True Colors Are Beautiful Like a Rainbow

Well, blog, the job hunt has finally defeated me. I was thinking about making a list in this post of all of the places I applied at this summer, including follow up calls and interviews, however I feel like ultimately it is a) unproductive and b) really depressing so I'm going to just move on, haha.

In order to try to make up the money that I've been losing this summer, I'm going to try to put up a reading of what I've been writing in my plays at the studio@620. It's something I'm really nervous about, but extremely excited about at the same time. I have some other tricks up my sleeve that I'm probably going to be pulling out as well.

Yesterday was Gay Pride here in St. Petersburg and it was the first Pride that I was able to attend the festivities, and what a marvelous gay day it was! It was a HUGE event. I had no idea that many gay people existed in Florida! Well, apparently they do. In the afternoon Glenn went to work and I went over to Colleen's where we napped and showered, went to Ruth Eckerd to see's Jared's show Next Stop Broadway which was adorable. There was like a Laugh In style set with all of the windows that opened up and the kids would pop out and tell jokes. It was really great. The second half of it Colleen and I went up to the booth and made fun of them with Jared, Jamieson and Glenn, which was hilarious!

After the show we met up with Dowdy and Melipesa and went to G Bar (for those of you who don't know, it's an AMAZING gay club in downtown Ybor City in Tampa) where we prided it up. Then we all got McDonalds, threw fries at each other's cars, and watched the first half of Practical Magic which I'm convinced was the most depressing thing I've ever seen... Nicole Kidman is really weird, that's another thing that I got from that movie.

I talked to my Dad and Paige today, both of which made me immensely happy, took a nap (didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night) and then went for a run sans iPod, which I was nervous about as music keeps me motivated but it actually turned out to be really beautiful and nice. So now I'm all showered up, happy, tired, and in my PJ's... talking to Lauren Marangiello online (love that bitch) and am watching Reno 911 on TV...

Did you know life was really awesome? Because it is.

Writing Plays

Last night, I finally had a good night's sleep. It was I think the first time I had a good night of sleep since I've been home. Woke up this morning, Glenn went off to have a meeting with Bob at The Studio. Mom's at the swimming pool. I opted not to go, I wasn't feeling it today. I had a cup of coffee or two, and have been working on one of the plays that I started while I was still up in New York. I've kind of taken the state of mind that if nothing is going to come of my days, and no one is going to hire me (at the moment), I should at least get something productive done, because one of the reasons I've been so upset is that all of my activities have been seemingly put on hold for the time being. So, I started writing my plays again. I feel like this is a step in the right direction.

I don't really have anything else interesting to say.

Bad Dreams but Good Days

I am in a much better mood than my last post, ha ha. I spent all day today helping Glenn with a set design at Galaxy, so I got to see Kirsten Perea again. Love that bitch. She has looked and acted the same way for the past two decades, is Dutch, and was once a member of the Helen Hayes Theater before it burnt down and was rebuilt. Like, are you kidding me? And she still runs this children's theater in Pinellas Park as the Artistic and Executive Director. It's hard for a young person to take on both of those responsibilities. She's the most amazing person in the world, I'm convinced. So, needless to say, it was good to see her. Pocketed a little money from that to get through the week. Of course, by the end of this week, I will be securely employed, right? Surely this will happen.

Speaking of which, the list of places I have applied this summer continues to grow, with two new contenders as of this evening: Blockbuster and Best Buy. I should hear back from Panera by tomorrow whether or not they are going to hire me, and I will probably bus down to Target and put in an application there as well if Panera doesn't end up working out. Actually, I may put in an application anyway. These are not difficult-to-get-into jobs. Or so I thought. The saga continues.

Last night I had some disturbing dreams about apartment hunting next year. I finally found a place, but I was only able to afford a really piece of crap apartment in a bad part of town, and although I was comforted to know that I had somewhere to live, there were holes in the walls and such... really large holes. I looked out of the window to see the view and it was all construction vehicles. We were walking out of the apartment and there was a man sitting on the side of a bridge with a beige potato sack, from which he was taking children and throwing them off the bridge one after another. Needless to say, I did not feel secure. The summer is still young, I still have two more months and I'm trying my darnedest, and I have Girlie Show and Manifesto coming up, and I'll definitely get money from Girlie Show, so I'm not that worried yet. But you know, there's always a part of you assuming the worst.

Speaking of which, I've been informed that I'm officially the Manifesto workshop this summer! For those of you that don't know, my friend Dylan Glatthorn has been writing a musical for the past several years called Manifesto, and just this past year Paul Alexander, a New York Times Best Selling author, has agreed to hop on board and help Dylan with the book of the musical, which is INCREDIBLY exciting. He just released a book called Machiavelli's Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Karl Rove which he's getting a lot of press for: he was on Andersoon Cooper and CNN this past week. I heard a little bit about what they've been doing with the book and it continues to get more and more exciting, I hope that it does well... I'm so excited to see the script! And to get an opportunity to perform again... it's been awhile. I'll update more when we start rehearsing and such.

For the record, we've been doing a lot of bowling this summer. It's been great fun. Twedt's Lanes. Cheap Seminole Bowling Lanes. We've been improving, except for Dylan, although he started to "use his thumb" in the last game and reclaimed his dignity. Saw Melissa Oropesa and she gave me coins from Israel. So good! I don't think I'm ever going to be able to use them for anything though... they're currently sitting on my shelf. And I got to hang out with my cousins Chloe & Shelby this past Friday which was really great because I've missed them all year and really wanted to spend more time with them over the summer. Yay! I'm going to ask my Aunt Lisa if I can sneak into her fitness center... oh, I forgot to mention, I also applied at Gold's Gym because I saw an ad on Craigslist. Have yet to hear back from them. Seriously, the day I get a job will be like the happiest day of my life. It will be like a dream from someone else's life. Like, I just won the lottery good.

Oh! Another thing. I saw my first concert since like, Warped Tour three years ago. On Thursday night Colleen, Sheila, Valerie, and her sister Julie all went to go see Ingrid Michaelson at the State Theater downtown and she was fucking AMAZINGGGGG! Even better in concert, and so funny too, so entertaining. Took video of the concert and tried to edit it on FinalCut Pro for my Mac, only to find that it is much more complicated than I had anticipated... I'm going to have to take it a little bit at a time I guess. While we were there we unexpectedly met up with Rachel Scherer (I don't even remember the last time I saw her, so needless to say it was really good to see her), Britta and her mom Deidre. How amazing, right? It was great stuff.

Sunday night, up late, watching [adult swim] and updating my blog after a long day of work. Oh, yes. Yes yes yes. This has been a wonderful week. A hard week, but a wonderful one.

Summer....... or BUMMER?

Summer is beginning to set in and I'm finding that I'm not liking it. I was really looking forward to summer because I missed my family and friends back in Florida, but what I was not anticipating were the struggles that I've been finding down here that seem to loom over everything else. Life really sucks without a car. That's not going to change anytime soon. Life also really sucks without a job. I've spent the past two days making rounds around the Tampa Bay area looking for a job at places close to home (I need to be able to ride my bike there), and almost everywhere I've gone has had the same answer, "Right now we're fully staffed, but we'll definitely keep your application on file if anything pops up." I'm so tired of that! Why has it become so impossible for me to find a job? I'll admit that I was a little half-assed about finding a job towards the beginning of the summer, but I still was putting in applications and going to job fairs. Now that I've really stepped up my game, I guess I'm just feeling increasingly disappointed with how things are turning out. When you put more energy into something, you expect a greater outcome, but it seems that's not how this summer is turning out. More energy, less outcome. The fact that Ruth Eckerd fell through really upsets me because I was really counting on that money. Now that I'm not finding a job elsewhere, I'm beginning to panic. The only interview that turned out on the positive side is the interview I had at Panera Bread by my house, so I'm hoping to hear back from them in the next few days. But until I have a job, I don't have a job, and money has a way of being incredibly finite. My mom is not able to help out because she has a way of being incredibly bad with money, and my father is in North Carolina. PLEASE GOD GIVE ME A JOB!

Alright, otherwise, things are fine. I might go to dinner/hang out tonight with my friend Jenna Siladie who I haven't seen in months, so I'm looking forward to that a lot. I'm starting to realize that my friends are what make everything else feel a little less brutal. I've always realized that subconsciously, but I'm beginning to value them a lot more consciously (not that I didn't value them a lot already).

I love everyone who is close to me. I need to call my friends from New York. I've done a terrible job of keeping in touch. Friends from New York, expect phone calls from me soon, or call me, because I miss you all terribly. 

The First Three Weeks of Summer

I have been back in Florida for almost three weeks now, and I finally feel like I have my feet under me. This past year in New York has been incredible, but also extremely challenging as I have had to adjust to a completely new way of living. I feel like the first year of college is difficult for anyone, but the fact that mine happened to be in New York City only adds to it! It's been a wonderful three weeks home, though... I've had the opportunity to catch up with friends and family that I really missed while I was at school.

The past week I've been sooo lazy and I love it! I've just been watching reality shows on Bravo! and playing World of Warcraft (I know, such a loser, but it's SO GOOD) which has been incredible! I've been watching a lot of So You Think You Can Dance on YouTube and Step it Up and Dance on Bravo... the finale is tonight and I'm really excited about it. Tomorrow morning Valerie and I have a beach date so we can be tan and sexy.

Last night was Jamieson's party and I don't think that it would be an exaggeration to say that I got shit-blasted. I can't decide if doing so makes me reckless and stupid, but it was a lot of fun! Haha. It's hard to take life seriously all the time, it's nice to have a night every once and awhile where you and your friends just let loose and don't take each other seriously. Really wonderful. It was my first party in awhile, too, I really enjoyed myself. I think I may have left my camera over there... whatever, I'll figure it out.

Barry Hamilton called me today from Ruth Eckerd Hall and notified me that the numbers are low and they're not doing camp this year, so my high paying summer job fell through. What are the chances? This camp is something that happens every year, like for numerous years in the past. And there are always really high numbers. It's just my luck... oh, well. I called Starbucks today for a follow-up and they told me to call back on Saturday between open and noon, so I'm going to do that and hopefully something will turn out. Now that I'm not doing Ruth Eckerd I can work a lot more hours and I won't have as large of a conflict, so that may make me more hirable. I'm also looking forward to working on The Girlie Show, and I'm tentatively working on Manifesto, although I don't know in what capacity yet. I have a lot to look forward to.

Even though being home has been wonderful, I'm definitely missing the friends that I've made in New York. I've been iChatting with some of them (LOVE MY MAC!) and it's been great for keeping in touch, but sometimes it doesn't work and I get sad.

I'm drinking a blueberry banana smoothie and watching the Golden Girls with Glenn, which of course requires explicit attention, so I think I'll say bye for now... BYE!