Yeah, you get looks at the grocery store when all you’re buying is beer and syringes, but what can I say? My dog gets allergy shots and, well, I get thirsty.
There is cause for celebration, though: I’ve finally finished editing the Camp Periwinkle yearbook video. This is a task I normally complete late in February, but due to multiple hard drive failures and having to start over at square one (twice) it is now May and I’ve only today sent off the approval copies to the camp and foundation directors.
Video editing is a tedious and frustrating, but ultimately rewarding endeavor. Nothing seems to work, the shots I wish I had don’t exist, I can’t find the one shot I remember shooting. Basically, there’s lots of cussing and wishing I was outside playing kick the can with all the other kids.
I then remember why I’m doing it and I keep going. For some kids with cancer the video becomes a reminder of one of the few times they were happy or felt normal. For some parents, it’s a chance to see their kids, who are fighting for their lives, actually smile or even laugh. It’s worth giving up every Saturday for four months.
But the technical frustrations build until just as I begin formulating excuses for why there won’t be a video this year, I watch what I’ve got and it starts to hold together. It becomes a maze and I can see the way out by tightening a shot here, moving a sequence there, and then all of a sudden the thing comes alive with the speed of a runner racing downhill.
Suddenly, the next thing I know I’m sending approval copies off to the powers that be and stopping at the grocery store to pick up a celebratory beer and a bunch of syringes. For my dog.
Party on.
1 Comment | Filed under: random stuff
Congratulations on getting the video done! Your labour of love – to the parents, campers, counselors, doctors, and nurses – is always a masterpiece – regardless of what you “think” might be missing. Periwinkle – it’s an addiction.