A Week Until Big Changes

Well, folks, there's only one week left in the program. After it's over I'll be leaving this blog behind for fresher waters...get it? Fresher "waters?" The background's a water thing....with fish in it...whatever.

Yesterday was the first Christmas that I spent away from my family, and I have to say that it reminded me what it's really like being out in the world on your own. We've been doing a lot to keep things high-energy here in the apartment since the program's winding down; on Christmas Eve the "roommates" all went out to a Chinese food restaurant and had a great time talking and enjoying each other's company. It was the first time in a while that we were all together, but it was totally worth it.


In case you were wondering, the chopsticks that Ron is holding are Star Wars lightsaber chopsticks. Pretty awesome.

I know that I've spent the last couple weeks talking a lot about how the program's almost over, but I have to say that it's been a pretty significant topic in my mind. To be honest, the lifestyle here has been completely different than anything I've experienced before, and I don't really know what I'm going to do after it's over. I've got a couple prospects that I'm investigating as far as employment is concerned, but internally I'm pretty torn. I haven't been home in forever, and though I'm generally not the type to get homesick, I miss the family and friends that are buried in the snow right now. :)

Still, the park's been pretty lively the past few days. It was a bizarre Christmas here in SoCal, and the fireworks show that Disneyland does every night during peak season almost got rained out! The better part of the day was clear skies and sunshine, but later on things got a bit messy...I'd been assigned to fireworks crowd control for the evening (we call it GSO: Guest Service Operation, maybe?), and of course I didn't bring any raingear because I didn't think it was going to rain...none of us did! It started raining about 5 minutes before the fireworks started, and by the time my shift was over my costume's wool coat was SOAKED. Trust me, it smelled TERRIBLE this morning. But I got a new one for today's shift, so I'll be alright.

In the meantime, I don't get a break until New Year's Day since New Year's Eve is my last scheduled College Program shift. Everyone has said that the park is completely PACKED during New Year's Eve, so I'm a little apprehensive...but I'm sure it'll be an interesting experience. They actually closed off admission to Disneyland on Christmas Day because so many people were in the park, though they were still letting people into the sister park, California Adventure. They're going to end up letting more people into the park on New Year's Eve, which means wait times are going to be MISERABLE. Think about this for perspective: Nemo traditionally has a 20-minute wait time, but on Christmas it went up to 90 MINUTES. And we load anywhere from 80-120 people every 5 minutes. Yeah, there were that many people. Absolutely ridiculous.

Well, I'm going to have to get some sleep so I can be ready for this hectic week. College Program, you've definitely given me a run for my money...now all I've gotta do is come up with some grown-up New Year's resolutions. Resolution 1: Pay student loans...

-Josh

In the D-Box

Well, explorers, I'm writing this in a movie theatre! Yep, watching TRON: Legacy for the SECOND time. I really enjoyed it the first time, but this time I'll be watching it in the D-Box. What is the D-Box, you ask? Motion-related seating! It's the only setup in Southern California, and we're living it up! Look it up while I watch the movie!

-Josh

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

The Network and The Graduation

Sorry it's been so long since I posted last. Things have been a little crazy lately, and my friend Aryn from back home in Rockford came out to LA to visit in the middle of this past week, so that hasn't given me much time to write! Regardless, I'm back! Good news, right?


From the last post: The Business Network

I've networked with a ton of interesting people since I got to California, ranging from all sorts of different lines of business. A couple of the highlights have been:

Chris Troutt, Learning and Development Manager at Disney Interactive Media Group: I met with Chris early in the program, and he was a real joy to talk to. He used to work at Disneyland but moved to Disney Interactive so that he could do a bit more of the work in Learning Development that he wanted to do. I really had a blast meeting him; he showed me around various areas in the DIMG building including a room where tons of people were playing characters in various Disney online games like Pixie Hollow and Toontown Online. It was a fantastic experience and if I ever got the opportunity, I'd love to pick up a job at DIMG.

Rob Garza and Tracy Siudzinski, Instructional Writing for the Walt Disney Company: Chris recommended that I talk to Rob Garza after I met with him. Rob writes instructional materials for various attractions and roles across the entire Disneyland Resort system, and when I met with him he brought Tracy along to speak as well. Tracy was a relatively new hire in the department, hired just a couple months before I was. Both Rob and Tracy were really kind and told me about their job, but they were also really personable. Rob also was an English major coming out of college and is very sarcastic (like me). I enjoyed seeing an element of professional writing in the Disney Company, and the things they told me gave me a bit of hope that I might be able to land a professional writing job myself soon!

Chris Carle, Entertainment Editorial Director at IGN.com: I met Chris when I went to a networking event in Beverly Hills, and we met up at a pretty slick-looking restaurant called Spanish Kitchen. It was interesting just to be in Beverly Hills and see all the different stores and whatnot that contained furniture that I'd never be able to afford to put in my house at the rate I'm going, hehe. Still, meeting with him was a great time. He used to work in the video games section of IGN, and so we talked about various gaming things and he gave me a few tips about how to try and prepare myself to get into game journalism more than what I'm doing for 411Mania. He was a really chill guy, and I'm hoping we keep in touch.

Honestly, networking happens all over the place out here. It seems like I just randomly talk to people and find out that they're actors, writers, or otherwise involved in industries that I want to work with. I'm telling you, southern California is a completely different animal than anything else I've ever encountered.



The Graduation!



Yep, that's right everyone: I've graduated! Again! Disney College Program graduation took place this past Friday at the Disneyland Hotel, and it was a pretty great experience. Here are some photo highlights:


My friends from Nemo (well, a large number of them)! They're a pretty inventive, dynamic crew, and they've definitely made my experience at Nemo worthwhile.


The housing complex peeps! In one way or another, everyone in this picture is a "roommate" of mine, whether we actually live in the same apartment, or just hang out with each other so much that we may as well live together! If you can't tell, they're a really fun group of people. This program wouldn't have been the same without them, and I'm sure going to miss tons of them when we all part ways at the beginning of next month.

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you can see tons more of the DCP graduation photos on my Facebook. I had a great time with my friends, and the ceremony itself was like a traditional graduation, complete with a stage walk. I'd give lots to do the program all over again, but alas, that isn't possible; the time for all this to end is coming up quickly. In the meantime, I'm trying to live each day up to its fullest. I'm going to be working tons in the next couple weeks, but that'll make the paychecks worthwhile! :)

Anyway, everyone have a great night! I'll see you on Wednesday!

-Josh

Sorry....

My friend Aryn is in town tonight! Hanging out with her! Talk to you soon!

-Josh

Just so you know...

I'll be blogging tomorrow. Sorry, but I'm completely drained and need to sleep for work tomorrow. Sweet dreams, all!

-Josh

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

The Business Network

Alright, so for those of you thinking about doing the Disney College Program, either in Anaheim or in Orlando, I've got one suggestion for you: NETWORK. Network hard, network fast, network strong, from the second you step foot on the pavement. Now, of course, this concept of "networking" is one that people have started talking about all over the place, particularly since the economy is in such dire straits lately, but tonight I'm going to give you the quick overview of exactly what networking entails, and how to do it effectively (which I'll admit I've slipped up on a few times).

What is Networking?
Business networking revolves around the age-old saying "It's not what you know, it's who you know." Tons of people are out there applying for all the same jobs that you are, and sometimes even if you have the best resume, cover letter, and set of credentials, you still won't get the job. Why? Because someone else networked and got the personal connection.

Networking it all about making personal contacts with people in the fields that you're interested in, finding out more about their jobs and trying to show them that you're a viable candidate for the job. At the same time, you're figuring out if the job they're doing is really something you're interested in. These events usually happen in 15-30 minute meetings that you arrange with the person you want to talk to. Usually people are more than happy to set aside some time to talk with you about what's going on at their place of business. These kinds of meetings aren't about trying to get a job, though; it's all about creating a network of people so that if an opportunity arises, you stand a better chance of getting chosen if you apply.

How Do I Do It? Networking Dos

• Assemble a good resume, business card, and cover letter
Trust me, even though you're not actually interviewing for a job when you're networking, you need to walk into every networking opportunity with the idea that you could be offered a job right there on the spot. That means you need to be completely prepared for anything, and your job-search sword-and-shield combo is your business card and resume. If the situation calls for it, be prepared to hand anyone who asks a copy of all three of those items.
• Ask for more contacts
You don't ever want your network to hit a dead-end. If you know what area you want to work in, you want to keep pushing in the direction of success by talking to new people. At the end of your networking meeting, don't be afraid to ask your interviewee if they can think of any other people you should talk to about getting into your field. After all, since they work where you're trying to go, they're likely going to know more about who specifically would be a good contact for you, and who would be willing to give you their time.
• Follow-up within 24 hours
I am TERRIBLE at this because I'm so scatterbrained, but you honestly need to follow-up with whoever you talked to with a thank-you card or email within 24 hours of your meeting. It lets them know that you appreciate what they're doing for you and that you're taking the opportunity seriously. If you can send a handwritten card that's even better, but trust me, an email is better than nothing. More than once I've tried to go the hand-written route and something's gone wrong that's prevented me from getting the job done; by the time I got all my stuff together days had passed, and that reflected poorly on me. Don't let the same thing happen to you!
• Loosen up!
Yes, you're walking into a professional environment. Yes, you're trying to look for gainful employment in a career that you enjoy. Yes, you're going to be talking to people you've never met before. But the only way you're truly going to be able to show your passion for what you want to go into is to relax and enjoy the experience. You're both going to be feeling each other out during the talk, and you're both going to want to have a good time while you're talking. Make sure that you don't have any barriers between you and your A-game conversation skills, and that includes personal hygiene and mental preparation. Which leads us to...

Whoa, What Were You Thinking? Networking Don'ts

• Don't neglect personal hygiene
I'll keep repeating the word "don't" because I don't want you to think I'm somehow suggesting you make one of these critical errors. One of the worst mistakes you can make is to neglect showering, shaving, combing hair, brushing teeth, or any of those other first-impression influencing features. Before you even get the chance to open your mouth you're going to convey a message about who you are and what you stand for just based on what people perceive about you based on your looks. Is it fair? No. Can you fight to change a bad first impression? Yes. Do you want to put yourself in a position where you have to fight to make a good second impression? No. Don't make anything more difficult than it already will be.
• Don't leave awkward pauses in the conversation.
No matter what the position you're applying for entails, you're going to be putting those communication skills to the test in a networking opportunity. If you're a poor conversationalist, it's going to get in the way of conveying the impression you're trying to give off. Make sure you're prepared with questions about the job, the person's history with the company, and tips they could give you about how to be successful in the business world. Extra Credit: Be on the look-out for personal side topics your interviewee seems to be introduce, sports they used to play or TV shows they're interested in. Sure, it's a business meeting, but you're talking to a living, breathing person with interests outside of their job. Show that you care about them as a person by talking BRIEFLY about those topics.
• Don't badmouth your current position
A great way to turn off someone who possibly wants to give you a job is to talk crap about the person who's already employing you. Nobody wants to be at the receiving end of a verbal tongue lashing, particularly one where they can't defend themselves. Talking about your employer negatively can make the person you're talking to think that he/she will be the next recipient of your backstabbing...
• DON'T FORGET TO FOLLOW UP.
I'm emphasizing this because it's what I'm TERRIBLE AT. You HAVE to follow up, you have to keep asking questions and stay in contact with the people you talk to. Don't be a pest, but the more you keep in contact, the more serious you show you are for the opportunity you're pursuing, and the more likely that person is to think of you when an opportunity arises. You've gotta make sure that you're doing everything you can to make it easy for that person to think of you a stellar, prepared, efficient candidate. Trust me, efficient follow-ups can go a LONG WAY.

Well, those are my partial tips. I've met some great people doing networking, and I'll be talking about them in my next post. Disney College Program gives you a great launching point to start networking, but it's something that you can do anywhere at anytime. Look up some contact information on the internet for someone who has a job you want, and then drop them an email asking for some time. Even if they're far away, a phone interview is better than nothing. Trust me, networking can go a long way towards getting you the job you want instead of the job you have to have.

What do you think about networking? Have you been doing any? Any tips or tricks I haven't written about? Post 'em! Talk to you Wednesday!

-Josh

Bringing Things to Conclusion

Even though I know exactly what I want to talk about, it's pretty hard for me to really come up with the words I want to use, the energy to type it. Might be because I threw 25,000 words together in under 24 hours yesterday, but it was my own fault that I let it get to the point where I had to do that in the first place....

Regardless, I cleared NaNoWriMo for the first time ever. Official final word count for The Summoning: Part One was 50,363 words, and I'm still a little surprised that I got it done. On the other hand, I've always been a reasonably effective procrastinator...put a deadline off long enough, and the pressure inspires me. I think I would have been prouder of myself if I'd actually done it daily like I was supposed to, or at least regularly instead of pounding out 30,000 words in 2 days. Oh well, now begins the process that is National Novel Editing Month, hehe...I'm actually scared to read it. All the plot holes and character inconsistencies are going to drive me nuts.

Things here in California are starting to wind down, and though I'm still having a great time, I'm also trying to figure out how I'm going to make the transition to life after the DCP. I'd like to be able to spend a couple weeks at home at least before starting work and whatnot out here if I decide to stick around, but I just don't know how the finances and whatnot are going to work out. Many decisions have to be made, and I'm trying to really make solid judgment calls and experience what I can.

Speaking of experiences, I went into Beverly Hills again today to meet with Chris Carle, the Entertainment Editorial Director for IGN.com. We ate at a place called The Spanish Kitchen, a rather classy establishment on La Cienega Boulevard. I took a video to post up, but my new Flip camera is being uncooperative and not letting me take my videos over to my laptop. Hopefully after some working I'll be able to get the thing to sync and I'll show you a little bit of Beverly Hills!

Anyway, I'm going to bring this blog to conclusion early tonight. I've got a tour of the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank tomorrow, and I've gotta be up bright and early to get there! Have a good night, everyone!

-Josh

Darker Hollywood Realities

As of last night I've attended two television show tapings: one on September 10th for The Price is Right, and another last night for a show called "Hit Music Central USA" which is supposed to air on Bravo. Let me tell you two things I've learned about television:

1. An hour of TV takes a hell of a lot longer than an hour to shoot.
2. The studio is always smaller than it looks on TV.

It turns out that the combination of those two points will compose the base of my less-than-inspirational Wednesday update. For those of you who were looking for an update on Sunday, my apologies for not producing it. I just plain didn't, and that was a mistake.

In any case, November has progressed on and I've done a whole lot in that time, a whole lot that's had nothing to do with writing my novel. For some reason the whole NaNoWriMo thing has really come off as really important to me, and is something that I think about all the time, but even so I haven't spent a lot of time actually doing anything about it. My word count at the time of composing this blog post: 14,471. Paltry.

See, I'm finding that it taking me a lot more than the 30 days I set aside to actually write this novel to actually write this novel. I still don't know anything about the characters, where the plot is going, why any of the conflict is taking place...I'm just as lost as the characters at the beginning of the story are supposed to be. And since I don't know where they're even supposed to end up, I can't even push the plot in a general direction and hope for the best. Right now my story is a child, a small child who wasn't fed enough as a baby and wasn't taught to read or socialize and is now being sent off to middle school to get made fun of in gym class it suffers an asthma attack from running laps after failing its test on Into Thin Air. (By the way, none of that happened to me...except like the part about failing the test on that book. That probably happened at some point in time; I don't think I read that book.)

Even amidst that, point two arises from the mist: just like the studio is a little less glamorous than what I'd thought, the reality of trying to be a writer is a much harsher one than what I'd expected. The only times that I've really been successful at writing are the times that I've distanced myself from everyone so that I can really focus. Living in an apartment with 4 other people with different drives and motivations as far as ways they want to spend their time makes it really hard to find any seclusion or peace, particularly when you don't have your own room. I don't really feel all that comfortable neglecting my friends, so I end up spending time doing all sorts of other things. Then I end up with 6 days to write 35,000 words in. That's great.

All over the place people have told me, "You know, it's not a big deal! You can just finish it in December, just take a few extra days," or, "Make sure that you don't stress yourself out, you need to make sure you get enough rest," things of that nature. But I've been stressed about it ever since I started because I haven't been working on it, and finishing the novel in December isn't going to prove anything. It'll mean something because I've never actually finished a project before, but it still shows that I don't have the fortitude to stick to the decisions I've made.

I've estimated that I'll need to write for approximately 4 hours a day to get my word count. And by "write for 4 hours a day" I mean that I'll need to be physically composing words for 4 hours a day, not "be at my computer checking Facebook and playing Bejeweled Blitz and chatting and writing for 4 hours a day." Considering how little I know about what I want to do with the plot, this really all feels like a pipe dream now. And unfortunately those sentiments are spilling over into my ideas about the rest of life.

I filled out the application to remain working here in Anaheim after the program concludes, meaning that I need to find my own apartment and more employment while I'm out here. Why would I need to look for "more employment," you might ask. Well, hours at Disneyland are assigned based on seniority; though I've gotten lots of hours during my time in the program, it's been because I've been given an artificial 3 years of seniority as part of the program. The second my program ends my start date resets to January 2nd; I don't even get to keep the seniority I gained working here for 5 months. Some departments get to keep theirs (PhotoPass, Foods, and maybe others), but Attractions does not, which leaves me up a very swift-moving creek with no paddle. or maybe a small paddle, since I have a job in the first place, but when it comes to paying rent in Orange County, the paddle is about the size of one of those little tabs that you pull on to open a can of soda (or pop, depending on where you live...)

Amidst all this, the big question has been: "When are you coming home?" Honestly, I don't know. It's not cheap to come home, and even if I did, I still would need to find a way to be employed long enough to tide over the time I spent home and still be able to fly back. I don't have that much cash stored up...poor planning on my part, but still a reality. So, at the end of it all, I'm just spreading myself way too thin with way too many things left to do. Like decide on a career.

Everything's pointing to one big overall question: How am I going to try to use my degree? Right now, I see myself trying to focus in one of two directions: either writing books, or doing game journalism. And honestly, the game journalism is really appealing. I love it, it has the potential to actually pay bills, and the events are ridiculous amounts of fun. I really enjoy studying the subject matter, and if the work atmosphere is anything like what I imagine it to be, I think I'd really enjoy going into work if I could get a paid job working for a game site or magazine. But I still wonder whether or not I'd be able to focus on my writing career if I were devoting my energy in those other directions. Considering how much time I've spent investing myself in other things since I came out to California, I wouldn't be surprised if 10 or 15 years down the line I still haven't finished any manuscripts.

But I think I've got one way to restore my faith in myself and any sort of ability to achieve any of these crazy dreams: finish my NaNo novel. I hate where it's going, I don't want to write it anymore, and though I'm slowly coming to grips with the emerging reality that this novel isn't going to get written by Nov. 30, there's a small piece of hope that thinks that I might be able to somehow spark the energy required to get a project of this magnitude done. And I keep trying to "recommit" myself to the plan of getting it done, but now there really isn't another choice but to either stick to it now, or give up completely.

The last two years I've tried to do the challenge I've voluntarily bowed out of the trial, citing that I had a good time trying, or that I learned something and that's enough for me. But this time it's not enough. I don't think it says anything positive about my character to continuously bail out of situations where I could fail. I never allow myself the chance to fail or the chance to lose because I just voluntarily step away, opt to "quit" instead of being fired.


Not this time.


I won't be posting on Sunday because I'll be devoting any spare time towards either completing my novel or failing to do so, and I'm not going to let this blog be an excuse for why I'm not focusing my efforts the way I know I should be. Wednesday will prove whether or not I've got the fortitude to actually finish what I start, even if finishing means failing.

-Josh

I'm on a Bus!

So, I'd sent this post while I was riding the bus into Beverly Hills yesterday, but I just got the notification that it bounced today...I sent it to the wrong email address. Hopefully it'll work this time! Here's what was going on Wednesday evening....


"I'm on a bus, I'm on a bus; everybody look at me, 'cause I'm riding on a bus! I'm on a bus, I'm on a bus; take a good, hard look at the..." Yeah, you get the picture.

Welcome to my first mobile blog! I'm sending this via email from my beaten, bruised, but still battling Palm Pre while on the freeway riding to LA. Powers of technology, right? I have to say, I love forms of transportation that don't require my direct attention.

Anyway, apologies everyone for not posting on Sunday. My schedule has had me all over the place, and I've gotten virtually nothing done for the past week. My NaNoWriMo word count is still sitting at a firm 12K, far short of the 28-30K I'm estimating I should have right now. I've written absolutely nothing during today and yesterday, my two days off for the week where I had the most opportunity to catch up because I've had so many other things I've had to catch up with... I'm not doing so well with my time management right now, as you can see.

Regardless, I'm taking things as they come and trying to take on as many new opportunities as I can while I'm still out here in LA. Part of why I'm giving my thumbs carpal-tunnel and blogging this on my tiny phone keyboard is because I'm headed into Beverly Hills for a Video Game Development Panel. A media group called Digital LA is hosting an event at the Beverly Hills Porsche dealership where plenty of various game developers will be to talk about what it's like to manage game franchises. I'm pretty excited, but I wasn't able to find a ride into Beverly Hills for the event, so I'm taking my first major foray into mass public transit.

The experience has been all over the place so far; I've ridden buses that are like coaches, and ones that are so packed it would make claustrophobics want to cry. But I'm willing to press on in the name of gaming! I'm going to give my thumbs a rest, but I'll send an after-action report on the way home, ya'll!

-Josh

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

November 19th: D-Day Approaches

Well, we've all received our exit paperwork here at the Disney College Program, and we have to make our decisions about what we're going to do with our futures in 9 days. There's just no getting around it, but there are just so many choices to make that I'm not sure which route to go.

On one hand, part of me really wants to stay working for Disney. They're a really great company with a lot of great resources, and their influence stretches into basically every realm of the entertainment industry. Staying with them and doing solid work could really give me some opportunities to branch out into all sorts of varying fields.

Then again, there are lots of other opportunities out here, and a lot of gaming opportunities are running around. I'm thinking about applying to Nintendo and Square Enix right now for some varying things, but I'm concerned that I won't be able to keep doing game journalism if I work for a gaming company. I really love doing game journalism, but I'd really love to do something like work as an editor for Nintendo...who knows?

Sorry, short post, but I wrote over 2,000 words for NaNo tonight, and I'm going out to celebrate my friend Ellen's birthday! See you all soon!

-Josh

Christmas is Starting Now

Alright, so the song of the day, exactly as it was performed today by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, lip-sync and all:



So, you might be wondering why I would say that this was performed today, on November 7th, almost 2 months before Christmas. Well, that's because Disneyland recorded its Disneyland Christmas Parade today. I know all this well because I was pulled away from Nemo to work as guest control for the parade! I got to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy perform in the morning, and then I worked doing crowd control for the parade. I could have seen Selina Gomez and Nick Cannon perform too, but I was on break when they were doing their acts... not a really huge deal to me, but still.

And I can already hear the people talking now... "Josh, why are you rambling about what you did today? I'm a prospective Disney College Program Cast Member looking for real information about whether or not I should join the program, and you said on Wednesday that you were going to talk about the pros and cons of working for Disney! What happened?" Well, the two situations kinda tie into each other...eh, I'll just go ahead and get started. So, here are some Pros and Cons list of working for Disney (and hopefully this won't get me fired). Let me make a couple of clarifications about my list before I get started:

• This is a College Program-based list.
  It's possible that a lot of the judgments I've made about the program are based on what it's like to be a College Program member. For instance, Disney assigns its shifts based on seniority, but College Program members are given an artificial 3 years of seniority to guarantee that we're able to pay our rent for our housing. If you're considering signing on to Disney as a standard Cast Member, you should probably keep in mind that you won't be getting many hours when first start. Expect anywhere from 10-14 hours a week those first few months...AKA expect getting a second job so that you can afford living in the area.
• I've only been working here for just under 4 months.
  A lot about a person's perspective can change with time. Just sayin'.
• I've been working Attractions.
Your experience in the park can really vary based on your role in the park. The things available to me are completely different than the things available to someone working Foods or Photopass. Because of that, there might be some differences in my experience and those of other people working in the park.

Alright, here we go: the quick rundown of the pros and cons:

PROS:
• It provides you with tons of opportunities you can't get anywhere else.
  I walked into work today and had the opportunity to watch Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Selina Gomez, and Nick Cannon perform. Celebrities come through the park all the time. Disneyland has a huge reputation, and you can really meet some interesting people that you wouldn't get the chance to meet working at your local grocery store. Even aside from big name celebrities, there are all sorts of other cool people that bring their families to the park. Last week I met someone who does camera work for It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia and I almost got a little starstruck.
• They take a lot of money from you for College Program, but there are some solid guarantees.
  They charge us a lot per week for rent, right around 140 dollars a week, but in exchange we have our rent, utilities, and cable fully accounted for every week. THat's a pretty big deal, considering how expensive housing and whatnot can be out here in Orange County. Let's also keep in mind that not having to have arguments with roommates about not paying their parts of the bill can be a pretty significant bonus.
• You meet some pretty awesome people.
  Disney can afford to be really selective about its hiring because so many people want to work for the company. As a result, you end up meeting a lot of people who are pretty enthusiastic about their jobs and the company they work for. That's always a plus.

CONS:
• Disney owns your life.
  I worked at 7 AM this morning, and that was after working until 7:15 PM the night before. You never know how your schedule is going to be from day to day, and to put in any scheduling requests for visitors or anything like that, you have to know what you want to do at least 3 weeks in advance. Disney has a good absence program, but you don't want to have to use those absences if it's not completely necessary...besides, every time you call in you lose money, and...
• When you start off working for Disney, you're BROKE.
The job doesn't pay that much, subjectively speaking. I'm making more than minimum wage out here right now, but I still have weeks were I'm fighting to make ends meet. And that's with the inflated College Program seniority. I have no idea how I could live on 10-15 hours a week out here without getting a second job...that might be an option for you, though.
• You're never REALLY off-stage.
  Sure, your shift might end, but there are so many people in Anaheim associated with Disney that you never really know whether or not you need to have your "professional pants on," as my roommate Ron would say. If you value your privacy and space, this might not work so well for you.

Those are just some of the brief bullet points about working here, but they're the significant ones. If I had to make one over-arching recommendation: Go for it. Sure, you're taking a risk, and things can get to be difficult out here (especially with drama and finances), but I've definitely found it to be worth it anyway. I really enjoy the people I work with and the roommates I have, and I know I'd never have been able to spend this much time in California (particularly in Disneyland) without working for the company. I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep working for Disney in a different department than Attractions, maybe at Disney Interactive Media Group working on video games...but only time will tell! In the meantime, I'm going to bed!

-Josh

NaNo-Sized Decisions

Well, it's Wednesday, which means it's time for another blog. I have to honestly say that writing is taking over my life as of late...I'm reading a couple of different books at the same time; Vladimir Nobokov's Lolita (which was given to me by a friend of mine) and Daiva Markelis' memoir White Field, Black Sheep (which was written by a friend of mine!). I haven't really sat down to read good books since I got here in California, and I have to say that doing it is really restoring my energy. But I've been so tired from pulling late nights the past few weeks that I end up falling asleep on the books! Pretty miserable...

Anyway, a double-dose of pressure's been served up right here in early November. For one, National Novel Writing Month has officially begun! I'm pretty excited about the plot that I've decided to write...I found an old story idea in one of my journals that I think could turn out a little interesting if I do it correctly. Then again, that's likely the case with life...it's all interesting if you do it right, heh.

At the same time, I received an email from Disney this weekend with a form that we're supposed to fill out that designates our intentions with the company after the College Program ends. The form is due to be turned in by November 19th, which means that I don't even get to try to figure things out up to the end of the program before I have to decide what I'm going to do with the next few months of my life. It might not be such a big deal if I didn't have to decide whether or not I'm going to virtually strand myself in the West Coast with student loans to pay, really high rent, and potentially a car payment or something of the like...I guess there was at least one plus to living in Charleston, IL for college: pretty much everything was in biking distance.

Still, that form made reality set in like I wasn't expecting. For better or worse, this program's been pretty much my life for the past couple months. I've spent most all of my time with people I met at Disney, I work at Disney, I have class at Disney...and now it may all change. I can try to apply for a full-time or part-time position in the park, or I can try to get a professional/salaried position...that doesn't happen all too often, but it would be the one circumstance where I would definitely feel compelled to stick around. I want to start a career, and I want to advance, but I DEFINITELY want to pay my student loans, and that requires having a decent paying job that leaves me with some money after rent. I don't know if I'll find that out here without taking a second job, and I don't know how I'd have any energy to write after working all that much just to make ends meet...

That's really what this November is about though. I really want to prove to myself that I can get my things in order, that I can really write and make it something I take seriously. I'm trying to track down programs and tips to make the writing experience a little more fluid. In the meantime, I definitely need to get some sleep...I've been taking a lot of time to talk about personal stuff in the past few blogs, so the next one's going to be about what it's like working for Disney, and the pros and cons of taking on the College Program out in Anaheim. See you then!

Watch for Wednesday

Sorry, folks; this Sunday's blog has been delayed due to extenuating circumstances. In the meantime, read this delightful webcomic courtesy of XKCD:

Code D

Today was actually a pretty solid day, everyone. I don't think I ever just generally summarize what a day in the life is like, but since I generally enjoyed work and whatnot, I don't have an issue with it! ::grins::

Anyway, today was a pretty average day. I woke up and went to class, the once-a-week Marketing You class I think I've talked about before. My roommate Ron and I biked to class this morning, but I was a little out of shape, so it was a rough ride for me, lol. Regardless, class was pretty interesting. We learned about resume composition and a lot of dos and don'ts. For instance, our teacher said that we should completely cut out the "objective" portion of the resume, because they already know that you're applying to work for their company. Makes sense when you think about it...

We've gotten to the point where we're starting to figure out what we want to do our final presentations on, but I've got no real idea what I want to do it on. We have to do a presentation on a career that we want to go into, but I'm finding it pretty hard to apply a lot of this stuff to writing. After all, how do you apply to be a novelist?

After that, I biked back to the apartment with Ron and we cleaned up for our bi-weekly inspection. The housing staff comes through and checks to make sure that we haven't decimated the place. Apparently our inspection went so well that they want to come in and take pictures of it for the website. Yeah, we pretty much rocked it. But I had to clean really quickly and then take off for work.

Work was pretty average today, but for some reason I was a lot cooler with it than usual. It was a short shift, only 5 hours, which I think helped a lot. And right near the end of the night there was a group that cheered for all the people coming off of the subs. I mean they cheered for EVERYTHING. When the sub pulled up, they cheered. I mean, outright, full-on screamed. When I came up to get out of the sub, I felt like a rockstar...it was totally awesome.

I closed the night by meeting up with some other Nemo Cast Members at Denny's. We call it a "Code D," and it was honestly just a great time. I'd hung out with other cast members before, particularly those in the college program since I live with most of them, but I never just did a co-worker get-together like that. And it was a blast. I really liked being able to talk about work and whatnot and just chill with those people. I hope we do it again soon.

Yeah, so that was my day! Exciting, huh? ::laughs:: I know this was a pretty lame/short post, but I'm planning on doing some Extra Credit tomorrow since I have the day off. We'll see what happens! If not, then I'll see you on Sunday!

-Josh

A Beginner's Guide to BlizzCon 2010

Before I get started, I have a confession to make: I don't play ANY Blizzard games. Not once have I built an SCV in Starcraft II, and the last time I built one in the original Starcraft I was probably still concerned about what kind of Megazord was going to be in the next season of Power Rangers. Diablo II has never entered my computer, and I've never been willing to make a foray into the World of Warcraft because I've traditionally believed in only paying for my games once. But after a trip to Blizzcon, I have to say that my perspective's changed a bit.


Anaheim Convention Center, host of BlizzCon 2010.

Blizzard Entertainment is the company responsible for World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, and the upcoming Diablo III, and is one of the largest names, if not the largest name, in PC gaming. They host their own convention, BlizzCon, in Anaheim each year, and thousands of people show up from all over the world. You've gotta understand that this company is a HUGE deal. Starcraft is a national sport of S. Korea. Tickets to this event sold out in under 3 seconds. That's right: UNDER. THREE. SECONDS.


Seriously, Blizzard is composed of a bunch of WINNERS.

So how did I get in, you might ask? The legendary PRESS PASS, hehe. Since I work for a gaming website, 411Mania.com, I was able to get press access to the convention. It was pretty...well, legendary.


About as legendary as this statue. I dunno exactly what's going on here, but it's still pretty awesome.

But what was more legendary, honestly, was the kindness I experienced from the people at the convention. I stopped to watch the Starcraft II World Championships, an event which was definitely standing room only on the Main Tournament Stage. And since I don't really play Starcraft, I had no real idea what was going on. It's an RTS, or a Real-Time Strategy game: that basically means that the player is a general commanding an entire army in real time. The more time you spend to think, the more time your enemy has to blow you to pieces. The people playing the game were taking on average 250-300 actions per minute. That's ungodly fast. It's like watching a high-speed chess match.


Just watch a few minutes and you'll get my drift.

So while I was there, I started talking to this guy, Steve, who was standing next to me. I asked some of the most ridiculous questions, ones that were OBVIOUSLY the most basic-level ridiculous questions ever. I felt like the girl on TV who asks her boyfriend how much a touchdown is worth during the Super Bowl. But he answered my questions and explained everything pretty well without any condescension. By the second game of the match I was just as into the battle as everyone else.

Honestly, that's the vibe I got from the entire convention. People went around wearing whatever they wanted to, even some of the craziest costumes you'd ever see, but there was still this overwhelming feeling of equality. I mean, even people who were going around in wheelchairs and everything just flowed through the convention, and everyone was really happy to be around other people who spoke the same jargon as they did. It was a really strong, stereotype-breaking experience.


Though she looks like she's going to insta-kill you, she's probably pretty nice. Maybe even buy-you-a-cookie nice.

Frankly, I'd go again in a heartbeat. I had a great time, and I'm glad I was in California to witness it. Gotta say, being out here is giving me a lot of opportunities...it's so hard to figure this all out, lol. I love being able to go to things like this, but I don't know if they have many conventions back home... I'd love to just travel to them all and cover them for news articles and stuff. In the meantime, I'm just living it up however I can! Right now it's all about optimism! :)

All the Leaves are Brown...I mean, Green...

Alright, I didn't update last night, and that's pretty shady of me. ::sigh:: I've gotta stop being so lame. :)

Well, it's now mid-October, and the park's been all decked-out for Halloween. It's really cool to see all the different ways the park has gotten styled for the holiday, and I'm sure they're going to put up some pretty awesome things for the Winter season, too. Then again, this section of the country doesn't really HAVE Winter, they just have the rainy season. And I'm starting to witness it first-hand.

For those of you who've never left Southern California, you may be a little surprised to know that in the Midwest we have this little season called "Fall", a time where the temperature drops rather suddenly, and the leaves on the trees change color. It's the precursor to Winter, a season where temperatures drop even further, and a frozen precipitate called "snow" falls from the sky, often times in large quantities. It's pretty fascinating! ::grins::

Meanwhile, those of you who haven't been to SoCal or the surrounding area, the rainy season is a time where the skies are overcast all the time, and the weather generally shifts from sprinkling to pouring to maybe-I'll-rain, maybe-I-won't. It's not really that entertaining.

Really though, Californians, props to your warm weather. I imagine it'd be nice to trick-or-treat in a Halloween costume and not have to wear a giant puffy coat on top of the costume. And maybe California offers more full-sized candy bars? I can't prove that, but I'd imagine that's so. Disneyland runs a Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party that's pretty good for the kids, and they give away a ton of candy. I want candy... ::sniffles::

I'm still getting used to the differences between here and home, and I can't say it's really helped me make a decision as to whether or not I want to stay out here. I want to at least go home for a week or so after I'm done with the program, but long-term plans are pretty unclear right now. The current to-do list consists of:

• Conduct interviews for my Marketing You class.
We have to take at least one weekly class offered by the Disneyland Resort as part of the College Program, even if we don't need the credits. My class is called "Marketing You," and it's a basic networking/professional development class. Our assignment for next week is one that we've had for a while: conduct two interviews with professionals and find out more about their careers.

I'm hoping to interview with a manager from Disney Interactive Media Group in California, but it'll be a 3-hour commute via bus to get up there...I don't have a car here, but I'm willing to put forth the effort anyway. I'm kinda excited to find out more about how non-car commuting works here, and I'm REALLY excited to see the company where Disney's Aladdin for the SNES and Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue! were created. (I played those games a ton in my youth...)


• Write up a speech for graduation.
Our program graduation takes place in mid-December, but instead of having an elected/default Valedictorian, a panel of people chooses two members of the program to give their stories. We have to write up our speeches and have them submitted by November 1st, which means I really have to get in gear. I'm still not sure what style of approach I want to use, but I really want to make sure that I say something worthwhile, something that people will remember. Have to stay away from the formulaic, hehe.


• Start looking at grad schools.
I've started considering going to grad school for multiple reasons. I figure that maybe it'll be easier to get my foot in the writing door/get my head in the writing mode if I'm back in class and learning new techniques. I'm not considering any college as out of my league.


• Write people back home.
Lately I've been getting some pretty strong bouts of home-sickeness. So I think it's about time to start sending some emails and catch up with the people I miss.


• Come up with my plot for NaNoWriMo
Yep, it's another November, and I'm making my third try for National Novel Writing Month. 50,000 words in 30 days. Generally I at least have an idea of what I want to write about by this point, but right now I've got NO IDEA what I want to write about. I've gotta come up with something, because I'm pretty committed to getting the "third time's a charm" thing going. We'll see how it works out...


• Go to bed.
I'm gonna do that one now. Hooray!

-Josh

Consider Yourself Rezzed

Well, ladies and gentlemen, something finally worked out in my favor this weekend. Sure, it cost me a couple hours worth of work to do it, but it was worth it in the end... I went to ElecTRONica! With a camera! And took pictures! So, in honor of the experience, the Song of the Day is, one more time (ba-dum ching!), Daft Punk:



Well, I was originally scheduled to work until pretty late on Friday, but I definitely kept feeling the drive to at least stop by and see what was going on in California Adventure sometime this past weekend. I ended up calling the Scheduling Office to find out whether or not I could switch my shift to something earlier in the day.

Disneyland's got a pretty solid scheduling department; if you have a day off and want to pick up a shift, or something happens and you want to try to rearrange a date, you can call your department's scheduling office and they'll try to help you out. If you have to call in sick or take a personal day you're not responsible for finding a cover since they take care of all of that. It's a pretty convenient system, one I wish more businesses would employ... Anyway, so all I had to do was call the day before and ask if they had an earlier shift that I could take instead of my late one. BOOM, I got to leave at 7:30. Before I knew it I was able to take this picture...


Welcome to ElecTRONica...

That's right, folks. It's the entrance to ElecTRONica, and they put on a pretty fantastic show inside. For one, there's tons of black-lighting and they use really strong blue lights to give everything a glow of its own...


We've all been rezzed!

Now, during the day the ElecTRONica area functions as the Hollywood Backlot, the area where the Disney Animation Studio attraction and Muppets 3D Theatre are, along with some other stuff. So in order to fully "take over" the area, they cast giant projections over the walls of the buildings. They're fully animated, and you can see things like lightcycles driving past you, complete with surround sound.


We don't like zombies on our lawn, but we LOVE lightcycles on our walls.


Everything in there's so gorgeous. SO GORGEOUS.

What still really gets me is how much the place looks like the concept art that they put together. I think it's amazing how one person's drawing of a place can become a full, life-sized reality in just a few years. I mean, look at the concept here:



And then look at this:



I mean, seriously. That's one giant freakin' Recognizer. And no, it doesn't move or suck people up or anything, but there's still something completely fantastic about seeing a small piece of your reality tweaked into the sci-fi dimension. After all, how often do you get to walk around and see people in glowing bodysuits dancing to techno music?


This is a picture of the guy in the costume in the middle, not the pool of sweat on the back of the guy on the left.


Blurriness is just a photo's way of describing excitement.


Even so, I could have used less blurriness here...

Even the concessions stands are all TRON'ed out. Though I couldn't get a good picture of one, they serve "Glowtinis" that have little plastic cubes in them which light up blue, making the whole drink glow...it's pretty awesome. The seating is all futuristic and lit too to keep with the design. After all, it wouldn't really make a whole lot of sense to have glowing drinks and costumes with normal chairs, would it?


So. Much. Light.


So. Much. More. Light.

One of the coolest parts of the area is Flynn's, the retro arcade I talked about a couple posts ago. There are tons of games there, and they all cost a quarter a piece to play.


None of that "Insert $1.00" crap in this arcade!


They created a "Space Paranoids" cabinet for San Diego Comic Con in 2008. 8 were created, and apparently one of them made its way to Disney...


...as did an authentic TRON cabinet! There are tons of other games there too...


...but I spent my time playing Asteroids.


:)

So, now one person's idea for a movie back in the 80s transformed into this huge entity that I can walk through and hang out with my friends in. I mean, I guess that's basically what the whole of Disneyland was at one point in time, an idea in one person's head that slowly developed into a massive powerhouse of creativity. Now thousands of people show up every day to get immersed in what used to be one man's dream. Not only that, but Disneyland is the product of the ideas, dedication, and hard work of hundreds of thousands of people over the years. So many lives have been changed for the better just as the result of this idea...

A part of me is enamored with the idea that one day some idea that I create could entertain millions of people, become a part of their reality, and in more ways than one. I mean, think about it: back when Star Trek first came out, the idea of flipping open a device and talking with someone wirelessly was nothing but a dream. Now tons of us do it on a daily basis with our cell phones and don't even give it a second thought. How many inside jokes do you have with your friends that involve a book series or a movie? How many little kids play Power Rangers out on the playground with their friends? All of these things originate from a singular idea that came from one person's head, one person with the courage and the determination to bring their dreams into reality.

Pretty amazing when you think about it.

An Introduction to The Big Time

It's Wednesday, which means it's time for another post. That's a good thing, right? I think so...I love opportunities to talk and have people listen. Or write and have people read, in this case. I think I'll start off by linking you up to today's Song of the Day...it's by Daft Punk, of course. I'm telling you, this ElecTRONica thing is really going to my head...you should listen to it while you read! Great idea!



Well, I'm now quite a few weeks into the program (8 weeks, I think), and the question all across the board has been "What are you going to do next?" Well, the whole "I'm going to Disneyland" line is pretty played out now, and life is forcing me to put on the big-boy pants and make some pretty tough decisions. When the program started it seemed like January 2nd was an eternity away, but the seasons are already starting to change, and winter is bringing a ton of opportunities and challenges with it. After all, once the program ends I don't have good 'ol Eastern Illinois University to run back to...I've already got my degree. And a TON of student loans. Welcome to the big time, right?


I want YOU to pay back your student loans...or else...

So, I've started making a list of stipulations that my next professional decision has to fulfill. I don't want to end up having a career in something that I hate, and I want to make sure that I make enough money to enjoy life (which can be pretty difficult when you have a BA in English), so I want to steer my life in a direction that does both of those things. These stipulations include:

• Must push towards a productive career in writing
• Must provide ample time to do writing for pleasure
• Must provide enough money to start paying back debts
• Must move UP the ladder, not sideways

I understand that the last stipulation is going to be a hard one to fulfill, as the job market right now is TERRIBLE and it could take a whole lot to start climbing any sort of professional ladder. But the way I see it, I've got a degree, a pretty stocked resume, tons of charisma and charm, and a pretty great writing style to boot. I think that if I market myself correctly and make some of the right connections here at Disney or wherever else, I should be alright. And let's not forget that I'm a recent graduate, so I work CHEAP!


Notice that they're all 1-dollar bills. I don't mind working for those, so long as they come in large enough quantities... (Note: I wonder if this is really how rappers make it rain...)

So, considering all of that, I've nailed down the list of possibilities to these:

• Find a job (perhaps out here on the West Coast, but honestly wherever) doing editing, script-writing, or game journalism
• Go to grad school and get a stipend that lets me live and pay back student loans
• Go home and get a real job that makes enough money to pay bills, and focus on writing books

I think that I ended up listing those ideas in order of preference, though I have to admit that each of those options has some really great pros that the others don't have. Option one, working right now in some sort of writing-related industry, would finally give me the introductory experience that employers are looking for in more advanced jobs. Not to mention I've been DYING to get a chance to really stretch my creative wings on a project that actually gets some sight time in the public eye. Option two sends me on the track to an MFA in Creative Writing and (hopefully) gives me increased marketability.

Option three somewhat caters to the dreamer in me, the part that believes that if I just really buckled down and wrote a book series, it'd be a best-seller and I'd be loved and adored by millions of readers worldwide...if only I had the time and the inspiration. But I also acknowledge the fact that the option in question really caters to the realist in me, the part that feels like I'll never really hit it big, never become the famous writer I want to, never break into the literary market as anything other than a possible footnote. And therein lies a lot of the problems I'm confronting as I speed on through the program...


Figures I'd get the piss cup.

I think part of what makes this whole "growing up" thing so difficult is learning how to confront "reality" and overcome it, if that makes sense. There's a part of me that keeps saying, "Josh, you'll never make it. You're too scatterbrained, you don't follow through on ideas, and you NEVER focus on your writing. People out there with more talent are certainly doing better than you, and there are even people out there with less talent who at least have more drive than you, and they deserve what they're getting. You should get ready to bag groceries." By the way, I've bagged groceries, and though I did it at a pretty great company (shout-out to GFS Marketplace!), I really want to expand. (By the way, if you look REALLY hard you can see my ego showing through my self-denigration! YAY! :) )

But honestly, I've decided that I'm pretty sick of listening to that realist in me. I think I'd rather fail really hard in writing than succeed in mediocrity, so I'm slowly taking steps to establish a more credible, stable me. These steps include:

• Making schedules and sticking to them
• Spending time with productive people to inspire productivity in myself
• Carrying a small notebook to record writing ideas (Great birthday gift, Kelsey!)
• Keeping in contact with friends and family to stabilize myself
• Writing more often in whatever way I can
• Making lists to showcase my list-making abilities

I've started trying to write more for the news site that I work for, 411mania Games. Even if it's just putting together a news article or two once or twice a week, that still keeps me in the mode of writing and processing gaming news. And recording the writing ideas at least gives me a solid resource to go back to...and it reminds me that I AM creative, that I have a lot that I can put on the table. I consider it my playbook, hehe.

I feel like I spend a lot of time trying to get the answers from other people, but now I think I just need to check my own playbook, both physically and metaphorically speaking, to get the answers I'm looking for. Maybe we all just need our own playbooks to find the answers we're looking for? Food for thought! G'night all, and see you on Sunday!


You know what food is delicious? Chinese food. I'm getting some tomorrow.

An Apology and Disneyland Events

It's Tuesday, and maybe you're wondering why I'm posting? Well, it seems that I've finally been called out for missing a post. I took a bit of crap from one of my followers for not posting on Sunday, and I've gotta admit, it felt kinda good! I'm glad that I've got a bit of accountability out there, and I'm addressing that concern by posting tonight. And I'm sending out an apology to any one who was looking forward to reading on Sunday night/Monday. So, here we go...

California's been pretty hectic lately, to be honest. Even just talking about the things that are going on in the park takes a lot of time, partly I guess because I haven't been updating as regularly as I should... :\ (that's actually the first time I've EVER used that emoticon). Still, we'll start by flashing back to a couple weekends ago.

So, let's imagine that you decided to come to Disneyland one day, and you happened to be wearing your favorite red shirt. It can be pretty much any shirt you want, other than a St. Louis Cardinals shirt. I'm not really a Cardinals fan. In fact, though I'm primarily a Cubs fan, you could call me an anti-Cardinals fan. I can't even root for the Arizona Cardinals, and that's a completely different sport (football vs. baseball, so you know).


The official position of this blog.

Anyway, so you're walking around with your red shirt on, having a good time, and then you notice that there are TONS of other people walking around with red shirts on. Hooray, you start to think, it must be "Red Shirts Get In Free Day!". Well, you'd be wrong about that assumption. What's going on at the park, you ask? I'll give you a hint:


Uh, I don't think this hint really needs a caption...

For those of you who guessed "Unofficial Disneyland Gay Days," you were spot on the money. And for those of you who suddenly felt a rush of, "Uh, I kinda wish that someone had told me that before I wore my favorite red shirt to the part today," I can guarantee you that there were plenty of people in the park in that same position. But I think that's maybe part of what the event was going for...I mean, after all, wearing a red shirt doesn't mean that you're gay, right? And even if it did, why would it matter? You'd still just be a person in a theme park looking to enjoy the weather and attractions just like everyone else, right?


Ummkay, so some people take the theme park experience a little seriously...

I'm a pretty staunchly liberal ally, so it's nice to see some corporate tolerance going on, particularly out here in California. I think us humble folk from Illinois grossly over-estimate San Francisco's influence on state politics...truthfully, in my experience I've found life is pretty conservative out here. I certainly heard about people issuing complaints about Gay Days taking place at the park and how they felt it was offensive, and I suppose I wasn't surprised. But I'm the type that equivocates the Gay Rights Movement with the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s...I'm sure there were people complaining about all the black kids at their children's schools and whatnot for quite some time.

Regardless, I was pretty surprised to see that Disney even "unofficially" recognized the event as taking place. I've been pretty amazed at how liberal and open the company seems to be in the modern age. I think I was always under the impression that the Disney Company would be hyper-conservative, but they do little things like stock up on tons of extra Rainbow Mickey pins, pins which end up selling out anyway...and even though the company's exterior seems pretty squeaky-conservative, there are lots of organizations and people at Disney that support gay rights and whatnot. Open-mindedness is always refreshing, heh.


The official Disney Pin description: "This colorful, Open Edition Mickey Mouse icon pin features the true colors of the rainbow." Change takes time, but even small changes are good changes.

But Gay Days has come and gone, and things are still continuing to change in Disneyland. Queue up my new favorite part of the entire Disneyland Resort, and it takes place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night in Disney California Adventure:


Even though I'm quoting my roommate Sloane out of context, it still applies: "It's so sick I could puke."

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to ElecTRONica, the newest addition to the Disney California Adventure Hollywood Backlot (that's a mouthful (that's what she said :D )). The attraction's meant to increase hype for the Disney movie TRON: Legacy, and it sure did for me... I wasn't even that excited about the movie before going to ElecTRONica, but now I'm TOTALLY PUMPED.

Now you're probably wondering where the pictures are...well, I didn't take any. ::collective groan:: I've only seen the area during a cast-exclusive preview event before the attraction officially opened up, and since I wasn't sure if they'd let me take pictures at all, I didn't bring the camera. That's why the above shot is just some concept art of what goes down in ElecTRONica...I would have taken some pictures this weekend, but I worked every day while that section of the park was open, so I couldn't go. Of course, luck would have it that I'm working those same times this weekend too, so I won't be able to go this weekend. I'm hoping I'll be able to trade a shift off or get out a bit early...


Trust me, this isn't too far from how the thing really looks. When Disneyland does something, they do it BIG.

For those of you who don't know, the world of Tron takes is an entire civilization that exists inside a computer. ElecTRONica is supposed to be a representation of an area in Tron: Legacy where the programs cool down and relax. This attraction's got everything from a huge center dance/rave area to a retro-themed arcade based on Flynn's Arcade from the original Tron movie. All the Cast Members working the area are in costumes designed to fit the aesthetic of the new movie, so it's all reflective black-and-white in computer-chip style shapes. Oh, it's SO AWESOME... I can't wait to get pictures to show you.

They play all sorts of techno and house music, including a ton of Daft Punk, the French-phenom duo that put together the soundtrack for Tron: Legacy. I've heard the whole soundtrack for the new movie is Daft Punk and Journey...sounds right up my alley. I think I'll actually buy that music... ::grins::


I love Techno. I love Daft Punk. And now I love Tron. Perfect combination.

So, if I get the chance to go this weekend, pictures and video will soon be coming. It's a fantastic combination of lasers, music, and technology that anyone who gets the chance to check out definitely should. In the meantime, I'm going to peace out so you all don't have to read anymore for the night. See you tomorrow, everyone!

It's Wednesday! And I'm Posting!

Hey, a post that's actually on time! Well, kinda...yeah, it's been a little bit of time since the last post, but I'm getting my stuff together. That's why I've even got a VIDEO this time around! Woo-hoo!

I won't take a whole lot of your time this time around, just point you straight to the video! You Facebook followers had a chance to see an advanced screening of this, but here it is in its entirety anyway! See you next post!



P.S. Thanks much to Katie for pointing out a critical error I made when displaying my address...I didn't give the whole address! This is my COMPLETE mailing address:

Josh Boykin
180 W. Center St. Promenade
Apartment 320
Anaheim, CA 92805

Hope that helps! Have a great night!

A Few Changes

So, you might notice that there’s a new layout here at The California Chronicles. How do you like it compared to the last one? I like that you can actually see the background picture, but maybe that’s just me. Give me some feedback on the layout if you can, ‘cause I’m still trying to find a look that works.

Anyway, hopefully you’ve noticed that I missed an update this week. Wednesday’s vlog post didn’t make it online…in fact, Wednesday’s vlog post didn’t even get recorded. To be honest, per usual, I just got too ambitious in my planning and simply ran out of time…though I’m definitely composing the tools to put together a pretty awesome post for this Wednesday. I really am serious about keeping this regular and keeping you all updated, so watch for it next week. From here on forward, just watch for posts here on Sundays and Wednesdays, though I may put up other stuff if I have the time or if something particularly awesome happens. If I happen to do anything else that’s worth checking out, I’ll post a link here.

So, the week at Nemo has been pretty crazy, actually. The ride actually went down for an hour on Friday, and today all sorts of nutty stuff happened. I’ll start with a quick run-down of how the ride works so I can explain Friday’s situation:

Finding Nemo’s Submarine Voyage is a series of submarines that run in sequence through “the Great Barrier Reef,” taking you on a under-sea exploration with Nemo, Marlin, Dory, and tons of the other Finding Nemo peeps (well, they’re not “peeps,” they’re fish…but you get it.) This video does a great job of explaining the background and how it all works:



Fascinating, isn’t it? Honestly, seeing the animation techniques from inside the sub is pretty intense, and the coral reef and whatnot outside in the lagoon look really great. But one of the subs froze up out in the lagoon on Friday right in the middle of everything! It’s a bit of a complicated story to explain why (a story I’m not sure if I can tell, so I’m erring on the side of caution), but the summary is that the sub’s battery died. The place that it died in was a critical point in the ride’s travel track, so we had to shut the whole thing down and evacuate people from inside the ride. Then, since the sub was stranded in the lagoon with no power, maintenance workers had to throw a rope to the submarine and then pull it in, Greek-style. That’s right; 4 men pulled a 92,000 lb sub into its dock…it was awesome to watch. I really wanted to record it to show all of you, but I was working at the time…figured my supervisors would frown on me whipping out my camera. And there were LOTS of supervisors there.

Anyway, today was the start of what looks to be a three-day heat wave. I’m used to Midwestern Septembers where the weather starts to get really chilly right near the end of the month, but apparently it doesn’t get cold out here until mid-October. We were up in the 90s today, and apparently we could reach 100 by Monday. TERRIBLE. I swear that the heat has an odd effect on guests and staff members…people were a little more short-tempered all day, but I guess that happens when you stand in line for 45 minutes to ride a submarine. Two of our subs went down unexpectedly today, so that made things a little worse than usual. But the Nemo crew made it work, and everything came out alright!

Well, I’m going to go ahead and wrap this entry up for the day. Just so you know, Wednesday is Q&A Day; I’ll use the video to go through the comments I’ve received and answer all the questions I’ve gotten. Seriously, comment it up! I love comments! In the meantime, let me wrap up with Video Blog 3 (unposted content!) This is a shot of a me and a couple of my friends standing outside of the Tiki Room, Disneyland’s animatronic parrot show. I had video of the actual show, but I had to delete it to make room for other vids I was taking…in the meantime, check out the outside of the Tiki Room! And the Dole Whip….

How Did I Get Here, Again?

If anyone ever tells that no good comes from spite, tell them they're completely wrong. Frankly, there's no way I'd be in California if it hadn't been for a pretty healthy dose of spite combined with a strong serving of intended sarcasm. Well, when all you're really versed in is sarcasm and pessimism like myself, you've gotta find something positive to do with all the lemonade you turn into lemons, heh.

I was thinking about what I was going to write today, and I realized something really important...since I didn't start this blog until a month into the program, all that critical information about how/why I got here is, well, absent. And maybe people who want to know about the College Program will stumble onto this and wonder, "Hmm, did he just apparate into Anaheim?" (Sorry for the Harry Potter reference) So, here we are: My Disney Origin Story.


Source: Natalie Dee January Archives
Google image search "lemon" sometime. MOST DELICIOUS SEARCH EVER.

I was definitely the resident cynic in my friend group back in Charleston. And my friend group back in Rockford. And I'm still the resident cynic in my group here in Anaheim. Sometimes you've just gotta do what you're good at, I suppose. So when a few of my friends in Charleston took off to Florida for the Disney College Program there, I did quite a bit of talking. My mind dwelled on thoughts of brainwashing, of Mickey Mouse ears surgically fused to the skull and episodes of Hannah Montana looping with Jonas Brothers music over the top. They left for a semester, and when they came back to school, most of them had nothing but good things to say about their programs. Still, given my relative dislike of children, happiness, and all those other things Disney is about, I held some pretty strong reservations.


Source: The Daily Green
Yeah, 'bout that...

So, one day last semester I got a Facebook invite from my friend Stephanie (I miss you, Shrink!) to a program overview that was being hosted in the University Union. Much scoffing ensued. I talked to both her and my friend Teal (no more dinners... ::sniffle:: ) about their programs, and they loved them. So, what did I decide to do? Show up to the session purely to antagonize them. I wasn't going to be an ass and ask outrageous questions or anything like that, but I just wanted to surprise them. Besides, I had a grad seminar that day that I wasn't a big fan of, so missing a bit of it didn't really hurt me too much.


Source: MTV Buzzworthy
Kinda like this guy, but more productive.

So, I show up at the info session and start chowing down on free pizza, much to the surprise of my friends. But, inevitably, the joke was on me...turns out the presentation was actually pretty awesome. Anne Thiese, recruiter for the Midwest region, put on a pretty good presentation. And I was a little bowled-over by the number of companies that Disney owns in the entertainment industry...ABC, ESPN, all sorts of things. Honestly, I ended up realizing that there were tons of opportunities that I could scrounge up after working for them. (Or so I hope...)

There are two different programs for the Disney College Program. One operates out of Walt Disney World in Florida, and they hire on around 5,000 people a season for their program because their resort is HUGE. I've never been there, but that's just what I've heard. Disneyland in California, on the other hand, only takes on around 300 people. Drastically different odds...but I applied for the California program anyway. I figured that all the opportunities for writing movies, TV shows, and the like were out in Cali (or, at least, not in Florida), so it seemed like a good call. Besides, I figured that if I got into a smaller program, it'd be easier to make connections and do networking.

Time will tell if my theories were correct...see you all on Wednesday, everyone!

HOLY UNEXPECTEDLY SUDDEN ENDING, BATMAN!


Source: Easy Recipes Online
Spiteful Lemonade, coming to a store near you. I could brand it, for sure...

A Bit of Retrospective Perspective

Well, those of you who follow my Facebook with a near-religious fervor (I know there are PLENTY of you out there) know that some time last week I attempted to install Windows 7 on my computer. You'll also know that I wiped my computer clean, remembering (like all good computer-repair amateurs) to back up all of my files onto an external hard drive. The event included a positive status:

"Point of optimism to the day: Installed Windows 7 Professional."

That positive status was almost immediately contrasted with the following status:

"I stand corrected, because apparently I can't restore the files I backed up on my external hard drive. The backup program is incompatible with Windows 7. Fantastic."

Oh, Facebook, how I reach out for you to stroke my ever-so-fragile ego when the world seems to fail me. Instead I ended up inciting a flame war between Apple users and PC users...I don't want to go back to that at all, actually, since this post has nothing to do with the actual back up that went awry. I actually ended up restoring all my files after about three days of work and emo moping (ask any of my roommates, they'll tell you that was the case), so I suppose the story's a happy one in the end. But the interesting thing is that I've been going through all my files that I restored, trying to figure out what I want to keep and what I want to scrap, and it's kinda made me think a bit.

Truth be told, there's some pretty good writing buried in the deeper corners of this hard drive, and even though I always talk about expanding on it, I truly want to this time around. I've made a lot of positive changes this month already, and I think I'm on the track to continue to make more. So my goal? A realistic one? I want to finish a book by the end of my internship. It may just be the end of my first draft, it may not be a good book at all, but I want to have it done. And I'm not sure whether or not I'll take on NaNoWriMo this year, but if I do, I certainly want to win this time. No excuses, no sicknesses, nothing but success.

You see, I want to prove to myself that I'm ready for the real world. This Disney internship is a nice buffer between the end of college and the beginning of unemployment, but I need to show myself that I'm ready to take myself seriously. I plan to show you all, too!

Here is my writing schedule. I plan to keep to this every day for the next 30 days.

Sunday: Blog on The California Chronicles
Monday: Blog on Struck Lightning
Tuesday: Gaming Blog? (Still in the works)
Wednesday: Vlog on The California Chronicles (OOH, VIDEO!)
Thursday: Write for Project Storm (OOH, MISS-TEER-EE-US...)
Friday: Post for The Hero's Accomplice
Saturday: Blog on The California Chronicles

The catch to all this? Public accountability. Notice the "Post" for The Hero's Accomplice? That's the name of the book that I attempted to write for NaNoWriMo last year, and I plan to post chapters/segments as I get through with them. Also notice that this plan includes a revival of my old opinion blog, Struck Lightning! I really love that blog, and I really love forcing my opinion on others. So why not?

My real goal is to end this program with a portfolio of work that I can show off, both to potential employers and myself. I know I'm capable of more than I'm giving myself credit for, but I've gotta start acting like it if I expect anything to come of it.

So, everyone, I need your support! Make your friends read this blog! And the other stuff! Leave comments! Make me feel loved! I love feeling loved! WHEE!

In the meantime, I leave you tonight with the second vlog I made about life here in California! Caution, 'cause it rambles a bit...have a great night!

Welcome to I-NEMO

Alright, so it looks like this is finally getting started...sure, it's over a month into my California experience, but at least now I've got a handle on life and what's going on out here...maybe I'll be able to push out some more solid information now that I've got a grip.

Anyway, for those of you who don't know (I'm not sure who that would be), my name's Josh Boykin, and I was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois. I graduated from Eastern Illinois University in May 2010. Someone asked me what I wanted to do since I'd graduated, and I responded, "I'm going to Disneyland!" And that's what I did.

A bit of clarification: I was accepted to the Disney College Program in March of 2010. That's where I am right now, buried about a month deep into the grind. As you can tell by the background, I've got a bit of an attachment to the "lucky-finned" Nemo...it's a love-hate relationship. I work as an Attractions Host for the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. That means I drive subs for I-NEMO: The Institute for Nautical Exploration and Marine Observation. So far it's a pretty interesting experience...then again, everything in California's an interesting experience when you grow up in Illinois.

Anyway, tonight I'm going to post a video I took a while back of the apartment I'm staying in, just to give you a taste of how they set us up here in the DCP-Anaheim. Hope you enjoy it, and I'll post again soon! Look forward to more videos, pictures, and great information in the future. Thanks for reading!