Felines, photos and BBQs

Gina moved out during the week so I have the apartment almost to myself - Milo the cat remains in my charge for the time being.  He is a bit out of sorts without Gina, but not too much since he is still king of the castle; cruising around the building, visiting his human 'girlfriends' who play with him and feed him treats, and terrorizing the building manager's cat, a fluffy white princess called Penelope who mostly stays indoors.  Just as well, too, since Milo has been known to attack her.  Does he simply dislike her that much or is he like little boys in the schoolyard who don't know how to talk to a girl they like so they just punch her and run away?  I've had some territorial battles with Milo myself.  He likes to sleep on my bed, especially now with Gina gone, which is fine so long as he sticks to the end of the bed on a blanket I've laid out for him.  He knows the rules but he likes to test what he can get away with.  More than once I've caught him settling down up near the pillows, whereupon I've moved him firmly to the blanket where he pretends to settle, only to come back 5 minutes later to see he has moved back to the pillows.  When he does that, flouting his second chance, he gets kicked out altogether. 

My new roommate, Shannon, will be moving in tomorrow, although she will then be off on holiday for a couple of weeks. 

Some ripples on the job front - finally! - over the last week.  I had two interviews - one a phone interview, for an arts admin job which I would LOVE to do (cross fingers I make it to the next round of in-person interviews), and the other with a recruitment agency after I responded to an ad for a temporary proofreading job.  It pays peanuts, but that would be better than nothing right now.  This week I have an interview to intern (aka unpaid work experience/slave labor) at an agency reading scripts and writing coverages (summary and assessment); this is something I'd love to do long term and would be able to work from home primarily but like so many entertainment industry jobs it's hard to get a foot in the door without some kind of personal recommendation.  Doing an internship will help and of course I'm hoping that donating my time, two days a week for three months, might lead to an offer of ongoing, paid work.  Will be interesting either way.

On Thursday I had some new headshots taken.  They are primarily commercial, meaning I was aiming for a few specific looks/character types (such as Mom, cop/detective, cute/quirky/comic, business suit/lawyer/reporter etc).  The photographer, Patricia, is one of my new LA friends; an actress I met in a workshop - kept meeting in workshops actually! - who also happens to be a pro photographer.  I was really comfortable and relaxed with her (which makes a huge difference) and she was always quick to spot when I was unfocused or 'faking it' - "Fake smile!" she would yell - and great at getting me back on track.  We toured around a few spots locally, using natural light and taking advantage of several different background textures and colours.  Here's a few highlights:

It's Memorial Day today (Monday in LA) which means a three-day weekend for the average American.  BBQs abound and I have already attended two.  On Saturday my Aussie friends Nicola and Mike threw a good old Aussie barbie at their home, complete with snags and home-made burgers, beer and cheesecake.  You beauty, mate!  Most of the guests were either Aussie or English; I haven't been surrounded by that many non-American accents for quite awhile.  Yesterday one of my neighbours threw a barbecue to which the whole building - Melrose Place style - was invited.  It has been a very warm weekend, so it was lovely to sit around (and in) the swimming pool, sipping on a beverage and chatting with some of the neighbours with whom I've previously only exchanged waves and polite greetings.  Very convivial.

This week Bridgette will be in San Diego - hooray! - and I'm looking forward to seeing her.  Unfortunately she'll be working most of the time, but we'll squeeze in a good catch up and yes, photos will be posted!