I haven’t written in a while mostly because I have an issue with feeling like I need to say something profound or nicely edited and curated before I’m “ready” to publish. For some reason I felt it was pointless to just spew information stream-of-consciousness style onto the internet.
But I think I’ve had a change of heart now. It’s not like I’m writing an article for a reputable newspaper. This is just a site where I can get some thoughts and ideas out, and maybe the idea of typing and publishing something unpolished online rather than letting a few random thoughts die in Notes is better. If somebody relates to me and I gain another connection from it, it’s worth it. If nobody relates to it and I have some content online to look back on and see how I’ve evolved, that’s worth it too.
So anyway, I’ve been thinking the last two years have been pretty transformative for me. March 2024 we bought a house. In April my cousin Josh visited and we got to see Amon Amarth, Cannibal Corpse, and Obituary play at Red Rocks. That same month I got my first client for my company, YGG, and I’m still partnered with them a year and a half later. In January 2025 I proposed to Rebecca (she said yes!) and we’re actively searching for some wedding venues in Colorado. That same month I joined the School of Rock adult program, got a vocal trainer, and sang in my first mid-season and end-season show. In April 2025 I finally executed on my planned half-sleeve tattoo after 5 years of humming and hawing. My friend Jeffrey and I are close to publishing our first book based on a podcast we started together.
There are a lot of other transformations, updates, improvements, etc. in all that: in the vocal training I doubled my vocal range after learning to find mix voice, I learned some rudimentary false chord screaming, and I’ve vastly improved my vocal quality and vibrato. I learned a ton of lessons from founding my own company and working with clients and other subcontractors.
I’ve been doing a lot but not really been sharing what I’m doing, and that’s okay – sometimes I’m moving too fast to stop and share. But I got to thinking recently that there is a lot of value in sharing updates as I go. For one, I can see progress better over time; think of a zoetrope that instead had just one dramatic jump from the first instance of motion to the completed landing – that would be very jarring. I know all of my intermediate ‘progressions of animation’ in this analogy but those who I don’t keep up-to-date with don’t, and suddenly I’m back visiting Mississippi and I’m married, tattooed, and I’ve got a band and the last snapshot a few of my folks have had of me is leaving for Chicago in 2016.
Since I don’t use social media (excluding uploads to YouTube for vocal progress and sharing my podcast episodes), these little snippets of my life get lost and I forget who knows what about me. So I’m thinking from now on out I’ll capture some of the ‘little’ things – learning a new guitar technique, covering a new song on vocals, celebrating progress on chapters of the books I’m writing – all in the hopes that sharing helps me keep the momentum going and offers a moment of connection for anybody curious or empathetic with how my life is unfolding.
The next two projects I want to work on is a singing channel to share some important lessons I’ve learned about my voice (namely that singing correctly is and does not feel natural at all) and to share some chapters of a book I’m writing about growing up Jewish in the Deep South. That and any other things, small or big, that I want to share as a ‘still’ / snapshot in time.
See you on the next post,
– Isaac