“Marissa is friendly and well liked by the other children. She makes friends easily and is sensitive to the feelings of others. Marissa is able to settle disagreements in an appropriate manner without adult supervision.
Marissa expresses herself well, is self confident and possesses many leadership qualities. Marissa listens and is able to follow directions. She sticks with a task to completion and is able to seek help when she needs it.
Marissa has excellent large and small motor skills. She participates in all school activities and is eager to try new activities.
Marissa has a very good grasp of the alphabet and number skills as well as a solid beginning with phonics.
I have enjoyed working with and getting to know Marissa this year. It has been a real pleasure to have her in class and I am confident she will have a successful kindergarten experience.”
- Sylvia Latona, Grace Lutheran Preschool
May Nineteen Ninety-One.
Once upon a time- in an immoral era of Whitney Houston number one hits, Top Gun and cocaine- Dave and Gail Ross popped out a kid.
And that kid was me.
My mom wanted to name me Jessica but my father refused on the premise that Jessica Walter tried to kill Clint Eastwood in Play Misty For Me. Subsequently, I was named after some model. My middle name is the most predictable right next to Marie (which happens to be my sister’s). My last name is the eighty-ninth most common in the US and a prime example of Ellis Island screwing up lineages.
Thus, I am Marissa Ann Ross.
I did the whole growing-up bit forty minutes outside Los Angeles, in a little ‘burb called Upland. Then I booked it, “going to college” in Orange County. Realizing I didn’t give a hoot or a holler for Astronomy 100 or any form of Algebra I supposedly needed to get by, I left and graduated from the Baron / Brown School of Theatrical Arts in Santa Monica. To secure my place in the school’s history, I made sure to really piss them off, get blackballed & end my acting career via email.
So, now I live in Echo Park with my dog Zissou, & my amazing Dudefriend, spending my time experiencing and creating and consuming Charles Shaw in bulk. I try to split my time between working and over indulging. I also really like music, which makes me pretty original too. Most pieces exhibited on T&tT are the product of practicing the art of writing every day, combined with the anxiety of writing every day and a myriad of coping mechanisms (humor, hubris & late afternoon drinking binges).
One might say this is an Auteurist blog- all written and video content is created and produced in house by me, Marissa A. Ross, via Macintosh products via my brainpower. The only thing I don’t do is my own camera work but that’s what I have gullible friends with access to equipment for.
Here’s a video some people who thought I was cool made.
It’s me being real.
Contact: TangentTime@gmail.com
Hey you, good meeting you on nye. Remember, I edit, so if you need anything done Im here.
Great site, much respect.
yo girl, my dog’s name is zissou as well – reading that was almost shocking! never heard of anyone else with a pup of that name. cool! legit blog, as well.
Your video really inspired me; even if I’m not sure exactly what it is that will make me happy, what you said gives me hope and support in knowing that I can stumble around and try different things til I find what’s right. Thank you for being you and making it ok for the rest of us to be us, too.
This was the sweetest. Thank you, so much. <3
So happy to find your site through Hello Giggles. Your video was very inspirational. All of my friends think I’m Oprah crazy, but these things are true – not cliche. I think I will transcribe these words and read them everyday! Weird?? No!! Thank you again!
They’re definitely true and I tell myself this stuff all the time! Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise, you know what’s up.
Kelly-had to reply. Though probably most “Kelly’s” are also “smelly”, I thought you would appreciate that my pre-school best friend was nicknamed Binky, and we both had older brothers-so yeah-good times!
Great post Marisssss a.
Oh gosh, Binky’s pretty bad! How long did that one stick with her? Boy, the things kids come up with…
She is still Binky stinky to the people that knew her back then.
Love you more now that I know you live in Echo Park. I was born and raised there!
What a wicked little video. Your honesty is fantastic and I’m totally in the same boat as you were – actress at a crossroads, wanting to blog, trying not to get hung up on stats. Sometimes I’m embarrassed to say what I do but you’ve made me realise I shouldn’t let people and their (mostly unwelcome) opinions affect me so much. Really inspirational stuff – thankyou!
you’re amazing. thanks for this
Yeah! Shit. This is exactly how I feel right now, yesterday and I’m pretty sure tomorrow too. I am so through w/listening to people because it hasn’t worked thus far. Let me try running this for a bit. I’m on the way to getting happy again and you just made that journey a bit easier for me. Thank you!
you’re absurdidly georgeous. and I don’t even know if absurdidly is a real word.
Thank you! Especially for making up a word for me!
I just came across your blog today and have spent the last hour and a half being inspired by you and what you do. I’m 22 and soooo trying to make a way for myself in this crazy world of blogging or writing on whatever it is that we all seem to want to do, and reading your stuff has kind of made me realise that you’ve gotta start somewhere. It seems you didn’t just wake up one day with a kajillion followers and a minimum of 11 likes on any one of your instagram photos…so maybe one day if I stick at it, that may happen to me too. Or it might not… as I live in North London and therefore do not have as many beach-related concerns as you do, but only the future knows that hey?
So I guess in conclusion what I’m saying is you’ve given me a little hope that one day I might be as cool as you, and be able to get away with using the word ‘fuck’ in an online public domain (I can’t quite pull it off just yet). So thanks, and I look forward to reading more tangents. xoxo
Also, I really like your hair.
Thank you so much for the kind words. The truth is, blogging is just like anything– if you do it every day you will get somewhere. But it takes a lot of thankless work. Only in the past year have I received any sort of notoriety on the internet and I’ve had this blog for almost four years. Just write every day and write whatever you want, no matter what people say. People will tell you all sorts of things but if you just do what you love, it’ll all work out. Even cussing too much, talking about drugs & being day drunk. It takes a long time to figure out your voice and even longer to find an audience so just start and don’t stop. In four years, you’ll be closer to where you want to be. Promise.
Best of luck and thank you again for reading, enjoying & taking the time to tell me about it.
You are seriously awesome and an inspiration. Let’s be friends?
Thank you, you’re so sweet! And we already are friends.