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Introverts, Red in Tooth and Claw
Aug. 15th, 2011 01:41 amThe film keeps. not. being. done. as we find more sound problems. We think it's a week away now, assuming we can find Ciro's laptop battery, which has inexplicably vanished. Our room is not that big. There are only so many places to look behind. And yet.
It occurred to me yesterday that there are very few photographs of me since November, which is odd because I'm normally heavily documented, just inadvertently, as a consequence of being a camera operator married to a cinematographer, with loads of photographer friends. It would almost seem I am hiding something, like I've burned off half my face or contracted a wasting disease. But why then no photos of Ciro either?
In fact, the wasting disease, such as it is, is The Film. We have done almost nothing visually interesting since Thanksgiving, except the trip to New Mexico. Every waking moment is spent on the film, drooling like zombies because we are tired from work on the film, taking on extra non-film work to cover the postproduction cost of the film, and drooling like zombies because we are tired from work to cover the cost of the film. I look perpetually hangdog compared to myself, although not compared to most other people. Being able to fit in a 20 minute walk is an accomplishment.
I am sure it gets tiring this talk of the film all the time. That is because it is tiring. At the same time I want to kill anybody who says "why not take a break for a while?" Because then it is longer until it is done.
Ciro and I are thinking about doing a 30-day photo project as soon as we ship the film, just to do something visually creative again. Mind you, the memory card slot of my DSLR is conveniently broken and I don't know that I can afford repairs this month. We'll see. Maybe I'll shoot actual celluloid.
I have been making omelettes for breakfast lately to go along with my oatmeal; with my swing shift sleep schedule and trying to time my lunch to Mom and Dad's dinner, plus trying to find time to ingest an iron supplement that needs an empty stomach which then stays empty another hour or two, it's just easier to eat a heavier breakfast around noon than to eat a normal Romie light breakfast and try to fit a mini-meal at 4:00.
Anyway, I've gotten very good at omelettes, at least according to the metrics I apply: reasonably good texture, a minimum of dishes get dirty, and it doesn't take that much time or fussing. This is a relief because most chefs overthink omelettes and suggest you do all kinds of outlandish things that aren't necessary; it's sort of like all the twitches you see in professional sports players before they pitch/serve/swing. It seems to me the main thing is use good eggs and figure out the right temperature on your stove. That's pretty much it.*
REL has moved back to Atlanta after a lot of pretending to herself she was considering other options. One assumes she will be back to visit for Christmas or Thanksgiving.
Tile and vanity have been ordered for the bathroom remodel; I still have to find a bathtub, fixtures, drawer pulls, an attractive vent light (difficult), and a sink. Hopefully this will not be miserable. The tile order involved a lot of math; it is a small but complicated bathroom with cutouts and irregular surface area dimensions. Dad and I sat at a large desk with large calculators, checking each other's numbers for perhaps 2 hours in the middle of the tile distributor's showroom.
I think all the decorators thought it was adorable, like kids doing homework at the library; probably most of these people did not understand math, and do not regularly use math beyond adding. Math is not adorable. Math is whether the shuttle burns up on reentry. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of nerds somewhere in our culture as harmless and bumbling and occupied with non-physical things, even nerds with trebuchets. It is like finding bears and tigers sweet and innocent.
* Val, you are probably going to ask what I do, but since it's partly based on eyeing things to see when they've set to a certain point, it will be easier to demonstrate in person sometime. Otherwise the steps are crack two eggs into a nonstick pan (I use a 7 inch pan, but probably 8 inch would work) over low-medium heat, break yolks and whisk with a fork in the pan until things gel enough (this is the main place "by eye" comes in), run a whippy spatula around the edge to loosen it so it doesn't get tough before the rest of the thing cooks, and then drop whatever fillings on and wait a couple minutes for the top to gently set. Then put it on a plate.
It occurred to me yesterday that there are very few photographs of me since November, which is odd because I'm normally heavily documented, just inadvertently, as a consequence of being a camera operator married to a cinematographer, with loads of photographer friends. It would almost seem I am hiding something, like I've burned off half my face or contracted a wasting disease. But why then no photos of Ciro either?
In fact, the wasting disease, such as it is, is The Film. We have done almost nothing visually interesting since Thanksgiving, except the trip to New Mexico. Every waking moment is spent on the film, drooling like zombies because we are tired from work on the film, taking on extra non-film work to cover the postproduction cost of the film, and drooling like zombies because we are tired from work to cover the cost of the film. I look perpetually hangdog compared to myself, although not compared to most other people. Being able to fit in a 20 minute walk is an accomplishment.
I am sure it gets tiring this talk of the film all the time. That is because it is tiring. At the same time I want to kill anybody who says "why not take a break for a while?" Because then it is longer until it is done.
Ciro and I are thinking about doing a 30-day photo project as soon as we ship the film, just to do something visually creative again. Mind you, the memory card slot of my DSLR is conveniently broken and I don't know that I can afford repairs this month. We'll see. Maybe I'll shoot actual celluloid.
I have been making omelettes for breakfast lately to go along with my oatmeal; with my swing shift sleep schedule and trying to time my lunch to Mom and Dad's dinner, plus trying to find time to ingest an iron supplement that needs an empty stomach which then stays empty another hour or two, it's just easier to eat a heavier breakfast around noon than to eat a normal Romie light breakfast and try to fit a mini-meal at 4:00.
Anyway, I've gotten very good at omelettes, at least according to the metrics I apply: reasonably good texture, a minimum of dishes get dirty, and it doesn't take that much time or fussing. This is a relief because most chefs overthink omelettes and suggest you do all kinds of outlandish things that aren't necessary; it's sort of like all the twitches you see in professional sports players before they pitch/serve/swing. It seems to me the main thing is use good eggs and figure out the right temperature on your stove. That's pretty much it.*
REL has moved back to Atlanta after a lot of pretending to herself she was considering other options. One assumes she will be back to visit for Christmas or Thanksgiving.
Tile and vanity have been ordered for the bathroom remodel; I still have to find a bathtub, fixtures, drawer pulls, an attractive vent light (difficult), and a sink. Hopefully this will not be miserable. The tile order involved a lot of math; it is a small but complicated bathroom with cutouts and irregular surface area dimensions. Dad and I sat at a large desk with large calculators, checking each other's numbers for perhaps 2 hours in the middle of the tile distributor's showroom.
I think all the decorators thought it was adorable, like kids doing homework at the library; probably most of these people did not understand math, and do not regularly use math beyond adding. Math is not adorable. Math is whether the shuttle burns up on reentry. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of nerds somewhere in our culture as harmless and bumbling and occupied with non-physical things, even nerds with trebuchets. It is like finding bears and tigers sweet and innocent.
* Val, you are probably going to ask what I do, but since it's partly based on eyeing things to see when they've set to a certain point, it will be easier to demonstrate in person sometime. Otherwise the steps are crack two eggs into a nonstick pan (I use a 7 inch pan, but probably 8 inch would work) over low-medium heat, break yolks and whisk with a fork in the pan until things gel enough (this is the main place "by eye" comes in), run a whippy spatula around the edge to loosen it so it doesn't get tough before the rest of the thing cooks, and then drop whatever fillings on and wait a couple minutes for the top to gently set. Then put it on a plate.
