St. Patty's Weekend

As I write this, I have been up since 5am. Well, I tried to go to sleep around 1:30 last night, but knowing I had to wake up super early and because my roommates are loud, I slept for maybe two hours, restlessly. Somehow I made it through the past 13 hours. I attribute that to sheer adrenaline and lots of coffee. I worked a casting call for the NBC show America's Got Talent. It's like American Idol except with all ages and all kinds of entertainment acts. I was at the Navy Pier all day helping with registration. It's been over a year since the last time I worked a production job. The thing is, they are grueling, but a lot of fun. You meet cool people both from Chicago and L.A and get free catered meals all day long. When I arrived at 5:30am, there was a bevy of bagels, muffins, coffee and even hard boiled eggs set out. Yum. And you get paid decently although the hours suck. After 12 hours, time and a half kicks in where the real money is made. I'm going back to work tomorrow. At least my call time will be 7am. I wish I could work more production jobs, like one weekend a month. That'd help my financial issues. Plus I like keeping in touch with the LA scene. I always apply for movies and casting calls, but rarely get calls anymore. I wish I could get a job on the Johnny Depp film shooting here. Oh well. When I work production jobs, I get hyper focused. I feel disoriented, like I'm in my own world. I can't shut out all that other crap, temporarily. I also get extremely sleepy. I think I may actually be on the show because today they filmed a bit with me and one of the contestants. Watch for me! I'm going to be famous...or more like infamous.

This weekend feels like a blur. Friday night I saw the Magnetic Fields in concert. They simply blew me away. I was skeptical going into it, but they were great (even though they didn't play any of my fave songs). I wish I could've gone to all their shows. Saturday I got up early to hawk Onions on Michigan Ave for the parade. At noon, everyone was totally trashed and rowdy. Why do people start drinking at 9am on St. Patty's Day? So, I almost died on Saturday. For the Onion, we were all supposed to meet at Columbia College. I got there early and went inside to warm up. I realized an open house was going on with free food, so I took advantage of it. I started to eat a cheese sandwich and swallowed a huge chunk and literally started to choke. My airwaves were cut off to the point I couldn't breathe. Seriously. I was choking! I didn't want to make a big scene, but I thought, this is how I'm going out: Eating a cheese sandwich at Columbia College, all alone. Luckily I was able to cough off the chunk of bread, albeit to my embarrassment. I'm hoping no one noticed. That was such a silly ordeal. It reminded me of a scene on 30 Rock (I know I keep referring to it, but I've been watching a lot of episodes lately. Great stuff). One day, Alec Baldwin's character tries to set up Tina Fey on a date but she declines. He jokes she'll choke and die alone. That night, she's eating a tv dinner and starts to choke but gives herself the Heimlich Maneuver. The next day she agrees to go on that date. Sigh. My life is a tv show.

Anyway, after working the parade, I met a friend for some drinks then went to a St. Patty's Day dinner party with lots of beer, corned beef and cabbage and potatoes. After, I went to see Dave Navarro DJ at a douchebag club, Enclave. Dave Navarro used to be married to Carmen Electra and played in Jane's Addiction. Major douchebag. So this club was ridiculous. There was a $50 cover to get in (I was on the guest list thus exempt), everyone was overdressed, no one was wearing green and drinks were pricey. And the music sucked. I had to cover the event for Time Out, so they made me go. I simply don't fit in at clubs like that but at least I can say I was there.

So, this week is gonna be busy. I'm working on the tv show again tomorrow and have a ton of writing to do. I just got a job freelancing for Metromix, which is so awesome and huge! I'm going to be working in the Tribune building updating listings for them (and getting paid). Then hopefully they'll let me write features. I'm nervous because I want to do a good job and already have assignments due. The bad part is they told me I can't write for My Open Bar and Time Out anymore because it's a conflict of interest. I don't know what I'm going to do about that. I don't want to give those up because they pay a little. But Metromix is a great opportunity and is a good thing after not getting that Time Out job. I'll just have to see what happens.

I'm pretty work focused right now, which is positive. I really need to get my career on track. I just have to do it. I really need to live alone, too. Living in my current situation is very distracting. I'm going to a couple of shows this week and who knows what else will arise. I still need to get my taxes done but I'm waiting on a 1099 form that may or may not ever arrive. Big sigh. By the way, douchebag has become my fave word. I can't stop using. I'm constantly surrounded by d-bags. There are certain friends I feel like I've grown closer to in the past couple of months and others I've grown quite distant from that I used to be close with. It's like you can't be close with everyone at once. There's always going to be some sort of divide. I don't know why that is. It does bother me on some level but sometimes you don't have control over it. There are circumstances beyond your control. You just have to hope they'll somehow come back to you. Then there are those friendships that aren't fleeting, that you know no matter what, you'll always be close. Those are rare relationships, indeed.