Tuesday, July 31, 2012

California, So Much to Plunder!

Hello, friends! :D

As of tomorrow, I will have been in LA for *4 weeks.*

What has a month done for me?
I know how to get around (it helps that I'm a human GPS). I know where neighborhoods are, generally, and what they're like! I know where all my contacts are--and I've visited their offices! I've met with NEARLY everyone I'd pledged to see while I was here, and I am so much darker than my idling shade of porcelain that it's alarming. AND I'm getting the creeping utz that I'd be much more comfortable out here than I'd previously imagined. ;)

I've done some REALLY fun LA things, too--my favorite movie in the history of time and space is THE BIG LEBOWSKI, and they do outdoor screenings of films at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Last weekend they screened the light of my life (read: Big Lebowski), and the lawn was FILLED with Little Lebowski Urban Achievers, Dude costumes and buckets of White Russians.

Me & Babster, Urban Achievers.

AAAAAAAAAAND: Since TBL is based upon a real Dude, guess who showed up?!

Jeff Dowd, the actual Dude.

I also took a pole dancing class here. It was A*W*E*S*O*M*E. Admittedly, I was reminded that I get motion sick very easily--but otherwise? Epically amazing, and it won't be the last of that in my life!

And I'm seeing movies that I've wanted to see--there are also plenty of opportunities to do that in NY, so I'm gonna get on some mailing lists--but here was a screening of Fat Kid Rules the World, Matthew Lillard's film which took SXSW by storm this year!

Ya herrrrrrd.


So that's all the fun stuff that I've been digging into! And there's much more to do--but I have a feeling that this is far from the last time I'll be out here in La-La-Land. :) After all--it's FRANNY's turn, soon!

What else do I need to see and do while I'm here?

<3
Jen

Monday, July 23, 2012

Hitting my West-Coast Stride!

I've now been in LA for 2 weeks--YAHOO!

What's happened since my last post?

5 workshops, my first LA premiere (PETUNIA, OutFest), catching up with a fair amount of my LA friends, LOTS of traveling and discovery and--as of yesterday--my very first audition out here! :D

Pelicans on a rock in Malibu!

I've been SO well-received out here, I'm really really pleased. I'm doing good work in front of people that I want to meet; I made my very first LA friend all by myself; I'm driving around enough to get familiar with the layout of the town, and I'm getting out and meeting people and seeing good work! It's clearer to me every single day that this was the EXACT right time to come out. :)

Cars like this are EVERYWHERE. I want one with wood paneling SO BADLY.

So what am I in love with? The cool night breezes, the flora--oh lord, the flora!, the Alice-in-Wonderland-eque trees everywhere, the integration of celebrities virtually everywhere you go (I've met a ton already), driving everywhere--yes, I know, I am a terrible New Yorker. But I really REALLY love to drive. And--of course--the PLETHORA of work. There's just so MUCH here, how can you not love it?

What do I not love? For one thing, these flowers.
They are super-gross and I squinch up my face every time I smell them.
(I do, however, love that there are purple and magenta flowers everywhere.)

I'm not sure I can see myself out here permanently, but it DOES make me ready to figure out the best way to be bicoastal--and I already have a bunch of great ideas and plans brewin'!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

I'm honestly so grateful to be out here with dear friends, doing good work and having fun--oh, and sunscreen. Very very grateful for sunscreen.

Director Ash Christian and his cast of PETUNIA at OutFest!

Here's hoping I have a great excuse to have an extended stay!

<3
Jen

Monday, July 9, 2012

Living it Up in La-La-Land

So excited to be writing this from a 3-hour time difference! :D

Let's go over the most important things I've learned during my stay thus far.

1. People aren't crazier here, they're just less afraid. Yeah, the crazies here are a LOT louder and prouder than they are in NY. In Manhattan, the lunatics are quiet--they keep to themselves and most of their mutterings are on a private level. Why? Probably because they don't want to get themselves killed. But here? Oh, Los Angeles loonies are WAY more comfortable being completely batshit. They will gladly share with you that they think the aliens are landing RIGHT NOW, MAN. And while it's really uncomfortable being around the raving, I guess the overall message is soothing--it's safe enough here that you're allowed to be crazy. ;)

2. LA works for YOU. In NY, you're either a city-dweller or you're not. Here, you don't like the urban metropolis? You need somewhere more peaceful and rural? Heck, they've got that. They've got LOTS of that. You can customize your LA living experience to basically live your dream life. Which is simultaneously amazing and terrifying.

3. Learning this city is like learning a state. It's SO big and spread-out that, to get the lay of the land, it requires loads of repeat trips to all corners. On the plus side, it always keeps things interesting, and it means road trips without ever really leaving home!

4. As a New Yorker, be prepared to sloooooow dowwwwwwn. They WEREN'T KIDDING. Egads! Not even the fast food is fast. :/ 5 minutes easily means 30 minutes; deadlines aren't that pressing, and people just aren't working that hard, in general. (Comparatively.) I was also told that, here, weekend and vacation boundaries were more respected than back in NY, where we workaholics are constantly on-call. It's totally maddening to expect speediness and efficiency here, and then 'get around to things.'

That said, I AM finding it beautiful and fascinating and enjoyable, and I'm starting to fall in love with this city little by little. Maybe bicoastal love. I do have an inkling that I'm on the right path, here. :)


Yup. That was actually my fortune on my first full day here. WINNING!

<3
Jen