dgi, dcc, and pbc

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

A poem is never finished, only abandoned.
- Paul Valery

working a show, any show in any way, has involved a strange dynamic. it's in some ways like any job you've ever done, but in many other ways different from anything else. my first experiences in special events were, of course, running behind my parents through dallas convention center.

by the age of five (or possibly younger) i was "working" with my parents. of course if i was brought to work it was through a set of extenuating circumstances such as there's no one to keep the kids, we don't have time to meet whom ever is keeping the kids, or, occasionally, they just wanted us there. but some of my earliest memories include trying desperately to match my fathers stride while carrying a single boston fern with both arms while he carried as many as six. as things went i learned several axioms of the business, as well as several colorful words, that continue to serve me well today.

"any monkey can pull off a show with brand new stuff, but it takes a professional to pull it off with trash."

"if you've got 16 hours to put in a show, it'll take you 16 hours. but if you've only got 2 hours for the same show, by God, you'll do it in 2 hours."

"show some pride in your work, because how you do anything reflects on you."

"if the costumer asks if something is possible always say yes, even if you have to stay up for a week to make it possible."

"no matter what happens, sometimes you're only as good as you're last performance."

and perhaps the most true, "nothing is easy, but you can't call it work unless you'd rather be doing something else."

these phrases i would hear my mom and dad say contemplatively in the aftermath of a rough day, and those days were more often than they probably should be, but it taught me to work like i've got a job and not like i'm simply drawing a check. i've added a few

"walk like you've got a purpose, and justify your existance."

"what ever you're doing, make it look like you did it on purpose."

"they hired you because they expect you to do it right, don't make them regret it."

have a nice day.