The Cusp

  I decided to go see what the chances of us winning anything in one of those car dealer scratch off games. They had sent us a letter in the mail that we had a "guaranteed prize" all we had to do was come collect. They are never that easy.
   We went down any way both of us bored and just sitting around the house. While there of course they tried talking me in to buying a car. (They almost succeeded as well.) A nice little 2016 Jeep Compass, they had ran all the numbers and they wanted me in that car. They offered 0$ down, to pay off the mustang I already have and let me keep it and give me zero down. They were trying hard.
  We left with out the car, for now, and proceeded home, our main prize in hand, a little MP3 player. It was the discussion on the drive home that allowed us both to realize, we're almost there. We've almost made it to a point where we are going to be able to live comfortably enough. No worrying over the bills getting paid, losing the internet. We've almost made it out of the lower class.
   This was something that was a bit scary to both of us but exciting at the same time. See we've never had this, we've never been this close to being okay. To having things paid and not having to worry about money the rest the month. We'll be able to go on trips together for the weekend. Have more time at home and off. More time and money to explore the world around us.
   This is absolutely mind blowing to us. It sounds like something small and simple enough to most the world I'm sure. But the sense of relief as you start to realize that your going to be okay, it's all going to be okay, it's absolutely wonderful.

SxSW Journal - Issue #1

Day 1 - Getting started

 We left around 6 o’clock after loading everything up. Stopped in Cullman for food. It was a decent trip even with all the bullshit I dealt with from them. Made it to Montgomery around 9. We had to wait till 1am to leave. While I’m feeling tired I still think I can make it. 

Day 2 - Late Departures

  It’s 1:35 AM we’re still sitting at the meeting point waiting on everyone. Weed smoke is heavy in the air but it’s not a bad smell. TK is playing different rap videos off the YouTube on the TV. Every one is either memorized by the TV or on some sort of electronic device we’re waiting to leave still.
 Almost all of the day was spent traveling once we go to the cabin it was around 6 already and the team had a show that started at 8. Three hours into the show and we’re trying to figure out when it’s ending. Personally I have a headache and am ready to go the, The film team has already all ran through one set of batteries each.

 I managed to fall asleep at the club for a little bit. I was just so worn out. I drove all night and then went straight to work. Everyone understood but that wasn’t the point. I just finished today’s vlog in editing so now to upload it.

(Please note that after this past entry we better learned what we were doing and how to go about doing it. This means the entries will get longer here after.)

Day 3- The Long Haul

  We woke up around 10 finally. I had stayed up a little later than the others because I had fallen asleep at the club. Talked to our chef for a bit and found out how he managed to set all of this up. In the process of I talked to one of the professional drivers they hired for us. He had came down from Chicago to be able to do the driving for us. Not even a few hours after making it to town he found out his father had been admitted to the hospital nearby. We all agreed that the world works in mysterious ways. Life brought him all the way down here right when he was going to be needed most.

  We finally got to the first event of the day around 1 PM I think. I don’t actually remember the time we left or got here. We’re working on shooting a series of performances and bouncing in and out of doing all of the work we need to, networking and everything else we have a whole corner of this bar covered in Mac’s. There’s so much running around going on it’s clear we don’t have enough of a team but it’s been amazing none the less.

  Compared to yesterday we have more of an efficient plan for today. Currently I’m guarding equipment and such while they shoot interviews outside. I’ve managed to catch up on some of my work but not all of it. About to grab the vlog and record that too. This is going to be a long day but well worth it. 

  8 PM We’re finally loading up to head back to the ranch. The video team is splitting and the new guy Fred is planning to go with another artist to a show over on 6th street (the main street for the fest) while the rest of us head back to the ranch to get to work on editing. There’s going to be another show back at the ranch at some point tonight so I’m trying to get back and get ready for that.

Day 4 - The Big One

   It’s technically still day 3 but it’s 2AM and the party is still going on here. Our cabin is far enough away we can sleep with out any problems. I’m just choosing not to sleep yet while I work on promoting. I’ve been on all the social media sites (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) now pushing some kind of work. I have 3 different video plans in place right now. I’ll work on them some after some sleep with luck. 

   It’s currently 3:23 and we are being told we are going to vacate the property for a little while. The show going on here tonight is going to be huge. They don’t want any one feeling uncomfortable so they are taking the whole team somewhere. We’re loading up all of our valuable stuff and leaving some clothes here. We don’t know when exactly we’ll be coming back tho.

Day 5 - Last Call

   Last night was amazing we only woke up around 12 we were up till around 8am tho so we’re doing pretty good I’m not sure what exactly the plan is tonight but I think once we are done with the party we are going to sleep for a little bit. Before we start this drive back to Huntsville. It’s going to be upsetting to leave but this trip has been so amazing. 

   The event was canceled so we pretty much just hung out all day at the ranch and slept off and on. Around 8 o’clock me and Fred finally departed for 6th street. We got there after spending close to 20 minutes creeping through downtown Austin trying to find some where to park. Once we managed to we made a mad dash straight to the main part of 6th. It was packed. Music coming from every corner, kids selling water bottles, it was like a whole other world.

   Granted this was the first time I’ve been to SxSW I thought I knew some what of what to expect, as it turns out, I had no clue. This has been an amazing experience that I thought I would have never gotten to have. I’ve networked with so many people gotten so many great shots. I have a lot to go through and fix and edit. But there is no doubt going to be a lot of great content coming from this trip. Only bad thing is in a few hours I have to make the 13 hour drive back home. This is going to be another long day.

   We made it back into Huntsville around 8 PM. It had been a very long day. I drove back he 13 hour drive with 4 hours of sleep. I got so wired of of coffee and energy drinks. That has to be the only way we made it back. Over all it was an amazing trip. 

Because I wanted to write this in it’s entirety without sleep and proper edit this will serve as the Raw Draft. This is being posted at 12:00 AM Monday, March 20th, 2017. (Or a couple minutes late depending) Edits and full details will come later.