The Dude Abides

Having not won the lottery but encouraged that I was only 6 numbers off, I’m feeling pretty good now that it’s time for another blog entry. And hey, on the bright side – they’re saying that the recession is over, or at least it’s time to return “It’s a Wonderful Life” to Netflix.

The past two weeks at Snap Studio was filled with holiday cheer as we embarked on shooting the first installment of Christmas in Summer. We are in full holiday mode, which was punctuated by Ian and Whitney, my 8 and 5 year old children showing up to take advantage of left over Christmas cookies and hot chocolate. Which reminds me – have you ever tried explaining the job “food stylist” to someone who does not work in our industry? Everyone seems to simultaneously not get it and think it’s the funniest thing in the world. Everyone also thinks that we use Elmers Glue instead of milk. I mention this because we are in pre-production for a cookbook to be published next year and it is just impossible to talk about what I do for a living at cocktail parties. Of course I don’t go to a lot of cocktail parties, so it’s not a huge issue for me – but you never know when the “what do you do/what is a food stylist” question will pop up out of nowhere. And for all of the food stylists out there that may be reading this – I understand and appreciate you, believe me.

Just a little insight into my world: Whenever I’m feeling as though I need some creative inspiration, I watch “Hearts of Darkness” – the documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now. To me that is film making at its best – out on a limb, oftentimes not even knowing what you are doing but just letting your creativity take over and coming away with magic (if not just a little too violent) And by the way, did you know that there is a documentary film about people who are obsessed with the movie “The Big Lebowski”? There is even a festival every year that mostly consists of bowling and drinking White Russians. I don’t know about you, but I’m glad he’s out there, and I take comfort knowing that the dude abides.