Knock knock. Who's there? I have no idea. I don't know what it is, but for some reason in the past month I have gotten so many random people whom I have never in my life met trying to add me on facebook. My current 'friend request' count is 14 - and I do not know a single one of them. I average about 1 a day right now. It is seriously getting ridiculous!! And in times past when I have gotten some random person, I take the time to message them and say some tactful version of "I'm sorry, but who are you?" But I only used to get those once every few months. I'm tired of sending that stupid thing and getting a response clearly indicating that we have never met but that they *want* to meet or get to know me or network or whatever. Newsflash: If I don't know you, I will not add you! Sorry, but I prefer the old-fashioned way, thanks.
I told a friend of mine about it and he joked that it was my profile picture that it was doing it, because I "look like a model." Seriously? It's just a picture, and I am most definitely not a model! However, it's worth a shot. So I just changed my profile picture back to a 'normal' one, taken by yours truly. I guess we'll see if that fixes it.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
A Great Surprise
For the last 2-3 weeks I have had to keep one of the biggest secrets of my LIFE! It wasn't a 'serious' secret or anything, but it was DANG hard to keep. See, my mom and I are best friends. I talk to her almost ever day. I tell her everything that is going on. I complain to her about my frustrations with certain things (especially in the last month with this film going on), and tell her my plans for the day, week, month, etc.
Well, about halfway through the film I decided "you know... it would be great if I could go home for Thanksgiving this year..." Everyone on set had been talking about their Thanksgiving plans, because we were to wrap just days before the holiday, so everyone was looking forward to it. It got me thinking, "Hmm... where am *I* going to go for Thanksgiving??" It's a great holiday when I'm at home, but otherwise I actually kind of dread it, because I always feel like I have no place to go without imposing on someone else's family.
So just for fun, I looked up the price of plane tickets. $311. I thought "hey, that's not too bad. I could probably handle that..." That was when the idea of surprising the family popped into my head. "Hey, what if I didn't tell ANY of my family members and just showed up on the doorstep? How awesome would that be!?" I called up my best friend who recently returned to the area and said, "I'm thinking of possibly surprising my family for Thanksgiving this year... if I did, would you be able to pick me up from the airport?" She could hardly contain her excitement for my plan and said with enthusiasm, "YES!! That is so awesome! Of course!!" Perfect!
However, I wasn't 100% sure, so I didn't buy the ticket right then and there. I don't like to make a massive decision like that without at least giving a bit of time to process and be sure. I mean, $311 is a lot of money to buy something 'on a whim.' Unfortunately, I guess I should have. The next day, the cheapest ticket I could find was about $380/$390. Drat. Maybe I won't go after all. I decided to continue looking a few times each day for the next few days to see if it would go down at all. Three or four days later, I came across one for $338. The departure and arrival dates were a bit more spread out than I had initially planned, but I thought "you know what? Why not? The film will be done, I will want a break, and what better way to take a break than with family you haven't seen in almost a year?" So I bought it. Done.
Now, the only problem was keeping it a secret for the next two weeks. And let me tell you... I have never in my LIFE had a harder time keeping a secret! And it almost slipped SO many times. I mean, half the time we would wrap for the "day" at 5 in the morning. So since it was 7am VA time and my mom was up getting kids ready for school, I'd call her and talk to her to keep me awake while I drove home from SLC. Well, when you are rather fatigued, it becomes harder and harder to remember what things you are and are not supposed to say!
Fortunately, it never slipped out. There were a few close calls, but I succeeded. I even disabled my facebook wall the day before I was to fly out, just in case someone who knew I was going to VA would forget it was a secret and write on my wall, giving it away. Now, for the actual surprise.
I got to Dulles around 4:30, and Mary picked me up around 5:30 (she had work til 5). We got stuck in the most horrendous traffic ever and it took us nearly two hours to get home; but it actually turned out to be a good thing, because my dad had only been home for maybe 10-15 minutes by the time we got there. Once we got to my street, I had Mary pull up just past my house and turn off her lights. I then got out of the car and proceeded to call my mother. It was nothing out of the ordinary - I talk to her every day.
"So, did you get the package I sent you??" I asked.
Confused, she replied, "No...? I don't think so...?"
My front door was in view and I was almost to the porch. In my best "fake-surprise" tone I asked, "Really?? ...because I got confirmation today that it was delivered."
My mom was thoroughly perplexed at this point. What package could I have possibly sent, and why was I so eager for her to get it? By then, I had reached the front door and could hear both on the phone and inside the house, "Logan? Did you sign for a package today??" Confused, Logan answered simply, "...no...?"
The footsteps were getting closer. I know my mom, and I knew she was going to check the front porch next. While still on the line with her, she opened the door and looked up. I stood, phone in hand, waving with the other; smiling, of course.
"huuuuuuuhhhh!!!" is about the only audible thing that followed. And yes, that is one of those deep-intake-of-breath noises. Also known as gasping, I suppose. At this point, my dad was curious as to what all the commotion was, and he and the kids quickly came to the front room to see what my mom had just discovered upon opening the door. After my mother got over her initial shock, she grabbed me and hugged me tightly. Then the tears came, and amidst the tears, she managed to utter, "You got me good."
Then the younger siblings got involved. Tiana came and tackled the bottom half of me, and Logan wrapped his arms tightly around my midsection (shows how tall each of them are. haha). I then went to hug my dad and then we all sat and chatted for a while. Then Logan came up with a brilliant idea: hide in Rachel's room and scare the crap out of her when she gets home. So we found out roughly when she would be home, and a few minutes before she was to be back, I went into her room and hid under some blankets.
I waited until I heard her open the door and then I jumped out of the sheets screaming, "RAAARRR!" She screamed, jumped, and backed into her half-open door - all at the same time, of course. haha. Then, once the initial shock had subsided, she excitedly asked, "What are you doing here!?!" and proceeded to tackle me. Come to think of it, I guess my siblings and I like to tackle each other... because Tiana and Logan almost knocked me down when I first got here. haha.
Well, there you have it. The best surprise I have pulled off thus far in my life. It was pretty awesome. So, I am now spending the next week in VA with my family. Gosh, I love Virginia. :)
Well, about halfway through the film I decided "you know... it would be great if I could go home for Thanksgiving this year..." Everyone on set had been talking about their Thanksgiving plans, because we were to wrap just days before the holiday, so everyone was looking forward to it. It got me thinking, "Hmm... where am *I* going to go for Thanksgiving??" It's a great holiday when I'm at home, but otherwise I actually kind of dread it, because I always feel like I have no place to go without imposing on someone else's family.
So just for fun, I looked up the price of plane tickets. $311. I thought "hey, that's not too bad. I could probably handle that..." That was when the idea of surprising the family popped into my head. "Hey, what if I didn't tell ANY of my family members and just showed up on the doorstep? How awesome would that be!?" I called up my best friend who recently returned to the area and said, "I'm thinking of possibly surprising my family for Thanksgiving this year... if I did, would you be able to pick me up from the airport?" She could hardly contain her excitement for my plan and said with enthusiasm, "YES!! That is so awesome! Of course!!" Perfect!
However, I wasn't 100% sure, so I didn't buy the ticket right then and there. I don't like to make a massive decision like that without at least giving a bit of time to process and be sure. I mean, $311 is a lot of money to buy something 'on a whim.' Unfortunately, I guess I should have. The next day, the cheapest ticket I could find was about $380/$390. Drat. Maybe I won't go after all. I decided to continue looking a few times each day for the next few days to see if it would go down at all. Three or four days later, I came across one for $338. The departure and arrival dates were a bit more spread out than I had initially planned, but I thought "you know what? Why not? The film will be done, I will want a break, and what better way to take a break than with family you haven't seen in almost a year?" So I bought it. Done.
Now, the only problem was keeping it a secret for the next two weeks. And let me tell you... I have never in my LIFE had a harder time keeping a secret! And it almost slipped SO many times. I mean, half the time we would wrap for the "day" at 5 in the morning. So since it was 7am VA time and my mom was up getting kids ready for school, I'd call her and talk to her to keep me awake while I drove home from SLC. Well, when you are rather fatigued, it becomes harder and harder to remember what things you are and are not supposed to say!
Fortunately, it never slipped out. There were a few close calls, but I succeeded. I even disabled my facebook wall the day before I was to fly out, just in case someone who knew I was going to VA would forget it was a secret and write on my wall, giving it away. Now, for the actual surprise.
I got to Dulles around 4:30, and Mary picked me up around 5:30 (she had work til 5). We got stuck in the most horrendous traffic ever and it took us nearly two hours to get home; but it actually turned out to be a good thing, because my dad had only been home for maybe 10-15 minutes by the time we got there. Once we got to my street, I had Mary pull up just past my house and turn off her lights. I then got out of the car and proceeded to call my mother. It was nothing out of the ordinary - I talk to her every day.
"So, did you get the package I sent you??" I asked.
Confused, she replied, "No...? I don't think so...?"
My front door was in view and I was almost to the porch. In my best "fake-surprise" tone I asked, "Really?? ...because I got confirmation today that it was delivered."
My mom was thoroughly perplexed at this point. What package could I have possibly sent, and why was I so eager for her to get it? By then, I had reached the front door and could hear both on the phone and inside the house, "Logan? Did you sign for a package today??" Confused, Logan answered simply, "...no...?"
The footsteps were getting closer. I know my mom, and I knew she was going to check the front porch next. While still on the line with her, she opened the door and looked up. I stood, phone in hand, waving with the other; smiling, of course.
"huuuuuuuhhhh!!!" is about the only audible thing that followed. And yes, that is one of those deep-intake-of-breath noises. Also known as gasping, I suppose. At this point, my dad was curious as to what all the commotion was, and he and the kids quickly came to the front room to see what my mom had just discovered upon opening the door. After my mother got over her initial shock, she grabbed me and hugged me tightly. Then the tears came, and amidst the tears, she managed to utter, "You got me good."
Then the younger siblings got involved. Tiana came and tackled the bottom half of me, and Logan wrapped his arms tightly around my midsection (shows how tall each of them are. haha). I then went to hug my dad and then we all sat and chatted for a while. Then Logan came up with a brilliant idea: hide in Rachel's room and scare the crap out of her when she gets home. So we found out roughly when she would be home, and a few minutes before she was to be back, I went into her room and hid under some blankets.
I waited until I heard her open the door and then I jumped out of the sheets screaming, "RAAARRR!" She screamed, jumped, and backed into her half-open door - all at the same time, of course. haha. Then, once the initial shock had subsided, she excitedly asked, "What are you doing here!?!" and proceeded to tackle me. Come to think of it, I guess my siblings and I like to tackle each other... because Tiana and Logan almost knocked me down when I first got here. haha.
Well, there you have it. The best surprise I have pulled off thus far in my life. It was pretty awesome. So, I am now spending the next week in VA with my family. Gosh, I love Virginia. :)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Change in Time
It's funny how time can change things. In March, I worked on this film called "Frozen" and I had two "puppies" on that film. But after the first day or so, one of the guys more or less went 'back to normal', so he was okay again after that (plus, he was only 2 or 3 years older than I was, so it wasn't as weird to me). But the other one kind of freaked me out. He would come find me every time he had downtime, and would always sit next to me at lunch, and... he was "waaay older." I was kind of relieved on my last day of that film (I only worked 1-2 times a week on it) because I knew I wouldn't have to see him again for quite some time - if ever.
The first week of this film went by and we had only our "skeleton crew" ... Then, the last day of the first week, a few people were added to the crew. I was grabbing some of my stuff and walking back to where we were about to film when all of a sudden this guy walked past me. At a glance, he looked kind of like another guy on crew (Seth), but without the beard Seth had. I was so confused because I knew it wasn't Seth, but I couldn't figure out why I knew the guy. Then it hit me: he was the puppy from Frozen. I momentarily freaked, and then hoped/thought "maybe he won't remember or recognize me..." Wrong! About ten minutes later he came up to me and started chatting with me. I thought "Oh no, it's going to be like this for the rest of the film... great..."
However, to his credit... at that very moment that he came up to me, I was seconds away from leaking like a faucet and needed a distraction in the worst way. (The last two days had had a lot of crap happen both on and off set, and something else major had just barely occured on set to add to the stress... I was fighting the tears SO hard) When I am like that, I don't want someone to give me a hug or say "it'll be okay" or any crap like that. I just need a distraction - something to talk about that is *completely* unrelated. Luckily, that is exactly what he did. Props to him for that. Still, though... I kind of avoided him for the rest of the day. I still had the "Frozen" mindset and didn't want to maintain a puppy for the duration of the film.
Well... it is now 3 days before picture wrap and yes, my how time changes things - in multiple ways. At this point in time, he has probably become one of my closest friends on set. Not that I'm really "close" with anyone on set, but you get the idea. We chat during downtime, quite frequently sit at the same table at lunch, trade off backrubs, and play mini wars all throughout the day (I try to stick tape on him without him noticing - he tries to stick clothespins on me without me noticing. One of his clothespins even said "PAY BACK" - and one of my tape pieces said "GOTCHA"). (PS, grip and electric use clothespins for the lights; and yes I like my parentheses)
I think one of the biggest reasons he 'freaked me out' with Frozen was because he was "so much older." Yes, "waaay older" to me in March was anyone over 30. But in the last 8 months, the wards I have been a part of have probably had an average age of 29-30. The bulk of my friends in my new ward are 28-34. This guy is 32. And this time around, 32 was no longer weird or freaky to me. Also, he didn't maintain his "puppy" status and 'gave me my space' I guess you could say. Because of that, I was more willing to talk with him, knowing he wouldn't follow me around.
It's just funny that your views of someone can change so drastically in time. I went from almost dreading seeing him to looking forward to it. Seriously, those 'wars' have actually gotten me through some pretty rough days, because it adds some much needed 'comic relief' to my days of stress. And I have actually never before met anyone who gives such amazing backrubs (and trust me, I don't say that lightly - I've had my share of backrubs, and sorry to any who have ever given me one, but he trumps you all!) Talk about a perfect 'de-stresser.' Now, looking back, I don't know if I could have survived this film as well as I did without him to keep me sane. Thank goodness things can and *do* change in time!
The first week of this film went by and we had only our "skeleton crew" ... Then, the last day of the first week, a few people were added to the crew. I was grabbing some of my stuff and walking back to where we were about to film when all of a sudden this guy walked past me. At a glance, he looked kind of like another guy on crew (Seth), but without the beard Seth had. I was so confused because I knew it wasn't Seth, but I couldn't figure out why I knew the guy. Then it hit me: he was the puppy from Frozen. I momentarily freaked, and then hoped/thought "maybe he won't remember or recognize me..." Wrong! About ten minutes later he came up to me and started chatting with me. I thought "Oh no, it's going to be like this for the rest of the film... great..."
However, to his credit... at that very moment that he came up to me, I was seconds away from leaking like a faucet and needed a distraction in the worst way. (The last two days had had a lot of crap happen both on and off set, and something else major had just barely occured on set to add to the stress... I was fighting the tears SO hard) When I am like that, I don't want someone to give me a hug or say "it'll be okay" or any crap like that. I just need a distraction - something to talk about that is *completely* unrelated. Luckily, that is exactly what he did. Props to him for that. Still, though... I kind of avoided him for the rest of the day. I still had the "Frozen" mindset and didn't want to maintain a puppy for the duration of the film.
Well... it is now 3 days before picture wrap and yes, my how time changes things - in multiple ways. At this point in time, he has probably become one of my closest friends on set. Not that I'm really "close" with anyone on set, but you get the idea. We chat during downtime, quite frequently sit at the same table at lunch, trade off backrubs, and play mini wars all throughout the day (I try to stick tape on him without him noticing - he tries to stick clothespins on me without me noticing. One of his clothespins even said "PAY BACK" - and one of my tape pieces said "GOTCHA"). (PS, grip and electric use clothespins for the lights; and yes I like my parentheses)
I think one of the biggest reasons he 'freaked me out' with Frozen was because he was "so much older." Yes, "waaay older" to me in March was anyone over 30. But in the last 8 months, the wards I have been a part of have probably had an average age of 29-30. The bulk of my friends in my new ward are 28-34. This guy is 32. And this time around, 32 was no longer weird or freaky to me. Also, he didn't maintain his "puppy" status and 'gave me my space' I guess you could say. Because of that, I was more willing to talk with him, knowing he wouldn't follow me around.
It's just funny that your views of someone can change so drastically in time. I went from almost dreading seeing him to looking forward to it. Seriously, those 'wars' have actually gotten me through some pretty rough days, because it adds some much needed 'comic relief' to my days of stress. And I have actually never before met anyone who gives such amazing backrubs (and trust me, I don't say that lightly - I've had my share of backrubs, and sorry to any who have ever given me one, but he trumps you all!) Talk about a perfect 'de-stresser.' Now, looking back, I don't know if I could have survived this film as well as I did without him to keep me sane. Thank goodness things can and *do* change in time!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
I'm Still Alive, I Promise
Okay, I have a few people wondering if I have dropped off the face of the planet or something, due to my lack of blog entries. Indeed, it has been a while... and I'm usually not this bad at keeping everyone updated, but these last few weeks have been some of the absolute busiest weeks of my life! I started working on another film - The Kane Files - and it has pretty much consumed my life. I mean, normally, when I work on a film it takes up a lot of my time already, but I have discovered that as mixer (vs boom), it takes up even MORE of your time and energy. I have to haul all of my equipment there and back everyday. I have to take the disk and upload it to my computer every day. I have to put it on a flash drive for the editor. I have to make sure the sound reports match the audio files and that it's all good to go to send to the editor. I have to prepare the equipment, make sure everything has fresh batteries, etc.
I am constantly in search of what the next shot is, if it will be wide or tight, if we can boom it or if we are going to have to lav the actors. If we *do* have to lav the actors, after I see the blocking rehearsal, I have to tell the 1st AD so she knows that they'll need a couple minutes before a real rehearsal so I can have time to mic them. I have to talk with the DP to find out what exactly the shot is and where my boom can fit - if anywhere. I have to make sure my entire pack is portable for the times we have to walk (or run) with camera (almost the entire film is hand held). Basically, I have to be prepared for anything... every day.
We have also been filming mostly at nights, which means we don't *start* until 5pm and we don't *end* until 5am. Then there's the 'pack up and put everything away' part, and the drive home. So basically, all I have done for the last 3 weeks is eat, sleep, and work. Even my mother (whom I normally talk to every day) has called me a few times asking how things are going, because she hasn't heard from me in a while. Seriously, it IS my life right now - it'll all I have time for. So I will probably put up a "Week 1" "Week 2" etc post that sums up each week, but I can almost guarantee you that that will not happen until *after* we wrap.
Luckily, we at least have Sundays off... except I was so drained and stressed from yesterday (possibly the worst day yet) that I slept through church... oops. :/ So I have a few short hours each week to 'get my life in order' for the next week and that's it. Clean the room, do some laundry, catch up on my journal, and prep the equipment yet again for the following day. Yeah, definitely prefer booming to mixing. This mixing stuff is NOT my cup of tea.
I am constantly in search of what the next shot is, if it will be wide or tight, if we can boom it or if we are going to have to lav the actors. If we *do* have to lav the actors, after I see the blocking rehearsal, I have to tell the 1st AD so she knows that they'll need a couple minutes before a real rehearsal so I can have time to mic them. I have to talk with the DP to find out what exactly the shot is and where my boom can fit - if anywhere. I have to make sure my entire pack is portable for the times we have to walk (or run) with camera (almost the entire film is hand held). Basically, I have to be prepared for anything... every day.
We have also been filming mostly at nights, which means we don't *start* until 5pm and we don't *end* until 5am. Then there's the 'pack up and put everything away' part, and the drive home. So basically, all I have done for the last 3 weeks is eat, sleep, and work. Even my mother (whom I normally talk to every day) has called me a few times asking how things are going, because she hasn't heard from me in a while. Seriously, it IS my life right now - it'll all I have time for. So I will probably put up a "Week 1" "Week 2" etc post that sums up each week, but I can almost guarantee you that that will not happen until *after* we wrap.
Luckily, we at least have Sundays off... except I was so drained and stressed from yesterday (possibly the worst day yet) that I slept through church... oops. :/ So I have a few short hours each week to 'get my life in order' for the next week and that's it. Clean the room, do some laundry, catch up on my journal, and prep the equipment yet again for the following day. Yeah, definitely prefer booming to mixing. This mixing stuff is NOT my cup of tea.
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