Serenity now!

I love hindsight.

Looking back - everything always seems to happen in the right way at the right time in the nick of time. How you got to be where you are seems to be made up of a series of breathtaking choices executed at precisely the right time. There is no other way you could be who you are if these things didn't happen exactly the way they did...

But in the middle of the situation - you have no perspective and are completely lost and praying for the day you can look back and see how great everything worked out...

My dad used to always say that your true nature reveled itself on the ballfield. Meaning if you were an arrogant prick - you would be that guy during the game. I always like to think that I was pretty good under pressure - but sometimes during this writing thing, I'm not so sure.

Doing production - as a producer and director - you are making decisions constantly - every minute - that affect thousands of dollars. And inevitably things go wrong. I always tell new people that I am not paid so much for how good I am as a producer/director, but for how many problems I have faced over the years and even if I completely botched them, the people hiring me know that now I can at least avoid them. So it is experience that counts.

Face it. We all know that rich kid from the neighborhood that had everything. The best toys, the best stereo, the best car, the best girls...And when he grew up, he had all the money. Sometimes they turned out to be ok - but most of the time, he was an idiot. At least that's how I comfort myself to sleep each night. And this is because everything was handed to him. He never had to earn anything.

If we were to be successful on every outing. To have the keys to Hollywood handed to us on a plate. Not only would we not appreciate it - we wouldn't be ready. When we were pitching my film to investors - my partner would always say something like - "Greg has wanted to direct a film ever since he got out of film school - 15 years ago. But you know, this is the best thing that happened to him. He worked in TV. He did those commercials. Now he is ready with 15 years of experience - and the movie will be much better."

I always hated when he said stuff like that - but there is a bigger truth there. We go through fire testing and hardship to harden and strengthen us. When even a modicum of success comes our way, we will be ready. (or more ready) and we will appreciate it.

But dear God... Enough with the trials... Bring on the success...:)

Oh yeah. My Manager Ralph says that reading my blog is like listening to someone let air out of a balloon really slowly.... And since he really knows how to encourage a WRITER - he said he thought I could make things better by adding more pictures to the blog...

So here you go Ralph. This ones for you