Where the @#3(% is Joel?

I realize I've been putting things out for a while now telling people what I've been up to just about everywhere online but on here. When I first started blogging my adventures, Twitter didn't exist, Facebook wasn't nearly such a public platform as it is now, and nobody paid attention to Livejournal anymore. I blogged because the alternative was mass email to people with already stuffed inboxes. Things have changed a bit. I'll get back to that theme in a minute.

But first I should explain myself for the month. As you know if you've been reading this for a while, I primarily pay my bills by working as a private tutor in New York City. Turns out, not surprisingly, that not too many kids want help with their homework in August. So I decided the sublet my place and take the month off.

I spent the first three weeks or so in Seattle and Eastern Washington visiting family and friends. I then spent a couple nights in Portland, OR, and am now writing from my couchsurfing host's apartment in the Mission district of San Francisco. I head to LA next week and (with any luck) will be back in NYC before labor day.

I didn't take a computer with me this time, and blogging with my phone and it's keyboard would produce sub-par entries. But I have plenty of material-- so much more happens every day when you're traveling! I haven't taken the time to write my adventures up yet, but if I do, you'll find them on my old travel blog.

In the meantime, I need to talk about what's going to happen to this blog. I've been thinking a lot about my future and mission lately, and I think this blog is going to start following things I've been doing a little more accurately, though likely not more frequently.

I came to New York to see how I'd do as an actor. In a couple weeks, it will have been two years. I'm not famous, and I'm not on Broadway, or even Off-Broadway. But I've paid to act both on stage (including essentially a one-man show) in NYC and on national television. I've gotten sold out crowds and a standing ovation, and I'll soon have an IMDB page to my name. I'm being invited to do voiceover work, and I've made a lot friends, especially in the New York Shakespeare realm.

More importantly, I'm starting to realize the difference between a passion and an interest. Acting is an interest of mine. I enjoy it greatly, and I think I'm pretty good at it. But it's not really my passion. It by itself is not what gets me up in the morning. I'd be lying if I said I knew exactly what did, but I'm starting to branch out in my quest to find out.

I majored in international studies and political science, and I'm going to start moving back to those fields and exploring what opportunities are available there. This means looking at graduate programs in public policy, volunteering in a few places, trying my hand at grant-writing, maybe even getting a part time job in a related field.

I am by no means quitting acting, but I don't think it's going to be my primary objective anymore. At least not for now. I'm still going to be an active member of the acting companies I am a member of, and you will still hear about any readings and performances I'm involved in here on this blog. But I think as my mission evolves, so will what I write about here.

I guess the only way to find out how is if you stay tuned and keep reading!