it away, I’ll say it merges a few of my big interests. And it’s a very clever use of existing characters. In fact, once it’s complete, I’ll be pitching it to the company who owns the characters to see if they want to publish it!

I spent a large part of the week simply reading. I read and read and read, and got it out of my system. Previously, I’ve rarely had the time to sit down and enjoy a good book. I was determined to indulge in a reading marathon during my vacation.

I only went to the AOL gym once during my time off. I couldn’t bear to even think about work while on vacation, so I stayed away from the AOL campus. Instead, I spent time hanging out with various family members. I spent one day hanging out with mom, one day with dad, and had lunch with the Milligan’s another day. I didn’t go out for drinks with friends, like I had wanted (except that first Friday night), but I did sign up for another improv class with some of the boys from Reston, so there will definitely be some drinking later this fall.

There were other things I did this week, like get the taillight on my car fixed. I busted it on a parked Jeep, while barhopping with Keith on Friday night. The Jeep was fine, by the way. Due to a mix-up with the dealership, they didn’t charge me for labor, so my little mistake only cost me $190. Lame.

I had been mulling over doing a new video podcast for a local comic store (Laughing Ogre in Lansdowne, VA), but I want to step away from video production for a while. All of my podcasts are currently in a holding pattern. With the exception of a few DC Tech episodes (already edited) and some coverage of Baltimore Comic-Con and the Small Press Expo later this month for my friend Doug’s site (popculturegeek.com), I don’t have any plans for additional video work this year. I feel like I’ve already conquered the podcast medium, and I want to learn other skills (see writing/drawing above).

So, that was my vacation. I stepped away from technology and the stress from work and decided where I wanted to go from here. There’ll be some changes this fall. And some things will remain the same. But I’m going to enjoy the things I do. That’s for sure.

This summer, I launched a semi-official video podcast for AOL Shopping called ShopLogic. The name and format of the show was based on the fairly popular podcast called MobLogic. The plan was to interview people on the street, asking them questions relating to shopping in general. These videos would coincide with our other editorial promotions on the site.

Through the AOL kickball league, I met a couple of interns named Marybeth and Stephanie, who were interested in helping out with the podcast. The three of us got together for the early morning launch of the iPhone 3G on July 11 and filmed the first episode.

The episode got generally good buzz in the office, so we continued to plan other shoots, including a Back to School session with several of the other AOL interns and a shoot at Fair Oaks Mall that I had to do a lot of pre-planning with our legal department and the marketing folks at the mall.

After a total of seven episodes, I exhausted all the usable footage shot during the summer. And given the facts that the interns went back to college at the end of August, the videos weren’t monetizing well, and I had less and less time for fun projects at work, I decided to let go of the series.

So, ShopLogic was a podcast I had a lot of fun doing, but ultimately was just a summer fling.

Episode 1: iPhone 3G Launch
Episode 2: Back to School Essentials
Episode 3: Back to School Laptops
Episode 4: Back to School Fashion
Episode 5: Best Ways to Stay in Shape
Episode 6: Cell Phones While Driving
Episode 7: Childhood Games

I’m trying not to follow politics this year. I already know who I’m voting for, because I vote for platforms, not for people. There’s such a wide gulf between the Democratic platform and the Republican one, that I just don’t understand how anyone could be undecided between the two. Everyone has their own personal worldview, and that worldview must certainly coincide more with one of the two platforms. For me, it’s the Republican platform. I am fiscally conservative. I believe faith is inseparable from everyday life and hate it when people try to push faith out of the public arena. I don’t think babies should ever be killed – in no circumstance. I think we should create more domestic energy, with heavy consideration for the environment. I work very hard, have tremendous ambition, and have ALWAYS hated how those who put in less effort are given artificial means to obtain the same reward. Despite how I used to view politics, religion is not at the top of my voting mind these days. I take it for granted that the world will always be hostile towards Christianity, whether there’s a Republican president or a Democratic one. What I’m more concerned with is the whole issue of reward. Are the hard-working, ambitious risk-takers rewarded? Or those who waste their time with self-indulgence and hedonism rewarded? I think the country would be better off rewarding hard-work, rather than stifling it with higher taxes and socialistic practices. The Democratic platform rewards the underachievers, making the option of self-motivated accomplishment less desirable.

So, it all comes down to this for me…

The Republican platform rewards hard work, initiative and achievement, while the Democratic platform discourages them. As long as that is the case, I will always vote Republican.