10 Years Later

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of the premier of "Did I Say Thousand Island?" in Breckenridge Colorado. It's a fun movie set in the resort community of Summit County and shows what life is like in  when you work in the restaurant industry.

Movie synopsis:

Have you ever lived in a resort town? Cathy and Meagan do, and they're always having fun in the mountains of Colorado. Rodeos, skiing, sheet pan surfing, camping, horseback riding... you name it. How can they always have so much fun? They work in the restaurant business! But it's not always fun and games. This is real life: people die in avalanche chutes, parents get sick and you move home, and sometimes you darn near slice off a finger cutting peppers for the nice and quiet lady on table 15. But not everyone at table 15 is nice or quiet.

Sometimes you want to smack 'em. Sometimes you bust a button laughing with them. That's the business. Both waitresses are single, in their thirties and have college degrees. But they differ in their views of their chosen careers as well as their life situations. While Maegan's trying to catch life's curve balls, Cathy's enjoying a smooth romance with the handsome newcomer, but she gets nervous as things progress. Can this really work? We'll see. From iced tea to Opus, we re-discover the true meaning of friendships while celebrating the lives of restaurant people.

I have been on a mission to get the movie remade to use it for water awareness, but realize that I just can't make people care about water. Either they do or don't. So I am back to my original passion and that's the restaurant world.  Restaurants, especially in any resort community are a great way to spend your time working and anyone who has done it for any length of time will agree.

After hearing time and time again that I need to remake the movie so more people can see it, I am back on the road to find the right people to remake it. Seeing as it's already been seen all over the world, it has an audience, and that would grow after people see the movie. How do I know this? Because if people are still telling their friends to watch it 10 years later, and it's a no-budget guerrilla shot film, then there must be something about it. These are some of the many comments I get in emails:

"It goes even further than restaurants: not living up to someone else's expectations for your life. It's about doing what you want to do and finding your own happiness."

"Thank you for an enjoyable evening last night and the warm, friendly feeling that lingers when I think about the film."

"... I think your movie is really about finding ways to love your life...finding the heart of whatever you are in, and getting it."


"James Cameron aside, Hollywood seems so afraid of risk these days, always looking to do something that has already proven itself and so we get Home Alone 4. At the same time we see the big stars producing their own films for greater control. I could see your movie being remade by producer / star Sandra Bullock with only a few million of her own dollars invested and being a box office success. If not Sandra Bullock, then one of about 30 other celebrity / actresses." 

So I am back at the beginning again. It was impossible for one person to make a movie like this, but it happened. It's going to take a miracle to make it happen again. But... I have a great relationship with the One who makes miracles happen and I am never going to give up.

Five Weeks Since...and a Waitress

That day. Saturday. The only one like it in the whole year. And it happens every year.

It’s sandwiched in between 2 of the most important days of the year, but you never really hear about it. I thought about this unique day and voiced my thoughts to a friend, way back in 1989, but haven’t thought about it, in depth, much since that day: until 5 weeks ago.

Which day… you might be wondering? Easter Saturday. At least that’s what I call it, and will “celebrate” it for the rest of my life, because of what happened this year.

Although I have been pensive about this special day in the past, this year I took action. Besides the obvious emotions due to the horrific events of Good Friday, I wondered what the people who were the closest to Jesus,  felt deep in their hearts-- while it was happening, and the day afterwards. What were the first thoughts and emotions, in the depths of their souls on Saturday morning? What did they do that day? Could they eat? How did they act? Jesus was dead. Everything He stood for, and did, was over. God was no longer on the earth. He left them. Died. Gone.

They didn’t have the luxury we have. They couldn’t just go to their Bibles and read the story. They didn’t know about the incredibly awesome ending. They didn’t know about the rejoicing that was to come the next day. We do. We know about Easter Sunday. And if you’re anything like me, you’ve been celebrating it for many years and know the joy, the jubilation, and the peace resulting from that day.

So, because technically speaking, to go back to Easter Saturday of that exact time: the day after the actual crucifixion, God was not on earth at all. Jesus was dead, and the Holy Spirit hadn’t been sent yet. Yes I know you can argue this if you want, because as we know, God is always present, but I wanted to try to experience what they felt at that time. The sadness and sorrow: the helplessness and emptiness: confusion and fear, and all the other emotions that people feel after they have lost their best friend. Not to mention--the manner in which He was killed.

I decided that I could not talk to God at all for the whole day. No praying. No sharing. No thanking. No asking.

It was one of the worst days in my life. It was one of the best days of my life. I won’t even be able to start to describe what happened to me, but the realization I had, was the most powerful affirmation of my relationship with God that I have ever experienced. There were countless times that I started saying or thinking, “You know Lord……” or “Thank you Lord for…” or “Lord, please be with…” Then I immediately made myself stop, because I couldn’t talk to Him. He was gone. All day long it was happening. Start… stop. Start… stop. Start…stop.  I even wanted to tell Him how much I wanted to talk to Him about this whole thing I was doing, and I couldn’t even do THAT! I have never felt so lost. So alone. So empty.

I could expand on this indescribable day, but I think you get the point. There were many tears surrounding the emotions I’ve mentioned, but also happy tears because of the knowledge-- after the realization-- that I can’t go very long in a day without talking to and depending on my Best Friend. My Lord. My God. I had never felt closer to the disciples or Mary Magdalene than during this day. I was with them, back then, sharing their emotions, and it was a day that I will never forget.

Why put it on this blog? Well, because it was God who inspired me to make the movie in the first place (I never wanted to make a movie); God who provided everything for the movie, and God who put the original remake 4 water ideas in my head, I thought it was appropriate. I don’t think that many people read my blogs, and that’s ok, but if just one person thinks about God and the Easter story in a different or more personal way, it’s worth telling about this one phenomenal day.

What about the waitress? I was going to put this blog out last night, but since I wanted the “posted day” to actually be Saturday, I waited. Then, this morning, my devotions included this:

I thought oh my gosh how amazing is this?? The movie is a restaurant movie which I made to try to get people to see us as real human beings with feelings and lives-- not just as robots who care only about the tip. So I just had to put this in here too! It’s about respect for each other (on both sides of the table) and sometimes understanding when things are going wrong. Restaurant work is a hard job but most of us love it, and enjoy going to work. Not everyone can say that!

So be kind to each other and have a fun day! Peace, Patti

New Year New Blog New Hope

"Did I Say Thousand Island?" is STILL growing!!! 9 years old next week! How wonderful. We added yet another country today, so the count is up to 207! I have 13 to go and we tie the most countries/territories in the world to have seen any torrent offered on Mininova--one of the foremost torrent sites in the world!  

My Remake 4 Water website has been around for almost 4 years now and although I am not getting calls from anyone with power to make the movie again, I know that my effort has helped some people to think about water... water... water.....

It's very important to me and hopefully it's important to you. But I have come to realize a basic fact of life... again: "You can't expect people to feel the same way you do about anything. Period."  We all do that in some ways-- small and large: until we learn not to.

So... I decided that this movie still has to be remade-- just for the fun of it AND because it's growing so incredibly fast these days!! Yahoo! I looked the other day and there were 900!!! downloads that day. Now, I have already had the thrill of seeing that thousands of people have downloaded it before, but that was on a different site and somehow, seeing the one from Switzerland just makes my very happy!

If you have read anything from me before, you know that I am an x-waitress, now truck driver, always have some creative project going and usually having fun! But always caring about water. That will never change. ;-)

Am I sad about the change for the website? No. I am actually very excited. I was too burdened by hope and expectations, and now I'm free. I will use anything I get out of the movie for water, but that's all I can do. I was able to send a check (from my book sales) to have a well built in Cambodia and for that I am very very grateful! A dream come true.

Because the original intent for Did I Say Thousand Island?  was to get a message out to the general non-restaurant-working public to show how most of us live our wonderfully flexible and fun restaurant lives, well....SUCCESS! Even The Oprah Winfrey Show hasn't been seen in as many countries as my wee no budget movie. AND all without any advertising, just word of mouth.

So I have faith that some day the right people will find this movie-- that has a huge niche market; see the possibilities and just remake the movie. No other reason. I will follow my path. You follow yours. It's all good.

What's the new site? Remake 4 Love. Corney enough? I thought so... why not?  Love of what? Restaurants. People. Movies. Fun. Popcorn. Money. Whatever you want. I just can't give up on this idea, which by the way was never MY idea. Anyone who has known me for any amount of time never ever ever heard me say: "I want to make a movie." NO WAY. Why on earth would I ever want to do that??? But God put the idea into my head, I finally said yes, and 9 years later.....

So in the meantime, watch the movie. Enjoy the story. Don't dwell on its faults: I was one person for crying out loud! ;-) Think about it being done by those who have the knowledge, money and people to remake it, and tell your friends. Go ahead... make my day! ;-)