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.