MOVED TO WORDPRESS...

"My Bloggy Valentine" has a new home at WordPress, and a spot on my own brand spankin' new website. 

You'll find all the old posts (including my 1-minute plays) on MY NEW BLOG HERE. 

And here's the home page of my website, EdValentine.com.  Try tickling the squid on the front page!

Thanks for visiting, and see you soon at my swanky new wp address.

Fab "You Can't Do That On Television" interview link

Great interview with Geoffrey Darby, co-creator of "You Can't Do That On Television" - and inventor of Nickelodeon's once-famous green slime.  (Interview from SplitSider by Matthew Klickstein.)

Money quote, to my mind:

"I think that when you deal with any property like this – for children and for adults – the great ones are those that came from somebody who really had a passion for and would fight for that story and those characters and not have them sort of bent by market research.

 ...

When we look at what are the great things we all remember, it’s all because they’re passion projects. I think that floats right to the top every time.  I think Nickelodeon has not lost that. I hope."

A Thought on Productivity and Originality

For those of us who blog, or produce, or create, or write, or compose: we often say "I have to post more blog posts, or write more, or put more work out there" or whatever. 

But Salon found a most interesting recipe to boost success.  In summary (emphasis mine):

"We've tried to work longer on stories for greater impact, and publish fewer quick-takes that we know you can consume elsewhere. We're actually publishing, on average, roughly one-third fewer posts on Salon than we were a year ago (from 848 to 572 in December; 943 to 602 in January).  So: 33 percent fewer posts; 40 percent greater traffic.
 
It sounds  simple, maybe obvious, but: We've gone back to our primary mission and have been focusing on originality. And it's working."

Make of this what you will!

It's 2012: Pop the Champagne, and Hop on the Train

It's 2012.  And 2011 is O.VER.  (Can you tell I'm relieved?)

Don't get me wrong: a lot of great things happened last year - a lot of REALLY great things.

And also: some terrible things.  Really terrible things. 

What's funny is, I haven't written much about either the really good or the really really bad.  I realize this blog is a venue to share my thoughts from time to time... but I still like to keep things private, as well. 

Maybe too private, I'm starting to think. 

But you're out there, and you send emails to say that you're reading what I write, and you're waiting for new posts - so, so, so...

So I'm thinking that maybe in 2012, I need to write about new things.  And I want to write more frequently, and write more freely. 

Because I've decided this is the year of: BREAKTHROUGH. I declared this to my 1-Year Plan Club (have I told you about the 1-Year Plan Club?) and they were in strong support. 

That's why I'm making a lot of positive changes this year: from health and fitness, to scheduling, to efficiency... (oh boy, that all sounds... kinda boring. But it's going to be exciting, I promise!)

Most of all, I'm amping up the frequency of writing this blog (and indeed, the frequency of writing altogether).  In pursuit of Breakthrough. 

BREAKTHROUGH!  Yeah, that sounds good.  I like it. 

Stay tuned: there will be a new look to my site and my blog VERY soon, and a lot of new things to report.   

So I hope you'll keep riding along with me for the upcoming year - and I hope you'll write back, either privately or in the comments sections.  Let's see what happens when we do this together.

So Happy 2012!  We're half a month in already.  So pop the champagne, and hop on the train.  It's going to be an enlightening journey.

I'm glad you're along with me.

*
Q: What is YOUR theme for the year?  I'd like to hear it, if you're willing to share.