![[icon]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/22066776/1047128) |
This is my, how you say, ah yes, journal.
|
| How did this happen, is Oklahoma secretly not its own state?
You are 73% REAL Texan!! You're way more Texan than average. You're parents were probably from here too. We're glad to have you. You probably go to the border for Christmas shopping and are well versed in BBQ, Mexican Food and .. well thats pretty much it.
How Texan Are You? | comments: 6 comments or Leave a comment   |
| Spurred on (ooh, should not have used that phrase I'm sad all over again, boo Dallas, boo!) by Wendi's request, herewith I grant thee news from LaLa Land. I've accepted a job in the biz of show! Yes, after not so much pavement-pounding (it's scary how not difficult it's been) and little-to-no hoop-jumping I will be starting work on June 5th at a little film advertising company called Mob Scene. Catchy name, eh? It's a new company but the co-owners have almost two decades of experience working in the big time studios (Fox and Sony, to be exact) and they decided to go off on their own to produce and edit behind-the-scenes shows, promos and trailers for big features (the new Will Ferrell movie to name one). Being a young company there was much talk of advancement in the interview process and so many other pros that they far outshined the cons, which come to think of it number zero. It's in Beverly Hills (sadly not 90210, just 90212--so close!), literally 10 minutes by bus from my apt (see ya gas every 5 days), the pay is equal to what I'm earning now, my hours are an awesome 9-6 (so long 5am wake-up calls!) and the vibe there is so casual it's ridiculous (The return of filp-flops to work is upon me!). As you can tell by the abundance of exclamation points I'm beyond giddy about this.
So basically this is an amazing opportunity for me to work my way up an avenue of the entertainment industry that I've always had an interest in but never knew how to pursue. Who knows where it will lead, maybe I've found my niche, but I'll still plug away at writing in my spare time. I am tres excited about the new job but wanted to hold off on telling everyone about it until I got the final word (in the back of my mind I thought it might jinx my chances if I started gushing). Sorry for the delay, I do want to keep you all in the loop and am always checking LJ for everyone's updates. Perhaps now that I'll be more entrenched in my career industry of choice it will lead to better journaling :) | | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| Which is an exaggeration to the nth degree. While the PA job was an amazing experience that told me I definitely made the right decision coming, I'm not going to think I've "made it." Realism, that's something I need to keep in check out here. I'm still slaving away at the desk job at UC Irvine Medical Center and sending out resumes for any and all entertainment-related jobs I can find.
The PA job turned out exactly as was expected, I was everyone's bitch...er, gopher. What I didn't expect was that no one really treated me like one. Even being a professional production virgin I felt ingratiated to "the club" even after the first day. I found that people develop camaraderie quickly. I guess the early morning call times of 5 am and 12+ hour days really lends itself to that. I also think we all had an "in this together" feeling because it was an outdoor location in ass-cold canyon country plus an hour drive to the set. The ranch where we filmed is apparently pretty famous, being used on a number of western-era shoots, and the canyon area was gorgeous but it was funny how the whole production felt rushed due to being dependent on daylight and the fact that the weather decided to be spotty at best and outright brutal at worst. The first day of the shoot had to be cancelled because there were torrential downpours all over LA and rain turns canyons into rivers. Finally got going the next day and was literally thrown in the deep end. Made sure to pick up production terms quickly (had no idea what a grip did exactly, now I know it's really just a fancy name for a PA who does more heavy-lifting of electrical equipment) and talked to everyone I could from the stunt/weapons guy to said grips. In only three days of working with these people I really felt like I made a good impression so hopefully more jobs will come about through my new connections.
Regarding mingling with the "stars" can't really claim that anyone A- or even C-list was involved in this production. More G-list. You might recognize some of them from small roles in random things but they certainly weren't Us Weekly-famous. Here are the three main actors' IMDb listings: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001166/, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0611889/, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0935955/. It was interesting to observe how the "talent" (anyone on camera) tended to stick to themselves. Same with the crew. I really got to know the other PAs, camera people stuck to their own, make-up/hair etc. Other noteworthy cliches, I got to fetch coffee for the actors. Now I've truly been inducted into the Hollywood system. It felt like rush all over again. I wonder how long it'll last. Just counting the days until I get my jersey! :) | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Current Music: | Coldplay - What If | | Subject: | My New Apartment | | Time: | 01:27 pm | | Current Mood: | ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/moonsis/stars/red/happy_sr.gif) ecstatic |
|
| Update the first, I found a place to live! I'm moving in gradually starting next weekend. Our story begins about a month back when I went in to "the city" to check out a few living situations I'd found on craigslist. "The city" being LA, which it's called by everyone else besides me; I've been calling everything outside LA "the sticks" or "the 'burbs" which is probably due to my antsy need to actually live in a true LA zip code so it's skewed my view of things. Didn't look at any studios or one-bedrooms as I've resigned myself to the fact that I won't be able to have a place to myself, at least not for the price and location I would like, but I'm really excited about my new roommate so I don't mind the compromise.
There were three house/apt share possibilities I'd narrowed down from the gazillions on craiglist. You really have to be finicky with some of these listing, as I quickly found out. The first one was in the Valley and even driving by I knew it wasn't the place for me. Unkempt lawn to begin with and the house was pretty shambly. Quickly proceeded to the next house which was about a mile from Venice Beach. Really great location, grocery and other shopping within walking distance and being uber-close to the beach is, of course, very cool. Sadly even though the room was HUGE (although with a teeny closet, but would've led to me getting to buy a cute armoire) and the roommates seemed cool the house was a little dirtier than I'd like. Everyone who knows me well knows how much of a Virgo I am (read: neatfreak) so even the pros could not outweight that con. Also two of the roomies were college students so I could just see me turning in to their mother, picking up after them and doing all the cooking. No thank ye.
The final place was an 2 bed/2 bath apartment share with a girl in Westwood, just a stone's throw away from UCLA and Beverly Hills. I initially had my heart set on a house and was trepidacious about living with only one roommate, but as soon as I saw the apartment complex (cute little 8-unit on a tree-lined street), inside the apt (adorable kitchen and the whole place is HUGE, esp my room, which is surprising since it's an older complex) and met my new roomie Kelly I knew this was the right choice. She was also apprehensive about living with a stranger but we hit it off famously and found that we have more in common from a love of TV to both having a harem of gay boys :) Very excited to have found such an ideal place to live, almost too good to be true. I guess there are some downsides in that there's no washer/dryer in the apt so I'll have to head to a local laundromat which will be a first for me. I'll just chalk it up as yet another new adventure. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| I don't even think Ralph was an option. It should be, he's got the best lines. "Was President Lincoln okay?" "Teacher, Lisa's dancing is making my feet sad." C'mon!
| You Are Barney | 
You could have been an intellectual leader...
Instead, your whole life is an homage to beer
You will be remembered for: your beautiful singing voice and your burps
Your life philosophy: "There's nothing like beer to give you that inflated sense of self-esteem." |
| | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| I've been here a little over a month and sadly no celebrity sightings to speak of, unless you count the psuedo-celebrityness of soap stars, which I don't since I'm not a viewer of such things. For those of you out there who do, there was some guy from One Life to Live (he plays Duke) and a girl from Days of Our Lives (Bo's daughter) at a taping of Soap Talk I attended. Yes, it's a talk show about soap operas (that title is a stumper) which airs on SoapNet, again something completely off my TV-watching radar. It was my first time as an audience member at any kind of professional taping which was interesting, but it would've been way more fun to be at a Will & Grace-caliber show.
Regarding job prospects I'm happy to announce that I've gotten my first offer to be a production assistant. It's for a short film and low-budget but the people involved have really extensive backgrounds in the industry so it's going to be a great first-time experience for me. It's shooting next week and as soon as I'm done I'll definitely be eager to gush about everything via the blog. Yes, I've made such promises for immediate blog-ification before but I don't have much else to do on my down time these days other than sit in front of a computer. | | comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment |
| Which Sci-Fi ship crew do I belong on? The one created by Joss Whedon of course!
 | You scored as Serenity (Firefly). You like to live your own way and don't enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you.
Serenity (Firefly) | | 81% | Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) | | 69% | Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) | | 63% | FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) | | 63% | Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) | | 63% | Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) | | 63% | Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) | | 56% | SG-1 (Stargate) | | 50% | Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) | | 50% | Moya (Farscape) | | 50% | Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) | | 50% | Enterprise D (Star Trek) | | 38% | </td>
Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com |
| | comments: Leave a comment |
| Christmas and the days preceding were a blur. Spent some time with Cori while she took care of last-minute errands and did some final shopping myself. Cori had a coloring and haircut scheduled for Saturday and since I was in serious need of a cut they squeezed me in. Was finished way before Cori so took a stroll around the shops and picked up a few things from the chemist (a.k.a. drugstore, adopting entirely too many Aussie words in to my own vernacular, I'm going to become a pretentious American using foreign slang, the spelling is bad enough). Later that night was Christmas with Paul's family. Felt very lucky for them to include me on the festivities and everyone was incredibly ingratiating. His family has more younger members than I'm used to at my own family gatherings, so the vibrancy was great. Several kids under the age of 10 and most of his cousins were in their 20's and early-30's. I've always found my family's holidays to be relatively sedate (when there aren't a dozen people trying to talk over each other) so this was a welcome change. Dinner ended up being a more “American” meal with Turkey and ham rather than cold seafood selections like I was led to believe a few months prior to arriving. Apparently Paul's mother decided to change the menu after hearing I would be there.
The next day we went to Paul's grandfather's house in a more rural area of Victoria north of the city. Here we had a seafood lunch and I found myself indulging in a few more prawns than I would normally back home. Wonder if there's something different about seafood here that is making my taste bud palate do a 180. Will have to conduct further experiments in to this sudden change. While out in the country observed some native Aussie animals such as the kookaburra, which were in abundance in the backyard. Their call is very distinctive and sounds similar to a laugh, almost hyena-like, and I recall something from my childhood where I learned a song about it. A line kept running in my head and then someone sang it briefly so I know I'm not crazy. Also drove by a field of kangaroos! The roads there have kangaroo crossing signs not unlike we have deer crossing signage. All of this was very exhilarating for me and resulted in a lot of picture-taking but not so much for the natives. Paul's brother equated it to them getting excited seeing squirrels (which don't exist in Oz) when they were in the states. A valid and understandable comparison. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Got up early with Cori and while she walked Bubba I had the first good run since being on vacation and felt rejuvenated. Spent the rest of the day taking in the sights of the city. They live in the western suburbs of Melbourne but found the public transportation system here is so expansive that getting in to the city was a cinch. There's a huge tram system here and their house is conveniently located right next to a stop. At the end of the tram line I took a train the rest of the way and was dumped right in the thick of things. So strange to be in a city where a car isn't essential for day-to-day life (Public trans-what? Such terms are foreign in Houston, and LA is even worse). Have found that all cities in NZ and Oz are perfect for walking and generally getting around without your own car. Would be interested to find out how emission levels compare to the US.
Visited the National Gallery of Victoria which I breezed through rather quickly. Thought there would be more pieces considering the huge size, but not so. Ventured down the street to the Australian Center for Moving Images which was having a special exhibition on Stanley Kubrick. Never been a big fan of Kubrick, which I'm pretty vocal about, but read a review of the exhibit and thought it would be, if anything, a bit provocative. Ended up being pretty intriguing with tons of items from his personal collection, shooting scripts with his notes, original costumes, props from the movies and correspondence from studio execs and regular movie-goers regarding the content of his films. He really does have a lot of controversial movies in his oeuvre: Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut. Don't think the exhibit made me a reformed fan of his work but I did come out with a lot of respect for the choices he made.
We met up with Paul's friends at their local pub for dinner, drinks and weekly quiz night. Tried to do semi-South Beach eating by ordering a Greek salad and was chastised mercilessly for not ordering the local favorite dish of Chicken Parmesan since we made all the boys try Chicken Fried Steak their first night in Texas. Promised I would not leave the country without partaking. We ended up winning the quiz (and a $50 bar tab) thanks due in part to several non-Aussie-centric questions one of which called upon my ridiculous knowledge of TV theme songs (Who's the Boss!), Having immediate recall of such useless trivia actually pays off once in a while. Celebrated by drinking copious amounts of beer (I'm so weak. It just tastes so good when it hits your lips!!) | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Accompanied Cori to her school for their end-of-term party for teachers and staff. Included a breakfast BBQ (every meal can be a barbecued, I love it!) complete with mimosas and beer. Was informed that most people get buzzed well before noon and usually before 10 on these days. Aussies can party harder than I. Decided to pace myself since part two of the party was held at an Irish pub/restaurant. Still feeling a bit jet-laggy.
Came back to the house for a rest and I booked a flight to Sydney for next month. Will stay 3 days, just enough time to see the major sights. Very excited about this leg of my journey so I'm overly focused on getting everything set up and I haven't even been out to explore Melbourne! Will be starting that tomorrow. Current plan is to visit three museums. Hmm, not sure if I'll have the energy to stand around and observe/critique three venues worth of art and culture in one day.
Went to the Queen Victoria night market this evening. Excellent outdoor shopping area that sells everything from produce (fruits and vegs here, used the word produce and got blank stares) to clothes, jewelry and Australian-made items every day and on Wednesday nights restaurants set up booths as well. Tons of yummy ethnic delights. Had a Greek wrap and then tried a Turkish crepe for dessert. Picked up a lot of souvenirs and will definitely be going back for more as there were many bargains. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Quiet day today as Cori was at school for her last day of classes. Busied myself by laundering everything I own. Good God how did the backpack get such a foul stench. Plan on thoroughly airing it out to lift out such smells. Now, if I can get my hand on some Fabreeze. That's something, along with drier sheets, I never noticed at stores in New Zealand. Had a sneaking suspicion that using a drier isn't very common down here which Cori confirmed. Today was the first time I've ever dried laundry on a clothesline and I'm uneasy about how jeans are going to feel. Very energy/environmentally-conscious here as I noticed Cori and Paul have re-usable grocery sacks and special recycling bins in their complex. A nice change of pace from Texas and it's getting me ready for eco-friendly California. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Yet another day of an early-morning check-out and late-afternoon departure so third day of my new home, the lounge. Rainy again today so not too disappointed. Also forgot to exchange contact info with Carla, or anyone else I've met for that matter. Very bad hostel-quette. Maybe it's the old age, but I'm just not the type of person to think of things like that with people I've just met. I got all of that excitement out in college. Needless to say no teary good-byes or well wishes on my last day in New Zealand. Got on an airport shuttle extra early at noon (at least I thought it was early when my flight wasn't until 4) and didn't end up at the airport until 1:30 giving me just enough time to check-in, pay the airport departure tax (What?? Isn't this supposed to be factored in to the ticket? Hidden prices, a side of travel I despise.) and grab a hamburger at Burger King (my first American fast food) before boarding. Sat next to another chatty older couple on the plane (I seem to attract the mother/father figures when travelling) who gave me a ridiculous amount of suggestions on things to see and do in Australia. Who knew I wouldn't need travel guides on this trip.
Arrived on time in Melbourne, got through my second customs desk in less than two weeks (I feel like a seasoned world traveller now) and was met by Cori and Paul in the lobby. Arrived at there house a half-hour later where we relaxed for the evening. Cori made my requested meal of spaghetti (I had a huge craving for Italian, a cuisine that was sorely lacking in New Zealand) and after dinner I was introduced to Australian TV, mostly consisting of cricket matches...or match as one can apparently last for days (and I thought the 15-inning Astros playoff game seemed endless). Did get to watch a good share of BBC shows which I've really missed since giving up cable back home. And as luck would have it an excellent episode of Arrested Development (office Christmas party fun a la GOB,“Everybody dance now. Everybody dance now!") was also on. Fortune smiles. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Woke up early and walked to the grocery store about a mile from the hostel to stock up on provisions for today and tomorrow. Was overcast and rainy so decided to stick to the lounge yet again. Finished the first of my five book stockpile and went through another quarter of the second one. Just not feeling jazzed about sightseeing. Am very anxious to get to Australia where I won't have to worry about packing my bag every other day and have a bedroom all to myself.
Spent my last night in Auckland at the hostel bar drinking more Export Gold (my new favorite New Zealand beer) and playing pool with Carla the Canuck and her gaggle of British guy roommates. Tricia took full advantage of being surrounded by her favorite type of accented men and had an excellent night ;) | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Back in Auckland for another few days. Hate to admit this but a little bored of being here. Feel like I've seen the majority of the city already so spent most of the day reading in the hostel lounge. Did take advantage of the sunny day be venturing to an open air market to check out souvenirs. Surprisingly crossed paths with my Canadian friend from the previous stay at ACB. Left in such a hurry to catch the bus to Waitomo didn't have a chance to exchange email addresses.
Shared my first co-ed room experience with two guys. A little apprehensive at first but felt oddly okay since they weren't travelling together. Strange? One was a Swede who had a crazy story about his friend who was in the hospital. They had just arrived from Thailand where he had been stung or bitten by something and then the area got infected and had swelled like crazy on the plane. Needless to say they immediately went to a doctor who admitted him the same day. They've been in Auckland for almost a week and my hostel mate is getting a little tired of the city himself. Now he's biding his time until his friend gets a clean bill of health. Have run in to so many Europeans who are travelling for months at a time and all over the world. First the two girls from the UK who had been in South America, now the globe-trotting Swede and my other hostel mate is a Brit who also flew in from South America. Went out for drinks with the Brit at an Irish pub (is there another kind for me) down the street. Tried the hostel bar at first but found there was a ridiculous dress code that would require him to change several aspects of his clothes (mainly the flip flops and jeans which I was also wearing, but as I have breasts the bouncer overlooked). Had a few overpriced imported beer (Corona, I was home again!) and enjoyed the loud cover band just inches away from our table. Called it an early night though as he had major jet lag and was about to pass out after the first drink. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Made a slight logistical error in my travel plans by arranging an overnight coach to Auckland departing at 8pm. With check out time at 9:30am I had to stick close to the hostel today since there was no other place to store my luggage except the common room. Caught up on a lot of reading and chatted with several hostel mates. Very calm, relaxing day and inadvertently a welcome respite since the bus trip turned out to be completely booked and absolutely miserable. The first time I wasn't able to use the extra seat to stretch out. Should've known the cheapest departure time would be the most popular. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | Took the touristy cable car uphill to begin another day exploring the city. Had a leisurely walk through the Botanic Gardens which ended next to Parliament and made an impromptu decision to check out how another country's government operates. I've yet to experience my own homeland's political proceedings, other than that field trip in fifth grade to the state capitol in Oklahoma City, but c'mon. After a long day of traversing the city finally found a Chinese place to feed my craving although I had to settle for Lemon Chicken and crab rangoon is nowhere to be found outside the US. Must be an Americanized Chinese food thing. Needless to say I think I'd make millions by introducing such an appetizer. Who can say no to fried cream cheese?? | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| After less than a day of being here, Wellington has become my absolute favorite stop in NZ. All the big city opportunities but so many quiet spots to retreat. Strolled along the wharf this morning before visiting the new national museum of New Zealand, Te Papa. Amazing collection providing a thorough history and description of the country's every aspect starting from its formation millions of years ago through arrival of the Maoris and European immigrants and in to modern New Zealand life. Spent four hours there and only got through three of the five levels.
Lunched at a great Indian restaurant in the outdoor Cuba Street Mall. Love the variety of Asian cuisines here which is good since I've found those to be the majority. Lots of Malaysian places in Wellington which I've never run across back in the States. Seems similar to Thai or Indian. Chinese is a rarity around here though. Having cravings for Orange Chicken, afraid I won't be able to track anything down.
The whole city was abuzz with anticipation for the premiere of King Kong, which was actually released worldwide the same day but since the majority of filming took place in Wellington and Peter Jackson is the country's favorite son an event had to be held here. Got there about three hours before arrivals started and enjoyed the craziness of my first red carpet experience. There were a few cars from the '30s set up along the barricaded area leading up to the theater which had the marquee facade used in the movie. Was able to position myself surprisingly close to the carpet with only an older couple and their grandchildren in front of me, which proved to be advantageous in attracting the stars. Seriously, old people and children attract the celebrities like moths to a flame. New Zealand celebrities, rugby players and the like, were the first down the carpet. Major stars, Nikki K Redux (a.k.a. Naomi Watts) and Mr. Adrien Bro-day, didn't show until about an hour before the movie was set to roll. The wait paid off though since I came nose-to-nose, almost literally, with Brody and Colin Hanks. Naomi seemed rather cold (and like she needed to eat something) to my side of the barricade as did PJ even though the cherub-faced children in front of me implored them to approach. Overall a fun experience and came away with some great pics and my first sunburn. | | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| | Majority of the day taken up by bus trip south to Wellington. Have now travelled almost entire length of the North Island, missing only the northern-most tip with the Bay of Islands, yet another addition to the theoretical “next visit.” The vibe in Wellington is much more San Francisco than my initial take on Auckland. More laid back here and an almost excessive amount of cafés, perfect for the starving artists which seem to be the majority of the population here. Contemplating chucking plans for LA and just setting up shop here. Found it's fairly easy for US citizens to get work visas in New Zealand from talking to a couple of my hostel roommates who are from the States. They're working “unglamourous” retail jobs which are quickly getting old but it's a job, they're in New Zealand and it's only for a year, I think I could handle that. The hostel is actually filled with people from all over the world who're doing the same thing, especially a big group of Germans. Truly wish I knew more languages than just broken Spanish. They can speak decent English and have found quite a few people from other countries who can speak three or four languages very well. A little ashamed that American schools don't emphasize learning multiple foreign languages and come out knowing them fluently. Arrogant Anglo-centric attitude. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| |
|
This is my, how you say, ah yes, journal.
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
trishthedish97's journal![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/moonsis/stars/red/silly_sr.gif){kind=small}
giddy