#the100dayproject Day 51: Raven Stands Alone

This post is part of #the100dayproject that encourages creatives to do an action every day for 100 days. I've chosen to write an article or blog post every day. Previous posts for this project can be found here.

He walked in the newsroom on September 19, 2014. Raven Stands Alone (birth name: Arnold Lerch) told me he was on a transcontinental crossing with his bike on his way to California before making his way back to Florida. He was 66 years old and had type 2 diabetes.

“Would you like to write a story on me?”

Of course I did.

I grabbed my notebook and learned that this guy had done 27 transcontinental crossings around the US. He got his first bike from his favorite uncle when he was five years old and has been pedaling ever since. He rode his first trip when he was 12 years old. He jumped on his bike on a Thursday afternoon from Stockton, California to the mills in Sierra, Nevada. He wanted to visit his grandma for the weekend. She was obviously surprised when he showed up at her door.

He said his body hurts all the time except when he’s pedaling, but he’s doing this to bring awareness to diabetes and multiple sclerosis. At the time, his beloved sister-in-law was in the final stages of MS.

Carrying all he needs to camp and to document his trip on his bike, his journey included Long Beach, California to Juneau, Alaska to Boston, Massachusetts and back to Jacksonville, Florida.

“I’m like Forrest Gump. I’m not gonna stop riding until I die out there on the highway some place.”

He painted his face after an encounter with a bear during one of his trips. Sitting in a tree for a half a day, he said “Creator, if you let me out of this tree, unmarked by the bear, I’ll mark myself every day.” He’s marked his face for over 30 years.

#the100dayproject Day 54: The attack of the emu

This post is part of #the100dayproject that encourages creatives to do an action every day for 100 days. I've chosen to write an article or blog post every day. Previous posts for this project can be found here.

I took this photo during an assignment about the egg shortage in Texas, or what I discovered is the lack of one in our case. At that time, there were a lot of stories about restaurants like Whataburger cutting back on their breakfast hours because a strain of the avian flu caused an egg shortage. The state went crazy because no one gets in the way of a Texan's breakfast taco.

So I wondered if it affected our area and turns out, it didn't. In fact, my story ended up being that we had plenty of eggs to go around. I interviewed all the local restaurants that had eggs on the menu as well as the local ranchers/farmers that sold eggs. No one was affected.

I stopped by Surber Ade to take photos of their fridge packed with eggs and of their chickens on their property. When we arrived, there was an emu who guarded the chickens and she was not happy to see me. She came charging at me the moment her owner turned around to close the gate, but didn't actually touch me. I can't remember if we stopped her or she stopped herself, but it freaked me out. Not how I expected to spend an afternoon with some chickens.

I managed to get a few snaps of the animals before the emu stood in front of them to let me know that was enough. I got the hint and I left, but not before I took a photo of her standing there.

#the100dayproject Day 44: Esteban

This post is part of #the100dayproject that encourages creatives to do an action every day for 100 days. I've chosen to write an article or blog post every day. Previous posts for this project can be found here.

I saw him every Friday morning. He rode a tricycle around town with a large trash bag attached to the back. He stopped by every dumpster in town to collect aluminum cans in exchange for money.

I first noticed Esteban Silva when I worked for the newspaper. He would ride by the large windows in the newsroom, and when I moved into town, I would save him bags filled with cans next to the dumpster in front of my house.

Sometimes if I saw him out there, I would personally hand him a bag or two. He always said thank you.

I tried to get to know him, but he only spoke Spanish and my Spanish sucks. Because of our language barrier, I only learned his name.

I tried to take his photo when he rode by the newsroom, but something would always come up. The phone would ring. Someone would stop by the office. A truck would block his way in the alley. It seemed I would never get that photo.

Then one day, he rode by. There were no trucks. The phone wasn't ringing. I was in the middle of chatting with my editor when I stopped mid-convo, grabbed my phone and took three quick photos of Esteban riding by the window. It wasn't the ideal situation, but I got the shot.

It was about a year after I took that photo when Justice of the Peace David Beebe broke the news to me that Esteban passed away. I was working a Monday morning shift at the coffeeshop. It broke my heart as well as the rest of the town. Turns out, I wasn't the only one who not only noticed his efforts but also saved cans for him as well.

#the100dayproject Day 57: Marfa Maid

This post is part of #the100dayproject that encourages creatives to do an action every day for 100 days. I've chosen to write an article or blog post every day. Previous posts for this project can be found here.

Malinda Beeman never thought she would start a goat farm when she moved to Marfa in 1999, but the artist started Marfa Maid dairy with her partner Allan McClane in 2010.

Beeman moved here after living in Houston and California. Marfa is where she met Allan and started Marfa Studio of Arts which provides free art programs and activities to local students.

During those first years in Far West Texas though, Marfa's food services were pretty scarce, even more so than today. This was pre-Porters, pre-Pueblo and pre-The Get Go. Living far away from any sort of convenience motivated her to start growing her own vegetables (which incidentally started the local farmer's market). After she was given two goats for her property, she taught herself how to make cheese from goat milk and let people sample it. Once the cheese popularity spread around town (no pun intended), Malinda realized she needed to start a business so she could sell it. Thus, Marfa Maid was born.

The various types of cheeses can be purchased at The Get Go (my personal favorites are the brie and the green chiles soft chevre). It can also be purchased Saturday mornings at Marfa Farmstand at Saint George Hall.

And for a more inside look, there are Saturday afternoon tours where people will meet the goats – both mamas and babies – and see where the cheese is made. There are occasionally cheesemaking classes. All are available to schedule online at marfamaid.com.

Even though this operation came as a completely surprise to Malinda, one thing is certain. She certainly enjoys it.

A long time ago, we used to be friends…

Originally published on April 9, 2014

…but it seems everyone has thought about this movie lately at all.

I know I did. I’m pretty sure my friends would like me to move on and talk about something else, anything really, at this point.

But can you blame me? A quick Google search brings up more articles for this one film than the amount of press the show got when it was on the air. SXSW knew they wanted to premiere the movie while it was filming. After all, Austin is home for Veronica Mars show creator Rob Thomas (not to be mistaken for the Matchbox 20 guy).

And you gotta realize I never thought I would be standing in line at the Paramount Theater in Austin to see the Veronica Mars movie premiere at SXSW seven years after the show was canceled.

“I’m so unbelievably excited to be here today to show you Veronica Mars movie. It was seven years in the making and it feels so good right now.”
-Thomas, film director/writer

Director/Writer Rob Thomas, right, introducing the film.

But there I was on March 8 standing in the rain (thankfully I was covered) waiting in line for an hour and a half to get in to see the film. This did not include waking up at 6am so I could get an SXXpress pass that gives me first dibs into the theater (I wanted a good seat). I arrived at the convention center for that pass at 7am, and they weren’t handed out until 9am. Yep, I’m crazy.

You know what though. I don’t care how crazy I sound because it was all worth it.

“For me, it was unbelievable experience. We never thought it was gonna happen so soon and we can’t thank you guys enough for bringing us back together. I know that we all wanted it so bad.”
-Francis Capra (Weevil)

This movie was written for the fans. To me, this may be Thomas’ best work yet. Veronica got to be more snarky, more bitchy and actually act her adult-age. It was awesome. But I’m a fan. Take that with a grain of salt.

It’s always kind of understood that most screenwriters write story lines with the financiers in mind (i.e. the film companies that pay the bills) while trying to please the fans (I’m looking at you, comic book movies. Seriously, why fix what’s not broken?). In this case, the financiers were 91,585 Kickstarter backers, most of which were and are still fans of the show (I’m known to have a weekend marathon or two… or three).

Luckily, we marshmallows are easy to please for the most part as we just needed anything to scratch the itch we’ve had since the show’s cancellation in 2007. There are so many inside jokes, Easter eggs, tributes (if you will) that made the seven year wait and money for this film absolutely worth it. And it was done in a way that didn’t feel over the top.

But I think writing for the fans could also be the movie’s downfall, and I don’t mean that in a terribly bad way. It’s just that I had to explain certain scenes to my friends who were not familiar with the show. To some of them, the movie seemed a little rushed because they haven’t had the chance to put in the 46 hours it takes to watch the entire series.

Maybe the 16 speaking roles and 35 locations were a bit of an overkill. Since it’s been so long since the band got back together, it seemed that Thomas tried to cram as much as he could in the hour and half that he had.

“Honestly, I am a Veronica Mars fan. I wanted to work with all these actors and find a natural way to do that.”
-Thomas

I will say the high school reunion scene was a brilliant idea. As Veronica got older, her fans got older. I just wish it moved the mystery a little bit more rather than be the perfect excuse to bring back some of the minor characters from Neptune High we missed oh so dearly.

It was nice to see Corny again.

This movie is not perfect and that’s OK. Neither was the show (*cough*Meg Manning’s pregnancy storyline*cough*), but I still obsessively love it anyway.

But the cameos, the mysteries and overall perfection are not the reasons why this show is adored by so many (although it helps).

It’s about the characters.

It’s about Mac. And Wallace. And Dick. And Keith. And Logan. And yes, Piz (shhh, don’t tell him).

“I’m just shocked that I’m even on this stage or in the film. I thought I was going to have to be the $10,000 backer to become a speaking role.”
-Chris Lowell (Piz)

Most importantly, it’s about Veronica.

“To me, the best thing about Veronica, the thing that made that character special, it’s a time period of being self-conscious, of being worried about what other people think about you or what some cute guy thinks about you, and I think other girls on television, like Buffy or Alias, they can literally kick ass. I felt like Veronica’s super powers should be that she just doesn’t give a shit, and she’ll be the smartest person in the room, and her day wouldn’t be ruled by what some guy thought of her outfit, so I hope that that has resonated.”
-Thomas

Veronica assured me it’s OK to stand for your convictions. She assured me it is OK to get tough and to not take things lying down.

But she also taught me not to be too hard that you lose sight of yourself or your friends (well, the ones that matter), or the most important person in your life’s trust.

Because, like Wallace said, underneath that angry young woman is a slightly less angry young woman who is dying to bake him something.

And Veronica does.

After all, she is a marshmallow.

Quotes are from the Veronica Mars movie premiere on March 8 at SXSW in Austin, TX.