2020 is practically ancient history.
2021 is dead and gone.
This new year is fresh, new, and bursting with potential. A blank page, waiting for us to fill it with excitement, good times, and adventures of the best kind.
Let’s get to it!
It’s up to us to use the power of positive thinking to make 2022 a fabulous year.
She says it very well.
I, too, am a free person, and will make my own medical decisions.
My body is my own, and the government has no rights over it.
I’ve won many things in my life. But never a trophy.
Until now!
So, here it is. My first, ever, trophy. Ta-da!
I couldn’t be in Florida for the awards ceremony, but was given a link so I could watch it live.
My category came up early in the ceremony. As the nominated screenplays were named, I was surprised to find I had the jitters. Just as I would if I were there in person.
When True Story of the Perfect 36 was revealed as the 1st place winner, I was through the roof with happiness!
Here’s a link to the recorded ceremony.
Thank you, Beyond Entertainment Family Film Festival. I really enjoyed the experience, and love, love, love the trophy!
Each of us has routines we follow. We go to the same stores. Talk to the same people. Listen to the same news sources.
Without meaning to, we create a bubble in which to live.
That’s not so bad for some people, but for more than a year and a half, I’ve been trapped in a Seattle bubble. You know Seattle, home of the ‘Summer of Love’ fiasco.
And it’s not just incompetent local government we have here. King Inslee, tyrant that he is, has used the threat of Covid-19 to shut down businesses, close schools, force citizens to wears masks, and break apart friends and families.
He’s done everything in his power (and quite a bit past what is legally in a governor’s power) to force the entire population of Washington state to live in constant fear. It’s obvious to me that his goal is to grasp power by destabilizing our society. A common practice used by communist dictators.
Go figure.
Unfortunately, people in my area can’t see what he’s doing. Either that, or they don’t care. The result is that Seattle has become a dystopian world full of mandates, masks, and tyrannical officials who feel they have the right to dictate how each person lives.
Bleh!
A few weeks ago, I realized that I hadn’t visited my mother in quite a while. I wanted to remedy that. But since the few attempts to wear a mask had left me faint and gasping for air in a few short minutes, I knew that flying was out.
I could see the headlines if I attempted a plane trip. “Woman arrested for taking off mask on plane. Claims she couldn’t breathe are unsubstantiated.”
Yep. That wouldn’t be fun.
So, even though we knew we only had a short window to complete our trip, my daughter and I loaded up our car and drove across the country.
It was quite an adventure.
We left Washington on a Wednesday, and got back home a week and a half later on a Sunday. We drove more than 6000 miles and saw the following states. (My librarian self demands that I put the states in alphabetical order.)
Alabama
Arkansas
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Iowa
Kansas
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Oklahoma
Oregon
South Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
Wyoming
What a long, tiring, glorious trip!
America is undeniably a beautiful country!
Flying over it does NOT do it justice.
By the way, I’m happy to report that most of the country is going about their day, free of the fear that dystopian Seattle lives under. Few or no masks on the streets, in the stores, or in restaurants. And certainly no vaccine passports to get into anywhere.
The bubble is burst. No matter what the media claims, I’ve seen the truth for myself.
Normal is normal, there is no new about it. When people don’t bow down to tyranny, tyranny fails.
Hope exists and is strong. It thrives in the hearts and minds of millions of Americans across the country. Those who don’t live in states governed by tyrants like King Inslee live their lives without masks, without vaccine passports, and without unnecessary fear.
I’ve felt freedom. Real freedom. It was in the wind that blew through my hair. In the movement of the clouds as they danced across an infinite sky. In the wide, open spaces of the never-ending prairies, rolling hills, majestic mountains, and winding rivers.
I was surrounded by freedom. It felt good. But more importantly, it felt right.
Which has brought me to a decision. No matter where I am, I am never, ever, going back into that nasty, stinky, dystopian bubble where tyrants feel they have the right to mandate what I do with my life.
I have created a new bubble. A bubble of freedom.
The only mandate I plan to follow is the mandate to end tyranny.
The more I know about making a movie, the better I’ll be at writing one. So, I challenged myself to do a short.
I talked a couple of kids (family members) into being my actors and wrote a short I hoped they’d enjoy making. I knew I’d have to direct it myself, but then realized I’d also have to handle the editing of the final project.
A short suddenly seemed a huge thing to do, overwhelming even. But what kind of challenge would it be if it was easy? I pushed on.
I was fortunate enough to rope one more person onto the crew. A sweet, intelligent young woman (my daughter) agreed to do the camera work.
In an effort to make it easy, I choose as a location a large, easy to access, public park.
Here’s what I’ve learned so far:
Public parks, particularly those used by seaplanes, are excessively noisy.
It is a little know fact that marching bands practice in public parks.
People actually do walk up to strangers in public parks and ask, “What are you doing?”
The microphone on my smart phone is too weak for filming, so an external microphone is necessary.
Lavalier microphones work great but are a pain to place correctly, particularly if they need to be hidden.
It is necessary for the director to check that a microphone is turned on.
Filming uses up the battery of a smart phone ridiculously fast.
Working with children, as sweet as they are, has its own challenges.
Choosing editing software is a grueling chore and takes much longer than expected.
Learning to use said software takes even longer.
Directing is a skill I have yet to master.
The weather doesn’t always cooperate.
Patience is key!
School starts up in a couple of weeks and my actors will be very busy. Meanwhile, there’s still three scenes to shoot and sound issues to resolve.
Wish me luck!
Beautiful and relaxing. There’s nothing like waves gently lapping the shore to soothe the soul.
