Sing, Sing, Sing About It

I thought I'd seen everything there was to see in Ohio.  A lack of inspiration leads to a lack of blog posts, hence the long period of time since my last bit of writing on my time here in this great state.

Tonight proved me wrong though.  Not too far from the small town of Wakeman where I've been staying is another little town called Vermilion.  It's old fashioned, quaint, and nestled in at the southern edge of Lake Eyrie.  Every third Thursday of the month they have a festival of sorts down on Main St. where a bunch of people come out and play all sorts of music.  One of the guys I work with and his wife invited me to join them this evening and so the three of us walked up and down the street, stopping here and there to listen to someone singing a slightly out-of-key version of Bare Naked Ladies "Old Apartment or a pretty good cover of a Nickleback song (see what I did there?). 

The setting was everything you could hope that a small town main street would be: The ice-cream parlors, a soda fountain, family-owned pizza joints, and even a private insurance company with a front window filled with beautiful models of old frigates.  On top of all that, the music was priceless.

As I drove around the crowded streets trying to find a place to park, I heard one guy singing some Johnny Cash and another older, decently overweight man singing along Karaoke style to "Man of Constant Sorrow."  Needless to say, I knew I was in the right place.

When I finally met up with my friends and we made our way through this farmer's market of music, I had only begun to realize how awesome this whole thing was.  We passed the Karaoke spot again only this time there was a girl proudly singing "Adam's Song" in a way that made me think it was not so much a cry for help but rather a middle finger to those passersby who, like her parents no doubt, don't understand her.  *sigh* teenage angst. 

Even better was the band of old ladies with electric guitars semi-rocking out to Christian worship songs. 

The winner by far however was the guy singing "The Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera.  He drew the biggest crowd out of any of the performers this evening and I'm pretty sure it was the iconic phantom mask and the black hat and cape he wore over a baby blue Underarmor t-shirt and khaki shorts that did it.  Actually he was pretty good and his style only added to the atmosphere. 

I'm pretty excited about this whole thing.  Not only was a it a lot of fun to just go for a stroll and hear all sorts of great music, but I also discovered an area of Vermilion that I didn't know existed.  Definitely some cools places to hang out that I will be returning to.

I was only there for about an hour but it was enough to get me looking forward to next month when the good people of Vermilion will do it all over again. 

Stay on Target

I've been getting lazy.  Mass Effect 3 has been in control of my life for the last few weeks and as a side effect I have not written as much in this blog as I intended to.  So, no more laziness.  Back to Wakeman.

That's the question isn't it?  Or rather, will I be going back to Wakeman?  In a couple weeks I'll be on a plane or two and headed to California for both Chad and Josh's graduations.  When I first decided to to come out here, as I'm sure I've already told you, my intentions were to only stay until the end of May.  But just like it's old self, life has gone crazy and presented even more possible choices.

If you haven't heard of Mass Effect 3 then here, let me Google that for you.  The name of the Mass Effect series is choice - shaping the world (or galaxy) around you by making tough decisions, regretting past mistakes, and constantly wondering "what if?"  Having invested a lot of time into these games my awareness of how each and every choice we make affects our lives as heightened to say the least.  The choice before me is to stay or go. 

There a pros and cons on either side.  One very persuasive argument for staying is the possibility to make a lot of money.  GREEEED!!  Just kidding.  But seriously, the opportunity to make a nice chunk of change is there.  All I have to do to get it, is stay for another 3 to 6 months. 

Wait, what?  Wow.

Ya, that's a long time.  Much longer than I had intended on staying. 

So let's lay this out-
I want to make movies, but there's not much chance of that happening here in Ohio.  There is however an opportunity to really get a jump on my student loans that I would not have otherwise.

I'll be honest, when I presented this predicament to friends and family, I was expecting to hear two different views.
1. You need the money.  Stay in Ohio and give yourself a chance to hack away at that dragon of a student debt (The Dragon's name is Sallie Mae in case you were wondering).
2.  Follow your dreams!  Don't do it for the money.  Get out there and give it the good ol' college try!

Sadly, I have not yet heard anyone make the second argument.  I find this strange since I was raised with that outlook.  "You can do whatever you want in life!" "Never give up on your dreams!" "Don't settle for anything!"

I'll be honest with you, staying for 3-6 months feels a lot like settling for something other than what I've been striving for.  Then again, I think the biggest concern I have (I worry like crazy about this) is what will happen if I stay here?  Will I even be able to find a way back into the film industry?  Will all the contacts I've made over the last year even remember my name?   I've got nothing against staying here and doing construction work.  It's hard, honest work and the guys I work with are good people.  But I just can't seem to shake the feeling that this decision is a big one, one that will really effect things down the road.

So let's get to the point.  I'm not gonna worry about what might happen, like this guy.

I'm gonna stay on target.

Not necessarily on my career as a filmmaker but on what God has for me right now.

Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow because today has enough trouble of its own.  And with as much as I worry about my future as a filmmaker, hearing those words and believing that God knows what He's doing is huge relief, whether I'm here in Ohio for another 6 months or another year.  Although I am honestly very hesitant to trust for fear that His plans might not have me making movies like I want, trusting that He'll be good to me wherever I end up definitely takes the edge off tough decisions like the one I'm making.

So finally, after all that, here's what I've decided.

If the job happens (the big one that pays lots of money) then I will be staying.  If the job does not happen, then I will be going back to California.

With that I leave you with this.

BTWs
I'd love to hear your thoughts on all this so feel free to comment here, Facebook, or Twitter.

Feeling Thirsty

I'm back in Ohio after a brief yet wonderful visit to California for the memorial service and as of now I'm not sure what the plan is.  Still looking to God for that. 

In the meantime, I quickly cut together a few clips I shot on my iPhone at a line dancing bar called The Thirsty Cowboy (not to be confused with The Thirsty Pony - a family restaurant/indoor water park/laser tag arena/etc.).  I went there with my cousins and a few friends when Cody and I first got here.  While we didn't really dance much (ok not at all), this guy in the video did enough dancing (and maybe more) to make up for it. 

Enjoy.

Back

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything here, largely due to my aunt's passing and the aftermath.  Overall my family is doing well.  There have been two services to honor her memory, one in Ohio and another in California, and I've been fortunate to have been able to attend both.  They were a mixture of emotions, most of which I have yet to figure out. 

I wasn't sure how to come back to this blog.  Despite everything, I'm doing quite well.  There is this strange sense that my being happy is somehow wrong.  I should be mourning.  I should be sad.  And I am.  But I'm also able to laugh and enjoy life just as much as before.  This being the first death of someone close to me that I have experienced, I'm not sure how to deal with the feelings of guilt that are brought upon by those moments when I'm not dwelling on her death, but enjoying the present.

I can't really put it into words.  Maybe I'll figure that out at some point and post those words here.

However, I wanted to keep this blog going.  So much of what this blog is was shaped around me being here and spending time with my Aunt.  Now that she is gone, I feel that it will take on a new form while keeping the same purpose.  I guess what I mean to say is that I'm going to keep writing but it won't all be about how I'm dealing with my aunt's passing.  Some of it will, but most of it will just continue to reveal more about my time here in Ohio.

Shortly After Midnight

My Aunt Robyn passed away this morning.

We're going to miss her greatly but are glad that she is no longer in pain.  Most importantly, we consider it a true blessing and honor for her that God waited to take her on the same day that He conquered death.

She ran the race well and we all look forward to seeing her again soon.

Yesterday was filled with many special moments between family that I will never forget and bring me to tears just thinking about.  We all appreciate your prayers more than anything.  God has really looked out for our family throughout these past few months and we are all giving Him glory for His sovereignty even as we begin to mourn and remember Robyn.

He is risen!  And she is risen with Him.

Dino DNA!

My uncle's construction company has been doing a lot of work for a pretty famous theme park out here.  This year said theme park (remaining nameless at the moment) has a new attraction.  DINOSAURS! REAL ONES!

Actually they're not real but they're huge and pretty cool.  I tried taking some video to post here on the blog but I got a stern talking to when the head landscaper saw what I was doing.  (He took my name and everything!) 


So unfortunately I can't put the video up here but I will make sure to take my camera with me when the park opens in May.  It'll look much better then anyways.



because I got a stern talking to after I tried to take some video)

A Nice Little Moment

I snapped this pic of my aunt and my grandma the other day while they were visiting with friends.