It's Easy to Get Upset; It's Harder to Be Thankful

• seeing Ilmira on the beach, if only at the end of sunset
• shopping on Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade
• going to the People's Choice Awards and catching glimpses of Reese Witherspoon, Robin Williams, Carrie Underwood, and more (even if a lot of frustrations came that night, as well!)
• going on hikes recently
• eating an In & Out burger and shake yesterday. Mmmm!
• sleeping in my own bed
• eating Russian blini with sour cream. Yum!
• hosting friends from Kazakhstan and Ukraine
• still loving my job
• going to Disneyland (parking frustration, but I finally made it in and paid $0 for parking. yay!)
• planning on a run today after 5 days without a workout (easy hike and walking excluded)

More Status Updates

• just went to ballet class for the first time in years and now understands how old her body is getting.
• thought at first that she didn't mind the rain since it is only the third rain she has experienced in the past 5 months, but after two hours of it, and she remember well why she loves the weather here more than Portland's.
• should have skipped the vitamin-infused protein smoothie and gone straight for a peanut butter and banana milkshake.
• is happy about the fact that Disneyland isn't very far away.
• gets to serve Thanksgiving dinner to homeless with her roommate and her boss.
• likes reading everyone's status updates about being thankful.
• is trying to outsmart the airfare price changes but is having little success.
  
• wonders why I can fly overseas to some locations at a lower cost than going to Kansas.
• is pondering how to make cranberry salad without a food processor and dressing without a working oven.
• --the day flew by! How did it get to be 7 already with still so much left to do at the office. Home sounds good, though.
• REALLY hopes the Beavers win!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• somehow managed to catch her toe in the hole of her pants, thereby causing some major rip-age.
• is happy that some friends recently joined Facebook.
• is listening to the rain.
• hopes her new colleague likes her job enough to stick around. Her help is much appreciated!
• knows it's bad when she has started thinking of life in terms of Facebook status updates.
  

Filling You In

This is going to be really quick. I have had limited Internet access since my computer contracted a horrible, no-good virus that makes it impossible for me to do anything online at home. We took a quick break at work before we return to a brainstorming session, and I wanted to take a brief moment to say this:

• I am waiting to hear back regarding my recent interview. While I am hoping I receive a job offer, I am keeping expectations low. If that does not go through, I will continue on at my marvelous internship where I plan to learn more and become even better for whatever is next.
• I have a new home with two great ladies in South Central L.A. Come visit me! You will like my palm tree-lined street and distant view of the famous Hollywood sign on the hill.
• Christian Assembly (CA) is becoming my home church. My new life group officially started last week, and I love the group already. I also hope to continue participation in the Entertainment Industry ministry of Bel Air Presbyterian.
• I continue to accept a few background acting positions here and there in an effort to become more familiar with the production process.
• Life is difficult but sweet and I appreciate your prayers and correspondence.

The end...for now.

Day 2

Day 2 was good...and only 10 hours long this time. I get Friday off, so that's good, and I'll have to use that time to go to Pasadena City Hall and dispute two recent tickets. Parking makes no sense here! Why must it be so complicated. Grrr. Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked. Can you tell I'm frustrated about that?

As I was saying, work was good. It keeps me busy. I have a lot of assignments to do before Friday at 5 (meaning that some of my day off will be spent on work, too). I will also be a production assistant for a shoot Saturday, followed by doing some casting in Long Beach. Do you realize that within the first week I will have worked on development research, participated in brainstorming meetings, written TV concepts, written an entire TV treatment (3-5 pages), revised a treatment, watched a casting tape, restructured my resume, listened in on a conference call, acted as production assistant, casted people for a show, and more? Whew! My great boss man, who provided me with garden fresh tomatoes for my late dinner tonight, wasn't kidding when he said this was hard core. It is. I love it. I also need to move, as this commute thing isn't working for me, and besides, our sublet ends in less than two weeks. I just don't know anyone in Santa Monica, but not to worry, I have already started my networking.

Tricky thing. I received a phone call from the president of the employment agency that got me my big talent agency interview. I wasn't able to answer my phone, so I missed his two calls, but he seemed anxious. I'm thinking he either has positive news about the interview or another interview or a temporary assignment. If so, what shall I do? Ugh. Decisions.

Oh yes, I did run from my office to the beach and back in the morning. Wonderful. I just wish the office were a bit closer so that I could have spent more time on the beach pedestrian path before returning. It was a good run anyway, and how couldn't it be when I A) realized that I can run for more than hour without thinking about it and B) saw a group of hula hoopers hula hooping on the beach. Funny, funny.

My New Daily Life

Please read this email I wrote to my mom early Tuesday morning to get an idea of what I've been up to. Then, read my follow-up to tell you how things went.

Actually, I was in bed when you wrote. I am now up early and off to the internship. The guy was astonished by me. Apparently never before has he seen someone so bright come in so ignorant about the industry. Instead of either of us committing either way to the internship, he wants to give me a few trial days these week. Truth is, however beneficial this internship may be, and I think it would be, I cannot financially afford to work three days a week without pay. I am thinking of going in there today and working my butt off to show him I can but then admit to him that perhaps I need to get a non-industry decent-paying job while I save to do the internship later. I think he'll accept that (even if in my heart I still want to look for poor-paying but paying positions in Entertainment).
 
Yesterday was tough. That was the first time someone else made me cry, but it's good, because it makes my skin grow thicker. Additionally, I went last night to that friend of Adam's, and he started giving me a rundown of lingo, script layout, helpful Internet sites, industry jobs, etc. So if nothing else, the harsh guy motivated me to learn more and allowed me to think even bigger than outside my executive assistant aspirations. He didn't (doesn't) think his internship program is right for someone with ultimate career aspirations of being an overworked, under appreciated, underpaid assistant all of their lives. Now I'm dreaming a bit bigger. Perhaps I can be one of those, but I am starting to want to work in development as an executive myself one day. We'll see. I'm asking God to create my dreams and open up the right path to get there.
 
Okay, I need to get going. I am leaving around 7 for a 9:30 start time only because it's far away, and I am hoping to beat some of the traffic. There is a coffee shop nearby, so I will go read my Bible there until it is time to go in for "work." Then, I will go on a good run on the coast. I will be in Santa Monica only 30 blocks from the beach, so I might as well. It will be dusk by that time I think, so I am expecting a beautiful sky, and I cannot wait.

The result:

• I was early to work by over an hour, but instead of reading where a small tea latte costs $3.50 (gulp!), I talked on the phone with my dear friend Annie.
• I did walk into the office 20 minutes before my scheduled start time and got right to work reading through the intern orientation, assistant duties, television show concepts, series concepts, and so forth.
• I attended one meeting, followed that with research, then attended a second meeting to follow-up on any discoveries or further thoughts.
• I didn't leave the office until after 8, realizing that my running time was long gone, my brain fried, and my body tired.
• I really, really want to do this internship. While it may not be the most glamorous job in the world, I'm already learning so much, and I know there is more I can learn there.
• 11 hour days are probably pretty close to the norm, so I need to get use to it. Tomorrow I will go even earlier and run on the beach in the morning, because chances are good I won't want to go after seven...well...ever.
• I spoke with the gentleman I'll call the boss man, and he sees me making it there. He says I'll demonstrate my dedication by sticking with it and putting into action what I say. He even wants to help me get another internship at the same time to fast-track my experiencing and really make the learning curve spike. I know he's dedicated to seeing his interns get other positions in the industry. So much so, in fact, that another Hollywood type from a high profile agency called him today specifically looking for people to hire from his intern pool. Very impressive!
• Now I am in a financial crisis and am figuring out what to do. Trust, that's good, but what else?