A Cousin's House

First Day

Monday. I drive up to Lisa's place at 9am, knock on several doors and find no signs of life. At this point, I have not yet met Lisa and was going off a plan that Dan and I came up with. I am all dressed up, ready to get to work and rather stressed that no one is home. This already is not what I imagined when I applied.

After several phone calls between Dan and I, and around lunch time we decide that we'll give Lisa until noon on Tuesday to get into contact with me and that I can hang out with Dan for the day if I don't hear from her.

Three pm rolls around and no word. That's when I began to give up, thinking that maybe this internship was too good to be true. And to pass time, I distract myself by writing and napping on the most amazing bed I have ever slept on. I drove down Ventura blvd to see what was around and came home to find Gilli moving a mattress she found on the the side of the street into our back yard. Gilli then asked me to help organize some fliers for a music camp she'll be running in August, and so I earned a little money.

By nine or ten, I had completely given up and was looking forward to seeing Dan's company. Gilli asked me if I wanted to take a jacuzzi and so I joined her, needing the soothing warmth of the water to help me release of any expectations of the day.

And as I got in, I yearned to see the sun rise over a mountain while my body bathed in the warm water. But instead, LA has a fuzzy glow in the sky at night which makes it look like sun is perpetually below the horizon just before complete dark. Its rather sick when you think about everything you may be inhaling.

I miss mountains, but I enjoy driving on hills.

And of course, Gilli asked me lots of questions about age, siblings, parents and boyfriends. Actually, I got the boyfriend question from three out the of the four girls I have encountered in this house. What's the deal? Why is that the question that everyone thinks to ask... not what kind of art are you into or the simple (but not so) favorite movie or band. Anyway, after finding out that Gilli will be playing in Tucson in October (And so you all will have to meet her), I was boiled enough.

I went back inside and found I had missed a call from Lisa. After giving up all hope of having an awesome first day as a intern, I was so excited that contact was actually made! As it worked out, I went over to her place and sat though one of her editing sessions till the wee hours of the morn.

First Day... again.

Tuesday. I drive out to a beautiful house to the west where I really begin my internship. I meet everyone at lunch time, where they are sitting out side under umbrellas eating Chinese food. I learn five people's names, and I am only one of two females in the group (the other being Lisa). And the task for the week is to create, rename and organize old sound libraries as well as the new incoming library. Once the way to go about the task was proposed, several of the guys mentioned they had to organize sound libraries as interns for various companies. It is a mundane enough task that they can trust you with without knowing your skills or it is an excellent way to gauge how someone organizes. Either way, it's a right of passage.

The designers are the extended family of those who really live in the house. They are out in the front yard playing with the children when a recording session is being bounced out before it is cut up into regions. There is always food and drink. It's a home away from home, really. A cousin's house.

Anyway – I really like the people. And I like the task, despite the quantities of files I will be sifting through. Realistically, I've already learned a ton about sound for video games and the mixer's mind just from participating in the conversation on how to organize a library. From logical searching for a sound via its file name to how happy accidents are alternately avoided as file searching becomes more and more specific, everything was debated. It's interesting how we both try to become more and less organized at the same time.

I think I'll learn a lot at the cousin's house.