Mind of Migg

It’s only Wednesday and already I’m beat. It’s my first week back at CRI, but I’m also still working on putting together two music videos that are shooting Sat-Tue. The hours at CRI aren’t so bad, it’s really easy work, but waking up at 7 as opposed to 8:30 is killing me.

Combine that with the frustration of making sure this music video project doesn’t fall apart, has a full crew, and takes off and I am so done.

I just hope this project goes well this weekend and wraps up Tuesday so that I can adjust to just the one job and get back into a groove with my two rewrites. Thankfully, next weekend is a 3 day weekend, so I’ll be able to catch up on my sleep pretty soon.

I’ve done a lot of driving through LA proper in the past week and it’s made me realize that LA is a huge city and there’s so many cool little pockets to discover.

Violet and I have made an effort to venture out into West LA more since we live up here now, and even hit up the Grove and Farmer’s Market again for some shopping this weekend.

Besides that, I spent the week driving around doing prep work for the music videos and got to see a whole lot more of LA than I had planned thanks to traffic. I had to go to Hollywood each day this week and there’s no convenient freeway to reach it, so I took a lot of different paths.

One day, I took Santa Monica Blvd all the way back to West LA, which I had only done once or twice before. Another day, I took Los Feliz from Glendale all the way down to the I-10. Another day, I took Wilshire Blvd. back from Hollywood. My personal favorite was probably taking Wilshire into downtown from Hollywood. Coming over the hill and driving through MacArthur Park toward the landscape of skyscrapers is a really cool site.

Next time, I’m gonna take my camera with me like a tourist because there really is so much to see in this area. I think it’s starting to grow on me (just a lil bit).

I had a whole bunch of stuff I wanted to post over the last week, but between moving, getting the laptop stolen, and my new jobs, I haven’t had a chance. I have half an article about Hillary Clinton that I hope to finish and post later this week. On the the randomness:

- I’m going back to CRI starting on Monday. It’s sourcing for now, but hopefully they’ll finalize the new client before my 2 month temp project is up so I can switch over.

- I’m producing two music videos for an Indian artist that sings in a foreign language. IM me for the wonderful and positive things I have to say about it.

- My knee is 90% of the way towards full range of motion. Now I just need to strengthen it.

- I went to the Original Farmer’s Market in LA over the weekend. Amazing fresh food to eat.

- I also went to the adjacent Grove on Saturday. Nice little place to walk and shop.

- We are hoping to find a dining room table this weekend. It is the only thing our place is lacking before looking complete. Besides cable. But that’s another story.

Yesterday started off as a pretty good day. I’m about 3/4 of the way through the book I’m reading as script research and got another page of notes written for my upcoming rewrite.

After spending the afternoon at Borders working, I headed off to the gym for some knee rehab. I got up to a decent speed in ten minutes of biking, did some weights, and was even able to finish it off with 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill. I met up with Violet, and we went to Fry’s Electronics to find a new laptop for her. She didn’t want anything fancy, just something to do schoolwork on once she starts at Pepperdine in the fall. We found a good one for only $699 plus a $50 mail in rebate. We made our purchase and went to dinner to celebrate. That’s when everything went wrong.

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It’s gonna take some getting used to. Here’s the pluses and negatives I’ve seen so far:

Positives
- There are so many little restaurants around to try out. Plenty of food options.
- Food options, coffee, and many other things are all walking distance. My Walk Score is 86. I plan to do a lot more walking in general now.
- I’m closer to “things". I’m not entirely sure what those things are yet since I don’t go out a whole lot anymore anyway. I am closer to Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and I do like that, so that’s a plus.
- Good movie theaters. I’m less than two miles from the The Landmark, one of the best theaters I’ve ever watched a movie in. Gourmet snacks, coffee, indie films, leather couch seats in select theaters…it’s every elitists dream.

Negatives
- I feel like I’m in Rear Window when I’m in my apartment. Living in a closed in complex that circles a courtyard means you can’t help but hear everyone else. Beyond just that, even the neighbors are close. I feel like I’ve known some people for years already and have yet to meet them.
- There is a white rapper and an aspiring guitar player/Damien Rice wannabe in our place. Not bad in small doses, but I’m worried what’s going to happen when I hear them multiple times a week.
- Nobody leaves early. When I stroll out my door at 9:30 with my laptop and script in hand, I’m like one of fifty. For some reason, it’s completely normal for people to have odd hours, get home at 2, leave again at 5, or just not work at all. I’m not sure yet if I love this or hate it, but I’m continuing to work in my El Segundo Borders to stay away from that environment.
- Parking is going to be a pain. So far, it hasn’t been bad at all near the apartment, but it’s awful everywhere. I’m going to have to learn to carry change with me for the meters because there aren’t many parking lots around.