I suppose living to any age beyond that of stereotypical retirement is a milestone, but my personal benchmark comes next year. This year isn't quite as important, but I'm glad to still be around and very active. Still composing and arranging, still conducting, still writing prose, still acting. (That last thing is to me the weirdest aspect of my life, as I never thought I'd be doing it at all, let alone earning money from it.) To wit:
*This week I'm doing background work 3 days on a film. What I'll be doing isn't anything huge – it is background acting after all – but it's paying work on an interesting project.
* I have two very different string orchestra compositions in the works with two different publishers. Neither will see the light of day for some months, but they are definitely in production. The editors at both companies are a pleasure to work with.
* I've been tossing an idea around for a short story (speculative fiction). The first attempt didn't work. The second attempt, trying a different point of view, didn't work either. The latest attempt has promise, as I'm combining the two perspectives to give a complete picture. This just might work.
* I've booked a voiceover job for a dramatized audiobook at the end of the month too. I've done a little “vo” work before, but this one is even more interesting.
* Lastly, figuring out what I want to compose and, separately, arrange, next. As Desi Arnaz used to sing, “I get ideas.”