LA Limbo
Since my arrival here in LA, I’ve been in kind of a limbo because all I’ve really been doing was waiting for my car to arrive (which turned out to be on the 26th of August, so it’ll still be a while…:( ) and finishing up a few projects for a few people, and kinda just stuck here in my grand ma’s house. However, the time spent has been quite interesting, and not nearly as boring as I thought it would be.
This past Monday, I’ve had the opportunity to go to visit the area my school is at, and walking around the area. I was really just planning on walking around and paying my lab fees at the school, but I had no clue that the director of the program would give me a personal tour around the facilities of this program. It was quite insane. The equipment the studio is equipped with was incredible to see. From one of the computer labs, the director pointed out the window to indicate where we’ll be staying for the semester, and I was amazed…it is in a very nice area! A five minute walk from the Grove (where I hear all the celebrities shop XD) and a five minute walk from the LACMA (LA County Museum of Art), where a Tim Burton Exhibit is currently being shown. After looking around the school, my cousin and I headed to the Edge Performance Center, where my favorite choreographer is listed to teach, and I bought a three class pass for the studio! Just to see some of the classes going on there was amazing. It’s been a really long time since I’ve seen that many amazing dancers gathered in one room! Though i couldn’t take a class that day, It made me very excited to anticipate these classes. All in all, the day was pretty great, and got me very pumped to actually start school here.
Tuesday and Wednesday was mostly full of editing, and meeting cousins and friends. It was definitely a good few days, though it was a bit boring at times between the meetings. I did end up seeing The Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Change Up, 30 Minutes or Less, and Horrible Bosses from the time I got to LA til Wednesday…which was almost a movie a day haha…but I didn’t have too much else to do, so it was fun! In addition, I got to really talk to one of my roommates for this semester on Facebook, and it was really nice to get to know him. Again, this fueled my excitement for school to start.
Thursday was actually quite an eventful day. My friend from high school told me of someone she knew that lived in LA, so I wrote him on facebook, and we decided to go to the Tim Burton Exhibit. So drove all the way out to Wilshire Blvd and spent the day with this friend. I was really excited to see the Tim Burton exhibit. It was too much information to take in at one time, so I believe I’ll have to go again. I have til the end of October, so I’ll make a visit sometime soon. The highlight really was meeting this person. I was scared it would be an awkward day, but we ended up having a blast. After the Exhibit, we ate some cheap tacos that were being sold in a truck outside of the LACMA, then headed over to the Grove for a bit, since I have never been there before. We ended up getting some cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, then watched “The Help” at the theater there. It was a good day. It was nice to meet someone who I can be friends with out here.
Today (Friday) was relatively low key. I woke up relatively early, caught up on watching the finale of So You Think You Can Dance (XD) which was exciting, then took care of some logistical stuff for school, and continued to edit a few projects, then set up a meeting with a friend I haven’t seen in years. So we had dinner then caught up afterwards at Starbucks. So now, I just finished packing up and about to go to bed and getting ready to get to school tomorrow morning! I’m a little too excited to get there. It’ll be an amazing experience, and I’m really nervous, but I’m very grateful to be here, and can’t wait to see what this semester holds for me. Hope you guys keep reading what goes on here! It’ll be an adventure for me to write about, so hopefully you guys enjoy reading this new portion of my life! I’ll keep you guys updated with how orientation and which internship I get paired with, and how the first few days of classes go. Until next time…
By the way, if you guys are connected with me on Face Book, Leighanne Sturgis recently posted pictures she took of me at a photo shoot a few days before she left Grand Rapids, and I was more than impressed with the quality of those pictures. So if you’re looking for headshots, a wedding, or a play you’re looking to get photographed, Check her out on Facebook! You won’t regret it! (A little shout out to you Leighanne! I love you!)
From Thread to LA
It’s been a little too long since I posted my first post…So here’s what’s happened since then: We finished filming “Thread”, Attended a wedding, I got packed up, dropped off my car in Grand Junction, headed over to Jason G’s house, then flew over to LA. With all that said, I’ll elaborate, because each experience was quite interesting.
So First, here’s Thread. The filming process was quite interesting. Getting to play around with Liquid Latex was quite entertaining. I don’t have the pictures of the ‘dead people’ in this movie, but once I get my hands on it, I’ll show you guys how we used the latex. it was fun to say the least…is it messed up that I can say that I enjoyed creating scars and cuts and stitches on people? I’m weird…I’ll upload a short trailer of the movie when i get the chance.
Right after the film shoot, I got packed up and drove out of Grand Rapids towards Grand Junction to drop off my car to a DAS shipment port to get my car shipped out to LA. When I made my reservations, I only had an address, but when I got there, I thought I was going to be murdered…middle of no where, dusty roads, and parked trucks next to a shack…next to a house with a small playground…When I first drove into the lot, I thought I was the only person there, because the people managing the port were out for a bit. As soon as I got out of the car, I saw a dog tied up in the shack, who started barking at me, then a whole bunch of cut up logs and an axe and everything. I felt like someone would kidnap me, put me in a cage, then that night, release me into the woods and hunt me for sport…it was a scary thought, but when the people drove in with their shiny red hummer and came out to greet me with a smile, I felt a lot better. But at the end of the paperwork, I found out that I won’t be getting my car til the 26th of August, 6 days after I start school…so that was the only downer of that whole deal. But it’s done, and hopefully I’ll see my car soon enough.
Jason picked me up from Grand Junction and took me back to his place in Chicago for the evening. It was fun to meet his family and his crazy cat haha. So the plan that night was to take a two or three hour nap, then wake up at 3 in the morning, watch a movie, re-watch some footage, then head out to the airport at 5:10 because my flight was at 6:40. Didn’t happen…I passed out at 9, then woke up periodically until 5:10, then we left to the airport. So, even though the night didn’t go how we planned it, it still worked out one way or another. It was a good night.
The trip over to LA…Oh Lord…Where to begin? At first, things seemed to be going well…my two big bags were right under the weight limit, so I was excited, but then I found out that checking a third bag in (a back pack that had all of my toiletries among other things) would cost over $100, so I decided I’d take it as a carry on…unfortunately that meant I had to dump out all of my toiletries…so i lost my shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, and other things…Then, i get on the plane for my 6:40 flight, so it was supposed to land in Minneapolis by 7:30 and have a short layover before my flight out to LA at 9:03. However, we ended up leaving at 7:30, and landing there at 8:30…and my boarding time was at 8:20…so by the time I got off of the plane, it was already 8:45. And of course, the terminal I landed in was Terminal B, and I had to be at Terminal G…Thankfully, they had the conveyer belt thingys so I was able to run for my life and make it there in less than ten minutes. So then I got in the plane for LA and just passed out for a while. Once we got into LA, our plane landed in a terminal that was under huge construction. What I should have done then was to follow the mass of people going to the baggage claim. But what I ended up doing was go use the bathroom before…good idea…because when I followed the baggage claim signs, I ended up two terminals away from the one my bags were getting to. In the meantime, my grandma was calling me every two minutes to see if I was out yet, and I would tell her I’d call when I went out, then she’d call again. So between trying to find my way to the right terminal, managing the three bags I carried, and trying to talk to my grandma was interesting…once I got to the terminal, the bags weren’t even out yet, but I did get some exercise, so I felt accomplished somehow. It was a long trip…
So in the meantime, I’ve been chilling at my Grandma’s house, patiently waiting for Saturday to come, and trying to keep myself occupied. I’ve managed to watch both “The Change-Up” and “The Rise of the Planet of the Apes” on my own at the Cerritos Towne Center Theater, edited two videos, and did significant research on Tim Burton (for the showcase for my senior year). All in all, I feel pretty good right now…just missing everyone so much already. But it’s been good. I’m excited to see how this semester unfolds, to see the connections I make, and to see the projects I become a part of. Well, That was a long update…but I’ll try to post more regularly, and shorter in quantity. Tomorrow, I’m heading out to Wilshire to check out where I’ll be spending my semester in! I’m excited! Well, Thanks for reading if you made it this far, and keep checking in! I’ll update you all soon!
thecollaborativeartist 