Being poor sucks

Man, you can't buy much with yer money these days. I'm trying to be poor, and it's harder than I thought. You really can't do anything, and it's really hard to eat healthy. I think I did a good job today. A lot of sandwiches and crackers (Triscuits and Wheat Thins on sale for $1.49/box!), but I got some pitas, hummus, tomato, cucumber and sprouts. My favorite sandwich (try it with roasted red peppers).

I'm also trying to go vegan, which I don't think will be 100% possible right now. I just saw a movie called Earthlings that was probably the most disturbing thing I've ever seen, addressing the way humans use animals, who are just as much earthlings as we are, for various purposes (food, pets, clothing, medical testing, etc.). And I feel horrible, because I was like, dammit, I'm going vegan. Then forgot and put cream in my coffee, then ate this or that because it was easier.

However, freelancing=poor, and I have to take advantage of free food as much as possible. So at home and at restaurants, I am vegan. At other people's houses (such as my family reunion next weekend, when my 80-year-old gramma has enough to worry about) and on shoots, I will be as good as possible but will still eat the occasional cheese. As everyone has pointed out, my not eating animal products won't actually make a difference. It's just my choice not to participate in that. Or at least to avoid it as much as possble.

This week I worked on an Ultimate Fighting Championship show, which was... Well, I made some money. For the most part it was pretty good, actually, but there were some issues at the end which left me with a pretty bad taste. (They tried to passive-aggressively -- without even coming out and telling me this was what they expected me to do until I asked about 3 times how exactly they were planning to do this when they were leaving at 5 am -- get me to take 5 or more large boxes to FedEx on my own time after the shoot was done and I was done being paid. I couldn't do it because I was working, and frankly was glad I had the excuse, because the truth is that's bullshit, yet they weren't too happy that I couldn't do it. Hey, hire me for 4 days instead of 3 if there's still stuff to be done the day after you leave, but don't expect me to take another day off work to do your shit for free. Or to do your shit for free when I was planning to sit at home on my ass anyway. Or even to do your shit for free when it's on my way to somewhere else and wouldn't take much of my time. You can afford to buy sushi and organic $10 sandwiches for lunch every day, then you can pay the damn PA.) Ah, the more I work with out-of-towners, the more I love them. (OK, the SD people I worked with were really nice. I would have said CA people, but some of these were based in Las Vegas and at least 2 were originally from the East Coast.) And I'm sorry, if they ever see this I'll never work in this town again (ha), but the makeup girl was way more of a diva about having to have everything exactly to her weird standards than the talent (who was totally fine about stuff). Does the makeup chick get to be that way?? When do I get to be a demanding brat?? Whiiiiine, there's not enough chicken on my salad. Well, let's show the waitress who just told us TWICE (because you made me ask TWICE) that that IS extra chicken. Well, I already ate it. So you want me to go tell her that wasn't enough chicken, but you already ate it? Never mind, it's fine. No, no, I'll buy you more chicken if you want more chicken. I didn't eat lunch yesterday, I can go without again today. No, it's fine, never mind. AUGH.

So whine about my new career. I know being a PA sucks, and that's OK. It's a rite of passage, everyone has to put in their time. And it depends on who you're working with -- it can be a great way to learn different departments while not being expected to know everything already when you get there. (That's why it pays less.) But jobs like this, well, they're there to keep me fed through the month. And to get me that much closer to real jobs if possible. THIS isn't what I want to do.

Now, yesterday's shoot, another story. Unpaid, of course, but I was a grip on a 48 Hour Film Project contender (of which there are like 80 in Mpls, because we rock), where you get 48 hrs. to write, produce and edit/post a short film. Ours is great, I'm so happy I got in with this group. And I got to grip without feeling like I'm unworthy and thrown into a situation that was over my head, so it was really good experience for me. The people were nice, I saw a few I knew before, and I really like the guy who brought me on -- I met him at the show I worked on last Friday (where I dolly gripped -- he was the camera operator). It's nice when you meet people you really like working with and have prospects of working with them again. That's what it's all about -- good people, good projects, etc. So I hope that goes somewhere. He's part of a production company, so I'm hoping that could turn into something. If I didn't mention that here, Drinking with Ian (the one I dolly gripped on last week) was GREAT. I met so many good people, worked with people I've worked with before (all ones I liked, too), and it was a GREAT opportunity. Dolly grip is one of the things I'd like to specialize in, if you can specialize around here. (Not really, but at least I'd like people to think of me when they think of dolly grips.)

Babbly babble babble.

It's coming along. Feeling pretty good about things. Need to get out there and start getting hired once I'm unencumbered with this stupid job.