Day 2.0

Day two is about visiting Dale's family in Wisconsin. So no traveling. Thank god, its about -2 before the wind chill out there. Gross.

Also an uber-necessary trip to Best Buy to get a new iPod adapter, we're gonna need that on the long trip through Nebraska.

Exit 0

Exit 0....

This is not a metaphor. Shortly after paying the final toll in Indiana I saw a pretty perfect sight, an exit numbered zero. That pretty much sums up my view of Indiana, though I did little more there than stop at a McDonalds. Turns out the hoosiers that are pictured stereotypically actually exist. So Indiana is the first state of the journey to get the dreaded "Never Need to Return" designation. Ohio has a great theme park and the pro football hall of fame.

There was a terrible storm to be encountered in Indiana as well, but the majority of the journey was uneventful.

There's something more real to me about California by seeing all the places in between. I've flown into it several times, but it was just an island, a place on the other side of the airplane door. And now I'll know exactly how big this country is. I'm fortunate to have an incredible friend along with me on the journey as well. I can't imagine taking the trip without him.

A special shout out to all my great Pittsburgh friends that I've said goodbye to over the last day.

Salience

Salience and Salient are words I through around a lot. I assume people have use context to figure out what they mean, but if not, here's the deal. Salience is making a thought or idea present in one's mind, consciously or unconsciously, in such a way that it effects behavior.

For example. There is a famous study on salience in which a group of Asian women were split into three. One group was shown video that didn't relate to anything. The second was shown video that made being female salient to them, it showed images that evoked femininity. The third group was shown video that made being Asian salient to them.

All three groups were then asked to take a math test. The results? The group "primed" (priming = to make salient) with Asian did better than the group with incidental images. The group primed with female... they did worse. This study shows that what people are thinking of, via how it effects their self-image and their culturally-derived sense of how they should perform on a given task, effects their ability on said task.

So just when you thought I wasn't getting to a point. Yesterday after strike for Dance Light, my last commitment before heading off to San Francisco I held my tool bag in my hand and took two steps to head toward my locker. I then stopped and realized I was cleaning out my locker tomorrow and I should just take my bag with me in the car. It was at that moment that the fact that I actually won't be here for the semester really hit me. And it was compounded by a friend congratulating me on being done a few minutes earlier. So it was that strange event that has made the immediacy of my departure incredibly salient.

I am actually getting out of here for an amazing internship. It's pretty cool.

Have I mentioned I love the word salient?

100th Post Spectacular

Today is the day for the 100th Post Spectacular. Why? Well, in typical J fashion, because of an obscure connection. I started this blog while in Cortland, New York-- wanting to keep my friends informed of what I was up to as my life kept me moving around this "little" planet at a faster and faster pace. It was setting the ground work for what I thought was a coming year-long stint in Las Vegas (working on a show for an emo magician and some bagette-eating producers) a time when I certainly would need a way to stay connected with all my friends.

Well, today I officially told the artistic director of that theater in Cortland that I could not return because of my coming internship in California. (For the record, I really liked working there, but the drive for bigger and better things compels me-- speaking of drive, for those that haven't already, be sure to read the "Splash Mountain" post from October). The emo magician show fell though quite a while ago, but it was this that opened the door for an internship which probably offers better long term prospects... the Splash Mountain comment was not entirely a non-sequitor.

So, as much as the purpose of this blog has changed, the more it stays the same. I'm sure the move to sunny California will bring with it a return to regular blogging-- to fill up time and keep a record for myself if nothing else. Hopefully it will keep a few of you feeling connected to me, as moving is a bit of a tough transition for me. But something else has happend since that first blog entry. I no longer plan on moving around much at all. Come the end of grad school in May of 2009, I will finally, definitively be moving to the Left Coast to start my career and my life. (ED- okay, my life has already started, but it sounds so much more powerful that way, don't you think?)

It's not just that I've always hated moving but more importantly I've discovered a world where I can do what I love while getting paid enough to sustain myself and have a life outside of work. Also incredibly important, I no longer only think about what gigantic company I can work my way towards. Don't get me wrong, I still would love to work for Imagineering, if only for a couple year stint. But the somewhat unrealistic end-goal of a lifetime career with the Circus or the Rat has been supplanted by the desire to start my own company and ultimately have it be something that people think of as "working towards." This is a radical departure from the way I think about what it would mean for me to be "successful" at the end of the day-- in terms of projects and process instead of the name above mine on the business card. And though I'm surprised it took this long to finally click in, I'm glad it did.

So there you have it, no list of things that have happend since the blog started, no list of things I'm looking forward to. Just a mindful assessment of both. At the end of the day, CMU had a few tricks up its sleeve that more than made up for the terribleness of the first semester, and the monotony of the average day.

In a few short minutes the Victory Wall comes down and the packing resumes. "What's the biggest 'r' I feel?" Well, excitement... seriously. I've got six months in San Francisco to look forward to, and I hope its as life-changing as possible. I've got a short eight months to plow through to earn a terminal degree... the first person in my family to ever get a degree after college. And I've got a coming trip to Hollywood, where I'll show up with so much more than a suitcase and a dream.

Make sure you come out to party with me once I get there.


[186]

Halloween

There is almost to much to possibly blog about to begin, so I'll just go with what's on my mind at the moment. Also, a new car to anyone who can guess what the title of the entry means. (Ok, maybe lunch on me).

I sit here in the grad studio of Carnegie Mellon University. It is a place I once never ventured into, and only this semester have come to spend time it. I do this as my best friend prepares to leave this school for a better one. A better one located in Australia... yep.

Despite my enthusiasm for how great this is about to be for him I can't help but feeling a little bit restored to the lonliness of my first, horrificly terrible semester here. Compounding this is a coming semester in San Francisco, where again I fear the pangs of not knowing any one.

Now, this is also extremely exciting-- I mean, don't get me wrong, I can't wait. But I look ahead to a third year and post graduation that had come into perfect focus, only to slip out of it again so soon after.

Man, I am a freakin girl sometimes. Sigh. SHUT UP!

Ok, kidding. Things will be okay, I know ultimately they will. And I am extremely happy for the last semester so enough morose-ity I guess.

In the words of Shawshank Redemption, "I guess I just miss my friend."

What I'm Up To

Current Location: Freeport, Bahamas
Current Temperature: 73 degrees, sunny
Current Song: "Your Song" by Elton John (Piano Lounge is directly behind me)

Cruise highlights so far:
* getting too drunk to participate in the life boat drill
* sleeping very, very well last night
* great meals
* attractive people (ok, very attractive people)
* laughing to myself at the 90's-era cruise ship design choices-- this will be the subject of an elogated post to come


Speaking of elogated posts, Splash Mountain was closed for refurb, so there's no need to fear another theme park overanalysis bonanza. Though the opportunity for me to go off on something one-on-one is available for booking. Oh, I did get to ride the "Re-imagineered" Spaceship Earth.... the relighting is great, the new ending is a little on the tacky side for my taste.

Holiday Movie Recap

Alien Versus Predator 2

Okay, I know what you're thinking. But this movie delivers exactly what it promises, it could be considered, in fact a "well-made movie" in a Scribe-ian sense. It lacks any unnecessary explanations or exposition, something I'd been longing for frankly. Also, the lighting was really, really well done, cheers to what hopefully is an up-and-coming DP.

Sweeney Todd

This grade is based on the chemistry between Helena Bonham Cater, who is phenomenal as Mrs. Lovett and Johnny Depp. This movie makes an attempt to strengthen their story line and is the better for it. Overall the cast is wonderful. The strong visual of the film with its steel blues punctuated with accents of red is highly successful. Unfortunately, when the visual needs to be varied-- for instance in a beach-scene fantasy sequence-- there was no sense of transition or juxtaposition, merely difference. The film also suffers from some weak CGI and for its-own-sake gratuitous gore at the very end, which is saying a lot for Sweeny Todd. But all said, this film should satisfy both one's Tim Burton, and one's Stephen Sondheim fix.

I Am Legend

Will Smith got in trouble for spilling the beans on the surprise ending. My only question... what surprise ending? Some interesting moments and visual were just enough to sustain this movie to the threshold of entertaining, but far too many opportunities for interesting complication were missed. My immediate, impulsive reaction when the credits rolled at the end of this film was to exclaim to my friends that "It was like an M. Night Shyamalan movie in reverse!" a comment I continue to stand behind without knowing entirely what I mean. Save this one for DVD-- or better yet, read a couple Jorge Borges short stories instead.

Sam's Monologue

My brother and I embarked on a Lord of the Rings marathon. My favorite of the trilogy is the middle film, Two Towers for reasons those who know me well can probably figure out.