Well, the kids are taking finals, which means I need to find a new job. Bah. (What am I going to do with my life? I hate the way this industry is set up; it is so hard to get into it.)

My Grandpa has taken a cholesterol drug for years, and when he recently started feeling muscle aches and pains, the VA was too dim to realize that one of the side effects of his medicine was aches and pains. They finally figured it out and took him off, but it's going to take months to get it all out of his system. He's just in pain all the time, stiff, especially in the morning; it's frustrating because he's a very healthy guy for his age, always up and about and doing things (the man built an extension to his barn last year, on his own, in a week, at the age of 82), and if he had gotten off sooner he probably wouldn't be this bad now. He's going to stay with my aunt and uncle for a while, and my dad's been very upset and stressed over all of this, so hopefully now that Gamps isn't all by himself things will be better.

In the meantime, I'm not sure I'm used to the idea that I can't just drive in to see my Grandpa whenever, you know? We go over to his house all the time, and now he'll be half an hour away and we can't really drop in on my uncle the same way. I think it's for the best, but it's still been kind of sucky around here the last few weeks, all of this stuff.

The family bought a new computer, so I've been playing around with that. Vista is shiny and new, yet strange and different. I'm really happy with all the memory, though; I've never had Civ turns cycle so quickly!

Was fingerprinted today, for a background check, for a substitute certificate. You would think that they'd still have my fingerprints on file from three years ago, but I guess not. Every single person working at the police station was very unfriendly; I mean, I guess I can understand that maybe, dealing with the people they must deal with day in and day out, it's not always the most pleasant job, but seriously. I felt like I'd done something wrong, just coming in to get fingerprinted for a job. (I also set off the metal detector, which was awesome.)

I saw the S4 VM thing they'd mocked up for the network. It made me a little sad. It wasn't the direction I would have picked for the show, and the FBI thing was weird when I first heard about it, but the little mini-ep thing was pretty interesting, and I bought it (although I had no idea how far in the future they were setting it; had to have been at least five years). Maybe one of these days I'll finish out S3. I still have no idea how it ended.

It is a momentous moment in my life: we now have high speed internet at my house. Which means that the fights over internet time have already begun. I'll probably get a wireless router this weekend so I can just use my laptop and be at peace. In that event, I'll be waiting for when someone* inevitable wants to use my computer when the family computer is in use. Which is why God invented the screensaver password protect.

Applied for a job at a local bookstore, will look for some more local random things. Will probably end up substituting again. Which is okay, I guess.

Am writing again, which is good. Sometimes one needs to take some time off, and goodness knows last semester was very stressful. I think I'm going to do a second draft of the King Arthur script, but it needs deep tissue revamping, so I probably won't get into actual writing for at least a few weeks. I had bought some King Arthur books at Half Price last fall, but they're buried in one of my five boxes of books, so that might be an Actual Project some day to find.

In conclusion, thank God The Sopranos is finally off the air and won't be winning any more Emmys. At least they didn't sweep, but they did win some awards (Writing and Directing) that I wanted Battlestar Galactica someone else to win. Other than that, I was pleasantly surprised to see Terry O'Quinn win, even though I didn't watch Lost last year, but was highly disappointed that Piven won again, as I was fully expecting Rainn Wilson to win. Oh well. I loved seeing Helen Mirren win again, and I hope that this signals that from now on, in the future, she will just win every year. I did think her hair could have used more volume, though.

Ho, guys. At Panera, looking for jobs. Started off looking at KC-area universities, but the only one I'm remotely qualified for is a part-time lecturing job in communication studies, which...yeah, I doubt I'll get anything about of it, since communication studies is a lot different from film or writing. The one listing I was excited about from this Sunday's paper - what ostensibly looked like a writing professorship - is actually about English as an international language. I'm assuming in written form. THANKS A LOT, PARK U. Pfft.

I'm going to look at government jobs, too. I like offices, and they pay well, so I hear. But I wish I could get a job in sitting around. That would be great.

I just sent an email tinged with some anger. I probably shouldn't have done that, right? Am I a bad person, that two-plus weeks later, I'm still angry?

After sitting around waiting for the phone to ring all night, just got an email: no job. ;_; But they're "keeping my resume on file" for the future. (Which...doubtful, although possibly comforting to others.)

I was talking to my sister about this last week, I think, but I'm less upset about not getting the job (which part of me was already prepared for, just knowing how many people were being interviewed), than I am the amount of money I spent to fly out here to not get a job.

I think what did me in was this: they asked if I would be happy working in post-production if I wanted to be a writer. And maybe I should have lied or been disingenuous, but I don't want to play that way in interviews; I think regardless of how cool you may be, or how good an actor you are, people can detect that kind of insincerity. So I was honest, and said, yes, I want to be a writer, but I'm just entering the industry workforce and this seems like a great opportunity and I will certainly enjoy the work while I'm here. But I got the impression from talking to people in the program now at the mixer last night that they're looking more for advancement within; you start off as a glorified intern, then up to an assistant, then on from there.

Which is not the way the program was sold, and honestly, even if I did still just want to be a writer, ain't nothing wrong with setting up shop in an actual job with a set career path in the industry while I continue working towards dream career.

I did reply asking if they wouldn't mind telling me what the deciding factor was, so maybe it's something different, but...I doubt it. Ah well.

(What's funny is that I've been checking the email expecting this all night; the phone call, less so. So I read it with a sense of slightly sad understanding but acceptance. But, because I'm edging towards PMS, ended up crying in bed reading about Fran burying her father in The Stand. O_o.)

I just finished up with my interview with ABC, and apparently we're supposed to hear tonight whether or not we got the job, so keep your fingers crossed. I felt the interview went well--I'm not really nervous talking in front of people in general--although I was a little worried when they asked if I'd be happy working in post since I want to be a writer. So I had to convince them, YES, I want a job in MOVIES AND/OR TV, and it doesn't matter WHAT right now since I am UNEMPLOYED and HOMELESS.

Burbank's really nice. We're looking at apartments here regardless. As soon as I'm done with lunch, I'm going to go check some out. (It's still a novelty having a car to drive around with willy-nilly, even though it is a rental.) Then I get to fly home for a six-week break, although I have a lot of writing I want to get done in the interim.

Oh, and I guess I have a masters now. I was so tired last week that I didn't even really make note of it other than, "I'm (mostly) done." But now, after finishing a final and turning in grades and a polish, I'm totally done. No more school forever!