3000 Miles in 2 days

"What the hell just happened?" That has been the one thought continuing to roll through my brain a few days later. It was a whirlwind trip to the West Coast. Here's what I remember of the whole affair.

I got up at 3am on Wed, 1/23, to head down to Midway for my 6am flight. It was one of those below zero nights we were enjoying in Chicago last week. On 3hrs of sleep I was just trying to make sure I did not fall asleep on the Red line before hopping on the Orange line. I also wanted to make sure I did not hop a Green line by mistake like I did last time. Everything went smooth and my first Frontier flight to Denver went without any difficulties. It is tremendously hard for me to sleep while traveling under any circumstances, but it did not help that the only reading light on in the entire plane was the jerk right behind me. I could read in my seat by his light as well. None the less I was able to doze a little.

I scrambled across the A concourse at DIA to catch my flight to LAX. It had begun boarding when we reached the gate so it was a sprint. We bounced down in LA on time and I headed out to get my shuttle to the rental lot. Again, no troubles just unfamiliar. The set me up with a Hyundai Santa Fe witch had a dashboard like a cockpit. Super nice. At this point I reluctantly decide to grab some food. I mostly wanted to try to get everything done. I had to make this trip fast as the rental was expensive. I booked it for pick-up at 10am on Wed and return at DIA by 10am on Fri.

I stopped in Hollywood and had lunch at Sharky's. So friggin' good! I sat there and watch several production trucks drive by (a big rental lot was next door), and chuckled at the familiarity. Sharky's was my big meal on return days for production. It was also a good stop for ioWest nights being around the corner from them also. It was fascinating to see the old neighborhood. I was a little bent on getting the task accomplished though.

The Storquest on Sunset was fun. I unloaded everything in less than an hour with Tanya's help. By the time Suzanne arrived, it was game of Tetris and prioritizing. Those two women saved my ass by helping me fit more and more into my over packed SUV. When all was said and done, only the IKEA furniture purchased out there had to be sacrificed. I wished it didn't since most of it replaced IKEA furniture sacrificed to move to LA and this is getting redundant. However, everything that truly mattered made it. I had begun to rain before the doors were even closed. Tanya and Suzanne, you are my heroes!!!

I hit the 101 at 4:15pm in a full rain storm. Traffic was typical for such conditions. From the 101 to the 10 and finally to the 15, it took me 2.5 hrs. I never got faster than 30mph. That whole distance was just 45 miles. Then I had a white out on the first mountain curve with 3 lanes of cars slamming on their brakes. Ah, now I know where the California driver come from that slide of our Colorado highways every winter.

It took me 7hrs to get to Vegas and it became obvious to even me that a stop was necessary. By this point it was approaching midnight. I pulled of in St. George, UT. That was the best hotel room I have ever had due solely to its timing and location. I hit the road by 8am the next morning and with the exception of driving most of it in snow and rain, it was uneventful. The Santa Fe was excellent on the road and I will forever long for cruise control now. I listened to Jack Kerouac's On The Road and Tiff's mix CD that featured some great CA songs. I recommend "Los Angeles" by the Sugarcult and "California Songs" by Local H if you get a chance. That CD is still in my player Tiff! It is fantastic and I miss you!

I am now fully packed away in my folks basement. The picture of the livingroom is pre basement push, but it is impressive the amount of stuff that came out of the Santa Fe. Again, Tanya and Suzanne- you were amazing! It was easier than Storquest to be sure. It's good to be a little more consolidated, but that lingering feeling of this being a final hurrah to nomadic life is still there. For now I will be in CO for the next month or so for Caldera. More thoughts to come on that, Colorado, and my pursuit of acting to come, but this is a way too long entry as is. Till next time...

Hitting the Road Soon

With the spirit of adventure living out of a couple suitcases brings, there seems little that could make it more exciting. Yet, I have found a way. Last week it occurred to me that I was about to shell out $111 bucks to the storage unit in Hollywood while it would cost just a little more than that to fly out there. With what it would cost for just another month or so, I could rent a vehicle to take my worldly possessions back to Denver. My folks graciously offered to let me store some items there. Apparently, much to my surprise I have some boxes already there from as far back as my pack-up to move to London in 1999. There must be some frightening and needless things in those boxes!

So, next Wed I will be flying from Chicago to LA at the crack of dawn, renting a "mid-SUV" and loading up my storage unit. Some friends have agreed to buy some of my bulky items. Others may just stay in Hollywood. Kinda a shame I couldn't justify a full truck as there is no IKEA in Denver and the furniture may fetch a decent price there! Also frustrating was that you can not rent a cargo van to cross state lines. A van would have amply taken care of my 5x5 unit.

By this time next week I will be fully pulled out of LA for the time being. As for the question of whether or not I will go back, the answer is still "ask again later" according to the Magic 8 Ball I consult daily. If I do it will likely be for short trips. I have also learned over the last couple months how little I need to get by. I must admit the cold snap we are in right now has made me aware of how little warm clothing I now own. I am grateful as hell for the new leather coat Tiffany got me for Christmas. It does all sorts of fun things, like zip up!

The choice to consolidate is one I am happy about. It has been fun telling people I have everything in a storage unit in Hollywood, my Jeep in Denver, and a couple suitcases in Chicago. The reality is, I am not a prospector and need not leave things everywhere I may wish to go to. I also sense that my current adventure may be a final sort of hurrah to the nomadic life. I am interested in things like furniture, mortgages, and the like. Not just yet, but soon-ish. I will be in Colorado for the next 4 - 5 weeks working for Caldera. that should be good too.

I am coming back to Chicago after that. I have not yet begun to hit a threshold for cold.

Where is Your Art Now?

In adherence to the resolution to bring the art back, 2008 has been a malstrom of artistic endeavors thus far. Sorta.
Mostly I have been practicing a guitar, trying to learn how to play. I must say the frustration of learning something new never seems to get easier. My fingers seem to be unwilling to just do what my brain is demanding and once I get a couple things to go right a third one falls apart. It's good though. I just am bemused by my instinct of "if you can't just do something, screw it." Afriend with a similar dispostion once said that makes you, "very good in your very limited field."

I am also trying to get back to writing. I have thrown the feeler out to couple of friends to begin a collaborative project again. I am attempting to get my pen out of the mud, if you will. So far a lot of fragmented ideas, but it will come. The change of cities is helping me in that regard. I work best and find more inspiration when nature turns up the volume some. This winter in Chicago has been great thus far.

Art is coming back and you're all coming with it!

Opening Soon Near You (and you and you and you)!!

With the holiday season now wrapped up down at the cafe, I am inclined to pose this question. Why do the people behind the "corporate machine" lack simple understanding in regards to expansion and profit? I would truly like to believe that these men and women got behind these figurative desks because they were a little smart. When does that disappear into the moronic corporate mindset?

Let me explain the particular item I am reflecting on. Back when I was pouring coffee for Starbucks I was shocked when district managers would in one breathe celebrate a new store opening and in the other condemn a store for losing any business to them. We would see 2 stores open on either side of my store and our business would drop. I do not fault expansion, nor do I fail to see how lowering profits can concern owners. However, if you set up your own best competition, you will lose on one side or the other. It seemed like a cruel joke to hear that we were still expected to keep up our numbers. The kind of joke that you would expect after a moment or two to hear the person laugh so hard they drop their crack pipe.

"Cannibalizing ourselves" was the term I started to hear.

Well, working for Starbucks, you couldn't really ignore that they wanted expansion at all costs. Maybe that's why they were just compared to McDonald's in the recent Chicago funny pages. What surprised me a little is that that formula is standard. American Girl used to have just the one full store here in Chicago. Then New York. That did alright. Then LA. That did not do as well. Logically, they just needed to open more stores. They picked the heart of the Chicago store's demographic and set up TWO new stores! Makes sense right? What defies logic is that they then turned around, just like the morons in the coffee empire, and blamed the Chicago store for the dropping numbers. I actually had one crazy manager that said it was all because of bad servers in the cafe (namely my job).

Now, that manager was crazy but he was also doing exactly what he was taught.

I am all for capitalism and love to see success stories. However, there is an ugly bastard of an impersonator out there trying to claim the same victory. I do not have much affinity for American Girl or Starbucks themselves, but I do know a lot of good people that work for them while trying to get a break in their fields. These are the hard working folks that go to work each morning after band practice the night before or work a mid-shift on legs cramped from hours of dance classes. They are the folks that get up before dawn to open the coffee shop because they have rehearsal all night for a show they are hoping will draw an audience. They are the single Moms and Dads trying to take care of their families. These are the people that get stuck with the blame on the corporate model because ,it would seem to me, they just don't have anyone else to slide it down to. That's what pisses me off.

If you are still reading this, I applaud you (and thank you) for hearing me out. It is nothing we don't all seem to know, but I just needed to vent it.

Bringing the Art Back

This is my theme for the new year, a concept I borrowed from Cody years ago. Former years were less noble. "Rampage" was my 2005 theme and the all too difficult, "Don't Fall Down" from 2001. This one I like though. Despite which time zone I happen to call home at any given point this year, I would like an extra portion of art with it. That even goes for LA, should I be returning anytime soon. I realize that saying LA itself deprives me of art is a bit of a cop out, it's there. Maybe it's under a heavy sheet of protective plastic, but it's there.

Being back in Chicago for a little while has reminded me that you can perform anywhere, anytime... if you want it bad enough. There may be a lot more stages here with less bullshit involved to get on them, but you have to want it pretty bad here too. No one I know has the theatre company they thought they would with their college friends, the one that just about guarantees they can play there. We all know people that talk about it (hell even a few did it), but the people I know are not in those companies. I remember hearing 3 things at Colorado State that still seem true. Two of them were delivered from guest artists and one from a beloved professor. They are:

"...(you get jobs in art by) pounding on doors long enough you can get a foot in before they can slam it in your face..."
-Art Chantry
"...you can't get cast in a show? Write one..."
-Gary Austin
"...(as a performer) be loved or hated, but never tolerated..."
-Morris Burns

I find myself looking at a familiar dilemma as when I was in LA. While I was out there, I had to decline a number of shows because I was unable to commit to a stage rehearsal schedule in a film town. Working as a PA, I could not say I would be available Sun through Thur from 7-10pm for 4 weeks. My average day as a PA was 14hrs and I could almost guaran-danm-tee you if I had something planned for after 14hrs, we'd go 16hrs. I barely finished one level of classes at ioWest because of that.

The similarity for me right now is that I came out here to work a holiday season back at the Girl, when money would be good. Now that turned out to be less true than I hoped, but none the less that season ends next week and I will have to hitch myself to a new train to make some cash. I don't know if it will be here in Chicago either. There still is no resolution to the strike out West, so going back is not so appealing. To be in LA just working as a PA without any promise of other work would be like dropping out of college to stay at the video store you worked at. Why bother? Money is good and the stories are fun to tell, but the reality was not so great. I do miss some great people out there though!

So write a show. That would fit into my ideals right? Maybe. Being here, the ideas are flowing again. I would love to paint again too, but living out of a suitcase, I just didn't pack my brushes. Photoshop is great, but only goes so far. I do hope to see some more art this year though. Of all my resolutions, that is the one I am most excited about.

So happy 2008 to you! If you are of the artistic persuasion, I hope to see some art from you as well. I know some tremendously talented people that fill my world with ideas and laughs. Whatever you chose for yourself this year, put on some good music and go for it with no reserve, even if it is as simple as "fall down less."