Yes, I am back in the States. All six of you who read this most likely know because I’ve seen you.
It is wonderful being back! All the things that were missed while away were waiting with open arms upon my return. Even large to-go coffee greeted me with a warm, caffeine-induced smile.
After my return, and Christmas, the Midwest Eckerts made their way to North Carolina to ring in the New Year with the East Coast Eckerts. It was a difficult trip because one: I didn’t want to get on a plane again, and two: apparently, unbeknownst to us, John Carpenter’s The Fog was rolling in. I’ve never witnessed such fog (*see Eddie Izzard bit about San Francisco and fog… very funny)… it was so bad that our flight was canceled and we took a lovely little bus ride to Minneapolis to catch a plane there, not knowing if the weather was any better.
It was and we got to North Carolina safe and sound. We proceeded to spend the next five days sitting on the beach. It was amazing. The beach house we rented had seven rooms, each with their own bathroom, a hot tub, TVs galore and hey, most importantly, the beach. I read three books and enjoyed the wonderful cookings of the Kennedy family. I was sad to leave and come back to the real world.
Classes started this week and I don’t know quite how I feel about them yet. I do enjoy class, but being on campus and having a few people who’ve been with me my entire collegiate career gone has been distinct. Things feel the same, yet there are slight differences in people which makes me feel like I’ve missed more than I wanted.
Of course, being back means that the family I got to be apart of while away are now the ones afar. I miss them dearly… even moupe a few of them (Christy, you know what I mean.) Plans are indeed already made to see a few of them the first chance I get. These were wonderful people whom I was blessed to meet.
Oh, and again thanks Mom (not Marissa) for sending me things while abroad… it was wonderful getting your lovely cards!
Until next time… I’ll be enjoying the novelty of being 21 back here in the States.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Wanted: 24/7 Diner
Excitement and pure fear would almost seem to be mutually exclusive, but these two feelings seem to come hand in hand with filmmaking.
Jonathon and I shoot our project in exactly one week… thus the stress levels are high. For today though, the film is safely in the back of my mind. I should pull out the script and I should continue to storyboard and figure details out, but the overwhelming feeling of leaving it hidden in my backpack seems like a better idea. Right now, I just want to sit down in a coffee shop that isn’t overpriced, with free wireless internet and drink a white mocha with a banana nut muffin. Unfortunately, I have to settle for an expensive cup of filtered coffee, no muffin, and wireless for a crown a minute.
It’s been interesting the things that I’ve come to miss while studying here in Prague. Of course I miss my family and friends, that was to be expected… but missing the equivalent of a Perkins wasn’t something I had anticipated; a twenty-four hour establishment where a student can go get coffee and pie while writing a paper until three in the morning is something Prague should look into. This sort of business would also offer some amazing drunk-food at five in the morning when coming back from a club… not that I’ve been in that specific situation…
I miss ordering a coffee to-go that is larger than the size of a shot glass as well. Keeping the purse strings tight, I have not invested in a coffee maker here, (actually, I did go halvsies on a French press but have been unable to find the correct coffee for it) thus I’ve been reduced to making instant coffee in the morning. Some mornings, when instant just won’t due, I make my way to a coffee house for some delicious take-away coffee. Now, imagine the little Dixie cups you use at a water-cooler… do have that image in your head?? Well that, filled with coffee, is what to-go coffee is here; even when providing them with my large travel mug, they only fill it half way… it’s like they think coffee isn’t healthy or something and therefore you shouldn’t have too much. Frankly, I don’t understand it!
Other news… my brother came home from Iraq this weekend, so welcome back big brother! And as always, thank you – I’m so very proud of your ugly face!
My time here is creeping to an end and I feel that by the time December 20th comes, I’ll be more than ready to get on that plane. Prague is truly a lovely place, and I’m so glad that I’ve taken part in this adventure, but being away from family and friends has opened my eyes to how integral they all are to my day to day joy. I miss the way certain people laugh, and the way certain people hug; I miss certain people’s humor! I look forward to seeing you ALL again!
Jonathon and I shoot our project in exactly one week… thus the stress levels are high. For today though, the film is safely in the back of my mind. I should pull out the script and I should continue to storyboard and figure details out, but the overwhelming feeling of leaving it hidden in my backpack seems like a better idea. Right now, I just want to sit down in a coffee shop that isn’t overpriced, with free wireless internet and drink a white mocha with a banana nut muffin. Unfortunately, I have to settle for an expensive cup of filtered coffee, no muffin, and wireless for a crown a minute.
It’s been interesting the things that I’ve come to miss while studying here in Prague. Of course I miss my family and friends, that was to be expected… but missing the equivalent of a Perkins wasn’t something I had anticipated; a twenty-four hour establishment where a student can go get coffee and pie while writing a paper until three in the morning is something Prague should look into. This sort of business would also offer some amazing drunk-food at five in the morning when coming back from a club… not that I’ve been in that specific situation…
I miss ordering a coffee to-go that is larger than the size of a shot glass as well. Keeping the purse strings tight, I have not invested in a coffee maker here, (actually, I did go halvsies on a French press but have been unable to find the correct coffee for it) thus I’ve been reduced to making instant coffee in the morning. Some mornings, when instant just won’t due, I make my way to a coffee house for some delicious take-away coffee. Now, imagine the little Dixie cups you use at a water-cooler… do have that image in your head?? Well that, filled with coffee, is what to-go coffee is here; even when providing them with my large travel mug, they only fill it half way… it’s like they think coffee isn’t healthy or something and therefore you shouldn’t have too much. Frankly, I don’t understand it!
Other news… my brother came home from Iraq this weekend, so welcome back big brother! And as always, thank you – I’m so very proud of your ugly face!
My time here is creeping to an end and I feel that by the time December 20th comes, I’ll be more than ready to get on that plane. Prague is truly a lovely place, and I’m so glad that I’ve taken part in this adventure, but being away from family and friends has opened my eyes to how integral they all are to my day to day joy. I miss the way certain people laugh, and the way certain people hug; I miss certain people’s humor! I look forward to seeing you ALL again!
Friday, October 24, 2008
It Takes Two
Christy and I are welcoming the weekend with open arms. Today marks the start of a much needed break; we have been graced with a five-day vacation. The other students in the program have decided to travel, some visiting Budapest, others to Italy, even the Czech buddies have vacated the flats. Christy and I are the only two left! Having decided to stay behind and take in the unvisited sights of Prague, we are both excited for some touristy fun as well as some peace and quiet!
The two month marker of calling Prague home is fast approaching and thus the break couldn’t have come at a better time. Over the past six weeks, we’ve been attending our ‘Topics in Production’ classes as well as our elective courses. It’s been wonderful sitting in class, absorbing film theory, history, and criticism, all of which are new subjects for me. The program back in Nebraska is mostly technically based, so these courses have offered the perfect compliment to what I’ve already learned. One of my favorite classes is Camera and Film Language. The material being taught in the course is very basic, but this is the first time that compositional theories besides the 1/3rd rule have been articulated for me. I have a growing eagerness to apply and utilize all these ideas for future projects.
As much as I’ve been enjoying the academia here, after class, the only thing I want to interact with is my bed. Total, we sit in class around fourteen times during the week and this has proven to be exhausting. I’m a homebody on the weekends; recuperating and of course working instead of bopping around the city. This was the reasoning behind staying in Prague. Christy and I are excited for our desired rest but also, I can’t rightly be here for four months and not visit Kafka’s grave or the Charles Bridge. Plus, at the moment, Prague is particularly enchanting! The leaves have turned all the wonderful colors that accompany the fabulous season of fall. (The past three years in Nebraska have been unsatisfactory falls; not offering much of the fall spectacle, so I’m happy to stay here and take pictures of the charming city.)
Some of you have heard of the frustrating time Jonathon and I have had coming up with an idea for our film project. I came here with an idea and script already in hand, and frankly, it was and is fabulous. The teachers however, in their infinite wisdom, vetoed the idea… well, maybe not vetoed it so much as kept trying to change it into something it wasn’t. Leaving Sean’s script on the back burner, we continued to rack our brains for three weeks. Each time we came up with something new it would be changed into a story neither Jonathon nor I wanted to tell. Luckily, our perseverance has paid off and we have the skeleton of our story and I’m excited, and relieved, about it. The script is due on Nov. 5th and the week after, our ‘Topics in Production’ classes end and we go into preproduction! That’ll be when things get really crazy… I can’t wait!
Everyone enjoy Halloween… sadly, it’s not celebrated here, but I think we’ll figure out some way to observe the awesome holiday anyway!
(Oh, and if you think Christmas comes out too early in the States… it isn’t even November yet and Christmas goods are starting to occupy the store shelves here! The giant chocolate Santas are particularly enticing!)
P.S – 1st Lt. Andrew Eckert… I’ve had some amazing milkshakes here! Thinking of you!
The two month marker of calling Prague home is fast approaching and thus the break couldn’t have come at a better time. Over the past six weeks, we’ve been attending our ‘Topics in Production’ classes as well as our elective courses. It’s been wonderful sitting in class, absorbing film theory, history, and criticism, all of which are new subjects for me. The program back in Nebraska is mostly technically based, so these courses have offered the perfect compliment to what I’ve already learned. One of my favorite classes is Camera and Film Language. The material being taught in the course is very basic, but this is the first time that compositional theories besides the 1/3rd rule have been articulated for me. I have a growing eagerness to apply and utilize all these ideas for future projects.
As much as I’ve been enjoying the academia here, after class, the only thing I want to interact with is my bed. Total, we sit in class around fourteen times during the week and this has proven to be exhausting. I’m a homebody on the weekends; recuperating and of course working instead of bopping around the city. This was the reasoning behind staying in Prague. Christy and I are excited for our desired rest but also, I can’t rightly be here for four months and not visit Kafka’s grave or the Charles Bridge. Plus, at the moment, Prague is particularly enchanting! The leaves have turned all the wonderful colors that accompany the fabulous season of fall. (The past three years in Nebraska have been unsatisfactory falls; not offering much of the fall spectacle, so I’m happy to stay here and take pictures of the charming city.)
Some of you have heard of the frustrating time Jonathon and I have had coming up with an idea for our film project. I came here with an idea and script already in hand, and frankly, it was and is fabulous. The teachers however, in their infinite wisdom, vetoed the idea… well, maybe not vetoed it so much as kept trying to change it into something it wasn’t. Leaving Sean’s script on the back burner, we continued to rack our brains for three weeks. Each time we came up with something new it would be changed into a story neither Jonathon nor I wanted to tell. Luckily, our perseverance has paid off and we have the skeleton of our story and I’m excited, and relieved, about it. The script is due on Nov. 5th and the week after, our ‘Topics in Production’ classes end and we go into preproduction! That’ll be when things get really crazy… I can’t wait!
Everyone enjoy Halloween… sadly, it’s not celebrated here, but I think we’ll figure out some way to observe the awesome holiday anyway!
(Oh, and if you think Christmas comes out too early in the States… it isn’t even November yet and Christmas goods are starting to occupy the store shelves here! The giant chocolate Santas are particularly enticing!)
P.S – 1st Lt. Andrew Eckert… I’ve had some amazing milkshakes here! Thinking of you!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Laws of Flying
Well, it has been one month and a day since I’ve been here in the lovely city of Prague and much has happened!
The eight and a half hour plane ride from Chicago to Frankfurt, the defining event of the trip at first, feels like a lifetime ago. Crossing the Atlantic started our trip off poorly and on that plane, our high spirits quickly dissipated. The plane ride would have been fabulous, I’m sure, if the unwritten sky rules… nay, laws, had been obeyed. The most important of these laws is the one that clearly states “Do not put your seat back!” I know, I know… I’m short, so why would this affect me? Short I may be, but my preferred way of sleeping on a plane is laying my head on the tray-table, and when the horrid man in front of me lies back, I don’t fit!
So, with the tray-table unavailable, Jonathon and I proceeded to try every other possible position to fall asleep: curled up, sprawled out, lying on each other, switching seats, throwing my legs over the arm rest, lying across the aisle… the list goes on… but, nothing worked. By the time Jonathon and I arrived in Frankfurt after the all night flight, we had accumulated about twenty minutes of sleep between the two of us.
After that came the ten hour layover at Frankfurt, the short plane ride to the Czech Republic and another ten hour wait until we were picked up. The nicest thing about our trip was that when we finally arrived at our flats, we were not allowed to take a nap, despite it being 10 in the morning. They were concerned about jetlag. I tried to explain that after not sleeping for 48 hours, jetlag wasn’t really a high concern of mine.
Since then, I’ve been able to catch up on my sleep so you need not be worried.
About a week after arriving in Prague, it was my 21st birthday! Yes, I am now 21… but sadly the drinking age here is 18, so really, the novelty of being legal hasn’t hit me. I think it will once I’m back in the States and get carded. Then I can whip out the ID and say “Boo-Ya! 21!”
What else? We’ve been dancing up a storm here in Europe, going to clubs and pubs galore; it’s true, the beer is cheaper than water, plus it’s delicious. Akropolis is a club that we frequent and many adventures involve that lovely little place. One specifically I’d like to share:
We started our night at the Rock Café, another club we attend often. Deciding that some dancing needed to happen, we left and walked to the tram stop to continue on to Akropolis.
But Christy doesn’t have her tram pass! Not to worry, I would walk back with her to the apartments and we would meet up with everyone at the club. Halfway back, Christy decided she would just call it a night. “Will you be okay? Should I go with you so you’re not alone?” “No,” I reply, “I have been there before.” And I have, but in my impatience, I jump on the wrong tram misreading the name of a stop (it looks a lot like the stop needed in my defense!)
Twenty minutes later, realizing this tram does not go to the correct stop, I get off. I wait for tram #55 in the not-so-nice looking neighborhood at 1:30 in the morning. Smart, I know.
Now, tram stops have trams going two ways; in opposite directions. The tram that was going in the correct direction wouldn't arrive for another twenty minutes, and it was cold. So I got on the one going the wrong direction thinking that after it got to the last stop, it would simply circle around to the first stop and the list would start over. THIS IS NOT THE CASE! At the last stop, the tram began to slow in a neighborhood without any lights and creepy, vacant, rapist trams sitting all around.
I am told I have to get off and I have no idea where I am!
I start walking, following the tram tracks back. I’ll simply wait at the next stop I come across. No problem… except the shady character that got off at the last stop as well starts to follow me. Now, I say ‘follow me’ in the sense of he’s walking behind me in the same direction I’m going… but come on… young girl… all alone, I assumed he was following me. I stuffed my wallet in my pants, incase he was after my purse, and I picked up my pace.
Luckily, tram #55, going the right direction, was the first stop I came to… I hopped the hell on. (It was about 2:30 at this point.) I rode the tram for about an hour to the stop needed. At one point, a friend called, wondering where I was. I told him about the mix up and said I’d be there in about fifteen minutes; I still had about 10 stops before mine.
It is probably important to note that I hadn’t bought credit for my phone, so I couldn’t call anyone; I could only receive calls. This will be important for later!
I get off at the stop I was told… which is, of course, the wrong stop! Not to panic, I will just continue to follow the tracks until I see the stop that I recognize from our other trips here. But, to make a long story… not so short at all, I ended up getting lost in this neighborhood trying to find the damn club! No phone, no map, freezing cold! And of course, the few people I came across on the dark, deserted streets at three in the morning didn’t speak English. “Kde Akropolis?” would be answered with general hand waves in ambiguous directions. I even stopped a taxi, and the man obviously knew where the club was, but wouldn’t take me there! To top things off, my friends, knowing I was safe from the phone call earlier, left and the person waiting for me ran out of credit on his phone, so he couldn’t call me either!
A short, drunk, but well-spoken Australian man came to my rescue with a map and was kind enough to help me find my way. At 4:30 in the morning, having left at 1:30, I made it to Akropolis!
That’s been the biggest adventure I’ve had thus far. Right now, our third week of film classes and our second week of electives is starting. The classes here are amazing. I’ve yet to see one teacher lecture from a book… wonderful!
We’ve also found out that we are not special. We were told that we were the first Americans accepted to this prestigious program, but this was false! Also, we are all pretty sure that we were the only people to apply… so really not special at all! However, I don’t think the group could be much better. The ten of us, now 11, (welcome Rachel) have a great group dynamic and everyone’s a blast to be around. I wait with high anticipation for the next three months!
Also… finally… here is my address:
ALLISON ECKERT C/O VERONIKA JANEČKOVÁ
V JIRCHÁŘÍCH 6
11000
PRAHA 1
ČZECH REPUBLIC
The eight and a half hour plane ride from Chicago to Frankfurt, the defining event of the trip at first, feels like a lifetime ago. Crossing the Atlantic started our trip off poorly and on that plane, our high spirits quickly dissipated. The plane ride would have been fabulous, I’m sure, if the unwritten sky rules… nay, laws, had been obeyed. The most important of these laws is the one that clearly states “Do not put your seat back!” I know, I know… I’m short, so why would this affect me? Short I may be, but my preferred way of sleeping on a plane is laying my head on the tray-table, and when the horrid man in front of me lies back, I don’t fit!
So, with the tray-table unavailable, Jonathon and I proceeded to try every other possible position to fall asleep: curled up, sprawled out, lying on each other, switching seats, throwing my legs over the arm rest, lying across the aisle… the list goes on… but, nothing worked. By the time Jonathon and I arrived in Frankfurt after the all night flight, we had accumulated about twenty minutes of sleep between the two of us.
After that came the ten hour layover at Frankfurt, the short plane ride to the Czech Republic and another ten hour wait until we were picked up. The nicest thing about our trip was that when we finally arrived at our flats, we were not allowed to take a nap, despite it being 10 in the morning. They were concerned about jetlag. I tried to explain that after not sleeping for 48 hours, jetlag wasn’t really a high concern of mine.
Since then, I’ve been able to catch up on my sleep so you need not be worried.
About a week after arriving in Prague, it was my 21st birthday! Yes, I am now 21… but sadly the drinking age here is 18, so really, the novelty of being legal hasn’t hit me. I think it will once I’m back in the States and get carded. Then I can whip out the ID and say “Boo-Ya! 21!”
What else? We’ve been dancing up a storm here in Europe, going to clubs and pubs galore; it’s true, the beer is cheaper than water, plus it’s delicious. Akropolis is a club that we frequent and many adventures involve that lovely little place. One specifically I’d like to share:
We started our night at the Rock Café, another club we attend often. Deciding that some dancing needed to happen, we left and walked to the tram stop to continue on to Akropolis.
But Christy doesn’t have her tram pass! Not to worry, I would walk back with her to the apartments and we would meet up with everyone at the club. Halfway back, Christy decided she would just call it a night. “Will you be okay? Should I go with you so you’re not alone?” “No,” I reply, “I have been there before.” And I have, but in my impatience, I jump on the wrong tram misreading the name of a stop (it looks a lot like the stop needed in my defense!)
Twenty minutes later, realizing this tram does not go to the correct stop, I get off. I wait for tram #55 in the not-so-nice looking neighborhood at 1:30 in the morning. Smart, I know.
Now, tram stops have trams going two ways; in opposite directions. The tram that was going in the correct direction wouldn't arrive for another twenty minutes, and it was cold. So I got on the one going the wrong direction thinking that after it got to the last stop, it would simply circle around to the first stop and the list would start over. THIS IS NOT THE CASE! At the last stop, the tram began to slow in a neighborhood without any lights and creepy, vacant, rapist trams sitting all around.
I am told I have to get off and I have no idea where I am!
I start walking, following the tram tracks back. I’ll simply wait at the next stop I come across. No problem… except the shady character that got off at the last stop as well starts to follow me. Now, I say ‘follow me’ in the sense of he’s walking behind me in the same direction I’m going… but come on… young girl… all alone, I assumed he was following me. I stuffed my wallet in my pants, incase he was after my purse, and I picked up my pace.
Luckily, tram #55, going the right direction, was the first stop I came to… I hopped the hell on. (It was about 2:30 at this point.) I rode the tram for about an hour to the stop needed. At one point, a friend called, wondering where I was. I told him about the mix up and said I’d be there in about fifteen minutes; I still had about 10 stops before mine.
It is probably important to note that I hadn’t bought credit for my phone, so I couldn’t call anyone; I could only receive calls. This will be important for later!
I get off at the stop I was told… which is, of course, the wrong stop! Not to panic, I will just continue to follow the tracks until I see the stop that I recognize from our other trips here. But, to make a long story… not so short at all, I ended up getting lost in this neighborhood trying to find the damn club! No phone, no map, freezing cold! And of course, the few people I came across on the dark, deserted streets at three in the morning didn’t speak English. “Kde Akropolis?” would be answered with general hand waves in ambiguous directions. I even stopped a taxi, and the man obviously knew where the club was, but wouldn’t take me there! To top things off, my friends, knowing I was safe from the phone call earlier, left and the person waiting for me ran out of credit on his phone, so he couldn’t call me either!
A short, drunk, but well-spoken Australian man came to my rescue with a map and was kind enough to help me find my way. At 4:30 in the morning, having left at 1:30, I made it to Akropolis!
That’s been the biggest adventure I’ve had thus far. Right now, our third week of film classes and our second week of electives is starting. The classes here are amazing. I’ve yet to see one teacher lecture from a book… wonderful!
We’ve also found out that we are not special. We were told that we were the first Americans accepted to this prestigious program, but this was false! Also, we are all pretty sure that we were the only people to apply… so really not special at all! However, I don’t think the group could be much better. The ten of us, now 11, (welcome Rachel) have a great group dynamic and everyone’s a blast to be around. I wait with high anticipation for the next three months!
Also… finally… here is my address:
ALLISON ECKERT C/O VERONIKA JANEČKOVÁ
V JIRCHÁŘÍCH 6
11000
PRAHA 1
ČZECH REPUBLIC
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Pregame
I bring you into my life as the first week of my Prague adventure comes to an end. For those of you who don’t know, I’m studying in the Czech Republic during this fall semester.
The details of the program are as follows: it’s an intensive semester where we study all aspects of production and make a 7 minute 16mm film. (We actually get a budget and everything!) We will also be taking some elective courses, but which ones exactly are still up in the air. What makes this more exciting is the program is shiny and new. I am one of the first 11, well I guess now 10, (bye Robert *sniffle) students participating in the program.
While here, I will also be compiling footage to create a small documentary. The generous people of the Gilman Foundation have provided me with some extra money, so I’ve purchased a sexy little camera and with my new baby I’ll show them what this school has to offer the average film student… or maybe slightly above average. Oh hell, who am I kidding; greatly above average… at least, that’s what Mom keeps telling me.
To catch everyone up, and I suppose a review for some of you, I’ll briefly tell you what I’ve been up to this glorious summer. To start off with, less than twenty four hours after my last final (which I aced and with it completed my third grueling year of higher education) I started working on an independent feature called April Showers. We worked more than twelve hours a day, six days a week, and it was splendid! My official title was Key Set Production Assistant; it sounds more important than it actually was.
After the movie wrapped, I started working for Mr. Steve Joy, abstract painter extraordinaire. Better than any retail job if I do say so myself. It was a job full of coffee and great meals out as well as a couple glamorous openings, and the array of people that I met through Steve was extraordinarily entertaining!
I said hello to Denver, CO with my sister and Ms. Josie Azzam. To understand Josie and my relationship, you need only to know one thing, we are avid Eddie Izzard fans. We purchased tickets for his stand-up show almost as soon as they went on sale. At one point, Eddie Izzard was a mere ten feet away from us! (He actually spoke to Josie which I’m still a little sour over.) A wonderful trip!
L.A. came next. What summer is complete without the beach? Some wonderful people I got to know during the film shoot just months earlier showed Nick, my roommate, and I around the city for a few days. During our short stay, Nick and I enjoyed DisneyLand, not DisneyWorld (apparently they are very different which Nick felt he needed to continually tell me) and Medieval Times, which might have been the most amazing dinner I have ever had. We also spent an afternoon at the beach, and I got a personal tour of the entirety of LA from a local.
I was home for about a week, and to be honest I wasn’t quite ready to go. Such an action-packed summer demands more than a week of relaxation at home, right?
But Prague came anyway and it’s been wonderful thus far. Details of my adventures here will soon follow, as well as my address for all you folks who want to send me stuff!
The details of the program are as follows: it’s an intensive semester where we study all aspects of production and make a 7 minute 16mm film. (We actually get a budget and everything!) We will also be taking some elective courses, but which ones exactly are still up in the air. What makes this more exciting is the program is shiny and new. I am one of the first 11, well I guess now 10, (bye Robert *sniffle) students participating in the program.
While here, I will also be compiling footage to create a small documentary. The generous people of the Gilman Foundation have provided me with some extra money, so I’ve purchased a sexy little camera and with my new baby I’ll show them what this school has to offer the average film student… or maybe slightly above average. Oh hell, who am I kidding; greatly above average… at least, that’s what Mom keeps telling me.
To catch everyone up, and I suppose a review for some of you, I’ll briefly tell you what I’ve been up to this glorious summer. To start off with, less than twenty four hours after my last final (which I aced and with it completed my third grueling year of higher education) I started working on an independent feature called April Showers. We worked more than twelve hours a day, six days a week, and it was splendid! My official title was Key Set Production Assistant; it sounds more important than it actually was.
After the movie wrapped, I started working for Mr. Steve Joy, abstract painter extraordinaire. Better than any retail job if I do say so myself. It was a job full of coffee and great meals out as well as a couple glamorous openings, and the array of people that I met through Steve was extraordinarily entertaining!
I said hello to Denver, CO with my sister and Ms. Josie Azzam. To understand Josie and my relationship, you need only to know one thing, we are avid Eddie Izzard fans. We purchased tickets for his stand-up show almost as soon as they went on sale. At one point, Eddie Izzard was a mere ten feet away from us! (He actually spoke to Josie which I’m still a little sour over.) A wonderful trip!
L.A. came next. What summer is complete without the beach? Some wonderful people I got to know during the film shoot just months earlier showed Nick, my roommate, and I around the city for a few days. During our short stay, Nick and I enjoyed DisneyLand, not DisneyWorld (apparently they are very different which Nick felt he needed to continually tell me) and Medieval Times, which might have been the most amazing dinner I have ever had. We also spent an afternoon at the beach, and I got a personal tour of the entirety of LA from a local.
I was home for about a week, and to be honest I wasn’t quite ready to go. Such an action-packed summer demands more than a week of relaxation at home, right?
But Prague came anyway and it’s been wonderful thus far. Details of my adventures here will soon follow, as well as my address for all you folks who want to send me stuff!
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