Tagged - I'm It! - 4

I just got tagged by Christine for an 8 Random Things Meme.

Here are the rules:
A. Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.
B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Here goes:

1 - When I was jockeying to finish my fourth year film at Ryerson, with a month to go, no more space available in the editing suites and absolutely zero funds left in my budget, my husband called around Toronto and discovered I could have an empty suite at the Film Board for a week. So I jumped at that magnificent chance, and got a lot done in that week, but was not finished by any means. As I packed up my trim bins (the carts with racks above to hold all the strips of 16mm film as you piece the rough cut together) a woman saw me and asked if I had anywhere else to finish up. I said no, my husband was in the process of looking for me. So she said I could use her suite overnight for as long as I needed, till my film was done. She was at that time working on a documentary for the NFB. Talk about Cinderella time!! She was my fairy godmother extraordinaire! Not only did she lend me her suite, she offered to look at my film and then offered suggestions till I got a third and more polished cut done. Such generosity. I'll never forget it, nor her - Miumi Jan.

2 - My first sale of my writing was for the narration and segue text for a documentary called "Tales of a Psychic Medium". This is an hour-long show done in 2003 for Canada's Vision network, about a Mi'kmaq psychic named Alan Hatfield. The program was narrated by Mi'kmaq elder Noel Knockwood, and I had to write in first person as if I was Noel. Considering I was explaining Mi'kmaq spiritual beliefs, that was rather daunting. But he agreed to speak everything I wrote, so that was a wonderful feeling!

3 - Part of the seasons of my life can be marked by spring and Christmas concerts, as I have always sung in choirs. My high school choir was very important to me - it holds a huge place in my life. I'm still very close to the friends I made there, and my first boyfriend was part of the choir, the Prince Andrew Chorus. I also sang with the Ryerson University choir, called the Oakham House Choir; the Yarmouth Community Chorale; and the Dartmouth Choral Society.

4 - I performed in plays and musicals throughout high school. My roles were:
Chorus/Adoring Girl - "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"
Miss Gossage (the English girls' school gym teacher) - "The Happiest Days of Our Lives"
Mabel (the factory secretary) - "The Pajama Game"
Amy Spettigue ( Victorian love interest for the college fellow ) - "Charley's Aunt"
Ado Annie (the girl who can't say no!) - "Oklahoma!"

5 - My uncle wrote and produced radio jingles when I was in junior high, and my cousin and I sang on two of them - "Atlantic Canada Plus" and "Farmer's Dairy". We went to the recording studio and got paid for our singing, which when you're 12 or so, feels awesome.

6 - I danced in the 1981 and 1984 Nova Scotia International Tattoos in Halifax with the Joseph Wallin Dancers. In 1981 we did a WWI number with the Charleston, the Black Bottom and the Cakewalk. I was also a German Doll in The Little Drummer Boy's Dream. In 1984 we did a 40's Big Band swing number and a Rockettes kickline.

7 - I directed two Nova Scotia Drama Festival entries (for high schools), "Box and Cox" in grade 11, and "The In Group" in grade 12. I discovered I LOVED directing while doing these plays.

8 - One afternoon when I lived in Toronto, I was looking up research books on the MetroCat computer, so I could have them brought down from the stacks at the resource library. I knew there was someone waiting for the computer, standing behind me. This is a given - there will never be a time that you're at the MetroCat and someone isn't waiting for it. So I finished writing up my request list, gathered up my stuff and turned to hand over the computer to the next person - Rick Mercer, from "This Hour Has 22 Minutes". Inside I'm "Wow! Rick Mercer!!" But outside I just continue on my way. I've got a strict don't-bug-the-celebrities-just-let-them-do-their-thing policy.

I'm not going to tag anyone, because I usually want to tag people who have already been tagged. Please feel free to play along!