Yvette's Inner Geek Blog

Though this was my fourth year as a festival volunteer, it was my first year as a full-time volunteer in Park City. I worked in theater operations at the Egyptian Theater in Park City my first year, then worked the box office at the Sundance Resort for the past two years because it was a much closer drive. I loved the remote venue and the tight-knit group of people, but I was ready for an immersive experience in the heart of the festival and was free enough to be able to do it this year. I have no idea where I’ll be at this point in my life next year, so I am delighted to have had the opportunity and über-grateful for my encouraging husband who enabled me to have this experience.

I was recruited for a new position called a Festival Insider Pro, which put me exactly where I wanted to be: roaming on Main Street, the heart of the festival. Though I could have done without the “ASK ME” hat (it kept riding up and making it look like I was a Conehead) and the 8-hour mostly outdoor shifts in below-freezing weather, I had a blast.

I qualified for free lodging, so I spent 12 nights in a decent little condo with three roommates (coincidentally all from the DC area) who are now my friends. I shared a room but got my own twin-size bed… I don’t even remember the last time I slept in a twin. The bed was okay, but I slept a lot better after I acquired earplugs to drown out the busy Park Ave. street noise. I’m used to sleeping in a quiet house in quiet suburbia where I’m usually only awakened by the sound of vomiting cats.

My check-in date and first training were on Tuesday, January 18—two days before the official start of the festival. I was exhausted from the week leading up to my travel, which was not the best way to start out the trip. But Park City was pretty quiet upon my arrival.

(Oh, and my arrival was aided by fancy schmancy Google Navigation on my Droid X! Good thing I got the little doohickey that suctions to my windshield to hold my phone at eye-level. Unfortunately, Google Navigation really only helps when you enter the correct address.)

I skipped the two available volunteer film screenings (Bengali Detective and Mad Bastards) that evening in favor of sleep. It was a good choice. Tuesday was full of meeting people, smashing a bunch of learning into my brain, receiving my wardrobe plus accessories, and participating in a trial-run tour of Main Street with the other Main Street Insider Pros. The day looked like this:

My wardrobe consisted of a Kenneth Cole-insignia’d royal blue down vest, which I knew about, and may have partially contributed to my choice of coordinating pink hair… whoops, I forgot to mention that I refreshed it a few days before the festival. It looked sort of this, and my apologies but I was tired and this is the only photo that even came out:

Anyway, all Sundance volunteers received the blue Kenneth Cole vest, a gray hat (sponsored by Chase Sapphire), and a scarf (sponsored by Acura). For my specialty position, I also received a bright pink (it matched my hair!) pin that said “ASK ME,” a dorky white “ASK ME” hat, and a black messenger bag that was printed with “ASK ME” in an orangey-red that was apparently supposed to be pink. Of course I also had a credentials pouch on a lanyard, where I stuck a few buttons over the course of the week. I accepted a special “Jeg Snakker Norsk” button to announce that I speak Norwegian… which came in handy twice during the festival. First time!

All outfitted, I looked something like this:

And you can’t really tell because all of my photos were taken with my Droid (whose 8MP camera is most certainly not as good as my 8MP Canon Powershot or my 8 million MP Canon Rebel that I did not take along) but in this photo I am wearing glamorous blue and silver eye shadow thanks to Isaac in the l’Oreal sponsor room. Well, you probably wouldn’t be able to see it even with a better camera because my eyelids are invisible thanks to genetics. But I’m wearing l’Oreal mascara, which in theory you should be able to see. And please just ignore the yellow shirt underneath because it doesn’t really match. After I saw this photo I made sure that my scarf (which was mine, not the blue-gray one that Acura provided because I actually didn’t get mine until later that week) was tucked into my vest and hiding whatever garishly-colored shirt I wore each day.

With all of these excuses, I wonder why I’m even posting this photo. I don’t know. Maybe because I went to the trouble of putting all the links in the right places, and you should appreciate the time and effort I’ve taken to write this lengthy and not really descriptive post?

Uh-oh, I’m starting to go all Meta and breaking that fourth wall. I think it’s time to wrap up this post and take a breather before starting up part 2.

But at least let me leave you on a positive note from Wednesday before the festival officially started: I attended a volunteer screening of the documentary Being Elmo, which is about Kevin Clash and the puppeteering journey that led him to become Elmo’s alter-ego and a major player on Sesame Street. As a lifelong Muppet fan, I knew I’d love it, but even so I was still impressed and loved it more than I thought I would. When it comes out, you should definitely see it. My favorite part was learning about how, as a teenager, Clash was ridiculed by his peers because he was obsessed with puppets. But he set his skills to use entertaining kids around the neighborhood and started working on a local children’s TV show while still in high school, turning his reputation around. Like most of us geeks, he never forgot what it was like to be labeled different, and that had an effect on how he and his characters developed.

Being Elmo hasn’t been picked up for distribution yet to my knowledge, but when it comes out, trust me that this is a documentary you have to see. I dare you to not get teary-eyed.

Mrs. Claus finally convinced Santa to get me that smartphone, even though it was mid-January! Thanks, Mrs. C!

Yes, I am now the proud owner of a Droid X. After a little more in-person tactile research, I decided that the X’s larger screen was worth more to me than the slide-down physical keypad on the Droid 2 Global. And if/when I travel to Europe in the next couple years, I’ll just get a pre-paid phone while I’m there.

I did goof in getting a fancy new phone just a few days before leaving town for the Sundance Film Festival, though. I had grand visions of being able to blog from my new smartphone… which were soon thwarted by a somewhat poor experience with the WordPress app and the logistics of writing a blog entry on a small touchpad keyboard. THWARTED, I say! Also, I didn’t take my laptop because I didn’t know what sort of housing situation I would have, and didn’t want to risk losing my baby. The withdrawal was tough.

Top 4 things I missed while away from home for 13 days (in no particular order):

• My laptop
• My bed
• My husband
• My cats

Getting to know my Droid X before I left basically didn’t happen because of the (how am I still caught off-guard by this?) crazy busy couple days pre-travel. Some things were easy, but the interface introduced a lot of quirks that made me feel like an ID10T when it came to things like, you know, needing to dial a number. Durrrr. I was also overwhelmed by the number of apps available to download. I haven’t yet shelled out money for the birding app I want, but I did download a slew of essential free apps like these:

• Angry Birds
• The Weather Channel
• 3D Level
• Retro Camera
• IMDB

…and then I promptly lost all practical usage of my phone whenever Ben wanted to play Angry Birds. [Note: he is adamantly against getting a smartphone himself, but the fact that Angry Birds is not available for a PC is kind of crushing his soul.] He squished my high scores from the four levels I’d initially played and underwent his own withdrawal period when I left for the festival. Poor baby. He’s happy I’m home and that I haven’t yet broken or lost my Angry Birds console.

And the Sundance Film Festival? I have lots to say about it, so look forward to that (unless you have more exciting things going on in your life, which I really hope you do). I was able to use my Droid X as a camera and documented a crap-ton of moments for which I have anecdotes and probable lies to share. I uploaded a lot of those photos to facebook, and would have also to Twitter for my stalker-friends, but the default uploader application was being a bitch and so I gave up. Lame, I know. Hence the ID-10T Error title for today.

I can’t believe I forgot to mention the coolest thing about my last 2010 Sundance volunteer day! I twittered on Saturday that Karen Allen had just walked out of the Screening Room. I didn’t get a great look at her, but figured that would be the closest I would ever come to her. NOT TRUE!

Sunday morning, Karen Allen was in the lobby again. Yes, Marion from the Indiana Jones movies was a few feet away from me. She and a (her?) casting agent didn’t have a ticket to see The Extra Man, so they needed to buy them from me (well, technically from the box office). I didn’t let her buy one, though. Because I volunteered a bunch for the Sundance Institute over the summer, I had been given a few guest vouchers that could be exchanged for waitlist tickets… so I refused the $20 she held out to me and told her that I would like to buy her ticket for her. As a volunteer, I’m expected to control my fangirl-gushings, so I didn’t tell her how happy I was to meet her or she was in some of my favorite movies as a kid—the Indiana Jones trilogy, of course, but also Scrooged.

I handed her the voucher from my badge pcket, which I then needed to take back (LIKE A BIG IDIOT) so I could give her the ticket that would actually get her into the theater. She was somewhat quiet, but smiled and said thank you. She looked exactly like she did in the fourth Indiana Jones movie (even though I’m still trying to forget that ever happened). I wish that I had been able to chat with her a little, but the lobby was busy and she was shuffled into the theater as soon as she got her ticket. I saw her again in the crowd on her way out. I regret not asking for a photo with her.

And finally, I don’t know what Robert Redford has against me—or who is conspiring to keep him away from me. He attended a screening at the resort on the first Saturday night and in unprecedented fashion, was there early and even stood to ask a question in the Q&A afterward. Where was I? Park City. He came by the second Saturday night shortly after I’d gone home. He stopped by the Sundance Screening room while I was there on Sunday—but I was inside the theater and nobody came to get me. I mean, really. There was also a near-miss this past summer. I’m sick of hearing other people’s “Bob” stories! I want my own!

I’ve been helping out with Sundance Institute functions at the resort enough this year to think that my chances of actually seeing him—let alone meeting him—are pretty good. But it seems as though, in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern metaphor, my Robert Redford coin keeps landing on heads when I’m betting on tails.

I could also pull in a Hitchhiker’s Guide reference while I’m at it.

Life, as many people have spotted, is, of course, terribly unfair. For instance, the first time the Heart of Gold ever crossed the galaxy the massive improbability field it generated caused two-hundred-and-thirty-nine thousand lightly-fried eggs to materialise in a large, wobbly heap on the famine-struck land of Poghril in the Pansel system. The whole Poghril tribe had just died out from famine, except for one man who died of cholesterol-poisoning some weeks later.

Terribly unfair. Yeah.

Saturday morning, the first film at the Sundance Screening Room was Sympathy for Delicious. I didn’t get to see much of it because I was finally doing box office stuff. But two of the principal cast members, Chris Thornton and Mark Ruffalo (who is also the director), were there early and were happy to talk with people in the lobby. I thought that was cool. Also, they were both quite handsome.

For the day’s second film, Grown Up Movie Star, the director, producer, and lead character from were there. I was still on box office and also took my lunch break. The “winter chicken salad” from the Sundance deli was amazing. Expensive, of course, because it’s a resort. But still. Yum.

My shift ended right before the 6pm film, Abel, a Mexican film was in Spanish with English subtitles for which I was able to finally use my volunteer credentials to exchange for a seat in the audience. I loved it. Though I relied on the subtitles, it was cool to work the dusty part of my brain that holds my Spanish language skills. The film was funny, interesting, and touching. There was a dramatic point in the movie when there was no sound—and the audience was completely silent. For at least a minute, we were on the edge of our seats and all holding our breath at the same time. No coughing, not wrappers, no whispering. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that absolute silence in a theater before.

That was it for my Saturday. I was tired and not really interested in driving up to Park City for the awards after-party, tempted as I was by free food and alcohol. Lots of driving just didn’t sound appealing, especially because I needed to get up early, so I went home.

It snowed overnight which made driving to my 9am Sunday shift more exciting than I would have liked it to be. I slipped a bit on the crappy roads, but still made it in safely. I was able to sneak in to see most of The Extra Man, a quirky and more light-hearted film than is typical at Sundance. I liked it. Then I snuck into the projection room (with Chris the projectionist’s permission) to take some behind-the-scenes photos.

The second film of the day, a documentary about two brothers-in-law with Al Qaeda associations called The Oath, was also the final festival screening at the Screening Room. I saw portions of it that looked really good, but I just wasn’t in the mood for it. I spent the next couple hours (after my shift was officially over) screwing around with my fancy camera. I really need to spend more time learning about everything it can do. Some of the photos turned out well, though, and that was helped by having some willing models.

These Sundance volunteers are crazy silly, let me tell you. They didn’t get mad about me shoving my camera in their face… and that’s after the several hours they spent this past week dealing with my sarcastic shit. Good people!

See more of my Sundance photos on Flickr.

After a busy weekend with little sleep, I stayed occupied with school and other responsibilities for the next few days. Friday afternoon there was a volunteer-only free screening of Mother and Child in Salt Lake City that I was able to attend. I drove up by myself with loose plans to try for waitlist tickets to another Sundance movie or two, just because I could.

I had heard that Mother and Child was really good and would make me cry, but I wasn’t quite prepared for the emotional bitch-slap it would give me. In a good way. I’m not usually the “emotional cryer” type of theater-goer, but in my defense there were a lot of other audience members sniffling during the screening and they were also red-eyed as they walked out.  So. If you want to see a heart-achingly wonderful crier of a film, push this one to the top of your list! It has several recognizable names and faces and a somewhat twisty storyline that comes together beautifully, even if slightly predictable.

I’ve learned that predictability isn’t necessarily bad—the audience can be sure about what will ultimately happen as long as they’re intrigued about how the story will get there.

Speaking of stories, I realized after I parked at the downtown cinema that my favorite local independent bookseller, Sam Weller’s, was just a block and a half away. The movie had run too long for me to get tickets to the 6pm show I’d wanted to see, but my parking was validated so wandered over to Main Street.

As I waited to cross the street, it occurred to me that it’s been a long time since I’ve walked alone on a city street. Shows how much I get out, I know. But it reminded me of how much I enjoy solitary time in the city—any city—now and then. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with people and exploring cities together. I just really enjoy my heightened level of observation when I’m in a busy place by myself.

And, of course, there’s the wonderful freedom of browsing this huge and eclectic bookstore without worrying about outlasting another person’s patience. I can’t help it. When I’m in a bookstore, museum, etc., I suddenly need to take in everything. Time becomes irrelevant, which (not surprisingly) can cause friction with my companions.

But look at this bookstore. It has three floors that encourage meandering and happily losing yourself in the must-laced recesses of hidden corners. It’s clean and well-organized and completely entrancing. In Utah there are no dust mites, which means that I don’t burst into a sneezing fit like I do in used bookstores elsewhere.

Since I had my camera with me, I requested permission to take photos. The owner, Tony, happened to be at the front register when I asked. He said as long as I didn’t work for Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, or the like that I was welcome to practice my bookstore-lust photography. I got a couple good ones, but I kept getting distracted by books. Go figure.

The store closed at 7, so a time limit was forced upon me. Boo! Probably for the best. I spent the bulk of my real browsing time in the American and World Folklore section (interestingly, placed right beside the large LDS/Mormon section) and went home with three new used books. I still need to enter those into LibraryThing. Not tonight, though. I have to get up early for the last day of the film festival.

In stark contrast to my gray and snowtastic Saturday, Sunday was full of fresh air and sunshine. A little gray in the morning but otherwise beautiful. Once I was caffeinated enough to appreciate it, anyway.

Enough people were skiing that day to fill the lower (and more convenient) parking lots before I arrived, so I parked for the first time in the mystical “upper lot” that I didn’t even know existed until a couple days before. No signs point toward the twisty uphill road or say what’s up there, but now I know it exists. This new adventure gave me the opportunity to ride a shuttle bus filled with snowboarders. “Duuuuuuude!”

Once I arrived at the Screening Room (that’s the entrance pictured above—sort of tucked in near the end of a winding path that leads past the base ski lift), there were already plenty of volunteers on staff. That’s a good thing for overall operation of the theater, but I was a little ticked because I would have rather slept in after that late and stressful night. They scheduled 3 people on box office when only 2 are needed—guess that builds in a little CYA in case someone no-shows.

I helped with the crowds for the first film of the day and soon after was given a completely different task. The networked phone/internet wasn’t working (HORROR) and I got the “you’re good with computers, right?” direction to be the liaison with tech support. The tech support guys would have come to fix it in person if we weren’t a 45-60 minute drive away from Park City.

(It always amuses me and catches me off guard when people think that I “know about computers.” Just because I spend all of my time dicking around online and/or being a slave to Adobe products doesn’t mean I how to fix things. I have an engineer husband for that kind of stuff! But when liaising with tech support is involved, I guess “you’re good with computers” really means that I know what a cat-5 cable is and I’m not afraid of touching Things With Blinking Lights)

The cool thing about my time with tech support was that I needed access to the router, which was located in a maintenance closet to which only the resort’s safety/security manager had a key. When I called to request that it be opened, the manager said it would be a few minutes because he had to a paparazzi issue to deal with.

Ooooooo!

When he arrived and we were walking around the back of the building, I smoothly inquired if paparazzi things had quieted down. They had. Then I asked “so is Bob on campus?” Which, in retrospect, really sounds like a geek trying to be cool and not realizing that it’s not working. Bob = Robert Redford if you’re in the know. And now you are in the know. But no, the paparazzi issue was not for him. It was for one of his friends whom I’d never heard of before.

The maintenance closet was cool not just because I had to step in a 3-foot drift of snow and over a 5-inch sheet of broken ice that had fallen from the roof to get to it. It was cool because it was behind one of those doors that people are trained not to see, hidden in plain sight, and because it was a place of power. Read more…

You may be wondering why the hell this three-part blog story is called “Park City Whiteout.” Well, this is the finale, and I promise an answer!

—

In a somewhat undramatic turn of events, we got in to see Bass Ackwards! It turns out that the theater wasn’t even full. After we were seated and waiting for the film to start, I asked a girl in front of us to take a photo of me and Marie. She did, and I returned the favor. We shared a nice conversation with her and her sister, who turned out to be 2/3 of teenage triplets from Phoenix. Their other sister stayed at home with their dad to go to a dance instead of going with their mom to Park City. Obviously we know who the cool ones are: Sydney and Giselle!

The picture of them is much cuter than the picture of me and Marie. My fault, mostly. And the lady a few rows behind us who was eating in a somewhat ungracious manner.

So finally, at 8:30pm, we were able to see a film at Sundance. Unfortunately, it was not as wonderful as we’d hoped it would be. Marie put it well when she called it self-indulgent. The director was also the co-screenwriter and the main character. He seemed like a nice enough guy during the Q & A, but still.

Though there were elements of the film that were touching and very well-done, there were also elements that dragged on and I felt should have been edited down or out. Bass Ackwards was part of the NEXT series at Sundance, which features films done on a “microbudget” by choice, not necessarily necessity. According to the producer, the microbudget was about $100,000 for them. Considering that the film involved a cross-country journey in a small 1976 Volkswagen van, that seems impressive. And the cinematography was pretty awesome.

However, there was waaaay too much screen time of Linas in a deep v-neck t-shirt. Man boobs I can handle, but Men, please note: combining them with deep v-neck t-shirts is a bad idea. Making that a prominent wardrobe choice when the audience is supposed to like the main character is a terrible idea.

And now… drum roll please… Why this 3-part blog is called Park City Whiteout.

Marie and I left the theater a little after 10pm with an interest in going home. No midnight screenings for us, partially because we’re lame like that but also because it was snowing and we knew the drive home was not going to be perfect. I called Ben, who reported that there was a pretty strong system hitting Salt Lake City and headed east into Park City. Niiiice. This is the last photo I took that night.

We caught another bus that dropped us off a quarter (maybe half?) mile or so from the damn Park & Ride we worked so hard to get into. There was an inch or two of snow on the car, but it was starting to come down a little heavier. Read more…

After our dinner-snack at Java Cow, we headed back down Main Street to catch a different bus that would take us to the Prospector Theater, where we could wait in the waitlist line for a different movie. The winter light was fading quickly and I hadn’t taken many photos yet, attributable to the crappy weather and not feeling photographically inspired, so I pulled out my camera and took a few shots on the way. Fabulous Marie was a gracious model. This is one of my favorite photos.

Technically there was one singular (sensation) celebrity sighting while we were in Park City. Technically, Marie saw him. I say Technically because as we were rushing up Main Street to see if we could still get tickets to Four Lions, Marie FAILED to hail my attention when Alan Tudyk passed us. Maybe you’ve heard of him? He’s a friend of some guy named Joss Whedon and has acted in some minor film/television productions like Firefly, Dollhouse, and V. If you’re a gamer, maybe you’d recognize his voice from Halo 3:ODST.

Yeah, so Technically she saw him. I can’t verify that, so rather than bury myself in the anguished bitterness of a lost geek celebrity sighting, I’ll just vent through my blog. Healthy choices!

Anyway.

We returned to the Old Town Transit Station, which is across the street behind Main Street and up a long staircase, to wait for the (free) bus that would take us somewhat directly to our next venue. I looked at the map myself and determined that it was a pretty direct line and we wouldn’t be on the bus for another 45 minutes. I also figured out that the volunteer who directed us to get on that first (also free) bus could have easily told us to cross the street, walk up a little way, and catch a bus that would get us to Main Street in under 15 minutes, thereby allowing plenty of time to acquire waitlist tickets for the movie we wanted to see. Grrr. In any case, we arrived at the Prospector Hotel without incident and lined up to get waitlist numbers.

The way Sundance Film Festival ticketing works is pretty clever and mildly irritating. Anyone can purchase hard tickets for $15 in advance, even on the day of the screening, until the designated allotment of tickets is sold out. Most screenings, especially on the first weekend, are sold out well in advance of the festival. There are a certain number of seats that are reserved for the director, prominent actors and/or entourage should they decide to attend. And new for this year is a small allotment of seats for volunteers who cash in their free vouchers or flash their I’m-a-hardcore-volunteer photo credentials to get in.

There is also a waitlist line for every screening. Hopeful, risk-taking people line up in a designated area near every theater and then, at exactly two hours before the screening will start, brightly colored paper numbers are handed out in the order that people lined up. People disperse. Then they reconvene in line a half hour before the screening will start. If the theater manager determines that there will be seats available, some (and occasionally all) of those waitlisters will be able to plunk down $15 cash and get a ticket on the spot.

Any pre-purchase ticketholders who are not seated by 15 minutes prior to screening time risk forfeiting their seat to someone in the waitlist. Waitlisters are processed in small groups so to give ticketholders a generous opportunity to arrive in the nick of time, but sometimes they’ve decided not to see the film or the weather (or bus system) prevented them from making it on time. It’s sad when people arrive late with hard tickets but cannot get in to the theater, but obviously Sundance’s larger goal is to fill the theater and maximize sales. They’re a non-profit organization and need every penny—which is why you’ll see rampant corporate sponsorship throughout the festival and on every official Sundance sign.

(On Sunday there was an article in Salt Lake City’s Deseret News about Sundance’s dedicated volunteer fleet. It claimed that our volunteer hours were worth over $500,000 to the festival, assuming we were paid “McDonald’s wages.”)

Right. So. We acquired numbers 50 and 51 in the waitlist line for Bass Ackwards. Even though the theater seats over 300, those were still pretty high waitlist numbers for a premiere. We headed over to the nearby Volunteer Villa (a large temporary tent behind festival headquarters at the Marriott) for a little while. It had a couple computers with internet access, board games, coffee, cookies, and a TV tuned to the Encore channel. Pretty swanky for a tent, huh?

We almost couldn’t leave because Speed was on TV and Marie wanted to know how it ended. Har har.

Stay tuned for Part 3 of this incredibly non-eventful-yet-full-of-details story!

Marie and I met for breakfast on Saturday at Cracker Barrel. A classy start for classy ladies, what can I say? After filling ourselves with pancakes and coffee (and yes, a pre-trip bathroom break), we hit the road to Park City. The skies were gray and some small flurries swirled around the car as we  entered Provo Canyon around noon, but the ride was cool because we followed a BatmoSUV most of the way!

(I guess the conversation was nice, too.)

Once we arrived in Park City, our goal was to be on Main Street around 3pm so we would have plenty of time to wait in the waitlist line for tickets to see Four Lions. We had about two hours. Plenty of time, right? HA!

Time disappeared quickly as we drove around looking for a parking lot that wasn’t full. Once we finally found a spot in the Park & Ride (for $10, what a steal!) we waited for a free bus to take us to Main Street. I had put Marie in charge of my trusty point-and-shoot camera while I carried my new Rebel around so that we would maximize our opportunities to grab celebrity photos. Mostly we just took photos like these:

(Isn’t Marie’s hat adorable? And that hand-knit scarf? Both are mine. Silly girl thought it was going to be sunny and warm-ish! Luckily I was over-prepared and had extras. This resulted in Marie looking fabulous and me looking like a major dork. Not that it could have been prevented.)

After the bus finally arrived, and we verified it would take us to Main Street, we packed in like sardines and waited for our stop. Seats opened up so we sat down. Time passed and we were still driving around Park City. Like, a half hour. Then some more. Apparently we got on right after the bus had been to Main Street, stayed on as it looped around the city here and there, and clung to thin strands of hope that we would make it to the theater in time to even get a waitlist number, let alone be there early.

Yeah. That didn’t happen. We arrived at the Old Town Transit Center above Main Street over 45 minutes after boarding the bus. Good lawd! But we were still in high spirits because of the pending excitement, and we knew that there were lots of other movies to see besides Four Lions. It was still sad to ask for a waitlist number shortly after they had all been given out. No chance for that screening at the Egyptian Theater.

Since I volunteered at the Egyptian in 2008 and knew some of the alumni crew, I tried pulling some strings. For a different screening it might have worked. This one was sold out hardcore, though, so no dice.

I consoled myself with a VERY delicious cheese-and-veggie crepe at Java Cow down the street. Marie had a sandwich of some sort but I can tell you right now that savory crepes are the way to go… even if they are a little pricey. My Egyptian Theater friend Julia joined us (she had raspberry sorbet, I think?) but unfortunately not Jenny, who was feeling sick and had gone home to rest. I took this photo of the Holstein-themed ventilation in the cafe. The place was decked out in Holstein cow kitsch, the likes of which cannot be seen anywhere else in the continental USA. Or so I would presume. It was pretty crazy!

I need to stop writing for the night, so look forward to Part 2 of Day 2 in the near future. Hopefully I get to that (and my Sunday Sundance adventures) before it’s time for me to have new adventures this weekend!

I love this photo! Taken at dusk with a Canon Rebel on auto (‘cuz I’m fancy like that). It’s the top of the Old Town Transit Center on Main Street in Park City.

Trying to get this posted before midnight so it still counts for my 365 day challenge. I’m getting into a groove, though… I just need to get started earlier in the day to make sure that I don’t cop out with a photo and a few words when I get tired or busy. Like tonight.

I’m still in the process of uploading photos to Flickr from the last couple days. That includes weeding through the duplicates, tagging them, labeling them, etc. I didn’t take photos of even half the stuff I wanted to, partially because my camera is still new and it was snowing most of the time and I didn’t want to get water stains all over the lens. Marie had my point and shoot camera for the day and she caught some great photos as well. I still need to empty that memory card. Thanks for being patient with my procrastination.