MONDAY
5 January 2009
Not too much excitement today. I had coffee with a friend, and was excited to start making contact with all the industry people who have been busy since the holidays. “Call me in the new year! Call me after the 1st. We’re hiring in January!” So it’s finally here, and that’s good news!
The end of my lease (April 1) is going to show up quickly, so I’ve started looking at apartments. I need to carefully consider where my next move is going to be, so I want to be clear on what I can get and for how much. I found one apartment in Marina del Rey that is actually a sailboat in the marina. How sweet would that be?! Living on the water in my own little S.S. Minnow. Plus, it was cheaper than most of the rentals I’d found on Craigslist.
After work yesterday, I made my way there to look at it. While I was waiting my turn for the boat owner/landlord to show me the boat, I realized how incredibly quiet it was. Wow. I’ve been nowhere in LA that was this quiet, not even in the ‘burbs in the Valley. It was noticeable. Cool. Water AND quiet. Mind you, with all of this, I still have no clue how I would pay for this rental at this time, but anyway…
It was finally my turn and the owner and I chatted while we walked there. He is a musician in town and he writes/performs music that promotes environmental awareness. OK, so he’s kindof a hippee like me. That’s cool. He’s an Italian guy (I think), so he has an accent that is delightful. During the showing, we talked about art and life and the Universe and creativity, so that was interesting. I can talk about that stuff endlessly with those willing to listen. He was an intriguing fellow. He meditates a lot, and he wants to make sure he rents the space to someone who will use the solitude and quiet of the marina to find peace in their own world, so that their calm energy will then emanate into the world. I can appreciate that. As for the boat…
Now, I’m not opposed to a small living space. Even in my room now with the limited stuff I brought with me from Minneapolis, it is astounding the mess I can create. For me, more space equates to more mess. (Hmm, maybe I should rewrite that story.) However, the boat was just a little TOO cozy. With a dog in the picture – which there will be – we’d be stepping on each other all the time. Actually, the boat – while charming – was the human equivalent of a dog crate, only I wouldn’t have enough room to stand up or turn around. I don’t think it’d be easy living an environment where you can’t stand fully upright without bonking your head.
Going with the dog crate analogy, this was also not a place in which I could go to the bathroom, since there wasn’t a working toilet onboard. Ouch. I can deal with having to go to the marina to shower, but when I’ve got to pee at 4 in the morning? Um, no. Or got forbid I eat some bad seafood or something. Eeew. I don’t even want to think about it. Would I have to buy a bedpan for these circumstances? Pee in a jug? Yeah, this really wasn’t the life I was envisioning for myself.
I enjoyed the chat with the landlord, though, and figured he must have a website where I could hear some of his music. I asked for a card, but he didn’t have one. [Sidebar: I am amazed at the number of people in Los Angeles -- the city of networking and connections -- who do not have cards at the ready every second. ONCE I've been 'caught' without my cards, and it was with a movie producer. Lesson learned.] Anyway, he said he’d send me some links since he still had my email. I told him regardless of how the boat situation works out, he should keep in touch. As artists, we need to support and help one another out, right? He agreed, saying we should grab coffee, meditate together and possibly exchange energies.
Um, I’m sorry… what was that last thing again? “We could exchange energies.” OK. Was that a come-on? I wasn’t sure. I stood there for a minute, thinking I must’ve looked like a deer caught in headlights, because this has never been proposed to me before. Then I realized I was just standing there and there had been an awkward pause where no one had spoken. I said something to end it, but what that was I can’t recall.
“Exchange energies.” I am giving that to y’all as a freebie. Try using it on your husbands, wives, significant others, boy/girlfriends, drunken nightclub hook-ups or online tricks and let me know how it works for you. I’ll publish the results after extensive data has been returned to me.
