We all have one year to live. Make it a good one people.

So, if the Mayans, or the Incans, or whoever, have it right I've got less than a year to win an Oscar, marry Ryan Gosling, and have two really good looking children. Go big or go home people.

Since I evidently missed the memo about writing reflective Facebook statuses about 2011, and considering the amount of stuff that's happened in 2011, I decided to blog about it instead.

When I look back on it, I guarantee that this will be the year that I consider to have "become a grownup." If you had told me when I was standing in Trafalgar Square a year ago that by this point, TCU will have won the Rose Bowl, I would have found a job, moved to LA, and worked on a major motion picture, I probably would've asked you what you were smoking.  But amazingly enough it happened.  And if you had added in the tidbit about Ryan Kwanten, I probably would've taken you to the mental institution myself.  I now pay MOST of my own bills, live in a TINY (yet stylish) apartment, and managed to adapt to living 1400 miles away from everything I know rather smoothly.  Sometimes I still don't understand how I haven't called up my mommy telling her that I want to come home.  It's bound to happen, but the fact that is hasn't yet is somewhat encouraging.  I go back Monday and when I do, I'm going to help create an actual movie, I'm going to learn how to do what I plan to do for the rest of my life.  All I have to say is if 2012 is anything like the past 3 months have been, I'm in for one hell of a ride.

Peace, love and frogs everyone.

My Boss Is Better Than Your Boss.

For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter/Facebook/know me, my boss got me and his assistant editor Kindles for Christmas...not to mention a box of See's Chocolates.  Needless to say, I'm making him a plaque that says "Best Gift Giver Ever."

I don't remember how long its been since I updated, but according to blogspot it's been since November 15.  During that time I have celebrated Thanksgiving with waffles, watched the Muppets, logged about 300+ hours at work, wrapped my first feature film and met Ryan Kwanten.  Saying that my life is good would be an understatement.

I am getting on a plane in about 42 hours and in about 48 I will be home, after a ride in the SuperShuttle and a layover in Phoenix.  My to-do list is growing, especially since my boss's gift giving nature was unveiled.  And I need to clean, pack, and make sure that my fish isn't going to bite it while I'm gone.  While Rufio, yes he's named after the kid with the mohawk, is a resilient little bugger, I'm not 100% sure any fish could manage himself for a week and a half sans human contact.  I saw these tablets at Petco when I got him that said they could feed a fish for a week.  Procuring those are also on my to-do list, as is cleaning his bowl.

Now I'm off to Beverly Hills for an errand, and yes, I feel pretty damn cool being able to say that.

Eat your heart out True Blood fanatics.

Flight...Wait I Can't Tell You That.

Well here I am.  I've been working at CBS Radford for about a week and a half.  The least amount of hours I've worked has been 10.  And I now understand what everyone was talking about when they told me that being a PA was equivalent to selling your soul.  The fact is however, I love it.

I love going to work.  I love walking down to set and seeing a sign that says "This spot reserved for Amy Poehler."  I love that the studio gym is directly underneath where "Hot in Cleveland" films.  I love that I have yet to pay for a meal while working here.  And I love that the craft services man has done everything from "Rocky IV" to "Star Trek."  So while I'm consistently working 5 days a week, 12 hours a day, and have resorted to watching TCU games via crappy feeds courtesy of my London-dwelling friend Michael, I am doing what I want to do, where I want to do it.  And, in case you didn't hear, TCU beat Boise State on the Smurf Turf.  It's the first time it's been done in like 10 years.  I should've never doubted them.

Now back to the point, I am working with people who've worked on movies like "Spiderman" and "The Hurt Locker," who know people like Quentin Tarrentino and Tommy Lee Jones.  I was just handed my dream on a silver platter and I'm still kind of amazed that it happened to me.  I'm learning things that you can only learn by getting hands on experience from people who have been doing this for decades.  I love my job.

Now I don't necessarily love getting in at 10 every night and not having a social life, but the fact is I'll take it if it means I get to do this everyday.  I'm excited to get up in the morning.  I'm excited at the prospect of seeing these people who know so much more than I do and can teach me everything that 4 years of school didn't.  The people I'm working with ROCK.  I currently spend my days in a "bungalow" on the CBS lot, which has everything from an endless supply of Diet Coke and Butterfingers to its very own golf cart.  Yes, I, Caroline Lorraine Keith, am now a master at the golf cart. So much so that I'm contemplating procuring one for my own amusement.  That and a fish.  I need some sort of companionship when I get home.  His name will be divulged shortly seeing as I have every intention of getting "He who shall not be named...yet" on Thursday, which is in fact my Saturday, which makes tomorrow my Friday.  And yes, that damn Rebecca Black song is in my head, except it's the Glee version which makes it slightly less awful.

I miss everyone, don't get me wrong, I miss everyone like there's no tomorrow.  But I won't lie, working constantly helps deal with that.  As does Skype, facebook, and everything related to an iPhone.  Also, the fact that Christmas is in a month also helps. Danget, now "Friday" has been replaced by "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays."
Alright I'm going to go watch pieces of a movie that I can't tell you anything about get put together.  I love my life.

Until my next minute of free time.

PS. Anybody who wants to go see 'Newsies' on Broadway please contact me immediately.  And if you don't know how to contact me, please don't.

Next Chapter, Take One.

Well I made it.  I made it through 3 days of my father singing 'California Here I Come' every time we past into a new county.  I made it through 3 days of, while very pretty, very boring country side; I'd like to thank Ludlow, California for miraculously showing up right as the gas was about to become non-existent.  I made it to the point where all of my boxes are unpacked, furniture has been purchased, TV and internet have been hooked up, and groceries have been procured.  I am currently sitting on my lovely queen bed watching what seems to be a horrible horror movie staring Renee Zelwegger/Bradley Cooper about some sort of demonic kid.  Been there, seen that.  But hey, it's on Netflix and I just set up my Blu-Ray player with internet so I felt proud of myself.

For those who don't know, I got a job as a production assistant for a CBS Films production that starts shooting on the 7th of November.  So needless to say, I managed to land a job, find an apartment, and drive 1400 miles to an entirely new and foreign land all in about a three months time.  The only good part about having to do it so quickly is that I didn't have a whole lot of time to think about it or realize that what I was doing may have been considered to some as certifiably insane.

So, we went through Albuquerque and Kingman, AZ to get there, but here I am in a 500 sq. feet studio apartment that I'm paying double what I would in Dallas.  Believe it or not, that's a deal out here.  Especially with a washer and a dryer.  The trip wasn't as horrible as I anticipated, we split it into three days and at least had a Rangers game to look forward to each evening.  We don't count game 3, as I've deduced that was a fluke and will never happen again.  We got here Monday morning and went straight to Ikea worried that we'd have to get the mattress delivered so the earlier the better. Word for the wise: if you get a memory foam mattress they roll them up and can fit perfectly in a Ford Escape.  My car's gotten quite the work out having hauled my entire life cross country and then two dressers, two chairs, a desk, and a mattress all within the past 5 days.  I never want to put another piece of furniture together again.

So work doesn't start for another week and a half so that time will be spent trying to navigate this city.  I made it to and from LAX yesterday and have decided that I need to make friends quickly and/or need people to come visit me so that I can use that damn HOV lane.  I think it's the only way people get there in any sort of timely fashion in this town.  So that's your cue people, come save me from LA traffic.

Tonight is game 6 of the World Series, it was supposed to be last night but I'm sure my dad called in a favor or something because it was suddenly raining in St. Louis.  His flight would've coincided exactly with the game.  I however was stuck with nothing to do last but unpack and go to Target; the only non-sketchy one mind you, is about 20 minutes away, right next to the only Wendy's I have yet to find in this town.  I made it through my first night alone and only woke up once at 3:15, the advantage of that being that while it's 3:15 here it's 5:15 back home, and that gives me more options for late night TV viewing.

So that's that, my current life in a nutshell.  I'll update again once I start working and have more to update with.

Off to watch demon girl.

My Official Resignation.

I give up on this whole tumblr challenge crap.  Who has time to update everyday?  And for crying out loud if I can't even update everyday about something I'm excited about than I think it's time to throw in the towel.  Consider the towel thrown into the laundry bin and on its way to the washer.  I'm done.

Anywho, I was inspired to update because my friend Liz, who is making Thailand her home for the next year, has started a blog and I just read it.  Therefore I'm updating.  And while I consider myself somewhat timid, there is no way in hell, even if I were the bravest person in the world, that I would ever be brave enough to move to Thailand for a year.  If you give me a country where I can't even attempt to figure out letters/words/anything, I guarantee I will spend a majority of the time in my hotel room; and have done so on many occasions (see Paris trip when I was 11).  Props to her, but I think I'll stick with English.

You know where they speak English?  Well, supposedly?  Los Angeles, where I've decided to move before the year is out.  I am still having a very hard time spitting it out and be forewarned I've discovered that talking about it on a regular basis helps to convince me that I'm really going to be able to do it. Last time I was there I met with the EVP of Post-Production for CBS Films, who has given me the go-ahead to move out there and he claims he will easily be able to get me PA work.  Keep your fingers crossed, they're doing the remake of My Fair Lady which is filming on location in London.  See now, London for 6 months I can do very easily.  My mom and I are heading out at the end of the month to go apartment/living hunting and meet with some contacts.  It's amazing, I told my parents that I wanted to move to LA and all these contacts start popping out of the woodwork.  For instance, my mother's co-worker's son lives out there, went to TCU, had my favorite professor in the world, and currently works for FOX.  I've also heard rumors that a TCU alum owns a bar out there where he airs all of the games.  It looks like I might survive after all.

The maid comes tomorrow so I spent most of today, other than working and saying goodbye to Robin who's moving to the armpit (Houston, TX), cleaning.  That is one of the biggest mysteries to me.  Why does one have to clean for the maid?  I say pay them a little extra so that you can leave the house in shambles.  It's a win-win for everyone.

And on my last point, I never realized how accustomed I was to winning until TCU lost last weekend.  It put a foul taste in my mouth for the upcoming football season.  I guess that's what happens when you lost 12 players to the NFL, huh?  Oh well, we won yesterday and at least we're not being sued for trying to better ourselves by leaving a conference that's about to self-destruct.  Way to overshadow beating us by whining your way to keep A&M around, Baylor.  We win.  Cowboys lost, in epic form mind you.  I still firmly believe that they should have fired Romo and signed Dalton.  The Bengals managed to win their game today and the Cowboys have another 0-1 start.  Poor Jason Garret.  Oh football, how I've missed you.

Go Frogs beat the...whoever Louisiana-Monroe's mascot is.  Ah...the Warhawks.
What is it with us playing birds?
Go Frogs beat the Warhawks/Birdies/What have you.

Hop a long little froggy.

You Are My Inspiration...Jonathan Taylor Thomas.

I was going through the guide thing for the TV and low and behold what do I find?  Tom and Huck.  Yes, the one with Jonathan Taylor Thomas at his prime where he plays Tom Sawyer.  I was thus inspired to update, mainly just so I don't have to do it later and can still prove to myself that I do have the ability to update consistently.

Damn commercials.

Day 9?  Maybe?  - A film with your favorite actor (male).

Ok, remember when I said that naming the worst movie of all time was hard?  This is harder.  A few years ago I would've said Johnny Depp hands down, but as of late, I find my affection for him dwindling.  Every time he makes another Pirates movie, my love for him wanes proportionally.  However, I feel it is my duty to include him in the list...yes...I'm cheating again.

1) Johnny Depp - Finding Neverland
   I love this movie and still am transfixed by everything about it.  If you've never seen it 1) you have no soul and 2) it's about J.M. Barry, the man who wrote Peter Pan, and his inspiration for the story.  Kate Winslet, who will make an appearance in tomorrow's post, is also in it as well as Dustin Hoffman, who may very well make another appearance in this post.

2) Christian Bale - The Prestige
   You knew he was coming.  There's no doubt this is one of the most riveting movies I've ever seen and has a ending that will leave you asking yourself what the hell just happened.

3) Ryan Gosling - Remember The Titans
   This was the first time that I'd seen the "grown up" Ryan Gosling, whom I'd simply referred to as the "Goosebumps Kid" for years.  It was a supporting role but I fell in love with him right then and there.  I could look at that boys eyes for days and I'm pretty sure that he's the only blonde I've ever remotely been attracted to.

4) Dustin Hoffman - Kramer Vs. Kramer or Rainman
   Watch either and you'll understand why, I shouldn't have to explain myself.

 

Back to the top notch acting skills of the 13 year old heart throb, who I'm relatively certain didn't grow another inch after this movie.

Back On Track.

As I'm sitting here, listening to Brando talk with what one can only assume is about 5 or 6 cotton balls in each side of his mouth, I find myself incredibly grateful that 1) my father is not Vito Corleone and 2) that my mother's condo has a very good air conditioning unit.

This one's gonna be short because I'm way more tired than usual and will probably collapse on my bed within the next 10 minutes.

Day "8" - The film you can quote best.

"Little Women"

Surprising?  Slightly considering that that movie is around 2 and a half hours and I've never actually made it through the book.  My first recollection of this movie is when we went to go see it in the basement of the Plaza Hotel on my first trip to New York.  That is also the same trip where I didn't want to go to F.A.O Schwartz because I thought my mom said it was called F.A.O. "Shorts" and was from that point on convinced that it was a clothing store.  I was 6, and at that point in my life did not have the same appreciation for a good pair of shorts that I do now.  The memorization process of this movie was a gradual one that began when I went through a phase of waking up at around 5:00 and, being the rebel that I was, cleared out a space in my play-room closet and positioned myself, and my TV, accordingly so that my parents wouldn't be able to find me.  The volume would also be turned down to a level where I'd have to force myself to read lips, that also probably helped with the whole memorization thing.  I'd watch "Little Women" over and over again, mainly because I didn't feel like pushing the eject button. Another reason was Christian Bale.  As you know, I have been in love with him from age 5 when I first saw "Newsies" and my love for him was cemented forever with his turn as "Laurie."  I'm fairly certain my fickleness towards men stems from the fact that I've never met one who acted, or looked, like Laurie.   I'll keep holding out.

Thank you Louisa May Alcott for giving me another reason to love Christian Bale and for also giving me something to remind me that Winona Ryder wasn't always a kleptomaniac.