Open Bar Situations

A post or so ago I mentioned the joys of volunteering.  Well, the message may not have been as joyous then but now that the LA Femme Film Festival has came and conquered, I can look back with with a smile.  My networking was a little weak, partially because I'm incredibly awkward, partially because I was busy setting up.  However, I did encounter a few peeps that may or may not lead to future meet-ups. 

I also found myself caught in an open bar situation.  

For a post-college girl looking for work, the open bar is a very, very dangerous place.  Luckily I was able to maintain a fairly composed performance.  Aside from hanging out by the DJ's, over indulging at the cheese platter, and having to call my roommate for a ride home, the film festival was heavy in fun and conversation.  

There was even a little celeb spotting of Sara Gilbert from "Rosanne", Diablo Cody, the writer of "Juno", and realizing after the fact that I took a picture of her and a friend that it was Angela Bassett (Stella never lost her groove - she looked great!).  Otherwise, it was a low budget film festival in West Hollywood, people watching was at an all time high.  

Of course catching the bus very early in the morning so I could get my car off the street before the City of LA did it for me was a painful aftermath.

For my first film festival, I'd say, keep 'em coming!  

Columbus Day PreGame

In honor of Columbus Day I hope to achieve excellent levels of productivity, particularly directed at propelling my career. Of course the best way I to distract myself from doing so is by fueling my energy into a blog post.

I do have some weekend story telling to distribute, so it's not a total waste of time. This past weekend I tried my hand at the northern lands of California in Napa Valley. Though I foresee myself with a wine hangover for the next month, the trip was vastly successful.

The decision came as a last minute thought after hearing a good friend from the wintry fields of Upstate New York would be shipping overseas to Iraq on the 22nd. With no other 315'ers on the West Coast and a shared amount of time off (for very different reasons obviously) we ventured to a half-way meet-up point which just happen to work out to be America's wine country.

As an Ithaca grad I've delighted myself on my fair share of Finger Lakes "grape juice", but I jumped at the opportunity to flee the urban jungle of LA and see what the rest of this state has to offer.

Predictably, Napa is one expensive neighborhood. For travel and expense reasons we only dabbled in three wineries. Considering ourselves anything but wine experts, little difference was noticed and even less knowledge was gained from the trip.

 Luckily I did discover, with the help of an intriguing commercial and advisement of the hotel clerk, a dinner joint fully in tune with what I love. BBQ, classy girl right?

Gracie's BBQ in Vallejo had all the great aspects of a quality BBQ joint.  Though I would have enjoyed some less expensive options, the rib/link combo plater I order came out within ten minutes.  Can't beat that kind of timing.  We we're on a beer schedule so I didn't want to mix but they did offer some traditional "swamp juice" or flavored sweet tea in mason jars.

As for sides, I had some quality slaw and perfect cornbread.  My friend enjoyed the bread, mac salad, and we both skipped over the unfortunately bland red beans and rice. I noticed some homemade pies that I was temped to order but price and fullness put me at a standstill.   

I know the links don't really look pretty in the picture but trust, very delicious.  To give the menu a look see or if you're ever in the area: Gracie's BBQ

Happy Columbus Day.

Back to NY with Lady Gaga

I love how strange Lady Gaga is. I also love NYC and miss my summer as a Lower East Sider very much. Now I present you with a video that made me both very happy and a little sad.



Rivington = excellence.

"Volunteering Doesn't Pay"

Some of you may be familiar with the harsh realities of volunteering.  Whether one is trying to cure cancer, overthrow Mid-East dictatorships, rebuild devastated areas, or help put on a film festival.

A film festival for women that is....

Alright the times are getting a little tough in LA so to keep myself busy I've taken on some volunteer hours for the La Femme Film Festival taking place in two weeks out here in Los Angeles.  The set-up is pretty grassroots, 5-6 people in the directors cramped apartment calling car services and hotels for group discounts.
I'm not exactly a film junkie so my passion isn't completely with the project but I'm always up for a new experience and some fresh contacts.  Plus, as a volunteer I can pretty much dedicate how ever much time I want so I still have time to send out 15-20 resumes a day and run errands.


Speaking of resumes, I have to take this time of blogging out to give a big thanks to the Star family for their help and support in my job search!  Starzynski's - the best Buffalo has to offer.  Chicken wings are an unbelievably close second.

 "those girls"

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

One day following my 'good news' e-mail to former college roommates I was informed that after just a week of employment I'd been layed-off.  That being said, I'd like to go back in blogtime and let everyone know, I got a job working for the director from Night at the Museum and other family fun and ridiculous money making pics.

Fast forward to this week and I'm back on the job sites looking to strike gold.  What happened with my one week adventure in job land was, as so I've been told, purely budgeting reasons.  I was working as one of the directors personal assistants as he wraps up a movie with Tina Fey and Steve Carrel and begins production on a new action/syfy movie for Dreamworks.  Therefore, Dreamworks was actually paying my salary and after seeing that I was heavy on the personal assistant duties and light on the production, they didn't want to pay for it.

Blah, blah, blah, it was upsetting but not the worst that could happen.  I'm getting paid through the end of this week and hopefully can find something with potential by the start of next week.  

In other news, I finally applied for my California license.  Hopefully the DMV doesn't check my blog because I've been here far longer than I'm legally allowed to have been without notifying the state.  I think I'll be good.

Also, yesterday (or Monday for you East Coasters) I made my semi-triumphant return to the street hockey world of 'Hangover Hockey'.  Big Rach Hill and I were the bash-sisters of this Sunday afternoon free for all almost a year ago and now I'm back flying solo.  It's so much fun. Old guy Bostonians and Canadians sweating out beers from the night before.  I'm not much with a real hockey stick just yet but I've got a lot of hustle.

Now I must rest my very sore and out of shape body.  Wish me luck and C's ya lata.

2 Weeks

I've officially lived in LA for two weeks.  (By official I do not mean that I've legally registered myself as a California resident at the DMV so I'm basically an illegal alien.)

West Coast life so far has gone as well as one can hope.  Lack of consistent employment is frustrating, paired with my pending homelessness and absence of close friends and family.  On the other hand, I've been able to work two separate productions each weekend and have been making some small time cash as an audience member on the Newlywed Show.

I'm not much of a game show fan but I have to say that Carne Wilson is pretty funny.  I'm not sure her humor and quality are translating on stage but from the observed moments of her backstage, she's a fun loving mom with an unexpected potty mouth. 

So I'll be hanging with Carne for a ridiculous number of tapings on Wednesday and Thursday.  They're doing approximately 65 episodes in a month and half, and for the rest of the week I need to do some serious apartment hunting and get a job to fund said apartment. 

GOOD NEWS, I'm doing a phone interview this morning for MyDamnChannel.com. Even if I don't get the job I highly recommend anyone to the site.  One of my favorite comedian/directors David Wain's hilarous series "Wainy Day's is hosted here among several other fantastic and professional webseries'.  

That being said, immersing myself in the world of MyDamnChannel in preparation for the what will hopefully turn into a successful phone interview. 

C's ya lata.

An LA Note

I'll finish on this post for tonight on my first five days in LA.  I have my first 'gig' tomorrow, unpaid of course.  Nonetheless I'm excited, it's new people to network with and its a distraction from unemployment.  All I can say about it is that I'm going to be working as the set videographer while the crew films a movie trailer.

Meanwhile, the peeps I've forced into friendship are celebrating their labor pains with a good ol' trip to Las Vegas.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some much needed writing in and keep working on applications.  If I'm feeling brave I might check out a comedy show either Saturday or Sunday as well.

One thing I can say, and a step outside my usual posting style, I miss everyone from home a lot.  I've talked with several close college friends recently about this feeling.  The feeling of separation with no foreseeable end.  That sounds much more dramatic than it actually is, but when you spend time alone on the computer all day you get time to think.

Courage comes with a price and growing up takes courage in my mind.  Good luck to all of us and have a fantastic Labor Day weekend no matter where you spend it!

C's ya lata.