When I was a little girl, my father was a big star.
He had a primetime variety show on ABC before I was born, and had segued into a huge career as a voice-over actor in the 70′s. He created voices for hundreds of well-loved cartoon characters, from Gargamel to Tigger.
And yet, with all his success, he could not handle the down time. He would absolutely fall apart when he wasn’t working.
I saw it so many times. Production would slow down, and my dad would get depressed. He would sit in the living room all day and night, waiting for someone to give him permission to be creative. I watched him get bitter and angry, and I promised myself that I would not let that happen to me. I would always find ways to entertain people, even if no one hired me to do it.
So when I was out of work in September of 2009, I started looking for something to do. The last time things had been that slow, I wound up hosting a talk radio show on KFI for three years. But talk radio had changed, and was really not a place for laughs anymore. So I decided to start a web site where I could just be a smart ass, and amuse people while I waited for things to pick up again. I just thought it would be fun.
I was right.
Regretsy was an incredibly fun thing to do, and for much longer than I had a right to expect. That’s an essential part of any project for me, because it’s the only way I can do my best. So I promised myself that when it stopped being fun, I would stop doing it.
Well, that day is here. Actually that day came and went quite a while ago, but the success of the site, the readership and the community have been very hard to give up. But now I really have no choice.
For one thing, I’m back to work. Animation is cyclical, and my turn has come around again. I have just finished working on three upcoming Pixar projects (including Monsters University, which is ADORABLE), and I have a leading role in a new show by Lauren Faust (My Little Pony) and Craig McCracken (Powerpuff Girls, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends). Bronc and I are also in talks to develop SockPuppet Theatre for television.
Secondly – and perhaps most importantly – I have no more jokes left to tell about crafting. After nearly three and a half years, I’ve said everything I have to say about it, and now we’re just Bedazzling a dead horse.
SO WHAT’S NEXT
• On February 1st, Regretsy will become an archive. All the posts will remain, and you can still comment on them if you like, but I will no longer be updating it.
• The Regretsy forums will stay live and unchanged. There is a wonderful, supportive community there, and I want those people to remain there and enjoy it for as long as they care to.
• Sockpuppet Theatre will continue to add new episodes on Tuesdays.
• Finally, I am reactiviating AprilWinchell.com, which is the site I used to run before starting this one. After I take a little break, I’ll start blogging over there again, and I won’t be relegated to writing about glue guns and fake mustaches. In the meantime, I’m making my old KFI and KABC radio shows available, as well as my enormous library of God awful music.
You have been an amazing audience and a wonderful, kind community. I have appreciated every day that you have allowed me to do whatever the hell it is I do. I hope you will allow me to continue to entertain you.
NAMASTE, BITCHES
Let’s Wrap This Up Now by Catbird Craft, as featured in The Regretsy Tarot Deck
