Kanderson Out

'Ello, you lucky people!

The decision to flee came suddenly. The notion had been in my head since I moved to Denver from Greeley nearly a year ago. At that time, I thought I'd be living with my mother through the summer and move in the fall. However my funds were sorely lacking due to hospital bills and a low-paying part-time job at the Ballet. Then I thought, maybe after the new year. I'd make a lot of money working during Nutcracker (the busiest time at any ballet company) and could easily move after. But, around the beginning of October, I was offered a promotion to Secondary Box Office Manager which came with a pay raise as long as I remained with the Ballet until the season was over. Spring time?

It just seemed like everything in the world was trying to keep me in Colorado. Seemingly indefinitely. I even started thinking about staying at the Ballet for another while until my mom's lease is up in July. Conditions weren't perfect. I wanted to get more scripts finished, save a little more money, sell the Nova, visit L.A. once or twice, find a place, THEN move out. Well, nothing's ever going to be perfect. People would often ask me when I was leaving and my answer would invariably fall somewhere between "Beginning of May" and "Summer sometime." The real answer was, "I'm too afraid and probably won't ever." Then, as with most things, I got a little help from my friends.

My good friend Mike moved to L.A. in October. My good friend Joey moved to L.A. just a few weeks ago. My good friend Ryan moved a week or so after Joey. And let's not forget all the friends who'd already moved out there. Even friends not going to L.A. are already in or bound for somewhere else. At the Oscar party I attended two Sundays back, my good friend Kurt mentioned that he needed to go to L.A. for the acting showcase sometime in May and if I wanted, he would ride out with me and help me move, then he wouldn't have to buy two plane tickets. A good idea, but nothing definite. A good paycheck and decent tax refunds finally replenished my savings, so maybe this wouldn't be out of the question.

Which brings us to today. Joey and Ryan are both working as extras in The City of Angels. Last week, Joey was on "Two and a Half Men" and had a small conversation with Charlie Sheen and this morning Ryan told me he did a day on "My Name Is Earl" and had a pretty long talk with Jason Lee. Two good friends rubbing elbows with celebrities. And where was I? In the fucking ballet ticket office embossing vouchers by hand. That means I was pressing the CB logo onto every hundreds of sheets of paper by hand. If I wasn't already tired of my place in life, I surely was this morning. Then I received another text message. This one from the aforementioned Kurt Larson. "So I have to be in L.A. May 5th. Think that'll work?"

The decision to flee came suddenly. That was it. It was suddenly clear. I had a goal, I had a destination, now I had a date. At 12:20 PM, a half-eaten roast beef sandwich in my right fist and my cell phone in my left, I had a moment of clarity. This waiting around does nothing. I'm never going to be 100% prepared, so let me boil it down to the bare essentials. I need a job, I need a place to live, and I need a way to get there. Everything else will fall into place. May 1st, I will be on my way to being a Californian.

So, to you, Oh my brothers, I wish you well. I thank you all for being supportive of me and my dreams. If anyone has anything they want to say to me in person, I suggest doing it in the next two months. Let me just tell everyone out there who wants more out of life to do it. Just fucking do it. Don't wait for someone or something to hand you a ticket out. I'm scared to death of failing, but failing is a thousand times better than never trying. So, that's it. Look out, Hollywood. Kyle Anderson's coming. Everyone in Colorado, I love you all and know that I'm not leaving YOU. I'm just leaving.

Talk at ya later and keep circulating the tapes.