Thursday, November 22, 2007

J's Final Thanksgiving Countdown 2007

So...now that the last five days are over I can decompress and write my last few gratefuls to finish the countdown....

November 17th I am grateful for Ricotta cheese, Brecken, and a delicious meal after a long day of acting like a crazy stalker man on a fire escape/street in Greenwich Village...and I am glad no one really saw me drop the toy gun in the middle of 12th street...

November 18th I am grateful for choir and using my talents to sing and enjoy the spirit of the Lord amidst my chaotic schedule

November 19th I am grateful for rewrites, room to improve, and a screenwriting professor who gives encouraging and effective feedback

November 20th I am grateful for good friends, good laughs, and creative juices. I shot my third directing exercises and my good friend Jen Eden from New Mexico starred in the show and brought along a fellow actor from NM who recently moved to the city to star opposite her--Steven Seifen. It was fun to take my ideas and their fantastic improv skills and put them together in a crazy fun short film. We also had some good laughs and reminisced about the old days of Portales, free scary movies, and how stage combat is an illusion....anyone who knows the Eastern NMU acting faculty will know what I mean. I am also grateful that my dear friend Jedediah Cowley assisted me in creating messes and cleaning them up again and for being just an all around good guy.

November 21st I am grateful for the opportunity I had to turn a potentially negative axperience into a positive. I had lent my Poetics book to a professor and he decided I hadn't read enough of it--it wasn't worn enough--well it was true, amidst everything I haven't done 100% all the reading--it's a process, you know what I mean? Well--he assigned me a presentation to give the following week in class (which was today)--and I read and re-read the sections pertinent to the discussion, plus brushed up on some others, and came in ready to roll. It was a success, and although I felt a little goofy, I stayed up in front to write notes and draw diagrams for the professor for the remainder of the class at his request. The moral of the story--if you want to make good impressions, it may be better to make them from the start, or you might end up giving a presentation in front of the class on top of everything else--but it still might turn out well for you I guess. For that, I am grateful.

...and since we are rolling right into Thanksgiving Day I am grateful for so many things. I love my family so much, Brecken is so good to me and such a strength, and Reuben is the cutest baby on earth, and he is learning and growing so much and brings me great joy. I could not live and be a real person if not for Brecken and Reuben. I am grateful for God and Jesus Christ and all the blessings of being alive in this world. I am grateful to learn and grow and make mistakes and become a better person through learning. I am grateful for my parents and the strength, belief in me, and positive influence they are and my brothers and sisters and their families and the joy of having family. I am grateful for Brecken's family and the good example they are to me and their acceptance and love. I am grateful for so many many good friends that are such an important part of me. Pieces of my heart are scattered around the world with those that I have come to share such a special bond with--I love you all! Thank you so much for making my life better!

1 comment:

Tammy Lorna said...

Justin,

I'm so glad you're having such wonderful experiences, and are recognizing your blessings :) I've noticed that grateful people are happy people.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and eat some turkey for me!

:) Tammy

PS. Before you lend professors your textbooks, you should run over them with your car so that they're nice and worn.... *gasp* or, you know, just do your reading ;)