Everyone's A Critic

I'm about 20 hours into a video project. I think that estimate is more conservative than I care to admit... but I digress.

That's a lot of time on something. I'm very excited about it. However, I'm also very scared. I don't know how it's going to turn out.

Right now, all the footage looks great. However, I have no idea if I will get it open in post production (the step after production, usually editing) and realize I have wasted the equivalent of a day of my life on a failed effort.

It's scary.

Creative projects are like that. I love them. Being able to envision something and then make it happen is one of the most rewarding things in life for me. It's also the scariest. You're investing a part of yourself in something. Then, exposing that something to the world. For them to enjoy or hate. Love or reject.

I was thinking about this while spending a few more hours on the project. I am putting a lot of myself into this. What if it fails? What if no one likes it?

Then I got thinking about my own attitude towards other peoples art. 

I'll dislike a cd, and write it off as junk. Someone put a lot of heart and soul into it, and I'm writing it off. Same with movies... games... books. Someone spent hours toiling over this thing... and I'm going to hate on it?

Which is why I'm going to try and be less harsh towards stuff. Was that movie good? No. But someone tried really, really hard to make it good... and failed. They don't need us being negative. They need us being positive to encourage them to pick themselves up and try again. 

That's what's on my mind at least!

Hopefully next week I'll have a music video for you!

Wrapping

It's one of my favorite parts of pre-Christmas prep. Throw some Christmas tunes on the radio (LIFE is non-stop Christmas now... just sayin...), grab some tape and pick out some nice paper. Then, get wrapping.

It's really too bad I'm terrible at it.

O.K, not terrible... just not great.

I used to be really bad. It was more of a ball of paper with a gift in it when I was a kid. Now it's a box with suspiciously rounded edges.

This year I discovered double sided wrapping paper. I'm not kidding! It's really a thing! I'm way more excited about this then I should be. I probably need a hobby...

Christmas Time

Is one of my favourite times of the year. It's awesome! Bright, colourful and the music has it's on special charm to it too.

There's only one thing that bugs me about it. People discussing it.

Every year beginning in November, the conversation begins. Should we be celebrating? Isn't it pagan? Santa!

It's starting to fell like beating a dead horse. Most of the stuff that is worth saying has been said. The internet is loaded with articles about the subject... Can't we leave it at that? Maybe I'm just a fan boy...

For me the lights, trees, bells, green, red, songs, tinsel, holly, turkey and gifts aren't distractions. They're reminders.

Reminders of what we are getting ready for on the 25th of December. The celebration of the birth of Jesus, but that's not where it ends. He was born to die.
Think about that!
It's like a pre-Easter celebration. What happens in a peaceful manger culminates at Calvary and concludes with the resurrection. It's this awesome (and life changing) series of events that all begin... with Christmas.

At least, that's how I feel about it.

Happy Christmas!

Extreme Dominoes

I have always enjoyed dominoes. I have wasted hour after hour stacking just to push one domino over and watch the domino affect set in (lame pun intended).

I can't imagine doing this... it would just be too much work...

And then there's this one, which proves the domino pun...

And since you've watched 3... why not watch one more?

And the Grand Finally... this must have taken a week or two!

Imagine getting to domino number 29,999 then having the whole thing collapse? That would be disappointing... to say the least.