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.

There will always be complications

So due to some legal hijinks, it looks like the cross-country drive's going to have to wait. Rather than leaving to drive to Seattle in a week, I'm going to stick around in Richmond another eight days to take care of what needs taking care of. After that, I fly to Seattle and miss the first day of class, but I talked to Dave and he's okay with it (why the hell does spell check underline "okay"?)

It's going to work out for the best, though, and once I get back to Richmond after the school is over, I can take a few days to breathe and see Bono upon his glorious return home from duty, and then roll out west without having to worry about a jaunt up north. I'll end up getting to LA around August 26th or 27th, which I don't think is outrageous, and it'll be a hell of a lot less expensive than driving a total of about 60 hours on top of flying back and forth. In order, this will be a "stunt school" blog, then a "cross-country drive" blog, and then finally a "trying not to starve to death in a strange city" blog.

That should be fun, right?

I had a credit card nightmare last night

I dreamt I called Capital One, and the prompt said, "For Spanish, press one. Para espanol, dos."

Little by little things are falling into place. I'm taking the car in for some service today, like getting the oil changed and the AC fixed for when I'm driving through the midwest and having the windows down won't cut it. I'll have fun things to report this weekend when I go to John the New Guy's wedding up in Youngstown. I told my mom yesterday that I'd be blogging my coming experiences, so I feel like I need to start watching my language. Love you, mom!