Get Off My Desert Lawn!

Tag: usc

  • Full-Circle Failure Pt. 2

    After graduating, I admit I couldn’t take defeat. I still tried to be a screenwriter. I knew a few people in “the industry” but there’s something about the Hollywood type. Their style of arrogance annoys me.

    On a quick sidenote, I went to Universal Studios the last March and our tour guide said “the industry” and I almost puked.

    Then I felt bad because I saw myself in that tour guide 20 years ago.

    Fast forward to today. It has been roughly a month since I quit my job as an Assistant Cage Manager for a Las Vegas strip casino. It wasn’t a bad job. It was easy actually, and it paid well. The problem was, like most people, I worked for a group of idiots. The level of mismanagement was too much to take. Not surprisingly, these higher ups all knew each other and were friends.

    One can only stay on a sinking ship for so long. If I didn’t jump off when I did, I would have died. I am not going down with something I don’t believe in.

    I will say I learned an extremely valuable lesson. Casino work is very similar to Hollywood, which is very similar to USC.

    If I learned anything from USC, it’s that I don’t have the required attitude to be a Trojan. I don’t need to be in the alumni magazine showing off what great accomplishments I’ve achieved. Hell, I don’t even tell anyone I went to USC unless someone tries to show off first.

    Just to be clear I can’t speak for other schools at USC. I can only speak from my experience.

    Hollywood was no different than college. Yes, I wanted to break in, but I didn’t have the Hollywood attitude either. I wasn’t better than anyone else, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to degrade myself just to have a shot.

    It took me twenty-two years of casino work to realize I didn’t have the attitude to become a casino VP. My nose points level to the ground, not up in the air, and I don’t take pleasure in asking employees if they know who I am. It’s almost like becoming a VP means you got a gold sticker. Now it’s time to show it off.

    Life is funny because I could easily get on YouTube or any other social media platform and make videos on Vegas and what to do/not to do in a casino and probably have millions of views.

    But I reckon being an influencer would be the same as casino work.

    I don’t have the attitude for what would come with going viral. I know what I want now.

    I want to stay in the shadows and bet horses. I can succeed at that. I can make a lot of money at it, and I have the perfect attitude for it.

    I don’t care what anyone thinks about me. I can dress in clothes full of holes and still hit a six figure pick 6. I don’t have to show off what I’ve won because it doesn’t matter to anyone but me.

    Money comes and goes, just like fame and fortune. It sucks if I have a bad day at the track, and it can be very humbling. But there’s always tomorrow, and one good day is all it takes.

    The same can’t be said for falling out of the public eye. Hollywood stars, influencers, business executive can lose everything in the blink of an eye.

    For me, failing was the best thing that could happen to me. I can study races in my pajamas if I choose. I don’t though. I’m a professional.

    I wear work sweats.

    Failure – you don’t exist. Me – for the win

    Oh yeah, and fight on! 🙂

  • Full-Circle Failure Pt. 1

    I am not famous. I am not a billionaire. I am not a business executive. I am not an influencer.

    So what?

    I am my own man, who does what he wants, when he wants. Poor me.

    I recently received my quarterly copy of USC Trojan Family Magazine. It is a magazine put out for USC alumni to see how great their fellow Trojans are.

    One look at me, and it’s hard for a lot of people to believe me when I say I graduated from said school. I am not a stereotypical Trojan. Truth be told, I didn’t fit in when I went there. Just like today, I was the guy that didn’t fit the mold. They couldn’t kick me out because I was smart enough to get good grades (on my own), but I wasn’t exactly the guy you wanted to put front and center to show off the great things USC offered.

    The funny part is in high school I wanted to be a screenwriter. I worked my ass off to get accepted to USC. Getting accepted was one of the greatest moments of my life. Walking the beautiful campus gave me an extreme sense of pride.

    Like Hollywood though, I soon realized it was all a facade.

    My problem was I wanted to learn the craft of screenwriting. What I learned was everything was an audition. My first class was filled with connected kids. A few had film producer fathers. One was already a published author. I was impressed, as it should be.

    Until I read their work.

    I won’t get into details, but the funny part was at the end of the semester my professor called me into the office and told me she didn’t think I had what it took to be a writer. She gave me a B when I needed a B+ to advance to the next writing class.

    Failure – 1. Me – 0.

    As luck, or fate, would have it, I somehow ended up at Hollywood Park for their Friday night race program with my cousin. Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred racetrack that is now So-Fi Stadium. My cousin had just bought a book on beating the races and wanted to try it out. When we left, he had profited something like $7. I lost like $20.

    Failure – 2. Me – 0.

    Being the competitive jerk I am, I scoured multiple bookstores and bought every book on horseracing I could find. It wasn’t long before I wasn’t even going to class. I was at the track most days. I did show up to class on important days, like tests and report days. In the end, I graduated.

    Failure – 2. Me – 1.

    One hilarious note, or slap to my face, was the commencement speakers were George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

    Draw. Failure – 2. Me – 1.