Ace in our pockets

I would be deeply remiss if I didn't include a member of the One Wee World team who stepped in when we most needed help. Mr. Aaron Strongoni, true blue friend and lifesaver.

My husband met Aaron when they both worked at a restaurant here in L.A. It really isn't a stretch for me to imagine how they got to be friends. Their wry, sarcastic senses of humor and unique way of looking at things must have made them gravitate toward one another.

Not much is known about "Strongoni" as our son, Max, calls him... He is nocturnal. He is desired by all my single (and some married) girlfriends. And he writes horror films.

Hailing from Idaho, the Split Pea Capitol of the World as he would proudly tell you, Aaron is, and this will indeed make him cringe, just adorable and wildly talented.

We've been working a lot together the past couple of weeks, and it's been so much fun! It's beyond gratifying to have been given the gift of this idea, and then to see the idea manfiested exactly as I envisioned. And Aaron has had a huge role in that, with his generosity in helping us film and entirely handling the editing on his own.

Out of respect to him because I can imagine he wouldn't want a very long piece, I am going to keep this short. Strongoni, you are brilliant.

Robert Jarzen, Husband Extraordinaire

My husband and I joke that our entire relationship is based on lies. I'm afraid to admit how true that is... you see, we met almost 16 years ago on a set of a commercial. During the casting session, he lied and claimed expert skateboarding skills. And during my interview, I lied and said I knew how to drive stick shift. (Hey, we were young, broke actors, we NEEDED the work!) : )

We both got the jobs, for a cheapie Italian shoe company named Koro, and our destinies were cemented. Luckily for me, the car I drove around ended up being an automatic, but Robert fared not so well, they had to cast a stunt-double for him.

I will never forget our first day of shooting. During the morning, I was definitely checking him out... he had, and still does have, a cute, cocky walk, so I enjoyed resting my eyes on his bum. I just thought we might have a little fun flirt.

Fate had other ideas in mind, when we sat down to lunch, it was the strangest thing. I remember looking into his eyes and then my mind got very quiet. From the very base of my brain, this thought swam up to my consciousness ( I can still feel the exact place where it originated) and I remember hearing, "This is the man you are going to spend the rest of your life with."

Well, that was it for me. But, you know how men can be a little slow sometime, it took him a bit longer to figure it out. As a matter of fact, it took him FIVE WHOLE DAYS to propose to me! : ) And I imagine you can guess my answer.

Robert and I consider ourselves married a month later. We made our vows to each other under the stars by ourselves, but since we were paying our own way for any wedding celebration, it took us two years to have a civil ceremony. So although in the books, it's 14 years, in our hearts it'll be 16 on July 11th.

I am so deeply proud of my husband. He is a spectacular father, my greatest friend, and an immensely talented human being.

When we first started this project we had a couple of other partners who ended up not being able to stay with One Wee World due to other personal obligations. This couple was a director friend of ours and his wife who has worked in production coordination. They were suppposed to be responsible for scheduling, filming, and editing.

After they dropped out, we realized what a good turn of events it actually was for us. (Although initially, since we were given almost no notice before they dropped out, we really had to scramble to cover for their absence) We discovered that, truthfully, Robert was perfectly capable of directing our program to our specific requirements.

It was very empowering and also deeply gratifying for Robert to get this opportunity. He is a wildly creative person and this project very nicely brings all of his talents into great use. No one more than him knows exactly what my vision is for this, and how spectacular that he also happens to be my husband! He's thrown himself body, mind, and soul into this project and I could ask for no better partner. It's a dream come true for us to work together.

I hope we get the opportunity to do this for the next 16 lifetimes let alone the next 16 years. Robert, I love you and I know we can do this together. If it doesn't turn out the way we hope... baby, we gave it our all and I'm proud of us. As long as our family is together, we will be okay.

Our Good Ole Boy

I can't imagine a soul on this earth meeting Aaron Taylor and not feeling like they've been friends with him all their lives within a couple minutes of meeting him. Aaron's got a real gift for connecting with people. I'm not sure if it's his great sense of humor, his genuine interest in what a person's got to say, or him just being an all around great guy, but what I can tell you is that you want Aaron Taylor to be your friend.

Aaron fills the role of Musical Director for One Wee World. He's the one responsible for helping us find music that authentically represents the countries we're focusing on.

It was a no-brainer for Robert and I to ask Aaron to fill this role. From zydeco to rock to punk, Aaron is a music FREAK!!! In college, he studied sound. It's been a real boon for us since we are filming so many performances where we're using the live sound recording deftly captured by Aaron.

There are so many great things to say about Aaron, but I'm just going to mention two of the skills he possesses that I admire immensely. One, he is a terrific father. When Shelli had to return to work, Aaron elected to become a stay at home dad.

Rory could simply not have asked for a better father. I spent a lot of time with Aaron because I was a stay at home mom, and Rory is a terrific little guy in great part thanks to his father's wonderful parenting. Those two have a lot of fun together and I'm grateful they shared their infectious good times with me and Max.

The second skill Aaron has mastered is cooking. Let me tell you, Aaron makes such good food that I'm compelled to have conversations with it. Ask him, he'll tell you about the time I cradled a bowl of chili lovingly and crooned to it, oblivious of everyone and everything around me. If my tastebuds have dreams, I am sure they have recurring ones about a southwestern-style meal Aaron made for us with a coffee-rubbed filet mignon with pasilla chile sauce and corn relish that was the best meal I ate that year. That man RULES in the kitchen.

And speaking of men who rule, my next post will be about another man. But this particular man is the one who rules my heart, my husband, Robert Jarzen, co-founder, director, and executive producer of One Wee World.