Backing it up.

The following is a late night response from my PHO198B professor regarding an essay that I wrote on the film, LOST IN TRANSLATION:

Hi Louiie,

I happened to be over here on the d board to verify who indeed sent in prelim essays so I thought I would re-read yours and comment. Well it was wonderful. Ordinarily I might wonder if it was best for the class to have so much strong opinion provided to them, however, LIT is a very tricky film and many people just can't get past the obviously slow pace. If a student was serious enough to read your prelim essay it might help them to appreciate the movie more so they too could find greater depth of appreciation that they otherwise would have missed. Thank you so much!

But then there is the rest of your essay where I also saw many of the ideas woven into your final essay. You really put your heart into your work. That is so important if you want to make it in the film business -- because it shows at every level of what you do. If you are in the habit of going beyond the minimum because something inside you says that the minimum is never enough, you are the one that will stand out. You will have better work and happier work, and in this competitive business, that may make the difference between success and failure.

Then again, you could get fired to make room for some exec's ne'er-do-well drop-out nephew! So it goes...

Thanks for working from the heart.

Erik

I haven't responded to this as of yet... but if I had, it would go a little something like:

Dear Mr. Professor,

Thank you for caring enough to take time to read my work. My submitted essays are the result of me waking up from a long period of creative blockage and personal ennui, hence they contain every bit of animation and passion that I could possibly type down between the timeframes of work, school and home life. I appreciate your kind comments very much. It really means something to me for someone to appreciate my work enough to see that I put myself in it.

I hope someday I can make you proud of having taught me in your class.

Louiie