General Thoughts – Page 42 – Jon Levine

December 22, 2014

2014 The Year in Review

As the year comes to a close, it’s time to reflect on the year it was. 2014 saw some big changes in my life; changes I’d argue were as big as the ones I saw in 2013.

In 2013, I’d left the company I’d been with for nearly six years to branch out on my own. It was a scary step, but one I’ve never regretted. After finding my stride and working with some great companies, I’ve determined that I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, want it any other way.

2014 saw another big change in career, or what could possibly become my career: I started doing standup comedy. From the second I stepped on the stage at my first comedy class, to the moment I was introduced at my first show, to hitting as many mic’s as a I can on a weekly basis, I honestly fell in love.

So, what does 2015 bring? Good things, I believe. I’ll be hosting my first ever show at the Improv in West Palm Beach. From never doing comedy in my life until April 2014 to hosting a show at the Improv in January 2015 is an amazing thing to think about and an opportunity that I’m truly thankful to have.

Another first will be my hosting of the Affiliate Summit West 2015 conference in Las Vegas. Again, born out of my venture into standup comedy (the owners of the conference saw the video of my first Improv performance and asked me to be the emcee), this could be a whole new step in my life.

Comedy has also brought me back to one of my first loves: radio. After doing a few shows with the extremely talented Dougie Almeida, he offered me the co-hosting spot on his weekly radio show, the Wake Up Late with Dougie show. Just being behind that microphone brought back so many great memories of my youth when I started as a DJ at WKPX.

Finally, I’ve partnered with my longtime friend Jacki Schechner to create the Healthy Dose podcast, based around her experience in the health care policy arena. While it’s just starting, we’re extremely excited about where it’s going.

This year has been a great one for me and I know that next year (and the years to come) will be as well. I’m looking forward to meeting the future head on and just seeing where this crazy ride goes.

April 23, 2014April 22, 2014

Today is the day

Tonight, I do something for the first time. I get up on stage and perform a standup comedy routine for a live audience. I’m more excited about this than you can know as I sit on the precipice of this new endeavor.

I’ve been told that I’m funny all of my life and have no doubt that it’s true from the reactions I’m able to illicit from the people I interact with. However, all my life I’ve said that I couldn’t be a standup comedian because, ‘I wasn’t that type of funny.’ I always considered myself to be situationally funny where I could make people laugh by building on things that were said or the situation we were in. I could never write a comedy routine or, at least, that’s what I thought.

It wasn’t until this past year that I decided to jot down the funny things I said. Before I knew it, I had pages upon pages of ‘material’. Looking at it far removed from the original situation, some of it is funny, at least in my opinion, and some of it is inane. However, tonight I’ll find out if it truly is funny. If I can get the audience to laugh in the way I think they will.

If nothing else, I gave it a go. This could be a point in my life that I remember fondly as something that I set out to do and accomplished or it could be a turning point that I remember as the moment everything changed. We’ll know by 8:30.

April 21, 2014

Addictive personality

I’ve always considered myself to not have an addictive personality. That’s not to say that I don’t have vices, I do. Lots of them. None of them, however, have ever gottent the best of me. I’ve always felt that they have been well controlled and never interfered with, what I’ve always considered to be, my responsible life.

Sure, I like to drink. But, I’ve never skipped work to go to a bar at 10am and get drunk. I like to gamble, but not enough to throw my rent money away. I’ve even done drugs, but none of them has ever ‘had a hold’ on me.

I say all of this as I’m staring at a Starbucks. That’s significant because I drink Starbucks coffee nearly everyday. I do my best not to miss it and, when I do, I’m not in the best of moods. This revelation made me reevalutate what I always thought to be true.

Maybe I do have an addictive personality. Maybe I’m actually very addicted to things that I enjoy. I mean, I’ve continued to do them for the better part of my life. Maybe instead of thinking that I don’t have an addictive personality, I should start thinking that I have a ‘well-controlled’ personality. I have addictions, I’m just able to keep them in check. But, does that make them addictions at all?

March 9, 2012

The iPad 3 and my unrelenting sickness

Of course you all know that the ~~iPad 3~~ new iPad was announced the other day and, as expected, I bought it. So, why am I writing about what seems to be some non-news item? Well, it’s because of how I bought it. You see, I’ve given in.

I used to make excuses of why I didn’t need to buy that new, shiny gadget. How the current one I owned was up-to-snuff and that there was no reason for me to upgrade. Then, a few weeks later, after seeing other people walking around with a new gadget that I didn’t have, I’d buy it. This time, I’ve just given in to my sickness.

So yes, next week I’ll have a shiny new iPad which, arguably, will be better than my current iPad. Ironically, I feel sort of liberated. I no longer have to make up explanations as to why I will be holding the new gadget that just last week I said I wasn’t going to buy. It’s kind of nice.

Oh, and I upgraded my Apple TV as well.

February 11, 2012

Argh! South Florida Drivers!

Here’s a tip to all other drivers on the road in South Florida: there’s this little stick located on the left side of your steering wheel that, when push up or down, will activate your turn signal. This signal, for those that don’t know, is used to tell other drivers which direction you may be heading. I know this sounds crazy, but as it turns out, it might be helpful for me to have that information.

The second step in using your turn signal, is to turn it off when you’re done using it. In doing so, you won’t give other drivers a false sense of what you are actually going to do. This in turn can prevent other drivers from pulling out in front of you thinking that you may actually be making a turn.

That is all.