Occasionally I use space on this page to endeavor to update you, my valued reader, on what the heck is going on in my life. On a public diary/blog, no less! So novel! Ah, so after a long layoff, here I go…

It was the Friday before I submitted my completed article to Salon.com, and I was driving from South Los Angeles after a long day of work. My destination was due north, to the nightclub where my evening shift would start a few hours later.  The asphalt sweltered under the 90-degree high as I peeled off my work clothes and drove through Central Los Angeles, desperate for a spot to pass out.

With a 5-hour intermission between a 13-hour double shift, I needed the rest. LA’s urban greenhouse was hardly the place to do it, trapping a swath of heat beneath its ceiling of smog. Finding a strip of shade beyond the hounding roar of traffic and prying windows of residences was a challenge. But I managed. Winding my way up the hills of Baldwin Village, I settled under a sprawling tree on a headrush hill and crawled into the back of my truck-home for a sweaty nap.

These are the days that test my home-free will.

Fortunately, these days are few and far between. Besides that marathon workday, I had only two other shifts on the docket that week, totaling a too-long 25-hour workweek of on-the-clock drudgery. More hours than usual, but only three days of work in total. The rest of my free time went to my creations. Not just the Salon article, but bigger, more grandiose conceptions.

I am a solitary thinker. My ideas flourish best while alone, far from the rush and bustle of the urban routine. The city arouses my energy, but solitude inspires my thoughts. Working less means creating more, and this few-week period was no different. On most mornings I’d wake up slowly, under the skyscraping cedars flanking my usual parking spot, teasing my brain by reading a chapter of some literary journal–Zyzzyva being my latest love, for those keeping score at home. A writer who doesn’t read is doomed to failed creations. I have experienced this myself in the past, and have vowed to change that. Lately, I have set up a routine of creation. It is in these weeks around the drafting of my Salon article that I composed the greatest yield of poetry than I have in years, when I read the most books and submitted the greatest number of works to literary journals. It is also when I conceived of my newest concept for a television show.

Without giving away too much… The concept is an Anthony Bourdain style series championing alternative lifestyles, featuring those taking seemingly unpleasant situations and turning them into fruitful, sustainable, even profitable ones. I am curious about others out there living in bold and innovative ways. With the reality of financial struggle looming for many Americans, I think others are, too. Driving around from one library to the next, I found myself obsessing over the idea. So I called my friend John in Austin, Texas. John works as an environmental advertiser and owns a home in East Austin. Right around the time I moved into my office, John moved into his backyard tool shed, which he converted into a tiny-home-style living space, complete with roll-out bed and hardwood floors. We talked about the lifestyle diaspora and the momentum for the show grew. By the end of the call, I was convinced I had to go to Austin to shoot the concept. So I booked the trip smack-dab between two scheduled overnight dog-sitting gigs and readied myself for the task of preparing a film production.

Taking a show concept from zero to reality in a matter of weeks is a full-time affair. It simply cannot happen while working a full-time job. Aside from taking the time off of work to travel for the shoot, there are an incredible amount of details to arrange beforehand. I had to secure the help of story and field producers, expert cameramen, imaginative editors, and the genius participants which would drive the show. Oh, and the money to fund it. Film projects are notoriously expensive. And despite how frugally I live my life, encouraging a talented crew to devote their full attention to a project requires pay, or at least perks to encourage the hard work necessary to finish such a task.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had a grand idea, but it is the first time I’ve been able to take one this big and convert it into a finished product. The process is still underway and it’s been nothing shy of exhilarating.

As I wait for the footage to be edited, I sit with Sparta, the terrier/dachshund mix under my supervision, and am grateful for the opportunity to lead a life commensurate with my passions. Even for a little while. Not long ago, such an existence seemed so out of reach; I assumed it was impossible. Although I work as hard as I ever did, now my actions feel as if they have more meaning. Despite those sweaty summer days spent jockeying for a cool place to rest my head.

-TOH