Friday, April 30, 2010

news/ Art Gallery of Alberta/ confessions

Apr. 27 News: I'm going to make a conscious effort to not write about my job search. This was also from awhile back. I mentioned about why people in 3rd world countries have so many kids when they can't afford it. Besides the lack of birth control, my friend Sherry says:

"when you are in a third world country, you cannot afford a lot of things like healthcare bills, so you exist in a world very much like the middle ages. scarlet fever, the flu, and pneumonia can take yours or your child's life. mom can die in childbirth. a bad cut or amputation can see you die from gangrene. and that's just a few health problems. mom and dad want to be able to see just some of their kids live to adulthood. they would LOVE to know they will not starve to death, all alone, when they become too old to work. if they make 13 kids, 11 might be born alive (and this can happen even in canada).

9 might live the first two years, 7 might live the next 4 years, 5 might live the next 10 years, and 4 might live the next 20 years. so by conceiving 13 children, they have 4 chances someone will earn money to support them when they are old and need it, and since some children never marry they have 3 chances there will be at least 1 grandchild to enjoy, lavish attention on, and pass the family name and all onto......ok, conceive 13 kids and you have 1 in 4 chances to have someone to care for you and have grandchildren. 12 kids and you have less chance of either. less than 9 kids and you might have nothing but sorrow when you are old."

Actors: Dana Delaney (Katherine from Desperate Housewives) and Leonard Roberts (the black guy Forest, Riley's Initiative best friend from Buffy) was on Castle.

Josie Bissette from the original Melrose Place, guest- starred on the new version of the show. She was only on for one ep. I have liked her since she did the TV movie Obituary. It starred Craig Olegnik (Toby from The Listener) in it. I was watching TV with TV's Jonathan Torrens and he did a segment about actors "Fared well or Farewell."

JT: Josie Bissette is now on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She gets a farewell.

I was watching Secret Life, and then I saw Gia from 90210 guest- starred on it. It's a good thing this actress went onto the better show 90210.

Hot actors: I saw a promo for 24, and David Anders was in it. He played a bad guy as usual, and he got killed off in the first 6 min. Then I turned it off. Then last week I was watching The Vampire Diaries and he's on it playing Elana's uncle. He knows a lot about vampires and I think he's going to be in it for a long time. I've been a fan of DA's since I first saw him on Alias back in Jan. 2002.

Melinda Clarke (mom on The OC) has a reoccurring role on that show. Then I was watching Castle, and I saw Merrin Dungey on it. She played Sydney's best friend on Alias. The highlight was that Michael Trucco was on and he played a cop. I've been a fan of his since Dec. 2008 when I saw him on Law and Order: SVU.

Art Gallery of Alberta: It's been open for some months, and I haven't been there until 2 weeks ago. I was often working, and then going home to watch TV. It's $12.60 to go in. There was lots of security, I'm guessing so people won't steal art. Good research for my script.

I remember Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama saying: "You live in the universe, but you don't do these things until someone comes to visit."

I realized I haven't been to a museum since I was 12. My family went to San Francisco for spring break. Back to AGA. There's an exhibit where you can take a photo of yourself, and email it to yourself.

There was an exhibit about an abandoned apartment building in Japan. It said: "Due to the belief that when a person dies at home, their spirit remains behind." -Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller.

Then there was an exhibit where you listen for 30 min with all these sounds about a dream. It's from the same artist above and it said: "...uncanny disorder of dreams, where traumatic events can be both remembered and imagined."

Apr. 28 Funny: I remember this time back in summer 2002, I was watching this TV sitcom The Sausage Factory. The funny thing is when my sister came by. She sees that I'm laughing, and the characters Zack and Lisa are having a serious conversation.

Sister: So what are they talking about?
Me: Lisa thinks that Zack needs a kidney transplant, and Zack thinks that Lisa thinks that he has a VD.
S (gasps): Yeah, well did he have sex?
Me: No.
S: Yeah, well I don't think they should be joking about something so serious.
S leaves.

Well it's funny because he thinks he contracted it through a toilet seat. Also the scene had two people talking about two different things and they don't even know it.

Apr. 29: Yeah well at least Patrick thought the show was funny. However, he was 14 and said: "What does VD stand for?" If you watch the whole episode, they never once tell us.

Bonnie Doon: Earlier this week I went to Bonnie Doon mall. I haven't been there in months. Ardene's been moved to another part of the mall, and it's great. The clothing store Panash closed down. I know there's one in City Centre. The diner in the food court closed down, and so did the store that sold hip-hop clothes.

Writing: It's weird. I watched an episode of 90210 and I thought it was mildly annoying. Then the next episode came on, and then I'm fine with it. There were cliches like Dixon and Ivy pretending to be going out, and then they fall in love. That's been done in the movie Drive Me Crazy. However, the next episode this storyline wasn't really annoying.

Another thing that was annoying was that Liam moves in with his girlfriend Naomi's big house. Oh yeah, isn't that the fantasy to play house. Next ep, he moves out because Naomi lied about this teacher sexually harassing her. Then she fesses up.

Adrianna goes out with a girl. It seems this only happens with girls. You never see a guy experiment with his sexuality. However, it's realistic in a way. I watched the TV show Cheaters, and when gay guys catch each other cheating, they are 100% gay. When I see girls cheating on other girls, they seem to be experimenting. I've seen a lot of eps where they talked to the girls. Well the storyline ended on the show.

Yeah, I know Cheaters is just a small fraction of gay people.

Joke: I was watching 30 Rock and a lawyer was reading the will and he said: "To his secret Canadian family." Thanks for the shout out to Canadians. Then he adds: "To the attic family."

Sister: That's VC Andrews.
S doesn't read it, but she learned about it on Wikipedia.

Confessions: I'm going to admit something. When I worked full-time, I always watch 2-3hrs of TV a night. Now that I'm unemployed, I usually do my job search of 2-3hrs on the internet or going out passing resumes. I've been watching 5hrs of TV a day.

That's a lot. I've been reading a library book, and the newspaper. It can only fill up so much time. I also haven't been working on my script at all. Right now I'm looking through my script though. I did do a little writing last week by fixing a line.I just emailed Chris Craddock at the Edmonton Public library about my script The Hunter. There's an outline, and three other documents with some scenes. It's far from being complete. Maybe he could help me with that.

Apr.30 Day off: Yesterday I took the day off from my job search. I don't believe I've done that all month. Have you noticed something different about this email/ blog post? There is no mention of a job search, teen pregnancy, or abortion. I need to write about different topics.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Thief/ Hitman/ safety tips

Apr. 24 Thief: This is from awhile back, I said: "I read in The Globe and Mail that stealing art is not profitable. You can only make 10% tops off stolen goods. This is research for my script."

My friend Sherry says: "dunno, 10% of $2,000,000 still sounds like a lot of money, and if you do 3 of those a year you just cleared $600k tax free ;P."

Apr. 25: The above made me think of the movie Dracula 2000. It started off with a heist, and then it turned into a horror movie. I remember it was back in summer 2002. My friend Leslie and I rented that movie. I wanted to see it because one my favorite singers Vitamin C was in it. She went by her real name Colleen Fitzpatrick in the credits.

Hitman: Last night I saw the movie Hitman with Patrick. It was on TV, and it's based on a video game. I missed the first 2 min. and P says: "It's like Dark Angel with the head shaving." They're both similar with the training kids at a young age to be killers. I really liked this movie. Great action sequences.

It stars Timothy Olyphant as Agent 47. This character is so bad ass and tough. It's kind of like The Bourne Identity where it's one man vs. everybody else. Jason Bourne though is more human. This movie also kind of reminds me of Transporter 3 where the lead character has to be paired up with taking care of a party girl.

Dougray Scott is in it as the Interpol agent trying to catch Agent 47. That's kind of like Catch Me if You Can. That guy looked so familiar, I looked him up and he played Susan's boyfriend Ian on Desperate Housewives season 2. He was also on the short-lived show Heist. Olga Kurylenko is in at the Russian president's mistress. She is also the Bond girl on Quantum of Solace.

This movie had great fight scenes that impressed me. I kind of found the story a little hard to follow and had to have Patrick explain it to me. It was a little funny at times like when they made a reference to the video game, when they showed two people playing it.

Lee Ryan: He's my favorite member from the British boy band Blue. I got to meet him, and hug him back in 2002 when they came to West Ed mall. I was checking him out yesterday and it turns out he has a kid named Rayn Lee Amethyst. I was kind of eh with the name. It's kind of like Lee Ryan's name, but jumbled. He is dyslexic. I didn't find it very creative because it's kind of like naming someone your name, but with jr. at the end. The Amethyst seems like an add on.

Lee: It's an anagram of Ryan.
Then I thought: "Is it a boy or a girl?"
It's a boy. Then he said if they ever have a girl, he would name her: "Rose Quartz." Eh, I guess she could go by Rose. Look, the point is, you will call him Rayn, and not his full name all the time.

Good: Today I went to my online dating site. I looked at my notebook and saw that I haven't been there in 3 months. I've been busy with work and my job search. The good thing I did today is that I reported on a user. His profile didn't say much, but he was using the picture of the actor Daren Kagasoff from Secret Life of the American Teenager as himself.

This guy is fake. So I reported him. I guess there is something good about me watching this crappy TV show besides reading funny comments about it on twop.com. I told you I have a good eye for recognizing actors and faces.

Apr. 26: Here's another good thing. I called to see if I got EI, and I will be getting $145 tomorrow. That reminds me of The Simpsons episode where Marge becomes a real estate agent. She goes to this place to get a check.

Marge: What? I got $500 for doing nothing?
George Bush: It gets easier every week.
lol. As usual, Patrick has to add: "Presidents get $100,000 pension every year."

Well it's good to get money for looking for a job. Also I did earn that money on my own.

Banks: Today I set up a profile on National Bank of Canada. There weren't any jobs there for me. I went to Bank of Canada website, but all the jobs were on Ottawa. Also if you want to apply to there, you have to set up an account on Workopolis. I did apply to an HSBC position.

Charity: I'm going a different route in my job search. I applied to work for a charity.

Apr. 27 Competition: I'm trying to stop writing about my job search, but I can't. Today I went to a job interview at a store. There are 2 other people up for it. I don't think I really want it.

I was talking to my friend Jessica on the phone last week, and she said there are more people more qualified than me. I know. Now that my little brother graduated out of university, I feel this pressure. He's looking for a career now. Now I'm living with the competition.

I remember this time back in 2006, I bumped into my friend Michelle in downtown. She said she has friends who graduated out of university and are looking for career. They're working at Shoppers Drug Mart. I told her about my sister who managed to get a career within 6 months of looking for one after graduating. Well my sister is a self- starter.

The odds: I was watching Tyra and it was about the odds on fulfilling your dreams. My goal is to get an office job. The odds are medium. I do have a college diploma, and the drive to achieve this goal. The odds against me is we're still recovering from the recession, and there is a lot of competition like people with an administrative assistant diploma.

On the show, there is a 41 yr old woman who wants to be a model. Tyra gave her professional opinion and said she has talent. There is a guy Andrew Trees who is an author about the odds. He says like 1 in a million.

They talked to this black guy who wants to a professional football player. It's a 1 in 20,000 chance he will make it. The career lasts 3-5yrs so it's not long term. The guy said: "I proved half the people wrong that I won't play in college football, and I did. Now I have to prove the other half that I can play professional football." The audience cheers.

They talked to this black woman who spends $30,000 a year on lottery tickets. Tyra says you could have bought a house by then. She did win $1200 from two tickets and gave it to her daughter to get out of debt. She doesn't spend money on clothes and makeup because that's not going to get her rich. Andrew Trees says it's like 1 in million that she will win the lottery.

Safety tips: Did you know there is a 1 in 20 chance that you will be a victim of a violent crime? They had this guy on the show. I've seen him before on a Discovery Channel about what to do in dangerous situations. Patrick was watching it.

If someone points a gun at you and demands money, you give it to them.
You should say: "Okay, my name is______ and I have $40 and I will give it to you."
You give your name to humanize yourself and to calm the person down. You should hand it to them. If not, toss it to the ground, and run out of there as fast as you can.

If you have to fight, take off your belt and use it. Take off your heels and hit him on the head with it. You should run, and get rid of bright color clothes as a way to camouflage yourself.

Another 48 hrs: I saw the first movie a few months back, and I mentioned it saying I didn't like it. It was in the 80s and I was distracted by the lack of technology. Then I stayed home on a Saturday night, and this was the only thing that was good on. I've actually seen bits and pieces of it sometime in the 90s when I was a kid. I remember it because there was a Chinese couple speaking Chinese. Of course, I'm going to remember that.

Then besides the lack of technology in this movie, I saw a corpse. It didn't look like one, because the body wasn't pale. I watch a lot of crime shows, and the body is always pale. It was an eh movie. Mediocre. Watch it if you're bored. There are a few surprises, some action.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

spec scripts/ commercial/ job interviews

Apr. 21 Spec script: I have mentioned this before, about how I would write about a girl who's in a religion that doesn't allow her to talk to boys for CSI: NY. I didn't write much, but it's a homicide and a male student murdered the teacher in the parking lot.

This is what I will add to it: What if Erin was the one who killed Miss Johnston. Then with lots of investigating, Mac Taylor confronts Erin with the evidence that she did commit the crime.

Cut to the interrogation room.
MT: It turns out, there is no girl who's in a religion that doesn't allow her to talk to boys. She doesn't exist.
Erin: That's what Miss. Johnston said when I talked to her in the parking lot. I thought she just said that so I wouldn't go looking for her.
MT: Well she was telling the truth. You killed her over someone who isn't even real.

I've seen a CSI: NY ep where a guy kills his boss for no good reason like the above. In the ep, this Man sees these papers of his co-worker's. It looks like Co-worker is taking classes to get a better position in the company, and the Boss is paying for it. Man confronts Co-worker, and Co-worker says it's nothing.

Man takes the papers and shows it to Boss: "Why are you promoting him?" Boss doesn't know what he's talking about. Man kills Boss in a jealous rage. Then it turns out the papers were fake. The Co-worker got it from this company that makes fake alibis for people. The Co-worker used it so he could have an alibi of where he was so that his wife won't suspect that he was cheating on her. The Man killed his Boss for nothing over some fictional papers.

The Mentalist: This is my spec script for the show. Miss. Johnston dies. Then the mentalist Patrick Jane starts talking to the students. The kids tell him about how there was a girl in the school and she's in a religion that doesn't allow her to talk to boys. The CBI team go through Miss. Johnston's office.

Patrick then sets up his mentalist trap at the end of the ep. Most of the times, his traps are held in a public place in a room full of suspects. Patrick is in the classroom.

P: Well we found the girl who's in a religion that doesn't allow her to talk to boys. She was very cooperative in generating leads for the case. She's very nice if you ever met her.

Cut to later where Erin corners Patrick alone.
Erin: So what's she like?
P: She's cool.
E: Are you going to talk to her again real soon?
P: Yeah, later today.
E: Can I meet her?
P: No, because then you're going to tell everybody who it is.
E: I won't tell anyone.

P: Yes, you will. You're the type who always wants her way. When Miss. Johnston didn't tell you what grade she was in, you killed her.
E: No, I didn't.
P: Yes, you did. When the news broke out that Miss. Johnston died, everybody looked sad. You were the only one who looked angry. And not just angry that somebody killed her, but angry that she didn't tell you who the girl was.

P has these great observational skills in helping solve cases if you watch the show.

Apr. 22 Asian actors: There are a lot more Asians on TV now a days, than say 10 yrs ago. I'll list them. One night a couple of weeks ago I noticed this:

The Vampire Diaires: Kelly Hu is a reoccurring character.
The Mentalist: Tim Kang is a regular.
FlashForward: John Cho is a regular.
CSI: Archie Kao is a supporting actor.
Melrose Place: Stephanie Jacobson is a regular. Her mom is Portuguese, and her dad is Chinese-Norwegian- English.
Criminal Minds: An Asian actor makes an appearance as a cop. I remember him on an ep of Lie to Me.

Writing: I've been reading a book I checked out from the library called Write from Life by Meg Files. I have writer's block. I'm not putting obstacles in front of myself, because I haven't been writing much. I've been looking for a job, and I have a couple of interviews set up. Those spec scripts I wrote above are my writing exercises. lol.

Comparison: By reading the book, it did make me look at scripts that I haven't worked on in a long time. I also checked out a little on other twop.com threads. Here's a comparison:

Good guys have to take down a corporation: Max takes down Manticore on Dark Angel. Angel goes against the law firm Wolfram and Hart on Angel. On Heroes, the good guys battled Primatech.

Write sexy: I was thinking about CSI and how they always write some sexy situation. CSI is held in Las Vegas so you can have that. An ep I saw a couple of weeks was held at lingerie party. Then you look at CSI: NY, and there are sexy parties too such as eating food off each other, and a place where you pet each other. Then you look at The Mentalist. It's a well- written crime drama, but there aren't really any sexy parties except one in the first season. It's all on CBS.

Commercial: You know what commercial I really like? The first time I saw it, it was like cut to a girl and a guy in the backseat of a car. I thought it was selling condoms, but then the guy pulls out Dentyne Ice gum. I really like the first guy in the commercial. He's cute.

Then I went on Youtube, and everybody was gushing about how hot the second guy who's buying gum at the drug store. He's good looking and all. It seems people have identified the girl at the beginning, and the woman cashier, and the third guy in it as the guy from the movie Sky High. But who is the first guy's name? I'll have to ask on Youtube.

Apr. 23 Job interviews: I did one interview in the morning. When I got there, I learned it was a door-to-door sales position. On the website it said: "Entry level Outside Field Reps and Customer Relations Reps." Prior to it, I asked my dad about it while showing the company website pages.

Dad: If it's door-to-door, don't do it.
When working at a restaurant or a store, people come in because they're interested. When you go to their home, they're not always interested. It's kind of coincidental because I got home and watched a MADtv sketch about a job interview.

Then I went on Yahoo and read an article about things you should say in an interview:

1. I am familiar with what your company does.
2. I am flexible.
3. I am energetic and have a positive attitude.
4. I have a great deal with experience.
5. I am a team player.
6. I am seeking to become an expert in my field.
7. I am highly motivated.

I then did a call centre #4 interview, and I got the job. I did an interview there back in 2007, but the place was farther away (had to take 2 buses). It has now relocated so it's closer. Back then I decided to take the call centre #3 I work in now because it was closer and paid a little higher. I did one day of training, and then they said they decided to not hire me.

I then called call centre #4 back, but they said they hired someone else. That lead me to a string of jobs that summer. This will be 15hrs a week. I set up another interview at a store next week and it will also be 15hrs. I hope I get more EI benefits.

Job tip: Call centres don't have good job security. The first one I worked at laid me off when it closed down. Another one closed down two years after I worked there. The third one I'm on now laid me off due to shortage of work.

I keep working on phones because I like it, and they do pay a couple bucks higher than min. wage. There's that call centre Convergy's that I applied back in 2006, but they didn't hire me. It doesn't matter because that closed down too. There's evidence that 4 call centres closed down.

Call centre 1 (2005/2006): Min. wage that yr: $7/hr. Starting wage: $8.50/hr.
Call centre 2 (2006): Min. wage $7/hr. Starting wage $9.50/hr.
Call centre 3 (2007): Min. wage $8/hr. Starting wage $10.59/hr.
Call centre 3 (2009) Min. wage $8.80/hr. Starting wage $12/hr.
Call centre 4 (2010): Min. wage $8.80/hr. Starting wage $11/hr.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Robin Thicke/ Post Secret/ Octomom

Apr. 18 Robin Thicke: I saw this performance of Robin Thicke's "Sex Therapy" on Jimmy Kimmel. This is my favorite live performance of this song from him. First it's him playing the piano. Then he dances with his mike by feeling it up. He sings with emotion and grooves to the song.

I like the part 2:30 in where he sings the fast part, and dances faster to it. He can sing live very well. When you're in the studio, you can sound really good. In live performances, it's different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN__AkqTc0Q

Post Secret: This must be a sign for me to stop making abortion jokes. The secrets were:

There's a picture of an ultrasound: "I forgive myself, but I'll never forgive you."

"I escort women into the clinic to keep them safe...even though the thought of an abortion makes me want to cry."

There's a picture of a Planned Parenthood poster: "I take down your flyers b/c I'm Pro-life."

"I had the child that would have saved my life aborted."

Email message: "I'm so sick of reading anti-choice, misogynistic drivel on your site. Here's a secret for you: a vast majority of women who have abortions, don't regret them."

Email message: "Maybe the only women who have secrets to write are the ones who regret it? After all, if you didn't regret something, it's not really going to haunt you."

I do agree with the latter. I remember there was a secret years ago on the site: "I gave the baby up for adoption. He has found me. I wished I gotten an abortion." I remember that time I worked at the $1 Store back in 2004. I had a co-worker who got pregnant at 15 and she kept the kid and raised it as her own.

She got pregnant again because had an affair with a married man. She had the kid and gave the kid to the guy. She then said: "If I knew that I was going to gain this much weight, and not be able to lose it, I would have just gotten an abortion." She had this blase attitude towards abortion, because she didn't raise the kid. She had no connection with him.

"If my mother didn't have an abortion after she was raped, I would not exist."

I watch Law and Order: SVU and Detective Benson's a cop who is a product of rape. Now she solves rape cases.

Another secret was: "I dated a criminal defense attorney- he used the date rape drug to rape me- he told me no judge would believe me- I regret that I believed him." The point is to report a rape. Go through the trial, and even if he doesn't get convicted, you still get closure.

16 and Pregnant: This morning I looked for a job on the internet for 3 hours. I treated myself to reading this twop.com thread tonight. This woman says: "I went to the health dept. to get free pills, but was put on hold because I had my period on the day I was supposed to have the exam. By the time I went back, it was too late." She shouldn't have had sex then.

She said she got an abortion, though it was a hard decision to make. She never imagined to keep the baby. She can't understand why these girls on the show would keep the kid, and goes on about now she has a lifelong obsession with teen pregnancy. She says that she even forgot for a min. that she was in that situation. She says: "I think that kind of speak volumes."

Saying: "You know the saying: "When it rains, it pours." It's weird today. My grandma wakes me up so I can pick up a heavy pail of water." Then my sister calls me and asks to pick up her keys and cell phone she left at home.

I call the restaurant that I worked at for 3 hours last week, and she says that it's slow and I won't be working there anymore. No surprise. Before she hired me she said it was slow, and when I worked there, it was slow. I went and picked up my $27. Then I called the call centre and they said I got laid off because of a shortage of work.

They said they sent me a letter last week. I got the record of employment today. Well more EI for me. This was kind of my wish. I liked the fact that I can put this call centre on my resume, and not actually work there. I'm still hired, but they weren't giving me shifts. I really expected the place to close down first, and then lay us off. I got another email from TD and they said I won't be getting hired at this other position I applied for.

Funny: It's even kind of funny. The other day I was thinking about asking the call centre to lay me off. I thought of it like a joke so I can get more EI. Then it actually occurs. In March, I did call them and tell them I got laid off from the Soup place and asked for more shifts. I even called last week about the ROE because I thought I needed that when I was applying for EI for the Soup place.

Human Target: I feel like this TV show is talking to me. Earlier a character said about the job: "There's no job security and no benefits, I'll take what I can get." Then in another episode he said: "It's a job. Sometimes it's fun. And sometimes it isn't. So stop being a baby." I'm really trying to get a job in downtown.

But if things get worse, and I'm desperate, I'll get a job at West Ed which is an hr bus ride for me. I was talking to my friend Jessica the other day, and she's in her 3rd year studying science. She says she is seriously considering moving to the US to get a job in her field.

Joke: I remember this joke back in 2002 when Patrick and I were watching MADtv, and Deborah and Mo are on the Die Another Day premiere. Cut to an Asian guy.

D: Hey everybody, it's Rick Yune. He plays the bad guy in the movie. I'm Deborah, and this is Mo. We're from MADtv.
RY's lit up.
RY: So do you guys know Bobby?
(Bobby Lee is an Asian actor on the show).
D: Yeah, so what? Do all the Asians know each other?
P and I burst out laughing. RY laughs.

Apr. 20: I was watching a MADtv rerun and I saw this Asian guy with Bobby Lee in a sketch. He looked really familiar. It took me a moment to place him.

Me: Hey, it's the Asian guy who plays the teacher on the TV sitcom Community!

His name is Ken Jeong and he was in the movie The Hangover. He was on Conan O'Brien and he talked about being a doctor and an actor at the same time. It was funny to KJ an CO do some dancing together on the show.

Good: I filed for EI again for the call centre today. I then finally did that test that the bank asked me to do for this one position. Also today I got rejected for another position there. The test was good. Answer these statements like: "I can adapt to change." That's true, I can adapt to change way better than the last time I got laid off back in 2006.

Octomom: The octomom Nadya Suleman was on Oprah today, and I had to watch it. They showed the Oprah camera crew following her around for a day, and an interview. NS says she didn't even know who Angelina Jolie was until she got famous, and then everybody started comparing NS to her.

There are 3 nannies in the day to take care of 14 kids. NS says no nanny has ever quit on her, she has only fired them. She has made $100,000 on that magazine photo shoot for US Weekly, I think. She spends $1000 on groceries a week. She says she has a lot of energy and that she was completing her master's degree when she was having the octuplets. She sleeps about 3 hrs a day.

She says she never had this many kids to be famous, and she would never do a reality show. She doesn't want to exploit the kids, and wants to make all her money by herself. She doesn't live on welfare.

Apr. 21: I thought it was kind of weird that prior to NS having octuplets, she was on food stamps. She didn't know that food stamps was welfare. When she did learn that, she can canceled the food stamps. I thought everybody knew that food stamps was welfare.

At least she did admit that she feels guilty because she has all these kids, and not all of them gets her attention. She was an only child, and she felt empty on the inside, so she looks for things to fill herself up. People do that with shopping, food, drugs, alcohol or good things like achievements or finding friends.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

new job/ dialogue/ comparisons

Apr. 15 New job: I started a new job today. It was from 8am-2pm. Since it was so slow, I only worked until 11am. Tomorrow, I don't have to work. They'll call me. There's only 3 people right now. I feel like, this job may not last very long. The manager said someone's coming back at the end of the month, and she admitted business is slow.

Job search: I got an email that I got rejected for a position at TD. That's fine. I was reading the classifieds again, and Dallas Pizza has an opening for a cook, $12.90/hr. I mentioned this before back in summer 2009. I was still working at the Soup place, and there was no point in getting another similar job, that paid a bit higher.

I would be going from one garbage job to another one. There wouldn't be that big of a difference. Sicilian Kitchen is hiring again. It had an ad open for awhile in Jan. Then it stopped, and now it's back again.I went to Rogers.com to look for a job. There are call centres, but none in Edmonton. I went to Shaw Communications, and there's 3 positions that I don't qualify.

Writing: I also asked about that Super Channel screenwriting contest I entered a few months ago, and I didn't win either. That's okay.

Dialogue: I know people have described my dialogue in my scripts as awkward, unrealistic, and it doesn't sound like how real people talk. But then I thought of that time with the out of control teen girl on Jenny Jones.

JJ: You got pregnant when you were 13?
Girl: Yeah.
JJ: And you got an abortion?
Girl: Yeah.

Let's for a moment, think that this is real. JJ didn't hire an actress. If this wasn't a talk show where the host shows guests who are really bad, what other situation would have people talk like this? I then thought this up. The girl is talking to a therapist.

A therapist is asking her these questions.

Therapist: Did you pick up the milk?
Girl: What?
T: I said that because the way you were answering my questions about serious topics like teen pregnancy and abortion makes me think that you don't take this seriously.
Girl: Oh what? You want me to act like I feel guilty for getting an abortion? I was 13, I'm not ready to be a mom.
T: Do you feel guilty?
Then blah blah, goes the therapy session.

The above was written for a drama. I could do the whole string of questions and throw in: "Did you pick up the milk?" to be funny if it was written for a show like Family Guy. Maybe some people watching FG would find that funny.

Apr. 16: I haven't been writing much because I've been looking for a job and have writer's block. It's still on my mind, because I can imagine Chris Craddock reading the above script. If he just read the Jenny Jones part, he would be saying: "That is the most unrealistic piece of dialogue I have ever read. You might as well be asking her if she picked up the milk."

Me: This was transcribed from the Jenny Jones show. It's real people talking.

Job tip: I was reading the 16 and Pregnant thread, and one person mentioned about how we have to adapt to survive. She said something about having a college diploma isn't a guarantee that you will have a career. I know, my sister mentioned this back in 2006: "Doesn't mean you get more education means that you well get a career."

Saying: "You will be surrounded by opportunities if you know where to find them." I thought of that saying when I was looking for a job on the internet.

Apr. 17 EI: I feel great. I just filed for my EI report by calling them up. I should be getting my benefits.

Comparisons: I haven't been writing much, but I have been keeping an eye on how to be original by watching TV.

Mugging: I was watching How I Met your Mother and it was like Parks and Recreation. Marshal gets mugged by a monkey, but then later it turns out he wasn't. Then he won't tell us what really happened to his wallet. On Parks, a man says he got mugged. Then later it's revealed, that it fell into the pond.

Dr. wife: The lead character is a man, and his wife or ex-wife is a doctor on the following shows: Johnny Zero, Republic of Doyle, and FlashForward. That's good to show women being doctors, other than medical dramas.

Finding a dead body in a carousel: I saw that on Criminal Minds, and then later on Castle.

Finding a dead body when opening a door: I saw that on Castle. But you can also open a closet or a locker and a dead body falls over. Remember the Buffy pilot, a locker opens and a dead body falls out.

A regular member of the show getting fatally injured: On Criminal Minds, Elle gets shot. Then she survives, but later leaves the show. Another female member Garcia gets shot. She survives, but stays on the show. On CSI: NY, Carmine gets shot, and is in a wheel chair for awhile. This usually occurs in season finales, or sweeps in Nov., Feb., or May.

A serial killer who kidnaps people and treats them like dolls: I saw this on Dollhouse. It's a sci-fi show about people imprinted with people's brains. One time, Victor gets imprinted with a serial killer's mind who kidnaps 3 women to play his sister, aunt, and mother.

On Criminal Minds about an FBI team catching serial killers. A serial killer who kidnaps women and dresses them up like dolls. In this case it's a woman suffered from trauma from her dad, and she was obsessed with these 3 dolls. She recreates them by kidnapping 3 women.

A baby is kidnapped and police have to save him: It was on CSI:NY and Flashpoint. On FP, a teen girl gave the baby up for adoption. Her boyfriend was in jail, and then he got out. He went crazy, and they go and kidnap the baby from the adoptive family. The SRU unit has to rescue them.

Coincidentally, the same night I was watching CSI, and they did an episode. A deaf woman has a 19 yr old daughter. The teen daughter was murdered and there is another baby daughter. They're all deaf. Then it turns out the teen daughter is really the mother of the baby. There's stigma to teen pregnancy.

It turns out it's the baby's father who is teen daughter's ex- boyfriend. He's also deaf. He kills the teen daughter when he tries to kidnap the baby. Then he later succeeds in kidnapping the baby. Then there's a crazy car chase scene, and he stops the car when the spike belt is pulled out to wreck the tires.

Melrose Place: It's weird. This show may be getting canceled, and I find it average. I won't miss it if it's gone. I feel like the show is talking right to me about my Rain script. On the season finale, David starts working for a bad guy, so he won't hurt his girlfriend. That's kind of like my script.

Chris Craddock had told me that my lead could take something that the bad guy wants. On MP, Ella takes something that Amanda wants.

Sympathetic character: I was watching a Glee rerun and I see that the antagonist Sue Sylvester is a sympathetic character. It turns out she has a older sister who has Down Syndrome and is like the only person she treats with respect.

Apr. 19 Break: I called my friend Jessica yesterday and asked her for tips about a job search. She said in my emails I sound frustrated, and that I should take a break for a few months. There are lots of people who are more qualified and will get those jobs. Wait until late Aug. when everybody goes back to school, and pick up the jobs.

I see her point, but I can't stop looking for a job for 3 months. I do take breaks like a few hours by turning off the computer. However, at the most, I would take one day off looking for a job. I don't want to miss a good opportunity.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

news/ filter/ safety tips

Apr. 11 News: Remember that time I was talking about the TV show Death comes to Town? My friend Maygen emailed me this:

Hey,I was just reading your weekly email about cars with breathalysers and how you thought they should really have them. They really do exist.

http://www.alcoholalert.com/car-breathalyzer.html

It's for people with DUI offenses, often as part of the punishment and as a way to prevent future DUI occurrences.

Just thought you might want to know!

Job search: I called up that restaurant I did an interview with a few days ago. She says she will give me a callback if I got hired or not by tomorrow before noon.

I then did a mild job search today by looking at the Job Classifieds. I then emailed some friends on Facebook to see if they know if anyone's hiring. For the past couple of days I've been at www.edmontonjournal.com/jobs because I was reading the Journal.

I applied to work at Urban Fare, which is part of Save on Foods. I then went online, and it turns out I have already set up a profile there. I applied to SoF back in January, according to my records. I then had to write down my login information.

Apr.12 EI: Today I went to Service Canada and applied for employment insurance. I went there and got on the computer and spent a good hour filling out the application. It's pretty easy. If you have questions on applying, you can ask the people who work there.

Dark joke: I'm going to stop saying: "I'm going to make one more abortion joke." I've said that twice before, but I was watching MadTV, and I realized that I will never stop. It's a rerun, but I've never seen it before. Cut to Nicole Parker and her daughter doing homework in the kitchen.

NP: They say children are a blessing. Sometimes I wish I could drive this blessing to the outskirts of town. Drive home and call the police and tell them a black man kidnapped my child.Then they advertised the RU486 pill.

NP: Ask your doctor about it.

Me: That would never happen in real life. No one is ever going to advertise the abortion pill on TV. You can hardly show anyone getting an abortion on a fictional TV show like 90210, Secret Life of the American Teenager, or Accidentally on Purpose.

Names: I was listening to 91.7 The Bounce radio station and I heard a girl named Twila won a prize. My friend Ray has a friend named Twila. I thought that was kind of a weird name. It's sounds like twilight.

Rant: Here's a mild rant. There's this song called "Everybody Doesn't" by Amanda that came out in 2001. I have the single. There's a site that advertised on the cd called www.everybodydoesnt.com and the site doesn't work. Well what were you expecting? Of course not because it was a long time ago.

Apr. 13 Poutine review: Did you know that A&W sells poutines? I didn't know that until a month ago. A large poutine is $3.87 there which is better than KFC which is $5. At Wally's in Capilano mall it sells for $3.50 for the same size.

Banks: I set up a profile at Manulife Financial and applied at one position. I went through the phone book and looked up Citi Financial on the internet. There weren't any careers there. I went to CIT Financial and there weren't any jobs in Alberta.

Good news: A bank called me, and I did this big questionnaire online for them. It took almost an hour. I did have to think of the answers carefully. I got a call from a restaurant I did an interview with, and I didn't get hired. Then I went to downtown, and passed out 5 resumes to restaurants and cafes. I then got hired at a restaurant. It starts at 8am.

I mentioned before, I hated waking up at 6am to work from 7am-3pm at Winners because I only drank one cup of coffee and was so tired. I quit after 3 days. However, in the same summer, I worked at Treats, and I did do some morning shifts at 8am which was fine, because I got free coffee. This happened in 2007. Then I got a job at a restaurant two weeks ago and worked for a day. They then fired me, but at least I got paid $40 in cash. I did dread waking up at 6:30am to get to work at 7:30am.

Filter: I read an article about the character Sue Sylvester on Glee, and how she doesn't have a filter. She just says what's on her mind. It made me realize we all have filters, but we have laughter. You can try to hold back your laughter, but that part of you, you can't always filter it.

Apr. 14 Flashback: I remember this time back in 2002, I was on this Edmonton based website www.youthone.com and where teenagers write and talk about stuff on the forum. One person wrote for the quote of the week: "Convince a substitute teacher that you have terret's syndrome." I thought it was funny, I tell it to my sister and she didn't find it funny.

South Park: I was thinking of this because I was watching South Park the other day. Cartman learns about Tourette's syndrome, and he fakes it so he can swear all that he wants. Kyle is onto him. The show does a little educating by saying it's a neurological disorder and how people have ticks.

I think I knew about this order when I was in high school. I've seen a lot of TV shows discuss it like Dr Phil, and 20/20. Then Cartman starts blurting everything out and realizes that he can't control what he says anymore. He doesn't have a filter. Then there is a Dateline: To Catch a Predator parody where Chris Hansen starts doing a piece on Cartman living with Tourette's. SP is a show with a lot of hit and miss for me. It was funny to see CH say: "Have a seat. What are you doing here?" That is what he always says on the show.

Then it hit a really low point when he mentioned about how a guy didn't come on the show, and then shot himself when they came to him. It's a joke, but they're making fun of something that really did occur. That's why Dateline stopped doing "To Catch a Predator."

All's well that ends well when Kyle and Butters pretends to be a kid and catches sexual predators. They lead them all to the TV studio so Cartman won't go on TV. All the predators come and see CH, and they shoot themselves in the head.

Cute and funny: I was looking for a job in hotels, and it lead me to www.bestofbanff.com about hotels in Banff. It's kind of funny to see a big brown bear mascot wearing shorts and a t-shirt hanging out at the hotel. He's receiving a massage, and he is drinking at the bar.

Apr.15 Safety tips: I was watching Oprah and it was about safety tips for women. It's about abusive relationships. If you're going out with a guy, and he accelerates the relationship, he's trying to control you. Like he's talking about marriage after a few months.

The questions are: "Does he hit you?" Most women would say no, but after some more questions, they will say: "But he has pushed me." That's a red flag. They repeated this saying: "If a man says no, people stop asking him. If a woman says no, that's where the negotiation starts." You have to be firm.

The important thing is about intuition. If you have a funny or bad feeling, you're probably right. Go with your instinct. That's why there's the phrase "woman's intuition."

Another saying was: "You get hit once, you're a victim. You get hit twice, you're a volunteer."Go to a women's shelter or go to www.thehotline.org for help. You may think: "He will kill me if I leave him. But I will die a little inside everyday."

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Tyler Labine/ The Bridge/ inspiration

Apr. 8 Tyler Labine: He is a Canadian actor. The first time I saw him was on the teen sitcom Breaker High, about high school kids going to school on a boat. He is the fat and funny guy. This is the same show where Ryan Gosling got his break before he got really big in The Notebook. There was an article in the Journal about how TL did the short- lived show Invasion.

He's now in the new show Sons of Tucson. It's kind of like Malcolm in the Middle. SoT is about three boys who hire a guy (TB) to play their dad. Their real dad is in jail, and the kids don't want to be split up in foster care. I saw a bit of the show, and it's kind of funny. TB did do well for a couple of years on the show Reaper.

Epiphany: It's so weird in the interview. TB says: "I was in Vancouver. The only roles I got were mainly appearances on American shows shot in Vancouver. The small roles were given to Canadians."

Me: Oh my God! That's so true. How come I never noticed that until you pointed it out?

I've seen TB make an appearance in the American show Dark Angel and the movie Anti-Trust. Then there was Hank from Corner Gas making an appearance on the American Show Tru Calling as Tru's neighbor. Jesse Moss was on Dark Angel and Tru Calling. Then Giles Panton makes an appearance on the American show Human Target. All those shows are shot in Vancouver.

Apr. 9 Counter argument: The only time when Canadians get to be leads in shows that are shot in Canada, are when the shows are Canadian like Flash Gordon.

However, I was watching The Bridge tonight, and I saw Aaron Ashmore. He's a Canadian actor on a Canadian show. He's the twin brother of the more successful actor Shawn Ashmore. SA is known for playing Ice Man in the X-Men movie trilogy.

I then thought: "Wait! Aaron Ashmore is Canadian, and he's a regular on the American show Smallville, and it's shot in Vancouver. Also Edmonton actor Eric Johnson was on that show for the first season. Canadian actor Kristin Kreuk was on that show for several seasons." That's my counter argument that Canadians can get leads in American shows shot in Canada.

The Bridge: This is a really good cop show. This is the 3rd ep I saw tonight. One of the stories was an 8 yr old boy Eddie is kidnapped off a bus. The cops go to the house, and look around. Did you know that most of the time, the kid's in the house, but he's hiding, and falls asleep and can't hear his mom call him?

The mom says it's probably the ex-husband who violates the restraining order. The cops interview the bus driver who's been driving that bus for 10 years. He hasn't seen anything. Cut to Eddie with a teenage boy at a house watching TV. Teen boy said the mom's in the hospital so that's why he's watching Eddie.

Cops talk about that time a kid Archibald who was kidnapped on a bus 10 years ago. The man got arrested, and denies he did it. He dies in prison. Then it turns out the ex-husband got arrested yesterday so he couldn't have gotten Eddie. The cops put it together and realize that the bus driver has been driving the bus route for the past 10 years.

Cops go and tell the driver to spook him a bit. They follow the driver to the house where Eddie and the Teen boy is. The lead cop Frank goes into the house by throwing a chair to break the window.

Aaron Ashmore: Shouldn't we get search warrant?
Frank: There's a missing child in there, that's our search warrant.

Then as I suspected, the teen boy was Archibald. He said he was kidnapped 10 years ago by the bus driver, and that if got a new boy, he would be released. AA's character then shot the driver because he was going to set Eddie on fire.

Procedure: I read in a book that a cop can only go into your house if you have search warrant. But, if you see somebody in danger or you know for sure that's somebody's getting hurt in there, you can go in. It's mentioned from the movie Bon Cop Bad Cop. They're waiting for the search warrant to come through, but Bad Cop has to break in anyway.

Good cop: Great, now we can't use the evidence.
Bad cop: Whatever, I'll just say I thought I saw somebody in danger.

If cops go into a house without a search warrant, even if they find a dead body, that evidence would be inadmissable in a court of law because they got that evidence unlawfully. Cops have to be careful and go by the book.

Comparison: The Bridge is like Flashpoint. They're both Canadian cop dramas. This episode kind of redid a Flashpoint episode. On FP, a man kidnaps a little girl, because the one he's got at home is now a teenager, and gotten too old for him. On The Bridge, it's boys, and a Teen boy does the kidnapping.

Job rant: I'm doing my job search at night. I usually do this in the morning. I'm at the Public Service Commission of Canada website. All the jobs are stuff I'm not interested in, I'm not qualified for like needing a Bachelor's degree, or it's in another province. I could be a kitchen helper in Edmonton. It's casual, but it's for the Correctional Service of Canada which probably means working at a jail.

I applied there anyway. I found this piece of paper where it turns out I did set up an account on that site way back in May 2008. I applied at 6 positions back then, but I didn't get any callbacks. I also haven't been or logged onto that site since then, at least that's what I remember. Maybe they would have hired me if I went back to that site. But they didn't call me, so I guess they didn't hire me anyway.

Apr. 10 Writing: Today I pitched my script to some companies. I found it while I was on the internet looking for a job.

I always send two emails a week, with the occasional 3rd email. I need to maintain two emails a week so I know that I'm not writing too much when I should be on the internet looking for a job.

Banks: I showed my friend Justin my bank resume and he gave me some tips like instead of saying "administrative assistant", I should write "customer service representative." He said to email my resume to him, and he will email it to his bank location.

I added this girl Jenna whom I've known since jr. high to be friends on Facebook. She works at TD and we reconnected when she came to the Soup place back in Mar. 2009.

Apr.11 Paul Popowich: It's kind of funny. I was watching The Bridge, and every time I see the actor Paul Popowich, I've known I've seen him somewhere, but I don't know where. I was like: "Flash Gordon?"

Then today I was like: "Oh yeah! He was on the TV show Dark Angel in the pilot. He played Max's ex-boyfriend where he was only in one scene." I can't believe I remembered that. That show was on 10 years ago. I've seen it a couple times more with the buying the dvds, and watching it again with audio commentary. This is proof that I have a good memory with faces and that Canadians mainly get small roles on American shows that are shot in Canada.

Inspiration: I went to postsecret.com and there's a secret that said: "Hope is sending out seventy unsolicited resumes and still believing that next week would be better."

This is what I need to hear for my job search. I then went on my blog and looked up how many times I wrote about Post Secret. Quite a lot.

In 11 days, I passed out 72 resumes. That lay off really pushed me to look for a job. In 2008, I passed out over 100 resumes, but that was in a period of 8 months. In 2009, I passed out 110 resumes so I could get that call centre job.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

ADD/ struggle/ dream

Apr. 5 ADD: I was thinking about the past, and how my little brother Patrick never makes fun of me at all, unlike my sister. I remember this time back in 2002. I was watching The Simpsons where Bart gets diagnosed with ADD and takes Focusyn.

S: Hey Tracy, here's your favorite episode.
Me: No, my favorite episode is when George Bush moves across the street from the Simpsons.

One time that same year I tuned in and watched South Park with Patrick where this kid gets diagnosed with ADD. P never made a comment about me having ADD at all.

Me: Let me guess, the doctor then diagnoses the whole class with ADD.
That's what happens and then I left after that because it wasn't funny when it's predictable. If it comes on again, I'll watch it.

Job search: I'm looking to be an assistant manager at a retail store. I think I can take a step up from sales associate. I looked at Indigo.ca and the only positions available are North Town Mall and the airport. I went to gapinc.ca to look for jobs at the GAP. There was one in Edmonton.

I think I'm losing steam. I looked for a job for the past 3 days. Today I read a page of 16 and Pregnant on twop.com.

I went to Capilano mall with my mom and I passed out my resumes there. Then I went home and watched the Tyra show about teen sex survey. I think Tyra helped those girls on the show.

Banks: What's really good is that I then went and checked my email. I got an email where I got rejected from CIBC. It's where I go to Superstore and there is this pavilion there where I try to recruit grocery shoppers to sign with CIBC. That's okay.

The really good thing is that TD Bank emailed me back about being a customer service representative. They sent me these questions to answer. I then copy and pasted the questions onto Microsoft Word document, and worked on the answers for 20 min. I then sent it back to them.

Struggle: I was thinking about the first time I got a bank job, it took me 3 months to get it. That's fast, because it's not until 3 months prior to it my parents told me to do it. I really did appreciate the bank job and struggled to keep it.

It's kind of like if you don't struggle or work hard for something, you don't appreciate it as much. It took me like 9 months to get that call centre job. Now they don't give me any shifts, but I'm still keeping it because it took me a long time to get it.

I've rebooted my career search in Nov. 2009. It's been 6 months. Maybe I'll get that elusive bank job.

Mar. 6 Rant: I'm kind of annoyed. I gave the call centre my availability last week. Then they wouldn't give me any shifts this week. I was put on hold for 5 min. as I read the newspaper. My cordless phone cut out. I left a message. Then later I called back. Do you want me to beg for shifts?

Mar. 7: I have struggled. I have worked at what my dad call "garbage jobs" for 5 years before I got that bank job. A garbage job is a job where you throw it away, you can pick it back up again. It's easy to get one at a call centre, restaurant or retail. You don't need a lot of skills and there are no benefits. They don't pay really well either.

Inspiration: Yesterday I woke up, feeling stressed out because I didn't want to go to work. Then I called in sick. It was psychosomatic. I felt ill with the thought of going to work. I did do something constructive by passing out 15 resumes yesterday. As I was waiting for the bus, I met this old guy who works as a janitor at City Centre.

His name is Chase and he told me to look at the Yellow Pages for a job. He knows that I got laid off at the Soup place. He told me he has a college diploma in social work, but he's sweeping the streets. You gotta do what you gotta do to pay the bills.

Good: Today I went to work, and when I got there, I was fired. I was so happy and told the manager that I was dreading coming to work. She paid me $40 for the one day I worked. I have an job interview tomorrow.

Dream: I had a weird dream the other night. I was escorting a prisoner. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffed at the front. My parents, and siblings, convict, and I were in the old blue van we used to have. I was wearing my purple blanket around me as usual when I watch TV or am on the computer in the basement because it's cold.

I liked the convict. I was holding his hand. I think my sister and my mom liked him too. Something about me being in college again, and doing a test.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

career search/ jokes/ rant

Apr. 4 Career search: Get ready for a job heavy email. It's weird. For the past two days I haven't been working on my weekly emails or going on twop.com. Instead for the hours I spent on the internet, I was looking for a job at the bank. I went to Servus Credit Union and Bank of Montreal, and there were no jobs there. I went to Sunlife Financial and set up a new profile because I forgot my password. They said they will email my password to my email account, but it didn't work. I set up profiles at banks I haven't been to their site before like CIBC, and Royal Bank. I looked for careers at ATB Financial, TD Bank, HSBC, and Scotiabank.

Basically the past two days are go on the computer in the morning for two hours and look up and research jobs. Then in the afternoon I go out to the mall and apply for jobs at the mall. Then I come back and go on for another two hours to look and apply for jobs on the internet.

Jokes: On my breaks, I watch TV. This is kind of related to my career search. On MadTV, Stuart was talking to a social worker.

Stuart: You're ugly.
Social worker: I know. I work for the government.

I'm sure my friend Leslie is reading this and she's thinking: "That is the most offensive thing I have ever heard." She works for the government. It's just a joke. I'm sure Leslie will be having the last laugh with: "I still have money and respect from this job." lol.

This was a couple of weeks ago, but I was watching The Simpsons where Mr. Burns casino implodes. The old casino employees now work in retirement homes. I totally missed that joke, and Patrick explains that casinos and retirement are where scam artists exist.

Job tip: My mom told me that I should look for a temporary government job. It's easier to get a temporary job than a permanent one. As long as you have one temporary govt. job under your belt, you can build up on that experience on your resume and the govt. will more likely hire you for something permanent.

Bluecross.ca: I went to Bluecross.ca and applied for some jobs there. There are some I don't qualify like you need to be in medicine and have a college diploma in a computer program. There was some stuff I could apply for like call centre positions.

RCMP.ca: I went to rcmp.ca and there are other jobs than being a cop. I can apply for administrative like Criminal Investigative Analysis or Strategic services. There are Scientific, Technical, and Operational.

Rant: I need to get my negativity out. A few weeks ago I was talking to my dad, and he said that the only reason I got that bank job in the first place was that I had a reference from an employee who works at the bank. That was a slap in the face. However, I have gotten used to the proverbial slap in the face from my sister.

Sure, my resume was good with the help from my friend Angela and I did well in the interview. I even asked if my resume qualifies for this position because I thought you might need to be in business in college to get this job. The people who interviewed me assured me that my resume was fine.

I know my dad wasn't being mean. He was expressing his opinion and was being brutally honest. I'll add that to my sister saying things like: "The stuff you learned in Applied Math 30 is the stuff I learned in Pure Math 10." Yeah, I know in Applied Math 10, it was gr. 8 and 9 math. Is there a nicer way that my dad could have said that? No, not really.

Though he says that I could do better than retail, restaurants, and call centres. I can get an entry level job at a good company and work there for a long time.

A couple of weeks ago, my dad was driving me to work, and I told him that all my friends know that I'm looking for a job. My friend Angela said there's a administrative assistant job at the University of Alberta. My dad said I wouldn't be able to handle it. True, I was thinking the same thing. The position needs to be able to multi-task, stressful, and needs two years of administrative assistant schooling at CDI or MacEwan.

ADD: It's hard to focus on my job search on the internet with my ADD. Sure, take some breaks. You can watch TV, but it will only remind you about what you're going through. Last week I was watching some Desperate Housewives, and Preston was telling his parents Lynette and Tom that he got a job as a gutter at some meat factory.

Preston: It pays $14/hr, and it has benefits.
Tom: That's good.
Me: Yeah.
lol.

I thought the Soup place was going to close down at the end of the year because I saw that it expires on Dec. 2010. Steven told me that they get a new license at the beginning of every year. It also reminded me of Desperate Housewives when the Scavo's pizzeria closed down a couple of seasons ago. I imagined what would happen if the Soup place closed down.

Money: On the second to last day of the Soup place, this guy said he's been eating here for the past 3 years. He then gave us a $50 tip. Seriously.

Shopping: I see that the store Get Set closed down in City Centre mall. I applied there before on my job searches. Looks like I dodged another bullet when I didn't work there.

I applied at BCBG as an assistant manager. You need two years of retail experience. There are actually medical and dental benefits, but I think only for managers and assistant managers.

Unintentionally funny: Well the whole email can't be all about jobs. I was watching Flash Forward, and on the show, they mentioned the newspaper The Globe and Mail. I thought that was so funny because they were in Toronto for that episode.

I was watching the Canadian TV show The Bridge the other day. It showed a fat guy running, and a cop chasing him. I laughed out loud at that one. Fat guys running is funny.

Dark jokes: I have one more abortion joke I remembered from watching American Dad. The mother and father Francine and Stan invite this other neighborhood couple over to their home.

Stan: So I believed you had an abortion back in college?
It's dark in the way Stan said it so casually like he's trying to start a normal conversation with someone.

Food: In other news, I have been eating mayonnaise that expired 2 months ago. I haven't gotten food poisoning at all.

Inspiration: I was reading my old blog post about how I first got that bank job, and my parent's reactions to it. My mom was very happy. My dad was cool about it, but I know he was impressed. I need to think of my parents' reactions to inspire me. It took me 3 months to get that job back in 2008. Then it lasted for a month.

Then I started looking for an office job again in Jan. 2009. By Oct. 2009, that's when I got that call centre job. Which is kind of a step up, middle of the road job.

It took longer to get a call centre job, because of the recession. Banks aren't doing that well. I remember my manager Steven saying that Scotiabank laid off all the part-time workers. I know for sure in the US, it's not doing well. I've been reading the business section of the newspaper, and 104 banks have closed down in a year.

True Blood: This TV show is on Space Channel at 8pm on Sunday nights. I saw the first two eps on dvd. I missed the 3rd episode last week, but I got to see the 4th ep tonight. There is a more subtle reminder to look for a job as I see Sookie wait tables. It tells me: "You have to look for an office job or you'll be waiting tables for the rest of your life."

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Ricky Martin/ I'm different/ money

Mar. 29 Ricky Martin: Did you know that Ricky Martin is gay? He came out today and it's on Yahoo news which is a reliable source. This was kind of like "the secret that everybody knows." You know, like Clay Aiken coming out. The phrase "the secret that everybody knows" came from my friend Angela.

It was in 2006 when she came to my house and she told me about how she has a friend who gave a baby up for adoption when she was in college. She has an open adoption and gets to see her baby occasionally. When I told the Ricky Martin news to Patrick:

P: Doesn't he have two kids?
Yes, he does.

Michael Bolten: I was watching this Criminal Minds episode called "Risky Business." There is this Goth kid played by this teenager Michael Bolten. I looked him up. It's so weird, he looks so different as a Goth, and this is how he looks as normal. Yeah, he has the same name as the famous singer.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm682069504/nm1832358

Job search: Last week I mentioned about how that restaurant called me, and I procrastinated in calling them back. I called them today and they said that they already hired someone. Damn. Maybe they wouldn't have hired me anyway, because they needed someone right now and I would have told them to call me back on Apr.1. They still have my resume on file.

I went to Monster.ca which I haven't been to in awhile. I updated my reference phone numbers now that the Soup place closed down.

Blockbuster: I read like a year ago that Blockbuster isn't doing well because they have new competition like Netflix. They maybe closing down. I'll still apply to Blockbuster.

Joke: I was watching CSI: NY, and Ian Zering guest- starred so he's the guy who did it. He was in the original 90210. I remember watching him years ago on Tyra, about how he got the role.

Ian: There was this big pile of scripts. And you know in Hollywood, there are so many actors, and so few roles. You're supposed to sign your name on this notepad when you take a script. I wrote "Ben Dover" and then I took the pile of scripts and threw them in a garbage can outside.
lol.

Mar. 30 Writing: I put on my Facebook status: "Tracy Au needs to get it together. Cut down on TV, get a job, and write her script."

This morning I buckled down and worked on the rewrites of The Fighter by going through Chris Craddock's notes. I emailed John Kerr about it. I also stayed away from the 16 and Pregnant thread because I think I overdosed on that show. I need to do something different. I was thinking about that line from A Walk to Remember again: "I'm sick and tired of doing the same s--- all the time."

I wrote a short email asking Kit Cope and Giles Panton if they read the new draft of the script. It's been a few weeks since I last heard from them.

Music: I also listened to some new songs by Colin Munroe on www.myspace.com/colinmunroe

New: I even drank Taster's Choice Colombian coffee. I never had it before.

Robin Thicke: I went to his myspace page at www.myspace.com/robinthicke. I then went to his official site www.robinthicke.com which I haven't been there before either.

New job: I got a new job today. Earlier I mentioned that I called back the restaurant and they said they hired somebody already. Well they called me again today, and I did an interview, and got hired on the spot. It's the same kind of restaurant where I get to drink free coffee and get 50% off on food.

It's in downtown and I have to work from 7:30am-12:30pm. From previous experience, working at Winners, I hated waking up at 6am every morning. However, I get to drink free coffee, so I won't be tired.

I'm different: I'm way different than the days of 2006. When I got laid off from my favorite job at the call centre, I was furious. It was the first time that has ever happened to me. Now when I got laid off from my second favorite job, the Soup place, I'm not mad. I'm kind of sad about it.

I was really addicted to Dr Phil and Maury those days, and I could have started my shifts from 1pm-9pm, but I didn't because I wanted to stay at home and watch those shows. I missed out making money back then. Now I'm not addicted to those shows, and it's totally cool if I miss day time TV.

Back then, I didn't really start looking for a job until I was unemployed. But now, I have a job lined up right after my lay off. I'll admit I made $6000 in 2006. In 2005, I made $7000 when I was working at the call centre and a clothing store. I was only working part- time for 8 months, and 4 months were unemployed because I was at school.

Money: I never had to worry about money. I'm cheap. But now, I have become very money hungry. I want to make and save as much as I can. I want to work full- time.

I don't eat out. Maybe buy something to eat once a week. I don't buy cds and dvds anymore. Rarely do I ever. I bought 2 cds in the past 3 yrs. I bought Flash Gordon this year. I write down everything I spent since 2007. I write down money I found. After each month, I calculate how much money I spent.

I write down all my paychecks and keep track of how much money I'm making. I've been making a good amount of money since I graduated in 2008. Let's say it's in the 5 digits. Each year I'm trying to make more money than the last and I have since 2008. At least, maintain it.

I did pretty much everything I said I would on my Facebook status. I worked on my script and got a new job. However, I didn't cut down on TV. I saw new episodes of Melrose Place, 16 and Pregnant, Law and Order: SVU, and South Park. That's 3.5 hours of TV right there. When Melrose Place was on, I spent half of the show on the internet.

Mar. 31 Irony: I used to make less money like in 2005, but I spent more. Now that I'm making more money, I spend less which is good.

Charity: I also used to donate a lot of money to charity, but now I don't. If you do donate, donate a monthly contribution like $5 or $10 a month to something like Unicef, Women for Women International, that helps people in 3rd World countries. If you want to help the homeless, donate to Hope Mission or the Mustard Seed.

Haircut: I got a new haircut today for $18. New haircut for a new job.

Progress: Here's something I haven't done in awhile. I went to www.jobs.gc.ca, and started looking for a job. I also went to www.servicecanada.gc.ca. I even called my call centre up and gave them my availability that I can work nights. I haven't been there for a few months and that's fine because I didn't like working there. I liked the fact that I'm still employed there and can put that on my resume that I've been there for 6 months.

I told my siblings where I work and that I start at 7:30am.

Sister: I thought you didn't like working early jobs.
I was surprised she remembered something I said back in 2007.
Me: Yeah, well I get to drink free coffee so I won't get tired.

Apr. 1: I went to my first shift at my new job. I drank 3 cups of coffee. I feel kind of overwhelmed there. I cut up the donair meat for the first time. I met some new people. I tried the regular coffee, the Irish Cream, and the Jamaican Rum coffee.

I made $50 today. Now I have 4 day weekend, but I can't just relax the entire time. I really need to look for a office job.