Day 260

I felt bad today. This morning while I was getting dressed, a guy I used to work with called and asked if I could put together a tribute video for his son who had recently passed away. I knew exactly what he wanted, but there was no way I could get the video finished in time for his son's memorial service. I know how to produce these Ken Burns style videos that are made out of collections of still images. I just can't do one in two days.

I'm not saying that you can't do instant Ken Burns videos. It's certainly not rocket science anymore. I just haven't kept up with the times. Actually, just about any high-end wedding videographer could do what my friend wanted in about three hours. I've been to weddings where a film crew shoots the wedding and reception and then hands each of the guests a finished, fully edited DVD of the wedding, complete with a nice looking printed label when they leave to go home.

This is what the world is coming to: instant everything! I guess I could go out and buy the hardware and software to do instant videos and commercials too, but I don't want to. The world is already full of people trying to do things faster. I'm not really interested in faster. What I'd really like is enough time to put a little thought into what I do.

I've been thinking about time today because I've been working on the watch repair website. Watchmakers work slowly and methodically, often taking six months or more to finish a project. I'd like to work this way too, but I could never get away with it. People don't put the same value on a website that they do on an heirloom gold watch. I think advertising people are more like plumbers. There's a clog in the marketing plan and we're the plunger.

No obedience class for the dogs tonight. It's raining outside. Inside with me, Dot is hiding under my desk, waiting for the world to return to normal.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day