Go West... about 20 miles west.

I have completed Day 7 of my new full time job at an amazing company called SIMmersion. The more I learn about what they do, the more fascinated I am with the concept, let alone the development process, let alone the product. I won't go into detail about the work itself, but if you want to find out more about the company just google them, they have a website with some samples of their product.

The office is in a sweet suite in an office complex in Columbia, about 20 miles from where I live. The commute isn't bad, and I've been able to drive with the top down both ways every day since I started. Combine that with the awesome CD mixes I got for my birthday from my friends Jody, Alex, Kelly, and Paul (still waiting for a few, hmmm...) and it is actually a pretty damn pleasant way to start and end the day.

I love my office - I have my own - a real one, not a cubicle, with a great big frikkin' window. I stripped it down and rearranged the furniture, and when I have time to do so I will bring in a few pieces of artwork and maybe a small table to decorate, make it my own. On the first day, I thought, I am tempted to bring in my giant framed poster of Mae West (my personal hero), as the hot pink in the poster and the black frame would really pop on the plain white wall... but she looks really perfect on the wall behind my bed, too, so I'll figure something else out.

The people are wonderful, the work environment is peaceful but not at all boring, and the product is something to be proud of. I couldn't be happier. Well, I could be - and I will be, soon. The only thing about starting a new job is that I HATE to not know what I am doing. I want to know everything, and I want to know it all at once. A large part of the job is data entry into a complicated technical program that is mind-boggling to wrap your brain around, but it is what makes their videos so unique and so well done. I do find the whole thing interesting, but I am not exaggerating when I say that I am probably the most computer illiterate person in the company, so now, in the beginning, the learning curve is very steep for me. I'm not scared, though. I am actually very excited. Less than three years ago, I was staring down a similar barrel. At that time it was learning to edit in Final Cut Pro that was my challenge. What I am embarking upon now makes FCP look like finger-painting. But that's just fine. I love it.

It has seemed to confuse a lot of people who know me fairly well that I took this job. At first, Michelle, for example, seemed to think that it was purely desperation that drove me to it, that it wasn't what I really wanted to do. And some of the folks at my job check in on me now and then, asking me how it's going with this look on their face, as if they are waiting for me to get the crazy eyes like a caged animal. Especially with my friends, their confusion initially confused me. I didn't get why they didn't get it, how perfect this job is for me. I get to write, I get to solve problems creatively, I get to learn things I would never otherwise have access to, I get to travel and meet new people... I get to work in an air-conditioned building! As much as I love being on a set, most of my time as a filmmaker is spent on pre-production. Making phone calls, sending emails, begging favors, stretching dollars. When I finally do get to the set, I never, ever sit down, and 12 hours is usually a short day. I am not complaining about any of those things. They are challenging, but that is what I love about it. If it was easy it wouldn't be worth doing.

It took me awhile to realize, some of these friends only know me as Jeanie the Filmmaker. To them, that is what I do. When they introduce me to people, they tell them that I am a filmmaker. And to tell you the truth, I think that is supercool and it makes me very happy! But the people who know me absolutely best know that there is a lot more to me. I am a Gemini through and through, and along with that creative twin comes the logical twin. This job not only satisfies both sides of that coin, but is already challenging them both in ways that I never thought about. I have been shocked myself as to how easy it has been to get up in the morning! It gets my blood pumping.

My brother, Ted, and my friend Mikey B. seem to understand, and both have commented that this job appears to be tailor-made for me. My Mom gets it, too, but I think to her it is mostly a relief that I have health insurance again.

On Day Two at the new job, I bought my lunch in the deli that is on the ground floor of the building. While I waited for my sandwich to be made, I flipped through a magazine that was on the top of a stack in the window. Almost immediately I found myself looking at the same photo of Mae West that you see at the top of this post. Underneath her gorgeous face was one of her many famous quotes,

"Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often."

I looked around to make sure the deli lady wasn't watching, and I tore the page out of the magazine. It is now hanging on the corkboard in my office, staring me in the face when I sit at my desk and work on the computer.

Today on the way home from work, top down, I put in a CD that I had mixed for myself a few years ago. It is full of fun and empowering songs that are well-suited to a convertible, slick sunglasses, and singing very, very loudly. The opening song is very short, it is called "Reckless," and it is crooned by, guess who, my Guardian Movie Star. Backing up Ms. West's sexy, smoky alto voice is a soprano chorus that sounds nearly celestial...

"What'll you ever be? What'll you ever do? How'll you ever know if you don't take a chance?

You have got to gamble! With fate!

I wanna live long, learn a lot. I'll light my candle and I'll burn a lot!

You've had some bad shots! Hard knocks!

I'm on my own if I bruise.

And there'll be smiles here! Shouts here!

And I can take it on the chin if I lose. Because I'm reckless!

Because she's reckless!

Because I'm reckless!

Because she's reckless!

I'm gonna go places and look life in the face."