A proliferation of Prii

An anniversary is looming.

October 8 will mark our first year owning (through Capital Synergies) Pretty, a 2009 Toyota Prius.

The name, besides being an obvious play on "Prius," (and preferable to "Priapus"), acknowledges a change of heart and mind. When I first became aware of the Prius, I thought it was the ugliest thing on God's earth. Then, a few years ago, a friend gave me a ride to an event in a 2007 Prius. It was my first time being inside one, and the surprising spaciousness of the interior made me say, "Hey, this isn't so bad!" Then the display of graphics made me say, "Hey, cool!"

And the Prius went on my list of candidates to replace our 1997 Honda Accord, which had been totaled in an accident after passing the 200,000-mile mark. But on at least two occasions, when I found a listing online for a Prius that I thought might be appropriate for us, the darn thing sold before we got a chance to look at it.

Last September, I came across a listing for a 2009 Prius, touring edition - i.e., with all the bells and whistles of the time: Bluetooth (my #1 requirement), garage door opener (we don't have a garage), etc. And the timing was right, and the price was right, and I drove it home, stopping along the way to take this pic:

Come to papa, Pretty!

Since becoming a Prius owner, it now seems that I see cars like mine everywhere. But then, that happens every time we get a car. I have always assumed that that was merely the demonstration of a principle like, "You see what you're looking for." Or at the very least, what you're paying attention to. Something like that.

But the number of Priuses - oops, excuse me, Toyota - the number of Prii that I see in and around Pittsburgh these days makes me wonder if there's something larger going on.

A couple of months ago, my friend +Shimira Williams and I co-presented a program at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Northside branch. Afterward, I offered her a ride home, and between the library and Lincoln-Lemington, we counted at least a half-dozen Prii.

Tonight, my wife and I attended an event in Oakland. On the way there, I saw at least 7.5 Prii (the .5 is because I may have counted one of them twice).

This is normal now, and I have begun to suspect that the proliferation of Prii signifies something about Pittsburgh. This is just a feeling, but the feeling says that as little as five years ago, most Pittsburghers regarded the Prius as a car for people out on the Left Coast. It says that five years ago, I could not have taken this picture at random in an East Liberty parking lot:

A pride of Prii? 

My hypothesis? The growth of Pittsburgh's Prius population is a proxy for the greening of Pittsburgh, not by way of public policy initiatives, or campaigns by fine organizations like GTECH Strategies or Green Building Alliance, but by way of hundreds, then thousands of individuals making individual lifestyle choices. Such as, "My next car will be a hybrid." 

This delights me. What delights me even more is imagining two scenarios. The first is that as more used Prii are released into the market by people buying newer cars, they become affordable enough to show up more often in Homewood and neighborhoods like it, bringing the cost savings of a high-mpg vehicle to the people who need those savings the most.

The second is that Pittsburgh hosts To Go Before, the national convention for Prius owners. Just because I think that would be extremely cool. In fact, I think that would be so cool - and my selfish desire to attend such a convention without having to leave town is just strong enough - that I just might drop those guys a line. 

Three Priorities: The First Priority Revisited

I have declared three priorities for living the rest of my life. 

In explaining the first of those priorities, "encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ," I described an underlying desire:

to live out my faith in unity with other believers who live within walking distance.

Since then, a couple of things have happened with that formulation. The first is that the underlying desire began to feel more like the priority. It echoed in my mind; I found myself reciting it. I think this is partly just because it had a nice cadence:

to live out my faith 

in unity with other believers 

who live within walking distance.

But it also felt more compelling, by virtue of being more specific. Suddenly I wasn't talking about all members of the Body of Christ everywhere, and therefore about no one in particular. Suddenly, I was talking about the particular members of the Body of Christ who live within a particular distance of my house.

That felt meatier to me than,"encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ."

Then, even as that desire-description sank into my soul, it began to change its flavor. It didn't become rancid, but it did become less digestible. I wasn't fully absorbing it, it wasn't becoming part of my marrow. Somehow, something was off; it seemed too much like smoke and not enough like fire.

"To live out my faith..." Ah. What does that mean, and how does it make me different from anyone who seeks to live out their faith, whether that faith has anything to do with Jesus Christ or not? I needed something more distinctly Christian, something that someone who does not believe themselves to be in Christ would not say.

And John's Gospel came to mind, with Jesus' assertions about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit living within those who believe in Him. And the desire-description was transformed into:

To express the life of the Godhead

In unity with others inhabited by the Godhead

who live within walking distance.

Whew - now that's a mouthful. And a brainful - the idea of being inhabited by the Godhead may be the pinnacle of megalomaniacal delusion. 

Unless it's true. In which case, I cannot think of a higher priority than expressing that life. 

So the statement of my First Priority has changed, from "encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ" to "expressing the life of the Godhead in unity with others inhabited by the Godhead, who live within walking distance."

I look forward to doing that.

Three Priorities In Action: 1 - Encouraging the Body of Christ

In January, I declared three personal priorities for the rest of my life, the first of which was, "encouraging the Body of Christ." I said that one way that I want to do that is by gathering people - first, neighbors on Race Street, then residents from all of Homewood - for a recitation of Paul's letter to the Epheisans.

On April 2, I emailed 17 people on Race Street an invitation to "An Evening in Ephesus." On Saturday, April 5, I dropped off printed copies of the invitation at 77 addresses.

Three people responded - two of them to say that it sounded interesting to them, but they wouldn't make it.

Saturday, the 12th, I recited/performed Ephesians for my wife and one other person.

I had explained to Janet at length the night before that I had not expected any particular number of people to respond - that I was maintaining a "Do it, and see" stance. And I don't think that having only one guest affected my proclamation of Ephesians that much. But it did totally throw off the discussion that I had planned afterward: instead of talking about the questions, "How has this evening affected your view of Jesus Christ? Of yourself? Of your fellow believers?" and "What do you believe God wants to do with the people in this room?", we talked about "How can we get a larger audience for this?"

That question was theirs, not mine. I had no apparent success in conveying the idea that how many people hear it is less important than how they hear it. Maybe I need to highlight the idea that the outcome, in terms of attendance, is up to God. The question is not, "How many people can we get to see/hear this?" - it's "Which people do You want to see/hear this?"

Anyway, the Race Street piece is done. I may do it once more on Monticello Street, as a neighbor there has expressed an interest in having me do it at her place. And I intend, still, to do it in some larger venue, for anyone in Homewood wishes to attend. And I might preserve that presentation on video.

Beyond that, we'll see.

Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

It has been a couple of weeks now since I wrote the last entry in this series. I was avoiding this, and am not sure why. I think I was afraid that reviewing the whole thing would leave me feeling overwhelmed. But I just did that, and it didn't. There's good stuff here; stuff that deserves hard, smart work.

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to devote ourselves to the good deeds for which God has designed us."

That's Ephesians.

Closing thoughts? Only that I want to live in a way that invites others to come along, and then makes them glad they did.

As God grants me focus, it will be one heck of a ride.

***************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners

Hm. What should I say about Homewood Capital Partners LLC, and how should I say it?

Well, I suppose the first thing I need to say is that this post, is not an offer to sell, nor a solicitation to buy, units in Homewood Capital Partners LLC.

Okay then - I created Homewood Capital Partners LLC because I believe that Homewood real estate, which has been undervalued for decades, will increase in value significantly within ten years, possibly within five. I believe that a lot of money will be made off Homewood real estate in that time frame. I want some of it, and I want to help my neighbors to get some of it.

I have a King. My King has issued a command - not a suggestion, not a request - to love my neighbor. Helping some of my neighbors to get some of the money that I expect Homewood real estate to generate over the next decade is a way of doing that.

So - units of Homewood Capital Partners LLC will not be available to the general public. It's about me, my neighbors, and people we know.

I don't want to say anything here that ought to be saved for the offering materials, so I'll just say this: I want Homewood Capital Partners to catalyze Homewood's transformation by buying, rehabbing and selling enough homes in Homewood to help raise property values.

And this: I believe that, partly because of the work of the Save Race Street Committee, Race Street is particularly well positioned to lead the renewal of the market for Homewood's existing housing stock.

I need to uncork this genie.

***************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ

Yesterday I wrote:

Given my beliefs, abilities, interests, position and location, it seems that as of now, the best uses of Elwin Green in Homewood will be:

• Encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ,

• Growing businesses, and

• Redeveloping Race Street

...and I promised to outline projects and processes related to those priorities. Today, I'll talk about the first one, encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ.

But first, this point: all three priorities are place-specific. All are part of my evolving answer to the question, "What does it mean to live in a place?" (as opposed to just sleeping there at night, for instance). For me, living in Homewood means pursuing the three priorities in Homewood.

Underlying the first priority is a desire for the rest of my life: to live out my faith in unity with other believers who live within walking distance.

I feel like I'm being radical when I say that, for several reasons. First of all, Western Christianity has been so co-opted by individualism that the idea of living out one's faith in unity with other believers is culturally heretical. Second, living out my faith in unity with believers who live within walking distance means going outside the construct of congregating on Sunday morning with people who live here, there and everywhere. Third, it goes against the tendency to forego relationships with neighbors in favor of relationships with other people in our lives (co-workers, fellow students, etc.).

Radical or not, this is my plan for encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ in Homewood, on the way to living out my faith in unity with them:

1. Declare the word of God to them by reciting Scripture, and
2. Pray with them.

More specifically...

1. Declare the word of God to them by reciting Scripture. Most believers, most of the time, experience Scripture as a hodgepodge of disconnected numbered sentences. We memorize and analyze fragments called "verses" with no sense of the whole from which they are taken. We listen to preaching that strings together fragments and numbered sentences to highlight a thesis or theme. In pursuit of these theses and themes, we entirely lose sight of the fact that with a couple of exceptions, each book of the Bible is one thing.

Then, as if fragmenting Scripture weren't bad enough, we flatten it. We forget, or never realize, that the passages we read were written by human beings, for human beings, not as purely doctrinal treatises, but as stories, poems, arguments, illustrations, proclamations, with questioning, cajoling, complaining, criticizing, complimenting...the full range of discourse and expression, of thought and feeling.

This fragmenting and flattening of Scripture, hideous enough on its own, is made even worse when we read Scripture publicly. In our desire to show reverence for the word of God, we read it in a way that fosters not only confusion, but boredom.

The reading or hearing of Scripture should never be boring.

I hope to counteract both tendencies - the tendency toward fragmentation and the tendency toward flattening - by inviting believers (first on Race Street, then in Homewood generally) to an interpretative reading of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. I will recite Ephesians in its entirety, in a way intended to convey the excitement - indeed, the ecstasy - which I believe Paul experienced when he wrote it.

I plan to do that in April. Stay tuned for details.

2. To pray with them. After sharing Ephesians, I will invite believers in Homewood to our home on the last Friday evening of each month for a night of prayer, to last until 6 a.m., followed by breakfast.

That's it. I make no predictions concerning results. Planting and/or watering may be my business; bringing forth fruit is God's.

Viva in locum! (took me 'bout half an hour of resurrecting my junior high Latin to come up with that!)

***************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond

My mini-bio at the right ends with the slogan, "Christ, commerce, community." Those three words distill so much of my life and so much of what I want to do that my thinking about my priorities for 2014 has come down to three categories of action, related to those three words.

Given my beliefs, abilities, interests, position and location, it seems that as of now, the best uses of Elwin Green in Homewood will be:

• Encouraging fellow members of the Body of Christ,
• Growing businesses, and
• Redeveloping Race Street

Christ, commerce, community.

Theoretically, I could do an infinitude of other things - or at least, try to, venturing limitlessly into other areas. But those three are enough to occupy me, perhaps for the rest of my life (indeed, I intend to have the first two occupy me for the rest of my life, wherever I am. I expect some variation of the third to do so also, as I expect to remain on Race Street for the rest of my life; but that is less certain than the first two).

Christ, commerce, community.

Why write a blog post about this, rather than just noting it in my journal? Because all three of those priorities will require considerable involvement by other people, and because for all I know someone reading this may want to be involved.

Over the next week or so, I will outline specific projects and processes related to each category of action. So come back tomorrow if you'd like to learn how I plan to encourage the Body of Christ in Homewood in 2014.

Christ, commerce, community.

So let it be written. So let it be done.

*******************
Three Priorities: The Complete Series
Three Priorities For 2014 - And Beyond
Three Priorities For 2014: 1 - Encouraging The Body Of Christ
Three Priorities For 2014: 2- Growing Businesses.
Three Priorities For 2014: 2.5 - Why Build Businesses?
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Legal Shield
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Homewood Capital Partners
Three Priorities For 2014: 2 - Growing Businesses - Luminaria Productions
Three Priorities For 2014: 3 - Redeveloping Race Street
Three Priorities For 2014: Closing Thoughts

Building a Billion- Dollar What?

Two big changes have occurred in my BBDE journey in recent months. Two that I know of, anyway.

The first is that I quietly and incrementally laid aside the April 2017 deadline for Luminaria Productions' billion-dollar IPO. Over the summer, I conducted so little activity specifically intended to build Luminaria that at some point I said, "April 2017? Don't think so."

Maybe April 2018.

The second thing happened within just the past couple of weeks, and it was a striking enough shift that I should have noted it right away.

Simply put, it happened one day that I found myself thinking, not in terms of BBDE - Building a Billion-Dollar Enterprise - but of BBDN - Building a Billion-Dollar Neighborhood.

The reasoning behind that notion is that on the path toward becoming a BBDE, Luminaria will employ a bunch of people, but not necessarily as employees. Much of the work to be done can be - and perhaps should be - done by independent contractors, by people who own their own businesses, and whose work for Luminaria can strengthen their ability to get work from other companies. As they grow and get better, their work for Luminaria will get better, and they may themselves hire people.

So it seems to make sense that Homewood could become a billion-dollar neighborhood before Luminaria becomes a billion-dollar enterprise.

I like that idea very much. I like it enough to think that it may be worth promoting, to begin injecting into people's brains. What would it take for Homewood to become a billion-dollar neighborhood? Could one neighborhood be home to, say, 50 $20 million businesses? What would it take to grow 50 $20 million businesses?

How can Luminaria Productions help other Homewood businesses to grow?

Building a Billion-Dollar Enterprise, 23: What happened in L.A.

In March, I wrote about traveling to Los Angeles to meet with a TV executive Joseph Collins about the possibility of creating programming for his network, Punch TV.

I had several ideas to pitch, including "The Laundry," a dramatic series; and a documentary about the rehabilitation of 1015 N. Homewood Avenue, a building at Race Street and Homewood Avenue that faces condemnation.

I did have face time with Mr. Collins, and the idea that I wound up describing was a reality show about the rehabilitation of 1015 N. Homewood Ave. - a project in which the building could be seen as a proxy for the neighborhood itself, and the process of rehabbing it a mini-representation of all the challenges involved in rebuilding a neighborhood.

He liked the idea and asked me to call him later so that we could discuss further.

The next day, I had lunch with my host, Andrew W. Thornhill, and a couple of friends of his, music producer Vaughn De Spenza  and architect/designer Joseph Alcasar Terrell. I told Mr. Terrell about the building rehab reality show idea and he offered his support and assistance.

I was already excited about the possibility of a deal with Punch TV. The possibility of having an an architect of Mr. Terrell's standing involved in the rehab of 1015 N. Homewood just felt like a huge bonus.

The path seemed to be clearing. My own thoughts seems to be clearing.

Then I came back to Pittsburgh. And you know what? I have to review a series of emails to understand what happened then. I did not fully understand it as it happened...

Stay tuned.

Success tip #47a - make like a broken record.

It just occurred to me that one reason I have not achieved more is because I get tired of my own voice, especially when it's saying the same thing over and over.

As a result of being tired of hearing myself say the same thing over and over, I sometimes stop saying that thing. That weakens me because sometimes achievement depends on saying the same thing over and over. The power of persistence and of consistency largely lies in saying the same thing over and over.

What brought all of this to mind was reading about the primary election that wrapped up a few hours ago, in which Bill Peduto won the Democratic nomination for mayor. In Facebook comments, Homewood Children's Village president and CEO Derrick Lopez noted that the voter turnout was an abysmal 22 %.

That made me think that perhaps I should have used Homewood Nation to urge people to vote in this election. And if I ask myself why I didn't, the immediate answer is, "Because I've said that before, to the point that I got tired of hearing myself say it.. So I stopped."

But people still need to vote. And if I had kept saying that, then maybe by now I would have sparked some action, some collaboration, something that would get more people voting.

There was a period, a few years ago, when I said with some regularity to whomever would listen long enough to let me, "Buy a house in Homewood while you can still afford it." I got tired of hearing myself say it, and I stopped.

There are still people who would benefit from buying a house in Homewood.

Those examples highlight ways in which my persistence in saying the same things over and over might benefit others. But that persistence could also benefit me, directly, by helping me to do things I need to do, when I am not inclined to do them. Or even before that, by simply reminding myself of what I trying to accomplish during my remaining time on Earth.

Lord, let me love the sound of my own voice speaking truth. Let me never tire of hearing myself speak truth.

Building a billion-dollar enterprise, 16 - Notes in preparation for a really big week, 2

In my last post, I explained that I have a meeting scheduled in Los Angeles this Thursday that could lead to Luminaria Productions producing its first major project, and said that of the possibilities in my mind, I would prefer to do a TV series. First, to create more jobs over a longer period of time. Second, because of financing.

This is about the financing.

I've made a passing reference to this: the "fiscal cliff" legislation passed at the beginning of the year included the extension of Bush-era tax credits for film and television production. The tax credits were created to stem the tide of productions leaving the country to take advantage of tax credits in other places, especially Canada.

Film and television production typically involves investment by people or companies other than the production company itself. As I understand it (and I am still learning) the tax credit means that a qualified investor in a film or TV project can get some of their money back in the form of reduced taxes, even if the project itself makes no money. Say you are in the 35% tax bracket - a $100,000 investment in a qualifying project will let you take $35,000 off your tax bill (this is for people with more money than I've ever seen).

In case you didn't click that last link, here's the line from The Hollywood Reporter that jumped out at me:

"As extended through 2013, the credit allows deduction of production costs up to $15 million and as much as $20 million for shoots that occur in sites that meet the bill’s criteria for an economically disadvantaged area."

One criteria is that the site be an area that is eligible for designation as a low-income community under the New Markets Tax Credit program. Homewood - North, South and West - is eligible (type "15208" in the search box here to see for yourself). So I am going to say something now about what is possible. Not about what I'm gonna do, but about what is possible. It is possible for a film shot primarily in Homewood to receive up to $20 million from investors whose investment will be at least partly guaranteed by federal tax credits.

Please take 60 seconds to imagine $20 million flowing into a Homewood-based company to produce a film that is mostly shot here. Most of the money doesn't stay in the company. Most of it goes back out to the dozens or hundreds of people employed in making the film.

"But you said you would prefer to do a TV series. Why do you keep talking about a film?"

To establish the basic concept. Now, hold on to your hat while I add this to the mix:

With a TV series, the tax credit can be applied to each individual episode, up to a total of 44 episodes. So, again stating what is possible, without saying anything about what will happen: It is possible for a TV series shot primarily in Homewood to receive up to $20 million per episode from investors whose investment will be at least partly guaranteed by federal tax credits.

None of the above takes into account the Pennsylvania tax credit for film and TV production, which would return even more of an investor's money to their pocket, regardless of how the project fares financially.

I have just written stuff that I find patently ridiculous. I cannot imagine what lawmakers were thinking. But since the law is there, I want to make use of it.

I also cannot imagine producing a TV show that costs $20 million per episode. But I can easily imagine that a TV show with a union cast and crew, plus management, would run a half-million per episode, or $6 million for a 12-episode season. If ONE-FOURTH (not all, not even half) of that went to Homewood residents, that would be $1.5 million. For one season.

To be clear: I am not talking about revenue FROM the TV series. I am talking about investment IN the TV series. Up front money.

So that's why, if I have the opportunity to produce something for and/or with Punch TV, and if I have a choice in what, I would prefer a TV series. That's why I'm up past 3:30 a.m., just thinking about this. That's why I'm asking folks on Facebook, and will ask folks via other networks, to pray big on my behalf this week. For this week could bring the a fulfillment of a prayer I began praying years ago:

Lord, please make me one of the righteous in whose prosperity the city rejoices. (Proverbs 11:10) 

Building a billion-dollar enterprise, 15 - Notes in preparation for a really big week.

Tomorrow is going to be such a big day that by the end of it, I may want to sleep for a week.

No such luck.

Early Wednesday morning, I will drag myself out of bed to catch a 7 a.m. flight for Los Angeles. From Wednesday afternoon through Friday night, I will enjoy/endure a whirlwind of meetings put together by my friend Andrew W. Thornhill.

At least, mostly put together by him. The first one, Wednesday evening, will be the regular monthly meeting of the Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West (BADWest). I expect good content from the presentation, but the real purpose is to be in the room with a group of documentary filmmakers. The relationships established Wednesday evening could prove transformative for me, especially if I wind up acquiring 1015 N. Homewood Ave., redeveloping it, and making a documentary about the process.

Anyway, after that comes the whirlwind.

I want to be on my toes for all of it, but the meeting which offers the greatest apparent opportunity will be an informal sitdown with Joseph Collins. Mr. Collins is President and Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors of IC Places, Inc., the corporate parent of Punch Television Network, aka Punch TV. Punch is one of the numerous TV networks that sprung up after the transition from analog to digital television left all of America's 1,700 full-service TV stations with four channels, where they had previously had one. According to the press release announcing its first annual stockholders meeting, Punch ended 2012 with 38 partner stations.

I will spend much of the next three days studying the company's annual reports, along with the information on its websites. As with Joe Ciotti in tomorrow's meeting, the word that seems to best describe what I want to do with Mr. Collins is "seduce." I want to make him want to work with me. Not to pitch a specific project. To have him know that Luminaria Productions can offer a variety of projects over the next 2-3 years.

Or as Dov Simens taught me to say in "From Reel To Deal," "I have multiple projects in various stages of development."

Such as? Well, besides the aforementioned documentary on the redevelopment of 1015 N. Homewood, which would also be about Homewood itself, there's:

1. "The Laundry" - a dramatic TV series about the professional and personal challenges faced by staff and residents of a rehab facility/program that boasts one of the highest success rates in the field ("Come in dirty, leave clean"). The idea was hatched by actor-writer Atticus Cain, known around Homewood as William Robinson, who is also our tenant and one of my closest friends.

3. Either a one-hour TV special or a feature length documentary on Naomi Sims, the Westinghouse alum who became America's first black supermodel. This would build on work already done and already being done: Kilolo Luckett and I partnered last year for a tribute to Naomi Sims, and are planning a 2nd Annual Tribute on March 30, which would have been Ms. Sims 65th birthday. That tribute can be a major piece of a TV program/documentary.

4. "The Nature of Love" - a feature film (drama); a married woman unwittingly falls in love with a man who plans to kill her family. Both this and "The Moses Effect," below, are scripts that I have worked on, and need to finish anyway.

5. "The Moses Effect" - a feature film (comedy); a small town is thrown into chaos when the world's most advanced surveillance system enforces every law on the books, including absurd ones.

Did you see what I did there? I skipped #2. That's because if Mr. Collins expresses any level of interest, and if I have any choice about what to produce for/with Punch, the 1015 N. Homewood doc would be my second choice. "The Laundry" would be my first.

Why?

Jobs.

The desire to create jobs is a very large part of my motivation for building Luminaria Productions. And while even a small indie film can create 50+ jobs, my thinking is that a TV series would create more jobs for a longer period of time than a one-time project.

...okay, there's a second reason.

Financing. Which deserves its own post.

Building a billion-dollar enterprise, 14 - Notes in preparation for a really big day

This is my schedule for tomorrow:

1. 10 am - meeting with Joe Ciotti
2. noon - lunch with Joshua Devine
3. 1 pm - meeting with Ashton Armstrong
4. 2 pm - meeting Karen Abrams, et al,

This day, all by itself, could move my life forward to significant degree. More than that, it could affect Homewood.

Meeting #1 - Joe Ciotti is a management consultant with the Small Business Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. We will talk about Luminaria Productions. I hope that we will agree on a schedule for regular meetings for at least 3-4 months. I have found regularly-scheduled meetings to be a huge help in living my life, and I believe that having a schedule with Joe Ciotti will help me to achieve breakthrough on completing my business plan for Luminaria, and on enchancing my doing of what I'm already doing.

Come to think of it, I may benefit most from intensity of scheduling - not once a month for 3-4 months, but once a week or more for 4-6 weeks.

I have been stuck on writing a business plan for two years. Which obviously means that I don't want to do it, for whatever reason(s). But since it's part of their process, I need to get it done.

I think the key is to convince myself that a business plan can be gigantically valuable and fun. With that feeling, I could write it in a day.

And it can be. It can be gigantically valuable and fun. How? By making it include, not only every single thing I want to do with this business, but everything I believe about business, period.

When I let myself think about business - not just a business, but business itself, I uncover a depth of feeling that almost invariably surprises me. There's God, and there's everything else. But in that "everything else," business rises close to the top among things that are good and noble.

Yeah, that's what I said: good and noble. Read it again if you have to. I consider the creation and exchange of value to be inherently good, however often or to what degree it may be twisted into bad.

I won't finish the business plan tonight. But I do want to give Joe enough to seduce him, to make him consider it worthwhile to meet with me on an accelerated schedule over the next 4-6 weeks. Because in 4-6 weeks, Luminaria Productions could be operating on a whole 'nother level. More about that in #4

Meeting #2
Joshua Devine recently graduated from Penn State with a degree in Energy, Environment and Community - or some alternate arrangement of those three words. When he saw the segment about the Save Race Street Committee on Rick Sebak's program, "25 Things I Like About Pittsburgh," on WQED, he tweeted me to ask if one had to live on Race Street to join the Committee. He attended our January meeting, and I hope to explore with him how he can be part of our life and bring his knowledge, energy and connections to our work. He could help the Committee to move up to a higher level.

Meeting #3
Ashton Armstrong is a neighborhood service associate with the Mayor's office, part of the staff for the ServePGH Initiative created by Mr. Ravenstahl's administration. This meeting is to talk about how the Save Race Street Committee might take advantage of two programs to work with vacant lots on our street - the Love Your Block program, and the Edible Gardens program. We have missed deadlines, because I have missed deadlines. In this meeting, I need to submit information late, plead for more grace, and if possible chart a corrective course with Ashton.

The greater part of my work relating to this is not to be done with her, but with myself, my fellow Committee members and with our neighbors. I need to remind myself of the importance of delegating and supervising. The better I get at those things, the more useful I will be, because I will be in less of a position to screw up the details. I need to keep very alert to the question, "Is this a task that I should NOT do?"

Success with Ashton, and then with my fellow Committee members and with our neighbors, will mean a more beautiful and prosperous street.

Meeting #4
Karen Abrams is community affairs specialist with the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Tomorrow I meet with her, planning and design specialist Emily Mitchell, real estate manager Susan Malys, and Jerome Jackson, executive director of Operation Better Block, Inc.

We are meeting to discuss my desire to acquire and redevelop this building, 1015 N. Homewood Avenue:

I moved to this house in July, 1986; 1015 N. Homewood was vacant then. I have long had a vague desire to do something with it. Over the past year, the desire has become more specific, but not specific enough to be a plan.

I want to make it the headquarters for Luminaria Productions.

About two weeks ago, I saw a gentleman from the City's Bureau of Building Inspection poking around it, and introduced myself to him as the chair of the Save Race Street Committee, and he told me, "We're tearing it down."

That surprised me, because over the past year, I have not only developed a more specific desire for the building, I have had conversations that I thought had positioned me to acquire the building from the URA (not that that was guaranteed, but that the conversations were making it possible). And the building - which has been condemned since 2005, and tax-delinquent perhaps as long - went through a Treasurer's sale in October, which I thought meant that the URA had taken title.

So I started talking to people, the last of them being Ms. Abrams. And she set up the meeting.

As of now, this is what I see at 1015 N. Homewood:

First floor: Luminaria Productions office, which includes a rentable meeting space. A bookstore, which includes a cafe.

Second, third floors: Apartments.

The entire building, including the decor in the halls of the second and third floors, has a movie theme. The bookstore's draw is that it has the most complete collection of film-related books in the city of Pittsburgh. Also movie memorabilia. And DVDs. And the cafe has a viewing area, and is home to meetings of the East End Film Nation (which doesn't exist yet, but you can guess what it is, right?).

That's what I have so far. Oh, and maybe, just maybe, offering discounted rents to film workers who live in the building.

And maybe making a documentary about the redevelopment of the building. Sponsored by Home Depot, and anybody else who might want consider it good PR to participate.

There's also a persistent notion of housing a video game academy: a place to teach young people how to create video games. That would require more program development than I have come close to imagining.

Anyway, tomorrow's meeting could end with everyone saying, "We don't think this is at all feasible. Good luck with doing whatever you want to do in some other building." Or it could end with, "We'll work with you, if you work with us." The latter would put Luminaria Productions, and ultimately Homewood, on a whole 'nother level. Especially in light of what's happening Wednesday and Thursday. 

But that is another blog post, because this one is too long already.

Building a billion-dollar enterprise, 11: Commerce and Community Identity

Years ago, I declared that I want Homewood to be "beautiful, prosperous and safe."

Then I expanded that to "beautiful, prosperous, safe and green" - the idea being that Homewood could be a leading example of LEED-certified neighborhood development.

Then, recognizing the ways in which communications technology is changing the world, and the importance of continual learning, I arrived at "beautiful, prosperous, safe, green, connected, global and smart."

All of which are great adjectives to describe what I want Homewood to BE, and to be known for being.

A few minutes ago, I wrote what I want Homewood to DO, and to be known for doing - something I don't remember ever having done before. Not only that, I wrote it as a personal aspiration, as something for me to do:

Make Homewood world-famous for producing entertainment.

It felt like an epiphany, a great convergence. It connects my work with the Save Race Street Committee and Block Watch Plus and Operation Better Block with the building of Luminaria Productions. Indeed, it puts Luminaria Productions at dead center of it all, as the company that leads the way in establishing Homewood as an entertainment production center.

I think my mind was nudging me toward this epiphany two or three weeks ago when it rewrote one of my favorite fantasies. I have often declared that I would love to do an internship at Pixar - even unpaid - just to be in the environment where people create astonishments like "Finding Nemo." Well, a couple of weeks ago, with no conscious ratiocination that I recall, I thought, I want people at Pixar to dream about coming to Luminaria Productions.

Hubris? Maybe. But does it make sense to strive to be anything other than the best?

The thing that surprises me as I think about it now is that I had not particularly thought of Luminaria Productions doing animated films. But there is PeaceBuilder. And the world of games is huge, and growing.

In any case:

The Homewood Children's Village talks about making Homewood a neighborhood "where every child succeeds." I have wanted to add, "...and where learning ever stops," an idea that lies behind my description of my ideal Homewood as "a black Chautauqua." I think that idea could still generate a lot of useful conversations that make great things happen. But now I want to add an outward-facing motto for the community: "We entertain the world."

Maybe that should just be Luminaria's slogan (assuming no other company has it already). In any case:

That's "entertain," not "amuse." As Richard Walter notes in "Screenwriting: The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing"

"To entertain is to occupy, to hold, to give over to consideration as in 'to entertain a notion.' This suggests not painting one's face and performing a tap dance for the notion, but cradling it in one's cortex, hefting its spiritual mass, regarding it, weighing it, investing it with contemplation."

The sentence, "Make Homewood world-famous for producing entertainment," came at the end of a thought-sequence sparked by the question, "What does Homewood produce?" To make Homewood a place that produces both dramas and comedies that carry ideas worthy of the world's contemplation...that would be worth a big chunk of whatever time I have left on this planet.

Building a billion-dollar enterprise, 8

Spoke with Andrew Thornhill today, who alerted me to the fact that the "fiscal cliff" deal worked out by Congress last night includes the extension of Bush-era tax credits for film and TV productions.

I had not known about such credits. This is the sentence from the Hollywood Reporter's story that jumps off the page:

"As extended through 2013, the credit allows deduction of production costs up to $15 million and as much as $20 million for shoots that occur in sites that meet the bill’s criteria for an economically disadvantaged area."

An economically disadvantaged area? Um, yeah, that would be Homewood.

That news nicely capped a day that started out rough, but got better.

The rough start was me having trouble sleeping last night, being highly congested and suffering fits of sneezing that caused my entire body to seize up (resulting in a kink in my lower back that still hurts). Then spending a really long time in the tub trying to steam bad stuff out of my body.

Finally got down to work some time this afternoon. I think I spent a couple of hours working on Homewood Nation's Cafe Press shop, trying to understand how Cafe Press works in its entirety. I have a couple of accounts with them, and a couple of shops. One is a beta shop; the one for Homewood Nation is...well I'm not sure what it is. I need to read their documentation again to get clear on the options they offer.

In any case, I was pleased simply to discover that the Homewood Nation page featuring the shop contains items that I created before going to Louisville, because at the time it appeared that they were not being saved.

It's time to make money. Now.

I need to do something this month to get momentum going for this year. Maybe I should make it a goal to publish "Quick Flicks," my collection of short screenplays, by Jan. 10. 

That certainly seems more doable than writing a novel in a month (sigh), just by working at it every day. And working at it every day would help to train me to work on building Luminaria Productions every day, period. Which is what I have to do to build it into a billion-dollar enterprise - work at it a minimum of six days a week.

But publishing "Quick Flicks" by Jan. 10 is not a goal just yet. I spent some hours this evening assembling and printing my masterplan for 2013. Or more precisely, the draft of said masterplan. Tomorrow (and perhaps the day after that), I will focus largely on updating it. That updating will determine what emerges as the strongest near-term goal. And what emerges as long-term ones.

A movie or TV series, set largely in Homewood and employing as many Homewood residents as possible in its production - that would change things.

That will influence the masterplan.

Renewing my energy for energy. And for my whole life.

It has been a year and nine months since I left my job as an energy reporter at the Post-Gazette. Since then, I have read very little about energy. Just now, while flipping through the current issue of The Economist, I came across a story about how financial firms that engage in energy trading are beginning to resist fines from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

And I read it. Just out of interest. Just for fun.

And it was interesting, and it was fun, to read about FERC, and Constellation Energy, and regional transmission organizations.

Which makes me feel that I could get back into energy reporting as a freelancer. Which would help me to feel like that all the relationships I established within the industry during my time at the PG, and all that I learned, would not be going totally to waste.

I need to make better use of all the stuff that has accumulated in my brain during my 60 years on this rock. Freelance energy reporting might be a good start. In fact, writing about energy on Homewood Nation might be the best start.

Memo to myself: generate a list of energy-related, Homewood-based story ideas.

**************

Meanwhile, I am going to invent a phrase: self-mining.

Self-mining means digging into oneself and extracting value from everything that one finds. Or at least, digging into oneself with that intention.

The value may be in lessons learned. The value may be in something marketable. The value may be in relationships forgotten, but renewable. At the core of self-mining is that the proposition that it's all worth something, somehow. Self-mining is first and foremost about honoring one's life.

I want to excel at self-mining. I mean, it wouldn't do for the guy who invented the term to suck at it, right?

So here's a question for me to work with: What parts of my life have I tended to disregard or to think little of, and how might they be valuable?

The answers of the moment are "energy journalism" and "I could resume it as a freelancer."

It will be interesting to see what other answers I come up with.

What about you? What experiences, skills, relationships, knowledge are you sitting on that you haven't used lately?

Intermezzo with a child.

I was walking down the street toward the bus stop when I saw a boy who appeared to be between 6 and 8 years old coming toward me.

Apparently he had just finished a bag of chips, for he tossed the empty bag onto the vacant lot we were both passing.

I spoke as he came nearer.

"Excuse me, young man..."

He stopped, apprehensive. I oozed honey
.
"...could you do me a favor?"

"Yes?"

"Could you pick up that bag you threw on the ground and take it home and put it in the trash instead of leaving on the street?"

"Yes." He turned back and retrieved the bag. I released a final dollop of honey.

"Thank you very much!" And we went our ways - I, to wonder how to make such minor course corrections more common in Homewood; he, probably, to forget.

And so it goes.

Knots

Kilolo Luckett and I are in the home stretch for "Hidden Gems: The Architecture of Homewood," which happens Sept. 15.

I sent out an email asking for volunteers, and Kiva A.Fisher-Green, from Homewood but now in Atlanta, said that I could post the info on her Facebook Timeline.

I just did.

It took me an hour.

Actually, it took longer than that if I count the time I spent last night thinking about it and making my first attempt before deciding to wait until this morning to post.

My first attempt didn't work because I tried to post a PDF, when I needed to post a JPG.

It took me an hour this morning largely because I was tied in knots about posting to someone else's Timeline.

I know: that's utterly common on Facebook. But I have never been comfortable with the practice; it has always seemed to me an odd thing to do. A person's Timeline, I have felt, is THEIR platform for what THEY want to share, not an open platform for anybody to come along and post anything. Which is what often seems to happen.

The fact that Kiva gave me permission made it bearable for me to post to her Timeline, but it didn't make it easy.

Does anybody else share my queasiness about Timelines? Is it just me?

*******************

Hold on. Can it be that I haven't mentioned "Hidden Gems" here?

I forget that I have different audiences, that a reader here might not have seen references to "Hidden Gems" on Facebook or on "Homewood Nation."

So, what is "Hidden Gems?" A panel discussion about architectural treasures to be found in a neighborhood where most people would never look; followed by a reception. All free and open to the public.

It is also the first event in the Homewood Arts and Culture Series, a series of events celebrating Homewood's artistic and cultural legacy, being created by Kilolo and myself, working together as Creative Local.

It's going to be a great event. The question is, how well can I avoid tying myself in knots over it?

*****************

Maybe I can't. Maybe it's necessary for me to be perpetually nervous over the next few weeks, because I've not done this before. The next time, I'll do better. The next time, I'll be better.

It's already time to start on the next time. Gotta pick up the pace, operate in a higher gear.

Hah - fifth gear. (That's a joke to myself, about Level 5. I'll explain later.)

Upward!

Building a billion-dollar enterprise, 6

Competing means being exceptional, not asking for exceptions.

That came to mind as I was thinking about Homewood - that as a neighborhood, Homewood must learn to compete. And I quickly personalized it: I must learn to compete. Or more precisely, to compete to win.

Winning seems more likely if one follows certain rules. I have thought of five, which I now state as BBDE Mantras, parts of the BBDE Code, each accompanied by a reflection question or two. For the uninitiated, BBDE stands for Building a Billion-Dollar Enterprise, so the Mantras are geared toward business. But if you find them applicable elsewhere, let me know...

1. Be the only. If you're the only one who does what you do, that obviously eliminates the entire problem of competition from the get-go. However, it also intensifies the challenge of determining the value of what you do. Maybe the reason that you're the only one doing what you do is because nobody cares much about it. But if people do care, then you can lock in your audience/customer base by being the only one who satisfies their caring.

What can I do and be the only one doing it? How do I establish the value of doing it?

2. Be the first. If you're the only, you're automatically the first. But when you succeed, you may inspire imitators. Which becomes an obvious selling point, if you are smart about staying out front. However many others enter the field, you can always say "First!" But don't get cocky, kid. Being first may not be enough if someone behind you is following Rule #3.

How can I continue to be first, over and over?

3. If you can't be the only or the first, be the best. That guy at the head of the pack? Talk to his customers and find out what they wish he would do better. Then do those things better, while doing everything else at least as well. Relentlessly improve everything.

What are the category leader's shortcomings, and how can I make them my strengths?

4. If you can't be the best, affiliate with the best. Form a partnership with the best. Allow their quality to enhance your reputation. And then live up to that reputation. At that point, of course, you're not competing with the best, but you're still competing with everyone else. That could be enough for you.

What can I offer the category leader to help them be even better?

5. If you can't affiliate with the best, consider changing direction so that you can go back to number 1.

What can I do and be the only one doing it?

And there they are: my top five most obvious rules for competing to win. What about you? What rules would you add for competing to win?

Building a billion-dollar enterprise, 5

Just for the record, I have felt like crap today.

I think it started with a Facebook post, and the responses to it. The post included a link to WTAE's story about the Wheel Mill, the indoor bike park coming to Homewood.

Actually, two of my FB friends posted the link, and in each case, the status was followed by a long string of responses.

Meanwhile, I wrote a story about the bike park TWO WEEKS AGO for Homewood Nation, and only one person has responded.

And that one person's response was more than the vast majority of my Homewood Nation stories get. Most Homewood Nation stories get no responses. None. No indication that anyone, anywhere, is reading.

The people who posted the link to the WTAE story are Facebook friends, so unless they are blocking me (which they have every right to do), my status linking to the Homewood Nation story showed up in their news feeds on April 25. So...I'm doing original reporting, I'm linking to the stories from Facebook, and my Facebook friends are not reading Homewood Nation, and when WTAE reports on something that I wrote about two weeks ago, it's news to them.

That stinks.

(a half-hour or more later, still aching...)

I feel like Homewood Nation doesn't matter.

But I know that it does.

It matters because Homewood matters. Because the people of Homewood matter. And any and every thing that I can do to help the people of Homewood to get accurate information about what is happening in their world, matters.

Neighborhood journalism matters. It matters enough to deserve better promotion that I have ever given it.

It matters enough to deserve a staff.

It matters enough to deserve money.

Right now, it's either quit, or get better. I feel like quitting.

Building a billion-dollar enterprise means, it's time to get better.