Gone to America

...But it snows. It’s snowing right now, really heavily. I thought winter was over!
I’m sitting in the Rose Reading Room in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library on 42nd Street. It’s a really beautiful place – high ceilings, big windows, books, pretty lamps, high speed internet access. I’m writing away – and not just this. This is a break.

I think God has a sense of humour. Not an hour after I posted the last entry, announcing my intention to quit sound, I got a phone call pretty much offering me the chance to supervise a low budget feature. I’m meeting the guy next week.

So laugh, God, laugh! I know what you were thinking! It was too easy! It was too easy for me to make that decision! I was basically choosing between not working for two months and fretting about it, and not working for two months and not fretting about it.
But this supervising opportunity is basically what I was waiting for, what I’d given up on. And here it is. Now the decision is very real – it wasn’t hard to decide to quit sound when I’d basically given up on ever getting work, but now I’d be giving up a concrete opportunity.

Damn it, I thought this was behind me. Bloody God!

So, I don’t know. On the one hand, I’m happy with my decision to quit. On the other hand, I ought to at least talk to this guy. Shouldn’t I? I met him in a pub just after New Years, and gave him the big sell – which seems to be paying off.

Let’s think about this. I’ll meet him next week, and he’s still editing, so I won’t have to commit for a while. I could see how the writing is going, and decide at the last minute.
But is it fair to string him along if I don’t really want to do it? Surely I should be honest, and give him as much time as possible to line up somebody else. And how much money does he have? Would he expect me to do it in my room for next to nothing (noooooo!), or would he be able to pay me half-decently?
Does that matter? Do I want to do it? Probably not, on balance – a lot of work, not a lot of money. Am I happy to give up the only chance I may ever have of being the Supervising Sound Editor on an American independent movie? Could I do it, and then take my break? Does that completely negate the value of the decision?
And what about teaching? There’s still the slim possibility of teaching enough to support myself, but if I do this feature I may miss that opportunity. Which may not exist in this first place, I won’t find out for sure until early next month. But that would be perfect – I could teach and still have time to write.

There’s only one way to resolve this. Hold a poll! That’s right, I’m reactivating the polls!

Please go here and tell me how to live my life.

Thanks.

(Just for the record – I asked: So?
You answered: 60%
So what? 40%
You tell me.

15 votes)