"I'm heeeeeerrrrrree....."

First of all, in the incredibly unlikely even that someone's been anxiously checking this blog, desperate for an update, let me remind you that although it has been a long while now, I gave you fair warning in my first post:

"I'll be here with frequent* updates...

*Frequent = 3 in the next week, 2-5 for all of 2012."

So far my prediction's been just about spot on. So what's been going on since December 6th? A great Christmas with family in St. Louis, not enough writing, and the worst team in the history of college athletics won the national championship because LSU's entire team forgot to show up.

Oh yeah, and I MOVED TO NORTH HOLLYWOOD! About a week before leaving Dallas, it hit me that talking about the move was way more fun when it was still a safe distance away. Leaving great friends from college and church and having to go back to long-distance with my girlfriend is not a fun prospect, but my window of opportunity to try LA was quickly closing, so I think being out here right now is the right call. For further proof, I offer this quote:

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” 
― Marcus Aurelius

The content of the quote has nothing to do with me moving to LA, but the way my brain chose to process the quote is quite relevant. The first time I read it (on someone's facebook wall, naturally), I thought, "Marcus Aurelius. Right, the old guy who's unjustly murdered by Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator, got it." When Carlie's half marathon trainer told everyone in their group to find a motivational quote for the race, I told Carlie, "Oh I'll find you that cool one from Gladiator." I scoured Gladiator quotes on IMDB, yet it was nowhere to be found. Frustrated and hungry (the latter was coincidental), it finally it hit me: "Ohhhhh, that quote's from the REAL Marcus Aurelius!" It never even crossed my mind that it could be a historical quote from a real person. Lord, beer me strength.

So what have I done since arriving on the eve of Super Bowl XLVI? Well I went to Ikea and Target, cursed myself for going with "build-it-yourself" furniture and evaporating my bank account at the same time (last week's 30 Rock spoke directly to my life), acted in a weird short film with some SMU film friends, emailed every industry contact I can find who may be able to give me advice and/or a job, and binged on season 2 of Justified. It's a  modern shoot 'em up series that oozes Deep South and manages to be simultaneously ridiculous and realistic. God bless Elmore Leonard. But there I go getting lost in something fictional again. What was I saying? Oh right, of those contacts I've sought out, a staff writer for Modern Family and one of the producers of Good Will Hunting have already responded quickly and promised we could meet in person "when their schedules open up." Hey, I'll take it!

I also had the strange good fortune to find out a pair of siblings I know from high school in Mobile, AL now live in Hollywood as well and are pursuing improv and stand-up comedy, music, and writing. I spent my first Saturday night in LA having a drink with Britt Sanborn and watching her brother Brandon rock the bass for Lido Beach at the Roxy (Check them out! They've got a great sound inspired by The Foo Fighters, the good parts of Blink 182, and their own original flare, plus they know how to bring it live!). Britt is a Second City alum and has just completed a web series pilot called How to Succeed at Birth that will hopefully be expanded to half-hour series coming soon to your living room. It's nice to know I have fellow southerners  out here in LaLa Land -- even if they are originally from Chicago by way of Boston.

Come on Chase, playing a critical role in a catastrophic economic meltdown is one thing, but this is really crossing the line. If only it weren't so true...