Things You Could NOT Have Guessed (Probs...)

Oh man, life just got intense.

First of all, I got my second internship on The Young and the Restless (CBS)!! Which is basically the opposite of Present Pictures, experience and content-wise.

Where to start?

Here is my schedule:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: 10:30am-6pm- Present Pictures, 7:30pm-10pm- class

Wednesday, Friday: 9am-6pm- Y&R

I feel VERY involved in Present Pictures and I feel like I'm making real contributions. Basically they are trying to reach college students to have colleges book screenings of their films. When the website for that is up, I'll send it to you. But... they obviously want to know what I think about how to reach college students prone to watching movies... about which I definitely have some insight. I had a meeting with them the other day and it was intense and awesome.

They also want me to do a lot of stuff outside of when I'm actually there. The stuff is interesting, but at this very second, it's a little overwhelming. Although it's not like there is a due-date... but I want to be the very best intern I can be, so I'm setting mental due dates that are ... a little nuts. Basically I have six movies to watch (one completed), read a 175 pg book on marketing in the digital age, and read a script and do coverage on it.

PLUS I have to read two scripts and do coverage on one for my class that IS to Monday. I am resentful of this, although I'm trying not to be. These are long days though! But at least scripts are interesting. It's not like I'm forced to read the complete works of Homer or something.

Yesterday was my first day at Y&R. They obviously relied on me WAY less... especially since I don't know my way around at all. That place is HUGE and there are a JILLION people that I need to interact with. On the plus side, I'm supposed to be meeting everyone and learning about everything they do as a general internship rule, and... I kind of already know everyone at Present Pictures (although at some point I will for sure question them about some specifics). Although I must say, it's difficult because I consider remembering names and having a sense of direction to be specific weaknesses of mine. I tried to write down all the names and positions and places these people might be located that I could remember when I got back to the office. Having written down 21 names (I counted), I can confidently say that that is about half. Right? Get the gravity of the situation?

Nevertheless, I get to interact with editors, directors, APs, sweeteners, the person who does the music, a writers assistant, the actors... and more! Also, I don't have to answer phones, it seems, which is great because I had a lot of anxiety over contemplating that task. Mostly I just have to deliver stuff to people. But I will get the chance to look over any of the parts mentioned... including watching the tapings. Although in the office, the TV plays the taping of the show.

Yesterday I mostly read and did a synopsis of one of the scripts in between all of my runs. I also read a few letters of general fan mail. That was interesting, although I'm not comfortable talking about what it said on a public forum. Lot's of confidentiality on stuff, which I'll say again, is going to hurt this blog.

I will say that every is SO nice! In general! In CBS and Present Pictures and the people I meet on the deliveries and pickups that I've done for Present Pictures.. and even people I've met in my building. Everyone smiles as you pass them. I've had a jillion conversations with people on the elevator both in my building AND at CBS. Plus, literally EVERYWHERE you go, people will offer you a drink. I went to pick up something at a warehouse and they offered me a drink. Amazing.

A few more things about CBS. I'm not working on the lot, I'm working at the studios. So the shows that tape in the building include but POSSIBLY are not limited to (but... maybe it is just these few shows... impossible to say):

The Price is Right

The Bold and the Beautiful

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (YES!)

The Young and the Restless

Also... I'm pretty sure The Wanda Sykes Show tapes there.

Which brings me to:

MORE CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS:

Wanda Sykes

AWESOME! I just smiled at her when I saw her in the CBS building. She smiled back.

Kate Linder (Esther on The Young and the Restless)

I had a lengthy discussion with with her when she came up to the office and I had to ask her to sign pictures for charity. She was very kind and apparently has been on the show for about 28 years.

Michael Muhney (Adam on The Young and the Restless)

He also came up to the office, although I didn't really look at him directly. The script I read had a lot about him, but I can't divulge any of it. Also, to me he kind of looks like Justin Kirk, who is actually in one of the Present Picture movies that we're bringing to the colleges (Four Boxes). I may watch that one next.

Sorry to keep going (except it's my blog!), but for one of my classes we had to watch The Deep End. I watched it and ... didn't really care either way because television dramas don't interest me. Well my class ripped it APART! But I couldn't really see the nuanced reason why this show was so much worse than a Grey's Anatomy, although I've admittedly never REALLY seen an episode of Grey's. It just bummed me out because they are all far too Joni Mitchell to me... and this makes me think that maybe I should lean towards movies after all, since I seem to only understand the entertainment value of sitcoms. Or maybe I should just overcome the Joni Mitchell and watch the dramas so I have an idea of why people watch them.

No new Office this week. LAAAME.

Also, I haven't watched The Daily Show or Colbert Report or any late night show in probably two weeks. I am resentful of this and it needs to stop. The problem is that roommates are still around at 11pm. Bummer.

Things You Could Have Guessed

I still haven't done many L.A. things, I am sorry to report. Loan check has still not come in and I am on a very tight budget. As always when this happens, I have made a list of the things I want to get when I have money again... IMPORTANT things. Like... another pair of jeans as I have only one and am SURE that this is giving a bad, albeit unfortunately truthful, impression of me.

I DID go to In-N-Out, which I have to say, was HIGHLY disappointing. Admittedly, I didn't have anything from the secret menu... but it seemed like the perk to that menu is fries within my burger, which wasn't particularly appealing. Mostly, it's just a regular burger... but they toast the bun. Secret sauce... same as all secret sauces... some orange concoction made, presumably, of ketchup, mayonnaise, and... hopefully something else. Now I realize that I have, perhaps, an enhanced feeling of skepticism about standard foods that people go nuts about when it comes from a certain place (pizza from NY... not impressed, pretzels from the Philly area... eh), but... I really don't think I can fall for these ruses any longer. This is not like the hype of Avatar, which was totally deserving!

Speaking of which, I blew a huge part of my budget to see Avatar AGAIN. Totally worth it. What's not worth it though; taking the freeway at 6:30pm on a Saturday night to see a film. If I was driving, I would have shot myself in the face. I must say that while I felt totally comfortable driving when I got here, every time I go out now I get very scared. I think it's because I do it so seldom. Unfortunately, I find myself chanting "I suck at driving, I suck at driving, I suck at driving" for LONG portions of every journey I take. I know this is terrible and will only decrease my confidence, but I don't seem to notice I'm doing it until about three minutes in. I must work on this.

Tomorrow is my first day at my new awesome internship. The lady (I couldn't think of what else to call her) gave me a script to start on today, which I will surely have finished by tonight. It was WAY cooler than the other one that I had to do coverage on for the internship I failed to get earlier. On the downside, I'm going to be hard pressed to think of some notes for it. On the upside, I'm not sure that I'll have to give notes at all because it might be the final draft. Impossible to say. But I do know that tomorrow I'll get to watch TiMER (see previous entry for details) and possibly Good Dick, if I don't watch it tonight. AWESOME! I am super pumped!!

I finished the sixth Harry Potter (for the jillionth (third) time) last night. It was amazing, I naturally wanted to die at the end, and most importantly, it made me LOATHE the movie which I ALREADY loathed! I knew they fucked up... but now I see that they... I can't even think of how to express how AWEFUL that interpretation of the book was. I really don't think I'm being overly critical on this. I really think they missed the ENTIRE point! For me it doesn't matter, but what about all those poor people, like my mother, who only watch the movies. She might shed a tear at the sad point in the film (I won't give it away, just in case). But she SHOULD be bawling her EYES out! And even MORE importantly, I REALLY don't know how they are even going to start the seventh movie since they excluded all the parts that allow you to understand what Harry needs to do. It's just a disaster and I can only hope that in the future, when technology is even less expensive than it is now, they'll make another version and they won't care how long it is because they'll know that the story is the important part. Also, hopefully they won't worry about the all-British cast because that is definitely NOT a good enough reason to compromise acting. Obviously I'm talking about the kids. Come on! Can't we look through the pool of kids in other countries with skills!? I'm not pushing for American kids for a nationalistic reason... but way more kids are GROOMED to be amazing actors in America. Sure it may ruin their lives, but artistically we need them!!

Moving on.

I think I failed to mention that tap water here tastes like butt. It's okay though because I bought myself two gallons of water and it lasts longer than I would have thought (although I do believe I'm drinking way less water.. which is a shame). Even MORE importantly, most of the grocery stores have a machine in which you can fill your own gallon jug for $.25. This is the future and I accept.

I'm so glad that I'm going to start working with what I think will be a far less intimidating crowd. Today in class, my professor talked a lot about networking and I almost started to cry-- although I am currently having emotional instability that is associated with womanhood this week (get it?). I just find it horrifying to network. I find it even WORSE to think about asking other people for favors, especially when I have nothing to give in return. While I was trying to hold back tears of panic (don't judge me), my professor went into how we also need to make sure we aren't too sensitive because people will take advantage of that. Lame.

But seriously don't judge. I'm sure it'll be fine...

I am nearly finished with the third season of How I Met Your Mother. Intermittently my roommate and I decided to watch a few episodes of Friends. Veeeeery similar shows, they are. I accept this as sitcoms tend to be very similar. In fact, I mostly applaud it. Still really loving the Neil Patrick Harris. Plus I am MUCH more accepting of the other characters now. The show is really growing on me. I think I place it below That 70's Show and above The Big Bang Theory.

As you can see, I am mostly reading (and giving the impression that I'm quite the bookworm, I must say-- isn't it strange going to a new place and giving off impressions of yourself that you know aren't really true. My roommate pointed out how much I love eating eggs. How strange. I am a read-y- egg-eater to her), watching TV, and talking to Kevin on the phone almost every night. Things that I can do ANYWHERE!

When I have a little more money (and can stop having dreams about needing my oil changed... true story), we'll see what I become.

Present Pictures

First internship procured!

Even better, I am SOOOO pumped about this company (Present Pictures). The other company that I interviewed at (Panther Films) created Ghost of Girlfriends Past and Dan in Real Life (although the guy also did About a Boy for a different production company). Fine.

But please review THESE movies! (If you don't want to look at them all, the following is the order of importance, in my opinion... but ... try to watch them all so you can feel adequately jealous)

TiMER-- This is the movie they are promoting right now! It isn't a trailer but look at the video portion and/or the synopsis. The video is better because it has bits of the movie. And it isn't too long! Seems AWESOME to me!

Almost even better!!

Good Dick -- This is NOT about a guy named Dick... so watch it! Also, you can watch it instantly on netflix! But seriously, it seems GREAT!

AAAAND

The Babysitters -- This one has John Leguizamo and is definitely of the dark, teenagers having sex (hard to say whether pregnancy or drugs (favorite movie subjects) are involved) genre.

ANYWAY! If you can't tell, it's very grassroot-y. They are all women. They have a DOG in their office! I think I'm going to be allowed to do a lot and I think the scripts are going to be super cool. I skimmed the blog of one of the women and she DEFINITELY seemed like the kind of person I would love to be around (if you want to check it out)! As did the woman who interviewed me. AND unlike my last interview, I was not NEARLY as nervous.

GOLD!

One internship down, one to go. But I'm feeling MUCH better now!

Blog to Keep Up Good Karma

I'm being a shitty post-er and I tell you why. Surprisingly little is happening. I keep thinking I'll just wait until something worth writing about happens... but it never comes. So today I'll tell you the tidbits that I've been saving up. Be prepared, they may be far less interesting than you would hope from an early post from my new life in L.A.

1. I made an AWESOME breakfast the other day (yeah! Exactly! THIS is the stuff I've been saving up! Damnit...)! I made myself hash browns, bacon, scrambled eggs, and I placed fresh orange slices around the plate. Then I added home made guacamole to the eggs (from the third of FOUR batches of guacamole that I've already been a part of) and some hot sauce. Then I had a glass of milk and a glass of coke to go with it. It was AWESOME!

2. I went to the Getty Center, which is an art museum but they are really thrilled about the architecture and the gardens. It IS very cool.

Doesn't this part of the garden kind of look like the one in Coraline?

Here's part of the building. I chose these two pictures because I didn't want to upload any from my phone and these ones were on my roommates facebook. But you get the gist.

When we went through orientation, we went through a lot of emergency procedure. This covered earthquakes, terrorist attacks, and fires... but I've never been given so much detail about fires before. When we went to the Getty Center, they casually mentioned some areas that got caught on fire. What I'm saying is, fires are everywhere. I'm really glad I listened to the fine detailed emergency procedure carefully.

We even had TORNADOES and a FLOOD WARNING yesterday! Crazy!

3. I am 2/3 through the SECOND season of How I Met Your Mother. Obviously I'm growing attached. Also, I may start watching The Wire through no fault of my own. My roommate Meggie got the entire first season on netflix and says we should make a day of it. My willpower and curiosity may be too weak to turn down such a request.

4. I accidently started reading the Harry Potter books again! DAMNIT! I really only started with book five, which I have now finished. Thank goodness I didn't start with one again or... I'd never go out and learn about L.A. The problem is, every time I see a glimmer of one of the movies I'm like "I MUST remember how this REALLY goes!! Baaaah!!" And what am I supposed to do when all of the books are just waiting for me in the car?!

Amazing though. Just fantastic!

5. Funniest thing so far. Medical marijuana ads! Go ahead and count them.

14! They are ALL dispensing weed! Even the ones that don't totally look like it (go ahead and look it up online!). Oh the money you save, coupon clipping for pot!

Let's just take a closer look at one, quickly.

TWO A.M.!!! FREE SAMPLES!! FREE DOCTOR REFERRALS!!

Hilarious!

ANYWAY

My other roommate, Diane, and I are going to In-N-Out today. PUMPED!

Also, I can't neglect to mention the Globes. I just want to point out how unfortunate it is that a JILLION great GREAT movies came out last year and for this year... The Hangover is a winner. And I'm really all for those kind of comedies getting picked! And I didn't even see the movie and I'm sure it's great. But... It's Complicated was also a contender! And also... Avatar, which absolutely deserves every art direction and cinematography award there is... is NOT a best picture. So we'll see what happens at the Oscars but... this is kind of a dull year.

(While I was writing this, I got another interview for tomorrow! That's called good blog karma, people! Keep the blogs coming and good fortune is sure to follow! (that sounds right...))

More Brilliant L.A. (With Pictures)

Pictures.

First of all, this is the picture I just took from the desk in my living room!!! Please note the abundance of children and beauty (see the fountain?!). Also, in the bottom left, covered in a clump of trees is a little cafe.

Here it is. It sells coffee, pre-made sandwiches, and SMOOTHIES!! Also the man is very nice and allegedly remembered my roommate's name when she went back the next day (he said he pretty much knows everyone) (my roommate is the one ordering in the picture-- she's dressed VERY California!).

I was going to take more pictures of the apartment... but I couldn't decide if that was appropriate or interesting. I got bored whilst deciding so I'm just showing a picture of the living room. To the right you can kind of see the black desk and there is also a dining room table (the yellow sweater is on one of the chairs). That is the window through which I took the first picture. To the right is the kitchen and through the door is the hall that leads to the other rooms.

Here is one of the pictures I took at the beach the other day. It's KIIIND of sunset-y although I thought it was closer to magic hour while I was taking the picture because I forgot I had sunglasses on. When I took them off, it didn't really seem like sunset at all.

This is my picture of the Tar Pits (as featured in My Girl 2). It looks more like a pond and doesn't REALLY smell too much... definitely not as much as you would think. What amused me was how violent the only statues are within the pits. Look at how this sad mastodon family (allegedly... they look an awful lot like regular African elephants to me...) gets slowly and painfully ripped apart for eternity. Meanwhile, people play all over the park and visit the museum full of only fossils they removed from the pit.

ANYWAY, I went to my first interview. Naturally I was terrified and arrived an hour early (it only took me 15 minutes to get there...) I don't feel I can talk about it for two reasons:

1) I don't know what I'm allowed to say about ANY of these matters or any scripts or any people... and as this blog comes up first when you google my name... I feel I should just keep everything to myself. Lame as I feel that would significantly enhance the quality of this blog.

2) I don't know if I'll get the job... so better not divulge until I know.

ALSO I had my first celebrity sighting! I saw Jane Lynch (Role Models, Glee, 40 Year Old Virgin) at The Grove (shmancy) while we were on our way to the farmer's market during orientation.

If any Chords people read this, I was wearing my Chords shirt at the time and felt it was appropriate.

Got to pick my classes. Weeeell... I got to pick ONE class, which was a bummer because I HAVE to take two of the classes that are taught by the same guy and seemed a little Joni Mitchell. I wouldn't care except there were three other classes that seemed AMAZING but I was only able to pick one. And it was tough because one class seemed most helpful to learn about all the different jobs in TV-- good for if I don't want to be a writer and also good for understanding the whole process. One class was a VERY in depth about writing right NOW which is great for if I DO want to be a writer (my alleged dream (I WILL stop using the word "alleged")). The last, and most interesting seeming one, was about representing talent which is KIND OF good for knowing about your own agent and the choices they make... but mostly a LITTLE useless. I chose the middle one. Hope it works out... (I'm sure it will).

Made guacamole yesterday. Heavenly. Suddenly I am obsessed with avocado in a way I have never been before. I can only attribute this to brainwashing at the border.

Watched the latest, and my first, episode of How I Met Your Mother. LOOOOVED Neil Patrick Harris! Buuuut... I was especially unhappy with Jason Segel, who I ADORE in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Freaks and Geeks (although not SO much in I Love You, Man). I was also disappointed in Alyson Hannigan... although I can't compare her performance to her other works (didn't watch Buffy and ... how can I compare to American Pie?). But, I can't judge the show solely on this episode. Further research is required.

Lastly, I must mention that my roommates are so far both early sleepers. One goes to bed promptly at 10pm (TEN!) and the other seems to be much more flexible, going to bed any time between 10:30pm and 1am. Regardless, we have many doors and thus they don't mind that the TV is still on. I watched Stewart and Colbert in peace (meaning without the anxiety of someone wanting to watch something else. I wouldn't mind anyone watching with me, of course). Brilliant.

Double lastly, my only complaint: The water tastes like DEATH! For REAL! And I ALWAYS drink my water from the tap! I filled my water bottle the other day, took one sip, and was forced to pour my water bottle out immediately, fearing the taste would stick even when I poured in fresh water. Even through the brita it tastes terrible. So far, I've been forced to buy gallon jugs at the store (as is at least one of my roommates). It's really too bad. But if that is the only problem, I'll ABSOLUTELY take it!

Problem Solved

I only have energy to say one thing:

Time change going west does WONDERS for my sleeping schedule. I feel that as soon as I slip into a 3am bed habit, I'll just go west-er. Problem solved without disrupting my desire for instant gratification.

Dying of Pleasure

Guys, I am so effing pleased I could die.

Where to begin?

1. La Brea Parks is AMAZING!

a. Warm as hell, in a pleasant way. I think today was 78 degrees! Jealous? You should be!

b. Basically it's a little community, almost like a college campus. The BU people are all spread out (fine), but there are actually families here!

c. My building is next to, in my opinion, the easiest landmark to spot within the community. What is this landmark? A little park! In the middle is a huge, beautiful fountain surrounded by palm trees. There is also, from what I can tell, a little tiny outdoor cafe that is lit with Christmas lights. Palm trees everywhere and little kids playing on the grass! I'll put up pictures later but it's dark now. I need to clarify that this is a tiny little park, which is so quaint and nice I could die.

d. There are MANY of these little areas. There is an entire other area with a fountain. There is definitely another area with a cafe and tables and chairs. It's like (/ absolutely IS) a little gated community. And the people don't seem like snobbish gated people. Just regular citizens, all incredibly pleasant. Plus there are little patrol guys who say hi when you pass them. In addition, there is a work out area and an outdoor pool all at my disposal. AND allegedly there is a little area where old people play chess outside! I LOOOOVE that! PLUUUS I can park in front of my building for 30 minutes (to unload groceries) AND I have my very own parking spot in a garage.

2. The area is brilliant!

a. The parks are right down the street from a Trader Joe's AND a regular grocery store. There is also a farmers market nearby and definitely a Good Will in the vicinity.

b. We're RIGHT near Hollywood. I can't see the sign from my window, but if there were no buildings around, I bet I could. We went to the Chinese Theater yesterday and saw the star walk and the hand prints!

c. There are beaches everywhere! Yesterday we went to Venice beach, which was BEAUTIFUL!! Seriously. Plus it was awesome. It was like the boardwalk but for young adults instead of pre-teens. Bongs everywhere. Right down the street (I do have to drive but... who cares?)

3. My apartment is AMAZING!!

a. The living area is ENORMOUS! There is a full sized table and a couch and two chairs (not ugly, part wood couches. Big comfy couches). Plus a desk and a billion feet of completely empty space. AND a coffee table! I've never lived anywhere with this much space, including my actual home! Not to mention one wall is completely window overlooking our little fountain!

b. The bedroom is ENORMOUS. Walk in closet. I have two dressers but I can only fill the smaller one. The view is amazing and we have two full bathrooms for the three of us. Plus it has air conditioning!

c. Wireless. Enough said.

d. The kitchen... oh god the kitchen! New! Huge refrigerator. Tons of cabinet space. Any equipment I would ever need to cook with. The trash can is even hidden in a little closet! I also have, brace yourself, a DISH WASHER!! And a toaster! And a drying rack. Obviously a microwave (I no longer have to decide if I want chicken 3 hours in advance). There is even a little basket for fruit (which I have! Local oranges, a mango, a pineapple, regular apples, avocados (not a fruit but whatevs)).

e. DVR. AAAHHH!!!

f. I guess these things aren't as exciting as the first ones, but they also gave me a towel and washcloth, sheets, a comforter, pillows. We have a vacuum and an iron and ironing board. The entire place is lit with lamps so it's very attractive. Even the floor is some sort of wood paneling (great acoustics in the living room). We even have real glasses and china plates, along with all the cooking things. I could just die. DIE!

4. The people!

a. There are only about 40 BU students in the program. And the program has people from many majors so I assume only about 10 are TV. Amongst them are my favorite girl from my writing classes that I mentioned previously and a boy that I really loved from OCS.

b. My roommates are great! I spent at least 20 minutes talking to one of them about TV shows (which I realize comes with the territory, but awesome!) ... and some other things. But she owns tons of shows and we only overlap on Arrested Development! How I Met Your Mother, here I come! I spent a lot of time with my other roommate, with whom I'm sharing a room. We even went grocery shopping together and have decided to embark on a guacamole project. When we saw the avocados, I mentioned that I didn't know how to make guacamole, kind of hoping that the woman picking out avocados next to us would jump in a tell us how. SHE DID! Miracle.

c. We had a little Chinese buffet dinner (delicious) during which we mingled. I spent some of my time talking to a girl about celebrity babies and I spent some more time listening to another girl describe her disappointment when she went around all of the celebrity haunts that she could think of. Did I mention that they filmed The Hills at La Brea Parks (where I live)?! Crazy! Although to be fair, I don't think you'd ever guess that because the people I've seen do NOT seem to be wealthy. Allegedly there are some really shmancy places in here, although I haven't really seen them. The point is, these are my people. At the dinner, which was at a fairly little place because we're such a small group, they even packed up the leftovers into little cartons and we could just take them as we left! How considerate! Plus they had valet parking! Although we pretty much all walked... but it did not seem like a place that would have valet so I was really tickled.

5. The program.

I really will probably be able to comment more on this tomorrow after our all-day orientation, but right now I will just say that it seems VEEERY laid back. While one of my roommates has already secured three internships, my other one only has one interview (just like me). It seems a lot of people were on the latter side of the boat and the program people were VERY relaxed about this, simply shrugging and saying "don't worry, you'll be fine." Great.

I am also SOO glad my mother came. She was SOOO cheerful the MOMENT we left. She pretty much never got annoyed at all. Plus she was SOOOOO excited to see the Hollywood sign and the beach. I thought she was going to wet her pants. It was so nice to see her so relaxed and happy. Also, she took me grocery shopping and for the first time I got to be the supplier of all of the extra stuff like hand soap and toilet paper. I felt so cared for, which I didn't really get to experience at all while I was going away to Boston.

Just to mention, in Arizona we stopped at a little street fair market thing which was AMAZING! I got a copper ring for $8 (that was actually at a store and it turned my finger green, which is a little annoying... but the ring is still nice). I also got a bracelet with about... 8 jade turtles on it which only cost me $1.50! Insane! And I got a little necklace on which was a figurine of the Declaration of Independence and a feather pen and "1776" on it, which I thought was hilarious. $2! Also, when we were around the Chinese theater, I got a deck of playing cards that had a different celebrity mug shot and a brief description on each card. I could die.

I think my next post will be mostly pictures of these things. You really have to see all of these things to believe them.

I'm SO HAPPY!!

(Sorry for the excess caps and exclamation points, particularly the latter which can really be annoying sometimes.)

Arizona Appreciation

I love being in a hotel for more than one day. I love finding your own night time places and routines.

When I stayed at a ski resort with my dad last December, he, Asiana, Indigo and I all stayed in the same room. They went to bed at 10pm and even if I was capable of happily sleeping at that hour, I was in the middle of rereading the Harry Potter series at the time. There was just no way. I ended up finding my way to the lobby where it was freezing but it had big couches and a burning fire. There I could read and watch while drunk people stumbled in at 1am. One notable group of 50ish-year-old ladies came in on both days. Upon seeing me the second day, one lady, reeking of beer, staggered over to me and in a southern accent asked "You readin' the Bible again? Say a prayer for me, will ya? Lord knows I need it."

Here at the Scottsdale, Arizona Days Inn, which is one of the loveliest hotels I've ever stayed at, I've found a beautiful patio to sit and reread some David Sedaris while sipping a pepsi. It's essentially the perfect temperature and I'm tickled by the fact that it's January. I ate one of the oranges on the tree outside. It's questionable whether it's allowed, but if it is it beats a basket of fruit by the front desk by a mile. The orange was juicy and soft and tasted a bit like a hybrid of orange and grapefruit. Although afterwards my mouth kind of started to tingle like it was falling asleep and I could have sworn my lips were slightly swelling, undetectable to anyone but me. I was worried that it might have had poisonous pesticides but decided that that would be ridiculous because the Days would probably be sued at some point. Thus I've settled on the hypothesis that my mouth was experiencing a physical enlightenment from fresh fruit.

In addition to the 70 degree weather, and the beautiful flowers that accompany it, we passed by a hummingbird that clearly had no qualms with being near people.

And look at this sunset! (My phone officially has better capturing capabilities than my camera)

Plus, while I can't honestly say that I know an authentic burrito from a non-authentic burrito (nor do I care), I did have the BEST burrito today.

Loves the Arizona in January. Although I'd hazard to guess that it's a super-bitch from... April to October.

It's incredible that I'm going to be in L.A. tomorrow. I keep having brief but meaningful panic attacks.

Pre and During the Grand Excursion

I do finally know what's going on... albeit on the fourth day of the trip...

Here's the plan:

1. Leave PA on Monday-- Grandma, Mom, and I. (check)

2. Arrive in Phoenix on Thursday. (check)

3. Stay in Phoenix until Saturday (my mom works tonight and tomorrow).

4. Arrive in L.A. on Saturday.

5. Poke around L.A. on Sunday.

6. Move into new apartment Monday between 10am and 6pm. (Grandma leaves for her home in Florida early on Tuesday and mom goes back to work in Phoenix for Tuesday and Wednesday).

In L.A.:

-I have two roommates-- one has a single and the other shares a room with me.

-Lots of mandatory orientation business whatever.

-First internship interview on Wednesday (I'm not giving details because I don't want to be asked about anything until it's actually relevant to my life. I haven't even told my mom or grandma that I have an interview because of the questions... but it's kind of a lose-lose situation because I get the impression that they're worried about me getting an internship at all-- tough choice and I choose secrecy).

To sum up, I am in Arizona right now. Very phallic place (cacti). There is an orange tree right outside of the hotel. Plus, it is glorious and warm. It's like early June without any humidity. I feel like I cheated and got spring 5 months early.

We might go and see the Grand Canyon tomorrow but it's hard to say since we've been driving CONSTANTLY. Right now, all I want is to be alone and watch a movie. Maybe play the sims. But I'm glad we're done driving for now, although it wasn't as terrible as it seems it would be.

MOVIE SECTION:

Avatar: HELLZ YEAH!!! It was like Fern Gully on crack, story-wise. Visually... amazing. SEE IT! See it before it's not in the theater anymore. 3-D mandatory. At first when I saw the avatar characters, I was like "meh... cool but not BRILLIANT" but as you go through the world, you're like "No more real people!!! Avatars only, please!!!!"

Also, I watched Shopgirl, Imaginary Heroes, Sense and Sensibility, and Romeo + Juliet before I left (stocking up for the likely movie-less trip). Brilliant all. Movies ripen with each viewing, in my opinion.

Lastly, I painted this for my mom for Christmas (but finished after Christmas) making it my first painting of 2010. I used my cell phone to take the picture of it so it's a little blurry. It's of my brother, sister, and me.

It's Complicated--Movie and Otherwise

I forgot to mention that I lost my ATM card. More accurately, I left it in the ATM and forgot it and cancelled it at 6am out of panic. While I probably COULD have gone back to the bank and asked for it, according to my mother, I had to get a new one. I THOUGHT it wasn't going to come until after I left for L.A. (Monday), but miraculously it came today. Excellent.

ALSO, I forgot to mention my most important Christmas gift: a GPS.

I've named it Grandpa, after my grandpa who previously used to give me all of my point-by-point directions in the car. I can already tell that it's going to be my best friend. I went to the DMV with NO PROBLEM all by myself. Miracle.

Most people complain that the GPS doesn't give you the most efficient route. I assume it picks the shortest route without regard to the speed of the streets or something like that. I don't know. Regardless, I've already had an elaborate fantasy in which I use the GPS for the first two weeks of my internship in L.A. I spend the next two months using this now memorized route. One day, I mention how I get to work to someone and they are flabbergasted by my driving decision, redirecting me to a much shorter route. My travel time is cut in half. However, I only have two more weeks of the internship. Optimistically I will think to myself, "At least I'll be able to sleep longer for these last, lovely two weeks." If I continue the fantasy positively, I get a job close by and I regale the tale to people that I don't know too well as an icebreaker. Some people love stories in which they can relate to actual street names (although I don't happen to be one of them). This may or may not spur an entire conversation of "funny" I-got-lost-on-____-street stories, during which I will give practice to my fake smile accompanied by fake enthusiasm. BUUUUT if I recognize someone else displaying similarly faux happiness, I may try to befriend them.

I'm so glad I have a GPS.

In other news, I now have a license in PA. I have to wear glasses to drive now because the eye test was less lenient.

My grandmother is here, which is nice because I'm finally getting some information about the trip. Although it's awkward because I keep having one-on-one conversations with all of the adults in the house about how a different adult is the enemy. Meanwhile, my brother, sister, and I hoard upstairs and whine to each other about how everyone is angry and scary and we have no where to go. Soon I'll be alone again in sunny sunny California.

Grandma and I saw It's Complicated today. LOTS of elderlies in the audience. They were very appreciative and at some points, the laughter was so hard that I missed large parts of dialogue, which doesn't really happen that often. That being said, there was one big scene in which all the characters were at a party that was a laugh riot! Funnier than I would think any scene could be in such a movie. Plus, if you're going to watch a blockbuster comedy about the post-menopausal and male-equivalent, you couldn't do better than Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin-- that's an objective fact. Plus, I read that John Krasinski was great in it, which I took with a grain of salt (I am constantly skeptical when I hear he did well, which is strange given the depth of my love for him-- we apparently have a rocky actor-viewer relationship). However, he really was one of the best parts of the movie. He's really got charming and kind of awkward DOWN. And I find no fault in playing those characters. I mean, that's all John Cusack does and I'd have it no other way.

Today when I was bored, I decided that I would like to watch some movie commentary. If I was to say that out loud (which I didn't) I think it would be funny. What a lucky world we live in where we can just HAVE commentary. Plus, I think that is my new found advantage to owning so many movies. Maybe everyone has access to the actual film, but the commentary is for me.

Anyway, I picked The Royal Tenenbaums (my first picks were About a Boy and Stardust, but neither had the option). While I often find myself in a very distinct mood from watching Wes Anderson films, I can't say that they usually REALLY move me. I think it's because they seem pretentious and I can't get past that. However, the commentary was ONLY Wes, and... he really doesn't seem pretentious at ALL. He really came off as more about collaboration and appreciating what everyone brings to the film. I really feel bad and am DEFINITELY going to check out Rushmore now. And probably The Life Aquatic. This does NOT make me rethink my presumption of David Lynch's pretension, however. That douche won't even cut Mulholland Drive into chapters for the DVD. Not that the movie was awful... but still... I wasn't THRILLED.

Tomorrow. 3:30PM. Avatar.

YYYYYEEEESSSSS!!!

I'm going to shoot someone in the face if it's over-hyped.