Sometimes it doesn't take much...

...to get a pretty large rock careening downhill.

Noticed a slip of paper on the side of my desk a minute ago.  It is not dated, but I know that it was written on December 11.  All it says is "Like 'letters', but with video. In real time". I jotted that down after an odd idea popped into my head.

By the end of the day that had become Rook; the experimental, improvisational, multimedia storytelling project.  Within a week over 15 cast members where on-board and the foundation for a complex fictional crime drama had been set.

Who knows where it will end up, but it's already been a lot of fun.

Another compelling reason...

...for the big convergence is that I get the distinct impression that many folks didn't even realize that there was a difference between PORTFOLIO, DS2, and ][.  Probably because there was no good reason for there to be.  (I am going to miss the little ][ logo, though, even if the full title was pretty goofy.)

Let the deception and trickery begin!

Just received my copy of The Official C.I.A. Manual of Trickery and Deception.  Amazon said it would be here today, but I was sure I was being deceived. And tricked.  I was also surprised to find that, as advertised, it is actually a small hardcover.

I've only had time for a quick skim, but so far my favourite section is the one about recognition signals; specifically, cutting them into pencil erasers and the clips of ball point pen.  Great stuff.

Quick Road Trip (seems like I was just here...)

[Two years later, another quick little road trip...]

I find myself in the midst of a short road trip.  Not an impromptu one this time, in that I had a strong suspicion that I would be travelling across the state this weekend, but still rather casual and not one that is likely to offer too much excitement. Staying in a nice enough place though, and there was the added, strangely coincidental, bonus of seeing young Wallace (nickname pending) once we arrived here on the outskirts of the oldest city in the United States.

As it turns out, our destination is within rock throwing distance of the lad's home away from home, where he had gone for the holiday. So we had a nice dinner together (although I am pretty sure that he got the black bread that was intended for my sandwich, but I thought it would be rude to demand that he hand it over) and then he began the arcane and extremely complex initiation into the mysteries of Irish Dance. So far he has learnt the first of the lesser passwords and one of the 42 secret handshakes.

This place where we are staying is different enough that I may post a short video of the digs within the next day or two.  The interior design is noticeably more modern than you usually find in this type of hotel (i.e. Golf Resort) and it seems that a fair amount of consideration went into the comfort of the guests.  Always appreciated.

We shall see how fare the feet of fury tomorrow.

-

Road Trip Update: Dang, That Was Fast!

Just a quick note (for now) to report that everything went very well on the whirlwind trip to Dragon*Con. Everything went off close enough to plan, there were no issues (other than a couple patches of VERY slow traffic on the way home), and I finally got to meet - in person - my dear friends ladydove7 and zephyri as well as make the acquaintance of several other extremely nice and very talented artists; girlanime, mistressofspam, windfalcon, insanejudge, kaioshade, and a future filmmaker named Jack (who may or may not be on dA).

The convention was an absolute maelstrom of zaniness and fun; great costumes, wonderful artwork, throngs of roving photographers begging to capture the images of the aforementioned lovelies. And, from what I was told, the level of convention madness that I witnessed on Friday was about 20% of what was expected over the weekend.

Not wanting to saddle such exuberant and creative youth with the albatross of my middle-agedness ( ;-) ), I decided to head back a little earlier than the previously mentioned schedule. The trip back was plagued by traffic jams, roadside breakdowns (not mine, thankfully) and a downright paranormal inability to get ANY FREAKIN' FOOD for about 250 miles! Oh well. Finished up the trip at 04:30 this morning, 25.5 hours after setting out.

It was a very fun day.

So, now it is off to begin editing the footage. I should have the first installment of the PORTFOLIO - Special Report posted within the next day or two. If you subscribe (via iTunes or elsewise) you'll get it automatically; if you don't, I'll post an announcement here.

Thanks for all the feedback and support throughout. Be thinking about what we should do next; I'd love to hear your ideas.

Jade

Next: PORTFOLIO 2.2 (Special Report) - The Trip Up.

Road Trip Update: Cat Nap

Hi Comrades!

The next several dispatches will be fairly brief, owing mostly to the fact that I will be on the road within the next seven hours (kicking off at 03:00) and the vehicle I'm driving to the convention, although sporty (5-speed Hyundai Elantra), is not designed for mobile computing.

I am currently sitting in said scout vehicle outside my daughter's dance class. As soon as this is over we'll head home and I will try to grab about five hours sleep before hitting the road. I don't like to stop much on the road, but I do drink ridiculous amounts of water - so I'm not sure yet how I'll compromise on that. I'm sure I'll have to stop more than I want to, so I'll dash of a note when I do and let you know how the trip is progressing.

I may jump on Skype from the car tomorrow morning sometime (user ID: jademacalla), so if you see me online give me a call.

For those of you who are also heading to the convention, be careful. Looking forward to meeting all of you.

Jade

Road Trip: Logistics

It's a new brand new week, so let's kick this thing off.

As I sit down to write this the countdown timer on my dashboard says 78 hours, 23 minutes, 32 seconds until I hop into my car and head out for 36 (or so) fun-filled hours of non-stop surreality. After several days of actually thinking about making some sort of plan for this trip I still have:

• No place to stay should I feel the need to collapse someplace relatively safe

(Actually, that is not quite true. My agent on the ground, the shadowy and extremely well-educated, Ms. Angela Sasser, has arranged for a backup bivouac with an exceptional artist by the street name of 'Mistress of Spam', along with various others of her family and friends. I feel bad about imposing on the domestic arrangements of so many nice people in one small room, so unless I become a threat to myself and others I will probably just prop my eyelids up with toothpicks. Do check out Mistress of Spam's artwork, though; absolutely beautiful.)

• No Princess Leia slave girl outfit
• No 20-sided dice
• No idea if it is going to be possible to post video within such a compressed schedule

(Which is not to say that I will not be shooting miles and miles of tape; just not sure I'll have the time (or wish to take the time) to do even the most basic editing and compressing. Still playing with this one. If I can figure a way to do it without cutting into too much visiting time, I definitely will. If not, I will still be blogging in real time here...maybe a little audiocast of some of the fun.)

As of right now, the tentative schedule is:

310807 - 0300: Leave for Atlanta

310807 - 0301 to 1030: Drive one of the most boring stretches of road this side of the modern incarnation of Route 66, arrive in Atlanta

310807 - 1100: Wander aimlessly though the hotel looking for Elf-ladies and Demonesses (sounds like my last family reunion)

310807 - 1130 to 1800: General roadie duties, helping to set up artwork and such

310807 - 1800 to 010907 - 0300: Bacchanale

010907 - 0300 to 0400: Breakfast at Waffle House (drink 3 gallons of coffee)

010907 - 0400: Tearful goodbyes, back to Tampa

010907 - 1400: Mow lawn

Next: What to wear?

Road Trip Ramp Up

Hi there, Comrades.

Some of you have been following this occasional site for some time (and you know just how occasional it can be) and some of you, no doubt, have only just arrived, have read a couple posts, and are now looking hopefully for the back exit.

If you're in the latter category I hope you'll stick around. The next week or so should prove to be entertaining in at least the same way that watching monkeys that have gotten all liquored up on fermented Challa Berries and falling out of trees is entertaining - and if all goes according to plan that will we be starting point for a more active presence here.

To recap:

I am getting ready to embark on a little road trip.

I live in Tampa, Florida (USA) and I am going to the DragonCon Sci-Fi convention in Atlanta, GA (USA) to visit some dear friends that I have never met (at least not face-to-face). I don't have quite enough time for the trip (because I also want to get back home to spend the holiday weekend with my family) and I don't have any place to stay whilst I am in Atlanta (because it hardly seems worth the effort to find a hotel, no matter how cheap, for such a brief visit). Also, I do not have any of the following: a Princess Leia slave girl costume (lost it in a fire), 20-sided dice (got rid of them 'cause they always came up '11'), action figures (unless you consider me to be one), or even a brown coat (although I do have a nice olive drab coat).

Yet in spite of all this (or, more likely, because of all this) I am not only still going but I am also going to report on and webcast video of my little trip in (more or less) real time. I am hoping to bring you interviews with interesting people, commentary on the wacky proceedings, and a documentary on just how goofy an already goofy person can act after long periods of (at best) very little sleep.

Follow the planning and the actual event by keeping an eye on PORTFOLIO (the video show) and DISPATCHES (this web journal).

Next: The Tentative Schedule

I'm tempted...

...to just wait a couple more months and make it a cool, crisp year since writing anything here. But I'm feeling like I want to get things sorted out - insofar as 'things' are related to the various ways that I communicate on the 'nets. Verdict: no wait.

I am also tempted to do some new episodes of PORTFOLIO. I forget how much fun those were, especially the ones where I got to do stuff with all you cats. Yup, I think it's about time. Now, how should I go about embarrassing myself this time around...

The mind boggles at the endless possibilities.

Other old/new stuff too; soon, I hope.

NTS: From a post-it stickie note

"The more there are, the merrier it is."