Second Quarter 2011
Let’s start where I left off…
WORK
Ok, so that gig at W? Done. Over. It lasted eight weeks and that was quite enough. Things were going fine until I had to actually work with, or rather FOR, someone. Here’s the thing about the two sides of a magazine: there is the editorial side (which is where I was for Bon Appétit for over five years) and the sales side (which is what this position at W was) and the two sides could not be more opposite if they tried. I’ve concluded that my personality is much better suited for the editorial side of a magazine vs. the sales side. In order to protect the not-so innocent parties I’ll abstain from sharing any stories from my experience. What I can say is that W is a beautiful magazine and I wouldn’t mind working on the editorial side of it, or maybe in a position other than a sales assistant.
Other than that I’m STILL looking for work. I saw what I thought were two PERFECT jobs for me – one at GLAAD and one at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center but neither have worked out…yet. I say yet because the latter position is still open so there’s still some hope. Fingers crossed!
CHEER LA
Cheer LA continues to make me happy. We’ve been very, very busy these last few months practicing for Pride season.
The first pride we performed in was Long Beach Pride in May. It kicked off the season and was really a great time. A long parade route, but a great time nevertheless. Then came LA Pride – what a weekend! It was long. It was hard. It was exhausting (still talking about cheering folks) but it was fantastic! On Saturday the squad performed near the main stage inside the fest. We couldn’t be ON the stage due to space. Later that night half of the squad went to cheer on the AIDS Life Cycle participants (one of whom was a Cheer LA member!) and the other half of us stayed at the fest to work the beer booth to raise money. Sunday started at 7:45 am. We performed before the parade started and then walked what seemed like the longest parade route in the history of parades. But that’s not all because we then had to perform our entire routine inside the fest. It may not sound like a lot but please trust me when I say I could barely walk home after that long day/weekend. The most recent Pride we cheered at was the in San Francisco the last weekend of June. It was the best weekend to date. We performed at various times on Saturday and Sunday on our own stage with other cheer squads – Cheer San Francisco, Cheer San Diego, Cheer Sacramento as well as a squad from Folsom and Dallas, TX!
The parade was super fun. Walking and cheering and stunting in downtown San Francisco was phenomenal. The amount of people out to support gay pride was incredible. So much so that I got a little emotional. Sure people are out to have a good time for the sake of a good time but you could tell that these people really believed in supporting the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community. If you’ve ever been discriminated against for any reason – sex, color, ethnicity, religion whatever – you know what it’s like to feel on the “outside” of the general population/community. This parade and the parade like this that happens around the world to celebrate gay pride help bridge the gap that has been felt in the past and work towards minimizing and ultimately removing that gap in the future.
Special thanks to my friends who were able to come out and support me both in Long Beach and in Los Angeles. I appreciate your supporting me and Cheer LA. Your presence meant a lot. Really.
On a “bummer” note I had a mishap at cheer practice about two months ago. Someone who shall remain nameless ☺ fell from a pyramid. I tried to catch her but oddly only one finger seemed to be in the range of help…and it didn’t do much help. In fact no help. The only thing that poor little finger did was bend all the way backwards. Yes, ouch indeed. The original x-ray concluded it was not broken so all I needed was time for it to heal. Cut to six weeks later when it still hurts and looks as though something is wrong. A second x-ray concluded that it is in fact fractured in two places. Nice. Btw, did any of you know that a fracture might not necessarily show up on an initial x-ray? I didn’t. Now I do. I need to start “finger therapy” and then the doctor will tell me what the next steps are.
SYTYCD
I did what I tell all my friends that are bloggers (new or old) – DON’T promise or even suggest to promise something is going to be updated on a regular basis on your blog unless you KNOW you can/will do it. Cut to: me saying that I’m going to do a SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance) update each week and then haven’t. Ugh. I thought it was going to be so easy. As I may have already mentioned in a previous post last year friends and I wrote our thoughts religiously each week. What happened this year?! Maybe because I was the boss of starting the comments and just never did. Sorry guys.
But on the subject of the show I was lucky enough to attend a live taping a couple of weeks ago. The sister of a friend had an extra ticket (from placing herself on the ticket list THREE years ago) and I was so happy when I was asked to attend. Because they give out more tickets than they actually have seats for (to ensure a full house) we were kept at bay until it was confirmed at almost the last minute that there were going to be empty seats. My party and I were split up and I ended up with what I thought was the best seat in the house. I was on the main floor, fourth row center. The judges were just over my left shoulder. Before we started taping I turned to wave at Nigel and he smiled, said hi and waved back. We’re such BFs. Kat looked even more beautiful in person. The dancers were outstanding! And since the show was taped (but running live on the east coast) there were no retakes or feet dragging. We were out of the show within 15 minutes of the show ending. Add to that it was taped at CBS studios which is about a seven minute drive from my apt. Great, great time!!!
DATE
I’m going to try to do a video of to explain one of the more recent dates I’ve had. You kinda have to see it to believe it.
So I guess that wraps things up. I’m not sure I’m going to make it back to Chicago for Market Days this year due to still being unemployed. I may, however, through the generosity of a benefactress be coming to Chicago in September for a wedding. That is TBD…stay tuned.
WORK
Ok, so that gig at W? Done. Over. It lasted eight weeks and that was quite enough. Things were going fine until I had to actually work with, or rather FOR, someone. Here’s the thing about the two sides of a magazine: there is the editorial side (which is where I was for Bon Appétit for over five years) and the sales side (which is what this position at W was) and the two sides could not be more opposite if they tried. I’ve concluded that my personality is much better suited for the editorial side of a magazine vs. the sales side. In order to protect the not-so innocent parties I’ll abstain from sharing any stories from my experience. What I can say is that W is a beautiful magazine and I wouldn’t mind working on the editorial side of it, or maybe in a position other than a sales assistant.
Other than that I’m STILL looking for work. I saw what I thought were two PERFECT jobs for me – one at GLAAD and one at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center but neither have worked out…yet. I say yet because the latter position is still open so there’s still some hope. Fingers crossed!
CHEER LA
Cheer LA continues to make me happy. We’ve been very, very busy these last few months practicing for Pride season.
The first pride we performed in was Long Beach Pride in May. It kicked off the season and was really a great time. A long parade route, but a great time nevertheless. Then came LA Pride – what a weekend! It was long. It was hard. It was exhausting (still talking about cheering folks) but it was fantastic! On Saturday the squad performed near the main stage inside the fest. We couldn’t be ON the stage due to space. Later that night half of the squad went to cheer on the AIDS Life Cycle participants (one of whom was a Cheer LA member!) and the other half of us stayed at the fest to work the beer booth to raise money. Sunday started at 7:45 am. We performed before the parade started and then walked what seemed like the longest parade route in the history of parades. But that’s not all because we then had to perform our entire routine inside the fest. It may not sound like a lot but please trust me when I say I could barely walk home after that long day/weekend. The most recent Pride we cheered at was the in San Francisco the last weekend of June. It was the best weekend to date. We performed at various times on Saturday and Sunday on our own stage with other cheer squads – Cheer San Francisco, Cheer San Diego, Cheer Sacramento as well as a squad from Folsom and Dallas, TX!
The parade was super fun. Walking and cheering and stunting in downtown San Francisco was phenomenal. The amount of people out to support gay pride was incredible. So much so that I got a little emotional. Sure people are out to have a good time for the sake of a good time but you could tell that these people really believed in supporting the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community. If you’ve ever been discriminated against for any reason – sex, color, ethnicity, religion whatever – you know what it’s like to feel on the “outside” of the general population/community. This parade and the parade like this that happens around the world to celebrate gay pride help bridge the gap that has been felt in the past and work towards minimizing and ultimately removing that gap in the future.
Special thanks to my friends who were able to come out and support me both in Long Beach and in Los Angeles. I appreciate your supporting me and Cheer LA. Your presence meant a lot. Really.
On a “bummer” note I had a mishap at cheer practice about two months ago. Someone who shall remain nameless ☺ fell from a pyramid. I tried to catch her but oddly only one finger seemed to be in the range of help…and it didn’t do much help. In fact no help. The only thing that poor little finger did was bend all the way backwards. Yes, ouch indeed. The original x-ray concluded it was not broken so all I needed was time for it to heal. Cut to six weeks later when it still hurts and looks as though something is wrong. A second x-ray concluded that it is in fact fractured in two places. Nice. Btw, did any of you know that a fracture might not necessarily show up on an initial x-ray? I didn’t. Now I do. I need to start “finger therapy” and then the doctor will tell me what the next steps are.
SYTYCD
I did what I tell all my friends that are bloggers (new or old) – DON’T promise or even suggest to promise something is going to be updated on a regular basis on your blog unless you KNOW you can/will do it. Cut to: me saying that I’m going to do a SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance) update each week and then haven’t. Ugh. I thought it was going to be so easy. As I may have already mentioned in a previous post last year friends and I wrote our thoughts religiously each week. What happened this year?! Maybe because I was the boss of starting the comments and just never did. Sorry guys.
But on the subject of the show I was lucky enough to attend a live taping a couple of weeks ago. The sister of a friend had an extra ticket (from placing herself on the ticket list THREE years ago) and I was so happy when I was asked to attend. Because they give out more tickets than they actually have seats for (to ensure a full house) we were kept at bay until it was confirmed at almost the last minute that there were going to be empty seats. My party and I were split up and I ended up with what I thought was the best seat in the house. I was on the main floor, fourth row center. The judges were just over my left shoulder. Before we started taping I turned to wave at Nigel and he smiled, said hi and waved back. We’re such BFs. Kat looked even more beautiful in person. The dancers were outstanding! And since the show was taped (but running live on the east coast) there were no retakes or feet dragging. We were out of the show within 15 minutes of the show ending. Add to that it was taped at CBS studios which is about a seven minute drive from my apt. Great, great time!!!
DATE
I’m going to try to do a video of to explain one of the more recent dates I’ve had. You kinda have to see it to believe it.
Untitled from Don Pietranczyk on Vimeo.
So I guess that wraps things up. I’m not sure I’m going to make it back to Chicago for Market Days this year due to still being unemployed. I may, however, through the generosity of a benefactress be coming to Chicago in September for a wedding. That is TBD…stay tuned.
I want a video with EVERY post. I loved it (and Sleepy McSleepyhead).
ReplyDeleteDon,
ReplyDeleteSeriously, most time when I see blog posts this long I scan through and can barely get through the whole thing.
YOU on the other hand have me so engrossed by your stories and the way you tell them.
I love your first video. And no, if you choose to go out with "sleepy" again it is not desperate. Give him a fair shake. Everyone has bad days.
Miss you! Love you!
Char
I certainly hope you are here for the wedding! We are sending invites this week. I know we're a little behind schedule but we (well I) have been procrastinating and our invite designer, or as you refer to the Old Hag, (who we love dearly) was on vacation (the nerve of her)! Anyway, love the blog...you really should be a writer, always interesting and humorous! See you soon!
ReplyDeleteFIERCE. Agree 100% with Natalie. Video each time, s'il te plait. ♥ ♥ ♥
ReplyDeleteDON - LOVE LOVE LOVE the video (and update) !!!!!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I am dying to see that video but, need to watch it when I get home from work due to the fact I do not know how to turn down my speakers on this computer and I am in a cube situation here at General Mills. Secondly, anything long and hard that leaves you exhausted and not being able to walk is always a plus. Rock on there. And, lastly, can you not think of some way to parlay your love of Cheer LA and passion for supporting GLBT issues into an actual paying job? Who runs Cheer LA? Do they get paid? Do they need help? Anyway to expand it or publicize it? Why is there not a Cheer Chicago, or better yet a Cheer Minneapolis branch? You're creative . . .make it happen! Love you Don!
ReplyDeleteShe, whom shall remain nameless, has been named on numerous occasions! And for the Don Blog reading community this stunt and this flyer (for that matter) was called the snowflake. It came down so beautifully, whimsically, and just overall perfectly each time. Well,...except for that time it was coined acid rain - but that was NOT the time that hurt Don's finger. He probably hurting typing away on his resumes and is embarrassed to say. How dare you take your keyboard injury out on a completely unique and utterly exquisite FABULOUS snowflake. Shame Don- SHAME! Other then this one falsehood. Love the Blog keep trucking. xoxo, your snowflake
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I can name the nameless snowflake!!! :)
ReplyDeleteWell, I would never fall asleep at your table.
ReplyDeleteThat's the best you have Sutton? Weak!
ReplyDeleteWhat's with the pompadour?
ReplyDeleteIt's my new summer "'do". Who is anonymous?
ReplyDeleteRe: "The Date". Oh my. Yeah, I'd be like, "Uh, sorry to keep you up. . ." But seriously, does your inclination to reconsider a second date make you desperate? No. I think it makes you kind and compassionate. *Something* about the guy is making you reconsider, so I say give him another chance. : )
ReplyDelete