My Summer Of George
My Post-COVID Severance Package
In the 156th episode of Seinfeld, George Costanza leaves his job at the NY Yankees and receives a severance package worth 3-months pay. After some debate and encouragement from Jerry (naturally) he decides to treat the 3 months as a vacation and a time to do all the things he’s always wanted to do.
Being a proud, card-carrying member of Extraverts Onymous, COVID hit particularly hard for me. I struggled to connect with others digitally and truly missed being able to stand less than 6’ from another human being. (Sidenote: as a formally educated Microbiologist, I totally supported the restrictions; I just didn’t like it.)
When restrictions started to ease up, I promptly gathered my family together and vocally declared my own Summer Of George Dustin. I felt like COVID just handed me a severance package and I was free to run with all of the things I had been aching to do. Like George, I had the motivation, but definitely not a clear path of where that energy was going to be directed.
George wanted to spend his time entirely in his PJ’s and disconnecting from everyone (among other things, he does read a book, updates his answering machine outgoing message, and ultimately winds up in the hospital from an accident related to “severe inactivity"). I, on the other hand, desperately needed social activity and I craved anything that would push my creativity. Therefore I sought out and accepted any opportunity that would meet those two simple requirements. I am proud to report that not only has the Summer of Dustin been mega satisfying and a raging success for me personally, but I feel it continues to this very day. Here are some key highlights:
Finding Patience
Pre-COVID I had made the acquaintance of mega-creative-superhero Angie Staheli. I casually told her that a bucket list item of mine was to be part of a theater production. Fortunately she remembered the comment since she reached out post-COVID to let me know about a musical she had written and was going to direct. I signed up to audition without hesitation. The musical told the history of our little North Carolina town through the lens of Patience, a deceased formerly enslaved woman, as she greets various characters across a broad timeline. I went into the audition prepared to be offered a small background part with absolutely zero singing. I was wrong. I was offered several larger roles and MULTIPLE singing parts including several solos. I was ecstatic. Months of really, really hard work led up to several weeks of completely sold out shows. My social bucket was quickly filled as I worked with so many talented actors and crew members and I loved working a new part of my creativity that I had never tapped into previously.
I am so honored to be a part of this production and am absolutely blown away by the talent that was involved. For anyone interested, the soundtrack can be heard on all streaming platforms. Look to the songs “World’s Okayest Paranormal Investigators” and “The Town Chooses You” if you want to jump right over to my whole-hearted attempt to fit in with these musical veterans. But if you want to hear some truly amazing work, check out tracks 2, 8, 11, and 12.
Bards College
Podcasting ruled supreme during COVID. Not only was I obsessed with listening to a TON of podcasts, I wanted to be a part of the podcast creator’s club. Diving into YouTube tutorials, wrangling up my Aunt Wendi as a co-host, and scrounging up some willing interviewees, we put together a halfway decent show. It was only short lived because of my inability to stay consistent with cranking out content. What can I say? Summer of Dustin.
Bull City
This was definitely one of the most random and fun things I was a part of. Filmmaker Rene Olmos was hired to create a multi-award-winning music video for Finding Patience. Our paths crossed again nearly a year later and he approached me saying he was working on a short film project and had me in mind for a character. The character? A mob boss. Could I pull off a villain? I had no idea, but was willing and ready to try anything to be part of something creative and unique. My respect for filmmakers is through the roof now. We set out to create a very short film that felt like it could be part of a much larger movie. The intent was to provide people with an opportunity to try some new techniques, display some talent, and just have fun. With literally zero budget and everybody working until 4am each night, we put together something pretty special in a very short amount of time. Plus the movie premiered as part of a local film festival and I got to see myself on the big screen for the very first time.
Fun! I’d be more than happy to dive into a sequel.
Idle Jacks
I started playing the guitar when I was about 14 or 15. I immediately started a garage band with some friends and I was hooked. Playing guitar by yourself is fun and all, but playing in a band is the absolute best! We moved to NC right before COVID hit, so it took us a minute to acclimate and establish some solid friend groups. As soon as we got social again, I quickly met some awesome musicians and we threw together an 80’s synth pop cover band called Idle Jacks. Thanks to our mad talented and coolest-person-ever manager Sarah Larson (another Finding Patience connection since she was the play’s stage manager) we had some solid gigs quickly lined up and we were on our way, merch booth and all.
Random Projects
My wife Riley had a need to create an instructional video for a girl’s youth camp discussing the rules behind appropriate phone usage during the camp. Let’s just say, I was up for the task. Pulling from the things I’ve been learning along the way with my past projects, I submitted this video to the ether.
What’s Next?
I’ve been inspired by so many creative and talented people over the last few years. If there’s one thing I truly learned about myself during the pandemic it’s that I want to create more than I consume. I found that scrolling social media accounts, mindlessly watching YouTube, or only talking about shows and movies with friends is draining. Being in the creator’s seat is energizing.
I’m excited to think about what could be around the corner. Have something you created post-COVID? Feel free to share it in the comments so we can all enjoy it. In the meantime, I’m going to go update my voicemail outgoing message whilst in my PJ’s.