Austin-Bound in Three Weeks

Hi friends and family!

I'm wrapping up my time here in New Jersey very quickly. As most of you know, Naveen took a job in April as a tools and gameplay programmer at Twisted Pixel Games in Austin, TX, and soon I will be joining him down there. I plan to drive to Indiana in one day, spend a few days with my parents, and then drive to Austin over two days. If anyone wants to carpool with me, let me know! :-) Free road trip, anyone? :-)

So the details: I only have 3 weeks until I'm scheduled to be out of my apartment. In one week, I'm traveling to Austin with our kitty Sully, who should love the heat and sunshine more than any of us. So after July 4 weekend I will be kittyless in New Jersey. Then two weeks from now, SpeakeasyFX (where I work) is wrapping up season 2 of "Abby's Flying Fairy School" for Sesame Street, which is likely going to be an emotional moment in my life. My last day at SpeakeasyFX will be July 8. It will be a really short week due to the holiday, plus I'm taking a day off on Tuesday for travel back from Austin. The weekend of the 9th-10th is really my last weekend in my apartment in its current state, because by the 13th the movers could show up and move me out. I had to give a 4-day window, so it could happen anytime between the 13th-16th. The 17th is my last day in NJ no matter what as I will turn over my keys by that date and will be en route to Indiana to stay with my parents for a couple of days. There is a chance I would leave on an earlier date if I'm out a few days before then, but it just depends how things are looking at that point and what's going on in NJ/PA/NY area. :)

I have selected a mover - North American - and did not realize the initial quote I was given during the in-home estimate included full packing service, so I might just go ahead and put the money down for that rather than recruiting friends to help me do it. Many of my friends are also moving, and regardless, I'd much rather spend the time enjoying their company than wrapping up my stuff.

Depending on what happens schedule-wise, I think it might be fun to have friends over on the 9th-10th, or anytime that week of the 11th, but I know all of you are quite a drive away so I'm not expecting anything.

On top of my 9 hour day up in Westfield for work, I have 2 hours of commute per day, and then I try to spend my evenings mostly working on a private project (which is being called "OPP" for the time being). It was started by my friend Jac Piette and a colleague of hers almost a year ago, and over the last several months it has gone through dozens of story iterations and simplifications. They have gathered together about 30 of their industry friends from Disney, Dreamworks, Rhythm & Hues, Blue Sky, ReelFX, and Digital Domain, among other studios, and we are creating an animated short film together. This past week we finally got the first rough editorial cut of the storyboards and this weekend we officially start layout. Also exciting is that Jac has asked me to supervise animation with Brian Carney, and we have our 9 animators currently working on character walks and other tests to build momentum toward animation kickoff, which will happen just about when I'll be moving. So between critiquing animation cycles and laying out shots, things are pretty busy right now! I'm very grateful to have this project going on, namely to have the chance to work with such talented people, but also to have an animation project keeping me busy while I'm transitioning into my new life in Texas.

I just thought I would keep you in the loop. Hope all of you are well, and I will be in touch! Love to all.

Adventure is Out There!

The Incinerator



Man. I can't watch this part of Toy Story 3 (the Incinerator) without crying. So intense!!! :-p Just hits you in the heart the way they look at each other in the face of death. That sort of raw, instant empathy I feel for them is exactly why I love Pixar and their ability to tell stories.



I'm not sure what's next for me in Austin, TX when I move there this summer, except to say that no matter what I'm doing, I hope I'm animating something great. I don't have anything lined up just yet in terms of work, but there are two really amazing looking indie productions I'll be working on with others, and the viz dev is already blowing me away on one of them. So whether I find myself employed or not... I intend to find myself on an adventure.



A new kind of greatness yet to be defined.

Car vs. Train - April 2011

So, now that Naveen is in Texas and I'm still in NJ, I got to keep our vehicle and he got a new (well, used) Mazda 3, I think a 2010 or 2009. The vehicle in NJ? A 2003 Honda Odyssey. HA! So one of these days, hopefully in TX, I'll buy my own first car myself. But for now, I'm looking at all the ways driving is better than taking the train.

First, I love to drive. LOVE to drive. When we moved from Chicago to NJ, I drove us the ENTIRE WAY. Naveen offered to drive several times, but I took it on and loved it (until we nearly ran out of gas at 1am in NJ where the gas stations close at night.. but we still made it).

Secondly, I have learned to hate the trains. A part of me still remembers the wistful, distant chugga chuggas and woot woots with blissful, rose-colored nostalgia. However, the bigger part of me remembers being shoved around in the vestibule between cars when all the seats were full and "standing room only" on NJ Transit would equate to being married in some countries, as no part of yourself is any longer private in the mangled mess of limbs and briefcases and bags.

There is of course the memory too of being able to read, sleep, and converse with people while riding the train, but those occurred primarily during the wait for a train to arrive a half hour later than scheduled, or more, or while on a stopped train waiting to start up again.

A lot of time was wasted on NJ Transit in the past couple of years. My route cost me 1.5 hours or more each way, depending on one excuse or another about a train becoming disabled, blocked by another disabled train, police activity, or an unexplained cancellation, so anywhere from 3-5 hours per day had been spent on or waiting for trains. Even on the worst days when Route 1 is stop and go and the Garden State Parkway is more of a Garden State Parking Lot, a one way trip will at most cost me 1.5 hours; but on a normal day, one way is 45 minutes.

Then there is the cost. I plan to save my receipts through April to determine my cost of travel. With the trains, a monthly pass for me to get from Jersey Avenue to Westfield cost me $248. From J-Ave to New York Penn is $361 per month. This of course doesn't count the 10-15 minute drive it takes to get to J-Ave, and of course it overlooks the fact that J-Ave is closed on weekends - I have to go farther up the line to New Brunswick to catch a train in that case, or if I am going by myself instead of getting dropped off, I have to go south to Princeton Junction for a chance at a parking space, which you pay for and then pay more for your ticket as well.

It's true, gas is expensive right now. I filled up on the night of 3/31 right near home so that I could start this experiment with a full tank of gas. The gas was $3.31/gal and my total was $45.22. I will not be counting this toward my April total, but I figure if gas is an even $50 per week, that's $200 per month and definitely cheaper than the train. We don't have car payments on this old thing (on April 1, I had 146,862 miles on it!), so that helps, and our insurance is pretty reasonable at $64 per month (both drivers and a variety of services), but keep in mind if you were actually making a cost analysis of train vs. car, you still need a ride of some sort from our apartment to the train station, so that can't be overlooked.

The roaring motor and whistle sounding in the distance beckons ("Stella!!!!!") -- but I've moved on!

Ain't No April Fools

Three months of 2011 are complete and no posts yet until now. You know why.

THINGS. ARE. BUSY.

It's been a fairly crazy start to the year. After being unemployed for a large part of 2010, I got to enjoy a long-anticipated return to SpeakeasyFX for a stunning 5 or 6 hours before I became pretty badly sick and had to stay home for 2 days. Ha! But, illness aside, it's been a remarkable new season so far, with a 700-frame weekly quota and some fun new characters. I can't wait to show everyone.

Now for the real reason for this post, and no, it's not an April Fools prank (which I love)...

The bigger news of course is that Naveen just started as a tools/engine programmer yesterday at Twisted Pixel Games in Austin, TX. He got the offer back in January and since they didn't need him until April, we had to sit on it for a month while we figured some things out. We were finally able to make our public announcement on the week of March 1, so that he would give his two-week notice and have two weeks until starting at TPG.

First of all, Austin is great. The climate is particularly awesome right now, when the upper region is still dealing with snow and sleet and freezing temperatures. However, more impressive is the people. EVERYONE seems incredibly nice. And I think I'll be even more of a foodie there than I am here.

Secondly, toward the end of February we were able to schedule an apartment-hunting trip to check out different sides of town. After sifting through literally hundreds of apartments, we had only enough time and energy to check out a little over a dozen of them in person, and we were able to make a decision by the time we left, which gave us a little much-needed peace. Then toward the end of March, we scheduled the move in, but we decided to keep most of our stuff in NJ for now, shipping only his computer and two suitcases full of his clothes, a couple books, and dishware. We cleaned the apartment and had maintenance look at a few things, and got him an air mattress, computer chair, and other necessities. It is a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom townhome, which we are tremendously excited about -- at least 300 square feet more than our current 1-bedroom apartment, and $60 less per month. It's in a decent area, and about 10 minutes from his work.

Now begins my hunt, and a lot of personal decision making. I have a tremendous employer with managers who know my situation and have been extremely helpful and understanding through the ordeal. I have been doing my ultimate best at keeping my emotions at bay and focusing at work, but I am once again dealing with separation from my loving husband and it isn't easy. I am looking forward to joining him as soon as possible, and I am still deciding how and when that will happen. My animation contract doesn't exactly have an end date but our current project will complete animation sometime in July, so that is when I expect to move. It seems as though there are a lot of game studios in Austin, so I may find myself there as opposed to film or tv animation, but I have some other projects in the works as well, so we will see. Time will tell.

For now, we are so thankful for all our support from friends and relatives, and we continue to wish you all the very best. XO!

2011, Make A Wish!

Unbelievably, in less than 3 days, we will be living in the year 2011.

This year had several ups and several downs, but stirring in just enough of the right ingredients seems to keep things going strong. We have been in a holding pattern for quite some time, with freelance opportunities and side projects here and there, but our patience has paid off and now I have at least 6 months of employment to look forward to with SpeakeasyFX! Season 2 of "Abby's Flying Fairy School" begins!!!

The last two weeks were spent as a layout supervisor there, putting together layouts and assisting in composition and creative direction for the first episode. It's fantastic to be back. Not everyone has returned yet, but we're only days away from full production and I am super excited that I'll be returning as an animator as of January 3, and get to see all my SEFX friends again.

Since the studio was closed this week (for Christmas through New Years), I've been taking it easy at home, cleaning and making turkey-egg-and-cheese breakfast sandwiches to freeze for myself during the workweek. Despite the massive snowstorm that hit the northeast, I did get to travel "home" to Wisconsin (and back, without incident!) to see most of my family. We arrived on the afternoon of Christmas Eve and stayed through Monday, visiting my dad's mother and some family, as well as mostly my mom's side (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins), went to church for vigil mass and Holy Family Sunday, and enjoyed tons of excellent home cooking and bakery, games like Apples to Apples, and quality family time. Now that I'm back in New Jersey, my attention is back to getting to work on another Sesame Street project, which everyone asked about over the holidays and triggered further excitement!

This year has been tough, though. I've learned that if I want to be happy in this line of work, I have to prepare for more seamless transitions between jobs. I absolutely love animating in a creative studio of folks, all working together toward something bigger than a project I'm merely kicking around at home. It's taken me a while to decide that if you are a project hire, it isn't disloyal to spot new opportunities and take them. If I am willing to do that, I am being loyal to myself, and frankly it makes me feel more saught after, which is rewarding when it happens. Until a place puts you on staff, you have to keep the ball in play at all times, sending reels out and applying places where you feel you can make a positive difference in the product, and also to be happy and make others happy during production.

January is a great time to get hired, and it is also a good time to develop and finish side projects, deciding whether they are reel-worthy, and put that development cycle on a continuous loop, rather than to expect so much from a single project. You shouldn't be developing for a reel, you have to develop the talent. Gotta take the blinders off and make broad improvements.

That said, may it be a Happy New Year to all -- a year of relentless strength, proactive perseverance, marked improvement, open-mindedness, calculation, and confidence. And be happy!!!!!

Naveen and I opening gifts at our apartment in NJ.

Making breakfast sandwiches with Pillsbury Grands, turkey, egg, and cheese.

The Milwaukee airport, Christmas 2010.

The storm that skipped over the midwest but walloped the east coast.

Naveen and I on Christmas Eve 2010. Happy Holidays!