"...they're hurling themselves on the beach..."
On the way to work today I called up Paul Q-Pek. I got his voicemail, which might've made this little prank even better. Once my voicemail started to record, I quoted the lines from the brilliant Steve Scott song, "This Sad Music." It's a spoken word thing that this poet / singer released on an album called Love In The Western World. So fun.
I woke up late this morning (being an editor has its perks) after working 'til 3 am on deadline, and was able to catch a short segment on Regis & Kelly as I got dressed. This girl wanted to give her mom an "Ambush Makeover," because her mom took care of her and showed her so much unconditional love. So the camera crew snuck up on her as the daughter was coaxing her out for a hospital visit (the daughter has cystic phibrosis) and they surprised her with the news. I imagine that a woman likes to feel pampered, get a pretty dress, and have "beauty work" done on her. I can sort of understand that. What was so touching is how she responded with such shock and gratitude. Her daughter really made her feel special with that. And when they had her on the show's stage, she looked stunning in a beautiful dress, new haircut, makeup, teeth brightening -- the whole nine yards.
Uh oh! My deadline clock just went off. Alright, I can get back to work now. It's set for January 19, which is 62 days, 23 hours, 58 minutes and 57 seconds away.
Anyway, this woman beamed from the stage. The act of her daughter, who wanted to say thanks for all the sacrificial care over the years, was great. It's really neat to be able to love extravagantly like that. The tv show wanted to flash the "before" picture again to show the dramatic change, and I just hoped that this didn't go too far and make her feel superficial. I hope that people affirmed how beautiful she was, period, when they were making her over. Her beauty was one of inner love, a strength that is contagious to those around her, I'm sure. I hope all the outward fuss was just fun and appreciated in its rightful place. That's nice and I bet it can do wonders for someone's self-esteem, but I hope it didn't backfire for her.
Well, it's back to making the proofreading corrections and then making each page of the magazine a PDF file, and sending those to the printer. I have a scoreboard (marker board) in my office lobby (it's the living room of a 5-bedroom house that serves as our office), and it says: "Deadline 01 vs. DVP 00," because last issue the deadline beat me. Now it's a tie score, as I have worked hard to make the deadline and get a point in my favor.
:?)