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.
