So...When Exactly Will I Head to California?

I had a conversation with a friend of mine- no names please (only I'll mention that he's a few years older). This man is an Air force vet, and travelled the world ("...and the seven seas/everybody's lookin' for something..." I just had an Eurythmics moment here). He even wrote books, but lost the manuscripts to them.

I'll cut to the chase here. He's constantly telling me that I need to get things together, get my book published (though I thought I told him that I write scripts...challenging, sin't it? As you know I'm teaching myself Final Cut Studio, the video/film editing for the Macintosh, and Cinema 4D, a graphics program. Both programs are about to reach these grubby hands of mine...but, anyway...), and basically leave Portland. He's right on both counts.

So the question to myself: when exactly am I leaving Portland for Los Angeles? Yes, I thought about staying in Sacramento- albeit temporarily (and I still might, by the way)- but even if I do, it still doesn't change the fact that my backside needs to be in Los Angeles. After all, it sure as hell isn't going to come to me, is it? And I don't think some studio's going to come up to Moscow on the Willamette...er, Portland, Oregon, and say, "Darren, we'd love you to work for us." Doesn't happen, true believers.

So, having said this, I know that I'll be in California before 2006 is out. In fact, if I get my shit together, I'll be in the City of Angels in mid-October for Screenwriting Expo 5 (this year, the Expo's being held near LAX). And after I help vote (incumbent democrat) Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski out of office (and help put Ron Saxton in...hey, I'm Democrat, but I won't hesitate to vote for someone from the opposite party...), then I'll return to Los Angeles for awhile. Take those filmmaking classes I've been wanting to take forever, and start working in the industry.

But I've got to get working on this now, because if I wait any longer, I'll end up procrastinating, and find myself in a real mid-life crisis. As in "what have I've done over my 40 years (as of next July) on this planet?"