Jet-setter

I did a little math today and tallied that I have been on 12 flights in the last four months. There are two more that I’m taking in the next four days. It has been a crazy whirlwind of a fall, and I count myself lucky to have been able to go to cities I’ve never visited in Canada.

I had been touring with a dance show since mid-September, stopping in places like Vernon, Salt Spring Island, Calgary, Whitehorse, Burlington, Kingston, Charlottetown, Fredericton, and Halifax. On top of that I also visited my friends in Chicago and St. John’s. Now I’m sitting in my cousin’s apartment in Missisauga, ON, writing this. That’s 12 cities in the last 80 days. I must be setting a new record!

I have met awesome local people, taken in beautiful scenery, and seen the inner workings of different theatre spaces. I am counting my blessings and am thankful for all the opportunities that were presented to me!

High and Low

I have a group of friends who come to Tofino to spend New Years every year, and when I met up with them I asked what their yearly traditions are, if any. They said that everyone takes turns sharing one high and one low point of their year. I thought that was a pretty clever way of thinking about your year. It makes you go through everything that has happened, filter and rank the good and the bad.

2015, arguably, has been one of the best years of my life. It’s been a year with lots more travelling than previous years: Hawaii, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Tofino. It’s been a big year for freelance SM work: Vancouver Spring Show, The Troika Collective’s Nordost (one of the best shows I’ve seen in Vancouver, I may add, though I could be a little biased), Vancouver Men’s Choir’s summer show MEN, Vancouver Pride Festival, and Unwrapping Culture in Montreal (Yes, I toured with a show as a stage manager for the first time this year). There were also memorable work assignments: FIFA Women’s World Cup at Roger’s Arena, the annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival at Jericho Beach, and Vancouver Queer Film Festival – three of the city’s biggest cultural events, I’d like to think. I also went camping with work friends, snowboarded with the bestie, worked on a feature film, performed on stage in a skirt, fulfilled my bridesmaid duties for a high school best friend, sang at an open mic night and wrote a song with a friend.

I’m not so sure if I can sum all those things up and count them as one big highlight of my year, but I also can’t pick one event that REALLY stood out because there were lots of “firsts” in my career, and they were all very exciting.

As for the low… I am also unsure if there is really a low. Perhaps it is asking my ex to move out of our apartment because I’ve been paying her rent for a whole year. But there’s an up side to that because I get to have the apartment back. Maybe it’s that I worked months on end without taking a break, thus burning out constantly. I remember this instance over the summer where I was two hours late for work and thought that was it; I was sure I’d get fired. But I got lucky was given a pass instead. Sometimes things work out magically! I should probably take them for granted less.

Now, what are my goals or resolutions for 2016? At the moment it’s to finish the story I’m writing (which I’m eventually turning into a screenplay) and start pre-production so I can crank out a film next year (2017) at the latest! There are lots of things this year I’m looking forward to already. My commitments will probably look somewhat like the shows and events I’ve done this year, but hopefully I’ll also get my creative stuff out there!

Ten Thousand Miles

It’s finally the beginning of October. I have been looking forward to this month for many reasons. One, I am performing – and wait for it – in a skirt with my trumpet on stage (in front of a live audience)!!! I have been fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to work with 3 other talented ladies on creating a project that was inspired by war stories, and I can’t wait for people to see it.

Two, I’m stage managing a dance show so my work is consistent for 3 weeks. It also means I can concentrate on getting one thing done really well, as opposed to multi-tasking and dividing my attention to work on multiple shows at the same time.

Three, I will be travelling with said dance show to Montreal for a week! I’ve never been east of Saskatchewan, so this will be a good opportunity to see other major Canadian cities such as Ottawa and Toronto (and with them some familiar faces).

Four, it means that Tofino is merely a month away! Yes, Tofino. I am going back for a longer stay this time – a soul-searching journey, if you will. Priorities are to write my next short film and find/ ground myself again.

Five, pumpkin carving, autumn leaves turning red and the fall! Need I say more? It’s the start of a beautiful season.

Wow, I think that trumps not having any days off until I leave for the east-ish Canada. Five whole reasons to be pumped about October!

Whirlwind of a Summer

Every time someone asks me “How are you?” or “How have you been?”, my reply is always, “Busy.”

Why am I so busy? And just what the hell am I busy with? Work. I am constantly swamped with work. There’s two types of work that I do: a salaried job with different AV companies/ theatres in town, or a contract position either stage managing or teching a specific show. And more often than not, I am doing both types of work at the same time.

The shift work is the practical part of my life; it provides a consistent income whereas the contract jobs are more fun, creative and nourishing for the soul (but often doesn’t pay as much as it should).

This past summer I worked the FIFA Women’s World Cup games at BC Place throughout June, then went on straight to work as site crew for Vancouver Folk Music Festival for the first time. Both were a lot of fun. Who doesn’t like live sports and music? During all that time I was also chipping away at transcoding films into DCPs for the Vancouver Queer Film Festival that was happening mid-to-late August. During the film festival I was also working as a projectionist at one of their venues, so it felt like double-duty. But I had a blast. It’s a festival that I hold very close to my heart because it was the festival that launched my film into the international festival circuit and spotlight!

After all that fun contract stuff, I babysat a show for a week at one of the theatres I work at, and things slowed down from there… I managed to get away for a week for some much needed time off. I was able to get out of the city and actually have some time to myself to think, breathe and relax!

But now that I’m back I need to focus on the next project: Wait For Me, Daddy Redux, a co-production between Brief Encounters and the Anvil Centre in New West. I am collaborating with 2 other artists and 1 storyteller in creating a short 5 minute film and a 10-minute stage production, with two performances on Oct 3rd! After that I go right into stage managing a dance show that tours Montreal! Woo-hoo! Travelling + work = fun! Can’t wait!