The Birds, and Better Know Your Todd

As most of you know, I love summer nights at Alki, if only because I obnoxiously point it out every thirty seconds. So when Kayleigh asked if we could go get some dinner at Pegasus and then feed the birds, I said, "hells yeah!"

Here's the trick: go during the week, when it's not crowded. On weekends, you can be assured of a complete absence of parking spots within four or five blocks of your destination.

So we had daddy/daughter time at Pegasus and then took our leftover garlic bread out to the waterfront and started tossing pieces on the concrete. Within seconds, we had an Alfred Hitchcock scene in our hands. A horde of pigeons (yes, I know a group of pigeons isn't technically a "horde", but they kind of resembled invading Mongols, so I stick by my terminology), and a gang of tough seagulls moved in, getting quite animated over the scraps of bread. Just the sort of thing Raechelle loves only slightly more than having schools of fish nibble the dead skin off her feet at a fancy spa.

Hung out with Tyler a bit and watched some TV, then folded laundry (on my recently cleaned downstairs countertop). Got a call from Dave Alpern, whom I've known for almost a decade and have never met. He's in town with family and we'll be getting together Wednesday night for dinner and Erin McNamee at the Swell. Raechelle will be staying out here anyway, and she happens to like Erin, so it's a party.

And speaking of the girl, I've been made aware that some of her folk aren't all that sure of what I do for a living. So I thought I could cover the basics real quick like:

1) I run Deep7, LLC, a publishing company that I founded with Samantha and Ron in 1999. We have over 30 published titles to our credit, including the official Red Dwarf roleplaying game.

2) I do freelance graphic design. Keep in mind I haven't updated the portfolio site since the week before Samantha died. Sometimes I do CD packaging for bands, or posters for plays.

3) I'm transitioning into full time film direction (having several screenplays and a number of short films like this one to my credit, as well as a feature and television series being pitched or in development).

I've been making money in art since I was 14 and published my first 'zine. I've been paid for both acting and voiceover work. My first full-length film (directed as a junior in high school) was featured on a PBS young directors series back in 1986. I spent a decade in the videogame industry as a concept artist and art director before getting my soul back. My work has appeared in titles from Microsoft, Sierra and Boss Game Studios. I wrote, directed and voiced animated shorts for multimedia innovators Hyperbole Studios. I once wrote full time for a year and a half, selling some short stories to various genre magazines and getting a novel optioned by Warner Books. I authored a comic strip that ran in newspapers and later on the web. I co-owned a geek boutique at the West Seattle Junction. I recorded 3 albums for an indie record label in the SF Bay Area and a bunch more on my own label. Chances are, if it has to do with the commercial aspect of art, I've done it at some point.

I think that about covers it.