March was super busy and a bit of a roller coaster.

Finding the right tools

I finally decided to invest in some new tools for my artistic endeavors. The first investment was a paper cutter to produce pieces similar to those I created at Anderson Ranch. I ordered the latest version of the Silhouette Cameo, the Cameo 5. I was excited to set it up, but I realized it was too small for what I intended to use it for. I want to be able to create pieces that are at least 13” by 19” and with the Cameo 5 my cutting potential maxes at 12” due to the size of the available mats. I did a bit more research and went with an older model, the Cameo 4 Pro, which will allow me to cut up to 24” wide. It’s exciting to get things moving in the right direction.

Outside of getting more tools for the art stuff, I have been trying to create a workflow that will help me organize my thoughts more efficiently. I have been using Notion for many years but in a very unstructured way. Since I was making a decision that should be long-term, I decided to take a look at some other tools that might be helpful. After watching way too many YouTube videos I ended up with Notion and Obsidian as my two best options. They are both used very differently, but after way too much consideration I decided to stick with Notion. I spent a few hours working through Thomas Frank’s video on using the PARA method with Notion and felt like I got it in a pretty good setup.

I couldn’t stop myself from continuing to look at Obsidian. It seemed like a shiny new toy and I couldn’t stop thinking I was missing out on something by sticking with Notion. I spoke with my friend Jon and realized I was overthinking the situation and I just needed to stick with something. I ultimately went back to Notion after spending a day or two with Obsidian. Thomas Frank’s walkthrough gave me a solid base, I spent a day or two making some tweaks that made sense for me ad I have been pretty happy with it. I am hoping this will really help me keep track of ideas and notes as they come, instead of relying solely on my aging brain 🙂.

Back at the Menil

Aurora Picture Show finally opened up their signups for Bring Your Own Beamer at the Menil Collection this year. I am super excited about participating in this event this year. I have no idea what I am going to produce for it, the easiest thing to do would be remixing what I did last year but I think I want to do something a bit different, something a bit less chaotic and intentional.

Making It

I’ve really been enjoying the Making It podcast lately. Bob Clagget (I mentioned him in a previous Signal) joins Jimmy Diresta, and David Picciuto weekly to talk about the different projects they are working on but more importantly the talk about life in general. They share a bit about their insecurities, how they problem solve issues in their projects, and give each other advice on how to move projects forward. The topics tend to center around wood working but the majority of the conversations can be easily applied to life in general. I think it is worth a listen/watch, you can pick up at any episode.

In Closing…

There are a lot of irons in the fire right now, trying to make progress with the paper cutter, working on my piece for BYOB, and continuing to run. If I am honest, I feel a bit behind on things right now, but I am trying to do my best to go with the flow of things.