Jumanji

Wednesday, July 18 was one of those days where God tests you. My day was like a game of Jumanji, with one unexpected event after another...and I could either be a bitch about it or accept a lesson in humility and grace.
My new producer here at GREY arranged for me to shadow him at a video shoot in Maryland. A P&G cosmetics exec was winning an award, so we were going to her home to make a little vid for the awards ceremony.
In order to get there, however, I had to ride with the equipment down to Cockeysville, Maryland, while the producer and cameraman took a cush, 2-hour train ride. Tom was the driver, and he and I had a 3 hour and 25-minute ride, according to Mapquest.
MAPQUEST, YOU LIE!
After four hours we figred mapquest time might be correct if we drove 80 miles/hr all the way and did not have to battle Manhattan traffic AND a monsoon. I have been here two months and never have witnessed the furious rain, thunder and lightning that wanted to accompany us on our road trip. Literally, we had overcast patches of clouds that alternated with showers so heavy we could barely see the road. And this happened going and coming.
The woman's house was beautiful, in this quiet neighborhood with winding roads and huge houses that must have cost about a mil. I decided as I looked at those mini-mansions that you city people can have the concrete jungle of Manhattan, with 300 ppl on each block, cramped apartments, congestion, and public transportation as your only and most frustrating means of travel. I want a brick house with a backyard and some grass and sunshine. I want to ride my bike down my circular driveway and roll in the middle of the street. Fuck a subway.
Anyway, we get there and I'm working alongside Alice Ericsson oftop NYC beauty creative agency Ericsson Fina. And "top" is not an overstatement here- her companyis responsible for every CoverGIRL and MaxFactor commercial you have ever seen. She directs Rihanna, Queen Latifah - every celeb you've seen, and he company is in LA right now shooting the new Drew Barrymore spots. So yes, it was a great opportunity for me.
We set up the equipment and the backdrop fell on the daughter of the exec. Then I was sniffed by their dog Halle. You'd imagine that name was for a cute animal, but this was a monstrous first cousin of a burmese mountain dog. Then during our interview I was playing with the producer's iPhone, turned his iPod on and couldnt figure out how to turn it off.
The shoot itself only took an hour and a half. Four hours of driving for 90 minutes of filming. I'm not complaining by any means - I was happy to get of the office and see a place I had never been, but I got to work at 8:15 am and got home at 11:15 pm. Why? Because of this Jumanji game.
On the way back in to the city we got lost when we discovered we could not take our van through the Holland tunnel. We drove around and around Jersey (at a cop's instruction) tryning to find the Lincoln Tunnel. Then just as we near Manhattan, Tom's wife called (again) to tell him there was an explosion on Lexington Avenue, right near our destination.
Traffic was backed up and we drove all out the way to come back to 51st and 3rd ave, then i had to help him haul equipment in to the building. we won't mention how he told me to save my receipts like i could actually expense that ish. With the explosion, which turned out to be an old steampipe, of course certain subway trains had stopped running, inlcuding the one i need, so i had to walk down to 59th and Lex to take the N,Q,R or W - along with apparently, half of New York. Even though it was dang 10:30 pm, the first train that came was so crowded I just waited for the next one.
But again, I'm not complaining. If you ride in a car with someone for like 10 hours you talk bout every topic under the sun, from his career as a news videographer to Britney Spears to soap operas and the war in Iraq. Tom and I laughed for most of the ride, and through the confusion, rain, traffic- and steampipe explosion - I think God gave me an extra cup of grace that day.