Friday, March 31, 2006

My jeans are falling apart!

Well, my mom ordered a router and adapter, so I may have my computer up and running by this next week. So you know what that means: pictures of cats and sand!
So much sand...
It's been cloudy, quite often, as it has been in all of southern California. And it's been super windy here, too. But it's almost always super windy, here. And it simply isn't warm, yet. I wish I'd get hired somewhere, so I could make some money and by some amazing clothing, already. I finally got my security deposit, and it was about $200 less than I was expecting. Oh well, another thing to remind me of why I left L.A. (never enough money)
I dropped out of the play. I did this for several reasons. First off, I couldn't stand the play. Second, they wanted me to memorize many, many lines, and I know that I'm simply not ready for a role that large in such a short amount of time. Third, the owner of the restaurant flat out told me he needed me to wait tables for him on Wednesday, and then asked me if I could do it. Maybe it doesn't read as shifty as it sounded, but I hadn't filled out a W-2 with him, and my gut was telling me that this wouldn't be the only time something like this would happen. I could just picture, three months down the road, working for practically no money at the owner's beck and call and memorizing badly-written plays that I really didn't want imprinted on my brain. It struck me that that is not why I came out here. I took a different direction so that I could do what I wanted to do, not more of what other people wanted me to do (while I realize compromises need to be made sometimes, my goal is not to be a big pushover, anymore). So I'm demanding a better situation for myself. Even if it takes a while (because it's certainly taking longer than I expected it to-- I thought I'd be working by now), it's okay, because I'm in a situation where I have to worry as much.
Speaking of getting a job, that one restaurant I went to that said they'd probably hire me-- uh-- hasn't called, yet. I'm still confident they'll call me, because they said they were retrofitting their computers in a few weeks, and that's when they'd start training people. But still, if they haven't called by this weekend, I'm going to call them. And then, maybe (ugh!) I'll look for a job, again.
So that's what's happening over here. Don't forget, dear readers, to set your clocks forward on Saturday night.

Monday, March 27, 2006

It's not the house so much as the lifestyle...

Well, my computer's still not set up, so no pictures, yet. Don't fret, it'll happen. Because I know you're all just dying to see more pictures of the cats. And sand. So much sand...
Things are still moving slowly, here. But, you know, I think maybe that's just the way things work, here. It's nice, sometimes, but also really frustrating. Last week I did nothing but job hunt. It felt extremely unproductive. My first thought, naturally, was to look for a job as a waitress, since I have the most experience doing that. But since there are only so many nice restaurants out here, pretty much none of them are hiring. One nice one has had an ad in the paper for about three weeks. I actually applied twice over there (once with one manager, and once with another), and I haven't heard anything. I even went down the hill to Rancho Cucamonga, and everyone was extremely snotty. You know what I can't stand? I go to all the trouble to make a really nice resume and reference sheet, and no one wants one. Everywhere I went, the hostess would only accept an application, which usually asked for less information than I provided on my resume. My favorite part was when they told me when they accepted the applications, and I was still about an hour or so within the time limit for the day.
Then on Friday, my dad called me up and said their was an ad in the paper (because he takes it with him) for auditions for a mystery dinner theatre. I went to check it out, and I got a part. The owner gave my a copy of the show on DVD, so I could get an idea of what it's like. Here's my idea: it's horrible. Oh, my goodness, it's sooooo bad. It's about these hillbillies who are being hounded by an IRS agent who gets killed, and the dad is sexually abusing the daughter, but it's supposed to be funny because they're hillbillies, and all this crap. The writing is terrible. There is no back story. You just discover things as the show goes along (while that may sound appropriate for a mystery show, it's still lame). The cast is all right, but their morale is low, because it's such a lousy show and less people are seeing it. But it pays a dollar a head and I have no money, so let's put on a show!
I find it ironic that, while in L.A., I couldn't land an acting job to save my life, but I could get normal jobs pretty easy. But when I move back home, I can't find a normal job, but land an acting gig, right away.
I went to a rehearsal on Saturday, and only two people showed up on time besides me. Everyone else showed up an hour and a half, later. When the show went on, that night, I got to be a hostess.
Today is rehearsal, and they would like me to learn the lines for the detective and be show-ready by Friday. Now, I don't mean to be whiney, but the detective has 70% of the show's lines. It's been about six years since I've had to memorize a role with that many lines, and I don't know if I can pull that off in time.
Wait, it gets better.
Yesterday, I got a call from a nice restaurant that is only about a five-minute drive for me. I went in for an interview, filled out an application, and was told I'll more than likely be hired in a few days. This is great news, but now I may not be able to do the dinner theatre. That also wouldn't be so bad, but I haven't been in anything for about six years, like I said ( I don't count extra work as acting).
Well, we'll see what happens. Meanwhile, I'm taking a break from the job hunt, today, and I'm going to learn some lines.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Here I am! Or... Welcome to the House of Confusion

This is just an update to let you all know that I have officially moved and I am fine. My computer's still not set up, yet, so there will be no photos in this update.
Time has just been going so slowly since I arrived. It is just so incredibly messy in this house, I often don't know where to begin. The garage is completely full, from ceiling to floor, with boxes and furniture that won't fit in the house. The biggest gripe I have is many of the boxes are actually empty, and my parents don't want me to throw them away.
About two or three years ago, my parents moved out of a huge 4BR/3BA house with a 3-car garage and a storage shed in the backyard, and into a 3BR/2BA house with a 2-car garage and practically no closet space. Dad doesn't want to throw anything away and Mom has all of these clothes. Most of the clothes still have tags on them and some are two or three sizes too small, for when she loses weight. Needless to say, nothing has really changed since they've lived out here. Sometimes they'll make a little progress and sort some things or move a mess of stuff from one room to another, but they won't actually get rid of anything. It's a very depressing situation, or as I like to call it (but not actually to them) "The House of Confusion".
Well, we are going to have a yard sale in April, even if it's a crappy one. Mom wants to have one big one, with lots of organization and advertising. But she won't actually do anything about it. Dad just wants to set some stuff out on the driveway with the hope that shoppers with garage sales running through their veins will be able to sniff us out. But neither has actually happened. Now we do things my way.
Last week I bought a storage unit (because I couldn't get to anything in the garage. I got tired just looking at it). Each day I take anywhere from 5 to 15 boxes over. Before I take them over, I open them, write down on a pad of paper what's in the box next to a number, close the boxes, and slap numbers onto them. Once I have labled as many boxes as I can (and my storage unit is filled), I will schedule a yard sale (find out what's legal in the city, ads, blah blah crap). When we have the sale in April, we will look at the list, decide what we want to sell this sale, and put it in the driveway. What doesn't sell gets donated at the end of the sale. Then we will have another one in June or July, and a final one in September.
Then we can have fun? Maybe. Then we focus on making the house liveable. You know I can't plug anything into the outlets in my room because they're falling apart or have paint in the holes? And I know I mentioned the lack of closet space. And the windows... don't even get me started on the windows. The fact that I'm covered in cat fur no matter what I do pales in comparison to how I feel about the windows. No, I'm thinking 2006 might not be a very fun year for me. I could be wrong. We'll see.
What I do know is I need a job. My old apartment isn't exactly being prompt with my security deposit, and my previous fundage is running low. I need to get a job where I make about $1200/mo and only work about 3-5 days a week, because I have a second job here at the HoC. And really, it's hard for me to get anything else done when I'm working 6 days a week.
So, that's how it is, right now. I still don't know when my computer will be up and running, but I'm sure it will be... by the summer.
Maybe.
It's confusing, here.