So... I'm a little on edge. In my last post, I had mentioned that a job opportunity had opened up. Tomorrow I'm interviewing for a call center position at Bose which, for what it's worth, is money. I need a job pretty badly (I've got money to float me a little while, but only to the end of October, maybe).
When on the phone I was sort of going with the flow, but last night some stuff occurred to me that has me a lot more hesitant about the job. Among other things I told myself I'd never let me work in a cubicle again, I can't stand that kind of environment, and I've been warned by a few people now that I should prepare to have my soul sucked out.
Most of that stuff I can deal with. It's the hours. I don't know how it didn't occur to me until last night, but the hours are going to kill me. There are supposedly two options: 1:30pm to 10:00pm or (for a dollar an hour more) 3:30pm to midnight. At first glance I was actually a bit psyched. I can sleep in, I thought. And if there's a party, I can jump right in. Sure, but then it kind of struck me.
I am going to utterly lose my livelihood. My weekdays are going to turn into sleeping in, getting lunch, going to work (while all of my friends are either just about to leave work, or just about to finish classes for the day), being at work until either 10 or 12, getting home an hour later (well after the night's fun is over), then sleep and start over. I'm already too distant from most of my friends just from the stress of trying to reorganize my life, but this is going to wind up pretty much taking me out of the equation altogether. God forbid I try dating anyone while I'm at it, the rest of the world is working on a schedule opposite mine. Then all that's left is weekends, and all I'm going to want to do is sleep off the stress of the week. Not to mention this job is building up to the Christmas season. Meaning I'm just going to hate it more and more over the next four months.
Now obviously there's a sacrifice to be made to enter the working world and make money, and I know there's a lot of "just grit your teeth, smile, and keep working" going around, but... this isn't even the career I want, let alone entry position.
I had a hard time getting sleep last night because this stuff was on my mind. I'm not really sure what I should do. I tried looking for jobs in theatre/film-related stuff earlier this morning, nothing's turned up yet but I'm still looking. I'm still going to my interview tomorrow (because erasing my currently-only lead would be absolutely stupid). I'm already a lonely ball of stress as is, I'd rather not compound it.
So I guess the question is... now what?
rickie-d
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
they call me the workin' man, i guess that's what i am
Meanwhile, back in Worcester... (August, Part 2)
So I arrive back in Worcester, and the tide turns to jobs.
One the one hand, my job in the Theatre Technology Office was ending (or ended, depending on your definition). Riky Stone had moved into the new office, and I helped get her acclimated to the workspace and a few tricks to help things run a little more smoothly. A few finishing touches to some things I was working on, and I exited stage left. Though I guess I'm going in for an exit interview of sorts next week. Which will likely just be a quick "official" bit then chatting with Susan for a while.
One the other hand, I needed a replacement job. More to come on that in the near future. Suffice it to say, I might be good to go sooner than expected.
On the third hand, I found myself heading up BWF's B Team (albeit briefly) for the thirdish time, this time to spearhead a minor side project (Anchorman, sweded) to keep our chops up. I held a "scribblewriting" workshop with Al, Steve, and Vogel, which amounted to "We're going to watch the movie. Write down anything you think should be in the swede. We will not pause, slow down, or rewind the movie under any circumstances, including bathroom breaks and phone calls." Sometime soon, I'm going to do a bit of a mashup between our four sets of notes. Filming is probably going to happen next weekend, if I'm lucky.
On the fourth hand, I got to expand my film crew horizons during the tech demo (and tech demo demo) filmings for Broken Wall Films' next project, which I'm codenaming Dusty Loves Dolly (for ease of discussion, and because all our projects could use a mascot. We miss you, Howie!) Anyway, when it comes to filming, I'm usually either the one in front of the camera, or the one running it. This time, I opted out of acting in order to put myself in an unfamiliar zone, script supervisor. This meant keeping accurate tabs on what we were shooting, as well as eyeballing both the shot list and script. It actually did help streamline production surprisingly well, and I got to yell "Shot 20, Take 1!" etc., which is way too cool.
Day 1 (last Saturday) was our audio day, indoor shots with our leads and the villains. Lots of great stuff there, got to work with a bunch of folks I haven't seen/worked with since Something Remote as well as some new faces like Sari Gagnon (our female lead) and Nick Poole (our audio engineer). Long day, got a lot done, hurrah. Day 2 (last Sunday) we hit a few snags, and what was supposed to be an outdoor filming day became indoor special effects day. The switch worked out, and we learned two things: we know how to fake a hologram now (but not muzzle flashes), and we can convincingly fake a murder (I'm sure the shots of John's "death" will surface on Facebook sooner or later). Day 3 (this Wednesday) we did the rest of John's shots, which included some creative body doubling by yours truly (now both my left hand and my feet show up in this tech demo, but not my face). Quickish day, good stuff. Day 4 (this Saturday) is more outdoor shots, and any inserts left.
And then... well, who knows. I've got a few plans in mind for the near future. I'm continuing to plot out Crusaders and Davian City Blues, hopefully I can post something concrete here soon. On top of that, depending on just how much free time I have, I might be "getting the band back together" as it were. Keeping that a bit discreet for now.
Been practicing guitar again lately. Starting to figure out the chords for the Duck Tales video game's "Moon Theme", as well as the main theme to Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! and Mega Man 3. Good stuff.
I've got a motherfuckin' gun for a hand,
rickie-d
So I arrive back in Worcester, and the tide turns to jobs.
One the one hand, my job in the Theatre Technology Office was ending (or ended, depending on your definition). Riky Stone had moved into the new office, and I helped get her acclimated to the workspace and a few tricks to help things run a little more smoothly. A few finishing touches to some things I was working on, and I exited stage left. Though I guess I'm going in for an exit interview of sorts next week. Which will likely just be a quick "official" bit then chatting with Susan for a while.
One the other hand, I needed a replacement job. More to come on that in the near future. Suffice it to say, I might be good to go sooner than expected.
On the third hand, I found myself heading up BWF's B Team (albeit briefly) for the thirdish time, this time to spearhead a minor side project (Anchorman, sweded) to keep our chops up. I held a "scribblewriting" workshop with Al, Steve, and Vogel, which amounted to "We're going to watch the movie. Write down anything you think should be in the swede. We will not pause, slow down, or rewind the movie under any circumstances, including bathroom breaks and phone calls." Sometime soon, I'm going to do a bit of a mashup between our four sets of notes. Filming is probably going to happen next weekend, if I'm lucky.
On the fourth hand, I got to expand my film crew horizons during the tech demo (and tech demo demo) filmings for Broken Wall Films' next project, which I'm codenaming Dusty Loves Dolly (for ease of discussion, and because all our projects could use a mascot. We miss you, Howie!) Anyway, when it comes to filming, I'm usually either the one in front of the camera, or the one running it. This time, I opted out of acting in order to put myself in an unfamiliar zone, script supervisor. This meant keeping accurate tabs on what we were shooting, as well as eyeballing both the shot list and script. It actually did help streamline production surprisingly well, and I got to yell "Shot 20, Take 1!" etc., which is way too cool.
Day 1 (last Saturday) was our audio day, indoor shots with our leads and the villains. Lots of great stuff there, got to work with a bunch of folks I haven't seen/worked with since Something Remote as well as some new faces like Sari Gagnon (our female lead) and Nick Poole (our audio engineer). Long day, got a lot done, hurrah. Day 2 (last Sunday) we hit a few snags, and what was supposed to be an outdoor filming day became indoor special effects day. The switch worked out, and we learned two things: we know how to fake a hologram now (but not muzzle flashes), and we can convincingly fake a murder (I'm sure the shots of John's "death" will surface on Facebook sooner or later). Day 3 (this Wednesday) we did the rest of John's shots, which included some creative body doubling by yours truly (now both my left hand and my feet show up in this tech demo, but not my face). Quickish day, good stuff. Day 4 (this Saturday) is more outdoor shots, and any inserts left.
And then... well, who knows. I've got a few plans in mind for the near future. I'm continuing to plot out Crusaders and Davian City Blues, hopefully I can post something concrete here soon. On top of that, depending on just how much free time I have, I might be "getting the band back together" as it were. Keeping that a bit discreet for now.
Been practicing guitar again lately. Starting to figure out the chords for the Duck Tales video game's "Moon Theme", as well as the main theme to Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! and Mega Man 3. Good stuff.
I've got a motherfuckin' gun for a hand,
rickie-d
holiday roo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oad
Another long drought between posts, sorry about that all. It's been a ridiculous month, and I've barely had time to sleep let alone blog.
So then. August, Part 1.
So when I last posted, I was preparing for the trip to Indianapolis. Broken Wall Films was bringing Something Remote to Gen Con Indy 2010, and most of the film's backbone was going along with. Alex Laferriere (director) and Steve DiTullio (assistant producer) were there on business, with C/J Haley, myself, and John Selig (leads) there to advertise and support. Dustin Deren (from the Fucked by Fear trailer), Matt Lowe and Neal Humphrey (the basis for my and C/J's characters Mat and Neil) and Scott Steinmetz came as well to check out the con.
But before we could get there, we had to get there. Seven of us (Neal and Scott flew) packed into the Dadmobile (Al's dad's van) and headed out Tuesday night. Fifteen hours later, we arrived at the Indianapolis Hilton. Sleep was had by most on the road. But not me. Oof.
Anyway, Wednesday was mostly getting acclimated to Indy (gorgeous city, by the way; if I had to leave New England/New York forever, I might set up shop in Indy first). We were all introduced to the wonder (read: delicious weight-gainer) that is Steak & Shake. Awesome. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to make any broad generalizations about the citizens of Indianapolis... but I felt very average-sized there. Even a little on the little side. There were some school buses disguised as people walking down the street. I feel like Steak & Shake had something to do with that.
Anyway, here's where it got problematic. My phone died the moment we landed in Indy. And the charger I had packed turned out to be a charger for my old phone. And thus, not useful. What's more, the Voyager has a very uncommon charger type, so no one had a compatible one. On top of this, the hotel did not have free WiFi. The lobby had WiFi... for $3. For 15 minutes. You could get it in your room, too. For more money. For less time.
Not happening. So no blogs happened while I was out, because of that. Honestly, I was pretty much entirely incommunicado, not by choice. Anyway, Wednesday and Thursday were spent mostly checking out the convention, hanging out with John, Dustin, and C/J. Friday, John and I hit the floor to help Al and Steve with advertising. We were psyched to see that many of the people we spoke to wound up at the screening itself.
Speaking of which, right before our screening, as we waited outside, we were pleasantly surprised to find that a line had formed. For Something Remote. For us. At a 30,000-participant convention. Hell yes. Anyway, right before we went in, I nudged John to have him make one last pitch to a guy and girl at the table right next to our screening room in the Westin. Most of us head in, followed soon by the pair John just talked to, yelling "Wait, this is Clerks.!?" "No, this is Something Remote. It's better than Clerks., it's in color!" (our manner of trying to hook people with an unexpected pitch; most of us are actually Clerks./Kevin Smith fans). They were not pleased to see us claim to one-up Clerks. I was a little nervous at this point. But we convinced them to sit and at least put the movie to the test.
And so the movie screened. To an audience of about three dozen of the most receptive people who have ever laid eyes on our film. Most notably... the pair that walked in at the end. They (and a few others) threw some audience participation in that really got everyone comfortable and made the experience even more enjoyable for everyone. When the film wrapped, there was some Q&A with the cast and crew (my first real Q&A!) and we wound up spending half an hour talking up the pair, who I've now dubbed our new favorite fans. While we managed to give them contact stuff for us and BWF in general, we stupidly neglected to ask their names. D'oh. Hoping we encounter them on the web someday.
The rest of my time in Indy was mostly split between playing various Zombies!!! games and hitting up the video gaming rooms with C/J, John, and Dustin. Rock Band was desynched (booooo), which made it almost unplayable for some songs. I found out that Ninja Gaiden is impossible to play, that my Button Mash Fu still works in Soul Calibur IV, and that I am the Holy DJ of Greatness sent to Earth to impress literally tens of ladies with my mad DJ Hero skills. Oh yes.
Sunday was pretty slow. Wandered the exhibition hall checking out stuff and managed to encounter Root Jack, an orange root beer. Oh yes. Rather than splurge on a $40 case, we decided to buy them individually, which meant going down to "Scotty's", which we assumed to be a convenience store of some sort. No, this was Scotty's Brewhouse, a kickass nerdy little bar/pub. How nerdy? They were celebrating Gen Con by playing the three Lord of the Rings movies back to back to back. And one of the guys in charge chatted us up about how long it's been since he gamed, and GCI '11 events he'd be hosting in the bar next year. And then proceeded to convince me to eat the most amazing thing I've ever tasted. A half pound burger patty, cheddar cheese, bacon, jalapeños, and peanut butter. Godly. Oh yes. And then we walked back to the Hilton for the long road back. The eighteen-hours-long road back. And once again, no sleep was had by Rickie-D.
I arrived home, and fell asleep. It was great.
Until the next post soon arrives,
rickie-d
So then. August, Part 1.
So when I last posted, I was preparing for the trip to Indianapolis. Broken Wall Films was bringing Something Remote to Gen Con Indy 2010, and most of the film's backbone was going along with. Alex Laferriere (director) and Steve DiTullio (assistant producer) were there on business, with C/J Haley, myself, and John Selig (leads) there to advertise and support. Dustin Deren (from the Fucked by Fear trailer), Matt Lowe and Neal Humphrey (the basis for my and C/J's characters Mat and Neil) and Scott Steinmetz came as well to check out the con.
But before we could get there, we had to get there. Seven of us (Neal and Scott flew) packed into the Dadmobile (Al's dad's van) and headed out Tuesday night. Fifteen hours later, we arrived at the Indianapolis Hilton. Sleep was had by most on the road. But not me. Oof.
Anyway, Wednesday was mostly getting acclimated to Indy (gorgeous city, by the way; if I had to leave New England/New York forever, I might set up shop in Indy first). We were all introduced to the wonder (read: delicious weight-gainer) that is Steak & Shake. Awesome. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to make any broad generalizations about the citizens of Indianapolis... but I felt very average-sized there. Even a little on the little side. There were some school buses disguised as people walking down the street. I feel like Steak & Shake had something to do with that.
Anyway, here's where it got problematic. My phone died the moment we landed in Indy. And the charger I had packed turned out to be a charger for my old phone. And thus, not useful. What's more, the Voyager has a very uncommon charger type, so no one had a compatible one. On top of this, the hotel did not have free WiFi. The lobby had WiFi... for $3. For 15 minutes. You could get it in your room, too. For more money. For less time.
Not happening. So no blogs happened while I was out, because of that. Honestly, I was pretty much entirely incommunicado, not by choice. Anyway, Wednesday and Thursday were spent mostly checking out the convention, hanging out with John, Dustin, and C/J. Friday, John and I hit the floor to help Al and Steve with advertising. We were psyched to see that many of the people we spoke to wound up at the screening itself.
Speaking of which, right before our screening, as we waited outside, we were pleasantly surprised to find that a line had formed. For Something Remote. For us. At a 30,000-participant convention. Hell yes. Anyway, right before we went in, I nudged John to have him make one last pitch to a guy and girl at the table right next to our screening room in the Westin. Most of us head in, followed soon by the pair John just talked to, yelling "Wait, this is Clerks.!?" "No, this is Something Remote. It's better than Clerks., it's in color!" (our manner of trying to hook people with an unexpected pitch; most of us are actually Clerks./Kevin Smith fans). They were not pleased to see us claim to one-up Clerks. I was a little nervous at this point. But we convinced them to sit and at least put the movie to the test.
And so the movie screened. To an audience of about three dozen of the most receptive people who have ever laid eyes on our film. Most notably... the pair that walked in at the end. They (and a few others) threw some audience participation in that really got everyone comfortable and made the experience even more enjoyable for everyone. When the film wrapped, there was some Q&A with the cast and crew (my first real Q&A!) and we wound up spending half an hour talking up the pair, who I've now dubbed our new favorite fans. While we managed to give them contact stuff for us and BWF in general, we stupidly neglected to ask their names. D'oh. Hoping we encounter them on the web someday.
The rest of my time in Indy was mostly split between playing various Zombies!!! games and hitting up the video gaming rooms with C/J, John, and Dustin. Rock Band was desynched (booooo), which made it almost unplayable for some songs. I found out that Ninja Gaiden is impossible to play, that my Button Mash Fu still works in Soul Calibur IV, and that I am the Holy DJ of Greatness sent to Earth to impress literally tens of ladies with my mad DJ Hero skills. Oh yes.
Sunday was pretty slow. Wandered the exhibition hall checking out stuff and managed to encounter Root Jack, an orange root beer. Oh yes. Rather than splurge on a $40 case, we decided to buy them individually, which meant going down to "Scotty's", which we assumed to be a convenience store of some sort. No, this was Scotty's Brewhouse, a kickass nerdy little bar/pub. How nerdy? They were celebrating Gen Con by playing the three Lord of the Rings movies back to back to back. And one of the guys in charge chatted us up about how long it's been since he gamed, and GCI '11 events he'd be hosting in the bar next year. And then proceeded to convince me to eat the most amazing thing I've ever tasted. A half pound burger patty, cheddar cheese, bacon, jalapeños, and peanut butter. Godly. Oh yes. And then we walked back to the Hilton for the long road back. The eighteen-hours-long road back. And once again, no sleep was had by Rickie-D.
I arrived home, and fell asleep. It was great.
Until the next post soon arrives,
rickie-d
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
july, july, july, it never seemed so strange
Well it was an interesting month, let me tell ya.
I was in the Sunburns Theatre Co. production of Dark Play, or Stories for Boys. I wasn't a huge fan of the script, but it gave me both a good deal of experience in playing a myriad of characters in a single show, plus I have a newfound respect for the art of the quick-change. It came right down to the wire for a few of them.
Meanwhile, I co-instructed the Frontiers Theatre Workshop this year, which was awesome. We had 25 high school kids from around the world come in and put on some shows. I directed five of them (Mike, Molly, Matt, Sam, and Andy, with Niki as a stage manager) in At the Gates of Valhalla, a fun show about Vikings trying to get into Valhalla. They had a lot of fun with it, and it was really amazing to see how far everyone came in just a week and a half.
It warmed my heart to see that the warmup game Father Abraham was such a hit that most of the kids brought it back with them and it's started spreading like wildfire. Ninja, too (apparently one night they got most of the Frontiers program to play a massive game of it). Here's hoping these guys come back again, maybe even as students someday.
Meanwhile meanwhile, I finished up my work study in the Theatre Technology Office on Friday, and got to show Riky Stone the ropes yesterday. I'm super-psyched for her (she's the new Administrator of Theatre Technology), and in working with her in the past I'm sure she's gonna do an amazing job. Now it's time for me to get a new / real-person job.
And that brings us to now. I'm sitting waiting to grab a bite with Steve before ten of us prepare for the long trek to Indianapolis for Gen Con Indy. Something Remote is playing there at 7:30pm on Friday, and we are buckling down to get people to come. 14-hour road trip each way makes this a six-day adventure to the far reaches of the Eastern Time Zone.
I'm gonna be doing my best to blog throughout the week, so keep an eye out for me, will ya? And you can check out my Something Remote-related updates at EarthsMightiest.com, where there will be daily posts about the Indy adventure.
Stay tuned!
rickie-d
I was in the Sunburns Theatre Co. production of Dark Play, or Stories for Boys. I wasn't a huge fan of the script, but it gave me both a good deal of experience in playing a myriad of characters in a single show, plus I have a newfound respect for the art of the quick-change. It came right down to the wire for a few of them.
Meanwhile, I co-instructed the Frontiers Theatre Workshop this year, which was awesome. We had 25 high school kids from around the world come in and put on some shows. I directed five of them (Mike, Molly, Matt, Sam, and Andy, with Niki as a stage manager) in At the Gates of Valhalla, a fun show about Vikings trying to get into Valhalla. They had a lot of fun with it, and it was really amazing to see how far everyone came in just a week and a half.
It warmed my heart to see that the warmup game Father Abraham was such a hit that most of the kids brought it back with them and it's started spreading like wildfire. Ninja, too (apparently one night they got most of the Frontiers program to play a massive game of it). Here's hoping these guys come back again, maybe even as students someday.
Meanwhile meanwhile, I finished up my work study in the Theatre Technology Office on Friday, and got to show Riky Stone the ropes yesterday. I'm super-psyched for her (she's the new Administrator of Theatre Technology), and in working with her in the past I'm sure she's gonna do an amazing job. Now it's time for me to get a new / real-person job.
And that brings us to now. I'm sitting waiting to grab a bite with Steve before ten of us prepare for the long trek to Indianapolis for Gen Con Indy. Something Remote is playing there at 7:30pm on Friday, and we are buckling down to get people to come. 14-hour road trip each way makes this a six-day adventure to the far reaches of the Eastern Time Zone.
I'm gonna be doing my best to blog throughout the week, so keep an eye out for me, will ya? And you can check out my Something Remote-related updates at EarthsMightiest.com, where there will be daily posts about the Indy adventure.
Stay tuned!
rickie-d
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