All in a Day's Work

Some day I show up to work and there's lots to do. Yesterday was one of those days, as I showed up and found two large projects waiting for me.

The first was my debut as an extra for a magazine ad our department needed to create. We're trying to do some of our own photography to save on costs with our contracted graphic design company. The set was a bus that we rented for two hours. I got to sit in the very front seat because I was smaller and could accommodate what they were looking for. Only the top of my head is in the shot, but hey, it's going to be famous I guess. Actually I'm just fine knowing that my face isn't in it. I think I'd be highly embarrassed. Originally when they thought there was going to be more of me in the shot, they made me put on another shirt that was lighter than the black one I was wearing. I don't think the girl who owned the shirt was too happy with that, but she survived. That's probably my first (and last) experience as an extra; it was moderately exciting.

The second project originated from an email in my Inbox saying that the PR department needed me to call and interview someone ASAP and write up a bio for the Web. When I interviewed her, I mentioned that the PR guys had already sent me the testimonial she had typed up, and that I'd be combining her bio and the testimonial. She mentioned that the PR guys said I was the best person to do that for them. Then she dropped a few specific names--one of them being the PR director. Wow, I was flattered to think that the PR director finally likes me enough that he'd mention me as a good writer. I was quite pleased. After an hour-long conversation, I wrote up the bio and sent it to her for review. She called me soon afterwards and we walked through every part of it (note: this was the phone call that made me miss listening to Dick Cheney's commencement speech yesterday).

The best part of the day was that my voice was going downhill; talking to me was like talking to a chain smoker. Ha ha...

This morning she called me again to find out what the status of her bio was. I told her it has been approved by two different departments (including legal) and would be online at some point today. (And today my voice is doing much, much better; take that, allergies!) But she thanked me for all the work I did for her and told me that I was very good at my craft. "Every time I read it, the text becomes more beautiful to me," she said. She also said her sister read the bio and mentioned that I had captured the story beautifully. That was one of the nicest compliments I've ever gotten!