Archive for the ‘friends’ tag

Progress

Last week I volunteered my new place for a dinner party of sorts. Not a real dinner party, because that makes me feel retarded, but a night where there are friends, dinner and hanging out. I hadn’t really had a group of people over yet, so I was excited to show off my little flat. All though after inviting 6+ people, I realized that I was a bit unprepared. You see, when I moved to Arizona I owned a single plate and bowl. That might sound pathetic but I didn’t really want anything other then that. I had collected other household items over the past two years, and have definitely spent money on necessities in the last month. However I still didn’t own service for eight… I didn’t have chairs for eight or glasses or forks or even something to serve salad with. So I made a couple trips to IKEA and all was well. I could have gotten away with plastic plates and cutlery but I’ve decided to embrace owning useless household possessions. It was a fun night with a nice meal, RockBand and a sarcastic board game called Munchkin. Now that my place is successfully broken in, I look forward to entertaining now and then.

I’m glad to report that I have finally made some headway on the documentary I’m cutting. I am up to my nose in interview subclips, but I’ve really been able to get a firm grasp on the story so far. My boss seems to be trying to put his foot down a little bit and doesn’t want anyone in the office to take vacation time until the end of the spring. I have plans at the end of May so we’ll see what happens. The film should be done by then, and I all ready have a few other offers for work. I would like to continue with this company, and they seem interested in keeping me… though I am glad my contract is open ended.

Lately I’ve had the undeniable urge to just buy a plane ticket and head to Boise. Most of the time its just a need to see my family and some old friends… but now and again its a one way ticket that I want to buy. Things are good here, but I really do think there is something about leaving everything behind and starting over that is always appealing. Even when things are great… even when I have work and friends and a great living situation. Some problems still just make you want to abandon everything… its a scary thought. I’m glad I know I could never bring myself to do it.
A simple weekend in Boise though? I do need one and soon! :D

I get to see David Bazan on Saturday. He is playing house shows all across the US, and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ll post some pictures and maybe a little video this weekend.

Can’t sleep so I’ll think

It’s not too hard for my own thoughts to get the best of me. Lately I’ve been thinking more about the upcoming changes in my life and in some ways it’s getting a little silly.
I’m back into nocturnal mode, I had that 9 to 5 thing going for a while but I’ve been doing some other work recently and that means I can stay up as late as I want. I can work on projects at night, I can stay up and watch movies or read. When I lay down to sleep there is no rush to get rest and wake up… and that just leaves me alone with my own thoughts. You can only analyze a situation so many times, you can only weight your options for so long, until you just start twisting things to bits in your mind.
I get to finally be free of college in February and then the world is my oyster. Where I go and what I do is completely up to me… and therein lies the problem.
A good friend gave me some worthy advice, that the decision on where I go and what I do when I graduate should be completely about what is best for me. It is good advice because there is truth to it, but I’m not sure it’s the whole story. It’s great to think that a decision like that should be made for one’s self. It obviously effects me the most, but at a certain point the mature way of making a decision like this is to consider those around you.
I’d love to be closer to Boise, my family and friends are closer to there and I’d be great to be able to drop in on Boise for a weekend whenever I wanted. Portland has some good opportunities, it’s a more favorable climate and the drive between there and B Town is no big deal, I also happen to adore Portland. A city like Austin would be fun, there is a lot of good work and it’s a very unique and hip city. Vancouver looks better every time McCain moves up in the polls… plus I’ve always thought that expatriate has a nice ring to it (Yes Dad I’m mostly kidding). LA provides an almost certainty of work, and I do know some people there now. Working on features in LA also does your resume a lot of good, even if you swept the studio floor for a big budget movie people elsewhere go nuts when they see it on your resume. PHX is the easiest and most complicated option. I’ve done the whole, move a city where you know no one thing and honestly I’m not cut out for it. I’m lucky to have the friends and roommates I have here, going to a completely new city again doesn’t sound so great. There is some work here, but it’s not great and especially the way the economy is going, it’s not steady. There are some great people here though, and one special one in particular. It’s not smart to make a decision based completely on those around you, but it’s silly to think that you can make it based solely on yourself. No man is an island.
At the moment it looks like I’ll be staying here for a while after I graduate. My VFX Reel could use more work then I currently have time for, and I guess if I can’t make it here I can’t make it anywhere. I’m not living in LA for the rest of my life so I’d better get use to corporate videos and local spots before I get too ahead of myself.

Today’s soundtrack is obviously not Colin Hay, but it is his song (If you’re reading this on Facebook try the “view original post” button). Evidently a few tours ago Dashboard Confessional put out an EP of covers and it’s simply amazing. Feel free to download it here, it’s basically out of print so I’m calling it fair use… though it’s not like I’ve ever really respected copyright laws anyway.

Take it easy and wish me luck on sleeping :)
David Hildreth

A year in Arizona, three weeks with the iPhone

It has been a year since I moved to Arizona. All in all I’m still glad I did.
Being back home for a week as a good reminder of both, why I loved living in Boise and why I needed to leave. I was more social during my week in Boise then all of last year combined, but when I think back about how I felt last year, as my career was at a virtual stand still, it’s not hard to stay here.
I know so much more than I did a year ago, I really have learned a lot. I don’t think my work yet reflects all of this new knowledge but it’s getting there. The job I have here is alright, I can’t say it’s incredibly fulfilling but it looks like my days of running audio for newscasts are numbered. I couldn’t be happier about that, especially with the producer we have on the weekends, I am really starting to loath my audio shifts.

Others seem to be leaving Boise too; a guy I worked with at 7 took a job in Cour de’Alene. Nick ships off join the navy soon and most others seem to be heading off on their own adventures.

My iPhone has been my only real means of communication for about three weeks now, and so far I am very happy with it. I’ve read a lot of reviews and I agree with some of what has been written. Although when it comes to most of the hate that is out there for the device I think simply using it first hand could silence most negative press about it. The user interface and web browser are truly revolutionary. It would be nice if it had faster cell phone internet or could send and receive mms but the other features more than make up for it. I’ve never owned an ipod because I wasn’t ever sure how much use I would get out of it, but it’s already come in very handy. I got the 4 gig version and have 53 albums, 2 TV shows and a bunch of photos on it, not bad if you ask me.

Last weekend i did another 48 hour film fest. This one was put on by IFP phoenix and was much organized better than the one I did earlier this year. My group was also a lot smaller than the one I had in April, and the final product was much better too. We’ll find out this thursday if we won anything (we didn’t) and we’ll get to see all the other entries (the best part). I also started a new class; it’s a class on PSA production. I have to find a non-profit organization, and work with them to make a public service announcement. I am going to do mine on a rescue shelter for dogs, boxers in particular I think, our concept is great, and shooting starts tomorrow.

Oh and a word to those silly people who only read this on facebook, click the “see original post” button now and then and see what you’re missing. I posted some new photos from my trip to Boise.

Peace in the north east
David Hildreth

P.S. Luke i already miss the drugs

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