ACCOZZAGLIA

from a journal i wrote 9 January 2002, let’s see how well i fared:

1. Economic stability and prosperity. Almost oxymoronic with the economy (stupid), but the furniture client I started working with in December has been pretty good about paying me for the work I’m doing for them, and I’m adhering to a savings and debt reduction blueprint I worked on back in November. Little by little, but without the tremendous distraction of the lawsuit to worry about anymore, it certainly frees up a lot of resources that used to be unavailable.

Well, the first nine months were an improvement, even though i probably made far less than i have for any year since 1996. and never have i made over $30,000 a year, so that’s saying something. i’ve learned that i’m horrible at properly costing a job i undertake for a client. the biggest reason why i get so frustrated by what i do for a living, i’ve learned, is that i consistently undercharge for the highly specialised work i do, leaving me with the sensation that i’m working for free, or else working myself into burnout in a real hurry.

i should change this in the ’03. now more than ever — as the next responses will show — i need to find the BLING-BLING, the cheddar and the bread in the next twenty-six fortnights.

2. Transfer entry, fall 2003. Yep, you got it. It’s a little later than I really would like, but I don’t want to fuck it up. Just before NYE, I went to Buns & Noodle and bought the Princeton Review guide for the SAT. I’ve been going at it at least once a week, figuring out how to manipulate that test to my favour. It’ll also give me the chance for early admission to those schools that’ll allow such for transfer students. And, if need be, I can take some refresher courses at a local college in the fall or spring — most notably, those in the arithmetic discipline — before heading into the big halls.

ummm, the last four months of rapid change — falling in love, travelling, moving, the cessation of new work leads — have all but made my plans for finally taking the SAT I and ACT exams unlikely. already, i’ve effectively missed the application dealine for NYU, my first school of choice. i even got to visit and tour the campus in June. practically speaking, i’ll probably attend the U-Dub. however, that’s entirely contingent upon how much income i receive in the next sixty days. plus, i have to pay off outstanding debts from this year — debts that are now, ummm, late.

3. Body and soul. I even have a directory with subdirectories on my personal drive partition just for this. I so cwayzee! I go home now! I been here FOUR hour! I been here TOO LONG!

at least on this token, i came a very long way. for the first time since 1997 (or maybe, if seen in a different light, in ever) i didn’t feel like my life was on perpetual hold. i got to know and befriend so many keen people along the way. i even fell in love with two of them.

further, i started seeing my docs and got most of my health ishoos managed properly. i say most, since there is still a critical couple of matters that weren’t advanced any further than i hoped they’d be — leaving me heavily frustrated and chagrined, if not altogether resigned to hopelessness.

4. Midnight in Halifax. For all intents, this is my sole creative release. I still have forty volumes to remaster and burn at the very least, and that should keep me busy for the next eighteen months. Now that I have Wednesday late nights and Thursday happy hour at Sursumcorda, I can cultivate different formats for each night, perhaps using the latter night as a clinic, workshop or whatever. I created a cheeky ad campaign for “Trickle-Down Wednesdays” that I can introduce throughout the year. Everyone I surveyed the prospective ads to laughed hard at least twice, and in some cases laughed at all of them. Let’s see if MIH can build a loyal following. Starting this week, both nights will be simulcast live online, which is a plus. Perhaps if things get stable later in the year, I could launch the MIH live365.com station I’ve been planning for the last year.

on the bright side, i managed to run two shows at two different venues in Minneapolis. sadly, the venue for sursumcorda had to close at the end of August, just before I left the cities in early October.

however, since moving here, not much has happened, with exception to the new, monthly Web installment, “MIH’s Future in Reverse”. i’d like to see some serious forward motion in the ’03 by signing up for broadband. without that, i’m kinda stuck in neutral. and as i migrate into 206, i’ll hopefully be close enough to get wherever i need to in order to start trying out the format in new venues around here. maybe MIH can build a following out in these parts.

plus, i’d love to see MIH become more of an open collective of multiple underground retro collectors, DJs, aficionadas and aficionados alike. it could be the centrepoint of a movement resurgence.

maybe. but i’d need outside help from those whom are as passionate about this stuff as i’ve always been.

* * *

and in the ’03? there are only two things that compel me to press forward with everything i have left: body management and skool. and, by extension, getting consistent work beyond client stuff and contracting, the latter having been absolutely pitiful in the ’02.

plus, i lose the rites of calling myself a twentysomething, even though i still very much look the part.

so.