My replacement at work is in her early twenties and used to work at E! Entertainment Television. I had to goad her about all the lame E! True Hollywood Stories about TV shows (what happened to the sex and drug scandals?) and the dumb "news coverage" of magazine covers. Even their "juicy" stories these days are nothing but regurgitated retreads from the other networks, and don't even get me started on all the reruns of SNL episodes that weren't funny the first time around.
Two words: litigious celebrities. I tell you, you can't even get good trash anymore.
I asked her if it was true that salaries were really low there, and she concurred. She had to work two jobs on the side just to make ends meet, but she said that all her friends in the entertainment industry were in the same boat, just barely paying their bills.
She also said that even though she wasn't consciously worried about starting a new job today, she couldn't sleep at all last night. I said, "Welcome to my world."
Astra Taylor of Salon reviewed an interesting-sounding book today called "The Trap" by Daniel Brook. An excerpt from the review:
After reading "The Trap," I'd wager the future we're facing overflows with anxiety and self-loathing. When a generation reared to revere the idea of a meritocracy finds that a college degree -- even one with honors from an Ivy -- doesn't guarantee middle-class comfort, let alone career fulfillment, cognitive dissonance ensues. Parents blame their offspring for failing to succeed (they gave them every advantage, after all), the offspring blame themselves (they jumped through all the right hoops), and few blame the system. As the competition to join or stay middle-class becomes fiercer, solidarity disappears and the barriers to membership in this insecure and apprehensive class grow higher. According to the New York Times, 2007 was the "most selective spring in modern memory at America's elite schools." You can bet that next year another record will be set.
After attending the 9/11 panel last night, I would have to agree that the activist community is tending toward the senior citizen set. In reference to the smaller number of young participants:
Public service and penury, Brook demonstrates, too often go hand in hand. As a result, "the activist community has become an assemblage of idealistic young people taking a few years off before professional school or a corporate job, a handful of liberal trustfunders, and a slew of eccentric nonconformists.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Tyrannies
Went to an art show at the Jeff Electric Gallery in Silver Lake this afternoon that was a photographic exhibit of 100 couples. Details here: http://www.day19.com/text/?p=128
It was really interesting that, in a lot of cases, the couples looked like each other (or maybe that was an illusion). But, even in Bohoville, the show made me feel the tyranny of coupledom, as if we are all supposed to match up, like in that children's game where you turn over two squares at a time, looking for the identical pair. It didn't help that the other onlookers were all in couples.
Oddly, an ex-boyfriend rang me on my cell while I was at the gallery. Later that afternoon, I met a date for coffee in an attempt to find my matching square.
But enough about the trivialities of my love life. This evening I attended a 9/11 Truth panel with Ed Asner. What, you might ask, do alternative 9/11 theories have to do with a blog about a single, thirtysomething woman uprooting her life and moving to Los Angeles? Well, maybe 9/11 isn't related to the fact that I have subpar health insurance and poorly-paying job prospects and am under the thumb of the nefarious temp agencies, of which there have been no books written about. I will let you draw your own conclusions, but this website is worth a look:
http://www.patriotsquestion911.com/
It was really interesting that, in a lot of cases, the couples looked like each other (or maybe that was an illusion). But, even in Bohoville, the show made me feel the tyranny of coupledom, as if we are all supposed to match up, like in that children's game where you turn over two squares at a time, looking for the identical pair. It didn't help that the other onlookers were all in couples.
Oddly, an ex-boyfriend rang me on my cell while I was at the gallery. Later that afternoon, I met a date for coffee in an attempt to find my matching square.
But enough about the trivialities of my love life. This evening I attended a 9/11 Truth panel with Ed Asner. What, you might ask, do alternative 9/11 theories have to do with a blog about a single, thirtysomething woman uprooting her life and moving to Los Angeles? Well, maybe 9/11 isn't related to the fact that I have subpar health insurance and poorly-paying job prospects and am under the thumb of the nefarious temp agencies, of which there have been no books written about. I will let you draw your own conclusions, but this website is worth a look:
http://www.patriotsquestion911.com/
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Rock, Hard Place
Drove to Santa Monica for a tennis date with a guy who grew up in Houston and was (surprise, surprise) an RTF major at UT. Afterwards I had dinner with another good friend from Austin who is out here scouting work because, according to him, the entertainment market in Austin has run dry.
Our conversation definitely gave me pause regarding moving back. A couple more acquintances have moved from Austin since I left, and the last remnants of the old gang seem to have dissolved.
Our conversation definitely gave me pause regarding moving back. A couple more acquintances have moved from Austin since I left, and the last remnants of the old gang seem to have dissolved.
Moore Please
I got called by my current agency on Friday about temping as an assistant at a well-known Industry rag that is located very close to where I live, and the job actually paid a whole $15 an hour! But I had to say no because I'm supposed to go in on Monday to train the new hire at my current gig, and I have that job interview on Tuesday.
I walked over to the Grove last night to see Sicko. The ticket cost $12.50, so I had to sneak into a second film afterwards to maximize the expenditure (but I'm glad I applied my ticket to Sicko's box office). In any case, Sicko was very good, but, of course, depressing. I can certainly relate right now, as I'm paying a monthly bill for what amounts to catastrophic health insurance and have had to ignore two or three health issues that I would have seen a doctor for in the past. And I'm grinding my teeth like the 9/11 rescue worker in the film.
Moore is right that we are handcuffed to jobs by the need for health insurance. It's amazing that if I lived in Europe or Canada, I could just waltz into a doctor's office for free.
Obviously I should have moved to France, but they wouldn't have let me stay...
I walked over to the Grove last night to see Sicko. The ticket cost $12.50, so I had to sneak into a second film afterwards to maximize the expenditure (but I'm glad I applied my ticket to Sicko's box office). In any case, Sicko was very good, but, of course, depressing. I can certainly relate right now, as I'm paying a monthly bill for what amounts to catastrophic health insurance and have had to ignore two or three health issues that I would have seen a doctor for in the past. And I'm grinding my teeth like the 9/11 rescue worker in the film.
Moore is right that we are handcuffed to jobs by the need for health insurance. It's amazing that if I lived in Europe or Canada, I could just waltz into a doctor's office for free.
Obviously I should have moved to France, but they wouldn't have let me stay...
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Peachy
I stumbled across a discarded section of today's L.A. newspaper at the gym and found out that the first Bush/Cheney impeachment center has opened up around the corner from where I live. The story is here:
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-impeach5jul05,0,3983892.story?coll
=la-home-center
Maybe it's a sign that I should get to stuffing some envelopes.
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-impeach5jul05,0,3983892.story?coll
=la-home-center
Maybe it's a sign that I should get to stuffing some envelopes.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
The Financial Review
I've spent a happy 4th this morning "running the numbers." I've decided the decision deadline on "should I stay or should I go" is November 1st. I don't want to keep temping full-time until then, but it would definitely help if I could find a long-term, part-time temp gig that would allow me to be available for interviews or for subbing at the library.
If I still haven't found a good job by November, I'll have to decide if I like L.A. enough to keep looking for jobs and/or waiting on the library, knowing if I take a position after that point I'll be committing to at least a second year of living here. My car insurance payment will be coming up in January, and it'll cost me twice as much if I stay on. My condo won't be available until June 1st, so I'd have to move back home to Houston or in with a roommate in Austin if I do leave. It should be easy to find someone to drive back with me around Thanksgiving if I decide to head back.
In the meantime I'm going to get back out there socially, which equates to more dating, as there doesn't seem to be a whole lot else going on here at this age, and I've done the research.
On Tuesday I have an interview with an association related to the entertainment industry that could be considered a prestigious place to work, although it might be on the senior citizen side. The job as initially described to me sounded like event planning, but in actuality it's formatting contracts, and it only pays in the high 20s. The workplace will have to seem like a barrel of laughs for me to be interested.
I looked back over my temping jobs, and yes indeed, anything that could even remotely fall under the entertainment umbrella paid the lowest temp wages, about $11 an hour. I did get called last week about a temp receptionist position paying $16 an hour at a news studio in Santa Monica (another "entertainment" position), but I was already in a temp job, and frankly that offer wasn't that appealing either. I don't mind starting at the bottom rung, but it needs to be on a ladder I want to climb! The Big Important Talent Agency job that was floated by me so many months ago only paid in the high 20s, but it was in the story department (up my alley), was a short commute, and the contacts would have been invaluable. The cruiseline job paid similarly low at 30k, but it seemed fun, and I got a free cruise! But those jobs didn't come through.
I've also checked out some other library systems in L.A. and no dice as far as openings.
If I still haven't found a good job by November, I'll have to decide if I like L.A. enough to keep looking for jobs and/or waiting on the library, knowing if I take a position after that point I'll be committing to at least a second year of living here. My car insurance payment will be coming up in January, and it'll cost me twice as much if I stay on. My condo won't be available until June 1st, so I'd have to move back home to Houston or in with a roommate in Austin if I do leave. It should be easy to find someone to drive back with me around Thanksgiving if I decide to head back.
In the meantime I'm going to get back out there socially, which equates to more dating, as there doesn't seem to be a whole lot else going on here at this age, and I've done the research.
On Tuesday I have an interview with an association related to the entertainment industry that could be considered a prestigious place to work, although it might be on the senior citizen side. The job as initially described to me sounded like event planning, but in actuality it's formatting contracts, and it only pays in the high 20s. The workplace will have to seem like a barrel of laughs for me to be interested.
I looked back over my temping jobs, and yes indeed, anything that could even remotely fall under the entertainment umbrella paid the lowest temp wages, about $11 an hour. I did get called last week about a temp receptionist position paying $16 an hour at a news studio in Santa Monica (another "entertainment" position), but I was already in a temp job, and frankly that offer wasn't that appealing either. I don't mind starting at the bottom rung, but it needs to be on a ladder I want to climb! The Big Important Talent Agency job that was floated by me so many months ago only paid in the high 20s, but it was in the story department (up my alley), was a short commute, and the contacts would have been invaluable. The cruiseline job paid similarly low at 30k, but it seemed fun, and I got a free cruise! But those jobs didn't come through.
I've also checked out some other library systems in L.A. and no dice as far as openings.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Nights Spent Crying Into Pillow, Part II
It turns out that the question in my interview about part-time jobs was hypothetical, as in, if a part-time reference job came open in the future, would you be interested. I thought my three-month journey through the library interview process was finally coming to fruition, but it appears that I may have to wait for future adult services jobs to open up and interview again for those. Needless to say, I spent a weepy night and day over this. I was so looking forward to getting off the temp bus!
I do have an interview coming up to be a library sub, but I don't know how often that need arises within a reasonable commuting distance, and I don't seem to handle the waiting game very well.
I wrote one of my old placement agencies today (not in entertainment) and told them I would like to interview for any permanent positions that paid at least 45-55k and were located in my area of the city. I've become unable to stomach the idea of working full-time for 35k or less. In a city this expensive, it's positively Dickensian to pay those kinds of wages.
I can't take the low-paying temp gigs much longer either.
I am now setting a deadline for a decent job coming through for me here before I bail back to Texas. It's looking like September. Honestly, I could lie around on the couch at mom's, collect rent on my condo in Austin, and end up in the exact same financial position as working at a full-time, low-paying job in L.A. that barely covers the bills. Not a pretty picture for a 37-year-old, but economically it's entirely logical.
I do have an interview coming up to be a library sub, but I don't know how often that need arises within a reasonable commuting distance, and I don't seem to handle the waiting game very well.
I wrote one of my old placement agencies today (not in entertainment) and told them I would like to interview for any permanent positions that paid at least 45-55k and were located in my area of the city. I've become unable to stomach the idea of working full-time for 35k or less. In a city this expensive, it's positively Dickensian to pay those kinds of wages.
I can't take the low-paying temp gigs much longer either.
I am now setting a deadline for a decent job coming through for me here before I bail back to Texas. It's looking like September. Honestly, I could lie around on the couch at mom's, collect rent on my condo in Austin, and end up in the exact same financial position as working at a full-time, low-paying job in L.A. that barely covers the bills. Not a pretty picture for a 37-year-old, but economically it's entirely logical.
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