So here I am, my final day in the windy city, the Big Apple, the birthplace of basketball and the potato capitol of the world: Los Angeles, California.
In all seriousness, there are some things that words can't describe. And then there are some things that the words "words can't describe" can even describe. And I have to admit that this last four months have fallen into that category.
I don't even know where to begin. I guess first and foremost, I continued quitting cigarettes. You read about me reaching the six month mark in a previous post, so I'm super proud of myself for keeping that up and have just passed month seven. I think its safe to say I'm never going to smoke another cigarette for the rest my subsequently longer, cancer-free life.
A lot of times you go in to something with certain expectations and end up getting disappointed. In fact, for me that's been pretty much all the time. But then, there are certain times in your life where you desperately want something to go some way, and for whatever reason, maybe by the grace of God, you get exactly what you want. And I can say with amazingly no hesitation that what I wanted to accomplish during my Los Angeles stay has actually been achieved. Allow me to list
1.) Kick ass at internship
Not being an involved student by any means besides SAE, I had low expectations of what kind of internship I could get. Unlike all the other faggy Emerson Channel kids who signed away their social lives to a meaningless video club, I had been majoring in pounding PBR and making horrible decisions for the three and half years I had been in college.
Well thankfully, I kicked ass in my Comedy Writing For Television class at my teacher, Martie Cook (strong candidate for "Coolest Woman Alive") put me in contact with this girl named Amy at Film Roman who ended up getting me a job. And who also ended being the coolest most respectful supervisor I ever had.
Obviously, gallant men of iron-clad will such as myself don't cry, but I came very close to tearing up when I left. Amy and Dan treated me to a great lunch and then this high-up executive Carin (VP of Creative Development) took me for coffee and thanked me profusely for all the hard work I've done. When I got back they had all signed a card, which if I read aloud would even pull at the heart strings of a even grizzly bear.
So thank you Film Roman'ers if you guys are actually even reading this.
2.) Get Back In Shape.
Since coming to college I had seen my body deteriorate further and further and further. Thankfully I quit cigarettes, but I ended up gaining like thirty pounds in the following weeks. However now I back to the high 150's, lifting more than I've ever had in my life, and am running my fucking dick off. Best shape of my life? Oh yeah, for sure.
3.) Find myself.
Well that sorta brings us to this blog. As egotistical and gay the whole blog thing can be, I have had so much fun writing down my thoughts, and found it be very therapeutic. More so than that though I have had several of my friends actually read it and tell me in exactly these words: "comedy writing is your calling."
As obvious as it may sound, finding something that people think you're really good at is an amazing feeling. I am endlessly thankful for all the strong encouragement from all of you and has given me new found confidence when it comes to pursuing a potential career path.
I could write a 1000 page book on how much I have changed, but I'm going to leave it pretty simple. For some reason though I feel it nessecary to leave this retrospective series with some parting words of advice. Seing how numerical ordering has already been claimed by the first list, I'll labels these A, B, and C.*
*Also, A & B are words of advice given by Bret "The Hitman" Hart but they relate really well to my LA experience. But yeah 66% of my final words of wisdom have come from a professional wrestler. Deal with.
A.) In order to find yourself, give yourself up to loneliness.
Unfortunately, not a lot of partying happened during my LA stay. I was never really great friends with any one here. I would kinda bounce back between groups of people every weekend but I was never a part of any crew. However such a large amount of time to yourself is necessary for you to reassess your life. Being so far away from everyone I care about was indeed difficult but it truly made me realize how much I love all of them and how I'm the luckiest guy in the world for having all these great people in my life.
B.) Life is less about what you're going to learn and more about what you've had in yourself from the very beginning.
Pretty self explanatory. Look back at your life and try to find the things that always made you happy, and life's gonna be a lot easier after that.
C.) You'll be surprised how far a little trying will go, and absolutely amazed and how far a lot of trying will take you.
So often, we give up or don't do something because we're convinced we're not cut out for it. Thus, we close so many doors and cross of so many paths before we even get to see what they're like. I never though I would get a good internship. I never thought I would succeed at a good internship. I never thought I'd be running five miles a day again. I'd never thought I'd quit cigarettes. But all of those things have happened. As cliche as it may sound, self-determination is probably the strongest force in the entire universe. To sum it up in words we've heard since third grade "you can do anything you set your mind to."
For the longest time, I was a very unhappy kid. I thought I was doomed to a life of misery. But as I sit here looking back on how everything has turned out -- and it amazes me to say this -- I'm one of the luckiest people alive. I've taken a lot of things for granted back east and I'll never do that again. I am graduate of a very esteemed film school, have amazing friends, and I'm pretty sure I've found my calling.
Life is going to take all of us to very unexpected places, but -- and now things are going to get really gay -- as long as you follow your heart, things are going to turn out pretty well for you. It has for me.
And thus one of the most amazing chapters in my life has come to end. However a new one begins the second I set foot back on the east coast soil. Daddy's coming home!!!!
One love and until we meet again (and we will),
Andrew G. / Geno
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