Giving Thanks

Today is Thursday, November 26th. Today is also Thanksgiving. So...here are 26 things I'm thankful for:

1.) My mother, sister, and nephew, because they are the most accepting, gracious and loving family I could have ever hoped for. I know if no one else is there for me, they are.

2.) My stepfather, who came into this family and made it his own, and who loves us as though he's been with us his whole life.

3.) Knowing my dad's side of the family--my biological father, and especially my two sisters. I don't talk to them near as much as I should, but I am beyond grateful that I know them, and that we keep in touch.

4.) My stepmother, who acts as the bridge to that half of my life, and always takes time to check up on me even though we've only met twice in real life. Really, though, I hit the step-parent jackpot.

5.) My aunt Arie and Uncle Robert, who helped raise me more than any other people not called Estella.

6.) My cousin Derrick, who is probably the closest thing to a blood brother I've ever had.

7.) My family as a whole. The best part about being me is having them behind me.

8.) My boys Vallejo and Tyler, the people who get to see the absolute best and worst of me, yet continue to be there for me no matter what.

9.) My Lubbock friends, including the ones who don't live there anymore. Good grief, each and every one of you bring out the absolute best in me. It doesn't matter how many times I say, you'll never know how much I miss you all, and the adventures (grand or mundane) we had. Whether you're in Lubbock, Chicago, Dallas, Houston or St. Louis...you're in my thoughts always. Always.

10.) My travel companions Joey, Sophie and Alyssa. Going on these trips is always the highlight of my year...but really, I'm thankful that you guys can put up with me for a week and a half straight. That's great, because when these trips end, I'll still be making efforts to see you guys.

11.) Actually, all my friends. I've said it plenty of times, of course, but I'll say it again: I am blessed with absolutely incredible friends. Friends who have driven hundreds of miles to visit me. Friends who have flown THOUSANDS of miles just for an afternoon together. Friends who have put up with me for days on end and spent hundreds of dollars to share an adventure or two with me. You people aren't ordinary...you're extraordinary. Other than my family, you folks are by far the greatest part of my life

12.) The friends I've lost contact with. I'm thankful for you guys anyways, because if you're reading this that means we haven't completely drifted apart. It also means that I meant enough for you to decide to become friends with me in the first place. Feel free to drop a line, even if it's been ages since we've spoken!

13.) The time I spent working at Main Event...both Lubbock and Austin. It was never "cool," but I looking back, I learned so many practical skills, dealt with the best and worst of bosses, and overall got a feel of how the real world operates. Not to mention I met people who I firmly believe will be with me my entire life.

14.) My current job at HotSchedules. I enjoy the work, and they pay well enough for me to not live paycheck-to-paycheck for the first time in my life (well...I wouldn't if I had better spending habits). I have actual benefits, they pay for my gym membership, and they even feed us. But much like Main Event, the best part about the job by far are the people I work with. Lifelong friends in the making, hopefully!

15.) The city of Austin. I never, ever realized that a city could so completely match a personality until I moved here. I love living here, even with traffic being horrendous. I like that there are a myriad of things to do. Also...

16.) The food culture in Austin...especially food trucks. This place'll make me fat yet.

17.) My car.

18.) My current roommate, Sergio. We don't see each other enough, but when we do, we tend to have some deep conversations that change my worldview a bit.

19.) Re:Views Magazine, because it gives me a creative outlet and allows me a chance to record podcasts, which I love doing.

20.) Sam, the owner of Re:Views, for not firing my ass yet for not having written anything in the past six months or so. I will one day, I promise!

21.) Fantasy Football, because it gives me a brand new appreciation for the game. I pay attention to players and teams I wouldn't otherwise care about. Also, I'm in first in at least one of my leagues :D

22.) Cities:Skylines, because that SimCity itch has been waiting for years to be scratched, and it's finally been doing it properly.

23.) Black music in 2015, because between Kendrick Lamar, D'Angelo, Killer Mike, Flying Lotus and Kamasi Washington, my soul is satisfied this year.

24.) My ambition of becoming a Voice Actor. Having that dream in front of me gives me something to work for, and gives purpose to the things that I do.

25.) God. Thank God I'm alive, thank God that I have been able to sustain myself after college, thank God that I live the life I live. Thank you God for everything I have and don't have.

26.) You, for reading all the way through. Bonus points if you read it on my blog ;-). Happy Thanksgiving!

I need to utilize this more. I have so many thoughts in my head, and nowhere to put them on paper. A reintroduction is in order, however. So, here I go:

1.) My name is George.

2.) I live in the southern part of Austin, TX.

3.) I'm 28 years old.

4.) I work at HotSchedules.

5.) HotSchedules is an online platform for restaurants to create schedules for their employees, as well as track labor and sales numbers. It's super helpful for both managers and employees...and I should know, because I used HotSchedules for most of my time at Main Event.

6.) I don't work at Main Event anymore. My last day was January 31st, 2015. My first day at HotSchedules was February 2nd. The day in between was Super Bowl XLIX, between New England and Seattle.

7.) If I still worked at ME, yesterday would have been my 7th anniversary.

8.) My roommate's name is Sergio. He's from Peru.

9.) I'm a huge gamer and animation fan. So basically, I'm a kid.

10.) Traveling is still a huge part of what I do. I took a trip to Chicago, then a road trip to Minneapolis, just because.

11.) ...that's enough.

We'll see if I follow through with using this blog more. Keep watching this space...but don't expect much ;-)

Free Chit-Chat

So I have this idea for a social experiment of sorts.  I walk into a coffee shop, sit at an empty table, place a sign in front of me that reads "Free Chit-Chat," and see if anyone actually sits down to talk to me.  The idea comes from a report on an experiment in which it was discovered that city buses are silent not because people don't want to talk, but more because people are too afraid that everyone ELSE doesn't want to talk.

Well...what happens when I remove that uncertainty?

It's an interesting experiment, and I may pull it off one day. Not for everyone else's sake, but for my own. For some reason, I seem to have lost all notion of conversational ethics. I don't look people in the eye, I mumble and ramble, and I talk a lot to myself. When I'm confident, I know I can really get people to open up, but lately, that just hasn't been me. I think an experiment like this would definitely help me get comfortable talking with people again.

That is, if I ever do it. We'll see if that day ever comes.

Becoming Superman

Declaring that you will follow your dreams a daunting task.  It's like standing face-to-face with someone and telling them, with no trace of humor, that you will become Superman.  Even as you write it, you feel silly, as though just the act of putting it to paper also means you believe in Santa Claus.  Thing is, it only feels silly until you actually write it out.  After that, it feels tangible, believable...doable.  Declaring it, and taking the time to let everyone know what it is you dream, gives confirmation that you believe in what you are doing, and that you might actually get from will to real.  And so....

I want to be in the business of voice over.  I want to become a voice actor for cartoons and video games.  I adore those in that line of work--people like Tom Kenny, Rob Paulsen, Billy West, Jeff Bennett, Mark Hamill, Tara Strong, Pam Adlon--who made up my entire childhood.  As a fan of animation, as a fan of voice actors, as someone who has a history of theatre and acting, and as someone who is repeatedly told that I should use my voice in some way, shape or form, I think that it would be a dream job.

But it's not an easy road to go down.  It'll take years before I'm ready to do this.  In doing research in how to make a career out of voice-over, I've heard repeatedly to take improv classes.  Luckily, Austin has quite a few improv theatres that offer classes for around $200 each level (generally 3 levels, 6-8 classes per level); cutting a quality demo reel that will act as a small sample of my range will take even more money.  Not that any of that will land me a job.  As voice over has gained more notoriety, the competition for voice acting jobs is more fierce (luckily, I'm told that the voice acting community is really great about getting each other work).  

And beyond simply marketing my voice, I have to go to places where there are jobs.  I'm fortunate that Austin has a large presence of video game companies, but the mass bulk of VO work is in LA.  And even if I become an established voice over actor, work isn't guaranteed.  It's all freelance contract work; the hardest part about the job is actually getting jobs.  There are only a few people who are called upon to play the same voice for years and years; for most, it's one-off characters in a single episode, or a no-name villager in a stand-alone video game.

So why pursue it?  Because I'm tired of simply waiting for something to come my way.  I've discovered that I have a baseline voice that is, on its own, capable of creating a wide variety of characters.  I'm terrible at impressions, but I can give a voice and personality to a character pretty easily.  Of course, when it comes to voice acting, you're an actor before you're a voice--that's where the improv classes come in.  I'm hoping the improv classes will help me loosen up and find characters that I can sustain for long periods of time, as well as teach me techniques to stay fresh and keep different personas from bleeding into each other.

This is what I want to do, and it is the first career that I've ever tried to pursue outside of retail.  I don't know whether I will succeed.  I don't know if I'll even like it (though I have an idea that I will).  But I think I can do it, and I'm beginning to take the necessary steps to get there.  It'll take an incredibly long time, but I'm willing to be patient with it.  And perhaps, one day in the future, someone will come up to me and say, "Hey, I recognize your voice!  My son watches you every Saturday morning...you're Superman!"

A Little Housekeeping...

There are links to my social media profiles at the bottom of the page, but here are some other pages of mine that you can check out:

Re:Views
This is a website that features reviews on six different types of media--music, television, movies, video games, books, and comics--that I contribute to. I'm George Pierce over there.

The Yonderer
This is my travel-based blog that I haven't updated in a generation. Feel free to check out some posts over there; perhaps it will see a revival like this blog did.

Instagram
My Instagram profile is full of pictures from my travels, and of myself. Follow me!

Last.fm
I'm a big music person, and occasionally I'll post what's been playing through my speakers. A more comprehensive list can be found here, though.

Rebirth

In an attempt to get back into blogging, I've revamped this blog to more closely resemble my Tumblr page.

Really, it doesn't matter what I type; as long as I'm blogging, I'll be fine. But I'd like some feedback on the design of the blog, if you'd be so kind. Anything--colors, gadgets, fonts, what you like, what you hate, let me know if there's something that doesn't quite fit. And thanks for checking this site out!

Geo P. Sez...

Hope you like the new digs ;-). A bit of housecleaning to do, but no time now.