Catching Up

I've been very busy going back and forth between my mother's house and to Ithaca to work. During the week, I stay with a friend, and on the weekends, I come back to my mother's house. I'm hoping to get a place of my own, just for next month. I'm looking into house-sitting, or renting a room for a month. Where I am right now is a little cramped, and I just want my own space for a little while.

On Thursday, I went to my Aunt and Uncle's house outside Rochester for Thanksgiving. We used to go to their place all the time for Thanksgiving, and this was our first time in five years. I had fun seeing my cousins, and my cousin's children: her daughter is a riot, and her son, while only three months old, looks twice that age and can actually hold his head up. Later on that day, we went to my cousin's house, where we had pie and hung around more babies.

I really didn't do much Friday and Saturday, except that I did clean, and looked for the hard drive that had Are You From Bingo? on it. When I will return this weekend, I will look for it some more.

Speaking of Are You From Bingo?, The Finger Lakes Times ran a piece on the DVD Fundraiser. I did the interview Monday and Friday. It's pretty lengthy, with a couple of pictures from the movie. Now that I'm a little more settled, I'm hoping to put more of my energy into this DVD. If I could only find that Hard Drive...

Back to work...man, I hate parking.

Had it! Had it! Had it!

Earlier tonight, I tried to back my father's truck out of the very narrow driveway, and almost broke the mirror on the passenger side door. I'm going to try and get the truck out again tomorrow. I wrote a note to the people who owned the station wagon next to it...hopefully, I'll get them to back their car out so I can back mine. I'm going back to my mother's house and staying overnight to get a few things because...

I started my job on Wednesday. I came in Monday, packed to stay until Thursday, and found out Tuesday afternoon that they wanted me the next day. I had to do laundry after I got back Wednesday. Otherwise, I really like my job so far. My supervisor is a very nice guy, and asked me about my filmmaking. I think it's a very good opportunity for me get an opportunity to use my Computer Art Degree...five years after I recieved it.

But back to my truck. I'm sick of having to take the truck back & forth and panic every time I go to park it. I told both my parents that I don't want to drive it anymore. Pray to God I hope I can get out there without an accident.

Meanwhile, my fundraiser has started. Donate what you can!

The Long Road Ahead

Now that things have begun to settle down (if only for awhile), I've been thinking about the things I would like to do in the future. One of the things I would like to do eventually is return to the UCB Theater in New York and take more improv courses, and perhaps even their writing courses. The big question is not only how I will go about funding this, but how will I support myself for the duration of my marticulation.

I suppose that if this is what I desire, it will happen and everything will take care of itself.

In addition to returning to Ithaca tomorrow, I will also be launching my DVD fundraiser. Please look at the website, and give what you can afford.

You're Hired!

After six weeks of hustling, it has finally happened: I have a new job.

Wednesday, I went down to Ithaca, thinking either I would stay the day, and return before dusk, or stay overnight. I was going down there to put my laptop on the internet service of the woman I am currently working with. Around 4ish, I discovered that I had a voice mail from Manpower, asking if I could come in for an interview tomorrow. I'd prepared to stay overnight, but I wasn't packed for an interview. I went to Trader K's (a thrift store in the Commons), and bought clothes.

The interview went really well. The guy who interviewed me said I was more than qualified, and he was even asking me questions. Yesterday afternoon, I was offered the job. I will be returning to Ithaca on Monday to do a background check and drug screening, which I guess means that I'll have to cancel the crystal meth binge I was hoping to go on this weekend.

My new job will have me working on a long term project: I'll be scanning their designs into a computer (some of which go back to the early part of the 20th Century), and helping them create an archive and database. The job is full time, and it will last at least three months; the woman at Manpower talking to me over the phone even mentioned it could be as long as six months. That's all I wanted: something that will take care of me while I work on the DVD and get things straightened out.

Now that this is all over, I will finally have more time to focus on my own projects, and other things I've been meaning to focus on for awhile. Of course, there's the DVD I want to work on, as well as possibly a short film.

Indie A Go-Go! (Happy Veteran's Day)

Last night I set up a store at Cafe Press. Now you can buy merchandise with this blog's awesome logo!

I'm still getting the DVD Fundraiser set up as well. I remembered that IndieGoGo has a lot of options where you can upload photos and video, which is what I'm working on right now. I was going to start the fundraiser last Friday, but I want to upload a few more things before I officially get anything started. As you can see, I have links to both the fundraiser and the store on my blogroll.

Today is Veteran's Day, so I'm off to lunch with my father (a Navy vet) and my sister. Enjoy the holiday.

What Does Erin's Horoscope Say?

Thursday I was at a bookstore in Ithaca, browsing through books when I came across Rick Levine & Jeff Jawer's Your Personal Astrology Planner for 2009 (Cancer Edition). Flipping through the book, I came across passages that are incredibly relevant to my life right now.

Deep cosmic waves rattle your home, shake your foundations, and open your future to previously unseen possibilities. As great as these changes may be, they will not happen overnight; in fact, it may well be into next year before you fully understand where your life is leading you."

And later:

You are attracted to visions of a more inspiring life that strongly contrasts with the seemingly endless demands put on you everyday. The gap between the two may be disconcerting, but the message is one of hope rather than despair."

And this particular passage, which forecasted this past week, describes my disposition perfectly:

Responsibilities that were acceptable only a short time ago now stop you from being true to yourself."

Soon, I will be returning to Ithaca to work with the woman I've been staying with to update her business' website. This is a great step forward, but at the same time, it's not consistent work. On one hand, I really think better things are ahead for me. At the same time, I feel burdened--not because of what others expect of me, but the realities of everyday life.

I need something steady while I wait for things to take off. The freelance gigs are a step forward, but they're not consistent enough for me to continue as I'm going.

President Elect Obama: Yes, He DID.

If you had asked me four years ago who the next president would be, I would've said without hesitation, "Jeb Bush". At the time, I thought (and to a certain degree, still do) that our country was going down the crapper, and that we'd continue to elect (maybe I should put that in quotation marks) bad leaders. If you had told me four years ago that the next president would be Barack Obama, I would've answered, "Are you kidding me? He hasn't even started his first term, let alone become president."

Tuesday I was proven wrong. Although I sensed he would win, his victory is still a shock to me.

After my appointment with my counselor on Tuesday, I headed down to Ithaca to participate in the Election Night festivities. I went to the Workers' Center Party at the Women's Community Center downtown, and watched the election results. The party flipped between CNN and The Daily Show (and for a moment, Fox News), and the channel flipping was irritating. I left before 11pm, thinking that the election would drag on well into the night. For as long as I've been of voting age, that's how it's been.

I came back to where I was staying and changed into my pajamas. I turned on the TV, and lo and behold, Barack Obama had been elected President of the United States. My first instinct was to put on my sweatshirt and run back to the party, but I stayed put. I watched the McCain and Obama speeches and went to bed. What was incredible to me was that the election was resolved before midnight.

Watching 106 & Park in the Hilton Lobby the next evening was something, to say the least: a drum corp of high school kids from Westchester County; cheerleaders chanting "Yes We Did! Yes We Did!" Then Steve Harvey came on, and told the studio audience that they had no more excuses to put off endeavors, since there was now a black man in the White House.

For the first time in my life, I feel the future of my country is an open book: while I don't think things will change overnight, I don't think things are going to go on as they have, either. I'm wondering if his election has anything to do with this 2012 thing I keep hearing about.

In other Erin news, the interview at the law firm went well, until I had to take some type of test where I had to identify whether or not "seperate" was a correct spelling. Having Googled it, it turns out I was right. Phew. Today, I went to The History Center to do some research for an article on Taughannock Falls that I might write...if I can pitch it.

Denied!

I've been denied unemployment. I'm not ready to divulge all the details right now, but I did seek legal aid this morning, and I hope to get a hearing.

Tomorrow, I plan on voting, seeing my counselor, then heading off to Ithaca for the rest of the week. I have an interview on Wednesday, I hope to get one more in before I come back Saturday.

Even with this on my plate, I plan on launching a fundraiser to raise money for the DVD of Are You From Bingo?. I have no idea when I'll be doing that, but at least it'll give me something to think about besides looking for a job.