On the road (again)
I honestly can’t believe we have moved yet again. Syd and I both spent the better part of 10ish years give or take in California. The last few we spent together once we met. Before we met I lived in Valley Village, Burbank, Thai town, and East Hollywood bordering Los Feliz. We moved to the Pasadena area when we moved in together, got engaged etc.
The last few years we spent in Albuquerque New Mexico. We tried to love the desert we really did. The skies and quiet were stunning. Culturally it was a difficult place. Aside from a few really hard working people we met (Especially in the Film Industry) it was truly the “Land of Mañana” AKA I’ll do it tomorrow.
Albuquerque Desert skies above
For people as hard working as Syd and I this became so frustrating it almost became unbearable. You never know if someone would show up for an appointment or answer a phone call. . . It was nearly impossible to get a doctor’s appointment, and the nearest grocery store was 20-25 minutes away and really dirty and dangerous. Think breaking bad. . . We hope it gets better with time, and that they get better film incentives for film people.
Our types as actors also weren’t as in demand in this region. Casting really tried for us! My type kept getting cast out of LA who get better opportunities even remotely. Syd’s accent got in the way. A lot of his roles went to old white actors. As actors you are products. You have to make sure there’s supply and demand where you live. We needed to be in a bigger market with more opportunities. We are trying to rent out our Albuquerque home to a company that rents to film people exclusively. We’ll see how that goes. We are still local hire status there too. . .
We missed trees and water and good manners in general
(Although we miss our lovely friends and neighbors fiercely). So we did a lot of research and trips and settled on A gorgeous superb north of Atlanta! (Which we mentioned in a previous blog).
We packed up and moved in what felt like a flurry of speed and chaos even though I’d been packing for weeks and weeks. Moving is always difficult physically but it’s hard to anticipate the emotional toll of being uprooted, missing friends, being reminded of old memories and that box of papers that you shoved into a closet that has to be gone through. . . In our move from Pasadena to the desert we ended up burning a ton of papers in our exhaustion. I hope we didn’t burn anything important. . .
Here we are a few weeks in! I’m just finally starting to feel like we live here. Sherlock and I have met lots of sweet dogs and people at the dog park. It actually made me miss the old dog park gang in my old hood. They were some of my very favorite people I met in Albuquerque and were a little near daily community I was fortunate enough to connect with.
The movers were excellent. All mighty Movers based out of Albuquerque. They were amazing seriously. The rest was rough. I however, to get Sherlock to ATL with us I ended up having to change airlines, buy a new carrier (with my rental car) and fly to Seattle stay overnight to fly to Atlanta. They didn’t tell me that my bag would be checked through so I was also without all of my stuff. I slept in a towel and lived off of the toiletry kit from the airlines.
BUT we got here and we’re settling in, replacing things, still dealing with fixing up the ATL house etc.
It’s a lot on top of my Dad being ill and in hospice. I’m maybe even going to get a moonlighting bartending job at an upscale neighborhood bar/restaurant with the economy the way it is. That being said we are always building our businesses. Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards. . .
Our nearest grocery store is 6 minutes away! Our local library is fancy. Our neighbors are nice here too. Life has gotten a lot easier in a lot of ways.
We are loving the nature. The trees, the river, the lake, the culinary scene. It is gorgeous here and more our speed. We miss California from time to time, but not the taxes and the toll it takes to live there in every way. It was magical though. If we ever win the lottery, we’ll get a place in Pasadena.
Now to get really really excellent agents here. . . The kind with offices in lots of big markets. So so ready. Bring it on.
If you want to see me fix up the house one little project at a time follow my youtube Type A-Ish https://www.youtube.com/@typea-ish9719 or my Tik
Tok. https://www.tiktok.com/@typeaish?_t=8Zn9m5XwBzS&_r=1 https://www.tiktok.com/@typeaish?_t=8Zn9m5XwBzS&_r=1
Thanks for reading dear friends! Life is in flux, but the changes were good ones. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and let the chips fall where they may. With big faith.
-Megan
The Adventures of Syd and Meg 