My Wonderful Job

"I draw plans draft the diagrams
An architect in effect, and it slams
And if it's weak when I'm done
Renovate and build another one
I go to work"
I Go to Work, Kool Moe Dee

I don't recall whether or not I've used this one previously, but I don't think one can ever really get enough Kool Moe Dee, so I'm sure it'll be fine. Work has been quite laid back today, as I was able to sleep in (trying to not be sick) and roll in at 11:15, which was nice. No show to tape, so I took care of the various tasks to which I was assigned and took plenty of time doing so. I sit here now with nothing left for today and very little to take care of tomorrow, which will provide for another relaxing day. Nice.
Smiling as I am today, I'm thinking about the cool job I have and the fun stuff I've been able to do over the last ten or so months here at Best Damn. I know I'll forget some things and have to add them later, but for now, here's a top five or six--in no particular order--coolest things I've been able to do because of my job...

- sharing honey wheat thins with Lisa Dergan at Chris Rose's 4th of July party...a box of HWT's was my contribution to the party, and since everyone on the show loves them (only because I used to bring them in every day), it was a no-brainer. Lisa D ended up enjoying several of them and when I went to grab a few near the end of the evening, she apologized profusely for taking the last one. It led to a nice little conversation, and though I've only exchanged a few words with her since then, I'd like to think we shared a moment.
- playing guitar and singing "Wanted Dead or Alive" with Leeann Tweeden (and others) after shooting on a Friday evening...my buddy Bernie and I had brought our guitars to mess around a play a little bit after work one day, and more people were interested in listening and singing along than we had anticipated. We sat in a hallway of sorts, Leeann immediately to my left, playing all kinds of requests, and hers was a boisterous appeal for Bon Jovi. I immediately launched into the acoustic intro to DOA, and her eyes lit up. As the first verse and chorus progressed, we all sang way too loud, LT and me sharing what I believe, once again, was a moment.
- hanging out on the court with Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker and numerous other NBA stars as a producer at Magic Johnson's Charity All-Star game...I haven't had more fun on a day of work than being at the Forum with my buddy Zeus and our on-camera guy, a comedian named Alex Thomas. He knows everybody, so all the stars and athletes were more than willing to talk to us, and I had the privilege of walking up to everyone and requesting their presence on camera. Bill Bellamy, Magic himself, Lisa Leslie, Steve Harvey and all these NBA dudes, just like normal guys. I don't think I realized how much fun I was having (or how overwhelmed I should have been) until well after the fact.
- hanging out on the beach with several AVP stars, Emeka Okafor, Mark Cuban and a half-dozen playmates at our Hermosa Beach show in July...it was an unbelievably long day (5 a.m.-7:30 p.m., followed by a late-night drive to Palm Springs, no sleep, and a day of golf in 105-degree heat), but it was awesome to see a show at a remote location come together. I was in charge of our interns, and we all put in all kinds of manual labor, moving chairs and camera stands and tons of other stuff, but we also got to be in the mix and enjoy the show taping, and we got to eat all kinds of free food as well--never a bad thing.
- getting luxury suite and pit passes to the NASCAR race in Fontana...Side and I, both heretofore anti-Neck-car, were treated to a great racing experience, one that forever altered our view of the left-turn circuit. We got bleacher tickets, and visited those first, emerging rather unimpressed. However, once we took the tram to the infield and got to see our suite, its proximity to the pits, its unlimited free food (breakfast and lunch, probably dinner if we had stayed), we were sold. Watching (and hearing) those cars go by from such a proximate vantagepoint made it quite the memorable experience. We bought the NASCAR Thunder video game on the way home, and I must say, I've watched the races and highlights with much more interest since then.
- being able to say "I'm a television producer" and not having it be a lie...Especially when I wasn't working (or was working like one day a week as the sports editor at the Outlook Newspaper), it kind of sucked to meet people and have to explain what I did. Now I look forward to it. I'm not that impressed with what I do (just excited about the idea of watching sports for a living), but it seems that others tend to be very impressed. It's like in Swingers, when Mikey fumbles through the whole "I'm a stand-up comedian" thing, and Trent rescues him--and quickly captures the attention of both girls--when he asserts, "I'm a producer." It's pretty cool.
There, that's five. I think I'm pleased with that. It doesn't even mention the other people I've met here (Mike Tyson, Jeremy Roenick), seen perform here (Rick Springfield doing "Jesse's Girl" in studio comes to mind), or the pieces I've been able to work on and produce. Actually, I think I will mention something along those lines as my last...
- Writing, producing and cutting a feature that aired on the show...I came up with the idea for a season-ending baseball piece, pitched it to our senior staff, and then went about the entire process of putting it together. I wrote it, tracked Chris Rose doing a voice over for the whole thing, got some baseball players to say certain things for it (A.J. Pierzynski, Torii Hunter, Jose Lima), and then spent three long edit sessions finishing the whole thing up. It was all worth it that night, watching the thing on television with the roommates and seeing it come full circle--from my head to the screen. That's a little bit of a selfish one, but I was pretty proud, so it'll have to do.
All right, time to head home and play a little Madden with Phil. I guess Halo 2 will be arriving soon, so I need to get in some time with these other games that will be going on the shelf for about a year when we start playing Halo.
Read some good stuff in Purpose Driven Life today (worth checking out if you've never read any of it), regarding the way we view our lives. It's an incomplete lesson, but it's a valuable thing to think about: am I here to party? to be successful? to create good television? I need to view my life in a bigger picture, and, though this part of the chapter didn't deal with this specifically, I need to acknowledge that my life is God's, so whatever I plan on doing had better be in line with what he's got for me. I'm glad that he's got me here right now, and I think it's a valuable, potentially influential place that he's sent me. So I'm not here to make good tv, I'm here to worship God, and I can do that through my work. Kinda cool. Sorry for the sermon.
A pleasant good evening.