Ex-cons are the only movers you can trust

I had a conversation with one of my neighbors that I'd never had a chance to talk to before. He's always sitting outside in the sun and I knew his name is Keith, he's a writer and has lots of tattoos. I didn't know that he had just gone through a divorce, lost his parents, and is from Manhattan. I got to see his apartment and it's decorated like a male version of mine. A big comfortable couch and furniture from the 30's, which matches the 1939 building. He asked me if I had arranged for movers yet and when I said I hadn't he recommended a company.

First I have to say that selecting a moving company is one of the most confusing and difficult commercial endeavors I've had to navigate. It's like the industry is still in the 1970's and run by the mob. I was at an apartments site and used a little widget to request quotes from movers. I got responses from no less than ten companies. They emailed and many called and either called or emailed me every day since. Their quotes range from $895 to $1,895 for the same move! Their contracts are confusing and bizarre and I really didn't know what to do.

To complicate matters, I don't have a place to move the stuff into yet and the longer my things are in the Santa Monica apartment, the greater the chance I'll end up paying yet another unoccupied month of rent. So I've looked into pods and storage and movers and U-Hauls and day laborers. There are a myriad of choices, all of which are difficult to decipher which combination will end up costing the least. Talking to my mom about it, she said it reminded her of Bank of America (whom she said she's heard is run by the mob). She works for the government and they have a deal with BofA to handle all of their corporate accounts. But when my mom's purse was stolen on a business trip, Bank of America was the only credit card that wouldn't take off the charges incurred by the thieves. My mom got a ding on her credit report for three years and has refused to use them (corporate or otherwise) since. I have my own horror story about BofA and wasn't looking forward to experiencing what moving companies are doing to people.

A regular Joe got mad and got even by starting MovingScam.com to educate other people, watchdog the industry and inspire people to take action. It's an excellent site and the story is fantastic. He got charged three times the initial rate, waited six weeks to get his damaged belongings, some of which were missing, and spend countless hours on the phone dealing with these thugs. Three years later the ringleader was actual convicted of extortion and money laundering. Which explains why this guy went through the trouble to find out exactly how the industry is regulated (or more accurately, not regulated.) He writes, in regards to the common practice of holding belongings hostage in order to charge up to double the "guaranteed rate": Believe it or not, a mover's "punishment" for stealing from you is to give back what he stole, and that's only if he gets caught and someone forces him to give it back which is no small undertaking in itself.

I know what it's like to be that mad. I spent three months trying to get my money back from Bank of America. The frustration of being victimized by a business legitimized by the government is incomparable. So when I started hearing horror stories about movers - they take forever, you pay more than they say, they break things, they lose things - I really wasn't sure what to do. Then, my neighbor recommended Delancey Street Moving company. He said he'd done three cross-country moves, two were horrible experiences but the one with Delancey was great. He said "you wouldn't believe the care these guys took with my things."

I looked them up online and discovered that it's a Bay Area based non-profit that helps ex-cons (and the like) learn skills, get sober and do whatever else it takes to "graduate" into society. The foundation's website says that The Delancey Street Moving Company is the largest independent moving company in Northern California. "Known for its swift and superb service, the moving company is so popular that they do virtually no advertising, relying on word of mouth." Certainly a refreshing change from the hard sell of these other companies wanting to provide me a quote and get me to sign on the dotted line.

Welcome to the FBI reading room!

NPR reported that public requests for information from the government are becoming increasingly delayed, taking months, even years to be fulfilled. Much of the delay, of course, is a certain level of bureaucracy and no doubt a lack of systems and staff to process the incoming requests. But many times, it is a result of intentional foot-dragging by certain branches of the government, less than eager to share this information with the public. Of course, if all you require are J. Edgar Hoover's celebrity files, those are readily available in the highly entertaining FBI electronic reading room.

In addition to restricting The Freedom of Information Act since its passage in 1966, the players of our current administration have spent decades working to erode the privacy protection of individuals. Despite the inability of the government to disclose information to us, they seem to have unlimited resources and technology available to extract information from us.

Regardless of whether their level of inquiry facilitates our safety, the checks and balances of a two-way flow of information is crucial for the maintenance of a free and democratic society. Anyone defending these seizures on our rights should consider what the other hand is doing while the long arm of the law is protecting us.

I miss my India

I've been thinking a lot about India lately. Staying with my friend in San Mateo, I have eaten at an Indian restaurant here no fewer than five times in a week. It is possibly the best Indian food I've ever had and only a few blocks away. My friend and her daughter, new to it, refer to my favorite dish Saag Paneer as "the goosh." They can't get enough of it. Strangely, the first time I ate Indian food was in San Francisco, in college, visiting a friend in the city. The restaurant offered a tour of their kitchen and the Tandoori oven and I, of course, took them up on it. And strangely, while I've overplayed my music during the 40-minute commute, the only songs I don't tire of are those from the Bend it Like Beckham soundtrack.

This December will be the ten-year anniversary of my two-month trip to India. I was recently looking up a town that I visited and discovered that all the names of the towns and cities have been changed since I was there. They were starting it when I was there - Bombay was already Mumbai and Madras was already Chennai - but all the names of the little towns (I visited over twenty) have been changed. When I returned to the U.S. I remember someone asking me if I would go back. I think my answer then was that there were so many other places I wanted to go, I couldn't see myself going back to a place I'd already been. But despite the wear and tear on my body from eating the food, the minute the plane left the ground, tears streamed down my cheeks and I cried "I miss my India!"

Ten years later, I still don't miss an opportunity to talk about my travels and many memories are as fresh as the day they happened. There's something about the country, the culture, the people, that get in you. I left India but it never left me and when I read or hear things about it, it's like hearing about a place I used to live or a person I used to love. There has been a lot about India in the news lately. There was a slew of polls in Time magazine and one said that people in India were two-three times more optimistic about their future than Americans. The commentary was that people are happier in a society that's in the process of improving than in one where things are already good. The author surmised that it was a feeling if things are good, they can only get worse.

But progress always has its price and a while back I saw an article about the giant boulders in India - across the Deccan plateau - that are being blown up with dynamite to make way for new construction. Yes, they're that big. One of my favorite places there was a town called Hampi (it's not on the map anymore, they changed the name!), just a little ways from Bangalore - then called the Silicon Valley of India. I can't help but wonder now if there are more Indians in the tech industry in the U.S. than in India. I read that the software industry is so booming in India that engineers from the U.S. can go home to India and take their jobs with them. But I digress, the article was about a society formed to "save the boulders!" of Hyderabad. It even describes one guy who built his house around a boulder, something that should have a been the subject of a Dr. Suess story. I don't usually post professionally published photos but this was just too beautiful and I don't have any of my India photos scanned (they were taken pre-digital!)


I spent time in Hyderabad and I don't remember the giant boulders there, but I do remember them in Hampi. Out in the middle of a huge plain, along a river, hundreds of giant boulders are stacked and sitting in piles, miles away from the nearest mountains. The first question you ask is where did they come from? The second is why are they here? When you focus your eyes you notice the buildings that have been carved out of stone by a civilization thousands of years ago and realize that the "buildings" are the size of a thimble compared to an orange. The boulders are way bigger than they look initially.

Protest is now part of the familiar modern tale of development vs. nature, but nature is starting to be more valuable I think. I also heard on NPR that Indians are protesting the arrival of WalMart that is threatening to replace the "mom and pop shop" with jobs, robbing Indians of their independence and freedom sell what they want, and only benefitting a few. We're starting to realize, as the article says, that once certain things are destroyed, they can't be brought back. Which is why, ten years later, I find myself thinking about India and wanting to go back to that which someday will be no longer.

Jazz as the portal to spirituality

Yesterday, I went to a church service at St. John Coltrane in San Francisco. Only about fifteen people were attending the service and at least five of them were actually running the church. The preacher looked like Richard Pryor and was almost as funny. His sermon was genuine, simple and surprisingly deep. He spent two hours exploring a single scripture allowing for a multitude of fantastic tangents. Every sentence ended with "amen" inviting the audience to respond with "amen," "that's right" or "hallelujah." The gist of it was about the importance of keeping an open mind, an open heart, open eyes and open ears. He said we spend so much time asking for things from the Lord we don't always notice what he's delivering (because we didn't always request it.)

I was invited there by one of my co-workers and it was a friend of hers visiting from France who had suggested it. Ironically, he had seen the church perform in a jazz festival in France and wanted to see them here. Immediately following the sermon, a jazz ensemble from the audience formed: three saxophonists (including the preacher), a woman on bass, someone on keyboards, a drummer, and an electric guitar. Still others got up to sing "praise him, praise him, praise the Lord" over and over while the jazz music belted out all over the city. It was too loud for me in the tiny room so I stepped out and got to enjoy the reactions of those passing by.

Two bicyclists stopped, turned around and had a listen at the door. Several homeless people sloughing by stopped to listen - looking as though salvation was right around the corner. A car stopped at the red light and the cutest dog sat sniffing intently at the air in the direction of the church as if he could smell the music. It garnered a shared giggle between me and the driver. Inside, a new member was being blessed and another apparently regular customer whipped out a board and was tap dancing to the jazz (yes, he had tap shoes on).

Our French friend explained that John Coltrane's music, without any words, is so spiritual to those who love and appreciate it that he was fascinated by the idea of a church that used it as a portal to spirituality. We all enjoyed the service immensely and were both amused that the preacher used a microphone hooked up to a full sound system for this tiny crowd and amazed that the crowd was in fact, so tiny. If you're in San Francisco any time soon, a service is worth attending.

Nature as therapy for veterans

There was an article in the New York Times today about Outward Bound classes that are being used as therapy for vets returning from combat. The courses are free, covered by a grant, and the article describes how a week out in nature climbing rocks, wading through rivers and living outdoors with other vets has given these men a chance to mourn, a chance to heal and a chance to live in the world among those who have no idea what they've been through. I got teary-eyed imagining these guys standing around a pile of stones that they made, tears streaming down their face as they mourn the ones who didn't make it.

There were two quotes from the article that piqued my interest. One was from a 27-year old who fought in Afghanistan:
“I think if there’s one message I could get across to the public, it’d be to not give up on us,” he said as the group walked through the mountain sunshine to the trailhead.

The other was from a 23-year old Marine who fought in Iraq and sustained a head injury from flying shrapnel:
“I wish that civilians and policy makers really understood, at an emotional level, the tremendous toll and cost of war on those who actually experience it,” Mr. McMaster said the next day, as he hiked down the mountain and across a green field.

From Matthew Dowd asking for more gentleness in the world, to a poll I read recently (but can't find!) that said in several countries known for supporting terrorists, the public is dramatically less likely than a few years ago to think violence is justified. In Pakistan, the percentage that supports the actions of terrorists decreased from 46% to something like 14%. I've said it once and I'll say it again, violence is out of fashion.

What is critically needed is a separation of violence from the desire to defend one's country, promote a way of life, or liberate a group of people. Although many actions of war can be "justified," overwhelmingly people are starting to question not the motives of going to war but the actual decision to go to war. Soldiers coming back from war might be willing to turn around and go back because they believe in the cause but they still question the choice of war. As McMaster expressed, it's worth the toll if it's the right decision. IF, it's the right decision.

Last year I watched a fantastic documentary, Sir, No Sir!, about the soldiers who protested the Vietnam War, a story covered up for years. Even now, we're artificially divided between those who "support our troops" and those who don't. It's a technique devised to suppress the public's growing desire for peace. I don't think there's an American alive who isn't grateful for our army and who doesn't think it's incredible to live in a country where people volunteer to serve. But clearly, people all over the world are starting to wonder if violence is still an effective tactic for bringing about change.

Starting to look like a romantic comedy

Only a few days in Northern California but there are a few marked differences already. Since I spend so much time on the road, it's where I've noticed the most. My first day here I had a moment of realizing that I could SEE in front of me and for several miles. Why? Because there is a conspicuous absence of giant vehicles. The trucks that I've seen are work trucks and there is a plethora of old Toyota trucks that are 10-20 years old, used faithfully and taken care of. (My mom's husband has one parked in their driveway that she's been harping on him to get rid of.) Mini-coopers and Priuses are very popular and in general, people here drive smaller, more fuel efficient cars.

The second difference is that they actually DRIVE. I was cruising in the fast lane at 80 miles per hour this morning, along with everyone else. The people in the next lane were going 75, the next lane 70 and the slow lane 65, the speed limit. In Los Angeles, people sit in the fast lane, going exactly the same speed as every other lane causing others to insanely swerve in and out of all the lanes trying to get places. Here, the ego has been removed from the driving equation.

There was an accident today and while traffic slowed, it was momentary, we drove right past at 35-40mph. L.A. people come to a slow crawl and gape long after they've physically passed the crash site as if expecting to see Brad Pitt giving Angelina Jolie mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The entire Bay Area smells like the forest, it's filled with pine trees and my drive (soon to be bus ride) down the 280 is a jaunt through rolling hills shrouded in fog and punctuated by a long lake and groves of redwoods.

My co-workers are awesome and today when I was stressed out, one came to my desk with a stuffed animal on her head, the other with a large Darth Vader figure in hand singing a "don't stress" song. They live in Noe Valley and take a company bus to work that goes straight from SF to our "campus." It takes an hour and there's wi-fi on the bus in case you want to work. When I mentioned that I was going to look in San Jose (for a place to live) my co-workers became very concerned and wondered if they'd have to do an intervention. Hundreds of people do the hour commute from the city to the 'burbs for work.

When I first walked into our office, I thought it looked like the companies they use in romantic comedies (where the hip girlfriends help our heroine negotiate the dating terrain). Their little cheerleading only supported that theory that, in fact, I'm working in a romantic comedy! Our totally gorgeous gay boss, that I have a crush on, took us for coffee this afternoon to chat a little about work but mostly just for fun. There's a free gym on campus, an ATM, dry cleaners and a cafe that makes every kind of food you could want for cheap. I love this job and tomorrow I'm going to Noe Valley apartment hunting. Wish me luck!

Learning Shuttle protocols

Day two of the new job and I'm so exhausted I have to drink coffee in the afternoon just to make it through the day. The job is energizing but as soon as the caffeine and adrenaline fade, I crash into an evening of babbling idiocy. My body is crying for exercise, my brain for sleep and my stomach for good home cooked food. This is temporary, this craziness, but it still takes it toll. The job has been a little chaotic in that there's a lot going on and my boss is going on vacation tomorrow but overall, they are impressed at how quickly I've been able to plug in and start working. As my boss' boss said, "get used to drinking out of a fire hose, that's how it goes around here." I told my good friend Steve that I think a lot of the job is just being able to figure things out and he reassured me that I could probably figure out how to fly the space shuttle if I had to.

He wrote me this email that provided a welcome relief to the crazy day:
Cut to the year 2012, Angelique has been selected to fly on the shuttle to the international space station representing eBay's foray into the save-the-world foundation with Al Gore and Bono. A serious encounter with space debris renders the shuttle inoperable as an explosion has incapacitated the astronauts, who are now dead or unconscious. With Al Gore's portly girth wedged between two science experiments and Bono hiding in a space locker, Angelique unbuckles herself and assesses the situation. NASA engineers hear only the phrase, "for fuck's sake", and know everything is going to be alright. After Googling shuttle protocols from the Internet, she re-enters the earth's atmosphere and lands the shuttle at Edwards Air Force base to throngs of fans. "Maybe now I can get that freakin' movie deal" she is heard saying to herself. Indeed!

I've said it once and I'll say it again: I miss letters

I got a lot of reaction to my post on cell phone mommies. Some comments came directly to me in email and all of them were saying that I should be more compassionate towards moms and parents. I never intended to be one of those judgmental people that think they know how to raise kids. A friend explained to me that getting the kid in a stroller sometimes is the only time a woman can have quiet time to get some adult interaction. I can dig it. I just remember getting a lot of attention from my mom. She talked to us, sang to us, took us to the park and on walks, made us food, played music and read books.


So I noticed that the global phenomenon of increased methods of communication that go with us everywhere has led to more chatter - in L.A. nearly everyone in the car is also on the phone - it makes me curious to know what the generation of kids growing up in this chatter will be like. I just joined Facebook after getting the sales pitch from several friends. I've already had a couple of conversations with people on it that I wouldn't talk to on the phone and haven't talked to in email, we just haven't been that close. Which means, we're trying to keep in touch with a lot more people than we used to.

In high school I had penpals in Europe that I wrote letters to. I corresponded with my grandmother in Ohio and a couple of friends in other parts of the world through the mail and they were special relationships. Catching up on the phone was a big deal, and you had to actual be home to do it. I had less friends than I do now, but the same number (and for the most part the same actual friends!) of close friends because despite the cell phone, email or Facebook, I can still only be close to the same number of people. One of the mommy comments was from a friend in Spain who wrote that he came home from work one day to find his wife and newborn crying together because after an hour and a half of trying to calm his baby, his wife had become desperate. It broke my heart and made me appreciate that we're in touch through the blog, although in 1989, we used to write letters!

Being the me no one else can be

I slept until almost 10:30, even though I was asleep before midnight. I packed almost my entire apartment this weekend with some help from a friend and took my last long walk on my beach, met friends for my last lunch at Le Pain du Quotidien, missed my last yoga class with my favorite teacher, and heard the church bells ring for the last time.


Now I'm sitting here kicking myself for not being able to think clearly for the last two weeks. When I thought my car was still going to be in the shop, I had bought a ticket to fly to San Jose thinking I would drive up with some things once I was actually moving. There were all these airport and car logistics so when I got the call that the car was ready, I canceled the flight. It dawned on me today that a) I really don't want to drive today, b) I'm already so late I've guaranteed myself a spot in South Bay rush hour traffic and c) I should be flying. I could have waited until 24 hours prior to cancel the ticket giving myself time to decide but I didn't.

I'm reading The Devil Wears Prada which isn't very good but the description of how the main character appears to the rest of the high-falutin' fashion people at the office and her first celebrity party makes me wonder if the girls at the massive agency (who work for ME by the way) were making fun of me when I wasn't there. I probably will have to splurge on some wardrobe items before going to Sundance just in case I meet the hottest eligible bachelor on the planet when I'm there. And after cracking open Season 6 of The West Wing on Friday night, I have already plowed through five episodes and a tear of gratitude fell for this show. CJ Cregg is the best character on the planet and now she's playing the first female Chief of Staff of the White House (there has never actually been a woman in this position), and she's amazing. I love that she's in totally in over her head but rises to the occasion, and somehow I think these two fictional characters (based on real people) have a lot to teach me about being able to kick ass as oneself in a new situation. I just hope clear thinking comes back to me soon.

No child left behind (and none up ahead either)

I came across an article in Time today, while looking for something else, that's so good I'm going to encourage you to read it for yourself instead of trying to elucidate on it. The US government spends 10 times more money on educating retarded children than it does educating gifted children. Those with IQs 55 and below are just as likely (5%) as kids with genius IQs 145 and over, to drop out of high school. The kids who could grow up to cure cancer, stop global warming or become the next world leaders, are being ignored, neglected and otherwise squandered in pursuit of the "thoroughly American notion that if most just try hard enough, we could all be talented."

I feel like I've been talking around this issue for months, but can now pinpoint how this problem starts in our schools. In my old job (the one that "inspired" this blog), I was kept from doing what I did best in order to help less qualified colleagues learn something new. The entire company suffered because management believed anyone could do anything. I've written that I need to be challenged in a job and that I need to be afraid of not being smart enough. I've written about how this President's administration values loyalty over ability. And I've written that most marketing is aimed at the lowest common denominator, completely alienating the smart and savvy core customer.

As a gifted child who skipped two grades, my status was debated each time I transferred to a new school. School administrators agreed that as long as I was well-adjusted, being intellectually stimulated was important enough to keep me advanced. The article states, however, that since the "mid-1980s, schools have often forced gifted students to stay in age-assigned grades--even though a 160-IQ kid trying to learn at the pace of average, 100-IQ kids is akin to an average girl trying to learn at the pace of a retarded girl with an IQ of 40." I'm not a genius and my IQ was at the more "socially optimal" level between 125 and 155, but I am aware, even today, of how I was formed by experiences in those gifted classes.

There's a perception that smart people are just smart and don't need help, so we should focus our help on those that need it. We've all heard the story about Albert Einstein leaving school at 15, but like anyone with a gift, athletic, musical or otherwise, without proper nurturing, may not achieve what they are capable of. A study conducted in Australia showed that gifted kids not allowed to skip grades had a jaded and negative view of education, had few friends, dropped out of school early and were treated for depression as adults. By contrast, the kids in the group that skipped at least three grades were socially adjusted and had gone on to earn Ph.D.s. In this country, the rate of growth in students earning Ph.D.s has dropped dramatically as funding is cut for gifted students and more social stigma is attached to being smart.

Despite my early years in gifted classes, I was not challenged for most of high school where honors meant more "busy work" (as we called it) and less actual teaching and understanding. My physics teacher used to read the newspaper in class while we were supposed to be teaching ourselves. I had more than a few hostile run-ins with my teachers. I remember one incident where I had received a B on a paper in English, a well-written and thoughtful piece on a book we'd read. My neighbor got an A and I asked to read her paper.

I scanned it and then raised my hand during class to ask my teacher (who lectured to a mirror on the opposite wall of the classroom by the way - I swear to god!) why I received a B for original thinking and clear understanding of the material while my classmate got an A for merely regurgitating his lecture. I was sent to the Principal's office and told by my counselor that with my grades and "attitude" I wouldn't even make it to a UC school. No longer in a gifted-only environment, I defended my young age to my peers by insisting that I wasn't smarter than them, I had just started reading early. But after hearing them talk about what they were learning in their English class, I transferred out of honors English and into standard English with Mrs. Pecht, the only teacher in four years who taught me anything. I loved her.

Instead of special schools and classes, why can't we just have a way for kids to learn at the level they're at, for every subject? That's how it was done when I was in first grade. I went to a fifth grade class for reading, a third grade class for math. No, I wasn't popular and the other kids didn't like this tiny girl sitting in their classes answering questions but what if I wasn't the only one? What if we didn't have grades and instead all kids were learning at their pace and making their way through a curriculum, excelling at some subjects and struggling in others? We'd have a system that much more closely resembles a free-market work place, which is exactly where we need these genius kids.

Mrs. Anything Can Happen

I am such a bundle of emotions these days, it's hard to even pinpoint what I'm feeling. Friday was my last day at the old job, after two days in meetings for the new job. Everyone was very sad to hear that I was leaving and I felt like someone who'd won the lottery and wasn't going to share with anyone. The absolute joy I'd felt for the past two days really hadn't changed my view of this current job. It's a fine job, it's just not one that I want. But it's become very clear that I was the best project manager they've had on the job yet and in a short three weeks, I'd already made an impact.

The account manager hired on contract for this job was out of town to a wedding and even thought it was impossible to get anything done, I felt obligated to accomplish something for her to come back to. We bonded and had become instant friends when we realized that we shared a philosophy on how to get work done. It's called creative project management. While most companies expect project managers to create and follow process, spending all day drafting status reports and updating project plans, the best ones are those who can creatively problem solve. Projects don't just hum along a set plan, there are always problems and difficulties and solving them, for me, is the best part of the job. Cracking the human code to discover how to make everyone happy is the only satisfying part of project management.

One moment, my head is swimming with the amazing ideas I get to work on and execute in the coming months in the new job, the next I'm overwhelmed with sadness over what I'm leaving. Good friends, a beautiful apartment by the beach, the pursuit of acting (for sure now) and the ability (that I was only just coming in to) to shoot a movie at a moment's notice. The irony, of course, is that this new job has just skyrocketed me to the top in terms of opportunity and connections. My chances of actually directing a feature film have just increased by a thousand. The catch is that I really have to do the work now, of writing and making films to prove that I have something to say. I think I've been lazy about it the past because I could see that no matter what a talented person creates in this town, if they don't have the right connections, success can and will probably still elude them.

This job is like marrying a dishy guy with money, connections and a name that opens doors who says "honey, do whatever you want, I support you completely." I just married opportunity so I better get busy doing what I want!

Soon, we'll ALL have blogs!

A couple of years ago, my brother was visiting and we took his nephew to the Ventura Harbor and there was a live sea animal display and information about the Channel Islands and its unique habitat. All five islands are protected National Park and camping reservations have to be made three months in advance. Because it's an island chain, it's home to many unique animals including the cutest little red fox that lives only on these islands. There are fantastic photos of the islands on this photographer's site.


So it was with great enthusiasm that I asked about my co-workers trip there last weekend and was delighted to hear that it was highly eventful. She stayed on a boat, setting foot on land for only about ten minutes out of three days. They cooked on a stove suspended by the ceiling that swung with the boat so pots and pans wouldn't slide off. Does it work I asked? "Kind of."

Her Sierra Club group took rafts into sea caves and were stampeded by a herd of sea lions who appeared to be trying to sink them. She and a friend discovered a 26-foot shark carcass on the beach and later returned to the sea caves in scuba gear to explore the pitch black water. She then made reference to other trips like a shark diving expedition in which she threw up in the ventilator (apparently it's made to handle that, somehow) and I was just so amazed at her level of adventure.

Turns out, she has a blog! She promised that the Channel Islands trip will eventually be posted and I can't wait.

Stars in my future

I know that horoscopes are silly but I enjoy them anyway. I tell myself that I have a scientific interest in that I like to measure the likelihood of them being correct. Usually I read the month's full horoscope near the beginning of the month, so it would stand to reason that it doesn't resonate as the month hasn't happened yet. Invariably, when I forget get to it mid-month, I'm often astounded at the relevancy looking back.

Today, realizing that I hadn't yet read my predictions for August and given all the change that's going on, was incredibly curious to see if this was the case. It's so amazing, I have to share it with you.

It starts out saying that I’m getting a promotion, possibly at a new company. Take my time to review the offers, it advises, it will work for me. (Now they tell me!)For the past two years it says I’ve worked hard and been “on display,” needing to prove myself. “Think back to July and August 2005. At that time, Saturn had just entered your prestigious career sector and began to groom you for much bigger things.” August 2005 is when I started working in marketing again, after five years of pursing acting. I was an unemployed waitress/actor and was having a hell of a time convincing people that I was anything but. Life, it says, is about to get much better. I’ve paid my dues and I’m about to earn a lot more money.

It continues: An excellent day to open talks is August 2. (The day of my first interview) By August 6, you should have the answer you want, or if not then, shortly thereafter. (I got the job on August 8!) One day that will likely be a tough one will be August 21, in fact, it may turn out to be the hardest day of the year for a work-related episode. (This is the day I start the new job.) Mars will move into your eighth house, suggesting you are about to spend quite a bit of money and your high-spending period will last until the end of September. (Yes, yikes!)

I got a little worried when I read that "the last part of the month will be a turbulent time for everyone. A particularly difficult full moon lunar eclipse in Pisces is due, and will force a decision about a romantic relationship, particularly if you are not yet formally attached." I don't even want to think about what would happen if the guy I told I would marry and follow around the world decided to take me up on that right now. Let's hope this horoscope stuff is a bunch of crap!

Do nothing or do anything - it's not real!

One of my regular readers asked if I was hoarding entries, planning to release them in another batch of five. I'm failing my readers! I have no time to write and because I know there are more important things going on in the world than my silly little life, I resist writing updates on my car (it's fixed), the job (starts next week) and the love life (I received a postcard from the long-distance friend).

In fact, I went to the New York Times just now to prove that there was something more exciting going on than my life I FOUND IT! It has been predicted that there is at least a 20% chance that we are living in a computer simulation of an advanced post-human race. There's even a guide on how best to survive in a simulated world.

The theory is a possible explanation as to why there are dictatorial figures in the world whose selfish and insane actions serve only their needs. They are obviously the creators of the simulation acting out their own fantasies on simulated people (us). The scientist who produced the study claims that we will have computers who can simulate life at this level by mid-century and wonders, can we create a simulation within a simulation?

Honoring my accomplishments

I’m backdating again. I just wrote and published three entries as if I hadn’t suddenly fallen off the edge of the blogging planet.

I’m starting to wonder if I’ll be able to keep up the blogging now that I have a job that actually requires me to work all day. I started the blog when I had a job without very much work (which naturally led to me being laid off) and then nearly three months of unemployment. There were days when just writing a blog entry was accomplishment I was proud of.

I already miss those days! If I could do whatever I wanted, I’d live in a villa on the Amalfi coast and write. I guess it gives me something to work towards, eh? So, I apologize for getting behind, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep blogging. I especially love comments, even the ones that tell me I’m being a judgmental twat.

I started the new job a week ago and it was in chaos the minute I walked in the door. A month behind schedule, and no clear leadership, I was being “trained” by a woman who considered project management to be running reports and setting meetings. She taught me how to upload documents to the extranet and fill out my timesheet like I was starting an after-school job. She’s off to get her MBA at a fancy school and in seven days didn’t think it necessary to explain anything about the actual project.

After a week of inserting myself into meetings and discussions, I took charge. So just as I gained control of this thing, I got my exit schedule negotiated with the two companies (basically I’m working every single day and somehow moving with no time off to accommodate the old and new bosses' vacation schedules). What’s wrong with this picture? I hate that the individual is made to feel so bad for quitting, as if it’s personal, but when we get laid off it’s just business.

Today I had a kick-ass day managing this project myself and people have taken to me being in charge and are reporting to me in a way that I never saw them do with the woman I’m replacing. And I’ve learned quite a bit, like about how data is ingested and what a data model is. My predecessor just wasn’t interested. She’s not a hands-on manager like me. This project will be on a smooth track to production when I leave and I’m pretty proud of that.

One fell swoop

Last week was extremely difficult. It’s hard enough starting a new job, learning a new commute and schedule, but I was also interviewing for another job and feeling like a liar and a traitor. They had a welcome party for me Monday night and the people at this job are so nice. Smart and cool people that I would love to know. And yet, I knew when I took this that it wasn’t going to be something that would make me happy. Did I announce it on the blog? No. That’s pretty telling.

So my interviews were at a building in Century City where I had to valet. I had used my wrecked car as an excuse for my late arrivals at work but in reality, I pushed the car appointment to make the interview. When I pulled up for the valet, he saw the crunched car and I explained that I had to crawl out the passenger side. Okay, he said to which I added, “which means you have to crawl IN that side too.” He got a kick out of that and chose a valet driver to perform the taskIt was even funnier the next day when I showed up for the second interview. The guy saw me coming and just shook his head “no, no, no.”

The new job opportunity came from a recruiter who was referred by my boss at the company that laid me off. Things come full circle, eventually. It was so stressful to invest and being invested in a job without knowing if I was leaving. Although the new company said they would make a decision quickly, it wasn’t as quick as they said. After two in-person interviews, a phone interview on Monday and some questions by email on Tuesday, I finally got the job yesterday! I am so excited.

In one fell swoop I’m getting four things I have been asking the universe for:

1) A reason to move to the Bay Area
2) A senior level position
3) A job that combines my marketing, online and film industry experience and interest
4) Experience with a global company that opens up opportunities worldwide

In less than two weeks, I start working as a Senior Brand Manager for a major internet company in San Jose. That's right, I'm moving to the Bay Area!

Ask and you shall receive (but maybe not when you expect)

I must have been asking the universe for too many different things at the same time because in the last year jobs, opportunities and men have come and gone but none seemed like the perfect fit. They all were close to but not quite what I wanted. And yet now I realize, they all had their purpose.

Last year, I first considered giving up acting for a guy, then for a job and eventually happily quit acting. Then a friend got me another job that would bring my resume up to date, and with a real salary, I was able to pay off all of my debt in three months. In January, things got serious with a guy who lived in San Francisco and he asked if I would consider moving. I started questioning what my purpose was in Los Angeles, now that I wasn't acting, and remembered that I had always loved the Bay Area. Despite having just landed in Santa Monica and having my own apartment for the first time in six years, I was feeling done with Los Angeles. I decided I would take the leap but the relationship ultimately didn’t work out. Two months after taking another job, I was laid off.

That's when the major soul searching began. What kind of job did I want? Where did I want to live? Would I ever have the relationship I wanted in Los Angeles? I committed to a couple of film projects, told a man that I loved him and then, I took a job I didn't really want. Two days later, I got a call for a job that would change my life. A recruiter I had worked with before called to say she had my dream job. It sounded like exactly what I had been looking for, a senior level job that would require my marketing and film experience.

I shuffled time, missed sleep and stretched the truth to find several hours two days in a row to interview. I had to explore this opportunity, but I also wanted to be realistic. I had a job, a good job, and I needed to take ownership of it, despite this dangling carrot.

Violence is so not cool anymore

I had a weird day in Santa Monica yesterday. There seemed to be more violence around than usual. I went out to buy a ticket for the 7:30 movie, it was still sunny and I was going to the bookstore first, then the movie. On the way, I was confronted by a large and frightening woman with no shoes who yelled at me "if I wasn't something something, I'd fuck you up!" She was literally foaming at the mouth. She continued down the street screaming and cussing and on the other side, people stopped what they were doing to see who was making all that racket.

Then when I found out the movie was sold out, I bought a ticket for the later show and headed home. I walked by an ATM where a young woman was trying to get money and was being harassed by a guy who could have been homeless, it's hard to tell. She was explaining "actually, I'm late for a play and just trying to get some money." I don't know what she was apologizing for but he continued to talk at her anyway.

When I got home, there were some kids on the stoop across the street practicing their rhymes. They were rapping at the top of the lungs the same two lines over and over again. I could hear windows and doors closing, the sound traveled for a whole block in each direction I'm sure, of all the nearby apartments. Only one woman yelled "shut up!" but it didn't do any good.

A few hours later, I headed out again to see the movie and I passed two women walking. They were talking but it quickly escalated to yelling and the younger one tried to grab the bag of the older woman as she shouted "will you just stop drinking already?!" They went on down the street like that, the younger one yelling and trying to grab the bag and the older one shushing her as other people walked by. I passed a couple on my side of the street, clearly in a fight, as the guy said something mean to his girlfriend.

Before the film, there were several trailers. I'm always tuned in to how people react to trailers. Whether they laugh, or talk the whole time or are engaged. During two for movies about random violence, the kind that doesn't make sense and makes us into crazy people, the feeling from the audience was not good. It felt angry. When the Bourne Ultimatum came on though, even though there's violence, the feeling is uplifting. He's fighting for all of us, and the people who get hurt are generally bad guys. People laughed and cheered and went along with it in a way that they absolutely were not going to for those two other films.

I'll venture a guess that random acts of violence are sliding down the backside of cool.

Previously covert activities

I just saw the Bourne Ultimatum and I thought it was fantastic. I'm a huge fan of the first two and now, of the series in general. The theme song qualifies to join the ranks of Mission Impossible, James Bond and The Pink Panther. Some lame review criticized the performances as wooden, giving no credence to the fact that people who work in these kinds of positions are not exactly the emotional and heartwarming types found in romantic comedies. She clearly thinks the movie isn't very good but still praises it for "non-stop action, unbelievable car chases, exotic locales, and cool shoot-'em-ups." Yeah, isn't that the point? Hitchcock was also criticized for wooden performances and was notorious for his low opinion of actors (unless they were attractive blondes), yet his movies transcended performance with suspense and intrigue.


I only read reviews after I see a movie and just thought hers was kind of hilariously bad. Especially where she goes out on a limb to say that she thinks there will be another one. Despite the fact that it was written as a trilogy, I think we can count on Hollywood to continue raping this series as long as possible. This is what irritated me the most though: She says she still can't buy Matt Damon as a tough guy. On what basis? He's got the same build as Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis and a host of other previous tough guys with smarts. What about the other assassins in the movie? They're all different, that's the beauty of it. A person can be trained - look at soldiers in the military - they don't have to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. What about La Femme Nikita, could she not buy a woman as a killer? I can't believe I'm arguing against something so stupid.

But I find it interesting, that these movies are so popular. BU grossed $70 mil in it's first weekend, an incredible turnout for a non tent-pole movie like Spider-man. I tried to go at 7:30 and it was sold out, and at 10:20 on a Sunday night, the theater was packed. The story is about a guy who worked for the government but then discovers that he's a bad guy and wants to be a good guy. But the government, the CIA, keeps trying to kill him and kills everyone around him. It's a great story because it's about redemption and trying to be a better person, but the overarching theme is that the government has gone too far. They're drunk with power and want less and less intervention from people who don't "understand."

Isn't it ironic that the weekend this movie opens President Bush signs a law that basically legalizes the NSA's previously covert activities, by making wiretapping for any reason, legal? The telecommunications companies have been in bed with the government for a while now but started to get nervous about lawsuits because they were voluntarily giving the information over. So they started pressuring the administration and they responded by passing a law that makes handing over the information mandatory. Oops! But don't worry, they're targeting foreign nationals so they're only using American citizens to get to the ones overseas. Can you believe we can pass a law here that makes it legal to infringe on the rights of citizens in other countries?

With the new iPhone and all the other impending technology, more communication is going to be done over the phone and now, it's all up for grabs. Consider yourself warned.

Heinz 57, the user-generated way

Asking consumers to make their own commercials for a product has been a cool, new idea for so long, it's no longer new and I'm not sure how cool it ever was. People like user-generated content, for sure. They like to see other people acting stupid, looking stupid and and doing stupid things. That's funny, but it doesn't sell product and it generally doesn't make for very good commercials. People also like more professionally produced online content, if it's a good concept. But most people don't know what makes a good concept and if you've ever watched and voted for one of these contests you know what I'm talking about. Which is why I'm so bummed I don't have an entry for the $57,000 prize offered by Heinz 57 ketchup.

I had every intention of producing several commercials for Heinz 57's Top This contest. I came up with ideas but many things colluded to keep me from having the time, energy or organizational head space and I never got to them. They're due in a week and I'm having a hard time letting them go. I still wish I could shoot them but starting the new job, and getting into an accident (on the way home from San Francisco - another good reason for the High Speed Rail!) - I'm just too overwhelmed.

So I thought at least I could tell you what my ideas are/were:

1) The BBQ - A guy is out on the street, he gets a text message on his phone. He looks at it and in reads "From Jeremy: BBQ at my house, tomorrow 2pm, we'll have grillin's, bring your favorite topping." The guy reacts, "Sweet!" Cut to the guy walking with a bottle of Heinz into the BBQ, he stops when he sees another guy giving a bottle of Heinz to the hostess. A look of concern on his face. The host approaches with a burger on a plate and gives it to him, the hostess approaches and puts Heinz on his burger. Then she takes his bottle. "Thanks for the Heinz, we were just about to run out." She sets the bottle down on a table of food and about 15 empty Heinz bottles. Back to our guy's reaction, "Sweet!" He takes a bite. Voiceover: Everyone's favorite, Heinz 57.

2) International grocery - Establishing shot of a woman pushing a cart down an aisle with a little girl in it. She stops at the ketchup and looks up to the row of Heinz. As she takes a bottle, we look at her from the POV of the Heinz and the little girl says "hot dogs!" Cut to a series of different people from the same POV, all taking a bottle of ketchup. A German guy, "Bratwurst!"; A Mexican lady, "Huevos Rancheros!"; A Jewish woman, "Corned Beef Hash"; A British guy, "Bacon and Sausage"; and finally, a Belgian woman who makes sure no one is listening before she says "Les Frites." (Subtitles read "French Fries"). Voiceover: Heinz 57, spoken worldwide.

3) James Bond - Closeup of a guy's feet in dress shoes and slacks, walking. Swanky music plays. Pan up to reveal a guy in a tux shirt and tie. The entire spot is in extreme closeup. He spots a woman about to eat a French fry without ketchup. He pulls out a bottle of Heinz and saves her. She eats the fry with ketchup and smiles. He straightens his bow tie and spots another woman who's trying to feed her little boy a hot dog. He rushes over, puts Heinz on the hot dog and the boy eats it happily. The mother smiles. He adjusts his cuff links and sees yet another woman with eggs and toast trying to get ketchup out of an empty bottle. He swoops in and squirts ketchup on her plate. We now zoom out to reveal that the man is actually a waiter in a cafe. He takes his job very seriously and the ladies appreciate it. He spins the bottle like a gun and puts it in his apron. Voiceover: Heinz 57, it's THAT good.

4) ESL class - In an ESL class, students of all nationalities are huddled around their teacher naming things they like to eat with Heinz. A bottle sits next to the teacher on the desk and the class eats French fries. They have trouble saying the words but are really happy when they get them out. "Omelet, potatoes, meatballs..." One student says "cold noodles," and they look at him funny. He shrugs like, it's true. An Asian student struggles to say "French fries." The class is intently watching, she gets a real "R" sound out for the first time and is elated. The class cheers. Voiceover: Heinz 57, it's universal.

Life seems to be a never-ending stream of missed opportunities but there will be more contests and more ideas, so until then!

I'm not talking to you

Every morning, an army of mommies set out with their kids in strollers to walk around Santa Monica. I see them on my way to work. But something strikes me as odd: they're all on the phone. Facing them in the stroller, the babies and toddlers look for some kind of engagement but mom is on the phone to someone else.

My neighbors have a newborn. Ben is nine weeks old and cries a lot. His mom has people over all the time, other moms, or is on the phone. She talks all day long to other people. The only thing I ever hear her say to Ben is "shhhhhhhh." One day I went by and he was napping on one couch while she laid on the other and read a book. I know that having a newborn can be overwhelming but I also know that bonding with the mother through touch, eye contact and speech is critical. I can't help but wonder if Ben cries because he's not getting enough of those things.

What kind of kids will this cell phone generation grow up to be? Will they be ultra-demanding, stupid, distracted, or just cell phone addicts as well? I have to believe that people spend more time on the phone as a result of the mobility. Certainly we don't have more to say, do we? Nothing crucial is happening on these phone calls, we're just using them for entertainment and a way to avoid doing something else, like paying attention to our children.