My exponentially expanding world

I've been having a blast ever since I changed my career path from magazine writer to documentary filmmaker on the subject of music, specifically the potential for interactions between fans and band to be a positive force in both of their lives (as opposed to just a source of anxiety about stalkers and nutters).

Meanwhile, I have been churning over how I am going to raise money to make a film. My first idea was to be the cereal lady (the Cereal Cinematographer, bringing cereal and milk and spoons to festivals and beaches and parks all summer). But buying cereal in single-serve packages turns out to be spendy, so I'd have to charge high prices ("$4 for a bowl of cereal? I don't think so!"). And then I'd have to start including rice and soy milks and getting licensed to serve food. So I had another idea: I saw a book cover in my mind’s eye: The Madonna Legacy. So that’s what I’ve started. The idea is that people have the opportunity to reinvent themselves for the first time ever in a way they never did. It is in part a gift of feminism and it is in part a gift of popular musicians, like Madonna. It is a gift that was intended for women and spilled into the gay community and now represents opportunity for everyone. I’ll write and talk about self-expression and feminism, music, reinvention, why boho chic and the Beauty School of Kabul are all good things, and I’ll raise money for my film.

Also, I believe music is one of the best ways to get people together for good and it's such a visual as well as aural experience. We've gotten so accustomed to this one-way viewing of pop stars and the truly famous. We listen to their CDs over and over or watch their videos, and a rare few of us go listen to them live if they come to the area for a performance. But the interactions between fans and musicians are truly such a potential source of big joy for people that I want to share some of that energy and remind people that life is more than about choreographed MTV videos played over and over. That people get energy from these encounters and things happen as a result of them. Hey, it's working for me!

And, let's face it, I want to show people why Gomez are so much more fun than all those dreary-assed Wilco and Death Cab for Cutie guys. Others I'd love to film: Michael Franti (hip hop ain't all about gangstas, homey), the madcap Moxy Fruvous, Frank Orrall, Ben Harper -- interesting people. Wish I'd seen Leonard Bernstein when he was alive. I definitely had a crush on him. And Bill Graham, even if I didn't necessarily like him so much.

Plus, my own journey is inspiring the hell out of me. Who knows what I can do? I haven’t even gotten started yet! This is absolutely thrilling to be living here and now, and I need to find a way to share the wealth, spread it far and wide, like my favorite artists do. It makes me want to reach. The world is exploding exponentially and I am in it!