jordan aschwege

I know, I know. My ability to update consistently sucks. But on a bittersweet note, I’ll have plenty of update time in the less-than-distant future. For those of you who don’t know, Minerva Promotions let me go in August. I was then contracted through the incredible Iona Group for the last couple of months, doing some pretty amazing work with some even more amazing people. The things I’ve learned there will carry me through for what I hope to be an awe-inspiring career. But now, I find myself at a crossroads I didn’t think I’d ever return to: I’m torn.

I don’t know what life has in store for me. I like to think I have a good number of the constants down, but the personal variables I once thought I’d figured out are, for lack of a better word…not. I don’t mean to get all hokey and say “My dreams and aspirations are there, but where am I?” but at the same time, I feel like that’s exactly how I should describe it. I don’t know what I should do with my life. I can draw, design, consult, troubleshoot, debug, most things technical I can deal with. But then there’s a part of me that regrets not pursuing an animation career harder. Maybe that’s the real reason I started doing the webcomic: to have that one extra creative outlet I otherwise wouldn’t have. But if that’s the case, why do I still feel lost in my own actions? If there’s one thing in life we should invariably be able to control, it’s our own decisions. But yet, it’s still possible and entirely plausible to get lost in the consequences of said actions. Life, you’re messed up, man.

There are days when I feel on top of the world, others when I feel like the world is completely on my shoulders, and even more where I feel like a stiff drink at a run down piano bar would help me sort out most of the problems that I seemingly concoct for myself. And then? The weekend. Two glorious days of potential inactivity which are inevitably filled with creative opportunity and inspiration for the next week. Then this thought enters: “Why can’t I always be this fueled?”

Now that I think about it, what’s wrong with being torn? What’s so bad about life being filled with questions needing answered instead of answers being questioned? Let’s just have fun, do some cool stuff, and if we’re really lucky, inspire other people to do some pretty cool stuff too. That’s how we should address this messed-up life.

On a side note, Tangled might be the best movie I’ve seen this year. It combines new school animation tactics and technique with old school Disney storytelling. Zachary Levi (NBC’s Chuck) and Mandy Moore (Because I Said So, License To Wed) share some tremendous chemistry that would be believable even if it weren’t an animated feature. But what made the movie for me was one scene in particular which I won’t spoil here. There’s one scene in which not a word is spoken, but the emotions of the characters coupled with the expressive score tell you the story you want to know. In all seriousness, I’d put it up there with the likes of other Disney animated Classics. For me, this will be a day-one-DVD-buy. If you’re a Disney fan at all, it probably will be for you too.