A Nomad I Will Remain For Life...

So... there is a tidbit of news I have been failing to mention to those of you who read my blog. I didn't want to say anything in case something changed and until after all the details and everything were worked out. BUT, it is all set up, worked out, finalized, and ready to go now, so here it goes: I am temporarily moving back to Utah. Crazy, right? Makes no sense? Wrong. I will explain to you how I ended up deciding this and afterward, it will probably make a bit more sense.

Reason #1: I can't afford it. The plain and simple truth. Around April of last year, as May (when I originally planned on moving out here) was fast approaching, I realized that I didn't have enough money to make the move. I had a film lined up in Utah that was supposed to start in August/September, so I decided to postpone the L.A. move until that was done, sometime in October/November (rent in most BYU housing during summer is only $120 a month). BUT, then I felt incredibly strongly that I needed to move out here "NOW" so when 'now' happened, I moved out here pretty much with no money in my pockets. I lucked out and got to live at a former roommate's family's house for very cheap, but I didn't get much luck in finding paid work out here. (though I did make some great contacts this summer)

Reason #2: Housing. This sort of goes along with #1. I was originally planning on getting a place here and bouncing back and forth between here and Utah - depending on where I got work. However, as more and more work started lining up in Utah, I realized that I was going to have multiple full weeks where I was going to be in Utah... with no place. To top it off, each time I tried to go look at a place here, something would happen. Either I would have to reschedule, they would cancel, the place had already been sold, abnormally bad traffic would cause me to miss the appointment, etc. Now I realize, maybe it was because I wasn't supposed to find a place out here just yet.

So I decided to switch that plan around and be temporarily based in Utah instead, since rent there is about 1/3 of the price. Here, I was going to be lucky to find a small shared bedroom in a tiny apartment for about $500/mo (+ gas, electric, parking, etc). In Utah, I found this awesome townhouse with one of my best friends for $340 a month. Private room, private bath, 3 stories, 4 rooms, 3 girls, plenty of parking (free parking!). I had to buy a year contract, but I don't intend on staying there a full year. As of right now, I want to come back here in January - unless I get another film in Utah, and then I'll stay til April-ish. So I'll ultimately sell the rest of my contract.

The place Karie and I will be living. I love it!

Reason #3: Work. I have already made so many connections in Utah and can seem to find work a lot easier there at the moment. In Utah, I do sports broadcast as well, where I operate a camera and/or set up the audio for any and all sports productions. Those pay really well for a 1-2 day gig. I've already got three of those for September, with more around the corner because football season is about to start. Last year, I worked multiple BYU, Weber State, Utah State, and Idaho State games - both football and basketball. Also, HSM4 is supposed to be starting up relatively soon (it was supposed to start in September, so I would have gone back for 1-2 months anyway) and whenever that happens, I will need to be in Utah for roughly 4-6 weeks.

Reason #4: Non-union vs union. When I moved out here, I didn't entirely understand all the ins and outs of how to get into the union and why it is so crucial here to do so. I do now. And the problem I have discovered is that in L.A., there is a Catch-22. In order to make any sort of decent money, you have to join the union. But in order to join the union, you have to have 100 detailed and documented days of paid non-union work amounting in $50 or more per day. The catch? Almost everything out here non-union is VERY low budget and you are lucky to get paid anything - let alone $50. I worked 0 paid days in June, 11 days in July, and 0 in August. Less than 2 weeks per every 3 months... not so good. BUT... the entire state of Utah is a non-union state and everything done/worked there can be counted toward someone trying to get into a CA union. Yes, Utah's non-union work (which is PAID) can and will count towards my 100 required non-union days for L.A's sound union. So I can get most of my non-union days out there and then come back here and join the union almost right away!

Reason #5: I can't remember. I had 5 fabulous reasons all listed out for my friend yesterday when she and I were talking, but stupid facebook chat erases the first half of your conversation by the time you're done, so I don't remember what they all were. I guess just a bonus... I have a TON of friends who seem to all be graduating in either December or April, so this is all their last year at BYU. Meaning, after this year, I won't have many close friends left at BYU so it will be fun to see everyone and spend time together one last time/semester before we all go our separate ways for good.

Anyway, there you have it. I am temporarily moving back to Utah and have thus become a permanent nomad. Apparently I can only manage to stay in the same place for no longer than 3-4 months before moving again. I guess we'll see what happens, but I really feel like this is the best - and wisest - choice for me right now. As always, I will keep you posted.

Post title: partial quote by Isabelle Eberhardt from this website.