Things that happened in 2010:
January: we released the “Agoraphobia” print on 20×200. (Sold out in December!) I made the “Creativity Is Subtraction” poem, which became a sort of slogan/rallying cry for the book. Started keeping broadsheets. Had some work featured in the “Old Media / Old News” exhibit in St. Louis. Wrote “On Keeping A Logbook,” about keeping a daily list instead of a diary.
February: I gave a talk on “Visual Thinking For Writers” at VizThink Austin. Gave my first Pecha Kucha slideshow talk, which went over really well. Posted “25 Quotes To Help You Steal Like An Artist.” (Followed it up with 25 more in June.) Drew on sticky notes for TEDxAustin.
I’d had the idea for a while to launch a site where folks could post their own blackout poems, but I didn’t have the right technology yet to really make it happen. Then, back in January, Tumblr enabled a feature where users could submit their own posts. A month later, I finally launched a Newspaper Blackout Tumblr–I had no idea that by the end of the year it would have over 12,000 followers.
March: SXSW!!!
April: Released another 20×200 print, “The Travelogue.” Newspaper Blackout came out on the 13th, almost 2 years after I sold the book to HarperCollins. Had a release party at BookPeople here in Austin. My friends Wire & Twine released the “Creativity Is Subtraction” t-shirts. Oh, and I got to meet on of my cartoonist heroes, John Porcellino.
May: I almost lost my mind doing promotion for the book, and posted my sketchbook and a mini sketchbook manifesto.
June: I sweated a lot and tried to explain my “you don’t have to go to college” tag.
July: I gave a talk on my experiences with publishing and social media at TEDxPennQuarter in Washington, D.C. Gave a workshop and showed off some poems at the Austin Museum of Art.
August: summer was winter. The best thing that happened was that my best friend shipped my drums down to me from Ohio, and I started playing in a band with my friends. There’s nothing like making music with your friends.
September: PBS Newshour ran a segment on the poems, and we opened our new store. I celebrated five years of blogging, and then wrote about how to keep it up in “Punt.”
October: I drew The National on Austin City Limits and a Teleportal Reading. Met Maira Kalman! Celebrated 5 years of blacking out and started posting Newspaper Blackout horoscopes.
November: I drew Lyle Lovett taping ACL and Fun Fun Fun Fest. Posted another notebook.
December: After three years of designing websites at the law school, I took a new job as copywriter for Springbox. (I’ll be starting the new gig in January 2011.) Back in January this year, I wrote “The Builder and the Keeper,” a post of my thoughts on web design that pointed towards where I’d go at the end of the year. And a few days ago I started a new little mini-site called “I never thought I’d say this, but…”
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So, yeah. Not bad. Every year, no matter what, I always say, “I wish I had read more.” Last year I tweeted: “For me, healthy+happy = books. My biggest failure in the past couple years has been the decline of my reading habit. Trying to remedy that.” And I’m still trying.
But all in all, 2010 was a good year. I got no beef with it. Here’s to 2011. Hope to read more books, make more art, and shed a few pounds. Happy New Year!
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