STATEMENT AND EXPRESSION OF PRINCIPLES

(I DO LOVE SOME) FOOTNOTES:

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1. I invite you to take that statement with the spirit in which I wrote it. Those statements are only bloodless or grandiose if you consider what I'm trying to do either bloodless or grandiose. That may be your business, but I assure you it isn't mine. I'm trying to do something that feels worthwhile to me, and there's all manner of passion and humility there. But, more than that—and why I'm going through the trouble of slapping footnotes on a damn website—there's care. I'm trying to be as careful as the effort is important. [go back]

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2. I'm not thrilled with these labels, but:

i. they fit my shorthand outlook on living in that in whatever language we're most comfortable, we learn by crafting stories—figure language as the theory and story as the application;

ii. if to no one else, they are true to my native mode of expression—i.e., storytelling; and

iii. I wholly reserve the right to revise these terms after contact with an evolving environment (I'll change 'em if I want and will of course explain why). [go back]

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3. Such is my personal political stance, borne—as noted—of observation. That this world works best when its citizens seek demonstrable engagement I find a fact. That the barriers for entry into discussion of our most pressing problems and goals (including our tendency to argue about prioritization of our work) are so high equate to a further blight on our history. We need everybody talking, and working together, right now, to make real progress and dismiss obstructionists as the schmuck-ass busters they are. [go back]

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4. For my purposes, the phrase "creative, technical, or other professional products" within the Narrative Development stage is appropriately open-ended. With whatever interest, skill, or availability I have, my intention is to assist however I can in whatever project seeks my involvement. There's as much story in the development of a screenplay as in the outlining of a calculus textbook or the opening of a bakery or the construction of an airplane. My interest and skill level may be more immediately suited to some of those goals than others, but each provides their own learning experience(s). The ARCS microsite, and this site's "Qualifications" and "Contact" pages, will provide further detail on how that practically plays. [go back]

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5. The concept of "public interaction" should absolutely be considered contextual to the project as developed. Beyond the growing acceptance of the fact that the customer is NOT always right (an absurd, almost insulting notion that doesn't do a damn thing to create an audience that feels not only invested, but trusted), interaction should only ever go as far as the producer can ably manage and the audience can ably stomach. There should be no collective layperson input on how to build a commercial jet, beyond notions of comfort—which we may someday come back to realizing when boarding a flight. We can ask our baker to try selling some triple-chocolate-chip cookies, but we'd do well to let the baker bake. [go back]