Thanksgiving...in 'Murica

I haven't celebrated Thanksgiving in this country since 2010. Isn't that weird? But it sure will be nice to cook it this year without having to actually kill the bird first. #grateful

Still on the job hunt, it is NOT easy to find one out there right now. Especially with as picky as I'm being. I keep getting a lot of "oh, I may know of something" or "I can get you in where I work" but that's usually the last I hear of it. So that's discouraging.

I do live in a kick ass location now in West Hollywood. I'm right in the center of everything I have always wanted to be in the center of. Now I'd just like a job so I can pay for all the things I want to do and take advantage of while living here. BUT, instead of being cynical, in the spirit of the week I will be grateful. So here's my 'what I'm thankful for: 2013 edition.'

• Friends. Being unemployed is trying but being surrounded by friends who support you (emotionally, mentally and financially) without question is quite literally a life saver.
• America.  Man this country is great. I'm still really happy with it. There are tiny little everyday irritations but at the first sign of getting irritated at something stupid, I can still force myself to laugh at how ridiculous and petty it is. I hope I can keep that up.
• Food. Good LORD is the food great here.
• PC Friends. Didn't realize just how much I'd need them. They're the only ones who truly understand how hard this readjustment is.
• Patience. What an amazing skill I have been blessed with. Seeing impatience in so many others, I find myself whispering "relax" so many times during the day. Seriously...relax, people.
• It's not about me. How many times daily could you relax if you just said those four words?
• Family. Haven't been home for Christmas in a few years either. Since I'm unemployed, a plane ticket seemed unlikely until one just appeared in my email inbox. No questions asked. Family can be frustrating and filled with drama and make you want to tear your hair out, but Jesus, what the hell would we do without them? It's so nice to be love so many people, so humbling to be loved that much.

Baking desserts today to get prepped for Thursday. Wish me luck. Happy Thanksgiving.
Get in the holiday spirit!
http://www.amazingoasis.org/2013/11/best-coin-ever-spent.html?m=1

The Ovations

Another addition to my hard to believe exitstence these days...

What are the Ovation Awards? Well, it's like the west coast version of the Tony's. They are held once a year and give awards for local theatre in both intimate and large settings.

But let me back up...

After my fun gig at the Les Girls event, I followed up with an email to the stage manager, Brenda and thanked her for a great day. Brenda just so happened to be cast in a play at a local theatre, The Rogue Machine, and they were looking for a stage manager. She asked if I had any experience in that. I laughed and said um...yes, yes I do. She asked if I could come in the next day and check it out. So I did. The Rogue Machine theatre is in Los Angeles. It is a building that holds two theatres, one seats 99 and the other seats 45. The only do original productions so they can not only workshop and produce new content but also don't have to pay rights to put on published works. The show that Brenda was in was an original 60 minute comedy entitled "Lone-Anon." The play is set 5 years in the future and the government has started identifying socially inept people and mandating them to go to support groups to try and stop using their phones and interact with actual people. Foreshadowing? It is a very funny play, a cast of 6. There is Brenda, who plays a shy librarion, Neil (also the playwright) who plays Dabney an internet CEO who has trouble communicating is inner thoughts, Keith (also the director) who plays the group therapist Mike who means well but is a little unhinged himself, Tyson who plays Tanner, a blockbuster employee who's 'on the edge', Melissa who plays Senise who is newly ordered to the group and Brian who plays Lincoln a "garden-variety misanthrope." The production is being done in the small theatre and they needed me to be 'on book' in their last few weeks of rehearsal as well as run the sound cues and light board for productions. They were scheduled to run from the 1st of November through the middle of December. I get paid a stipend, not enough for a full income, but at least it's something! Everyone who works there is so warm and welcoming. Brian, also happens to be on the TV show Scandal which made me really happy when I first met him. He is tall, gorgeous and has every right to be a downright jerk and yet he is the sweetest guy. Many TV/Film actors do shows here because they like to work on original pieces. One show last season was so successful it transferred to the Beverly Hills Playhouse and now is opening on Off Broadway in the spring. IN other words, they do good work.

www.roguemachinetheatre.com

http://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/BWW-Reviews-Late-Night-World-Premiere-LONE-ANON-Is-Not-Just-for-Loners-20131027

In the middle of all this, my friends Juan and Derek found us an apartment in West Hollywood right next to Santa Monica Boulevard. The location is ideal and we were lucky enough to attain it rather quickly. So we moved in. I'm slowly pulling things out of storage realizing just how much crap I kept. I was under the delusion that I had thrown so much stuff out and yet there are so many boxes yet to unpack. Me and my damn photo albums...

So that brings us back to the Ovation Awards. The producer Andrew who was friends with Liz, John's sister from the peace corps (make sense?) contacted me and asked me if I wanted to work backstage at the Ovation Awards. Since Andrew was recently named one of Variety's top new leaders:

http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/variety-honors-hollywoods-new-leaders-1200751959/

I figured, whenever he asks me to do something, I'm gonna do it. This year's awards were at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse which is one of the infamous California Missions. The day before the awards, a guy named Tito (the production manager) called me and asked me to be in charge of communications. I said yes, not really knowing what that meant. I had to show up at 7:30am on a Saturday (I know...). I met Tito and he set me up in the production office. There were 40 walkie talkies and I was in charge of them as well as all of the tools. Everything had to be checked in and out and I had to keep track of it all. the crew piled in and built the set, set up the audio and the lights. We were here for 12 hours. Basically I had to sit in the office and watch the equipment, they fed me lunch and dinner and then I left at 8:30 to go over to Rogue Machine for our evening performance.
The next day was the day of the awards. I had to be there at 11:30 to do the same thing. There was a lot of downtime on Saturday, Sunday it was non-stop. There were many more people there and a lot more stuff going in and out of the door, all of which I was in charge of. The 3 producers (including Andrew) came in and out to check on things. Andrew walked in and said "oh hey Jenn." (That feels good). The stage manager put me in charge of the winner envelopes, no one could see them but me. 
The host, Michael McKean, showed up around 5 to rehearse and the presenters started showing up around 6, such people as Sharon Lawrence, Steven Weber, Jason Ritter, Ed Begley Jr., Cathy Rigby, Val Kilmer and Melissa Manchester just to name a few. Sharon Lawrence remembered me from the Les Girls events. Yes...I'm name dropping. The show began at 7:30 and ran for about 2 hours. My friends at Rogue Machine won the award for Best Play in an intimate Setting so they were celebrating.
The thing I loved the most was the atmosphere of camaraderie and support in the LA theatre community. Many comments were made about how LA has a bad rap for theatre and yet here were hundreds of theatres out supporting each other. It was so great. I'm really happy to be a part of the community.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-ovation-awards-2013-20131103,0,3575488.story#axzz2jv0ukZ3r

Tito took my contact info to after I told him I'd work backstage for him whenever he needed me so hopefully that will work out too. Still on the job hunt. Now the clock is ticking since I have actual rent to pay now. Keep sending those positive vibes!

Another Remarkable Day in my life...

So Elizabeth, who is quickly becoming my pimp...or should I say agent, that's less scandalous, got me another job doing tech stuff. I had no idea what to expect.
A producer, Andrew calls me and sets me up to work backstage at a celebrity benefit cabaret for Breast Cancer Research. I was to be at the Avalon Theatre on Monday (this past one) at 8am and would be there probably close to midnight.
I left super early because LA traffic and all that. So I got to the theatre early, no small feat for Jenn and I was the first of the crew to arrive. Andrew looked a little surprised to see me. So let me list the people who were involved in my day so you can refer back to the list as I name drop:

Andrew - Producer
Brenda - Stage Manager
Amanda - Asst. Stage Manager
David - Andrew's assistant
Steve - Crew
Lili - Crew
Dingbat - Crew (this is not her real name, but it's appropriate, believe me)
Todd - Musical Director/Genius Pianist
Jerry - Director
Jason - Choreographer
Terrell - One of the backup dancers

Celebrities:
Miss Dakota - A local burlesque dancer
Jean Smart - Star of Designing Women, Sweet Home Alabama, etc.
Deborah May - Character actress, best friend of Jean Smart
Adam Busch - Known from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other TV shows
Eric Kufs - A guitarist for Adam.
Barrett Foa - Star of NCIS, Los Angeles
Peter Porte - Star of The Young and the Restless
Brandon Barash - Star of General Hospital
Melissa Peterman - Star of Reba, comedienne
Sam Harris - Star Search Champion from the 80's, known for "Over the Rainbow"
Steven Weber - Star of Wings, Studio 60, etc.
Peter Gallagher - Star of The OC, While You Were Sleeping, American Beauty, etc.
Chris Mann - Contestant on "The Voice" Season 2.
Judy Reyes - Star of Scrubs and Devious Maids
Ana Ortiz - Star of Devious Maids
Sharon Lawrence - Star of NYPD Blue and Rizzoli and Isles
Bruce Vilanch - Writer for the stars on the Oscars, Emmys, etc.

So as I was saying, Andrew was a little surprised to see me. I forget that in LA 'on time' means a half hour later. I met Brenda, the stage manager and sat down watching the crew begin to build the set. One thing about union workers, they will not let you lift a FINGER to help them. I appreciate that about them. 
I first met David. He was Andrew's assistant for the day. He was born in the Ukraine and moved to New Jersey when he was young and moved to LA a few years back to be an actor. It was fun to have someone to speak Russian with.
Lili arrived next. She was also an actor but worked in property management locally.
Dingbat arrived next. She had one of those obnoxious names that is usually common, but she spells and pronounces it differently? I immediately disliked her.
Steve arrived last. Chatted with him for a bit and he's from Old Forge, PA. Are you freaking kidding me? That's where our family restaurant is. Can't get away.
Once we all arrived, Brenda took us on a tour of the theatre. It was 3 floors. On the top floor was Jerry Lewis' original dressing room when Martin and Lewis used to perform there. It was quite large and had a balcony and a bar overlooking the stage out of view of the audience so that people could watch the show. Below the stage was the long underground path for actors to enter from stage right as well as all of the business offices of the theatre. Out in the lobby, the President of the Breast Cancer association was helping the designer decorate the lobby with feather boas. There was a crazy hustle and bustle going on and everyone was busy.
The morning consisted of a lot of sitting around and watching until the 'talent' arrived. But that was okay. Brenda said she needed someone reliable to do the mics backstage. I had it in my head that this was the job for me, but dingbat spoke up sooner so she got the job. Annoying. Andrew showed us headshots of the people performing so we could memorize their faces. There were only a few I didn't know but I didn't want to show off.
Dingbat knew none of them, shocker.
The band started to set up and they were amazing as they did their run through. Unfortunately, this was the time Brenda wanted to do the cue to cue and as we were on stage with the band, we could not hear her. This was a problem. She and Todd argued back and forth but eventually came to a compromise and we waited. Todd finished the band's rehearsal and Andrew ordered lunch for all of us. David ran and got us Chipotle bowls. Yum!
After lunch was when we started to get busy. The 'talent' started to arrive and one by one started going through their numbers with the band.
(I should mention, Les Girls is an annual cabaret benefit. The lineup of celebrities changes every year but everyone sings, usually a funny/filthy song, or an old song with updated funny/filthy lyrics. It's for a great cause and there is a lot of "MONEY" in the audience. There is a silent auction held in the lobby before the event, red carpet out front, etc.)
As the talent arrived I would show them where to park, where the dressing room was, let the band know they were there so they could schedule a run through etc. It was busy and a lot of running around. But FUN!
I think my favorite moment was when Jerry, the director, asked Dingbat her name. When she said it he said "I don't have time for that. From now on you're Mary." I literally LOL'd. She wasn't too pleased.
Dingbat also kept going up to all the 'talent' and saying 'now where do I know you from? Nope, not that...what else?' Like do these people really need to prove themselves to you? Oh she just annoyed me all day. There were a lot of backup dancers running around too as they were appearing in numbers with Barrett, Peter and Judy and Ana. One of the dancers, Terrell, was the funniest, cutest little gay boy. He started joking around with me and soon I had a BFF for the day as he went everywhere I did. We broke for dinner around 6:00. They ordered in a bunch of pizza. (Well, LA pizza, so...you know...) The show was scheduled to start at 8:30pm. Everyone had rehearsed and was ready and they were setting curtain call at 8:15pm. Nice to know that the last minute thing happens everywhere. Sam Harris could not arrive until exactly 8:30 and he had to leave by 9:30. So that was stressful.
Once the show began, my job was to run upstairs to the dressing room, get the performer, escort them down to the stage, get them mic'd by Dingbat and get them to their entrance spot with their props during the song before theirs. Thankfully, everyone was very nice and very professional. 
The only stress came when the show didn't begin until 8:45 and Sam Harris was scheduled to go on at 9:45. Seeing as he had to leave at 9:30 this was a problem. They switched the entire program around. But this guy? A TRUE professional. He had NO rehearsal, hadn't even met the band. He came in, got his mic on, went on stage, KILLED it, brought the house down, came off stage, took off his mic, thanked us all and took off. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!! I loved it.
I think my favorite part was standing backstage watching the performances with the people who were about to go on. Melissa Peterman killed it singing "Making Whoopee' with only a foam finger as her prop. Then I stood backstage with her and watched Miss Dakota dance and we joked around how we could never do that.
Sharon Lawrence sang a hilarious song "A Man I Could Love" from the musical "Enter Laughing" by Carl Reiner.
Steven Weber sang another hilarious song called "Blow Me...a Kiss" that apparently Martin and Lewis used to sing. It was pretty filthy so it was hilarious.
Jean Smart and her friend Deborah May sang a funny duet called "The Grass is Always Greener."
Bruce Vilanch sang "Get Me to the Church on Time" with some Prop 8 adjustments. I spent a lot of time with him and he's just so fun to be around.
But by far, my favorite was Peter Gallagher who sang "Anything Goes" with some updated lyrics talking about how shitty Congress is. He was absolutely the nicest person. He stood backstage and chatted with the crew for a while. Dingbat kept asking him to name movies he had been in until she had heard of one. Smh...
Anyway, as he was leaving, we walked out together and I got a photo with him. A little blurry, but still. He's just the sweetest guy. 

Finally, the finale was happening and the evening was over. Despite the stress during the show backstage, the audience loved it and didn't see any of the troubles. Brenda and Andrew were very happy and walked us all to the bar to do a traditional 'the show is over' shot of vodka. We had survived.
We got to take a seat for a while and have a few drinks and then we helped clean up backstage. Again, couldn't touch anything on the stage or tables or anything else so we just helped wardrobe and clean up garbage and stuff like that.
I was exhausted! I hadn't been on my feet that long in years but it was exhilarating. At the worst moment (that more than likely had to do with dingbat) I was still having a ball. I have to figure out a way to make this my career and do it for a living. 
So that is my mission. So all y'all asking what's next for me? It's this. ALL this.

An A1 Day

After my frustrations last week with the damn online applications, I went out to eat with my friends. As I was sitting in the bathroom, guess what damn song came on the radio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx2u5uUu3DE

This song FOLLOWS me and it always seems to know when to appear. I was starting to get slightly discouraged and questioning decisions and then this song comes on. I know it seems silly but for me, it always seems to reassure me when times are weird. 
So yesterday (Saturday), I went to downtown LA, where I have rarely been, and met up with my friend, Liz. Liz is the sister of John who I was in the Peace Corps with. She lives in Alabama but she is dating a guy here in LA so she was visiting. We connected and decided to meet for dinner. Liz's boyfriend happens to be a director. Isn't that funny? (LA...all about connections). She had visited Moldova last year so we had met and become friends and kept in touch. She's super cool and a designer for "Coastal Living" magazine. We sat and chatted at dinner for a few hours and I expressed my concerns about finding a job and she once again reassured me that things were going to work out. Why? Because they always do. She's right. She's so right.
So my phone rings this morning at 8am. I ignored it as I had a full day of plans with friends ahead and I didn't feel like waking up just yet. But the phone kept ringing. It was Liz. Her boyfriend, Shiloh, had to be on set all day and he wanted to know if I wanted to come on set with him and be a PA. (Production Assistant). One of the actresses needed an assistant. I thought about all the people I would have to cancel on for the day and I was hesitant. She then said the actress's name was Kristin Chenoweth. Sorry (truly) friends, I had to jump on this opportunity.
I drove and picked up Liz who graciously agreed to go to the set with me. They were shooting at AFI (American Film Institute) so we drove up there, another place I had never been. Just being THERE was exciting enough. 
I can't really talk about what they were filming as it hasn't been picked up yet, but more details to come at a later date. 
I met Shiloh and his brother Rider. 
(His brother is Rider Strong, from TV's Boy Meets World. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0835045/ )
They were super nice. I met most of the people on the crew and learned their functions. SO many things go into making movies/TV shows, I am shocked that anything ever gets produced. Everyone was really nice. I don't know if it's because I was walking around with Shiloh's girlfriend or what, but it was fun. I met Kristin. She is TEENY, but as sweet as can be. She didn't really need a lot of help and I basically just hung out with her and chatted with her. It was a full day and it was just great. I loved being on a set and watching things from behind the scenes and being a part of something so cool. 
We broke for dinner just in time to watch the Breaking Bad finale. Yes, I got to watch the finale of one of (if not THE) greatest shows of all time sitting on a TV set with a crew. 
(And the finale was perfection, but I won't go into that). I met a lot of people, gave out my number and established a lot of connections.
It truly was an A1 day!

The frustrations of online applications.

So I applied to work at the headquarters of the PC. They go through an online system. So easy, right?
WRONG!
The application took about 5 hours to complete. I sat in Starbucks one day nursing a Pumpkin Spice Latte while I completed the entire thing.
I, in turn, uploaded my resume, references and my proof of service from Moldova.
What happens 2 days later? They do a 'system upgrade' and all the information is lost. 
There isn't a phone number, it's not like I can speak to a regular person. The options are online chat (only available certain hours) or an endless email cycle to a generic address because that way you never have the convenience of emailing with the same person more than once.
They recovered the application and then processed it for me. Wasn't that nice?
Except that the application is blank. So my name, contact number and address was submitted with a blank application to the federal government, therefore forever making me look like an idiot who isn't able to complete the most basic of information like uploading a resume. 
I think this is a sign.
Time to look elsewhere.

Week #2

Been here almost 2 weeks now. What I have realized is what crazy, generous friends I have. I was lucky enough to have almost 5 weeks with my insanely generous family and I get out here and it's the same thing. I have paid for 2, yes 2, meals since I have arrived. My friends aren't rich people and yet they are so giving and so happy to see me, they just help out. It's ridiculous. Ridiculous and lovely.
The weather has been LA beautiful. Even on the hottest day there was still a breeze. 
On Tuesday, I reunited with my friend Juan, one of my best friends here in LA. When I had the 'big reunion' Friday night he was on a trip (he's a flight attendant) so we finally had our reunion. It was so good to see him. We sat and talked all day and walked around IKEA, it was wonderful.
On Wednesday, I reunited with my friend Jeff who took me out to lunch and we caught up on movies and TV and local theatre. That night, I met up with Ethan once again to join him for a trivia contest at a local bar. We placed 3rd, thanks useless pop culture knowledge.
On Thursday, I met up with fellow Peace Corps volunteer from Moldova, Jess. She is now a grad student at USC. I have never even been to that area of LA. I was a little lost, there are a lot of one ways and street name changes but we finally connected. It was like I saw her 2 weeks ago as we immediately began our usual banter. Since we're both unemployed we ate cheaply, got to see her experience her first In-n-Out burger, a rite of passage for Los Angeles. And then we headed up to Griffith Park to get some great views of the city. (Also, free!)
Friday morning, met up with my dear friend Deb as she treated me to a good Italian pastry and then some lunch as we caught up. Then I headed out to Chino for a nice afternoon dinner with Juan and Derek as we talked about finding a place to live together. I need a transitional place before I can afford my own and they need a place to stay as their house sold and they haven't found a permanent residence yet. Should be pretty fun.
Job wise, I have sent out resumes, the LA adage "Hurry up and wait" is in full effect, so that's fun. Thankfully I have my patience down pat at this point.
So all is still well. I am where I want to be and life is good.

Back to the Real World

After spending over a month in my hometown, I figured it was time to stop living off of the kindness of my family and actually go out and try and support myself. I love where I grew up. I didn't at the time, but I love it now. It was a great place to grow up. But for me? It's just not a place to grow old. It's just not me. I could not wait to get back to LA. I am so glad that I took some time in Pennsylvania to really feel it out and not make any decisions right away. I am so very lucky to have people who take care of me that allowed me the chance to do that. But, I did book a flight and came back to Los Angeles.
I do not have a job, I do not have a place to live (I have a place to stay, not a place to live), I do not have a car (although I have a kind friend who is lending me one) and I barely have any money.
Seems dire, doesn't it? Then why am I so unaffected by it? I have no idea. My anxiety derives from the fact that I have no anxiety about the current state of my life. Isn't it weird? Anxiety arrives from outside pressure, the constant questions about my lack of employment does wear on me. One thing I did not miss about America is the only question to begin a conversation with is "what do you do?" So many other things are happening that have nothing to do with my unemployment. I am reuniting with friends, surprising them, enjoying the view of the mountains and the palm trees and the sunsets. Nobody asks about those things, because they don't result in a paycheck. And for the millionth time, I AM NOT GOING BACK TO TOO FACED! Why in the world would I want to come back to the exact same life? That's not the point of starting over. Too Faced supported me for a long time, even after I left the country and I have a feeling that those gals will be supporting me for the rest of their lives emotionally. Professionally? We've out grown each other. We broke up, but we're still friends. Super wish everyone would accept that.
So where am I looking? I am looking around. Let's just leave it at that. In the meantime, stop and look at a sunset, call an old friend and catch up instead of just 'liking their status,' sit and people watch for an hour. I will find a job, I will make money to support myself. Right now, I'm just enjoying life in America. There is a roof over my head and there is (a lot) of food in my belly. So much more than so many.