Posts made in January, 2012

Day 31: Don’t create in an actual cardboard box!

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Day 31:  Don’t create in an actual cardboard box!

Day 31.  How is January already over?  Incredible.  I think maybe I thought counting the days would somehow slow down Father Time—not so much, he’s still flying by…the old bastard.  In honor of my first month coming to a close I Google “think outside the box inside the box.”  94,100,000 results come up.  I click through the first 10 pages but my site is not listed.  I give up looking.  Apparently, I’d better consider SEO services. I do see some of the familiar research I came across that inspired me:  Adam Dachis’ blog on Lifehacker titled “Before You Think Outside the Box, Think Inside It.”  Adam so wisely recommended, “When crafting your ideas, first think inside the...

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Day 30: Cry away!

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Day 30:  Cry away!

Day 30.  I cry as I edit.  But not in a, “this is such an incredibly moving scene” way.  No.  I’m weeping out of frustration.  I may know the rudimentary basics of Avid and how to cut something together but I have no knowledge of anything technical.  If something gets wonky, I can’t fix it.  A few days ago I was convinced that a group was out of sync.  I’m still convinced.  A “group” is multiple cameras’ picture and audio synced to where you can see all the options in one screen and intercut between them easily.  If they’re out of sync, the audio doesn’t match the picture. My producing partner takes a look and informs me he can’t find anything out of sync in the group. ...

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Day 29: A New Contributor, Chicken Wings and a Break

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Day 29:  A New Contributor, Chicken Wings and a Break

Day 29:  I slept.  And it was glorious.  I don’t mean to be dramatic but sleep has been missing in action lately.  All the to-dos, excitement around the doc moving forward and the thrill of the new venture has me wired and working nonstop.  Shutting the mind off isn’t so easy.  It doesn’t help that I don’t want to shut it off.  I love the inspired and motivated state I’m in.  It’s been a couple of years since I’ve felt this way and I want to ride the wave for as long as it lasts.  Which I’m sure won’t be forever.  Nothing lasts that long. I leisurely crawl out of bed after a luxurious 9 plus hours of shuteye.  I check emails to find one from a potential new contributor...

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Day 28: The urge…

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Day 28:  The urge…

Day 28.  It happens again today.  It came up yesterday as well but I didn’t realize it at the time.  I actually don’t put two and two together until the same feeling pops up again this morning.  I am on a call with a new contributor and editor for the site.  She fires off ideas at me like she can’t control herself, she’s that jacked up.  98% of the conversation I’m deliciously buzzed from the energy and excitement that slams into me through the phone line.  “Yes, I love that idea for your first piece!  Go for it.”  Her second concept is bigger, broader and just bold enough to make me want to reach out and get my grubby little hands on it to restrain it.  I feel that...

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Day 27: Talk Nice

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Day 27:  Talk Nice

Day 27.  I wake up to find a gift in my inbox:  an email from my partner telling me Dan the amazing editor man has already completed two of the scenes we sent him.  “Yes,” I shout after I read it.  “Full steam ahead!  It’s a documentary day,” I announce in an Oprah-esque bellow even though I am alone in the house.  For good measure I add, “I am getting a bin done!” I talk to myself…a lot.  While I clean, cook, drive, write, work, my mind and subsequently my mouth provides continuous audible commentary. I’m in the grocery store again.  This time I need to return a package of Bob’s Red Mill pancake mix.  I thought it was the gluten free version.  It is...

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Day 26: Endless Possibilities

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Day 26:  Endless Possibilities

Day 26.  “Next,” the very perky postal worker wearing bright red lipstick chirps.  It looks nice on her.  I wish I could pull off red lipstick I think as I step up to the counter.  I apologetically state, “I need a PO Box.”  I’m not sorry about this fact but, for some reason, whenever I ask anyone for anything ever I usually apologize for it in advance.  As if to let them know I’m probably going to be a pain in their ass.  I need to work on that because I’m rarely a pain in the ass.  If I could, I’d do their job for them just so I wouldn’t have to bother them. She expertly swivels around in her chair and searches a compartmentalized tray of forms.  She holds a PO Box...

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Day 25: Is motivation transmittable?

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Day 25:  Is motivation transmittable?

Day 25.  I wake up obsessed with the question:  Is motivation transmittable?  Literally.  Can we give it to each other?  It distracts me in the middle of my editing.  I stop to ponder it way too many times. Can motivation be picked up like radio waves from one signal to another?  From one person to the next?  The obvious answer is yes, of course, it can.  How else would the Wayne Dyers, Steven R. Coveys, Marianne Williamsons and Zig Ziglars of the world be so popular and so wealthy?  They inspire and motivate us, directly or indirectly, with their motivational ideologies, seminars, speeches, and books.  Am I the only one who has ever gotten sucked into buying Tony...

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Day 24: One piece of a piece of a piece at a time.

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Day 24:  One piece of a piece of a piece at a time.

Day 24. I realize now it’s a puzzle.  My documentary.  It’s a ginormous jigsaw puzzle just without a picture on the box to guide me.  There is no exact image to copy from or to reference or to make me feel safe that I know what landscape I’m shooting for.  I have no idea what the final portrait is going to look like.  And if that unknown isn’t scary enough, I have to actually cut out the shapes of the puzzle pieces myself and then refine them until they fit together.  It’s daunting.  It’s intense.  And even though I’m a self-proclaimed hater of jigsaw puzzles, this particular form is quite expansive and enjoyable, too.  And then there are days like today where even if I...

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Day 23: Inspire me, please.

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Day 23:  Inspire me, please.

Day 23.  I find an email from a friend in my inbox—she has responded to an email from me from last night.  I reached out because we were supposed to get together a couple of weeks ago but schedules did not permit and we both slipped off the grid.  I was slammed with the editing and she was in the middle of a shoot.  Immediately post pressing send on my written, “what’s your schedule?  Can’t wait to see you,” blah, blah, blah bit I decide to treat myself to a phone call with her instead.  It’s a bold move.  I have so much to do and time is not patient.  But, it’s a calculated move, too.  I feel lethargic, tired, uninspired.  Enter the need for a treat. This is not just...

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Day 22: Legacy?

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Day 22:  Legacy?

Day 22.  Today was all about the past.  Not my personal past but the past of the organization my documentary is about.  It has a long and amazing history dating back over 40 years now.  The organization was conceived a year after I was.  Unbelievable. I spent the day watching an interview we did with the founder and viewing and organizing historical photographs, archival footage and news coverage from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.  Back in its nascent stage, the founder didn’t realize what he was starting or where it would go.  He had no idea he would positively affect thousands of lives.  He just wanted to teach his own kid something.  40 years later, he’s able to reflect...

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