gregemerson.com

The 2005 Emerson Report Archive:

12.26.05 - 2011
We just had a great Christmas! Though we are far from our immediate families we just saw both of our parents just a few weeks ago, we're surrounded by great friends and family here, and it's truly been a blessing to slow down and have some time to spend together. Whew... great gifts, lots of food...It's had to imagine I have the rest of the week off for more too!!! Yippie!

As you can probably imagine from my rambling, I'm into full relaxo-mood and don't have a boatload to say. However I did want to share this letter that Jen put together as a "year in review" to include as part of our Christmas cards this year. Most people that visit this site will have probably already received this letter, but hey... I always like updating the ol' site:) So without further adew...the Christmas letter.

The year 2005 brought Greg and I a multitude of blessings. We both started off the year questioning our move to California. Greg didn’t have the job he dreamed of yet and I was working for Disney as an assistant. He worked pro bono on many independent projects and got his name is in a few credits as: set designer, grip, assistant editor and so on. I was just working.

Greg got his big break when he was hired as Marketing Coordinator for Barnyard the Movie in March. He was so excited about this position that the 71.3 mile drive to San Clemente didn’t seem to bother him. Greg worked (and often continues to work) long hours but he’s happy, continually learning new things and nurturing relationships that will last a lifetime. When the term of his original contract was coming to a close, in true Greg fashion, he had become such an integral part in the production team that they extended his contract to November. When Greg’s job began to slow down, they hired him on as Post Production Coordinator, extending his contract again until April. This move made Greg ecstatic. This is a wonderful and exciting opportunity for him. Barnyard the Movie is set to come out in October, 2006.

Well, I was thrilled when Greg was hired because that meant I could apply at the Disney Children’s Center, which was a preschool for the Burbank employees of Disney! I left my assistant job the same week Greg started at Barnyard and I looked at the online job site every day. Three months went by and nothing was available, I was getting a little lonely at home by myself everyday applying for jobs so…Greg and I decided we were ready for kittens. We picked up 2 beautiful kittens and they have enriched our life. Greg picked out a black tortoise shell girl which we named Satchmo after the great trumpet player Louis Armstrong. I picked out a regal tabby named French Fry. They have had their ups and downs this year with surgeries, firefighters and lily poisoning, but we’ve all come out healthy and happy. Now my little kittens are double the weight that we brought them home at! We couldn’t be happier with the additions to our family.

While all this excitement happening around the house. . .a position opened! It was for a substitute teacher and I took it immediately. Not surprisingly, I loved the job so much that I spoke with the assistant director to find out what classes I needed to be a full time teacher there. With his recommendations I enrolled at Glendale Community College full time and worked at the Disney Children’s Center. I worked so hard at my classes that I received straight A’s on all my projects, midterms, finals and of course the classes themselves. This is a great new path I am on and I can’t wait to integrate my music degree into the preschool classroom.

Greg and I have wonderful family here in California that has helped with the transition, we are so happy with our life here and with the opportunities that God has provided us. However, we miss our family and friends in Seattle oh so much. To all of our friends and family that we do not get to say this to enough, may your next year be filled with joy and happiness. Have a very Merry Christmas and remember…there is always room in the apartment for guests!!!

We love you all, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

10.01.05 - 0925
Wow! As I was pulling into town from work last night, there it was. The sky glowing red and the epicenter of the light glaring at drivers on the 5 like the eye out of the Lord of the Rings movies.

It was the fire, and when Jen called me earlier in the day scared, I didn't fully understand. It is creepy folks having this fire burn up on the hill in clear eyeshot from most of Glendale and all of Burbank. Thank God that we are just fine and that the blaze (though it looks close) is not that near our home, Mark's or Grandpa's.

Beyond the fire, things are well for us here. We are getting ready for our big Hawaii tip here in a week with our good friends Josh & Ari. Jen is working very hard, running between school, outside observation projects, work, piano lessons ... yikes she makes me look lazy! :) She's working hard but learning allot and really, really looking forward to our vacation.

I've still been making the drive to San Clemente almost every day but I still like my job and the people I work with every day. Recently I got a new responsibility. Don't think of it as a promo"promotion", but rather an addition in responsibility that I am ecstatic to be doing and proud that I was asked to do. I've been asked to be the Post-production coordinator for Barnyard. It may not sound like allot but that means that I'll be involved in all of the best parts of the process that I loved during the production of the trailer.

From our final check step in the pipeline to film out and distribution ... I'm the man. This in addition to my marketing responsibilities as well, yikes! It seems like it will be a mighty big gig, but like I said I'm very excited and looking forward to it with bait on my breath.

Well that's all from beautiful California ... I'll write more very soon.

09.01.05 - 2129
Jen started college classes today at Glendale Community college! She's taking classes in early childhood development so that she can potentially add "pre-school teacher" to the list of possible gigs she can take down here in Cali. Over the past few months she's been substituting more and more at the Disney pre-school and is just loving it. Therefore when this opportunity came along to take the classes and dive into this section of teaching...she was al for it. I couldn't be happier, she's really chasing after what she wants and it's great!

As for me ...things are pretty normal. Working hard @ Barnyard, getting ready for some screenings in a few weeks. But beyond that, alot of sleeping and eating:):):)

We hit the Hollywood bowl again last weakened for La Dolcia Vita, a night of italian music by the LA Philharmonic and the John Pizzarelli trio. As before it was amazing and we sat happily in our cheap seats drinking wine, enjoying the calm night and listening to great music.

Don't have all that much to say this time around. We're back to the bowl again this Saturday for a concert by John Williams. I'll let you all know how it goes and hopefully have more to talk about then. TTFN.

08.07.05 - 1023
We simply just had an amazing week over the past 7 days. I mean the standard stuff is going...Jen's teaching pursuits, my job, the kittens. But 2 events really defined last week.

First off was the BLUR studios Siggraph party. Siggraph is a big convention every year for 3D artists, companies, etc to come out and show the cool stuff that they are working on. Barnyard and a pretty good sized presence at this years convention but that is essentially beside the point. Beyond the user group, lectures, show and tell booths of cool technology some of the vendors, local studios, etc. put on parties and this is one of them.

The party was called the Fireball and took place in the Henry Fonda Theater. There were fire breathers, contortionist, go go dancers and he coolest part of all...the Crystal Method Performed until 2am.

It was amazing and we had a blast dancing all night, drinking and running into friends from some of the companies/studios I work with:)

As if that wasn't enough to make the week terrific, we also hit a classical concert put on my the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. As with most concerts there were a few songs, and intermission and then the final piece. We had bought tickets for the W2 section of the bowl for a grand total of $12. We knew we were going to be in the back, but we brought a bottle of wine, some cheese and really enjoyed the sun setting over the hills as the music began to play.

At intermission the lights came up and we refilled our wine glasses when a man comes up to us and asks if we wanted "front row seats". Well, obviously we said yes! He told us that he had invited a older couple as well and instructed us to meet him down in the front. We met up with the man again at the bottom of the bowl, he ushered us past security and seated us in the box in the very front row of the bowl. Desserts waiting, coffee pored, waiters smiling and handing us programs as we sat. The "older couple" that the man had talked about had caught up to us by now and sat with us, filling the 4 empty seats in the box.

The man shook our hands as we all said thank you simply leaned to one of the waiters hand the tickets over and said "whatever they need...it's their box now". With that he left smiling and waving. It was spectacular...the box was amazing and beyond that we were sitting among Hollywood elite. Gary Marshal's box and Alfred Mann box (as in Mann's Chinese Theater) were behind us...and when we finally saw the tickets they were worth $115 each!!!

The name on he box was Dr. John and Judith Upland, and we're searching to try and find them so that we can send a Thank you card. It was one of the most kind hearted things that a stranger has ever done for us, we were tickled.

For a rough example I was able to find what the view from our seats were before and after this. These were the seats we paid for in W2. And this was the app. view from the box we ended up in. Pretty cool eh?

What a great week:):):)

07.30.05 - 1143
Thing are good. Jen is at the gym right now working out and I'm cranking on some projects here at home, planning out Hawaii trip in October out with Arianne via email and playing with the kitties. This week Jen applied for a few local teaching jobs that cropped up. One is a 1/2 time music teaching position at La Canada elementary and would be perfect ...we're crossing our fingers.

French Fry had to go to the vet this week because of an eye problem, but he's on some med's now along with some goop we have to squirt in his eye. He's a bit prissy when we give it to him but he seems to be recovering very well.

Finally saw Rain Man for the first time this week. We also have Look Who's Coming to Dinner to watch over the weekend...not sure how it's going to be but it's one of those classics that I feel like I'm required to watch:)

Work is good and I'm now dealing with Legal Clearance, ensuring that all of the props, characters, locations, etc from our movie do not cause any copyright or trademark infringement. Big project...but just fine.

That's all for now. I wish you all the best, I'll write more soon.

07.24.05 - 1130
Things are very good for us. Work is going well for both Jen and I, the apartment is beautiful and the weather is starting to heat up! Jen is truly enjoying her new substituting position with the Disney Child Development Center. Actually, she's enjoying it so much that as I type this she is researching local area colleges to get the ESE certificate in order to teach pre-school.

Beyond work however, the biggest news in our lives right now has been our kittens, Satchmo and French Fry. We have had them for about a month now and both absolutely adore having them in the apartment. We have collected a bunch of our "proud parent" pictures and placed them here for everyone to see. We tried to simplify the gallery because as proud parents we really do have 200 pictures of the cats doing nothing:) We're very happy.

Last weekend we drove to Las Vegas for Jan Thoreson's 50 birthday. In a hurry to drive through the desert in a convertible we rented, we forgot our camera. Luckily Mattie had hers! As soon as we get those pictures we'll post them ASAP!

Our free time has been spent updating the apartment, going to Seal Beach to surf and of coarse playing with our kittens.



The 2005 Emerson Report Archive: 12.26.05 - 2011 We just had a great Christmas! Though we are far from our immediate families we just saw both of our parents just a few weeks ago, we're surrounded by great friends and family here, and it's truly been a blessing to slow down and have some time to spend together. Whew... great gifts, lots of food...It's had to imagine I have the rest of the week off for more too!!! Yippie! As you can probably imagine from my rambling, I'm into full relaxo-mood and don't have a boatload to say. However I did want to share this letter that Jen put together as a "year in review" to include as part of our Christmas cards this year. Most people that visit this site will have probably already received this letter, but hey... I always like updating the ol' site:) So without further adew...the Christmas letter. The year 2005 brought Greg and I a multitude of blessings. We both started off the year questioning our move to California. Greg didn’t have the job he dreamed of yet and I was working for Disney as an assistant. He worked pro bono on many independent projects and got his name is in a few credits as: set designer, grip, assistant editor and so on. I was just working. Greg got his big break when he was hired as Marketing Coordinator for Barnyard the Movie in March. He was so excited about this position that the 71.3 mile drive to San Clemente didn’t seem to bother him. Greg worked (and often continues to work) long hours but he’s happy, continually learning new things and nurturing relationships that will last a lifetime. When the term of his original contract was coming to a close, in true Greg fashion, he had become such an integral part in the production team that they extended his contract to November. When Greg’s job began to slow down, they hired him on as Post Production Coordinator, extending his contract again until April. This move made Greg ecstatic. This is a wonderful and exciting opportunity for him. Barnyard the Movie is set to come out in October, 2006. Well, I was thrilled when Greg was hired because that meant I could apply at the Disney Children’s Center, which was a preschool for the Burbank employees of Disney! I left my assistant job the same week Greg started at Barnyard and I looked at the online job site every day. Three months went by and nothing was available, I was getting a little lonely at home by myself everyday applying for jobs so…Greg and I decided we were ready for kittens. We picked up 2 beautiful kittens and they have enriched our life. Greg picked out a black tortoise shell girl which we named Satchmo after the great trumpet player Louis Armstrong. I picked out a regal tabby named French Fry. They have had their ups and downs this year with surgeries, firefighters and lily poisoning, but we’ve all come out healthy and happy. Now my little kittens are double the weight that we brought them home at! We couldn’t be happier with the additions to our family. While all this excitement happening around the house. . .a position opened! It was for a substitute teacher and I took it immediately. Not surprisingly, I loved the job so much that I spoke with the assistant director to find out what classes I needed to be a full time teacher there. With his recommendations I enrolled at Glendale Community College full time and worked at the Disney Children’s Center. I worked so hard at my classes that I received straight A’s on all my projects, midterms, finals and of course the classes themselves. This is a great new path I am on and I can’t wait to integrate my music degree into the preschool classroom. Greg and I have wonderful family here in California that has helped with the transition, we are so happy with our life here and with the opportunities that God has provided us. However, we miss our family and friends in Seattle oh so much. To all of our friends and family that we do not get to say this to enough, may your next year be filled with joy and happiness. Have a very Merry Christmas and remember…there is always room in the apartment for guests!!! We love you all, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 10.01.05 - 0925 Wow! As I was pulling into town from work last night, there it was. The sky glowing red and the epicenter of the light glaring at drivers on the 5 like the eye out of the Lord of the Rings movies. It was the fire, and when Jen called me earlier in the day scared, I didn't fully understand. It is creepy folks having this fire burn up on the hill in clear eyeshot from most of Glendale and all of Burbank. Thank God that we are just fine and that the blaze (though it looks close) is not that near our home, Mark's or Grandpa's. Beyond the fire, things are well for us here. We are getting ready for our big Hawaii tip here in a week with our good friends Josh & Ari. Jen is working very hard, running between school, outside observation projects, work, piano lessons ... yikes she makes me look lazy! :) She's working hard but learning allot and really, really looking forward to our vacation. I've still been making the drive to San Clemente almost every day but I still like my job and the people I work with every day. Recently I got a new responsibility. Don't think of it as a promo"promotion", but rather an addition in responsibility that I am ecstatic to be doing and proud that I was asked to do. I've been asked to be the Post-production coordinator for Barnyard. It may not sound like allot but that means that I'll be involved in all of the best parts of the process that I loved during the production of the trailer. From our final check step in the pipeline to film out and distribution ... I'm the man. This in addition to my marketing responsibilities as well, yikes! It seems like it will be a mighty big gig, but like I said I'm very excited and looking forward to it with bait on my breath. Well that's all from beautiful California ... I'll write more very soon. 09.01.05 - 2129 Jen started college classes today at Glendale Community college! She's taking classes in early childhood development so that she can potentially add "pre-school teacher" to the list of possible gigs she can take down here in Cali. Over the past few months she's been substituting more and more at the Disney pre-school and is just loving it. Therefore when this opportunity came along to take the classes and dive into this section of teaching...she was al for it. I couldn't be happier, she's really chasing after what she wants and it's great! As for me ...things are pretty normal. Working hard @ Barnyard, getting ready for some screenings in a few weeks. But beyond that, alot of sleeping and eating:):):) We hit the Hollywood bowl again last weakened for La Dolcia Vita, a night of italian music by the LA Philharmonic and the John Pizzarelli trio. As before it was amazing and we sat happily in our cheap seats drinking wine, enjoying the calm night and listening to great music. Don't have all that much to say this time around. We're back to the bowl again this Saturday for a concert by John Williams. I'll let you all know how it goes and hopefully have more to talk about then. TTFN. 08.07.05 - 1023 We simply just had an amazing week over the past 7 days. I mean the standard stuff is going...Jen's teaching pursuits, my job, the kittens. But 2 events really defined last week. First off was the BLUR studios Siggraph party. Siggraph is a big convention every year for 3D artists, companies, etc to come out and show the cool stuff that they are working on. Barnyard and a pretty good sized presence at this years convention but that is essentially beside the point. Beyond the user group, lectures, show and tell booths of cool technology some of the vendors, local studios, etc. put on parties and this is one of them. The party was called the Fireball and took place in the Henry Fonda Theater. There were fire breathers, contortionist, go go dancers and he coolest part of all...the Crystal Method Performed until 2am. It was amazing and we had a blast dancing all night, drinking and running into friends from some of the companies/studios I work with:) As if that wasn't enough to make the week terrific, we also hit a classical concert put on my the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. As with most concerts there were a few songs, and intermission and then the final piece. We had bought tickets for the W2 section of the bowl for a grand total of $12. We knew we were going to be in the back, but we brought a bottle of wine, some cheese and really enjoyed the sun setting over the hills as the music began to play. At intermission the lights came up and we refilled our wine glasses when a man comes up to us and asks if we wanted "front row seats". Well, obviously we said yes! He told us that he had invited a older couple as well and instructed us to meet him down in the front. We met up with the man again at the bottom of the bowl, he ushered us past security and seated us in the box in the very front row of the bowl. Desserts waiting, coffee pored, waiters smiling and handing us programs as we sat. The "older couple" that the man had talked about had caught up to us by now and sat with us, filling the 4 empty seats in the box. The man shook our hands as we all said thank you simply leaned to one of the waiters hand the tickets over and said "whatever they need...it's their box now". With that he left smiling and waving. It was spectacular...the box was amazing and beyond that we were sitting among Hollywood elite. Gary Marshal's box and Alfred Mann box (as in Mann's Chinese Theater) were behind us...and when we finally saw the tickets they were worth $115 each!!! The name on he box was Dr. John and Judith Upland, and we're searching to try and find them so that we can send a Thank you card. It was one of the most kind hearted things that a stranger has ever done for us, we were tickled. For a rough example I was able to find what the view from our seats were before and after this. These were the seats we paid for in W2. And this was the app. view from the box we ended up in. Pretty cool eh? What a great week:):):) 07.30.05 - 1143 Thing are good. Jen is at the gym right now working out and I'm cranking on some projects here at home, planning out Hawaii trip in October out with Arianne via email and playing with the kitties. This week Jen applied for a few local teaching jobs that cropped up. One is a 1/2 time music teaching position at La Canada elementary and would be perfect ...we're crossing our fingers. French Fry had to go to the vet this week because of an eye problem, but he's on some med's now along with some goop we have to squirt in his eye. He's a bit prissy when we give it to him but he seems to be recovering very well. Finally saw Rain Man for the first time this week. We also have Look Who's Coming to Dinner to watch over the weekend...not sure how it's going to be but it's one of those classics that I feel like I'm required to watch:) Work is good and I'm now dealing with Legal Clearance, ensuring that all of the props, characters, locations, etc from our movie do not cause any copyright or trademark infringement. Big project...but just fine. That's all for now. I wish you all the best, I'll write more soon. 07.24.05 - 1130 Things are very good for us. Work is going well for both Jen and I, the apartment is beautiful and the weather is starting to heat up! Jen is truly enjoying her new substituting position with the Disney Child Development Center. Actually, she's enjoying it so much that as I type this she is researching local area colleges to get the ESE certificate in order to teach pre-school. Beyond work however, the biggest news in our lives right now has been our kittens, Satchmo and French Fry. We have had them for about a month now and both absolutely adore having them in the apartment. We have collected a bunch of our "proud parent" pictures and placed them here for everyone to see. We tried to simplify the gallery because as proud parents we really do have 200 pictures of the cats doing nothing:) We're very happy. Last weekend we drove to Las Vegas for Jan Thoreson's 50 birthday. In a hurry to drive through the desert in a convertible we rented, we forgot our camera. Luckily Mattie had hers! As soon as we get those pictures we'll post them ASAP! Our free time has been spent updating the apartment, going to Seal Beach to surf and of coarse playing with our kittens.