Sober me up

In need of some blood.

I just got back from the last minute internship in Santa Fe. The plane got in yesterday around noon and I said a weeping goodbye to Sin.D and Jenny, two NALIP staff members who flew with me on their way back to LaLa. It's strange being back.

NALIP was an amazing experience, no doubt. We worked everyday from 7 to 10, drank and chilled afterward, then did it all again. I've never worked so long in my life. The experience was varied as well. I did production office work, ran random errands, was an extra on set and got to sit in on some of the classes the program was holding. I made a bunch of new friends and a couple of strong contacts as well. There was definitely some shit times - I found myself in a few terrible situations. But all in all, everything worked out in the end.

Though I'm happy to be back in Tucson, I'm starting to miss my New York life. I miss not having to worry about school or money or friends or life (there are a few F stresses in there). All those things that got put on hold the moment the senior screening ended are back and waiting. And the biggest thing I've realized is that I need a little me time. I need a break from all the people and responsibilities. I need a moment to relax.

Bottom line is, I had the best summer of my life, take with it the good and the bad. I just hope life stays on that path. I'm working on seven short films this year, one being my own. That's a lot. I am back on the job hunt. Parental funding is being cut down immensely, and I was told that in May, I'm officially on my own. No more money, no more insurance. It's done. It's gonna be a heavy year. I'll decide tomorrow if I'm ready for it.

Less-Than-Three You, Monique

Listening to: some show on Food Network - What would [insert some guys name] make?

T Town, the you and me town.

So I'm back in our hot hot hot Tucson house. Tomorrow will bring roomie Tom Tom Tom and the first of three seven-hour work training days. You win some, you lose some. 

So as I'm sitting and sweating and shmittenkitten-ing (how did I survive for so long without this blog?!?!) I'm trying to stay calm about the fact that I'm sitting on the edge of senior year. And I need Monique to be home STAT. And I need babywine. And I need our air conditioning to kick in. And then all will be well with the world. 

Stuck

I'm in The Hometown Lull in addition to my writers block. I've outlined 3 different scripts since being here, one is promising but that hasn't kept me from thinking about all the ways that it's flawed. Will I ever be inspired again?

At least I'm relaxing, kind of, to the best of my ability. I'm excited to get back to Tucson in a week but terrified that we're that close to starting the semester and I'm still so clueless. Despite my lack of direction I'm stoked for this year. Since Jesse will be making his triumphant return to Tucson it makes me realize how much happier I am since freshman year when I met him. It'll be the usual crew plus Jesse plus legal drinkers all around and I just hope that we're all able to play as hard as we work this upcoming semester. And I want neighborhood dinners, damnit. I want them now.

For now I'm doing "home things", like hanging with my sister, seeing the few high school friends that I still like seeing, going to a Red Sox game tomorrow night - my first in 4 or 5 years - which I'm very excited for. Whenever I visit Boston in the spring or summer I'm always reminded by how much I love the city, but am increasinly saddened by how little of a life left I have in it. I'm admiting to myself now that I'd actually like to have a life in Boston again one day, I just don't know how soon that day is.

Bye kids,
Sarah

One, Two, Three NALIIIIIIIP!

It's 10 minutes before work starts. I just had another huge meal here in New Mexico. Survey says, I'll probably gain a good 10 pounds because I eat bacon every morning (go youtube the Jim Gaffigin Bacon sketch).

Right now, I'm in the production office working for the documentary phase of the program. Next Wednesday, we switch to the fiction tract, and are shooting 4 short films in 4 days - in all likelihood, I might get some more set time. 

And although there are a lot of really cool industry people and students alike, I'm not being very social. I think this is an effect of being in New York for 5 weeks. At the end of the day, when everyone else is running off to the pool or sitting down to watch a movie, I choose to go to my room and work on (you guessed it) my senior film. This is a great opportunity and I've got to stop.

But, on film terms, I do have a working script and am in the process of securing crew, which is always the part I hate. Not only is it hard to figure out who, in the limited pool of options, is able to do what you want, but then the question becomes, do they even want to work on your film? Meh. Nonsense.

My goals for the next two weeks (before school starts) is to become a social being again, to stop thinking about all of the little details of my life, invest myself hardcore into my senior film, and to stop eating bacon... or at least cut down.

And Sarah? Try not to stress too hard about your script. You've got a few great back ups, including that awesome cooking show you wanted to do last year. At least with that, at the end of the year you would have something to shop around.

Less-Than-Three You, Monique

Listening to: air conditioning

Upcoming blog segment: reoccuring summer themes and brief tales that apply

I'm home...

now what?

-S

live every week like it's shark week

I've been spending a few days in my family's summer house in The Hamptons before heading back home to Massachusetts. This house is where I am able to relax more than any other place. It's so familiar, full of memories, and is usually filled with my favorite families. 

As relaxing as the days are here, the nights are something else. After everyone else goes to bed, I can never sleep. I sit on the couch watching some sort of late night food television and grow more and more antsy. 

Last night, in addition to the restlessness, there was script anxiety. I read about four of the stories George had sent me and dismissed all of them (probably too quickly) for various reasons. I wrote down a list of imagery I like, themes and subject matter I have been thinking about lately, and various lines of dialogue that I had heard recently in daily life that I thought were intriguing. I read this list over and over and am still as lost as ever.

I've started going back, farther mentally than I think qualifies as "Square 1", to the idea of doing a music video or a documentary. At this point I'm open to absolutely anything. I just feel completely uninspired, like I'm deep in a creative lull. I don't know what I need to do to get inspired, but it needs to happen quick. 

I'll be back home tomorrow, where I'll be downloading Celtx to my dad's computer until my new lappy arrives. I have a sick feeling that I'll be sending Makino 5-7 completely different scripts in a few weeks and telling her to chose. Each script will include an underwater, green-screen sex scene. Fact. 

Bye kids,

Sarah

Listening to: SHARK WEEK!

A last minute change of plans

Vicky called me this afternoon and asked me if I wanted to do NALIP in Santa Fe. It starts today, and the girl who was supposed to go back out at the last minute.

I agreed, and am heading to Tucson tonight, leaving for Santa Fe tomorrow, and won't be back until the 22nd. I have absolutely no idea what I'm getting myself into. We'll see...

Less-Than-Three You, Monique
Listening to: Spin City

And the nightmares have begun...

Last night I had two very vivid dreams.

The first was about my senior film. My crew and I were on set for shooting day 1. I didn't realize we were shooting that day and hadn't even seen the script. Jessica, the 2nd AD from Capture the Flag, was my 1st AD on the shoot. She told me that the first bit of the day would be an intense conversation between an adult male and a kid inside of a vivid house. I realized instantly that I forgot to cast the adult male or secure the location for the vivid house. So I thought quick - I told her we would just shoot super tight CU's of the kid and add the adult's voice over in post. She told me that was a good idea so she allowed the crew to unload the truck and stage all of the equipment. I was just about to get the kid to rehearse, but then I realized I didn't cast him either. So I started calling every actor I knew, but no one was available. I checked the script with Jessica, but all of the scenes required multiple actors. I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to dissapoint my crew.

I woke up. A few minutes later, I went back to sleep only to have another bad dream.

It was a Friday, and Katie, some strangers and I went on this rollercoaster in the middle of a forest. Before we got on, we got a call that Sarah had died in a freak elevator accident. She was in Tucson on Thursday night, going from the 30th floor down to the ground when the cable snapped and she plummeted to her death. So, we all went to her memorial. I couldn't stop crying, but it was a weird type of cry - I wasn't making crying noises, and tears were leaking from all over my face. It was like I was sweating tears. Anyway, at the memorial, I didn't recognize anyone accept for a few BFA who were on the otherside of the hall. I left early because I didn't want to see the casket (they freak me out) so I started to walk home. On my way home, I called George to see why he wasn't there. He told me he was sick and drunk (two things I've never seen him be) and when I asked him why he didn't go to Sarah's memorial, he said "Sarah's a great girl, but she got mad at me on Wednesday." I was really confused, and the phone disconnected so I called Katie. She told me that her and the BFA were headed back to the rollercoaster to celebrate Sarah's life. She asked me if I wanted to come, but I didn't want to.

I woke up a second time. School hasnt' even started yet and the nightmares have already began. It's gonna be a long semester.

Less-Than-Three You, Monique
Listening to: Balto

Sex on Fire

Adam and the crew, doing it. Look at that mack. Owh!

You know you're from Arizona when its 105 outside and you still wear a sweater.

That's code for "I'm back," by the way.

Yup, so I'm home and am terribly surprised that I'm not phased by the change at all. Usually, a change of scenery like this blows me away, but just like my entrance into New York, my exit was smooth. I'm not even antzy to get back to Tucson, which is a regular emotion for me when I find myself trapped in my parents house in this one horse town. Yes, I believe that was the first time I've used that phrase. Enjoy.

My mom came Thursday, and we bascially did New York in 48 hours. I think we hit every major district south of 81st. We saw museums, churches, fashion and photography galleries, parks, Kings of Leon live, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Crumbs, fabric stores, Times Square, Lincoln Center, and so on, and so on. We walked till our feet bled. Boom. Best part of that trip? When she told off a guy for hollering at me:*
Guy: (gives me the up down) Oh, so cute, girl. Mhmm
Mom: (angry voice) Cut it out! Filthy old man
Oh, and she definately befriend a cop. My mom's a champ.

I think I've got the script. I mean it this time. Mr. Oliver has been using his free time to assist a couple of the classmates on their films. The help I received was in the form of a lot of inspirational material, lots of potential scripts (including a brief one he wrote based on my original concept), and some 'tough love.'** I was more or less set on working with George's script, seeing that I was 80% happy with it, and it utilized a lot of original concepts I wanted. But then, I began reading some of the inspiration material he used. He told me the concept was reflective of a graphic novel by Brian Wood called "Channel Zero." When I went to the used bookstore with Yvette, I saw one of his other books, so I figured I'd check it out. Inside was a perfect short for an adaptation. It has a great structure and the character has a similar feeling to the one I initially wrote, but she is in a situation related to an earlier idea - a perfect mix of my two ideas... but done a thousand times better. So, I'm gonna work on an adaptation and, hopefully, it will be doable. Worst case scenario, I go back to George's script - which isn't a bad deal at all.

For the next two weeks, I'm gonna chill here in Scottsdale and get everything in order. It's back to the job hunt - though I might have a gig at the end of the month.*** I need to work on the film (which will be there for the rest of the semester). This may involve a trip to Arcosanti. I've got some minor housekeeping details, ie, bills, laundry, sewing, etc. And I want to see some friends that are in town before I head back to Tucson. This was a pretty sweet and smooth summer... lets hope the Tucson transition is the same.

Oh! One last note! The "Capture the Flag" shoot has a flickr page. Check them out! And Sarah, darling, you can see Skyler's big-headed, blue eyed baby right here. Imagine that thing comming out of your lady parts (Owh! Deal, audience, deal). And $20 goes to whoever correctly identifies "Shorts" and "Legs" first. Go!

Less-Than-Three You, Monique
Listening to: (in my head) My Moon My Man - Feist

Footnotes:
*Ladies, if you haven't already been to NY, be prepared to hear more compliments and more insults than you ever have in your life. Regardless of what you look like or what you're wearing, there is a NY man waiting to holler.
**It's been a summer of 'tough love.' Beside Mr. Oliver, I'd like to thank Mrs. Dias, Mr. Locke, Mr. Jones, Ms.Laughlin, Mr. Hulsey and (briefly, as requested) Ms. Haber. BMD, BMU.
***Film kids! If you want to hop on a paid short in Phoenix, let me know.