First, I had the opportunity to fly back home to the Midwest because my older sister was having her second child. It had been over 6 months since I'd been home and I was really excited to get away from LA for awhile. First, I stayed with my family in IL for the first few days and while I was there my mother got a call from my younger sister on 4th of July saying that she got engaged to her boyfriend of
5 years! After the excitement, I then drove up to Eau Claire to see my old college town/friends. It was really nice to see familiar faces and be back in a college atmosphere. There was drinking, laughter, and best of all, friends. After the 2-day excursion there, I drove to the Twin Cities to see my sister and her baby. Weighing in at over 9 lbs, the world welcomed in a massive, strawberry blonde, Jameson Tennant. He was cute as can be, and was very chill when we were all oogling and holding him. After some time with the fam and the hospital, I headed over to a friend's place and got to see more friends from the cities. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see everyone that I would have liked to, but it was still great to see the people that I did.Afterwards, 2 of my brothers and one of my sisters drove two trucks down to IL. About half way there, the truck I was driving started to smoke so we pulled over to a small town in Wisconson called Tomah. While at the gas station, I realized that there wasn't any radiator fluid in the car, so I went to buy some. Just as I was about to pour it in, it started pouring and the tornado sirens started going off. My sister and I ran to the gas station doors and they locked them on us and put up closed. After this shock, we ran to the other truck and the 4 of us crammed into the front seat of the the other truck and turned on the radio. To our dismay they said that tornadoes were touching down in the area and that there were 80 mph winds as well. After sitting in the shaking truck, scared out of mind, we decided we had two choices: we could sit in the truck and hope that nothing comes our way, or we could risk driving to the Walmart in the distance and hope that it was open. We decided to do the latter and as we got there, we quickly parked and ran inside the open doors of Walmart drenched from head to toe. After being inside for no more than 10 minutes we got called over the inte
rcom to come to the front of the store. Our initial thought was that in our rush we parked in the handicapped parking spot, but once we reached the front, we were told that our truck had been damaged by the storm. We rushed out there, and saw that the back window of the truck had completely shattered from the storm and glass was littering the parking spot below. So, we ran back inside, took the broom and dustpan from Subway and proceeded to clean up the mess the best we can. After waiting the storm out, we went back to the other truck at the gas station and filled with it radiator fluid. As I went back to get another bottle, I saw what I wish everyone could witness: a man left his gas nozzle in his car and drove away. It completely broke off, he stopped, got out of the car looked at it on the ground, got back in the car, drove it off to the side, and sat for awhile. As I tried controlling my laughter, I told my sister to watch him if he tries to drive off. Of course, a few minutes later, he just takes off without telling anyone and my sister smartly took down his license plate to report later. After this "adventure" we were able to drive safely back to IL.Overall, it was really nice to be back home and see family and friends. I had been in LA for so long and missed everyone so much, and all the little things about the Midwest that make it so great. Going out there, I felt that there might have been a chance that I would have realized how much I really belonged there instead of out in LA, but the opposite kind of happened. As much as I realize that I'd much rather live in the Midwest, it was a reaffirmation that I belong in LA right now. I saw what my life would/could be if I had stayed in the Midwest and I'm happier knowing that i'm sacrificing a lot to pursue my dream. And I know that if/when I succeed, it will mean that much more.
After a wondeful 8 days in the Midwest, we flew back to LA and returned to "the grind". Unfortunately, after being home for only a few days I got tonsillitis again, and had to go see the doctor. After getting tonsillitis for the third time in 9 months, I realize that I can't have it be a recurring problem, and I'm going to pursue getting regular health care. Apparently, I can apply for Health Way LA which
provides free health care coverage to those with a low income, so here's hoping. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to audition much because of being sick, but one audition I was able to go to was for the student project of There Will Be Blood for the role of Eli Sunday. I read for them twice and after the second time, they said they were really impressed with the read and that I would hear from them one way or the other. As fate may have it, about a week afterwards I got an email saying that I got the part! For the first time out here, I feel really proud of getting cast in something. Mostly because I thought the audition went really well, and there were probably about 20 people that I beat out to get the role. It's also a great feeling because after watching There Will Be Blood in the theatres, Eli Sunday's role was one that I connected with and knew was a role that I wanted to play. Luckily, I know get my chance. On August 11, we are shooting, and as far as I know, we're shooting the church scene between Eli Sunday and Daniel Plainview.And last but not least, this morning I woke up to a loud noise that I thought was one of the maintenance men outside cleaning with a leaf blower. But as the sound got louder and I saw my bed shaking, I knew that I was experiencing my first earthquake. My first instinct was to get away from the window and check
on my brother to make sure he was ok. He was, and as I was just about to head to the baththub for safety, I realized that's where you go for a tornado, not an earthquake. By this time, the earthquake died down and we turned on the news to check it out. It turned out to be a 5.4 magnitude earthquake that came from about 30 miles SE of where we live. The most impressive thing was that we read that it could be felt all the way to Vegas and San Diego.Since moving out here, I've said that the two things that I have to experience to really feel like a Californian is 1. an earthquake, and 2. see a celebrity. With the first down, I almost checked off number 2 when I was working at Universal Studios the other day. They were having the premiere of the new Mummy movie and as I went on break at 4pm, there was a banner on the inside of the park saying that Brendan Fraser was going to be at the Mummy ride. As I contemplated seeing a celebrity vs. eating food, I chose food.
Silly me.
Movie Reviews of the Day:
Braveheart - 4.5 stars
The Bucket List - 3.5 stars
The Dark Knight - 4.5 stars
WALL-E - 5 stars
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - 4 stars
Mamma Mia! - 4 stars
