Update: Lex in L.A.

Torn between the real and unreal, reality and fiction, life and dreams, Alexis marches on. Always to the beat of her own drum, always to the tune of her own horn and always dancing. L.A.'s dirty streets don't provide the comforts of home. Adjustments have to be made. Phone calls are her only touch with family and the East Coast and the warm home she has known for so long. Life is new and exciting, but can be sent into overflow at anytime.

You see that? A little freestylin' there. That's for you Grandma... creative writing. I know there's probably grammatical errors or something for you to proof... that's what I like about you. That and you've got spunk. ("I hate spunk.")

I don't remember the last time I wrote in the blog, but I think it was about zebras on your face, so I'll just write about whatever comes to mind... these days there's not room for much other than film information, techniques and text.

I have been gathering years worth of information in these past couple weeks. The amount leads to mental exhaustion, but boy is it fun. We have learned incredible amounts about combining technical skills, storytelling, history, art form and etiquette to make a successful film(s). I love it here. I have basically been waking up, walking to classes, learning, working on editing, shoots, writing, reading or plotting out the next assignment; then going to grab something quick to eat (generally after 3 granola bars during the day... this might be an exaggeration but I don't want you to worry about my habits. Lol), then I come home, do more work, check facebook and my email 30 times to keep in touch with my classmates and family, watch several episodes of the Mary Tyler Moore Show and then pass out. Repeat Monday-Thursday (sometimes Friday).

The weekends have been for working on "508 Productions" which are the film short shoots for the class a semester ahead of us (I'm in 507). These are great fun! It's where I've put what I've learned in class, mixed with a bit of common sense, to work. I learn tons on set and have a great time.

This is Farruk and Me sitting in so Talia can set up a shot.

This is me pushing the dolly. That's Evan, the director and Talia, the DP.

This is me waiting for the next shot, crossing my eyes like a champ.

This is me watching the action...

This past Saturday I went to see Justine Ciarrocchi play her sweet tunes. She is very talented and I hope to sway her into letting me shoot a music video or I need to get her to put some music in some of my films. I'll just keep pressuring this little bitch until she gives in... you know you want to Justine...

We also had our first house party here on Magnolia Ave.

Jenna, my roommate and I bought lights to put on our roof and our patio.

(Jenna @jennalynnhicks and our friend Stephen @StephenJGibler ... follow them on twitter...)

Tyler had bought a grill and he helped us string the lights. The party was a success! It lasted into the wee hours of the morning and I think everyone had a blast! :)

Here are some pics of the party and the lights. I've been really into playing with lights lately, so keep this in mind for the latter half of this post...

Me at the party... who's that cutie in the back? JESS ZUTZ!

That's Tyler, who has such an inner and outer glow... and his girlfriend Michelle. (It was Tyler's birthday so the party was really in honor of his birth)

Our new patio furniture and lights

"Flashing...Lights!"

Fake bamboo plant with pretty lights... these are now in my room. Lol.

I love lights.

On Sunday, I decided that despite my fatigue, I was going to be pro-active and cook up some "yummy pasta."

Now, for all of you who didn't live with me at Sarah and Jay's house... which is everyone... "yummy pasta" is a mixture of the best things in life. It's like if Mac and Cheese, Pizza and Spaghetti had a really beautiful baby... in some crazy mixed up way... it would be "yummy pasta."
Sarah makes it the best, but she gave me the recipe and told me how to do it during our kitchen talks in Salisbury... so I actually accomplished it quite nicely. The 7 or 8 servings proved to be the perfect meal for not only myself, but my roommates, my sister (she's visiting) and left overs! It's all gone now, but I'm quite proud of my culinary endeavors.

THE CHEF!

The ingredients!

COOKIN'

Chicken for everyone else... Tofu for me...PROTIEN!

"Yummy Pasta!"( Thanks Sarah for the recipe.)

I was describing how I've been really into lights, well, while I was reading a script for my 507 Directing lab... "Silkwood" recreation scene... I decided to play around with the lighting in my room. If you'd like to see more of these pictures, I'm posting them on my flickr.com page.

This is just a sample of what some of them look like. They're kind of weird because I'm taking photos of myself, but they're basically morphing light to get different effects in the same areas with just using a curtain to block.

Though there are tons of tales to tell (alliteration aside) to hear them you'll have to talk to me in person or leave me comments! The comments make me write more blogs... otherwise, I gots things to do.

I do have a little video I need to edit from when Jenna and I went to watch the actors arrive at the Screen Actor's Guild Awards... but I have to learn Avid first because Final Cut Pro is messing me up right now... it's like learning Italian when you know Spanish... some things are the same, but there are tiny little nuances that have to be dealt with... and that means leaving one alone for a while and learning the other... so Avid... you're gonna be my bitch.

Please comment and thank you for reading! I love you all!

Alexis :)

USC you in LA

Okay-
I'm going to write about my experience in L.A.
I am going to tell a lot of it with pictures because I want you to feel like you got to go too.
Also--I've been telling my story to every member of my family for the past 3 days, so I'm a little spent. I will probably either do this in pieces or I'll elaborate later...who knows...? Here we go!

I was awake this past Friday from 3:30am EST to 12:30am PCT...aka 3:30am EST. A 24 hour day, and one of the best days of my life.
I left the Eastern Shore on time, but my arrival caused me to almost be late. My shuttle had to make a stop in South Central L.A., which made the other lady in the van nervous, I talked her down. We were okay.
We rolled up to the Vagabond Inn (name fits) at 12:00pm, it was exactly when the meet and greet at the Zemeckis Building was starting. Luckily, for me, the inn was 2 feet away from the building, so I was only 5 minutes late!


I met up with Nicole and Brian at the Luncheon. They are two fellow future Trojans who I have talked to before the weekend.


(Brian and Nicole)

We had a great lunch, watched a film about the school, listened to the Dean, who told us that "USC SCA is harder to get into than Harvard Law." A great way to make us smile!) and then broke off into specific groups, based on studies.
We listened to our future teachers talk, then took a tour around the School of Cinematic Arts.



(The new SCA building...thanks George Lucas' $175 Million!)



Tour!



Afternoon meet and greet where there was free booze (I had one corona...didn't want to embarrass myself!) and free fun! Met some teachers and a TON of cool people!



Nicole said that this weekend was "fan-fucking-tastic." That's on the record.



This is the "Frank Sinatra Theatre" where we saw a screening of Forrest Gump and then listened to a Q&A with Robert Zemeckis, Eric Roth, Gary Sinise and Tom Hanks.
Check it out!



The next day, I toured the campus with Brian and Tyler. We took pictures of everything, including under "Tommy the Trojan's" skirt. Sexy.



Tried taking a random pic, Tyler apparently is photogenic and smiled.



After the self guided tour and lunch, I headed to Santa Monica to see my cousin Jess. While she was at work, at Houston's, I went down to the beach, near but not on the pier. It was a gorgeous day and I soaked it all in!



I ate lunch with Jess and then walked the Promanade. I looked at everything I could see and then went to see Sunshine Cleaning, which was AMAZING!!



Jess lent me her car for a bit, so I went back to her apartment and played with Moos and Ace, Jess and Matt's cats. "Moos" means "cat" in Gambia, so it's not spelled wrong, lol.



After work, Jess and I headed to Beverly Hills to pick up some frozen dinners. Nothing like a little Passover Pizza to brighten up a little girl's night!



Sunday, Jess and I made our way down to Orange County to see my Aunt Mary and Uncle Bob. My Aunt Mary was in the hospital recovering from surgery, but this is her view, so I think she'll be fine as long as she occasionally looks outside!



After Jess left for work, I headed out to drive to Hollywood. I wanted to do the whole "tourist" thing. I took pics on the way there, whenever I was stopped, which since it was L.A., was quite often. LOOK AT THE BILLBOARD! I'm a nerd.



I went to Hollywood Blvd. and saw Grauman's Theatre...



...stood in Cary Grant's footsteps...



...and of course, paid homage to Ingrid.

My last night in L.A. I went up to Jess' roof deck and wrote for a long while. This video clip is of the view from the roof. It was a great way to end one of the best times of my life. I can't wait to rejoin my friends, make some films and go to USC SCA!