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Banjo

December 23, 2006

The ornament above has been in our family for decades. It has special significance for me this Christmas ~ it's whimsical, it's old, it's a BANJO! I haven't done much promoting of my Advent Calendar or the brand new Banjo Bunny E-Card site here on the blog because I've been swamped, exhausted, busy, flying to Kansas City, trying to finish a New Year's card, catching up with old friends (HI BARABARA!), buying last-minute gifts and trying not to lose my mind in the process. This December and November have been two of the most grueling months ever. A colleague dropped the ball, a boyfriend took a different turn in the road, I ended up with 4 times as much work to accomplish than I had bargained for... maybe 5 times as much. The last time I worked this hard was during the first installment of the Advent calendar 9 years ago. There are two differences now ~ I'm almost a decade older and this time, I a tad bit wiser. This time around, I'm finnegaling a way to get paid for the sweat I'm putting into my animations. Everyone who knows me personally is saying, "It's about time!"

I'm done with using the pronoun "WE" (even though Banjo Bunny himself is my alter ego, and Rob has done more than is Rabbitly possible to assist me with creative brainstorming, and I have this really awesome programmer in Indianapolis who is weaving magic spells behind the scenes to make everything work within an insanely narrow time frame). Really, there are 5 people who are assisting in getting this wild balloon off the ground, but when push comes to shove, it really is just little ol' me holding the steering wheel, and surprisingly enough, I'm not nearly as scared by that statement as I thought I'd be.

So.. I'm using "I" statements lately, which is a good thing, because the email I'm receiving is more polite now. People must have thought Banjo Bunny was a big evil corporation or something. I got some weird and over-the-top rude emails from test drive customers who were pissed off they couldn't use my work for nothin' anymore.

(See #10 under the HELP section for an answer)

You can imagine what responses I had bouncing around in my head, but I opted not to use any of them. People who aim to cause suffering are pretty well-managed with kindness... it's the world's most effective medicine. A spoonful of sugar is the medicine that goes down. I've received way WAY more email of the encouraging type, which is so wonderful to receive. If you've emailed me and I haven't gotten back to you it's just because I've been too busy.

So, aside from some small and big bumps in the road, Banjo Bunny 2.0 made it through the month without exploding or imploding. It's a totally strange thing to have a site like this launch and be the wizard behind the curtain making sure all the special effects work properly. It's not a small project. That's an understatement. I had no idea I had this much hutzpah, gumption and crazy, lofty, hopeful intentions to get this bunny ball rolling ~ but rolling it is. Will the rabbit have wings? Yes, it will. Right now Banjo Bunny is hoppin', and I'm committed to making this happen. I know the right people will come along when they're needed ~ they already have.

I wish I had the time to send out e-cards to everyone who comments here, but I haven't been able to pull it off and still spend quality time with my mom, so I'll let this post be a stand-in. Thank you, friends, for encouraging me along the way... you certainly know who you are. Especially those of you who emailed and helped me through the bumpy road I hit back in October. I'll say it with great fervor here that the people who have been there asking if they can help, listen or offer a prayer have been my Christian readers. Despite my inclination to vent from time to time over the fundamentalists, please do know I know without a shadow of a doubt there are people out there who are in the majority who follow in the footsteps of a most amazing man whose birth we celebrate in just a couple of days. I may not share your creeds and we may not color our world with exactly the same hues, but I am grateful for your creative spirit of lovingkindness any buddhist or agnostic would be proud to hold a candle to.

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Please send up some prayers for my good friend JZR over at Rivanna River Days. Her mother fell and is in the hospital awaiting surgery ~ possibly on Christmas Day.

Posted by vincent at December 23, 2006 11:50 AM

Comments

Posted by: samtzmom at December 24, 2006 07:18 AM

Posted by: Joan at December 24, 2006 12:49 PM

Posted by: dan at December 24, 2006 03:47 PM

Posted by: Beth at December 25, 2006 02:12 PM

Posted by: la vie en rose at December 27, 2006 03:46 PM

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