Monday, December 19, 2011

That Chapter in my book about Los Angeles: Done

Today is my last day at the internship. It is also the last night I will spend in my apartment. It is also my last full day in Los Angeles, California. Tomorrow I'm moving all my stuff out to Riverside, California, where my grandma lives, and from there I'll be flying to Virginia.

I cannot begin to explain how excited I am to be going home. I love Los Angeles with all my heart, but I haven't been back on the east coast in almost exactly a year. I haven't missed it all that much until the past 2 weeks or so, and now I'm literally counting down the hours until I'm back in Virginia with my family.

Last night I took a drive around Los Angeles to most of my favorite parts--a sort of "coming full circle" type of thing, if you will. I drove up La Brea, which I've walked up and down at least 100 times since I've been here (and I love it). I rode the bus down Wilshire, which is my second favorite street on account of the museums, my old internship, and the shopping. I got to go down Santa Monica Blvd, which is NUTS anytime after 8 pm. And I got to go up by Chateau Marmont (and one other place that shall remain nameless), which I've wanted to do ever since I got to Los Angeles. While I was driving I kept trying to make myself feel all those things you're supposed to feel when you know you're leaving some place, but it wasn't happening. I know I was meant to live in Los Angeles these past few months, but I also know that now is the right time for me to be leaving.

So, the Things I'll Miss About Los Angeles List:

1. OddLot Entertainment.

This place has been my home more than Los Angeles has. I started working here on August 29th of this year, and I've been here ever since. The people are great, and I love all the work I've been able to do, including being a part of the Drive hype and seeing all my coworkers names in the credits. I've also loved getting to work with my fellow interns, whom I already miss: Matt Fox, Megan Ritchie, Geoff Peel, Will Ferrer (Oh Will…), Tim Unger, Adam Peters, Sarah Rotella, Grace, and Ana Liza. I already miss them terribly. I'll miss everything about this place: the terrible scripts, the weekend read meetings, James' opinions during the weekend read meetings, the free Diet Coke, the free lunch, meeting Gigi Pritzker, meeting Gavin Hood, making directors/actors lists, taking lunch orders. The list goes on.

2. Culver City

Again, not exactly part of Los Angeles, but I've loved this place. It's the perfectest little borough of a city you ever did see. I wouldn't mind living there. Jay kay, I probably wouldn't want to live there. Actually, I dunno. Maybe. We'll see.

3. Runyon Canyon

I'm sure I've raved about Runyon on here before. I love, love, love this place. Every great piece of news I've gotten in Los Angeles, I've gotten while hiking Runyon Canyon. True story. I found out about both my internships on Runyon, met roughly 10 different celebrities on Runyon, found out about my apartment while on Runyon, etc. Plus, it's the quietest place in California, and it reminds me a lot of Idaho, which is always a good thing. And the views are incredible, wherever you choose to look.

4. La Brea Avenue

I love this street.

5. The weather

I haven't been cold once since I've been here. Not ONCE.

6. The buses

This one could go either way. The bus and I have had some good times and some not so good times together. I hated the 2 hours commute to church, but I loved the people watching. I hated that it automatically cost me money to go anywhere I didn't feel like walking to, but I loved the motivation to walk around the city. I hated the fact that I had to have exact change on me everywhere I went, but I loved the overwhelming feeling of satisfaction when I could put a dollar $1.50 together using every last coin in my room. I also loved the drivers. Little known fact- there are 4 or 5 bus drivers in Los Angeles that are quite possibly the nicest people in the world. One drives the Big Blue Bus: Route 12 in Westwood. He drove me to and from work every day I didn't choose to walk.

7. Glendora

This isn't actually part of Los Angeles, but ever since Jeff took us to his hometown, I've been in love with the place. It's the coolest town in all of Southern California. I've had a lot of good times there, driving up the GMR; going to Donutman with Mary Alice, Lars, Caleb, and Jeff; visiting the Lindstroms on many an occasion; staying at Jeff's grandma's house; seeing all of Glendora's crazy graveyards and historic trees. I'm gonna miss you, Glendora.

8. Being in places I shouldn't be

I'm probably gonna sound like an ignorant fool by saying this, but I never got why Los Angeles has such a bad rap. In my five months of living here, I only ever felt threatened once. And it's not like I didn't give people plenty of opportunities to kidnap/rape me. I was actually kind of asking for it. I went out running at 10 and 11 o clock at night and hung out in the city even later than that. Overall, my time spent walking around LA late at night will probably end up being some of my favorite while in LA.

9. Knowing I live in Los Angeles.

This is admittedly a vanity thing. I love telling people that I live in Los Angeles. I'm pretty proud of myself for getting up the guts to move out here right after graduation and then sticking it out for five months, finding my own apartment, paying my own rent, getting to and from work every day, finding my own internships, entertaining myself in Los Angeles, making friends. I did it all. By muhself. That's actually false. I had a lot of help from various people-Leanne, Lars, my family, Zoe and Stacy at OddLot, my roommates, etc. Thinking that I did it all by myself is an illusion, but it gets me through the day.

And I gotta leave the office, so that's all I got...