Christmas Blues and Cheer

On December 16th, Noah's father passed away. It was so soon after his heart surgery, it left us in a state of confusion. I've been very sick with an ear infection followed by the flu, so it's been very difficult dealing with everything going on - yet - in spite of how badly things have been going, we've been wrapping gifts for Santa. We're lucky to have a 12 year old that still beleives in Santa Claus - even if it means we don't get the credit for his having received his gifts. I love the whole innocence about it. My little philosophy about it is that you only get to be a child for so long and as soon as that innocence is gone... it's gone forever. I want him to hold on to it for as long as he can, because you can never go back and be a child again... be childlike, yes... but you only get one childhood. In the meantime, we still go over ideas for upcoming Ruler of Hartz episodes and we write notes all the time. Our goal is not perfection; we're not trying to compete with the more extremely talented people who are producing extraordinary and highly entertaining video's. We love watching them. However, we are a family who are finding a common thing that is allowing us to spend more time together - laughing at our flubbed lines, at times for much too long - and finding a satisfaction that in spending time together we have created something hopefully funny and entertaining for others to watch. Watching zipster's holiday video's and loco mama's has really helped us find a bit of laughter at a time when it should be cheerful in spite of everything that isn't and we consider that a blessing. It gives us hope that we'll get past the blues and hopefully will have the merriest Christmas.

Growing Up YouTube Style

About a year ago, my best friend Margaret Milcher told me to go to YouTube to see a video she had posted of a trip she had taken to Egypt in which she was riding upon a camel and screaming wildly - which - I'm sure frightened the camel and the tourists waiting in line to ride next. I went and saw it, laughed hysterically, then went on with my life. A few months later, she called me and told me that I had to log on to see a video she had posted of her grandson. It was cute - I laughed - and again went on with my life. One day, she proclaimed quite disappointedly that she had to close the account down, because her husband had been complaining that she was spending too much time on youtube and not enough with him - the whiner. It peaked my interest. This woman was making youtube sound like it was better than chocolate - and you don't know how much I LOVE my chocolate. So... I went to look around... then months passed. I was hooked. Noah and I discussed the notion of signing up and making videos... then after a month we were on that camel's back and it's been a wonderful ride so far. We are on our third subscriber now - taking baby steps as we go - growing in responses, posts and hopefully friends. Stoney has been bragging to his little friends and to teachers that he's on a show called Ruler of Hartz and tells them where to go to see it. It's wonderful to see him enjoying the time we're spending going over ideas, scripting, and shooting clips. It's been fun for the whole family. We love youtube!

Yet Another Thing Noah Won't Help Me With

Well, I decided to try something new on youtube - and by that, I mean new to me - which meant needing a website. Mind you, Noah and I had already created a myspace account which he was supposed to maintain - but, no - my Noah always prefers to leave all that up to me. While I'm busy videotaping, editing, scouring for copyright free music, studying filming techniques, and what not... Noah is... reading the paper on the couch.

I would say that Noah will be maintaining this website - but, it's going to be a lot like the housework and laundry... like the grocery shopping and bill paying... it's going to be all up to me. So, I will update after I tidy up the house - which is usually in the late afternoon. It also depends on whether my dear friend Margaret Milcher calls or not... she tends to keep me on the phone for hours. And away we go!