Day 10 Dec

Went to bed right after work yesterday, it was cold in the shed and made me tired. Achy bones.

Missed writing yesterday because of it and did not get any editing done.

The nice thing about not being a professional is that I can go to bed when I want to.

Today is Friday, and I am getting off early today, so the plan is:

1. Get off at 1.

2. Drive to Starbucks and get a venti cold brew.

3. Come home and:

        - add Shot of the phone

        - add Jason's voice for the phone

        - add ambient room noise back into the movie.

Saturday will be dedicated to putting sound effects into the movie.

Sunday will be dedicated to color correction.

And that will be the weekend. I don't want to be on the computer all weekend.

I did promise Cameron that we would walk to the pizza place for lunch one day, prob Saturday.

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Day 8 December

Last night my parents showed up and Julie and Sal showed up, and Austin, Emily, and Jon Dean showed up, and we all watched Sarah be the concertmaster for her orchestras Christmas concert. She looked very grown and I can't believe this is the same person who a few years ago was racing imaginary creatures all over the house.

Cameron said he is addicted to sweet tea. He is excited because I told him we can walk to the Peace, Love, and Pizza this weekend for lunch.

I bought some presents through Amazon.

Abbie has a new friend who comes over and they play together on the trampoline.

I did not get any writing or editing done last night due to the concert, so I have some catching up to do the next couple of days.

Steph had a really good client yesterday. 

I had a technical call at work that I figured out beforehand, so the call went very smoothly. Praise God!

Paul told my parents that after narrowly surviving covid, that every day is good and feels like an extra day. I also have lived longer than two of my friends, so it does feel to me that also that every day I have is like a bonus. 

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Day 7 December

I am awake. But. It really takes me four hours to really wake up.

It's going to be a good day. Abbie is off to school. Sarah is stirring. Cameron is still asleep.

I talked to friend yesterday about project. We have a lot to do if we want to make it by 12/21.

I'm getting rid of the on-call phone today so will have some more time to work on it.

- Ambient noise

- Sound effects

- music

- mix

- color correct

- sub-titles

- end credits

- render

Perhaps we can get this done by Sunday the 19th.

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Day 6 Dec

Up with the kids. 

Abbie is off to school. Cameron and Sarah are up and getting ready.

We are all just groggy.

Cameron said that he woke up happy because last night he wrote a great letter requesting public transportation in Woodstock. He is tired of being stuck at home all day. It was empowering to him to write this letter, and he did a great job. He is a very good writer. I am proud of him.

Sarah has a concert tomorrow where she will be the concertmaster. She is nervous. I am proud that she gets herself in these positions.

Tonight is my last night on pager, so I can't wait to shed this thing tomorrow after work.

I need this coffee to start working, ASAP.

BTW, here is Cameron's letter:

Dear Mayor Henriques,

I would really like it if there were some public transportation in our great city. I'm talking about public busses. I think it would be a great thing if we had a few busses to go around stopping by each neighborhood in the town and taking passengers to their recommended destination. The busses will also take them to other cities like Roswell or Atlanta. The public transportation idea is something you really need to pass as policy for them, me, and you.

The people of Woodstock would like it because some people don't want to or can't drive in this town. It would also be really helpful for the environment if we had public transportation. It is also relaxing on busses not having to focus on the road all the time. You can listen to music or relax your head on the bus. It will also clear up traffic because people won't be stuck in cars all day. You also don't need to stop for gas on the bus. It will even get people to work faster so no one is late. Kids could go places because they can't drive. If an emergency happens and you need to get somewhere quickly, public transportation could save lives. So give what the people of this city want right now.

I would like it because I would like to go places. I am thirteen and I'm tired of being stuck in my house all day. My house is in the Southlands which is isolated from the city. I would really like to go to the store by myself. I could also make new friends if I was able to move around the town. I would like to go to places like downtown Woodstock and Atlanta. There I would make social gatherings to help solve social problems. My activism could change the world if I had a chance to get there. So give me what I really want for this town.

You would really like it because it could make the economy of Woodstock greater. I suspect that you want the economy for Woodstock to thrive and if we had public transportation the tax coffers will be fuller than ever before and the city will rise in its GDP. So if you want economic prosperity in your city then give us what we want right now, which is public transportation.

Sincerely, 

Cameron Joseph Conkle

Way to go, m'boy!

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Day 5, Dec

Hey there, planet.

Not much on my mind right now. Just chilling on a Sunday. 

Abbie and Steph have gone out to the Girl Scouts. Today they are singing Christmas Carols at the retirement home. 

Cameron is watching YouTube. Sarah is lurking around.

I sent my friend a rendered version of the project and he likes what I did with it. So much sound work is still to be done on it. And color correction. And sub-titles. We want it all done by the 21st.

We took the kids to church this morning, minus Sarah, she is of age to decide whether or not she wants to go.

Something is up. I am feeling very emotional today. I need to write 6 pages to get back on track for the December writing project. Going to do that and go back to bed. I should put up Christmas lights, but not sure if that is going to happen.

First I need to write something.

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

December D4

Waiting for the coffee to brew. That's when I write these little things.

Went to bed early and slept in. Now I feel drugged and sluggish. What is up with that. Looks like a trip to Starbucks is going to happen, despite the fact that I have coffee brewing. It won't be strong enough.

I worked on the video project yesterday. I'm going to render today to give the friend a copy to work on the music for it. The donated tracks we have don't jive with the footage. Friend is going to work on it on his machine.

I really just want to go back to bed. My head is swimmy. I just need to lay this all down and reset today.

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Day Three Dry Spell

Day three of restarting this blog and already I am out of stuff to write about.

Taking the day off from my day job to sit down and focus on an editing project I am doing for a friend. It is all sound design stuff, which is not my strong suit, but the friend just wants something presentable to put on YouTube, so it doesn't have to be perfect. I am using it as an opportunity to try out the new tools on Premiere. So much has improved in the decade-plus since I last upgraded. Premiere can do all sorts of stuff these days. 

I should have gone legit years ago, but you know how scarcity thinking makes you cling to stuff. Why buy a new one when I got this old thing that is working almost fine? The truth is, it was not fine. My CS3 version of Premiere was ridiculously buggy and would crash constantly. I almost never get a crash with the new version. 

I hope to get at least half the sound done today.

What I have to do.

- Level set the dialogue.

- Add music

- smooth out the rough changes in ambient noise.

- add some sound effects.

- Mix the tracks.

- Add subtitles in scenes where I had to scrap all the sound.

- Color Correct

- Add end titles.

The deadline is to have it up on 12/21, so I need to give him the file on 12/20. That gives me 17 days. I would like to spend one full day on each of these steps, except for end titles. because those will be quick. Just a simple scroll.

FIGHT EVIL

Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

Day 2 of Project December

Went out with Cameron last night to pick up some coffee and sandwiches for dinner.

Cameron wants to start a small business selling torches and pitchforks to protesters. 

He asked me if that was a good idea.

I told him no. It was too old-timey. Those are chasing Frankenstein supplies. These days you need a cell phone and picket sign to protest. He needs to get with the times. He could sell picket signs. 

But Cameron is stuck in the middle ages. He is fixated on giving the protesters torches and pitchforks. You can't convince him otherwise.

Drank a cold brew at about 7 pm so that was a mistake. 

Sarah and I stayed up talking about our Spotify accounts and comparing music tastes. Spotify has this year-end wrap-up where it tells you your top genres and artists, most played song, your stats.

Sarah is really into a genre called Midwest Emo. Emo is her number one genre. It sounds like punk to me. 

We laughed because my number one genre was Gospel. My top three favorite artists were all in their 70s.  Shirley Ceaser was my number 1 artist. 

Before this year, Sarah was really into 21 Pilots. I was really into techno and EDM, along with my usual 80s and 90s punk, alt, industrial, and soundtracks.

But now I got the spirit! And I loves me some old-timey church music.

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!

December Begins!

Let us see for how long I can write a blog a day.

Today was the deadline for my November script, which is only half-finished. So I am going to set it aside and work on an editing project for the next 20 days and pick it back up after Christmas.

The goal of writing a script every month is still lingering out there, but I have yet to develop the disciple required to hit that goal. I want to be like Larry Cohen who wrote prolifically and with apparent ease.

My goal is to write something as good as It's Alive.

It's good to have goals again. I fought depression back in 2021, after a long battle that started in 2019 the moment I finished Clown Versus Monkey. I was pretty much finished after that and was rudderless for a while.

This was one of the longest periods I'd experienced. And I can tell you it only ended after what I can only describe as divine intervention.

During this period I had resigned myself to putting filmmaking aside and just enjoying life. But that felt horrible and the antidepressant made me a tranquil zombie.

I know it has been a tough two years for a lot of us. I lost a best friend to Covid, almost last my father in law. I know people have lost jobs and livelihoods and hope. The world was turned upside down due to the pandemic.

I've had it pretty good considering what everyone else has been experiencing. Depression made me blind to it all. All I felt was numbness for days, weeks, and months, 

The funny thing was the antidepressant took away the anxiety and replaced it with a dull peace that felt worse. I missed the anxiety once it was gone. I had this giant hole that it used to fill and I couldn't find something as interesting to replace it.

So I took myself off the pills, hoping to start feeling again, and I did, but in a new way.

I've been veering between agnostic/atheist, depending on my mood, for the last decade or so.

But not anymore. I now attend the church of gospel music. It is something I remember my late father doing. It is a clandestine congregation. I attend it every morning in my headphones. The message in the music is so positive and full of hope, that it has made a difference in me. I feel healed of the depression and anxiety that has plagued me my entire life.

I don't know if I believe all the ins and outs of Christian Theology, but that doesn't seem to matter to God. He is saving me every day regardless of what I think of him.

This is more personal than I usually write about, but I needed to put something down, so there it is.

 

Let's see if I write more tomorrow.

FIGHT EVIL
Sam Drog

Clown Versus Monkey! Check It Out Here!

Buy Satanic Killer Chicken Here!

Watch Short Films Here!