“Man is what be believes.”
-Anton Chekhov
In my first semester of school I had already gotten a receptionists job at the company that I work for now. I figured start small, think big.
I couldn’t work too many hours a week, but it was my in none the less. One night my boss ran into the front office looking quite anxious.
“Sadie, thank God!” he said, startling me.
“Um yes sir.”
“Your taking journalism, do you know any camera men?” he asked.
“No, I’m not studying that type of journalism,” I said.
“Well just find one. Call the school and find a camera man!” he yelled. Then he turned on his heels and left the room.
After 3 phone calls to seven departments including four call transfers that led me back to the operator, I got a hold of the broadcasting department. The coordinator said that he would send over a student cameraman right away.
I called my boss right away to tell him the good news.
“Great Sadie, I knew you’d come in handy!” he said. To this day I’m still not sure if that was a compliment or not.
“Uh, thanks sir.” I mumbled.
“We are going to need you on set as well. We’re short handed and at this point even a monkey could help.”
I hung up and waited for the cameraman. Me, on the set of a music video. Sure it was a low budget indie video. But it was my first one. I was a music video virgin.
All the excitement that was building up inside me was almost ready to burst out when the cameraman arrived.
He walked in wearing jeans and a leather jacket with a scarf around his neck. He was kind of cute, in that boho meets old-school punk sort of way. A little short for my taste, but he looked like fun.
“I’m here to shoot a video.” He said.
I extended my arm.
“Hi, I’m Sadie. Follow me and we’ll head back to the main studio.”
“I’m Jeff, by the way. Wow, this place is big. So what do you do here?” he asked.
“Well right now I’m working the reception desk, but one day I hope to own the place.”
Jeff chuckled.
“Women truly are taking over.”
“You said it, not me,” I said as I opened the door to the studio.
It looked exactly as I expected it to look. In fact it looked better because I was there. The cameras, the light, the smoke. My boss set Jeff up at a camera and asked me to sit in a chair beside the director’s chair.
I watched as take after take my boss freaked out at the crew about everything you could possibly think of. They seemed to be keeping it together. Jeff was still wearing his long leather jacket. I can remember wondering if he was hot.
I didn’t contribute anything to the video except that I was another pair of eyes watching it all go down. But it was fun, none the less and I felt like celebrating.
“Hey Jeff!” I called as I reached for my coat.
“Do you want to go have a few drinks and celebrate?” I asked him.
“That depends on what we’re celebrating,” he said with a small grin.
“We are celebrating a job well done and a totally awesome night. Are you in?”
Jeff pretended to think for two seconds.
“Alright, I’m in.”
We made plans to meet up at a pub down town in half an hour.
I went into the bathroom at work to freshen up. I wouldn’t have time to change, but the least I could do has have a quick meeting with the Speed Stick. The whole thing smelled like a date to me.
I have to admit I was excited. When I arrived at the restaurant Jeff was already there waiting for me. He has taken the liberty of ordering a bottle of red wine. I prefer white, but who’s complaining?
He finally took off his coat to reveal what I had feared all along; a bad outfit. Its not that the outfit itself was bad, but that the fit just wasn’t quite right. His shirt looked as if it had shrunk in the wash a few too many times, creating a slight belly-top affect. His pants were at least two sizes too small. But he was still quite handsome. I can work with this, I thought.
“So Jeff, why broadcasting?” I asked.
He took a sip on his wine. “So Sadie, why print journalism?”
“Oh, so its like that? Well it stimulates me creatively while also allowing me to express things I never could in any other way. It’s the form my being takes, its all from within.” I said, rather passionately, but its true. I was born writing.
“What about you?” I asked. “Are you going to answer the question?”
“Well I want to be a director, not in the news but film.”
Big surprise.
“Oh really. What kind of films?” I asked.
“Well they would be graphic, one movie I had in mind would be about a woman dying slowly. But it would be played backwards.”
I was silent for a moment. Is this the way men are in the city?
“That’s really interesting,” was the only statement I could force out.
“Yeah some people cant handle it. But I have a nihilist theme to most of my scripts.”
My eyes went wide.
“Jeff, are you a nihilist?” I asked, scared to hear what would come next.
“Of course,” he said.
For those of you who don’t know, nihilism is by definition ‘a philosophical position that argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose or intrinsic value.’
I’m not into religion, but I still don’t believe that there is no meaning to this existence at all. I need to have more faith than that, otherwise what is the point of going on?
“Well that’s interesting,” I said.
-Anton Chekhov
In my first semester of school I had already gotten a receptionists job at the company that I work for now. I figured start small, think big.
I couldn’t work too many hours a week, but it was my in none the less. One night my boss ran into the front office looking quite anxious.
“Sadie, thank God!” he said, startling me.
“Um yes sir.”
“Your taking journalism, do you know any camera men?” he asked.
“No, I’m not studying that type of journalism,” I said.
“Well just find one. Call the school and find a camera man!” he yelled. Then he turned on his heels and left the room.
After 3 phone calls to seven departments including four call transfers that led me back to the operator, I got a hold of the broadcasting department. The coordinator said that he would send over a student cameraman right away.
I called my boss right away to tell him the good news.
“Great Sadie, I knew you’d come in handy!” he said. To this day I’m still not sure if that was a compliment or not.
“Uh, thanks sir.” I mumbled.
“We are going to need you on set as well. We’re short handed and at this point even a monkey could help.”
I hung up and waited for the cameraman. Me, on the set of a music video. Sure it was a low budget indie video. But it was my first one. I was a music video virgin.
All the excitement that was building up inside me was almost ready to burst out when the cameraman arrived.
He walked in wearing jeans and a leather jacket with a scarf around his neck. He was kind of cute, in that boho meets old-school punk sort of way. A little short for my taste, but he looked like fun.
“I’m here to shoot a video.” He said.
I extended my arm.
“Hi, I’m Sadie. Follow me and we’ll head back to the main studio.”
“I’m Jeff, by the way. Wow, this place is big. So what do you do here?” he asked.
“Well right now I’m working the reception desk, but one day I hope to own the place.”
Jeff chuckled.
“Women truly are taking over.”
“You said it, not me,” I said as I opened the door to the studio.
It looked exactly as I expected it to look. In fact it looked better because I was there. The cameras, the light, the smoke. My boss set Jeff up at a camera and asked me to sit in a chair beside the director’s chair.
I watched as take after take my boss freaked out at the crew about everything you could possibly think of. They seemed to be keeping it together. Jeff was still wearing his long leather jacket. I can remember wondering if he was hot.
I didn’t contribute anything to the video except that I was another pair of eyes watching it all go down. But it was fun, none the less and I felt like celebrating.
“Hey Jeff!” I called as I reached for my coat.
“Do you want to go have a few drinks and celebrate?” I asked him.
“That depends on what we’re celebrating,” he said with a small grin.
“We are celebrating a job well done and a totally awesome night. Are you in?”
Jeff pretended to think for two seconds.
“Alright, I’m in.”
We made plans to meet up at a pub down town in half an hour.
I went into the bathroom at work to freshen up. I wouldn’t have time to change, but the least I could do has have a quick meeting with the Speed Stick. The whole thing smelled like a date to me.
I have to admit I was excited. When I arrived at the restaurant Jeff was already there waiting for me. He has taken the liberty of ordering a bottle of red wine. I prefer white, but who’s complaining?
He finally took off his coat to reveal what I had feared all along; a bad outfit. Its not that the outfit itself was bad, but that the fit just wasn’t quite right. His shirt looked as if it had shrunk in the wash a few too many times, creating a slight belly-top affect. His pants were at least two sizes too small. But he was still quite handsome. I can work with this, I thought.
“So Jeff, why broadcasting?” I asked.
He took a sip on his wine. “So Sadie, why print journalism?”
“Oh, so its like that? Well it stimulates me creatively while also allowing me to express things I never could in any other way. It’s the form my being takes, its all from within.” I said, rather passionately, but its true. I was born writing.
“What about you?” I asked. “Are you going to answer the question?”
“Well I want to be a director, not in the news but film.”
Big surprise.
“Oh really. What kind of films?” I asked.
“Well they would be graphic, one movie I had in mind would be about a woman dying slowly. But it would be played backwards.”
I was silent for a moment. Is this the way men are in the city?
“That’s really interesting,” was the only statement I could force out.
“Yeah some people cant handle it. But I have a nihilist theme to most of my scripts.”
My eyes went wide.
“Jeff, are you a nihilist?” I asked, scared to hear what would come next.
“Of course,” he said.
For those of you who don’t know, nihilism is by definition ‘a philosophical position that argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose or intrinsic value.’
I’m not into religion, but I still don’t believe that there is no meaning to this existence at all. I need to have more faith than that, otherwise what is the point of going on?
“Well that’s interesting,” I said.
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