Madly in love

Wow...

So many things have happened since my last post...

Let's see, the biggest thing that's happened is that I'M HAPPY!

I mean I think I'm always pretty happy. I'm madly in love with my husband and my kids. They are my rock, my ground, my stand.

But here's my new happy place...And Scene Productions.

So in a prior blog post I talked about this little company that together with my best friend Jason "Jay" Tuthill and our friend Dave Young we started officially in 2013. And Scene was Jay's little brain child. I remember we were sitting out on his back patio one day in the summer of 2013, broke as hell, talking about how we were going to survive. Jay has this interesting love for horror films and I will admit I'm not that into it. But it was the passion in which he discussed being a production designer for  movies and music videos (as a matter of fact we were in the process of working on our first music video design together) that intrigued me. I think initially I was thinking, I don't know anything about how this works! So fast forward to October 2013, here we were in Portsmouth signing paperwork to make this dream a reality. When Jay and I came down those steps you would have though we were getting married or something! It was definitely a step in a direction of some sort. Again and still I was like, I have no idea where we are going with this! So in 2014, we got our first big design: a film called The Possession Experiment with the Digital Thunderdome Studios. I felt a bit sad at first because this was a big project and I, of course, was still in opera season and super busy. But, the moments I was able to be there were very special. I think I was really starting to get into the idea of hey, we are totally doing our own thing, for ourselves, on our own time. It was a bit quiet after that, a few projects here and there. Well, in the beginnings of this year, Jay started talking to me about some guy, who was coming back to work on a project with these two British guys. Now Jay's talking to me about all this for months and I'm listening to him on the phone. He seemed really excited about it and yet and still, I couldn't get there with him. I mean how often does someone call you and tell you that your company is going to be working on a new television series for the Sci-Fi network? So fast forward again to the end of April and surprise...we are definitely doing this thing!
Of course my thought was, what the hell am I going to be doing on this? I mean, I'm not a carpenter I told myself. Let me just say for clarification: I've told myself for years that I can't build anything, I'm an electrician, blah blah blah. Visual Art is one of those things I gave up on when I thought I couldn't make any money off of it. I mean, my mother is the artist, not me. My two brothers are even artists. But me, I'm the singer (or was). So building and creating things was not one of the things I thought I would ever do in a even semi-professional sense. But the things I created for this show made me go wow...why did I ever stop? I impressed myself as much as everyone else. When the main set was finished, I thought I was done. But my dear friend Jay somehow came up with this bright idea that I was the Art Director for this show. A-hem. Excuse me? So that's what I became--Art  Director. For 6 weeks I have doing things that I never thought I even had the mental capacity to do. It became like this part of me that I just kept hidden for so long. Now let's just be clear--I'm no expert. I mean, Jay is like a natural at this. He has a good eye and he's a super quick thinker which is extremely valuable in the film world. I'm still learning some things. But I'm loving every minute.
So why is all of this important? Here's the biggest part of what has happened to me in 6 weeks--my pain level has been at maximum a 2. 2...for at least the last 6 weeks. Little to no pain, excluding the normal stuff--lack of sleep, sore feet, etc. So then I think to myself, hmmm...there's a connection here somewhere. Then I came to the ultimate conclusion: I am madly in love with my business. Because what else but love can conquer pain that quickly? Sheer and absolute happiness has been my biggest and only medication for 6 weeks.
The other great thing about this is that I am back with my partner in crime. Short history--Jay and I met while working together at the Virginia Opera several years ago. I didn't like him at all. He was loud and I thought he was cocky as shit. But somehow the planets aligned and just like that we were dominating the stage together. We could run a work call like nobody could. I couldn't explain it, but with him I felt like we could do anything together. From that we became friends...best of friends. And then one day, Jay told me he wasn't coming back next season. I could have killed him really. I mean first of all, I had a migraine that day and I was laying face down on my bed with a pillow over me. Getting that call made my heart break into so many pieces. How could I do this job without my partner. Fast forward to 2013...you know the rest.
There's word for what we are...Anam Cara, which means soul friend. It's amazing how we work together. It's like magic. So there I find my cure. I think its a phenomenal thing to finally find someone who understands everything about your work ethic and how you work.