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My daughter is very excited about her forthcoming seventh birthday party, whereas I am just confused about how it’s possible she’s that old. She was printing up A4 posters to put around the house to remind us of the event.
She came down from the office with her freshly printed pictures in hand and said to me “Dad, I’ve come up with a way that you never have to pay for paper again.”
She had my attention.
“You just need to put one piece of paper in the copying machine and then you can get infinite paper for free.”
It was so simple and yet such genius. Bad luck paper manufacturers. You’re out of business. (My daughter is 28 years old).
After all this time together in lockdown, with no overnight gigs (or just the one last weekend, that the kids came to) I haven’t been apart from the family int he last two years, for more than the occasional sleepover night or when I’ve been self-isolating upstairs. Today I was heading off to Wales to film another improvised movie and I’ll be away until next Saturday. So I had to say goodbye to my paper magnate six year old for the very last time (she’ll be seven the next time I see her as I will miss her actual birthday) and to the boy who will turn four and a third while I am away. Phoebe’s party is on Saturday morning so the plan is to be back for that, but I hadn’t quite realised just how far away Tenby is. I’d assumed about three and a bit hours as it’s just beyond Cardiff, but the trip took me closer to six (with a brief stop at a services and struggling to find the location). The M4 being partially closed doesn’t help. But I am either going to have to leave at 4am on Saturday or try and do it overnight when filming ends. But if it’s anything like last time we’ll be working til midnight on Friday.
But I am missing my girl’s birthday. I can’t miss her party.
Just like the last time I came to film in Wales, I struggled to find the location in the darkness and exhausted from the long drive I had to navigate country roads that were the same width as my car and then attempt to turnaround when I realised I was in the wrong place. I didn’t burst a tyre this year, but I tried to turn on a bit of road that turned out to have an unexpected ledge on it and the front of my car scraped the tar mac and juddered around. Eventually I managed to find the very concealed driveway, though was nervous about heading up there as it was even narrower than the roads I’d been on and I feared I would get stuck, but it turned out to be the place. The rest of the cast were in a minibus and they’d just passed me going in the wrong direction, (I didn’t realise it was them til afterwards) but they managed to turnaround and find it too.
We had Covid tests and got shown to our rooms - we’re staying in a big house that will also be the location for the film - again much more civilised than last year and with central heating and then had some dinner. And then we were straight to work. I’d assumed we’d be settling in for an early start tomorrow, but I ended up having to get into character as a lonely, grumpy middle-aged man who doesn’t like socialising straight away. It took my 25 seconds.
Very excited to be a part of this and see what happens in the next five days. It’s an amazing cast (plus me) and a funny idea and I get a holiday from my kids!
I miss them already. Dammit.
