Fourth Month in Review (Just a Tad Late)

Wow! What a stark contrast this month has been since last. I sit here now at 9:00 or so in the evening, tired and preparing to go to bed, because tomorrow I will will once again get up and go to work. And thus with that actuality, this is the first month in review that can be truly colored by a normalistic routine of work, life, weekends, and friends. While not 100% reflective since Mel has yet to move out here, things are beginning to lock down into some sense of normalcy. So with that in mind, let's quickly reflect:

The Good:
-Not much more that I need to write other than landing a job at an amazing company after three and a half months searching. But yet there is more to add on top of that. The job is great: good company, good people and I am so happy to be telling stories and not selling products. I still have so much more that I can learn, but it is going well and I am finding my place within the company and the role.
-The area is beautiful, both here in Alameda and up in Berkeley. Just a wonderful place to be and it makes waking up each morning quite delightful. (If you can imagine me saying that in a haughty-taughty accent)
-This past month included my Memorial Day 10-miler and some of my fastest runs of all time.
-I have been getting out a bit more on weekends, and I have been meeting up with some of my friends either out here in Alameda or in San Fran proper. Best night so far was a few Fridays ago when I met up with my friend Dinesh, on a Friday, saw the Incredible Hulk, at then drank till 1:00 or so at the San Francisco Brewing Company. Good times indeed.
-Over the past month, I went to a Giants game, but more importantly saw my Yankees and watched them beat up on the A's!

The Bad:
-As with all the positive of getting back into the routine of work, come a few of the negatives, the majority of which is readjusting my life schedule to the new set of hours. Gone are the days of working out when I feel like it and here are the days of trying to get up at 6:00 so I can make it to the gym before work. This is not terrible at all, it's just an adjustment that I still need to fully make.
-And thus along with that is the fact that my workout regiment has taken a major hit. I am still getting to the gym, but my workouts are much shorter and at times missed. I am working towards readjusting my body, but I have never been one to jump right out of bed in the morning.
-The other negative is of of course the most major and that is the lack of Mel. When we first planned this move, it was thought that I would get a job quickly and she would be here right away. Obviously it took me a bit longer to lock things down, and now that I have, I hope soon that she will be able to get out here. It's been tough, but as I wrote before, we both know that these four or five months apart will be but a mere fraction of our overall life together.

Missing Mel and not having her around to share in my days has been rough, but knowing that things will definitely work out, I try to look at all the good things in the past month. Now you will have to excuse me as this review is heavily colored by the rose-colored glasses of having landed a job. In the upcoming months, I believe that I will be able to reflect more accurately because my routine will be just that. But as this was the first month of work, and because of so many other great things, I would have to say this was definitely an A- month with the negatives coming almost solely from my missing of Mel.

So there it is. The highest month yet, and a stark improvement from last month's C+. Now I must sign off and get ready for bed because I do have work tomorrow and actually have a very important day as we have a presentation with our client. So all my best to everyone and I will blog with you later.

-Nice Guy-

Guest Blogging for a Day

Hey all,
Tomorrow my very good friend Jared will be taking part in the Coeur d'Alene Iron Man and will attempt the ever so simple task of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run. (Or what I like to call my before breakfast workout---yeah right!)

Throughout the day I will be live blogging as a guest blogger on his blog, Adventures of a Tri Guy. So if you can't get enough Nice Guy and want some more, swing on by as I keep track of a monumental athletic feat. Ok all....have a good night.

-Nice Guy-

P.S. Also coming tomorrow, a month in review and early next week, a reflection on the 10th anniversary of my HS graduation. See you then!

Whatever don't kill me, can only make me stronger.

There are a number of things that I want to blog about and will be over the next few days, but for tonight I just wanted to take a few minutes and recommend a film that is an absolute must. As you can guess from the image above, the film is a documentary that is currently in theaters called Bigger, Stronger, Faster*. This film is fantastic and one the I highly recommend to anyone interested in sports, politics, self-reflection, or the sociology of the American male.

The film in short is about steroids. But as opposed to looking at the subject of steroids and screaming "They're bad.....they're bad.....they're bad!" The filmmaker goes out to ask questions and understand the reason for steroids within the culture, the true physiological and psychological side effects (or lack thereof) and the hypocrisies in the world of performance enhancement. The film succeeds because it asks thorough, thoughtful, and at times controversial questions without leading the viewer towards an answer. (Or at least trying not to lead as all documentaries ultimately have an agenda.) The filmmaker is the voice and the main character of the film and he is one of three brothers who grew up in an middle/upper-middle class family on the East Coast. Now what is interesting to start with is that the director is the only brother in the family that is not a steroid user. This is put forth early as he comes from the belief that steroid use is cheating and unethical. This is the grounded basis of the film, but it works on a much deeper level once the director moves away from his family history and looks at steroids in society.

Without going too deeply into the film because I really do want you all to see it, I am intrigued by the questions that the filmmaker asks. For example, why are steroids thought of as an illegal performance enhancer when a lasik eye-surgery that Tiger Woods had (thus improving his vision to 20/15) is perfectly fine. Why is HGH ok if prescribed by so-called anti-aging doctors, but not ok if simply purchased and used for sport? The film then takes the step further by looking at the American condition and the ideal that as Americans, we are bred and taught to succeed at no expense. We are encouraged to strive for the top and let nothing get in our way. When this is viewed from a physical aspect, are performance enhancers cheating or just a resource to use. As is asked in the movie, if risking the potential side effects of enhancers were the difference between security for your family vs, financial failure and ruin, would you take the chance? In addition, there is a self-image issue that is brought forth by those that we idolize. In the director's case, it is Arnold, Sly Stallone, and Hulk Hogan. (All steroid users). But ignoring that fact, it is suggested that the ideal of be super strong is a self-ideal as prevalent in men as being thin and beautiful is within the female sociological culture.

This is something I couldn't agree with more. While I go to the gym for health reasons mainly, there is of course the desire to build muscle and look great so that I can be cut and built rather than scrawny as I have tended to be for most of my life. After all, I drink Muscle Milk after every workout for Pete's sake! Which ironically enough he addresses in the film when discussing the prevalence of legal stimulants especially those that are advertised by individuals who also used steroids to achieve their results.

So all in all, the film was very well thought out and makes you wonder whether we as a society are attacking a minuscule element of the much larger problem instead of focusing of the overall issue of self-image, and American destiny. As I write this, I don't want you to think that I would even for a moment consider using illegal steroids (I do consider them a cheat and a way to get ahead in an unnatural way), but that being said, recently I did receive a cortisone shot (legal steroid) for my foot-injury allowing me to keep running, and tomorrow before I go out and run, I will take a couple of puffs from my asthma inhaler (steroid). The inhaler by the way will give me a boost and help me to run slightly faster. Why is this ok, and not another type of steroid? Many questions asked, answers from all sides given, and in the end, a very thoughtful and intriguing film. So a high recommend, you won't be disappointed.

Work, Sports, and Being on the Team

Last Monday, New York Giants defensive great Michael Strahan announced his retirement from football after an illustrious fourteen year career. Driving to work on Tuesday and while listening to the morning sports talk radio, another former New York Giant spoke about the difficulty of retiring and what Strahan would most likely feel in the upcoming months. Just to preface though it is of only minor importance, Strahan retired after winning the Super Bowl and while still very physically capable of playing. Thus he left the game not because his body could no longer hold up, but rather because he wanted to leave on top.

This former New York Giant that was on the radio said that the most difficult part of retiring from the game, especially when still physically able to play, was leaving the feeling of team and the camaraderie amongst teammates. He said that Strahan may have days in the upcoming months where he will consider calling off the retirement to return to the team. He also went on to explain that while the public views football as just sport, to the athlete playing the game, it truly is a job that one commits to and forms a ritual around. Granted, I think this only slightly valid as even the most hardworking players still get about three-four months off a year not to mention the league minimum salary of 285,000. (for a rookie, it goes up based on experience.) The point he was making however is that to the retiring player it is difficult to leave that sense of team and the daily routine of meetings, workouts, film study, and preparation. Once outside of the game, a player can find himself lacking the structure that was once a defining part of their daily life and miss the team that was like a band of brothers.

After hearing this and while on my way to work it made me wonder about how I view my own job and fellow co-workers. Though distinctly different, I'm not sure if I see work as this great team that I am part of. (And I try to think back to my previous employer as well, as it can be argued that it is unfair to make that assessment after only three weeks at the new job.) I don't know if I long for the daily rituals and I wonder if most people feel like this too. Do we work because it is our love and our passion? I'm sure some do, maybe even a decent percentage, but I doubt the majority. Do we work because we are told to and it is socially ingrained into us? Or do we work solely for financial reasons? The former player mentioned how some football retireries, have the urge to come back to the game and play again. These are players that are making millions of dollars, who never have to worry about money ever again, and they still want to go back to work.

If I was super rich, I'm not sure if I would have this extreme urge to go back to work. Maybe in my current state of career as there is a lot more I would like to accomplish, but again I'm not sure if the majority of people would feel this way.

During my three months of job searching, I did feel a lack of structure and missed being around people, but I wonder if that was because I often remained in the apartment due to a lack of funds. In addition my missing of company had a great deal to do with Mel still being on the East Coast. If Mel was here and if I had no worries about money, would I really want to jump back into work or would I enjoy my time and do what ever leisure activities I desired? Like I said before, I most likely would want to achieve something more with my career. But I've only been working for four years and I'm already wondering this. Double that amount and I'm still six years shy of the worked years by Mr. Strahan. Now take the full fourteen years and I'm healthy, still young at 36 and in a place where I have achieved something with my career. Would I really feel myself screaming to go back to work and call off my retirement if I was wealthy enough? Would most people?

So, I guess in conclusion to this pondering and slightly whiny blog, I wonder how the majority of people view their jobs and career. Is it viewed as institution much like Mike Judge's Office Space or do we view our jobs as a team that we are part of, one in which we are bound by camaraderie, ritual, and structure. I would think that the majority of people would unfortunately feel like the former and that then brings up a even better question; how does society change the perception of work and employment so that in retirement instead of feeling freed from the shackles, we long to go back to those glory days and the teammates we once shared. Have a pleasant working week! Blog with you later.

-SMA-

Editor's Note: After some quick research, assuming NFL salaries don't increase (which of course they will) a fourteen year player on the league minimum will earn $8,815,000. Just think about that and wonder if you would really want to come back to work on Monday.

Phase 2

Two and a Half weeks into the job, routine starting to become a little more locked down, (Still not having as much success as I would like with the morning workouts. I really need to work on getting up and getting up on time. We'll call this a working goal.), and fully settled into the apartment.

A week ago, a friend of mine wrote an email asking how the Grand Western Experiment was going. The way she phrased it as the "grand experiment" caused me to look at the move in this sense. At the very beginning, I think this was exactly what I was going for. Trying something completely foreign and taking a chance to see if it would work. Over the months of job searching, I may have lost a little bit of that sense as my focus directed towards finding work and securing a future. But riding above everything was the "experiment" and the chance that was being taken. So in looking at the move in this way, I would say that it is a must to break down this new direction into phases that can be analyzed, observed, and reflected on at a later date. My "Brand New Day" will come to an end at some point, but for now it is just entering into the next phase. If phase one was coming out and establishing myself with a home and employment than it is clear to say that phase one is finished.

As is pretty clear, the majority of my blog posts for the past months have been about the job search and my frustrations or joys depending on the process. Well since I am locked into the job, I can no longer write about the search. And while I plan to still write about the transition to the film world, my non-disclosure agreement kind of limits me as to how detailed I can be in my writing. Thus it is time that I move on to a next phase of this blog, and the newest phase of my move.

When I first started blogging, I aimed to reflect more about how the move affected my personality and spirit. I saw lofty goals in leaving the crowds of New York and entering into the expansiveness of the west coast. I think now as phase 1 comes to a close, this is the next step of the "grand experiment". I feel as if this next phase will focus my writing more on some ruminations of life and reflecting on the way that this move is affecting the person that I am and the person I aim to be. So with the hope that my writing will not become too dry or drab in the coming weeks, I start Phase 2 of my Brand New Day and set out to discover a little bit more of myself on this crazy journey of manifest destiny. Blog with you later.

-Nice Guy-

A Harbinger of Things to Come?

Today is Game 1 of a rivalry renewed. This evening, the Los Angeles Lakers will storm into Boston to face the Boston Celtics. While I am actually a Chicago Bulls, I will be rooting for the Celtics if for no other reason than the fact that I hate Kobe Byrant.

But I include his picture today, and write this blog not about the NBA finals, but oddly enough about the Presidential Election. As is now finally clear, this November Barack Obama will face John McCain for the presidency, and if history has anything to say about it, John McCain will win and it will be all Kobe's fault!! Yeah I can hear the laughs, but believe me it is true. I love little weird factoids and this is one that defies logic. If you go back to 1948 when Truman beat Dewey, everytime the Lakers have been in the NBA finals, a Republican has won. And for all but one time that the Lakers were not in the finals, the Democrat has won. Yes it falls down to the fact that the Lakers are the second most stories franchise in NBA history (Behind the Celtics) and the Republicans have won quite a few elections for the last half-century. But if you break it out election by election, it is quite scary.

Years that the Lakers were in the Finals During a Presidential Election (8 for 8 actuality):

1952: Dwight Eisenhower (R) wins
1968: Richard Nixon (R) wins
1972: Richard Nixon (R) wins
1980: Ronald Reagan (R) wins
1984: Ronald Reagan (R) wins
1988: George Bush (R) wins
2000: George W. Bush (R) sort-of-wins
2004: George W. Bush (R) wins
2008: ??? wins

Years that the Lakers were not in the Finals During a Presidential Election (6 for 7 actuality):

1948: Harry Truman (D) wins
1956 Dwight Eisenhower (R) wins
1960: John F. Kennedy (D) wins
1964: Lyndon B. Johnson (D) wins
1976: Jimmy Carter (D) wins
1992: Bill Clinton (D) wins
1996: Bill Clinton (D) wins

So from 1948 - 2004, the Lakers standard was accurate 14 out of 15 times or correct 93% of the time. I'm not saying it means anything, but if you are betting man and not someone who cares about the fate of our country (boy, did I just let that slip) then you should bet on John McCain this fall.

Go Celtics and Go........ (Well, you know where I lean, I don't need to write it on the blog)

Blog with you later!

-SMA-

Working and Working Out

Well a full week is in the books and I can without a doubt make one of the most obvious statements ever to be uttered on this blog: Holding down a job and working each day makes it a heck of a lot harder to get up and work out each morning.

Wow! Stunning, isn't it. But alas, it is true and in adjusting my schedule to the rigors of the 9-7 job (yes even in CA, I am still on a 9-7 schedule) I have realized the difficulties in getting up each morning amped up to workout. Looking back at my first day last Tuesday through yesterday, I made it for only 4 out of my 6 workouts. (I take Sunday's off for a rest).

As for this morning, I did oversleep, but pulled myself out of bed to get out to gym, though my workout had to be cut short due to my late start. I will begin to have to make a decision as to whether to cut my workouts shorter, get up earlier, or push working out until after work. I did go for my Monday run afterwork yesterday, but man did it suck. Though I did actually run one of my fastest runs, after a long day of standing, walking, and moving around, my muscles were so sore and it was just not very enjoyable.

So we will see what happens as the days continue but as I mentioned months ago, it is my goal to keep up the workout regiment and that's what I intend to do. So now I best wrap this up and head to bed otherwise Wednesday's workout will not be met and then it all starts going downhill. But before I do, I will leave you with a great story from this weekend's run.

On Saturday morning, I awoke, geared up and went out for my morning run. I wasn't planning on running a huge distance in part because I was sill sore from the 10 miles on Monday and also because I had some errands to run once I got back. But I began my run and had a specific route in mind. After a quick turn, I noticed that I was now running in the middle of a large group of women. It turns out that I had run right into the middle of the "See Jane Run" Women's Half-Marathon. My thought was that after a little bit, I should be able to break off from the pack and continue my run. Well after another turn, I found that my run took me right into the winner's circle of the Half Marathon! As I was nearing the finish line, I saw a camera man taking pictures of all the racers. Not wanting to waste his film and also wanting to avoid a picture of this embarrassing moment, I dodged off the trail and around the photographer. As I was about to cross the finish line, I noticed that the path I intended to continue upon was blocked off and only a small gap in the barrier existed. I again veered off the course and onto the grass in order to slip through the gap in the barrier and continue my run as I desired. As I slipped away from the finish line and ran through the barrier gap, I heard a voice scream out, "You're supposed to Stop! Oh well, I guess he wants to keep running! I think he wants to keep running!"

Yeah..... that was a first and quite a unique way to start run. Ok....I will blog with you later!

-Nice Guy-

The First Week

Alright, I promised a more in depth update by week's end and here we are with about 4 hours till I go to bed and I am doing my best to keep my promise.

So this was it. After 108 days unemployed (AH! Freaky coincidental Lost connection!), I went back to work ready, motivated, and excited to be working in film and delighted to be at a great company, close to home and in a nice neighborhood. By week's end my expectations were met.

It is still very early, and the project that I am on does not really kick off till tomorrow, so I don't want to start sounding all glib by saying how everything is great and wonderful. That being said, the situation does seem ideal and while it will get busy very quickly, I think it will be an enjoyable situation. The biggest and most immediate change that I have noticed and been delighted about is that a production team is, for the most part, assigned to one project. While these are features and not commercial spots and thus have many more shots per project (or as it's know in-house per show), the team that is established and assigned is working on (again for the most part) that single show. Previously, I was juggling about 4-6 projects at a time and the more senior members of the production staff were juggling anywhere from 5-8 projects at any given time. This also meant that the artistic crew was split over multiple projects and on many days had to switch from project to project depending on the time of the day and the needs of the client. I'm not here to argue that it was a bad situation or run poorly. In fact it was quite the opposite. The person who managed the scheduling of the crews is so amazingly skilled and talented and she helped the studio to achieve a level of efficiency that I don't think can be topped. (Yes -- you know who you are, and yes you are that great!) It is the reason why clients would take their work there and the reason that the company was one of the most successful in New York. That being said, the sheer volume of work is definitely stressful and the split focus from 4-6 projects at a time makes it tough to really gear towards a directed focus and observe the path of the process from start to finish. Now with the single production that the team and I are assigned to, I feel that I can have a more hands-on, observant, and detail oriented approach since I will be able to focus near 100% of my attention towards the show for which I have been assigned.

As for the week itself, as mentioned, it was slower because the show does not officially kick off till tomorrow. This was good and bad, though definitely more positive than anything. The negative was that the first week was very slow and as I am just getting into the groove of the way this studio operates, there were many moments when I was not doing much and feeling unable to help. The positive though exceeded this negative, as the slowness allowed me the opportunity to be trained pretty hands on and allowed the person who will be supervising me to spend a great deal of time showing me different procedures and commands. Had I come in during the heat of the production, this would almost definitely not be possible and would force me to learn on the run perhaps leading to some problems down the line. Thus I am happy that I came in during this pre-production phase and excited that I will be there from day 1 of the kickoff.

In terms of the job itself, the skills of production carry over from house to house. I would like to believe that I am skilled at production/management and that the ideals of organization, prioritization, and communication are my strongest assets. Thus what will eventually be needed from a perspective of skill set is the same as with any other house. What differs from house to house is the nomenclature of the lexicon and the pipeline of the production. This is what I am finding to be drastically different from my previous experience and the area where the majority of my focus will need to go during these initial weeks. The pipeline is essentially the path that individual shots must follow from department to department. As I am now dealing with many more shots, I am finding that this pipeline is consequently much larger than I was previously dealing with. As for the nomenclature, I am now using many different programs and procedures than before (some for better, and yes some that I don't think work as well). It will take a bit before I fully pick everything up, but I have always been good at learning different programs and finding the best way to utilize the program for the task at hand so I am not too worried. Thus, this upcoming week will be a good test as it should remain moderately paced, but as the show will have officially kicked off there will be daily rounds and procedures that I will need to learn and take a active part in producing/coordinating.

So there you have it. The first week in the books and a good one at that. I guess I can conclude with a little bit of the trivial aspects of the job. The commute is fantastic and I am that finding the longest I have had to sit through at this point is about 30-35 minutes. On Friday in fact, I got to work with very little traffic and made it in about 20 minutes. To some, I'm sure it seems like a lot (though most readers are New Yorkers, I believe) but after the 80-90 minute commutes I was doing daily in New York, it is a joy.

The neighborhood is fantastic and that is exactly what it is, a neighborhood. There is definitely something wonderful about working in New York, and in every other city I have been to I have yet to see the same working environment. (Though I will admit, I have yet to visit Chicago). There is a great feeling to walking out of the subway, hearing the taxis and traffic and fighting the crowds to your building. It is exciting, fast-paced, hectic and yes, at least for me, a bit draining. The New York City environment is like nothing else, but alas it ultimately was not for me. Now I drive into what can essentially be described as a suburban block. The studio has five buildings, none of which is more that two-stories tall, and they are scattered by a four block by two block area. Walking from building to building there is very little traffic, and there are trees and bushes scattered along the way as well as houses, a school, and many neighborhood people. It is a stark contrast, but one that jives better with my spirit.

The other huge difference that I have noticed is the full lunch hour. At my previous house, lunch was on some days a hopeful possibility. And when it did happen, lunch lasted no longer than 20-25 minutes. The goal was always to watch a 1/2 hour show of the lunch room DVR and get the whole 24-minute show (no commercials) in before you needed to get back to work. A full hour is almost absurd to me at this point. The first day, I kept checking my watch until my co-worker told me not to worry because we still had 20 minutes. In addition, I also get to actually leave the building and the phone. There is of course an inherent negative to this which is of course, the cost of lunch. Previously while not given much of a lunch break, I was having lunch brought in by the company. Now I am seeing myself spending anywhere from $40-50 a week. I believe I will be brown-bagging it soon, but at least it is nice to be able to get out and enjoy the area for awhile.

So I guess that is it. A bit long, but hopefully enjoyable to read. I will post more as this week goes on and I look forward to updating you more as the project kicks off. So till then, have a good one and I will blog with you later.

-SMA-