Survived. Still kicking. The old ticker is still tick-tocking away.

I survived and I’m alive.

It has been a very very busy week for me this past week. March 14 – March 22, 2009. Very busy week. But it was one of the best, funnest, and memorable weeks of my life. I had fun and I paid for it.

To begin, it all started with the practice short that was shot on the 14th. As stated before, it was just a short that I just wrote late one night or early one morning (depending on how you want to look at it). I couldn’t care less about the quality of this short. Again, just practice.

The cast: my ex and other non-actors. Location: Cat’s place.

Overall, it was just great practice for Scott and me, because how much we missed while shooting. There were just a lot of fuck ups around on both our parts. There were continuity problems. Boom mic was in a few shots. Wax paper in the shot — ahh…Passion Fruit days. It ran long. I, being the optimist, thought it was going to take no more than 2 hours. Maybe 2.5 hours including the makeup. They were just short, simple shots. I don’t understand what happened.

The light set ups, sure, but they were simple. Most of the time was just phone calls made by the actors. One actor was dying because she’s deathly allergic to cats and Cat has six of them. I got a little allergic because Cat smoked inside the apartment (the script asked for it) and I’m allergic to cigarette smoke.

I felt rushed, because on actor, a sweetheart, showed up almost on time and had to wait for us to shoot everything until her turn. I feel bad for her, but she soldiered on.

Ultimately we finished shooting. I didn’t get some shots that I wanted, or the quality of the shots, but again, great practice for Scott and me. It helped prepared us for our main shoot, Scott’s A Political Situation.

After the cleanup I thought it was time for me to go home, digitize the footage and then go to sleep. It wasn’t the case. I had to go out with Cat, ’cause she needed a ride…….moving on.

Ultimately, for the most part, I had a fun time filming In the Light. Sunday, I digitize the footage and started to do a rough edit of it. It is what it is. I’m sure I can make it work. I have faith in making it work.

But the 16th began the busy busy week. My first trip to Atlanta for business. I went with a coworker of mine, Tim. We had to do a regional upgrade; new server and new desktops for everyone. Fun times.

Fun fun times.

Well, first off, it was a long day. Got to the airport two hours before the flight, like I normally do. In a way of punishment, the universe decided it would be fun to delay the flight by an hour-and-a-half or so…maybe even two hours. Fun fun.

So, we landed at ATL and got our car and then went on our merry way. Traffic at midnight! I left LA to avoid the traffic. Bastards! One strike against ATL! Damn you!

Any who, got to the hotel at 12:30 local time, which means 9:30ish PST and I’m tired already. I’m old. Sue me.

We went to the “Waffle House” for a late night dinner. Steak & eggs. Damn good steak & eggs. We were hungry. Sue us.

The next few days weren’t bad at all. The first one was the worst because it was a long day. 13 hours.

People that know me know that I like to listen to music while I work. Just music to my ears, drowning out the world around me. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you or socialize, so don’t be offended, I just need to cut down on distractions and lyrical melodies just helps with the work. I was connected to my ipod all day, stuck in the server room for the most part, putting the finishing touches on things while Tim took care of the new desktops, running the updates and other stuff. I helped up when I had down time.

5:00pm. Everyone out. The fun begins. I began to sync up the files as Tim removed the old hardware. While we wait, I helped Tim put the new desktops on and then when everything was finished, brought the old server down and connected everyone. Everything looks good. Really good. A job well done.

We went out to “Taco Mac” for dinner. Just seem like a regular sports bar & grill type of restaurant. Nothing spectacular about it but…but…the mother fucking beer selection. They have over one hundred beers. I was in heaven. So, we did get to get some alcohol to finish and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I had a Guinness to make it right. Yum yum.

I think the fun really began on the second day. The network was running slow. We couldn’t’ figure it out. I sure as hell don’t know what it is. I brought it to Dan’s attention and we opened up a ticket.

So, Tim, Mr. Pimptastic, was taking care of most people, getting them set up on their new shiny toys, I took care of other things..i.e. investigating the network speed issue. Helped Tim with desktop issues and started to test old hardware. Unfortunately, sadly, we didn’t get that far on the hardware. There were just too many things. Conference room wireless. Desktop issues. Network issues. blah!

Oh….to cap things off. I was tired. Why? Damn me, can’t sleep in hotel rooms. I think I averaged about three hours of sleep per night. Fun fun fun.

But, we did get out at a reasonable time that night. 9pm EST.

So, instead of dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we went straight to dinner. We got a few recommendations from our newfound friends in ATL, but I just ignored them. Tim and I went on a journey, a trek, a…search of exploration of the city that is called ATL! We just drove, going by our gut and Tim’s navigation and we ended up somewhere.

We found a mall and there was a restaurant called “Twist”. It is a tapas and sushi bar.

The food…EXCELLENT. The steamed mussels in a butter lemon wine cream sauce were to die for and the duck confit in an orange sauce was just great. Yummy yummy food.

The people, just friendly. They were just so nice. Our waitress, Brandi…..great fun people.

That’s one thing I did notice about ATL as opposed to say….LA. The people there are just so nice. Such wonderful people. I have experienced a small dose of southern hospitality with the Carter’s…but wow…ATL is just full of them.

Thursday. Our last full day in ATL!

It started out as most of the others. Work. Continued on the network issue while I actually did get to the hardware this time. Tim helped but he was busy taking care of the other people, mingling, putting them at ease, and helping them with their desktop problems which is mostly caused by the slow network.

The office took us out to lunch and great times again.

But in the end, at the last hour of the night, we figured out the network issue. Damn fucking stupid piece of shit Email extender user cache. Fucking a-hole. But we figured it out.

We are calling it a night again at 9pm.

During our mingling, Tim cozied up to someone and got recommendations on a few spots to go. I was definitely game…getting out to the city and experiencing the night life, celebrating a job well done.

Hmm…one thing that I didn’t realize until we went to a bar was that it is still okay to smoke in bars. Maybe it was still early, but the first bar we went to wasn’t crowded and unpretentious. It was just a chill chill bar. It was nice. There was someone that was going to play that night. Very cool. We went next door to get more tapas and they too were good, but they were real tapas sizes.

The next bar we went to was a bit crowded, so we didn’t stay.

We drove a bit more and found another bar. “Flip-flop”…it was cool. Lots of slushy margaritas. We chilled there for a bit while Tim made a “connection”…asking a local about her night. Then we went to another bar down the street. It was more like a club than anything.

But, I was really hungry ’cause the dinner we had wasn’t that filling and I was had a few drinks by then. I told Tim’s ass to ask his friend if there was anything around. Instead of calling, his ass decided to text. She didn’t know anyway. I had to chat up a girl sitting next to me at the bar. She’s from Cuba…working with the makeup industry or something and she was just visiting. She didn’t know. She left, and we left a little after that.

We did have a shot of Firefly, sweet tea vodka. Tastes like sweet tea. Wasn’t bad at all.

On our way back to the car, apparently I was “drunk” as Tim says, but we started a conversation with two girls. One was from Miami, the other was a local who didn’t get out much. They didn’t know a place to eat either. Damn them both..but it was cool to chat them up.

Anywho, got home and just went to bed. Early morning.

Friday…flew home and went into work for about an hour before I was sent home.

Saturday…the shoot. I was still tired, but we were shooting A Political Situation today. Even though the actress was sick, we soldiered on.

Of course, there is always something major that went wrong on the days of the shoot. My big thing. I forgot the fucking tape. It was time to shoot, so I got the camera ready and realize I didn’t have the tape. It’s at home sitting on my desk. Fucker. I was so pissed at myself.

But anywho, got the tape and started. Scott and I were a little off our game, but we managed and hit a stride. Pretty much from 10 – 6:30 both days. Well, Saturday we started about 10:30 because of the whole tape thing.

Overall, on both days, we did what we needed. I had a lot of fun, working, shooting with confidence and getting feedback on a few shots from the actors.

The actors kept each other entertained as Scott and I set up the shots and think through the next shot after one was done. It was just fun times.

The biggest problem with the shoot I will have to say is the sound. There were a lot of traffic noises and we had to redo take after take because of it. But overall, it wasn’t that bad at all.

Sunday night. The wrap party. Wow…kick-ass. I had a lot of fun. Tons of fun. I guess I was just relaxed, trying to play some music, glad that everything is over and looking at the footage the night before, they were good. Had a few beers. Seeing the actors and my friends mingle and getting along with each other. It was just bliss. I had tons of fun. Tons.

I felt so good after everything. I had so much fun. My life…just great. I loved everyone. Everyone. Friends, family, actors….everyone. I love them all.

But everything is over now. I survived the week. I survived the shoot. I survived everything.

Now, today, it is time for me to start cutting. I took a few days to rest, to get away from the footage, but yeah. It’s over, now the tough part begins. Editing.

I look forward to it, piecing the pieces together to make a whole. It’s going to be fun. I’m excited and hope everything cuts together well.

Fun fun fun.

My life…..just great.

Ahhh to be back to my ol’ finger tapping ways, to be back with the ol’ diatribes of mindless rambling. Oh, just to be back.

It’s been a while, a long while since I’ve had the chance to just write and write and write to my heart’s content in this ol’ blog of mine.

2009. It’s been a busy year already. I guess.

I have been writing, but mostly it has been on scripts that I’m working on. The action script that I’m working on with Scott and my rewrite of A Ghost Story of Some Kind.

It’s been busy as I have a newfound rejuvenation of creativity, looking things over with new eyes and seeing things in a new light. Well, this applies mostly to AGSOSK. As for the action script, it is difficult collaborating, having different ideas and just meshing them together to make things fit and make each other happy. But, it is for the better. It is something that I can say that I did, with success. Even though we pretty much have to do a page 1 rewrite already and we weren’t even done with our first draft. We have to take a new approach. Just too funny that we’ve invested so much time and energy in getting this script together and before we even get 50 pages in, we are going back to page one. Interesting indeed.

* * *

With a blink of an eye we are in March already. So much has happened. It really felt like a few days ago I was up in Federal Way, in the Tully’s writing my year-end diatribe going the blah blah blah that I usually do. But wow, to have it be almost three-and-a-half months ago. Where have all the time gone?

Where indeed?

I guess I just have been keeping busy. With the recession and everything, things are kind of hectic. My hours have been cut by 10%, so I am living on limited funds. I need to make a conscious effort to just cut down on my spending. Maybe my resolution of going out more, socializing more is not going to happen.

Speaking of which, I do think I’m making an effort to go out more and do more things. Grant it that I had and ulterior motive in it, but I am going out more. With the happy hours with the ol’ JGA crew, to bday celebrations, to dinners with the fam, to parties at the Carter’s, and celebrations of test taking….just going out and being more social.

I think it is a good thing that I am doing. I do need to go out more and do more things, even though it really doesn’t feel like I am. I just need to do it more. Maybe I will actually do one of these “First Friday” events at the Museum of Natural History that Luis raves about. I’m sure I will, but I’m just on a limited budget now and things are just going crazy with my schedule.

Busy busy busy.

* * *

According to horoscope, well Chinese horoscopes, this year, the year of the Ox (or Cow) is going to be a bad year for me financially. It’s just going to be a tough year overall for me, and I’ve anticipated it. I knew this all along, and when the cut in hours came, I expected it. I’m thankful that I still have a job. I’m looking at the brighter side of things.

But for some reason, though I know I’m having a “tough” year, something came over me around the time of Chinese New Year’s. I’ve become so happy. There’s just this sense of elation and happiness and joyful joyful world that is going on inside me that I can’t explain it.

I really can’t. Even Leslie sees it and is kind of tripped up about it. Creepy tripped up.

But, all in all, things are good. Life is good. Life is happy. I know and see that I don’t have many things, like being in a relationship, or being rich, or doing what I want, but I’m happy. I don’t know why?

Maybe it is the stress free job that I have. Maybe I just grew up a little and see things for what they are, not that I don’t already. I just don’t know; things are good. I’m happy, giddy, go-lucky.

Life is good.

I can’t complain.

Money is tight, and I need to make an effort to stretch it for what it is worth.

* * *

Maybe my happiness stems from the fact that I am making some kind of progress in the whole film front. I have two projects lined up. One thrown together in a matter of weeks and another one planned out in months and months. Things are taking shape and I guess the anticipation and the forward movement of the projects is keeping my spirits up.

Actually moving along with A Political Situation really jump started it. Actually setting up the auditions and doing it just sealed the deal. Giddy giddy ever since. It is actually going to happen. Just next week as a matter of fact. I’m very nervous. Very nervous, because this is big. Not only is it not just my money, but Scott’s and it is his script that I’m going to shoot. For the past few months, lots of planning and thinking and coordinating and time time time have been spent on getting to next weekend.

Nervous. I just hope that things run smoothly.

As for the other shoot, it is just thrown together. In one insomniac night, I got up and wrote the script in about 10 minutes and asked a few friends to be the actors. Why waste renting a camera just to practice shooting when I can actually shoot a by-the-hip short and put everything together while getting practice on the camera and shooting.

Kill two birds with one stone.

I guess it is just nice that I’m in a creative bug again and it has nothing to do with writing. It is a creativity of preplanning and execution. I just can’t wait. I don’t know how things are going to turn out, but I have such high expectations of everything, even the thrown together ghost short that I really don’t care anything about because they are cast with non-actors.

All in all, I think things will be fun, exciting, and eye opening. I just can’t wait. Fun fun fun.

I have two great actors for Scott’s short and they both seem cool, down to earth and have a great sense of humor. Things are just looking up and up. Ahhhh…things are nice.

Life goes on and on like it usually goes but not like it has before.

Life is good.

* * *

Ahhh, I don’t know, but life is good. Things aren’t so tough anymore. Just looking at things and just taking things one step at a time. One day at a time. Simple simple simple.

It’s easier to just let things go and not fret.

I haven’t heard from her in a while, but that’s okay. Something I need to do anyway as it makes it easier to let go.

I’m keeping my options open even though I’m not looking for anything.

It’s easier to talk to people especially since I know nothing is going to come out of anything.

They all seem nice, sweet, beautiful, etc etc etc. Things are just easier to just do my thing with a lil’ chit to the chat and not worry about anything.

I’m not making any effort of doing anything, because maybe I know for sure I’m not looking for anything. Nothing at all.

Whatever happens, happens and there is nothing I can do about it. Nothing at all. It is not for me to decide what life throws at me. It is for me to decide how to act and hopefully I act in the best way that I can. I think I am doing that. I think I am managing that.

Sigh

Life is good and I honestly don’t know how or when or why, but they are good.

Maybe I do have something for the year of the Ox, 2009.

2009, the year of happiness? It’s still too early to tell, but it is shaping up to it. Maybe I just jinxed myself there, who knows. I sure don’t.

Sitting here, on a Wednesday no less, typing away in my usual ol’ spot, the boba shop doing my thing. Just feels so right, feels so natural.

I’m not even stressing out that I’m going to turn 30 in a little less than a month. Bring it on. Bring on my 30s. Yay yay yay!

Ahhh…life.

Good.