“Well, I have to admit, it actually sounds kind of amazing… but then I think, this has got to be the stupidest f-in idea you’ve ever had.” — Bobby, the cynic, admonishing Carlos, the visionary (Phoenix, Oregon 2019)
It’s been a week of merciless bickering between my inner Bobby and inner Carlos.
Carlos sculpts a spirited, impassioned vision; Bobby, harangues, questions, prods, whittles away at idealistic joy.
Our dreams are exquisite ice sculptures, endlessly chipped and melted, always to be rebuilt, never in their original form but possibly richer, full of rifts and rivers, enhanced by both inner frenemies and the influence of those we love.
In many ways, our DIWH (do-it-with-help) release parallels the themes of the movie: hurtling ourselves into the unknown with vision, love, friendship, uncertainty, and a willingness to work hard, forge a team, and take risks.
The outcomes are still to be imagined, but at the end, we expect to be better for committing to courage & hope and for embracing help & community.
This tour is being built on vision and friendship. Each day this becomes clearer. We are each learning, growing and facing inner cynics.
~•~
This is where Flannery emphatically stops me with, “That’s cheesy,” as I explain the plan for today’s post.
Perfect 7th grade, prophetic response. But yeah…
“Stay cheesy,” I exclaim a little too loudly as she exits the car for school. My new motto.
After all, Jesse Borrego (who is more Carlos than Carlos) has anointed the movie….
“The best thing since sliced cheese.”
~•~
Cheesy, crazy, delusional, enthusiastic, hair-brained.
All words that carry a hint of warning and are applied when someone gets a little too far out-of-bounds, away from what is expected, conventional, and safe.
I’ve had major emotional swings the last few days — all related to buying our tour vehicle.
Committing to the vehicle makes the tour (the dream) real. In fulfilling my dream, I’m conflicted as to whether I’m driving the team to the summit or off the cliff.
I’ve been eyeing this Airstream Argosy bus for months. We finally decided to go for it.
It is completely gutted. No seating, beds, bath, counters, or plumbing. It is a 1979 with 32K miles on a 454 Chevy engine.
It is in the same breath both beautiful and scary.
I adore it.
We will add a vinyl wrap and outfit it with bunks, work spaces, a generator and a mini-frig. Anywhere from 3–8 adults and children will call it home & office for the summer.
Stupid or amazing? I say… amazing.
~•~
And now for this week’s partial checklist…
DCP delivery & print-trafficking. I’ve had quotes of between $50–200 per venue for digital & hard drive delivery. We will use one of these services while on the road, most likely Eclair or Simple DCP. Someone at home may ship blu-rays as required.
Oregon tour. We have 20 dates booked for our Oregon tour May/June. Stay tuned as we will announce these at the end of this week.
Butts in seats. Our goal is a minimum of 100 paid tickets per screening. We are testing social, radio, tv, newspaper articles, flyers, giveaways, etc… to find the best way to fill seats with grassroots marketing and limited resources. We’ve sold between 40–100 tickets for each of the next 4 screenings. We’re doing ok, but we still have a ways to go to sell out these theaters.
T-shirts and merchandise. We’re creating a small batch of shirts for the screening this week. We’ll start testing a few designs to see what sells the best. Eventually, we’ll make tour tees. That may just solve my wardrobe and anti-shopping woes.
Stay cheesy, my friends!
♡ Annie