We didn't start the fire

  

Theres quite the Fire happening right now where I live. Its been named the Sand Fire...I didn't think it was that big of a deal until yesterday morning, I walked outside to find that the entire sky was blocked out with orange and black smoke. When I say blocked out, I mean VERY thickly covered. It was raining white ash, and there was already a layer collecting on the ground at this point. When I walked outside, I genuinely felt like I was in a post apocalyptic world. There were sirens constantly going off in the distance, you could hear people crying, but yet it was eerily quiet. 

The fire got so close to our apartment, I could see the flames from my balcony. Of course, we had to evacuate. There were 1700 firefighters on the scene, dozens of trucks, etc. the fire as of right now is only 10% contained, and its burned more than 22,000 acres and 17 homes. Im not joking when I say this is a big fire...So we left. I grabbed the things I felt were the most important to me, packed it up, and we all drove to Noras house to spend the night. 

I hated it. 

Smoking and drinking can be fun, but its not a lifestyle for me. For these people, it is. Drinking and smoking is as casual to them as breathing air. I was feeling particularly lonely during this time, so I stayed on the hammock for a while, and watched the sky. You always usually feel the most alone when everyone is fucked up at a party (in my opinion)

I came back in at some point, and everyone eventually went to bed. I got the couch, but I honestly might have rather had the floor. Ive never slept on something so uncomfortable. But the day came, and we got the good news that we had been waiting all night for. Our homes had been saved, and we were able to go back. I was so relieved. But as for now, we are still on precaution, and the fire is still raging. 

This Photo was Taken in North Hollywood, which isn't far from my place. The sky looked just like this all the way to LA. I've never seen anything like it. 

Now we're all caught up. I think.

If theres a Will theres a way

So, Sir William.

He's just a person in the end. Just like everyone else. He might be a little strange, and even a little mean. But I like him enough. He likes me too, I think. Either that or he just likes my body. Who knows what peoples true intentions are these days. Anyways.

Willy has been, as I have mentioned earlier, very adamant about hanging out with me.
we hung out a couple of times with the group, and once with just Nick, Nattalie Joey Will and I.
It was fun, we went to a couple bars, hung out at some random guys house, walked around LA, and by about 9 pm, everyone was ready to go home. Willy wasn't though. He organized a plan that worked out to where everyone would go home when they wanted, and I would go to Wills. He told me he would just get me an Uber home, So I stayed.

We walked into his apartment, its nice. very large, wood floors, 2 cats, lots of horror movie posters..VHS movies filling up the shelves. I like it. We spent the entire night on the balcony conversing with each other. Willy is definitely a talker, he's got a dominant personality..so I let him do his thing. I like to listen.

I learned a lot about him...He kissed me. With a uh.. very..strong amount of force if I might add. I was definitely taken off guard by it, wasn't sure what to do. lol. Billy Bob Thornton's son just kissed me?

We ended the night at about 3 am, and he called my Uber. When I got into the car, the first thing my uber driver did was look back at me and go "Girl, The hell is wrong with you?? Have you lost your mind?" confused, I asked what he was talking about. He then began to tell me that I was in one of the most dangerous places in California (Panorama City, remember?) and that he almost didn't come and get me when he found out where the location was. lol. that made me feel GREAT.

My Uber driver was really nice. Got me home, and that was that. Will had me come over again the other night, and this time I drove. He told me to park in front of his garage, and that my car would be safe (this is a key part of the story here). He showed me his room, and told me stories behind all his little knick knacks he owns. He has envelope stamps from World War II with Hitlers face on it. He's also got lots of original movie props, original paintings, taxidermied bats, etc. Very one of a kind. I loved it.

So, We (mostly he again) talked until close to 5 am. We both decided it was too late for me to drive home, and I was too tired, so I spent the night. We slept in his room, and my god does this man snore. and also his cats wouldn't stop trying to eat my bracelets the whole night. Needless to say, I did not get a good night sleep. Well, come morning, I was getting ready to leave when Will comes into the room, nervously laughing. I ask him what was wrong, and he responds with "Uh..Your car is gone"

Dear God, when will this bad luck end?

I rush downstairs and outside to find that he's right, my car is 100% gone. It got towed. So, we found out who towed it, and Will offered to pay the $160 to get it back. I wasn't about to fight him on it because 1. this bitch told me my car would be safe there 2. I have no money 3. he has a rich dad.
After getting my car back, I drove home and spent the rest of the day looking for work. I got a text from him asking if I want to go to a concert on Wednesday. I agreed, So this Wednesday ill be seeing a band called Brand New perform as well as Modest Mouse. It should be fun.

Mormons can be Goths too

I'm friends with Metal Head SFX Artists now. I live in California. Don't judge these posts. shhh..

Since I have been in California, Every night has been an adventure. I have gone to lots of bars with these people, and I always, always get shit on because I'm 19 years old and a "baby" so its been tough. They want to get me a fake ID lol. But, aside from the bars, I have been to some pretty weird parties as I previously mentioned.

One of them being a Gothic Pool Party. Yes, you heard me. a Gothic..Pool..Party. I laughed out loud when I heard we were going. I was excited to be honest. I was curious to see what this pool party had in store for me. So, on the night of the pool party, I whipped out everything Black that I owned. It felt like Halloween. I went for a heavy black smokey cat eye, Black lips (of course) paled my face out, and wore a dress. I actually liked the look.

Unfortunately, I was not able to wear it out, Because right as we pulled up after driving 30 minutes to this party, Cody selfishly decided he didn't "Feel like going" so we went home. But, its not important.
Whats important is that we ended the night by going hot tubbing and it felt wonderful.

Up next in these crazy events I have gotten to call "my life" has to do with Mr. Billy-Thorntons offspring. Angelina Jolie's step son. Oh yes.

-Micah

 Goth Micah will return

First day F*ckery

My first day at work was nothing short of insane.

I was told to arrive at 9:30 am. I got there on time surprisingly (if you know me then you know how serious this is). I originally was hired on by Mark as whats called a "Runner". What happens is young people who are trying to get into the industry want a job at a studio, they usually get stuck being a runner for a long while before the shop even lets them touch materials. A Runners responsibility is to drive in the horrible LA traffic all day and go get materials that the employees need. Things like 5 gallon buckets of polyurethane, silicone, brushes, buckets, cups, popsicle sticks, you get the idea.

So, I was hired on as a temporary runner for mark, and all I had to get me around is my wonderfully beat up 1998 Stick shift piece of shit. I told Mark I could do it and it would all be okay. and I was! I spent my first day at work learning the entire shop incredibly quick, people I didn't know yelling orders at me, having to keep track of receipts, multiple papers, money, the miles I drove, etc. I almost got hit by a semi-truck on one of my tiny excursions to Nigels Beauty Emporium, but I survived that first day and did everything I was asked, even in a timely manner. I was proud I did all of it with a busted GPS.

But, unfortunately, I was cursed as a young child to have the worst luck known to man, and it was only a matter of time.. My car decided to break down on me as I was getting off the Freeway home from work. I had gotten lost in LA because of said broken GPS, and it took me a couple hours to get back to Santa Clarita. as I was exiting the freeway to finally come home (exhausted, mind you) my car began to violently shake. it died on me, and took 3 times to get it turned back on again. Once I got it running again, I noticed my "check engine" light was on, and the hood of my car leaking smoke. Yayyy.

I hurried and pulled into the nearest gas station, which was a Chevron, and turned my car off. I sat there for a bit in disbelief. What the hell was I going to tell Mark? I have to have my car to get to work, I have to be a runner, what if my car was ruined?? I stayed calm, and decided to call my dad and explain the situation.

We figured it out after a bit, and I decided to ask the employee at Chevron for help. big mistake.
This woman was the most awful human being I had come across since the Taxi Man. She ignored me until the third try, and told me she didn't know where any mechanics were. After trying to ask her one more question, she literally put a paper in front of her face, ignored me and kept reading. So I left. I decided to walk home and tell Nick what happened. We talked it out and he suggested I should call the Chevron to see if it was okay to leave my car there for the night.

This is where my childhood curse really kicks in. I called the Chevron bitch, our conversation went a little something like this:
 "...Hello?"

"Hi, I just came in about a half an hour ago looking for a mechanic, do you remember me?"

"..No."

". . ..I was just here, my car broke down?"

"No. Sorry."

"okay, well can you look outside to your left and tell me if you see a little green car?"

"Oh, I do remember you. I called my boss, your car isn't allowed to be here. Your car is going to be towed."

"What?? where?"

"I don't know."

"how much is it going to be?"

"My boss said the cost for you will be $2,000"

"can you tell him to wait? Ill try to move my car right now!"

"No, sorry"

WHAT.

Panic ensues, next thing I know I find myself banging on Nicks door begging him to take me to the Chevron by our house. I told him the situation and we found ourselves LITERALLY sprinting to the car to get there in time. Luckily we beat the Towing truck, and my car started by miracle. I drove it to the hill by our house and left it there.

First day at work, nothing short of insane. See what I mean?

I called Mark, and explained the situation, which actually worked out in my favor. I got bumped up to a shop worker since I couldn't do runs anymore. So sometimes life is nice to me.

I get rides to work with Cody now, since we work at the same studio luckily. I've been working on a movie coming out (I can't divulge that info yet) and a famous TV series called Criminal Minds. I've gotten to work with chemicals, fake blood, make intestines and guts, hack up fake body parts, etc.

I decided I'm not getting enough hours at Marks, I work one day then I'm off for three. I have to make  money for rent, food and gas. So I've called some other studios and I hopefully will hear back from them. In the mean time, this is where I'm at.

My Futurama live action film is out now! The Trailer was just released. its incredibly cheesy but I love that I can say I worked on it. Ill leave the link down below so you can watch if you'd like.

-Micah

Link to My first Film I ever worked on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfNRPKKF4qU

Chapter 2: Friends and such

As I explained before, I knew Cody from my previous trip to LA. But, I didn't REALLY know Cody. I worked with him for two days. So, you can imagine my timidness when it came to moving in with a stranger in California. I talked with him a lot through social media to make sure he was a good guy. I felt comfortable with him.

Whats Cody like?

Well, ill tell you. Cody is 26, a hardworking makeup artist who specializes in mold making, short, kinda looks like Jack Black, piercings, gages, and tattoos. (he has the taco bell logo tattooed on his thigh...little things.) and smokes weed more than he breathes. He's a complete metal head. His friends are all pretty much the same way.

You have Tommy, who looks like a slightly overweight Thor with piercings and owns a giant lizard named PoPo.

Reed, who is an incredibly thin cute-bodied boy with long hair and a bull ring in his nose. I have yet to meet Reed sober. lol. I love Reed.

Then theres Nora. Nora is a dude-lesbian chick who won the FX show "Face-off" you can imagine my fangirl-ness when I met her for the first time. I love her. But who would have thought I would ever have been friends with her like I am now? Its surreal.

Up next is Nick. Nick is my roommate with Cody. He's nicknamed "is-dick" because his humor is just straight up being an asshole. He's nice when you get to know him, that is if you can even hear him. I've never heard a person with such a quiet voice. Like ever. its honestly a little frustrating, he sounds like he's talking to you through a pillow when you're not even two feet away. lol.

Then you have Kyle, a morbidly obese sculptor with an incredibly pronounced brow bone. He's got hair to his shoulders, a middle lip piercing, and his tongue is split into two. So hot.

Last but not least is Willy. Willy is my personal favorite out of the group. He's a 2007 Tall, skinny Emo skater boy with a personality that matches. Very Vulgar, mean, condescending, but secretly nice/sweet. He's hilarious and is always the center of attention. I like him, even though he gives me crap more often than not for being a Mormon and "not knowing anything" lol. He lives in the most dangerous gang filled area in California (Panorama City) and always has a whiskey sour in his hand, and a cigarette to compliment it...Oh, and one other little important fact about Willy. HES BILLY BOB THORNTON'S SON.

Im friends with Billy Bob Thornton's son, WTF life?!?

This is my new group of friends. lol. reading it on paper makes me realize how weird this actually is.
But they are nice enough, and I think they like me.

So, I got to CA July 7th at 3:30 am. My 19th Birthday. I spent the day with my parents at Venice beach, and then ate at Bubba Gump's Restaurant in Santa Monica. It was a good birthday surprisingly. Most of my birthdays have been awful. I got all moved into my new room and met everyone. Day 1, done.

The next few days was just getting settled in, meeting people, going to parties (everyone wanted to know about my mormon-ness lol) etc. I found a Job about 4 days into being here, which is awesome. I am currently working at Marks Studio shop called Creature Effects in LA. They have worked on huge movies, one of their recents being The Revenant with Leonardo DiCaprio. Getting paid a whopping $10.50 an hour (WHAAAAT) and who knows if ill survive! life is fun.

next post is a fun one. Enjoy,

Micah

Reflecting

April 19th, 2016 12:01 am: "Hey, when are you moving out here?"

The message that started it all.

I decided that it would be a crime not to write this story down, I would look back on these experiences and regret it if I didn't document the little things. Because that's really what its all about I'm realizing. Little things. So, for the next however long I feel, I have decided to write about my experiences and thoughts about my recent move to CA.  Read at your own caution.

As I was saying earlier, April 19th is when everything was kicked into motion. In 2015 November, I got an offer while I was going to College in UT to fly out to LA and work on an upcoming movie. The man who offered it to me is named Glen. Glen is a renowned FX makeup artist, and I somehow managed to stumble into his life through casually speaking with a woman id never met at a hair salon right before I graduated High School. She put me in contact with someone, who put me in contact with Glen. We talked for a few months and I shared my work with him. Half a year later, while I was attending college, I got that offer, and it changed my life.

I had to make a decision fast, Glen explained if I wanted to work on this film, I would need to be on a plane to California within 24 hours. I didn't know what to do about College, so I spoke with my parents and within a few hours, I was packing my bags to leave to LA in the morning. I unfortunately had to drop out of college, and yes I wasted $3,000. But this was an opportunity I knew I couldn't pass up. So I went.

I remember being so scared to fly by myself, but I did it. I remember walking out of the airport, looking for a Taxi driver...ohhh..the Taxi Driver.

THE TAXI DRIVER

I got into the car of the first Taxi driver I saw. Mind you, This man was Asian, spoke broken english, but seemed nice enough. I told him the address, and he had difficulty finding it on his GPS. after about 7-8 minutes of asking me the same questions, hitting the GPS and yelling in God knows what language, this man demands to talk Dave (who was on the phone with me) Dave is also a makeup artist. I hand the taxi driver my phone, and instantly he and Dave were going at it. The Taxi driver threw my phone at my face. I picked up the phone and Dave said "Micah, you need to get out of this car. tell him" So, I did. He didn't let me out. He continued driving, waving his hands frantically and speaking in his foreign language. So, with more force, I demanded to get out of the car. The taxi driver slammed his brakes and told me to get out. My luggage was literally thrown into the street, and he turns to me and screams "YOU BETTA PAY ME FOR THIS TAXI RIDE YOU WHORE" I declined "FUCK YOU, YOU PAY ME NOW, I DROVE YOU" I declined again, and he sped off, leaving me in a random place.

I was terrified. I found another Taxi driver, but when I got into the car, she immediately got out and began vomiting. She told me to exit the car, so I did. Apparently she had "food poisoning". Ridiculous, am I right? But still funny as hell. I finally got a third Taxi driver who was mostly normal, aside from the fact that he told me I looked like a young Meg Ryan at least 8 times. I got to the FX studio, and began working immediately.

BACK TO THE MAIN 

Any who, my stay with Glen was fun. We had lots of conversations, inside jokes, and memories that were created. We are still friends to this day. I'm glad I know this man, because if it weren't for him, none of this would have ever happened. AND, I wouldn't have gotten to meet Pierce Brosnan and work with him. (Oh yes I did.) We made nose prosthetics for him and applied them at his temporary home, which was Steven Spielbergs old beach house. Yes, I got to go in there. Yes, it was the most beautiful house id ever seen. Yes, Pierce is a badass. He even paints, and I was lucky enough to be shown his little studio. Great guy, and surprisingly timid. it was a memorable experience for sure.

November 21st 2015




I came home in the beginning of December with a goal that I would move out to LA within the next year or two. I wanted to be there again. I missed it so much. So I guess, thats really how it started.
But fast forward a few months to April 19th, 2016. Cody, one of the Makeup Artists I met on set for the Futurama live action I was working on in LA, messaged me. He asked if I had ever thought about moving out. I said yes. He asked when I could move out, I said id let him know. Long story short, I drove my Poo-green 1998 Nissan Altima 660.5 Miles to the Land of Opportunity on July 6th, 2016.

Prior to this, I had been dealing with a lot. I was dealing with my parents fresh divorce, (they are still legally married though) and that in itself is painful beyond belief. I felt alone, thrown around, and just all around sad. On top of that, we were losing our house again. Money is tough. So, I had to move the entire house with just two other sets of hands in less than a month to a storage unit. I lived in a mans basement for a week in Cottonwood heights while we waited for our new home in Traverse to be available. Then I had to move said house AGAIN in 2 days. On top of that I was dealing with leaving my entire life behind to pursue this dream.

Saying my goodbyes was hard. I left everything behind. Friends, A boyfriend, Family, my Dog Gracie, The mountains, memories, comfort, you name it. But here I am. I survived it all and I didn't think I could. And I've never said this before, but I'm proud of myself.

So theres the little background I wanted to give. These next stories are more current, and they get better and better. The greatest part of it all, is that I have so much to write and I've only been here for 2 weeks. Take care,

Micah