Balancing Act

Balance. Ironically it's one of the things we're seeking for our family as we sell our belongings and move, voluntarily  jobless, to another continent for a year. It's been too long since we've posted a blog, and aside from how busy life is getting just trying to prepare for the next year, I just finished working on a variety of television pilots. Long hours. Long weeks.

Pilot Season has always been the storm before the calm for my family. Post production folk all over Los Angeles bid farewell to their families and dive into pilot season. We know this is, likely, the last work to be had until the Fall. At the end of it we say goodbye to each other and hello to our families again (usually sleep for a day or two to catch up) and try to figure out how to re-insert ourselves into life at home once again.

Several years ago Brenna and the kids started leaving town to visit family during pilot season -- they're in Arkansas right now. Yesterday, I found myself sitting on the Warner Bros. lot on a Sunday, my first day off in a while, eating a sandwich in the middle of what used to be Stars Hollow, or Hazzard County if you want to go back a little farther, and might well be Eastwick, Rhode Island next year. I woke up to an empty house and couldn't bring myself to do any of the thousand things I should be doing to prepare for June -- as in the month after May, the month we're in right now. When I left the house to get lunch I didn't intend to go to the lot. Even as I left Togos with my sandwich I thought I was heading for a nearby park to sit and eat. Somehow I ended up back at Warner Bros. and it occurred to me, this is why I'm going so far away to seek my balance. The cosmic pull of the routine is stronger than my own free will. It's all I know -- what I've done my entire adult life. It's time for balance. Or maybe just a new obsession...

They Say No Press Is Bad Press

Yesterday, a friend at work pointed out an editorial clipped from the Burbank Leader and he congratulated me on my new job status as an Executive at Warner Bros. According to the editorial...

In times like this, most executives would be inclined to cling to what they have at home rather than make plans for an improvised, expensive trip around Europe.

I'm not sure how long I've been an executive or even what my job description was supposed to be, but I think I might have some

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Brenna's Little Freak Out

So I've been freaking out a little bit lately.  I went to Bob for solace.  "I'm freaking out" I said.

"Good!" he said "Now I can stop for a while and let you take over."  Sigh...

We're leaving sometime between May and July.  We've started selling things on Ebay and Craig's list.  We've donated hundreds of books to the library, and carloads of clothing to Goodwill.  We're having a Cocktail Tag Sale in a few weeks.  That should be fun: have a party - sell your life.  I jest, truly.  I really am fine so far

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Reality Check

Everyday some new realization hits us regarding this journey. Yesterday I turned down the opportunity for work on a popular series that would have started in the Summer and gone into the Fall (and then with any luck kept going for another season or two.) In this business you DO NOT turn down work -- unless of course you're leaving to travel for a year... which, obviously, we are.

Realization: Holy crap, I have no idea where we'll be this time next year. Obviously this wasn't a surprise to me. The uncertainty of this whole venture is something we talk about a lot in this house. Hell, uncertainty is in the name of the website! But, turning down work (especially in this economy) MAKES IT REAL!

What the Hell Are We Thinking?

I was lying in bed this morning, well after the alarm had gone off. The radio was set to NPR and Marketplace Morning Report came on. Of course it's yet another story on the terrible economy.  How could it possibly be anything else?  Renita Jablonski was

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