SoCal – Week 1

I’ve been in Los Angeles for a week now! I can’t say I’m totally settled or adjusted yet — only one of the boxes I shipped from home has arrived, and I still don’t have any furniture in my room besides my bed and a small nightstand (you can only stand keeping underwear in your suitcase for so long) — but regardless, I’m pretty content, and I’m absolutely sure now that this is the right path for me.

I won’t give a blow-by-blow synopsis of my week. That would take too long, and hey, I’m a graduate student now! We don’t have a whole lot of free time (or won’t soon — as of now I can’t say I’ve gotten any tangible work done, though I know I’ll have to write scripts very very soon… like… starting tomorrow…)  But here are the basics:

Social life: Pretty badass so far. I’m getting along well with my roommate, Ashley. I’ve met a ton of people from our class, and I think we’ve gathered a very cool core group together — not an insulated clique by any means, but a gathering of friendly people who are willing to shout out “hey, anyone want to grab something to eat?” at the end of class to see how many people we get. We’ve all gone out for drinks and food a few times, out to a party in Hollywood thrown by an upperclassman, and Ashley and I are throwing a getting-to-know-you, dress-as-your-favorite-movie-character theme party on Friday which I invited everyone I could find on Facebook to.  We’ve just been playing for the last week, but everyone’s got such an energetic, creative vibe going, even in casual conversation. It’s exciting to know that these are the people I’ll be collaborating with the rest of my life!

On top of that, Ashley and I managed to meet almost all of our neighbors in our 6 unit apartment complex today. We had an exterminator come and take care of our roaches today (more on that later) so we ended up sitting outside for awhile. Adrina in unit 1 came out to say hi first (we’d met her a few days prior), then Pita from unit 6 right above us came home from school, so he chatted with us for awhile. We met the Chinese exchange student in unit 2 who was leaving for class (can’t remember her name because I could barely pronounce it), and then the guy in unit 5 came home, who it turns out is a professor in the Interactive Media division of the cinema school. We met Pita’s roommate Jake when we came home from class, and ended up borrowing their vaccuum and hanging out in their apartment playing Guitar Hero and beer pong most of tonight. The only neighbors we’re missing are unit 4, and I’ve at least met their dog Nugget, so I know they’re alright.

School: We haven’t had that many classes so far (510 and 507 yesterday — the first is “homeroom”, sort of, and the second is our actual production class) but everything up to now has me both chomping at the bit to get started and at the same time absolutely terrified. Brenda Goodman showed my 507 class some past 507 films and got my quaking in my boots. I know I’ve come up with some creative ideas in the past, but it’s been so long since I’ve had to flex my creative muscles and produce something in a short period of time. I know we’re just getting started, but really, what if my first 507 is totally lame? We do that one almost completely by ourselves (though Joe and I have agreed to lend each other a hand). I almost wish Brenda had screened some of the really bad 507 pieces along with the ones she liked… then I could have something to aspire to while not feeling too bad if I don’t quite get there.

In any case, I have my first 599 class tomorrow (basically our screenwriting class, though it’s got some long convoluted name on our schedule — Ideation and something blah blah blah?). While I’m thrown into a panic when they ask me to do shit like write about my favorite childhood memory or some other in class exercise, I am sure that being in a writing class will get my ideas churning. It’s always been a huge help in the past.

As a side note, the new cinema building is amazing. I saw a little of the old George Lucas building, so I have some basis for comparison, and the new facilities are absolutely gorgeous. They didn’t even have the whole subterranean post-production level completely hooked up, but you can already see how state of the art it is. I know I’ll be spending a ton of time down there, and I’ll be happy to!

Lifestyle: Our apartment complex, though full of awesome people, is pretty ghetto. The walk from campus is okay… the first block at least. The second you hit our block it gets really sketchy. They finally fixed the gate outside, and the bars on our windows that were apparently not attached to the walls, so that’s good. Our big nightmare this week was the roaches. They started out tiny, but grew bigger and more frequent as the week went on. Finally we had to get the exterminator in today to take care of the little bastards. Hopefully that will fix the problem… but after our big cleanup of the roach carnage, Ashley went into the kitchen, turned around, and there was a fresh one on the wall. Hopefully it was just visiting Pita’s apartment upstairs all day today, and came home to the shock of finding all of its relatives brutally murdered by roach poison. I hope the fucker cried tiny roach tears before I squirted the hell out of it with bug spray.

We have some pretty interesting “neighbors” as well. These include

• the rooster (for real — he lives across the street but isn’t penned up, so he struts around the neighborhood)
• the tranny with the shopping cart (probably buying his/her drugs and/or eggs across the street)
• the white guy with a white suit, top hat and cane (only spotted once, but he did stop traffic)
• the homeless guys on the corner
• the guy who yells “HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY” (though I found out today he’s actually shouting, and selling, “tamalEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEs)
• the ice cream truck(s), who occasionally have ice cream wars when they meet (not really, but it would be awesome)
• the stray cats who argue with the rooster (last night was all “cockadoodle–” “mraaaaaw” “cockadood-” “MRAAAWW” “cockadoodledooMRAAAAAAAWWW ” like a goddamn competition. Shut the hell up guys!)
• the skittish stray dog who likes Carls Jr (or at least I assume that’s what was in the bag he found)

An experience, I’ll tell ya.

I’ve got a few more I took on my cell phone that I’ll have to upload soon, but here are some of the photos I took during my first day (the photos repeat; I’ll have to go and delete them manually, but I’m too lazy right now): http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbsteele/sets/72157612400218107/

One week

This time next week I’ll be settling into my near-empty apartment in L.A.  I’m ecstatic, and terrified, and can hardly believe it’s only a week away!

I’ve gotten rid of the Welcome page, since from now on I’ll be concentrating on using this as an honest-to-goodness blog rather than a place to direct people who want to see my resume (which hasn’t been updated since July or so anyway, heh). Hopefully I’ll have some interesting stuff to share soon, besides giddiness.

On my way!

I guess it’s about time I wrote another blog post. Yep, I’m pretty terrible with blogs (obviously, since I dropped the ball on the second week of my L.A. trip this summer — though in my defense, we didn’t have internet access at Mount St. Mary’s). After years of trying and failing to keep a journal, I’ve finally succeeded in keeping one going for about a year and a half in a Moleskine journal — I’m almost a quarter of the way through my second Moleskine, in fact. So really, after writing about the banalities of my day by hand, why would I want to come online and publish it for the whole world?

Well, now I’ve got a good excuse: I got into USC! Los Angeles, here I come!

Since I’ll probably be too busy to call my dad daily, or write long emails to friends back east telling them what I’ve been up to, getting in the habit of keeping a blog is probably the best way to go. I’ve got a month and a half until I leave — I’ve booked my flight for January 6th — so I might as well flex my blogging muscles now.

Things are falling into place. I’ve got my Stafford loan and Grad PLUS loan all good to go. I should (?) be able to register for classes tomorrow… which would be nice, because then I can sign up for health insurance (I’ve been paying $104 every two weeks for one bottle of insulin, when I normally get three bottles for $50 with insurance… that hurts).

My biggest concerns now are housing and a car. I doubt I’ll get graduate housing, so I’ve been prowling Craigslist for people looking to rent/sublet furnished rooms. I’ve found a couple cool options, and have been in touch… alternately, I might find a 2B with my soon-to-be-classmate Ashley. Both routes have their benefits — on the one hand, I could live with someone who’s already familiar with the area, and get a room that’s furnished (a huge load off my mind)… plus the one girl I’m talking to has two cats, which would make me deliriously happy, since I’ll be missing everyone back home. On the other hand, I know from living with Adrienne in college that it’s really awesome living with someone in your major. It makes it easier to collaborate, and when dealing with school-specific problems/stress it’s great having someone around who’s going/gone through the same shit as you.

The second thing I have to work out is my car. What can I say? I’ve never bought or leased a car before. I don’t even know where to begin! I guess I need to figure out which car would be most affordable, somehow — gas efficient, tough enough to keep rolling on the L.A. highways for a few years, and not too much money every month. Dad thinks I should lease. While it would be good to not have to think about repairs, I’m going to be staying out there for more than 1, or 2, or even 3 years. At a minimum I’ll be out there 4 or 5, and hopefully I’ll be out there permanently, so wouldn’t a short-term lease end up costing me waaaaay more money in the long run? I’ll already be deep enough in debt from USC.

But anyway, those are small matters in the long run. I’m going to USC! George Lucas owns my soul! I really couldn’t be more thrilled — the next few years are going to be awesome!

L.A. – Day 7 – June 11th, 2008

Well, I’m alone in L.A. Roozbeh left for Philly this morning, so I’ve just been hanging out in his apartment all day. I could call some of the Rotaractors that are in town to see if they want to do something, but I think I’m just going to relax. I’ve been on the go for the last 6 days, and I’m going to have to get up early tomorrow to wash the sheets and towels and go pick up Jen at the airport. I could wash my clothes today, but I think I’ll just wait until we get to the dorms at Mount Saint Mary’s… The laundry facilities there are on the same floor as our rooms, and here at Roozbeh’s place they’re down two flights and other side of the building (aren’t I lazy?). I’m also hoping they’ll be free in the dorms, but I doubt it!

So anyway, I’m just sitting around watching movies and writing these blogs (yes, I’ve been bad, I wrote the last 4 or 5 days of blogs all today). It’s going to be a very busy second week in L.A.!

L.A. – Day 6 – June 10th, 2008

We went to the Griffith Observatory today for some more spectacular (if smoggy) views of Los Angeles.

And I finally got a few decent pictures of the Hollywood sign!

We went to Doughboy’s for a late lunch. The front of the store is really nice — exposed brick and nice cafe furniture and booths — but the bathroom looked like something out of a ghetto club. And they kept the employee lockers in there! I certainly wouldn’t want to leave my purse locked in the public bathroom… The food was delicious, though. I got a cashew chicken salad, which came with tasty bread, and we split a red velvet cake.

At night we drove down to LAX to pick up Grace Lee, who I haven’t seen since 9th grade. I drove us down and back so that I could get practice driving to the airport, since I’ll be picking Jen up on Thursday. We stopped at Neko Neko Sushi to eat. Much tastier than the one in Little Tokyo. Afterward we went to Grace’s apartment and hung out for awhile.

L.A. – Day 5 – June 9th, 2008

Today we went to a bar in Culver City in the morning to watch Italy vs. the Netherlands. Italy sucked, but it was funny listening to Roozbeh’s friend Paulo curse up a storm in Italian.

After that, we went to USC so I could go on the Cinema School tour. I think it was worthwhile just for some of the anecdotes, like the fact that Spielberg built a sound facility at USC because he lost a bet with Lucas over whether or not the first Indiana Jones would do well or not (Lucas would have built one at his alma mater if it hadn’t).

I really screwed up the back of my feet with the shoes I was wearing, so we went to the Grove to watch Prince Caspian. It could have been worse… but it could have been a whole lot better. They definitely focused too much on the battles to the detriment of the character development. And I really hate how all of those novels/movies beat the God into you… I know that was C.S. Lewis’ goal, but really. “Why didn’t I see Aslan?” “Maybe you didn’t want to see him.” “Why hasn’t Aslan come to help us?” “Maybe he wants us to help ourselves.” UGH.

The Grove Theater and the shops around it were beautiful, though.

After the movie we went to Canter’s Deli for dinner. Roozbeh certainly knows all the diners in town, since he’s so used to being on shoots at all hours =)

L.A. – Day 4 – June 8th, 2008

Today we went back along the Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu to explore some more of the canyon roads along the way. We found one road that wound from one hill to another before dropping us back on the PAC. What spectacular views!

On another road we came across what looked like a hidden hippie village. All of a sudden there were all these new-agey-shops and stores with “Zen” in their names. The houses were cute, though, and because of the layout of the area all of the houses had bridges from the street to the door that ranged from solid wood and stone bridges to a suspension bridge that would only be good for walking. Many of the houses were named appropriately for the eccentricity of the area… though I was surprised that “Dragon Manor” didn’t have a drawbridge.

That night we went to the Tofu House for Korean food. The service was speedy, the tofu soup and the appetizers were tasty, but I definitely wouldn’t have ordered the fish if I’d known a smaller fish was part of the appetizer!

L.A. – Day 3 – June 7th, 2008

Today we went to Little Tokyo for some sushi. Turns out Little Tokyo might not be the best place for sushi… or at least, we didn’t wander in to the right restaurant. I forget the name (Mitsu-something?) but it felt and looked more like a diner than a sushi restaurant. We looked through the book of rolls, but both of us decided on the sushi combos (tuna rolls, cucumber rolls, sashimi; the usual). They put wasabi on everything. I was afraid it was to mask bad fish, but thankfully neither of us got food poisoning.

After our late lunch, we headed off to the Student Academy Awards at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Roozbeh’s friend Shih-Ting won the gold for the alternativefilm category (which Roozbeh had done some AC and other work on). Some of the films were very good, and it was an enjoyable glimpse at the competition options that will be available when I get into film school.

After the awards, we went out to a diner called Swingers with a few of Roozbeh’s friends — Zak, Chris, and a kid named Devon who acted in one of the movies screened at the award show.

L.A. – Day 2 – June 6th, 2008

Today we went out on “Roozbeh’s tour” of USC. Campus was pretty quiet, as we’re already into the summer session, but we did run into a number of people he knew. He was a very good tour guide and asked all of them “If you could do it again, would you go to USC for film school?” One girl gave me a very long speech about the benefits of going or trying to make it on your own in certain situations. It can certainly be done either way, but well, I’ve already made up my mind to go. The general consensus was “yes” anyway, so if I had been really conflicted I’d have my answer.

I didn’t take many pictures around campus, just the one above because it looked cool, the one at the fountain of Roozbeh looking pensive, and the one below because I haven’t quite shaken off my librarian spirit (I had one without Roozbeh too, but I like this one). It was certainly a beautiful library — lots of marble. It reminded me of some of the grand old buildings at Temple. And in the basement was their film library. We watched a number of pretty good thesis films (though Roozbeh has been telling me for years how much thesis films suck, so maybe I was just expecting the worst!) and on the way out got free cookies. Why? I have no idea, but there were a bunch of people having some sort of reception in the hall, so we grabbed and went.

We went to Shamshiri Grill on Westwood so Roozbeh could introduce me to Persian food. Delicious! I’ve always avoided kebobs, I guess because I figured it couldn’t be too much different from the kebobs we always made on the grill at home during the summer, but wow, yes, saffron and other Persian spices make all the difference. My stomach is rumbling thinking about the chicken barg and koobideh I brought home.

After dinner we drove through UCLA’s campus (sorry, USC, they’ve definitely got you beat on landscaping). We considered getting out and walking around, but neither of us had any idea where the film buildings were, and the sun was setting, so we decided to drive along the Pacific Coast Highway instead. I don’t know if it’s the water quality that makes it look different (though I can’t imagine L.A. has cleaner water than the Jersey shore) or if I just haven’t gotten up early enough to see sunrises over the ocean, but the water looked electric, so many cool shades of blue and pink.

We also took a side trip onto one of the roads that go up into the hills and looked at some very pretty Hollyweird residences. More interesting than those were the burnt down house we checked out, and a very out of place teepee at the bottom of a ravine which freaked Roozbeh out (I had to assure him that we had more to worry about from security guards than from Malibu Indians living in teepees ;)).

Click here for more photos.

L.A. – Day 1 – June 5th, 2008

I’m off to L.A. for a two week trip today! I left from Philly at 6.50am after getting only a half hour of sleep. It seemed clever at the time I was booking the flight to leave early, so that I could arrive in L.A. early and have the whole day ahead of me to do stuff, but I should have practiced going to sleep early in the days before my flight (yeah, like that would ever happen).

It’s all good, though. I got some awesome pictures during my flight — I’ve never flown father than Oklahoma before, so flying over a desert for the first time was really neat, especially when we passed the Grand Canyon.

Roozbeh picked me up from the airport and took me to The Griddle Cafe for breakfast. I was jet lagged and feeling like it was noon, so originally I was going to just get lunch… but man, those pancakes just looked too temping. I didn’t even eat a quarter of them, though. I’ve got the rest of them in Roozbeh’s fridge.

We stopped back at his place so I could shower and zone out for a bit, then we went out to the Arclight Cinema to see Ironman. I’ve never seen a movie theater with assigned seating before!

After the movie we went to Bossanova on La Brea & Sunset for dinner, then home to watch some Adult Swim before bed. Despite the fact that I’d been up for, what? 36 hours? I still managed to stay up until 2 am L.A. time. Either I’m a trooper, or that’s how much of a night owl I am =)

It’s so weird seeing palm trees! Whenever we’re out I feel like we’re driving through a movie — and seeing as so many films are shot in L.A. I guess in a way we are. I think I also recognized some of the “Afghanistan” shots in Ironman as one of the mountain ranges we flew over. Very surreal.

Click here for more pictures.