Mi Familia

Yesterday I was hanging out at my parents and we dove into some videos of our crazy awesome New Year parties we hosted from 1999 - 2001 for our extended family. We would turn our game room into the set of a TV game show...I mean totally transform it. We did "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", "Family Feud", and "Jeopardy". My Dad would build a set from scratch, we'd set up computers and TV screens to show the questions and answers, and we would record sound effects to play. Also, my Dad, who is by no means an actor, would dress and act like the host of these shows. ANNNNND... I'd make commercials to show during the game using old home movies and family footage.

At the time of these parties, it just felt like a ton of work to pull them off. And it was. It wasn't exactly what I wanted to be doing for New Years and Christmas break as a college student. But watching the videos, I miss it. It was incredible. And it really shows how much my Dad values family. Here is a clip of Family Feud: (note: my Dad is bald; that is a wig...he was portraying the creepiest Family Feud host, Richard Dawson)



I know, awesome.

Secondly, my family is still fun and creative. Right now I'm watching a video of my sister's 2 new step kids, Alli and Matt, playing putt putt in my parents house. My Dad set up this whole putt putt course for them to have a fun activity to do when they visit "Gigi and Poppy". He used cups for the holes; he used chairs and toys for obstacles; he printed up score cards; he bought prizes. It really looks so fun I'm kind of jealous that I wasn't there to play. Instead, I'm editing the footage to music for them to watch. My family loves having a video editor in the bunch...they just love it.

I'm really just so blessed. I'm gonna try to start posting more home videos. There are so many hilarious ones.

1 - 100 Drumming

This is brilliant.

Small Joys

As you can imagine, being a freelance/contract worker has some major advantages. I get by with working only part time, therefor I have much more free time than the average American. I have no children or husband to take care of either. So my free time is literally MY time. This leads to many fun and random occurrences that I don't believe would happen if I worked full time. Example:

I was hanging out at the house today around noon. I made myself a wrap to eat. Tahj was also home because she works a random schedule. She was watching the extras on the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. I sat down and watched too. We saw the segment about the amazing set design and special effects. It is truly an amazing movie. Then we saw a button that said, "Activities." We pushed. Suddenly, we were taking a dance lesson from the Oompa Loompa. It was taught to us in 8 counts. There we were in our tiny living room, wiggling and moving to "Augustus Gloop, Augustus Gloop...blah blah blah blah...Ninkam Poop." It was so joyous. Next time you're at our house, ask us to show you the dance we learned. It's pretty amazing.

Sweaters

There is just something about a guy who can sport a Cosby sweater.

Purpose

“You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

A Quote

"You just can't time genius."

Said by me, today, to my boss.

Irrational Fears

I'm not much of a worrier by nature. But I have had some irrational fear lately. At least what I think is irrational. You be the judge.

Fear 1- Whoever has my SSN and DL is going to keep using them until they become me and I have no identity anymore. (I was a recent victim of some MAJOR ID Theft and check fraud)

Fear 2- I won't be able to pay off my recently accrued debt in a timely manner.

Fear 3- The Miller Agency is going to ask me to work full time again. Sure, I'd get paid a lot more. But if I go full time, there goes my freedom of time that I've had for 13 months of working contract with them. The thought of being here every day for 8 hours and only having 2 week so of vacation a year hurts my stomach. So if this happens, I have no clue what I'm gonna do.

Fear 4- I'll never coach soccer and really regret that.

Fear 5- I'm gonna fall hopeless, madly, and passionately in love with someone who will not reciprocate my feelings.

Fear 6- And because of 5, I will settle for someone who I don't feel as strongly about.
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I like what Martha quoted in a recent post: "Worry is like a rocking chair--it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere." ~Dorothy Galyean

So I'm not gonna worry about these things...I'm just gonna live my life in an optimistic way. I just wanted to get these fears out in the open.

Vodka, Anyone?

I kind of hate what I wrote yesterday...it didn't come out how I thought it in my head. I might have been drinking while writing, I might not have been; but that'd be a good excuse. Regardless, I'm gonna leave it up. Maybe it will spark some thought in readers.

That's all I had to say.

"Best Practice."

There is this term I recently noticed being used a lot at the office: best practice. A graphic designer kept saying it in reference to how buttons on a website should be placed. I decided to research the phrase a little. Here is a definition of it from Wikipedia:

Best practices can also be defined as the most efficient (least amount of effort) and effective (best results) way of accomplishing a task, based on repeatable procedures that have proven themselves over time for large numbers of people.

I can see how it would make sense to go with the "best practice" on things like an accounting method or button position on websites. It's the way most proven to get results. Sure, use it! Then I thought about life. A lot, A LOT, of people follow "best practice" as a way to live. As an American adult, it seems "best practice" is to go to college, graduate, get a job working 50 weeks a year (whether you like it or not), enjoy your weekends and 2 weeks of vacation, start a 401K, get married, buy a house in the suburbs, vote, have kids, raise them in a church (regardless of whether or not you even believe in what the church says), send them to college and watch them follow in your footsteps and live the exact same way you did because, well hey, it's obviously the "best practice" of life.

(Deep breathe)

I personally don't think "best practice" is the same thing as "most fulfilling". Not that someone who lives that way can't be fulfilled...they could absolutely love their lives. And I hope they do. But I think everyone's life practice can be different; and should be different. People need to figure out how to live in a way that fulfills them and LIVE IT....block the noise coming from the "best practice" society.

I feel odd. I feel restless. I feel a bit like I did before taking off in Fall of '06. It's not that I'm unhappy. I'm actually very happy. I just don't feel fulfilled. I think I need change... maybe I'm living too "best practice"-y. I need to feel ALIVE...all the time; every day.

Resolutions and Theme

I have two resolutions that I am very serious about for 2008.

1- I won't buy any clothes/shoes for myself all year.

This sounds impossible, yes I know, but I really want to achieve this. I feel like I've become so materialistic lately. This isn't even about saving money, although that will be nice, it's more about changing my mindset. I need to realize that I can get by with what I have. And I need to find other hobbies/types of therapy that don't involve shopping. There is a Brett Dennen song, "There So Much More", that really spoke to me on this subject:

"I don't feel comfortable with the way my clothes fit
I can't get used to my body's limits
I got some fancy shoes to try and giggle away these blues
They cost a lot of money but they aren't worth a thing
I wanna free my feet from the broken glass and concrete
I need to get out of this city
Lay upon the ground stare a hole in the sky
Wondering where I go when I die.

I wonder how so many can be in so much pain,
While others don't seem to feel a thing
Then I curse my whiteness,
And I get so damn depressed,
In a world with suffering,
Why should I be so blessed?"

2- Get seriously good at what I do - editing/video production.

This doesn't mean get more gigs and do more work. This means improve my skill, learn new programs, finesse my style. How will I do this? Tutorials, practice, applying myself at home, focusing for more than 5 minutes at a time...things like that. It might mean missing out on some fun times. I need to go through a self-schooling of sorts. My goal is to be practically lethal on all the best programs and be able to edit anything I'm given to the best of my, or anyone else's, ability. In short, I'm gonna ROCK. Watch out production world.
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So there you have my 2008 resolutions. I will need help. Please keep me accountable. Ask me about my shopping, ask me about my learning. Otherwise, I won't make it through the year like I want to.

I have a theme for the year. It's "self-improvement rather than self-discovery." The last couple years have been about discovery. I know who I am now. I would like to improve upon that this year.