We wrapped and I flew out to Seattle, my new home, the next day.  Our director, Amber, flew back to Texas to continue grad school.  The rest of us scattered to various parts of North Carolina.  For over a year and a half my production team struggled to complete the film.  No one was getting paid and too many times our movie was put off for a task that could help pay the rent.  Nevertheless, we continued the collaboration from across the country: I was in Seattle, our director in Texas, and our editor in Charlotte.  Finally, the film was finished in October of 2008, the eve of my immigration to California.

The movie didn’t look the way I had envisioned, like any piece of art in its creator’s eye.  Every amateur mistake we made was magnified in my sight.  I was confused and discouraged and trying to make a life for myself in a new state.  So the movie sat idle for four months.

Until my friend and collaborator encouraged me and urged me to get it out there.  “It’s good!” he said, “We were just too involved to see that.”  I promised him I would have it entered into a festival by the end of the week.  The DVDs go out tomorrow.  It feels good.

Hopefully soon I can put together a trailer to post online.  Until then, here’s a video from the artists who inspired the story.

This comes at a particularly difficult time.  I don’t have a job.  Josh is doing well, but not so well that I can keep up being the stay at home wife much longer.  Also, I’ve felt lately that I needed new clothes because so many of mine are getting holes in them or don’t fit properly anymore.  So talk about insult to injury!  Not to mention that we spent our Christmas money on some personal gifts to ourselves and paying off debt.  Before we learned of the lost clothes.

Now I’m online pricing some new basics.  I think what we lost was mainly dark t-shirts and tanks.  Maybe some of Josh’s sweaters.  And of course I’m trying to buy everything in accordance with my new shopping policy of only patronizing responsible companies.  I have some great resources, and there are some great sales going on.  But even so, I can’t help thinking I could go to Old Navy and pay so much less.  Or I could go to Marshall’s and really stretch my dollar.  I used to love shopping at those stores.  Now it pricks my sensitive little conscience.  I try and tell myself that what I by may cost more, but the quality will be better and the clothes will last longer.  But the truth is I don’t really know that for sure.  I haven’t been shopping this way very long.  This is uncharted territory for me.

Maybe I’ll hit Goodwill and take a look around there.  I think the problem there is, thrift stores are not the best places to buy basics.  T-shirts and camisoles endure a lot of wear and tear and don’t usually look so good second-hand.  But I’ll take a look around anyway.

This situation is sorely testing my consumer mettle.  I have to keep telling myself, *less is more,* *quality over quantity,* *don’t be a hypocrite.*

Wish me luck.

I’ve spent the past few days calling down curses upon iMovie and cringing at myself on camera.  Seeing yourself on camera is a strange thing.  I hate it but I can’t look away.  Now about the clips:  I am still missing footage from one independent film I did in 2007.  Hopefully I’ll get that soon and can update my reel.  The first clip is from The Atonement, a short film I did while still in college.  Some of you may recognize my awesome partner in crime, Karl Mosbacher.  The next clip is from a movie I wrote and produced, but would rather not talk about it.  It’s still in limbo.  Then there’s the epic Blade Runner clip.  I did this one scene from the actual Blade Runner script.  It was a project for the first year film students at Seattle Central Community College.  I had fun doing but the costume, hair and make-up makes my skin crawl.  But why call attention to negative things?  Maybe if I don’t mention them, you won’t notice.  And finally, the last clip is from a short film I did in March.  It is intended to be a small sample of what the feature length will be like.  The producers are showing it to possible investors and we hope to get funding soon.

Also, YouTube’s shortcomings have become quite apparent to me lately, and at the advice of my husband, I switched to Vimeo.  Love it!

So there you have it.  Enjoy!

Alison’s Demo Reel from Alison Mauldin on Vimeo.

http://www.vimeo.com/alisonmauldin

www.realage.com This site has great tips on nutrition and exercise.  At first I was skeptical about their weekly/daily e-mails, but they’ve actually turned out to be very informative.

The Hunger Site If your resolutions are more along the lines of advancing the cause of social justice, you’ll appreciate this website rcommended by my friend Keeley.  (She’s the one who introduced me to Ten Thousand Villages.)  This site has a wide variety of fair trade products that won’t break your recession budget.

Better World Shopper Also recommended by Keeley, this site is run by a guy who combined years of corporate research studies into a data base that ranks companies according to their social and environmental conscience.  Unlike some ranking sites I’ve seen, he uses mostly well-known companies you’ve heard of before.  The book is more comprehensive than the website, and at $10, sounds like a good deal.  Though I haven’t gotten around to purchasing the book yet.

For instance: in the Frozen Dinners category, Amy’s and Ethnic Gourmet both earned an A.  While at the bottom of the list, Boca, Stouffer’s, and Hot Pocket received F’s.

Are we really surprised about Hot Pocket?

On that note:

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

We left Charlotte Tuesday and flew straight to San Diego where we were to change planes and then fly to Los Angeles.  We flew US Airways, even though we booked through United.  We paid $30 to check our luggage.  Here is the first place the airlines have you in a corner.  You aren’t allowed to carry on enough liquids to maintain proper hygiene for any extended length of time.  But you have to pay for each checked bag now.  They could charge you pretty much whatever they wanted because you have no other choice, aside from perhaps Fedexing your toiletries to your destination.

Then, once in the air, the flight attendant announced the meal and snacks available for purchase as well as the drink menu.  I am used to getting at least one complimentary drink on long flights.  This one was over five hours, remember.  We had arrived late to the airport and hadn’t had time to purchase food or water there.  By the time the flight attendant reached the back of the plane, where we were sitting, she had sold out of the meals and had only two of the “snack packs” left.  Josh bought one because he was hungry and we had hours to go before San Diego.  Here is what his five dollars bought:  one small can of Bumblebee chicken salad (gross), a couple packs of saltines, a container of strawberry jam, a pat of butter, a packet of water crackers, and a pack of sugar cookies that contained 2 grams of trans fat per serving.  Disgusting.  And five dollars.

I wanted a complimentary cup of water, which I didn’t think was too much to ask.  After all, our total bill for both of us, round trip, was over $900.  The flight attendant sighed and said she’d have to get it from the tap.  When she gave it to me, I could feel through the cup that the water was warm.  The ice quickly melted in the warm tap water. All the while, I am staring down at my tray table-turned bill board.  Apparently US Airways has taken to selling ad space on their planes.  I guess that doesn’t generate enough revenue to pay for my cup of water.

Add to all that the screaming two-year-old across the aisle from us.  I’ll try to be nice as I don’t have kids yet and can’t possibly relate.  But why is it that mother’s never know how to quiet their screaming children.  She just clutched him to her chest really tight and said “I don’t know what to tell you.”  At some points the child was actually roaring.  He wanted to get off the plane.  Of course he’s too young to understand what that would entail.  But his mother was completely ineffective at calming him.

Finally we land and are waiting to “deplane” as they say.  A male flight attendant is talking and joking in the galley behind us.  He begins to sing a cheer (a la high school cheerleading squad) about Bernie Mac, and how, you know, he’s dead.    “Bernie Mac, to the grave…”  When another passenger commented on how disrespectful that was he laughed and said it was just a cheer.  A cheer about all the people who died this year.  Then he continued the cheer, adding in Paul Newman.  It was the most insensitive and unprofessional behavior I have ever seen from a flight attendant.

We arrive at the San Diego airport, starving and tired.  After a week of binging at holiday celebrations we felt the need for a salad.  I bought us a salad and a $4 water from California Pizza Kitchen.  It was disgusting and we didn’t even eat half of it.  There went $12.

Then we discover that not all of the airport terminals there are linked.  So we have to leave the terminal and take a bus to another one.  This means leaving the secure area.  We take the bus, get off at the wrong stop, and back track on foot for five or ten minutes.  Finally we arrive at the commuter terminal, only to go through security again.  This is when I threw out the $4 bottle of water that was more than half full.  And my purse was searched.  Amazingly, the security officer found nothing suspicious among my tubes of chapstick, tampons, cell phone, and wallet.

By the time we arrived at LAX we were too tired, disgruntled, and hungry to even think about taking the flyaway bus to Union Station, the red line subway back to North Hollywood, and dragging our luggage four blocks back to our apartment.  So we took a taxi and paid over $80.

And that is the story of how I came to hate flying.

If you can’t view the embedded video, go here.

Alison’s 2009 To Do List:

• Visit Miss Emilie in New York City.
• Go to Hawaii (this one inspired by friend, Andy, who says it’s worth going into debt for a trip to Hawaii.)
• Hike.
• Obtain flexibility and muscle tone by doing pilates regularly.
• Develop style (not fashion) while giving as little of my money possible to socially and environmentally irresponsible corporations.
• Read more: topics of priority include the Bible; Revelation especially. I feel it is probably one of the most misinterpreted books of the Bible. Also, books on costume design and independent film making. (Okay, that one is a little career-related, but I’ll be sure and read plenty of novels to balance it out!)

That’s all I can think of for now. More posts coming soon.

Foods I don’t like but should:  cantaloupe, blueberries, most salad greens, strawberries

Foods I like but shouldn’t: liver mush. If you aren’t from the south you may not even know what that is.  Also, sometimes I think life would be easier if I didn’t like chocolate so much, but certainly not as enjoyable.

If I could learn to play any instrument it would be: the violin.  But this is non-realistic question.  We’re talking downloading knowledge from the matrix here.  If I actually had to learn, the answer would be something easy like the recorder.  Or chopsticks.

If I could work with anyone in my chosen profession it would be: Saul Williams.  You will likely read more posts about this man during the course of this blog.  I am slightly infatuated.  (You could say Saul Williams and I are not in the same profession, but he has an MFA in acting and has been in several movies.  So there.)

What I have learned about myself this year:  I am an actor, not a performer.  I don’t enjoy performing for the sake of performing.  I must connect with the character, content, and medium to enjoy acting.  I don’t like acting without a script, out of context, or on cue with no preparation.  Thus I have re-evaluated my career path and chosen a somewhat nontraditional course.

My pet peeves are: Internet shorthand (it is killing American literacy), fake apologies, smugness, excessive product packaging, someone abruptly changing the song on the radio (if you must change you should fade it out when possible), the phrase “also too” (redundant!), message boards (cesspools of epic idiocy and unchecked verbal cruelty), Anne Curry, Regis and Kelly, people who sing in public.  I know there are more but I can’t think of them right now.

Now, a Christmas gift from me to you:

Our new sofa arrived yesterday and Josh and I rushed around like crazy people to pick it up before the store closed.  Interesting tid bit: the manager of the store had read my not-so-stellar review of his store, EQ3, on Yelp and seemed offended that my experience wasn’t all positive.  He was very apologetic, but also made excuses for what went wrong.  I guess people really do read those things. Here’s the sofa:

It’s more stylish than our old one but not nearly as comfortable.  It’s actually two end-pieces from a custom order sectional design.  The ottoman has storage and that oh-so-modern removable tray table.  I’m just glad to have a proper living room.  I’ll post more photos when I get curtains up.

Here is a photo of my amarillys plant.  I’m certain it’s going to bloom and be its most beautiful while we’re gone.

I bought this plant for Hans and Christyn as a thank you gift about a month ago.  Back then it was only 10-12 inches tall.  They made fun of it for looking distinctly like a penis.  Which is something that hadn’t crossed my mind.  (I bought it because the pot it came in matched Christyn’s living room.)  Anyway, I suppose live plants are less than perfect gifts, because not everyone wants to take care of a live plant.  So it ended up at my house, and I’m really glad.  I mean, look how awesome it is.  (Also note the wall heater in the background: we’re getting our pilot light lit today.  Finally— we’re freezing.)

Sunday we did the last of our Christmas shopping at Ten Thousand Villages in Pasadena.  Money is tight this year, so I’m mostly giving trinkets.  But here are a couple I thought were worth posting:

Look at this adorable flying pig!  He was made in Indonesia.  It’s a gift for my mom to remind her that anything is possible.

This little guy was hard to photograph because he kept spinning around.  He’s a chicken made of dried orange peels, made in Colombia.  This is a gift for my Granny who collects chickens and roosters.  (Not live ones.)

Also this week:

I read the book, “Sea Glass” by Anita Shreve.  I read it in 1.5 days, and it totally took over my life, my psyche, my imagination, everything.  Such an amazing story.  It was also fascinating to read a book about the Great Depression in the current strange and hard economic times.  I just found out it’s part of a trilogy including “Fortunes Rocks” and “The Pilot’s Wife.”  The latter was on the Oprah’s Book Club list, and I want no flack from any of you.  Like her or lump her, she has picked some good books.  However, I would like to state that “East of Eden” has been my favorite book since junior year in high school, 2000/2001, long before Oprah ever got a hold of it.  (I actually bought this book at the $1 bookstore in Burbank as a gift for my friend Amber who once directed a totally ridiculous and pointless play by the same name.)

We just watched this documentary by Ben Stein.  I thought it was interesting and raised some good points.  Apparently it was ripped apart by critics and labelled as propaganda.  But I just can’t get past the part when Richard Dawkins essentially says it is more likely that a highly developed civilization came before us, created life as we know it, and disappeared, than a higher power (Such as God) could have created life.  I’m not one of those Christians that interprets the Creation story literally, as in six 24 hour days.  But that’s not what the documentary is about.  I think regardless of what you believe about evolution or Darwin, this documentary is worth a watch, if for nothing else to see how the science community is not as open to exploring new ideas as we thought.

And finally:

This movie has a lot of actors I love: Jon Leguizamo, Jason Schwartzman, Peter Stormare, as well as Brittany Murphy, Mena Suvari, Mickey Rourke, and Deborah Harry.  It’s a completely whacked out tale of meth addiction and production.  Pretty sick, but entertaining.

Perhaps while I’m home I’ll see some of you there, or possibly post some of the awesome, high-calorie foods I’ll be eating or some of the beautiful North Carolina countryside I’ll be seeing.  But if not, Merry Christmas to all!