God Damn you netflix

Jesus H Christ, first they get you with the month free and you're hooked for f'ing life. Shit is like crack but I guess I have watched some pretty good movies lately, one of the weirder ones being Mullholland Dr. by David Lynch. I have never been so unexpectently terrified and confused in the same sitting. Maybe his stuff gets better with age, who knows...

The screenplay is progressing which is really rewarding to report. I get ideas now and then and for the msot part they're somehow managing to come together. More to come when I progress further.

School almost over? Indeed

Craziest weather since I've been in Portland

To all out there who have been in Portland to experience the weather this week I applaud you. It has truly been one of the weirdest weeks of my life and a huge challenge simply because of the fact that I'll wake up to bright sunshine, have it change into downpour, then go back to sunshine, then hail, and then go back to down pouring. This week is definitely up there with 107 degree day 2009, and snow day 2008.

Meanwhile as the weather continues to go through manic depression its also done me the kindness of dragging me along with it. I'm not lying when I say some of the days this week I've literally woken up and just said to myself "fuck it, there's no way this is going to be fun" and much to my expectation it usually hasn't been, however, like all dark times I'm sure this one will pass. At this point it's just a matter of when...

Writing has been up and down lately but I'm happy to say that I am chugging along through the screenplay. Some days are better than others but at this point I've got around 40 pages and considering that this is more than I've written in my entire life I'm pretty happy. I'm glad I have that drive to always want more and never be satisfied but sometime it nice to sit back and reflect and what you've accomplished. I know this will get made one day and when it does I hope everyone who sees it can somehow cope with what some of the things I've described. I feel like I get super specific sometimes but as long as that overall feeling comes through I'll be happy.

I'd really like to meet some more cool film people in Portland, where they are, Im not sure.


Danny

Conflict

Normally when I write these things I have a general idea of what I want to convey and I can only hope my use of the English language can capture if not just a piece of what I'm really feeling. Today was weird to say the least. After over a year of inconsistencies with a previous landlord everything finally came to a screaching halt in small claims court today and surprisingly enough it wasn't actually in the court but rather mediation services. It was deafening, scary, blind, and most principally full of inconsistancies from both sides.

One part of me wants to believe that I don't have to go through life marking down every single detail with a recorder hanging around my neck all the times and yet our law system encourages that ad nausem. I can be a pretty crass person sometimes but when your problem is a person and that person is sitting right in front of you its hard to call them out even if you believe it more than anything else.

Things went well today but I somehow feel that it shouldn't even get this far in the first place.

Its very frustrating at times

I suppose thats my bad that I didn't realize it was an El Nino year

I just KNEW that somethign was fishy when it was 55 and sunny in feburary. Here I am sitting to myself saying " gee, I usually hate this month, what a pleasent surprise " and then like a sock full of quarters to the dome BOOM and it starts to rain forever. Funny things to look back on. I fancy this week to be like when I get caffine overdoses and all of sudden wonder why I'm so depressed only to realize that I accidentally drank too much coffee. Again, funny things.

Court case is less than a week away. By next week I will either be potentially 700$ richer or...well...You know I'd rather not think about that.

Stay positive, 700$: Assload of food/One Ultegra groupset

Cheers

Rain lethargy

Maybe its just the tasty burger that I just ate or the persistent rain or the fact that I'm recovering from a race weekend but I for real am soaring in the clouds. Not in a dream sequence cathartic kind of way but more so as if I were an airplane caught in turbulence.

When basic brain functions stop its best to wither let go or fight it into obscurity. In this case I don't know which way to go.

Lets see...

A great weekend has just passed and I now find myself thoroughly buried in spring break shenanigans; which at this point just means that I woke up at ten today as opposed to nine on a normal school day. I'm fairly confidant I'll be working several times this week which means a couple days at the factory but sometimes its just nice to clock out and let your mind wander while you organize huge amounts of paper. Something about that place is very stimulating for me. Definitely not all the time but I swear I feel like I'm in a Goddard movie when I work sometimes.

The UO/OSU omnium was this last weekend and the entire event has left me on a very good note. Granted I'm still recovering like any normal person and am still sore from falling on my ass yesterday but there's truly nothing like finishing all three races comfortably. Its probably important to note that last year I came out of this weekend feeling much different. Cold, dead, lacking motivation, etc...

Honestly I'm at a loss for words describing fully what it feels like to do "okay" on a race weekend and yet there is something about just being able to finish with a pack that is very satisfying; like what I'm doing isn't just me struggling to finish.

Writing is muted write now. Don't exactly know what that means but I'm rolling with it.

Good deal.

First Ride Of The Season

That's right I capitalized everything in that title, because it might as well be a book. I will admit it is funny writing about my first actual ride when the Eugene/Corvallis race is just around the corner and the Boise race is over and finished with. Everyone gives me massive shit for not showing up to weekend/training rides over the winter but can we be honest here for a second. If Portland were a child it would most definitely be bi-polar and I'm not about to kit up and go outside when I know that it could all of a sudden decide that it wants to dump rain. I don't care what anybody says, when you're out their riding and its cloudy but not raining and you feel that first drop hit you're face there's definitely a feeling of disappointment; even in the most dedicated of NW people. So it should come as no surprise that my first ride came in 55 degree weather and in almost completely clear skies. At the very least I'm consistent. I can accept being cold and wet while riding a bike, I only request that I'm racing cyclocross when doing so.

Smack dab in the middle of finals week and I must say I quite pleased with myself. I said it last term and even though I failed to do so then I'll say it again; there's a possibility that I could get straight A's for the first time in my life and this pleases me. My writing teacher, in an unexpected but pleasant turn of events, said she really enjoyed my writing which was great to hear. I'm once again trying to write a story on my own time and hearing from a professor that I'm good at developing character only makes me want to write more. My German final took a nice turn for the better as well. To anybody who thinks Spanish is the easiest language to learn I dare you to try German. It's like English in so many ways I'm amazed more people don't speak it.

The last time I showered was last week so I'm going to take care of that in earnest.


DBF

Oh Upstairs Neighbor

Finally all your ruckus and late night shenanigans are being paid for in the form of me stealing your internet. Oh, what goes around comes around my friend and with this soiled Berber carpet as my witness I pledge I will milk this cow for as long is it keeps letting me touch its tits.

Although this last week has been full of stuff its just a taste compared to these next two. Finals approach and I won't go as far to say that I want this term to be done, rather that I've learned quite a bit and would like to offset that with a week of shenanigans; namely spring break.

Also I say shenanigans but half of that time is probably just going to be dedicated to working at the factory.

Collegiate cycling starts in two weeks. Different life perspective this year round but I'm still excited.

Writing and Writing

If I ever get this screen play sounding coherent I'll be incredibly thankful. I've started actively writing again and its a lot harder than it looks. Fortunately I've already got a big picture idea already in my head, I just have to get to place where when I explain that picture to people, they'll be in a place to understand it. I got the idea from this book called Einstein's Dreams. Really well done, and I enjoy the concept of time it tries to explain. We all sort of take for granted that time is linear, but what if that wasn't the case. What if things were non-sequential, and surreal, but still exuded a powerful feeling.

I suppose that's what I'm trying to create.

Ideas:

- A series of stories moving toward one moment
- A road story but not identical to Garden State.
- A feeling as if it were written by Charlie Kaufman.

I wish I had an identical twin to bounce ideas off of.

My life is a series of slow moving finances with fast moving ideas

Which is a good thing and a bad thing.

It's almost been two weeks since I worked and by my calculations I might get something around 60 for my next paycheck which is lame, sort of.

If I get 300$ each month I could

- pay of my credit card debt in four months, ( fuck dawg )
- pay of my heating bill and have 215 left over in one month ( better than fuck dawg )
- buy a zoom h4 and Boss RC-2 in 1.5 months ( hella dawg )
- graduate sooner than I expected and be truly fucked because I don't have a steady job and want to be a comedian/artist/graphic designer/director as a profession

( tits yeah dogg)

I read so much these days

That statement rings true with me almost everyday now. Although in the end its a good thing because it means that for the first time--possibly ever-- I'm actually doing the readings assigned to me in classes. I'm not sure why back in the day I resented them so hard core, but I've discovered that not only do they help, they are actually quite interesting.

Class Recap:

American Cinema and American Culture:
- I was really looking forward to this class when I first got into it, and trust me its still very interesting but there is definitely something about the way Tate teaches that gets to me sometimes. Sometimes I think the human experience is simply to diverse and random to be able to say that one single thing can incite a whole quiver of feelings, i.e just because Edward G. Robinson's picture is big on the DVD case is big doesn't necessarily represent his god like presence in the film.

Anatomy of a Movie:
- Incredibly thankful I ran out on this class two years ago because I was so intimidated. It makes sense now as a senior majoring in film but I shudder to think how I would have responded if I actually went through with it two years ago. WWII fascinates me. It was the beginning of the end in terms of old war style tactics and it had such a profound affect on film making during the time. Does stuff like that happen today and I'm just not seeing it? Also, the class is about Casablanca.

Dramatic Writing:
- Very thankful I had the gumption to go to this class. I considered not taking it and opting for an easier load this term but its definitely worth it. My writing skills are finally forming a coherent whole, and it only took almost the entirety of college to do so.

German:
- This language is a little ridiculous and yet it comes very naturally. Do I want a minor in it, or do I actually care that much...

I'm really curious what springs going to be like this year



Danny

Amazing Mornings

Today I had the opportunity of getting to start my day at 7AM, and thus far its both reassured my faith in Portland, and confused me hardcore. Its so bizarre getting up in what is essentially still night, eating, putting on my rain coat expecting cold, and then come to find that its probably 55, maybe even 60 degrees out.

I just checked, and according to the weather peeps its actually only 50, but still! It seems so much warmer than usual. All the same I'm not complaining. If January wants to be silly and manic I'm cool with that, as long as it doesn't mean cold and wet.

All though I'm pretty positive at this point it means wet.

The reason for my early wake up call: I got another audition, and even though its probably not as glamorous and hyped as my previous, it was still very exciting. Not to mention it probably out-WTF'd the last by a good seven points considering its a commercial/spec spot for this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mello_Yello

I didn't even know this soda still existed, but just as Obama needed McCain, and how white supremacists need minorities, Mountain Dew needs Mello Yellow, and frankly I'm not arguing.

485$ for one days work doesn't hurt either.

Closing statements:

The promotion guy reminded me of a cockatoo, and the other day at work I got paid to stand for three hours while they attempted to fix an industrial printing machine.


Danny

JOB

I finally got one. Even if its for a temp agency I finally got one, and that's a good thing. Supposedly its at this place called the GAC or Graphic Arts Center, which does a lot of printing.


Could work out

I've outdone myself

And a rightfully productive winter break it was!

Been an excitable past couple of weeks. Some things went down, lines were exchanged, destinies challenged, the usual goodness.

My audition ended up going really swell considering how things could have turned out seeing as I have exactly zero professional experience when it comes to acting. My dad had the good idea for me to to follow up with a nice little note thanking the production people for there time and patience, and maybe people just like to be thanked but for whatever reason I now have a second callback. Different role, but the fact that they even considered me is a huge compliment. Very excited about that.

As of sometime around Christmas I now have another creative child working under me, namely this bad boy:

dannyfelts.tumblr.com

Consider it my silkscreening/printing/visual situation if anything, since this blog is more of an outlet for me to say made up words like wolf-cat, and muncher-kins. Also it finally gives me the chance to display some of my designing in a way that I find simple, yet still aesthetically pleasing.

AND I finally understand how the 3D filter works on Illustrator, also an excitable bit of news.

Things that I still have to do:

- Find a job
- Finish my stand up act
- Get my Casio's/Bass
- Be the feature guest on Conan O' Brian


It WILL happen...