LA Update 1

Well it’s been one week in LA and what a fantastic week it has been! My apartment is amazing and I’ve made good use of the gym and pool since getting here. I was almost arrested for walking down the street. An over zealous cop (why did it have to be a female cop? Why?) grabbing my arm and threatening to arrest me because I was only doing what she told me. “You need to cross the street, you can’t walk through here” to then get “What are you doing? Are you trying to get arrested?!” as I went to cross the street. Mind you, I was about to jaywalk, but she got me all flustered by yelling at me. Sigh.

What else? Well, I hung out in some swanky hotel in Santa Monica with a friend while her friend schmoozed it up with some film distributors. not my scene but I did enjoy the fire pit overlooking the beach. Another sigh. I checked out Universal City. Not the studios, just the city. I haven’t fit in a hike yet but I have lots of time for that. I met with an agent, which went well, I think. Would be better if I had a phone. Yes, another small hiccup I hope to have resolved by the weekend. Thanks goodness for Skype and Facebook!

And last night I started my acting classes which I loved. It’s a small class so lots of time for one on one and the teacher is a hilarious gem, if gems were hilarious. Well this gem is hilarious, and smart. So there.

And the best part of my time so far is my first week here ended with the news that Obama had won a second term. So I’m gonna stay awhile.

Amazing way to kick of my final week in T.O.!

Went to the New Order concert tonight along with every other person that grew up with an awesome taste in music! What a great concert. Still coming down from my high school memory high. Sigh. Here’s a taste…..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiK5RYRODMs&feature=g-upl

Enjoy! : )

6 sleeps….

Back to the basics

Well I finally sold my couches and dining room set. Yah! But now that means for the next 8 days, I have a comfy hardwood floor to sit on. Now if I can just sell the rest of my crap and call it a day! Anyone need some dishes? Or a coffee table? How about some rollerblades? Sigh.

The good news is that in 8 days I’ll be making my way to LA. I have one suitcase packed already and hoping the rest of my belongings will fit in another suitcase and my carry-on. Crossing my fingers on that one. I have more stuff than I thought. Oh and my snowboard. Can’t leave home without that! Hoping this will all fit at the other end.

Selling stuff on Craigslist has made me hate mankind

It seems easy. You click “post”, you list your stuff in the right category, you drop in some pictures and you wait for people to contact you. The thing is you have no control over WHO contacts you. There is no option for “sane people only” on Craigslist.

Case #1: The Need it NOW
This person seems to troll CL in search of that perfect item they need right now…they just don’t actually WANT it. So they fire off an email that goes something like: “Hey, saw your ad for the X, is it still available and when can I come pick it up?” You think “awesome, that was fast.” Ya…not so much. When you email back that yes it is available and you can make arrangements for a time convenient for them, you don’t hear back. At all. Ever. You think you’re losing your mind but then they send you a similar email on another item you’ve posted and it all makes sense. They live in their mother’s basement.

Case#2: The Bargain Hunter
This idiot clearly can’t read and fails to notice the whole point of having 2 sections on CL – the Free section and the Selling section. Or maybe they are the ultimate champion of bargaining. Or they are just morons. I’m going to go with the latter. I have a bookcase I’m selling for $30. These folks like to email you and not ask, but state “I will give you $5” to which I reply “Add $25 and it’s yours.” They usually stop emailing me after that. The other approach is a new one. I forgot I threw up a ton of books up there.  I got an email recently asking about a set I have. I’m selling 5 books in a series for $25. If you do the math, that’s $5 a book. Considering they retail for $18-25 each I’d say that’s a pretty good deal. I got an email asking if I’d drop the price to $20 because she’s buying them for her special needs class and they just really love this series. OK I’m not an asshole, but a few things bothered me about this. Number 1 was the guilt ask. Number 2 was the guilt ask and number 3 was the ‘$20″ ask. Really? $5 more is too much for you? OK I’m an asshole.

Case#3: The No Shows
I can’t believe I for got to write about this category!! The ones that make all the arrangements via email, then call, then call again to ensure they are taking the correct route, then….disappear! Into a CL abyss never to be seen or heard from again. I’ve had quite a few of these. I even had a guy yesterday call to ask if I’d like him to email transfer the payment prior to him coming down and I said no no no…just bring cash. Ya….so he’s in the CL abyss right now laughing his ass off. I just don’t get the joke. I also just don’t get the thrill of whatever “this” is. So you call and get people to believe you are coming to buy something then don’t show up. Then what? Do you brag to your Star Wars collection how awesome you are? Because you clearly have no real life friends.

Case #4: The WEIRDOS
These ones are plentiful. There are too many examples to post but a couple of my favourites…The guy that emailed me to ask if I could send more pics of my glass top coffee table. I wasn’t sure what he wanted. maybe in a grass field? Perhaps with some scantily clad model atop it? Dude, it’s glass. It has a base. Not sure what more you want. So I did what anyone would do in my situation. I had fun with it…at his expense of course. I took a series of “stuff on coffee table” pics. Pic 1: mug on glass coffee table. Pic 2: book on glass coffee table. Pic 3: pile of magazines on glass coffee table and just to throw him off, Pic 4: blanket covering glass coffee table. Surprisingly I did not hear back from him. Rats… I had more to add to this series.

Another lady emailed me to ask for all the information that was in the ad. “So what size is it?” “Is it black or brown?” “How many drawers does it have?” “How much do you want for it?” The first email I didn’t want to be a dick because I figured people look at a few ads so I get it…you can’t remember what ad you are replying to…except it tells you when you hit reply! It says right there with a link “You are replying to THIS (link) ad”!!! Sigh. So after replying nicely to her first email I started just replying with a link to my ad. Again, I didn’t hear back.

I’m sure there will be more to add…my stuff is still up there. I tried Kijiji too…it’s not much better over there. I have sold some stuff. There are human beings who do actually need and want and have the money to buy stuff without hassle. I’m thinking of having an actual “in my apartment” sale…I’m sure that will inspire another blog post.

33 sleeps! And I still have a bed!

I’ve been trying to sell everything I own and it’s all going…very….very…slowly. A crock pot here, a pair of rollerblades there, a wardrobe over there….and today someone is coming to collect my couch and a really nice glass top sofa table. But then it hit me. I move in 33 sleeps and I will now have no couch. I’m back to my first basement apartment days of sitting on the floor, except this time I have a nice flatscreen TV…well…until someone comes and picks that up. At least I still have my bed…

Auditions, models and ESL

I self-submitted on some projects and received an email inviting me to audition for a short film. I got the sides and the character breakdown and spent the next day reviewing everything and really let the character sink in. I was lucky to have 2 days to prepare and felt ready to go on audition day. I took some extra time so I wouldn’t be rushed and of course, the bus was late, the subway was delayed and I got off at the wrong stop in a panic. Awesome start.

I managed to arrive just on time and as I was walking into the casting studio, a tall, gorgeous blonde model type walked in ahead of me and I ran up to catch the door behind her. She paid no attention and so I arrived just in time to have the door slam in my face.  I cursed at this glamazon and made my way to the studio. As I walked around the corner, I walked into a waiting room full of models – blondes, brunettes, tall, thin, holding their portfolios in their laps. Great, I thought, I have to wade through model land to get to my audition. I saw a sign in desk just beyond the blonde who had slammed the door in my face and walked over to find out where the audition I was there for, was. “Oh.” said the receptionist, “you found it. Just sign in here and you can take a seat with the other girls behind you.” I’m sorry…whaaaaaatt??? I’m auditioning for the same part with the model casting behind me?? This day gets better and better.

I squeezed in next to two models and one of them smiled at me and said, or tried to say “Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Sasha and I’m here to read for the Rebecca role.” What she actually said in a very thick German accent was: “Hi, nice meet you. I Sasha. I here to take Rebecca part.” It took me a second to translate the broken English but then it dawned on me, all these glamazons were also reading for Rebecca. I wondered if there was some mistake on my resume…did it accidentally read that I was 5″10 and not 5’3″? Or maybe they meant to reply to someone else via email and boy were they in for a surprise.

One by one, the girls were called in and I realized that if I leaned up against the wall, I could actually hear their auditions. The majority of them clearly did not speak English very well. I could hear them ad lib their lines and hear the CD ask them to try it again and at times, coach them through their auditions. I could hear them giggle and chat with the CD and it actually helped me  feel much more confident.

Finally my turn came. I went in and the CD glanced up and there was no chit chat, just “OK, whenever you’re ready.” In my mind I nailed it. I knew my lines, I really took on Rebecca and let her breathe through me. I felt great. I waited for the CD to ask me to try it again. Instead she looked up and said “Ok thanks.” No emotion, no smile, barely a glance in my direction. That was it. I wondered if I should have feigned an accent and pretended to not speak English. In and out in 2 minutes. That’s just the way it is. As I walked out, Sasha was being walked in and a few seconds later I heard her let out a giggle.

I made my way back down the hall and had to dodge a girl power walking towards me. She was petite, short bob, funky glasses and she stopped me to ask if I happened to know where the audition room for the film I just auditioned for was. I told her when she meets up with American’s Next Top Model, she’s found it. She gave me a weird look and made her way past me. I opened the front door to hear a “Are you friggin kidding me??” from the hall behind me. She found it. I should have told her to fake an accent.

Oh the glamourous life.