Follow-through and
There are two kinds of people in the world: (1) those who finish lists
dictated but not read
Brain power is a funny thing.
Or maybe I mean brain capacity.
Anyway, whatever I mean, it’s a funny thing.
I’m right now in the very fun place where one project is concluding and another is starting. And they’re overlapping! That’s what I always want!!
The film version of Can I Just Say? is now completely filmed and almost done editing. It’s off for color correction and sound mixing, so we’ll have it off to festivals in the next two weeks.
In the meanwhile, Beatrice Likes the Dark has started production meetings at Adventure Theatre. I’m reviewing drawings and having meetings and we’re casting and it’s all amazing.
But then, while I was making other plans: life happened.
My wife’s company made all their Bethesda employees remote. NO ONE GOT LAID OFF; they just closed the office, got everyone some tech, and they all went home to resume their jobs. Not normally a big deal, but news of this came last week, and the office has to be closed by Friday.
So it’s been a scramble and I’ve been helping clear it up because I sometimes take a desk there and I used to work for the company and helped set up the office in the first place and my wife is a captain of industry and very busy.
But it’s been a scramble.
And it’s sapping my brain power.
Or capacity.
One of them.
I’ve been messing up scheduling meetings and having to go back and fix things. I’ve been unable to sit down and finish my parts of the edit, so I’m worried we’re going to miss our (very much self-imposed) deadline. I’m not responding to friends quickly. All very manageable issues, to be sure. But it has alarmed me how quickly a small crisis while I was busy derailed my whole entire brain.
Seriously, I couldn’t focus. I was lost for a bit there. I’m writing this in a sort of Jack-Kerouac-stream-of-conciousness style just to get it to you on time. It’s wild.
It may be a side-effect of being in my mid-40s, or it may be how my brain responds to stress (moves are the worst). And if you call on me this Saturday, you may find me a gravely different (and happier) man.
The balance is the thing. We know this. But I was unaware just how delicate my balance was until last week.
So I’m going to be investigating ways to increase my brain power.
Or capacity.
Or both.
Yeah, both.
- Patrick, 7/29/26
Thanks for reading tales of the unknown penguin!
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pre-production
Beatrice Likes the Dark
The cast is compiling. Don’t want to announce until everyone is signed on but hopefully next release will tell you who everyone is and why!
post-production
Can I Just Say?
Deep in the throes of post-production with an eye on August 5th for completion. The sound is being mixed! The color is being corrected! The supplemental materials are being uploaded!!
coming soon
The Ferberizing of Coral on KLIPIST!
When it rains, it pours! The Ferberizing of Coral has been selected to stream on klipist.com starting August 27. Klipist is a free streaming platform dedicated entirely to the world’s best independent short films. As their site says: “Curated by humans, watched in 190 countries, supported by the filmmakers who make them.” And best of all: IT’S FREE!
now playing
The Ferberizing of Coral on OMELETO!
Haven’t watched The Ferberizing of Coral on OMELETO yet? Why not? HAVE watched? Why not watch again? It might be different. It’s not, but it MIGHT be.
live on stage
The Velveteen Rabbit: A Toy Story
available through Theatrical Rights Worldwide
Westlake High School (Austin, TX) - November 18-20
Theatre in the Grove (Forest Grove, OR) - February 5-June 14, 2027
Roanoke College (Salem, VA) - February 18-20, 2027
Tinker Bell
available through Dramatic Publishing
Children and Adults Theatrical Studio (Lubbock, TX) - July 24-August 2
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Omg I’m moving right now and can totally relate to that. It’s all I can think about. In fact, I better get back to it …