Naturally Optimistic

So this is the last post for 2008's NaBloPoMo. I've made it! 3 years in a row! Granted my posts are rarely insightful or even humorous...but it is a good way to get things out there and off my chest. Congrats to all of you who made it and all of those who tried. Maybe we'll win prizes! I can hope every year, can't I? Tomorrow is DECEMBER!! How did that happen??

I just finished creating the invitations for Dahlia's first birthday party! Wheeeee! It's a Penguin theme...and it's harder than you'd think to find snowy, happy penguins who are not decked out for the Christmas holidays. Ah well, I think I have it under control. We're just having a small(ish) party. Just friends...with Dahlia, the triplets & Anders that's 5 babies...plenty. I'm thinking of doing "snow-ball" shaped foods - ie meatballs...okay - that's all I've got. I don't think it's appropriate to serve Kix...is it? I'm looking forward to having this party. I'm so amazed by the changes in Dahlia in just one year! WOW. She's come a long way, baby! I'll post some photos of the invites (I think they turned out rather cute, if I do say so myself) when I get my camera back in working/uploading order.

I've never understood the appeal of "black Friday." First, it's a really depressing term. 2nd, why would I want to spend time fighting crowds & parking on a very precious day off from work? and thirdly, for myself, if I haven't started (finished?) Christmas shopping/making yet then I'm starting way too late anyway! Our 'Black Friday' was spent lounging at my SIL & BIL's this morning; watching Dahlia "play" with her cousin Anders (aged 4 1/2 months); eating a good breakfast and driving back to Duluth. That's about as crazy as I'm going to get. Oh I did buy something - a can of turkey gravy (for the leftovers we brought home), some string cheese, lunch meat & some Naan bread. I'm pretty much a consumerist through and through, don't you think? Happy Black Friday - if you went shopping, I hope you got some great deals.

To everyone! Have a wonderful & safe holiday!

My friend David has recently launched a new web series. It's called GOLD and you should check it out. It's about a group of 30-something professional gamers (think D&D) and if I know David & his group of collaborators, I know it will be stellar. I just finished watching the prologue myself and I dig it! (although I have to admit, I get a little confused by the 'gaming' stuff - I will learn!) Enjoy!

Dahlia crawls! She started on Monday night. We were in the newly carpeted back bedroom and she did it! She managed to get her stuck foot out from under her and she took off...well "took off" is perhaps an exaggeration but she did move forward across the room. It was really cute. Now she's into exploring. We're finding that the cat food is way too easy a target and we'll need to find a new place for that. At the office I had to quickly put things up and while jason was running errands I had him pick up some socket plug thingys. It's a whole new world!

Who do you call when you have radiators, a combined furnace/hot water heater (hot water on demand-ish?) and you're not getting any hot water? A plumber? A heating person? I'm new to the world of radiators and such "fancy" (hahahaha!) hot water heaters but I am freezing cold after taking a cold shower this morning. And Miss Dahlia needs a bath but not in that water! Hmph. (carpet looks AWESOME btw, laminate...uh, not in yet.....)

Today is new floors day in the Boberg-Casa. We are getting sweet looking laminate installed in our kitchen. I'm so excited. This is kind of funky and fun. We were going to go with the cheapest thing we could find, but decided to get something we loved at the last minute. And over 10 years or so - what's $200 more, really? Now if we could get some glass tiles installed as a backsplash, I would be one happy kitchenista! But the carpet - now this is cool. It's this product . Carpet made from corn! cool. Now, I'm not really a proponent for "hey, let's make everything out of corn" (duh, we should grow crops to feed people....) but I do prefer to have a corn based carpet than a petroleum one, so there ya go. I'm not a huge fan of carpet in general (ewww, dirty dirty) but at least this is our NEW carpet and not someone else's (and their dogs...). Plus it'll give Dahlia a place to crawl around on the floor (no traction on hardwood) and it'll make ...

So we started painting COLOR finally in the back bedroom. Thank god. The white was becoming blinding...but we painted the trim on one window and though "hmmm, does that look 'fleshy' colored?" and we started looking at it and decided that maybe we didn't like the color (which was also slated to be our ceiling paint). So, Steve said "let's paint the wall with the wall color and see if we like it then." Well we did and then we didn't. It's just bleh. Totally boring. Un-dynamic. Blah. So we're going to do something else. The other window is still white and that really looks so much better. So maybe we'll just have a white ceiling & white trim. Whatever. I just want it done.

Today was great. We had a leisurely morning with our house guests Freya & Mark...we played with the baby, we ate oatmeal & pumpkin bread, we talked, Mark played the guitar, we went for a lovely hike in Chester. It was really nice to not "do" anything. It was great to catch up with them as well. After they left, Steve, Dahlia & I headed out on another walk...we checked out the Farmer's Market for their Season of Wreaths event or whatever it's called. I picked up a gift for a friend and one of the vendors gave me a wheat harvest wreath thing that I complimented. Cool! We stopped by the Shanty on the way back and I discovered they have Strongbow (cider) in cans! I haven't had Strongbow since I went to England! so I got some and am going to enjoy some tonight. After we got back we started painting. I finished priming everything in the room but the ceiling (which Steve is finishing now) and I started on the trim. I just HAD to switch to a color other than W...

We have the closing reception tonight for the TWO WORLDS art show. Frankly? I am sick of "special events." There have been too many lately and I long for a quiet (quiet!) evening at home. I am baking pumpkin bread for it as we speak. Luckily the convection rocks or it wouldn't even be done in time...it's still questionable anyway! Old friends Freya & Mark are coming into town tonight to visit us. Should be fun...although I'm terribly embarrassed about the state of the house. I hate not being Martha. I need to get my shit together! I'm going to sing on Mark's new album that he's working on so I'm looking forward to hearing the tunes.

So we're trying to finish off this g.d. sound mix for WHITE MAN'S WORLD and it's becoming a real pain in my ass. The mix that we got for the premiere last week had some issues which Jason was able to 'Frankenstein" enough to work, but that's no good for the final product. Today we were at the designer's studio and we are STILL having issues. We're having weird things with the clips & audio not being in synch. And it's not a global problem so that makes it so much more frustrating and mind boggling, not to mention time consuming. We thought we were going to go up there today and just work on the actual sound issues - ie: levels, weird pans, etc. but no, we spent all day trying to get things lined up. ARGH. Then I took the "test" mix back to our office, loaded it on and about 2/3 of the film are in synch while the end IS NOT - WHAT THE HELL? So, I guess more work to be done tomorrow. IT's getting old. I really need to be finishing up...

Apparently I tuned in an hour (?) late to watch the ANTM finale tonight. What the hell was I thinking? I didn't even check what time it was on. How disappointing. Ah well, a friend told me a spoiler (gee thanks!) today anyway so I'm pretty sure it would've been anti-climatic (still don't tell me!). I will watch on YouTube hopefully tomorrow. Sheesh.

* None of our neighbors ever open their shades. Ever. Isn't this weird? This is a mandatory first thing I do when I get up. Hmmm. What's going on in there?!? * I broke a bottle of Riesling this morning. It just rolled off our butcher block shelf (our makeshift wine rack). It was the bottle I bought to have with Julie (hi Julie!) when we celebrate her birthday...uh last July. I think that the gods are telling me I'm bad because it's been so long. Do you know how much Riesling smells when it's all over your floor? * I have to redesign our website. I'm...well, the only word I can think of is overwhelmed. * We still haven't started painting the spare room yet. We finally started PRIMING yesterday but my god. We are the slowest home-improvers ever. We have to be done by Monday though - new carpet! * Sometimes I think when we get what we want we realize that that wasn't really what we wanted anyway. And that sucks. * Dahlia will burp up blueberry waffles...al...

So Dahlia, at age 11 months, is still not crawling. She scoots on her belly pretty good (backwards) and she still rolls when necessary but she hasn't quite gotten the forward motion yet. I'm tempted to wrap her in swiffer cloths and have her dust my living room floor - is that bad? I kid. Yesterday at ECFE the teacher gave me some info for the, well, I guess "special ed" for pre-school-aged kids/babies through the school system. She suggested I call them and set up a time for Dahlia to be observed. She said that because she's over 11 months and not crawling it was time to maybe do something about it. And that could be as little as a few suggestions on how to get her moving. I feel torn about it. I mean, I don't really think that ANYTHING is 'wrong' with Dahlia. So she's a little slow at crawling. Big deal. I'm not the most physical of people. I walked late. Whatever it's fine. Part of me says - heck yeah, if she needs a little help or encou...

My Mom got this little hand-knitted sweater at a 4th of July Auction in the booming town of Morristown last year for my niece Hannah (the auction - long story, they have a WIDE variety of interesting and sometimes weird items to bid on....). Of course once Hannah grew out of it it came to our house. I don't think my sister liked it...but I LOVE IT. I think it's so cute on her. I think it makes her look like a little kewpie doll and I wish that I was talented enough to make cute little sweaters for her. And tis the season where an little extra layer of warmth doesn't hurt. Okay- time to wash prunes & waffles off the kewpie doll's face! Happy Monday!

We wrapped up our public screenings of WHITE MAN'S WORLD last night. It went really well. The audience numbers weren't GREAT but their reaction was. The first showing they took a while to warm up but then seemed to really enjoy it. I hope so as our investors were there. The 9 o'clock showing had a really great turnout (hi Mindy!) and they LOVED it from start to finish - at least by the sounds of the laughter. There were quite a few Native Americans in the audience at that show too and they seemed to really love it and get it. We didn't make money this weekend...so rarely do we make money...but it was good to get it out there, spread the word, sell a few dvds and wrap up a project. We're hoping to show it in Minneapolis sometime after the first of the year. It's just too hard in this "Holiday Season" to try to get anyone's attention. I'm looking forward to a mellower week...I get to start editing the film I directed! Whohooo!

Check out review #2 here . I still am having an art-hangover today though. I just can't shake this feeling. blech.

So the film is "out the door" so to speak. The reaction was pretty good - considering. I mean this film DOESN'T have the mass appeal that say...GOD ROCKED has (and that was even touchy for some people). This film is less accessible for many...it's more "art-f**ky" than anything we've done. It's an experiment of sorts...so with all of those caveats, I think the response was pretty good. Tonight & tomorrow night will be more of the true test. We'll see how the public handles it!

Technical issues aside...our first review came in today. You can read it here .

So after all that...and after Jason being back with the designer from early this morning til after noon today, it didn't work. The file is f'ed up. It synchs in places, but not in others. It's not a consistent amount of drift...it varies from clip to clip, scene to scene. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is because our original OMF that we handed off was f'd up and I can only think because it was somehow corrupt. Our press screening OMF had no problems but of course the one that really matters we've had nothing but problems with. So now there is more frantic running around like headless chickens as the countdown to the premiere ticks on...

Well, we didn't finish last night. We made a lot of progress and things are sounding good but there were some issues that took a long time to fix. I'm never doing this again. The next film is going to be DONE before we schedule an f'ing premiere. This is stupid and just too much stress. (the only reason we scheduled this premiere for now was because it was the only weekend open on the calendar, back in June!). So, we wrapped up around 1:30am or so. I was so tired...I was basically lying on the couch falling asleep. I'm totally useless in these design sessions because I don't have that strong of opinions about things I can't usually even hear. *sigh* which then just makes me feel more like a non-contributing loser. It's a vicious cycle really. Jason's over there finishing the sound design now. I'm here with Dahlia after about 3 hours of 'solid' sleep... I knew we'd never make it back over there by 9am this morning. I'm going to run som...

I'm off to work on the sound design for the film that we're premiering IN TWO DAYS. Yeah, nothing like doing things LAST F'ING MINUTE. That's the way we roll apparently at 4 Track Films. Ay yi yi. There were some issues so this just came up in the past couple hours and let me just stress my attitude of being TOTALLY THRILLED about staying up...all night? Hahahahaha. I usually don't make it past 9:30. I'm dreading this...it's also my very least favorite part of the process. Wheeeeee!

As yesterday was my first parental Baby Gap visit, this morning is my first parental Sesame Street viewing with Dahlia. it's like crack for her. She's pretty much not interested in things on TV but show her some Big Bird or Elmo and she goes NUTS! I haven't watched SS for years (always have loved it, always have dreamt of being ON it) and I was so impressed that during the "family" video they showed all different families including ones with two Moms and two Dads. Nice! Way to be progressive! I'm sure I'm behind the ball on that but I still think it's very cool. Pretty much anything that comes out of the Sesame Workshop, Jim Henson Co. and the like will be okay for viewing in our household.

Doh! Crap. I can't seem to find the envelope OR the sleeve for ACE IN THE HOLE which I finally finished watching tonight to return to Netflix...I know I can return two in one but the whole point is I want the next movie NOW! sheesh, I'm impatient!

Last night the sleeping didn't go much better...a little but I gave into the bottle MUCH quicker now that I know it's the only thing that'll get her back to sleep. So, up for a half hour or so then, then she was crying again a couple hours later but she settled herself down pretty quickly. This morning Steve got up with her around...7 ? (I don't know...) and fed her then took her downstairs and I slept for another 45 minutes or so. That is HEAVEN. He doesn't realize this but those minutes are like precious GIFTS from heaven and score huge points. We went for a family hike this morning - although it was chilly Ms. Bundled Up did great and slept through most of the hike. It was cold and windy but on the trail in Chester we were nicely isolated from most of that and it wasn't too bad. This afternoon Dahlia played, I puttered around the house and Steve puttered around outside the house. We're still prepping the room for painting (so much patching, filling, sandi...

It's snowing today....so much for getting the cars in the garage before the snow flies...ah well We'll get there eventually. Today is a day of putzing around the house. I don't really want to go ANYWHERE. I want to be home today and tomorrow. I have been on the go too much and next week will be busy too and I'm ready to just chill out and hunker down. The plan for today is pick out paint for the back bedroom & paint it! We're hoping to have help either with watching Dahlia or painting from Steve's Mom - either one would be a great help. Dahlia has stopped sleeping through the night...again. Now she seems to be really hungry (or at least inconsolable except for by a bottle) around 2 or 2:30am. I have not fed her in the night since before she was 6 months old. And now this? Ugh. I hope it is a growth spurt - and that's what I chalk it up to but man it's getting old. I was up for an hour with her in the middle of the night...and then she was crying agai...

WE had a GREAT showing tonight at the opening for 2 Worlds (now showing through Nov 23 - Washington Galleries, 1-5pm on Saturdays & Sundays). It was so much fun to see people from a lot of different walks of life. We had a great turnout from the native american community which rocked. We had awesome art, beautiful photographs & beadwork (I'm so buying a bracelet on a "payment plan"), great music (Dahlia rocked out to it) and a lot of really fun conversation. I think it was a big success! Thanks to everyone who came out! Now, time for a few nachos & a little guilty pleasure tv before hitting the sack!

Do you ever just feel that like you don't belong.... ANYWHERE? Hmph.

We had our press screening last night for WHITE MAN'S WORLD. It went fine I guess. We're getting coverage in the Duluth News Tribune (cover of The Wave?), The Reader and The Budgeteer. Unfortunately we missed out on some opportunities because we don't quite have our shit together. That feeling is getting OLD. There are only two of us who work on these projects full time and it's too much. We come up with the ideas, execute those ideas, write, edit, score etc all of our productions. We have to get art work created and DVDs authored. We have to handle the really fun stuff like the books, insurance & taxes. We have to promote and get people interested and EVENTUALLY we have to SELL something or we'll be going down in flames. It's too much and I fear burning out is a real possibility!

Forgive the colors of the postcard... 4 Track Films is sponsoring an art show - opening this Friday. ********************************** Step onto the set of 4 Track Films' new release WHITE MAN'S WORLD with candid black & white behind-the-scenes photography. Step back in time with traditional Anishinabeg beadwork. Join us for our opening reception this Friday, November 7 from 6-9pm at the Washington Galleries. Lyz Jaakola & Oshkii Giizhik Singers will be performing. If you can't make that, join us at our closing reception, Friday November 21st also from 6-9 for a reading by Jim Northrup. Washington Galleries: 315 N. Lake Ave, Duluth The gallery is also open Saturdays & Sundays, November 8-23rd from 1-5pm. And it's free!

WASHINGTON – The Associated Press is uncalling the Minnesota Senate race. Republican Sen. Norm Coleman finished ahead of Democrat Al Franken early Wednesday in the final vote count, but his 571-vote margin falls within the state's mandatory recount law. That law requires a recount any time the margin between the top two candidates is less than one-half of one percent. The AP called the race prematurely. Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said the recount won't begin until mid-November at the earliest and will probably stretch into December. It will involve local election officials from around the state.

So we reconvened with the crew, rented gear, wonderful actors & of course the fabulous Cadillac on the following Saturday. The crew hooked up a couple hours before the cast was called to get the rigging set, to shoot some driving sequences, etc. It was all going okay. Down under the bridge our actors joined us, the temperature dropped to about 40 degrees with a probably 20 degree windchill. And then the anti-freeze started pouring out. Not just dripping but gushing. So much for the car being 'fixed.' I called my 'car guy' - he recommended not leaving the cap on tight on the radiator (um....) and just to use water & anti-freeze. The car hadn't been driven in 10 years! (I was earlier told it hadn't been driven for 1 year). so we clunked along. There was a slick of anti-freeze along the path that we were driving; there was a virtual lake at the turnaround point. Ah 4 Track Films, killing the environment, one gallon of anti-freeze at a time. Ugh. We wrapped ...

I can't believe that MN re-elected Norm Coleman. WTF?

Need I say more?

Okay - so I started directing my first film last weekend. It's just a 12 page script...a short film which will be a part of a larger, feature length project. I was excited & nervous about it. I had written the script based on a friend of mine's short story and I cast two fantastic actors, hired an awesome director of photography and had the best crew I could hope for. Last Friday we started at about 10pm in Superior, Wisconsin at a bar called "The Thirsty Pagan Brewery." It's a cool place and I have a friend who manages there so that worked out well. The first issue that came up - one of my PA's called and said that the guy that was going to give him a ride never called, never showed up, etc etc. While that sucked, the bitch of it was that this other guy was also "in charge of" setting up my extras and handling that portion of the shoot for me. I still have not heard back from him to this day! Flakey? To say the least. Ah well. We had the PA pick...

I meant 11 tomorrow....I'm way too tired after being up for 24+ hours yesterday (today?) to post about the shoot. Boy was it interesting!! (quite a teaser, huh?)

Story at 11.

I almost forgot to post today! That'd be great. Halloween has come and gone. Photos coming soon. My biggest highlight - having an all night babysitter so Steve & I could stay out as late as we wanted (eek) without having to run off to pick up the pumpkin. The biggest lowlight? No f'ing trick-or-treaters! We live on an incredibly LAME block apparently. Hmph. A block or two up from us there were hoards of them! Dahlia shall find her trick-or-treating in another neighborhood methinks. We are finishing the shoot tonight that we started last weekend. Hopefully the Cadillac will cooperate for the WHOLE time we need it. I'm not really looking forward to being up all night- but I am looking forward to being in the 'driver's seat' on the shoot again. It was fun last week and my actors and crew simply ROCK. Okay - too much to do...too little time.