…moving furniture. A very heavy pantry cupboard slipped out of my hand and took a swipe at my right wrist this evening.  I’ve got a shiny four inch gash that looks like a suicide attempt, except it crosses the artery instead of following it.

We finished filming yesterday evening at 7 and had a really great day. We got permission to use a paint store one hour before we were scheduled to film in a paint store. At our second location, we discovered they painted all the rooms last weekend and removed furniture we needed, but we still filmed four fantasy dream sequences and an award ceremony that takes place at the end of the film.   I was delighted 20 people showed up last night to be part of the audience for the award ceremony–it looked totally believable on camera.

To celebrate the completion of the shoot I took Steve Callahan to see the bats under Congress Avenue Bridge.   He’s seen (and tasted) a lot of new things on his little excursion to Texas.   I sorta dread the stories he’s telling back in LA. Compared to West Hollywood we are definitely not fashion forward in our small Texas town.  But he did tell me (repeatedly) that he had a lot of fun on the shoot and will gladly do another movie with us.

Today I’ve been sorting through props, washing costumes, and returning furniture back to whence it came.

After previous film shoots I’ve suffered a sort of postpartum depression which in some years has been nearly debilitating.   I’m aware of the risks this time around, but don’t see it looming on the horizon.  I have far too much to do and not nearly enough time to get it done.

My plane for New York leaves in 16 days and the list of farmhouse chores is growing everyday.  Charlie informed me last night he wants extra shelves in the kitchen.   The attic needs re-wiring (I told you about that problem before).   The bathtub faucet has started dripping.  The boards on the front porch are rotting so badly I can feel them sag as I step out the door; our abundantly fortified mailcarrier may go through the porch floor any day now.  (I’ll post pictures when she does.)

So there’s no time for the blues.

On top of the scheduled projects, Dusty told me yesterday my new hard drives for the film footage are crapping out, so I’ll be returning those and trying a different brand.

Tonight I’m sitting outside the public library, the sun has just set and the sky is glowing deep purple.  There’s a steady breeze from the south, keeping the mosquitoes away and the temperatures are dropping into the low 80’s.  It’s very soothing.  Filming is finished.  All is well with the world.

I’ll be turning in early and plan to sleep late in the morning.  The most treacherous part of filmmaking is finished. We have some absolutely incredible footage as a result of the previous ten days.  The editing can wait a couple weeks till I get settled back into the penthouse.

By the way, I’m going to be giving my How to Make a Movie seminar in both Austin and San Antonio in a week.   Everyone who comes to this three hour session leaves very excited/motivated/enthusiastic to work on their own projects and they have lots of new insights into making movies the easy and fun way.

I’ll send out more info on the sessions in a couple days.  I’d love for you to join me.