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Early mornings at KSC

Started a new migraine medicine 2 nights ago that has curbed the headaches but has also made me constantly tired and unfocused, both physically and mentally. I have a hard time looking at a single object or giving it my attention. Which has made work difficult for obvious reasons. So I called my doctor and left a message with my questions. 

For the second time in a month -- and the first time in my career -- I sat in on a live studio recording. Both times it was for a script I wrote, or at least largely doctored. There's an immense sense of pride in this, and what was even more exciting was how excited and eager the voice actor and AV tech were to do it. 

For the rocket launch towers in NASA Central we made the thoughtful decision to use a different voice from previous recordings, and we wanted Cullen to be that voice. He works in maintenance (or operations, I can't remember) over at the ASVC, and I first heard his voice earlier this month during the Europa Clipper launch. He did an announcement inside the center, and I thought he was the launch director. His voice was so measured, so bold, so perfectly cadenced. And then someone told me no, that's our maintenance guy. And no again, he's never done any sort of radio or voiceover work. Could have fooled me. 

We all mutually agreed in the office Cullen was the right choice for the new interactive, so I invited him to participate and he was thrilled. I could hear his excitement in his emails. 

And then I was told that a guy named Gino from tech wanted to do the recordings. At first we were a little sus, but then we got to talking with him and I understood he really had passion for this sort of work and a drive to do it. I'm all about giving people an opportunity to use their strengths and do more of what they love, so I ended up letting him do it. And then Khristy got sick this morning, so I had Gino do the whole thing himself. 

Both he and Cullen were so buzzed to be there. Gino went on and on for hours about his background and how he wanted to go into Hollywood special effects, and Cullen was telling me about how he wanted to go into a voice acting and had made a rudimentary attempt but didn't know where to start. I told him I would connect him with Meredith, and I hope she's able to help him. I could see the genuine spark of passion in him when he was talking about it and doing it, and I hope this gives him a foot in the door to live those dreams. And I want to get Gino more opportunities to videos, too. 

After that, the day went really slow. I just couldn't seem to wake up 100% and even ended up taking a nap in my car at one point. But because I got to work early for the recording session, it meant I got to leave early. Originally, I was supposed to go to Disney with Laura, but she texted me to say that there was an emergency with Adam; so I decided to use this opportunity and check out the nature preserve right off the NASA causeway that always closes at 5:00.

What a shame that it does! This place is absolutely beautiful. I only got to do one of the loops but it had so much variety. It had shrub, bluffs, creeks, bridges, forest... Seeing the bluffs were my favorite part because elevation is very rare in Florida, and it reminded me of Wisconsin. I could have stared at them and the water beneath for hours. But alas, I only had 30 minutes... 

I also ran into a tiny little gopher tortoise in the middle of the path! He was so small, I was afraid someone was going to eat him. So cute. 

My mission was to see some wildlife, specifically anhingas, which I did not see; but this was perfectly satisfactory. I spent so much time looking at the manufactured like Disney World and rocket ships that I miss out on the natural beauty of my state. 

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