Chapter One: Bots Without Borders Travel Blog Practice Run
The trip is coming up. 3.2 weeks. It will pass by so quickly.
I've realized that it's going to be on me to write the travel blog, so I need to practice taking notes about the world around me and wording them for someone else. To be perfectly frank, I've always been very selfish with my writing. I've always written about my mysterious internal world, usually to myself. But this year, my focus will turn outwards.
So:
We were up until 4am or so, finessing the website, and putting the final touches on format. This is the 4th day in a row we've been up at least this late and there's been many moments in which I had to transition from thinking "tomorrow, I'll take a nice break, write my manifesto and my mission statement for the year, sleep in, read a paper and drink a bottle of wine" to.."Erin. You're not getting a break".
Yesterday this was a lot for me to deal with and after a short nap and another look at my to-do list, I was reinvigorated by how excited I am. I ate something sweet, made a cup of tea and dug in. Jason was unstoppable until Christmas, and has been unstoppable since our return from Dad's on New Years Day, and I'm constantly in awe of him. This film is his baby...and I feel it's the first project we've embarked on that is the right combination of interesting, heart wrenching, dangerous and cool. It's also the first project we've embarked on where other people have been significantly interested and have put significant time into it. I want to take them all on a trip to Phuket.
Now we are finished the first website, we've sent it to some friends to review and then we'll "soft launch" meaning - get money from people we know. After that is the press and social media frenzy and I just hope I can plan for our meetings once we land.
Every day I come across a new reason to be humbled and grateful, and every day I grit my teeth to put my best foot forward again. It's been an incredible journey and it's just about to get better.
I guess this story is about us in a way, but it's more about the remarkable folks that are helping us out. However, at this point, and before we leave for Asia, I think the turn in our lives has been really interesting and sometimes I wish I had a camera around us to show the crazy things we do.
We moved into our sound studio. Please keep that quiet, it's a bit of a secret, and although I think our neighbours suspect us, we always would spend the night here when we had a big project going on...so hopefully they won't think 4 weeks is too strange.
Our bed and dresser are in my teaching room, and the bed goes up against the wall draped in a heavy sound-depressing curtain when I'm working. That corner actually makes the perfect vocal booth now. We have an iron and board and towels in the cable cupboard, a lot of things in storage - which is a block away from us and we shower in the bathroom sink and cook on a hot plate and in a slow cooker. To be honest, I haven't been so comfortable in awhile. It's like a quiet little cave away from the bustle and out of the weather and it's cheap. I'm cozy in my bed and when we're done working at crazy hours of the night, we brush our teeth and turn out the light. So easy.
There have been some mistakes, there are some people that have had their patience stretched by me. My Dad and sister haven't received their Christmas presents yet, I forgot to wish a very close friend a Happy Birthday, we don't have a current mailing address, and I'm trying hard not to run out of money or energy.
But I think right now everything is coming together as it should.
I will continue to write updates about the film and the project as a whole, there's lots you still don't know, LJ, and I want you to be informed :)
I've realized that it's going to be on me to write the travel blog, so I need to practice taking notes about the world around me and wording them for someone else. To be perfectly frank, I've always been very selfish with my writing. I've always written about my mysterious internal world, usually to myself. But this year, my focus will turn outwards.
So:
We were up until 4am or so, finessing the website, and putting the final touches on format. This is the 4th day in a row we've been up at least this late and there's been many moments in which I had to transition from thinking "tomorrow, I'll take a nice break, write my manifesto and my mission statement for the year, sleep in, read a paper and drink a bottle of wine" to.."Erin. You're not getting a break".
Yesterday this was a lot for me to deal with and after a short nap and another look at my to-do list, I was reinvigorated by how excited I am. I ate something sweet, made a cup of tea and dug in. Jason was unstoppable until Christmas, and has been unstoppable since our return from Dad's on New Years Day, and I'm constantly in awe of him. This film is his baby...and I feel it's the first project we've embarked on that is the right combination of interesting, heart wrenching, dangerous and cool. It's also the first project we've embarked on where other people have been significantly interested and have put significant time into it. I want to take them all on a trip to Phuket.
Now we are finished the first website, we've sent it to some friends to review and then we'll "soft launch" meaning - get money from people we know. After that is the press and social media frenzy and I just hope I can plan for our meetings once we land.
Every day I come across a new reason to be humbled and grateful, and every day I grit my teeth to put my best foot forward again. It's been an incredible journey and it's just about to get better.
I guess this story is about us in a way, but it's more about the remarkable folks that are helping us out. However, at this point, and before we leave for Asia, I think the turn in our lives has been really interesting and sometimes I wish I had a camera around us to show the crazy things we do.
We moved into our sound studio. Please keep that quiet, it's a bit of a secret, and although I think our neighbours suspect us, we always would spend the night here when we had a big project going on...so hopefully they won't think 4 weeks is too strange.
Our bed and dresser are in my teaching room, and the bed goes up against the wall draped in a heavy sound-depressing curtain when I'm working. That corner actually makes the perfect vocal booth now. We have an iron and board and towels in the cable cupboard, a lot of things in storage - which is a block away from us and we shower in the bathroom sink and cook on a hot plate and in a slow cooker. To be honest, I haven't been so comfortable in awhile. It's like a quiet little cave away from the bustle and out of the weather and it's cheap. I'm cozy in my bed and when we're done working at crazy hours of the night, we brush our teeth and turn out the light. So easy.
There have been some mistakes, there are some people that have had their patience stretched by me. My Dad and sister haven't received their Christmas presents yet, I forgot to wish a very close friend a Happy Birthday, we don't have a current mailing address, and I'm trying hard not to run out of money or energy.
But I think right now everything is coming together as it should.
I will continue to write updates about the film and the project as a whole, there's lots you still don't know, LJ, and I want you to be informed :)