What is this stuff on my face? Oh, it's egg. For those who visited "Not Too Bad..." after receiving an email around 8:30 Saturday night, you may know what this is about. For the sake of those who didn't visit until after Saturday night, let me do a brief recap. I published a post last night with some material that I just wasn't satisfied with. I mentioned how I hadn't come to a firm conclusion of my opinion, but published anyway. Well, I came to a firm conclusion approximately 10 minutes after sending the notification email. In this digital age there is no way to cry "Stop the presses!". So, I will utilize the internet to it's fullest power. I will re-write history, and delete the evidence!.
So, basically there is no new material produced for this post from the one last night (other than some additional writing), it's just presented in a different manner.
For those who saw the page last night. I hope you'll find these changes drastic enough to make reading again worthwhile. The previous effort kind of made me think of a peanut-butter & tomato sandwich. The ingredients themselves are quite good, but when you try to make a sandwich out of them, it just... doesn't work.
For those who are didn't see anything last night. "What are you talking about?"
THE PEANUT BUTTER
"The Kindle of an Idea..."
A few months ago I had an idea. I imagined compiling the video and photographs I'd collected during Taylor's first year and produce a "year in review" movie for her birthday. I have hours and hours of raw video footage and hundreds of photographs. I've captured such milestones as first bath, sitting up, first meal, turning over, laughing, crawling and first steps. I've chronicled swings and swimming pools, play time and nap time. All the ingredients one requires for an in depth, entertaining overview of how Taylor spent her first year.
"The Application of the Wet Blanket..."
Oh, I'm sorry... you weren't believing I actually completed this task. Were you? I didn't mean to mislead. Just reflecting on an idea I had. I have a lot of them, most end up in the "cold files" department. For now, in what I like to call the realism world, I just settled for producing a "day in review" movie for her birthday. It only took me 1 week to find the time for such an endeavor. One week to chronicle 1 day... the way I see it that gives me about 7 years to complete my "year in review" project. I'm not sure I'll be able to meet that deadline. Maybe someday, when I'm retired, and Taylor is off and settled on her own, I may actually see the fulfillment of these grander visions. Like my "9 holes at Turkey Creek". A project I've been working on for over a year now. (I think I'm at hole 4 if I recall correctly). But that's an entirely different subject.
"The Compromise..."
We woke up on the 2nd and got Taylor up and dressed. After breakfast we gave her our present, an activity cube. She enjoyed exploring all the moving parts and colorful pieces. I can see how it will provide multiple years of entertainment and learning. After a short play time Taylor went down for a nap. Linda started to decorate the house with the help of a friend from work. Having completed my decorating contribution the night before (blowing up balloons), I headed out to mow the yard and make the exterior presentable. Upon completion I entered a wonderfully decorated house just in time to quickly shower before guests were set to arrive.
Taylor woke from her nap to find her world completely transformed. There were decorations and people everywhere. Well, may around a dozen people, but she had never seen so many people in our house. You could tell she wasn't quite sure what to make of everything. In situations such as this she get's very quiet and observational. Perhaps she gets that trait from me? There was some short visiting, the ritual passing of the baby, and then the party started.
This is where I will let the movie take over the story telling.
I hope you enjoyed a quick overview of Taylor's special day. Hopefully someday Taylor will watch these movies, enjoy them, and understand the emotion in which they were created.
Special thanks to Nate for handling the video duties during the party, and for the unwitting voice actors who I'm afraid will receive absolutely no compensation for their contribution.
THE TOMATO
"2 A.T. - Day 1"
After posting the last movie "Crossing A Threshold" there was a great amount of positive feedback. Something for which I was very grateful. A couple of people asked me how I made the movies, what the process was. I tried to explain, but probably didn't do a very good job. Since it's relevant to the current post, I'll try again.
The first thing I do is look over all the raw footage I have at my disposal. Of course I knew I wanted to make something for Taylor's birthday so I was sure to take plenty of pictures. I also enlisted Nate to help by shooting some video during the party.
Once I set aside everything that catches my eye, I start listening to music... lot's of music. I find a dozen or so different songs that seemed to be the right mood for the pictures and video. Then I listen to them again, most of them I drop from consideration. Ultimately I will come up with different ideas during this time. A few fizzle, but some take shape until they I like what I see. The following was made from footage taken the day after Taylor's birthday. She's playing with her toys and enjoying some birthday cake in a more civilized manner.
Hope you enjoy.
THE BREAD
"The Perpetual Apology..."
At the risk of sounding like a broken record. I'd like to again apologize for such a long delay between postings. It's not from lack of material. I have quite a few ideas, many of them much more attainable than my more massive cold files inhabitants. There just seems to be so much to do and the day, weeks... hell the months are flying by. Linda and Taylor will be in KC for a few more days. Perhaps I will try to dig through the cold files and knock a couple out. Maybe I will tackle the epic 6 hour round of golf I had a last Saturday. Any round of golf that includes the passage "after the cops were called" has to make for an interesting story.
