Success! (A Stock Market Story)
My love of adventure has always pushed me to explore avenues of making income regardless of location – some have bombed, others have produced minor results. Finally, in February of this year, I got the nerve up to dabble in the stock market. As much as I wanted to go “all in” and bet my life’s savings in hopes of a 700% return– I could see thes slot machines gushing golden coins — but my practicality got the better of me, and I started my stock trading journey with a meager purchase of 2 shares of Amazon. Over the past few months, I’ve bought more shares of Amazon whenever it took a slight dip, usually around the $175-$180 mark. I took a leap and bought 4 shares last week when it fell from $221/share down to $180/share, trusting the stock would rebound a short time later. Now, I don’t spend oodles of time reading the latest stock trends; I do not watch CNBC or read the Wall Street Journal — I do my research before buying into a company (well, sort of- I’m still debating what to do with the 75 shares of Sirius/XM I have that likely won’t amount to anything. Note to self: When a company has nearly 4 billion shares of stock, it probably won’t amount to much more than $3.) Fortunately, my intuition was right and Amazon rose to $205 at Friday’s close. My trading account was in the green: I had a significant gain. And for me, that was good enough. I sold all 9 shares of Amazon on Tuesday morning for a profit of $216.30. **NOTE: The stupid stock went up to $215 per share by Wednesday’s closing bell – dammit. Wall Street, don’t worry, I’m not about to quit my day job to join the chaos… but coming out ahead in the volatile markets is a small...
A Weekend In Huntingburg, Indiana
New York City and Chicago may have some of the best museums, parks, shopping, and restaurants cuisines in the country — but I believe the American way of life is best discovered in small towns. The last shoot for the new show I’m working on required we travel to a cattle ranch located just outside of the quaint small town of Huntingburg, Indiana. Huntingburg is a charming small town located in southwestern Indiana, about an hour north of Evansville, an hour an a half west of Louisville, and two and a half hours southwest of Indianapolis. It’s a little off the map for anyone driving through the United States via interstates, but if you find yourself closeby, it’s definitely worth an afternoon. Surrounded by neighborhoods built in the 1950’s and thousands of acres of farmland, Huntingburg is a snapshot of life in the Midwest. I’ve been to this part of Indiana once before for work — and somehow, I missed the places that made me fall in love with the little town just a few days ago. The Main Tourist Draw: League Stadium “A League of Their Own” is a classic film, and it’s one of my favorite movies. I didn’t realize it until I saw a sign in a restaurant advertising the stadium– apparently, Huntingburg is home to the stadium where the movie was filmed. The location was chosen because the stadium had not been updated since the early 1900’s, and it was the best match for the era. League Stadium was donated to the community of Huntingburg upon the movie’s completion, and presently, it is the home of the Dubois County Bombers, a professional baseball team in the Prospect League. League Stadium is closed on Sundays, but is usually open during the week. The outfield wall is lined with advertisements made for the movie, and “Rockford Peaches” is painted on the stadium’s walls. Huntingburg Eats Fourth Street is the main drag in Huntingburg’s historical downtown, and it’s home to multiple small restaurants that all serve quality food. While I was in Huntingburg, we ate at: » Old School Sports Cafe: Best turkey chili I’ve ever had- the whole cafe is outfitted with jerseys and photographs from local teams. » Mama T’s Italian Food: We got the 4 for $24 for two massive dishes of pasta; it also comes with rolls and four warm, homemade cookies. I was overwhelmed by the size of the dishes! It’s EASILY enough to feed four people. We had the fettucine alfredo and spaghetti with meatballs, and both were delicious. I also had the sangria, which was a disappointment — merely...
Drinking with the Mermaids in Montana
Earlier this month, I found myself in Great Falls, Montana for work – a part of the country I’d never been to before. Great Falls is located in northern/central Montana, in relatively flat area where the Rockies can be seen in the distance. Great Falls still boasts the expansive skies which scream ‘Montana’, and is in close proximity some of our country’s most breathtaking natural beauty — Glacier National Park is 3.5 hours to the north, and Yellowstone is 3 hours to the south. Montana a great location for all things outdoorsy, and the lack of humidity was a nice break from the sweltering Nashville heat. With 4 days in Great Falls, our crew sought out the best haunts: the Montana State Fair, Jaker’s (a northwest chain but still great food — the scones are to die for), Borrie’s (family-owned; fantastic steak). And, finally, on our last night in Great Falls, we landed at the infamous Sip-N-Dip. It seemed a little sketchy from the parking lot, but we’d heard from locals that the Sip-N-Dip had been rated the #1 Bar on Earth by GQ two years ago (a little internet search turns up a plethora of MT tourism websites touting this fact- although the ranking was in 2003, not 2009). We also heard rumors of mermaids. Naturally, our curiosity was piqued, and we ventured inside. The Sip-N-Dip Lounge is found on the second floor of the O’Haire Motor Inn, which is just outside downtown. In all honesty, I was expecting a dive bar set in a club atmosphere. What I discovered upon walking up the stairs into this “other world”, however, was ENTIRELY different. The Sip-N-Dip is a cozy, smoke-free lounge with ambient lighting and a tiki motif. The bar is a decent size, and along with an excellent selection of mixed drinks and draft beer, there are mermaids. Yes, I said mermaids. Mermaids?! OK, they’re not REAL mermaids (obviously). They’re young ladies wearing swimmer’s goggles, a bikini top, and one giant fin. They’re really good at what they do, too — they swim gracefully through the tank, in various patterns, twists, and flips; if they notice you’re trying to take a picture, they’ll do their best to “pose” for you. There are no oxygen masks — they swim around for 30-45 seconds, and then resurface for a breath of air, and it really is just a breath. The night we were there, there were two mermaids that alternated every twenty minutes. I CANNOT imagine swimming underwater for that length of time, even with “air breaks”. Although it may suggest otherwise, and while “Mermaid Entertainment” is definitely different–...
Dancing with Matt at the Parthenon — no, not in Athens.
Do you remember that viral video about the guy who danced his way around the world? Roman first shared it with me about two or three years ago. I was enraptured by it, as were millions of others. I was inspired. Dangit, if this guy could do a silly dance around the world, certainly I could go to at least AUSTRALIA if nowhere else. And so this video has served as encouragement for travel over the past few years. It’s been fun to go back and watch it again after a few trips, only saying “Hey! I’ve been there! and… there too!” So, when I found out via his e-mail list that he would be dancing in Nashville — I nearly fell out of my chair. I wanted to run around the house shrieking with joy. The meeting place? The Parthenon. (Nashville is the only city in the world with a life-sized replica of the Parthenon in Greece, and it’s in pretty good shape, and it sits in the middle of Centennial Park — definitely worth a visit in the daytime and/or nighttime.) I arrived at the steps of the Parthenon – and quickly spotted ten to fifteen others who were there for the purpose of dancing with Matt. One guy with a fair amount of knowledge about Matt’s travels was informing some jazzercisers of the monumental event that was about to take place. I eavesdropped casually, as a work comrade arrived. I don’t get starstruck anymore, but I still experience that “first moment”: when you first lay eyes on someone in the flesh who you’ve only seen through media, and your mind takes a second to readjust to the reality of the person — their look, their aura — not the image that you’ve perceived through two-dimensional mediums. But when I noticed my palms getting clammy and my excitement level was so high it impeded any rational conversation with my work comrade, I knew I was bound to be a bit starstruck. When my friend began asking questions about Matt’s travels, I tried to play it cool, pretending like I had no idea where exactly he’d been — when in reality, I was shrieking ohmygoshI’mabouttodancewithMatt,THEmattwhoi’vewatchedonthatvideoahundredtimeswho’sbeen EVERYWHEREbutnowhe’sHERE… And suddenly, there he was — dragging a cooler around the corner of the Parthenon, surveying the lay of the land. I experienced that “first moment”, followed by a “Wow, he actually came to Nashville? And I’m actually standing here?” He gave us all a big Hello, and soon enough, we were all lined up on the Parthenon, dancing. He taught us how to do the “Matt” dance, and we did a...
LVAs
When I get asked what I’ve worked on, or what I enjoyed working on, I often have to rack my brain to try to remember and fail at coming up with any sort of intelligent or thoughtful response. In the beginning, when I only worked on one music video a month, it was easy to remember all the details: crew, location, director, artist, song title, actors, extras, etc. Sometimes, projects blur together and I have a hard time remembering the details. So, this is a post summarizing some of the more memorable shoots (good and bad). First Shoot Award Mat Kearney’s “Breathe In, Breathe Out” It was my first ever on-set experience; as a wide-eyed intern who mistakenly sent an extra to the artist’s RV. Whoops. Details of that job include: Director: Roman White Location: The Arcade, Downtown Hours: 3pm – 6am; but I’d also started my day at 10am at the office… The Kicker: I was an intern — an unpaid intern; but I was enthralled to be there. The Other Kicker: This video was supposed to air during/after Grey’s Anatomy, and I remember telling everyone to watch it — family, friends from home, classmates, etc — because I was so insanely proud to have worked on it. Only, it didn’t air when it was supposed to; got pushed an hour or a week or something, and they completely cut out the Alaskan girl because they didn’t like her “look”. Highlights: -spending many hours with Ryan Fuqua in the Arcade, using faulty knives to cut many many zip ties holding up American flags. I would later have to run to Wal-Mart to purchase more zip ties so we could re-hang them all. – It was 35mm, baby!: That’s right, I’m “old skool” enough to have worked a solid year in the presence of true “film” projects, before the dawn of the digital era. Runner Up: Could also throw out a mention to my first paid shoot, Alan Jackson’s “Small Town Southern Man”. Watch Mat Kearney – Breathe In Breathe Out on Vimeo. Coldest Shoot Award One Night Rodeo – “Alive and Living” Before the days where I learned to spend top dollar on warm winter gear, I endured one of the coldest shoots of my life in February of 2009. Director: The Brads (Blake and Potsy) Location: Smyrna Airport Temperature: 19 degrees in the hanger with a cold cement floor. Highlights: Eric Williams gestured to the vending machines and stated, “Well, there’s craft service.” Most Ridiculous Award Josh Thompson – “Beer on the Table” It wasn’t the video that was ridiculous — it was the wrangling of all of...
About
I'm Laryssa, and when I'm not working in film or television, I'm attempting to travel -- or I'm here, providing resources for working in film or travel. Read more Elsewhere on the internets
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