Saturday, February 19, 2011

Dear Ciara, I happen to love you.

I just took a shower and watch ink run down my arms and stain my wrists. I felt a sudden surge of ideas today and needed to write them down before they were lost. And now they are washed down the drain, leaving behind the ghosts of words written across my veins.

Today was unreal. S.I.E. 65 opened today, and my animations Curiouser (the second ending) and Lost Boys: Peter Pan Complexes in the 21st Century were accepted into the show. Kasumi came to see my work, and we talked about plans for next semester and how much we've all missed her since she's been on sabbatical all year. She's wonderful. So many good people came to the opening. It was a nice break.

The last two weeks, it seemed like I hit a complete streak of bad luck. So many tiny nuisances consumed my days, which can be really exhausting and frustrating and discouraging. I work best with a positive attitude, and that was near impossible lately. But I kept saying that it's ok, because something good was going to happen. Soon. I kept saying soon.

Tonight something good happened.

Curiouser won two awards (complete with grant money!): CIA's Board of Director's Second Prize and the Hal & Cyndy Goodwin Award First Prize. I don't think shock is the most accurate word to express my reaction. Shaking? Yes. Almost ready to cry? Maybe. I was completely stunned. I couldn't believe it. I was just telling Kasumi that I would love a new camera lens to push my animations even further. I can afford a lens now. Maybe even two. It's so weird. Even before I even opened the envelopes and learned the value of the awards, I was utterly overwhelmed. It's an amazing feeling, to have people believe in you that much. And to have people like your work.

After the shock (and the wine) wore off a bit, I ended up talking to my sister Ciara on the phone. She writes beautiful things, including the music for this animation. Somehow, she mentioned a quote from her favorite book. My brain exploded. It made so much sense. It was completely related to everything I've been exploring for my thesis. So we stayed on the phone while I silkscreened handkerchiefs, and talked about storytelling and memory and story truth and happening truth and interconnectedness and God. As it turns out, everything I've been exploring for this thesis is exactly what she's been researching for her writing. It's amazing.

I have ideas. And I have thank you notes to write.

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Thanks for reading about some things I made today! Feel free to leave a comment here; I love hearing from you!

Love, Michaela