Back home? Or back from home?

[Gemini Cricket]

So much to read, so much to read. I'll read it all when I get home. (I have 456 emails to sort through. Ha!) Lots of catching up to do at work...

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

So much to read, so much to read. I'll read it all when I get home. (I have 456 emails to sort through. Ha!) Lots of catching up to do at work...

Well, don't blame us, you asked for it!

[Alex]

I meant to ask, if you did go back to Hawai'i, would it be to Honolulu or one of the neighbor islands? My recollection is your family being on the Big Island but maybe I'm misremembering and I'm thinking of someone else.

[Gemini Cricket]

I've had one of my random changes of heart again and have decided to move to Burkina Faso. The reason being that I like saying "Burkina Faso" so much.

I also lied, there was a lull and I decided to read all of the above.

First off, my depression and being with someone are not linked. It does read that way, but it was more me vomiting it all out there in one breath.

(The ladies in scheduling are singing Sugar Ray songs right now. Is murder still illegal?)

What is a big draw for me is the culture in Hawai'i. It's more than just another state, Hawai'i is its own country in many ways. There is a lightheartedness that I enjoy and a level of courtesy that I have not experienced much here. It's hard to explain. I also feel that when I express myself with Hawaiian courtesy, I get taken advantage of. Not everyone, but some... especially in the field I am in. I don't have the killer instinct to be the kind of person that could step on someone's neck in order to achieve something. And I feel that that is not a quality you necessarily need back home to survive and achieve goals. (Again, there are people in Hawai'i that would gladly use your lower intestines to climb up on on their way up the hill of success. But not as many as here...)

Boy, this would be a good Skype conversation, I tell you what. I have so much to say.

Now that I've started to get back into the groove of work, the pull towards moving is not as strong today. Maybe it was an iSm-esque impulse that made him want to move to San Francisco that moved me too. Don't know.

It's not off the table, though.

And, no, I would not leave before making certain that a good job was waiting for me in Hawai'i.

Alex - The fam is on O'ahu. My mom's side of the family is from the Big Island, my dad's from Kaua'i.

I also have reached a level of understanding and love with my immediate family. I get them now and they don't affect me as strongly as they once did. They're mellowing with age, and maybe I am too.

I've also been thinking about getting older. I'm not the same Brad that worked in the industry when he was 21. I'm much wiser now... and much less accepting of putting up with the Hollywood diva attitude. (See: Swimming with Sharks or even Devil Wears Prada as prime examples.) Instead of being "oh, wow, they're high-maintenance but they're also important Hollywood people", I'm more like "get off that high horse, snob. I'm pushing 40, don't fvck with me" now.

I'm rambling.

Anyway, if I can think of more to say, I'll post it.

Any comments?

[innerSpaceman]

GC, when I first moved to L.A., it was with the intention of breaking into the movie biz. It didn't take much familarization with it to realize that the cut-throat, dog-eat-puppy, step on neighbor's neck culture was not only too intimidating to me ... it was a culture which would ruin my life even if my most fervent career and artistic dreams came true.

I ran from it. I probably just wasn't gutsy enough to pull it off, but I'm glad I escaped from the constant temptation to become even more of a lousy prick than I already am.


You don't have that weakness of evil personality to deal with. But I have to point out that your vision of "Los Angeles" is skewed by the signature industry of Los Angeles.

The great thing about L.A., over perhaps all other cities in America, is its vast and very varied population. You can find the nicest and best-fitting people. But working in the Industry is not the best way ... unless you can wall that off from your personal life ... and not let that culture form your view of an entire city or your entire life in that city.



So .... if you're going to give up the BIZ to move to Hawaii for the nicer environment, I suggest you first try the easier move of just giving up the BIZ and staying right here in L.A. It will get nicer on Day 2.



Now, I'm NOT suggesting you do that. Just pointing out that it will take hard work to both work in your chosen field, where I think you have much potential for success, and to be satisfied with the humanity of the world around you. It can be done ... but it's a definite challenge.

[blueerica]

Go figure I'd check my yahoo account and there'd be an email staring at me, saying "Escape to Hawai'i."

Teases!

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by blueerica

Go figure I'd check my yahoo account and there'd be an email staring at me, saying "Escape to Hawai'i."

Teases!

Tell me about it.
I went to a Hawaiian BBQ place here in Burbank and instead of playing the usual Hawaiian music overhead, they were playing the Tracy Chapman song, "Give Me One Reason".
"Give me one reason to stay here and I'll turn right back around..."

[madmonkeygirl]

Brad don't move til after April please. I would so have to find another dog sitter and i don't want to find someone i don't trust nor board the doggies either...i'm in a delima then.

I too suffer from depression but i've lived here all my life. I almost relocated in 95 to Georgia and would never have found happiness with Matt nor my life that i live now. I think moving to Hawaii would be running away from what lies deeper inside but that is just me.

You can ride but you can't hide away all your problems. Only you can decide what is best for you. To me home is where i lay down at night where my sweetie is where my animals are. What makes me happy. But you have to do what is right for you in the end.

But please give me notice so i can make other arrangements if necessary about April then.

[Gemini Cricket]

Well, I may have the decision made for me. Apparently, my company is laying off people today. Writer's strike... I've already heard of 2 people that are now gone.
Ugh. My stomach totally hurts. (Psychosomatic, of course.)

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Regarding the biz - maybe I'm still too naive, but I think that there are at least SOME people in this town who've made it by being nice instead of stepping on adam's apples. I'm moving foward with the understanding that I simply don't want to be a big CEO or an A-list director if it means I have to sacrifice my own ideals. And there are certainly companies that are better to its employees than others, from big studios to small firms.

That said, I am also observing that even the tangential participants in the industry (read: marketing) have to give a whole lot of time and energy to it that would be difficult to sustain in the very-long-term. I've spoken occasionally with EH about it, and she's said something very wise, that perhaps the industry isn't as ageist as much as very fast-paced, and people who grow older and wish to spend time doing other things may, in fact, prefer not to stay at the office until midnight two nights in a row. (Hell, *I* prefer not to. I'm so tired today!) Or go see plays every night looking for talent. Or keep up the evening barfly act looking for connections. There really are more important things than that, and I suspect that as they get older, more people realize this.