2 Miles in 3 Minutes

Grandparents, Friends and Family with squeamish stomachs, you may not want to look at the next photo...

Yesterday morning around 9:45am. I voluntarily jumped out of a perfectly good airplane. Well, Almost perfectly good. It was being piloted by my good friend and former roommate Lloyd. It was an experience unlike anything I had ever done. I have had my adrenaline pumping before with Rock Climbing, Riding a Motorcycle, Mountain Biking, Rappelling, Rigging, just hanging out with Mike and Bobby... but this was a whole different kind of rush. I got to sit up front with Lloyd as he piloted us up to 10,000 feet. We kicked open the door, put a foot on the wheel strut and jumped. There was no danger music or a bad guy chasing me from another plane, not was I rescuing an infant that had accidentally fallen out of an airplane without a parachute because of a careless game of 'Catch the baby' in the back of a cargo plane. It was actually really quiet. There was nothing but the rush of the wind as we fell. After 45 seconds or so, the instructor pulled the rip cord and instantly we slowed down and it became silent around me. I could even hear the guy second pair of jumpers yelling about 100' from me. We flew around and came up on the landing zone. It was really smooth, we hit our mark and slid to a stop. I have know for awhile that Skydiving was something that I wanted to do. It was even greater for me that my really good friend got to be the one that gave me the one-way plane ride up to 10K feet.

I also got to hang out at the airfield all day while Lloyd flew others up to jump. After the day was over, he gave me a quick tour of the Hampton's from ground level. It looked a little bit different. The house certainly looked bigger from the street... Then we stopped at a Surf Shack and had some Mussels. They were mighty tasty. I would go back and get them anytime. After the light dinner, it was time to drive back to the city. We got back around 9 or 9:30 and I was completely exhausted. I tried to do a little reading, but I just ended falling asleep. Today, I got up, installed some shades in my apartment, did a little cleaning and organizing and ended up at the coffee shop to use their free Internet to inform you all that I am still alive. On Tuesday, I get my own Internet so I won't need to take the walk to write. Anyways, off to acquire some couches so I can sit down on something in my apartment besides the counter tops and the bed...

Thanks for reading!

First Day at School

I think it is official, I am now a grown-up...

Today was the first day working on 'The Scottsboro Boys'. It went well but it was very surreal at the same time. It was an entirely new experience for me. I am always used to working on a show or in a shop where I can go to others and ask questions about the particular show I am working on. Not anymore... Now, I am the one who has to interpret the plot and make the daily decisions as to how to build things. Yea, there are people who are higher than me in the food chain on the show, but they do not come to the shop everyday. They have trusted me to make sure everything gets done correctly and on time. To make things even more exciting, I am now dealing with the fact that other people (producers and such) have put money into this show expecting that everything goes according to schedule so that it can be successful. So, that means that I have to do it correctly the first time...

That being said. I know that I am very lucky to be working in a field that I love spending time in. I also realize that I am very lucky that all the work that I have done the past 3 to 4 years is paying off. I looked around the shop today and realized that I was one of the youngest people working prepping a show. On top of that, I was not only prepping a show, I was the head on a major Broadway production. I also know that I would not be where I am without all of the help people have given me, especially in the last year. I would not have been able to get this job without the Managers, Actors, Technicians and other Electricians that I have worked with and learned from. I know that I will never be able to repay them for the mentoring that they did without even realizing it. I can't wait until I am in the position to help someone else trying to break into the business. You know, the whole 'pay it forward' thing...

Anyways, I am going to keep it short. The first day went well (I will write more about what we are actually doing in the shop later). I didn't blow up anything expensive or kill anyone. They are even letting me come back tomorrow to keep on playing with the other grown-ups! I don't think I looked like more of an idiot than I usually do, so I got that going for me.

Thank you to everyone who has been on this journey with me so far. It isn't over yet, it is just beginning...

Thanks for reading, more later