7 days.
I have 7 days to change my mind about the music. After that I'm locked in and can't get a refund. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry. I won't remember what I meant a year from now.
7 days from now, the first two days of shooting on the short film will have wrapped. There is much to do to prepare. There are permissions and props to obtain. There is coffee and equipment to prepare.
Within 7 days I hope to have my camcorder back from the Sony repair shop in PA.
Within 7 days I hope to be finished with the large freelance project that's been a part of my life the last few months.
Within 7 days I may do my taxes, but don't hold your breath.
Also within the next 7 days, I'll have bills to pay and prayers say and who knows, maybe a major life change. I'm not expecting a major life change, but it is always possible.
I see a busy week ahead and already I feel like I've forgotten something.
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
What a day. Nothing dramatic happened to me but I feel like it was a full one.
I went to work around 8am. That's normal for a lot of people but it's a earlier than usual for me. While at work I made a mistake that halted production for a few minutes. It wasn't a big deal. I don't work on an assembly line or a movie set with tens of thousands of dollars of people and equipment to worry about. I work in a small studio with a few other people and today we were only taping Ed Hindson sitting at a table lecturing on the Old Testament. I left work around 4:30. It isn't unusual for me to be out of there before then. That's a statement not a fact.
I got home and installed quicken on one of my machines so I can better manage my finances and prepare for taxes. I imported last year's records and got them synced up with my current balance. I had to search around a bit to find some paper statements from my bank. After getting it all squared away I went through and categorized everything that was business or charity related. I think I'm ready to start the tax process. Hopefully, I'll stick with putting things in quicken this time so it'll be easier next year.
When I arrived home my room mate told me I had some very good mail waiting for me. He was right. A rather large check from a client of mine came in. I'm not going to list the amount of the check here but it is second only to the check I got for winning the funniest video of the year on "World's Funniest". It's not nearly as large as that one but it's ... well, I could pay off my car with it. The sad thing is I might not get to spend any of it on what I want to. It depends on how much I owe in unpaid taxes last year and how much I'll need to prepay this year. Also, I give 10% of my gross income to God. I'm not going to say I wish I could spend that amount on myself or my business but the thought does creep up a bit. On the other hand I feel like He's blessing my business so giving is a way of showing gratitude and respect. All the money and material goods in the universe belong to Him anyway. Anything I spend it on will most likely be junk in ten years or less. It's not that much money in the grand scheme of things anyway. At any rate I have a large check that's already spent.
The Passion of the Christ came out today. I don't know how it is doing or what effect it is having on people. We don't have a lot of theaters in this area so getting a ticket will require more effort than I care to exert. I kind of feel bad for not wanting to see more ... well, passionately. There's something about hype that turns me off and this film has a lot of hype. That's not to say that I am impervious to hype. I've been known to be at the theater on opening night or at least opening weekend. It'd be hypocritical of me to use that as my only excuse. There's a certain something that scares me about the film. I am a Christian and I've complained about the cleaned up representations of Jesus on the cross. Maybe I'm afraid that I'll watch it and it'll change my life. Fear of change is a common fear. Fear of surrender and bowing your will is as well. I don't know how the film will effect me. Saving Private Ryan left me numb and a bit shell shocked because of the realistic violence. I came away from the experience grateful to the vets but not wanting to see it again anytime soon. Grave of the Fireflies, a Japanese animated film about a couple of kids in WWII, deeply effects some viewers, but it didn't have a profound impact on my life and outlook. The Passion will hopefully be more like the SPR in its effect on me.
Some Christians are very excited about the Passion. They feel like they're about to witness a new "Great Awakening" or revival. Cynicism isn't one of my better traits, it eats away at hope. We now have a dramatic, mostly accurate, reenactment of the death of Jesus. Does that mean people will see this and believe in Him? Could this one film do for its viewers what the actual event failed to do for some of its witnesses? Of course, thousands were added to the early church at that time so it's unfair of me to assert that most who witness Jesus' death and resurrection (or just His miraculous earthly ministry) weren't effected by it. I'm just afraid that we might be putting too much hope in a film. Sure it can (and will) be used by God to draw people to Him. Will it effect a lasting cultural change? Will this event (or echo of an event) change the world? I guess we'll find out in the next few days/months/years. This film is not a substitute for living a consistent, compassionate, godly life on earth. People who see this film may be drawn to Christ only to stumble on His followers' hypocrisy. I hope I'm not a stumbling block to anyone. I know I'm not anywhere near righteous or holy. There are times when I second guess my own faith. Only by the grace of God through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus do I claim any kind of purity.
Well, all of that is to say, don't expect a work of art to be more persuasive than the event it portrays. Of course, that initial event changed the course of the world completely. Maybe my cynicism is waning. Prayers will flow from my mouth that God may bless those who see the film.
Today my major freelance project didn't get worked on at all. I'm such a slacker.
I went to work around 8am. That's normal for a lot of people but it's a earlier than usual for me. While at work I made a mistake that halted production for a few minutes. It wasn't a big deal. I don't work on an assembly line or a movie set with tens of thousands of dollars of people and equipment to worry about. I work in a small studio with a few other people and today we were only taping Ed Hindson sitting at a table lecturing on the Old Testament. I left work around 4:30. It isn't unusual for me to be out of there before then. That's a statement not a fact.
I got home and installed quicken on one of my machines so I can better manage my finances and prepare for taxes. I imported last year's records and got them synced up with my current balance. I had to search around a bit to find some paper statements from my bank. After getting it all squared away I went through and categorized everything that was business or charity related. I think I'm ready to start the tax process. Hopefully, I'll stick with putting things in quicken this time so it'll be easier next year.
When I arrived home my room mate told me I had some very good mail waiting for me. He was right. A rather large check from a client of mine came in. I'm not going to list the amount of the check here but it is second only to the check I got for winning the funniest video of the year on "World's Funniest". It's not nearly as large as that one but it's ... well, I could pay off my car with it. The sad thing is I might not get to spend any of it on what I want to. It depends on how much I owe in unpaid taxes last year and how much I'll need to prepay this year. Also, I give 10% of my gross income to God. I'm not going to say I wish I could spend that amount on myself or my business but the thought does creep up a bit. On the other hand I feel like He's blessing my business so giving is a way of showing gratitude and respect. All the money and material goods in the universe belong to Him anyway. Anything I spend it on will most likely be junk in ten years or less. It's not that much money in the grand scheme of things anyway. At any rate I have a large check that's already spent.
The Passion of the Christ came out today. I don't know how it is doing or what effect it is having on people. We don't have a lot of theaters in this area so getting a ticket will require more effort than I care to exert. I kind of feel bad for not wanting to see more ... well, passionately. There's something about hype that turns me off and this film has a lot of hype. That's not to say that I am impervious to hype. I've been known to be at the theater on opening night or at least opening weekend. It'd be hypocritical of me to use that as my only excuse. There's a certain something that scares me about the film. I am a Christian and I've complained about the cleaned up representations of Jesus on the cross. Maybe I'm afraid that I'll watch it and it'll change my life. Fear of change is a common fear. Fear of surrender and bowing your will is as well. I don't know how the film will effect me. Saving Private Ryan left me numb and a bit shell shocked because of the realistic violence. I came away from the experience grateful to the vets but not wanting to see it again anytime soon. Grave of the Fireflies, a Japanese animated film about a couple of kids in WWII, deeply effects some viewers, but it didn't have a profound impact on my life and outlook. The Passion will hopefully be more like the SPR in its effect on me.
Some Christians are very excited about the Passion. They feel like they're about to witness a new "Great Awakening" or revival. Cynicism isn't one of my better traits, it eats away at hope. We now have a dramatic, mostly accurate, reenactment of the death of Jesus. Does that mean people will see this and believe in Him? Could this one film do for its viewers what the actual event failed to do for some of its witnesses? Of course, thousands were added to the early church at that time so it's unfair of me to assert that most who witness Jesus' death and resurrection (or just His miraculous earthly ministry) weren't effected by it. I'm just afraid that we might be putting too much hope in a film. Sure it can (and will) be used by God to draw people to Him. Will it effect a lasting cultural change? Will this event (or echo of an event) change the world? I guess we'll find out in the next few days/months/years. This film is not a substitute for living a consistent, compassionate, godly life on earth. People who see this film may be drawn to Christ only to stumble on His followers' hypocrisy. I hope I'm not a stumbling block to anyone. I know I'm not anywhere near righteous or holy. There are times when I second guess my own faith. Only by the grace of God through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus do I claim any kind of purity.
Well, all of that is to say, don't expect a work of art to be more persuasive than the event it portrays. Of course, that initial event changed the course of the world completely. Maybe my cynicism is waning. Prayers will flow from my mouth that God may bless those who see the film.
Today my major freelance project didn't get worked on at all. I'm such a slacker.
Friday, February 20, 2004
When it's quiet and dark. When it's late and no one is around. When I'm awake and too afraid of waking someone up to call them. When even the sound from the TV doesn't drown out the silence that hangs heavily in the room. When the sense of disconnect is at its peak. Yeah, it's at times like these (or rather times like those a half hour ago) that the loneliness gets to me. I want to talk to someone. I need to communicate. To be honest what I really want is an attractive 22-31yr-old CSWF-NS to talk (or IM) to. Is that too much to ask?
Maybe I should just go to bed earlier :)
Maybe I should just go to bed earlier :)
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
I'm getting tired. you know, just now. it's getting late. I'd go to bed the first episode of Inuyasha is on. I've seen a few episodes of the series but didn't know how it started. Some things make a bit more sense now. it just finished and now I want to see the next episodes. I'm not set up to record stuff off TV right now. I don't know how much I'll misunderstand because I really don't know much about Japan's feudal history, its mythology and religious beliefs. Anime TV series are more more interesting when you watch them from the beginning.
Okay I'm a little less tired than when I started writing this... I should go to be before starting Big-O.... too late it's started.... and it's Act 1 as well. No sleep for me tonight.
have a good one.
Okay I'm a little less tired than when I started writing this... I should go to be before starting Big-O.... too late it's started.... and it's Act 1 as well. No sleep for me tonight.
have a good one.
Monday, February 02, 2004
Many moons have past since I've written last.
Well, stuff has happened. great stuff. and some not so great. hey, I'm 30 now. I haven't really thought about it much but my friends made a big deal out of it. Most of them are in their mid twenties or so. Anyway, they threw me a surprize birthday party. I can't tell you how surprized I was. When someone makes you wear a blindfold and get in a car, you get a little suspicious. Most of my friends (or at least the inner circle) took me out for steak and Ena invited some of the others to Mike's place to play games. It didn't take much to figure out that's where I was headed. They tried to surprize me by having no one at the party at first. When the blindfold was lifted only Daryll was there sitting on the couch watching a documentary. Yay, big party. But then a couple of my nephews jumped out and yelled "surprize!" I can honestly say that I didn't expect my sister and her family to show up. That was cool. Matt Uncapher showed up later. I was surprized at his appearance and impressed that he took the time to drive down from Charlottesville after being up since 4am and driving up there from N.C. that same day. My friends even got me a new PC game that I wanted. It weren't not a cheap one neither.
Thanks again guys for your generosity and support. I probably don't deserve to have you all as friends.
Well, stuff has happened. great stuff. and some not so great. hey, I'm 30 now. I haven't really thought about it much but my friends made a big deal out of it. Most of them are in their mid twenties or so. Anyway, they threw me a surprize birthday party. I can't tell you how surprized I was. When someone makes you wear a blindfold and get in a car, you get a little suspicious. Most of my friends (or at least the inner circle) took me out for steak and Ena invited some of the others to Mike's place to play games. It didn't take much to figure out that's where I was headed. They tried to surprize me by having no one at the party at first. When the blindfold was lifted only Daryll was there sitting on the couch watching a documentary. Yay, big party. But then a couple of my nephews jumped out and yelled "surprize!" I can honestly say that I didn't expect my sister and her family to show up. That was cool. Matt Uncapher showed up later. I was surprized at his appearance and impressed that he took the time to drive down from Charlottesville after being up since 4am and driving up there from N.C. that same day. My friends even got me a new PC game that I wanted. It weren't not a cheap one neither.
Thanks again guys for your generosity and support. I probably don't deserve to have you all as friends.
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