A lot of small things and a big thing

I recognize that it's been forever since I updated, and really that's supposed to be the draw of a blog: consistent and reliable updates. By tossing you guys a bone every now and again, I'm doing you (and myself) a massive disservice. I'll probably want to look back on this someday, so I might as well chronicle things as they happen rather than scrambling to recall what was good and what wasn't.

First off, I have a monstrous love-hate relationship with Pinkberry. The job is easy and it gives me tons of time to catch up on my reading while hanging out with, in the words of Lucas in Empire Records, "all the beautiful, tattooed, gum-chewing freaks." On the other hand, it's responsible (and I blame it directly (there are way too many parenthetical comments in this entry already)) for how ridiculously unfulfilling my Halloween was.

This is but a symptom of a much larger problem. Halloween was just a pointed example. Since I'm not anywhere near a satisfactory amount of hours, I called a couple other locations around LA to see if I could pick up hours anywhere else. I was asked to come in both Friday the 31st and Saturday the 1st to the Century City and Playa Vista locations, respectively. Both times, the managers called me within about an hour and a half of my shift, saying I didn't need to show up. Awesome, I have some free time, but too bad I can't make any money and therefore am that much closer to not making rent.

I wouldn't have minded working Halloween night. There would have been something noble and adult about it. "I can't dress up and go out drinking tonight, I'm working." I felt very mature and in control. Suddenly, that option wasn't available to me, and it was way too late to make plans, so I spent my Halloween alone and bored.

Now, a storm has been a-brewing since I had dinner with my stuntbuddy Emily, who is so incredibly empathetic that she may very well be me without me knowing it. She talked about all the TV shows she had gotten extra work on in her brief time in town, and how she was already up two out of three SAG vouchers. I had heard of Central Casting before, and I had always meant to register, but I hadn't gotten around to it. I finally did, and today was my first experience with them.

The message said to wear a suit and to bring two changes of clothing just in case. "Insufficient or improper wardrobe will result in you being sent home without pay". Oh god, already the odds were against me. I've only got so many nice clothes out here. So imagine my terror when the wardrobe guy dismissed my backups as "too cas". Kacey got it when I typed it, but for the rest of you: he left off the last two syllables of "casual". I wanted to hug him and say I was so sorry about Prop 8, because nobody can use that contraction without being incredibly, flamboyantly gay.

Regardless, my cas backups weren't needed as my suit passed the test, and I joined a bunch of other twenty-to-thirtysomethings in a bar set in the CBS studios. The show is called Samantha Who? starring Christina Applegate as a woman with amnesia who continually discovers that her old self was not too nice a person, and she strives to make up for past wrongdoings though she can't remember them. It sounds cute. She's very cute in person. I wanted to commend her for her bravery in the face of breast cancer, but she was justifiably busy and I thought she'd appreciate not being bothered more.

By the end of the day, I had made some friends, made some money, and eaten my weight in catering. I'm getting a thought in my head, and based on my calculations (because I'm the type to endlessly make calculations. If I make this much per hour and work this many hours per week I can make this much per month, etc.) I can totally quit Pinkberry (who dash my hopes to the ground).

I present the following chart, which makes a few assumptions:


This information is based on a few things. I get about 20 to 25 hours a week at Pinkberry, making not very much every hour. If I try to get more, it invariably backfires and causes me to lose a day in planning. Working as a background extra today, I worked from 9:30 AM to 8:30 PM with a one-hour lunch break. I got half my Pinkberry hours for a week in one day, making only slightly less an hour. I also made friends in the business I intend to make my livelihood, and saved a ton of money on groceries by gorging myself on free food. I can basically do background work as often as I can wrest the booking lines from the grips of other people registered with Central Casting, which is to say I could work seven days a week if I felt like it. The previous chart compares me working 25 hours a week at Pinkberry (generous) to 32 hours a week doing background extra work (which is so very, very conservative). Recall that, because working over eight hours amounts to time-and-a-half, I put in 11 hours today. I can make more money than I am now by working three days a week.

The final bonus and a feather in my oft-worried cap is that along with working as often as I want, I can choose to not work as often as I want. There is no calling to request holidays off.

Life just got good.

Making friends is awesome

I checked out the 24 Hour Fitness a few miles from the new place, and with parking and traffic the way it is around here I'm going to need a bike pretty badly. The gym had everything I could ask for or want, and I'm doing a 7-day trial to check it out. The guy at the desk wanted to talk to me about memberships right away, but I said I wanted to ride out the free week before I made any decisions. Hopefully if I stay enthusiastic but aloof he'll feel more inclined to offer a better deal.

I feel stupid about it now, but when I was making an early dinner before work I made a discovery. Rice actually absorbs a ridiculous amount of water. I spent a little while marveling at exactly how much of what we eat, weight-wise, is just water.

Oh god, speaking of weight, I checked mine at the gym. One hundred thirty. I've lost over ten pounds since I arrived in LA. I'm not the type to obsess too much about my weight, but I've seen this coming every time I've looked in a mirror. I just didn't think it would be so dramatic.

Work was smooth tonight, we had the least-secretive secret shopper from corporate in the world. This woman came in loud and impatient, made a huge order and demanded a refund after five minutes because it was "taking too long". As soon as she left, the district manager called and asked unsubtle questions about how we handled the situation. One of my coworkers, Jenna, expressed frustration at getting night hours since she'd miss her AA meetings, and I offered to take any night shifts she didn't want, as I want as many hours as I can get. As the night dragged on, Jenna mentioned how psyched she was to get off work and go play Rock Band, and when I said how much I missed it, she invited me to come hang out with her and her boyfriend after work.

They live out in Santa Monica, and they're really nice, laid-back people. Jason does graphic design and computer service for a group in Malibu, and he's ridiculously handy elsewhere. When the kickpedal broke on their Rock Band drum set, he built a new one. In between songs he was cutting up rubber to try and give it more recoil, but it was working fine. I ended up leaving around 2, glad to have had the experience. They met at an AA meeting, so they're more creative than the types to just go to a bar as a weekend activity.

First shift, move-in, second shift

My first shift at the Venice Pinkberry was pretty uneventful, lots of fruit-cutting and helpless attempts to serve customers. The cool manager who hired me is moving to a new location at the end of the week, which kinda sucks cause replacing her is the hyper-cheerful guy who ran orientation.

I had the next day off, so I got up and cleaned up the room the Vititoes were letting me use, and I packed everything into my car and headed to Culver City. Jensen was studying for some tests, and I got everything out of my car and into the room. I took a trip to Target for some essentials, and woke up early this morning since the sun shines right into my room. It'll work out well.

I did my grocery shopping a little before 10, and was relaxing a little in the apartment when I got a call from work. The shift leader was the only one working, so I drove in to help out, starting a little after noon and finishing at the end of my original shift, shortly after midnight.

From about 5 on, it was just me and my shift leader Crystal. I was taking a break since it was a slow day, when she rushed in and said "Corporate's coming." We spent the rest of the day looking busy and cleaning every visible inch in preparation for an inspector to show up and look over the place. Ten minutes before close, the guy walked in. He checked out the facilities and waited for a customer to show up so we could show him how awesome our customer service was, but it was late and nobody showed.

I'm pretty happy with the job and the apartment's doing okay. All I could ask for right now is more hours and slightly more neat roommates. First thing I did upon settling in here was doing all the dishes in the sink and buying dish towels. The kitchen's a mess, and I had to dust and vacuum the room I was moving into. Tall Brian says that Erin was mostly the messy one, but it looks like everybody's doing their part here.

Okay, I'll do something real

It's been such a ridiculous past few days. I had lunch with Aunt Laurie, Uncle Lou, Daniel, Aunt Theresa, and mom's cousin Scott and his family on Sunday down in Manhattan Beach. Holy crap, it's gorgeous out there. I haven't had a really good, solid beach experience yet, since all the days I've gone it's been windy and gross. I need to jump on that before fall really sets in. I had fish and chips and a Guinness, a lunch of champions and one I've missed sorely in my time out here.

Shortly after, I headed over to Culver City to check out an apartment off Overland. The guy who greeted me at the door didn't look like he sounded on the phone, which wasn't a negative thing, just a noticeable thing. He showed me around the apartment, which definitely looks like four guys live there, but four guys who at least know how to work a vacuum. He called me later in the day asking if I wanted to come back and meet the other guys, which basically sealed the room as mine.

I got up this morning and went to orientation at Playa Vista, sitting through a stereotypical series of feel-good speeches about the company. There's no romanticizing this, it's a marginally healthy dessert place. I'm just psyched to be getting a paycheck.

There were four of us there, going to three separate franchises. None of us are at the Playa Vista location, it's just the most central one. It'll be interesting heading over to the Venice location; the other trainee there was discussing the merits of Alcoholics Anonymous versus Narcotics Anonymous. She can't be older than me.

We finished up pretty early and I rolled out to the apartment to meet Jensen and the Brians. They were watching Lifetime when I came in, and I'm not sure it earned them points or docked them. One of the Brians is my height, but Jensen and the other Brian tower and make somewhat imposing figures except for their ridiculously blue eyes. I was literally made self-conscious, feeling like I needed to find a mirror and some privacy to assure myself of my marked blueness.

It's pretty clear that when I move in, I will be the bitch to at least some degree. The guy moving out, Erin, is a little more subdued than the others, who made jokes about hiding outside his balcony to scare him at night, which they assure me they won't do. I'm considering striking first, but I'm not sure if this would put them in their place or spark a war of escalation.

Either way, Erin's heading out late Tuesday or early Wednesday, which means I have a move-in day! I stopped by Venice to talk to my manager and I'm working the night shift tomorrow, 6pm to midnight. I'm looking forward to it.

My New Homepage

http://iscaliforniaonfire.com/

... Seriously?

God, I can't even express how time is flying out here. I've been running around the past two weeks trying to cover everything, and I think I'm somewhat in control now.

John Lefler got into town last week, so the Lefler boys and what girlfriends they had went out to dinner one evening with me. It was nice, since they're all treating me like a little brother of sorts, which means I get all the guff that John and Kevin could never really legitimately give Billy.

Last weekend wasn't much, except that I went to North Hollywood to see Mikayla in a show out there. Mikayla graduated from W&M my freshman year, and I was glad to find out she was living in LA as well. The show went well, it was cute and amusing, and I met the director and a bunch of the actors afterwards.

Thursday I had my second interview with Pinkberry, which is a fancy, corporate kind of frozen yogurt place, which is kind of degrading but everybody there is relaxed and down to earth, and they offered me the job so I'm starting Monday. Now comes the fun of finding an apartment! Thursday night I went out to the cafe where Sam is a manager, as they were having a wine tasting and some live music. It was good to catch up with him again and talk to some of his friends and coworkers.

Last night I went with Billy, Kevin, both Lindseys, and Billy's friend Craig to the concert at the Staples Center. The Cab opened and did alright, I'd never heard of them before. We hung out backstage in the Dashboard dressing room the whole time the Plain White T's were onstage. Dashboard did a good set, the people seemed to enjoy it, and we went backstage when Panic went on. At one point before Kevin and his Lindsey arrived, Craig and Lindsey Ray went to the bathroom, leaving Billy and I standing and talking.

"Billy," I said. "Since I came out here, you've been like my best friend." He was quiet for a moment.

"That's really sad, dude," he said, quickly adding "I mean, I'm flattered, though. You just need friends who don't work all the time." It was a special moment.

When we went backstage, I split my time talking to John's friend Jessica and her family, and this guy Ed, whose relationship to anyone is beyond me. Jess, who is better known as "Beefer" for whatever reason, was good people and her father, brother, and brother's girlfriend were as well. We talked a lot about stunts, which was fun because I like looking like I know what I'm talking about.

I grabbed a seat when one opened up, and somehow got into a conversation with Ed. Ed does advertising, which he says he hates, though I don't remember him saying what he enjoys besides older women. By the time Billy was ready to leave, Ed wanted to give me a call sometime, though I doubt he was in any state to recognize the name in his address book when he woke up this morning.

So now it's just apartment hunting, trying to find something marginally affordable in Venice or Santa Monica. I've gotten in touch with a few places over craigslist, but nothing's really come back so far. I keep looking for an apartment building with a fitness room, because gym memberships out here are extremely expensive and when I folded my arms last night, I felt an unsettling amount of give in my biceps.

Yeah, that's right, I just wrote, in all seriousness, the previous sentence. Comma abuse ahoy.

A little busier, not much change just yet

It's been like a week! The reason I lag a little bit between entries is that the individual occurrences don't really feel like enough to write about on their own, but once I get a few I feel like I can pound out a good, solid entry. The thing is, occurrences tend to be few and far between, so it takes a little while to build things up. Fortunately, I'm ready to go today.

Last weekend Justin offered me a chance to go the Dodgers game, and I jumped at it. Major league baseball! The home team! The possibility of tailgating! I hadn't been to a baseball game since I was old enough to drink, so it was a new and exciting experience. Justin hooked me up with a Dodgers shirt so I wouldn't look out of place, and we grabbed his friends Blake and Gary and went to the stadium.

It was a solid game, we won and I got to see two home runs. I was told to try a Dodger dog, and while I don't think I'd do it again, it was an important part of the whole atmosphere. Two days later, Jim said that he and Karen were going to another Dodgers game and asked me if I felt like coming along, but I don't think I'm the kind of person who can attend more than one big sporting event a month. It was a lot of fun though, and when I figure out whether or not we're in the playoffs, I bet we'll go again.

Oh yeah, I had an audition last week for this guy's thesis project. I was supposed to show up at 7:30 but I got there a little early, and didn't end up going until around 9. I got to talk to the other people who were auditioning, and they seemed like a good bunch, though they didn't really have much to say. The audition itself was a lot of improvising and body language rather than reading lines, which was refreshing but a little awkward. I did not hear back from them, however.

I went out with Billy and his girlfriend Lindsey on Thursday, which was nice and relaxing. We had lunch in little Tokyo and then looked at a bunch of shops. He mentioned that John will be in town with Dashboard next week and that we should all hang out, which would be awesome.

Saturday I got up early and went up to Santa Clarita to be a featured extra in an independent short called Death's Door, which is about a guy who somehow has a curse where people around him die, so he just gets a job at a hospital where death is normal and acceptable, and presumably hilarity ensues because it's supposed to be a dark comedy. I got there at around 11:30 when we were called at noon, and spent a lot of the time waiting and talking to this guy Ray who had decided that he hated his desk job and quit to become an actor. We started talking to another guy, David, who was trying to break into things as well as maintaining his circuit as a motivational speaker after he got out of being in a gang in Los Angeles. They were good guys.

There was a bit of a lull, so we just sat and talked and ate free food while waiting for wardrobe to give us clothes, so I went and grabbed A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius out of my car. As I was sitting and reading, one of the other extras asked me about it, and we started talking about literature and authors. A girl sitting nearby picked up on the conversation and soon we had a nice little team going, joking and talking and waiting to go on.

Eventually they threw some scrubs on me and told me I was a surgeon, so I made a point of walking around in the background doing surgeony things (aside from, y'know, actual surgery). It was a lot of fun and I got to see/hear David Moscow act. When I told Sam, he looked him up and found out that he was in Honey with Jessica Alba. He was the music director who discovered her character and then sexually harassed her. He was paid to sexually harass Jessica Alba. This guy is living the dream.

Before we all parted ways, a bunch of us exchanged phone numbers and Kara, my literature buddy, invited me out to Hollywood and Highland where a bunch of people would be after they got off the set. It took me forever to find parking, but we ended up hanging out at the Geisha House, a sake bar/sushi restaurant. I ordered some sake, and it came out in a carafe with condensation on the side. I had never had cold sake before, so it was a learning experience. When we parted ways, I gave Justin a call to see what he was up to, but I guess his phone wasn't handy so I just went back to the Vititoes and crashed.

Now it's another busy week of sending out dozens of resumes and going to apply wherever I can. Billy told me to look over my resume and maybe try to rework it a little, and when I did I realized that my work experience was upside down, with the oldest job first. How the hell did I mess that up?

Pretty much the same story

It's been a pretty chill week, just a lot of applying and running around. I was part of the audience for a tv show called Comics Unleashed, which I thought would be fun because I could get paid to watch comedians, but oh, how wrong I was. I don't care to get into the specifics, but paid audience work is not something I'm going to make a habit of in the future.

Wednesday night I finally managed to hang out with Sam Rhodes. We walked to a quaint little dive called the Fox Fire and caught up a bunch, so I feel like I've really got a friend out here. It really helps that he's from Richmond as well, so we can commiserate on the whole "moving to an entirely new place" thing, but he's had time to get settled.

I got the sides for an audition I have tonight for an independent film, and the character says two words for the entirely of the two pages they sent me. It's going to be an hour drive out there, but I feel like this is better than nothing. I actually ought to make some dinner and head out there now, but that's basically where I'm at right now. Hopefully the weekend will hold something interesting or amusing for me to write about, because it's really just been more of the same lately.

Best time I've had since I've gotten here

So for the last couple nights, Justin's been kind enough to poke his head in and ask if I felt like hanging out for the evening. I've said no thanks, I'm gonna keep looking at job listings, but since it's my first Friday night in California, I thought I'd take him up tonight.

We went out to a bowling alley that didn't seem that far from the house along with his friend from New York, Nick, and his buddies from around here, Libby, Blake, and Gary. We split into groups of three and bowled, and I don't know what it is, but I used to always swerve to the right, but all night I swerved left, which meant a lot of my balls were firmly in the gutter. The first game, all I wanted to do was beat Nick, and I managed that, but the next two games he got at least four times my score.

We drove over the Jack in the Box after that, a place I'd never been before, even though we'd been talking about hitting up In and Out earlier. Megan was the one who told me about the "secret menu" so hopefully that will be something we get to do together

Oh! Shit, it's been the best day I've had so far in this state. I got lunch with cousin Daniel today, and we talked a lot about the USC football season coming up and how he'd find a game where somebody who looked kind of like me wasn't going, and we'd borrow their ID and get me in for free. That'd be sweet. He knows the area pretty well and said he'd help me figure out a good place to get an apartment later on.

When I stayed with Sean down in Carlsbad, his mother got me in touch with a stunt coordinator from San Diego, who told me to look up Backstage West, a casting magazine. Through their website, I found a listing for an independent short called "Death's Door", which had cast all their majors, but the director really liked my look, so I'm going to be a featured extra in their film in late September. Everything came together today, and things seem to be kicking ass, except for two things.

One, I still need to find *steady* work. Craigslist isn't being a huge help lately, and I'm kind of suffering for it. Two, it's been five or six days since I've heard from Megan, and I'm getting worried about her. I was counting on her to be a source of support when I got out here, and I feel kind of lonely and helpless without so much as a peep from her. I just need to keep myself busy to stop worrying about my decaying social life.

Oh god

This place is terrifying. The Vititoes are great, but everything in this area is so unfamiliar that I need a lot of help. I know a lot of people out here, but I feel like every time I get in touch with them, I'm imposing or taking up their time. I applied to a few bars and restaurants, and I was supposed to hear back from one of them about a second interview by noon today, but I haven't heard anything at all.

I know that it's just a difficult transition, because I'm in a place that's entirely unlike anywhere I've ever been before, but I still feel really alone. I don't want this to turn into a place where I just whine about how sad I am, though, so I'm just going to leave this as an example of where I started when I came out here, and future entries will show how far I'll go.

Hey, I made it!

This is my first entry from California! I got to Sean's yesterday around 6, and we hit up the 24 hour fitness gym, which he accurately described as "GloboGym without Ben Stiller". Afterwards we destroyed any positive effects the workout had with carne asada fries from Mexico Viejo, and then went to get his tips from Starbucks. We had a nice chat with one of their regulars, an economics expert named Cornelius.

We ran and got some eggs this morning for breakfast, and I hit the road around 10. Billy had wanted me to stop in at the studio, so I got a little lost in Los Angeles until he gave me a hand. I met some of his friends and watched them work on songs for a bit, and then I rolled up to Jim and Karen's.

I tried to find a florist on the way there, but I was passing through what I think was Little Tokyo, so all of the signs made no sense to me. I'm going back to the city tomorrow to look for bartending work, so I'll grab something then to show them my appreciation. I talked with Karen and Sara for a little while and then went to work browsing craigslist for job listings, and then swam a little with Travis and Justin's friend Nick. Justin's not back from work yet, but I'm looking forward to meeting him, too. I'm a little nervous, but it's a hopeful nervous. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

Further on down the trail

I'm in the home stretch now! I arrived at Chris's folks' place yesterday in the evening, and their oldest daughter's fiancee was over with his husky. We sat and had a nice conversation and a great dinner, and turned in pretty soon afterward.

I rolled out this morning with an actual honest-to-God breakfast in my stomach, and heading across New Mexico and Arizona was pretty uneventful. I saw a sign for a Sonic around Winslow and stopped because if you're going to drive cross-country, why not stop at Sonic? Oh, jesus, I saw a tumbleweed roll in front of my car today. It was kind of surreal, I thought "Okay, I'm officially in the west".

I finally hit pacific time today, showing up at Tom and Mary's place around 6:30. We had pasta and a bunch of red wine and Tom tried to surprise me with facts about dad, but none of them were anything I didn't know before. We talked a lot about stunts and they had a lot to ask about movies, and we ended up watching Hot Fuzz. It was a lot of fun, but I'm bushed and ready to get to California tomorrow!

Gearing up for Day 4

Yesterday Kris and I got up and took a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Saint Louis, and I got on the road around 3 in the afternoon. I didn't get in to Oklahoma until nearly 11, and there was a stretch of time on the road when I underestimated how uninhabited this state is.

There are about 20 miles between every exit on I-44 out here, and I misjudged when to take a bathroom break and barely made it to a Walmart that thankfully also sold diesel. The hotel room is a little better than the one in Knoxville, it's on the first floor and the breakfast was a lot nicer, but last night there were people screeching their tires and racing until around 2 in the morning. I was less than pleased.

The current plan is to get showered and organized and get going before 11 so I can get to Chris's aunt and uncle's place before 7. This trip is changing my relationship with my car, and it's really changing the way I think about short-distance driving. I think I'm going to be a lot more relaxed about getting stuck in traffic from now on, because I'll just think, "At least I don't have another six hours of driving to do after this clears up."

Second day of the drive

So my review of the Days Inn Kodak looks like this:

The night manager spent about as much time outside smoking as he did behind the counter. The wireless internet touted on the sign simply didn’t exist. There was trash tucked away in the corner of the room. There was absolutely nothing for ten miles in every direction. My dining options were Wendy’s, Subway, McDonalds, and fucking Cracker Barrel. As if Kodak heard the stereotypes in my head and rushed to prove them, the radio stations in the area were split between country music, Christian music, or recordings of Sunday’s mass. My knuckles whitened and it dawned on me: this could be a dry county. I hadn’t seen a single bar or restaurant that contained a bar. A lit Bud Lite sign in a gas station window soothed me, and I sought the only solace I’d have in this ironically God-forsaken town.

When I got back to the hotel, I noticed a trio of people sitting on the curb with their feet in the grass. From a distance they looked kind of youngish and I figured I might as well make the best of things and see what they had to say. As I approached, I noticed two of them were female, something I had trouble figuring out from afar. That was Bad Sign 1. Bad Sign 2 was that both of them were extremely pregnant. I asked the guy what there was to do around here, and he said “Oh, plenty. There’s …” and then he started mumbling incoherently. I nodded. “Badass. Well, I’ll check it out later. Thanks.” Thus, I returned to my room where I sat, alone with my six-pack to comfort me.

I had an interesting moment when I was driving yesterday. As I was heading down 460 to Knoxville, Race The Sun came on my ipod with the song "460 to Nowhere" which I thought was poetic. No such luck today, but when I was driving I called Kris to tell her I'd be there in two hours. When I was a half hour away, I noticed that the road signs said "St Louis - 70 miles" - I had forgotten to turn my clock back an hour. It's weird driving back in time!

Kris and I caught up when I got in, and we baked a bunch of cookies and went to a pizza place. A little later on we caught up with a bunch of her friends and rode the metro (which was weird, because there were nearly a hundred college students riding the metro together, something I never got to see during my college years) to a bar in downtown St. Louis. We talked to a bunch of people and eventually headed over to a casino within walking distance. I set a $20 limit for myself because I had heard horror stories in the past, but I got bored of slot machines after $8 and just called it quits. We got a taxi back and she went straight to bed, so I'm sitting here on the couch, enjoying having internet for this brief moment, but we're hopefully going to tour the Anheuser Busch brewery tomorrow before I have to head out for Oklahoma City.

No idea why the font is weird, though.

Okay, really leaving town

Alright, so I'd say I'm about 95% packed. The last of the stuff includes things I'll just toss together last-minute, like stuff to ride up front in the car with me. I also need to put all the songs I've gotten tonight onto my ipod tomorrow and print out my directions. I got caught up with a bunch of stuff this evening, so I didn't get a chance to call half the places I'm staying, but I've got four out of six down solid.

I've got a box of clothes, a box of books and DVDs and assorted electronics, a duffel bag with clothes for the trip, and my backpack for various cords. It's been a bit of a crazy week, lots of running around and lots of goodbyes, so I'm kind of in a unique emotional state right now. I'm ready to leave and try something new, but I'm also scared shitless. It's all going to work out for the best, though, and I've got a lot to look forward to out there. I'm steeling my resolve and going to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day of driving to Knoxville.

Leaving town

And it's all over. The airport shuttle is coming to get me in about an hour, so I've got to take a quick shower and pack all my stuff up. Our high falls went up to around 30 feet today, which is over what your average performance calls for these days, but it was good practice. Ish and Marque got us going on the air ram, as well, which is basically a pressurized launchpad that triggers when you step on it, sending you flying through the air. I'm going to start taking care of things around the room, so I leave you with this recording from last week: the martial arts guys fight presentation.

Bami

I haven't written anything in a few days, because I've had the undesirable position of not being able to talk about anything I've done without a huge weight on my shoulders. I was a little concerned when I got into my room Monday to find missed calls from Heidi and dad on my phone. I called dad back and he made small talk, which I thought was weird because we'd had small talk the day before. Heidi called on the other line and asked if I had heard about Bami, and I immediately switched back to dad to ask him.

Bami had a sudden stroke, and they didn't expect her to make it through Tuesday. It didn't really hit me until I tried to sleep that night, but it was one of those nights where you lie on your back and stare at the ceiling for an hour, then look at the clock and realize it's only been five minutes. I was in no condition to be set on fire the next morning, a statement that Clay pointed out should probably be true of most mornings. I took Tuesday off to answer phone calls and catch up on sleep, and everybody was very understanding.

We did the last part of driving today, and I remembered how, whenever I would drive Bami anywhere, she had a habit of asking me if I liked driving. I didn't really have any musings she'd appreciate during high falls and wire work, because those were things I never did with her.

Really, at this point I'm at a loss for more words, so I'll just say this: I love you, Bami, and I'm glad you're with Bumpop.

A couple of videos

Group fight scene - really low quality, when I get a better one I'll put it up

Josh messing around in the parking lot - this is from when we were downtown, so the language is a little inappropriate

Wire work - this is my favorite, and if you watch just one of these, watch this one

All in due time

Every day, I get about two or three cool or interesting videos to put up, but with the awful internet connection in the hotel, I have time to upload one a day. Housekeeping showed up between that last sentence and this one, and I've since relocated to Barnes and Noble to let them do what they do best. I was hoping there'd be better internet here so I could upload a few videos, but they make you pay four bucks for two hours. I can at least compress the videos and write this entry, then go back and upload/post it all.

Our second and final day off was nice and relaxing, and Stephen and I slept in until about noon, and then he went off to do some shopping while I went to Barnes and Noble to use it like a library. I got a coffee and scone and read Batman Year One and A History of Violence, which took about four hours. It was awesome and a great change of pace from getting up at 7 and running around all day.

We went to a park (the name of which eludes me) where we're finishing up the last of the workshop, and split into two groups. My group went down to the docks, where a large open space near an old World War 2 hangar allowed us to do some precision driving. Steve Buckler taught us a few interesting ideas and showed off a bit of his stuff, but not before giving us the long list of injuries he's acquired in his day.

Josh and I stuck together for the most part, switching seats every so often into the fully-reclined passenger seat. I have to tell you, there's no feeling of vehicular freedom like driving a car when nobody cares if you fuck it up. I'm not saying we were reckless, but it was definitely a load off my mind.

Speaking of reckless, we noticed that some people fight as well as they drive. Josh and I wanted to get as much time in the cars as we could, so when two more drivers hopped in, we moved to the back. The guy at the wheel, Mickey, immediately hauled ass down to the starting point, screeching the tires and swerving to land about ten feet to the right of where we were supposed to be. When Josh voiced his concern, Mickey responded with, "Oh, are you scared?" We then began a jolting, screeching trip to the end of the slalom, and Danny leaned down to critique Mickey. Josh and I quietly exited the vehicle, concluding that Mickey fights as well as he drives.

We had lunch at a place that's apparently a favorite of Dave's, Burgermaster, which might have been called Overpricedmaster. The meal was not worth what was paid, and a lot of people were kind of dissatisfied.

The afternoon had a lot of wire work, including rappelling and ratcheting. Rappelling was incredibly easy, since I did the semester-long adventure games class, so I helped out when I could there. Ratcheting was a lot of fun, and again, when I can do so I will upload video of it. I'm going to head back to the room and post this, so I'll see ya'll later!

The day that does not require an AK; it is good

Stephen and I slept in a little today, allowing ourselves the freedom to get a good, solid lunch without worrying about packing. It was our last day on the University of Washington campus. We started out by polishing our found weapon scenes, and I took Danny's advice about acting crazy and applied it to our group.

I came up with the concept for our scene, which made me pretty proud. I'm not sure how I came up with it, but Meg and I were new to the neighborhood, and Rob and Zana invited us over for a welcoming meal. When we arrive, Rob says he's ready to take the steaks off the grill, and our faces fall. "Rob," I say. "Meg and I are vegetarians. Surely you're aware that meat ... is ... MURDER!" and thus begins the violence. Rob and I fight while Meg and Zana face off, and we switch briefly before switching back. Eventually, Zana seizes an opportunity to choke me from behind, at which point I bite her arm, realize what has happened, and panic, screaming, "Oh god, what have I done?!" before fleeing with Meg in tow.

It worked beautifully. As if the scene weren't funny enough already, Meg brought a bottle of wine to class today, saying we could offer it as a gift to Rob and Zana, and then snatch it off the table as we fled at the end. The other students loved it, and they laughed at all the bits we intended to be funny. A lot of the other skits went extremely well, both serious and silly, but I feel bad because Stephen got stuck with a really shitty group, and Dave tore into them when it came to review time.

After lunch we practiced on a makeshift live action stunt set, the kind they have in Universal Studios or Disneyworld, but it was a lot of sitting around mostly. We didn't end up leaving campus until 7 pm, which was exhaustingly boring. Stephen said he was going to take a shower as soon as we got back to the room, but he lied. I snagged the shower first, and managed to hitch a ride to Rob's birthday cookout with Caitlin and Cailin (spelling not guaranteed). A ton of people were there, and we all had an awesome time.

A few of us split off after an hour or so and went to check out downtown Seattle. We went to a club called the War Room, which was almost entirely populated by Asians. There was dancing and drinking, and Brock DDed us back to our hotels. When I upload the extremely low-quality fight scene and the fantastic demonstration Josh presented in the parking lot, I'll post them. Much love, ya'll.

Another two-days-in-one post

I guess you'd say things are picking up a little bit. Yesterday was martial arts choreography in the morning and then filming in the afternoon, and we got through the filming so quick that we went straight into the review instead of doing it today. The instructors said the fights had been improving over the course of the workshop, even though mine was criticized again for low energy and a lack of acting. I got video of it, though I'm not sure I want to post it at this point. Danny told me he wanted me to go crazy in the next fight to try and put some action into me.

After the review, Dave said we were ahead of schedule for the first time in stunt school history, which troubled Stephen and I. If there are twice as many students as usual, and we're ahead, doesn't that mean that we're getting even less time devoted to us than when there are only 30 students? It's a troubling thought, and more and more I'm becoming skeptical about the administrative elements of the school. We had the business meeting this afternoon, discussing networking and proper behavior when it comes to getting and keeping jobs, which restored a lot of my faith in where this school is taking me.

During the meeting, Danny mentioned the importance of having a professional voicemail message (I need to double check mine. It's pleasant, but not very professional) and a professional e-mail. He specifically used "number one stuntman" as a bad example, so I'm hoping that this blog URL will be taken the way it was intended: a joking reference to a Big Tymers song from 2000, which feels so very, very long ago. I need to ask Danny if maintaining my school email will reflect well on me for my prestigious education, or if it'll just look like I'm a student forever.

Overall, though, I'm feeling pretty tired and a little disenfranchised. I don't feel like I've picked up a lot of new information here, though Dave said that it would take three or four days of SAG work to make the cost of the school back, so hopefully it'll pay for itself quickly.

Stair falls

Moving right along

I was way too tired to write anything yesterday, so I'll touch on what we did briefly.

Yesterday was the first time we did anything remotely new to me since I've gotten here: tackling and the mini trampoline. There really wasn't much to the tackling, just making sure both people go down as one so there aren't faces and shoulders knocking into one another. It involved a lot of running and yelling and sudden impact, and the time spent outside on Sunday had my allergies acting up. Before long, I got a sinus headache. Yay!

The trampolines got a lot of use during the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show, where the shot would show Sarah Michelle Gellar grabbing some hapless vampire and beginning a throwing motion, then the angle would switch to them soaring through the air. Off-camera, conveniently, was a trampoline, and that's what we did: acting like we were being thrown or forced unpleasantly through the air.

Today we started out doing some martial-art kind of things, which in stunt terms is just fighting for the camera in a more controlled, stylized fashion. It was really, really boring, but I'm looking forward to choreography tomorrow. Then came the only part of this school I was at all concerned about: stair falls. The instructors built two sets of stairs for us to go down and then padded us up. We'd get varying amounts of padding based on the jobs we got in the future, but for the training part we were allowed to get comfy.

If you have ever heard the expression "as easy as falling down stairs", you should know that it is a gross, horrible lie. Falling down stairs properly is complicated as hell. The way Jason put it during his explanation is that we can fool gravity in two ways: going really slowly by controlling our bodies, or by going fast enough that we set the pace before gravity gets a say in things. Falling down stairs involves the latter. One thing he said made it seem a lot easier: just imagine the stairs as a floor with holes in it. The edge of each step has a surface to it, and there's some space between them. And it's at an angle. These things are all window dressing, the surface is the important part.

Once we finished up with class, we took a trip out to the Value Village to get clothes for our fire burns next week. Pictures of that here: hope this works!

When the video of the stair falls finishes uploading, I'll post it. Goodnight!

First day off!

I actually slept in today, which is a weird concept. Before I left to come out here, Kenny was over and talking with dad for a bit when Seattle came up. He said he'd be out here visiting his sisters at the beginning of August, which happened to coincide with my first day off.

I called Kenny the other day and we sorted out how things would work. His sister Sandy got me this afternoon and we went by her place where she and Kenny were putting in a new bathroom. They still had some work to put in, so she dropped me off in Kirkland by the waterfront and I walked around and explored for awhile. They got me a little later and we went to their other sister Diane's place. Diane's husband Kent made a bonfire and grilled corn and salmon. There was a salad with edible flowers on it, which were really pretty but I couldn't get much taste out of.

Afterwards their friend Jason finished up a cobbler he'd made with blueberries from his yard, and we sat around the fire with their dogs and talked. It was a nice day off, and I'm rested and ready to kick some ass tomorrow. Mini tramp and bulldogging!

Second fight video

I wasn't able to film the actual filming of the fight, so I recorded the review session. Jason stops the fight halfway through to complain briefly, but he has a valid point. Dave was a lot gentler this time around!

It's official!

I love you, mom. I love you, dad. But the simple fact remains that this is the first blog post I've made while being somewhat drunk.

Tomorrow is our first day off, and everybody had kind of a fantastic time. Right now, I'm not 100% sure where my Roma zippy is, but I think it's with some girl one floor down. Let's do this chronologically.

Class went well, we got our knife and club choreography and it was absolutely awesome. Zack was a great partner, I was less comfortable with him than I was with Stephen, so we stepped it up a bit. I handed off the camera to Stephen to film, but he missed the fight, so I caught the review version, so enjoy the messed up color and Jason criticizing us during a long pause sequence. The intensity was kicked up a ton, and it felt awesome.

After class, I talked to Kenny briefly, and his sister will pick me up tomorrow afternoon to attend a barbecue (which means free lunch/dinner!) and I get some quality time out of the hotel. Stephen and I had more teriyaki chicken, which will probably be a staple of our dinners since we have so much rice and so many chicken breasts. He stayed in to talk to his girlfriend while I walked with Greg down to the Olive Garden where Danny and Jason and about thirty students were getting dinner.

I ordered a martini the way I like it at the bar (Bombay, two drops of vermouth, up, olives) and the bartender turned the bottle upside down and kept going. I watched her intently the whole time, my smile spreading with each negligent second. It was the strongest martini I've ever had for less than eight dollars. Everyone else ate, and I had a great glass of Chianti (no farva beans or liver, unfortunately).

We moved on to a karaoke bar I can't recall (four nights of karaoke a week, completely unacceptable) but Joon and Jana were buying round for everybody, so I proceeded to enjoy myself. If it weren't for my dramatic necessity for perfect spelling, this would be horrible. I got up and sang The Strokes' "Reptilia", which is probably the song most suited for my vocal range, loaned out my jacket to this girl Erica who was too dumb to wear sleeves, and got a ride home with Danny. We listened to his lyrical stylings on his iPod on the way home, including the stunt school theme song, and a charming little ditty called "You're A Stupid Cunt".

Danny is a good person, and I love him dearly.

Armed combat

There's really not a lot to be said about today. We split up into two groups and switched off. I paired up with a guy named Zack from Chicago who had also played Romeo in the past, so we shared some common ground. We went over knife work, which was really just like the unarmed stuff except with something in your hand, and then switched over to club work, which was just like swordplay. It was easy to work up a sweat in either environment, but the technique is all pretty simple. Tomorrow we'll do choreography and that will be exciting. Plus, there will be another video up!

I went on an adventure, trying to find a liquor store out here because I thought gin and tonics would be a good way to unwind after days of violence, and the nearest one is about a half hour walk away. It was therapeutic, and I realized I was walking around a strange city I'd never been in before. It's kind of fun thinking about it like that.

Choreography day

Today was a little trying. Dave talked for a few hours about working with the camera, and it was boring because I've heard it all a million times before. After that, we split up to rehearse the fight we learned yesterday a few more times before filming it, and Stephen and I used my camera to figure things out before getting in front of the big one.

I wanted to go as close to first as possible, but we ended up going somewhere around fifteenth or sixteenth, as there were 35 or so groups. When I went up, we hadn't practiced in so long that I just froze. The choreography looked awkward and stiff and I barely put any energy into it, and when we did a film review in front of everyone, Dave asked if I had ever acted before in my life. It was really, really embarassing, and after a few minutes of despair, I grabbed Stephen and said, "Dammit, we're going to do this right." We went over to the area we had practiced and filmed another go, and you can view that at the bottom of the entry. Dave said he'd give it a glance tomorrow so we could get more accurate feedback.

I felt like the verbal beating Dave had given me would make the other students think less of me, but when I told Merlin (yeah, that's his name) that he had done well in his video, he told me that he had seen me perform better and knew the video wasn't indicative of my skill. I felt a lot better after that.

On the chicken-breast-reduction-front, we had teriyaki tonight, which worked pretty well in spite of not having a wok. I'm pretty happy with the way the food situation is working out, though we're already almost out of beer. Since we have so many limes left over, I'm thinking I'll grab a bottle of gin and and some tonic, since those will last a lot longer.

More unarmed combat

Life is a lot better now that we have groceries. Stephen knows how to make scrambled eggs in the microwave, which sounds weird as hell but it's actually really good. Especially considering that we have really crappy cooking equipment. But breakfast is not a concern now, and I wasn't that sore when I woke up. We learned a few more unarmed techniques today, mostly throws, chokes, and stuff like that, so it was all really easy. Jason (one of the instructors) poked fun at me for letting my judo training show during the throws, but I managed to help out a bunch of people who were doing them completely wrong.

After lunch, we dove into choreography. I think Dave has something against bouncers, because every fight I've seen him choreograph on the fly involves somebody trying to get into a club and overpowering the hired help to get in. Did you get kicked out once or twice in your youth, Dave? It's okay.

When we got in, I walked the mile-or-so to the actual grocery store and got the last few essentials: butter, dish soap, limes, and beer. Stephen went and found a 24-hour gym that costs way too much for me to justify going. When he got back, we cooked some chicken in a very ill-suited pot, and made quesadillas with tortillas that hung over the pot's edges. We had a lot of making-do to do, but we got it all taken care of, and there's still a ton of frozen chicken breasts in the freezer. We just need to figure out what to do with all of them.

First day of class

Getting up at 7 AM wasn't as hard as it sounds, since it's the same as 10 AM where I'm used to getting up. There's a cute little breakfast place down the street, and traffic hadn't started when I walked out there. People were gathering outside the lobby by the time I got back, and I tried to see if the clerk knew when I'd get to move in with Stephen, but she was no help. I went back outside and waited for awhile, talking to Tessa, who I recognized from Banff. I talked to Dave briefly and we decided we'd figure out things when we got back after class.

The van ride to the University of Washington was pretty packed, with about 14 of us in a van made for around 11. Everybody was really nice, though, and we ran through the entire semester of stage combat I took from Pops in about eight hours. We switched partners a bunch of times, and I got to meet a huge array of people, ranging from inexperienced people - like Merlin (yeah, that's his name) who was a correctional facility counselor until he decided he wanted to do stunts instead - to people like Reese, who works in Canada as a real estate agent who occasionally lets another agent handle his clients while he pops off to work on a movie. It looks like a good group of people who will give me opportunities to teach and learn.

While Dave and I were getting the room stuff figured out, Stephen ran to the grocery store and stocked up. I convinced the desk clerk to hook us up with more cutlery, plates, and pans so that our kitchen is marginally respectable. Now it's 8 pm here, we've both eaten and we have no idea what to do with all this spare time. I'm sure we'll figure something out.

I wrote this when I got to my room last night

Apparently a lot of people got in late. The flights today weren't bad at all, and went way better than any experience I've had previously with jetblue. I slept, listened to music, and watched the inflight entertainment to kill the seven hours I was in the air. There was a guy on my flight with a fedora, jncos, chucks, and a cane. I felt bad for him.

The cab driver who took me to the hotel talked the whole way. I tell you, if you want to meet people who love the US, take cabs. The guy talked about his family and his wife and one-year-old son and how he's still going to school. I'm not sure what it is about me, but every cab driver I ever ride with asks me if I'm married. He told me he married his high school sweetheart the day after they graduated, which is cute but really, really impractical. Above all, though, he stressed the importance of respecting one's parents, especially your mother. I don't remember what got him going on these tangents, but he seemed really happy to have someone to talk to who agreed.

And now I'm in my room, which ought to be Stephen's and mine, but it's a single. Weird, and probably more expensive than I want it to be. The kitchen area is kind of laughable, with a half-assed pot and pan, two each in the fork, knife, spoon, and plate departments, and a complete absence of cups. It's four in the morning back in Richmond, but I guess the plane ride didn't slow me down at all. I'm going to try to go to sleep and get a handle on things tomorrow.