I raised $34,133 for a film that I wanted to make called Rolled. Since then, many people have asked how I did it, so I thought I’d take the time write about my experience.

Research
My first tip is to read everything you can about launching a Kickstarter campaign. The more you know about other people’s successes, the better you can prepare yourself for your own. The first place I’d direct you to look (after reading this post) would be Kickstarter’s own resources like “Kickstarter School“. I did a Google search about successful Kickstarter campaigns, and then reached out to a few people who had completed theirs. In general – people were very willing to answer any questions I had. If you have a question, you’re more than welcome to connect with me through my blog. Additionally, I opened a Google document and kept notes with links, email addresses and my own notes so I could go back and refrence materials I had found during the research phase.

Preparing My Campaign
You should be well prepared before submitting your idea to Kickstarter. You don’t have to have all the details of the campaign spelled out to them, but you have to have enough of an understanding of what you’re doing to be able to convince them to accept your campagin. Remember, they want winning campaigns. They get a 5% cut after all. They’re on your side. So be prepared to convince them that your project is awesome.

The next step for me was working on my messaging and building my campaign. The first place I would direct anyone who is about to take on this step would be Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk “Inspire Action“. I literally watched this every morning before I got to work on my campaign; whether it was writing, filming, or editing. I took notes about my messaging, and made sure to not only repeat my message, but to continue to believe in, and thus live, my messaging.

Example? Why should anyone give me money for my project? Because it’s what I wake up in the morning thinking about. There is nothing I want to do more than this project. I’m passionate about it. And by supporting me, you will be helping me realize my dream. Say those words, but more importantly believe those words. People will help if they believe you, and they will believe you if you’re telling the truth.

After writing a script I filmed myself giving the pitch. Then I played it for a couple friends who are very intelligent, observant people. They gave me notes which helped me refine my pitch. I can’t say how important this part is. It’s like proofreading. Make sure your message plays well to the audience. You could have the best idea ever – but if your messaging falls flat, you’ll get no where. With that said, I’d recommend spending a lot of time on Kickstarter watching pitch videos. Take note of which you like, dislike, and why.

My video took time to shoot, reshoot, and finally edit. I took my video to a few talented editor friends and had them take notes. By the end we took it from seven minutes (too long) to 2:10 (much better). I played it for other friends to read reactions. Pay attention to when people start to zone out, then fix that problem.

Make Your Life Easier with Tools
There are a few tools that will help you immensely.

Google Alerts: Set up a Google alert for your Kickstarter campaign. That way if anyone writes about your campaign on a blog or website, you see it. Once you see it you post it on Facebook. That way you have more opportunities to talk about your campaign without looking like you’re talking about your campaign. Awesome idea, I know.

TextExpander: Look it up, then learn how to use it. It’s 100 times better than copy and pasting.

Outreach
Reaching out by email and Facebook is probably the most efficient. Phone is the best but it’s time consuming. In all cases – you want to message people individually. Think about it; if you were going to tell many friends about your campaign by phone you wouldn’t conference call them all in and tell them, you’d tell them individually. Do the same by email and Facebook, and personalize each message. This is when TextExpander is going to help you the most.

A quick note on asking for help: remember that there are many ways people can help. Obviously the most helpful is by donating money. But remember how much spreading the word can help. I always asked people to support me any way they could – whether it be financially, or simply by passing along the campaign to friends of theirs who may be interested in it.

Responding to people who donated. People love knowing that you know that they donated. Thank them for it. In many cases they’ll help you out again along the way. I often said something like “Thanks for your support, I couldn’t do it without you. If you can think of anyone else who may enjoy the project, it’d be great if you could pass it along to them.” Usually they do.

Your Day to Day
In a lot of cases your Kickstarter campaign is your make-or-break for that project. For my project Rolled, if I didn’t raise the money, I wasn’t making the film. I woke up in the morning during the campaign and started messaging people and blogs. I did it all day every day for thrity days. By the end it paid off. It was my day job for a month.

1) Have a unique project that people want to see produced. It doesn’t matter if it’s a game, a beer cozy, or a film.

2) Give great incentives. For Rolled, a donation of $35 or more got a picture of them hanging in the background of the film – and if they donated $300 or more, we’d name-drop them in the film. Turns out people like seeing themselves and hearing their names!
(53 people donated at the $35 level and it cost me about $4 to print all of their photos. 16 people donated at $300. Name dropping them was fun, hilarious, and those people are stoked when they hear their name in the film. People who watch it now say that if I did it again, they’d donate $300 again. It cost me nothing.)

3) Get press to legitimize your project. LAWeekly, Huffington Post, and my local (LA) newspaper all did pieces on my project. Honestly, they didn’t bring many donors in, but they totally legitimized the project to hundreds of people.

As I write this post we’re nearing the completion of Rolled. To find out more, checkout the website at RolledFilm.com
If you’d like to sign up for my mailing list to hear about other projects I’m working on, please do.
Rolled Facebook Page
My Facebook Page

In August 2004 Claire and I moved to San Francisco. We lived on 3rd Avenue in the Inner Richmond. I had transfered to the University of San Francisco, and Claire started furiously looking for work. It was our first time living together. Seven and a half years later Claire and I have decided to start a new adventure up in Portland Oregon. The transition will be interesting for the two of us. For Claire she’ll be going back to the city that she grew up in, but both her and the city have changed so much since she last lived there 12 years ago. For me it’ll be my first time living out of California. Certainly the furthest I’ve lived from my Mom, Dad, and Sisters.

I’ve been thinking back to our move to San Francisco 7 years ago to see what I learned and what I can do to make the transition to Portland the best it can be. When we moved to SF I was going into my 5th year of college. I thought I’d make a lot of friends at school but soon realized that I was done with the college life that most there were living. Luckily I met a few great people that I’m still good friends with. Two of which live an hour outside of Oregon. Interestingly enough, our first roomate Kelly also lives in Portland. She’s a great friend of ours and has known Claire since at least high school.

After playing Ultimate Frisbee in LA for 5 years I knew I could easily turn to the community up here. After playing with a few teams in SF I started coaching the UC Santa Cruz women’s team. That experience is a whole different post, but i’ll say it taught me a whole lot, and stands out as something i’m very proud of doing while living in the bay – I’d do it again in a heart beat.

It’s important to note here that the group of people who have kept me most sane and entertained the last several years is an ultimate team I started 4 years. AIR: Adventure, Intrigue, Romance. They are an outstanding group of individuals. When they come together they are an outstanding team. I know Claire and I will miss them deeply.

While we’ll still be playing frisbee while we’re up in Portland, I’ve decided that I need to meet people who are going to help me push forward with my career in film making. Specifically I’m hoping to meet actors, improvisors, and film makers of all kinds. If you know anyone it would be a huge help if you could put me in touch with them. With that said, what i’m really hoping to find is passionate, driven people who can help me find a community of hard workers. I never would have made a film had I not been surrounded by peers who were taking chances on their own careers and encouraging me to do the same.

Go to your Facebook profile -> Click on your friends -> Above your friends will be a search bar with a drop down. Choose current city -> Type in Portland Oregon -> Make introductions! Thanks

It’s important for me to emphasize the enthusiastic, compassionate, people with an appetite for success that I met while I was here. In San Francisco I felt very fortunate to have met a group of people who were not pompous about their success but instead were excited to share it. They wanted everyone to feel as fortunate as they felt about working on the thing they loved. That felling is infectious and I like surrounding myself with it. If you know that person in portland; whether they work in finance, are a blogger, artist, engineer, or whatever – I’d like to meet them. Usually they are surround by others like them.

So thank you to those people who were exactly that to me here.

I’ll be taking my work with me to Portland. I have a lot to say in this regaurd but for the most part I’ll leave that to another post. It would be amazing if you signed up to follow along on one or two of these lists. Eventually i’m going to have to figure out how to reach a much larger audience then I have now. Your support from wherever you are would be amazing. The best way to do that, in order of most helpful, to next most helpful, looks like this. *note: my lists are the least spammy thing you’ve ever signed up for – I’m not great about writing a ton of emails. My bad.

My personal mailing list of people who want to help out with anything and everything i’m working on. Sign Up!
My personal public Facebook page. Like It!
Rolled’s Facebook fanpage. Like It!
My Film’s mailing list. Sign Up!
Social Flooding: A group i’m creating to help artists have their work seen online. Learn about it then sign up!

We’ve had many great years in this city. We’ve lived in three great appartments. I’ve come to love the smell of the bay breeze, the neighborhoods, and most of all the pine wood breaks of the cable car. I’ll never get over the views you get as your crest one of the many hills. MUNI, I will not forget. I will cry over the loss of my favorite bars and restaurants.

My friends I will stay friends with, but I will miss the unplanned days that turn into true adventures.

So, with all of that said there are about 23 available breakfasts, lunches and dinners open for goodbyes before we leave. Let’s connect for food, drinks and hugs.

I’ve been working on my documentary “Rolled” for the past ten months. It’s a full time job that I think about everyday, including on weekends and often in my sleep. Back in February I called my good friend Keegan Uhl (who is a director and has a kickstarter campaign you should watch) to get some advice from him as I started to push forward with Rolled. As I mentioned in the post “I’m Making A Documentary, It’s Called “Rolled” he said to me, “remember, when you make a documentary it never goes how you expect it to – don’t fight it, embrace the chaos.”

Four weeks ago I went down to LA to continue filming after a few month hiatus. I met with my good friend Drew Manning who has been helping me piece together the story of Rolled as it unfolds – or unravels. Use whatever imagery you’d like. Drew said something similar to Keegan, and it was good to hear again. “You make a movie three times. You write it, you film it, you edit it. Each time it becomes a different film then the last.” As we began filming I quickly realized that these two statements were going to be amplified for my film. This is why…

Rolled is about the legacy of a group of kids who have been toilet papering houses for over 30 years. I was in the group with my three dear friends, Kevin, Mike and Matt back in the late 90′s. I connected with them asking if they wanted to recount our experiences in the group, as we have a lot of stories to tell, and these three guys are especially good at telling stories. In addition to talking with them about our experiences, I wanted to meet the guy who started the group, which we did, and track down the current group to see how it’s holding up 10 years after we left it.

I got myself deep into the project very early on, filming those first interviews. All of this is explained in my Kickstarter campaign which was launched and successfully funded in August. As the video explains, all I had left to do was head down to LA to meet the kids who are currently in the group.

All I had to do… This is where I began to “embrace the chaos.”

After raising money on kickstarter my life went from moving at a Usain Bolt pace to a Looney Tunes Roadrunner pace (even faster.) A lot of good came out of raising the money. At that point people knew that I was going to be able to make the film. I was introduced to a very talented cinematographer, who brought on another camera op so we could do two camera shoots when needed. Serendipity would have me meet a great audio operator, and link up with several extraordinary production assistants, and a DIT (Digital Imaging Technician). I also got to spend several weeks in my home town staying with my parents and reconnecting with people I don’t normally get to see while I’m visiting over the holidays. But what I didn’t expect was what I found when I finally had the opportunity to meet the current group of kids.

Matt, Kevin and I had our first meeting with current high school group a while back (unfortunately for us, Mike lives in Amsterdam and was not able to join us.) I’m not at the point where I’m able to talk publicly about our first meeting, or the meetings that followed with the current group. I’ll say this though, It has changed the story. They were not bad interactions by any stretch of the imagination, they were just different then we had expected. They put me in a position to rethink the way we’ll be presenting the documentary. “You write it, you film it”, “embrace the chaos.”

There is more filming to come. The story is certainly still writing itself. But I have this to report. The footage so far is beautiful. The people I’ve been working with bring a talent and creativity that far surpasses what I ever could have hoped for. The direction the film is headed has given me the energy that I felt in January when this all began and again when it was funded in August. I’m riding a high that I wish I could share with everyone. I’m thankful for the few people that were with me to experience this past month. I’m excited by my new friends and colleagues. But most of all I’m overwhelmed with excitement in knowing for sure what I want to do for work and with my life.

Here are some images that I can share from shoots. You won’t learn much about where the story is going but at least you’ll see that we’re working.

Proof that I am alive. This was taken one of the days we shot.

Ricardo our DIT.

Matt and Kevin on one of our days together.

Andrew on audio, and Maren on everything important to make sure this all happens.

Chelsea Mayer, A huge help both with filming & just about anything else that needs to get done.

The very talented cinematographer, Mark Lester.

It appears now that my sisters blog and mine has become a conversation amongst each other. I give her advice she gives me advice. But alas, it’s being shared in the right spot – a place where everyone can see it, and anyone can respond. She asks, “What would be your top three pieces of advice on social netoworking”. After realizing she meant networking and not netoworking which is ‘the act of doing pretty cool stuff for work’, I gave her this answer.

Be tuned in as often as possible (reading, responding, updating). That means check on twitter and facebook from your phone when you’re on the toilet.

P.S. Cait, it’s spelled Neatoworking, not netoworking. Like neato burrito – for neto read “Suffix used in Portuguese speaking countries to distinguish a grandson from his grandfather when they have the same given name.” Which is one on one networking which doesn’t really seem social to me. I digress.

I know not everyone is like me, but my mind runs really fast and I want to share most of my experiences and thoughts. I’ve learned over the years that not everyone wants to hear what i’m thinking, so i’ve given myself a filter. It’s the same on the internet. For example. It’s raining hard right now and I want to tell the world. But what’s the content there? Rain? I better supply an epic video of a popsicle stick boat racing down my street or i’ve wasted a lot of peoples precious time – and there is already way to many of us out there posting noise. Note: I’d watch a popsicle stick boat racing down a fast current in a gutter.

I’ve been online “networking” it up for a few years now and have found places to put my various thoughts. When I see a photo or video that I like I post it on my Tumblr account which I generally let auto tweet. So a great video or photo goes to two places. If someone I don’t know does something cool and they have a twitter account I tweet them. Why? Because encouragement is cool man.

Facebook is different for me. I try to imagine i’m in a giant room full of people that I know and know me back. When most of my friends and I signed up for Facebook it was to be connected with one another, not to preach at each other. With that said I think Facebook is an incredible way to connect with people, I just prefer to do my random thoughts elsewhere.

Finally I caved in and made myself another Tumblr account – one that I don’t plan on sharing with you. It’s where I put all of my random thoughts that I think are funny, interesting, or that I want to remember. It’s not intended to be seen by the outside world, though it is available. It’s made for me to release the noise so it’s not so loud in my head.

Finally what I said to Cait was, “It’s about being tuned in to your own thoughts then figuring out where and to whom you will share them.”

If you came here hoping you would learn more about Social Networking I would like to point you to a video series I made with Social Networking extraordinaire Loic Le Meur. Build Your Own Brand.

Another final note: My film has an e-mail list. You should sign up by clicking here or here.

P.S. It’s raining so hard.

My sister recently became interested in sustainable farming and edible landscapes. She’s been searching for a path to walk down for the last few years, as many of us have. In deciding that farming was going to be her new focus, I have encouraged her to start harnessing the powers of social networks and the internet as a whole. This is something that I’ve seen working in action, and have been a student of for the last three years. I’m passionate about the subject: thus talking her ear off.

In these conversations I had two main messages. First, find your voice but make sure it’s yours, for you. I say this so easily but more often than not find myself writing as if others are going to read. But seriously, do it for you, and do it often. Practicing will help you find your voice more quickly.

Second, find your community. This doesn’t mean you have to find a forum or a fanpage on Facebook, though those are both fine options. Just follow all the people you enjoy and interact with them. Leave messages on their blogs, videos, and photos. Mention them in your blog.

With that said, I’d like to share with you all the people that I’ve come across online, as well as introduce you to some of the talented friends that I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with, past and present.

My most recent follows on Twitter
Vinny Minton (@VinnyMinton) is based out of the Bay Area and has some pretty killer skate videos. Vinny offered some advice on equipment in a tweet he recently sent to me. I’ll certainly be watching what this guy is up to.

Matt Shane (@mattdshane), based out of NYC, is an audio engineer and has worked on several awesome songs, including a few by Flight of the Conchords. You can find more about Matt at his site mshane.com. Matt and I have connected; he kindly verified the type of hard drives that I should be using. Thanks, Matt.

Spencer Jensen (@SJJproductions) lives in Indiana. I first came across him from a tutorial he posted on his YouTube account. I then started watching his videos and became very interested in a camera and mount he was using – Spencer has got some creative stuff going on.

Collaborators
You’ll hear me talking about some of these people over the next few months as they are an incredible asset to me and my project.

The first are Jeremey and Abby Lavoi from Team Jaded Productions. I worked with Jeremey for a year at Seesmic and have recently started working with the two of them filming in LA. That’s Los Angeles not Louisiana for those Team Jaded fans out there.

Finally I’ll leave off with a shout out to Forrest Pound who has been helping me through much of the process over the last few months. His feedback is invaluable. Forrest helped me with several of my projects in college and will hopefully be one of those guys I work with for many years to come.

Building a community

Looking back on this advice makes me realize the time and effort it takes. The last real community I was involved in online was with “early adopters.” These are people who love trying out new sites and technologies. It’s easy to regularly converse with people who are spending most of their day online. Now it’s different.

Now I’ll be looking to communicate with people who spend their time behind cameras as well as computers. My instinct tells me to ask the people I know in person where they spend their time online, what blogs to read, and what forums to become involved in. My other instinct is to just tell the world that I’m looking to connect with talented people in the film world. This includes, but is not limited to, sound, graphics, visual effects, editors, etc. If this is you, or you know someone who is awesome whom I can connect with, I would very much appreciate an introduction.

Almost lastly, I’d like to leave you with links to my sisters blog “Wet Nose Garden” caitscott.com and of course her Twitter account, @caitscott

Again, if you want to follow the project I’m working on via e-mail updates, please do not hesitate to sign up for my harmless e-mail “newsletter”, the newsletter that has not been updated once. I told you that you have nothing to be afraid of.

The Film
As many of you may have heard, I’m making a documentary. First question to be asked by you – “What’s it about?”

Short answer: Kids in LA that TP houses.

Long answer: 1979 – a high school student in LA starts a little club with three of his friends where they would TP (Toilet Paper) people’s houses. They got really into it. One of them became the “historian,” keeping track of all the houses they hit – filming and photographing most of them. Every year that one of the students graduated, the others would find the person who would replace them.

My goal is to find the guy who started the group, and find the kids who are in it now.

*UPDATE*
You can now visit the films site at RolledFilm.com
Follow on Twitter @Rolledfilm
Follow on Facebook.com/Rolledfilm

My Work
This is what I left my day job to work on. It’s a project that I first came across five or six years ago, but didn’t think much of. I’ve been known to write a lot of my ideas and potential projects down in notebooks, now and then looking back over them. Long story short – I determined that now was the time.

On January 3rd I kicked off the project full time. I’ve been working from several coffee shops, mainly writing. Here is a quick break down of what I’ve been doing;

On Day One, I wrote my proposed schedule for making the film. This gave me a timeline that I could look back on and try to keep up with. Let me tell you – days go by fast, weeks go by faster, and the first month feels like it was a day long.

The next thing I did was start writing out the movie – scenes I’d need, people I’d have to find and contact, and the general feel I’d be shooting for. Putting pen to paper felt like a huge break through. I was concerned that this would be my first road block, that nothing would come out of my pen. Turns out I had a fountain pen.

The following week, I took all of my writing and transcribed it from paper to pixel – rereading and modifying my thoughts. This same week I started making the contacts I would need to actually produce the film. This was my second feared road block – I needed to connect with the people who would be in the film, as well as the people who would be helping me make it. All were able and willing. Specifically, I need to thank Forrest Pound, and Jeremey and Abby Lavoi who have graciously been helping me through the process.

Finally, at the end of January, I connected with two gentleman who I’ve been dying to get advice from. The first was my friend Keegan, who is most notably known for being good looking and winning one round in Canon’s “The Story Beyond the Still” contest. Keegan asked me several practical questions that helped me focus on the big picture, and left me with some stellar advice. “Remember, when you make a documentary it never goes how you expect it to – don’t fight it, embrace the chaos.”
The second contact was another good friend and filmmaker Ian Rashid who is based out of London. Ian is most notably known for his good looks, but you may also know him for his fabulous movies “Touch of Pink” and “How She Move”. If you don’t know him for those movies, you should stop what you’re doing and watch them. Ian listened to my pitch and basically told me what I was missing. He broke down the story telling process, helping me overcome some huge barriers I had encountered.

This is just the very beginning. I already have so much more to write about but will leave it at this so I can get back to work.

My Pitch To You
Over the next few months I’ll be working hard to get the word out about my film. You can sign up for e-mail updates that will be a little more exclusive then my blog, but this is also away for you to become involved with my online campaign. Please sign up for the e-mail updates.

When I get a little deeper into the process I’ll be asking those who have signed up for the e-mails to help me get the word out. This will include posting links to my blog and kick-starter, posting links on facebook for me, and tweeting for me. If these all sound like things you’d be willing to do for me to get the word out online then I really encourage you to sign up for my e-mail campaign. You’d be helping me out in such a serious way.

There have been some big changes in my life recently. Most notable to others, I no longer work at Seesmic – where I was for three years. Most notable to me and Claire, Buster Ashley Posey. That’s our dog.

Named after the San Francisco Giants catcher and the National League’s Rookie of the Year, we had Buster named before we met him. Luckily the dog that found us had the name Scooter, so making the change to Buster went rather easily for our one-year old pup. As far as we can tell, Buster is a Corgi Mix. Mixed with Lab perhaps? Strutting his short black hair, tiny little legs, and oscillating ears, Buster has brought a new chapter to our lives. This chapter I title “Routine.”

“Hey, I need to pee” he says by placing his paws on our bed at 5am. “Down” or “Nooooo” is how we respond until he settles back into his bed. At 7:30 there is no fighting it anymore. By that time our bladders need to be taken outside too. It wasn’t easy leaving him at home for the first time. Walking away from his little whimpers was difficult, but it was something we were both going to need to get over if this was going to work out.

Our best guess is that he sleeps on the couch when we’re not home – otherwise he knows he’s not allowed on any of the furniture. When I come home from the coffee shop for lunch each day, he’s either sitting right by the door, or he comes running down the hall. Running down the hall with the “I didn’t do anything” look always has me suspecting that he was on the couch. I haven’t set up a web cam in the living room to prove it one way or another.

Buster and I have several activities that we do together throughout the day. He sits just outside of the kitchen while I prepare my lunch. He chases after his rope and brings it back to me as I request. We go on 30 – 40 minute walks which, I’m trying to extend to an hour. I’m always surprised at the fact that we’ve only been out for 30 minutes when it feels like so much longer. Buster is not surprised by how quick it’s been. He shows his lack of surprise by laying on the tile in the foyer pretending to be a bear rug and refusing to walk up the stairs to our apartment.

This is the battle we fight at least 4 times a day now. How do we get up those oh so daunting stairs. Imagine a stair case in equal size to your body. You wouldn’t want to finish your walk that way either. To bad, you do. Good dog.

Buster didn’t know his name was going to change when we got him, but now he knows. He didn’t know “sit” and now he does. In fact, less than two weeks into having him, he’s started to understand the basic premise of sit, lay down, stay, leave it, get it, and drop it. In the house these are almost a done deal. Outside with all the SF distractions – just walking has proven to be a challenge. Luckily he gets to practice many times a day and he’s a quick learner.

Buster works hard and for that I very much appreciate him. He wants to learn all the commands and I want to keep giving him more.

When he’s done he’s tired and Buster tired is now a daily highlight of mine. No matter how sleepy he is he tries to stay awake with you. He’ll lay down in whatever room you’re in and just look at you. His eyes start getting heavy. Really heavy. His head starts to tilt to the side until finally it almost hits the ground, startling him, forcing him to lay on his side to rest his head.

Two big events happened with Buster yesterday. First – he was neutered. Then – he officially became ours. The paper work is signed making it official. Now we have a drugged up pup who’s ready to go to some doggy training and take on the world. We’ve had Buster for eighteen days and I’m happy to say every one of those days has been awesome.

Here’s to you, Buster.

I recently went through some of my boxes at my dad’s house and came across some old posters. Worth highlighting are four “We Are Scientists” posters. If you’re not familiar with “We Are Scientists,” then you probably didn’t go to Harvey Mudd. Neither did I, but my best friend Drew did, and that was enough. When I found the posters I said on Twitter “just came across 3 @scientistbros posters from Claremont – They’re about 8 years old and hilarious.“. They responded asking me to post photos. It turns out I found four – see below.

Above poster: Bottom left corner reads “X: Graphic, beautiful nudity & strong, Highly Literate Language.” Also, “sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. And sometimes you do not.”

Above poster: The band member on the far right had hit his knuckle on something that night, and was bleeding. When signing this poster he pressed his bloody knuckle onto the poster over his mouth then wrote; “My dentist fucked up my braces removal – does this make me a badass? No. -Chris”. The “doesn’t get jokes” reference is to a joke that my buddy Brooke told during their concert. Sure Does… Former band member Michael Tapper wrote “Reach for the stars Whit” – which is exactly what my aunt would write. Michael bought Deluxe Boggle for me after the band lost my Boggle set the night before that concert.

Nothing to explain here.

Above poster: “Speechwriters LLC” was two guys, I think Misha Chellam and Dave Lowensohn, out of Pomona College. I somehow got my hands on their music around 2003, and have always hoped that they would go big too.

With all of that now out of the way – “We Are Scientists” and “Speechwriters LLC,” get in touch with me so we can do an interview over at Late Night Republic. Leave a comment or contact @whitscott on Twitter.

On the eve of my wife’s first day of work, I have decided to write about some of the changes that have occurred in the past six months of our lives. This is more a story of my changes than hers, but they’re so intertwined that it would be silly to not include some of hers. In April of this year Claire decided it was time to leave her job. That is the incredibly short, simplified version of her story. Moving on….

Somehow between then and now we’ve managed to go to Argentina, an awards ceremony for my aunt, 3 weddings, a hot air-balloon ride, Seattle and Bainbridge Island twice and four ultimate frisbee tournaments. This brings me to my work situation.

Luckily for us, we were able to save before Claire left work, and I am fortunate enough to work for a company that allows me to work remotely from time to time. This summer has easily been the most work intensive time of my life. About two months ago, I shot a video series with my boss on how to build your own brand online. The series then took me the next two months to produce, and is now being published daily online. Because these videos were my focus for two months straight I was able to take them with me on the road. I worked in coffee shops, I worked at friend’s houses, and I worked at all times of the day and sometimes late into the night. This was a time-intensive project, and has felt incredibly rewarding to know it’s all done.

When I finished this project a few weeks ago, I asked to go part time at Seesmic. Not because the project burned me out, or because I need time away from Seesmic – but because I decided, like my wife, that I needed to add something new to my life. I can’t leave Seesmic right now, I’m dedicated to seeing the company succeed. I’ve been there since day one, and I want to be there for the next chapter. But at the same time – I need something knew.

A few weeks ago I was hired by a television show based out of New York called “Late Night Republic” with Jake Sasseville. I’ve been put on the digital team to do a number of jobs – ranging from cutting and editing clips to post online, to helping create the new web page, running the Facebook and Twitter accounts, finding online personalities to feature on the show both online and on TV, and helping with ad campaigns created for our sponsors. Suffice to say, I have my work cut out for me, but I’m lucky enough to have a great support team at both companies.

So Claire goes back to work tomorrow, and I am partially relieved of my bringing-home-the-bacon duties. My work load has grown over the last few months, but so have I. This chapter of our life began with Claire deciding she was going to leave her job in April, and it’s clear that it’s not quite over.

I recently finished a book I probably should have read when I was 13. Who would I be now if I had read the character of Cyrus Smith the Engineer as a teenager instead of an adult? The Mysterious Island was written by Jules Verne and published in 1874. The novel takes place during the United States Civil War, with our main characters being held prisoners in the South. The five prisoners work together to escape, but soon find themselves deserted on a deserted island. (Man I could use an ice cream sundae.)

I don’t pick up island books very often. Are there a lot of them out there? I can’t seem to think of many. There’s that one where the kids are on an island, they get all crazy, then eat each other – I think. What was that one called? Never read it. Anyway, I never would have thought that an island would be a good spot for a book to take place, but it turns out if the island is mysterious, it’s an awesome place! You go Jules!

Back to Cyrus Smith, who shouldn’t be mistaken for Sirius Black from the Harry Potter novels, though he too is valiant, determined, courageous, resourceful, steadfast and has a name that starts with a ‘Sa’ sound and ends with a ‘us’ sound – they are not the same character no matter how much you wish them to be (having a wizard on the island really would have changed the cast-aways’ situation). Cyrus Smith is now my ideal man. I mean, should be considered the ideal man. He seems to know everything. The guy builds houses, casts iron, makes gun powder and other explosive devices. He plants gardens, makes an elevator using a waterfall, and helps create the coolest living space I’ve ever read about. I don’t think I gave anything away other than Cyrus Smith being a bad-ass.

What truly amazed me in reading the Mysterious Island was the way in which Jules Verne was able to describe Cyrus Smith’s discoveries on the island. His descriptions of how he transformed these materials into items that would make the castaways’ lives easier or more productive. By reading the Mysterious Island I have learned a few important things about myself. First, I want to own a smart dog that cares about nothing but me, and what I want it to do. Second, If I had to live off of natural resources on my own or with a few others, we’d have well put together clothes, and could probably grow tomatoes, but I’d really have to work my memory to make strong bricks – and unless we had a match and wanted to keep a fire burning year-round, I better learn to make fire. Oh and I need to learn some hunting skills.

Luckily I live on a peninsula and not an island. I don’t have to make all of these things, I can buy them. I am warm in my house while I read my book, this too is nice. Now I either need to pick up a book that teaches me all of these skills before our world is flipped inside out from global warming and we all have to fend for ourselves (deep breath)… Or, I need to come up with a plan to save the planet so I don’t have to learn all of these things.

Now it’s time for that sundae.