Nov. 9, 2008 at 2:12pm

10 Days Later

Here's a little snapshot of my world right now

I just realized that its been 10 days since I've written anything on here and I feel a bit remiss in my duty to entertain you with all the trivial details floating around in my brain. *smile*

These last couple of weeks I've precariously juggled two jobs: filling in for the editor at the volcano while he was on vacation and coordinating Tacoma Winterfest. It was somewhat taxing on my sanity but I made it through with only one carefully monitored meltdown (thank you Linda, Desiree and Jeremy for softening the fall).  At least the Volcano job was structured and I had very carefully detailed directions on what to do and when (plus I have several years experience behind me because while most people went to a four year university, I studied the same amount of time under the tutelage of the lovely and talented Weekly Volcano staff -  BTW guys, I'm still waiting for my diploma!)

Organizing a festival on the other hand is like herding cats. It's difficult to be organized and proactive when you are working with a constantly moving target. Its alive and growing and changing all the time in ways you can't predict. And the rules change constantly!! I think that's why I love this line of work - festival planning is ALWAYS a challenge and I get to use almost every skill in my bag of tricks to put it all together. So even though I felt like I had a crazed tiger by the tail on Friday that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to tame, things are lining up now and I feel like I can breath again.

Luckily I have assembled a team of super heroes and together we're building something I think Tacoma is going to be really proud of. Claudia Reidner (of Ixia Tiles and Art on the Ave) has signed on as Vendor Manager. Travis Orcutt of Glass Ceiling Music is our Stage Manager. Mary Kay Johnson (marykdesigns.com) is helping with set design and festival decorations (with the help of several other artists who will execute of the design concept). Linda Lapping DeSantis is designing the posters and Sue Pivetta (of 100th Monkey) is organizing a gift wrap crew of artists representing Tacoma Art Place. Russ Heaton (of Doyle's Public House) will be setting up a 21+ lounge area. Roxanne Wolfe (of Foss Waterway Seaport) is organizing a children's play area and pictures with Captain Claus.

I'm overseeing all that plus working on publicity, booking entertainment, obtaining sponsors, recruiting volunteers and reporting to my employer on our progress.

We also plan to do a TV commercial for Tacoma Winterfest plus some additional footage for Click! Network's upcoming GoLocal on demand channel. 

In my personal life, nothing much has changed. I'm still single. My social life is super fun. I still adore my amazing friends. My daughter is really enjoying life at SOTA. I'm brainstorming with my band about doing a few performances this winter. I miss playing music but I don't miss playing the same type of show I've been doing for years. Now its either time to take it up a notch or leave it alone. My band wants to do a big audio/visual extravaganza with up-tempo dance grooves unlike what we've ever done before. Its just a matter of making time to make it happen. I work with some highly in demand people who stay pretty busy most of the time. We'll see though, we all want this so its only a matter of time now.

Pretty soon I'll be job hunting again. Once this festival is over, so is my employment. What's my next adventure? I'm not sure yet but I'm looking forward to finding out. I do know I'm volunteering some time toward Lynn Di Nino's performance art piece at First Night. I might do some other stuff for First Night too but I'm waiting to hear back about that so I don't want to say too much about it.

Whatever happens, I'm at your service Tacoma.

Love,

~Angie