The storm wasn't as bad as everyone was going on about, though I don't really know what the situation is in the US where five states of emergency were declared. Hopefully things have settled down and no one is still living in their car after heading out for a carton of milk three days ago.
We were supposed to go to the bank today in order to do a few things that are likely overdue but that plan got vetoed when I went out to start the van. I'd left it at the end of the driveway in case we got blasted with snow, lost power, and had to leave in a hurry, figuring that at least the road would be plowed. Interesting, it's telling me plowed isn't a word. Clearly siri isn't Canadian. After climbing over snow drifts and trying to pickaxe the ice off the windshield, I pulled the plug on the bank trip.
Instead, I threw on my snow gear, fired up the snow blower we purchased along with this tinder box of a house, and set out to get the job done. It's the first time I've sparked it up and put it to work and I have to say this beast of blade spinning metal is an absolute monster when it comes to tossing around the elements; well snow anyway, I can't imagine it would do much good in a rain storm.
It took some getting used to as I have a gravel driveway and had to concentrate on not laser beaming a stream of rocks into the woods and unnecessarily robbing any nearby bunnies of their eyeballs. This was likely my biggest challenge, other than the snow that consistently blew back in my face and the constant threat of bits of wood near the wood pile that could have been snagged by the blades and caused unknowable damage.
My guess is the snow blowing activity probably shouldn't have happened only twenty minutes after I'd taken a shower. I'm not a paranoid sort when it comes to illness and don't buy all the 'your tummy caught a chill last night which is why you have terrible diarhea today..' theories. Still, there's no reason to go flirting with cold winter winds when your hair is wet under a hat that doesn't cover any more territory than a yamaka. Foolishness.
I still haven't fully thawed out but have since retired into the basement to get my day of work started, which puts me at a comfortable distance from the fire. I should be sorted out in no time.
Today the work agenda is going to be more production ideas and trying diligently to condense all my ideas into a pitch-able form that cuts to the meat of what I'm doing. This isn't as easy an activity as it sounds unfortunately, one, because I have a lot of ideas that generally start to spiral off in other directions whenever I try to get a handle on them and two, because I've never been the best at organizing thoughts at the best of times. Oh I can fire them off at the drop of a hat, or any other clothing for that matter, but when it comes to bullet pointing, I'm at a slight loss; getting better, to be sure, but still miserably outgunned by my poor habits and faulty wiring.
I feel good about everything I'm doing though and am ridiculously optimistic about my chances of pulling off what I have in mind. I've never been more optimistic actually, which is saying something if you know me at all. It'll take support and cooperation from others, people I haven't even talked to about it, but I'm confident that once I start getting the materials together and have some things to show people I'll be able to get a lot of people interested in helping out; considering they would just be helping themselves! That's the crux of the whole idea.
I broke out the goPro yesterday and started fooling around with it. Amazing device. I downloaded the app for my phone and iPad and for a while had the camera hooked up to Blaze's swing, attached to various parts for five or so minutes of filming, and then had the iPad in the kitchen so Jeannette could keep her eye on him while she made food. The footage is great and the pictures this thing takes are amazing. The fact that you can actually control it with your phone or other mobile device is pretty sweet.
The green screen is number three on the list of projects my father has on the go right now so I'll have to wait patiently to get the necessary equipment for really getting into the shooting, but I have lots of things I can do in the meantime to get ready. I have a few technical requirements right now that I don't have the funds to remedy myself so I'm not sure how I'll get over that hurdle. I'm sure something will come up that will allow me to get what I need.
Technically I could go out and purchase it all right now, but I would then have to come home and face a pregnant Jeannette, which is less than an ideal scenario for any man who wants to keep his balls attached to his body. This is what happens when your current employer waits until your contract is a day from being up before letting you know if you still have a job. This can make things a little difficult to budget for, as I'm sure you can imagine.
No idea if Package Deal is coming back. Still. My guess is that if it isn't they won't let us know till after the Canadian Screen awards considering they have two of their actors nominated and it might be questionable form to cancel a show before it gets to celebrate itself for a night, but I've been wrong about this type of thing before.
I believe I mentioned I wouldn't be going to the awards this year already, but now that you know my big news I can tell you that had a lot to do with the decision. I don't want to leave Jeannette here on the mountain with a fussy five month old and a belly full of another one.
Did I also tell you I've been nominated in the same category as Jeannette's ex-husband? Yeah. Not awkward at all. Apparently the universe feels we haven't had to deal with each other enough as it is so we've had this ridiculousness added to our impending schedules. Randal let me in on that juicy little bit of information when he called to congratulate me on the nod a few days ago.
Due to the fact that I am generally the type of person who acts on impulses when they pop up, trusting them more than carefully thought out plans, I up and emailed her ex to let him know that I wouldn't be going. Why? Well, I don't know. I just figured that being nominated for something like this is a pretty sweet little thing to have happen to oneself and it would suck if he was unduly worried about running into me and things getting all dramatic. Since that's not the case, why not let the guy know so that the anxiety doesn't build up for no reason? Seemed like a decent enough impulse to me.
Jeannette thought it was unnecessary and provided me her thoughts on how he might respond. I waited for her to stop swearing and then explained that all I can do is what I want to do, and not care too much about how other people take anything in the process. My intentions were legit so that's the end of it. He didn't respond, which I wasn't surprised by and even said as much in the email. But it's done. So good luck to him. He's a funny dude and has as good a shot as any of us, not that I'm aware of who else is nominated.
I'd be shocked if I won anyway, considering the amount of people that know about the show and have actually watched it, but stranger things have happened.
Okay, I've put in the time for today and have thawed out enough to start doing some white board work. Have a good day munks. |mp
