Anna, the bride, with lil' Stella

Well, we got to the airport, we returned the car, we had our lunch, we got our coffee and now we're at the gate waiting for our plane and it looks like we're about to become a statistic--our flight is delayed. Now, granted, it's delayed due to weather, but not in the "taking off in hectic weather" kind of way, but in the "lightning might hit the ramp that people use to get to the airport" kind of way, which is actually a new way for me. So, w'e're hanging out and I have a bit of time to write, but not post, because I refuse to pay the wireless access fee! I'm telling you, we're living in one of those times where people in the future will go, "Oh, yeah, back in the day you actually had to pay to access the Internet from a public space, how weak is that, T-7 Service Droid?" I mean, okay, it's not technically a big deal, but still, it's so insanely frustrating--it's so cheap to offer free Internet access, I would argue it's more expensive to set up a payment system than to "just" install a T1 line and a network of wireless access points. Throw in a portal page with advertising, maps and directories of the airport and boom, everyone's happy. Provide an online coupon code to some cafe, all the better.

Whatever; I'm on the plane now--we ended up getting in the plane then waiting for 20 minutes before moving, and then another 20 minutes of taxiing and now, finally, we are flying and now I am trying to type this out, which is hard because, as is always the case, the person in front of me has put his seat all the way back and it is basically impossible for me to see the screen.

As usual, lots to talk about, I wish I could type out multiple strings of thought at once, to be honest. I have a few different storylines in my head:

1 - the wedding weekend and associated experiences, including running two red lights (one right in front of a cop!), a heated yoga class, seeing the collapsed bridge, the actual wedding, reception at the zoo, the importance of befriending the DJ and the bartender at all wedding receptions, the amazing amount of kids I was around and a freewheeling discourse of how the Mall of America (and, I guess, all malls) as the precursor to the modern day World Wide Web.

2 - the frustration of walking into a plane and passing by people reading scripts that I have read about but am not reading--how even in the middle of the country, you can be reminded how there's so much more to actually get DONE before my career is actually cooking. While it is simmering now, the bubbles are few and far between, and though I have had some fun this year, I need to book some work before the year is over, big time.

3 - the mixed blessing of being able to write scenes (or at least build scenes) that would be interesting to watch but are bereft of an actual story to be incorporated into. I have been writing these things down, but the only thing connecting them is that I am writing them down. This is pretty typical, I guess, for me--I can sketch for days, lots of little scribbles and mini scenes, portraits, buildings, whatever, but they all float on the page, each kind of interesting, but in that way that someone else's dreams are only so interesting--yes, neat, but, in the end, so what? Perhaps I am overly ambitous, perhaps the scenes need not be part of a movie, perhaps a music video or a short. As I write this, I otice myself thinking, "Yes, that's it! Make a music video!" But, of course, all the scenes I want to shoot take place over the last few hours in a plane taking off in the middle of a torrential downpour. No matter, no mater. I can inject them somewhere else.

4 - I am reading a book called The Sundance Kids by James Mottram. It's very similar to this other book, Rebels in the Backlot by Sharon Waxman (the books cover the same people during the same time, early 90s filmmakers like PT Anderson, Spike Jonez, David Fincher, Wes Anderson, etc), but spends a lot more time actually going into the movies and analyzing them, which makes the book both more interesting and sometimes a little irritating. I don't have a lot of experience reading film criticism, I admit, but I can't help but wonder why the ongoing discussions of color palette, themes and editorial comments on why a film was particularly "good" or not bothers me. I guess that's one thing that the passing of time provides: a comfy couch from which to judge other people's hard work and mercilessly categorize it.

5 - And, finally, I want to talk about how it felt to meet extended family members who have been reading these journal and viewing the photos on the flickr site, how it was really gratifying to know that people would visit from time to time, and how it was a very different experience to know that they knew me already from all my ramblings. While we didn't go into it too much, it changes, again, how I think about this site, which began as me throwing HTML to the world without any expectations of an audience in the first place, to knowing that once in awhile, someone will choose to visit with some kind of expectation of something new. What started out as an offline backup of experience has turned into a relationship, and like all relationships, I gotta make an effort to keep it interesting.

To that end, I am going to do something a bit different. I am going to write about the above topics now (well, as long as can stand it) and then release them throughout the week. A lot more manageable for both of us.

More soon.

Tags: travel, airport, people