The Whole Tree Huggin' Business

Finished the "fashion industry" job today. I will never look at those organic cotton clothes in Whole Earth the same way again, now that I have painstakingly applied "distressed" tags bearing "leaves" to similar garments. I don't think I sat down for more than thirty minutes today, and I had to put in overtime as we raced to the deadline. Steaming, folding, labelling, tagging. The fabric requires such gentle care that I can't help but think the Revolution could use a little poly blend.

This job was second in strenuousness to the gig at the "New Age" school, located just up the road.

I will say that some interesting characters work there-- not your typical tree huggers. Or are they? There was an Alan Arkin lookalike in the back room, barking on the phone to someone about his luxury sports car when he wasn't giving me the sexy eye. His wife (or girlfriend) kept calling for help from this beleagured pregnant assistant who shuffled up every time she whined her name. A tattoed surfer guy also came in to do his thing. Once everyone had left, he cranked up the music (and perhaps did some smoking out back with his friend).

I had to cancel my Friday night plans due to exhaustion. Tomorrow I'm getting up early to babysit for a French woman who lives a couple of doors down from me. We met at my last temp job.

I did get confirmed as a library sub today, but I have to get a medical exam before they can use me. I'm actually excited about this as it's a free checkup. I also received a letter asking me to interview for some more library positions. Yep, the library looks better and better.

Fakin' It

The traffic was SO BAD driving home from Santa Monica that I gave up at Sawtelle, pulled over, and ate dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. I then decided to finally visit a "pinkberry" yogurt place to see what all the fuss was about. Once I got over the slightly sour taste, I was enamored.

But now a lawsuit has been filed that pinkberry isn't really yogurt!

Factory Girl

My roommate auditioned for a game show gig today and kept me up last night asking for advice on outfits. Then I was woken up this morning with a call about a temp job in Santa Monica at a clothing manufacturer; the position involved helping one of the designers prepare for a trade show. Again, a stretch for "entertainment," but my agency did say this was an unusual job for them to place.

I agreed to take it and spent the day steaming and folding clothes and creating clothing labels. It was actually pretty taxing, and I go back again tomorrow.

Here's an odd story. Yesterday evening I had a drink with a date in Westwood, and while I was steaming the shirts this morning, he rang me on my cell. I couldn't pick it up when he called but figured I'd call him back over lunch. After several bungled attempts at finding a place to eat, I ended up in the Yahoo! courtyard, and just after I ordered something at the counter and was digging my cell phone out of my purse, I ran into him. Strange, as he doesn't even work at Yahoo! He was standing around with his friends, and it was awkward in a "high school cafeteria" type of way.

I told him I was stalking him (he looked like he believed me). We had lunch together. When I got back to work and told the designer what had happened, he responded that it was "just like a John Cusack movie."

Commitment

I wrote a friend over the weekend that I may be clinging emotionally to the escape hatch of Austin because I fear there really is no going back. I'm here and have to make it work.

Although I did some networking and signed up with a couple of new agencies while waiting on the library situation to pan out, I didn't take my job search all that seriously during those three months. Now I'm back on the stick. One of my dates over the weekend used to work for the #1 social networking website (you know the one), and he encouraged me to apply to all the "new media" companies in town, claiming that they are in hiring mode. Since Fox Interactive is right around the corner, I started with them. They do have a lot of jobs listed on their website, but then again, I had no luck trying to temp for them several months ago.

I also called in about my interest in interviewing for some jobs listed on one of my agency websites, only one of which is entertainment related.

My roommate D. is getting a bit panicky about finding work herself. She's applying for both acting jobs as well as rent-paying gigs. She actually gets responses from the Craigslist ads she applies to, which I find amazing and humbling. Not to paint too risque a picture, but we are both basically sitting around, scantily clad (due to the heat), typing furiously away at out laptops as we apply for jobs.

The Birds and The Lemons

There are hummingbirds in the flower bushes outside my front door these days, and I scooped up a large lemon that had fallen from a tree while walking home last week. Yet despite the fragrant atmosphere and all the increasingly interesting dates, my switch has yet to be flipped. I haven't had a bona fide crush since moving to L.A.

I do, however, have allergies (or a head cold), and I spent almost all of yesterday in bed reading "The Post-Birthday World" by Lionel Shriver. The protagonist in the novel is a woman in her early forties who is in a comfortable if plodding relationship but is tempted to abandon her ten-year partnership for a romance with a dashing but flighty snooker player. Alternating chapters follow the outcomes of staying or leaving, detailing the excitement along with the incredible tumult and stress that results from her choosing the snooker player but also demonstrating with the opposing storyline that there are no truly "safe" decisions. I related to the narrator's romantic conundrums but also drew parallels with my decision to leave Austin for L.A.

Not Yet the One

Went to a new, crowded, trendy club on Sunset last night called One. Loud music and lots of bare shoulders, highlighted hair, sparkling makeup, and pricey drinks. Same as a number of trendy clubs in Austin, the types I rarely frequented. I'm glad I got out, but it wasn't a conducive atmosphere for striking up conversation with people I barely know.

Earlier in the day I received a letter from the library stating I didn't receive a job offer from my interview. I believe this is because I knocked myself out of the running by stating job preferences that didn't match up to what they had on offer (I think mainly children's and teen service positions, although I was never told what actual jobs were available and at what locations). I could have saved myself some time and grief if they weren't so cryptic about what was on offer.

So back to Square One. Ugh. I registered with two local library employment agencies this morning and put my hat in the ring for some part-time, temporary positions that are a fairly significant commute from where I live. I figure maybe I can do the commute part-time. I'm still on the temp list for the two entertainment agencies, and I recontacted one of my former generic agencies and said I'd be interested in permanent work again if it paid a certain amount. I'm also in the running for library sub positions with the system that just interviewed me.

My job search has become totally schizo. I have three dates lined up this weekend, and I don't know how I am going to answer questions about what the heck I'm doing here.

Red Room

Last night I watched a test preview of a documentary in the red screening room at Endeavor, the real-life "Ari Gold" agency.

I was invited by my friend Y., who is in town from Austin, and while sitting next to him during the viewing, I kept thinking I was back there. When the lights came up, and I remembered I was in Los Angeles, surrounded by strangers I was supposed to be schmoozing with, I felt disoriented.