Day 2: I've Arrived & To Prove It, I'm Here

Been listening to any song with the word "Duluth" in the title on Spotify. So far, my favorite one is "Duluth." I am officially here today and can also hear again too. All the gunk from my ear went back to my nose in the night. Better to hear people, then smell their breath. I hope to get out and about tomorrow and start making the most of this trip.

A quiet man let me into my apartment which I rented from a woman on AirBnb. He didn't say much. I asked where the pool was. He said "Lake Superior." It's a nice apartment. A little feminine but it'll work and way cheaper than some crap motel. A picture of Jesus sits in front of the toilet. He stares at you and he cries when you poop.

There's something called Alternate Side Parking. I'm parked on the side everyone else is, so I guess I'm good? There is snow. It's all around. There's a light drizzle now. There's also a lot of what I think is called "smud" - snow & mud. It's a blast to drive on. Your car goes this way and that way. Fun and little shady like any good carnival ride. One of my biggest goals with this trip is to successfully return the car to ACE without any incident.

Driving up from St. Paul this morning, I found this state really is beautiful. It's like what you always thought Christmas should look like from a California perspective. It was a "warm" 32 degrees today. I'm told the negative numbers are coming this weekend which I look forward to. I wanna know what cold is. I want Duluth to show me.

My only venture in town today was going to Super One Foods. I thought getting groceries for my apartment would help cut down on costs.  Not so when you shop at the Super One. It's like Safeway without the club card. Paying full price for things you know are overmarked hurts so bad. And they didn't have sliced salami or even salami sticks? Yet, they had entire displays of pepperoni. I looked for the beer aisle twice until I realized those couple 24 packs of Milwaukee's Best were it. They asked if I wanted paper or plastic. In SF, plastic is the devil's bag so I said paper. They gave me paper bags without handles. How can I carry 4 bags without handles in one trip? No wonder they looked at me weird. Really roughing it out here, folks. (SF SNOB ALERT)

Tomorrow I might meet people. I look forward to this.

My Cute Little Apartment.

Coming Soon To Your Town...

It's a done deal. The town is expecting me. I made an offer to the Mayor that if he starred in the film, I'd change the title. He wanted to know if a cameo would do the trick. Maybe...it'd depend where. I can always hire a Don Ness impersonator and keep the title as is.

Most logistics are taken care of. I have my flight booked, an apartment (courtesy of Airbnb), a rental car, a cinematographer, and clothing that will make me look like an idiot. Have a location list and a casting list, though not officially posted just yet. Auditions and location scouting will be that first week I'm there and the shooting will be the next week. I believe all shooting can be all completed in 4 days.

I should be back on Feb. 14 because there is nothing more romantic than being on a 8 hour flight with one stop in Phoenix. This certainly will be an adventure. I'm excited to go somewhere, to meet new people, to have new experiences, and obviously make my next film. It'll be like Call Of The Wild without the dog and more open cases of clinical depression.

Back on the homefront, I lost a production gig because "I do comedy" and they're making a drama. Keep in mind, I would be the cinematographer. Can you frame for funny? Even if you can, it's a light chuckle. I hope "Duluth Is Horrible" will show I'm capable of producing more dramatic work. That said, I got my Carmen Miranda costumes in the mail today.