Moving Right Along...

It's been pouring warm, tropical rain here in Seattle. We get several systems off the Pacific (mostly coming up from Hawaii) every year, which is actually nice - cleans the air, keeps all our green from drying up and becoming a fire hazard. This time, it seems like the temperatures have remained the same as when it's not raining. That's a weird sensation for me, to walk outside during a downpour and actually be sweating as well.

Had a nice impromptu family reunion when my aunt, uncle and his wife flew into town on Thursday. We found ourselves at Salty's on Alki with my mom & stepdad (on their way back from Oregon with a desk in the back of a rented SUV), sister (in town visiting her boyfriend), niece (in town visiting my stepmom), stepmom (who lives here in town), brother and his wife (who live here in town), the aforementioned out-of-state relations, and my brood. It was a terrific get together, with excellent food and great conversation. Found myself missing my dad during that lunch - he would have loved it. Afterward, many folks came back to the house and I screened Ordinary Angels for them. Because they are family, and knew Sam (and loved her immensely), the deathbed scene was particularly heavy for me to watch this time. Any other time, I can watch without effect. But this time, as I stood next to where my sister was seated, she reached up and squeezed my hand - both of us letting loose with some waterworks.

Speaking of OA, the festival submission picture currently looks like this:

Seattle International Film Festival - Declined (incomplete rough cut submitted)
Gen Con Film Festival, Indianapolis - Sneak Preview
Dragon*Con Independent Film Festival, Atlanta - US Premiere
Accolade, La Jolla - Registered
International Horror & SciFi Film Festival, Phoenix - Submitted
Toronto After Dark - Submitted
Eugene International Film Festival - Submitted
SoCal Independent Film Festival, Huntington Beach - Submitted
Orlando Film Festival - Submitted
NICHE Film & Music Festival, Portland - Submitted
Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival, Bay City - Submitted
Santa Cruz Film Festival - Submitted

I received a visit yesterday from Natasha Sims, the actress who played Eloa in my film. She was getting some footage for her reel, and mentioned that she would try to fly down to some festivals to support the project, which I think is A#1 cool. Then I took Kayleigh up to Mill Creek, where two of my partners in D Constructed Media have just opened their accounting firm (I think between the four DCM partners, there are six different companies). It was a nice grand opening, with a really good buffet, and I got a chance to chat with Sally, Justin, Dan and his wife Valentina in a purely casual context, which was really great. I won't deny there has been some friction in the "boardroom", mostly in the form of our intentions for the production company. Dan & Sally are very driven toward a working commercial model, which I fully support, but have no spare time to participate in, between long-form projects like OA and Life 2.0, my publishing company and my civic/charity commitments. So we are leaving D Constructed Media as the long-form entity, and splitting off a separate entity for commercial and work-for-hire gigs. That one accommodation makes them the best partners "evar".

We met my theater buddy Raff back at the house and watched Reefer Madness - The Musical (OMG hilairous!), and then he watched some of the Jeanne interview footage from last week while Kayleigh watched Peter Gabriel videos - did I mention my daughter has phenomenally good musical taste?

J and I have tied things up pretty neatly. There was some brief venom on both sides, and it made me realize how vastly different we actually are. It's not a question of remaining friends; rather I think we need to start that part over, due to some patterns both of us have in relationships that (for me) would preclude the romantic relationship from evolving (or devolving) into a platonic relationship. So, after being "off to the races" as I wrote previously, now it's back to the starting blocks. And a totally different race.

It's at times like these when I crave the familiar. I knew that as bad as anything ever got with Sam, we were in it for the long haul and would iron everything out as we came to it. That's the connection I really miss - the comfort during the conflict; knowing I was safe to speak my mind and my partner would not take offense because she knew I spoke out of love and solid commitment (because if I didn't, that meant I didn't care), and that she had the same right to speak her mind without my offense. Sam & I knew how to argue productively. Yeah, sometimes it got heated and passionate, but we never judged or disrespected each other, we always listened, and we always got to the root of the issue. In over 20 years together, I only went to bed angry a few times (during our marital difficulties around 2000, and that was my deal, not hers). My goal in my future relationship is ZERO times. :)