I'm not a _____ (fill in the blank), BUT

I am/do a lot of things - Harley-Davidson enthusiast, mother, equestrian, teacher, former military spouse, manager, an Irish-American, good at public relations, I love to speed when I'm behind the wheel - the list could go on & on. However, there's quite a few things the world likes to remind me I'm not:

I'm not 'corporate material' since I don't have a 4 year college degree - although I improve on their marketing campaigns all the time and am complimented on my work. I'm not a photographer because I don't haven't gone to school or have the equipment - but I still took my daughter's senior year photos for her yearbook. I'm not a restaurateur because I don't own a restaurant - but with investors/backers I've got the perfect place picked out. I'm not the creator of a television series because I'm not in Hollywood with the right connections - I'm working on that!!

I've finished the first season treatment for a t.v. series I envision to someday be broadcast. My title for it is "Motorcycle Sisters" although that's not set in stone for me. The easiest way for me to describe my vision is it's a cross between Sons of Anarchy and Army Wives with a little bit of Medium thrown in. It's based on my life experiences both on and off my motorcycle.

As I've said, I wrote the treatment and have filed it with the WGAW. I've even submitted it a few times. Problem is I'm not a script writer - I can see how I'd like for it to play out on screen, but when it comes to writing the script, I overthink it. Call it a translation between my vision and the words on the page, and I don't have the tools within me. So maybe this time I need to partner with someone who actually went to school for this. Which is fine with me - I absolutely love working with other people!! It's not that I don't want to learn about it - I'd just prefer to learn while 'on the job' so to speak. I have faith that there is someone else who is better at that part than I would or could be.

Just like this past summer, F.X. Caprara Harley-Davidson teamed with Tunes 92.5 (a local radio station) for FX Caprara HOG radio. Every Saturday Tunes would do a live broadcast, commercial free for 3 hours, that I would write talking points - sort of a "what's happening" - every week. At the end of August - the last broadcast - Matt (the station affiliate) said how much he learned about motorcycles in general and about the Harley culture overall. I didn't know much about radio broadcasting either, but I know a little more now!!


After all, there is no such thing as lost.... There are new ways of getting there. And there seems to be a lot of discovering new things all the time lately. Epic Meal Time is one of the latest to go from YouTube to having a cable television show. Mary Beard, a classics professor at the University of Cambridge, has become a feminist in her own right, even if she didn't exactly mean to head down that path. "It doesn't much matter what line of argument you take as a woman. If you venture into traditional male territory, the abuse comes anyway," Mary has said during a speech filmed by the BBC. I'm wondering if Heather Maranda of Epic Ink has ever come across that? She's an awesome tattoo artist on A&E's latest reality series. I know working in a Harley dealership, sometimes filling in behind the parts counter , I've come across my fair share of "I wanna talk to a guy," only to have one of my male co-workers tell the customer the exact same thing I had said. My main job title is General
Merchandise Manager but thanks to my best friend's dad growing up, I know my way around a motor & how to look up parts on a schematic.

And if we women think it's tough today, I can't even imagine what Dot Robinson or Bessie Springfield (pictured to the right) had to go through! But that's for another blog....

So, for now, I may not be the creator/writer/ producer of a hit tv show, but I'm looking forward to being that person!! And for now, I'm looking to other people - mostly women, that I admire and seem to have a "take no prisoners" attitude. They'll be my guiding light as I keep moving forward, one step at a time.

Close!

My plan was to ask Theo Rossi if he would take a look at my television series concept. Theo, along with Kim Coates - both are actors on the hit show Sons of Anarchy - came to Northern New York recently. It was such a BIG event for this area, there was easily a thousand people who showed up to meet "Juice & Tig". Sure Viggo Mortensen spends summers in the area; he IS Aragorn from the LOTR trilogy.... but I don't even know if he rides a motorcycle. Horses, sure - don't forget Viggo also starred in Hidalgo - but I have yet to see him on two wheels.

But back to the visit by Theo & Kim. My job at the Harley-Davidson dealership, work that I love, paid me to organize & market their visit. That took a lot of writing and attention to detail - and, of course, the usual "What did I forget?" thoughts running through my head. Before their visit, I did research on both of their careers, and found out that Theo had started Dos Dudes Pictures with friends, so I emailed them about my concept/treatment. I hadn't heard a "Yes!", but on the flip side there wasn't a "No!" either. I printed out my Motorcycle Sisters treatment a few days before they arrived. Because both actors had been on a mini vacation prior to their visit, they were coming from different places. I kept hounding my boss with, "I volunteer to pick Theo up from the airport!!" to no avail.... Of course he wanted the honor and I don't blame him. I was left to wait until all of us were done working for the day before asking Theo to take a look at my idea.



The hour of arrival had come! We all road motorcycles to the dealership - we had loaned both guys and their manager bikes for the short jaunt (I rode my own of course!). Once we got there it was practically non-stop rush of fans to see them. Most were kind & respectful, some were trying to cut in line or used the whole, "I spend a lot of money here!" in attempts to make themselves important. It was exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time.

Afterwards most of the employees from the dealership, the boys and their manager all went to a locally owned restaurant to grab some grub and decompress a little bit. At first I was overwhelmed by these two Hollywood actors - even if they weren't television stars, I'm sure I'd enjoy hanging out with them, they were that down to earth. Kim & Theo are just regular guys who happen to have a job on television. They are stars with successful careers and they might be able to help me get my series going. Perhaps Theo & Dos Dudes would want to start developing it (fingers crossed!). Although, with all the stress and of the thousand or so people that we all had endured, we were finally relaxing and just 'being themselves'. Theo found out that the restaurant had NY Quick Draw Lottery and began teaching Kim how to play. I just couldn't interrupt that fun.

Some might say that I'm not really committed to seeing Motorcycle Sisters on the small screen. Because I didn't force my own agenda on our guests, I'm the one that's lacking courage and determination. That's all bullshit - bottom line is I didn't want to change the mood of the evening. We were all on a roll, having a good time - I didn't want to be selfish and change all that.

In the end I didn't leave Theo with my television series treatment, but hopefully I left him & Kim with the impression of someone who is hard working and likes to have fun. I certainly have a lot of great memories from that day!! And to top it all off, Dos Dudes still haven't said, "No!", so I'll be submitting my treatment to them soon. I'll also send a note apologizing for temporarily blinding Theo when I took his picture with my daughter!

Fame - I'm gonna live forever

It's been over two years since my last blog.... and - like everyone else - a lot has happened since then. I've had my friends yank the rug out from under me, but maybe I deserved it. I had an idea that the experiences we have shared, our good times and bad, would make a hit television series. I thought it could benefit all of us, make us famous and earn us lots of money. Of course it's would take lots of hard work and is a long shot, yet I firmly believed we had a good chance.

What I didn't realize was the commitment I was asking everyone to take, and that not everyone is willing to take it, despite the potential rewards. To become famous means giving up a certain anonymity. I was seeing it like Irene Cara's song, Fame: "You can shoot me straight to the top, give me love and take all I got to give, baby I'll be tough, too much is not enough.... baby, remember my name." But maybe they were listening to David Bowie's version: "...it's not your brain, it's just the flame, that burns your change to keep you insane - Fame."

Clearly I do not know what is best for everyone, although I like to think I do. Isn't it always easier to give advice and live our friend's lives as if they were our own?? Anywho - for the future I will try not to push my friends into something they're not ready for. I still believe in my idea and will continue on my own from here. And if my long shot does pay off, I'll gladly share it with my friends.