Yeah, Baby!

Today was spent writing up questions and packing as I watched a Snapped marathon. It took me two days to write questions for two people; it took me two hours to write up questions for the remaining three.

I've been in a real Austin Powers mood lately, and I do not know why. I think it's more of a reflection of my state of mind than anything else. I spent the better part of my Junior and Senior years of high school really obsessed with that movie. In fact, my senior year, I dressed up as Austin Powers for Halloween. I used to own a VHS of a widescreen version of the movie, but I have no idea where that went. I've never bought the DVD, but I may have to soon if I'm going to satiate my urge to watch it. Of course, I can rent it from Netflix as well.

For now, here's a song from the movie, "Call Me". This isn't the version in the movie, but I like this version better. (With that being said, the Mike Flowers version isn't bad.) Off to Binghamton tomorrow!

Schedule...Interview...Mayor...Binghamton!

Most of the schedule is solidified. I've been working on questions for the mayor since his spokesperson wants the questions by tomorrow. I'm hoping maybe I can bring the stills photographer for a little bit and have him snap a few pictures for the paper. I keep thinking about the things I want to do in the future. Sometimes I get distracted by these thoughts, but I try to remind myself that I'll have plenty of time to think about those things once this is all done.

In randomness, Lindsay Lohan recently did a commercial for the Italian jeans label Fornarina. Ever since I saw the commercial on The Soup last Friday, I can't take my eyes off the trainwreck. Linds is wearing a Hannah Montana wig and spouting out nonsensical, unrelated words to music that The Misshapes would've found passe in 2005:

Michael K from DListed weighed in, but Joel McHale put it best:

Desperate...Need Cash...Cut Lines...Crash Car!

Disappointments & Tribulations

It's 35 degrees and very, very windy, so I spent today hibernating. Hopefully, it'll be the last time I'll have to do that for awhile, since it's going to be in the 50s tomorrow.

I scheduled one more interview today for the DVD. I'm particularly excited about this interviewee, since I got more responses about him than anyone else I interviewed, and frankly, of all the interviewees, I had the most fun interviewing him. It will be my first interview after I get to Binghamton Friday Morning. I literally just got off the phone with the mayor's office, and I have that interview set for 2:30.

Later, I got a message in my inbox from someone who had solicited me to do website design for them saying that she decided to "go forward with another designer". It's disappointing, of course. Between this, and the "cease-and-desist" letter I recieved last week, I'm thinking that maybe now isn't the time to be too preoccupied with entreprenurial endeavors. It takes up a lot of energy. There are web languages and programs that I would have to learn to gain enough confidence to pursue design work. I will continue to look for work, though.

Earlier this year, I had Brian obtain a press pass for me for this year's Tribeca--that was before I knew I was going to SXSW. For awhile, I had been leaning toward no, because of SXSW and needing to see how unemployment would work out. But now as the date looms closer, I'm giving serious thought to going. If I go, I'll only go for the weekend--leave on a Thursday, return Sunday or Monday. I'll see where I'm at with the DVD, the job search, and I have the Neko Case concert coming up that week, too before I make any final decision. It would sure be nice to jump back into the festival circuit before long...

What Now?

I still have two more panels to do for The Film Panel Notetaker. I'm going to work on picking my memory for the Haynes/Linklater panel, but other than that, transcribing panels is taking a backseat this week. I'll be leaving for Binghamton Friday morning, and will be doing new interviews as well as their monthly "art walk". I am also working on a new interview for TFPN as well.

Lately I've been giving a lot of thought about relocating to New York to look for work. Right now, my main concern is working on the DVD. If I can score some type of temp work, that would be great, too. But I'd like to go somewhere else for awhile, and I'm not really keen on returning to Ithaca, especially not after SXSW. Also, it would be really nice to take another UCB class. If there's a time to make that sort of change, it's now, while I still have the safety net of unemployment.

Full Speed Ahead

Next weekend (April 3rd & 4th), I will be going to Binghamton to tape new interviews for the DVD. Right now, I am in the process of making the final arrangements for the interviews. I have two set in place for April 4th, but I keep getting the runaround from the mayor's office.

Not that it should even be on my mind right now, but I've been giving some thought to my book, too. I realize why it's been difficult for me to write the book, even if I continue to hold interest in it. If I'm going to write a book--any kind of book--I want to write the book in a way that's appealing to a reader with general interest in the subject. I want the reader to get the feeling that they couldn't help but pull it off the shelf when they saw it. Should I ever find the time and resources to write this book, the challenge in creating and writing this book will be in organizing and presenting the material and subject matter in a way people want to read.

Due to resources (or lack thereof), however, I may try it as a blog first. Today I ordered WordPress For Dummies along with a book written by my new documentary subject, and a book called From IX To V from Amazon.com. I will read the first book, then decide if it's worth my time.

Still Looking

I called Kelly Services Tuesday. They said that the only work around that they recruit for around here is for assembly line work. I don't consider myself to be above it, but I don't think I'm really skilled for it, either.

You know what? I could be happy with a part time job right here. I don't know how long I'd keep it, but at least it would allow me enough security to get what I want done. Yesterday, I sent out a bunch of resumes to the local hospital in response to some part time secretarial openings. Even if they don't find me qualified, maybe there'll be an opening for something else. Even if Binghamton is further away, I don't want to hassle with commuting right now.

Another thing I've been looking into lately is finding work as a virtual assistant. I could go into an explanation of what that is, but here's a video that does it for me. It's a little long, but it explains what a Virtual Assistant does:

Manpower (the temp agency that got me my last job) offers free online classes for their temps. I figured I might take a few classes and brush up my skills while I wait out the next thing. Also, if I decide to dive into Virtual Assistance, it would be incredibly helpful.

In other news, I've been contacting interviewees for the new interviews. I had planned to do the interviews the weekend of March 7th. Then I found out that one of my interviewees is expecting--she is due March 13th. I may have to do their interview early. Yikes!

I have another announcement coming soon...