I've always said that I'd rather do something I love for free than get paid to do something I hate....Well now I am! On Wednesday I start an internship with Filter magazine - a really hip music mag chock-full of reviews, interviews and previews of quality music and movies.
As I sat waiting for my meeting in my jeans and short-sleeve shirt and reading about local LA acts in their latest issue, I thought bout the stark contrast it made to my more recent corporate interviews. Today I didn't have to consistently adjust my tie to compensate for the miserable heat of the stuffy waiting room being trapped in by my stuffy dress shirt. I didn't have to nervously toss around rehearsed answers to typical corporate questions. And I didn't dread having to tell the same old lie in response to that "why do you want to work here?" queresion - the real answer to which, of course, is always "...because I need to pay my rent." But unfortunately you just can't say that out loud.
Nah, today I simply kicked back on the couch amidst a group of working hipsters (oxymoron?) in a hip, windowless office and prepared to talk about my favorite bands before causally chatting with a cool, young guy in shorts and a t-shirt named Max. And when that "why here?" question surfaced, the answer was easy this time: "because I love music." Plain and simple. And I do. I love listening to it, I love writing about it, I love reading about it, and I'd rather have a job that exposes me to it regularly and pays me nothing than ever have to get behind that damn hotel front desk again.
it will require me to attend and cover shows and other indie/alt rock music-related events regularly (darn!) and may or may not lead to a paying job in the future. But even if it doesn't, the bulk of my days will once again be filled with something that I actually enjoy. And that's what matters.
(Btw on the way out the door Max gave me a copy of the new Dead Weather cd. Niiiiiiiiiice.)
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Ooops...
In my post about douchebaggery written some 4 months ago (a post I have long forgotten about) apparently I quoted a guy that Lisa and I had been hanging out with that night; a guy that neither of us had met before that night and that neither of us has seen since. Well apparently somehow, some way his girlfriend found the link to the post on facebook, read it, and recognized her boyfriend's quote... in the post about douchebaggery. Needless to say she was not pleased. Of course, Lisa ran into her tonight for the first time in FOUR MONTHS and was berated for the insult I laid on her boyfriend. in turn, I ended up getting chewed out. Very curious that she found the post since we are not connected in any way on facebook, but in any case... looks like I'll be writing an apology email.
If only I had a nickel for every "I'm sorry I seemed to imply that your boyfriend is a douchebag" email I've written...
If only I had a nickel for every "I'm sorry I seemed to imply that your boyfriend is a douchebag" email I've written...
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Oh men...
Saturday night I was out with the gang at Aero Club for Marisa's birthday. Struck up conversation with a guy I had met once before (at the Aero Club) well over a year (or two?) ago, but couldn't recall much from our first encounter.
Really cool guy. We talked music. He told me stories about his days as a DJ and filled me in on every show coming to LA worth seeing, including The Pixies (one of my favorite bands). He insisted on buying me shot after shot of expensive whiskey and reassured me that I was gonna make it big as an actor in LA because I'm a "good-looking" guy with talent doing it for the right reasons. If I was a girl I'd swear he was trying to fuck me, but I figured he just happened to be a genuinely cool guy with whom I had a lot in common. Don't meet guys like him that often. So now I have a new bff, right?
But wait... At the end of the night LIsa asks me what I think of him and I tell her I think he's badass and that we really get along well. "Yeah... I'm still trying to decide on that one," she replies.
Yep... he's trying to bang my ex-girlfriend. The same ex-girlfriend I was dating (and with) the first time we met at the club over a year (or two?) ago. In fact he's been trying for a while now. They've gone on a few sort-of dates and planned on taking her to Sea World the next day. He also tried (in vain) to make out with her at the end of the night.
Course Lisa and I have been broken up for over a year. She can do whatever she wants without my approval. She knows that. My point is this: Recent history has shown me that when a guy is being really really nice, he usually has an ulterior motive. Usually this applies to guys hitting on girls, but it can also apply to other guys when, say, the dude desperately wants to make good with the other dude because he's trying to bang his ex-girlfriend. Course this dude could possibly have been genuinely cool. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt. But the circumstances make me skeptical, and the fact remains that...
Most men are full of shit, ladies. Sad but true. I apologize on behalf of my sex...
Really cool guy. We talked music. He told me stories about his days as a DJ and filled me in on every show coming to LA worth seeing, including The Pixies (one of my favorite bands). He insisted on buying me shot after shot of expensive whiskey and reassured me that I was gonna make it big as an actor in LA because I'm a "good-looking" guy with talent doing it for the right reasons. If I was a girl I'd swear he was trying to fuck me, but I figured he just happened to be a genuinely cool guy with whom I had a lot in common. Don't meet guys like him that often. So now I have a new bff, right?
But wait... At the end of the night LIsa asks me what I think of him and I tell her I think he's badass and that we really get along well. "Yeah... I'm still trying to decide on that one," she replies.
Yep... he's trying to bang my ex-girlfriend. The same ex-girlfriend I was dating (and with) the first time we met at the club over a year (or two?) ago. In fact he's been trying for a while now. They've gone on a few sort-of dates and planned on taking her to Sea World the next day. He also tried (in vain) to make out with her at the end of the night.
Course Lisa and I have been broken up for over a year. She can do whatever she wants without my approval. She knows that. My point is this: Recent history has shown me that when a guy is being really really nice, he usually has an ulterior motive. Usually this applies to guys hitting on girls, but it can also apply to other guys when, say, the dude desperately wants to make good with the other dude because he's trying to bang his ex-girlfriend. Course this dude could possibly have been genuinely cool. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt. But the circumstances make me skeptical, and the fact remains that...
Most men are full of shit, ladies. Sad but true. I apologize on behalf of my sex...
Friday, August 14, 2009
Restaurant managers: FAIL
I can't stand it when douche bag restaurant managers who, during interviews, act like they are hiring the next Secretary of State...
You are hiring a 20-something year old to take people's orders and bring them food and drink. You are not hiring the next leader of the free fucking world. Get off your power trip and stop asking bullshit questions like "Can you give me an example in which you went above and beyond the call of duty during a job?"
If an applicant proves that he/she can be warm, personable and make people feel welcome while also being able to multi-task and manage stress, then he/she is qualified to be a goddamn server. He/she does not have to have a PhD, have saved someone's life or invented the Polio vaccine.
The vast majority of applicants for serving positions (including myself and several friends) are OVER-qualified for saying 'hello', taking orders and carrying plates, yet these guys (yes, mostly guys) look down their nose at people who haven't served for a dozen years and don't answer their lame questions like a corporate whore.
You're 38 and you work at fucking Black Angus. Get over yourself. You fail at life.
You are hiring a 20-something year old to take people's orders and bring them food and drink. You are not hiring the next leader of the free fucking world. Get off your power trip and stop asking bullshit questions like "Can you give me an example in which you went above and beyond the call of duty during a job?"
If an applicant proves that he/she can be warm, personable and make people feel welcome while also being able to multi-task and manage stress, then he/she is qualified to be a goddamn server. He/she does not have to have a PhD, have saved someone's life or invented the Polio vaccine.
The vast majority of applicants for serving positions (including myself and several friends) are OVER-qualified for saying 'hello', taking orders and carrying plates, yet these guys (yes, mostly guys) look down their nose at people who haven't served for a dozen years and don't answer their lame questions like a corporate whore.
You're 38 and you work at fucking Black Angus. Get over yourself. You fail at life.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
"How'd it go?"
It’s always hard to answer the question “how’d it go?” after an audition because you never really know ‘how it went’ from the casting director’s point of view - which is all that really matters.
That being said, I went in prepared and presented myself professionally, making sure to build a rapport with the producer and reader (both of whom I met for the first time) before I started my reading. I understand that with this being a studio film with a budget and my being a no-name actor that nobody’s ever heard of, the chances of my actually getting cast in the lead role that I read for are slim to none, but what an awesome experience… and it’s always fun to hear the casting director say “this is the actor I told you about” to someone else :) Whatever the result, I now have a contact in L.A. that will remember me in the future, and that’s HUGE.
And this’ll go down as my favorite email to date…
fromRussell Boast
toDylan John Seaton
dateMon, Aug 3, 2009 at 12:00 PM
subjectRe: Hi Russell…
It is only a pleasure, you are truly very talented and I don’t say that a lot. How’s your Brooklyn accent? Do you think it’s something that you could do authentically?
That being said, I went in prepared and presented myself professionally, making sure to build a rapport with the producer and reader (both of whom I met for the first time) before I started my reading. I understand that with this being a studio film with a budget and my being a no-name actor that nobody’s ever heard of, the chances of my actually getting cast in the lead role that I read for are slim to none, but what an awesome experience… and it’s always fun to hear the casting director say “this is the actor I told you about” to someone else :) Whatever the result, I now have a contact in L.A. that will remember me in the future, and that’s HUGE.
And this’ll go down as my favorite email to date…
fromRussell Boast
toDylan John Seaton
dateMon, Aug 3, 2009 at 12:00 PM
subjectRe: Hi Russell…
It is only a pleasure, you are truly very talented and I don’t say that a lot. How’s your Brooklyn accent? Do you think it’s something that you could do authentically?
Saturday, August 1, 2009
I nominate YOU for the "Honest Scrap Award"...
The Honest Scrap Award rules are as follows:
1. “The Honest Scrap” award is not one to hold all to your self but it must be shared!
2. The recipient has to tell 10 true things about themselves in their blog that no one else knows.
3. The recipient has to pass along this prestigious award to 10 more bloggers.
4. Those 10 bloggers all have to be notified they have been given this award.
5. Those 10 bloggers should link back to the blog that awarded them.
No one else knows…
1. I now have an addiction to PinkBerry; I ate it four times this week, including tonight.
2. The oldest woman I’ve ever kissed was 36 years old (I was 24), and I have absolutely no shame because she’s gorgeous and a lovely person to boot.
3. I’ve lost a grand total of 30 lbs. since January, 2007.
4.Even if I looked like one of the Spartans in “300” I would still be painfully self-conscious about my weight. I’m worse than most girls in that respect. Call it “Fat Teen” Syndrome.
5. My biggest fears are ending up alone, never doing anything with my life that I’m truly proud of, and letting my mom down.
6. Last week I made a list of the qualities I find most attractive in a woman. I know but one girl to whom all of these qualities apply; her name starts with an “N” and I have a bit of a crush on her. I’m pretty confident she knows this… We’re having sushi on Sunday :)
7. I’ve been far too picky this week in regard to job applications because I’ve been afraid I’ll end up doing something that I’m over-qualified for and ashamed of. I realize now, however, that as long as it supports the ultimate goal of being a working actor, it doesn’t matter what I do or what people think about it.
8. Manic depression runs in my family; sometimes I feel like it did not skip over me.
9. If I ever become truly wealthy, I’m going to break records in the amount I give away to charity; my being happy has very little to do with material possessions. I could never be with someone who needed a lavish lifestyle to be happy.
10. Whenever I’m running on the treadmill, I pretend that I’m a rockstar singing the song that I’m currently listening to on my iPod on-stage in front of thousands of adoring fans.
I now nominate the following bloggers for the “Honest Scrap Award”…
Ryan
Dan
Megan
Leah
Lindsay
Dylan C.
Janet
Emily
Abe
Katy
YOUR TURN!
1. “The Honest Scrap” award is not one to hold all to your self but it must be shared!
2. The recipient has to tell 10 true things about themselves in their blog that no one else knows.
3. The recipient has to pass along this prestigious award to 10 more bloggers.
4. Those 10 bloggers all have to be notified they have been given this award.
5. Those 10 bloggers should link back to the blog that awarded them.
No one else knows…
1. I now have an addiction to PinkBerry; I ate it four times this week, including tonight.
2. The oldest woman I’ve ever kissed was 36 years old (I was 24), and I have absolutely no shame because she’s gorgeous and a lovely person to boot.
3. I’ve lost a grand total of 30 lbs. since January, 2007.
4.Even if I looked like one of the Spartans in “300” I would still be painfully self-conscious about my weight. I’m worse than most girls in that respect. Call it “Fat Teen” Syndrome.
5. My biggest fears are ending up alone, never doing anything with my life that I’m truly proud of, and letting my mom down.
6. Last week I made a list of the qualities I find most attractive in a woman. I know but one girl to whom all of these qualities apply; her name starts with an “N” and I have a bit of a crush on her. I’m pretty confident she knows this… We’re having sushi on Sunday :)
7. I’ve been far too picky this week in regard to job applications because I’ve been afraid I’ll end up doing something that I’m over-qualified for and ashamed of. I realize now, however, that as long as it supports the ultimate goal of being a working actor, it doesn’t matter what I do or what people think about it.
8. Manic depression runs in my family; sometimes I feel like it did not skip over me.
9. If I ever become truly wealthy, I’m going to break records in the amount I give away to charity; my being happy has very little to do with material possessions. I could never be with someone who needed a lavish lifestyle to be happy.
10. Whenever I’m running on the treadmill, I pretend that I’m a rockstar singing the song that I’m currently listening to on my iPod on-stage in front of thousands of adoring fans.
I now nominate the following bloggers for the “Honest Scrap Award”…
Ryan
Dan
Megan
Leah
Lindsay
Dylan C.
Janet
Emily
Abe
Katy
YOUR TURN!
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