I'm alive, and (now) well.

I'm sorry about my recent absenteeism. I have been way too caught up in the whole movie process to blog, but here's a brief update! These are some of the only film photos I've taken and found interesting enough to post. My thoughts/criticism/digital photos of Utah will come once I'm in Los Angeles, which should be sometime at the end of next week. When I get back I plan to sleep for like, a week straight, and then also party for a week straight.

I will make a few brief remarks about my time in Helper so far.

The locals have actually enjoyed having the crew around, which to me is completly surprising. In spite of my many snide remarks, general grumpiness due to sleep deprivation and shaved head (oh yeah, im bald), they've treated us better than I expected. Usually the locs get sick of the crew a week into the process, but we've been here for about three, and they've started treating us like family. This certainly has added to my positive feelings towards Helper.

Oh yeah, before I forget...I did shave my head. No I did not have a Britney moment or catch lice from one of the locals, so just forget those two theories. The director cast me in a very small part in the movie, and it required me to be bald. So I accepted. At first, my head was really fucking cold, and I felt like a cross between Sinead O'connor, Nosferatu, and a very hip skin head, but now I'm ok with it. Everyone says I have a great skull, and let's face it...how many times in my life can I expect to hear that. I have photos of the actual head shaving process, but I'm not ready to post them just yet. In order to help my hair grow faster, I have started taking pre-natal vitamins. This has made me realize I've pretty much experimented with every drug in the pharmacy that I could buy without a prescription. Right... Anyway, my hair is growing at a nice speed, and i'm very content with my decision to buzz it.

And now it's photo time!!! 

Here are pictures of weird things, some through color filters, others just simply psychedelic. More to come as soon as my internet connection stops crapping out.

A room I stripped and decorated.

Snow. I've experienced enough of it here to last me at least a few years.

My next post will have more and better photos, I promise. 

Claudia 

Livin' it up in Helper

I've been way too busy to write, but I'm going to take some time before I go to bed to update.

The people of Helper have been very helpful (just bear with me, I promise I won't use that pun again), and now I have a full house decorated. This is by far the biggest set I've done so far, and thanks to the kindness of the locs I've managed to have it almost finished two days before we actually start filming in there.

Today was the first day of filming, and we went out to the desert for a faux-fishing scene. Here's one of the only pictures I've had time to upload so far.

Here I am, at dawn in the Utah desert, getting ready to prep the actors to go fishing in the desert. It might look like I'm a bit heavier, but I'm wearing so many layers. I got a few compliments that I looked like the most stylish (and obviously delusional) fisher-woman within a 200 mile radius at least. I attribute that to the fabulous sweater I stole from my dad. He's owned it since the 1980s, so I figured it's time for me to snatch it. I'll return it if he misses it, but I don't think I've seen him wearing it since we left Romania.

Other than the cold in the morning and at night, so far it's been rather warm. I'm happy the cold broke before we got here, but there's still enough snow on the mountains to give the landscape some color. Seriously, this place is so brown, it amazes me that I've managed to find some beauty in all the sharp angular cliffs. I miss the lush stucco strip malls of the SFV and all the ironic plaid. Here, plaid is not a fashion statement, which is perhaps the most prominent reminder I am in farm land. About farm land - being vegetarian here is the equivalent of being a saint, as in...I feel like I'm fasting. I got a really intense stomach ache today that no amount of pink gooey pepto has been able to cure. I went digging through the cupboards at the brothel I'm staying in and found some vegetarian lentil soup, which has saved me from a long night of agonizing stomach pain. But my health isn't completely fucked just yet. So far I've been working for about a week and I have not smoked a single cigarette, which I consider a personal victory. If I make it through this shoot without smoking at all, I will reward myself somehow. The best reward would obviously be a cigarette but I'm trying to restructure my reward system. The booze situation is rather dire, but I think I'll survive until I make it back to Los Angeles.

That's all I am able to say for now. I have a very early call time tomorrow, so I need to go to sleep in order to wake up for a 6 am breakfast.

I miss L.A. dearly, but thankfully I really like this place. The people are sweet, the landscape is growing on me, and the food situation could be worse (but not by that much).

My best thoughts to everyone,
Yours truly,

Good night.

Terminally ...busy in Helper

I tried to do this last night before I left, but I was too exhausted from the excessive packing and cleaning I had to do.


So I'm finally in Utah. The drive here was interesting. I realized I was out of Los Angeles when I woke up at the In N Out in Barstow, and I saw a lot of pick up trucks and plaid. I ate a burger (Yes, with meat. No, I'm not going to continue eating meat because it completely grossed me out). After Barstow came Nevada, then briefly Arizona, and finally Utah. We encountered about 45 terrifying minutes of blizzard, and 3 or 4 hours of snow. Helper is the name of the town I'm staying in, and apparently it snowed here all day but thankfully it didn't stick. I'm not too worried about freezing my ass off because I'm going to be four layers deep pretty much all the time. Thankfully I packed enough to clothe a small army of petite, cold-susceptible, vegetarian art directors so I think I'll be a-ok. As far as my accommodations go, I'm staying in what used to be an old brothel, haunted and everything. They cranked the heat up before i got here, so now I am sporting cut off jean shorts and a tank top - typical Claudia uniform. The only thing that's missing is a cold beer in my hand, but thankfully the brothel is two store fronts down from the local state run liquor station. About that...what the hell? It's going to take some getting used to, but I tend to get angry when people, in the name of institutions and principles I disagree with, try to control my consumption of any substance.

Anyway, that's it for now. I have to go sleep in order to be perfectly rested for my location scout tomorrow morning. Pictures will come soon, and you can be sure there will be plenty. This place seems really great so far. My only anxiety (besides my work) is the terrible home sickness that I'm feeling right now. I really appreciate everyone's good thoughts and energy that they sent me, and I don't think I need to say I miss all of my friends, parents, sisters and pets very dearly. I wish I could share this with everyone who helped me get here, but all I can do right now is focus on my work and send a shit ton of postcards/letters.


Miss you guys!
I promise to update soon!
Claudia

Terminally Chill in Hollywood

As some of you know, I have been house-sitting one of my good friend's appartments on Sunset and Vermont. If you are reading this, chances are you have probably already made your way over the 101 to come sip some spiced wine and some Miller lite with me. I only managed to grab some photos of a few special guests, but don't feel left out if you have yet to sit down for a photo sesh with me. This brings me to another train of thought: namely my departure to Utah. Yes, I'm going to Utah. No, not to get married, unless I can be the husband to at least 2 or 3 super rich, talented, and wise women, who choose to enter into a domenstic partnership with me (and my other wives) on non-religious grounds. I doubt any resident of Utah will agree to my proposal, so for the month or so that I am there, I will stick to making a movie. A movie about spirituality - a subject not only I'm completly unimpressed with, but have also ridiculed many times. So if anything, I'll either learn a thing or two about my supposed inner self, jesus christ, or both, ooorrr (most likely) I'll probably just enjoy the movie making adventure and call to complain frequently about the 3% beer. On the subject of alcohol, I am fully planning on bringing the biggest bottle of whiskey I can buy at Costco in my suitcase, or I will be a very unhappy film-maker. I will continue updating my blog from Utah, but some guest entries are in the works. I'm excited but also sad to be leaving the SFV and the L.A. area, since the last few weeks have been so fun and filled with exciting exploratory adventures.

Picture time!

Dylan and I went on an adventure downtown and explored the L.A. Public library, and all the different districts. We walked for over 3 hours, and then totally forgot where we parked the car. Here are a few shots from the day.

Um, what does this mean? It's right across the street from a police station downtown.

*Actually, Camilo from Ann Arbor, Michigan informed me that Weirdo Rippers is the first album by the band No Age. I suspected it had something to do with the band, but does anyone know who put it there and why? It'd be cool to find out.

*Camilo - Thanks for your contribution from the midwest. Happy to know I have fans everywhere there is internet. And you're welcome for the shout out. 

The smell when its closed. Inconspicuous, but still rather smelly, even in the daytime. 

Nickel Diner on 5th street. They had a lot of books wth photographs about the history of los angeles that I flipped through while sipping on my home made mint lemonade. I def wanna go back there again and hang out. 

 Department of Neighborhood Empowerment in Little Tokyo. I need to start one in Northridge, and if there is already one, I need to find it, and take it over.

Ah, our fair city. 

Last week I also went to see a performance art gathering (meaning lots of performances in one room) with my dear friend Cate. It was held in the Pacific Design Center, which I must go back to during regular hours. That place looks so fucking awesome. Cate and I made off well though. There were other gallery openings as well, so that meant a lot of free wine and cheese.

Mermaids performming. Crazy sounds ensued. 

I think this one was called "Pretty girl talking over things being projected on the wall next to her". Just kidding, I totally made that up.

This is Suki. I told her a secret, she gave me a druid dress. I will debut said dress at my next party.

Oh yea, lest I forget. There was a ton of free PBR to be had in the performance art room. Cate and I obviously indulged.

Last but not least, photos of a night when I got Brett, Kelly, Audrey and Jesse to come over. 

spiced wine

Audrey

That's it for the day. I'll try to update again before I leave for Utah, but I have a very busy schedule over the next few days. 

Yours truly,

Claudia.