It was great, but I'm happy to be home.

We left our hotel room in Tennessee just before daybreak yesterday morning, and drove for an hour before stopping at a Shoney's in Bristol, Virginia, where we ate their breakfast buffet. Afterward, we continued driving north, making many stops along the way for bathroom breaks and snacks. I filled that time shooting video, as well as devouring Filmmaker magazine, which we got in the SXSW Goody Bags for free. It was weird reading an interview with Barry Jenkins just days after speaking with him extensively. For dinner, we stopped at The Country Cupboard for dinner. I had some type of hot roast beef sandwich with onions and melted cheese. The Country Cupboard also has an adjoined store that sells candy, baked goods, and many other things. I bought a smidge of Peanut Butter Oreo fudge and ate it on the way home.

The last piece of video I shot was the sign that read "Welcome to New York". It was very dark, and my battery power was very low. I got back home around 10 O'Clock or so, took a shower, and went back to sleep.

Now that this is all done and over with, I'm more eager than ever to work on the DVD. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can work on everything else. A big priority for me this week is to finalize getting the interviews scheduled. There is one thing that is of concern to me, however.

From the time I first saw Mutual Appreciation, I have wanted to make a narrative feature film. For awhile now, I've kind of set the idea aside because I've been preoccupied with putting together another documentary, and also, I couldn't find anything worth pursuing. Yesterday, somewhere in Virginia, I came up with a perfect idea--or at least one that for me would be worth my time. I don't want to abandon the documentary, but I feel like this idea comes from a much deeper place than anything I've pursued to date. If I'm able to get this one off the ground, it would the type of movie I've wanted to make since I was in college. An idea I had well before Andrew Bujalski and others were on my radar.

Right now, though, I have to go get my father's truck, help him e-mail pictures, and work on a panel for The Film Panel Notetaker.