Seriously. What a week it has been. I mean, along with everything else, I even missed posting on here last night. Let me see if I can give you the Aftermathical bullet points:
Last Tuesday - The election. Emotional chaos on the day. Aftermath: Quite good, actually. Although all of the calls to secede are kind of stupidly extreme. I mean... Really? We all survived 8 years of Republicans in the White House, and I'm sure we'll all survive 8 years of Democrats in the White House. And, you know, if some of these states actually do secede, we might have a lot more years of Democrats in the White House.
Last Weekend - The filming. Seriously bizarre to be out of the house for most of two days knowing that about 20 people are doing Godknowswhat to the house and you can't know exactly what until later. Aftermath: Lots of good stories to tell. Nothing but positive tales and experiences. Not sure we'd jump at the chance to do it again (although we might), but we'd definitely work with/hang out with that group again.
Last Wednesday - The movie. Christopher got sneak preview tickets to see "Skyfall" last Wednesday, and in the midst of the week's tumult, we went and had a rather marvelous mid-week date night with a really good movie. Aftermath: We've been telling stories about going to the movie almost as much as telling stories about having the film crew around last weekend. If you're looking for a good fun action movie, definitely go to it. If you like Bond movies, that will help even more.
Last Tuesday and Last Weekend - The funeral. I'm not really sure I'm ready to talk about this in specific terms, yet. I will say it was a close - not immediate, but close, in HR-ish terms - family member, and my emotional state for the week was definitely altered by it. Aftermath: I've been looking at some things differently, lately. Looking at "ordinary" objects around the house with a different eye, as well as re-contemplating what I'm doing with my life. In mainly good, though not necessarily easy, ways.
The Barrowman Sighting I mentioned a while ago - It was great, but it was also right before the election. So the Aftermath of that - including pictures - is still on its way. Sorry. I hope to upload photos from that and some photos of our house as a film set as soon as I get a moment with me, my computer, my camera, and the right number of charged batteries and cables.
Hopefully we'll all make it through the aftermaths, and come out ahead.
Oh, and watch this space tomorrow - I might have a little something extra cool to share...
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Stepping Out of Another World
Our house no longer has random fake grapes in it. The afghan on the back of the couch is, once again, the one my mom made, instead of the mustard yellow one that was there for a couple of days. (Again, my apologies for "hiding" it in the side cabinet - if you're reading this, you know who I'm apologizing to...)
It was a relief, really, to walk back into the house this evening and see it all back the way it's supposed to look. The Snoopy print (purchased in Vegas a few years back) is back on the wall in the kitchen where a mustard-yellow phone had taken up temporary residence. The coasters are back where they belong, as are the runner on the coffee table, and Christopher's grandmother's clock. The fridge and the TiVo are plugged back in and the sheets hanging over the windows are gone.
In other words, our house's brush with the film industry is done.
We spent most of the day at our neighbor's house, running back to our house just a few times to wander through, take a few pictures, and help find a few extra props. And to try to stay out of the way - which is remarkably hard in a small house. Then, as they were wrapping up, we got to hang out at the aptly named wrap party.
Christopher got to talk electronic equipment. I got to talk editing (and blogging). We ate some pizza and drank some wine, and Aoife (whose presence was requested in the group wrap photo) finally got to collapse on the couch.
Contact info exchanged, we headed home to try to get back to our normal lives. Or at least to bed.
We'll worry about normal tomorrow.
It was a relief, really, to walk back into the house this evening and see it all back the way it's supposed to look. The Snoopy print (purchased in Vegas a few years back) is back on the wall in the kitchen where a mustard-yellow phone had taken up temporary residence. The coasters are back where they belong, as are the runner on the coffee table, and Christopher's grandmother's clock. The fridge and the TiVo are plugged back in and the sheets hanging over the windows are gone.
In other words, our house's brush with the film industry is done.
We spent most of the day at our neighbor's house, running back to our house just a few times to wander through, take a few pictures, and help find a few extra props. And to try to stay out of the way - which is remarkably hard in a small house. Then, as they were wrapping up, we got to hang out at the aptly named wrap party.
Christopher got to talk electronic equipment. I got to talk editing (and blogging). We ate some pizza and drank some wine, and Aoife (whose presence was requested in the group wrap photo) finally got to collapse on the couch.
Contact info exchanged, we headed home to try to get back to our normal lives. Or at least to bed.
We'll worry about normal tomorrow.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Friday Food - Fake Fruit
This has been a very odd week. And, because you don't want to start a week out on a strange note and then have it taper off to nothing, I'm happy to say that the weekend promises to be a bit surreal, as well.
You see, Christopher and I agreed - a few weeks ago - to have our house used this weekend for the filming of a short independent film. (No, it's not a porn flick, even though I realize that it does sound a little like that.) (Really. We've seen the costumes. This is *so* not porn.)
The director did a walkthrough a couple weeks ago, and last Friday he brought in a few other people to look at the house again. I have to admit that, yes, it's kind of exciting that this is happening. I have to also admit that, yes, it was very weird to come home from work to find that about 25% of our house now looks like it was decorated by... well... I dunno who. I mean, it's straight out of the 70s at the moment, without being really 70s looking. And there are kids' paintings on the fridge. And our Ben Cohen calendar is gone, which is - frankly - quite depressing. (No. Really. This is Ben Cohen and his anti-bullying foundation - go look and you'll understand why it's odd not seeing the calendar on the side of the fridge.)
And, well, there are bowls of fake grapes all over the place.
Now, I fully admit that I lived through the 70s. I dealt with the Harvest Gold and the Avocado Green. And I know people who - to this day - still have fake fruit around the house.
But I don't believe I've ever seen just fake grapes everywhere. I seem to remember big footed bowls of mixed fruit. Always with pears or apples, and usually at least one banana. Not sure why, but there pretty much always was at least that one banana. Maybe it was because the designs needed something linear. (Yeah. Sure. We'll go with that.)
Our house currently has no fake banana. Also no fake pears or apples. But 2 bowls - and one really ugly pedestalled thing - filled with fake grapes. Not even convincing fake grapes, but the bad ugly ones.
I really don't know much about the film that's being done - except that it's taking place in our house and our backyard and someone else's garage workshop - but I do know that the grapes are going to have to act their hearts out for anyone to believe them.
You see, Christopher and I agreed - a few weeks ago - to have our house used this weekend for the filming of a short independent film. (No, it's not a porn flick, even though I realize that it does sound a little like that.) (Really. We've seen the costumes. This is *so* not porn.)
The director did a walkthrough a couple weeks ago, and last Friday he brought in a few other people to look at the house again. I have to admit that, yes, it's kind of exciting that this is happening. I have to also admit that, yes, it was very weird to come home from work to find that about 25% of our house now looks like it was decorated by... well... I dunno who. I mean, it's straight out of the 70s at the moment, without being really 70s looking. And there are kids' paintings on the fridge. And our Ben Cohen calendar is gone, which is - frankly - quite depressing. (No. Really. This is Ben Cohen and his anti-bullying foundation - go look and you'll understand why it's odd not seeing the calendar on the side of the fridge.)
And, well, there are bowls of fake grapes all over the place.
Now, I fully admit that I lived through the 70s. I dealt with the Harvest Gold and the Avocado Green. And I know people who - to this day - still have fake fruit around the house.
But I don't believe I've ever seen just fake grapes everywhere. I seem to remember big footed bowls of mixed fruit. Always with pears or apples, and usually at least one banana. Not sure why, but there pretty much always was at least that one banana. Maybe it was because the designs needed something linear. (Yeah. Sure. We'll go with that.)
Our house currently has no fake banana. Also no fake pears or apples. But 2 bowls - and one really ugly pedestalled thing - filled with fake grapes. Not even convincing fake grapes, but the bad ugly ones.
I really don't know much about the film that's being done - except that it's taking place in our house and our backyard and someone else's garage workshop - but I do know that the grapes are going to have to act their hearts out for anyone to believe them.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
What Can I Say?
I went to bed last night unsure what all was going on in the various elections.
I was mentally exhausted from the months of all of the campaigning.
I was physically exhausted because I had gotten up to see Christopher off to the polls (at 5:30) and then stayed up until he got home (at 11:30). (But... no... not even remotely as exhausted as Christopher was.)
I was hoping for the best and preparing myself for the worst.
I got up this morning and didn't really want to turn on the TV or the computer.
And then I saw it on the bottom of the screen. The news that Minnesota voters had defeated the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. (We'd also defeated the Voter ID amendment.)
I stared at the screen for probably 10 minutes, waiting for it to sink in.
The "Vote No" folks had a narrow margin, but it was a win nonetheless.
All I could think to do was say Thank You.
And thank you to all of you for reading my posts along the way and still coming back.
Here's to returning to life as "normal" sometime soon.
(Although... there will be a John Barrowman post in the near future. And that's not all that normal...)
I was mentally exhausted from the months of all of the campaigning.
I was physically exhausted because I had gotten up to see Christopher off to the polls (at 5:30) and then stayed up until he got home (at 11:30). (But... no... not even remotely as exhausted as Christopher was.)
I was hoping for the best and preparing myself for the worst.
I got up this morning and didn't really want to turn on the TV or the computer.
And then I saw it on the bottom of the screen. The news that Minnesota voters had defeated the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. (We'd also defeated the Voter ID amendment.)
I stared at the screen for probably 10 minutes, waiting for it to sink in.
The "Vote No" folks had a narrow margin, but it was a win nonetheless.
All I could think to do was say Thank You.
And thank you to all of you for reading my posts along the way and still coming back.
Here's to returning to life as "normal" sometime soon.
(Although... there will be a John Barrowman post in the near future. And that's not all that normal...)
Monday, November 5, 2012
Okay. Deep Breath, Everyone.
Twenty-four hours from now - or, well, maybe about thirty-six hours from now, since we have to factor in Hawaii, too - the voting will be pretty much done.
The 2012 election will be all over except for the counting. The godforsaken political hate ads will finally be off the air.
Regardless of who wins or loses; regardless of what happens with state amendments and statutes; regardless of what we want to have had happen, we're going to have to live with ourselves and each other after beginning on Wednesday.
We'll have to go back to actually speaking to each other. Civilly.
We'll have to try to rebuild some of the bridges we've burned during the past few months.
And, yes, we'll have to live with whatever decisions we've made in the voting booths.
With all of that in mind, and with the firm conviction that the most important thing about tomorrow is simply that we all go out and vote - regardless of who we're voting for - I offer you a few final thoughts on the subjects at hand:
It's hugely important to me that I ask people to vote in favor of love, civil rights, human rights, and voter rights. Because of that, I'm urging people to vote NO on both of the amendments on the MN State ballot tomorrow. If you're not sure how you want to vote on those, leave it blank. That will count as a "NO" vote, and it will mean that even if you're not completely sure about it all, you don't want to institutionalize hatred or discrimination. (Or - and I think I have these all right, but you'll want to verify if any of them applies to you - if you're in Maryland, vote Yes on 6; or Yes on 74 in Washington; or Yes on Question 1 in Maine.)
And remember when I wrote about wanting to be able to visit Christopher if he ever ends up in the hospital? Well, one of the presidential candidates is in favor of all kinds of families, and wants to celebrate diversity. While the Republicans have openly stated that they think my ability to visit Christopher in the hospital (or vice-versa - I just realized that I keep putting Christopher in the hospital in these discussions) is a "privilege," I'll be voting for Obama and Biden, who think that a right is a right - regardless of who is exercising it.
But, again, as much as I would love it if you voted the same way I plan to, my main hope is that we all take advantage of the inalienable right to simply vote.
And breathe. Breathing is also very important if we want to see what the outcome is on the other side of the election.
The 2012 election will be all over except for the counting. The godforsaken political hate ads will finally be off the air.
Regardless of who wins or loses; regardless of what happens with state amendments and statutes; regardless of what we want to have had happen, we're going to have to live with ourselves and each other after beginning on Wednesday.
We'll have to go back to actually speaking to each other. Civilly.
We'll have to try to rebuild some of the bridges we've burned during the past few months.
And, yes, we'll have to live with whatever decisions we've made in the voting booths.
With all of that in mind, and with the firm conviction that the most important thing about tomorrow is simply that we all go out and vote - regardless of who we're voting for - I offer you a few final thoughts on the subjects at hand:
It's hugely important to me that I ask people to vote in favor of love, civil rights, human rights, and voter rights. Because of that, I'm urging people to vote NO on both of the amendments on the MN State ballot tomorrow. If you're not sure how you want to vote on those, leave it blank. That will count as a "NO" vote, and it will mean that even if you're not completely sure about it all, you don't want to institutionalize hatred or discrimination. (Or - and I think I have these all right, but you'll want to verify if any of them applies to you - if you're in Maryland, vote Yes on 6; or Yes on 74 in Washington; or Yes on Question 1 in Maine.)
And remember when I wrote about wanting to be able to visit Christopher if he ever ends up in the hospital? Well, one of the presidential candidates is in favor of all kinds of families, and wants to celebrate diversity. While the Republicans have openly stated that they think my ability to visit Christopher in the hospital (or vice-versa - I just realized that I keep putting Christopher in the hospital in these discussions) is a "privilege," I'll be voting for Obama and Biden, who think that a right is a right - regardless of who is exercising it.
But, again, as much as I would love it if you voted the same way I plan to, my main hope is that we all take advantage of the inalienable right to simply vote.
And breathe. Breathing is also very important if we want to see what the outcome is on the other side of the election.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
John Barrowman Sighting - IN PERSON!
John Barrowman and his sister Carole E. Barrowman, are doing a very short (5 city) U.S. book signing tour for their new juvenile fantasy fiction book "Hollow Earth."
And, yes, I was at the signing in St. Paul this evening.
I chatted (very briefly) with them both. I got books signed. I watched them smile and schmooze with massive numbers of fans. I think I got my picture taken with them.
And I have to say that it was a lot of fun. They're both very charismatic people, and... yes... I'm happy to say that he's better looking in person than on TV.
I hope to have some pictures to post in the next day or so - friends of mine who were with me took some shots which I hope to get from them.
In the meantime, I just want to say that it was quite fun and, if anything, made me like them even more.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
The Friendly Chat
Whatever happened to the friendly chat? (You know, as I was writing that, I realized that "The Friendly Chat" sounds like something out of either Dr. Suess or Edward Gorey.)
All over social media, as we get closer to next week's election, people have stopped chatting. No one is really even being social. There's no good-natured back-and-forth debate about the issues. There's really just a lot of "Either you agree with me or you have to leave" going on.
And when I say "chat" I'm not talking about Instant Messaging. I'm talking about having short, congenial, dialogues on a variety of subjects.
On TV and the radio (yes, I actually still listen to the radio), it seems that all of the pre-election ads are focused on attacks. No one wants to debate, they just want to sling mud and then pretend to be completely clean.
Don't get me wrong - this is happening on both sides of the political aisle. I'm getting to the point where I am ready to vote for whichever candidate does not have any ads on between now and next Tuesday.
But I digress.
Yesterday, I had dinner out with a friend of mine, and then came home and had a long phone conversation with another. And it was great.
Dinner seemed to be going really quickly - within about half an hour of being seated, we'd already pretty much finished - and then we started talking. Really talking. And the next time I looked at my watch another hour had passed.
The same kind of thing happened on the phone call. We started out kind of covering the small details, but soon we were talking about anything and everything, and over half an hour had passed.
In each situation we talked about family. We talked about work. We talked about Halloween. We even talked about politics. But we were friendly, and respectful of each other's opinions, and it was great.
Wouldn't it be nice if more people focused on discussion, instead of argument? Maybe then we could all talk, converse, debate, and - yes - even chat, again.
All over social media, as we get closer to next week's election, people have stopped chatting. No one is really even being social. There's no good-natured back-and-forth debate about the issues. There's really just a lot of "Either you agree with me or you have to leave" going on.
And when I say "chat" I'm not talking about Instant Messaging. I'm talking about having short, congenial, dialogues on a variety of subjects.
On TV and the radio (yes, I actually still listen to the radio), it seems that all of the pre-election ads are focused on attacks. No one wants to debate, they just want to sling mud and then pretend to be completely clean.
Don't get me wrong - this is happening on both sides of the political aisle. I'm getting to the point where I am ready to vote for whichever candidate does not have any ads on between now and next Tuesday.
But I digress.
Yesterday, I had dinner out with a friend of mine, and then came home and had a long phone conversation with another. And it was great.
Dinner seemed to be going really quickly - within about half an hour of being seated, we'd already pretty much finished - and then we started talking. Really talking. And the next time I looked at my watch another hour had passed.
The same kind of thing happened on the phone call. We started out kind of covering the small details, but soon we were talking about anything and everything, and over half an hour had passed.
In each situation we talked about family. We talked about work. We talked about Halloween. We even talked about politics. But we were friendly, and respectful of each other's opinions, and it was great.
Wouldn't it be nice if more people focused on discussion, instead of argument? Maybe then we could all talk, converse, debate, and - yes - even chat, again.
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