So Happy to Show this Freakin' Year Out the Door.

So we lost power again yesterday. It was only down for 4 hours, but it's still like, "sonnovabitch!" Apparently it was an accident involving at least one car, an ambulance, and a power pole near the West Seattle Bridge. I know it also included the nearby transformer station, because we watched the green flashes out the window. And it happened right at dusk, while it poured down rain. It was heavy even for Seattle (we still get less precip than New York City, just more precipitous days overall). After one of the hottest summers on record, we are now having a record-breaking wet winter. At least the snowpack will be ginormous and keep us hydrated through the presumably hot summer to come.

I got a lump of coal in the form of a lien on my home from the contractor. Nevermind the fact that in order to release the funds, the mortgage company required they sign a waiver of lien. Nevermind the fact that the insurance companies are the ones paying the money... nah, that's too much work. We should just go after the homeowner. He doesn't have NEARLY enough going on. Sigh. That's all I dare say in case we go into litigation.

Creative projects are coming together, and that makes the insurance and legal crap more bearable. Got a CD of the last milestone on the Samantha tribute album. All the bass that Mike Berg laid down really fills out the sound - I'm very happy. Called Muriel and we're scheduling some rehearsal and a recording session in the early part of January to take care of the finished vocals. She's about to cast her show - the spring play for Twelfth Night. Sam Shepard's The True West. It'll be great to see what she does with the show.

Editor Dan (or should I start calling him Lieutenant Dan??) has been working on the Ordinary Angels edit. We're about to scene 5/6/7, and he's just done the most amazing effect. In the first meeting between Lucifer and Micah, Lucifer pulls out a gun and shoots one of his own Fallen, to compensate the angels for an improperly harvested soul. The raw footage is pretty pedestrian - Lucifer pulls a Beretta from his coat and fires behind himself without looking. Amazingly, the camera lines up right down his arm, and in perfect alignment with the actor across the park. The trigger is pulled on the prop pistol, and a little plastic "pop" is heard. Lucifer jerks a bit of artificial recoil, and the actor playing the Fallen crumples in a heap. The timing is great, but there's no actual plate movement, no muzzle flash, no smoke, no ejecting cartridge, and no gunshot sound.

So imagine my absolute shock when Dan gave me a short HD sequence of the gunshot, with all of the above. It looks freakin' REAL. I love you, Dan.

Been visiting a bunch with my old buddy Hans (who is up visiting from San Diego). I've mentioned him here before. It's nice to still have friends who can make me laugh 'til I pee, and vice versa.

Had a good Christmas with the fam up at my sister's new house in Bellingham. It was good to have the grandparents there, still lovely and spry, and the extended family (my sister-in-law's twin, and my brother-from-another-mother Steve). My mom is turning the big 60 next month, so we siblings are in Conspiratorial Birthday Mode. Stopped by stepmom's place on the water in Ballard on the way home from B'ham. She'd been sick and hadn't been able to join us up north, so we brought her some Christmas. Tyler was remarkably engaged in the activities and family, which pleased most everyone. He's spending the rest of his holiday playing his newly acquired videogames.

I'm sorry if the last few posts have been sour and negative. Christmas used to be a really happy time. I found the first Christmas gift Samantha ever gave me in one of the fire salvage boxes. An old RC Corvette Stingray she'd hand-painted metallic blue because they only made it in yellow or red. Christmas 1984 - our first Christmas as a couple, and she'd given me an RC version of my favorite car in its ideal color. That's an observant woman.

So understanably, this month has not really been the best, emotionally. But just bear with me. It's all part of the show, folks.