Been too long

Sorry for the huge delay in posting, not having much to say plus family matters got me deflated for a bit, but I owe it to myself to post something.

This past week has been a blur. This was the week of the official store opening so we had tons of corporate reps in as well as the regional sales directors and a bunch of airline and land vendors. I actually enjoyed the change, though you could tell it was a bit more prim around here than it usually is. To be fair, I was more impressed with the free booze and food from the two nights of parties we've had then anything else.

Unfortunately I had to face our vendors with an injury. Two nights ago while doing the dishes I broke a glass and before I could react had sliced a nearly 2 inch long gash in the book of my hand. Luckily I apparently missed the vein, but it would not stop bleeding and was pretty fierce looking so I went to the hospital at midnight where I had 10 stiches sewn into me. So for the past few days I have a hand full of padding with my fingers sticking out, partially so I don't hurt myself, and partially so people don't get grossed out. All I can say is that I'm glad I have health insurance. Question for anyone who cares: do co-pays get put toward your yearly deductible?

Not only does my job give me health insurance, but today was the first paycheck where I got a true bonus! Now some might look at $19 dollars and see chump change, but I see progress. This month's commission should be even bigger.

Anyway, this weekend I will be working on Saturday and then possibly going to a party at a friend's. As far as Thanksgiving plans, I don't have any. I have Thurs and Fri off, but have to work next Saturday as well so I can't do much. I may go visit a friend up north, but that's tentative. I may just go to the beach and drink some beers, not a bad comprimise.

A word on the election and booking tours

Alright, so we all watched the election results last night (I'm sure more people watched than actually voted...) and everyone knows the outcome. Now I'm by no means a staunch Democrat, and I would vote for a Republican I agreed with. That said, the past two years have shown that the Republicans will pander to the dumbest and most juvenile of our population for the sake of winning votes. The sheer hypocrisy of teabaggers rallying against entitlements but taking down medicare and social security is all the proof I need that there is one party in this country dealing in reality and another in la-la land. I just hope that after the elections the GOP can set the crazy aside and try to get real, because there are a lot of serious issues with our country, indeed our very way of life.

Anyway, in happier news, today was my single best day of sales at work. I sold 5 different trips including my first tour. Now true, two of the trips were to people I knew so I didn't make much (read: any) commission on those, but the experience was great, and I finally feel like there is more that I can do than what I can't. It's a good feeling to have someone come in and not get nervous fear in my whole body.

As I mentioned, one of the flights I booked today was for my friend Alisha to come visit, just in time to replace Cosette who left today!

But seriously, I'm psyched she's coming, it will be easy to see a friendly face, especially so close to the holidays when I'll miss home the most. I don't know what to show her, but I'll figure it out.

-Happy Trails!

I'm Contributing! Oh ya, and it's Halloween

It's late and I should probably be in bed, but this week has been a busy one but I'm glad to report that I feel more and more at ease in my job. I am learning and doing more for the office and I feel like I can do about 75% of the things I need to without once asking for someone to check my work. At this point there are just the odd things that come up that no one would ever think to warn or tell me about because it happens so infrequently that making it part of organized training would be silly. Tomorrow in fact I actually get to work alone for a few hours. This is partly because I'm at that point now, and partly so I can pick up some extra hours to make up for the time I was at home unexpectedly.

A word on Halloween. When I was young I definitely enjoyed Halloween time, who didn't. When I was in high school I could understand the desire to dress up and maybe have a party or something. I can even understand college kids wanting to break up the weekly routine of partying by partying in costume. But enough is enough. At this point in my life Halloween seems to be an excuse for my generation to dress up like idiots/whores and for some reason that's ok. And I'm the one who's crazy because I just don't understand the need to spend a month preparing a costume I'm gonna only wear once. Case in point; tomorrow I'm going over to a friends for a birthday party since he turned 23 on Tuesday. But of course the party gets moved to the weekend and now I need to create a costume? After I was home for a week and an hour after I get out of work? Ya no. I'm gonna go on down to Culver City, give him his gift (Rex Goliath wine!) and hang out for a bit. If someone asks me what my costume is I'll say, "an Adult".

I love most holidays, but it's probably time to grow up a bit.

-Jeff

Busy past week

Hello everyone, sorry for the delay, I've had a busy couple of weeks.

As I mentioned earlier my store that I work out of has been in an ongoing renovation for the past couple weeks and was just finished Tuesday, which means I have been doing some moving and minor construction. The great thing is that now I'm not working in spitting distance of a bathroom people seem more apt to come in and at least say hello, so I think business should pick up. I learned today that October is actually the slowest month of the year for travel bookings, which is a bit confusing to me since I would be booking flights to go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas by now if I were in college. But then again I'm 23 and don't have to worry about tests or papers so the average college student is a bit more distracted than I am.

Also keeping me busy, last week I went home to deal with some family matters. While unexpected it was certainly nice to go home during my favorite season and watch the leafs change. I even saw some snowflakes! While the reason for going home was less than optimal, I am glad I had the chance to go so I could see some family that I sorely missed, and since I wasn't planning on being home until 2011 at least, it was an unexpected but halfway welcome surprise.

Anyway, life in LA isn't all that exciting. I had to drop my improv class for the moment as the journey home meant I would be missing way too many class sessions. That's ok, but I would really like to be performing or doing something creative. I shall have to start keeping a journal written from the viewpoint of a survivor of a zombie apocalypse.

Anyway, I am off to buy a friend a drink for her birthday and then back to work in the morning. No exciting plans for the weekend, but they say there may be snow high in the mountains, I shall keep my eyes peeled.

Let's go Giants!

This took too long...

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay, I've had my mom come to visit and a friend came to town so I've been a bit pre-occupied but now that I've got a few minutes I can check in for a short update.

As I said, my mom came to visit me last weekend for my birthday and it was awesome. It meant a lot that she took a vacation so she could come and visit me for my birthday. Now when she booked the ticket there was a possibility that she would be driving me back East and thankfully I got to drop her off at the airport and stay in sunny LA. Of course, I don't think my mom minded just having a sunny California getaway; she got to stay with her friend Gena on the beach all week. Now living on the beach doesn't quite qualify to me as really experiencing LA, but given my Mom's professed love of Florida, I don't think she minded. She still hung out with me a bunch and we went to Malibu and saw an improv show and it was a really great weekend. I was sad to see her go, but there's a chance I may see my Dad and brother in Denver in a bit when they go out for a college tour. Even though it's not home, I still consider myself lucky that I have parents that will put their own jobs on hold for their kids. It makes me feel a bit better that I'll be missing Thanksgiving and Christmas. All that remains will be a trip down South to visit my brother in Savannah.

Yesterday my good friend Cosette flew in for her month (or longer?) stint working at the Marriot in Marina Del Ray, which is right by the ocean. As if I needed an excuse. She's been one of my best friends since the first day of college (literally she was the first person I met on the bus into Freshman Camp). She's a bit jet-lagged for now, but I'm sure I will find plenty of excuses to hang out with her and make her feel a little less lonely on the West Coast. I'm also happy to see a friend from NH out here, which has been one of the harder things to cope with.

Other than that I am still enjoying my job, getting to know the lingo and helping out some customers. I finally feel like I'm starting to contribute and I'm getting my confidence up, which really is 75% of the battle. I still laugh at how lucky I am to have found such a great job for me. At the moment we are in the middle of a store remodel so I work in a glorified storage closet, but really it just adds to the allure.

Anyway, that's all for now. Tonight I am heading back to the Improv X-ecution to help vote for my friend Van Gogh and hang out afterward. Tomorrow? Who knows. Big city living!

Happy Trails!

Oh, and you need to check out my friend Richard's blob/vlog http://dickfloundge.com, he's one of the nicest people you've every met and a good friend.

Mom and Thunderstorms

Today my mom came to town to visit for a few days and to help me celebrate my birthday, which is Friday. Turning 23 is pretty much a pointless birthday, but I'm happy I get to celebrate it with a member of the family, especially since it doesn't seem like I'll be going home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. She's staying with Gena over in Venice for a few days by the beach, which I'm sure Mom won't mind. Tonight I got a chance to show off my chili cooking skills. I figured that Mom would want some substantial food to refuel after her long flight and what better than chili dogs?

Tonight was also special for another reason, we had a thunderstorm here in the Valley. This is the first true weather we've had in close to 3 months, and this the same week we had the hottest temps EVER recorded. Of course everyone in LA lost their minds. Laural Canyon's stop lights went to flashing reds, and everyone started driving 15 miles an hour. Now I'm sure for denizens of LA rain is a pretty big deal, but as someone who has routinely driven to school in Noreasters I'm not very impressed.

Also on the news front I have signed up for the next session of Groundlings and was able to find a session that I would be able to go to while still working. I'm not entirely sure what I want from these classes, whether I want to be famous or work my great job, but I am happier when I'm doing improv so that's what I'm gonna do. The way I look at it, some people have vices like drinking or drugs that they spend money on, and I have improv. Even if income is slower than I might like, I think for my personal sanity it's worth it.

Working for a living

There's not much to say about my first full week working in LA than to say that everything you have heard about LA traffic is 100% accurate. It may be due to having a job on the always crowded and freeway barren west side, but there's a reason why LA has some of the worst air quality in the country. Other than that though I really like my job. I feel like I'm starting to contribute and the longer I'm there the easier it will get.

On Monday I went to the improv competition that I had to drop out of and was a guest judge. I was happy to go back because it meant I could hang out with some current competitors afterward, which had been a sort of post show tradition while I was still competing. It made me wish that I hadn't dropped out, but I still think I made the right choice. I'll probably be going back this coming Monday as well, an improv show is still an improv show, and from now on I think I can even get in for free. So I got that going for me.

Anyway, my Mom is coming to visit this week for my birthday and to see LA. I'm not sure how much time I'll have to show her around, but given that next week is supposed to be in the 90's and she's staying with a friend on the beach I'm sure she won't mind too much.

Business trip!

I don't think Phoenix is for me. I find myself back in Los Angeles after spending a week in Phoenix training with my new job, learning the computer system and bookings with airlines and hotels. The training was very useful and I'm glad they send us somewhere for intensive work because I think it would take me a very long time just trying to pick things up in the office. What really sticks out in my mind about the whole trip though is how hot and miserable Phoenix is. Phoenix is supposedly the fastest growing city in America and I would say that it meets the definition of urban sprawl. It has nice looking views but everything is so spread out and there are tons of empty lots everywhere. Oh ya, it's also 110 degrees every day. For reference it is hotter in the month of September in Phoenix than it is in Baghdad. As someone who grew up in a part of the country where it was noteworthy to have one day hit 95, steady 110 in the desert is too much. I love my company and met some great people but if they offered me a promotion in Phoenix I would have to seriously consider it.

That said I did have a lot of fun at training. I trained with 5 other people who were all in their 20's and we all got along really well. Actually judging from everyone else I was meeting that the office, they don't appear to hire any jerks in the entire company. They put us up in a nice hotel and paid for our food, I got paid all week, not a bad gig. In fact the worst thing about the whole experience was having to go our separate ways and not hang out with these people any more. I am looking forward to actually contributing to the office back here in LA, but part of me wishes I was still in training.

Anyway, this weekend looks to be pretty lazy since I am absolutely pooped from waking up way too early and going to bed way to late all week. I'll probably hang out with some friends and watch lots of football. The biggest problem will be finding the Patriots on TV. Life is full of small challenges.

First week of work

On Wednesday I started work at STA Travel in Westwood and I really think that I will enjoy working there. My manager Aeron is wonderful and supportive and very laid back, the other agents who work there are all very chill and relaxed and very friendly. The work has some great benefits and perks and I should probably get the chance to travel a little bit after I've worked there for a bit. Aside from oversleeping today, my first few days have gone very well. Heck, the worst thing about the job is having to get to Westwood every day. It takes me about 30 minutes each way there and back, but as is the case with LA traffic, that could go up to an hour every day. UCLA doesn't start for two more weeks so it could get much worse. Needless to say however it does feel good to be working again, though I won't be able to start really putting away much of the money I make to save for a few weeks.

On Sunday I'm flying to Phoenix to do some more training for STA, they're feeding me and putting me up in a hotel so aside from having to stay in Phoenix for a week it's a pretty sweet deal. When I get back I should be a full working member with the branch in Westwood so I can help out the other agents. There have been times these past few days where we've had a backup of customers in the store and I've only been able to go over some packages and tours because I'm unable to look up prices or sell anything, which is frustrating. Besides that though it has thus far been a good experience. The one thing that kind of worries me is that I haven't been able to do stand up for a while, and since I dropped Groundlings classes for a few weeks I've been feeling pretty stuffed up and unaccomplished. I just want to get back to performing so I'm sure I'll miss being in the improv competition Monday night. Given the choice I would obviously much rather be working, but it will be good to get my brain working some more.

Anyway, I'll probably update once I'm in Phoenix, but in the meantime everyone should be watching UNH play Pitt tomorrow (ya that should be a close one...). I know I'll be waiting to see how I do in a family football picking competition my Mom started this week. I'm supremely confident of my picking abilities, so that money should be mine. I'll let you know.

And so it ends.

Well tonight was my last night in the Improv X-ecution. Since next Monday I will be doing training in Phoenix and I've already missed one night of the competition I knew I would be out anyway. So tonight I met with the organizer before the show started and told him what was up and told him that if I had my way I would rather not have anyway get eliminated tonight since I would be leaving next week anyway. So we had the show like normal and of course I get put on the chopping block. But at the end the host announced that I would be leaving and the other three people left would be in next week. But in true cutthroat fashion, the judges still told everyone who would have been going home, and of course it wasn't me. I found out later that only one person wanted to vote me out in the whole audience. It's really a shame that I have to go out like this because I think I would have been one of the people to beat, but that's life. I'll just have to tryout for the next round of the competition.

Other than that my life has been pretty boring all week. I'm really glad I'm starting work in two days just because it gives me something to do. Last night I met a few friends I knew from UNH at their apartment in Culver City and we hung out and tomorrow I'm meeting some Groundlings friends for coffee, but truly my life has been really boring. Due to this and the ear infection that I finally seem to have beaten I have been sleeping absolutely terribly. I can't seem to fall asleep until four am and since I've got nothing to do I just sleep until noon everyday. That's not particularly healthy. I'm hoping that once I start work it will be easier to get a bit of a routine and I'll start sleeping better.

Anyway, that's life, and it won't get anymore exciting once work starts. Yay adulthood!

Success!

So this morning I got a call from STA Travel and after two months of looking I finally have a job! I start work next week and then in two weeks I get to go to Phoenix to do some training. Unfortunately this means I will probably have to drop out of the improv competition, but I think this is probably a pretty good reason. Either way there's not much I can do about it, I'm not gonna turn down a great opportunity like this so I can maybe possibly win a competition and try to be an actor. It also means I have to drop out of my day classes with the Groundlings, which is not as big of a deal. I get credited for the classes I will miss so next session that starts in a month I only have to pay for the two classes I've already taken.

Anyway, that's all I've got to say, but I figured it was news enough to not wait until I could pad the rest of the update. Till then!

Moving on...

Tonight was the first night of the "merge" in the Improv X-ecution. The show started with two nights with 10-12 contestants each, and tonight was essentially the half-way mark and we merged the two nights into one show, which is why this update is on a Monday night and not Sunday. Anyway, I once again have made it through to another week, and tonight I didn't even need to go to the elimination round! I managed to get a group of four people to come to the show, two of whom I knew. But I'm not complaining, afterward I got to hang out and make some friends and had a great time.

Unfortunately however I may be put in a position where I have to voluntarily drop out of the competition. I had an interview today with what would be called a dream job, working at a travel agency near UCLA. I think the interview went really well, I sat and chatted with the lady for an hour just swapping stories and being friendly. I think it went well but there is only one spot available. Anyway I won't have to wonder that long since she said she would be calling tomorrow. The problem this job would present is the mandatory couple days of training in Phoenix, which would mean I would miss another night of the X-ecution and would have to drop out since I already missed a night to do the showcase at the Ice House. In hindsight I wish I hadn't missed the other night but I don't think I had even applied to this job by then. But if this is the way things have to be then this is what will happen. Everything happens for a reason. I'm still waiting on Victoria's Secret who said they had to check on our references and would be making a decision this week. Everything happens for a reason. If I don't get this great job then I can still do the X-ecution. If I do get this job then I will have my first "big boy job" with full-time hours and benefits and some semblance of financial independence. I'll know tomorrow.

Any job where one of the departments is called "intimates" is a place I want to work

This week has been a week of progress on the job front. I have had three (yes three) whole interviews so far, and another on Monday. One of my friends Stephanie knew that I was looking for work and she suggested I check Victoria's Secret where she works. Now I know what you're thinking, there are no guys working at Victoria's Secret. Oh how wrong you are. All those bras and perfume have to come from somewhere and that where is the stock room, which is where I applied. You can't expect all those princesses to carry boxes full of bras can you? So a few days ago I interviewed for the stock room position, which I'm pretty sure is as good as mine, I mean, he gave me a tour of the stock room after the interview was over and then talked about scheduling. That's usually a good sign.

This morning I also had an interview with this local cafe that serves sandwiches, frozen yogurts, and crepes. This sounds like a chill place to work, but upon meeting the manager I realized that it would probably suck. You start at minimum wage, and there are times when you might be out at markets or festivals cooking for a lot of the day for a flat rate. That flat rate? Less than minimum wage. Plus the owner was just sketch, I wasn't sure how he felt about me and I have no idea if I even made an impression. I asked when I might know if I got the job and he said he would just call. I was like, Ok, will I have a set schedule? He said, probably not at first, just whenever I need you I'll call you. Oh no that's total fine Russian dude, I don't really have a life of my own, I'm just going to drop everything I'm doing so I can sell frozen yogurt to yuppies.

But then later I got a call from Victoria's Secret and I'm thinking, "Good news!" In reality it was another manager and they wanted to interview me for a position on the registers. I'm thinking that's good, because now I double my chances of getting offered at least one of the spots. The interview though was odd. One of the managers sat down with me and five other people! It was a mass interview and a very odd experience. The one good thing was I got to see how other people were answering the questions and it re-affirmed my belief that a BA was a good thing to have, because there were apparently only two of us who had ever heard of a complete sentence before. I think I did well in our group interview, I'm willing to bet that I'll be offered a job selling underwear, so I got that going for me. Which is nice.

Of course the interview for the job I really want is on Monday, which I'm excited for. Monday is also the new day of the improv competition and the second class in the Groundlings. I think it might be Labor Day too, or is that next week? Anyway, I don't have much planned for this weekend, possibly hanging out with some people who live in the Valley. Other than that, it's ear drops and tea to fight back an ear infection I developed early this week.

Anyway, if you haven't checked out my Youtube videos please do, and otherwise I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Yourminuteman

Progress!

Wow I guess what it rains it pours. I'm finally getting some interviews for jobs, in fact, this week I have four! Alright technically one is for an unpaid intern position, but the other three are actually pretty good jobs. Today I got an e-mail from a travel agency that caters to college students. I could not be more excited. Alright, first of all it's perfect for me; it combines one thing I love (travel) with something I'm really good at (sales). Second, they've got locations all over the world, and you get travel discounts as part of benefits. That would be awesome. I've also got an interview to help write a non-fiction history book, which believe it or not, is something my degree actually qualifies me for over other people. Take that engineers!

Of course, there's no guarantee that I'll get any of the jobs I'm interviewing for, but at least the next session of Groundlings starts tomorrow so even if I don't have a job offer in a week at least I'll still be a little busy. I'll say this though, it's much easier to be hopeful about living here when you've got opportunities coming your way.

And check this out, my Youtube channel is apparently the 89th most subscribed to comedy channel for the past two weeks. So if you haven't caught the fever yet, check out some of my videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Yourminuteman

Maybe good news

Tonight was another edition of the Improv X-ecution and it was a nailbiter. So next week we merge the Sunday and Monday shows and tonight they had the audience vote on whether they wanted to save all six of us left and let us all go through. The monsters voted to still vote one of us out. That of course meant that I would be back on the chopping block again and of course I was. This time there were only two of us and they made us both give a sermon as preachers using an object as a metaphor. Luckily they gave me Sham-Wow, so I needed to give a sermon using Sham-Wow as my metaphor for God. Unfortunately unlike the other times I've been in the elimination round the other person I was with was really good. They counted the audience vote 3 times and at the end there was a tie in the audience vote, meaning it got down to the two judges. And they decided to send us both through to next week. The audience was even chanting to send us both through, apparently they wanted blood, but didn't want the responsibility of actually voting someone out. I'm obviously happy with the result, but man do I wish I could have more people coming to keep me out of the elimination round.

Afterward I took part in my weekly celebration, going out to Dillon's Bar to get a beer. I went out with another contestant from the X-ecution and one of his friends works at an office where they might be hiring someone to work the phones, I job I did for years back in New Hampshire. We swapped e-mails and tomorrow she'll let me know if they have a position for me. This would obviously be a huge break for me because it would let me stay in town for longer than just three months and would give me some more time to do the things that I want and make me feel like I've given LA the time it deserves.

On a completely unrelated note, I played soccer yesterday and I feel terrible. It's the first time I've run a full field for the whole game since my operation a year ago (yes it's actually been a year) and I could feel it. I'll just have to keep going back until I don't feel quite so awful after each game but man, now I know how my Dad must feel.

Trivia is serious business

This week has been pretty uneventful aside from the interviews and the job searching which of course is still ongoing. I had my interview with the video game testers and I thought I did really well. Unfortunately they said I would probably have to wait 2-3 weeks to hear back from them and find out if I have a job, which seems to be pretty much par for the course at this point. I will be shocked if I don't get a job with them, I am just about the most perfect candidate the could have and I don't really have any prior time commitments that would prevent me from coming in any given day of the week.

Anyway yesterday was pretty fun because I met up with a few people and went to a trivia night down on Wilshire Blvd. Now when I think trivia at a bar I think short little questions and it maybe takes an hour. Not at Q's Bar. This took nearly three hours, there was probably about 25 teams, and everyone took it incredibly seriously. We did pretty well until they asked for the names of the four songs from Paula Abdul's first album that were in the top 50. Ya right. Anyway it was fun, and I'll probably be back next week, gotta win.

Anyway, the Youtube project is ongoing, I'll be posting the link to my videos on the bottom in case anyone missed it the first time. I think it's going well, it's not meant to be outstanding in quality, but more a portfolio builder as well as a proof of concept. If I can do this every day and have a quick turnaround then it shows I could do daily comedy writing. Presumably anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Yourminuteman

-Happy Trails!

Youtube project

Two things:

First, tomorrow is my interview at 2k games to be a video game tester. I was talking to my Mom earlier today and I fully fleshed out why this really is the perfect job for me. I've been playing video games since I was a baby, I schooled my brothers and their friends anytime we played, my history and poli sci degrees have given me an analytical and detail oriented mind, and I'm a night person anyway (it's a night shift). There's really no reason I shouldn't get this job. If I don't get it I am at my wits end of where to go next.

Except for this one thing that's actually kind of exciting. I have recently been experimenting with a one-minute comedy bit every day that I am posting on Youtube. The idea came from a friend Kia who said that if I wanted to get a comedy writing job the best thing short of being asked right after a comedy show and having an agent would be to make work for myself. So every day I'm gonna cruise the news sites, find four or so headlines and write really short joke/punchlines for them. Think an incredibly shortened Daily Show. Basically it's an experiment for myself to see if I can write mildly funny topical jokes every day on short notice and have a quick enough turnaround to get them out. It's also a good thing to be able to show someone a portfolio of work that I may have and see if anyone likes what they see.

I would love if people could watch and pump those view counts up, and subscribe too if you can! The link to the videos is at the bottom. Feel free to let me know what you think as well, and remember, it's still early in the process so they will be incrementally changing.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Yourminuteman

Happy trails!

Sunny Sunday

This weekend has been pretty low-key, some stand up and some job searching, that's basically it. In fact I wouldn't be even writing something tonight if I hadn't had my showcase at the Ice House tonight.

A few months ago (you may remember) I tried out at the Ice House in Pasadena to perform at their weekly showcase for up and coming acts. That was a month ago and tonight was the big night. I thought I did pretty well, decent sized audience and I actually got some laughs. I got to talk to the host and the owner of the Ice House a little bit and will hopefully be back again in the next couple of weeks to try out again. Best of all, they gave me a free drink ticket so I got to sit back and watch some comedy with a beer. Not too bad.

Like I said, that's pretty much all I've done this weekend. I've been working on scripts for a little Youtube project that I'm going to be starting up and I've started to apply to radio stations all over the country because I figure if I can get on the air anywhere then it's a job worth moving for. Tomorrow is sign ups for the next level of Groundlings and hopefully the day I hear back from In n Out burger about organizing a third (third!) interview. Other than that, the job search continues.

Graduation Day!

This is going to be a short entry, fair warning.

Today was the last class of my first level class at the Groundlings when we were told whether we would be going on to the next level or told to retake the first level. I was given good news and told that I would be going on to the next level of classes, which is fantastic. My teacher Kevin was very helpful and told me that even though he was moving me on there were a few skills to focus on and to make sure I get down pat as the next classes start. Improv at this point is an always evolving skill so I appreciate the faith Kevin showed in me and respect his opinion in regards to my level of skill.

In all honesty though I was really sad to see the first level end. The group of people I was taking classes with were all really terrific. They all represented the first group of (dare I say) friends I had when I moved here. I will miss them all terrifically. The picture up top was taken by one of the students who is a photographer on the side and is pretty great. What you can't tell is that he has a really nice camera and the picture has a really high resolution, you'll have to take my word on it.

Anyway, tomorrow is some more job searching. Today I had my second interview at In n Out Burger which I thought went really well. They were looking for "bubbly" and I think I delivered. I think it's a good sign when you hardly talk about the job at all and just make friends with the lady who's interviewing you. If she wanted friendly I'll give her friendly damnit. She said I should be hearing from them by Monday if they want me to come in for a third (third!?) interview. For God's sake, In n Out is like applying to the FBI, if I get the job I better be getting back rubs every hour on the hour. I still have my interview to test video games on Tuesday and I'll be calling back a few of the places I've been applying to in the past couple days, we'll see. Tomorrow night I'm going down to Culver City to help my friend Mike break in his new apartment and meet some new people. I'm think it will be like a college party with more hipsters and "actors", should be fun.

On a side note, if you absolutely must buy a folk rock album, make it Mumford and Sons. I was given a copy by my friend Jon back in NH before I left and hadn't really gotten into them until now, but they're awesome, give them a shot.

I have some awesome friends

Well I have once again left Mitch at Burbank airport and set off alone back to Studio City. Mitch got on his way on Tuesday after missing his flight on Monday, he had managed to read the second flight on his itinerary and we got to the airport much too late. So we hung out for another night and he took off Tuesday morning. At my Groundlings class we had a replacement for our normal teacher Kevin. This new teacher Colleen was actually a little more helpful to me, she's a bit more direct and clear-cut. I don't dislike Kevin but it was refreshing to learn from a new teacher. Tomorrow is my last day of classes and I find out whether Kevin suggests I move up to the next level of classes or whether I need to retake the first level. Frankly either one presents a bit of a problem. As I don't have a job, retaking the first level is not an option since I can't afford to pay for class again. But if I do move on and I take the classes than I have to find a work schedule that works around the classes. Hopefully I can take night classes this time.

Speaking of finding work, being unemployed sucks. I am beginning to panic and on some level regret my choice of moving out here. For one thing I now have much less money then if I had just stayed in New Hampshire. For another I've just set myself months back in a job search if I do need to move home. Everyone says it's who you know and not what you know, but I don't know what to do if I don't know anyone? Finding a job is now keeping me up at night and is making me like this city less. I know I'm just getting bitter, but I hate the fact that employment is the deciding factor in chasing a dream.

That said I feel like I'm doing a little better finding a job now that I was a few weeks ago. I have an interview at In n Out Burger tomorrow and I have another interview on Tuesday as, get this, a video game tester. The hours would suck but they pay overtime and it would at least be a steady gig. I spent today going up and down Studio City just filling out applications wherever I could. Something has to stick, at least that's what I'm hoping.

When I got back though I had a great surprise. My friend Jon (or maybe his mom) sent me a "nerd survival package" of 5 or so comic books and handwritten note. It was unexpected and really made my day, reminding me that whether things work out here or not, I have friends back home and going back to NH wouldn't be the absolute end of the world.