I currently find myself between two children who are doing math that is
ever so slightly--okay, full disclosure--more than ever so
slightly--beyond anything I remember from my own math education. They
are scribbling and calculating away, and I think to myself, "how did I
ever do any of these things, and if I did them, how did I forget them so
quickly?"
I remember when I trained as a Booth PA, I was struck with how math had
returned to my life with a vengeance. There was no calculus involved,
but on a daily basis, I was called upon to think and calculate in base 6
(how else would you add and subtract time?). These days, most PAs I
know have time calculators, but back then, it was good old-fashioned
math. If you could do it quickly in your head, all the better. And since
you were calculating not only how much show time you had used, but also
how much was left, and what the time would be if you cut a page and a half of script, you needed to do each calculation forward, backward,
and upside down. It was challenging and stressful and exciting, and it
is a skill that I still have, though it has been years since my last
Booth PA job.
I could explain to my kids how facility with at least the mental
gymnastics part of math has actually been an essential part of my work. While
it wouldn't help them do their daily homework, it would remind them
that math really does matter, and that mental gymnastics, in math or
otherwise, is a skill that will always help. For now, I'll just let them
finish their homework. After all, we're running over on bedtime by at
least 37 minutes, meaning we'll have to take cuts in sleep time. Even if
we can give back 12 of those minutes at wake-up time, we'll still be
over by 25. And, when it comes to sleep, no number of even the cleverest
edit cuts can get that time back.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Footprints
Do you ever wonder whether anything you do makes a difference? Has a
lasting impression on someone, or a bunch of someones, anywhere? Whether you leave any footprints in the world except your huge carbon one?
We tend to spend our lives just keeping up--doing what needs to be done each day, without devoting much time to wondering what effect we will have.
Today, I got an email about an educational video I made almost fifteen years ago. It seems--from the email, that is--that the video is still being used. It is not Sesame Street, with a life in products and on the internet and on the tip of people's tongues, but my video is still out there--still being used to help people, at least in this one place in the country.
When I made that video, I did so with a passion--a true belief that what it had to say was worth hearing, and that I could, in some small way, help improve girls' lives. A lot of time has passed since then--time in which I have been focused on a million other things. Yet, the email today reminded me that what I did all those years ago still has a footprint somewhere--perhaps even a lot of somewheres. In some small way, the work I did is still making a difference.
Never underestimate the effect you can have when you follow a passion, when you work on something you just KNOW needs to be out there. It may continue to leave footprints--even when you think you are walking in a completely different direction.
We tend to spend our lives just keeping up--doing what needs to be done each day, without devoting much time to wondering what effect we will have.
Today, I got an email about an educational video I made almost fifteen years ago. It seems--from the email, that is--that the video is still being used. It is not Sesame Street, with a life in products and on the internet and on the tip of people's tongues, but my video is still out there--still being used to help people, at least in this one place in the country.
When I made that video, I did so with a passion--a true belief that what it had to say was worth hearing, and that I could, in some small way, help improve girls' lives. A lot of time has passed since then--time in which I have been focused on a million other things. Yet, the email today reminded me that what I did all those years ago still has a footprint somewhere--perhaps even a lot of somewheres. In some small way, the work I did is still making a difference.
Never underestimate the effect you can have when you follow a passion, when you work on something you just KNOW needs to be out there. It may continue to leave footprints--even when you think you are walking in a completely different direction.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Is It Just Me, Or....?
Is it just me, or do other people get only about thirty percent of their scheduled weekend tasks done by Sunday night?
Is it just me, or do other people long for the weekend (more sleep, more family time, more sleep) all week, then end up getting no more sleep and not enough (or way too much!) family time once the weekend is here?
Is it just me, or do other people volunteer first, then scramble around like maniacs, figuring out how to accomplish the things they volunteered to do?
Is it just me, or do other people find themselves drawn more to cupcakes than to apples?
Is it just me, or do other people feel they are never doing enough for their kids' schools or activities, no matter how many games and performances they see, and how many foods and tickets and auction items they buy and sell?
Is it just me, or do other people find themselves constantly looking for "what might be," instead of just being content with "what is"?
Is it just me, or do other people keep the clothes that work, but also the ones that don't, and then wonder why some days, their clothes just don't work?
Is it just me, or do other people sometimes wish they could live in a world of cartoons?
Is it just me, or do other people get to Sunday night just not ready to start all over again?
Is it just me, or do other people long for the weekend (more sleep, more family time, more sleep) all week, then end up getting no more sleep and not enough (or way too much!) family time once the weekend is here?
Is it just me, or do other people volunteer first, then scramble around like maniacs, figuring out how to accomplish the things they volunteered to do?
Is it just me, or do other people find themselves drawn more to cupcakes than to apples?
Is it just me, or do other people feel they are never doing enough for their kids' schools or activities, no matter how many games and performances they see, and how many foods and tickets and auction items they buy and sell?
Is it just me, or do other people find themselves constantly looking for "what might be," instead of just being content with "what is"?
Is it just me, or do other people keep the clothes that work, but also the ones that don't, and then wonder why some days, their clothes just don't work?
Is it just me, or do other people sometimes wish they could live in a world of cartoons?
Is it just me, or do other people get to Sunday night just not ready to start all over again?
Sunday, May 4, 2014
9 to 5
My daughter is performing in a production of 9 to 5 this weekend and
next, and I couldn't help thinking, as I watched it, how lucky I have
been in my career and workplaces. (Bear in mind here that no job I have ever had has been 9-5. Ahh, the joy of TV production!)
1. I have never been called "one of the girls," though early on, producers and actors did refer to me and the other front office PAs as "the kids."
2. I have been lucky enough to have friends at work (and lucky enough never to have chased a dead body in a hospital with those friends).
3. I used typewriters like the props they are using when I was first working. And yes, the quality of correction tape and correction fluid DID matter back then.
4. It is, in fact, true (at least in the places where I have worked) that getting along with your coworkers is often at least as important as doing your job well.
5. I have never kidnapped or almost poisoned a boss (and I would be hard-pressed to find a garage door opener in the city to use for this purpose). But planning adventures with friends at work can be a lot of fun anyway.
If you're confused by any of these references, feel free to do a little 80s movie research. Better yet, see the musical next weekend. Believe me, it'll make your workplace (no matter where it is) look pretty good.
1. I have never been called "one of the girls," though early on, producers and actors did refer to me and the other front office PAs as "the kids."
2. I have been lucky enough to have friends at work (and lucky enough never to have chased a dead body in a hospital with those friends).
3. I used typewriters like the props they are using when I was first working. And yes, the quality of correction tape and correction fluid DID matter back then.
4. It is, in fact, true (at least in the places where I have worked) that getting along with your coworkers is often at least as important as doing your job well.
5. I have never kidnapped or almost poisoned a boss (and I would be hard-pressed to find a garage door opener in the city to use for this purpose). But planning adventures with friends at work can be a lot of fun anyway.
If you're confused by any of these references, feel free to do a little 80s movie research. Better yet, see the musical next weekend. Believe me, it'll make your workplace (no matter where it is) look pretty good.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Keeping Up
When people ask me about my kids, I tend to reel off the many things
that they are doing and add that "I am just trying to keep up."
It's true--there are a lot of things going on, and sometimes, it does feel like a constant race, in which I am not entirely sure which direction to run at any given time. If it is a relay race, and I "pass the baton" to the wrong person, the race changes completely.
What is interesting, however, is that, while I may not literally "keep up" with every detail of what they are doing, just the fact that they DO at all, and that I am simultaneously DOING work to sustain their various DOING, means that, in some small way, I am keeping up.
When you run a race, do you remember every detail the next day, or weeks later? Perhaps if it is a short race, or if you are a professional runner. Most runners (of whom I am definitely not one), I suspect, remember the high points--the difficulties, the small leaps, the finish line. And that is kind of how it is with life. If, in keeping up, I see the performances and games, and share and remember small victories and defeats along the way, perhaps that really is "keeping up."
And perhaps, sometimes, just keeping up is quite enough.
It's true--there are a lot of things going on, and sometimes, it does feel like a constant race, in which I am not entirely sure which direction to run at any given time. If it is a relay race, and I "pass the baton" to the wrong person, the race changes completely.
What is interesting, however, is that, while I may not literally "keep up" with every detail of what they are doing, just the fact that they DO at all, and that I am simultaneously DOING work to sustain their various DOING, means that, in some small way, I am keeping up.
When you run a race, do you remember every detail the next day, or weeks later? Perhaps if it is a short race, or if you are a professional runner. Most runners (of whom I am definitely not one), I suspect, remember the high points--the difficulties, the small leaps, the finish line. And that is kind of how it is with life. If, in keeping up, I see the performances and games, and share and remember small victories and defeats along the way, perhaps that really is "keeping up."
And perhaps, sometimes, just keeping up is quite enough.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Emmy Nom Day
I thought I was past this. After all, I no longer go each day to a place
where people are agonizing over choosing their submissions and
scrambling to make copies and awaiting the announcement day and
distributing the Television Academy press release listing all the
Daytime Emmy nominees. I didn't even remember that said document and
the announcement were even happening today--until I started getting
emails. First entertainment news alerts, then Facebook post alerts and
congrats messages.
For, you see, in the midst of all of it, One Life to Live and All My Children--the online, "Soap Camp" versions--were each nominated in multiple categories (OLTL-7, AMC-4). And, lo and behold, I am part of the OLTL directing team that was nominated.
It is a nominations list full of my friends from twenty years in soaps. People are all over now, but the soap world was, and is, a small one, so the nominations included people I worked with last year, and ones I worked with twenty years ago, who are now at other soaps across the country.
Despite my having been aware of the judging process, it somehow didn't occur to me that I'd be reading today's list, much less finding myself on it. "Soap Camp" feels like a long time ago now, and we move on. And perhaps that's what made today kind of exciting. We all like to believe that things we did mattered--made some kind of lasting impression. And, at least for this small moment in time, it feels as though my involvement in "Soap Camp," the online soaps adventure in Connecticut, DID matter. It may have been short-lived, but, in some small way, it did matter, both in terms of the content we made, and in terms of the ground we broke that put online content right next to network TV content. And, lucky me, I got to be a part of it. And got to be nominated for an Emmy to boot.
Which, I guess, is what sometimes happens when you stick around for the cliffhanger.
For, you see, in the midst of all of it, One Life to Live and All My Children--the online, "Soap Camp" versions--were each nominated in multiple categories (OLTL-7, AMC-4). And, lo and behold, I am part of the OLTL directing team that was nominated.
It is a nominations list full of my friends from twenty years in soaps. People are all over now, but the soap world was, and is, a small one, so the nominations included people I worked with last year, and ones I worked with twenty years ago, who are now at other soaps across the country.
Despite my having been aware of the judging process, it somehow didn't occur to me that I'd be reading today's list, much less finding myself on it. "Soap Camp" feels like a long time ago now, and we move on. And perhaps that's what made today kind of exciting. We all like to believe that things we did mattered--made some kind of lasting impression. And, at least for this small moment in time, it feels as though my involvement in "Soap Camp," the online soaps adventure in Connecticut, DID matter. It may have been short-lived, but, in some small way, it did matter, both in terms of the content we made, and in terms of the ground we broke that put online content right next to network TV content. And, lucky me, I got to be a part of it. And got to be nominated for an Emmy to boot.
Which, I guess, is what sometimes happens when you stick around for the cliffhanger.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Follow Up
As promised, a second post inspired by yesterday's networking event..,
Just when you think that a networking event is about meeting new people, you realize that it is also about reconnecting with old ones.
I thought I might be standing around, nervously awaiting six-minute meetings that could change my life. (Is it really possible for a six-minute meeting to change your life?!) Instead, I found myself catching up with old friends and trading work/life tips with people I'd never met before. In doing so, I discovered not only the words for my six-minute meetings, but a little life perspective as well. In isolation, it is easy to bemoan the difficulties of our situations. When we network, in any way, we remind ourselves of the other challenges that are out there. In isolation, we may think we have a clear picture. When we network, we discover that the picture isn't always what it seems.
I am following up on all the connections and re-connections I made last night. As exciting as networking with people, new and old, may be, it is only a blip in time if you don't follow up to extend it past that.
It's no wonder the term is "follow up." Six-minute meetings may not lead to anything. But following up is how we make sure we're looking forward. If we follow through on those connections we've made, it can't help but make us look UP from our isolation. And move up (wherever our UP may be) from where we are now. Reminiscing about the past, perhaps, but always, always looking forward. And up.
Just when you think that a networking event is about meeting new people, you realize that it is also about reconnecting with old ones.
I thought I might be standing around, nervously awaiting six-minute meetings that could change my life. (Is it really possible for a six-minute meeting to change your life?!) Instead, I found myself catching up with old friends and trading work/life tips with people I'd never met before. In doing so, I discovered not only the words for my six-minute meetings, but a little life perspective as well. In isolation, it is easy to bemoan the difficulties of our situations. When we network, in any way, we remind ourselves of the other challenges that are out there. In isolation, we may think we have a clear picture. When we network, we discover that the picture isn't always what it seems.
I am following up on all the connections and re-connections I made last night. As exciting as networking with people, new and old, may be, it is only a blip in time if you don't follow up to extend it past that.
It's no wonder the term is "follow up." Six-minute meetings may not lead to anything. But following up is how we make sure we're looking forward. If we follow through on those connections we've made, it can't help but make us look UP from our isolation. And move up (wherever our UP may be) from where we are now. Reminiscing about the past, perhaps, but always, always looking forward. And up.
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