Another long blog and more rambling

So not much in the way of news to report. I'm just working and going to class and trying to network and such... I did find out that they posted professional internships... There are none for arts/graphics and only two for communication (which I may apply to). I kind of expected that. What with the economy being the way it is. It's still pretty disappointing, though.

I've started submitting on deviantart again... I'm potterfan80 on DA (if anybody's interested). It has a lot of old art on there... I plan on getting rid of most of it. I also plan on submitting new art. I want to get back into fine art and figure studies and more conceptual pieces... Not that drawing Mickey isn't fun... But I still haven't given up on my dream of one day displaying my work in a gallery... I wish I had taken pictures of my last art project. It was pretty awesome, actually. Jai, the gay Barbie (he was meant to be an accessory for Barbie). I made posters and a product box and decorated a little Barbie Volkswagen Beetle with gay bumper stickers... I even sewed little clothes for him (including sandals) and gave him (it was originally a Ken doll) a trendy haircut. It was all about the portrayal of gay men in the media and how they end of being these cute, funny eunuchs (Ken has no genitalia... it worked out perfectly) who talk about nothing but fashion and shopping... It took such a long time and a freaking lot of money. I have like almost no sewing experience... but that leopard print button up shirt looked awesome. And now it's just sitting in a storage building in Ohio.

I like the idea of my art critiquing the media - the same profession I want to work in. But you gotta do what you know...

One of my next projects is a little something involving Hannah Montana. I won't say more than that... but she's been an interest of mine for a while now. I even wrote a paper on her for my children's media class. She's such a phenomenon... And that Annie Lebowitz photo... that was so deliberate. She knows what she's doing. And she's damn good at it. People keep comparing her to Britney and Lindsay and some of the other Disney darlings (turned harlot). But I think she's a lot craftier than them. I'm really interested to see how her career plays out.

In other news... still on my diet. I'm going to reach my goal weight by May or June. If I do, I might just set a new goal weight... The best part is having to check out smaller sizes at costuming. I don't really have the money to buy new clothes (and want to wait until I'm closer to my goal weight in any case). But it's really satisfying to be able to go in and turn in pants that are starting to fall off of me for a smaller size. I can still remember trying on pants this past summer during training and finding out that my Disney size was two sizes bigger than I thought I was (turns out it was just one size bigger and I was deluding myself). But now I'm working my way down to what I weighed in high school and pretty soon I'll be down to what I weighed my freshman year in college (the last time I was trying to loose weight). My own clothes are starting not to fit me. I am having to check out belts at costuming now (mine are too big and I can't afford a new one). So now I'm wearing my Disney belt on my days off too.

Oh... and while I'm on the subject... I saw a video last night that one of my friends posted on youtube. It was something we filmed back in 2007... that he just now decided to finish editing. At any rate, it was shot just before I reached my highest weight... Looking at that and then looking at me now... I can definitely see a difference. At the same time, though... It really inspired me to keep going. I'm tired of being the big flat blob in all of my friends' photos. And I'd like to be able to feel comfortable in front of a camera. I want the me that people see to be the best possible version of me that I can be. And it really just comes down to caring enough about myself that I put the effort in to make the change.

My overall health has improved. And it's only going to get better. And it's not like I'm starving myself or anything. I eat more than I did before... And much better than I did before. It may take a little longer to shop and to cook and all that. But I'm worth that extra effort... that extra time.

Two little more tidbits... I have decided to enter the Night of Stars competition. I'm entering a flash animation. It's going to be about CP life. And I'm going to apply for professional internships... The deadlines are March 12 and 13 (respectively). So I have a lot of work to do in the next two weeks. I also am getting my business cards printed on Monday... and I'm going to have my website up by the 13th. I'm setting a lot of goals for myself and deadlines (which is even more important than actually setting the goals... the way to begin is to start doing and stop talking after all). A goal is a dream on a deadline (my marketing teacher told me that). And in this economy I can't afford not to do everything I can to set myself apart from everybody else.

random thoughts

So HSM 3 has been out on DVD for 3 days now. And I haven't been able to watch it! What's up with this! I hate being poor! And all of my HSM buddies have left Florida so I can't watch it with them or borrow theirs!

Incidentally... I really like that song "It's the time of your life" that they play on the Disney commercials now. They were playing it over the PA when after the park closed tonight. Over and over. It was a bit weird (I think they were testing things). But I never get tired of that song. I absolutely love it.

I guess that's it.

Hmmm

So I'm thinking about creating a couple more blog sites... I realize that I'm trying to fit a lot of info into each blog entry... and one topic isn't necessarily related to another... I'm going to give it some thought... If I did, this would become my Disney blog. I'd probably have a diet blog, another about my job hunt/business ventures, and another, more personal, blog. But we'll see.

OMG

So I'm watching one of my new favorite shows, Ace of Cakes, and I find out that they made a Hogwarts cake for the premiere of Order of the Phoenix. And then I proceeded to scream and flail and jump up and down in my chair. And now I'm watching them make the castle. And I couldn't be happier.

God. I am a dork.

Updatedness

Well Valentine's Day has come and gone (or as I like to call it: Singles Awareness Day). Fortunately, my best friend, Tracy, and her 1 year old daughter, Brooke, came down to visit me. So I couldn't get too depressed. We spent two days in the parks. The first day, Friday (the 13th), we spent most of the day at Animal Kingdom. It was such a blast. We got to do the safari, the Pangani forest trail, Rafiki's Planet Watch (the donkeys are soooo cute), Nemo, It's Tough to be a Bug, the Jammin Jungle Parade, and Festival of the Lion King. We went to the Studios after that to try to get into the early showing of Fantasmic but left when we found out that it was standing room only an hour till showtime (that's what happens when you only have Fantasmic 2 days a week I'm afraid). We did go to Voyage of the Little Mermaid before we left, though. On the 14th, we went back to the Studios for a character breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. We got to see Leo and June from Little Einsteins, and Goliath and Jo Jo. It was so cute. Then we did Playhouse Disney Live on Stage (I can finally say I have done that now!) and Muppet 3D Vision. Then we spent the rest of the day at Magic Kingdom.

We didn't get to do much. Brooke wasn't feeling well so we had to cut the day short. We did, however, get to do Small World and Pirates of the Carribean. Tracy and I did Space Mountain and Philharmagic on our own (while Tracy's mother fussed over Brooke - mostly unnecessarily).

I got a ton of pictures of the Jammin Jungle parade. And a ton of Brooke looking cute. We didn't actually get to watch the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade or the street parties. It was really crowded too. We had to wait 30 minutes in line for Small World. And 40 for Pirates. And it was pretty hot. It was like summer all over again. Who knew that so many people celebrated Valentine's Day at Disney? Anyway, I'll have to go back on my own to get pictures. But then, I have my own digital camera now and 3 months left so that won't be a problem.

I had to work during the American Idol press event. I didn't even get a glimpse of David Cook or Jordin Sparks. They had me in Mickey's all day and forbade us to look out the doors and windows. It was so stupid. It wasn't like I wanted to watch the whole parade and not do any work. But I have seen a few pictures. That's almost like seeing it for real. And I heard some of it. Oh and I don't know if I mentioned that they finished working on the Sorcerer Hat. We got the Hub carts back. I actually got to work on them a few days before the press event. I got to see HSM3... finally. I even got to see a custodial guy draw Mickey and Donald on the courtyard with water. The stars and moon are still yellow, though. Well, they are almost gold. But they don't sparkle like they used to. I thought they were going to replace the lights... At least it's all one color blue now. I'm a little underwhelmed, though. All that time they spent working on it and it doesn't look that much better than it did before.

Anyway... I think I'm going to go to Cast Services tomorrow and ask them about the process of becoming a Disney show artist. I doubt it will actually happen for me (the economy being what it is). But I figured I'd give it a shot. I just read that 3000 Disney execs worldwide took the buyout. And they plan on laying off another 1000 people. Most of them in Florida. What a great time to be trying to get a job! Figures. I have THE worst timing... That reminds me... I saw a political cartoon (on the bulletin board by the breakroom) with Snow White and the 4 dwarves. Apparently, she had to lay off Sneezy, Sleepy and Happy. So it's a good thing you got to see her with all 7 at the Halloween party, Kelsey.

In other news... diet is still going well. It might be hard to believe but I'm going to have to check out another belt soon. I'm on the last notch of the one I have now. I think I can reach my goal weight by May. I just need to step up the exercise before I start to plateau. But I'm already down to what I was in high school. Or close to it. I'm even seeing a difference in how my watch fits. The only thing I'm worried about is losing my butt. It might just be because my pants are too big now... but you can't really tell I even have one. I'm going to have to find some good glute exercises. LOL.

I'm getting along a little better with the new CPs. Mostly, though, I just talk to Emily, Jazzy and Nate.

I saw Milk since my last post. Awesome movie. I cried a bunch of times. The only thing I was upset about was that Lucas Grabreel didnt have more lines. He was constantly in the background... but I think he had a total of 2 or 3 lines in the entire movie. Certainly not enough to offend Disney so much that they wouldn't let AMC show it at Pleasure Island until it was nominated for 8 academy awards.

I also saw He's Just Not that Into You. It's my new favorite romantic comedy. I just wish I had seen it ages ago. Of course, that probably wouldn't have stopped me from wasting 2 - 3 years of my life on a hopeless case. I would have done it anyway.

In addition to a digital camera, I also bought three animation books. Illusion of Life, Animator's Survival Kit and Preston Blair's Cartoon Animation (3 of the must haves for any animator). At least now I don't have to keep checking them out of the Disney Learning Center.... LOL. Seriously, though, I'm going to start getting serious about my show/demo reel. I'm even thinking about entering a few contests for animated shorts. I have to pay my student loans off somehow...

I've just about settled on a design for my business cards. I'm going with three different ones actually. But I'm only going to get the first design printed up next week. It will be one sided with just my name and contact info (and logo). The second design I'm going to print up shortly thereafter. It's going to be two sided with my company name. It's intended for potential clients (for my web business) whereas the first is for networking and job hunting. The third is going to be a rip card... I'm going to hold off on that until my business gets going (if it does). In any case, I've also decided on a tag line. I've been wrestling with this one for a while... and I went thru so many versions it's ridiculous. This one came to me about a week ago when I was reading an animation book. It's so perfect... I can't believe I didn't think of it before. I really like it. I hope it's not taken.

Well, I guess that's about it. I'm really just rambling at this point... killing time while I'm waiting for the UPS guy to deliver my book for class. I haven't even taken a shower today for fear that he'll come when I'm in the shower and I won't hear him at the door. He came Friday but didn't leave the package. Why in the hell do I have to sign for a 40 dollar book when Fed Ex left a 1000 dollar software package on my doorstep last year with no signature? I really don't understand.... But I have to have this book. I'm already 2 chapters behind.

So apparently I was wrong

I met with the guy from Magic of Animation. Not only did he tell me that there was no chance I'd get cross trained or transferred there, he completely deflated me. Honestly, he wouldn't have talked to a guest the way he talked to me. And it only got worse when I told him I was a CP. I swear... the full timers treat us all like crap. I am so sick of it. Later that very same day I had to sit through a communication meeting and listen to Joyce and Ed call me and the other CPs "college kids" over and over (like we weren't there). Why in the world did I extend? As if I didn't get enough abuse the first time? I mean, really... what am I thinking? I might have put up with this treatment when I was 19. But I'm 28. I am not a child. I do live in the real world and have real world responsibilities. And it's not like I'm walking around with rose colored glasses on or with some delusions of granduer. And that guy at the Magic of Animation... he acted like I was coming in there with some sort of expectation or sense of entitlement. Even if I was, who said it was his job to crush my hopes and dreams? I simply went in there to ask him if cross training was possible and under what circumstances could we orchestrate a transfer (at a later date). He told me I didn't follow "protocol." He even implied that I was going behind my managers' backs. I told him that my manager, Karen, was the one who sent me over here in the first place. Then he harped on the whole CP thing. I signed a contract and I'm obligated to stay in the role they put me in. I told him I heard about 2 CPs who transferred into the Magic of Animaiton last term. He said that was "unprecedented" and "caused more problems than it solved." Apparently, one of them quit and went home like two days after he finished training. So, he's judging all CPs by the actions of that one moron. And then he went on and on about how they have too many artists as it is and two people waiting to be training who are already in the right location/role. And then he goes on to tell me that the economy is slow right now (like I hadn't noticed) and that no one is coming to the parks (I guess I'm blind). I mean, I know that there are hiring freezes and they've asked 300 executives to leave and this is absolutely the worst time for a recent graduate to be trying to find a job (of course, try telling that to the student loan people...). And it wasn't like I was really expecting something to happen. I was hoping, of course. But the way he talked to me... it was like he was scolding me. I AM SO TIRED OF BEING TREATED LIKE A CHILD!

UGH!

So yeah... that's not going to happen. Apparently. I guess it's a good thing, though. If that's the way he treats his cast members... well, I wouldn't want to work there anyway.

He did say that my "level of expertise is far above" what the job requires (it is the lowest rung on the Disney artist ladder, after all). But that means that I do have a good portfolio and strong drawing skills. I don't know what good that does me in this economy... but it was nice to hear all the same.

So now I'm just going to concentrate on meeting people in other areas of Disney and filling out applications for apprenticeships in animation and more internships and entry level jobs in TV. Maybe there'll be one media outlet that isn't totally doing away with their internship program that will give me a chance and a reason not to go home with my tail between my legs.

That's my biggest fear... going home. There's no jobs back home. What in the world would I be doing? I'd be sitting at home... while new and better versions of the computer programs I know come out and I get further and further behind. I'd be scraping for change... trying to pay on student loans and looking for jobs that don't exist. No... I'll tell you exactly what I'd be doing: babysitting my sister's kids and sitting at my mom's house watching my near-invalid grandmother and going quietly insane. And let's not forget who'd be just 15 minutes away... the person I left Ohio for... the person I drove 900 miles away from. Forget the family drama (and there's plenty of it)... after 8 months I still can't bear to be anywhere near him. It would be torture.

So yeah... I'm more determined than ever to find a job. Hopefully in California.

In other news... diet is still going well. I've decided to start eating fruit again. I really missed my apples. I'm going to bring one for lunch today. That's about the only change I've made so far...

We're supposed to have the Hub Carts back today. I guess I'll see when I go into work. I hope that means that they're done with the Sorcerer's Hat. Of course, there's talks of moving it later... or just removing it.

David Cook is supposed to come soon for a big press event and a motorcade parade. That willl be fun. They originally wanted it to be a blue carpet event (they were going to paint the street blue). But I think they had problems with the paint not coming up as easily as they'd hope so they've probably scraped that idea.

I don't know when the HSM show is coming back to the hat. I hope it comes back soon. Of course, I'm on main entrance for the next two days so it's not like I'm going to see it if it does... I hate main entrance. And it's been like 30-40 degrees out. At least they only had the cart open for five hours yesterday. Of course Movieland stayed open the entire time. Apparently, it's not considered an outdoor location. It has a roof. Woohoo! Like that protects us from the cold wind... It might be okay if they gave us a heater. I actually had to go get hand warmers from the office. And they kept sending people out there without coats to give breaks.

Anyway... I still haven't seen the new Magic Kingdom parade. It was raining the day Jenny and I went. We did meet Tinkerbell (she was adorable) and some other fairies and princesses. That was fun. And I got to cross more attractions off my list. Jenny got herself some pins and a bag of taffy for her mom. So she was happy.

We actually got to see a little parade on Main Street with one of the guys from the Steelers (couldn't tell you who... I didn't even look at him). They had Chip and Dale dressed up as referees and Mickey in a football uniform. Minnie was there too, as a cheerleader. It was so cute.

I still don't have a camera so I'll have to rely on Jenny posting the pictures when she gets back to Michigan. I'm sure they'll be on facebook eventually, though.

I'm really looking forward to my friend Tracy visiting me next week. She's going to be here two days not instead of one!

Well, I better get ready for work. More later...

Rocking on

I'm going to meet with the guy from Magic of Animation on Tuesday! I'm so excited!

I'm spending all day Monday with Jenny... we're going to meet Tinkerbell.

Oh and my friend Tracy and her daughter, Brooke, are coming down February 14th to spend the day with me.

I've decided that February is going to rock!