Clash of the Commitments

I am a commitment-phobe after burning myself out in middle and high school with far too many extra-curricular activities that involved several 16-19 hour days a week. Not to mention belonging to a church that takes up half of your free time with lessons, gatherings, and other various obligations. So for the past few years all I've wanted to do is go to work/school and come home. But I love singing and I miss being in a choir. So I finally joined one after searching for a low-cost, low-commitment, non-professional group for several months now. It's a small all-girls (: ( ) a cappella group, and it's been so challenging but much fun!

I discovered recently however that this group meets on Thursdays. Being unemployed I have very few time slots that are filled, but once a month on a Thursday, I have my ScreenplayLab Mixer networking event (see previous post Shmoozing Part 2). This is probably the one organization that could really help my career and I have to miss it because I committed to this group. We only meet for an hour and a half once a week and I don't want to be the girl who ducks out early to drive all the way to Beverly Hills just to stand around awkwardly.

It's not a big deal, it's just I wish I could do both. Hopefully I'll get a job without the help of this ridiculous tradition of networking and I won't have to feel guilty about missing my singing group. I do still have the other networking thing I go to, but that's mostly just sit around and pretend you can hear what people are saying. Ok, gotta get back to reading scripts! I've been able to take in a lot, and it's really been improving my own screenwriting skills.

Shmoozing Part 2

So I worked up my courage to venture forth without my trusty wingwoman, Carli, and went to the Screenplay Lab mixer at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. I was pretty late, having gotten caught up finishing the coverage on an impossible to read cockney heist film, but eventually made it out the door looking fabulous. I've driven by the Reg. Bev. Wil. several times but never actually been inside. It is gorgeous! Oh the doormen and the marble-floored lobby, it's to die for.

Anyway, the event was a lot smaller than last night and the music wasn't quite as loud. I got myself a nice glass of wine. This place was so fancy there was actually a list to choose from instead of just red or white. I tried to look like I actually knew what I was looking for but pretty much just chose the cheapest one. Bless the bartender's heart, she went through the motions of letting me taste it before pouring the whole glass. I'm sure she knew I was poor and ignorant. But I swished and sniffed and pretended I knew what I was doing. God I felt like a fraud. But I bet everyone feels that way in this town.

I sort of walked around a little before running into a very cool guy named Travis, also a screenwriter. We talked for nearly two hours about screenwriting, the Oscars, French New Wave, crockpots, the us'. I probably should have tried to circulate and meet lots of different people, but I figured, hey this guy is cool. What are the chances of finding someone else just as cool? So I decree that this night was a success. Even though at one point I felt so dizzy I almost fainted right on the marble floor. Bad combination of not wearing heels often enough and only having a spoonful of peanut butter for dinner. Overall a big improvement from last night. I think they do these mixers every month, so we'll see how it goes next time.

Shmoozing

So I went to a shmooze-fest tonight, otherwise known as a networking mixer. Luckily my friend was there to introduce me to some of her friends. If I had gone sans wingwoman, I probably would have wanted to shoot myself in the head. Picture a dark, overcrowded, obnoxiously trendy bar in Beverly Hills with the bad music cranked up so loud you can barely carry on a conversation. Why do people think this is fun? I only go so I can potentially meet people to help me with my career or god willing people that don't totally suck to hang out with. Too bad I'm not as outgoing as I once was. And too bad I'm too poor to afford social lubricant juice (ie vodka tonics or classy red wine). I'm going to another mixer tomorrow night, one specific to the film industry. Hopefully it will be more productive than trying to shout small talk at people I barely know who are totally in my personal bubble space and pretend that I can hear their most likely insipid responses.

Wow, this sounded super bitter and anti-social. I apologize. I like people. I just would rather be able to converse with them instead of stare awkwardly at my fingernails after we run out of things to shout about in the first five minutes. Oh well, we'll see what tomorrow's shmoozing at the Reg. Bev. Wil. (Pretty Woman reference!!) will bring.