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4.11.2011

4 jobs down.
123 more to go.

wait...what?

yes it's true. i've officially been through four jobs in my six months here in los angeles.

1. chiropractor's assistant
2. personal assistant
3. thrift shop employee
4. waitress

i know you're all wondering what happened to these last two jobs (numbers 3 and 4 on the above list) seeing as how i was only employed at both for about a month. to start off--let me say this: i was lucky to have been hired for not one, but two jobs. in this difficult economy in this gigantic city where i spent months and months unsuccessfully applying for jobs, it was great to have been offered these two opportunites. however, there was one thing i was missing from both of these jobs: security. as an employee at the thrift shop, the pay was painfully low and the position was very part-time. at the restaurant, i was only needed one day a week. if the point of a job is to bring in money, these two weren't really cutting it. of course i wasn't planning on leaving either place until a new opportunity presented itself, and last week--the unexpected finally happened.

an interview.

for a full time,
better paying,
monday-friday
job.

so i prepared myself in the only way i know how.


to those of you wondering what the hell this is--
for as long as i can remember, for every important morning i was faced with (a big test, the first day of school, a job intervew, etc.) i would calm myself down with one of these. as you've probably read in previous blogs, the silver foil surprise was a big part of my childhood. every morning, my dad would take my sister and i to school. although the drive was less than ten minues, he never let us get in the car without a good breakfast in our laps. my hair was usually unbrushed, my jeans were ripped, and my socks were on inside out--but to my dad, the most important pre-school ritual was the silver foil surprise. oddly enough it was never a "surprise" because inside the neatly folded package was always some form of an egg and cheese english muffin sandwich, but the name "silver foil surprise" stuck with us nonetheless.

as an adult (did i just call myself that?) i still continue the silver foil tradition for myself. on the days of my high school and college graduation, my dad was conveniently at the bottom of the stairs asking about breakfast. however, now that i live up the stairs and about two thousand miles to the west--i'm responsible for my own english muffins.
so, on the day of a potentially very important interview, it's no surprise that this found its way into my lap for the twenty five minute drive.


needless to say,
i got the job!
i know it appears as if i've been skipping from one job to the next, but a steady paycheck is the one thing i've been missing these past six months in hollywood. i realize that many of you are wondering "how are you planning on pursuing acting with a full time job?" but the truth is that i've been on ONE audition since i've been here. that doesn't mean that it wasn't one of the greatest days of my life, but let me put it to you this way: most people say that "making it" in the entertainment business in hollywood is like waiting in a ten year line at the post office.
what that means, is that you don't just step off of the plane and become an overnight success. you have to work at it and it takes time. i'm not--by any means--putting off the hard work, but when you're fresh off of the boat from north carolina, you need a few things to back up your talent.
in this big city, in one of the most competitive industries of the world, that means you need qualifications like classes, training, excellent headshots...
guess what all of these things require?


DING DING DING!

without a steady paycheck, i could hardly put money towards rent, so how was i supposed to pay for all of these other things that i need to get started? let me  break it down:

you can't get decent auditions without an agent.
you can't get an agent without experience.
you can't get experience without classes--which help build your social network and open up more doors and opportunities.

get it?

so for me, step one has always been "get enough money to turn these dreams into a reality." well, i've been through four jobs here, none of which even covered my bills. having a full time job may only allow me enough free time to begin taking classes for now, but hey...everybody has to start somewhere.
the funny part is, when i talk to friends in the entertainment industry who have lived here for years--most of them claim that there isn't a job here that they HAVEN'T had. in this city, it's extremely normal to skip around to different jobs trying to make ends meet.

which for me, means:
today, thrift shop employee...
tomorrow, sofa company office assistant.

i realize that "office assistant" at a place called the sofa company--in a place called commerce, california--doesn't sound all that glamorous, but who said i was in this for the glamour? the truth is that there was a little piece of my life i didn't exactly divulge to my readers this past month. i may have tiptoed around the issue of having some back pain at work, but i didn't really get into all the details. in short, the eight hour retail shifts that required me to stand in one place had caused me so many lower back issues that i had to see a chiropractor. i found out that a pinched nerve, some neck issues, and a few out-of-line discs in my back were caused by the prolonged amount of standing.

other than that, i won't comment too much on what it's like to work in clothing retail, because those of you who have done it before--already catch my drift here.
what i will say, is that the "fashion world" just isn't for me. maybe it was the moment when the rest of the employees were drooling over a one piece, v-neck, zebra striped tanktop/unitard that i would have only put on...had i been playing dress up--that i realized i was in the wrong place.
i'm an east coast girl and i like my jeans and cotton tees.
so sue me.

i will say, had there been no physical health issues at this job, i would have stuck it out and hoped for more full time hours. however, the combination of the back pain and eight painful, underpaid hours a day basically threw me back into the arms of craigslist searching for something new. not only does this new job give me a steady schedule, nights and weekends free, and a better paycheck--but i'll get to be SITTING all day long! that may not seem exciting to you, but it's music to my back's ears.

wait...what?

anyway.
who knows how many more occupations i'll go through on my journey here. all i know is that if the rate of being on my 5th job in six months is any sign--

then i have a lot more english muffins to go through.

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