Job #39

Okay! That's it!! The record is off to press. Chris at SIRE PRESS says it'll be a 10-day turn-around. I will be sending some copies to Hollywood, Philly, and Korea. If you would like some press copies to review on your blogs, zines, or simply to have for your own enjoyment, let me know at piroozkalayeh@gmail.com.

What else?

Well, I am flirting with the possibility of a new job in Korea, or to head back to L.A. to join UCLA's Animation Program. I don't know if I'll get in, but I figure I'll give it a try. I'd like to make some cartoons for a couple years (job #39).

I talked over the possibility with my folks and friends. Most seem to be supportive of the venture. I'm just not sure how good of an illustrator I am for the job. I guess UCLA can decide if I got the right stuff, as they only accept 20 candidates per year. I'm guessing they might like me. I do have a killer smile.

Aside from that, I have now taken to wearing pinstripe suits everyday. I am so gangster, but without the misogyny, drugs, or purple hankies. I wouldn't mind bringing the hankie into play though. It might start a trend in Korea - a land known to follow the latest fad until it trails out to remote villages, and the purple hankie dies slowly and quietly in a mountain valley in Pusan.

As of now, there is no hankie. I do have the killer smile though. I am wearing it now. I've got this order of Mexian chicken coming through the door, and my application to Stanford to fill out - all in a typical day of a writer trying to find a way to keep writing.

I don't know how many other people feel this way, but I'm constantly looking for that extra moment. It can be hard when your working your way towards making a living, and trying to write a sestina at the same time. At least for me it is. I like not working at all when I write.

Either way, I am hitting lots of competitions and possible fellowships. If I egt UCLA and a fellowship, I will do both. If I get nothing, I will still write. I will write my way into a fellowship. It'll be a story. It will start with a girl. Her parents say she can't date no megook (American). They want her home by midnight - not in the arms of some gangster. I try to tell them that the purple hankie is just for show, but they can't believe I started the trend. Neither can the fellowship program. They say I'm a little too dinosaur to roll with Fred Flinstone. Maybe, if I looked more like Dino. I am a badass T-Rex though. I sing Eminem's "Lose Yourself" with 20 Korean girls. I stomp my feet. I shout it out: "You got to lose yourself to the music, the moment, you own it, don't never ever let it go!!"

Now there is a girl on my iChat. She's got a killer smile too. I'll catch you on the flip.