Of Mice and… “Me”.
Posted in: Uncategorized | Comments (0)
Sigh. I am not here to make excuses, I am not yet conceding defeat. But boy does it look grim right now.
Today is August 20th. Tomorrow is my birthday. I shall be 32 years old. I don’t feel anything about it really, it isn’t like one of the big milestones or anything but I do feel a little bit sad that things in general aren’t a little better than they are. I have had to spend money that my business has earned, and more that was given to me for my birthday on family bills. oh well. Things are looking much better financially and if things keep up we should be fine, we just need to keep our heads about us and our hands on the wheel.
Speaking of which Angela is talking about making me get a learners permit. Sigh. That is all I will say on that matter.
I purchased myself a couple of things off of Amazon for myself for my birthday… but for some reason the shipping is all jacked up so, I don’t know if any of it will get here in time. The ETA is next week but things have shown up early several times before, so you never know. The problem is that the tracking isn’t working, I have numbers for the two packages coming and USPS.com doesn’t register either one. I don’t even know where they are coming from. Sigh.
I busted my butt and got a particularly stubborn Howcast Video uploaded just in time, I am expecting lots of notes coming back from it, but whatever. At least it is done. I have… three… or is it four…? More videos sitting there. I think it is three… I have a little over a week to finish one and a little under 3 weeks on the others. I need to get to work on them. But, I have other things I need to work on too…
Which brings me to my Roadkill update… which is… basically nothing. I still need to review the neck stump footage I shot, I still might want top re-shoot it before I can shoot the rest of the stuff I need… the one thing I can honestly say that I have done, is that I have called Nic Sveen three times. I left a message with a machine once and with a person twice. He should have my number, if not my e-mail and he should know the site so one way or another he should be able to reach me, but next time I call I will make sure and leave my number again… Damn it, I am already assuming I won’t reach him.
Anyway that’s it. I still have 10 or 11 days to finish Roadkill “On time”, even if the DVD isn’t available like I hoped it would be. At least it looks like by the time I am ready to produce the DVD I will actually have the money to buy my cast and crew copies. Sigh.
I will probably be back in a week or two, so let’s see if I actually make my deadline!
Barry @ August 20, 2010
So much is happening, yet so little progress.
Posted in: Uncategorized | Comments (0)
The last few weeks have been so busy… I should have a lot more to show for it than I do.
I need to pull my finger out and do some work on one video (Two technically) so that it can be reviewed and I will eventually get paid. One of the two videos I submitted a few weeks ago has been approved but I haven’t been paid yet. The second one should be approved next week. If I can get this one done MAYBE it will get reviewed the week after that. I need to try and build up a steady pace with them, keep money coming in.
I sat down yesterday to get some serious work done on Roadkill for the first time in weeks/months, to at least try and keep on target for getting it finished by the end of August… and made mediocre progress. I butted my head up against one problem for a while before finally beating it. Then ran face first smack into another bigger problem. I took a break overnight and hit it again this morning and eventually beat it too. But I have a LONG way to go.
One bit of good news might be that a friend of mine is going to be in town and he might be able to help me out a bit. If we don’t just end up talking and catching up for hours.
I have to stay focused. I CAN do this. I WILL do this. Hopefully next time I come back there will be a LOT more progress.
Barry @ July 31, 2010
The past coming back…
Posted in: Uncategorized | Comments (0)
So today I got a wild hair and decided to reactivate my eBay account so that maybe I could sell some stuff, make a little extra cash. It took a little while because I had to talk to someone to help me get back in because I haven’t accessed it in like 7 years.
Well… apparently 7 years ago there was some kind of misunderstanding because two out of the last three transactions left me bad reviews and negative feedback because they say they never got their things. Now that was a long time ago, so long ago I can’t look into what the details were. I feel badly about it, I don’t remember NOT sending anyone their things… but what can I do about it? I could try contacting the buyers and see if they even remember what they were. Sigh. I don’t know. I think all I can do is move on. Because those things are so old I don’t think I can even reply/respond/comment on them.
We’ll see how it goes. a while ago I got a little photo booth thing especially for taking pictures like that. I am going to try selling some craft things. Maybe some artwork or something. I don’t know about selling my DVD’s or Books on there, but maybe some special signed stuff. Not that I expect it to sell. Some of my comics maybe.
I don’t know. We’ll see. Okay I have to go before I fall asleep. Until next time people…
Barry @ July 22, 2010
No title needed.
Posted in: Uncategorized | Comments (0)
Ho-hum… I am just coming here to write a little out of boredom. Things have been ticking over here but there is no real news. It is like watching a pot boil…. While we bake because it is so warm here.
I have two videos submitted to Howcast awaiting approval, the cross-stitch to photo one and the How to age copper one. Since they are both in limbo until I hear back I have been scanning the available projects list like an addict every few hours to see what is new. I have two more new ones that I haven’t started because I only just requested them both in the last 24 hours. the last two that I requested before that were rejected because they had already been assigned to someone else, I was starting to get worried. But if everything goes well and they don’t drag their feet too much I should get at least $100 by the end of the month and maybe another $100 by the time Rent and everything is due.
I really hope that I can keep as much of it as possible to go towards getting new equipment, I really need it. But if bills are looking grim they of course take priority. either way I am building up the videos a lot quicker than I was at first and hopefully before too long I will be getting paid more per video and that will make things easier.
After I get all of these videos to pay out I will definitely feel like I can call myself a real filmmaker. Sure I have made a feature film (If I ever finish the damned thing) and a couple of short films. And sure I have been given some cash by a friend to shoot some stuff but this really makes it real. I request an assignment, I get it, I shoot it etc and I get paid.
Of course, give it a few months and I will (Hopefully) get my new equipment and I will say again then that I “Finally” feel like a real film maker.
I am going to go and do something productive. Do some prep work for one of the videos. Sigh… I still have to do stuff for Roadkill. and the horse rescue stuff…. I have a lot going on. sigh and I need to check my surveys… I have too much going on. oh well. 
Barry @ July 20, 2010
Waiting…
Posted in: Uncategorized | Comments (0)
I am growing to dislike weekends… when I was a kid I loved them, no school… I could lay in, it meant the “A-team” was on etc. Now it just means that I have to wait two days to hear back from the people I e-mail about work.
Last night not realizing that it was Friday I e-mailed the Howcast people requesting a new video to film, I hope I get it, the last one that I requested (Over a weekend I might add) I was denied because it had already been given to someone else. I really want/need this one. They have dozens to choose from but some of them are ridiculously over the top requiring $50-$100 worth of stuff to film and they are only paying $50 a video right now. One of the ones on the list I was really considering doing, I sat down yesterday and read the whole script because sometimes reading the list of things that are “required” and then reading the script are two different things… and well, long story short the script just sounds bad. I hope that someone can do a good job with it but to me it sounds like armature hour and I decided I don’t really want my name associated with it. Of course, once they start paying me more if it is still around… beggars can’t be choosers.
Anyway so yeah, I requested a new video and I uploaded uploaded my last one “How to Age copper”. It came out quite well, not perfect but after a week of stagnation I am just happy I could get moving on it again. I am still waiting to hear back from them about one I sent in almost two weeks ago now. They say it takes 7-10 days, both of the ones I have sent in so far have taken at least 11. then if they want changes it is going to take me another day or two to make them, re-render and upload everything… then another “7-10″ days… then they might have another round of changes. At least last time their second review didn’t take as long.
Sigh. I just feel so helpless, sitting here waiting on other people. I have stuff I can be doing for a non-paying client, and I will… just later. I’ll probably set up some files to transfer and then I will jump in the shower, I will get out feeling much better and get some real work done. sigh.
I do not think that I have ever been this broke. At least to my knowledge, I probably have been and not known it thanks to a wife who likes to sweep things under the rug… our rug got so bad I would have to walk up hill to get to the couch and I’d hit my head on the ceiling fan on the way. Now there is less under the rug and it is scary as hell. I am trying to deal with the calls as they come and pay everything we can, but not having my income has seriously crippled us. At least before when I was working for my in-laws we had some money coming in and then when Angela worked she would have that too to help pay bills and to buy herself the stuff she wanted to keep herself cheered up… now we have less money coming in than we need and a dark cloud has settled over the house, causing severe depression and no work is getting done. Not all of the bills are getting paid and things are slowly slipping downhill. Unless we can turn things around. And I am determined to turn things around. As bad as things seem I feel strangely positive today.
I have more to say but no one reads this anyway and if they do, they don’t want to read a long ass ramble about nothing. A boring stream of consciousness blog posting. I shall go now and say simply: Wish us luck people, we need it now more than ever.
Barry @ July 17, 2010
Sleeping with the fishes (on my mind).
Posted in: Uncategorized | Comments (0)
So today was a sad day, it was the day that yesterday could have been but wasn’t. sigh, this is what happens when I am tired I get all poetic. I shall explain.
Yesterday we went over to my in-laws to check on their dog and the small pond full of Coy they “have”. Well yesterday we got there to discover the pond empty and the fish gasping on the bottom. we sprang into action with a hose to re-fill it and investigated the problem. The hose that moved the water from the pump to the filter had somehow become broken and had then pumped all the water out of the pond. Two fish died. I MacGyver’d it as best I could but I didn’t have any Duct tape…
Anyway long story short we got the the house again this afternoon and the hose had come loose again and emptied the pond again. This time it had done it early enough that we were too late, all of the fish were dead and stiff, stuck to the bottom and covered with ants and flies. I had to peel them off, refill the pond so that the Turtle that also lives there would be able to swim around. I brought Duct tape from home and fixed the pump again, we will find out tomorrow if it stayed working.
In honor of the brave fish who are no longer with us I shall now go to bed and observe eight hours of of silence while I “sleep with the fishes” (on my mind).
Barry @ July 14, 2010
July 9th update.
Posted in: Uncategorized | Comments (0)
This is getting to be a habit, I am going to try not to come here every day and just ramble, there is usually just so little to talk about but I wanted to come back and say that I wrote a note to the Monster Maker people and they wrote back apologizing and agreeing with me that it was unprofessional to send out a disc like that. They also said that they are in the process of getting a professional run of DVD’s made they just aren’t available yet and I believe the allusion was that they would send me a copy when it became available. I won’t hold my breath because who knows how long the process might take and by the time they are ready who knows if they will remember little ol’ me, but it would be very nice if they stay true to their word.
That’s it. I have been doing yard work, sweating and getting dirty. We have stuff to do today… I need to get started on filming stuff for the Copper tutorial. I’ve started putting together the project file but I haven’t actually filmed any original content yet. sigh.
Barry @ July 9, 2010
Thursday the 8th.
Posted in: Uncategorized | Comments (0)
Okay, I am little light headed from having been working out in the yard so I shall try to keep this brief I just wanted to post something while I was taking a break.
It is a warning to anyone looking to buy the MonsterMakers(.com) Fantastic Dentistry DVD, That was one of the things in my third package repeat readers might remember from the other day… anyway, The content of the DVD is okay, there wasn’t as much new information as I was hoping but it is always interesting to see how different people do things. My problem is with the CHEAP ASS DVD and “CASE”… first off it isn’t a “Case” like all the other DVD’s I have, it is a “Sleeve” a cardboard sleeve converted from an old VHS box!!! and the DVD!?! Is a store bought Maxell DVD-r with a name sticker on it. I am a little bit pissed that I paid $15 for it. But oh well, buyer beware. I just find it really unprofessional and cheap, I am probably going to make my own cover for it and rip a copy onto a Lightscribe disc so that it looks a little better. The original looks like I bought a pirated copy from some guy in an alleyway anything would be better than that.
Sigh. Okay rant over. I need to think about some lunch and head back out into the baking sun so that I can try to finish what I was doing and put my tools away.
Barry @ July 8, 2010
Christmas in July!
Posted in: Uncategorized | Comments (0)
Okay after yesterdays massive depression-fest things are looking up. I know what would be happening today ahead of time but I wasn’t sure how it would effects me, let me explain…
Yesterday all was hell. we had no money I had a broken camcorder that I could not afford to get fixed etc.
Now, because of the 4th of July weekend mail was delayed and I expected to get at least 3 packages all today… when I usually don’t get any. The thought kind of depressed me a little because most of what I would be getting it stuff that I had to pay for. So I was feel buyers remorse for having spent the money on myself… even if I didn’t really have much choice. anyway…
So last night my camera miraculously started working again… this is a major factor in my feeling better. I will take this as a warning that I need a better quality back up ASAP, and as such that will be my major goal the next couple of months… Hey I just thought, my birthday is coming up… that should help.
Anyway, back to today…. I just went and checked the mail a little while ago and low and behold two of the packages were here! one was a box of chemical stuff for a copper aging tutorial I am about to shoot (Thus earning more money!) and the other was the free proof copy of my book, which looks EXCELLENT! I have a very happy feeling at having and holding it… yes I have been hugging it to me and giggling a little bit. the quality is excellent, it isn’t perfect and I have to get to the bottom of that but I am more than happy with the end product.
Even though we got bad news in the mail… kind of devastatingly bad news actually, I am still “Up”… maybe it just seems that way compared to yesterday, but whatever it is I am feeling better. let’s see how long that lasts shall we? until next time people… keep your heads up, there is a solution to every problem - we all just have to keep that in mind and maybe take a break, step back from life and just breathe. Remember to breathe people!
Barry @ July 6, 2010