So, in my recent lack of work since we've wrapped Interactive, I'm filling my time with other interesting things while we wait for some potential clients to realize how amazing we are. ;-)
Kids Media Salon Blog
I developed this blog for Sally Anne's group so that we could keep our events and discussion topics organized.
Eden Autism Services
I stopped in recently to offer volunteer work, whether hands-on activities, or office, graphics, or web-related work.
"Medic Malaise" (working title)
Writing project I plan on turning into boards and a new animation project this spring.
Happy birthday to Mom today!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
A Slow but Fun Start to 2010
So, it's nearing the end of January and I'm finally getting used to writing the number 2010. We're only two years away from the supposedly dreaded 2012 and a decade away from the famously anticipated 2020. As for this year, it's hard to know what's in store. School advisers always said to prepare for the 5-year question in job interviews - aka, what are you going to be doing by then - and I always used to have an idea of what I would say. I simply figured that if I worked hard and didn't burn any bridges that I would 'climb the ladder' in a fairly predictable way.
Since that time I've realized the question is far less about foretelling my future success and far more about defining what I want in life and trying to generate a path that will lead me there. I've learned the joy of waking up naturally and enthusiastically about going to the studio every morning, rather than feeling trapped in my life, punching an alarm clock and hastily throwing myself out the door to a job I don't like. I was able to learn this despite being separated from my newlywed husband for 10 months while he worked to finish his job in another state. It's a little harder to wake up early in the morning now that our commutes are so long to work, but we still very much enjoy what we do, and it's great to be able to finally live together while doing what we love.
However, things have slowed down at the studio for the moment, so it's been a slow start to the year for me. However, I have so far filled the time with a new demo reel (the web version from December is 1:15, but I recently made a longer 2:40 format on DVD), which I took with me to San Francisco for the annual Animation Mentor winter alumni job fair and open house in Emeryville. For this reel, which primarily featured muppet-like fairy characters from Sesame Street, I had to stress the fact that our rigs were relatively limited and didn't offer much in the way of facial control, but it forced animators to improve upon their posing, timing, and especially speed of delivery since each 3-5 second shot had to be completed in a matter of a day or two. With episodes pushing 11,928 frames (minus a 360-frame "spot" film) and only 13 animators working at the studio, each animator had an average of 890 frames per episode which had to be completed in a couple of weeks. We were taking shots from layout-to-blocking-to-final within a day or two, which demanded a strong work ethic and firey enthusiasm, which wasn't a problem considering our fantastic team, strong leadership, and great office morale and environment. I couldn't help telling recruiters how much I love it at my studio and how much I hope we land some more work, and soon. The word I've heard is that we've so far as doubled ratings for Sesame Street with our show, which is also selling well overseas, so we all fervently hope to earn more episodes and continue our relationship with Sesame Workshop this year.
After the open house and fair, I checked out of the hotel and enjoyed time with my friend Charlotte from the studio and a pretty big handful of my Animation Mentor pals - some from all over the world. We enjoyed dinner at Fuddruckers and later some fun at The Broken Rack.
It also happened to be my birthday weekend, so late that evening I took a train into the city to stay with my best friend Dorothy, who immediately took me out for drinks at a local Irish pub and later a Thai diner, and we didn't go home until 3am. It was the most fun I've had in a long time, and always great to see her. We got up Saturday morning to enjoy Dim Sum nearby her place on Geary Street, followed by a relaxing, beautiful birthday drive up to Napa - particularly a winery called Domaine Carneros where we enjoyed sparkling wines and a delectable cheese plate with among other things probably the best chevre I've ever had in my life. We also visited some garden and specialty stores as well as some antique shops, and finally ate at Michaelangelo's which is my favorite place to eat dinner in Little Italy. Sunday, before I left, we took a walk and lunched in Japantown. It was a really lovely trip, and I wished Naveen could be there, but it was really nice to go alone and spend quality time with Dorothy who I don't get to see very often.
Since my return, I got to meet Tyler Bunch, who is a great puppeteer and perhaps an even greater vocal performer who gave a voice to such characters in our show as Gene the Genie (his personal favorite and the one he felt was the most well-realized by our studio), the Cubby Imp (not yet aired), Niblet, Peck, and cg "anything-muppet" type characters on the show. He visited the studio to lend his voice for some characters we created in a spec project we're hoping to sell, and SpeakeasyFX took him out to lunch at Dillon's where we had celebrated the initial airing of "Abby's Flying Fairy School."
When we returned to the studio, he was telling us all about these performance tools that they use on Sid the Science Kid, which is a show I respect more now that I can envision the technology they are using on it. He has had the opportunity to work with these digital puppeteer performance tools developed at the Jim Henson studios, and to me it sounds like having to learn an instrument or live inside a robot. You have to train every joint, every finger, to handle all kinds of gestures and movement: a thumb opens and closes a mouth, but may also rotate a jaw; fingers may control eyes, eyebrows, cheeks; pitching and rolling the wrist might control something, either position or emotion depending on which hand you're talking about - both hands and arms are used to comprise the emotional and positional acting of the characters. Basically, puppeteers enter into the studio, stand around each other with their arms in these mechanical suits, and complete a controlled mechanical performance while watching the other performers in their suits. Video might capture their facial performance and any subtle body language, and an audio record captures the voice they give their characters - all while able to hear and communicate with the director in the booth who may be demanding acting changes on the fly or suggesting retakes. It sounded like a very high-tech take on what used to be a low-tech entertainment industry, but puppeteers and puppeteering will always have their place on shows like Sesame Street and in live performance in front of audiences. That's where that magic takes place, anyway - with children surrounding and interacting with the puppets. It was a joy talking with Tyler and at the end of the day we gave him a still featuring one of his characters from our studio-favorite episode, "The Cubby Imp," which has not yet aired.
So for now, we are waiting on spec projects to generate more revenue for the company and bring everyone back on staff. Tonight I am wiping the old, corrupted laptop because Naveen is bringing home a brand new Dell Mini-tower and monitor, which he ordered a while back as a Christmas-birthday gift for me. I'm psyched to get it hooked up and animating again! Catchya later.
Since that time I've realized the question is far less about foretelling my future success and far more about defining what I want in life and trying to generate a path that will lead me there. I've learned the joy of waking up naturally and enthusiastically about going to the studio every morning, rather than feeling trapped in my life, punching an alarm clock and hastily throwing myself out the door to a job I don't like. I was able to learn this despite being separated from my newlywed husband for 10 months while he worked to finish his job in another state. It's a little harder to wake up early in the morning now that our commutes are so long to work, but we still very much enjoy what we do, and it's great to be able to finally live together while doing what we love.
However, things have slowed down at the studio for the moment, so it's been a slow start to the year for me. However, I have so far filled the time with a new demo reel (the web version from December is 1:15, but I recently made a longer 2:40 format on DVD), which I took with me to San Francisco for the annual Animation Mentor winter alumni job fair and open house in Emeryville. For this reel, which primarily featured muppet-like fairy characters from Sesame Street, I had to stress the fact that our rigs were relatively limited and didn't offer much in the way of facial control, but it forced animators to improve upon their posing, timing, and especially speed of delivery since each 3-5 second shot had to be completed in a matter of a day or two. With episodes pushing 11,928 frames (minus a 360-frame "spot" film) and only 13 animators working at the studio, each animator had an average of 890 frames per episode which had to be completed in a couple of weeks. We were taking shots from layout-to-blocking-to-final within a day or two, which demanded a strong work ethic and firey enthusiasm, which wasn't a problem considering our fantastic team, strong leadership, and great office morale and environment. I couldn't help telling recruiters how much I love it at my studio and how much I hope we land some more work, and soon. The word I've heard is that we've so far as doubled ratings for Sesame Street with our show, which is also selling well overseas, so we all fervently hope to earn more episodes and continue our relationship with Sesame Workshop this year.
After the open house and fair, I checked out of the hotel and enjoyed time with my friend Charlotte from the studio and a pretty big handful of my Animation Mentor pals - some from all over the world. We enjoyed dinner at Fuddruckers and later some fun at The Broken Rack.
It also happened to be my birthday weekend, so late that evening I took a train into the city to stay with my best friend Dorothy, who immediately took me out for drinks at a local Irish pub and later a Thai diner, and we didn't go home until 3am. It was the most fun I've had in a long time, and always great to see her. We got up Saturday morning to enjoy Dim Sum nearby her place on Geary Street, followed by a relaxing, beautiful birthday drive up to Napa - particularly a winery called Domaine Carneros where we enjoyed sparkling wines and a delectable cheese plate with among other things probably the best chevre I've ever had in my life. We also visited some garden and specialty stores as well as some antique shops, and finally ate at Michaelangelo's which is my favorite place to eat dinner in Little Italy. Sunday, before I left, we took a walk and lunched in Japantown. It was a really lovely trip, and I wished Naveen could be there, but it was really nice to go alone and spend quality time with Dorothy who I don't get to see very often.
Since my return, I got to meet Tyler Bunch, who is a great puppeteer and perhaps an even greater vocal performer who gave a voice to such characters in our show as Gene the Genie (his personal favorite and the one he felt was the most well-realized by our studio), the Cubby Imp (not yet aired), Niblet, Peck, and cg "anything-muppet" type characters on the show. He visited the studio to lend his voice for some characters we created in a spec project we're hoping to sell, and SpeakeasyFX took him out to lunch at Dillon's where we had celebrated the initial airing of "Abby's Flying Fairy School."
When we returned to the studio, he was telling us all about these performance tools that they use on Sid the Science Kid, which is a show I respect more now that I can envision the technology they are using on it. He has had the opportunity to work with these digital puppeteer performance tools developed at the Jim Henson studios, and to me it sounds like having to learn an instrument or live inside a robot. You have to train every joint, every finger, to handle all kinds of gestures and movement: a thumb opens and closes a mouth, but may also rotate a jaw; fingers may control eyes, eyebrows, cheeks; pitching and rolling the wrist might control something, either position or emotion depending on which hand you're talking about - both hands and arms are used to comprise the emotional and positional acting of the characters. Basically, puppeteers enter into the studio, stand around each other with their arms in these mechanical suits, and complete a controlled mechanical performance while watching the other performers in their suits. Video might capture their facial performance and any subtle body language, and an audio record captures the voice they give their characters - all while able to hear and communicate with the director in the booth who may be demanding acting changes on the fly or suggesting retakes. It sounded like a very high-tech take on what used to be a low-tech entertainment industry, but puppeteers and puppeteering will always have their place on shows like Sesame Street and in live performance in front of audiences. That's where that magic takes place, anyway - with children surrounding and interacting with the puppets. It was a joy talking with Tyler and at the end of the day we gave him a still featuring one of his characters from our studio-favorite episode, "The Cubby Imp," which has not yet aired.
So for now, we are waiting on spec projects to generate more revenue for the company and bring everyone back on staff. Tonight I am wiping the old, corrupted laptop because Naveen is bringing home a brand new Dell Mini-tower and monitor, which he ordered a while back as a Christmas-birthday gift for me. I'm psyched to get it hooked up and animating again! Catchya later.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Sleeping Bloggy Interactive Game
Check out our first online interactive game for "Abby's Flying Fairy School: Sleeping Bloggy."
Sleeping Bloggy Game
It was released before the holidays, but the people getting it to run properly online didn't have all the kinks worked out - now it runs fine, and it's pretty fun! Hopefully future episodes will handle buffering and alpha channels a little better so everyone can see our beautiful work as it was meant to be seen! ;-)
*Update 8/9/2010: The game has been moved and now can be found here, along with another!
It was released before the holidays, but the people getting it to run properly online didn't have all the kinks worked out - now it runs fine, and it's pretty fun! Hopefully future episodes will handle buffering and alpha channels a little better so everyone can see our beautiful work as it was meant to be seen! ;-)
*Update 8/9/2010: The game has been moved and now can be found here, along with another!
Sleeping Bloggy
Say Gezundenshniffle
Monday, December 28, 2009
The Gift of Perspective
Given the continuing economic slump and a handful of us on unemployment, our families shared fewer commercial gifts this year (there was a "no gifts" policy but some simply could not hold to it). In the airport, some individuals could be overheard talking about the best gift they received, be it a favorite movie, game, gadget, etc. While I did receive some great presents, by the end of our trip to Wisconsin I had been given a tremendous gift that I hadn't expected.
Some might read this and may think that I'm just a downer, and I'm sorry for anyone who feels that way. It probably does seem that I have an eye toward the negative side in this post - but believe me, I'm only posting these things because they somehow find a way to remind me personally how lucky I am and how fortunate we are to have all that we have. Writing about the mishaps and misfortunes, for me, is therapeutic and puts me at ease as I can then turn to what is right in my life and all that I should be thankful for.
Monday night, we decided we'd bring my laptop along so that the guys could game and we could check emails and such. I started backing up my files and deleting stuff off the laptop hard drive so there would be adequate space to install and run the games, but after a few hours, it got to be 1:30 in the morning, and it was time to close up shop so we could get some shut-eye. Tuesday morning we gathered up our bags, scooped up the cat, got him to the vet for boarding, and headed to Bristol. I hung out at Naveen's office taking care of some things during the day before our flight. One of his work friends was kind enough to take us to the train station, so we left the van at work, took a train to Philly, and managed to fly on schedule despite the winter weather.
When we arrived Tuesday night at Mitchell Field, our flight from Philadelphia was supposed to have arrived around the same time as my sister's and (her boyfriend) Nick's flight from Newark, so my dad waited in the cell phone parking lot while Naveen and I sat at the baggage claim waiting for their plane to arrive. We had claimed our luggage and saw that their flight was "in range," so we waited. And waited. And waited. Due to some misinformation somewhere down the line, we ended up sitting around the destination airport an hour and a half until they finally landed and got their bags. By the time we got to my grandmother's house, it was well after midnight, but we were just happy to see each other and be back with our family.
The next day, Naveen and I were looking on my laptop at images I had saved from our wedding photographer, trying to narrow down pages and pictures to an album that would be affordable for us to purchase. There is so much we haven't done - we still owe a majority of people Thank You cards for their thoughtful gifts, we still hadn't ordered our wedding photos, and we still haven't planned or gone on a honeymoon. But this week, we were going to start getting things done. We determined which pictures and pages we were okay to lose, and reviewed the change requests to the photographer's website which I had made during the day on Tuesday before our flight. I left the laptop open and Naveen and Nick decided they wanted to play "Sins of a Solar Empire" to pass the time for a while.
Unfortunately, even 10 or so gigs of space wasn't enough, or they noticed a slow performance, so they decided to run a routine disk cleanup. Since I hadn't finished backing up my files, and I had heard horror stories about using disk cleanup, I was a little anxious about it and mentioned that I used CCleaner with decent results, but they had already begun and confidently explained that you tell the computer exactly what areas to clean up. It was reportedly going to clear another gig of space, but by the end of the cleanup, they had freed 40 or so gigs, which seemed alarmingly high. Since the computer was still running a bit slow, they tried running the defrag tool, but had to stop it at 3% because we were going to eat dinner and needed to move the laptop to another location.
Later that night, however, when Naveen set up the laptop elsewhere, I heard him mutter something with disdain and I ran to him... almost all my folders located on the desktop and My Documents folders were completely wiped out. Empty. Gone.
I ran upstairs and screamed into a pillow, I was so mad. This isn't usual behavior for me, so everyone was concerned and quickly found out what happened. At first I felt mad at Nick, because I didn't know that Naveen had given the go-ahead on the disk cleanup, and then I was mad at Naveen, but primarily I was just mad at myself, that in my busy life with my long commute and everything going on, I still should have found the time to back up the things I had lost. It didn't take long before I went back downstairs and apologized to everyone for losing my cool about it, but everyone understood and was hoping we could recover some of the files. Nick patiently was able to recover most of the files that had been lost - but unfortunately even a 3% defrag was enough to corrupt a majority of the files. I lost a handful of photos, videos, Maya and Photoshop work, among other things that were important to me. As upset as I could be about the guys pushing the button, in my heart I knew it was a routine cleanup that simply must have triggered a virus (or, as we found out later, something like 7 threats) which caused the mass deletion of my files, and I knew that it was my fault I had not backed everything up ahead of time.
I spent too long talking about that perhaps. I'm still getting over it.
Christmas Day we were supposed to head over to see my paternal grandma, but it was delayed by several hours because my parents' van died. They had just gone in to have the battery looked at, and the technicians at Walmart said it was fine. They don't typically go there, but they've had to cut a lot of costs since unemployment is running out soon for them. So, the battery was dead. With Nick's help, they were able to charge it enough to get it to a local garage where they replaced it and saw that the struts or shocks or something also needed to be replaced (I heard both and never got the final story which it was). Just what they needed, right?
I won't go into much detail, but I've had some moderate health problems in the last month that have gotten worse in the last couple of weeks (so I'm going to the doctor later this afternoon). My issues weren't helped by the fact that last night we had a delayed first leg from Milwaukee, and had to sprint from an outdoor gate at Terminal F to an indoor B gate at Chicago O'Hare in order to make our connection to Philly. We made it, but the running triggered some of the respiratory problems I've been having as well as digestive and pain problems that are becoming chronic for me as well, so it was a miserable flight (not to mention two uncontrolled little boys sitting behind us, yelling playfully, and kicking our seats). When we arrived in Philly around 12:15am, we found out that they didn't get our bag moved onto the connecting flight and so we are waiting for it to be delivered to Naveen's work sometime today (let's hope). Inside I have medicines, gifts, a hair dryer which I desperately need in this cold weather, and a large wedding print (protected only with a cardboard box) that we bought from the photographer this weekend. I hope everything arrives safely soon, and isn't damaged, stolen, or lost.
But as I mentioned, this past week has offered us a very important gift of perspective. We can't stay upset about these things because we must acknowledge what we have - I was able to fly home and see my family, and that was the main thing. However distracted we could be about the negative side, we were there, together.
While sitting at the airport waiting to go home to New Jersey, we received the most unfortunate news of a friend in California who lost their second child. Their first child, an unborn daughter with a rare blood condition, had been lost on the morning of our wedding day, which is forever with us and reminds us how precious life is. This time, they were having a son, who was starting to show signs of problems at the same time in pregnancy as their daughter, but the doctors were able to deliver the 4-pound premature baby successfully, sharing his mother's birthday just a few days before Christmas. Friends and family were overjoyed and sent cards and gifts. They spent the holiday in the hospital because of his need to be monitored in an incubator and with feeding tubes. After only five days of life, he suddenly developed a different rare condition called NEC which affects only 1 in 4000 premature infants, and died yesterday. I can't even begin to imagine the strength our friends have in getting through this second loss.. There just simply aren't words.
My cousin lost her best friend in a head-on car accident just days before my birthday in January. This friend had been her single most important confidant since childhood, and as for my cousin, who is hearing impaired and has worked since high school rather than having gone to college, she has been left this year to redefine herself and cope with her grief largely by herself. Our family has been sensitive to her needs this year, but seeing her on Christmas Eve, it is evident that this pain may take years and some new social conditions in order to heal.
One of Naveen's cousins in India, who he met just a few years ago, was very intelligent and well on his way to a good school sometime soon. But a few weeks ago, he was in a terrible motorcycle accident without a helmet on, and he has only a slim chance to live. If he does survive, it is probable that he has suffered irreparable brain damage and may remain in a vegetative state. This news comes shortly after another cousin, whose wedding was impending, lost her mother (I believe to a heart attack), which was preceded a couple years before by another of Naveen's cousin's suicide at his parents' house, and my great uncle's suicide as well when he thought he might be dying of cancer.
We've been through a lot in the last couple years, but to stay upset about a computer crash, car problems, luggage lost... These things are meaningless. The tragic stories of our friends and families in recent years truly remind us how absolutely precious life is, and how much care we hold in our hearts for everyone. The stories of their joys and moments of happy excitement are what encourage us and keep us going. And, hoping that this post doesn't merely slip into the void, I wish for everyone a safe, happy, healthy new year, and that peace remains in your hearts and minds even through trying times. Distance may separate us, but we are always thinking of you, praying for you, and looking forward to our next meeting.
Some might read this and may think that I'm just a downer, and I'm sorry for anyone who feels that way. It probably does seem that I have an eye toward the negative side in this post - but believe me, I'm only posting these things because they somehow find a way to remind me personally how lucky I am and how fortunate we are to have all that we have. Writing about the mishaps and misfortunes, for me, is therapeutic and puts me at ease as I can then turn to what is right in my life and all that I should be thankful for.
Monday night, we decided we'd bring my laptop along so that the guys could game and we could check emails and such. I started backing up my files and deleting stuff off the laptop hard drive so there would be adequate space to install and run the games, but after a few hours, it got to be 1:30 in the morning, and it was time to close up shop so we could get some shut-eye. Tuesday morning we gathered up our bags, scooped up the cat, got him to the vet for boarding, and headed to Bristol. I hung out at Naveen's office taking care of some things during the day before our flight. One of his work friends was kind enough to take us to the train station, so we left the van at work, took a train to Philly, and managed to fly on schedule despite the winter weather.
When we arrived Tuesday night at Mitchell Field, our flight from Philadelphia was supposed to have arrived around the same time as my sister's and (her boyfriend) Nick's flight from Newark, so my dad waited in the cell phone parking lot while Naveen and I sat at the baggage claim waiting for their plane to arrive. We had claimed our luggage and saw that their flight was "in range," so we waited. And waited. And waited. Due to some misinformation somewhere down the line, we ended up sitting around the destination airport an hour and a half until they finally landed and got their bags. By the time we got to my grandmother's house, it was well after midnight, but we were just happy to see each other and be back with our family.
The next day, Naveen and I were looking on my laptop at images I had saved from our wedding photographer, trying to narrow down pages and pictures to an album that would be affordable for us to purchase. There is so much we haven't done - we still owe a majority of people Thank You cards for their thoughtful gifts, we still hadn't ordered our wedding photos, and we still haven't planned or gone on a honeymoon. But this week, we were going to start getting things done. We determined which pictures and pages we were okay to lose, and reviewed the change requests to the photographer's website which I had made during the day on Tuesday before our flight. I left the laptop open and Naveen and Nick decided they wanted to play "Sins of a Solar Empire" to pass the time for a while.
Unfortunately, even 10 or so gigs of space wasn't enough, or they noticed a slow performance, so they decided to run a routine disk cleanup. Since I hadn't finished backing up my files, and I had heard horror stories about using disk cleanup, I was a little anxious about it and mentioned that I used CCleaner with decent results, but they had already begun and confidently explained that you tell the computer exactly what areas to clean up. It was reportedly going to clear another gig of space, but by the end of the cleanup, they had freed 40 or so gigs, which seemed alarmingly high. Since the computer was still running a bit slow, they tried running the defrag tool, but had to stop it at 3% because we were going to eat dinner and needed to move the laptop to another location.
Later that night, however, when Naveen set up the laptop elsewhere, I heard him mutter something with disdain and I ran to him... almost all my folders located on the desktop and My Documents folders were completely wiped out. Empty. Gone.
I ran upstairs and screamed into a pillow, I was so mad. This isn't usual behavior for me, so everyone was concerned and quickly found out what happened. At first I felt mad at Nick, because I didn't know that Naveen had given the go-ahead on the disk cleanup, and then I was mad at Naveen, but primarily I was just mad at myself, that in my busy life with my long commute and everything going on, I still should have found the time to back up the things I had lost. It didn't take long before I went back downstairs and apologized to everyone for losing my cool about it, but everyone understood and was hoping we could recover some of the files. Nick patiently was able to recover most of the files that had been lost - but unfortunately even a 3% defrag was enough to corrupt a majority of the files. I lost a handful of photos, videos, Maya and Photoshop work, among other things that were important to me. As upset as I could be about the guys pushing the button, in my heart I knew it was a routine cleanup that simply must have triggered a virus (or, as we found out later, something like 7 threats) which caused the mass deletion of my files, and I knew that it was my fault I had not backed everything up ahead of time.
I spent too long talking about that perhaps. I'm still getting over it.
Christmas Day we were supposed to head over to see my paternal grandma, but it was delayed by several hours because my parents' van died. They had just gone in to have the battery looked at, and the technicians at Walmart said it was fine. They don't typically go there, but they've had to cut a lot of costs since unemployment is running out soon for them. So, the battery was dead. With Nick's help, they were able to charge it enough to get it to a local garage where they replaced it and saw that the struts or shocks or something also needed to be replaced (I heard both and never got the final story which it was). Just what they needed, right?
I won't go into much detail, but I've had some moderate health problems in the last month that have gotten worse in the last couple of weeks (so I'm going to the doctor later this afternoon). My issues weren't helped by the fact that last night we had a delayed first leg from Milwaukee, and had to sprint from an outdoor gate at Terminal F to an indoor B gate at Chicago O'Hare in order to make our connection to Philly. We made it, but the running triggered some of the respiratory problems I've been having as well as digestive and pain problems that are becoming chronic for me as well, so it was a miserable flight (not to mention two uncontrolled little boys sitting behind us, yelling playfully, and kicking our seats). When we arrived in Philly around 12:15am, we found out that they didn't get our bag moved onto the connecting flight and so we are waiting for it to be delivered to Naveen's work sometime today (let's hope). Inside I have medicines, gifts, a hair dryer which I desperately need in this cold weather, and a large wedding print (protected only with a cardboard box) that we bought from the photographer this weekend. I hope everything arrives safely soon, and isn't damaged, stolen, or lost.
But as I mentioned, this past week has offered us a very important gift of perspective. We can't stay upset about these things because we must acknowledge what we have - I was able to fly home and see my family, and that was the main thing. However distracted we could be about the negative side, we were there, together.
While sitting at the airport waiting to go home to New Jersey, we received the most unfortunate news of a friend in California who lost their second child. Their first child, an unborn daughter with a rare blood condition, had been lost on the morning of our wedding day, which is forever with us and reminds us how precious life is. This time, they were having a son, who was starting to show signs of problems at the same time in pregnancy as their daughter, but the doctors were able to deliver the 4-pound premature baby successfully, sharing his mother's birthday just a few days before Christmas. Friends and family were overjoyed and sent cards and gifts. They spent the holiday in the hospital because of his need to be monitored in an incubator and with feeding tubes. After only five days of life, he suddenly developed a different rare condition called NEC which affects only 1 in 4000 premature infants, and died yesterday. I can't even begin to imagine the strength our friends have in getting through this second loss.. There just simply aren't words.
My cousin lost her best friend in a head-on car accident just days before my birthday in January. This friend had been her single most important confidant since childhood, and as for my cousin, who is hearing impaired and has worked since high school rather than having gone to college, she has been left this year to redefine herself and cope with her grief largely by herself. Our family has been sensitive to her needs this year, but seeing her on Christmas Eve, it is evident that this pain may take years and some new social conditions in order to heal.
One of Naveen's cousins in India, who he met just a few years ago, was very intelligent and well on his way to a good school sometime soon. But a few weeks ago, he was in a terrible motorcycle accident without a helmet on, and he has only a slim chance to live. If he does survive, it is probable that he has suffered irreparable brain damage and may remain in a vegetative state. This news comes shortly after another cousin, whose wedding was impending, lost her mother (I believe to a heart attack), which was preceded a couple years before by another of Naveen's cousin's suicide at his parents' house, and my great uncle's suicide as well when he thought he might be dying of cancer.
We've been through a lot in the last couple years, but to stay upset about a computer crash, car problems, luggage lost... These things are meaningless. The tragic stories of our friends and families in recent years truly remind us how absolutely precious life is, and how much care we hold in our hearts for everyone. The stories of their joys and moments of happy excitement are what encourage us and keep us going. And, hoping that this post doesn't merely slip into the void, I wish for everyone a safe, happy, healthy new year, and that peace remains in your hearts and minds even through trying times. Distance may separate us, but we are always thinking of you, praying for you, and looking forward to our next meeting.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
AFFS Criticism
So, as we know, mostly there has been super positive feedback about AFFS. However, we also know there are a lot of die-hard muppet fans who are afraid the real puppets are going away (which isn't true). This article by Eric Alba is no different, but at least it shows internal debate: Eric says the animation (in all its technical glory) is really well done, but he also makes a good point that it doesn't have the typical Jim Henson lo-fi lovability. Good argument, I just think that as die-hard as they think they are, these people must not be watching the SS hour, because there are plenty of puppets still bouncing around, and there always will be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)