The Wandering Monkey

Hello again-
I just looked at my blog. I have been neglecting
it for a long time. Most likely, no one is
reading it anymore. So, if you are reading this,
you are the first one!
I am in Beijing, working for Microsoft. It takes
a lot of my free time. My life is nothing like
it used to be in Shanghai.
First of all, Beijing is not as good a city as
Shanghai. It is much larger here, and it takes
almost one hour to go across town by taxi. Plus,
the town is not nearly as beautiful as Shanghai.
The buildings in Beijing are square and
plain-looking. Plus, the people are not as nice
as those in Beijing.
On the good side, I do have a sustainable
lifestyle. I am making enough to live well. I
have a very large 3br apartment, and a maid. Of
course, I've always had a maid since I came to
China, but I do have one...
My life is mostly work right now. I am doing the
same type of work which I did in America --
business-to-business e-commerce. Setting up
systems, integrating ERP's, and so forth. It's
complicated work, and on top of it, I need to
follow all of the corporate policies for
documentation and procedures. I can't complain;
the job is good, the company is good. The people
are good, too.
I made a short video two weeks ago. Our local
department needed a promotional video, and the
guy in charge of it asked me to get involved. I
love this kind of work, so I said OK.
I wrote a small script, then I shot most of the
'artistic' type scenes. The theme of the video
was "University Break", based loosely upon the
"Prison Break" series: a student wants to get out
of the University and 'escape' to Microsoft, so
he asks his brother for help.
In all, I was happy with the result. I took a
lot of time to shoot it and edit, but everyone
who saw it liked it. The experience got me to
thinking.
While I do appreciate my job, it is a job. I
really liked working in movies more than anything
else. Including doing swing dancing. The other
week, I was at a Beijing Movie studio, and I
asked if they were looking for foreign actors.
They said Yes, and I told them I would send them
a short sample reel.
Last night, I put together a collection of clips
from my TV appearances. I can't find my movie
DVD's, but I asked my mom to send them to me.
When they arrive, I'll finish the sample movie
and send it off.
I would like to work on weekends and during
breaks making movies. I would like to work as an
actor, and eventually as a director. I really
get a kick out of the work, and I could see
myself doing it for the indefinite future if by
any amazing chance it could actually pay off.
Anyhow, one step at a time. I'm not going to
lose my head and quit my job. I lived a Bohemian
lifestyle for a long time -- and I got to tell ya
-- it ain't fun. There's nothing good about
living a life of art when you can't live in a
comfortable home. But I really do have an
interest in this. I want to pursue it and find
out what happens.
That's all for now. Probably no news on this any
time soon, but you never know!
Peace,
Jimbo