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ChaseTheHorizon
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Name: John
Location: Ohio/Indiana, United States
Birthday: 6/3/1984
Gender: Male
Interests: Directing, filming, editing, and putting music to movies; playing guitar and writing songs; theater in every aspect; dominating at video games; cheering people up
Expertise: Working on it...
Message: message me
AIM:  clickerid4
Member Since:
4/29/2004
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| This year has been the most travel-heavy year of my life. With the exception of the honeymoon and the usual travels to Toledo, pretty much every single trip I've taken has been business-related, and it's pretty spectacular.
I don't think I really believed I was actually going to Russia until the day before, while I was packing. I'm in a similar state of disbelief at the upcoming trip, which will take me out to California, then to China and India. Three weeks - on par with my Separation Anxiety stint away from home, but adding thousands upon thousands of miles of airline travel and two full pages in my passport. Back October 8. It's amazing. It's also a bit terrifying, though I'm far less concerned about this upcoming corporate shoot than I was about a two-person trip to Russia. I guess I'm finally starting to get used to the notion of international travel for work. Whew.
Married life is blissful in the best way. I wish I were home more this month, obviously, but if there's one thing I'm grateful for, it's having a wife who understands my profession and my eclectic schedule. Our apartment finally feels lived in, like we're not moving in anymore. The last big project: painting the bedroom and hanging pictures afterwards. But I truly feel settled, at least for the next two years, and it's great to have nothing to worry about in that regard.
Hmmm...what else? The films are unbelievably close to finished. Leo and Jake delivered their respective scores for Happily After and Separation Anxiety, and the sound mixes for both films should be done in the next two weeks. Mike designed some crazy cool DVD art for all our films, including Glass City, which we'll hopefully finally be able to sell at the premieres. (As if you needed any more incentive to attend the screenings.) Speaking of, buy tickets here:
For Toledo: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producerevent/128424?prod_id=24203
For Chicago: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producerevent/128381?prod_id=24203
I'm going to miss home tremendously for the next month, even more so because I know so much will be happening without me. That said, I couldn't be more excited, and the second half of this year - as it already has - will bring some of the most thrilling moments of my life. I got married, I went to Jamaica, then to Russia, and now all this. So much to be thankful for.
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| It's surreal, isn't it? Kathleen and I spent a few minutes last night looking back on prior relationships, laughing about how stereotypically young and stupid we were. Thinking about it, it's a wonder we even found each other in the insanity of it all, much less found a way to make it work. And, in retrospect, I feel like we just decided to make it work right from the start, rather than seeing what might happen.
So, here I am. Here we are. Four days from now, I'll be standing in the Basilica in my tux watching my soon-to-be-wife walk down the aisle.
That's just all kinds of awesome.
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| The move is almost complete. On Sunday, all my stuff will officially be in our new place, and the John Klein Epoch of Roommates will be over. Sad to see it go, but I'd say I traded up pretty well.
One month till the wedding. It feels like there's not so much to do, which is of course God lying to me through my subconscious. I know it's going to be hectic as hell, and I'm surprisingly unstressed about it. One way or another, I'm ending this particular Friday the 13th with a wife in tow, and that's about the coolest thing in the world.
I spent the last few days packing up the loose remnants of my former life. Packing is such a tedious activity as it nears the end. You find all sorts of tiny things - small frames, CDs (Nine Days, where have you been all my life?), change, pens and pencils and knick-knacks - that you have absolutely no place for because you already packed away the majority of them in another box. You find old photos and cards from several holidays ago - one in particular, from Nicki, almost made me cry with smiles - and you sort through old movie ticket stubs, and you wonder if these relics are worth keeping around another move.
Anyway, it's done, and all that's left to do is move those boxes, board games, furniture items, and random bits down the street about three blocks. So pumped to finally be out of limbo.
The craziest element of this whole move has been keeping up with freelancing and Glass City Films work on top of it. Between wrapping up post-production on two feature films and the usual corporate video work, plus doing still photo work with Cole...this has to be the busiest summer I've had in at least two years, and that summer featured Bangladesh and the biggest feature I've ever shot, so that should tell you something. It's been something new every week - a concert shoot, photography work, travels to New York and Iowa - and it's been terrific enough that now I don't actually need to work in August during the super-hectic run up to the wedding.
As usual, I miss home. I feel like I've been gone a long time this time around. But I'm excited to go back to Toledo in two weeks - I'm taking Sara's senior pics, which is all kinds of awesome - and I'll be around for at least a couple of evenings to see people. We should hang out. Yes, you.
And, to finish off this entry, I'll only note that LOST: The Complete Series arrives on Blu-Ray a week after the wedding and a day after we return from our honeymoon, and if that isn't some kind of wonderful serendipity, I don't know what is. (Side note: Seeing Cole finally get hooked on this show has been a great conclusion to this whole LOST journey for me. Late to the party? No such thing.)
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| Moving to Chicago was traumatic at first for me. Kathleen went off to London for the semester, and aside from my roommate Tim and a few scattered ND buddies, I knew absolutely no one in the city and felt thrust into my career path as if the last four years of college had taught me nothing. I imagine it's how everyone feels when they first venture into the real world, right? Overwhelmed, out of place, generally unimpressive and insecure?
Just shy of four years later, I'm bubbling over with pride at calling this city home. My roommates are my best friends, and I've had more good times here than I've had anywhere. Tim officially holds the record for the person I've lived with the longest, other than my family. I'm working constantly if not consistently, and most days I'm working I actually enjoy what I do. Cole's finally here. And I'm getting married. Me, the serial dater from high school, the college kid who couldn't commit. Amazing, and so wonderful.
This summer is going to tip the scales in all sorts of funny ways. Ryan and Heidi are getting married two weeks after Kathleen and I. As a result, the trio - Tim, Ryan, and I - are all moving out: Ryan and I to different apartments with our spouses, and Tim to a condo. Not to take anything away from how excited I am to live with Kathleen - it feels like we've talked about it since our first nights in the Farley Hall lounge - but if there's an adjustment that scares me as much as that initial move, it's parting ways with the roommates I've had since Day One.
We won't be too far away, of course. Ryan's heading to Bucktown and Tim's a mere five blocks down the street from our new place. It's more the routine that's disappearing. Being able to walk in the other room and hang out around the TV or with a board game or video games or whatever. That ease, that routine is leaving. We're *gasp* growing up.
I don't even know if it occurred to me until Katy moved out of Kathleen's apartment yesterday. It's just odd - and, yes, very cool - to know that I'll only have one true roommate for the rest of my life now. I've never been that scared of change, but I've always been aware of it as it happened. This summer, if nothing else, will be all about it. Getting married, investigating a slight switch to my career path, moving in with Kathleen, the big dual-feature push for Glass City Films...
Lots to look forward to. As always, right?
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| Best pop-rap song I've heard in ages. So good.
It's been an odd year so far. I haven't updated here in months, but it's not worth getting down on myself for it. I'm here, and life's good overall.
In summary...
- Separation Anxiety and Happily After are progressing fantastically in the editing room, and we've got two spectacular movies that will most likely debut in September. Happily After in particular has changed so much from what I thought it would be, all for the better. (Never imagined test audiences would be so beneficial.) Regardless, film festivals for the next two years will be quite the adventure. And we'll actually have DVDs to sell this time, so here's hoping we have the coin to handle it this time around.
- Wedding planning's going great; all the big stuff's taken care of, and now it's just little details and all the random fun stuff. Cake tasting was a big highlight. I'm actually really enjoying being left in the dark about Kathleen's dress. And we're going to have some killer photos from the night; if there's one thing this filmmaker and his fiancee won't skimp on, it's a world-class photographer. (Check him out: www.josefsamuel.com.) It's amazing to think how long Kathleen and I have talked about the future and said to each other, "One of those days..." and to think that those days are actually here. Pretty cool.
- I'm debt-free, which is a testament to how remarkable this year has been for my income so far. I wish I was working more frequently sometimes, but the gigs I've had are well-paying enough to make the wait between jobs bearable. And I'm busy enough with editing, rentals, and other random side stuff. Can't rest on my laurels, but I won't complain about how things are going right now, and I've traveled all over the country doing what I love for the past few months.
- Still mulling over a career change. It's going to happen eventually; it's just a question of when, and if it involves me going to grad school for an MFA. Teaching is the ultimate goal, methinks, which still would leave every summer free to do passion projects, which I could fund through grants or by using the school's equipment. Would I stay in Chicago and find a university here with an opening? Would I try against all odds to teach with FTT at Notre Dame, still the dream job of this guy's life? I don't know. Too many variables still. I just wish there was a better road map for how to make it happen. All I know is that I'm tired of the instability. It makes the filmmaking side of things unexciting, and that I can't abide.
- LOST ends in two weeks. I don't know how I'll feel, and that's the honest truth. It feels like an end to the first era of my creative life, one that started at the beginning of my junior year when I first truly realized my calling and found a show that embodied the best parts of it. Sappy? Absolutely yes. Nostalgic? Perhaps. I look forward to finding another show that encapsulates the best and worst of the next chapter of my life. But for now, these next 4.5 hours will be for the books.
I'm sure I'm missing a lot, and that's what I get for not updating more frequently. I feel like I've been so focused on the future lately that I haven't spent enough time in the fleeting moments. I don't know if that will change right away, but I think this summer will be a nice return to form. I hope.
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