Re-evaluate

Something changed, but I don't know when. That's all I'm really sure of right now. Funny, in the past 2 weeks of super-stress dealing with Automaton growing pains, my w-2 job, building a career in the art world, and all the sorts of curve balls life throws at a person, it's also time for re-evaluation. See where I am. Where I'm headed. And make sure I'm happy with both. And if i'm not, then I fix it NOW. I try to re-evaluate every 3-4 months or so. This time it crept up on me. Ok, the other thing i'm really sure of is that I've broken nearly all of my own rules. The 10-Year Plan. It's almost over. But yet, something changed. I'm not sure what, nor do I know when it happened. I got careless with certain things, and caring too much about things I shouldn't or didn't used to. And it's making me act differently, generally in ways I don't like. For example, freaking out. I never used to do that. Literally. In fact, I've been noted by people for my lack of freaking out. From hitch hiking 10 hours in the wrong direction in Australia, to getting lost for hours in Tahoe backcountry, or getting cleaned up over reef at a remote break in Mexico, I literally did not freak out. 'Cause freaking out generally doesn't ever help a situation, so it's a waste of energy. My policy is if you can't control something, then there's no use freaking out about it. But I've been breaking my own rules! How about the whole flying to London last summer because of a girl? There's a word for an action like that: stupid! Even though the trip worked out for the better and was a lot of fun, it was an idiot thing to do, and way out of the ordinary for me. Before, if I was stepping onto a plane, it was because I knew there was surf on the other side. I let the wrong people get too close, and in turn maybe pushed away the right ones. Something happened. Something changed. And January 2006 was the start of the freak-out fest. Since then, I've not been me. I've been becoming an emotional mess! And that's another never for me! I've always been in control of my emotions, and now I find myself falling victim to them. I'm thinking less with my brain and more with heart. It's embarrassing, and I don't know why I'm letting this happen. Luckily, one of my many jobs is to turn the crap in my head and life into rad snowboard graphics. Since the cat is out of the bag, check out the Automaton 07/08 line up. Our marketing campaign for next season is "Honesty Is The New Black", and we have 2 deck models: the trust me, and the mixed signals. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the inspiration behind next season's line.

Here's me, Joe Singer, and the notorious L.I.Z. at Carnivore. Snowboarding Saves Lives!