golden sunsets, longmont sunrises

Longest busy stretch ever.

If I'm too busy to write-- at all, even on the down-low-- for my own self, then life is craaaazy. And it has been since the beginning of June. It's mysterious, a little perplexing, a ton of fun, and something that was one part purely intentional, one part excellent coincidental timing, and three parts hot summer nights that promise mischief and deep thoughts and cold bottles of beer.

Here's a photo of the sunset in Golden last night ... followed by a photo of the beautiful sunset clouds and me rubbing my butt where Thad had just won our butt-kicking contest. (both photos courtesy of Erik J., who was nice enough to be my photographer when I made whiny dolphin/Lassie noises because my camera was out of juice, and banished on my counter at home.)

*For the record, Thad's pretty damn good at ass-kicking contests. His giggles don't affect his performance as much as mine do... and he also has a much swifter foot-to-cheek delivery. My leg goes out at too much of an angle or something.


So... YES! The summer of going to bed after 2 am at LEAST three nights a week, if not four or five nights. The summer of getting my legs eaten alive by mosquitos and spiders... without even camping... summer of absolutely tedious work days and ENDLESS nights / weekends / early mornings filled with painful producer shoes and shoots with impatient parents and whiny, coddled little children. Er...and nice parents and AWESOME children, too. Those families are just less apt to jump to my mind first after THREE MONTHS of endless video shoots for this project. I'm so over shoots... unless the beaurocratic powers that be make me replace my perfectly wonderful families with a 15 year old hippie with triplets or something, we're done with shoots for the project I've been working on all year (fingers crossed fingers crossed). Before this, the most Mini DVs I ever shot (of new footage, specific for one program) were 5-6. We just finished tape #32 for this project. That's over 32 HOURS of footage to organize, edit... 32 hours of families who had to be cast, directed, bargained with, paid, fed... see? This has turned into some kind of weird work rant. I'm exhausted, and I really need some days off before I lose my mind. :)

Also of note:
1. The mysterious return of the G.I. Joe Invasion... however, this time around I'm less frazzled about it because I figure, hey... if my appendix isn't going to explode and I don't have ulcers, I can deal with mysterious sharp pains and just take myself out for a glass of wine after work. This is the life and wisdom of Dr. Jane, Medicine Idiot. Perhaps this is more of a metaphoric pain... not so much a 'cyst' situation as it is my body's strong psychological reaction to having to watch so many hormonal new mothers with their tiny babies 40-50 hrs a week, when really, at the moment I'm just a bachelorette out painting the town red and being irresponsible. Maybe my SOUL is hurting at the thought of watching such responsible domestic footage all day when I could be out bowling in high heels with friends and pitchers of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Ah! That must be it. Kidneys be damned.

2. Adventures with Edi and Lance: the awesomeness of July. Including: Mer & Jane's 2am cello rehearsals for 2 solid months... mountain adventures... plans for an amazing features piece of 'what are you doing right now'... synchronized swimming parties in the hot tub... going to see Matson Jones and getting all misty-eyed that we're all kind of grown-ups now, and Anna's going to be more famous than Madonna... Also, Lance & Jane's amazing ability to be spontaneous: cheap, sweltering Rockies games with margaritas and stand-up comedy on the bus ride home; philosophy discussions on the golf course and golf lessons in the kitchen; watching naked neighbors fold laundry one sock at a time for an eternity; sitting in chairs watching life happen on a sleepy downtown street below... learning about everything from toe injuries to the importance of venting with fellow only children about the stigma that society places on us.


3. The list is the best thing ever. Let's review!!!
A compilation of my various lists from the past two months...

> New additions to the list (tm) including: a secret that I'll have to figure out how to write in code to myself... still working on this one, but it's going GREAT! Will return to this another time.

cantering while in an *English saddle*... yes, East coasters, I've only cantered with a Western saddle... haven't done anything horse-related this summer except watch GORGEOUS horses in the Boulder County Fair parade this morning in Longmont...

improve vocabulary for quickfire comebacks... found coffee shop that has AMAZING coffee and a word of the day. Often know the meaning of the word of the day already. Ego is boosted, vocab pretty much remains the same

write letters to people who have said or done *very* meaningful things that I would like to acknowledge them for-- including Mer & my cello teacher Maggie, haven't written to Maggie, but I'm drafting it... my uncle who I don't really know, and the author of Bridge to Terabithia...learn an easier way to do the 'inside/outside' cable wrapping with mile-long extension cords and XLR cables.slowly getting better. It's a misnomer, I discovered. It's more of a 'top coil, bottom coil' method.

1. babysit Suri Cruise (seriously. I had the most incredible dream about babys [editors note: this was supposed to end with babys-"itting Suri Cruise". Because I did have an incredible dream about babysitting Suri Cruise. Somehow, this post was left... how shall we say... incomplete, due to the distracting powers of whiskey & cello duets, and lying on the floor giggling to death with Mer as we left long, LONG music messages for a poor unsuspecting victim. The author apologizes for any typos and/or ridiculous sentiments left here on this post a few days ago.] despite being a bit boozy when I originally wrote this, I would like to put "babysit Suri Cruise" back into consideration. I have some things I need to ask this chick before I feel comfortable with the state of Hollywood in the 21st Century

2. take old fashioned photos of ourselves out in a field with our cellos when we have more than two photos left in the old fashioned camera oh yeah! I should find the first two from Mer... scan them and put them online... they're really cute

3. buy a perfume to smell lovely on a subconscious level when meeting new people (one that doesn't reek as much as the atrocity that I just dumped on myself... while eating donuts and jameson) hmm. Ok. Still must find something that smells delicious to slather myself with, so I feel all 1940s and decadent...

4. sing 'for the beauty of the earth' with meredith on a golf course at midnight...without getting past the first three words and falling over giggling and calling it quits not on a golf course, but we DID sing it in the echo-y foyer of my parents' house after the most stressful wedding music afternoon EVER, and so I say: check. Random fact: the wedding weekend was so hot, chaotic and stressful that I lost SIX POUNDS between Friday night and Monday morning. It was kind of awesome.

5. RED HAIR. That I don't have to commit to for a year. Red, little orphan Annie, incredible hair. ok girl, don't yell. I will do red hair for fall. And then go back to ever being a boring regular-hair-color school marm like I always have.

And the original list:
1. swimming tomorrow at 7am fell off the wagon with this. didn't swim at all this summer.. I've just been jogging (and note to self: NEVER jog at night again. Three times with terror running through my veins that I'm going to be eaten by a bear or an escaped prisoner are enough)
2. possibly bringing back the Asian aesthetic of the parasol this summer in an effort to get to fall without a single serious sunburn bzzzt. I have so many weird tan lines, I look like a tiger
3. hikes... Rocky Mtn. National park, Sanitas, the grasslands, everywhere planning some fun ones now!
4. go white water rafting for the first time oops. missed the season for that one. but found a white water rafting buddy, so that's good too
5. find a new job. STAT. regardless of what 9 News may or may not (FINALLY) tell me this week via email three minutes after the 10pm newscast has ended yeah. um, this item of the list has been turning my hair gray for months and months and months. back to the fun stuff before I cry.
6. once I have found my new dream job-- figure out a stable schedule
7. once I have a stable schedule, become a Big Sister, or another youth mentorship program
still planning to do more Nurturing Program work in the fall... can't wait...
8. call the therapeutic riding center and ask them if they still need summer volunteers for the youth with disabilities camp hasn't happened...
9. read absolutely everything about twins. Twins blow my mind. My obsession with twins will never end, and maybe if I read up on them now, I will have the psychic ability to will myself to have twins in my early 30s when I will be married to LeVar Burton and living happily as a documentary producer and fiction writer. mission accomplished! I've learned the difference between fraternal and identical, and had an amazing conversation with Chrissy Stewart about her terrifying surgery she had to go through to save her twins while she was pregant... and I've met at least two new twins this summer and kind of picked their brains... twins are just awesome. Nature is incredible. Multiples should be the next planet earth subject... I mean... seriously. It just blows my mind. Two amniotic sacs-- it's like a science fiction movie!
10. write my buns off until I have something that I would actually have the avacados to try to publish. AUGUST. Taking a couple of days off just to write and re-examine my priorities soon. Slapping my wrist that I've been so bad all month with work and running around (but picked up lots of inspiration this summer, and new ideas of things I want to write...)

11. #10 again, because it's one of the most important things I've decided all year.
12. watch the Cosmos series again front to back, mostly over at my parents' because dad can tell me what research was updated since Carl Sagan's death Went to see Eddie Izzard last week (AMAZING!!!) and his opening line-- "why didn't God start the Bible with, 'So the Earth is round..." turns out to be a Carl quote. Awwww.

13. watch all the Sopranos episodes that I missed all those years at school
14. learn how to properly chop vegetables, instead of the for-crap way that I taught myself in my bachelorette pad
15. make a mystery video, a personal project video, and "what are you doing right now?" before end of July. video projects-- A+. Working on the secret video now, did a Terminator spoof video with Beth that was shown at Mile High Sci-Fi's Terminator show last week (on YouTube soon? I'll put the link up)... also made a top-secret video involving tiny toy cars and three disgruntled overtime employees... also filmed some driving around in the mountains with Meredith.

16. learn Elgar's cello concerto with Maggie, my spiritual advisor since 8th grade
17. learn guitar, instead of the crap self-taught guitar I've picked up while poorly chopping vegetables have started! will conquer!

18. write an original song for guitar, cello, and piano... and memorize all three parts in case this ever becomes a desirable skill and my country calls upon me for service
19. write letters to Canada because I'm a terrible person and I never send lovely typewriter-drafted notes on vintage magazine ads like Steve has for years

20. go on a ride-along with the Longmont Police Program YES!!!! It was amazing!!! Thursday from 1:30pm to 10pm, had the option to stay with another officer until 4 or 5am... too tired to write the entire experience out now, but it will be coming soon. Actually, it will also be up on dad's website soon. God, I love the list. :)

21. speak with someone from the Reading Rainbow production company and Sesame Workshops to talk about what experience I actually need to get there, as opposed to the experience I'm pretending I'll need have done MUCH thinking on this subject, but it was not the right time... with luck, I'll have the moxie to do it soon

22. do something that scares me at least once every two weeks CHECK

23. take a winter driving course
24. interview a dog expert to see how I can overcome my fear of scary dogs (or at least how to get a dog to stop attacking me if it were to ever happen) have also looked into this. May simply read pack-mentality dog essays and dog-trainer books to get a less hands-on approach. However, discovered a dog expert on Google named Jane. I kind of want to have a long back-and-forth with her about scary dogs... it would be like an existential "teaching yourself the things you already know" kind of moment
25. write a heartfelt hand-written letter to the people at This American Life who discussed their employment opportunities to me

26. learn Thriller. The entire thing. Well enough to do it drunk in a bar surrounded by strangers. oh yeah! forgot about this one. Will return to it.

27. audition for at least one more comedy group / project / improv troupe / standup gig Mile High Sci Fi! Check. Will be writing with them as soon as next week. Very endearingly dorky and fun idea

28. learn how to paint, and take a figure drawing class
29. possibly take a calligraphy class in Boulder from Marlow Brooks
30. take some kind of dance class. Preferably something fun, where I won't look like an idiot. not so much. Although I did take Meredith to a wedding where she met a sexy Tango dancer. So I consider this one to be a check mark.

31. go out in Denver as much as possible during the convention, and have at least one beer with an interesting politician who wants to tell me about checks and balances in more detail than I currently understand on second thought... the recreate 68 *ssholes make that way less fun and manageable than I'm in the mood for.

32. buy a new computer and set up my first at-home edit bay check! have borrowed one. looking into maybe buying a gently used mac.

33. someday: buy my own video camera seriously. it's becoming essential.

34: someday: also buy a second pair of tall high heels. they make me feel like a 1950s jazz singer, and it's absolutely worth feeling 10' tall to feel like that when I leave the apartment.

speaking of number 20...
I filled out the Ride-Along application for the Police Department this morning, and it has the craziest clauses. "Observers shall not converse with prisoners, suspects, witnesses..." "Observers shall not participate in any police activity unless specifically directed by officers" ... "No handcuffs or weapons are permitted"... "you voluntarily assume the risk of death or personal injury from the use of vehicles, weapons, unlawful acts, forcible resistance by law violators, fire, explosion, gas, electrocution, or injury in any other way..."

I'm totally excited. I scratched out the day shift and am now requesting the night shift. I really want to learn more about how law enforcement works, what part it plays in society, what it's like for people on the offender's side, how our society really works, and what the ugly side of it is that I only peek at when it's convenient for me. I want to get jury duty soon, too. I also have an itch to vote soon. did I mention that I completed this one??! It was awesome. I still have pants that smell like jail. Yeah... I was in every holding cell in Boulder County at least twice, and a man covered in blood asked me for my phone number. I know how to use a SWAT gun and what code means "distempered raccoon" when we originally thought we were racing to a "stabbing-- possible homicide". I'm so excited for this post...

I will also update my new list items soon.
Here's to the weekend... *clink*