Ticking things off the list

These last couple of days have been filled with a number of activities, and I am still catching up with all of the undone stuff from my time on that last film.

Did you catch that, universe?  LAST film as a scripty.

Today we made our way to campus in order for Karl to have his assignment printed for presentation.  Then, had to make haste returning home for another appointment (for him).  After which, there was then a drive across (a few) town(s) to get the Duke in for his 25K checkup and an oil change.

Busy, busy, busy.

Tomorrow will be much the same, sad to say.  All I want to do is rearrange the furnitue and quilt a bit....uninterrupted!

Ah well, maybe next week.

Signs

Do you believe in 'signs'?

I don't mean "stop," "yield," "school zone," and so on.  I mean the sort of sign that fate - or the universe - hands you from time to time.

The sort of OBVIOUS smack upside the head with a two-by-four (proverbially or otherwise) that makes your inner squirrel sit up and say "huh?"

Ah-haaaa -- I sense some of you nodding with understanding. 

The lightbulb finally went on, did it? ;)

Well, all the powers that be took the time to get together in order to whallop me across the face with the biggest, stinkiest, wet fish ever to get this point across.

"What point?" you ask.

POINT: I am not to be doing script supervision any more - ESPECIALLY in the state of Michigan - and here's how I know:



Oh yes............crystal clear!

I mean, when your Rockports BOTH blow out...in EXACTLY the SAME place...on the SAME EVENING, while scaling the same rocky, re-bar-treacherous, asbestos-covered, cold rooftop of a derelict and arson-riddled building in Detroit, that's when you know the universe (and God - and His friend, Fate) want you to stop doing something.

Your wish is my command. [bowing]

Huh? Where am I?

I just made my way to the lower level in time to witness the second of Flop's hairball hurls.  After cleaning it up I walked over to my bed and was surprised to find it already made!

? ? ? ?

I couldn't remember making my bed this morning until I remembered falling asleep (and waking up several times) uncomfortably on the couch.

Apparently...I also fell asleep with two lights on!

On the bright side (no pun intended), I am almost back to a normal sleep pattern. [phwew]

Arrived yesterday

Driving through the height of the wretched snow storm, I arrived at Gran's for two overnight stays and the surrounding daytime hours.

You may say for 101 years she's just being 'feisty,' but let's be honest here.  She was cranky from the word "go." 

Just gotta keep this stupid grin plastered on my face for another 30+ hours.  Concentrate on laying out a few blocks for when you get home....or, write a bit. 

Open up the window and jump (just make sure you bring the car keys).

Nothing like it

Had Thanksgiving dinner with mom, who was on her last stint with gram for the year.  She made the usual fuss and bother (a.k.a. HUGE dinner with all the fixin's), only this year there was a little larger crew around the table to eat it.

Usually, it's just mom, gram, my sons and myself around the table, but this year my younger brother made a magical appearance, and one uncle was there, too!

Gram was beside herself with glee, so all-in-all, a very good day!

We of course came home laden with leftovers....but this year I was most appreciative of it.  Now, I won't have to worry over whether the boys have something readily available to snack on while I am working long days on this turkey of a film project.

THANK YOU, Mom!  I love you.

And the dinner was delicious!

What have I gotten myself in to?

We've gone from a burned out apartment complex, with a scabbed together, unsafe, nail-riddled, needle-infested, ankle-twisting, health hazzard of a shack (and it's immediate surroundings), to the Packard Plant remains - with more of the same...but at extreme heights!

I say it again - "ART FILM" MY ASSSS-TERISK!

More when I thaw out.

Absence

Yup, I have been away for a bit. 

I received a call right around eight in the evening this past Tuesday, asking if I would be interested in stepping into a scripty job.  Their script super walked away, taking the book with her, and leaving them in a lurch for the next day.  Actually, the next ten days!

The daily wage is dismally, APPALLINGLY low, but I need the work and, in this case, I also need what little pay I will make during my time on this piece of dung.

"Art film" my butt.  Yes, it's a piece of dung.

I may live to regret it...we'll see.

Working with a fairly young (but NOT green) film team, and I know a good deal of them!  Lots of friends and former crew mates from other film jobs.  Nice to see friendly faces, and to be appreciated and warmly welcomed - at least by them.

Judging from the apologies and stories I have heard around the camera, this is going to be a tough gig.  The director does not believe in (OR RESPECT) continuity, so everything will be an uphill battle.  And, after my day one, I can understand the mindset of the crew, and the pitiful looks I am getting from one and all.

Not only is continuity unnecessary, it is trampled on with gay abandon by this nut job.  Thrown under the bus and scoffed at.   I hope he gets an eyeful when he sits with the poor, poor editor for the months it will take to review and edit all the footage into something resembling a storyline.

Feelings

FaceBook, schmacebook!

You know when you post a comment (a compliment, really) on a friend's page, and you go back later to look at the content again, only to find that the "likes" and comments have grown in number, but you haven't seen any notifications of that all day....?

You schmacebookers will understand this .

Then you look a little closer and realize that your comment and 'like' vote aren't even there any more!?

Um, ouch.

?

Leaving well enough alone

Ya know when you're standing in the kitchen, slapping together turkey burger patties, and you realize you may have said something in a message....

and then got to thinkin' you wished you had said it better...

or had added something a smidge clearer, or not quite so serious;

or maybe you need to make sure what you *think* you said was ACTUALLY what you wrote, and you find you really aren't adept at typing with your elbows....

and you end up accidentally downloading a bit of Scandanavian porn just because you wanted to clarify a point that maybe didn't require clarification or fine tuning?


Yeah, me too.


Next time I'll just clean my hands off first.

BOO-yah!!!!

[unbridled joy]

Just called my mother to share the news about our President!

I could hardly believe the announcement made only a couple moments ago, as I had been watching the returns stack up throughout the night, but by 9:30PM I was earnestly terrified with the mounting returdlican votes.

My stomach churned early on with every state painted red on the tally boards; they severely outnumbered the blue.  Once it seemed the RR team was accumulating too many electoral votes I just had to find anything else to watch - thank the Lord for PBS.

Take that, former Senator Romney!!!!  Take that!

I kept my sanity and my president!

Finally, we're off to the polls

Four years ago Brian, Karl, and I attended the polls together.  For each of the boys it was their first time ever to vote in a national (in any sort of, really) election.  And standing there with them I felt so proud.

I wanted a photo to mark that special marker in their lives, but the boys gave me a hard time about it, so I have only my memories of standing with them in a long line outside of our polling building, in the sun and crisp autumn air.

We elected the right man in 2008, and my family will do so again today.  Brian is currently at work, but Karl and I are now on our way out to make history happen once more.  Bud will make his way to vote after work, and then....we will watch in wonder and horror as the spectacle unfolds.

Regrettables (for the most part)

I wasn't going to post yesterday's entry because it went from good to worse, then sort of u-turned at the very end - but, it's how I'm feeling.  It's how I do feel, so it would be wrong for me to deny my own me-ness when I feel it; when I experience it. 

After all, this is my blog.  My journal.  MY chronicle.

I am enjoying the return to regular daylight hours from "daylight savings time" [scoff].  Easier to be up at an early hour, what with the sun arriving so much later over the horizon, and returning to the western horizon so much earlier, too. 

I love the temps and colors of the fall, but I SO miss the daylight.

And thank goodness this political season is almost over...I can't handle the incessant ads.  I am hating the ENDLESS onslaught of rhetoric and counter-rhetoric between (if we're lucky) 8-15 minute bites of any show - including the news!

I think we - as a nation - should stand up and draw lines, right now, for all of those politicos to come.

We should demand that political ads of any sort (amendments, proposals, candidate-based, etc) not take up more than X-amount of minutes in a broadcast day.  That the frequency and cost cannot surpass [an insane amount of dollars and time].  They become mind-numbing and insanely abusive over time. 

Mudslinging is never the way to get any point across...people simply tune out after a while.  I know I did.

SO glad it will be over soon.

On an extremely positive note - "Castle" was wonderful, again, tonight!

Weekend flurry and furry

Glad to say the weekend is half over (slightly over half), and I will be back home again in the wink of an eye to continue with ongoing projects.  I hate leaving things in a lurch half through - or, in process.

We saw two deer cross the road in front of us as we left our subdivision early in the morning. I don't think Karl has seen deer that close up for quite a while, and it wowed him as they casually strolled from the curb on our right to the other side of the street. No running or frantic weaving and jumping. They simply stepped onto the roadway much as a pedestrian would in a crosswalk downtown.

It was enchanting in the foggy morning hours, and it seemed to set the tone for the hours ahead.

Karl had a good day in class; he presented his two-part project in front of the class (not easy for him to speak in front of a group of strangers) and listened to comments and suggestions with an open mind.  While he wasn't thrilled with the idea of sharing his two montages (because after the first two presenters - each only sharing one apiece - he was disappointed in the quality of his work), he did reluctantly come to understand the need for following directions and doing the best you are capable of doing, instead of just trying to get something done without applying yourself to the task. 

He came to understand that despite the arm-twisting, yelling fits, stalling tactics, and just out-n-out arguing about 'why this project was necessary at all,' that he did achieve a goal.  He saw that it was fulfilling and satisfying to stand among the small handful of folks who finished and complied with the requirements instead of slinking behind a desk and hiding because he had nothing to offer.

I honestly think he exhibited a great deal of pride after getting over the embarrassment and fright factors.  Although, I also feel that the following few assignments will also be met with stalling and lame excuses. [sigh]

Yea!

In other news:
Staying with the Gran for one overnight period.  Glad it helps the family, but sometimes I feel like a pinch hitter; only thought of, and called from the dusty dugout recesses when nothing else can be worked out. 

As I grow older my familial feelings shrink to encompass only a basic few people.  I feel less included in (and wanted by) what should be a sprawling group of folks - and so I distance myself even further to keep from feeling the sting.  Removing myself (or staying remote from situations - not just familial) before someone else has a chance to do it has always been a better operating standard for me.  I learned it in my teens as mom moved us around a lot, and it was a habit I had to re-institute in my twenties to keep from crumbling.

I am the outsider with a camera. The observer. We'll call you. One day. Every other month. Maybe.

Beating people to the punch has always been the way I navigate life.  It may not be a great way of life, but I am still walking the planet.  Bitter (maybe) but still walking.

Anyhow, I did manage to see Wuthering Heights for the first time!  Gran turned on her favorite movie channel, and there it was!

So, maybe the weekend wasn't "furry" so much as 'deer hide-y', and a little chaotic location-wise.

The sounds of the zoo

I don't know what it's like where you live...what creatures you share your home with. Here, the morning noises are a strange mix as everyone wakes to begin their days and activities.

Personally, I live with two trolls and three cats. 

Ah, yes...and the forty pound acrobat squirrels, who jump on (and romp 'round) my roof and gutters; the precocious chipmunks (which once were cute - until they managed to invade my house walls); the massive flock of sparrows, wrens, and chickadees bellowing in the bushes along the driveway, and; the lumbering groundhogs who simply must die before they can bore any more ankle-wrenching, lawnmower-swallowing holes in my backyard!

For now, I am content with the early morning ticking of the clock from the kitchen, the infrequent drone of the refrigerator compressor, and the ocassional car passing on the street.  Soon enough my trolls will begin to low in their beds, trying to remain asleep but knowing they should rise. 

That's when the girls and I will make our noises. Ha!

Oh, goody...November

Yeah.

More later.