Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Delicious


Now that's what I call comfort food: shells n' cheese mixed with sweet peas and hot sauce - yum!

Thoughts of home

Nothing sends me into a veritable tizzy of nostalgia the way hearing the strains of this old familiar show does:

Monday, March 23, 2009

From the mind of a black woman

I am really becoming a fan of the Doctor Who series that Glenn and I have been watching. Tonight's episode was of particular interest to me because one of the main characters, who had a pivotal role in the final scene, was a journalist.

In tonight's episode (Episode 7, Series 1, "The Long Game") the Time Lord and his sidekick Rose Tyler land 200,000 years into earth's future, specifically on a space station known as "Satellite 5". The Doctor is telling Rose's "boyfriend" (acquired in the previous episode and who doesn't last beyond this episode, by the way) how to find information about places you land through their time travels. He informed them you just have to open your mind and ask questions. He said, "You can't just read the guide book. You've got to throw yourself in, eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers..."

They're going along and eventually get themselves caught in the middle of the action as usual. The Doctor is becoming increasingly skeptical and asking a bunch of questions, not necessarily to the people they're with. Something about a group of humans in the year 200,000 who by all appearances look as if they've never made it past the 21st century, is not right and the Doctor and Rose are bound and determined to get to the bottom of this anomaly.

Their guide meanwhile, a black woman named Cathica, is growing increasingly anxious by the Doctor's poking and prodding. She follows them, but it's clear she is torn between obedience to her employer and her own growing curiosity as the Doctor debunks more and more of what she's always accepted as her moral code. At one point the Doctor admonishes her for not using her brain to ask questions. He puts her down for just accepting the status quo and not using her powers as a journalist to get to the bottom of some of the things she may have questioned in the past but has over time just grown to accept.

Eventually the Doctor and Rose make their way to "Floor 500" which, to the inhabitants (read: slaves) below is known as being a room with "walls made of gold". Getting to Floor 500 is only done by means of "promotion" (read: execution), and everybody below knows that once you make it to Floor 500 you never come back. The Doctor was particularly troubled by that bit of news.

Once there it doesn't take long for the Doctor and Rose to get shackled, facing imminent death. It doesn't look good for them at all; me as the viewer, even though I knew very well they would get out of it and live to make episodes for another 4 or 5 seasons, I still had to ask: how will they get out of this one? I had no idea. That's part of the brilliance of this series that I'm growing to love so much, even though I know the main characters are going to get out of whatever pickle they get into, the means by which they escape is never obvious.

Well at one point the Doctor notices Cathica found her way up to Floor 500 on her own. His captor, the "Editor", hasn't noticed her yet. The Doctor uses this bit of knowledge to his advantage to further spur Cathica to action to free them...

Earlier in this episode we are shown how she gathers information to disseminate into "news" - she has a mechanism implanted into her forehead that, with the "click" of her fingers (we say "snap" here stateside) opens a gateway to her actual brain. She is laying in a dentist's office-type chair and at her verbal command, "Spike!", a machine mounted to the ceiling above her sends a laser beam of streaming information directly into her brain through the gate that opened up on her forehead. Other journalists surround her in a circle sitting cross-legged on the floor, and with their hands placed on metallic moldings in front of them which are connected to the machine in the ceiling, they all send information to her brain simultaneously. It's quite a sight to see, quite an idea to comprehend.

Back to Floor 500 - in the room adjacent to where the Doctor and Rose are being held is a room with a chair much like the one we saw Cathica using earlier. But instead of live journalists the seats are filled with decaying bodies, unfortunate souls "promoted" to Floor 500. Inspired to action by the Doctor's words, Cathica flings the corpse off the chair where she would normally sit, sits herself down and gets to work.

There is another bit of trouble going on, which is what got the Doctor and Rose shackled in the first place. Adam, Rose's "boyfriend", wandered off and got himself implanted with the same gateway that Cathica has in her forehead. As the episode progresses he makes his way back to the room where they first saw Cathica do her thing and, moved by a greedy desire to have as much information as he can, and also probably to be the first to launch it back home on 21st-century Earth, he engages the ceiling-mounted machine on himself, and before anyone knows it he is both learning everything about 200,000 year-old Earth and putting his own knowledge into the system. That is what spells disaster for the Doctor and Rose, because that is what enables the Editor and his boss (a giant, gelatinous mass with shark-teeth that hovers from the ceiling above in Floor 500 and speaks in growling utterances) to learn who the Doctor and Rose are. Stupid, greedy Adam; suffice to say he is ejected from the Doctor's and Rose's good graces by the episode's end.

Cathica found the courage to act upon what the Doctor prodded her to do, which was the "right thing". She subverted the flow of information coming from Adam's brain and also began subverting the flow of hot air coming from the top down (that's what was keeping the Editor's boss "Max" cool and therefore alive) ...

The visual significance of this final scene was quite profound for me: I don't know if Doctor Who's producers/writers had any specific intention with using a black woman for that particular role or not (I, of course, would like to think they did), but what it boiled down to for me was this: the black woman opening her mind is essentially what saved not only the time travellers, the Doctor and Rose, but also all of Satellite 5, and by even further extension humanity itself in the year 200,000. Because the toothy, gelatinous mass that the Editor affectionately referred to as Max was apparently in control of all of humanity - not just that which was enslaved on Satellite 5, but all of "The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire ... Planet Earth ... at its height, covered with megacities, five moons, population 96 billion, the centre of a galactic domain that stretches across a million planets and species." (from Episode 7, Series 1, "The Long Game").

And I thought that was cool. It was also so very well done! I am impressed and encouraged by what this show has to offer. The episodes keep getting better and better. I still have to write about Episode 6 which we watched earlier today, which showed the machine-with-personality character ... a Dalek. That deserves a journal entry too; hopefully I'll be able to get to it before my weekend is over.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

And yet not a word comes out...

I finally have some time to write. My pre-show chores are done, the thirty-second weather hit is done, I tended to some personnel matters (although I still feel I could have done better), my show is even completely marked, except for the first block of the second half hour. Finally, I can sit here quietly with my thoughts and write ...

... so why does nothing come out? It's the same phenomenon that governs shopping: when you have money nothing appeals to you. You only see things you like when you can't afford to buy them. The perfect dress, the perfect pair of shoes, on sale usually, but still just out of reach. It sucks.

Oh, here's something to talk about: Glenn and I started watching the BBC version of Doctor Who. It is awesome, which was a pleasant surprise. It is also a vast improvement over Sliders which we've been watching through 3 seasons. But this Doctor Who series is really pretty great. Both of us can't wait til the next opportunity to watch the next episode! We watch it on the Xbox 360 via our Netflix subscription. A truly great pairing if ever there was one. It's particularly interesting for me to watch this series, as it is a BBC production; I haven't really sat down to watch any British television since I lived at home with my parents, so in a strange way this has proven to be a bit nostalgiac at times.


HA! I finally figured out Blogger's code for a horizontal line, which is different than LiveJournal's coding. Hooray, O Happy Day!

Anyway, so I've been talking a lot with some people at work (by no means everyone) about the state of things at work. In a word, it's horrible. Morale is about as low as it gets in a workplace; everybody is backstabbing everybody else, the bosses are always stressed out ... we are all extremely grateful to have our jobs, but yet I can't help wondering if I'd happier flipping burgers? The way people talk about each other when they're not in the room (and I myself am guilty of this) is downright insidious! It's just not enjoyable to come to work.

And the illness that's going around ... there's no sympathy for anyone, because we're so short-handed that if someone gets sick and calls out, SOMEbody is going to be resentful at being called in. Or, as in last night's case, somebody takes on more show responsibilities like with me punching/calling and doing chyron.

Did I mention there's no sympathy for anyone? I might get myself in trouble here, but I'm going to go ahead and say it: right now as I type there is a small group of 3 people who are pretty upset that one member of our crew is getting to go home after only doing 1 show, and what upsets them is that the person going home has a history of calling out (ALWAYS with a doctor note, without fail) and/or showing up late (usually calls). They are sitting there talking and talking and talking, and the only thing coming out of their mouths is how unfair it is that this other person - whom they don't think very much of - gets to go home early. They are judge and jury here, they are smug in their opinion, they even went so far as to throw it in my face that they want to talk my colleague about it - not me. That's probably because I'm friends with the person they are lambasting ...

... and oh by the way, I'd like to see the list of ALL the times they had to work BOTH shows, and line it up next to the person they've spent so much time about. Then I'd like to see how many crew positions they're trained to solo a show on.

More later, if I have time, because I have more to say, MUCH more.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Remembering Da

Today is a very sad day for me; it is the anniversary of my dad's death. It's been 8 years now. Seems hard to believe.

I miss my dad very much. I called him 'Da'. My dad was known as 'Da' because that's what I called him, me and Liz both. He taught at the University of Toledo for a while there. He made some good friends there too. He taught remedial English at the now-defunct Community-Technical arm of U of T, more commonly known as "Comm-Tech". He becaume involved with the University's Catholic community; he became close friends with Fr. Bacik. I don't even know if Fr. Bacik is still there. My dad's memorial service was held at Corpus Christi's new digs across the street from the University. I think he has a brick with his name on it in the entry-way to the main entrance of the humble little church. That community was one of his passions.

Another one of his passions was amateur radio. He had the highest level of license you could attain: the Extra class license, for as long as I could remember. He never let that license expire. He kept up on the hobby daily. He loved it so much it surrounded his place at the kitchen table - much to my poor mother's chagrin. The nightly 'net rarely went by without his attendance. He would listen in as all the hams in the area would check in, then he checked himself in, and then he continued monitoring the frequency. He was always happy to answer another ham's CQ ("anybody listening?"). He loved it when his own CQ's were answered.

Then after the net he and my mom would retire to the living room for their weeknight routine: watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, followed by whatever programming could be found that appealed to them. They weren't ones to watch salacious, lewd television programs; they sought out something that appealed to their cerebral style, or a good murder mystery, or whatever tickled their funny bone. I will never forget witnessing my dad howling with laughter, tears rolling down his cheeks, while watching "Are You Being Served?" and "Mr. Bean" and "Keeping Up Appearances". Those were favorites in our household. My dad had a very loud laugh, an honest laugh. He would laugh long and hard if it really tickled him. Sometimes just watching him laugh at something was enough to get Liz and I going, even if we didn't understand what the heck it was.

Well, I'm running out of time to give my dear ol' Da a proper homage here. Not all my memories of him are good of course, but then I was a teenager for a few years there. The thing I remember the most about my dad, besides his honesty and his laugh, is his routine. The man was such a creature of his routine! You could literally set your clock to his daily activities. And that's just the way he liked it. Nothing set him off more than having his routine disrupted. I am not too different from him in that regard.

I miss Da so much. No, I don't believe he's "in heaven watching over us"; he is asleep, resting in peace. He should be resting in the knowledge that as far as dads go he was truly one of the greatest. I would give anything to have him around again ...

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Ping is powerful (and other social media epiphanies)

I think I might be on the verge of losing myself on the internet - literally. I just spent a few minutes updating a couple of "feed"-type web services I signed up for: FriendFeed, and Ping.fm. I kept seeing them on people's tweets and was curious. Well I didn't use them when I first signed up for them until I came across this magnificent little article written by my friend Yamile Yemoonyah called, "25 Facebook Tips for Creative Entrepreneurs". Let me tell you, she knows what she's talking about. I really didn't appreciate the power of interlinking all these social media tools until I saw it in action on her blog and her Facebook profile, and taking my hand and showing me the ropes was no big deal! Big shout-out to Yamile!

Soon my Facebook profile will be working hard for me too.

Now if I can get "my" new digital camera back, I just might have something cool as well as new to post. Seriously, the last time I had my picture taken that wasn't at work was nearly a year ago. I do intend to change that soon!

How much work have I gotten done on the script I'm writing: zero this week so far. That's okay, I'll get to it when the time is right. Clearly my inspiration is not the problem; the problem is finding a nice chunk o' time to let my inspiration have a good run - no interruptions. Whatsoever. Ah, that would be very nice ...

I really get the sense that once I get some real content to post about my movie - a video clip of one of the scenes, even if it is only a sketch; a movie poster; a trailer - I will definitely get broader exposure because I'm learning how to use the tools the right way. If I could drop everything and just devote all my time to writing it - like Wil Wheaton can do when he starts writing - I'd probably be in production right now.

Little do my co-workers know that I've been watching them and scoping out who I want working alongside me on my movie. So far I think I've got the sound person, continuity, and the editor picked out; I have some idea of who I'd like operating cameras, and who I want my right-hand to be ... but I'm really getting ahead of myself. I still have to finish writing the thing! I mean, if I could get like a good 2-3 quality hours, to myself to be left alone to write, or even a couple hours at the news station ... it will happen. I just have to keep pressing, and then it will happen.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day for real

Well. I've managed to let 3 full days go by without a post. Unacceptable.

Okay, it's acceptable, but very disappointing. Understandable, considering when Saturday and Sunday roll around I am actually working 3 days packed into 2. And because my job involves dealing with a lot of equipment - which occasionally breaks down - often my would-be downtime gets robbed from me.

This past weekend however made me focus more on personnel issues than anything. Mostly just with the morning staff. I had to make a decision about something and as it turns out I was alone in how I felt about the decision I made. Now regardless of what the opinions are of either side, I found myself smack dab in the middle of having to stand firm to what I believed in. (that is not actually the statement I wanted to make, but I'm really bad at writing around a bunch of distractions, not to mention getting frequently uprooted from what I'm doing, so ... maybe it will come back to me later.)

So anyway. Have not done any writing on my movie. Again, not surprising given how busy I was this weekend.

Okay. I'm going to go read about more Facebook tools. This is useless, I am unable to pick up my train of thought...

Friday, March 13, 2009

Friday the 13th - a Day in the Life

This post is mostly to keep my promise to myself to post SOMEthing every single day to my blog. So I'm just going to go stream of consciousness for the moment. There was something I wanted to write earlier, but it escapes me now. So this is going to become an extended Twitter, if you will.

It's 5:52pm and I'm getting ready to head to bed. I'm sitting here figuring that if I want to get a minimum of 7 hours sleep and still have time to eat and shower before work in the morning, I will need to get to sleep NO LATER than 7 pm. Which is cool; but I prefer to go to bed earlier so that if I NEED more sleep, I have that 'cushion', or sometimes I just need the extra time to wake up. It takes me a long time to wake up. I also have no problem falling asleep. I love to sleep, let me tell ya.

I also just enjoy having that free time, or the semblance of "free time", before I have to buckle down at work, shut out distractions, and have to focus on the tasks in front of me.

However, since my body would rather be horizontal and asleep, inspiration is not coming to me at all right now. It's amazing how the human body reacts in different situations.

I do wish I could remember what the heck I wanted to write earlier. I need to always wear clothes with pockets so I can always have a pen and a piece of paper on me, since we can't always be on the computer at work. Wow - lots of writing blockage right now. Oh well, I got my blog post in today, even if it isn't the most inspiring.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Time marches on

In fact, time is marching boldly on. I don't even have time to make this blog post.

I am tired, but not too. Can't wait for my day to end. Trying to think of ideas for to take pictures of.

See, told you I was tired.

Laterz!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

St Patty's Day, 2009

You know, I would really like to post some new, updated pictures of myself. But with makeup on and looking halfway decent for a photo. I've got a week until St. Patrick's Day, perhaps that will be enough time for me to put makeup on, and have clean hair. A pint o' Guinness will make me have a genuine smile, hence the brilliance of targeting that particular date on the calendar.

The wheel keeps on turnin'...

Today, after witnessing the passage of THREE WHOLE DAYS with NO writing to show for myself, I'm keenly aware of the danger of slipping into apathy toward my movie. Again. Somehow I don't think that's going to happen this time. Yes I'm disappointed I didn't get any real writing done the last few days; on the other hand I'm no less motivated about writing it.

Part of me is afraid to sit down with my notes in front of me, pen in hand, waiting for the ideas to flow because it is so damn painful to have to STOP when my real life jerks me out of my groove. That, however, is no excuse, don't I know it.

In other news, I came across a bible passage that made me have a reaction that really surprised me. Here's the passage (from the New International Version or NIV):

11A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. 13For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15But women[a] will be saved[b] through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.


>> From 1 Timothy, Chapter 2.

I read that, especially verses 11-12 and I'm like, wait a minute. Okay, first of all, why don't I remember reading that before, and secondly ... are you kidding??? Are. You. Kidding. This seriously blows Christianity straight out of the water for me.

Okay, I realize Christianity is made up of much, MUCH more than that passage. But still. I think that is enough to make me turn away from Christianity. Kinda makes me go, if those are the people going to heaven, please do NOT save me a seat!!!

Just sayin'.

Ok, here's a cool thought: since my goal is to stay up overnight, I will definitely be awake when the sun rises, SO - might be kinda cool to sit on our balcony to write some on my mov-eeeee ... will post picture after sun comes up.

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Something

This is one of those journal entries that starts out as a blank page in front of me, knowing there was something profound or funny or deep that I wanted to write EARLIER, but of course I can't for the life of me remember what the heck that was now. And then I realized, I just want to write something. I'm listening to the list of songs I'm planning for my movie, and I have a few minutes, and I'm feeling inspired but reluctant for some reason, to write something.

So I'll write about the music. The songs came at me rapid-fire, pow-pow-pow, just like that, and they are all PERFECT. The irony is these are songs that have been around for a while: Toto's "Africa", The Alan Parsons Project's "Eye In the Sky", the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive", and the kicker for me was Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" - the lyrics to that song fit so perfectly with how those of us in the production departments all over the country feel about coming to work, it's almost proverbial.

And for the love scene? Well, "Africa" is one of them, but far more profoundly to me is the Pointer Sisters' "Automatic": that was written for my movie, I'm sure of it:

Look what you're doin' to me
I'm utterly at your whim
All of my defenses down
Your camera looks through me
With it's X-ray vision
And all systems run aground

All I can manage to push from my lips is a stream of absurdities
Every word I intended to speak winds up locked in the circuitry

No way to control it
It's totally automatic
Whenever you're around
I'm walkin' blindfolded
Completely automatic
All of my systems go down, down, down, down

Automatic

What is this madness
That makes my motor run
My legs too weak too stand
I go from sadness
To exhilaration
Like a robot at your command

My hands perspire and shake like a leaf, up and down goes my temperature
I summon doctors to get some relief but they tell me there is no cure

They tell me,

No way to control it
It's totally automatic
Whenever you're around
I'm walkin' blindfolded
Completely automatic
All of my systems go down, down, down, down

Seriously ... this song was written for my movie! What better way to describe how a person on the techie side of the biz (production) falls in love?

A surprise find for me recently is Joe Satriani's "Flying in a Blue Dream", because the music in that song is so perfect for the mood I'm trying to convey ... there is nothing worse than getting the "blue screen of death", especially in our line of work. And believe me, it happens, way too often. We've built our whole industry on computers and digital signals now; the blue screen of death is far more significant because the stakes are much higher now. For all of us.

Well, perhaps I'm being too melodramatic. But then what good is a movie without drama???

I can't wait to start marketing the movie. That is going to be the fun part. Shooting the movie is the part I'm least looking forward to. I hate shooting; it's always a disagreeable venture. I hope I get to edit it. I want to edit it; but I'm not very talented or knowledgeable with that stuff, so I may have to recruit somebody to do that part. But we'll see, there's still time.

Time. I would like to have this done in 12 months. I think I can do it.

Casting the characters ... wheeee!!! I can't wait to do that part too.

There was something else I wanted to jot down here ... that escapes me just now. Well, I made some more notes yesterday. Didn't write actual dialogue, however I got to just do nothing but focus on my movie and make notes. I'm trying to figure out the flow of action ... admittedly that part is not coming so easily. I can tell it's there; I'm just having trouble connecting the dots. It will come to me in a rush of inspiration one day and that is how I'll figure it out.

Oh, I remember what I wanted to say: the week before last was so profound for me, the week starting Feb. 22, 2009. It kind of had it's beginnings the week before from reading Felicia Day's blog. But I never could have imagined what it would turn into. I swear I'm a different person because of those events (Hugh Jackman hosting the magnificent 81st Emmy Awards on Sunday; LeWar on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday; Conan O'Brien visiting my place of work on Friday). I just hope I can keep up this energy long enough to see my project through to completion.

Something tells me I don't think that will be a problem this time.

Friday, March 06, 2009

Tragic

This morning at work, while I was going through my rundown marking camera shots, I came across the kind of sad story that I've been dreading for many years now. Granted, this is not as earth-shattering as if it were somebody closer to me, like my husband ... but still sad nonetheless.

There on the rundown I saw the slugline which said simply, "Peter Tork."

"Oh no," I said. "No, no, no, no ... "

I fumbled with the mouse trying to double-click on the line to bring up the story. I quickly scanned it for the bad news, and then breathed a sigh of relief - it wasn't as bad as I thought, but still bad.

Peter Tork has been diagnosed with a rare form of head and neck cancer. Apparently though, so the story goes, the prognosis is "good". Not sure what that means, but okay, I'll take that.

I used to be a HUGE fan of the Monkees. Actually that is a glaring understatement. I probably should have been locked-up in a padded cell, and no doubt many people wanted to do just that to me back then, but I was literally psycho-crazy for them once upon a time. My BFF Denise and I were partners in crime scoping out which hotel they were staying at, hoping to get a picture (the "trophy" if ever there was one) and autographs ... and anything else we could get our hands on! We followed them through Michigan, Ohio, and I went all the way to Los Angeles in the summer of 1989 to see them get their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ... July, 1989, holy cow. I just found a YouTube video of that event (not a very good one, I didn't listen to it with the sound up either) - I CANNOT believe that's been 20 years!!!



... I could go on and on. Lucky for you dear reader, I am getting cut short to go back to work ...

March madness

In my attempt to keep to my promise to write something on my movie every day, even if it's just a blog post like this one to remind myself that I still have to finish writing it, here is my entry for today.

It seems like I didn't get much written yesterday (Thursday), but I keep forgetting that I mostly spent the hours between midnight yesterday and now either sleeping or working my normal 8-hour shift. And spending time with the hubby of course, that's very important.

The day before however, whoa ... I got a LOT written! And I was able to jot down some ideas at work this morning. But wow, the dialogue I got written yesterday; I was on fire! Of course, I think most of it will need some work done on it, but I got almost a whole entire scene written, would work out to be maybe ... hm ... well, a few minutes worth of movie I think.

I'm actually kind of glad I have other things demanding my attention besides writing the movie, because I find my inspiration comes when I'm in the middle of doing something else.

Oh - and I came across the BEST QUOTE EVER today, by Lewis Carroll:

"Sometimes, I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

That shall become my mantra for getting this movie done, hee hee.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Baby steps

I am now toying with the idea of simply shooting the scene I wrote yesterday, just to get my feet wet. I mean, why make myself wait until I've got the whole thing written? Why not just jump in and flippin' DO it???

Although I am feeling ansy to write some more, especially as it pertains to the main idea of the plot. I hope I get some time to do that today. *lesigh* I wish I could say, "Maybe I'll go to a coffee shop and do some writing there," except I know that's exactly what I WON'T do, because rather than being havens, I find coffee shops to be wildly distracting for writing purposes. I guess it just depends.

Well one thing I know for sure: I sure will have a better chance of getting something substantive written AFTER hubby goes to bed. :D

(But I do need to just pick up a friggin camera and SHOOT something. And get some editing software, no matter how basic and stripped down it is, and get to work...)

Getting back to filmmaking

My favorite thing about the camera: it allows me to show the world what it looks like through my eyes. I am reading a terrific article that is whetting my appetite to get back into movie-making.

I've actually begun to think about writing again, meaning dialogue in terms of how it's written into a script:

Icabod takes her hand and continues gazing at her.

Icabod
You know, I think I'm falling in love with you.

Aziza holds his gaze lovingly, tears welling up in her eyes. They squeeze each other's hands.

Aziza
I feel like I'm going to burst with things to say, but just as I'm about to say it, nothing sounds right!

She laughs and then pauses.

Aziza
I'm falling in love with you too.

She pauses again, this time breaking his gaze for the first time in several minutes to look down at their clasped hands.

Aziza
We have to take it slowly though. I feel so happy right now...

She raises her head to look into his eyes again.

Aziza
... and yet I also feel cautious. You understand.

Icabod nods, closing his eyes briefly before returning her gaze intensely.

Icabod
Yes I do. It's ok, I feel the same way.

Hidden in the shadows behind another tree, peering at the two lovers, Lilian watches wide-eyed and open-mouthed. She is surprised and stands transfixed watching the scene play out.

Lilian
Mutters quietly to herself.
Oh my God... oh my God, she finally went through with it!!!