Springfield '03

We were supposed to spend the entire day shooting, starting at 10AM, and I got dragged into more meetings until 2:30. I won't ever go into work details on this site (feel free to call and I'll talk your ear off though) but it was a bad day. Not only was I ready to kill something when I finally got out, but my "producers" were ready to kill me. We had 1 day to shoot, they were paying for it, and we were suppsoed to be 3/4 done with the entire shoot by the time we started.

This is one of those days you walk out into a hallway with your heart pounding in your chest, just freaking the hell out about how you're ever going to get everything done in time. I had to take a major dose of perspective to calm myself down and get into production mode.

By the way, for anyone wondering, I don't know why people INSIST that we should film in places like hotels, restaurants, and airports without getting permission first. At least the person who kicked us out today was nice about it. So we shot in a park instead. Better light anyway. Ha.

Thanks for the image, Google.

Grey Goo

I kidnapped an office when I got to NYC, and quickly took over.

I was supposed to spend my first day in meetings to plan out the next day's shoot but was quickly dragged into work-related emergencies that took up most of the day.

I managed to escape by late afternoon and we got everything planned out.

Also, I think I've taken rolly-bags for granted until now. I have to lug about 40 lbs of gear around on my shoulders to get anywhere on this trip and it is getting annoying.

Helper

As I packed for my trip to NYC-Boston-Seattle-Denver-Seattle (whee), Mushroom decided to help me out.

I hate checking bags. I feel very un-mobile. Having done a LOT of travel requiring last-minute flight and itinerary changes, the ability to instantly get somewhere else is critical.

However, this is very dificult when you need to bring a laptop, portable drive, clothes for 3 days, video camera and gear, tripod, and of course, a bag of liquids. Organizing all this took a while and my camera now has a plastic bag of shirts on top of it.

Exercise

I've been getting back into the swing of exercising. I'm running pretty consistently now, and trying to get in alternating days with pushups and crunches. My goal is to trade in some "bacon" (term "bacon" courtesy of M) and get back in shape.

I like doing pullups and chinups, but that is proving difficult since I don't have a place to hang a bar. I've looked all over the apartment and the backyard and can't fine anywhere to put it.

However, there is a nice tree up by the bus stop that has a horizontal low-hanging branch that I've been using for chinups. I've tried it for pullups but it really hurts my wrists.

Also, raccoons live in the tree and occasionally give me attitude. I hope they're not rabid.

Anyways, here it is.

My BBLife

As is quite common amongst the working set, my BlackBerry (I hate the term CrackBerry, because that assumes there is any sort of high associated with it. Yes, it is hard to put down but that is more because it is an item you are bound to for eternity, so I would prefer AtlasBerry or SisyphusBerry because I am frequently made to feel that if I do not obsessively check this damn thing that I will be allowing the world to collapse or be crushed by a giant stone that I will only have to run after and drag back up the hill that I live on) is always attached to me.

I even take it when I go running, because god forbid, someone might call. This is the trouble with being the only person responsible for what you're responsible for.

I do like the background image though. I took it on my old MDA (a phone that I hated sooooo much) when I visited M in Missoula last year and we went to Glacier National Park. I find that image very peaceful, with snow, grass, and flowers, all in the same shot

He's Back

I don't usually post out of order, but I think I need to here to give some context to all the pictures that appear on this site.

Meet Crappy D, my 2 MP viewscreenless camera. A gift from my boss who received like 5 of them for free when he ordered a printer for the office.

It has been almost 3 years since I busted him out. I can't believe that. Time flies so quickly.

As you will soon see, Crappy D is not so good with the taking picture thing, but is awesome for other reasons that will become clear.

Foreshadow

Of course, even with the work I still have errands to take care of. I walked up to the strip to get some power.

Why am I excited about a big pack of triple A batteries? The hint is taking the picture...

Rushing

I'm headed out to NY at 10:30 tonight with a ton to do before then. I'm in a bit of a panic mode and writing this is probably the last thing i should be doing. I still need to prep for several meetings tomorrow, write a bunch of outlines, test my video gear, and figure out how to pack my stuff without requiring checking any bags. This is no small feat.

I also need a haircut. I'd show you the state of my hair but that would require a photo camera, and well, more on that later.

I've been watching a lot of Mariners baseball lately. Ichiro makes it look easy. Small baseball rocks.

Pigs

It's late.

I need to clean up my desktop at some point.

I've got a big week coming up. There's a new program to launch at work, and a video project I'm doing on the side. I'll be in NYC T-W, Boston on R, and Denver on F to plan and shoot. Whee.

I am actually excited about it, but right now I'm too tired to be anything but sarcastic.

I'll explain the details later. Night.

Getting Started

This is the 4th or 5th time I'm rewriting this opening page, so whatever happens this time is what's going to stick.

After the several weeks following our move to Seattle (and to be fair, a few years of mental stagnation), I've gotten antsy to do... something...

Writing out the events of the days will hopefully kickstart me back into feeling creative. With any luck (and a bit of dedication on my part), this will be an outlet for various exercises in rambling, audio, video, and of course, MS Paint, perhaps in that order, but probably not. It will also help me keep in touch with people back in NY and the rest of the country.

This should be something along the lines you'd expect if you managed to make it through my oz trip.

As you can see, I am already somewhat apprehensive about the prospects of this actually happening.

There. 1 post down. That wasn't too bad...

(I still don't like blogs)