2008: Push Play

I have no whims to pursue this new year. 2008 is going to signify the end of a chapter in one way or another, and in that, it's too important to be left up to chance or wishing. If I expect to make something of myself, by this time next year I'll have either concluded my lengthy and overdrawn stay at university with a degree, or I'll have just moved on from this experience altogether to take my shot in film without that piece of paper. There's really no sugar coating it anymore; in every way I need to move on.

Last semester was a waste. I stalled with my mini-meltdown and for the first time in my 6 year university career I questioned what I was doing and who I was doing it for. Nothing has been solved with any certainty, but at least the last few months have given me piece of mind and the resolve to tell myself that I'm in control, and that I can point myself in any direction I choose. Although it may sound a bit strange, I actually needed that time to remind myself that regardless of what I do I'm going to be taking big chances at this stage in my life. It's terrifying, but I can hide or I can do something, and every part of my consciousness is telling me to push play already.

If I'm not happy though I'm going to have to take charge and make it right for myself. This notion that I was acting in the interest of what others expected of me didn't work for anyone. No one cared what I was doing, but I can see now that I was assuming that it was safe to pussyfoot through my education and somehow things would work out. It's like I've been standing in line for a roller coaster all this time, thinking that by reading about how it was built and whatnot I'd get closer to the front of the line or get a better seat or something. You probably enjoy the ride more when you know more about it, but with that roller coaster directly in front of you it seems so much better to just push your way to the front and jump on.  Sometimes the ride is the experience.  I guess what I'm saying is that I can see my choices, and they may both lead to the exact same destination. In either case I have to want to get there. I understand now that my motivation, passion, ambition, and so on, aren't just going to be found one morning when I wake up, but with a bit of work I can really nurture those skills and enjoy the ride I want to take (despite the time it took to get there).

So many friggin' lessons my head hurts. Happy New Year folks! I'm really looking forward to what 2008 brings. It's going to be one big great stressful rewarding terrifying year!

Editing Luke in 2007

This post wasn't made in 2007, but it should've been (which is why it's been dated as such).  To fit with all of the my yearly recaps that came after 2008, I decided to create the one recap I missed the first time around.  Here's what highlighted the first year of Editing Luke in 2007.

May 31, 2007 - After retiring my old blog, I launched my brand new site Editing Luke on this day.  Here was my first post and mission statement.

June 2, 2007 - Having recently returned from a road trip to Mount Rushmore, I debuted a series of video postcards that I cut from a mix of my travel footage.  Uploading these projects to YouTube was a new experience and this marked the first time that I shared a lot of these edits publicly.

June 15, 2007 - My summer in Regina, not to mention this blog, was really kicked off with the creation of a little project titled, Buick to the Future.  Over the course of the summer a trilogy was created that resulted in thousands of video views for my underdeveloped YouTube channel.

July 28, 2007 - Creating a new site and trying to figure out how to brand my work wasn't an easy process.  The first few weeks especially saw me constantly redesigning my blog header and attempting different styles of posts.  I called attention to these changes with this post.

September 8, 2007 - My final year of film school kicked off and I wrote about my past and my fears about the future as Welcome Week ended.  

October 21, 2007 - In what became the template for how I showcased my other projects, I wrote my first indepth post about one of my film school shorts, Keys to Existence.

October 23, 2007 - Like every aspiring YouTube personality did before me, I created my first lip sync video.

November 28, 2007 - This was my first mention of the Sasktel video competition that I entered with my short, Give it Time.  I had no idea how essential my blog would become in helping with my promotion.

December 16, 2007 - After shooting what would become my second Sasktel submission, The Gizmo Tree, my friend Tyler and I had fun building one of the worst snowmen in history. 

December 19, 2007 - Before heading back home for the holidays I debuted The Gizmo Tree and officially kicked off my campaigning for the contest that would become in January.

Happy Holidays!

Well it's finally that time where I take that lengthy drive back home for Christmas. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have been checking in on my blog since it started back in the summer. In that time I've been able to share over 30 of my original edits, and generally speaking have been motivated by the feedback and support many of you have given me. I wish all of you a happy holiday season and look forward to creating and sharing new videos with you in 2008!