Blogged! Although if you know what song I was referring to above you get bonus points.
Luckily, I write down what I have to do on my calendar, so I should be able to regurgitate the facts even if you are going to get a little shorted on some of the emotions in this condensed version.
Last Monday I met up with my friend Jenny at my place. We were supposed to go on a walk or a hike, but the rain kept us in. Normally this wouldn't be so bad, but Jenny and I both are the type of people that need to be moving to get our energies flowing. We chit chatted a bit, talking mostly about acting and meditation, something she is trying to get me into. I showed her my $6 Casio keyboard that I got at the Goodwill and we took turns playing. At one point we almost jumped up and made a quick film, but when it came time to come up with an idea, we both blanked. After a few hours of chillin' it was time for her to go and as soon as she jumped up she was full of energy again. I laughed. I couldn't take it personally because I felt the exact same way. As much as I like Jenny, we are definitely going to have to be activity partners.
The rest of Monday night and Tuesday was spent doing the usual; apply for gigs, look for jobs, go to the grocery store. I swear, I go to the grocery store more than anyone I know, mostly to buy bananas and salad these days. I actually really like grocery shopping, although less so with my current diet since I'm so limited in what I buy. Speaking of dieting, mine is going well. I've dropped probably 8 pounds since I moved to LA and am looking trim. I'm basically at my personal beach body, but want to get to photography beach body.
Tuesday night was my second visit to the Therapy Comedy show at the Blu Monkey bar in Hollywood. My friend Jessica brought me the 2nd week I was in LA and I got to see some amazing people perform for their opening show. This show did not have quite as big of a line up, but still really good. Maria Bamford (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Bamford) was especially good. After the show there was an open mic night. I didn't end up staying for much of it, but I definitely had an urge to get up there. Who knows, maybe I will write some bits and then pop up there some day.
So it should be noted that I know just enough about computers to break them more when they are already broken. My particular computer recently decided to just shut itself completely off when I was running high memory usage media or if I just let it sit there for too long. My investigation suggested several culprits, including virus/malware and a possible corrupt OS (Operating System). After finding some malware and talking it over with a computer friend of mine, I decided to (after days of struggle) reinstall the OS. For some reason I decided to do that Tuesday night. So I backed up all my files and then did the install. The install went smoothly and everything seemed ok, so I started downloading some useful programs from cnet. You know, firewall, virus protection, etc.. Everything seemed fine, so I quite about half way through installing the programs I use day to day and went to bed. When I woke up Wednesday morning, I had no internet.
Now I'm not going to lie to you, not having internet is just short of a crisis for me. If I didn't have my Droid with its 3G, it would be a crisis. However as much as I love my Droid, typing or clicking on things for more than a few minutes at a time is super annoying. I get about 60-70 emails a day that are just potential gigs. Add those to the FB updates, the emails from friends and the rest and that's a lot of typing. Now you are starting to see why it has taken me so long to update this blog.
So amidst my frustration with my internet being down for 2 and a half days, compounded by the fact that I didn't know why it was down (Roommate hadn't paid the bill since his Disability check didn't come in) and with all the rain keeping me inside, Wednesday and most of Thursday I was down in the dumps. Luckily, Thursday night turned out to be a super fun evening.
So I had booked a photo gig for this Speed Dating event. The financial perks were minimal, but I figured it would be a good opportunity for me to get out and meet some people. Part of the package included that I could stay and actually do the Speed Dating if I wanted to. I was hesitant to stay at first and mostly agreed via email since I figured that it might help influence me getting the gig.
The beginning of the shoot was like most, sitting around and waiting. Meredith, the hostess for the evening, was super nice and positive. My fellow models were a bit of a rag tag group, comprising most races and at least all of the 20s and 30s with one or two maybe slipping into their 40s. They were definitely going for a more everyday dater demographic than a sell it with high fashion models feel. That or they just couldn't afford high fashion models.
We were each allowed a complimentary drink, mine being a Love-tini that had strawberries in it, to use as props for the shooting. Once the drinking and the shooting started we really got going. The whole gig was just about hanging out and talking with the people around and having a good time, which we did. It is a theory of mine that people get so caught up in thinking about how they should behave that they often have trouble letting loose and enjoying themselves and that all they really need is for someone to tell them it is ok and then they let go. One of the things I love most about acting and modeling is that you have someone telling you it is ok. So these same people that were having forced conversation sitting around a table waiting to perform were suddenly told to have fun and they did. The conversations were boisterous, the smiles were many and we all had a great time. The shoot was at the Melting Pot in Pasadena, so we got some fondue along with our drinks. The bread and veggies were standard, but the dessert was amazing. The shoot itself took about 2 and a half hours. We bounced around and got lots of shots, many of which I was featured in. After the shoot was over we were all invited to stay for speed dating. Only 3 of us ended up being brave enough.
I sat at the sign up table as the people made their way in. I believe there were about 12 each of men and women. I won't lie, I sized up the people as they came in. I mean, who comes to these things? Are they attractive? Do they look rich? Are they going to be boring or are they going to be interesting? All of these questions are subjective of course, but to me they looked like predominately middle Americans with good jobs, many of which, as I found out later, being in the Entertainment industry. I mean it is LA. As far as looks go (I mean it is LA ;) ) I would say about average with the men being in predominately better shape then the women.
From my ego's point of view, there wasn't anyone I was immediately attracted to during the pre-dating part of the evening. I got a little nervous about this, but then reminded myself that I really wasn't there to meet a girlfriend, I was just doing it to see what the experience was like. It turned out to be a really fun experience.
First of all, let me give you the set up. There were 5 different tables with women lined up on one side and men across from them. You got five minutes with each person and then you had to switch to the next woman down the line. Thankfully the table were a little spread out and there were no more than 3 women at any one table. You had a scorecard and each person had a number, so you could mark down any notes about the person after you met them.
5 minutes seems like a long time when you are anticipating not having anything to say, but as it turned out, the excuse of having fun worked just as well for the speed dating as it did for the photo shoot. Everybody had something to say and what was even better for me was that everyone wanted to know what I had to say. I don't mean to sound self-centered, but the truth is I am not nearly a social on a daily basis as I want to be. I don't mean going out and partying it up or dancing, I mean just good one on one or group social interaction. As I've mentioned before, living in LA and having 5 friend means you see each of them about once every 2 weeks. Not enough for someone that loves talking as much as I do.
I was also pleasantly surprised how open and engaging everyone was as well. The definitely let their personalities shine. I guess it takes someone with a bit of a strong personality to show up to these things to begin with, but I really thought, possibly based on just seeing people hover at bars before, that people would be really shy and not very open. So it was really nice to find that that wasn't true. I really had a good time laying on the charm as well. I kind of figured it was still my job since I was still technically working, so I had that extra excuse to help me along. The only negative thing I would say that was by the time I was done I was definitely tired and tired of telling some of my stories over again. As far as finding someone to date, probably not. There was one woman that I think I could have become friends with, but unfortunately with the internet down (You had to fill out your score online) and my phone not having the right plugin, AND me losing my score sheet, I don't think I will be in contact with her.
My internet came back on Friday mid-afternoon. As annoying as it was to not have it, it did serve one purpose in that I worked on a screenplay that I just recently started to write. Discipline is no match for a plug not plugged. The screenplay is about a 30 year old man who loses his wife in an accident and how he is trying to connect with her after she is gone. It is still early, so I can't really tell you where it is going, but it should be interesting. I also have another screenplay in the works revolving around the idea of 15 minutes of fame, but I'm not even sure what genre that one will be yet. :)
Friday night I decided to stay in and do some introspection. I got out my paints, my journal, my notebook and a glass of wine and spent the night painting and thinking about the different ways that I self-sabotage. I've done a lot of this kind of introspective work in the last 8 months and I think it has made a big difference in who I am and what I can accomplish. Goal one of course is just believing and trusting in myself. Acting is a tough field to be in, especially when you spend as much time alone as I do. Just keeping positive can be a full time job, so learning how to do that is important. Plus, I really like to paint and have been doing it voraciously lately. :)
Saturday day was spent breaking, fixing and not finding the right RAM for my computer, but you know, staying positive about it. Saturday night I went to a friend's house and had a few too many drinks and crashed their, disappointing some friends that wanted me to come out dancing, but saving me money, so I guess an even trade considering my bank balance. Sunday has been all about napping and writing this Blog, which is....finally...done.
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