Starting the day

Just made a new batch of scrapple, a great way to start the day. And a busy day it will be! Half a dozen advanced students whose work I need to look at; lawn work to do on our last good day before an approaching storm; and need to help H take down art after an exhibit.. As usual I have an early start.

A fine breakfast yesterday with M, a filmmaker I haven't seen in a very long time. He's more than a filmmaker. An entrepreneur and general creative soul. And a major survivor, which reminds me of my late soul brother, Dick. Both had terrible childhoods but came out of it with finely tuned survival extincts. Both are/were extroverts and never let the grass grow under their feet.

This is illustrated by one of my favorite stories about Dick. I had to see this to believe it.

Late one night when I was in grad school, there was a knock on the door. It was Dick. At the moment, he was working in San Jose in a real estate job. He said he couldn't stand the bay area, he was moving back to God's country. He was in town to find a job. Find a job this weekend, he said. Right.

He got a late start the next morning since the welcoming party went late. He got a paper and we went to my office at the university so he could make calls. Scanning the ads, he found "the job I want." Well, good luck. He was referring to an ANNOUNCEMENT by the state of Oregon that there would be an upcoming exam and interviews for a NEW POSITION of state real estate education director. But Dick didn't have the patience to jump through all these hoops. I am perfect for this job, he said, they will save money hiring me now. Right.

He dialed the number in the paper. A state office. It was Saturday, the state office was closed. He let it ring. We must have talked for fifteen minutes while he let it ring. I thought he had lost his mind.

Then someone answered. It was a janitor. From the janitor, Dick got the name on the door of the office where the phone was ringing. Using info, he got the home phone of the name. He called. The guy's wife answered. The guy was out playing golf. What course, Dick asked.

I couldn't believe it. Dick was off to Salem, where the job was, to find the golf course and then the guy at the golf course whose phone had been ringing. Dick figured this guy had a lot to say about who was hired.

So off he went. I figured he'd return eventually and we'd have another party while I got the stories.

Except that night Dick arrived with news HE GOT THE JOB. Wait, wait! The job doesn't even exist yet. This is the state of Oregon, an entrenched bureaucracy. How the hell did this happen? It happened this way. Dick found the guy. The guy was a retired major in the Army. Dick was practically a lifer himself -- so they did male army talk, and then they had drinks and some more drinks, and Dick convinced the guy how much state money would be saved by hiring him now since obviously he'd be hiring him later -- and they shook hands on a done deal. Dick wanted to know when I could come down to drive the truck of their stuff to Salem. Next weekend, as it turned out.\

Well, I can see M doing just this kind of thing, having this energy and ego and confidence and creativity to do the impossible. He already has, in fact. And, at 75, he's still out there doing it, which I find amazing.

Here are M's 4 websites in 1, only a few of the things the old man is up to these days.

His most exciting project, though, involves a new concept for how to tell narrative stories on film. It may be a secret so I won't give details but I'm eager to watch how this progresses. He may be onto something.