Staglevision: Valentine's Day update

Dear friends,

It's been a while. I hope you all had a pleasant start to 2009. Here's what I've been up to:

LIFE IN LA
A year and a half after moving down here, I'm finally starting to feel at home in LA. I have my favorite local haunts: dinners with my sister at The Nook, a neighborhood bistro; writing at Cafe Balcony or Intelligentsia; catching the latest great movie with Tyrrell after work at the Landmark or Vista theaters.

No matter how much time I spend here, there's always more to discover. I recently saw The Bird and the Bee (one of my favorite bands) perform at the Natural History Museum amid display cases of extinct mammals. The night after, I heard Edward Albee discuss his plays at UCLA.

WRITING
For Christmas, I asked for subscriptions to a few top literary magazines. I am now a proud subscriber to McSweeney's, Zoetrope: All-Story, One Story, and The Threepenny Review. After reading short stories from some of my favorite contemporary authors, I am excited to return to this form.

In January, I wrote a couple drafts of a poem currently titled, "The Night We Went to Fubar." I don't write poems very often, but I find that it exercises a certain muscle that I'd like to develop more. I enjoy the surgical precision that a poem requires, the microscopic attention to every element of the line. Thanks to Shamala and Larry for all their helpful comments on my revisions!

This month, I've returned to work on the novel, which by now feels like an old friend. I completed revisions on Chapter One in the fall, and I'm very pleased with them, though the chapter has doubled in size. I'm now combining Chapters Two and Three, hoping to finish by the end of this month so I can move on to the Oktoberfest chapter.

WORK
For almost a year, I've been working at SpiritClips, a new media company that produces high-quality inspirational content. At SpiritClips.com, you can watch moving short films and share them as exquisite, personalized FilmCards.

I'm responsible for producing our website, and I'm learning a ton about web development, HTML coding, Google Adwords and Analytics, project management, copywriting, the works. Since I only took Intro to Computing in college, this is very exciting!

Watch a Valentine's Day FilmCard featuring our newest film, "Montgomery."

If this FilmCard inspires you, please share it with a friend or loved one!

Here's the best way:
1) Join SpiritClips.com
2) Select the Free Trial to send one FilmCard, free.
3) Personalize "Montgomery" by adding a cover, photo (optional), and message.
4) Address and send!

Thanks for listening. If we haven't spoken in a while, give me a call, or let's hang out. I want to know how you've been!

Best,
Steven

steventagle.com Down Until Friday

Hi all,

Since its inception, my steventagle.com domain has been hosted on Yahoo! Small Business. But this year, Yahoo! decided to jack up its annual domain rate from $9.95/year to a whooping $34.95/year. So I'm transferring the domain to GoDaddy.com. Same simple service, and even easier on my pocket--$6.99/year, with the first year free!

All this to say, my website will be down for the next two days while it waits to be transferred to GoDaddy.com. Thanks for your patience.

Sincerely,
Steven

Life Updates

Dear friends,

Here are a couple life updates and information about my birthday shindig this Friday, April 25.

1. Winter Recap: New Hampshire, South America, Los Angeles, Colorado / Photos
2. Redesigned Website Launch: www.steventagle.com
3. Birthday Party: Friday, April 25 at the Arsenal in LA
________________________

1. Winter Recap: New Hampshire, South America, Los Angeles, Colorado / Photos
Covering the New Hampshire primaries with Current TV was an amazing experience. I had a blast with the other Collective Journalists and with Current’s production team. We spent five days interviewing campaign volunteers, chasing presidential candidates, and hanging out in our Manchester production office. I attended the 100 Club Dinner (the NH Democrats’ exclusive fundraising event), was interviewed by Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, and heard Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama speak only feet away from me. Thanks to everyone who tuned in to watch our broadcasts. I’m looking forward to working on more projects with Current in the future.

After New Hampshire, I flew to South America to film and edit a travel series with Marita Vera and Angela Higley. Our three-person crew spent a month in close quarters, traveling to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Punta del Este, and Lima. Other than being robbed at gunpoint in La Boca, the trip was fun and productive. I was exposed to a wealth of South American culture, from the delicious alfajores (caramel sandwiches covered with powdered sugar) of Peru to the contagious energy of screaming, jumping fans at Brazil’s Maracana Football Stadium. While in Buenos Aires, I also filmed a short documentary with CJ Contributor Sarah Gilbert about the cartoneros, the city’s unofficial recyclers. The doc is in post-production, so look for it soon on Current!

I’m now back in LA, working at a short film production company. I really enjoy it because I get to pitch script ideas and get hands-on production experience. Recently, I’ve also begun helping a Sundance programmer with research for a short film book. And last month, my short screenplay, BEAR, won Best Dramatic Short at the BlueCat Screenplay Competition.

I spent this past weekend in Parker, Colorado, filming the wedding of Megan Felsburg and Nate Doud (Megan is my roommate Katherine’s older sister). The wedding was beautiful and masterfully organized. I had the honor of capturing the Douds’ special moments and all the behind-the-scenes antics of their friends and family members. Please feel free to visit the Douds’ wedding website and wish them well: www.nate-megan.com.

Photos:

01 – Me and my NH roommate, Derrick Shore, checking primary results at the Current Lounge in Manchester.

02 – Me filming emera.tv hostess Marita Vera atop Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro.

03 – Tom Rastrelli and me after his “Only in America” concert in Glendale.

2. Redesigned Website Launch: www.steventagle.com

Months after my Stanford site shut down, my new and improved website is now open for business! This is your one-stop shop for all my past and current projects. Read my plays, poetry, and short stories. Watch FLATFISH, MODEL MAN, and all my Current pods. Check out the new Design section, featuring posters and publications I’ve designed all the way back to Creative Impulse magazines in high school! If it’s by me, it’s on here. Check it out.

3. Birthday Party: Friday, April 25 at the Arsenal in LA

This Friday, April 25, I’ll be celebrating my 23^rd birthday at the Arsenal in Los Angeles. The Arsenal is a West LA restaurant / bar with a cool name and swanky atmosphere. When I heard that they served Kobe hamburgers, sweet potato French fries, and mac and cheese, I was sold.

It’s my first birthday in LA, so if we’ve worked together on a film, if we’ve gone to school together, or if you’re in town and looking to have fun and catch up, I’d love to see you there.

Start Time: Friday, April 25, 2008 at 7:30pm
End Time: Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 2:00am
Location: The Arsenal
Street: 12012 W Pico Blvd (at Pico and Bundy)
City/Town: West Los Angeles, CA
Links: www.arsenalbar.com / www.yelp.com/biz/the-arsenal-los-angeles-2

Hope to see you Friday!

Sincerely,
Steven