Toes Curled

I feel like I didn't get much done today, but I did really. It is just that there is always SO much more to do.

After much thought and review of the current set up of my apartment, I decided that it makes sense to move my makeshift movie-making office from my living room into my studio. I had been trying to avoid doing so because it is going to be a lot of work, and I need to ELIMINATE items from my plate, not add to it. But, it must be done. It doesn't make sense to set up the whole she-bang in my living room and then have to move it all when it comes time to film, as this room will serve as the set for at least one scene when we start filming seven weeks from now. Seven weeks from now?!?! Mm, was that a chest pain?

My horoscope today (Gemini, which should surprise no one)said that if it uses electricity, it would be problematic for me today. That indeed was the case, as my stupid computer seized up everytime I tried to get online until after 3pm. What my horoscope also should have said was that if it walks on two legs and works at Home Depot in it would completely ignore me.

Once I make a decision I am a person of action. So, must transform studio into office, must hit Home Depot! I went in there knowing EXACTLY what I wanted and it still took me an hour and a half to get out of there. I spoke with at least eight different people who worked there, and the only one who knew what they were doing, was pleasant, AND gave a damn about helping me was the SECOND guy I dealt with in the paint department. I think they should change their motto from, "You can do it. We can help," to, "You can do it. Good luck with that."

But, I did get a nice area rug that was originally $370 for $160, so my patience paid off. Crammed that huge thing in the back of my Mustang, packed the trunk with a gallon of primer and four gallons of paint, rollers, tape, etc., and headed home.

The rug is now in the staircase, the paint is still in the trunk. It will be a few days before it can get anywhere near the walls of my studio. First I have to figure out where the hell I am going to put all my artwork, supplies, and framing.

My subconscious is sorting that out for me and I'll start tackling that Sunday. My friend Caren will help me with the painting, she loves that stuff. I want to have it done by Wednesday night. A tall order, but with Caren's help, completely do-able. She is like the Tasmanian Devil, except cuter and more productive. Put a brush in her hand and by the time you turn around, the room (and a good portion of Caren)has two layers of paint.

Sean is supposed to help me next week, to go to the Apple store and choose equipment for my editing suite. So I want a nice, fresh office to put my new toys in.

Tomorrow I am going to Eric's to continue my tutorial on building a website. I need to launch that no later than the end of the month. I am going to become technically proficient (at something other than writing really long blog entries) if it kills me!

Today I also popped off a few important emails, including confirming a day-long do with Michelle on Tuesday. We are going to go over the entire script and probably visit a few locations, start blocking things out schedule-wise.

Between yesterday and today, I watched the nearly five hours of tapes of the callbacks. Some decisions have become clearer, but there are still some choices that leave me on the fence. I have found a brilliant group of actors and it is going to be difficult to turn some of them down. Everyone of them seems so enthusiastic about the project, I wish I had parts for all of them.

After taking a second pass at breaking down the script into production days, it became clear to me that it is going to take a minimum of twelve days to shoot this thing, not the ten days I was hoping to cram it into. That alone pretty much eats up my "contingency" budget. But not to worry. Another credit card is on its way to me in the mail as I write this!

After Eric's tomorrow, I am taking my little cousins and future movie stars, Joey and Sean, to the Orioles game. I was on the phone with Eric last night and he asked when I was totally diving into pre-production. I have been plugging away at it, obviously, but this weekend I think will be my last social hurrah for the next two months. In the last two weeks I have seen a lot of friends, due to my birthday and other excuses to gather. But it is time to get down to business, hard-core. I'm standing on the edge of that wobbly plank, gripping the edge tightly with my toes while I gather the nerve to bounce higher and higher before taking the plunge. Here goes nothin'...