#voatlanta

[jaspatrick]

That’s a wrap, #VOAtlanta! Bye to All and safe travels!! So great seeing everyone! #voatlanta2023 #voiceactor #byeatlanta https://www.instagram.com/p/CqQZ7akMMGm/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jaspatrick]

Last day of the conference workout for #VOAtlanta! Mostly conditioning today and it was a shorter one but I did four rounds of push-ups too, just to add a little cayenne to the gumbo. Two years in a row that I’ve worked out every morning at the conference—I’m proud of myself! Last night was a late one too and I’m running (literally) on very little sleep. Oh well, such is the “glamorous” life of a voice actor! 😇 #voatlanta2023 #conferenceworkout #voiceactor https://www.instagram.com/p/CqOGH2fs8_R/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jaspatrick]

Day two workout at #VOAtlanta! Three hour time difference suuuucks. That alarm is coming early and snooze button mashing has been slightly inevitable—but, I’m getting in my five circuits (plus four rounds of lat pull downs that I had to replace with 3 pt rows cause Folks love the pull-down bar for some reason and it had a line yesterday). So, overall..? Decent workout. #voatlanta2023 #popularweightmachine #longdayaheadofme https://www.instagram.com/p/CqLQJDTsTwO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jaspatrick]

Good morning, #VOAtlanta! Continuing my trend from last year of getting my lazy butt out of bed early and working out followed by a semi healthy breakfast! Thanks, Coach Matt! Doesn’t seem like a big deal until you do five rounds—good stuff, Sir! @cozmosize #voatlanta2023 #hotelgym #toughbutworthit https://www.instagram.com/p/CqIx8VcMdqm/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jaspatrick]

“Take the early flight” he said. “Get there earlier” he said. Yo, past self! It’s early, Bruh… Do me a favor and get a better night’s sleep last night, would ya? That’s how quantum entanglement works, right..? I tell past Jas to get to his ass out of the studio and to bed earlier and then I feel rested now, right? Anyway, off to VO Atlanta! #voatlanta #voatlanta2023 #voiceactor #tiredvoiceactor https://www.instagram.com/p/CqF7MkjLQWs/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jaspatrick]

It’s almost time! Very much looking forward to seeing Everyone at VO Atlanta in a few days, March 23-26! I’ll be speaking and joining a couple of very cool panels with some very cool people! Travel safely and see you there! Cheers! #voatlanta #voiceactor #voiceover https://www.instagram.com/p/CqAuQMDLM0W/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jaspatrick]

Assorted VO Atlanta Homies in no particular order—I have very few pics and a lot are fuzzy; so no judging photography here! 😅 I had a great time with all my Friends this year! It honestly was one of the best years I’ve had! Thank you to Everyone pictured (and not)for being such wonderful people and I can’t wait to see you all again soon! Cheers, My Friends! 🙌👊🤗 #voatlanta #voatlanta2022 #voiceover #voiceactor #voiceacting https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb9Vj1ROCk3/?utm_medium=tumblr

[kittywildegrrl]

MAMA CAT AND THAT TIME I GOT FOOD POISONING

Here I sit, in my room, finishing off my tea and catching up on Family Guy, while just a ten-minute walk away from here a magnificent cocktail party is going on without me.

Well, crappity crap crap.

On Thursday, my travel day into the VOAtlanta 2022 conference, I ate two chicken sandwiches. The one at the Minneapolis airport was overpriced and fantastic. The one my door dasher brought to the hotel ten hours later in Atlanta was undercooked and/or bearing tiny life forms. Personally, I think I’ve been Smote -- or is it Smitten? -- by a vengeful Creator who knows I broke my personal boycott on Thursday night by Eating Mor Chikin. Anyway, about an hour after I went to bed, I was rudely awakened by the good ol’ fever & chills & the sensation that my tummy had turned into an adobe brick, kiln-fired and hard as mahogany. Further details will not be provided, as you know perfectly well that it was all yucky.

Thank me for sharing!

So, here’s the thing: Challenges, amirite? Yes, I am, and we both know it. Challenges.

I had a challenge on my plate (and nothing else except saltines). I had every right in the world to just lay in the room and groan, and I most definitely did some of that! And yet… ALL these amazing voiceover and audiobook production professionals, right over there at the other Hilton, and I came all this way to hear and see and meet them. The challenge, as I see it, was to find the balance between the self-care I needed, and the things I came to experience: Connecting, Learning, and the inevitable Networking (hence the awesome cocktail party I’m not at, and yes you are very proud of me for staying in).

The thing is, when you’re sick, you’re sick. You have to get well. Right? Of course. But are you like me, do you have that leftover childhood trauma where you feel stupid for getting sick because there was a parent who really disapproved of children coming down with colds? I know, good candidate for therapy and don’t think I haven’t gotten some. I freely admit it, I am a terrible patient. Almost as big a baby as your typical American HusbandCat*, for example. I always like to spend part of the first day of any given cold, flu, injury or minor owie, complaining that it’s just my fault for being stupid. I’m pretty sure this Woody Allen level of neurosis is the secret to my great acting abilities.

But then there comes the moment when you have to try to pull yourself up, and get the flock out of that door, and that’s not just for this conference or me & my little big ego. It’s all of us, all through life, when we have something in our way, some obstacle, which stands between us and the thing we want. One of the kids gets sick. The car keys accidentally got flushed. A pet destroys the gift you were about to wrap while you’re looking for another roll of tape. That doctor’s appointment didn’t go well. You forgot you can’t eat hot chili peppers anymore. Whatever. You want to bury your head in the sand, or under the covers, or perhaps in Tahiti.

MamaCat is not here to give you the formula for how to face the things and get out the door and do the things. There is no formula. We’ll probably have a long post about that sometime, too. I think it’s best expressed in the wisdom of Kung Fu Panda, “There is no secret ingredient”.

I want to speak for what happens when you do go out the door and do the things.

For me, right after the Feeling Stupid phase of getting sick, comes the Not Moving phase, and some of that is good for recuperation. But Not Moving can also turn into procrastination, self-pity, and eventually, Newton’s First Law of Motion. Inertia kills the joy of life! Bad Inertia, no dessert for you.

It took me forever to get ready to set foot out the door, both Friday and today. And I mean, seriously, crazy stuff like my left eye insisted on watering – but not the right one. I looked like the opposite of a makeover, one eye lovely and one just came out of a bar fight. So… I had to re-do the makeup on that eye like four times, because one eye done prettily and one eye crying isn’t a business look, it’s a photo shoot for a tragic PSA. And please, if you do shoot a tragic PSA using this imagery, all I’m asking is 10% off the top, thanks. Contact my representation to hammer something out.

Both days I missed all the morning sessions; both nights I skipped the parties where the real networking gets done.** But both days, I managed to get to the place, take in a few breakout sessions, meet a few people, maybe get a few laughs. Not mega-fun super-networking like I had planned, no. But I did get to meet at least three of the people I specifically came to meet, and I made a few friends. I got some amazing resources and information on the changes in the business. I learned things. None of that would have happened if I’d stayed in the room.***

I may or may not have also improvised a little rock and roll singing about Living on Ginger Ale during a breakout session, to the tune of “Livin’ on Tulsa Time,” that the world might celebrate my poor wretched tummy. Word to the wise: Never, ever, put a hot mic in my hand in front of live people and expect Normal Granny to come out of the speakers. You’re only going to get Eccentric Granny in those situations. Fair warning.

The experience was Oxygen.

I want more.

I’ll write more about this weekend, about the opportunities and the people, about the things I learned, about how amazing this VO community is. But tonight, while the soup & tea & crackers & ginger ale and I are spending a little time trying to wind down and feel better before the plane tomorrow, I wanted to get these thoughts down and send them to you: you can get past the obstacle. Maybe not the way you had originally intended. But you can do it, one way or another. It will be worth it. I can, you can, we all can. Especially if we help each other.

The tea is gone, the soup is almost finished, the ginger ale is warm. Thanks for spending the evening with me, cats & kittens. I’ll write again soon. Please tip your servers, they’re working hard for you tonight.

Meow, Darlings.

*HusbandCat is not the world’s worst patient. He’s arguably a better patient better than I am.

**And all the fun, from what I am given to understand. Remember fun? How cool is fun??

***Actually, most of the material I missed is going to be available to registered participants online afterwards, which is a wonderful benefit, IMHO.