I am a vampire. I am often exercising that writers prerogative to stay up all night, never take off my pajamas if I don’t want unless I am leaving the house for some reason, and shaving on a whim much more often than on a schedule. I am prone to fits of depression and mania for my life and my craft, and one of the nicest guys you ever want to meet. In either scenario.
And I write, and read, and scour the internet for the next big tale, for inspiration, for an answer. I chase my Muse. As I have said before it is all a spiritual pursuit to arm myself for when the next big chance at being of service comes along. Sometimes there is music. Sometimes there is a low tuned TV on in the background. Sometimes it is that comfortable silence that even can drown out my own rapid fire thoughts that are ever present, or the clock that never stops ticking. Louder and louder.
It is a strange dance my Muse and I dance.
One night about six months ago I was introduced to one of the best and most compassionate story tellers I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. A Good Man, who uses his gifts to tell the stories that matter so maybe one will be changed as a result. Carson Daly introduced us. His name is Eliot Rausch, a film maker and Good Man from the left coast.
Right here, right now I want to thank you Eliot for bringing these stories to us, and for setting the bar high to excel with the gifts we have been given. It is an inspiration, and a pleasure to actually meet you. Thank you for allowing those whose stories you bring to us to go straight for the mark, and make a difference. Thanks to those in the stories for letting them be told. Missions are being completed, purposes fulfilled, and questions answered in your allowing them to be told.
It is an honor and a privilege to meet you Eliot.
So lets start with the one that hit me in the gut first. “Last Minutes With ODEN”. Thanks to Jason Wood for this heart wrenching / warming story and your honesty in letting it be told. My Angels name was Velvet.
Peace to you, Cynthia, and your family.
For the rest of you… I am sure after seeing this you will want to visit eliotrausch.com to see Eliot’s Bio piece from the Carson Daly Show, and many more of his short, honest and incredibly heartfelt tales.
Then share the love. It’s what ODEN would want.
Thanks Christian. Spread the word, and take the time if you can to see Eliot’s other work there.
I came across “Last Minutes with Oden” on Vimeo a while back. I don’t even have a dog ( would like one but my apartment is the size of a pack of cigarettes and full of other dudes) but that one choked me up. The filmmaking quality was stellar- had that very modern DSLR look without being derivative. Not to mention the story was powerful.
The camera work, the story; it all had a pretty serious amount of emotion to it. Glad that it’s still making the rounds around the internet.