Greetings from the 405!
No, seriously, the traffic here is so bad I could troll facebook on my way to work, if only I got Wifi.
But actually I am sitting on a little balcony outside of a guest house in West Hollywood, enjoying the cool breezes and watching my Italian roommates (as in, from Italy) make dinner for the night of San Giovanni.
In some places in Italy, they celebrate the summer solstice with a tradition that is partly pagan and partly rooted in Christian tradition. They call it "La Notte de San Giovanni." Tonight, my roommates are making their own version of the holiday with a special meal that is considered good luck to eat outside. I watch them boil, smash and peel potatoes, knead dough, and grate blocks of cheese. My sauce from a can must seem pitiful to them, but I eat it outside!
In July I will start work with a small production company in Hollywood called Blumhouse Productions. Though I am only an intern, I am extremely excited to roll up my sleeves and see what the film industry is all about. This week I will be doing some freelance work for the trailer company I interned at last summer, Herzog and Co. It will be neat to get to see everyone again after a year.
I know it's a little emo and trite, but every time I look out my window and see the mountains I can't help but be reminded of that Jack's Mannequin song, "Holiday from Real." After a difficult year, full of trials, heartache, personal setbacks, and disappointments, it's really hard not to be grateful for where I am and what I am doing. I feel like I've taken a vacation from reality.
That's not to say my life is glamorous by any means. I live in a small room in the back of this old apartment, feasting on ramen and Chef Boyardee. My internship, though exciting, is 12hours a day AND unpaid, so I have to get another part-time job to offset some of the cost. And I may not even get anywhere. Finding a job post-graduation is sort of like solving a crime. There are leads, contacts, investigations... and in the end, you might not find what you are looking for. Everyone working in film wants the same thing, and the painful truth is that very few of them will actually get it.
This is without a doubt the scariest, and most exciting, time in my life. What a gamble I've taken! What risks! But I feel that it's times like these that define who we are and who we are going to be. Sink or swim, baby. It's like the (albeit somewhat juvenile) JM song goes, "being poor was never better." So stay tuned for what comes next! I sure as shit don't know.
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