Life on the Other Side

Well here we are, it's July 9th, which means I've been graduated for almost 7 weeks now.  It's amazing how good I feel with my 7 week post-college life, because a TON has happened.  To recap, since graduating from Ithaca College I have:

• Moved out of my house in Ithaca, my stuff now resides at my father's house in Allentown, PA.
  
• Fight Choreographed two full shakespeare plays along with Nick Shuhan for the Ithaca Shakespeare Company
  
• Moved to Maine and back into my Mom's house
  
• Moved Mom out of that house and into a new house
  
• Learned, Rehearsed, Opened, and Closed a brand new Burt Bacharach musical at the Hackmatack Playhouse
• Worked 20 hour weeks for Ted Arcand and the Dogfish Company while in Maine
• Moved back to Ithaca, where I currently am couch surfing and finishing the fight choreography for the Ithaca Shakespeare Company, Taming of the Shrew opens on Wednesday, and Romeo and Juliet opens on Thursday.
  
  

On Wednesday, instead of going to the opening for ISC I head out to Auburn NY, about 45 minutes away, where I'm moving into a new apartment to begin my 5 week contract with the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse.  There I will be a member of the Ensemble and in the Quartet for My Fair Lady.  After that, life may slow down, or may speed up exponentially.  I am moving at least briefly to Allentown with my Dad to get my life in order and prepare for my big move to NYC.  At the end of August I'll be heading back to Portland for a weekend to a.) celebrate my amazing girlfriend Priya Iyer's birthday, she's turning 22 and happens to be at the Maine State Music Theatre as an Arts Apprentice this summer, and b.) to put on a 2 person cabaret along with my dear friend Genevieve Myers.  We'll be doing a two person "Broadway Hopefuls" concert at the Dinner Theater we worked at for 2 years through high school, Anthony's Dinner Theater and Wonderful World of Broadway.  After that, I up and move to NYC on September 1st and will begin the next chapter of my life as an actor in the big bad city!

Whew, that's a lot to handle in 3 months.  I am so blessed to have had these opportunities immediately post college.  It's so easy sometimes to look at those who are just as fortunate as I and say, "what are they doing that I'm not?" but that's foolish.  I am a gainfully employed actor and fight director in a variety of shows and companies.  I have been very blessed to be surrounded by talented, hard-working people, and to be given such support by my friends and family.

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My newest phase is to begin planning a security job during my time in NYC.  I have been thinking long and hard about what kind of job I want, obviously being a waiter/bartender is the obvious actor choice, however I have so many friends who are forced to work 40-50 hours a week to make ends meet, and that doesn't leave a lot of time or energy for auditions.  So I've been trying to create a job that I can do from my computer to help me make ends meet.  It certainly won't pay all the bills, but if I can offset my income between something to be done remotely, with a good steady job at 15-20 hours a week in NYC, I think that I'll have a much better time while there.  So I am going to be going into business for myself as a Social Media Manager for companies looking to increase their Social Media presence, as well as make that presence more personal and less corporate.  I am a product of my generation and am very good at manipulating the various connection bases there are out there, and often find myself flabbergasted at the terrible marketing approaches these companies are using on Facebook, Twitter, and so on.  My first client, is for the restaurant that I've been working for back in Portland.  I am now the Social Media Manager for the Dogfish Company and will be working to help bring their Social Media presence up to a more exposed place and help them cultivate active, loyal customers.  If you go to the the twitter handle @Dogfishinc or head over to their Facebook Page, you'll see me working with them to increase their marketing through social media outlets.  They're a fantastic business local to Portland Maine, and Ted Arcand is a dear friend of mine who has been very good to me in terms of getting me jobs in life.  So please support The Dogfish whenever and however you can, even if that means just following their progress and heading over to the Bar & Grille for a drink when you see a special that interests you!  They have live music 4 days a week, and drink specials every day of the week, as well as two outdoor decks, a dining room, and the bar itself to sit in.  In other words, Dogfish Bar & Grille is where it's at!  (Am I doing a good job at marketing them yet? :-) )

Beyond that right now I'm in a nice holding pattern.  I have accomplished everything I feel that I can accomplish right now until I arrive in NYC, and that is a great feeling.  I'm happy with where I am and where my career is taking me right now, and I'm so happy with the people I'm meeting, and surrounding myself with every day.  I can only hope you all are as happy with where you are, and if you're not, let me know what I can do to help! 

Oh and if you have a couch I can crash on...I'll take it as payment :-)