At long last.

I couldn't get the outtakes edited the way I wanted.  They were too long, or too short, or too something.  I exported a version and watched on my TV.  Several times.  Still no idea how to fix the edit.

Then my editor, a free, bare-bones version of Avid's Xpress, stopped working: if I tried to export a movie, the program would disappear.  No error message, no error log.  I got the program for free, and Avid said they wouldn't support it, and anyway they stopped even offering the download, so now (at least) I can't re-install it.  I'm sure it broke because of some automatic Windows Update or another, but I wasn't about to start selectively rolling back O.S. patches; who knows what else would break?

The completed movies sat there on my computer's hard drive.  I'd made a draft of the DVD, but it didn't feel right. 

I felt guilty.  I acted in a show; I still felt guilty. 

I started studying with Terry Schreiber, and I felt less guilty. 

I took another show. This time it was a lead, with page after page of quasi-Chekhovian monologue mixed with paranoic evangelical raving.  And in class Terry had me doing multiple scenes, and wild, hairy acting exercises.  I forgot to feel guilty, except in odd moments when I fought with someone I love; and then I gloomily rehearsed my all my failings, right down to my irregular flossing schedule.

Hanukkah passed, and Christmas. 

I reviewed the draft of the DVD.  It wasn't bad.  The new sound mix on Professor F's Party was actually pretty good.  The story didn't make any more sense, but at least you could hear what people were saying.  And the outtakes--not bad.  Not as good as those ones on the Internet with Tim Conway.  Sorry.

I made some copies.  I put on labels.  And on December 28th, 2007, using a months-old list of addresses, I sent them out.

At long last.

I'm sure there are people I've neglected.  If you're one of them, and see this blog post before I contact you, just write or call and I'll pop one in the mail.  And sooner or later I'll get the bug to make another movie or ten, and I'll start the whole thing over again.

And, by the way: Happy New Year.