New Year Changes

The new year's only been new for a few hundred hours, and already big changes have knocked us onto an interesting new course. The part-time job at Epic Level dissolved, which is bad. But I got a two-week stint on the Universal lot as a producer's assistant, which is good. With the economy corpsing it up, we can't afford our apartment anymore, which is bad. But we just got approved for an apartment in Glendale that will save us $500 a month, which is good. The new place doesn't come with a fridge or dishwasher, which is annoying. And I have to pack up the apartment in the next couple of weeks, which is also mildly annoying. We thought we might move sometime this year, but not right away. As my mother likes to say, life is what happens when you're making plans.

On making plans: Interesting things are afoot at Dead Gentlemen. Every year, when the new year dawns, we declare "This will be the year of DG!" and outline overly ambitious plans that ultimately never happen. We're continuing that trend. But this year feels different. There's a concentration of purpose -- as well as talent -- such as we haven't had before. We'll have a new website up in the next couple of months, a site built to host a constant stream of new material. Producing that constant stream is the challenge. The desire is there. And morale is high. From the feelers we've put out through our collective network of contacts, we're not the only out-of-work filmmakers in this town jonesing to do something. With luck, we'll be shooting another Gamers movie by summer. If that doesn't happen, though, at least we'll finish this year with a few new projects to show.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the Glendale move. Most of our friends live north of the park, and we'll actually be closer to them. And the neighborhood definitely does not feel like Los Angeles. The air was too clear, the streets were too quiet. There were actual leafy trees lining the walks. An oasis in the vast cultural desert. On Sunday, Camille and I went to a farmers market in Encino, which is a straight shot from our new place. We took our purchases to Lake Balboa to picnic with our friends on what was beyond a doubt our windiest day in LA; the ducks looked to be surfing on the swells.

Tuppence a bag

I've said before that 2008 felt more like a year we escaped than enjoyed. It was the Year of the Rat, Jeremy told me, the year you plant seeds and wait for harvest. Now it's the Year of the Ox (or will be in February), the year you supposedly reap the benefits of your hard work. Sounds good to me. Hard work is a lot easier to continue when you can see the fruits of your labor.

Blah blah blah. Back to packing.