In what has become a personal tradition of mine, on my birthday I spend the day at a museum. I often seek a museum I’ve never visited to mark the occasion and to learn something new. With my 59th birthday this past Thursday (I know, I still can’t believe it!), I visited the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center in Mashantucket, CT. To quote from their website, “The Museum brings to life the story of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. It serves as a major resource on the histories and cultures of Native Americans in the northeast and on the region’s rich natural history.”

On my occasional trips to Foxwoods Resort Casino, I would see the signs for the museum but didn’t take the time to visit. When a friend of mine recently referenced the museum, I did some research and planned my day. I’m glad I did. This was my first time visiting a Native American museum and it most certainly did not disappoint. I aim to learn something new with every museum visit, but this museum opened my eyes to their history, traditions, struggles, and determination to survive.

When I was researching the museum before my visit, it was recommended to spend 4 hours to take it all in. While I wasn’t looking at the time when visiting, I realized when I was exiting that I was there for nearly 4 hours. One of the most interesting exhibits was the recreated Pequot village. The audio guide devices provide a great narrative of each display in the village along with additional background information. Before leaving the museum be sure to visit the observation tower. At 185 feet (approx. eighteen stories), the tower provides a great view of the reservation.

By now you have probably noticed the new theme of The Ashton Times. For the last year, I’ve been looking to update the look of this blog with something that resembled a magazine. With my background in magazine publishing, I always liked white space juxtaposed with a clean sharp look. The overall theme is well-integrated, but I’m still making a variety of updates to the site. If you see anything that looks off or is missing, please let me know!

Speaking of updates, SOS United States is moving along. Although the manuscript is as far as I can take it without the engagement of an editor, that brings me to the decision to either traditionally or self-publish. Both have advantages and disadvantages. But as I’m not under any specific timetable (except for something to happen this year), I’m currently reviewing a variety of resources before deciding. In the interim, I’m taking some great courses through Reedsy on both methods of publishing.

But one thing that has been decided is a filmmaking friend is putting his next feature film into production. This is an exciting time for him as this will be his second feature film. When he formally announces the project, I’ll promote it in this forum.

As we both discussed this past week, producing your second feature is harder than your first. Why you may ask? I believe it’s because we know more about the process, want it to be a step up across the board and, frankly, are just waiting for the right alignment of the planets if you will. In his case, a location he wanted nearly two years ago, finally came forward with approval. I remember the location issues I had with First Signal. But in the end, it came together. It was well worth the wait.

Projects.