Again it's late. I'm not particularly tired at the moment but I'll probably be asleep within 45 minutes. My friends and I finished the second day of shooting on our short film project. We're already behind and working on the weekends is definitely be draining. Ena is already overloaded with work because someone quit from her second job so she's filling the gaps. The lack of R&R is getting to her. I'll be going to Vegas in April to attend the National Association of Broadcasters convention. It's a huge to do for us video types. Lots of cool things to see and do. After that Tim and I may be flying directly to Seattle. His dad is going to Africa and won't need his old Pickup truck anymore. Carless Tim sees this as the perfect opportunity to take that photo-taking cross-country road trip he's been wanting to do. He asked me to come along for company. It's something I've wanted to do for a while too so I'm seriously considering it. Well, good night (morning) everyone. Enjoy life.

Don't you just love when it's 1 am but you're more awake than you were at 5 pm? I don't, but it isn't uncommon for me. I am definitely a night person, not a morning person. Even when I'm awake in the morning it can take a long time to actually get up.

Anyway, I was going to share my thoughts on "the perfect woman" for me. The things that come to mind are quite varied. Some of them are so unlikely that they aren't even a real consideration. They're the kind of things that you'd be insane to require in a future mate but if it worked out, it'd be insanely great. Well, maybe just a little nicer.

For instance, it would be great if she were a short girl from a tall family. That way I wouldn't have to look up to her and feel short next to her, but there'd be a greater chance that my kids would be taller than me. I'm around 5'6" and I'm about the tallest guy in my family, give or take an inch. If I marry into another short family and have short kids and they marry into short families pretty soon the Burman clan won't be able to ride the roller coasters at amusement parks. Maybe genetics don't work that way. All I know is that I prefer to hook up with a woman who is a bit smaller than me. Even that isn't a hard and fast rule, just a strong preference.

The concepts of ideals and preferences weighs on me heavy at some times. I mean there are a lot of single women out there but only a few types that I'm attracted to. It's not just looks. It's beliefs, maturity, personality and style. It's a lot of things. A lot of it is tied to the way I think about myself. For instance I'm more attracted to pretty or cute girls than I am to drop dead gorgeous women. Part of that is that is that I feel like if they look that good they have to be superficial, shallow, pampered and any number of other stereotypical things. I just can't picture myself with a really hot woman.

I'm not too interested in rich girls because I think they're too used to things I can't afford. I have a bit of an aversion to excess wealth as well (even though I'd like to have some of my own). I feel strangely uncomfortable when I'm in a really nice house.

It would be good to find a woman who is down to earth and not vain. She should be a little shorter than me and well proportioned. As far as facial beauty goes, I'd like to be able to tell her that I think she's pretty without lying to her :) Personality counts for a lot as well. Actually, her character is far more important that how she looks this year. Unfortunately attractiveness (chemistry?) can be elusive and not based on character traits. In those cases I guess I'll just bide my time in a friendship relationship until we get to the point were we can't imagine life without each other.

Well, I've babbled on enough tonight/this morning. I hope I didn't say anything too stupid.

May God bless you.
Dana

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.

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.

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 :)

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.

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.

Back in PA. It's only been a day. Already I am bored. I don't have many friends in the area anymore. Not too many people to do things with or too many things to do. I want to get over to Harrisburg to see Santa Vs. The Snowman 3D at the IMAX theater. I don't know when I'll do that though. The big family get together has moved from Sat to Sun and has shrunk a little because my sis Carol isn't coming down. I'd be more bummed if I ever got to know and enjoy my siblings, but I'm ten years younger than the next youngest. I barely remember living with most of them and I'm not sure if those memories are momories of events or memories of photos of the events.

Maybe I'll go back down to Lynchburg before New Years. Most of my friends will be back in town by then and I can get back to work on the UVA arena project... and possibly get started on my online character animation course.

I don't mean to complain. I just don't know what to do here. :)

My old car died. I bought a new(er) one. I could've disposed of the old one in a more profitable manner, but at least I don't owe anything on it. The new car is a 1999 Nissan Altima. It's a good car in good condition at a good price. It may even be a great car in great condition at a great price. I haven't decided yet. It's not a sportscar though. :^/


When I got my new car, I had to get a new staff parking sticker. I thought it was odd that the officer issuing the sticker didn't bother to check my ID. Then I realized that my staff parking sticker is not a privilege. It's more like a punishment. I have to park farther away from work than freshmen have to park from classes. Maybe the distance is about the same. Oh well, I understand the need and I know other campuses have it worse. I just don't like how it feels to go from somewhat privileged to somewhat banished. They still haven't put in the covered bus stops they promised. :) Some things just don't change.


What about Kansas? Well, nothing. I think I *could've* loved her. I stand chanceless. It wasn't an option. Maybe I gave up too easily. I don't want to be a nuisance. Adios my acquaintance.

What's the point of writing if it won't be understood. It's an outlet. I don't care if most of you figure out what I'm talking about. In fact, if you ask me I'll tell you (depending on who "you" are). I doubt that this will be read much anyway.

Today was a good day.
It's good to feel productive. I was able to tell help someone solve a problem on the phone before even getting up.

I finished the Final Exit DVD last night and this morning I got it ready to ship to the guy who'll put it on a DLT. Yeah, that doesn't mean much to many of you. It just means I'm done with it and it should be in duplication in a week or two.

I went to work [late] to discover that the router wasn't working. They had tried turning it on and off via the circuit breaker. They checked the fuses. They called tech support. I unplugged the power chords from the back and tried to unplug another cable, but was unsuccessful with that one. When I plugged them back in the router and control panels worked properly. I don't know how anything I did was different from what they did by turning the breaker on and off. Maybe one of the cables I tried to unplug had vibrated loose somehow and I settled it back into place. Erick (my boss) was so relieved that it was working again and he didn't have to send it in for service, he said I could take the day off. I stayed and worked on some graphics for the recruiting video. I may have to leave work early tomorrow because one of my sisters from PA will be coming down.

After work I bought a couple pair of khakis and a couple pair of jeans. They were on sale and I sort of need them. Then I had a little meeting with Tim and Mike. I went home, winterized my room, scarfed down some pizza and went to Bible study. After that I watched the bonus features on the Finding Nemo DVD and then some TV.

so that's a good day for me. Probably none of the events I mentioned make the difference in whether a day is good or bad. It may be the things between the events that make a day good or bad, depending on the events I guess.

I'm tired. I'm babbling. I'm watching TV. I'm thinking you probably didn't read the inventory of my day. If you did, Thanks.