Hello everyone!
Wow, has it really been 4 months since my last entry?
Let's just say my life has gone through a whirlwind - it hasn't slowed down for one second and I haven't even had time to breathe, to say the least. Months of November and December were filled with sleepless nights of finishing up my thesis film. I also spent a great deal of time reconnecting with a very dear friend - many nights were spent having meaningful conversations over fancy dinners, coffee and desserts. Not to forget our successful Christmas shindig, where we braved the crowd at Wholefoods and cooked up a storm of a Christmas feast. Then came the snowstorm - which I did not enjoy but am glad to have experienced!
It's nice to look back and remember the really good times in my last few months in New York! Everything seems almost dream-like - it's hard to imagine now how it feels like to be living that life at all! I think I stepped back once a few times trying to encapsulate all the distinct emotions, colors, ambience into pocketful of memories that I would bring home with me.. and now well, having said that - my 42 + months of living abroad was invaluable and at the end of the day, I am grateful for that experience to have made me the person that I am today.
OK! ENOUGH with the formal language! :P
I had the best going away party ever - in Lower East Side, where I screened my thesis film (something that turned out exactly how I expected it to - yes, I could have done so much more, but every project is a learning curve - it makes me want to write better scripts and produce better films) So many turned up and that could have not made my party/screening any sweeter :) The owners of the place even offered to cut me a deal if I could bring in as many people for their screenings! After that was a long week of packing madness - sending out my boxes out to be shipped, taking care of Puji's travelling documents - running around getting last minute things, finally finding a tenant to take over the lease of my apartment - well, it was crazy to say the least. I wasn't at all emotional - but I remember the last weekend I was there before I was scheduled to fly home the next day, I went to school to clear up my locker and then it really came down hard on me - that this long, arduous path/adventure had come to an end and I would have to move on from it to bigger and better things.
Which brings me to this current day!
I have been dreading the job since day 1 - and now I am paying my dues for my expensive New York education. At first, I thought it wasn't all too bad.. surely, they don't bother me and make me do things I don't want to do, but it is unfortunate that in this environment I am in it's really not about the students but really about Key Performance Indexes. And also no one is interested in making movies as they are in analyzing films and publishing them in (high-impact) journals. Honestly, this is the least creative/lowest stress workplace that I have been in! I'm sad and annoyed at the same time, but I pretty much have to make do with what I'm given.
But on to more exciting things, I AM thankful that this job has given me the flexibility that I need to exercise my creative pursuits! I'm really excited that I'll be back on set after 5 months - directing a music video for this dude (whom I thought was a really pompous self indulgent person not knowing him personally from before - but I've been proven wrong and he is great fun to hang out with) Before that I also signed up to work on a cooking show (people are surprised when I tell them this) but the pay is lucrative although now meeting and talking to people who work in the industry - on the grander scheme of things it's still very little money (which means my pay as a lecturer now is peanuts - perhaps comparable to that of what I made as a babysitter in New York)
Other than that, I had a slight taste of what it would be like to be a famous filmmaker. I had my first radio and tv interviews two weeks ago! SO MUCH FUN! Although I've just realized how bad my English has become since coming back... :(
Ergh I have to much more to say but I can't seem to collect my thoughts. Also, I left my charger at home and my computer has 20 good minutes left before it goes to sleep! I'll save those stories for a different day :)
OH! Biggest news of all! :)
In exactly a month I'll be married to my sound boy :)
OK! Enough for now - here's a picture of the last street I lived on.
I miss you Bushwick!!
