the move

So I just found out I’m not allowed to check any luggage in on my train ride. This drastically reduces the things I can bring with me to Chicago.

I’ve been making a check list of what I’ll want to enjoy on my first day there, and I’m making a big decision between reading Scott Pilgrim in the park or enjoying netflix and video games with my friends over pizza in our apartment the first night there. Big decisions, I know.

I said goodbye to my friends and family at my respective jobs last night. I think they’ll be sad to see me go, I hope they will be anyway cause I’m sad to see them drift away as I time travel across time zones. It is exciting to be a time traveler!

I woke up to read that two alums of iO Chicago are reported to have received jobs at SNL. I don’t want to get schmaltzy but one of my dreams is to be on SNL and knowing that I’m going to take classes at iO really gets me pumped up. It sweet y’know? So we’ll see… So many of my friends have had the means to move on from school and do their thing and I was a bit late to that party due to a number of reasons, but I’m ready.

My next trip to tumblr will be from my apartment in Chicago. Whew.

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Hmm, Blogger wasn't redirecting my posts for some reason, so I shall add an addendum!

Damn Chicago, you are HOT. 90' degrees on my first day? Why did you do that to me? I merely wanted to experience the windy city and you made it into the humid city. Not cool. Not cool.

I hear you will be a little breezier and cooler tomorrow though, do I'm happy you're done being such a hot head. This will give me more time to explore and go to the theatres here looking for gigs. I must admit, this is the scariest thing I've ever done, and your blistering first day was not a very warm (well it WAS warm) welcome but I'll make due. Did you know that my girlfriend plans to visit you soon? And reside here once she earns enough money? Yeah! I know! She just made the decision last week and I'm pretty proud of her! :) We're moving on up like George and Weezy.

Your wireless phone service here is pretty nifty. The only place I had problems was at my new bank. Otherwise you're hot to trot! I am ready to become the mayor of your city on FourSquare. I haven't decided on whether or not I want to make my new apartment a viable location on FourSquare cause it is kind of cheesy, but we shall see. As my friend Tiffany told me, there's tons of free stuff going on right now so maybe I can check-in at those soirees.

All in all Chicago, you're a little intimidating and that's kind of a nice challenge. I feel like I will conquer you one day. Just you wait.

Sincerly,
Aaron J.

high fidelity

August has flown by at such a rate I'd have to believe it used Mass Effect technology. In any case, August has been fantastic. In the course of the last 3 weeks I've seen Scott Pilgrim twice, secured my new apartment in Chicago with a good writing partner of mine, and even started working on 2 projects. I guess I just took my time in relaxing so I didn't have a ton of time to sit down and write.

I'm very excited for Chicago. VERY. I feel like it's ten times the geek outlet my current location is. I want to connect with "my people", and not have it be over the internet. I got a taste of that at the Scott Pilgrim premiere and I forgot how therapeutic it is to be in the presence of people who truly "get" you. I'm also seeing my super fantastic awesome girlfriend in 2 days out in San Diego so I'm sure I'll get that same rush when I'm around her.

Moving to Illinois will bring about its own series of problems and triumphs. I would lie if I said I wasn't a little scared about it, but once I start auditioning I'm sure all that fear and trepidation will fade away. It is just natural to be 'scurred' right? I mean it's a totally foreign place for me. It's like placing Picard in Star Wars! Amirite? Amirite? *pushes glasses up on nose*

The name of the game for the rest of the year is Collaboration. Kyle and I are ready to jump into the LAN'ded abyss once again, and thanks to Elton John I finally found an outlet for a smaller project I had swishing around in my head. Gotta love those homosexual english knighted musicians. Always good for inspiration.

I'm a bit turned off by the media's handling of the Scott Pilgrim movie. It seems like half the critics are turned off because they are unwilling to even try to connect with the ideals and virtues of the twenty-something lifestyle in the film. Did their disagreements about Tyler Durden sway them from saying Fight Club was a modern classic? If critics think that superheroes dressing up in crazy costumes is outlandish and childish, then why would they idolize The Dark Knight? I feel like there is a terrible double standard at play here simply because the comic book/movie uses video games as a tentpole for some of its deeper themes.

I see Scott Pilgrim as a conceptual film. Obviously it is very seldom a realistic movie. It dabbles in realism but shrouds itself in surrealistic tendencies and metaphysics. These are the same principles musical theatre is consistently founded on. Every time Scott sees an evil ex or an obstacle in his world, he views it simply as a level to be completed. He must work out a strategy. Does every critic believe that Scott must actually engage in hand-to-hand combat in order to defeat the enemy? No. This is simply a conceptual device employed skillfully by O'Malley and Wright to show how Scott thinks. In reality, the encounter could be just a short exchange of words or MAYBE a shoulder brushing past him while he tries to ignore a bad scene.

I don't know, it just makes me a little sad. You can invest so many geek hours into reading and watching something you connect with only to have a few snobby older critics turn up their nose. It doesn't ruin the experience at all for me, but I don't like it when someone tries to invalidate my opinion using the excuse that older viewers "know what they're talking about". *shruggity*

And now I'm packing for San Diego. I think that is spanish for something, not sure though.

~ Aaron J.