Ernie Fosselius

Today my good friend and mentor Ernie is having his gallery opening today. I'll be there videotaping and gaggling over his amazing sculptures.
I met Ernie at his Mechalodeon (a red trailor redone inside to hold many little mechanical wooden sculputes that he takes around to parties) last August and I kept in contact with him. My mom had just met him and learned he had been to Pixar, so she called me...I was very interested :) So then I met him and he turned out to be the most creative and talented artist I know. He's so modest too. I mean, this guy can craft anything from small-car-sized tug boats to cult films made in the seventies. Really an amazing person and I'm really lucky to know him. This is the genious behind Hardware Wars, a parody on Star Wars, additional voices on many films and sound-effects man on other movies too.

We seniors at El Molino have to do the Senior Project this year. All seniors in regular English (not Advanced Placement) are required to do massive ammounts of research on a subject that interests them. They must find a helper or mentor and also interview a professional on the subject and at the end of the year give a 5 to 7 minute presentation on what they have learned.
I thought, "I could illustrate a children's book," But that's been done before. Then I thought, "I could do a storyboard pitch..."And that seems perfect. Even if I don't grow up to be a storyboard artist, I would still experience what it would be like to present in front of a group of people... But then I felt a pang of fright. Now I'm not the class clown. I get really nervous before presenting a projectl and I'm not the best speaker in front of a group of people. Unfortunately, all of these things are required to make a good storyboard pitch, I think. So what am I to do? Face my fears and pitch my story, or...?

Will keep thinking. Have a relaxing day.