101 in the Sun

 I used an entire can of Aquanet that day.

This fun 3-minute segment took an hour and a half to shoot because the ground crew showed up and decided to blow the leaves. Repeatedly. They seemed to be curious about what we were doing and were looking for an excuse to watch us. What they didn't realize was that we couldn't do anything as long as they were circling us with their 90 decibel blowers. 

So we waited them out. In 101 degree heat. And of course, this is the south, so the humidity was at swamp level. My hair was so lacquered up, that it lasted through another photo shoot and a two hour drive. 

I learned a lot that day (and not just about hair care). Usually, I'm behind the scenes, and this shoot was my chance to deliver the script instead of write it. Respect to all the people who stand in front of a camera, without a teleprompter and deliver several minutes of scripted dialogue. I can ad lib for hours, but when someone is paying you to deliver their message, they want you to say every single word as written.

Memorization is hard. Well, at least for me. I spent hours getting it right, because, yes, I'm a perfectionist. Perfectionism is getting a bum rap these days with everyone quoting Voltaire, "Perfect is the enemy of good." The battle cry now is "Good enough!"

If we are satisfied with "good enough," we'll never know how great we can be.