Wow…so where do I start. I figure the best way to do it is to break it up in three parts: NY, In Transit, and LA. Here we go…

NY
I’m sure I’ve talked at length about how awesome my NY experience was. If I didn’t express my thoughts about it on this blog in the past, I probably did so in person…over a drink or two. I’ll miss New York – a lot. Not so much the unbearably humid summers, the exorbitant price for a pint of beer in Manhattan, or even the douchebaggery of a Williamsburg hipster (but let’s face it…hipsters are everywhere!) I guess I’ll miss what everyone would – the food, the hustle and bustle of big city life, the shopping, and the unique blending of cultures concentrated in such a small area. But more specifically, I’ll miss the nuances of life as a New York grip and electric: the camaraderie of complaining about production over post-wrap beers at the local watering hole…lunches on the lift gate…and even riding in the crew van to and from set every day.

But it’s my friends that I’ll miss the most. These are folks I’ve only known for 1.5 years at most – which isn’t a whole lot of time considering I’ve known some of my best friends most of my life. It’s interesting though how close you can get to people over the course of a job. It’s really not that much time, when you think about it. There must be something about 20+ people working in the same small space without trying to get in each others’ way that naturally brings people together – like soldiers in the trenches…minus the killing or saving lives part. Although one could argue that this business kills souls and dreams – haha.

My time in NY culminated in a karaoke bon voyage party at a place called Lush Lounge near Union Square. Tess and I invited everyone we could and had an amazing turnout. It was bittersweet. I knew that may possibly be the last time I would see those faces. But at the same time, I was humbled that so many people had come to hang out one last time. (Of course, if you mention booze and party to a bunch of film folks, you’re sure to get a few heads) But I don’t think I’m done with NY yet. I have a feeling I’ll be back, temporarily if anything. Which reminds me…I’m looking for work. Any of my peoples over there looking for a grip?

IN TRANSIT
Tess and I left NY for SF on 11/17. On the 18th, we flew straight to Honolulu for a three week vacation. It was more of a vacation for Tess since it was a reward for her 6 years of hard work resulting in a PhD from Columbia. It was well-deserved time off. Me? I just tagged along. Not to say I didn’t deserve some time off – I had been working steadily since September on two features and a TV series. Hawaii worked out great because we didn’t have to pay for a place to stay for three weeks. Emory, who transplanted there in September, had offered up his futon and/or AeroBed for however long we needed. So the bittersweetness of leaving NY was eased by the fact I would get to hang out on the beach every day.

We pretty much did what we set out to do while we were there…which was chill out and relax. Or if you’re lame, chillax. Our days revolved around where we wanted to eat. Of course, some beach time was worked in there. We didn’t have a car so we took the bus or walked when we needed to go somewhere. We lucked out in the car department because our friend from NY Kana was visiting her sister in Honolulu the same time we were there. Her sister offered her car for us to use. And boy did we use it. We made a couple of trips to Kailua and another to Ko’Olina. Thanks Erika! So we had more beaches to visit, and more chances to take naps and get dark. (Pretty tanned, eh?)

Oh, and there was also a lot of drinking. Remember the statement above about exorbitantly priced beer? Well, in a Manhattan bar, you can expect to pay about $6 for a pint of Stella. Well, at Emory’s local bar, Cafe Anasia, you can get a pitcher of Stella for $8. Eight friggin’ dollars! And it’s not one of those tiny pitchers either! You could probably squeeze out 4 pints with one pitcher – for $8! One night Emory and I ordered 4 pitchers. Sadly, we tapped out a pint into the 4th pitcher. But waiting for us at home was some delicious kalua pig grilled cheese sandwiches. Awwwe yeah!

Leaving Hawaii was tough. I mean who would want to leave paradise, right? But I think Tess and I were eager to get our LA life started already. It was like we’ve stalled long enough, and it was time to look for a place to live, work out the logistics of moving, blah blah. Which brings us to…

LA AND 2009
Technically, we moved into our Palms apartment on December 18th, but it doesn’t really feel like I’ve lived here until two days ago. See, we needed to find a place before Christmas Eve to save ourselves from paying an extra month of storage. So we picked up our stuff from the lot, thew it in a U-Haul and then unloaded it all in the apartment on the 19th. We spent the next few days unpacking and sorting until we went back up to the Bay for the holidays. I got back on Monday and now it feels like I really live here (especially now that I’m no longer stealing wi-fi and got the HDTV set up). There are random boxes strewn about, but those will all disappear by the weekend when Tess gets back (she’s been in NY since the 29th to finish up some work for her old boss)

And now for the obligatory 2009 outlook. I think I will like living in LA. It’s close to home, yet far enough away to not fall into the comfortable routine with old friends and family. I mean, I will have to deal with traffic and driving everywhere, but the Mexican food is a bajillion times better and I can actually go to a Target and a Costco now. Also, I’m keeping myself open to other types of film opportunities. With the experience I gained in NY, I feel like I can start setting some roots down.

A year and a half ago, I pretty much restarted my life. Now in 2009, it’s happening again. I feel there is a trail for me to blaze here and I couldn’t have done it without moving to the other side of the country first.

RSS 2.0 | comment | trackback