Extra! Extra! Read All About It! - PART ONE

At approximately 5:30am on June 25, 2010, I woke up to a television reporter commenting about the Unemployment Extension vote. It didn't pass.

"Motherfucker," I thought, "Great. Now I'm awake. Shit."

Laying in bed, listening to the full report and the various opinions of various commentators on various channels, I thought of the letter I had just received from Unemployment telling me that I would be informed about what would happen next since my extension was coming to an end.

"It is the one year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death," introduced another reporter, and the story went on from there.

"Michael Jackson's death, Unemployment Benefits no more, and I've got one day's worth of work. Here we go. Better finish packing. After I've done that, I can lay down and maybe get a nap in."

I'd been sent an e-mail telling me to bring three possible outfits for Early Spring weather in Fall colors. The e-mail also told me where the shoot was and where to look to park my car. I was brought in as a driver.

On Thursday night, BB & I washed both cars; so I was set in the vehicle department. I'd also started picking out wardrobe and driving SA & BB nuts with my questions. It's a dangerous thing to be a Costume Designer/Wardrobe Mistress and be putting together outfits. SA did help, but basically I just needed someone to bounce ideas off of. I picked out most of my three outfits while she was at our house, but continued til I was satisfied after she left. My outfits were as follows:

1. Brown T-Shirt w/Brown Hoodie Sweater, my raggiest jeans, and hiking shoes.
2. Teal light-weight sweater w/cool scarf, khaki capris, and tennies.
3. Maroon light-weight sweater w/lavender scarf I made, navy bell-bottoms, and either pair of shoes.

I had a good idea of what I was bringing to keep myself busy, and what food I was going to take "just in case." I'd decided to take my knitting, a book by David Lynch, a book by Frank Zappa, and some art supplies to keep me busy. My food choices were granola bars, baby carrots, some chicken, and some spearmint leaves. I also decided to bring gum, mints and two bottles of water. It was just a matter of getting everything packed up in my suitcase and leather production bag that I got from Dad many years ago.

I ran down to put a load of whites in the laundry, came back up and got to work. I was so mad at our Senate, felt bad for Michael Jackson's kids, and was so nervous that I wanted to puke. I drank some decaf and kept going. Finally I decided that I best eat something, so I had a bit of left-over Italian Sausage, coleslaw and potato salad.

After all of this was done, I found that I was still genuinely pissed at our Senate. It was fueled by a comment made on "Monsters & Money", a local morning talk show. I don't know the commentator's name, but he summed it up beautifully, "Why take it out on the weakest link? I can go to Washington right now and find the money and be back here tomorrow morning." I decided to write to my Senators, and if you've been reading; you may have read my letter to them.

With that done, and no sleep in sight, I thought it might be nice to watch a movie that Ron Howard had directed. What I really wanted to do was listen to a Director's Commentary on the DVD. I started looking through our DVD collection and came across "Cinderella Man." It seemed appropriate, but I didn't know who had directed it. I pulled it out, and TA DA! Ron Howard!

With the DVD in the machine, me in my bed, and a good three hours until I had to start getting ready to leave to be at the set early; I laid down for a rest.

For those of you who don't know, "Cinderella Man" is the dramatized story of James J. Braddock, a boxer during The Great Depression. Dubbed "The Cinderella Man" by Damon Runyan, Braddock was and is a true inspiration to hard-working, down-on-your-luck people everywhere. It's not just Braddock, though. His wife, Mae, was instrumental to his success. It is the story of decent people trying to survive and succeeding.

Ron Howard's voice kept me captivated rather than lulling me to sleep. His commentary is brilliant down to who he thanks, the technical choices he made, and the research he did, and the personal stories he shared.

As my alarm went off, with the movie just ending, I started to dress in my most comfortable driving clothes; my raggiest jeans, my Steve Kerr t-shirt from the 1997 Bulls Championship season, my hiking shoes and favorite socks. Just as I was done getting everything zipped up, BB & SA returned from their shoot.

"Who's this I see?" asked SA blocking my way out.

"I am Extra Person."

"What have you done with Forward?"

"Oh, she's inside in a straight jacket shaking like an earthquake, but I can handle her. Has anyone seen my reading glasses?"

FLOP SWEAT! My hair that had looked so good was soaked as sweat poured down my face. I grabbed a towel and continued looking. BB half-heartedly helped until I found my reading glasses in my bag with my knitting.

DANG FLOP SWEAT! Oh well.

We laughed and gathered my things, and headed down to the car. BB helped me load the car and motioned that we needed to hug.

"They grow up so fast," he mocked as we did a proper, long, no-pats hug.

I laughed and told him to be on his way, and took off. I was so light-headed that I had to convince myself that I would not be passing out. I was on my way, and this was not a matter of life and death. Gees.

About three blocks away from my house, I realized that I hadn't filled the tank, so I looked at the gauge and did a triple take. It was full. BB had filled the tank for me on Thursday without telling me. I called and left a thank you message for him, and continued driving. It was 5:18pm. I was to be on set at 6:45pm. I'd planned on leaving at 5pm, but well, you know.

I had decided to take Sheridan down because it can be faster than the Edens at rush hour. Besides, it's an absolutely beautiful drive that I can do in my sleep. As I headed on my way, I drove like a grandma too conscious of having an accident and mucking up everything.

If you're unfamiliar with the North Shore Sheridan drive, it is filled with beautiful architecture and famous landmarks. I decided to take the route that included passing behind Ravinia Festival. When I joined Sheridan at Lake-Cook Road, I was relaxed enough to take in some of my favorite bridges. My favorite section of road goes down a ravine in Winnetka. It's steep and twists and turns with trees close by and hanging over the road. It's very fun to drive a small, fast car through this little stretch of road. Continuing on, I passed the Baha'i Temple in Wilmette and went on past the main gate of Northwestern University. From there, Lake Michigan is directly to the left and then there's a pretty little section of Evanston. Coming out of Evanston, is a huge cemetery to the right and Lake Michigan to the left. Finally the Loyola campus is to the left after going through a bit of Roger's Park. North Broadway, where I was to report for parking is reached by continuing straight instead of turning left on the south edge of the Loyola campus.

I continued in the right-hand lane to the corner of North Broadway and Lawrence. I saw a bit of activity north of the intersection, but nothing that indicated that this was where I was supposed to park. I turned left onto Lawrence and saw five white semis parked with equipment and people working. I was in the right spot. Now to find out where to park my car.