ER - Medical Drama

So since it's approaching 3 AM and my medically-induced coma has screwed up my sleep patterns, I figured I may as well document my super fun trip to the ER this weekend.

I've had this weird little twinge in my right side for the past couple weeks and kind of just ignored it. I figured it'll either go away or turn into something. Well, it turned into something.

Thursday was my active day. I got my trash kicked in Self-Defense class by my own mother (pent up rage, Mom?) Then went rock climbing with my sisters and was pretty proud of myself despite being really rusty.

I was reading that night with the cat laying on my side and it kind of hurt so I thought, "Jeez, Fatso, you are obviously crushing me." And kicked the cat out. Then I went to sleep.

At 2AM I woke up from dreams of being stabbed with a barbecue prong to the nagging feeling that my organs were about to break free of my torso. It hurt A LOT. The next few moments involved me pathetically dragging myself to the bathroom to puke and just collapsing in the hallway and laying on my face, making sad dying animal noises instead. I couldn't even stand up straight, it was ridiculous.

I debated what I should do. Wake up my roommate/brother in the next room? Call 911? Try to drive myself to the hospital without passing out? I nearly talked myself out of doing anything and just waiting it out but then decided it hurt kind of a lot so this was a hospital thing. In the end, I drove myself to the ER because I still didn't want to bug anyone.

Once there, I felt really foolish. I hobbled up to the desk like a sad little quasimoto and grunted my info to the lady behind the glass. When the nurse asked me what was wrong, I started feeling like a hypochondriac because I could not describe what was happening to my body and was starting to think they might not find anything.

After the doctor checked me out, my nurse came in with a cart full of torture devices and was creepily chipper about my demise. He cheerfully told me they were going to shove an IV in my arm, take a bunch of blood, run some awful-sounding tests, and do an ultrasound. I did not mask my irritation with being stuck there for hours doing unpleasant things to which he replied, "Where did you think you were - the Ice Cream Parlor? This is the HOSPITAL!".  Touche, Sassy Nurse. He did give me morphine, though, and that was kind of nice.

In the end, they found a gigantic mother-freakin' ovarian cyst that had ruptured and was oozing all up in my other organs. No serious damage done but they said it'd be painful for another few days and prescribed me some narcotics, which apparently make me naseous and migraine-y.

The funny thing is I had joked with my boss about calling in sick on Valentines day since it's the busiest day of the year at our restaurant. Then I ended up doing that exact thing.

It was 4 or 5 in the morning when I finished up at the hospital and since they'd given me morphine I did have to call my brother for a ride home. There really is no reassuring way to ask your brother to pick you up at the ER and I completely left out my reason for being there so he was properly freaked out when he rolled up.

I also forgot that my parents are insane and get up at 4 every morning so when I texted them to let them know I had used their insurance, they started texting and calling immediately and I realized I didn't need to wake Brady up after all -  I could have just called them.

Poor Brady got woken up a couple hours later when I ignored a call from my mom and she called him instead. I woke up to this in my doorway, telling me it needed my keys:

Thanks to the morphine I was tripping balls and was hella confused (my brother's bed head is ridiculous). I'd forgotten my car was still at the hospital so my parents had called to get my keys so they could pick it up.

Apparently an hour later, Brady got woken up AGAIN by the dogs and nearly blew a gasket at them. Poor brother.

My mom came to my house and dragged me out of bed so she could keep an eye on me at her house since Brady and Eli were going out of town.

So, since then I've been in and out of consciousness due to all the narcotics and aside from being sore all over my torso, I'm feeling way better and glad to have my family around. Maybe next time I won't ignore it when there's a ticking time bomb in my gut, as much fun as it's been.

Filmy film film

I'm a little surprised by how much the film world has absorbed my life. I remember considering film in High School and thinking "Ohmygosh, I could never get into that. It's too competitive and out there. I wouldn't even be good at it, I have no experience. I'm gonna be a doctor who secretly paints and writes instead." And even after I dove into the film program in college, I was full of doubts about post-graduation. This little voice in the back of my head kept saying I'd just end up being a receptionist after I graduated and would never use my degree toward a career. But then I applied for Colorless Green on a whim and it all went from there. I met people, started a network, worked on 4 feature films and a horror short and I just keep getting deeper and deeper into film.

I love it. It's frustrating and hard and the people can be assholes (for lack of a better word) and sometimes I find I'm not taking care of myself - food and sleep go out the window during a project. But I'm hooked, nonetheless. I've discovered a subculture full of people who think like me. Or who are willing to find out how I think and geek out about things that might go over other peoples heads because, let's face it, film people are freakin' weird.

Okay, I'm rambling. The point is, I've finally hit that point where it's become a passion and I can't shy away from it anymore. I want to make short films, write screenplays, and draw storyboards. And I've kind of let go of the fear that I might not be thriving, hugely successful, or making a ton of money in the near future. It doesn't matter because I'm having all these amazing experiences.

Anyway, recently my restaurant had a fire and I was put out of a job. The timing wasn't horrible because I'm volunteering at Sundance Film Festival full-time and would have had to take work off anyway. The downside is, I'm gonna be poor as dirt for a while and my roommates (aka my brother, his girlfriend, and his best friend) may have to put up with me scraping by for a while.

But, Sundance has been incredible and I'm a little sad that it's almost over. I'm surrounded by people who are equally enthusiastic about the films and who join me in disecting them.

It's been pretty turbulent though. I barely have time to eat and usually get a quick meal each day and that's about it. My time is being split between working at the theater, sleeping in my car, roaming Park City, and watching as many films as I possibly can. I'm never sure where I'll end up crashing so I keep all my belongings in a duffle bag in my car and my personal hygeine is probably lacking in some areas (I can rock dreadlocks, right?)

The theater I work at is one of the smaller ones and is a bit off the beaten path. But the team I'm on is hysterical and they make it so it never feels like work. The volunteers come from all over too so we've got a mix of people from the UK, Canada, all over the US, and elsewhere.

 I seriously lucked out this year. I also got a job that allows me to sneak into any movie that we're screening and participate in the Q&A's with the filmakers, which is my favorite part because I want to know everything about how the films were produced. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to see Richard Ayoade's movie and check out his Q&A. Sadly, I missed one of my idols, Marjane Satrapi, but I'll probably catch her movie in theaters later.

Also, celebrities tend to visit pretty frequently since mine is a discreet theater that they can easily sneak in and out of.
I've met Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi), John C. Reilly, Katy Couric, and William H. Macy while scanning tickets. Irrfan Khan actually grabbed my shoulder and asked me to show him where he could go to smoke. Then William H. Macy gave me the wrong ticket and I had him stand next to me while he searched for it so I could continue scanning tickets. He later grabbed my shoulder and asked where he could get popcorn. Super nice guy. And needless to say, that jacket is never getting washed. It's been insane. I kind of thought I might spot a celeb or two but I didn't think I'd have that many encounters. I also had Matthew Gray Gubler skip past me with his friends and got a friendly "hello" from him. Then took a terrible picture of the back of his head as he skipped away. And shortly after saw the guy who plays Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad dipping into a restaurant. So so weird.

Matthew Gray-Gubler

Irrfan Khan (in the tux)

I wish I had better pictures but we're not really supposed to bug celebs when we're on our shift. Plus I probably wouldn't want to go around jumping them anyway.

Anyway I'm beyond excited to do this again next year now that I know the ins and outs. It's been a great chance to network, reconnect with friends and professors from film school, and see some beautiful films and artists. It's also made me more determined to make my own stuff to submit to festivals. I'm probably just high off the festival but we will see! Just two more days and then back to real life but I'm going to get as much as I can from it.

I'll try to blog more so I can catch up on some of the films I've worked on and my trip to LA but I'm so attention-deficit that  I can barely answer a text message these days. More to come!

The Making of "Colorless Green" Part 1

So, I'm getting ready for our wrap party tonight and realized I haven't blogged about the Indie Film I got to work on this past month. Now that I actually have time I can finally try to sum up the experience:

Shortly after graduation, I was frustrated with my job search and, out of desperation, wandered onto craigslist. There was an ad for film crew to work on an indie film here in Salt Lake and I responded just for the heck of it without another thought. A few days later, I got a reply with no name or any other info except a request to meet up and talk about a possible role on the crew. I was a little skeptical about the meeting and went with my pepper spray firmly in my grasp just in case this was a trick. But it turned out being a lot more legitimate than I thought and I was brought on as a production designer and, eventually, a script supervisor.

One month later, I have an indie film under my belt and some amazing new friends with plans to work with each other again on other projects.

So, for the entire month of June, I went off the radar and hardly saw my family or friends. I spent several long days and nights on the set including all-nighters or working til the wee hours of the morning and going to one or both of my two jobs straight after. I don't know how I survived off so little sleep but somehow I did and still had the time of my life.

Here's the highlight reel:

We call this Noah's "Rico Suave"

Playing an extra in the party scene

Me and the other production designer, Ashley. 

Script sup'ing at the Hardware store. That apron caused SO much confusion when customer's came in. No, I do not know where the pool pumps are, I probably moved them to put in my props!

Day 1, we built a therapists office out of a completely empty room.

Our director, Ryan, makes his cameo.

Building a C-4 bomb. But not really.

Best Boca burger I ever had. Thanks, Don!

This guy played a "terrorist". And the first time I met him, he grabbed a pair of handcuffs I was using as a prop but didn't have a key and handcuffed me. Then taught me how to pick the lock. Real standup guy.

Getting my makeup did to play a party girl

A few of my favorite crew members either putting up gang signs or displaying some weird ticks. I'm not sure.

Our sound guy, Beau-Boom, with his new braided 'do.

Shmack!

Our makeup artist and resident Southern belle, Gigi. Best cookies I ever ate!

I made that cast. Booyah

Playing football with the crew. I'm that tiny speck in the center back.

The boys' locker room. Stank-y! I had to crouch in the entryway as the football players ran in, it was a little dicey.

I'll put up more pictures when I can get my phone to work!

My name is Whitney and I'm a gardening addict...

Lately, I've gotten into the hard stuff. Like weeding. It's an addiction that has kept me up at night and started to interfere with my work and family life. Now that I've acknowledged it, I can start down the road to recovery.

But, seriously though, look at it!

You can't see it but there are actually baby peppers on these little devils. 

Chives! 

The poppies are sad because I hit them with high-powered water. Oops.

Legit Strawberries, guys!

The three empty pots are going to be spinach and cabbage. The cilantro was being camera shy in the back. But it's pretty big and I'm super proud of it. 

Most of the stuff I've planted hasn't sprouted yet but I did put in some ground covers and do a TON of weeding today with Nick. He took some coaxing but was a good sport. He may be an enabler to my madness. I've seriously planted everything imaginable....

This was my Gone with the Wind impression shortly after we discovered

carrots in our front yard. "I'll never be hungry again!"

Afterwards, I took a nice nap with this li'l guy:

Only cat I'll ever love....

Also found this old latte art from forever ago. Lately I've been able to do feathers and leaves really well but forget to take pictures:

AND I've had some cool developments on the job front. Talking to strangers seems to be paying off. The other night I was visiting my bestie, Cho, at her restaurant and while I was waiting at the bar I started a conversation with a guy who works for Halestorm (the makers of Singles Ward and The Best Two Years). He seemed interested in reading some of my screenplays and offered to network with me for film. I also talked to a couple in my mom and dad's ward who work in film and might be able to get me in contact with the right people and gave me tons of great advice. I'm super excited.

Also, just got an e-mail from the company I worked with in Costa Rica offering to interview me for one of their positions. I would love to go for it so I can polish up my Spanish but it wouldn't be a lot of money so I'll have to think long and hard about it. Either way, stuff's happening!

Oh, and I'm reading books again! It's fabulous, I missed being a bookworm since I started college and couldn't muster the attention span. My anxiety kept getting in the way. But now I'm fairly worry-free and can go sit on the roof or go to a cafe and read for hours. I love it. I have a huge stack of books I bought and never read too so my reading list probably won't run dry. Life is good. Also got in a debate with a guy yesterday who was a full-blown misogynist and gave him a feminist smackdown! I won't go into details but I left the discussion feeling like a smarty-pants :) It's been a good week for me.

Green Thumbs and Rabbit Food

So, thus far in my post-grad experience I've pretty much spent a majority of my time outside in the sun and dirt.  I usually dig-a-dig-dig all morning in the garden and then hop on my bike and zip on over to the coffee shop. I come home covered in food, dirt, and coffee and probably smell kind of funky 99% of the time. Sometimes I get rained on because I did not get the memo about that gigantic lightning storm the day I decided to start planting and rode my bike to work.

I actually came into work Saturday morning after a late night in Lindon in which I fell asleep in my clothes and then came straight to work (stopping by my house to hop on my bicycle, of course). I walked in all sweaty and gross and wearing the same clothes from the day before and the first thing my co-worker said was how beautiful I looked. I did not feel very beautiful. I guess she has a thing for smelly, sweaty people.

Anyway, I'm super psyched about my garden this year. It's huge. Well, huge compared to the potted veggies I had in my apartment last year. I managed to grow a few sad little tomatoes and peppers and pretty much everything else died because my roomie forgot to water it all while I was in Spain. D'oh!

But, THIS year I've got a front and backyard and am growing everything! Basil, cilantro, mint, chives, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeños, eggplant, zuchini, spaghetti squash, onions, carrots, and cucumbers.... and I may plant some spinach and cabbage as well. Maybe garlic and ginger.... and some strawberries. Am I being too ambitious? Probably.

 I've also got wild lettuce, swiss chard, and carrots growing on their own in our front yard. That's probably why we have so many rabbits in our neighborhood....

Ever since we moved to Lindon, my parents have been avid gardeners and taught me to love the whole process of growing my own food. My Mom's way into plants too and I'm constantly going to her for advice. My new place didn't feel complete until I had a little aloe vera plant sitting on my kitchen window thanks to her obsession with houseplants.

Now, after months of composting, lining garden beds, laying out weed blockers, and planning I've finally got everything planted (at least mostly everything). Here are some pictures, because I'm just so proud (we'll see how I feel when the weeds get overwhelming and I've killed a few plants):

Ignore the weeds overtaking my lawn! They're next on my list for total annihilation! (Following the boxelder bug infestation,which wasn't pretty) 

Not pictured: Chives. Because they're on the roof and I didn't feel like breaking my neck. 

Needless to say, I'm one happy little vegetarian :) 

And here's the latest latte art:

This one's for a psych-eval. What do you see?

I still kind of suck but maybe if people stopped ordering girly iced lattes and smoothies I could actually practice! Sheesh!

College: Nailed it!

I can't even sum up the emotions I've been feeling the past week or two. I've gone to school for nearly 20 consecutive years and a major chapter of my life has come to a close. I don't know what to do with myself without school and I think I understand why so many of my family members have chosen to become teachers. We're not very good at letting it go. Education molds so much more than just our intelligence. I've learned valuable social skills and life lessons along the way. And my learning certainly doesn't end here. I plan to keep on growing and discovering new things and meeting more extraordinary people as I go.

Oh, right, that insinuates that I have a plan. That's the question I keep getting now and of course it's going to keep coming up until I make something of myself. The truth is I came out of this without a well thought-out or concrete plan or career opportunity. I have options though and that's encouraging enough. I know something big is going to come, I just don't know what. So, I'm staying optimistic. Here are some of my ideas for what I might do:

-Go to Korea. It's something I've been back and forth on for years. I would make lots of money and get to travel and have an amazing experience. However, it would take a year away from pursuing my film career so I might be putting it on the backburner while I apply for some film jobs. Come August, I'll have applied and be at the point of making a decision about it. 

-Apply EVERYWHERE. Right now, I'm trying for jobs as a Production Assistant, Casting Assistant, Writer's Assistant, Junior Editor, and even administrative assistant/receptionist at production companies in hopes of getting my foot in the door. 

- Submit screenplays to: the Hollywood Black List (which they've now opened to the public), Film Festivals, and Writing Competitions. And I'll probably never stop. My screenwriting professor has been encouraging me to do this all year and I think it's worth a try. He wants me to submit the screenplay I wrote this past year but it would need a lot of work before I do that. Something could come of it though! 

-Volunteer with local film festivals and independent films. I'll probably do this in my spare time no matter what I do just so I can gain experience and rub elbows.

-Spend more time in a Spanish-speaking country to work on my Spanish until I become fluent.

So, there you have it. If anyone asks me what I'm doing with my life and I give them a vague, mumbled reply... here's proof that I'll be doing SOMETHING. And I've submitted over 100 job applications already and I'm still on a roll. I'm also working on making connections anywhere I can.

Anyway, graduation was great. I woke up  early and Nick helped me get ready (laughed his head off at my robes and shouted "expelliarmus!" at me) He even lent me his stole of gratitude, we made a knighting-ceremony-esque production out of it. Then he drove me to campus.

The ceremony was short and sweet and full of flamboyant Fine Arts students, bare feet and curtsies galor. Gotta love our colorful little chunk of the U of U community. I even ran into a few friends from screenwriting and other classes who I hadn't realized were graduating. One of my former roommates even met up with me beforehand and we went in together but got separated when we had to gather with our departments. Here are some pictures from the ceremony:

Texted this to Ashley for hair approval. I'm so lame.

The Dean

Byron from screenwriting

My production 1 professor/screenwriting classmate, Dustin, who got his Master's during the ceremony and came by to congratulate me afterwards.

I sat by a friend from screenwriting and a girl I'd befriended downstairs when I couldn't get my hat on straight. I wish I'd taken more pictures :/ Then, afterwards, met up with my family for some pictures outside Kingsbury hall. (Photos courtesy of Harey-Poop)

Why...?

Both grannies were there and gave me a nice bouquet of roses. Such cute ladies.

(I'm the sad little geek waiting by the stairs.)

THE shoes. My mom graduated in these shoes and I've loved them ever since I was little so I was determined to wear them. It took a lot of practice and some coaching from Nick to walk in them ;) 

I had my last screenwriting class the night before. I had to try really hard not to get emotional at the end. That was the one class that had made the biggest impact on me and I had come so far since my first semester taking it. Even our professor admitted that he'd had a hard time coming that night because of all the goodbyes. Screenwriting had sort of become my community during school and it's going to be strange to spend my Thursday nights somewhere else and not having the constant anxiety of writing a screenplay and bringing in pages. I said goodbye to Paul afterwards and he promised to write me a really good recommendation letter.

After the ceremony, I had a nice dinner with my relatives at my parents' house and was overwhelmed by all the hard work my parents did (Mom even made my favorite dessert - mud cake) and the generous gifts and cards from my family. It's just so weird that it's over and now I have to think about my future and be a responsible adult....

I just hope my parents and friends know how much I appreciate their guidance and support over the past 5 years. It's been a crazy ride!

And lastly, I'd like to thank this backpack:

I bought it the day I arrived in Virginia before I'd even checked into my Freshman dorm. My sister, Ashley, had come with me to help me get settled in and we went shopping to get some essentials. It was the first backpack I owned that wasn't a hand-me-down.

It's been through numerous classes, airplane rides, crappy apartments, trax rides, and even trips abroad. I've stuffed it with water-bottles, trail mix, laptops, lunches, textbooks, phones, keys, bike-pumps, notebooks, and more pens and pencils than I can ever count. When my Mom was sewing it back together for the third time she told me I'd better get another backpack or graduate fast because it wasn't going to last another year. That was two years ago and I think out of stubbornness I decided that I was going to graduate with this backpack. So, here at it's retirement, it is held together with thread, hemp, hot-glue, safety-pins, and cloth and has been sent through the washing machine I don't know how many times. And it will probably be my companion on my next several adventures. Here's to being sentimental about cheap crap!

The End.