2009

This year has been the quickest year on record. I have spent nearly 4 months of the year outside of the UK so that may have something to do with a warped perception of time. Altogether 9 weeks in Hong Kong, 3 weeks in Beijing, 1 week in Norway and 2 weeks in Poland. Next year though, I may be gone for most of the year.

I met with a director friend of mine who i have worked with for years up until he joined a big production company. At present he doesn't have much say in who shoots with him at this point but we hope we can work together next year. He will help forward my reel to them before he moves back to New York in Jan.

I have been offered to do some work in Puerto Rico for 5 weeks next summer. We need to wait for funding. But there is something else that I may do instead.

I don't know too many details but I may have the oppotunity to travel around rural China with two other people, one of which I met at a book signing in Beijing- for his book) which I am trying to get published internationally. It will be for over a year documenting the travelling. I am unsure as to when it will begin. Some of the routes through China can be quite treacherous. It is one of my goals to travel to many places in China though I did not expect an oppotunity like this to present itself so soon and I find myself unprepared to face a possible reality of that happening. I was ready to move to Beijing for 6 months of the year but going into rural China for twice that time is different on many levels. Despite the reality of danger and the length of time, experiencing the journey outweighs those reasons for apprehension.

I realize it may be a trip I may not come back from, though at the same time, I cannot seem to bring myself to pass up this oppotunity that may never present itself again. I understand that in the process of gaining something great, one may need to let go of many things.

- J