Naturally Optimistic

Ah, back home. It's good. Seeing Dahlia this morning ROCKED. She got a chance to play with her cousins some more this morning (or as I saw it, defend her territory - those boys are aggressive!!). She did great on the car ride home...started getting antsy towards Sandstone, but then again so was I. She seemed to enjoy it when I sang to her. I can't wait til I can have her facing forward so at least she can see a few more interesting things (and I can see her). I am exhausted. I have a to-do list that is a mile long but hopefully I'll get a good jump on it tomorrow. I have a lot of following up to do after my time at SXSW...I also have a lot of accounting to do & editing to tackle. And that's just business stuff. I am hosting Michelle's shower & bachelorette party on Saturday - and I need to do a few more things for that as well. It's going to be a heck of a busy-short-week. Ay yi yi. But for tonight I am going to sip this glass of wine and unwind. Hang o...

So, today is the last day that we're here. We're finally in our groove and of course we have to leave. And the weather is finally BEAUTIFUL outside...and we have to leave. Hmph. It's 70 degrees and sunny here right now. Perfect. I have spent a lot of time today just sitting outside & reading. We attended another mentor session this morning and met with a really cool entertainment lawyer. He was very interested in looking at our film and passing it on to the acquisitions department of the company he works with. Hey! We'll take it! Last night we saw the MN Film FOUR BOXES. It was a lot of fun. It was sort of a thriller; lots of comedy in it and a few twists and turns. I really enjoyed it. Justin Kirk from WEEDS fame was in it...and you all know that WEEDS is my newest obsession so that was cool and at the after party I got to talk with him which really made my day. Another actor in the film, Sam Rosen (nephew of WCCO dude Mark Rosen) was also very cool (very funny in ...

I'm old. I mean seriously. I am so old. This has been an exhausting weekend! It's day 3 of SXSW and I'm pooped! Friday night we went to a film, I met up with the INCREDIBLE and AMAZING Donna for dinner & drinks (she is so freaking awesome, btw...you should really go and meet her), and then back to the hotel. At the hotel there was probably 2 hours of DRAMA amongst my traveling companions and I finally hit the wall and went to be amidst the carnage. I couldn't take it any more. It was WAY too late of a night. Yesterday we got here 'bright & early' (well, 11am...heh) and we went to a panel about distribution and learned that we really need a sales agent or a producer's rep (duh, yes, we know). Later we had mentor sessions where we chatted with managers & distribution people where we learned, we pretty much need a sales agent or producer's rep (ding! Got it). We spent the afternoon walking around, eating lunch, not networking like we should, at...

Hey y'all. I'm here in Texas. I'm tired. It's been a long day. Got up, got myself & Miss Dahlia packed up. Drove to Minneapolis...hung out with the triplets, my sister, my Dad and Dahlia all day. Dad drove me to the airport and he & Dahlia headed to Austin. Then I headed to the other Austin. The flight was fine, we are in a nice hotel. It is "cold" here (40 degrees when we arrived, but still 40 degrees warmer than when I left Duluth). It is raining. I like the rain but hope it doesn't rain all day tomorrow. And Saturday. The hotel is very nice. I have to PAY for Wifi which is totally lame, but I am an addict so there ya go. I'm looking forward to sleeping...all night, then eating a made-to-order free breakfast, then hitting the SXSW scene. That's it! G'night!

Wow - there's been a lot happening in the last week or so... First of all Fargo. We had an awesome time. We met some great people, saw some great (and mediocre) films, and had a stellar screening on Friday night. TONS of people there, the old dude playing the Wurlitzer beforehand, lots of Q's during the Q&A, etc. It was a blast. We sold some project, shook lots of hand and made some excellent contacts. The "Framed by Women" lunch panel was not as dreadful as I thought. I was with 4 other very talented & interesting women and it went by really fast. I only said a couple of things that made me sound like an ass. I also ended up being on the lunch panel (unbeknownst to me!) on Saturday. "Unfiltered: Guests of the Fest tell All" it was a LOT of fun. I sat next to Melody Gilbert (who is quite the documentarian -from St. Paul - we met her during the 2007 Fargo Film Festival). She was awesome and I thnk could be a valuable resource & mentor. We also met...

Here's the situation... We're going to SXSW in March. "We" means my business partner, myself, our friend who's helping us with promoting/publicity, and another friend who worked on the film. Here's the dilemma. Our friend who is going (the one that worked on the film) - well, this is going to be quite a financial stress on her. She'll be on vacation, so not losing pay, but the flight, hotel & film badge are spendy. This is not a cost that 4 Track is picking up, simply because we can't. So, while my partner & I's flights, film badge & hotel are paid for; hers are not (the promoter is fending for himself, and this is fine with all). So, I could offer to share my hotel room which would defray her costs a bit....but I kind of don't want to. I've LONGED for several nights in a row, sleeping BY MYSELF. No babies, no husbands, no light, no sound, no nothing. I want to be able to get up when I want, take a shower when I want, sit around...