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5 Years Running . . .

Posted by 2 Dollar Productions Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Somehow I missed it.

I had a certain date in my head – October 29th – and had been working diligently towards that goal without bothering to check the facts. These things happen, I suppose. But then again, I’m a bear for detail, so it did pain me to discover at the end of last week that I missed the 5 year anniversary of $2 Dollar Productions blog existence.

It flew right past me. October 20th came and went as an otherwise unremarkable Tuesday, and I had no inkling that something was rotten in Denmark until I was preparing Quick Hit Friday and I finally bothered to backtrack through my archives where I read the first entry ever posted on this blog:

I just arrived back to the U.S. after a tour through Italy and Ireland , red wine and Guinness and too many public bathrooms where you had to pay to enter. But it's nice to come back and find this thing off and running and chronicling our attempt to write and sell a comedy script from the ground up. We'll see. In the meantime, a brutal and savage re-write is needed before anyone should be subjected to actually reading this thing.

That was October 20th, 2004. And it feels like a very long time ago indeed.

I’ve said it before, but this blog originally started with my brother suggesting we needed a forum to promote our screenwriting. It quickly became apparent that $2 Dollar Productions wouldn’t be self-sustaining if that was the only subject for posting, especially since all efforts to further this along have been moving with the pace of a tree-sloth running a marathon while covered in molasses.

So, the blog changed, mutated and morphed into a hodge-podge of movie reviews and Hollywood shenanigans, corporate misfires and cheating scenarios, Viking wisdom as well as the kind of pure randomness which occurs when you want to post something and yet your brain is running squarely on fumes.

By the numbers:

• 5 years
• 60 months
• 802 posts
• Average of 13.366666 Posts Per Month
• 2 scripts written, 1 novel draft finished
• 1 Fitness Modeling trip to NYC
• 1 UT National Football Championship
• 31 Viking Wisdom Collections
• 1 Re-Location – Plano to Austin
• 3 different jobs

But in my estimation, you can’t boil the past five years down to numbers because that misses the real value. I had no expectations going into this endeavor, but even if I had something formulated, I’m certain that the actual experience would have far exceeded them. For me, it has always come down to the people running around Cyberspace who have made $2 Dollar Productions sustainable for the duration and more rewarding than it had any right to be.

It remains semi-amazing to me that over the course of two cups of coffee, I’m able to cast a roving eye around various parts of the United States, go up through Canada, move across the pond to the U.K., then boomerang my way to Australia before returning back home to Austin. The route is sometimes winding, but always interesting. It provides glimpses into a wide variety of perspectives that I feel extremely lucky for being able to experience for so many years.

But it is work. As anyone knows who has been blogging for awhile, real life has a way of intruding on the best of blogging intentions, and regardless, it takes time and effort to post things that are hopefully worth reading and lately I’ve been feeling a little tired. Not burned out, not depressed, just a bit weary.

$2 Dollar Productions needs a new look. A face-lift has been building for awhile now, and so I’m going to take a small hiatus to work with someone to re-design things around here, to make it more visually appealing (hopefully) and give me a little shot in the arm along the way. I’m hoping this won’t take long, but I have no clue about blog design. At the very least, this person should be able to get the tagline out from under the $2 Dollar Productions banner as that has bothered me for years, and when drinking, caused me to berate my brother’s friend about her work on the initial refresh. Selah.

Anyway, I plan to continue to post Quick Hit Fridays and check into everyone’s business to stay in the loop, but if things are a little sparse around here for the next month or so, that is the reason.

Thanks to everyone who has come and gone around here the past five years. The visits are always appreciated. The people who leave forever are missed. And those who continually pop over to say hello keep this place alive.

-BDS

18 comments

  1. Miss Ash Says:
  2. Congrats on 5 years! It is such a long time when you think about it and does take up a fair bit of the day.

    At least you're sticking with it as I find your wit to be one of a kind.....tree sloth, marathon, molasses...you get the idea.

    This girl designed Claire's blog which is super cute and very her:
    http://www.onceuponablog.org/
    maybe she could help you out.

     
  3. Linda Says:
  4. Happy blogiversary! It has been a pleasure reading here. Funny what nice, interesting folks you can meet out here in cyberspace. Looking forward to your new look and all that is 2D. Movies, music, pop culture and Viking knowledge. Keep up the good work.... we'll be out here reading!

     
  5. Heff Says:
  6. Congrats ! 5 years of blogging is a LOT of time waste....I mean, involved, Lol !

    I dig the people of blogville myself, which is why I still pop by.

    If you choose to renovate 2DP, I'll be around to check it out with a Viking Helmet on !

     
  7. JLee Says:
  8. 5 years! Wow. Congrats. That is a good long time to be producing such fine reading material. :)
    I know what you mean about the time/energy since I have been blogging since '05 and originally started due to boredom at work. But boy how things change. Look forward to the new blog design!

     
  9. nobich Says:
  10. Aaah 5 years!!! it's been great reading your blogs ( also your brother's in the beginning when you both traded off ) Congrats.

     
  11. bobbi blaine Says:
  12. congratulations on your 5th year! i have been an avid visitor to your blog for the past few months and it has got to be one of my favorites.

    that top part where the words are on top of each other bother me too... i have been really wanting to fix that for you...

     
  13. Jenny Says:
  14. You were an early blogger, congrats on that too. And as much as I'll be sorry not to read your posts as often, I look forward to seeing what you do to spruce the place up. Maybe some new colors, a few graphics here and there..... thanks for continuing the QHF!

     
  15. Savannah Says:
  16. Well I think you're awesome B and will continue to boomerang my way over here for as long as you continue to write, sparsely or otherwise. Happy 5th Blogiversary! That is truly a stirling effort.

    Can't wait to see your new digs when they're finished. In the meantime I will still look forward to QHF.

     
  17. Holy crap! 5 years? That makes you guru status or something, right? I'm glad you're not leaving for good because you put out some of the funniest stuff I've come across! Maybe this refresher month will be just what you need for another 5 years!

    (plus I like our friendly football rival.) congratulations.

     
  18. h Says:
  19. congrats on five years!

     
  20. Anonymous Says:
  21. yay! the top part is fixed!

     
  22. Miss Ash – Thanks a lot, and I appreciate the designer too. Right now, we’re starting with someone my brother knows, but if that doesn’t work out, then I will definitely take a look. As a side note on tree sloths, I just read something about a celebrity (can’t remember which one) who said she was terrifying of them and that they freaked her out. I’m not sure why. They are incredibly slow creatures.

    Linda – Thank you and I agree about the general level of good people out there – at least that is what I have experienced these past five years. Also, since I’m on somewhat posting hiatus, I saw ‘Wild Things’ on IMAX and thought they did a good job with that book. The creatures were excellent.

    Heff – Glad to see you still out & about & thanks. I’m with you on the people as that is what keeps it interesting for me. The Viking shall rise again (hopefully like Auburn football, eh?). Ha.

    Jlee – Thanks as boredom at work is a fine reason since I do most of my blogging at work. Ha. I look forward to the re-design myself at it is long overdue, and fingers crossed, it should be much better.

    Nobich – It goes by faster than you think. Ha. But thanks & my brother keeps threatening to write again. We’ll see. Maybe after the re-design . . . take some of the heavy lifting off me. 

    Anonymous – Thanks a lot, and glad you’ve been stopping by as repeat offenders are welcome around here. Ha. And a big Thank You for fixing the banner. It has been bothering me for a long, long time. I’m impressed by anyone who can work in that realm since my skill level there is nil or whatever comes below nil. Appreciate it a lot . . .

    Boxer – Thanks and exactly – a little sprucing up is definitely needed around here lest things get stale & boring. Never. Ha. So, I’m with you on the colors and the graphics (a Viking one has been requested by me), so we’ll see what happens, and hopefully, it will be soon. On the coverage front, I spoke w/ assistant this week & script had been misplaced in the funnel, but supposedly it is back inside it & should get some kind of word in 2 weeks or so. That would be great.

    Gypsy – Thanks a lot & glad you can make it all the way over here so often. The digs definitely need some help, so I figure there is nowhere to go except up. Ha. And as for QHF, it doesn’t feel like Friday if it’s not there (at least for me).

    Kmwthay – Holy crap indeed. Ha. And thanks. I’ve applied for guru status, but my application seems to be lost in the mail.  And as for football, I am VERY nervous about playing OSU in Stillwater as that could go sideways pretty easily. Grrr . . . And Bradford did the right thing w/ surgery. I’m ready to see him go pro. 

    Troll Y2K – I appreciate it a lot, and I’ll save any football comment until after the weekend because it might be a moot (sp?) point by then. At least for me.

    Anonymous – Thanks again for this!

     
  23. Hey! Is that UT/OSU game this weekend? That is going to be a really good game. I'm worried about playing OSU this year too, because the ONLY advantage we have to win that game is that it is in Norman. There is NO way we'd win that game in Stillwater.

     
  24. I think I'm pretty much in the same boat as far as needing a recharge. I've gone from posting pretty much every day, to maybe two or three times a week. My blog also needs a make-over, but I'm not computer savvy enough to do it myself without using a template, and I don't like any of the templates I've found, so it just sits there, looking the same day after day. Oh well. Someday.

     
  25. Kmwthay - Unfortunately, it is. Ha. What a terrible Halloween trick. And yes, that's lucky you have OSU in Norman as I wasn't sure where it was. If we lose, then I will definitely be pulling for you to beat them. :)

    Native Minnow - Same boat around here, and consequently, it has sat for a long time without a refresh. Hopefully, a new look will offer some fresh thinking. We'll see.

     
  26. SymplyAmused Says:
  27. Congrats on Five YEARS! I do good to remember to post to mine lately being so busy with school. I do pop over here to read yours though when I have the time...

     
  28. BostonPobble Says:
  29. Sorry I missed this. Congratulations, with many exclamation points. ;)

     
  30. Symplyamused - Thank you, and glad to hear that you're still posting even with school and everything else as I'm sure things are hectic. I will get over there & see what his going on.

    Bostonpobble - Thanks a lot Pobble . . . I might even give myself an exclamation point. Ha. Hope the road is treating you well.

     

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