Ringing in 2011 Olympia style!

This is the New Year's Eve saved by the Sonics! The Sonics announced late in 2010 that they'd be playing a show down in Olympia and we jumped at the chance. It just so happens that we have 2 good friends living in Olympia and we were able to crash at their fantastic digs.


If you don't know the Sonics, I highly recommend you catch up and check them out ASAP. Especially considering they have a new album out now and are on an extensive world tour.
The Sonics Wiki

It was a seriously frigid night especially as we did all our adventuring on foot. On the plus side, who wants to drive on NYE w/all the amateur drunks out on the road?

my boyfriend, not an amateur

sonics fandom

There were so many highlights aside from the actual show itself, I think I'll list them in terms of "firsts" for 2011! I hope starting the year off with so much fun and friendship leads to good things down the road (including writing in my blog a wee bit more often)
So..here it goes:

It's nice to know I'm not alone out in the editorial world

There are a whole series of these videos popping up online and they make me laugh and cringe all at once. After 10+ years in the film and tv world, I'm happy to see folks are saying exactly what I've thought on many occasions.  Venting is a form of healing and why not do it w/strange, animated bunnies?

Smelling like a monster!

Sesame Street continues it's appeal to adults as well as the kiddies! love it!

Adventures in Eastern Washington

On our way to Dry Falls, we stopped for some pix at Soap Lake which the locals claim have healing waters. It was amazing to finally have sun to enjoy after being stuck under dark clouds in Seattle for most of June!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_Lake

May is Lyme Awareness Month and the Vampire Diaries cast is helping out!

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. Help paint May Lyme green. This disease is no joke and the CDC needs to wake the F up already! Many live in pain and depression and don't have to!

http://www.learnaboutlyme.com
http://www.youtube.com/lymenaide
http://www.ilads.org/
http://www.turnthecorner.org/
http://www.lymedisease.org/
http://lymenaide.wordpress.com/
http://learnaboutlyme.wordpress.com/

A little reminder of why I do what I do

Back in 2003, I had an amazing opportunity to work on a film called "November" which made it all the way to Sundance and won the Best Cinematography award. The hours were long, the learning curve was sometimes intimidating, but the reward of working with so many creative minds on a great project was priceless. I just came across this clip on Greg Harrison's (director) blog and it brought a smile to my face. As you watch this behind the scenes clip, it will be obvious to you why I love to edit and hope to work on more features in the near future. Editing is often a very lonely endeavor. Independent filmmaking often doesn't pay the bills. However, I would never trade the creative rewards in this kind of project for any amount of money.
Trying to find post-production work in a non-industry town like Seattle is definitely a challenge. However, I'm glad to have little bits of inspiration like this sprinkling in to keep me going on the daily quest for the next great gig! This clip also reminds me that for all of it's negatives, Los Angeles really is a town of some incredibly creative people in all regards.

The Making Of November from Greg Harrison on Vimeo.

The end of a chapter

This past Friday, April 2nd marked my official last day working at RealNetworks, Inc. Of course, I'm accepting all the normal range of emotions people experience when confronted by a layoff. I wasn't there very long, but 2.77 years can be a very long time for someone used to freelance editing at many different shops. Why does this job merit extra mourning? Perhaps, it's because it was in many ways a dream job. A full-time corporate job w/all the benefits implied and the added bonus of a great team of colleagues, ice cream cake, and wine Fridays. This really WAS the Emerald City complete with a gig allowing me to edit, produce live and studio events, TRAVEL, and most importantly give me a rest from the rigors of the freelance world. If you've never gone freelance and had to answer to yourself for EVERYTHING, you might think it's a walk in the park. You can wake up whenever you want, work out for hours, etc.

However, having more time means you have that much more time to worry about where your next paycheck is coming from and how you'll pay for your health benefits.

There is really no "good" part about getting laid off unless you truly were miserable day in and day out @ this job.

In my case, my world crumbled a bit thinking that I'll have to hope and pray that I rid myself of Lyme disease before my extended health benefits expire.

I'm also a jobless post-production professional in a town with very few job prospects. However, if I suddenly woke up knowing CSS and HTML tomorrow, I'd be home free. There are so many things I'd like to geek out on first before becoming a code monkey. I could easily geek out on Adobe, FCP, and Avid for ages before getting remotely bored.

In conclusion, I'll really miss my coworkers and friends. However, I will not miss the company protocol that has resulted in nothing but layoffs since I landed this job in 2007. 

I suppose like every other public corporation, it must be responsible first and foremost to its stockholders. After all, we do live in imperialist America. I do hope the numbers start to look up for them if only for the sake of my friends still holding on to the ship.




Pondering a move back to LA or NYC soon if things don't start looking up in the northwest

A different kind of christmas eve

My Christmas break and escape from the gloomy, cold, Seattle climate has been an exercise in stamina. My mom had back surgery on December 23rd. I left Seattle that morning at 7am, got to Burbank airport, rented a beater car from 6.99 rentals in Mexico..I mean Van Nuys, had some mediocre breakfast and offensive coffee and started my trek down south to La Jolla (about 30 minutes from the Mexican border). 

There were points in this commute where I seriously fought to keep my eyes open and my nerves were shot. 2 plus hours later, I arrived at Scripps and my mom was still in surgery...not a good sign.
My brother started showing signs of worry, so I turned all the small bit of energy I had left to distracting him and trying to cheer him up. Finally, the surgeon came out around 5pm to tell us mom had pulled through the surgery ok but they were monitoring her very closely as her heart rate jumped to 140..a very dangerous level.

My brother and I stayed with her until almost midnight. We finally got to eat, but unfortunately, the only meal available in Solana beach at that hour was Denny's. We did our best to get the grub down. I could have easily skipped it except that food is necessary for me to get my antibiotics down for the night.
Now on day 2 (Xmas eve), my mom's pain management is much better now that she's on oral pain meds. However, she's very forgetful, disoriented, and doing quite a bit of hallucinating. Now after 2 meals and more pain meds, they think she'll be able to make it home for Christmas. I'm alone tonight which sucks. But, my brother needed to go back to LA to be with his family and I'm minding the store for the night. I can't even reach my boyfriend now as he's in a no cell phone zone for Xmas eve.

I've had some support from friends on Facebook which is totally appreciated. It's funny...it's the folks I expected to give a fuck..but I can't say that I'm not disappointed to have ZERO phone calls or texts from all the many people who claim friendship. I mean even if my mom wasn't in the hospital, a phone call to say "hey..you're in LA..let's hang out when you can" would have been appreciated. No matter how low my standards for faith in friends go, times like these show me that they can always be lower.
Tomorrow, I'll venture back into the ghetto mobile to make the trek up to Altadena and then Thousand Oaks for Christmas dinner. phew...must get it together and get going now. Merry Christmas!