the reason i take walks

The following is an exert from Don Hertzfeldt's production blog. The idea of art vis-à-vis advertisement and professional work is something that I think about quite often. Although I am certain that over the course of my life I will always persue some sort of extracurricular artistic project, I don't often think too much about the people that are living out their dreams and doing what they love.

Just to give a little background - Don Hertfeldt, a prominent indpendent animator and nominee and winner of several short film awards (Sundance and the Academy Awards), went to college for film but decided to work with animation because it can take as little as one person to do the majority of the work. Over the course of the last 15 years he has created 11 short films. Unlike most independent animators, he has been able to make a living with his art without compromising his integrity.

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"i am often asked why i don't do commercials or ad campaigns or music videos and why i've turned down small fortunes from the corporate universe in favor of just carrying on with my own things. i like to take walks. i like hiking in the woods around here and climbing the foothills and exploring the coast. it clears my head. i find new things. it's something i'll probably always enjoy doing.
so somebody comes along and says hey, i hear you like to take walks. how about i pay you to walk? you just have to walk around my house in circles for eight hours a day wearing a sandwich board that has a picture of my product on it. no, i'd rather just walk through the woods and explore my own places out there, thanks. but what difference does it make? as long as you're walking, why not make a lot of money from it at the same time?
because money's not the reason i take walks. it doesn't really factor into it. i take walks because i enjoy doing it. it's something i'd do if i was rich and it's something i'd do if i were poor. i guess maybe someone might pay me to walk around in the woods. but i'm gonna keep doing it anyway."

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Recently I have noticed that I almost always create an awkward situation when leaving a door open for someone behind me after entering a doorway. If the person is several yards away from the door, I will often put seemingly too much effort in making sure that they get in without having to reopen the door. Other instances, however, result in me acknowledging the person entering the threshold behind me but for some reason I put little to no effort in trying to keep the door open for them, resulting in me closing the door in a strangers face. I need to find a happy median.

Started watching Breaking Bad. I really like it so far and am really glad that Bryan Cranston is not playing the same role that he usually does.

Speak easy,
Neil