I am no longer using this post to track my activities (see here instead). Here is what I wrote at the time:
Introduction (from October 21, 2021)
You may have noticed that I had a whole lot planned for October - and that much of it hasn't come to pass. This week, for the first time in several months, I wasn't even able to get my usual public podcast up in time. The culprit, unsurprisingly, is my Lost in Twin Peaks public podcast. I hoped, because it largely involves re-packaging already-recorded material from my Patreon, that this project would not be all that time-consuming, despite publishing daily. I was mistaken.
So it's time to re-consider some priorities. I'm not yet ready to completely abandon various projects for 2021 and 2022 but I do have to honestly assess what's most important for me and/or my audience. Personally, I don't want to resume Journey Through Twin Peaks videos until I have a decent backlog of material and have finished working on two major projects. The already-underway Lost in Twin Peaks is one of them - the other is my written "TWIN PEAKS Character Series" which has, ridiculously, been on hold for five years now, longer than some creators'/commentators' entire online presence! It's time to catch up, and that may mean lightening the load.
PRIORITIES
My first priority, since it's already begun, and I want to hit certain anniversaries next year, will be maintaining Lost in Twin Peaks, including the massive illustrated companions introducing the coming week of episodes each Saturday. Aside from a few imminent exceptions, only when I am about a couple weeks ahead on this project will I worry about other lapsed deadlines. The second priority is my monthly Twin Peaks Conversations podcast (although I'll bump it up in consideration near the end of each month to make sure I get patron rewards out in time). I enjoy these discussions, and apparently so do listeners - the last couple episodes, perhaps combined with the debut of Lost in Twin Peaks, resulted in my biggest boost of $5/month patrons in nearly three years. My third priority will be the aforementioned character series, which I hope to keep on a tight schedule so it can run in its entirety through 2022, but I'll modify that schedule if the first two priorities make that necessary. Still, I will focus on trying to stay a couple months ahead (it's scheduled to begin in January, so that means work will probably resume in November).
COMPROMISES AND CANCELLATIONS
Beyond that? Things start to get dicey. My original plan was to have public podcasts going up every Wednesday on various feeds (aside from the daily Lost in Twin Peaks). Although half would be re-packaging Patreon recordings, the other half would be fresh: my monthly Left of the Movies political cinema podcast and one of my two biweekly Lost in the Movies episodes, the one focused on new releases. This may not prove feasible after all. I've already pushed back several films I planned to cover this week or next, which I almost certainly won't get to - if at all - till November. And my grand plan to cover all the Star Wars films next year - including esoterica like the Ewok TV movies - may have to be extinguished. My monthly Olympic documentary written round-ups is admittedly one of this site's more fringe pet projects given everything else going on. However, since I like to finish what I already began - and since the February 2022 Winter Olympics provide a desirable bookend - I'm going to try to keep it going (though I may have to do them in quick succession this winter rather than attempt to keep up with a monthly schedule I've already fallen behind on). If I continue to sink into the quicksand on these more minor projects, then one by one I will drop them. I won't bore you with further details, but I've worked out a whole system to keep me efficient on this front.
PATREON
On Patreon, $1/month patrons will continue to have Lost in Twin Peaks episodes opened up for them six months after their $5/month premiere (this means they'll reach Fire Walk With Me in February, around the anniversary of the films' events and several months before that coverage goes public). And as mentioned, $5/month patrons will access the greater portion of each Twin Peaks Conversation - for the next one, that means literally hours of extra material since repeat guest John Thorne and I had a lot to talk about. The big question is the main $1/month podcast that has been a mainstay of my Patreon since the beginning. For two years, it's been dominated by "Twin Peaks Cinema" topics (which have only just begun to go public); "Twin Peaks Reflections" on characters, locations, and storylines; and a number of other rotating segments covering recent activity or re-visiting my site's archive. This will probably have to be simplified, though the "Reflections" segment is a priority and I hope to keep reviewing a film each month, though it may no longer be related to Twin Peaks. Eventually I may have to discuss the ongoing status of this aspect with patrons and work out a new arrangement. October's episode may be a bit late in addition to being pared down.
AND THE PATH BACK TO JOURNEY THROUGH TWIN PEAKS...?
Since early 2019, I've been ordering my work into a schedule to build a backlog and make it easier for me to reach and complete my Journey Through Twin Peaks video essays, constantly updating posts or tweets to keep track for anyone wondering how close I was to renewal. One of these schedules was completed but two more were abandoned along the way - although they did eventually get me to complete the "Part 5" videos this past winter. The schedule I created in May was the most in-depth of all of these, and I thought it would allow me to get far enough ahead that I wouldn't need to start mixing various steps together and losing the whole point of the "path" approach. Obviously that was not the case - prioritizing Mad Men entries that wouldn't be published until 2022 was the first thing that really threw me off-course, and eventually the hard deadlines of Lost in Twin Peaks killed my trajectory altogether. That said, I don't want to junk this schedule too. I will continue to keep it updated even though it will no longer be going strictly in order (at least not unless I manage to get months ahead on many deadlines), and some steps will probably be axed. It will offer a bigger picture to complement the more short-term focus of this post, which will also be updated. You can continue to follow that big picture here:
(UPDATE 11/7: This schedule is now inactive.)
Hopefully this new approach can help me stay on the ball for my most important work without losing too many other fun or thought-provoking tangents along the way.
(This was updated daily, then stopped to make way for a new schedule on Friday, November 12)
Here is where my online work stood...
AS OF OCTOBER 28
*LOST IN TWIN PEAKS - one day ahead
(nothing is done beyond today)
next up: final S1E4 episode
TWIN PEAKS CONVERSATIONS - will publish by Halloween
talked w/ John Thorne & need to edit/present the material
TWIN PEAKS CHARACTER SERIES - scheduled to begin in January
will begin work in November (a few early entries have been done for years)
Work on other monthly projects is currently on hold, including...
PATREON LOST IN THE MOVIES PODCAST (October may be delayed)
TWIN PEAKS CINEMA PODCAST (November & December complete)
LOST IN THE MOVIES PODCAST: RANDOM REVIEW (November & December complete)
LOST IN THE MOVIES PODCAST: NEW RELEASE REVIEW (October delayed - may abandon)
LEFT OF THE MOVIES PODCAST (October delayed - may abandon)
OLYMPIC FILM ROUND-UP (September delayed, October will be delayed - may reschedule)
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