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I feel alone.

I am alone right now, but I feel alone, often times even when I am pyhsicaly with other people.

No self pity, I should be happy at how blessed I am and how easily things work out for me. As I think about it, I am rarely told no, and rarely cannot do what I set out to accomplish.

So why is it that I can't seem to make a decision, to figure things out? I have so many questions and I can't seem to find an answer to any of them. For example, I don't have anything more than a general goal of what I am supposed to do with myself once I graduate. This is only a question know because I need to decide where I want to focus. But I am afraid that I am so far in that if I change I'll be so far behind. I really really miss singing, and acting, and directing, and making movies with friends.

But am I doing anything about it? No. Am I inspired the way that I used to be? No. Can I even think straight? No.

I spoke to my old friend Dooley today, and he is trying to become a working actor. He's brave. I love acting. Maybe I would be thinking about how stupid I was for not going into film if I were in acting. I don't know.

Whatever, I need to go. Have a happy new year.

I'm Done! Serve Me Up!

So the title of this posts has a duel meaning, because not only am I done with the semester, having officially taken my last final, but I also got "served" with jury duty for Valentines day, (Feb 14th). I am actually pretty excited about the change to be serving on a jury. I doubt I will be picked however, since they usually only like to pick people that they can manipulate.

Oh well.

I'm driving home to Virginia tommorow morning, and I should get in to Harrisonburg late that night. Please pray that the truck will make it and good weather will prevail.

Yours,

Ezra Horne

Film One Final In The Can

Well, the film one final is finally in the can. After coming up with my idea on Wednesday afternoon, storyboarding that night, chilling out ot Thanksgiving and then filming on Friday and Saturday for a total of about six hours and three rolls of film (about 7 minutes worth of film)

And here comes the headache...

(I am willing to bet that my brother is the only one who will get that movie reference--let me know if anyone gets it)

Anyway, I am so nervous that I will have shot something wrong or forgotten a crucial shot or peice of audio and then I will have to settle because I shot it Maine and cannot re-shoot. I am praying that it will come together well. To be honest, I am not worried about the grade that I will get, its just that I am competative, and Emerson is a school full of talented people. I would love to be able to say that my film was one of the best... but I don't know. We'll see what happens.

Anyways, I just wanted to thank Tanner for all his help and all the good times that we've been having this week... it's one of the most relaxed and fun weeks I've had since summertime.

On Friday, Tanner and I went and saw the movie "RENT" and it was awesome. I really liked it from both a cinematography/filmmaking prespective (I love the opening song sequence) but also from the musical and theatrical perspective. The movie was awesome and it made me cry. Tanner and I were speculating about when if ever another musical with such a relevant message will be made. I doubt it.

I loved the message of the film, which is summed up by some key lines: "We're not dying from disease, we're living with it" "in America...you're what you own" (pointing out the irony of the American way of life) "I'd be happy to die for a taste of what angel had...someone who'd say 'I love you'" Basically it makes you love all the characters, in spite of their flaws and makes you feel so distressed when this aweful disease, AIDS affects their lives, and how they live on in spite of all the pain that they could be focusing on... and they still are all good individuals.

Well, I didn't mean to go on a diatribe, but the movie really touched me, and now I really want to see it again on Broadway (and again on film, too)

Oh another funny thing was that we went to see the movie right after Tanner and I had finished filming at the Fort near Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth, ME, and in the movie, Mark the filmmaker uses a Bolex 16mm camera, the same film camera that we had just been filming with. It was just really cool.

I head back to Boston tommorow on the 6:40 Downeaster Train. I'm basically all packed, and ready to go. I have had such a great week, and I felt like I'd wrap it up with this post...

And by the way, I am terrified of the next three weeks. It is literally going to be like hitting the ground running--and not stopping until December 20th.

But at least there are only 3 weeks of school before break! I'll try to be better about posting, but I am not going to promise on things which I cannot deliver. So there.

Thanksgiving...and all that that implies

No, I'm not going to create a ginormous list of things that I am thankful for. I am going to tell you about why this is quickly becoming one of the most stressful Thanksgivings that I can remember.

I cam to Maine for break so that I could do several things--see old friends, (Tanner, Jake, Maxx,) visit with my sister, check up on my truck, and make sure it will be ready for the trek to VA in--wow--three weeks.

But so far, I have really only done one thing--get screwed and waste money. It's snowing, so I haven't been able to get any filming done, or deal with my car. The roads are so slick right now that inexperienced ol' me doesn't want to risk driving too and from Portland TWICE (that's 4 one-ways) in order to get both my truck and Sarah's car to Portland for winter storage. It's not as if I had much of a choice, because I could barely keep the truck on the road, (its very light and its is rear wheel drive.) Sarahs car was not much better, but I've got to get down to Portland tonight to spend the night at Sarah's and hang out with her before I drop her off at the airport at 8am on Friday. That all being said, I'm worried that I'm not going to get my film done in time, that I won't get my paper done, that I'll slip off the road and get into a terrible accident and not die (no, that would be too convienient) but instead have to deal with all the expenses that would occur as a result of that accident for the rest of my life (I'm a teenage male driver, remember)

But I'm thankful for my family and friends who support me in all the ways that they know how, and I'm thankful that I have a warm place to sleep in and a semi-reliable source of transportation to drive. I love the snow and it is beautiful, but I pray that it will stop snowing and be beautiful on Friday so that I can get my filming done. I also pray that when I drive to Portland tonight, it will be as safely as possible and that I will not get into an accident.

I am going to Maxx Hacket's house soon to imbibe myself with turkey before passing out in a stuper induced by the stress of it all and the fact that my stomach is working overtime to process all of the food I've consumed. Oh well.

And by the way--WAL-MART AND MCDONALDS ARE LIARS! The only bastion of truth in this town is Denny's the only truly 24 hour a day, 7 days a week establishment in town. McDonalds and Wal-mart CLOSED last night! Tanner and I were forced to eat at Denny's by default!

Whatever, enjoy your bird, wish me luck/pray for me, whichever is your style.

I've Come To A Realization...

I've come to a realization that I am miserable because I don't know what I am anymore.

Wait, I shouldn't say anymore, because it implies that I once knew. I never knew. I feel like the real me is alone and crying inside, but no one will ever know. No one notices. But its my fault--I play myself up as the "funny fat friend" so that I won't have to explain who I really am--since I don't know. I'm fat because I am afraid of relationships. And I'll never lose weight because I feel that once I became physically attractive, I'd no longer have an excuse for being alone.

They say that everyone feels this way, at least at some point or another, but how can a pain so unique to myself be shared?

Please don't talk to me about this post, this is the bipolar me talking, and I doubt that I will feel this way in the morning.

Which is another thing that pisses me off--I can't stay angry, I can't stay loathing--and it makes me a pushover. My desire for love and respect is so great that I will lie, misrepresent, and apologize in an attempt to appease others. It's disgusting. I get angry with people all the time and I usually restrain myself and try and let it go--try to be Christ-like--but you know what? Screw that. SCREW THAT. I want to be a narrow-minded, passionate, unforgiving individual so that I can really live my life and stop thinking about ANYONE but myself. I want to be a TRUE American.

If I died today, I know people would miss me and cry at my funeral, but what exactly would they miss? The way I try my hardest to please everyone and make people laugh? Everyone has secrets, and so do I. They couldn't remember what went on inside, underneath--because I never tell. I never tell because no one understands, and even if they did understand it, they couldn't help me. I'm between to worlds, hell maybe even three, and they are tearing me apart. I can't stay in the middle much longer or I'll be ripped to shreds.

As I've stated, I will not talk about this because it won't make anymore sense in person than it does written down.

That's all.

Editing Again!

I'm editing sound to the previous film that I edited picture for. It should be fantastic. I'm a little annoyed because I have editing that I need to do and they told me that the EDC was going to be open at 9am, but it's actually open at 10am, so I have to kill some time in the Emerson Channel Office. It's okay though, because I have been listening to the latest edition of the Fred Freddy Podcast, a internet radio show hosted by fellow Emerson student Fred Young. It is a hoot and a holler, so you should check it out.... or not, because it's mostly only relevant to Emerson Students. But I digress.

This should be an interesting time, and I'll tell you how the editing goes. I've never edited sound on mag-stock before (literally splicing the tape together to make your soundtrack) and it should be fun.

At 2:30 I'm meeting with the Missionaries and going to talk with William a fellow Emerson Student who is investigating the church. It should be pretty fun, and I'll try to let you know how that goes too.

In the mean time, you can visit My Webshots and check out some cool pics. (Eventually I will add many more and place this link permanently in the sidebar of my blog, but until then, just check it out!

Weird

I just saw Ed Helms of The Daily Show in Boston's Downtown Crossing... I didn't want to seem like a jerk/fanatical fan, so I tried just taking a picture from far away, but his crew kept getting in the way.

Weird.

Here's my lame picture

Sweet! Papers! Awesome! GME! Computers!

Right, so I thought that I would slam out a quick post while killing some time in the news room as they try to figure out why our video feed is not being received. I just found out that we were the ones originating the bars and tone, but that's a Tim M. problem. Anyway, I'm all well, considering that I went to bed around 2:30am with another half a page to go. Then I got up as 7am to do GME. Because even though I want to quit, I actually do enjoy my time on the set. Oh well, we'll see what happens.

So anyway, my paper was about the Gestalt Theory of Perception, and I jad to have a 4-6 page, 10 source paper. It's not that that is hard to do, per se, but I am very bad with science paper, and I hate them. I think it's because at the level I am writing, all I am really able to do is rehash what everyone has already said. I mean, optimally I would try to draw a conclusion that is original and critical, etc, but that's so hard, especially at 2am. So I decieded I'd try and finish it in the morning.

That's all for now, I've got a show to work on!

Continuity Editing Exercise! FILM IS FUN!

Okay, you've all been waiting....

Here's my second film! This one was one that I edited using splice tape and a guillitine splicer on a Steenbeck Flatbed editing machine! It was super fun, and I think I did a pretty dandy job! Please watch it and let me know what you think!
Click Here To Download

Remember, that Quicktime 7 is required!

Film One Projects

Well, this is awesome. I shot my first roll of film EVER, an entire hundred feet of Black and White Reversal Film. Reversal film is different than conventional film in that when you shoot with it, the film is processed to be a positive image, as opposed to other films which produce a negative, from which a workprint is made. In other words, when you send film to the lab, the film you get back is the same film as the film that when through the camera when you shot it. You actually cut it up by hand to edit it!

Anyway, the first assignment was an in-camera edit, meaning that we had to story board and shot our film to obtain proper exposures, and learn how to use the Bolex camera. So I enlisted my friend Joe Collesano to help me film at Logan Airport, and this is what came out:
Click Here To Download!


Be sure to let me know what you think!

I'll be posting my second exercise (Editing for continuity) where I actually have spliced film on the Steenbeck Flatbed!

The First One Hundred Feet

I got my film back from the lab. The first one hundred feet of film I've ever shot.

And it was so exciting that I couldn't wait until tommorow to watch it, I went on a quest to find a projector to watch my first film! After wandering around the Ansin Building, Joe and I finally admitted defeat, settling for the projector in the Film Equipment Center which is used for video transfer. This meant that we watched the footage on a tv, which was too bad, but it was still awesome.

Watching film that you shot is sooooo cool. Everything just looks... well, cleaner, more beautiful. And even dispite some of my mistakes (not making sure the pressure plate was completely forward, accidently setting the single frame mode on the camera to "T" instead of "I" which means that the shutter on the camera stayed open as long as I held the button down, which cause that shot to be mega over-exposed.) I still had a visually compelling composition. I will try to get it up online as soon as possible, but I'll have to do a video transfer, and I don't know when that will happen.

Second, and more disturbing order of business: A man died on the Boston Common today.

I had seen him laying in the grass about 4-4:30pm, stomach down in front of a wheelchair, and then at about 7pm, medical personnel were coving his body in a sheet and driving him to the morgue. Joe told me that he had seen him alive that morning around 11am.

It's not the fact that he died that disturbed me. It's the fact that he sat rotting in the grass for 3 hours or so before someone noticed.

They left the wheelchair behind. It's still sitting in the grass right now. I wonder who will take it? Will they know the reason for it's abandonment? Who knows.

What Is This? A Train Full Of Republicans?

So on the way home from church today, I was riding the Red Line of the T. I'm reading 1984, by George Orwell, and all of a sudden, I over hear "What is this? A train full of Republicans?"

I look up and see a dirty white hippie with his hair in "Jamiacan Style" braids, handing out anti-war flyers. It said "Stop the war now!" and many people weren't taking them.

"Hey, do you support the war?" The hippie said to the yuppie who was seated on the other side of the train.

"Uh, actually I do."

"Are you an asshole, or just stupid?" The hippie scowled as the yuppie lamely responded:

"Are you an asshole?"

The hippie was wearing a dirty T-shirt and continued to try and force flyers to others. His voice began to get louder. "Why don't you go down to New Orleans and drink some water buddy." The yuppie sat and laughed.

"I see you're down there helping out."

"Well, uh, I kinda lost my job when Bush dismantled the clean air act, so I don't have a lot of money to just go down to Lousiana." The hippie was getting ruder and louder and more sarcastic. It was at this time that I was having trouble reading. A brave woman piped up:

"I don't see how it helps your cause much to be rude."

"Anybody who voted for Bush is a FASCIST, and I hate Fascism and I hate war and warmongers."

"Yeah, but you are--"

"If I had lived in Nazi Germany, I would have hated Facism too. But I suppose you think we could have defeated Hitler with politeness."

There was a pause while the whole car listened, in some shock. This is where I had a moment to reflect on how wonderful it was that people were getting passionate and angry about things! This is a litmus test for the ability of a people to control a republic, and it looks as if a few people can still pass, even if I'm not one of them. I was also very proud of the woman who spoke up because I was getting a little nervous that a fight might have broken out. It was getting pretty heated. Suddenly the Hippie's peircing voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hey fella, you look like you're of the right age to join the military, maybe you should go sign up, since you are so for it. Besides the military can really use you as they have such a shortfall."

That was about all, I think more was said, but I can't remember it all. Something like this happens every time I ride on the T inbound from Harvard Square on a Sunday afternoon, and I can't figure out why. Oh well.

So what's going on in my life? A lot. A lot. And a little bit more. On Friday we had talent and crew auditions for the Emerson Channel original programming (Speechless, GME, and Ladies Room) and as the Speechless Segment producer, I was there to watch the crew auditions and help Liz and Dave (the other Speechless producers)figure out who we wanted to crew the show. So from 1pm-8pm I was in the studios taking notes on camera operators, and control room positions. We basically were looking for enthusiastic people. The bottom line is we want to work with people who are willing to do anything. That's a tip for people trying to get involved at Emerson. We will teach you, so skill isn't necissary (it's helpful, but not necissary) just a good attitude. Then I auditioned to be talent for the EIV production "The Gentleman's Club" and that ran until about 10pm. I got called back for another round on friday, so that's exciting.

I've already met some new friends in the freshman class, namely Nate B. and Matt V. On Saturday night after all the auditions, I stayed up until 6am talking with Matt about religion, politics, Emerson, Virginia, driving, and a myriad of other topics. It was a total blast. When I went to bed, I woke up at about 10:45, and I checked my e-mail. When 11am rolled around, I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to meet with my group from Cognitive Psychology to make our group project in the library. NOW. (11am) and I was late. Shoot. So I hurried out the door, no shower or anything, and then I worked on that for a while, as well as doing a tape change. Then I tried to nap but it didn't work at all. I ended up wasting the entire day, which kinda pissed me off. But that night I watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind for the first time, and it was really good, if a little slow at the end. Richard Dreyfus kept making me laugh because I kept thinking about Mr. Holland's Opus during the movie.

After the movie was over, I ended up hanging out with Nate B. who showed me some of his media and I played Fattitude and some other silly works for him, and stayed up talking about random crap. But we also talked about religion, which was fun too, because he's a Christian who actually practices, so it will be nice to have someone who believes in God to talk to. I'm beginning to realize that we have a lot of people who are hiding in the woodwork that have faith, but at Emerson people discriminate you if you are a Christian. It's uncool. Atheism is very popular here and it's a shame.

Anyway, we stayed up until about 3:30am and then I went to bed until noon, because I was so exhausted, but I had to get up and eat and go to church. It was Boston's 375th aniversry today, so there was a parade, and it made me late for church, because I got distracted looking out the window.

Church was tough because I missed two of the three Hymns, and I love singing, and today they sustained me as Ward Missionary. Sometimes I wonder why things happen, sometimes I don't. But I find it ironic that I am Ward Missionary, even though I have not gone on a mission. God wants me to stay with him. I want to stay with him. But I've already gotten myself so wrapped up in the things of the world, and it is the hardest thing in the world to cut yourself off from. Here's the rundown:

Classes:
Ethics and Justice
Civil Rights
Cognative Pscyhology
Film One
(All of these courses are much more work intensive, all including papers/projects and reading, and group work.)
Activities:
Segment Producer for Speechless (I will be in charge of making 3 1 minute segments based on the show topics each week.)
Crew of Ladies Room (Position TBA)
Talent or Crew of Gentleman's Club (TBA)
Newsroom Director for Goodmorning Emerson (I may ask to drop this job)
Women In Motion
Submissions Coordinator for the 25th Annual Evvy Awards (This includes three or more meetings a week)
Film one projects
Master Control Associate
On-Air Promotions Editor (need to learn DVD Studio Pro and After Effects)

Church Obligations/activities:
Home teaching
Family Home Evening Group
Ward Missionary
Sunday Church
TRYING to find an Institue class that I can get to/fit into my schedule.

This doesn't even include things that I want to do but have absolutely no time to do:
WECB
Warlords
My own personal projects
A Social Life
Frames Per Second (Film Club)
2Knight Show (Comedy show)
Etc, Etc, Etc.

"What shall it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)

Anyway, it's late and I have class tommorow. I will try to post more regularly. Love to all.

Things Are Lookin' Better!

So I got a call from Maxx H. on Sunday, and he's alright, although Biloxi and Gulfport are in ruins. Needless to say, I felt relieved to hear from him.

To make a long story short, there are 1300 bodies in the morgue there, and so consequently if he is telling me correct information, the estimates of 300 offical dead are WAY WAY Off. Almost all of the trainee's at Keesler Air Force base have been sent away to other bases and given NEW JOBS, now, the interesting thing about this is that the Air Force is required to give you the job that you are being trained for, and if they won't give you a job or if they change your training, it is a breach in contract and you are allowed to leave the Air Force with no questions asked.

He said that some people used this as an excuse to get out of the Air Force, but some left because they only really wanted that job that they had been training for.

Anyway, I am moving into school tommorow, and it's going to be awesome. I've been staying at someone's apartment in Boston since Tuesday, and helping with the FF/RW Freshman Orientation Coverage on ECTV.

It's been awesome, and I've had some great times. But I can't wait to move in and get settled and see all of my buddies again. (Some of them are already here, but others are not, and that's who I want to see next.)

Well, I have to do some editing for the "Home Dating Network" segment, so I'll write more later!

Depressed and Worried

So Hurricane Katrina has destroyed Biloxi, MI, where my friend Maxx H. was being trained at Keesler Air Force Base.

I saw a picture in today's Portland Press Herald that showed this huge causeway that had each of it's sections destroyed.

It was probably 1/2 a mile from the base.

I am terrified and nervous. In just two days the effects of reductions in gasoline and oil production have shown their effect--2.73-3.19 are the price ranges I saw today, only 36 hours ago it was 2.55-2.60. We are screwed as a nation if we don't do something.

Building materials will be in short supply, food prices will soar insurance rates will climb, and America may fall because of it. How will people heat there homes in Maine this winter? How will we survive? I hope to God we act fast. This is bad news.

What are all these people going to do for the 4-6 months it is predicted that must pass before New Orleans will be enterable again? We must open up out homes and our wallets. I know its tough, money is already tight.

I've already pledged to give my bonus money to the Humanitarian Fund of the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I've also decided to, when back at Emerson, create an Advertising campaign to encourage saving electricity to reduce the amount of fuel that we use to make it. Also, less energy used by the school can also translate to smaller increases in tuition.

That's what I am trying to do to help. And praying. Lots of praying.

Maxx, I'm worried about you my friend, I hope you are okay...

God, please bless America again.

I'm Off The Grid For A Week

So I'm going up to Union Maine this whole week (starting tommorow morning) and working at the Union Fair. I will have no computer access the whole week, and I'll be sleeping in a pop up trailer and working 8-14 hours a day. I don't know exactly the amount, but it should be a good time.

I am getting up early to head down to the Ballon Festival, and then it'll be off to Union.

What else...

School is sooooo close!!!

I'm excited, and I promise to write more then.

So I've Got Poison Ivy

Isn't that Frickin' GREAT? I thought so, especially since I can't let it heal, as I have to wear clothes to work and the clothes chafe and irritate the rash.

Awesome. Just AMAZING.

I'm working in Union Maine and the Maine Antiques Show, which should be really hard and diffucult and my poision Ivy should be awesome, but I'm screwed.

I'm sorry that I'm not making any sense. I just am really pissed that this had to happen now. I mean, honestly. I have no idea. Why on in June when all I did was sit around the house? Why now? I think I got it from sitting in the grass on the edge of the parking lot near work. I think I sat on a leaf of it or something, because it appears that there was some poison Ivy nearby. Or if there wasn't, I sure don't know where I got it!

Anyway, I'm annoyed and frustrated and am praying that it will clear up as fast as possible. Please pray for me too. I need this to go away so I won't be MISERABLE.

Thanks, hope all is well with everyone.

I'm Certainly Not Dead, I Really Promise!

It's not that I've been too busy to post, or that I haven't had anything to post about... but, I've just, well...

Okay, I've been lazy.

It would take a long time to re-establish and write about everything that has happened recently, but I will try to sum up.

I work almost all the time now between the North Face Outlet in Freeport, and Trish and Alex concession stand.

On July 27th, I went to Lancaster, NH and attending Michael Badnarik's Constitution class, and I got a picture, and an autographed copy of his book. It was amazing and I learned a whole lot and it was absolutely FASCINATING.

Then I went down to Weirs Beach, NH and hung out with Joe Collesano, Becka and Pizzle (Jonathan) and did all kinds of sweet things, like riding a jet ski, motorboating, swimming, visiting arcades, chillin' out, more swimming, going to the drive in and seeing a double feature, (Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and The Island), jumpstarting Pizzle's car when it died during the second movie. (I'd never done that before.) and I also went to an ice cream bar, (with free toppings! It was awesome)

I was really sad that it was time to go home, but I was super glad to have all that fun before going into august with all this work.

I could probably go into more detail, but I don't want to. Just wanted to reassure everyone of my sanity.

I'm Going To Die!

It's going to be great. In August I am going to be working for like 70 hours a week, and I'm going to die. Because in addition to working 4 days a week on average at fairs, which will totally wipe me out, I am also probably going to have work the other 3 days for 8 hours a day. So yeah, this month is going to suck.

Anyway, there are only 6 more days until I get to go to Michael Badnarik's Introduction to The Constitution Class in Lancaster VA. A few posts ago I told you that I had something to tell you regarding a celebrity, and that was who it was about: Michael Badnarik, the 2004 Libertarian Party Presidental Candidate. I e-mailed him asking him if I could film and edit his class on a DVD (or something like that) in exchange for attending his 100 dollar class for free or at a discount. Well, he sent me an e-mail back with his cell-phone number! So I called him and we came to the arangement that since he was doing this to earn his living now, he really couldn't let me go for free, (and he'd already filmed the class, and the DVD's were going to be done in a few days.) But he generously offered to let me have a payment plan, I'd bring 20 dollars to the class and then pay him 20 dollars any time I could until I was all paid off.

Anyway, that was awesome, and I can't wait to attend his 8 hour class, shake his hand, and get a photo with him.

After the class in Lancaster, I'm heading south to Laconia, NH to visit my college Buddy J-Pizzle at his lake home. Also, my roommate for this year, Joe Collesano, will be up from Connecticut too! So it's going to be a crazy fun good time.

I'm knocked out because I worked 12 hours at the North Face today, so I'm going to go. Until next time!

Best of Craigslist = Comedic Goldmine!

Oh man! So I was browsing Craigslist in search of a free or cheap computer desk, and I stumbled upon "The Best of Craigslist", and let me be the first to say--comedic GOLDMINE.

Here are some that I found particularly entertaining:

Keep your Big Smokey away from me
This one made me laugh because it reminds me of my friend Joe C. from Emerson... I could just see him being involved in something like this at our local 7-11.

Free Microwave of Mysteries!
This one is about someone trying to convince someone to take her broken mircowave.

Open letter to all Honda owners
I think everyone has had some stupid idiot pull up beside them in their "tricked out crap mobile" and try to race you. I know I have. This article points out how stupid that is.

Spare New York Please, Nasty Terrorists
Pretty funny letter explaining where the Terrorists could attack instead.

For Chrissakes, Can I Eat a F#%*ing Taco in Peace?
Bottom line: Taco Bell is gross and scetchy. But they are oddly good.

"Dear Red States..." A Letter From The Blue!
Pretty funny letter about why America wouldn't miss the red states if they left.

I'm post something personal soon, I promise. In the meantime, check out the Best Of Craisglist!

Workin' On A Sunny Day

I'm workin' on a sunny day,
Sitting desks to make my pay,
Now I've time to make a post,
Of all the things I love the most.

Yeah, I'm definately not a poet (unlike my sister Katie) But anyway, on we blindly stumble--er, on we bloodily stagger, sorry, I withdraw that. Props if you get the reference.

So I'm sitting at the reception desk at Crawford and Company, a smaller insurance company. Yesterday I was contracted by Adecco to help them refile a whole bunch of client files in numerical order. They were impressed that I was able to do the whole lot of them in 6.5 hours as opposed to two days. Fortunately, I didn't work myself out of a job because I was asked to cover for their receptionist who would be out today. So now I am trying to deal with the phone, and so far I've been alright, but it hasn't been terrific.

The first call was a woman wanting info about her claim, and I took down her information and told her that she would be contacted on monday. However, I didn't get the woman's name (brilliant.) Then the next call was someone asking for people that don't even work here anymore. So I had to ask if they were or not, which was annoying. And finally the third caller was one of their claims adjusters who wanted somebody who was out, and I think I accidentally hung up on him, so he called back and I apologized, told him I was a temp and connected him to a person he wanted.

Argh. It's going to be a fun day.

Fortunatly there isn't too much to do--it's pretty slow on Fridays they told me. Which is good because I really hope to be able to do some writing and get some scripts/ideas hammered out. It should be a really be productive, since the internet is only so fun when you are force to use Internet Explorer after becoming completely dependant on tabbed browsing.

Oh well. The secretary's desk has a 1/2 gallon fish bowl on her desk with a very lively and beautiful fish, and it's really entertaining to watch. I guess I am groping for amusement. Anyway, later today I am going to have dinner with my sister Sarah, since we've not seen each other in a while. Hopefully I will be able to get back to Lewiston in time to pick Tanner up from the Lisbon Street Sam's (he had to walk to work since I was gone, and I thought I'd try and pick him up.) I also wanted to talk to Sarah and find out if she showed to video that I edited to her MVA clients yet, and if she still wanted to buy a spindle of 50 DVD's so I could burn copies for her. Then I can proceed with my plan to make a bunch of DVD's of What?!?! my ninth grade community access television show, and give them to all the participants.

Tanner and I have been talking a lot over the last two nights about a lot of deep stuff. It's hard to explain, but if you've ever had one of your best friends as a roommate, you would understand completely. We've been talking a lot about who we are and how we've come to be where we are today. It was sparked because I was thinking about how much I want to do another play... I mean, I really want to act again, but I'm so busy with other things that I don't want to abandon that I don't think I have the time. But I watched The Making Of Monster Hunters, the spring show my Junior year at Harrisonburg High School, and I saw how much fun it was and how much I laughed and had more energy, and, and.... I want that again.

I like Film and TV, no question, but I miss the fun and the flair of drama people sometimes... the passion and fun that they have in the process of making their art. *Sigh* I need to get to that point again.

I'm going to wrap this little post up, but I'll probably post again before this is all over, since I am friggin' awesome, and will get bored again. Toodles!

A Series Of Events...

Well, I'm sure you've all realized that I am dead.

SUPRISE! I'm NOT!

I just got not as good at keeping up with blogging recently. But I've recieved plenty of complaints, so it's time to get it goin' again.

However, I am warning you in advance, August will probably be a dry month. I'll explain why:

I am going to be working for Trish and Alex in their concession stands. But I am probably going to be WICKED tired, running myself into the ground, expecially during the 4th week of August, when I attempt to do a WHOLE WEEK at the Union Fair. We'll see how that goes. I hope I can make it.

In other news, I got a part time job at the North Face in Freeport, however, that may be in Jeopardy because apparently one of the main reasons they hired me was because of my weekend availability--which will be completely gone in August. I just hope that they won't harbor any hard feelings for only hiring me for a very short time. But there is the possibility that I will try to work for them full time next year... but I'm not sure.

Tanner is at Sam's, and I'm probably gonna drive on down there and chill with him for a little bit, since when I get back to my bed I'm going to get some sleep, since I also managed to procure a temp job for Thursday and Friday, 9-5 in Scarborough, ME.

So work, though confusing, seems to be panning out. But the real fear is going to be that something happens which gives me work so much that I can't get any rest and I burn my self out before school starts... I don't want to get to school so tired that I don't do anything/do poorly. Especially since I am really excited about my Film One class and my civil rights class.

I figure that I will make this years tuition bills, thanks to help from my Grandma, but it will be a close call. Or maybe not. I haven't spent that much time calculating what might happen.

My weight lifting hasn't been happening, and I'm a little annoyed with that, because I had been doing so well. After work I feel really tired and don't want to work out--what I really need to do is practice standing up all day, every day, in preperation for the Fairs and Festivals, since that's what's going to kill me--because of my weight, standing all day is really really tiring. And unlike a 9-5, this is, like, 10am to 10pm, running around serving customers, etc. And as far as I know, you really can't sit down. Argh.

That's what worries me. But that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

All is well other than that. I am going to go down to Wiers Beach in New Hampshire, to visit my friend J-Pizzle at his lake house on Winnepesaukee. (Sp?) It's going to be awesome, expecially since I'll be there during my birthday and they are going to have this big party for me, his sister and someone else who has a birthday during that week. Also, the infamous Joe Collesano, co-star of Fattitude is going to be there, coming up from Connecticut, so we'll all be able to do some catching up.

I've got to get down to Sams and see Tanner, but I'll tell you about a very big development happening as soon as it's over--but it'll be really good... It involves a celebrity! :0 Later! ;)

I'm Friggin' Awesome: DVD making, Moving, Denny's, The Fourth, and Moxie!

So I know that I promised that I would post more, but I am actually somewhat suprised that I haven't updated much, do to my lack of work and Tanner being on vacation for the last week.

Oh well.

Anyway, I am pretty sure that I am going to leave this rut of no work very soon. I am FINALLY signed on with Bonney Staffing, and they gave me a position within two days, unlike Adecco, who seems to not have any jobs at the moment. Which totally blows, because Bonney doesn't pay as well.

Oh well.

I've also been doing ALOT on the computer, including making a DVD of almost all my editing during the past year (I left out a few that I didn't like.) So it should make a good demo to show to folk, however, I should still edit a reel. The DVD is friggin cool, and I can't believe how easy it was to do. I used Ulead DVD Workshop 2, and once you understand their interface (which is so "user-friendly" that for an advanced user it is neccisary to think down a bit to operate it.) But it is a suprisingly powerful little tool, which allows you to do a myriad of things and edit thousands of parameters. You can even use photoshop and your own photos to creat totally sweet and unique menus. In other words, I've loved using it.

Additionally, I have finished editing the movie for Sarah's clients, "Daniel Radcliff's In Trouble", which to put it mildly, is bad. But it's bad in a pretty fun way. Sarah came over and helped me make sense of the some-what confusing script and footage. I think it came out well. I made a DVD for it already!

Then I proceded to use my Sony Camcorder to convert my VHS copies of "What!?!?", "Rapture and Debacle in Less Than Twenty Minutes" and "Sure Thing" into digital files. They look terrible, because the source was analog VHS, but oh well, at least I have them. (To explain, What!?!? is a movie I made in 9th grade for community access TV, Rature and Debacle is a rock opera a friend and I wrote for a 10th grade talent show, and Sure Thing is a skit that I preformed in that same show.)

What else? Oh yes, Sarah and joined Pam at Grandma's camper to help her pack up all her stuff. Which also meant that I had to take all kinds of stuff off of grandma's hands, but I was happy to oblige, as much of it was food, but I also snagged a toaster, canvas camp chair, and a small video/DVD shelf. It was fun, and then we were treated to lunch at Mac's Grill in Auburn. They are pretty good, but BEWARE! We were VERY DISSAPOINTED to find that we could no longer order jalepeno poppers individualy--they only came in a sampler appetizer--and would you believe it, they only give you ONE!!! Even though the menu says "poppers" (plural) we were told that only one was included. That's RETARDED.

Needless to say, it took my opinion of Mac's down a notch, though they still have awesome burgers and steaks.

Ted came over and Me, Ted and Tanner all went to Denny's, but since I had already eaten pretty recently, I only had the "Sasseville Special" (Bowl of whipped cream and oreo crumbles for 0.99 cents.) That was fun, and I really liked our waitress, she was nice, and she was very comfortable with us, and even guessed that Tanner put his food away in his hollow leg!

Then we returned home and played two all-cup tours on MarioKart for gamecube, then Ted left for War Of Worlds, (whice Tanner and I are going to see when Nancy visits).

For the Fourth, I am not sure what I'm going to do, but I'll obviously watch the fireworks. I'll probably go and watch some of the entertainment in the park.

And finally, I am thinking about asking the Moxie people if they would pay to have my vehicle painted Moxie Orange with the logo and everything... the Moxie festival is next week in Lisbon Falls. We'll see. Sarah wants to see if I can get into the Parade... I don't think so.

Well, it's midnight, and I need to be up in eight hours to get ready for church, so I guess I'll post more later. Hope you enjoyed it! There should be more to come soon!

Courses For The Fall

These are the current courses I am enrolled in for Fall '05:

MA301E FILM PRODUCTION I RAMEY, KATHRYN MW 12:00-1:45
PH110 ETHICS AND JUSTICE STAFF MWF 10:00-11:15
PL332 CIVIL RIGHTS BROWN, MICHAEL TR 12:00-1:45
PS305 COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY JAGAROO, VINOTH TR 10:00-11:45

Anyone have any thoughts about these classes or want to let me know if you are taking them?

Work! The Movie!

So I finally got some temp work. Adecco called me yesterday afternoon and told me that they had a position available. Huzzah! About time I say. Anyway, the job would last two days at Southern Maine Medical Center, upgrading some medication dispensing equipment made by "Pyxis" (definition: a small box used by ancient Greeks to hold medicines.) It wasn't hard, and I enjoyed working with the people there, even though I don't like hospitals in the least.

Oh, and a humorous side note, one of my co-workers was a dark skinned man with the last name "Hussein". Just a little humorous if you ask me. Although I feel bad. It would be like being named Hitler or something--it would suck to be ashamed of your heritage because of one colossal douchebag.

In other news, I go back tommorow, and then I guess its the waiting game again. Although I am keeping very busy, trying not to waste my spare time. For example, I'm voulenteering at Great Falls TV again, writing more, getting more music/organizing my files, editing Sarah's video, trying to learn Adobe After-Effects, and of course, working out some.

I'm going to go Kart-it-up (Play Mario Kart for Gamecube) before I go to bed for the night, so I'll post more later. Adios!

Paying For A War That Ended 107 Years Ago?

If you are tired of paying for a war that ended 107 years ago then you should join the Libertarian Party, the only party trying to lower taxes and decrease the size and scope of the Federal Government.

I was astounded when I read that article. Ridiculous. And for those skeptics who think that this is just a rumor--it's not according to congress.gov.

Job opportunities are starting to work out for me, as I may get a part time job at the north face in Freeport, ME, in order to supplement the lack of temp work now.

In the mean time, I've been just chillin' getting things done.

Holla back y'all.

I am sad. (I actually didn't buy that, but it made me sad to think that someone had paid for a delicious beverage and couldn't drink it.) 

Pizzle & Joe

Click To See Full Size
This is a silly cartoon I made for no reason. It was made in the style of Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, using photographs that I took with J-Pizzle's Canon Powershot A95 this spring.

Movie Whore?

After seeing this quiz on my friends site, I knew I had to take it.


Are you a movie Whore? (Yes, if you get more than 70)

1. (x) Napoleon Dynamite
2. ( ) Saw
3. ( ) White Noise
4. ( ) White Oleander
5. (X) Anger Management
6. ( ) 50 First Dates
7. ( ) Jason X
8. ( ) Scream
9. ( ) Scream 2
10. ( ) Scream 3
11. (x) Scary Movie
12. (X) Scary Movie 2
13. ( ) Scary Movie 3
14. ( ) American Pie
15. ( ) American Pie 2
16. ( ) American Wedding
17. ( ) Harry Potter
18. ( ) Harry Potter 2
19. ( ) Harry Potter 3
20. ( ) Resident Evil I
21. ( ) Resident Evil 2
22. (x) The Wedding Singer
23. ( ) Little Black Book
24. ( ) The Village
25. ( ) Donnie Darko
26. (X) Lilo & Stitch
27. (X) Finding Nemo
28. ( ) Finding Neverland
29. ( ) 13 Ghosts
30. ( ) Signs
31. (X) The Grinch
32. ( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
33. ( ) White Chicks
34. ( ) Butterfly Effect
35. ( ) Thirteen going on 30
36. (x) I Robot
37. ( ) Dodge ball
38. ( ) Universal Soldier
39. (X) A Series Of Unfortunate Events
40. ( ) Along Came A Spider
41. (x) Deep impact
42. (x) KingPin
43. (x) Never Been Kissed
44. (x) Meet The Parents
45. ( ) Meet The Fockers
46. (X) Eight Crazy Nights
47. ( ) A Cinderella Story
48. (x) The Terminal
49. ( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
50. ( ) Passport to Paris
51. (x) Dumb & Dumber
52. ( ) Dumb & Dumberer
53. ( ) Final Destination
54. ( ) Final Destination 2
55. ( ) Halloween
56. (X) The Ring
57. (X) The Ring 2
58. ( ) Harold & Kumar (white castle)
59. ( ) Practical Magic
60. ( ) Chicago
61. ( ) Ghost Ship
62. ( ) From Hell
63. ( ) Hellboy
64. ( ) Secret Window
65. ( ) I Am Sam
66. ( ) The Whole Nine Yards
67. ( ) The Whole Ten Yards
68. ( ) The Day After Tomorrow
69. ( ) Child's Play
70. ( ) Bride of Chucky
71. (X) Ten Things I Hate About You
72. ( ) Just Married
73. ( ) Gothika
74. ( ) A Nightmare on Elm Street
75. ( ) Sixteen Candles
76. ( ) Bad Boys
77. ( ) Bad Boys 2
78. ( ) Joy Ride
79. ( ) Seven (SE7EN)
80. (x) Oceans Eleven
81. (x)Oceans Twelve
82. ( ) Identity
83. ( ) Lone Star
84. (x) Bedazzled
85. ( ) Predator I
86. ( ) Predator II
87. (x) Independence Day
88. ( ) Cujo
89. ( ) A Bronx Tale
90. ( ) Darkness Falls
91. ( ) Christine
92. (x) ET
93. ( ) Children of the Corn
94. ( ) My Boss's daughter
95. (X) Maid in Manhattan
96. ( ) Frailty
97. ( ) Best bet
98. (X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
99. ( ) She's All That
100.( ) Calendar Girls
101.( ) Sideways
102.(x) Mars Attacks
103.( ) Event Horizon
104.(X) Ever After
105.(x) Forrest Gump
106.(X) Big Trouble in Little China
107.(x) X-men 1
108.( ) x-men 2
109.( ) Jeepers Creepers
110.( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
111.( ) Catch Me If You Can
112.( ) The Others
113.(X) Freaky Friday
114.( ) Reign of Fire
115.( ) Cruel Intentions
116.(X) Hot Chick
117.( ) Swimfan
118.( ) Miracle
119.( ) Old School
120.( ) Ray
121.( ) The Notebook
122.( ) K-Pax
123.(x) Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
124.(x) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
125.(x) Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
126.( ) A Walk to Remember
127.( ) Boogeyman
128.(X) Hitch
129.( ) Back Door Sluts 9
130.(x) South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
131.( ) The Fifth Element
132.(x) Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
133.(x) Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones
134.(x) Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith
135.(x) Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
136.(x) Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
137.(x) Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi
138.(X) Troop Beverly Hills
139.( ) Train Spotting
140.( ) People under the stairs
141.( ) Blue Velvet
142.(X) Sound Of Music
143.(x) Parent Trap
144.(x) The Burbs
145.( ) SLC Punk
146.( ) Meet Joe Black
147.( ) Wild girls
148.(x) A Clockwork Orange
149.( ) The Order
150.(x) Spiderman
151.(x) Spiderman 2
152.( ) Amelie
153.( ) Mean Girls
154.(x) Shrek
155.(x) Shrek 2
156.(x) Incredibles
157.( ) Collateral
158.(x) The Fast & The Furious
159.( ) 2 Fast 2 Furious
160.( ) Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow
161.( ) Closer
162.(x) The Sixth Sense
163.(x) Artificial Intelligence
164.( ) Love actually
165.( ) Shutter
166.( ) Ella Enchanted
167.(x) Princess Diaries 1
168.( ) Princess Diaries 2
169.( ) Constantine
170.( ) Million Dollar Baby
171.( ) Life Of David Gale
172.( ) 25th Hour
173.( ) Vanilla Sky
174.(x) Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
175.( ) Boogy Nights
176.(x) Braveheart
177.( ) The Anarchist Cook Book
178.( ) How To Deal
179.(X) What About Bob?
180.(X) Billy madison
181.(X) Happy Gilmore
182.( ) Porkey's 1
183.( ) Porkey's 2
184.( ) Swimming with Sharks
185.(X, X, X) Back To The Future (I, II, & III)

Total: 67 (But I also counted BttF 1-3 which weren't individual responses on the original. Before that the answer would have been 65. I was actually suprised that I was not a movie whore. Then again, there is no science behind this, since I could add so many movies to this that I have seen.

Toodles!

Cold and Wet!

No, I didn't wet myself, but it has been in the mid-forties and drizzling for the last two days here in "vacationland".

Tanner and I went to the BMV (Bureau of Motor Vehicles, I guess we're not good enough for a whole department.) and Tanner got his drivers permit (his old one expired, so he had to retake the exam.) It was fun spending an hour at the DMV, and I also found out that it would probably cost around 60 dollars to change the registration on my vehicle from VA to Maine. I still need to find out if the car will pass inspection here in ME, because I heard somewere that Maine doesn't pass vehicles with rust holes in them.... but I find that hard to believe, judging by some of the crappy cars I've seen driving around.

Sarah stopped by, and she jumped on the trampoline and we caught up a little bit. I enjoyed it, and she gave me the script from her clients movie so that I can begin editing it. It should be a lot of fun. I think.

What else? Oh, I saw the season finale of 24 today (Thanks, Danny Z.!) and I loved it. What exciting television. Amazing, even if it was unbelievable at points.

Not much else going on right now.

Things Are Lookin' A Little Better

Well, I still don't have a job, and it's still hot as ever here.

But seriously, I had a good day today because I went to Zak's house. I haven't seen him in a long time, and the other sweet thing is that he has a pool. We all splashed around and then went inside and watched some demos on Zak's computer for new games coming soon. They were all pretty cool, especially this game invented by Will Wright, (creator of the sim games) which is an evolution sim game... it's pretty cool.

Anyway, I went to Shaws and got some chicken nuggets for cheap and ate them for dinner, and they were awesome. I'm probably going back to buy more, since they are sweet, and only 99 cents for like, 25 of them.

I also called some family friends who own concession stands here, and told them that I would be able to work on the weekends if they needed. They called me back and said that they would probably need me almost everyday during august, and they'd be willing to pay me 11 dollars an hour, putting in about 50-60 hours a week! That could be something I want to do, but at the same time, it's hard work, and I don't want to say that I can't do it--but when I did the Lobster Festival for two days, it was so tiring that don't know if I could do it full time like that!

The other thing is that I would probably have to stay away from home, basically camping out for days at a time.... but I guess if that's all I can do, I should do it, since I am here to MAKE MONEY. Not HAVE FUN. But it's kinda fun too, but it's just really tiring.... I'll probably do it.

Who knows. Anyway, I called Adecco today and they said that their is no office work right now, and the only thing she had right now was about a weeks worth of work at the the Hollis, ME Poland Spring plant. It would be 12 dollars an hour, but the shifts would be 12 (twelve) hours long! In addition to the 1.5 hours it would take to drive there each way, it would probably kill me. So I mean, I'd like to do it... but I've not got much experience production lines, and I don't know how much I could help. Of couse, the transportation distance could be solved by staying with Sarah, which I'm sure that she'd do for me.

I dunno, I'm sort of still holding out, since I am still ahead of schedule on the money front right now, (I didn't start working until the very end of June last year, and I already worked for 68 hours for the High School in Harrisonburg.

Well, it's night time, so I'm off to bed. Goodnight!

The Meter Maid Has It In For Me

I live in Lewiston, ME, a town of on street parking and parking garages. I live in the heart of downtown, where the time limit for free parking is one hour. Either that or I park in a garage for 75 cents an hour. Instead of paying, I move my car to a new space every hour, on the hour, and consequently do not get ticketed.

However, one day I parked at a metered space to go apply for a job with Bonney Staffing. The meter had fifteen minutes on it, and since it only took quarters, not dimes or nickels, I deceided to go in and if nessicery, return to the meter and add a quarter. I noted the time and went in. As I was filling out the form, I noticed that the fifteen minutes was up. So I went back to the car and found a ticket had been placed there.... only about 90 seconds before I had gotten there. In fact, the meter maid was about two cars up, writing another ticket.

I am convinced that due to the sheer coincidence required for her to appear at the precise moment when my meter expired, I believe that she saw my vehicle, which had been skirting her lethal ticket pad for almost a week, and noticed that there were just a few minutes left on the meter, and so therefore, she WAITED for it to expire and then wrote the ticket, which is why it was timed as the same minute I had estimated for the meter to run out.

Anyway, I still haven't found a job, but it's only been one week, and I definately haven't exhausted all of my options yet, so hopefully I will find something to my pay satisfaction soon.

It's Saturday and Tanner's girlfriend Nancy is coming up from Mass. So I'll probably be trying to stay out of their way, so that they have some "alone time". Since Tanner's not going to school with her at University of Maine, Farmington, they don't get to see eachother much anymore.

I saw Phil from GFTV yesterday, and talked with him for about 2 hours, and it was great fun. We've got some stuff in the works for this summer, like doing a three camera truck shoot.

Also, Tanner's family moved their weight lifting machine into the hall, so I am starting to lift weights every day, so hopefully I will be nice and buff. I just started, so hopefully I will be able to keep it up. I'm not doing anything strenuous yet, as I'm still trying to figure out how I can make it work best for me.

I will try harder to update everyday! Later!

I'm In Maine Again. And It's Cold And Rainy

Well, I made it, (it took me a little longer than I expected, but I'm fine)

It was a fun trip, and I had lots of exciting things happen while I was on the road. As I cruised up into West Virginia, I pulled into the WV Welcome center and there was this Boy Scout Troop giving away hotdogs and drinks (sweet tea, tea, coffee, kool-aide, lemonade) so I stopped and chatted with some of the people and found out that it was a fund raiser. "How do you make any money if you are giving this stuff away?" She laughed and said that people were very generous. So I put a dollar in their cup and put a pin in their map of "where were you born?" (I was the first person to put a pin in west of the Mississippi) I was talking to this really nice lady there, and she said something about being born at home with a mid-wife, and I told her that I was born the same way. She and I both think it's really cool.

So then I was on the road again, refreshed from my three cups of Kool-aide and conversation. I pulled off at an exit to get some gas a about a hundred miles later, and it was 2.05 a gallon. This was at a "Turkey Hill" Station in PA, and I went looking for a Wendy’s on that same exit, and I found this really cool Wal-Mart that was situated directly below the end of the runway for their small municipal airport, and since you approach the Wal-mart from up on a hill, you can see the whole runway stretching out, ending in the parking lot!

Anyway, I continued on, and about 5 miles south of Scranton (the approximate middle point of the trip) I encountered some bad traffic, we just stopped and crawled along at stop and go 5mph speeds. It was awful, because I wasn't moving, and I'm probably the only person who'd make a trip that big in summer without A/C. Anyway, I was HOT. For those that don't know, driving a manual transmission in stop and go traffic is really, really tiring. But I was really lucky because the traffic peaked over the hill and I was able to ride the brake slowly down the other side of the mountain with the car in neutral. (My clutch requires A LOT of effort to keep depressed). Anyway, as soon as we passed the accident (it looked like a blowout or something) traffic resumed normality. I was so hot and tired. By this time it was 4pm, and I still hadn't eaten anything since my leftover enchilada and an apple that morning. So I got off and had a Wendy's Double Cheeseburger, and even though the staff was a little slow, the burger was one of the best I'd had in a long time from a fast food chain, hot, juicy and awesome. (No, not as good as Five Guys Burgers & Fries, mom) ;)

I called mom and Tanner to give them a heads up on my status... then I noticed that I had one heck of a road burn. I was lobster red on my left arm (the one I'd been hanging out the window for the last 6 hours) and completely unscathed everywhere else. My mom cleverly suggested that I pull out my long sleeve shirt and just wear the left sleeve to keep it from getting more burned. So I did. It worked, but I think it was already too burned, since it still hurts a lot today.

I pressed forward, changing onto 84 East and motoring along until I so the sign that indicated I would be passing into New York momentarily. My mom's advice rang in my ear. "You better fill up before you get into New York, It's going to be 30 cents more expensive there, you can bet that. So I got of at the last exit before Port Jervis, NY, and got fuel for 2.14 a gallon, and I since I missed the turn to get back on the freeway, I decided to cross the bridge into Port Jervis on the surface roads. It's a nice little town, and I soon got to the next exit, passing the fabled Port Jervis Kentucky Fried Chicken (Home of the overheard line "Is this for here or to go?" "Yes!") and arriving at the onramp.

The definition of irony is "incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs", and sure enough, the first gas station in New York was 1.99 a gallon. A full 0.15 cents CHEAPER. Fortunately, I'd only needed about 3 gallons, so it was only about 45 cents, but still, it made me laugh. Thanks for the advice mom!

In my defense of my mom's advice, about 20 miles into the state the gas was about 2.38, so I guess she was right, but the story still has comedic merit, by gum.

What else happened. Oh! At one point I put my arm out the window and starting pretending like it was an airplane wing, flying it up and down, and the people in front of me all started doing it too! I gave them the thumbs up and they returned it. It was a fun little experience in a tiring day.

I decided to drive until it was dark, and then stop, because I hate night driving, my eyes get very tired. So I drove until I had just exited the Mass pike (I-90) heading north on I-495, and I had committed to get off at the first exit and get dinner. The first exit said "Framingham", which happened to be the home of Danny Z, my friend from Emerson and fellow Master Control lackey. (Well, he's the head lackey, but he's still a lackey) Anyway, I called him and we met up at Friendly's Restaurant (A big chain in New England for all you southerners.) and we ate and talked, and then we went back to his house for a little bit to get my coat that he had picked up for me after I left it in the Emerson Cutler-Majestic Theater. We watched the newest episode of Family Guy and he burned me a DVD of the season finale of 24, which I missed.

I thanked him and went on my way, and my body wasn't that tired, but my eyes were really tired, so my stops became even more frequent, resting them for a few minutes then going on. It started raining when I got past Saco Maine, and I had to slow down. I pulled into the travel plaza right before the Gray tollbooth (Oh, by the way, the tolls are now 1.75 at the Maine boarder, and 1.25 in Gray, I think it used to be one and one, but I'm not sure) and called Tanner telling him when I was expecting to come in. I got out of the car and ran through the rain and into the building, used the bathroom, looked around and then ran back to the car.

To my defense I didn't cry, but I wasn't happy. I punched the car and put my head down on the wet metal roof as both my keys and my phone sat uselessly inside.

I tried to use the payphone to call my mom an get our AAA number, but I couldn't get the darned thing to work, and I was tired and frustrated. Then while I was fiddling with the phone, one of the service station attendants came up behind me and said "are you locked out?" I nodded and told him what I was doing and he offered to help, and see about digging up some "Slim Jims" as those lock picking thin metal things are called. And we went out, each with a slim jim, and started working on the door.

I'm kinda proud to say that I opened the door before he did, but he wasn't being as rough with it as I was, probably a comfort thing, since it wasn't his vehicle. I thanked him profusely for his help, shook his hand and he walked off. I sat with my head on the wheel and uttered a prayer of thanks and asked that he be blessed for helping me, and continued to Lewiston. I arrived without further event.

Now I've got some sleep to catch up on, a job to procure and a car to move every hour!

Wish me luck!

No, I'm Not Dead! I've Just Been Busy!

So anyway, I just wanted to say a quick hello to all my friends, especially those in the Burg. I know I didn't get to see everyone, and I'm really sorry about that. It's been crazy, I've been working at HHS, helping my mom around the house, and chillin' with as many homies as I can, but sadly, it's time for me to leave again, to go to maine and earn lots of money for that bank account draining phenomena known as higher education. Right? Right. Dooley and I are going to hang out a little today, possibly placing a Geocache on the outside of town.

Also, this article about a 15-Pound Hamburger was brought to my attention. I thought I'd mention this for my friends Joe and J-Pizzle who have shared the "Big Irish" experience with me at Bennigans in Boston. You guys think we could do it? I dunno. ;)

I've played three games of Risk since I got here, and lost two out of three, but had a great time. I've also helped build the new HHS "Ezra A. Horne Memorial Broadcast Studio" from the ground up. It is going to be SOOO cool. I can't wait to see what they do with the awesome facility Seth Stratford and I designed and build for them.

Well, I'm probably leaving for Maine tommorow morning (Sunday, 5th) so If you want to stop by between know and then, feel free.

Internet Quizzes. Yippee.

I thought I'd be cool and post a couple of these LAME and POORLY DESIGNED internet quizes out there.

You Are 26 Years Old

26 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Your Political Profile

Overall: 60% Conservative, 40% Liberal

Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Ethics: 50% Conservative, 50% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

How Liberal / Conservative Are You?

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

30% Yankee

5% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

WHOOPEE!

Freshman Year, and the EVVY Awards are now Over.

The EVVY's went incredibly well. I had a terrific time and made strong bonds with people who I know will be my colleagues in the future. In fact, I made closer bonds with everybody, and discovered new friends, and found out good and bad things about existing ones. And I got to operate camera five, which had some sweet bump shots.

But you may know that I and J-Pizzle were nominated for an EVVY Award for Best On-Air Personality. We didn't win, but it was an honor to be nominated, and the guy who won was working at Q97.9 FM in Portland, ME! So the fact that we were in the same league with him was awesome. You can hear the shows at Aftermidnight.cjb.net.

Well, I'm tired, but I'm sleeping on the couch here at the Paula household, so I didn't sleep that great. But hey, whatever. I'm pretty much better after the EVVY's, but I'm probably going to take it easy today. Nearby Lynn Massachusetts has a store called "Building 19 & 7/8ths" Which is a small chain similar in nature to mardens, except sketchier. But its still awesome.

Also, I'm going to call the Majestic Theatre and see if I did indeed leave my red winter coat in the theatre. I think I did, because I can't for the life of me figure out where it could be. I checked everything.

Anyway, yesterday Patrick came down and we loaded up the HUGE amount of junk that I had accumulated (actually, it's not really junk, but I'd gained more stuff than I thought.) Then I had to help J-Pizzle move out, since he was taking me to his house to stay with him for a few days while I wait for my tuesday flight. Then we had to unload him, we went for a walk along the ocean (It was cold, but beautiful, I kept thinking how much mom would have loved it) His house is on the corner near a park which is on the ocean. It's cool to look out the window and see the water.

I'm a little annoyed, because I packed up my computer I forgot to print out my hometeaching report, so I am going to have to call everybody back today/tommorow and get their report so I can turn it in. Home teaching here is ridiculous since people come and go all the time, and it is just crazy. The organization is tough and the number of people each of us is supposed to teach each month is 6! Six different individual meetings. Its rough. I didn't succeed much. Oh well.

Just 32 hours until I board my flight to come home! Talk to y'all soon. (Got to get back in that southern feelin'!) ;)

The 24th Annual EVVY Awards is killing me!

PLEASE HELP ME, MY FEET ARE SO TIRED!

I've been on my feet almost the last three days, spending a lot of time inside listening to a headset and moving expensive equipment. I am on dinner break, so I took 30 minutes for dinner, and so I have about 15 minutes to write a quick post and try to check in with my sanity. (I don't have thirty minutes because you have to arrive early to be ready to start AT 6:00 (which means waiting at the door to sign into the theatre, dropping your coat off in the basement, and getting to your station and settle in).

Seriously, this is so hard, but it is still a really fun time and will ultimately be really really awesome. If you haven't been told to already, tune into the show on the The Emerson Channel Webstream.

The show where I am operator of Camera 5 (House right box) starts at 2:00pm

The evening show, where I am camera assistant for the same camera, starts at 6:00pm.

Tune in! And/Or visit EvvyAwards.org Thanks!

Help! I Need Somebody!

I wish I could have someone just make me well. I'm sick. (Congratulations, DOUCHE, you're only 3 intense days away from an awesome show, and your SICK)

Well, I should quit whining. I tried to go to bed at 9pm, and I think I actaully feel asleep in about fifteen minutes. At which time I was RUDELY awakened by a knock at my door. I didn't answer, but It's scared me, my heart was actually pounding out of my chest. So then, of course, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I tried calling my sister Sarah about how many EVVY tickets she wanted me to buy for her, but she didn't answer (even though she said she'd call me back tonight.)

Then I tried to go to sleep again, but it then Dad called back and woke me up, which was okay, because I really wanted his advice about what to do to get well-FAST. He told me to drink lots of water (duH) and take certain herbs once an hour all day, and not eat, and if I get hungery to drink juice. He said if I do that I might be cleared up by the end of the day. Lets hope.

So here I am now, chatting with Laurie, Jake S., and J-Pizzle, and posting this. Yeah. Oh, did I mention that I need to get up at about 7:00am? Sweet huh.

What else is there to say? Hmmm. Oh, if you want to watch the show that I might win an award for, you can watch it LIVE on the ECTV Webstream. The show starts at 2:00pm EST and should run about 2.5 hours. I will hopefully win and so you might see me on camera, but if not, you can look at the camera angles, and the shots coming from the house right floor are my camera (camera 5) Yea for me!

Wish me luck on sleep. I've just killed an hour. It's dead. I just nailed the coffin closed on a whole hour. WHOOPEE.

A Promise Is A Promise

Actually, I never promised, but whatever. In a valient effort to post more regularly, I am just going to do a quick "what's goin' down" post.

Today I had more EVVY meetings, where we talked about framing and camera stuff, and at 3:20 I have an interview to talk about my plans within the organization for next year.

Hopefully tonight I will be able to go to the Pink Floyd laser light show at the Boston Museum of Science. That's the plan anyway. Well, wish me luck, more later!

It's Been A While (since my last post)/You've Come A Long Way, Baby (to read this post)

I realize that my posting times have decreased dramatically. But I'm also wondering why that is, since I'm actually not that busy. I am going to make a much more valiant effort to be a better person. This is the year for change. I don't have a lot of time to dilly dally around any more. There are way too many things in my life I need to get a hold of.

But enough about that. Life here has been sweet lately. I've gotten really good grades in all my classes, and right now I'm anticipating A-'s in everything, maybe one B+, but I don't mind, I've done well enough. Everthing has wrapped up and almost all of my friends have left and gone home, so it's just me and J-Pizzle farting around and rummaging through the trash to get the awesome stuff that rich kids from outta state throw away when they go home. For the record, here is a list of things I've gotten from the trash:

1. 4 Cubic Ft. Refrigerator
2. Mircowave (nice, clean)
3. Foam Pads
4. Down Comforter
5. $5 in loose change (it was in a shopping bag in the trash!)
6. Box of fabric softner
7. Powerstrip
8. Emerson College Mug
9. Unopened boxes of Q-tips, Band-aids, shaving cream, and leftover bottles of laudry detergent.
10. ONE GALLON can of Chocolate Flavored Pudding, unopened.
11. My roommates carpet (it's pretty nice, still)
12. Several clean and unopened foodstuffs, like cans of soup and M&Ms
13. USB cable for a printer
14. Small vacuum from my roommate
15. Small tool box (new)
16. Light for mounting on consumer camera
17. Desktop lamp w/ box of bulbs
18. Recycle Bin (Trash Can with recycling sybol on the outside

Things that my friend found while I was with him:
1. White TV/VCR Combo with 20 ft. coaxial cable (working)
2. Led Zeppelin Poster
3. Innumerable crappy posters, including a stack of about 20 G5 Mac computer posters
4. Poster Tubes (about 12)
5. Kitchen trash can
6. DVD: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (it was in an unmarked case, but not bootlegged!
7. Carpet
8. 17" CRT computer monitor
9. Multi-media keyboard
10. Foam for packing his stuff up
11. Toilet paper, paper towels for the kitchen in the suite.
12. Assorted cleaning supplies, like a push broom (roller broom) fabreeze, Clorox wipes.
13. A room lamp and a table lamp

Like I said, we have some awesome stuff, and we're all sharing which is cool.

But what else have I been up too? I feel like there is so much to tell, but at the same time I am brain dead about what exactly it was that I was going to tell you about. I had big plans for this post, lemme tell you, BIG!

Anyway, the Evvy awards are in nine days and things are already starting to pick up. Meeting are beginning, discussions are happening and time is starting to run out. I really need to take care of myself and stay on the ball or else I’m going to be dead by the end of the week. I am excited, but I’m also anxious.

I still haven’t told you guys, have I! I entered into three categories and was actually nominated for “Best Radio Personality” so there is a good possibility that I will be winning an Evvy with J-Pizzle, my co-host! So, today I went shopping and bought myself a black dress shirt for 20 dollars from TJ-Maxx, which I will wear the night of the Evvy’s, so that (hopefully) if I win the award, I’ll still look shnazzy even though I will be in all black (since I will be camera operating.)

So that’s exciting. I also bought a CD from Strawberries in Downtown Crossing, (about a block away) for 99 cents and it looks like it was a pretty good buy, and then I went to Wendy’s and ordered ten chicken nuggets with BBQ sauce. Mmm. It was scrummy.

Then I returned home, worked on cleaning through my stuff, my computer files, and working out the details of my personal possessions and there return to Tanner’s house in Lewiston, ME.

Tanner has decided to take a year off from college, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I agree that he isn’t doing that well in college right now, and it sort of is a waste of his time and money if he hates it. However, I know Tanner and I worry that not being at school won’t make him realize anything, because he’ll sit around all day over analyzing his life instead of just living. Believe it or not, I am not entirely certain what I am doing is the right thing, but I don’t really have time to think about it, I just have fun… and maybe that’s wrong, I don’t know.

But in the mean time, I will try and keep you all much more up to date. And for those of you in Virginia, I’ll be seeing you in just 12 days!

The Last Time I Sit Master Control!

This may very well be the last time that I sit in Master Control babysitting Good Morning Emerson. I sure hope so. It's not that this is such a bad job, but I just don't want to do it anymore. No skill is involved and it's very thankless. I am complaining, yes, but I don't do it often.

But don't fear that because I am no longer bored out of my mind watching electronic equipment function as it was programmed to function that my posts will come any slower. (Or faster, I guess.) But seriously, once I've got snots of boredom come down from the tops of my eyes during the summer, I will probably be back to undating more regularly.

The irony of course, is that in the summer my life isn't quite as interesting as it is during the academic year. Such is life, guess.

I've communicated with Mr. Stratford at Harrisonburg High School about our new TV Studio! It's awesome, and I will be helping put it all together in just 3 weeks or so. They've got some sweet sweet stuff.

Anyway, I hope to see everybody when I get down to VA! If you don't already have my e-mail or cell phone number, IM me or comment and I'll e-mail it to you! There are some many people I can't wait to see.

Back to Emerson College though. I've got the Evvy Awards show coming up in just 18 days! I'm going to be a camera operator on the afternoon show, and probably a grip or something on the evening show.

I have a lot of short paragraphs.

Perhaps it shows how flitty I am becoming. Who knows.

But seriously, I am going to have a great time, mostly because I will have a lot of time before the rehearsals begin. Boston is just getting into bloom. It's beautiful and starting to get warm enough for t-shirts an shorts.

I've got an open book final examination in 40 minutes, so I think I am going to go and read through my notes before class, so I'll be more prepared. Hopefully I'll not be too busy and will be able to keep you guys up to date.

He Who Hesitates is Lost.

I was online and I found a one-way ticket to Washington, D.C.'s Dulles for a total price of 54 dollars. INCREDIBLE. So I called and tried to make arrangements with the various people that I need to coordinate to get home safely, but the next day, the price had shot up to 72 dollars for the worst time, and 112 or so for the flight time I was trying to get.

It pisses me off so much. I should have just bought it. Argh.

Anyway, I'm in Master Control again, but I've got a "creative" project due on Wednesday that I haven't started, I've got to edit the Ladies Room Clip Reel, go hope teaching on Thursday, attend a ton of meetings, and finish the final draft of my 8 page (needs to be 12 page) research paper that is due friday. So I could be working on any number of those things right now, while sitting in Master Control, but instead I am updating here.

Seriously though, finding out that I am going to have to spend at least 100 dollars instead of 50 has ruined my day. I've got a class I don't want to go to, and then I'm going to go and sit EVVY office, and then I've got about 6 hours to create a project for tommorow. Wish me luck.

Marathon Monday!

Well, it's marathon Monday here in Boston. The day when thousands of people celebrate Patriots day by running--a lot of people. It's pretty insane. I'll try to get some pictures today if I can.

Anyway, I feel like I've been running a marathon recently. This weekend was insane, and the rest of this week is going to be pretty hectic, too. But I'm sure that you all feel the same way as your school year winds to a close. Granted, not evenyone is in school. But summer is coming, and that totally rocks.

During the film shoot I was on this weekend, I operated the Nagra 4.2, which is a two imput monaural reel-to-reel audio recording machine. And it worked pretty well the first day, even when the headphones stopped working right and we thought it was a problem with the mics.... that's fun, having to test every bit of your equipment in the middle of a shoot so that you can find out whats wrong.

So the Nagra got put away at room temperature over night, and the next day when we set it up, it would power on, show levels, rewind, fast forward--but not record or payback. In other words, it became useless. AND, the Film Equipment Distribution Center was closed on sundays. So how to we record our audio today? We have XLR mics, and camera and laptops have 1/8th inch mini plugs for mics, so those wouldn't work... but the PD150 Panasonic MiniDV camera has XLR inputs... and the Emerson Channel has one. So fortunately for me, I was able to access the emerson channel, steal (borrow) the camera, and record the audio onto MiniDV.

Needless to say, it was annoying, and editing is going to be more complicated now, but that's okay.

Oh, this is a special note for John Nevin: I was listening to my music while while writing this, and because WinAmp is on shuffle, it came up on Dolly Parton's and Kenny Rogers song "A Christmas To Remember". The lyric went like this

"Almost went to Aspen but something told me no
I considered Mammoth but there wasn't enough snow
And I even thought of Gatlinburg but that seemed so far to go
So I headed up to Tahoe for a Christmas on the slopes

Cool huh! GATLINBURG!

Anyway, I've got a lot to do today, and I've already wasted far too much of it. Later!

NEW! CLASSIC! ORIGINAL! IMPROVED! Peek-A-Boo Comments!

Thanks to a helpful link from Thaddeus Lovejoy, I now have "peek-a-boo" comments on my blog. Now when you click on the comments link, it should show the comments directly below the post on that same page. Cool huh? If you'd like to do this to your blog, visit Blogger Help: Peek-A-Boo Comments and follow the (I think) easy step-by-step instructions.

Sunday Morning Radio... Not Happening.

So anyway, we went to campus movie night at emerson college, and it all turned out pretty well, even though we didn't place. We were in the top 14 and were screened, and the audience reactions were awesome. (We had lots of people approach us afterwards and tell us how great they thought it was) Also, we had almost constant laughter, in fact, it almost became a problem, because people couldn't hear all of the lines, since the movie didn't have enough time to breathe very well. If you'd like to so the movie, click here: Fattitude

So WECB, the radio (not really radio, more like TV radio, since no radio can pick up the stations ultra weak signal.) is not working. I checked out everything I could, but it isn't working. I don't know what's wrong, but I do know that it won't be fixed until monday, because the engineer won't be able to come in until then. So we came down to the station anyway to fool around and practice with the computer and maybe see if we could figure out the problem. When I came down we found what looked like the remenants of some catered food with a few cans of soda. The stuff looked really old, so I figured that I could take a drink, and just as I did, I got glared down by some girl who had walked out of the office. She accused me of stealing (which I really was, when you think about it) and I said I was sorry and that I thought they were for everbody. It turns out they were for people at WERS, the big, important station at Emerson who where working on the pledge drive to earn money for the station. So I offered to answer some phones for a while in order to appease her. Funny thing, guilt. So there are no people calling in because it's the middle of the night, and I decided to kill some time while making this long overdue post to my weblog.

So, to sum up: we didn't place 1-3 at CMF, no radio show this week, and I am a sucker about feeling guilty.

That works for me.

Dan brought up his friend from NYU named Susie (Suzie?) I dunno. Anyway, she seems pretty clued in and nice, though a little too much like Dan in personality to be really cool with for long periods of time. Thats all good though.

Fattitude

Hey guys, I made a movie for CampusMovieFest with a group of friends. Please check out our movie "Fattitude" and leave a comment with what you think.

Just as a note, we had to keep it under 5 minutes to be eligable to win. I'll know the winners by Saturday.

More later.

Super Quick Update

Hey everyone, it's about one in the morning and I've been running STRAIGHT for 3 DAYS. I'm so tired. Perfect time to post, right? Right. So I'll make it quick to reassure you that I am not dead.

Okay, I'm doing EVERYTHING this week. Don't ask me why, but everything is happening in this ONE WEEK. SERIOUSLY. I'm doing everything I normally do, PLUS Campus Movie Fest, a competition where you have to plan, shoot and edit a 5 minute or less movie in FIVE DAYS, (I am Senior Producer and one of the lead roles), Evvy AD-walk to raise money for EVVY awards, all my shows, (speechless, ladies room, 2 episodes of gentleman's club), radio show, general conference, speechess voice overs, editing a 2-3 minute package for the ladies room, attending all my classes, shooting in every possible minute, OH MY GOSH I'M GOING TO EXPLODE. The point is, by monday I may be dead.

Just as a note though, we have an EXCELLENT shot at winning campus movie fest and having it shown in an IMAX theatre, AND win an Ipod shuffle. Our movie is coming out great. I will post a link to a low-res version when it is done. (By Saturday at Midnight).

Well that was a little longer than intended, but oh well, TTYL ;)

Siiiingin' In The Rain!

Well, we were supposed to get 4-8" of snow, but (as I predicted) the ground is too warm from our recent spring-like weather, and it is all melting the moment it touches pavement.

Lemme see, on Tuesday I shot a one camera "iso" (isolated) shoot for Evvy Entertainment Marketing night. I think I did pretty well, considering that I was appoached to do it about 7 hours before I had to do it. It was a good time, and I have another shoot under my belt. I really need to update my resume and write down all of the things that I have done this year. I bet it would really make me feel good, because as I think about it, I have done a WHOLE BUNCH.

On Wednesday, I had a full day, as I had a 10am class, then lunch, then at 12:30pm I recorded voice-overs for the short 'Speechless' segments. Following that, I had my Intro to Media Production lecture class from 2pm-3:45pm. Then I had work for about an hour, after which I ran right over to the Bill Bordy Theatre (AKA The Vault) to help setup for a 6pm 2 camera Iso shoot for "Public Conversations" basically a forum night where students faculty and administration can talk about issues facing the college. The shoot went pretty well, but I didn't think I did that great on th camera because it was a little high on the tripod to be easy to operate. Usually you are given a remote control for the handle, which makes it easier to zoom and focus on the fly, but I thought I did pretty well.

After we wrapped that shoot at around 8pm, I got a quick dinner and headed over to the student union to audition for "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", which is a radio version that is going to be made on campus. I auditioned for Ford, Arthur, Marvin, Slartibartfest, Eddie, and Zaphod. I am really pysched that they are doing this because I love that show, and I want to be involved any way I can.

Well, I need to wrap it up, since it's about time for me to head to class. I'll try to update some more later!

P.S. I've heard rumors that I am being considered for a camera operator for the Evvys! We'll see what comes of it!

You Know, I could easily do Two Big Posts A Week

If I spent my time during Master Control Babysitting to update the blog. So that's what I'm going to try and do.

So what am I up too? Well, Sunday night I stayed up late writing a 5 minute informative speech on Geocaching and a five page rough draft of a research paper, both which were due monday. They both turned out pretty well.

I helped my friends in suite 724 make a really short film for the Digital Media Show which is coming right up. It was pretty fun--the concept was to create this illusion that their was someone coming into my room in the middle of the night, and I get really scared, but it turns out that the strange noises I'm hearing is just my room mate on the lower bunk... um... well, you get the idea. It's a pretty funny gag, but I don't know what we are going to do with it.

Today I only have one class, but I have to work and then edit a package for Good Morning Emerson for Thursday. I'd edit it tommorow, but I have voulenteered to be a camera operator for this shoot that we are doing from 4 to 10pm tommorow, so I don't have any time. Oh well.

I know that my posts aren't as good as they used to be. But that's also because I am no trying enough or spending enough time on them. I guess that's the way it is.

Well, GME is over, so I am going to go. I'll try to be better and write more later. Adios.

Not Dead.... Yet.

Yeah, I just wanted to pop online and say that I am not dead yet. The reason I say "yet" is because I have about 10 pages of writing to do, and I am resisiting. I know if I just sat down and did it, I'd have it done by tonight. But I'm not going to do that, I bet.

Best,

Ezra

I'm Going to Go Insane

I'm sitting in Master Control again, on the third floor of the good 'ole Ansin building, masking sure that the friggin' channel airs the friggin programming.

I'm going to go crazy.

After having been out to quiet and peaceful Leeds, Utah, I've realized just how friggin' loud and noisy the humming of all this equipment. It's like this headache-inducing drone is out of control. Seriously, it's like something is squeezing around my spine tighter and tighter and tighter. Argh.

Anyway, I'm back in the grindstone. And I wonder, like I always do--is this really what I want to do with my life? I don't seem to be feeling very passionate, feeling pretty content to sit and watch TV with my friends instead of getting work done and making media of my own.

The thing that scares me is that even if I did not like it here, I bet I wouldn't leave, because I'm not a quitter, and to me that would be giving up. But I was thinking about it, and I don't know if I'm all that keen on moving out to LA and getting involved in that nonsense. Part of me wants to have a simple life, too. I don't need to make a lot of money, I could probably have a great time and be satisfied in life doing some job that earns me respect within my community, where I can help others. I dunno--try not to read into this to much, I just have verbal diarreha.

I'm watching Good Morning Emerson out of the corner of my eye, and it's really weird. As I watch, I feel like I'm watching actors. Arguably, all newsanchors are actors in a way, but even the guests are acting. It's as if they are behaving the way they've seen other guests behave on TV--speaking in the same tone, sitting the same way, answering the same questions. The anchors too! It's as if they are all emulating previous anchors on TV in an incestuous cyclical loop, feeding back into itself. Why can't people on TV be people? Why must we make them different, even superior? We are in America--you have the same opportunies, and you can be whoever you want... I just don't see why I would choose to behave like Dan Rather just because I'm on TV.

Nevermind. It's kinda a moot point anyway. That's probably one of the reasons that I am not so keen on television in the long run. It is "a vast wasteland" (Newton Minnow, to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961).

I just had an issue with the Good Morning Emerson Re-Air at 9:30am. It didn't work, because it had routed powerpoint to the player again. It pisses me off. I try really hard, I'm here for a reason, to keep the program for getting screwed up and not airing. But the more times it screws up the less I'm sure people think of my abilities to moniter a couple of friggin' variables.

This day has started out pretty crappy.