The Quintessential "New Year, New Me" Post

Hi there! In case you forgot, I used to admin this blog a while back. I'm back from an extended hiatus and ready to write about nerd culture again. Rejoice, my readers!

I'm sure all five of you have questions, so I'll get the big ones out of the way below:

What were you doing all that time?

The simple answer is going to grad school, but the how and the where and the what for are pretty interesting. For the past three years, I've been earning my MFA in Feature Film Screenwriting from Loyola Marymount University's School of Film and Television. Eight fellow writers and I spent six semesters, just over 50 credit hours, and countless sleepless nights developing movies, TV pilots, spec episodes, plays, and even a video game or two.

Wow, what was it like?

Pretty damn cool. It's not every day that you get to go to school for something you actually care about, so I really threw myself into the program and its resources. Our faculty was made up of industry veterans; I took a sitcom writing class with a man who wrote on Seinfeld (and still had lunch with Larry David from time to time). The Hollywood Reporter hosted its Hollywood Masters series of talks in our theater, so I got to see a bunch of industry greats up close and personal. Some highlights included Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, and Quincy Jones. There was even an industry internship program, through which I landed an internship at Lionsgate. It also didn't hurt that our campus was in Marina Del Rey the whole time.

Weekend beach run? Weekend beach run.

What are you doing now?

Applying to jobs like my life depends on it, which it actually does. Turns out three years of film school is SUPER EXPENSIVE, and my student loans are gaining interest by the day. The cost of living in LA is no picnic either, and it's going to get worse when I'm dropped from my parent's healthcare and insurance. They were nice enough to support me chasing my dreams through school, but now my dad's retired and their money's tight. I've been working retail since summer to make ends meet, but the hours have really dried up since the holidays ended. I am technically a member of the WGA now, so I get to go to free screenings every now and then.

That sounds less fun.

Yeah, it's not. I'd go to counseling for it, but again - no moolah.

What are you gonna do next?

The only thing to do! Get a real, decent-paying, "Big Boy Job." There's not a whole lot in the way of work for screenwriters with no credits and no management, but I have a wealth of experiences in a wide range of other areas that I can call upon. My more gainfully employed friends assure me that I am qualified for some paid position, so I'm resolving to put myself out there more in hopes of attracting the right attention.

This includes everything from applying like the dickens on LinkedIn and Entertainmentcareers.net to boosting my presence on social media and online (including here). I also write and record a weekly radio show on entertainment news as part of my training at a local radio station.

Dope. Anything we can do?

Yes, actually! I'll be posting the copy for my radio show on this blog, so be sure to read and share it. It'd also be cool if you could follow me on Twitter @BlackOtaku and on IG @aaronamal as well. I might add my Youtube channel (and some form of monetization) into the mix at some point, but that's it for now.

Well thanks for listening to me ramble. 2016 was rough going for me (along with the rest of America), but I'm not throwing in the towel just yet. Here's to 2017 being a rebuilding year.

Onwards and upwards!

- AA

Once Again, I am Not Dead

I just realized it's been a while since I actually, y'know wrote something. Well, that's not exactly true either; the thought occurred to me before, I just wasn't doing anything about it. There were several advantages to having two loving, doting parents and attending so many years of private school (I could probably write an entirely different post about that), but one of the drawbacks is how hard I can be on myself. After so many years of being pampered and encouraged by such wonderful, driven people, I got used to holding myself to pretty ridiculous standards.

I'm not complaining, though; the aforementioned standards are what's gotten me to where I am today. But God help me if I find myself  putting something off, or not doing something I said I'd do, or not leaving every stone unturned. That one assignment I forgot to turn in or friend I haven't kept in touch with can turn my self-confidence into self-loathing at the drop of a hat.

My friend Cam finds this hilarious. He prefers to think about things logically and sees emotions, particularly negative ones, as being silly and useless. I usually prefer to disagree with him, but in these instances he's right. My sense of self-worth shouldn't go out the window because of one missed opportunity. I should remember all the times I did get my work in on time instead of stressing over missing this deadline. I should recall the morning workouts that I did survive instead of lamenting the one I just slept through. And, ultimately, I should realize that I'm already exceptional because there are people all around me who can't even fathom doing these things. Normally Cam reminds me of this, but I decided to go home for Spring Break (woohoo, my parent's house is so...fun -_-) and he's still with my other roommates down in Tallahassee.

So why am I writing my first article in nearly a month? Why am I not still lamenting the fact there are other, better bloggers out there internetting harder and more effectively than I can? Well, one of them wrote an interesting piece today. I usually find his work inspirational, but today's article was oddly fitting for my current state of mind. I'm going to include a link to it here; maybe it'll help whoever reads these get out of whatever rut they're in at the moment.

And don't worry about me; there's still plenty of things I want to say, and I can't think of a better place to say them.

The Joys of Running an Anime Club Part II

I know I got off to a sour start with the first post in this series, but things are looking up as of yesterday afternoon. I got into the most orgasmic brainstorming session with my officers Sunday afternoon, and I've never been more excited about where the club can go. Granted, I was excited when I first took the reins from my predecessor last semester, but there was something missing then; that something was my officer's synergistic input.

There's a total of seven positions: president (that's me), vice president, historian, special events coordinator, public liaison, and Mr. and Ms. Oh-So-Kawaii (our current Ms. O-S-K came up with the idea). Up until about the end of this month, I had been mostly leaving everyone to their own devices. I handled the paperwork for registering us as an official student organization, picked the anime, and made event pages on Facebook for each meeting. Whatever anyone else did, I was only marginally involved. Sure, Ms. O-S-K had an idea for a fundraiser, but I expected her to run with it. Yes, the historian didn't bring a camera sometimes, but I expected him to figure it out. There was a nagging itch in the back of my mind to sit everyone down at once and have an officers-only pow-wow, but nothing ever really materialized.

Cue this weekend.

In retrospect the answer was right down the hall from me the entire time. I already knew that Mr. O-S-K had an ironclad will when he put his mind to something. I just had to direct it. Up until that point, he'd alternated between hating everyone for being loud and inattentive during the meetings and hating everyone for being loud and inattentive (and forgetful) during his Japanese lessons. Long story short, he'd taken to skipping meetings and was considering swearing off anime altogether (it's horrifying, I know). And then he learned about Florida State's anime club. And how they host a con every year. And have QR scan codes on their fliers for said con. Which lead to their official website.

Now here's something you need to understand about Mr. Oh-So-Kawaii: he has a jealous streak that makes Othello's Iago look like a saint. If he even suspects the threat of someone being smarter or better than him, they are instantly marked for destruction. When we first met, he almost killed me just for getting the same test grades as him. So when he learned that there was another group of people who were our age and doing our thing, except with a web presence, his shit became quite flipped.

He launched into an explosively creative tirade that was as filled with good ideas as it was with profanities, and I just stood there with a journal and took notes. Now we're working on:

1) A club mascot and/or logo

2) A mobile app that can teach you Japanese (tentatively dubbed RosettaPhone, ha! get it?)

3) An official website that offers the app for download, is accessible via QR code, and features an animated version of the mascot popping up as you navigate the pages. Eventually it will also help manage members and assist with keeping track of membership dues.

4) A weekly video series of announcements, hosted by club officers, talking about whatever the club is up to.

All those months last semester? Nothing. One three-hour brainstorming session? Practically changed the game. Today's lesson? Negative emotion, like frustration with your club, is unproductive by itself. But with direction ...you can take over the (Tallahassee anime) world.