11:15 AM - Denver International Airport

Traveling during busy holiday periods is a great time to cash in on overbooked flights. That’s what I am currently in the process of doing. I kind of approach it like a job. After clearing security I made my way to the gate desk and immediately volunteered, in exchange for compensation, to take a later flight. My flight from Denver to Houston was overbooked by 20 so today was a breeze. Fifteen minutes later I was issued a $300 voucher and a First Class ticket for a 1 pm flight. With a four hour wait I decided to use one of my complimentary United Club passes for a posh retreat away from the crowds. That is where I am currently taking advantage of the free wi-fi. If possible I might even see if I can get bumped off the 1 pm flight. There’s a chance. It’s a small plane. I figure the 2:45 Dreamliner 787 will have plenty of seats.

So, where have I been since my last post? That’s a very good question. Basically upon my return from Japan I jumped into a jungle of busyness playing the game trying to make a few dollars. Drowning oneself in excessive busy work is a wonderful way to kind of check out and justify doing so. As always my occupation is an unpredictable game with a few good hits and a lot of misses that leaves me doing ok but wishing I’d done better. Creatively I've been flat.

Aside of my 3 weeks in Japan 2013 has been a year of putting a lot of my own agenda on pause while tending to other matters such as my mother’s 6 month chemo treatment and some personal issues. In the end I feel like I’ve done the right thing and life is starting to even out again. My mother is doing remarkably better and is now cancer free which makes me feel more free to do as I please for the time being.

2013 was the hardest work year I’ve put in for awhile. I made four trips back and forth between Denver and Houston while splitting my work between the two cities. All things considered I juggled it well even though I made a lot of mistakes and missed many opportunities that couldn’t have been more obvious. The bottom line is that it’s a competitive world out there. Especially when you work for yourself. I wouldn’t consider the last year to be a bad per se but it wasn’t easy. It was a year of hard knocks that has left me feeling quite disoriented and disconnected from social circles etc. Looking back, most of it’s a blur and I feel very uncertain as to what my next move is.