Reputation from AwesomeBird - Page 3

AwesomeBird reacted to rising_star in Traveling alone?? March 22, 2014

Yes, I've driven cross-country four(?) times, including the last time with a dog. There are lots of petfriendly hotels and a website dedicated to traveling with pets (petfriendly.com, I think). When in doubt, you can always stay at a Motel 6 for no pet fee. Avoid driving on I-10 all the way through Texas if you can. There are definitely more scenic routes (really, anything is more scenic than that!). I noticed that some of the welcome centers when you cross into a new state have designated off-leash, fenced areas for dogs, which can be nice to let your pup out. I tried to limit my driving to 8-9 hours a day, for both my sanity and my dog's. When it was just me, I think the longest I drove was... 11 hours in one day, but that was related to driving 9 hours, not finding any available hotel rooms under $200/night, and then driving 2 more hours to get to the next town (why yes, I do loathe I-10 in West Texas).

A few times, I would get out of the car for a meal. Pre-dog, that meant actually going into and sitting down in a restaurant, just for a change of scenery. With the dog, that meant ordering a sandwich (fast food or deli) then eating it in a park where the dog could sit out in the sun (leashed to the table). I also stopped once during a long-ish day of driving (~10 hours) at a dog park to let my dog run for a few hours. She loved it and I actually met some cool people there who were disappointed that I was only stopping through! So definitely use the internet to see if there are any dog parks relatively near your route (this one was maybe 7 min off the interstate so not very out of the way) if your dog is into those. Or, if not, look for parks or open spaces where you can take your dog on a walk.

As for not going insane, it's a combination of things. I've abused the free weekend minutes and speakerphone on my cell phone to use the drive to catch up with old friends. I've also caught up on months of podcasts, listened to mix CDs dating back to my long ago undergrad days (you know, back when people gave you a mix CD as a birthday present) and laughed because I have no clue what's on them anymore, and also used the time to sort of zone out and just think about life, the universe, and everything. I actually came to like the alone time. Also, since my dog sleeps the whole time, driving with her in the back is pretty much like driving alone. I will say that I had a foster dog that I never could've taken on a road trip but that's because she is scared of cars and literally peed every time she got in the car. Driving her across the country would've been hellacious. With my dog though, it's easy. Hopefully it will be for you too, AwesomeBird!

AwesomeBird reacted to EG326 in MFA Acting Applicants?? March 22, 2014

Hey Curlygirl! Congrats on your acceptances! I got my BFA in Boston and saw a lot of shows at ART, most of which I LOVED. And the graduates do seem to work a lot. I also worked with some ART actors at Commonwealth Shakespeare in Boston and they all had amazing things to say about the program. Columbia also has a good program but it is SUPER expensive, and I'm not sure if they offer any financial aid. When I applied to MFAs a few years ago they didn't, not sure if things have changed. Anyway, congratulations again and good luck making a decision! Let us know where you end up going!

AwesomeBird reacted to curlygirl in MFA Acting Applicants?? March 22, 2014

Hello guys, thank you for all of the replies!

Seriously, I recommend calling the USD office and getting the decision right then and there for those still waiting. It really helps you get the decision off your mind! And Button, I apologize for the typo, I should have said my friend was notified of his wait listed status. And yes, Awesomebird, this was my first year applying. And so happy it's over! It was such a stressful process, and I completely understand the anxiety in waiting, so good luck to everyone still out there!

AwesomeBird reacted to pumpkinpie14 in MFA Acting Applicants?? March 22, 2014

Hello Kindred Spirits!

I called the office of Graduate Admissions at USD today. They said that they were told that they wouldn't have the names until next week... there's lots of ways to overanalyze that to be either good or bad. Thankfully, I got too busy at work to call the other numbers listed. I'm torn between hearing word naturally or taking action and getting it over with.

I'm sure this weekend, I'll have a few moments of wishing I'd called every number listed until I got a definitive answer. However, I'm going to spend most of this weekend simply embracing this ride. I have grateful moments and I have some pessimistic moments. It's a mixed bag of nuts and that's life. Right now, I'm feeling pretty darn chill, but I've had moments of hyper-focusing on it to the point that I spent time looking up previous notification dates to calculate the most likely day of the week they'd call: It's Wednesday. I'm sure some of you have done that too and if not, I'm going to have extra-long sessions with a therapist.

The bottom line-- is anything concrete? NO

Are we about to find out soon? YES!

If you think about it, this is the time to enjoy the excitement of NOT knowing. Now, don't start wishing to give me a "super wedgie" before thinking about all the fun you had looking forward to something as a kid. For me it was shaking the boxes under the Christmas tree and wondering what's inside. When I look back on it now, the feeling of anticipation was better than anything on the inside-- shoot, I sure don't have any of that stuff I got or even remember most of it for that matter. What I do have is the memory of feeling excited. So that's what I'm going to embrace this weekend.

I only applied to USD, which is why I'm sharing this with all of you. I'm sure if I'd applied to more schools I would have been fried from analyzing my chances and forgetting to enjoy the excitement that's part of this experience. Curlygirl, thank you for the advice-- Will, I say to hell with waiting and call USD on Monday... maybe . Right now, I'm glad we're sharing in this together and that if you still want to give me a wedgie-- that I can't feel the virtual kind!

Thanks for listening everyone!

AwesomeBird got a reaction from roguesenna in Your Favorite Words That Mean Something Specific In Your Field March 20, 2014

There are SO many weird terms in the film industry that make no sense.. whenever I'm talking about work to non-actors/film people, I feel like I need a translator.

Honey wagon- the production trailor at Base Camp

Base Camp- basically a parking lot where all the trailors are parked/teemsters are staitoned/ lunch happens/holding area.

Teamsters- drivers.

Crafty- craft sevices/snacks.

Dood- "day out of days". Basically a schedule that tracks who's working when.

Slate - State your name and character (at auditions)/ that.. I don't even know what else to refer to is as other than a slate... thing that is clapped before each take.

The list goes on forever. There should really be a dictionary... hah, there probably is somewhere.

AwesomeBird reacted to roguesenna in Your Favorite Words That Mean Something Specific In Your Field March 20, 2014

I can only think of a bunch of terms we have to describe things that other people take for granted. e.g.:

C47 - a clothes pin
Cold Open - the part of a TV show that comes before the credits

Ooh, Here's one that means something different.

"Laying Pipe" -- to retro engineer the structure of a script

that's all I can think of for now.

AwesomeBird reacted to MoJuiced in No new email in inbox !! What do u say to ur self ??? March 14, 2014

Yo-Landi Vi$$er, is that you?

I think you can swear on here... fuck, shit, stack (Reggie Watts, get at me)

as to what you're asking, I just jump on Twitter and tweet ACCEPT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (over and over again)

AwesomeBird reacted to pyrocide in Change Waiting it Out to Working it Out March 14, 2014

For me, running is the greatest stress reliever there is and it has gotten me through a whole mess of troubles. However, I've been trying to get myself to run to help with grad app stress for the last 2 months and have just been utterly failing. I know the cold has a lot to do with it, but the treadmill is just downstairs in the gym at work and I've got my running clothes on me pretty much at all times, but I just can't get the motivation together. Do you have any recommendations to help me get things back into gear?

AwesomeBird reacted to samiam in Why are there so many Internationals on GradCafe March 14, 2014

As an international applying for US schools I agree with this. If I was applying for schools in my own country, I wouldn't even go looking for something like GradCafe, because it's not going to add much to what I can find out from talking to people I know. But I hardly know anyone who's been to grad school in the US, and all of those went to one of two well-known programs.

These boards are a really useful source of info for the unoffical take on what schools are like and their comparative strengths and weaknesses, as well as all kinds of hints about US academic culture. And once you've found them, it's a great source of community for people who don't have others around them who understand what the application process is like and can empathise with you as you go through it (again, because it's relatively unusual for people to go to US grad schools, most people have no idea how it works).

Even writing this message I've realised something I've picked up from here: calling the place you do your study a 'school'. I'm from an English-speaking country, but we would never talk about 'going to grad school' - most people wouldn't understand what that meant. You'd say you were applying to universities; 'school' here means K-12.

AwesomeBird got a reaction from ProfMoriarty in Things worse than getting rejected from your top choice program. March 14, 2014

Charlie Sheen.

AwesomeBird got a reaction from DropTheBase in Discrimination among group members March 13, 2014

Let it go. Really, I mean what would you gain by confronting them besides further ostracization? I'm all about standing up for yourself and speaking your mind when you've been wronged, but it sounds like you would be beating a dead horse. Aside from asking the professor to remove your name, I'm not sure what action you could take that would be productive. They know what they did. Just don't work with them anymore, or if you have to, put everything on the table before the project is put in motion.

AwesomeBird got a reaction from seeingeyeduck in Things worse than getting rejected from your top choice program. March 13, 2014

Charlie Sheen.

AwesomeBird reacted to neelyj3 in Gmail's attitude towards spam March 13, 2014

Normally, I would say that Gmail is right-on about its blanket hatred of spam. However, I emailed three departments yesterday. Thus, whenever I open the spam folder and see:

"Hooray, no spam here!"

...I just want to punch a baby. Not hooray, Gmail. Not hooray.

Anyone else irrationally blaming their woes on completely legitimate policies? #tiredofwaiting

AwesomeBird got a reaction from faithfullywaiting in Things worse than getting rejected from your top choice program. March 12, 2014

Charlie Sheen.

AwesomeBird reacted to Nautiloid in Things worse than getting rejected from your top choice program. March 12, 2014

I thought this might be a fun way to look on the bright side of things, whether you've faced rejection or not.

I'll start:

Being attacked by Africanized bees.

AwesomeBird reacted to Vene in Application Status--The most Stressful! March 12, 2014

For a program that rejected me (by email) their website still says "Awaiting Program Decision." Lies! There are lies on the internet.

AwesomeBird got a reaction from unbrokenthread in Application Status--The most Stressful! March 12, 2014