Saturday, November 5, 2011

Only in Los Angeles

Living in Los Angeles has its moments. I say this like people don't know this, like it's some city in the middle of North Dakota. What I mean to say is there are some moments when I think about the kind of things I've seen and done in this city, and I remember why I live here...and not some city in the middle of North Dakota.

Here are some of the highlights:

-I've walked around this city at 3 am and the streets are still full of people. Granted, these people are really weird, and half of them are sleeping on the side of the road, but there are people nonetheless. This has its ups and downs, actually. Living in Rexburg, you could walk around the city and not see another person walking around all night, which I kind of miss. There are time when I really miss it being QUIET.

-I've made friends with my bus driver. I take the same bus at the same time every day (the #12 at 9:20 am and 7:35 pm), and I have the same bus driver every day. I don't know his name yet, but we have nice little chats every time I get on. He's the best bus driver in town.

-Last week I was walking down Santa Monica Blvd on Halloween night. OH MY GOODNESS. The gays, they know how to do the Halloween. I saw go-go dancers, leather, facial tattoos, fury, drag queens. Men asked me how their hair looked, commented on my shoes, complimented my hair. I loved it.

-My internships sends its interns on a tour of the Sony lots every semester. This past week, I got to take my turn. I was actually dreading it; I had a ton of work to get done back at the office, and I didn't want to waste my time walking around. But, as it turns out, it was one of the coolest tours I've ever been on. I got to see technicians striking the set for the set of the batcave for Dark Knight Rises, I got to go into a foley artist's soundstage, I got to go into the room where they score all their films, I got to see Happy Madison's offices, I got to see where Adam Sandler plays basketball, I got to see the Ghostbuster's car, I got to see the Sony Yogurtland, I got to see the set of Wheel of Fortune, I got to see the room where they paint all their backdrops (which are incredible), I got to walk around on different soundstages, I got to see where George Clooney parks his car whenever he's on the lots, I got to see THE Barry Sonnenfeld, I got to see the Oscars for Kramer vs. Kramer and It Happened One Night, I got to see an actor who had just auditioned for a Tom Hanks project, I got to talk to a guard who told us that Will Smith was on the lots somewhere, I got to see a movie with a montage of a bunch of other movies. It was great.

I've gotten to see a few different celebrities: Shia LeBeouf, Dave Annabelle, Ali Larter, Kyle Howard, David Sutliffe, and Gavin Hood.

I've gotten to steal a couple of things from my internship that I probably shouldn't have. I've seen the script for the film adaptation of Ender's Game coming out next year, I've gotten to see Like Crazy and Another World, months before they came out.

I got to sit in the audience of Drive, one of the coolest movies I've ever seen, and recognize half the names that came up in the credits as people I work with every day.

I've seen hundreds of pieces of street art since I've been here from artist I love. I've seen original Shepard Fairey and Banksy pieces along with originals from the Ferus Gallery. THAT was cool.

And then there's Runyon Canyon. Runyon Canyon has become on of my favorite places in the city. I've never been anything less than happy while I've been there. Being there after night, especially, is incredible. It's the quietest place in the city, and you can see every burough of Los Angeles, all the way from Santa Monica to East LA and Los Feliz. It also reminds me a lot of Idaho, which is always nice.

It's November 5, and it's 70 degrees outside. There are trees with orange and red leaves on one side of the street and palm trees on the other side. It's the best mix.

Echo Park. Easily the coolest part of Los Angeles. I know it has a rap for being the hipster paradise of Los Angeles, and there's definitely a reason for that, but it's just so cool! There are a lot of weirdos hanging out in that place, but I love it.


There are probably more. In fact, I know there's more. BUT I've got other writing to do.

So, that's all I got.


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