by thedreamer -

Cause We’re Dealing With Identity Theft

OK, so it’s not exactly what we’re talking about here, but it’s the first thing that runs through my brain at the moment.

So I went to order some healthy little kibble for my pooch and my debit card was declined. Grumble grumble. It’s not the first time I’ve had issues with this website. But I go to my bank website and log in to see…. I’m in the red. A lot. Very red. How can this be? I’ve not been spending much, especially as I’ve got less than $2000 to work with at the moment and am a bit concerned about how I’m going to make everything happen this year with so little income and savings. Anyway, yeah. A little anxious over finances at the moment. And now this. I mean I already knew I had to deal with EDF and the monthly gas bill for the place I left in January (and it ain’t cheap!!!) and some strange charges from Orange… but now this too?

by thedreamer -

Welcome to France?

My brain is so fried that I don’t even know where to begin.

This is not the first time I’ve had to go to the Centre de Réception des Étrangers, but it was certainly the worst.

I showed up with my dog around 8:30AM to meet a crowd of people already standing and sitting in a line that reached out of the alley of 19-21 rue Truffaut. Lovely. Well, I had no choice. I got in line and soon made friends with a Canadian girl standing next to me.

By 10AM we had gotten much closer to the door, but it may have just been an illusion created by the bizarre fact that the people at the head of the line figured that standing closer together would somehow be beneficial. The sun started to peer out from behind the neighbouring building. I joked that at some point it would go behind the tree and we would have shade again. We didn’t think we would actually be out there long enough for that to happen. But we were, and it did.

by thedreamer -

One Week, One Short Film. Now What?

Yeah, we did it. I knew we would. No biggy. 😉

This morning the final cut (or… final cut for the festival) got uploaded to the 168 servers and all that was left for me to do was convince the printer to scan 26 pages of release forms for me. After a software uninstall and reinstall, we came to an understanding.

But yeah, I have another short film under my belt! In a couple of months a longer “director’s cut” will be finished and put on DVD, most likely after the festival (so we can mention what awards we won or were nominated for on the sleeve, ya know?).

Our work is not finished, though, and it’s time to answer some questions.

Will we submit it to other festivals after 168?

Will our Making Of film get finished in time for next week’s deadline?

How soon can we get a teaser online?

Where will we screen it for the cast and crew?

And what is my next project?

by thedreamer -

I’m Filming in Paris!

Did you miss me?

As you know, I’m participating in the 168 Hour Film Project again this year, and it’s production week! My friend Jack, from Canada, is here and we’ve been working hard. First writing the script, then finding locations, finding our cast and crew, and finally – filming!

It took us several days to come up with our story, and several more to iron out the dialogue. Once the dialogue was pretty much set, we translated it into French. Yep, the film is in French. We held a rehearsal with the actors on Wednesday night, and made some more adjustments to the dialogue and “mise en scene” as it’s called.

by thedreamer -

Hey, I Know Him!

I’m sure that’s a phrase that everyone in the film industry has said at least once when sitting at the movie theatre. I’ve been told friends see me (well at least once, way back in Spider-man) and shout it out. It was my turn recently!

I was waiting for Iron Man 3 to start, chatting with my friend, when out of the corner of my eye I see a HUGE familiar face on the screen.

Double take.

It’s Raph from Le Visiteur du Futur! And then I saw my friend François (his brother, producer of the series)!

“Hey! I know him!”

by thedreamer -

Velib in the Night

 

Velib

So have you heard about the public bike system in Paris? It’s called the Velib and I hadn’t ever really tried it til now. There was that one time, when I followed someone else on a bike for a short distance, but this time was different.

Friday night I met up with two other vegans from a meetup group at a dance party on the Seine. The theme of the night was Canada. I’m not sure how that’s a theme, and I didn’t notice anyone acting obviously Canadian, but whatever. I’d never done “rock” dancing before, and this was my chance to see what it was all about. After the initial awkwardness of learning some moves, I did a little do-see-do-ing with a few dancing partners and picked out my favourite lead of the night. I’m a good dancer if I’ve got a good lead. I mean, 90% of the time. 10% of the time I might miss a cue and stand there befuddled until he twirls me in the right direction. Anyway it was a great night. BUT we stayed a little too late.

by thedreamer -

Couchsurfing and Cockpits

Propeller

 

Oh my goodness. First, I apologize for not taking video of this trip, sometimes I’m just not in the mindset of blogging/vlogging. Which, you know, I think is OK. I like to be in the moment, to be observing things, rather than recording them. But I did take photos.

So because of that whole moving fiasco back in January, I had no home to arrive to in Paris. Even my temporary 5 day plan had been vaporized because of my cat and I went straight to couchsurfing. I’ve never couchsurfed before. But I found a host on couchsurfing.org and settled in. He trusted me so much that he let me stay at his apartment before even meeting me. He was away the weekend I arrived and left a key in a hiding spot. So I only met him several days later. Turns out we’re both into healthy eating, so that’s fun. He introduced me to a vegetarian restaurant I hadn’t been to yet, and now this weekend I shall do the same. But he also invited me to go with him “to work” this week. You see, my host was a pilot. 🙂 So I flew along and spent a day in and around Castres with him, the other pilot, and the air hostess.

by thedreamer -

Steps to a Better Blog

Well, I have been keeping up with this blog for about five months now, yay me! I’m still feeling my way around, and finding my groove, and I thought I’d share a little bit of the behind the scenes thinking.

My blog is different.

It’s not just a blog about acting.

It’s not just a blog about travel, or Paris.

It’s not just a blog about adventuring, or volunteering or vegan food or anything.

It’s everything.

itsruchir@yahoo.com

So I’ve had a hard time finding a “niche” for myself and feeling confident in how to move forward. Because yes, somehow, I want this blog to make money. I’m a wandering creative and you know, I’d like to live in a nice apartment, buy a nice house, not be in debt, all those lovely things that everyone else wants, too. But I also want my freedom. Another funny balancing act in progress.

I’ve been gathering information on blogging, and observing what other people are doing, and trying to apply it to my own efforts. But I feel like I need a bit of accountability. Sure, I’m a member of 3 websites that should provide some of that, but they’re private and I want to make this public.

So. Steps I’ve taken this week.

1. I’ve signed up for Google Analytics. I thought I had before, but I guess I didn’t complete the steps. So now I can start tracking the traffic to my site. I need to learn how to find information for each individual page and see what’s popular, because the next step would be to analyse that myself and make sure future posts are something you’re interested in!

2. Blogging! I’m trying to post regularly, though I don’t have a schedule for it. I’m afraid to make it into “work” yet. I do have many things I want to blog about right now, I just haven’t had the time. But I know it’s important to blog regularly. Otherwise you might think I’ve died, and unsubscribe. And that would be sad.

My next steps:

1. I need to review and post affiliate links for products and ebooks that I’ve purchased that are related to the things I talk about here. I know affiliate products can be a large part of a bloggers income, and I’m hoping you guys trust my opinion enough to check out things that I’m excited about (and maybe you are too). I need to figure out the best way to organize these product reviews, too.

2. Search the web for other people like me. Travelers, actresses, vegans. Get connected. I need to expand my network.

3. Videos. I still want to interview people who have used social media to kickstart their creative careers. Right now I’m thinking more about film and music, and I have a few people in mind to contact. I need to get on that. I need to come up with a title for the series, and a tagline. Something to keep it focused. Then I need to contact people. I should probably start another YouTube channel for it then as well.

So there are plenty of things I need to do, and these are only a few. But I’m starting there.

If you have a blog, what are you doing to get it out there, build traffic, monetize? I’d love your suggestions!

by thedreamer -

Back in Paris, Sans Cat

I’m going to miss my kitty so much! I’m sure I still have it easier than him, he’s around people he doesn’t really know. But I’m hoping he will start to enjoy his temporary home in Santa Monica.

Two days after we recovered Elliot from that backyard, he managed to escape again. Only for about 2 days this time, and he was recovered the night before my flight. He was spotted going under a house, and trapped there until I arrived. But no matter what, I couldn’t even see him under there. We finally left a trap with food, and left. Ten minutes later, my friend calls saying Elliot had fallen for the trap, and was not pleased with this foolishness. I visited him before heading to the airport, and he was super mellow and sort of in an “I’m not talking to you” mood. That morning I also ordered a lovely GPS collar for him. Well, if you can’t come back on your own, we will just know where you are every second of every day. Sorry, cat.

by thedreamer -

Panic When It Snows

Getting cold feet.
Getting cold feet.

If you’re in Paris, snow probably won’t really affect your commute much, but if you’re in the suburbs – watch out. Apparently an inch or two of snow is something to freak out about.

I suppose it doesn’t snow frequently in the Paris area, but really? Has no one ever seen snow before? Are your cars and buses really not able to handle it? Because I recall driving in a complete white-out back in PA, and I’m still here.

My personal story is this.