Despite the fact that I'm less than a month from my first show, I'm taking a break from practice today... ok, true confession, I DID go through one of the effects a couple of times, but otherwise I'm going to relax, enjoy a wonderful meal with family, and give thanks. There's a lot to be thankful for this year.  Yes, my professional life has had it's ups and downs, but there have been plenty of good things... the family is all healthy and employed, we've moved into a new home, some good friends have offered freelance work to fill in the gaps, I've renewed my focus in magic, and I've discovered an entire new family of magicians who have been accepting of this aging Novice. Accepting is too small a word, to be honest, and family feels like a literal word.  I've gained many magic Brothers and Sisters.  From Jeff McBride, Dean Hass, and the rest of the Magic & Mystery School team, who made it possible for me to attend Magic & Meaning and ...

A brief view behind the curtain... When I write these blogs, there's no real plan.  There is, of course, a theme, but unlike the blogs and scripts I write for clients, I simply let whatever comes out land on the page.  There are no keywords, no word counts, no concern for a "call-to-action," or any of those other pesky details that my day-to-day marketing words require.  This means that I'm often surprised by what comes out.  What appeared in part 1 of this blog was more a love note to many of the people that have become my magic family, and less about the events at Magic & Meaning.  They were things that needed to be said, but again, I had no plan to write it that way. There's no question that words are magic.  Of course, there are things I experienced at Magic & Meaning that I can't/won't talk about (it was a gathering of Magicians, after all), however there were wonderful parts that I can share... experiences I will carry with me for the r...