#RealDeal: The daytime number close

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Eric. He is a MAASSTTEERRR social dynamics expert that will be talking about his experiences in the field from both an expert, and experience perspective. He's not just saying "this is how to get the girl" he's here to share his actual life stories and lessons learned from them. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT ERIC !!</editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @Redolpho

Today I left my house to work and I decided to go to Danny’s Deli in Venice and grab a table. I was sitting alone and had my headphones in my ears. Two blondes sat next to me, ordered food and bloody marys, the time was 2pm. When they first arrived I made eye contact with a smile on my face. I knew they were not going anywhere for at least 30 minutes so I wasn’t in a rush. 

After about five minutes I removed my headphones to eliminate that barrier to conversation. I sat, continued working patiently, listened and waited for the opportunity to open. The opportunity presented itself when one of the girls accidentally spilled some of her drink on herself. Seizing the moment I commented, “Shit is starting to get wild!” and then laughed with them. I went back to work and continued listening. Then they started talking about tomatoes. The girl who I was interested in talked about how she did not like tomatoes. I also am not always a fan of the texture of tomatoes in my food. I used this to establish commonality with the girl I was interested in. 

Now it was time to escalate the conversation. I had been able to determine that they were new to the area. It was time to start demonstrating my value. I asked them what they were doing for the weekend and if they were enjoying themselves. This worked perfectly because they were new to the area. I asked what they were interested in and then made recommendations. Since I had my computer with me I used the opportunity to become friends with one of them through Facebook in order to pass on information about a pool party at The Standard that a friend of mine was throwing. (Facebook close) After listing a number of different options for them I expressed that I too was unsure about my plans for the weekend and said that I should follow up later. (Number close.) During the rest of the time we sat and built rapport. They finished eating their meal and when they left I stood up, we each hugged one another and agreed that it was very nice meeting each other. 

Take-aways:

1. Be patient when you can. Certain situations have built in time allowances but don’t wait too long. I engaged within 5 minutes of them sitting down leaving me 25 minutes to work.
2. A situational opener presented itself as an opportunity for seemingly spontaneous conversation. Seemingly spontaneous are the words you should remember here.
3. Always have something fun to do. Your calendar should always have options. If your calendar doesn’t currently have fun options, make friends who are out and about often. Many engagements will require follow up so have something in mind.

#thatisall

If you’d like to share your stories please feel free to tweet me at @redolpho or email me at eric dot rudolph dot carrillo at gmail dot com

Join Eric and Jen for their social dynamics workshop in LA on August 11th!

Click here for more info

#GameReview: The War Z

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Sean. He has a really rad site called Violent Gamer, and he's here today to talk about some of the latest and greatest in the gaming industry. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT SEAN !!</editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @violent_gamer

Arktos Entertainment and Hammerpoint Interactive announced The War Z, a zombie survival MMO that will put up to two hundred and fifty players in a large area and let them try to survive. Before you say Day Z is better or write it off as a Day Z clone, you should take a look all of the details. They are both zombie games, for sure, but otherwise they are very different. The War Z is indeed an MMO and it will be exclusively for PC. You will be able to play the game in normal mode, where death is merely a setback and you don't permanently die, or in hardcore mode, where your character will permanently die if you are killed. There are strong RPG elements like quests and experience/leveling. Each map will be between 200 and 400 square kilo-meters, which is about 250 miles at max, and players will be able to cooperate or kill each other. It isn't going to be as much of an open sandbox world as Day Z, mainly because there will be safe settlements where players can buy or sell items and leave notes for other players, but it still looks like it has a lot to offer.

Here is the initial list of the features in The War Z:

• Survival Horror MMO with entire game world build around a Zombie Apocalypse
• Two modes of play: Normal (downed characters can be revived after “cool down” period) and Hardcore (death will be permanent)
• Ability to switch between first-person (FPS) and third-person (TPS) perspectives
• Huge maps ranging between 200 and 400 square kilometers
• Meld of PvE (player versus environment) and PvP (player versus player) gameplay
• Unique social elements, including bounties, rewards, help requests, trap setting, etc.
• Safe Settlements: safe cities within the world where players can purchase, sell and store items as well as post notes for other players
• Single purchase, downloadable client with ability to play full game without subscriptions or requiring in-game transactions
• Full developer support with regularly scheduled, free content updates
• Dedicated public servers as well as private servers that can be completely self-managed in game client

One of the first things I wanted to note, in case you missed it in that list, was the pricing model of The War Z. Everyone is always worried about anything labeled MMO and how that means it will gouge them of money, but fear not, The War Z will be available for one single purchase, no subscription, and it will be regularly updated with free content. Sounds too good to be true and it kind of is. There will be microtranscations, but they are doing it like many other these days were all microtransactions do is save time for those who don't have it. They won't provide better weapons or equipment and everything you purchase with real money may also be purchased with in-game currency. You will be able to easily play the game without buying anything with real money and they just wanted to add the microtranscation as a convenient option. 

The War Z will have you scavenging for supplies, fighting off infection and leveling up your character. It has strong RPG elements and you will be able to earn experience, level up and learn new skills that will help you survive. You will also be earn in-game money and purchase supplies in the previously mentioned safe settlements. You will join a game through servers and you will be able to make friends and easily join them on whatever server they are on, or you may even go into a server as a group. Since The War Z is mainly a RPG there will be quests in the game. Initially they thought to have you unlock new areas through quests, like a traditional RPG, but they were inspired by Day Z to drop that idea and to make the world open from the start.

The first world they are going to release will be called Colorado and they will periodically release more based off real places like New York or Los Angeles. This will all be released free to anyone who owns the game. Story wise the game is set five years after a zombie apocalypse and the world is left with few survivors, few supplies, destroyed cities and a few zombies are starting to evolve into something more.  Around the world there will be discarded notes and diaries that will reveal stories and information about the world. The notes and diaries aren't just for lore either, some of them will allow you to find hidden equipment or supplies if you read them carefully. There will also be notes left by other players, which could lead to your demise or end up helping you, depends entirely on them.

The War Z is a survival game, so you will have to eat and drink to survive, but you will also have to find medical supplies to heal injures. All of that is minor compared to the zombie virus, if you get infected with that you are in a trouble. Hopefully you will have a vaccine, but otherwise you will have to call for help from others or find one before you turn into a zombie. The developers haven't clarified what happens once you turn into zombie, like I would love to know if you will just die and have to create a new character, even on normal ,or if the the player have some kind of control over the zombie. It would also be interesting if player zombies were different from other zombies, like maybe they carried a portion of that persons supplies still on them and looked like a fresher zombie.

Like Day Z, The War Z doesn't have a specific goal for players other than survive as long as you can. There is no max level for your characters, but you can complete 100% of a world. There will be missions that you have to complete in order to achieve that and there will be leaderboards as well, all of which will be separate for the two different difficulty modes. Servers can be mixed difficulties, meaning hardcore and normal characters can both be playing on it, or specifically one. If you are on a hardcore server there will be rare and special gear that you can only earn there. Throughout the world there will also be memories, which are story sections of some kind that you can play through cooperatively with friends.

The War Z will be $30 with no subscriptions and a decent sounding micortranscation system (explained in the second paragraph of the post). They are currently in alpha and they are going to be running a beta later this summer for people who sign up on their website or those who pre-order the game, which you currently can't do. They are trying to release the game this fall, but we will see how that all turns and there are many elements of the game that I need to see in action before I am sold. However, I am very excited to see developers taking note of the popularity of Day Z and deciding to go in similar directions, which can only lead to good things. All information is taken from The War Z press release, but it is also from this splendid IGN interview that was put up today. Check that out for more, especially since I didn't cover everything they went over and they have some exclusive screenshots. Thanks for reading!

Main Website: http://thewarz.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/warzmmo

#nerdsunite

click here to follow Sean on the twittah!

#NerdsUnite: Dating & The Double Edged Sword

I'm in a really really really interesting position right now with Antonio - one that I can't say I don't think I've ever been in but is I feel like something a lot of people can relate to. Where is the happy medium between being an ice queen and from wearing your heart on your sleeve? 

I preach transparency, and preach how freeing it is - yet I'm still emotionally an EXTREMELY guarded person. Through my work with the modern day shaman, and my own journey in speaking my personal truth (DIY domme anyone? anyone?) I have definitely had an EXTREMELY eye opening couple of years. The biggest roadblock I've kept hitting however is the same transparent medium that set me free has also given me a rather large platform and has made me a target for men. Guys have told me over and over that they want to be a story, they want to be a "character." The only problem with that is that these are my REAL emotions and yes, while I am a lifecaster and a storyteller this is still my REAL life!!! I've then set up a series of boundaries in not documenting my dating in real time - but then someone like Antonio comes into my life and screws all that up again. 

This guy was head. over. heels. when we first met!! He was literally on his knees saying I need to know you!!! I had an incredible first few days with him in Vegas, but it wasn't until this past weekend in meeting his co-workers and friends that everything clicked - holy shit, this one is different!! The amount of RESPECT that everyone has for him, and TRUE adoration is off the charts. His friends weren't at all blowing smoke up my ass either, I have a bullshit meter like no other. Things are obviously happening incredibly fast with him (mostly due to the fact that all of our dates have lasted for a few days) but for the first time I'm pretty cool with that. I KNOW so through and through that this is just who he is and to deny this pace would be denying a piece of him. (He's older than me, already established in life, knows what he wants and has NO problem in going after that. Had I not as well done all of my own soul searching there's no doubt the attention would have been jarring and not endearing.) 

I meditated on this a lot this morning and the answer that just kept coming to me over and over was that I had to not care and I had to just let it all be. If this does turn into a whirlwind romance, or even if it all blows up in my face - so what!! My job in this experience is to not deny my true feelings and articulate them completely independent of a projected outcome. 

I genuinely cannot imagine anything scarier to be honest, but so what. If I stay in the present moment with Antonio I am having the TIME.OF.MY.LIFE. If it happens for a few more dates, or for a lifetime - who cares! I have to focus on living in the now and remaining as open and honest with him as I possibly can as we both explore each other. 

All of this of COURSE sounds so much easier said than done ... but in 100 years we're all still dead anyway, so does it really matter?? 

#thatisall

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#NerdsUnite: The secret life of a veterinary technician (Looking Forward)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Lindsay. She and I met ... well, somewhere in the social space. I think we might have started talking through this site directly, then through facebook - maybe ... I'm not sure. But she's awesome. I talk to her on twitter almost every day, and she's really rad and TOTALLY a big huge animal lover. Like crazy huge!! In these series of posts she will be talking about her life and random adventures with sometimes more than two legged creatures. I guess there's only one more thing left to say ... HIT IT LINDSAY!!</editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @TheCraftafarian

What a week! I don't know if you guys remember but right before last Christmas my boyfriend was fired from his job (bad tempered impulsive employer). Then a week later rehired, three months after that he was the manager, and I created/managed their social media accounts/online presence. Now he no longer works there again. Ha! Long story short--after being called in pretty much every day off he had in two weeks (including our 4 day stay-cation), he finished up all his work, counted out his money, said goodbye to two other staff members, and went home for the night. Thirty minutes later he gets a text from one of the other servers saying that the boss took him off the schedule because he didn't tell the boss he was leaving. We assume he is fired but find out he's actually "not fired but has no shifts this week and has to come to the meeting" (to be yelled at). He already had a job interview waiting in his back pocket. So we said fuck that and he's off to the next adventure. Who knows how often that creep will keep doing that. I really thought he was a nice guy deep down since he's helped us out of a bad spot financially once (and he was paid back in full) but after this crap I wonder if he's just an asshole or bipolar. This is coming from a girl with a chemical imbalance/whatever. Oh well, I am learning to not hold on to anger. The new job is some fancy members only club in downtown Orlando. No tips but consistent hourly pay and opportunities for advancement. I guess it's banquet dining or something, so it’s mostly set up and clean up. If anything it will look good on his resume and be great experience. Who knows, maybe he'll move up and love it there. 

As far as my job-- same old, same old. Vaccinating, neutering, and saving lives. You know. Hehe, well not quite that dramatic. We actually have three of the foster kittens at home with our two cats and two dogs (and bearded dragon) as we are having pest control down at the clinic. At work I found out that my friend (also my hospital manager and amazing artist) is having her first galley exhibit in August during the Downtown Orlando Gallery hop. It goes up mid august and her paintings will stay up until September. I offered to photograph the event, I'm no professional but my camera is decent. So I have that to look forward to. I'm pretty excited! The other thing that is coming up for me is that one of the servers my boyfriend used to work with (who actually quit when she found out what happened, good friend!) is a student at the local beauty school and offered to do my hair for free if I would be a hair model. Sounds great to me! I usually don't know what I want to do with my hair so I just find a hip looking stylist and ask her to do whatever she think would look good. She's been planning  my hair for a while now so we are both excited. I plan to take some before and after photos. 

So aside from the fact that we are probably about $400 behind as we are waiting for my boyfriend to start the new job, we do have things to look forward to: My birthday present from him(I have no idea what it is! It's going to be way late but who cares?), starting school for my vet tech license, Sundays off together, fresh food, walks with the dogs AND boyfriend, new haircut, photo shoot of an art exhibit, a boyfriend not utterly exhausted and unhappy from work, more time together!, and just life in general. Yay!

This photo is of the three kittens while they were at the clinic yesterday. Today they are all hanging out under my bed. 

Here's Michelle's website, the tree/nature paintings are my favorites! =^.^=

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Lindsay on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: The Ramblings of a Raconteuse (Why I should stop watching the CW's "LA Complex," but can't.)

editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Helenna. We met on twitter not too long ao, and she's totes mcgotes one rad chiquita banana with a flare for all things flair! That's right, Helenna here is what we call an artsy fartsy nerd. She's a poet, into all things dramatic arts, and she's going to come on board to write each week about her love of said drama. Well not like actual drama drama, like some cat fight shit - but you get the idea. I only have one thing left to say ... HIT IT HELENNA!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @Helslevy

Yup, not gonna lie, it’s hard.  Being an actor in LA can be crazy making at times.  I have a habit of always looking on the bright side of things, of keeping things positive because around that next corner there always seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.  That’s the only way you can be in this business and survive.

I’ve been talking to a lot of my female friends lately about the reality of “getting older” in Hollywood, and by getting older, I mean being in your mid to late 20s and not having “hit it” yet.  The reality is that this city is much more cruel than I have chosen to believe or have seen so far myself.  From the friend told by a network exec to lose ten pounds or she’ll never work when she already weighs under one hundred and twenty, the other girlfriend who was written off by a director as soon as he found out she was married, and the list goes on and on…

I’ve been lucky so far.  I’ve either somehow been shielded from the majority of negative feedback that can run rampant in Hollywood, or I’ve just always found a positive way to spin it.

Hollywood is an interesting beast.  We are products, pure and simple.  As actors our value for our representation is financial. We either make money for them, or we don’t, and if we don’t, we often end up sitting on a roster gathering dust, or are replaced by someone in our “type category” that can.  We can be the hottest thing one minute, and completely forgotten the next.  And this is the reality for talent that is nowhere near famous.  Fame brings it’s whole own set of complexities.

I’ve been watching “LA Complex” lately on the CW.  Yes, it’s a night time soap that over exaggerates story lines for the purposes of creating addictive drama, but it’s also a pretty darn accurate depiction of the things that go on daily in Hollywood.  (Well, with the exception of Canadians being able to work here without a Visa, oh and getting an agent right away, and booking work on major shows right away, and…well, you get the point.)  But really, it’s a dose of the underbelly of Hollywood straight to my tv, computer, or iPhone, every week and I’m addicted.   It shows the messiness of this industry I have chosen, and I should really stop watching it.  Why?  It puts me in this head space that I haven’t lived in at all so far while pursuing this career and life.  I see all of the bad things magnified, and I’m not sure I like it.  But, that being said, it makes me appreciate all of the good that much more, and I’m surrounded by a whole lot of good.

Despite the fact that “LA Complex” can put me in a pretty bummed out mood, I’m going to keep watching it because it’s fabulously done evening entertainment, and since the reboot of “Melrose Place” and “The Secret Circle” are no longer on the air, it gives me a good trashy tv fix.  And in all seriousness, it prompts some pretty great discussions with my friends about the things that are hard.  And yes, we were already talking about all of these things, but for some reason “LA Complex” has shone a spotlight on them even more for me, and not suppressing the realities of this city is important.

So while allowing myself to see the muck, I’m going to keep reaching out and using the resources that have helped me thrive so far like The Working Actress blog, Bonnie Gillespie’s Actor’s Voice, the Inside Acting Podcast, and all of the amazingness that the new media community and geek community have to offer.

Why?  Because I’m in this for the long haul, and I can either be buried under the weight of these bright lights, or I can run at a strong steady pace through this big city. And personally, I prefer the great calorie burning marathon.

Until next time,

#xoxo hels

tweet me at: @helslevy

browse me at: helennasantoslevy.com

email me at: contacthelenna@gmail.com