Moving Monday (Last Week in Michigan)

A question I get a lot as a magician is "how many decks of cards do you own?" Well this last Saturday I spent an hour organizing all my decks of cards for my move, if that gives you any indication! I tried to get all my cards into one dresser instead of having them spread throughout my room. I think I have them all locked up in one dresser now instead of spread across my computer desk, in drawers, and on top of my dressers.

Sean Solak and I are recording a few magic videos this week. Yesterday was our first day and we rehearsed a new routine in his basement in between moments of Nintendo 3DS. We got a late start on recording some test footage, getting out just as the sun was setting. It was a pretty cold day to begin with, but it got aggressively cold after the sun went down. We still managed to bug a group of hacky sack players in the park off of Biddle though. It was definitely an interesting time to record! I would ask someone to pick a card and to put it back as quick as they could so they could get their hands back in their pockets! I even had to cut my routine short in order to get back to the car and warm my fingers up.

Today I am working on Introductions. I never introduce myself, nor do I ask for people's names. I'm looking for things that will put me "in the moment" as well as involve my spectators more and this is a huge next step.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I'm going to get back to organizing things for my move. Look for another video this Friday as well as a few more blogs about my thoughts leading up to the move later this week.

Until next time, may I recommend a song?
http://www.uvumi.com/#finelle/songs/16305

Road Trip

This is a video (stop motion photography) from when my girlfriend Jordan and I drove from Texas to Michigan. It's from a few years ago and was when she was moving here. In a few weeks, I'll be making that drive again, but this time to move to Texas.

Each day I have someone ask if I'm excited. I answer by saying that I've pretty much felt every emotion there is. It's bittersweet to have to leave my home state in order to see the girl I love, but I am also very excited about all the new things I'll experience. I also am not good with change, so I'm a little hesitant and nervous!

I can't wait to get out on the road - one of my favorite things to do. I've never driven this far on my own, so it's going to be an intensely exciting time. I'll be using the internet and my smart phone to keep everyone as current as possible about what I'm doing. It all starts in about two weeks.

Another exciting thing is that I'll be jumping right in to action once I get to Houston. I've already got a show lined up for the day after I arrive. I'm looking to make an immediate impact and to really entertain some people.

I've had a lot of people wish me well and I truly appreciate it. I'll be back in Michigan whenever I'm able and I'll be sure to keep in contact - especially since I have a 30 minute drive to work!

- Steven' A.

"Moving" Monday

Magic Monday is "Moving Monday" today (and likely a few more Mondays to come.) I've officially received my transfer at work and am looking to begin driving to Houston, Texas on April 5th.

I've already set up shows with some Relay for Life events down there:

April 8th
(Possible Stage Show)
Woodlands, TX
College Park High School

April 29th
Northwest Harris County, TX
Klein Oak High School

May 13th - my brother Brad's birthday
(Luncheon and a Possible Stage Show)
Greater Heights, TX
Delmar Dyer Stadium

I've also updated my gigsalad account to show the change. You are able to see what kind of shows I offer as well as booking me through GigSalad.com

Where I Stand - Bent

I'm about to update my Booking page on the website. I'll be simplifying the selections as well as adding in some house parties. Along with that, I'll be trying to add in pricing estimates.

On top of that, I'm working on my upcoming house shows and trying to find an apartment and a job in Texas for my move. All of which are proving to be simply difficult.

So many ideas in my head and I'll be getting most of them out shortly.

Dreams

I had a dream last nite that I was outrunning the law with someone, but I didn't necessarily want to. I was sort of like in the passenger seat, though I don't remember a car or any type of vehicle. I started messing with my cards and I dropped one. That was the most upsetting part of the dream, that I couldn't go back for it. We both knew we were going to get caught too. I'm starting to remember more as I talk about it and it was really strange. My dreams didn't used to have all these memorable visuals about them, but I definitely remember this one being in color and very vivid. We drove over a railroad track at some point. We got out (of the imaginary vehicle) and started to run up a strange mountain that seemed to be composed of gravel and bits of glass. I found a quarter while walking up it and tried to reach for it, but got five tiny fragments of glass stuck in my hand. I also had to remove a chip of glass from my shoe at an earlier point. We made it to the top of the hill and that's where we decided to wait to get captured.

I didn't mean to start writing that much about the dream, but I forgot the glass hill. I'm going to look into a dream dictionary at see what some of those things are "supposed" to mean; I'll get back to you guy's about that later.

Magic Monday - Arts and Crafts

I've been spending the last week trying to stay away from the Black Friday deals on the magic websites I frequent (yes even magic website have Black Friday deals.) I swore off buying magic products a year ago and was trying to keep my word (minus the three books I bought over the summer.) I looked through my old videos and books and found a few ideas that I've looked over for a while and began practicing them. It's pretty rewarding actually and I would recommend it to anyone that's in a similar situation.

Christmas is coming up and I just wrapped my presents. Keeping with my strange persona the presents have no names on them, but a secret code that reveals the recipient of the gift. I asked everyone on my list "what would be the worst gift to receive on Christmas" and used that as a starting point for what to get them. It should be a very interesting year! I'll be passing the gifts out when Jordan comes to town on New Year's Day.

As I mentioned earlier this month in the blog I've been studying up on Sherlock Holmes. I'm hoping to get a few jobs doing Sherlock Holmes styled personality readings and am going to be passing out my resumes again this week to a few select locations. I'm looking to practice my Holmes' reading methods during the week as well in order to fine tune my presentation. Anyone looking for a free personality reading send me an email, comment, or some sort of social network nudge.

Thanks for reading,
Steve.

Journal Excerpt - November 9th, 2010

"Stroker Ace"

I have this thought in my head that my idea is real. It's just a given. It's like I know that I have to. It's on my schedule. I just have to suck it up and do it.

What am I talking about? My long chased after goal to redord a full length magic video. Over the last year I know that I've recorded enough effects to truly accomplish it, but it didn't have that start to finish feel.

No one has guaranteed that they can help, the sun will set at 5:00 p.m., I have no camera besides my cheap one, and my Flip camera software sucks.

Still... the pieces have seemingly aligned in my brain and I know it will happen.

So much so that I foresee myself recording something tonite, rehearsing tomorrow, and recording two days straight afterwards. Then I'll pick up next Wednesday recording any effects that need another take.

I've lost my hope to film this for promotional reasons. The aim is now for me to allow my imagination to become reality.

I'd like to find a focus while recording. I'd like to learn to enjoy spontaneous performances. I'd like to learn to appreciate rehearsal and routining. I want to find a focus, a character, and give myself a voice. I also want to see something through from start to finish.

Where I Stand - Zombie Dinner

I've been busy lately with my best friend's wedding and my wonderful girlfriend Jordan coming to town.

The two of us danced at the wedding (our first wedding dance.) She complained to the dj for not taking any of our requests and got two Beatle songs in a row for it. The next day we went to Cedar Point for a day full of haunted houses. The day after that was a busy Halloween. After I got off work we painted each other's faces, bloodied up, and went to a romantic White Castle dinner with some Meijer grocery store desert.

Look for wedding pictures this Friday on the ETC page.

October Mixtape - "Becktober Too"

1. Pi** on the floor
2. Cellphone's Dead
3. Profanity Prayers
4. Salt in the Wound
5. Teenage Wastebasket
6. Sunday Sun
7. Mutherfu*er
8. Pressure Zone
9. Diamond Bullocks
10. 1000 BPM
11. Clock
12. Nausea
13. Novacane
14. F*ckin' With My Head
15. Replica
16. Get Real Paid
17. High 5
18. Loser
19. Shake Shake Tambourine
20. Emergency Exit
21. Debra

A new mixtape with a lot less Beck music will be here next month. I'm going to find a way for you to be able to stream it to listen for yourself, so keep an ear out. Also November will have three new updates to the ETC page! I'm still working on the video project, I have one person up for it so far.

This week my lovely girlfriend Jordan is coming to town from Texas and we'll be attending my best friend's wedding as well as going to Halloweekends in Cedar Point...the wedding and Cedar Point are two different events.

It's been a busy week with magic and I'm hoping to have some more soon. Someone hire me, I'm cheap and willing to travel!

Where I Stand - sign of things to come

I've begun moving my stuff.




This Monday is the last of the Magic Monday refresher videos. Magic Monday's will likely continue, just changed slightly.

I'll be adjusting the blog format so that there is an even wider variety of content going it starting after next week. This Friday is also the last ETC page update until November. The ETC page is updated every other month.

Bloggin' - Moving Day

I've just spent a year at the same place for the first time since I was probably four, though that first time ended up turning into about 20 years! My lease is about to expire at my current apartment and I'll be moving back in with my whole family to start the month of October.

My roommates have moved out and I'm beginning to notice some of those things you come across when you first move in to a new place. You realize you don't own certain things like pans or cooking trays. You realize that you've never really bought aluminum foil. As things are starting to wind down to the end of this apartment I'm reminded of the beginning. I'm sure these feelings will grow when I start to actually move things out too.

I'm reminded of how my bedroom was just a mattress on the floor with a computer sitting on top of a couple of boxes. My living room was an over sized t.v. teetering on a bedside table while my roommates couch and love seat sat across from it. The kitchen was barren, the walls were plain, and the refrigerator was stacked with garbage.

Thinking back and feeling those empty apartment moments really brings me into the moment, the now, where I can realize how far I've come along in the last year. I finally moved the rest of my stuff here from my old apartment, bought a few new things, and even decorated. I threw out my roommates old food in the fridge. I set up my bed properly. I bought a computer desk. I even have my carpet and a proper entertainment center for the television. My bedroom now has a movie poster, a replica New York City Subway sign, a picture, and even a framed drawing of mine up. It's all really amazing and makes me start to truly feel at home here.

Then there's the realization that in two weeks I won't be allowed to come in here any more. The realization that I'll be moving all of these things into a dining room.

What a crappy note to end on huh?! It's not that I feel remarkably upset that I have to move what seems like a lot of things into what one would imagine to be a small space...it's just that it is what I have to do. It'll be nice to get back in touch with my family and I really think that I need to slum it for a while in order to push towards my dreams and goals. That; and it would be great to save up some money for a change. Life is an amazing thing that will keep you guessing, like just now I found out that I have statistics for my website's blog here. I had no idea until this very moment.

What I'm boiling this down to is this, take a look around and see where you're at and perhaps it will remind you where you've been. In my experience that leads me to either be thankful for where life's taken me or it makes me more dedicated to get where I want to go.

Where I Stand - "Everything is Horrible"

I have a wisdom tooth coming in...well trying. It's been trying off and on FOREVER. All my teeth are overcrowded as it is. I feel sluggish from it, like the constant pain has weakened my entire body. I actually took some medicine to dull the feeling, which works, but I can tell that my jaw is still in pain.

Anyway, there's one month until my next show at the Arthritis Walk at my work. I don't know what I am scheduled to do yet, but I am planning for every possible scenario.

Earlier this year I started a goal to accomplish my most difficult magic challenges...so far I've only done one, which was to predict the lottery numbers. I'm preparing for my next challenge which I am titling:

The Man
The Myth
The Levitation

I used to get hounded all the time about doing a self levitation. I don't hang out with anyone that's seen me do it before (my last one was likely three years ago at least), so I don't get asked to do it too often any more. I'm looking to change that. I have one month to prepare myself to do it again and start a whole new craze of Steve fans! I'll keep you updated on my progress through the blog. Also check www.TheUsedMagician.com for updates on when/where I'll be performing the levitation.

Where I Stand and Facebook Group Update

Working at the "office" on a new stage show concept.

Tomorrow will be the first video of "The Playlist" on my Facebook Group

Here's a little info on The Playlist:

"The Playlist goes like this; one magician posts a video of them performing any opening effect of their choosing (and if possible who created the effect and where it is available to purchase,etc.) Then another magician records a video of what effect they feel should follow it.

The idea being that magicians can possibly get new routine/effect ideas while lay people can see magicians perform that they likely never would have seen."

Where I Stand

Welcome to one of the new features of my revamp(ing) blog page. Wednesdays are a time to check in and see Where I Stand as I update my blog with a photo taken often moments before the blog post. Also many of my Where I Stand photos include subtle clues about my life or hints into something I'm doing, so keep an eye out for that.

Just to describe this image in a short amount of time; I was practicing with a deck of cards that my girlfriend and I made. This is a mind reading deck of cards that includes gypsy elements, mind reading psychology, as well as symbolism and a little luck. These five cards are the ones I chose at random. There are a few things going on in this picture that I am not going to go too far into, one being something that I hope to add to the website soon....

Back to the blog update. My second magic class is beginning tomorrow (though it might as well be Wednesday already.) As part of the class I will be uploading a video each Monday that will recap the performance of some of the effects being taught in each class. This will go on for the next six Monday's as the class continues. There is still time to get signed up for the class and I am willing to try to ask if I can teach another week to make up for anyone that misses this first week.

Keep to the blog for many more consistent updates as well as checking back as I clean up the website a bit. See you soon.

Steve.