Well, last time I wrote a monthly e-mail, it was September 19, 2008. So, it's been over a year. Far too long, yet it seems like it flew by like a turtle passing a snail in a race. And yes, I have seen it.
So, here I am trying to restart my monthly letters - October 2009
Anywho, what has happened in the past year.
Well, in December of 08, we (Mom, my aunt, and I) went to Buenos Aires, Argentina to make a Spanish educational film. We stayed with aunt's friend. In short, production was less than productive, buy hey, we learned a lot and we somehow managed to get it filmed. Although, I have to pull a bunch of rabbits out of my hat to get it to somewhat work. I am not saying it is terrible, but like I said, we learned a lot from the experience. I was amazed that it was summer down there. I knew it was summer because the earth is round and tilts on an axis. But like with most things, it is more amazing when you experience it first hand. We did get to sightsee a little bit, but mostly for filming. I keep meaning to write about my adventure there, but I still have not gotten around to it.
January 09 I became ill. I thought I might have caught something in Argetina but it turned out to be Shingles. Luckily for me, my chicken pox was not that severe and my shingles was mild (on the medical scale of: mild, moderate, severe). I believe it lasted about a week and a half. The doctor gave me 3 types of pain pills. I tried one of the pills, became delirious (one of the side effects) so I quit taking them. I remember waving at everything and talking to Benny a lot when I took the medication. I heard that shingles are supposed to be quite painful. To me it was not that painful, just annoying. It was difficult to sleep and I did not get a lot of sleep. I ate soup most of the time and lost 5 pounds. The shingles were on the left side of my head and neck. I did research shingles and I know a lot about it. Hopefully, I will not get them again.
Sometime in the past year, we finally got Grandpa out of our house and back into his house. I cannot remember all the details of who was taking care of him at the time because no one tells me what is going on. Sometime in there he broke his hip simply by lifting his leg to put his shoe on. Surgery went well, but he did develop a staff infection. He recovered from that and eventually Mom's brother Nathan is currently taking care of him.
Early July we started fixing up the house. Painting it and cleaning it. I tell you what, you never really know how dirty your house is until you really really clean it. I cleaned the windows here and the rag I was using was just back as night! I believe since cleaning the windows, the house is 45% brighter inside, haha. We were going to paint all the rooms a white with a hint of blue. However, my aunt had a better idea to coordinate colours and what not. I have read opinions on what color you should paint your walls when you want to sell your house. Some say plain white, some say coordinate colours. Me, I am just the worker. I will paint it striped if you want. Poka-dots even. As long as it sells, I did my job. The main floor is a type of pink (burnt rose or something), front bedroom is a type of off white with blue tint, master bedroom is a mint green, and upstairs is a yellow. All colours a pastel mind you. It looks pretty good. I tell you what though, I first started painting with a drop cloth and lots of taping things. I have excelled where I only need to tape the baseboards and I do not have to use a drop cloth. But I still put one down where I am working "just in case". The first room I painted took about 2 to 3 hours. Now, take that same size room and I can paint it in about 1.5. But most of everything, we have been doing ourselves with help from my aunt and her son. We have had some paid help also, some friends from the fair to do outside work. Mom told me I would not have to do any outside work, but the weather is too nice not to because fall is here. The house is already on the market, but not being shown because my big room upstairs is not done. Hopefully it will be done by next week. Then we can tidy up the living areas a wee bit more and get it ready for show.
Last month, I attended the Travel Channel Academy. It was a 4 day film 'bootcamp'. I went in there expecting not to learn much about editing. I did learn a few new tips about editing and filming, but what I found value in the most was how to make a story. Everything was based on short-form production. It was tough but I learned some things. Another thing is that we have access to the Travel Channel where we can sell them our short videos. I had some ideas in my head on what to film while I was there, but did not write them down so I have to re-idea them again. BAH. On that note, I had to get a new computer to go to the academy. Which meant that Mom got a new computer. If you do not know, I use Apple so Mom got my old Apple Computer. We bought Parallels with it and another Windows XP disc. Which means that I can use Windows XP on an Apple Computer. Parallels integrates XP within OS X (OSX is Apple's operating system whereas Windows XP is Microsoft's operating system). I am going to stop there in case I have already gone over your head. lol So, my new computer is a Macbook Pro. It is a laptop that is quite powerful and is considered a desktop replacement. Ever since I have had it, my old G5 desktop has not been used much [sad face], haha.
And that is about all I can think of. Yup, I ended the previous sentence in a preposition. How would I reword that not to end it in a preposition. Not know, do I. Anyway, as for me, this month, I need to get my things in order to apply to grad schools, take the GRE test, and contact my contacts to get recommendation letters. SIGH. I hope to pursue a Master's in Film so someday I can make a documentary about my great-great-great-great Grandfather Chief Menawa who fought Andrew Jackson in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. Whew! that was a long sentence. Let me catch my breath.
Anywho, I have a blog if you are interested in reading it. It is at tangentdave.blogspot.com. I will continue to write these monthly letters, but the blog will have stuff in between. Oh, you can even view my projects that I did at the Travel Channel Academy at my blog. They are in there somewhere.
Until next time
No comments:
Post a Comment