It's been a while

Sorry about the lack of entries this week. What have I been up to? Lets see...

I'll start with Wednesday at Casting. I started learning how to do some of the normal things that casting agents do, which is exciting. I'm slowly but surely get more accustomed to what goes on there and getting more comfortable answering phones. I don't know why it gets me so nervous. I was a receptionist for the girl scouts. I think its because there I was just dealing with pushy parents of Girl Scouts asking questions, and here I am dealing with potentially very important people who I do not know. Plus, I can't hear very well over the phone, which is an issue..

Anyways, Thursday was great fun. I got to watch some webisodes at work. They were horror (which I am totally not into) but they were very good. And they had the guy from the Hannah Montana movie in them, who is very nice to look at, and made it tolerable to watch. I don't mean tolerable as in they were bad, I very much enjoyed them, it was just the gore that I could NOT deal with. I am such a squeamish wimp. After that I got to review some movie scripts, which was fun too. That night, my Dad, who was about an hour away on business, came by to see me again and take me out to dinner. We ended up taking out from this place down in Santa Monica called Cha Cha Chicken, which is the most delicious Carribbean food. It is this little beachy, whole in the wall place that is always busy because it is so incredibly delicious. I know none of you live in CA who are reading this, but if you feel like drooling over their food, here's a menu. Because the restaurant was about a block away from the beach, my father and I decided to walk down there while we were waiting for our food. Surprisingly, that was my first time being on the beach since I got out here almost a month ago, which seems really crazy. It was chilly, but nice to be by the ocean for once. Although I do have to say, being at any beach, regardless of which coast its on, reminds me of Welfleet.

The next day, Friday, was my day off. I was planning on going to the gym and swimming and then driving around to try and find some Asian grocery stores so that I can have Boba ANYTIME I WANT. Unfortunately, I got a terrible stomach ache in the middle of the night (what else is new?) which kept on all day, so I couldn't do what I wanted. I did drink a whole like, Gallon of Apple Juice over the course of the day. I could do that all the time. The highlight of that day, was the fact that I got to skype with the lovely Katie LaMark for like, 4 hours. Towards the end, we were just both on video but I was watching TV and she was doing something else. It was actually wonderful, because I had started feeling sort of lonely out here, and even though she was on video, it kinda felt like I had company. It was nice.

The next day was WONDERFUL! I met up with D and we went over to Santa Monica Pier (although my cousin tried to convince us not to go because there were "gangs there" - it was noon on a Saturday in summer...). Yeah, there were no gangs at all, just TONS OF TOURISTS. D and I decided to join these interesting folks and spent like 30 minutes in a souvenir shop trying on all sorts of goofy tourist. We finally decided on getting tops that said Venice Beach on them, although we were on Santa Monica beach. Mine is a really AWESOME muscle-tank (one size fits all) and D's is a large, 80's-inspired cutoff sweatshirt. We wore them around and looked soooo cool haha. Actually, we sort of blended right in. Then we decided to put our feet in the ocean, my first time putting my feet in the pacific ocean this trip! It was very exciting. Then we walked around for a bit, looked at the weirdo street performers, and went to 3rd street promenade to watch more weirdo street performers. There was one guy who was at the Pier, who I had seen at 3rd Street Promenade previously, but never got to see his act. He is this little, middle-aged, Asian contortionist who wears an entirely silver sequin sweatsuit. He looked like a genie. It was really weird, yet amazing at the same time. Then, at 3rd street promenade, D and I watched this group of guys doing break dancing and gymnastics, who all had AMAZING bodies, and there was this one middle eastern guy who was soooo cute. Oooowee.

Getting back on track.... That night I babysat for a very adorable 7 month old girl and the woman whose house I was in had a picture of her and JON STEWART. Omg it was awesome.

I don't know if this post is interesting at all, but I actually had a great weekend. Hopefully more exciting things will happen and I can keep you posted.

Update!

At last! My guitar and I are reunited once again! Now I finally have that hobby I was looking for to fill up my spare time. Maybe by the time I come back to school I will know 4 songs instead of 2 1/2! One can only dream...

Movie in a Mortuary?

Okay, this weekend was AWESOME. Friday night was Sarah's last night in L.A so we went to Culver City to see Toy Story 3, at her request. Honestly, I didn't think I would love it. I thought it would be cute but OMG it was AMAZING. I highly recommend it. Oh and there was Totoro doll in it, which just made me so happy.

Saturday night was the best. I went with my cousin and some of her friends to a cemetery in Hollywood to watch the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This cemetery was huge and so cool looking. Many of the headstones we saw had pictures of the people on them and they were black shiny marble and in pristine condition. It was crazy. We also passed by a headstone that had a picture of the man on it, but when we looked at the date it was 1933 - . That was it. Meaning, the man wasn't dead yet. It was very weird.

So there had to be at least 500+ people there, sitting the grass, picnicking, drinking and watching this somewhat cheesy '50s movie. Everyone would laugh at the very outdated parts (like how the main character was a doctor and kept giving out pills to everyone for everything), they would swoon at certain moments, it was so fun. Although at one point one of the women I was with (who is a little out-to-lunch) started yelling at these people who were smoking, instead of, you know, asking them to please move somewhere else if it is really bothering her. I just sat there, looking down at my food, embarrassed. Besides that little moment, the night was wonderful. There was a DJ who was playing music after it had ended and we were dancing. Oh it was awesome. Apparently they have it every Saturday there, and I guess this kind of thing happens many other places around CA as well. Next weekend is Midnight Cowboy with Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman and I think I'm going again.

In Celebrity news: most people won't know who this is, but sitting in front of me at this movie was this guy named Drew Seeley who was in that Cinderella movie with Selena Gomez and was also the singing voice of Troy in the first HSM. He was there with his girlfriend who I think is a news anchor on E!. Its really odd when you see totally recognize people and you don't actually know them...

Sunday was a chill day. We went to the club, and I swam and relaxed. At one point I decided to go up to the women's locker room and try out some of their spa facilities. Sitting in the steam room alone was a very odd experience. First I felt like I was in an oven, or like I was a steamed vegetable. Then I sort of felt like I was in a gas chamber, which I quickly dismissed because that was not happy to think about when I was supposed to be relaxing. Then I felt like I was in some sort of portal to another world. All you could see was steam everywhere so I felt like when I opened the door and the steam cleared I would be in like a different world. I wasn't, unless you call California a different world. Sometimes I feel like it is.

Damn you, Celtics!

Okay, so this post really doesn't have much to do with the Celtics, I just had to express my frustrations about their loss. Okay.

Yesterday was quite the looong day, but in a good way. Work was nothing spectacular, doing some tedious busywork, although I did get to watch an Akira Kurosawa movie. It was from the Criterion collection (NICOLE THAT WAS FOR YOU). I had a nice lunch though. There was this studio-wide basketball tournament with lunch outside and so I was taken down to that. My lunch was yucky but it was nice to sit in the sun for a while, instead of in the office. I guess they do events like this periodically throughout the year. So i made sure I left work at a reasonable hour (like 5:30) to meet my friends at Cheebo on Sunset for dinner at 6:30. What should have taken me 25 minutes, TOPS 45, took me like over an hour and a half. Granted on the way there I stopped for gas and got into a fight with the gas pump, i still should have been there earlier. I realized later that the CRAZY traffic was all on account of this silly basketball game. Damn Boston teams always do this - they are winning most of the game and let it slip at the end. I mostly just wanted to win so I could rub it in all the Laker's fan's faces.

So after we finished dinner, my friend (who is leaving on Saturday. Boo!) wanted to go to this place called Millions of Milkshakes. This place is so self indulgent and is like the epitome fame whoring. You walk into this small little place and there is a song on (the music was SO LOUD) about this store and was advertising how you can buy it on iTunes. Also there is footage of all the celebrities that have come into the store and made their own milkshakes. The menu is also overtaken with pictures of celebrities and the milkshakes they've created that you can get. Its like so ridiculous. (I mean, just look at the website). And worst of all, its not even astoundingly amazing. I mean it was very very tasty but they basically took Coldstone's idea but instead of mashing things together with ice cream, they just throw it all in a blender. Like a mix between Coldstone and a frappuccino. I mean don't get me wrong, it was tasty and I would go back, it was just so self gratifying, like "Celebrities come here so you should too! And you should get the milkshakes that they make and then you can be just like them! Yay! Everyone wants to be famous."

Aahh L.A.

Ew

I just passed by a guy who had a dreadlock mowhawk. Killing two very ugly birds with one stone.

Flipper! Flipper! Faster than lightning!

So yesterday at Lionsgate was actually great - one of the best days I've had there thus far just because I was constantly busy, which I enjoy. My boss didn't actually show up today... He was at a meeting somewhere and he gets so busy that he forgot to leave me things to do. At first, I thought I would be able to go home, but then the other people in our little section gave me projects. One girl, Sivan, who is 24 and super sweet, had me scan business cards that her boss (who does marketing) has received and send them to her. The card scanner thing I got set up scans the card and then can take most of the info off of it and make it a contact in your mail, except that sometimes its didn't read it correctly. It was sort of tedious work, but it kept be busy, which was FAB. After that, this guy, Bruce, wanted me to watch The Cove, an Oscar winning documentary about the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. He wanted me to watch it and then pick out 1-5 minutes clips to possibly upload to YouTube. At first we couldn't find where the DVD was, so he had me look through some drawers in the office. The draws looked more like the $5 bin at Walmart, complete with Barney movies, Fraggle Rock DVDs and so-so comedy and horror DVDs. It was very odd. Anyways we found the movie and it is so wonderful, I highly recommend it to ALL of you.

So yeah, that was a great day, just because I was incredibly busy. I actually find it funny that the most work I did at Lionsgate, I did the day my boss wasn't there... Actually, as I was in the elevator leaving Lionsgate, some younger blonde guy turns to me and says "You're Hillary, right? The new intern for the department?" I have never seen this guy before, but I guess everyone in the department knows who I am now. Haha. I guess news travels fast.

Right now, I am at the casting agency and there is not much going on, although more than last time. I got to sort some mail which was kept me busy for all of 30 minutes, if that. Now I want to do more busy work. I hope I hope I hope.

If anything eventful happens, I will write again. Oh and just as a side note - my cousin is graduating from Preschool today. I feel so old.

Boba Boba BOBA!

This weekend was a great one, actually filled with more stuff than the other weekends. First, on Saturday I went to brunch with D and Sarah at this place called the Saddle Ranch. The building was modeled after an old saloon (complete with fake hookers in the fake balconies) with a mechanical bull in the center. The craziest thing about this place is not the atmosphere, but the plates. I ordered a breakfast burrito that came out on a plate that had to be at least a 2 foot long wooden platter. The burrito itself was about the width of my calf. Crazy.

That night I went to a movie with Sarah in this little theatre in Culver city. We decided to see Letters to Juliet since we didn't have a very extensive selection. Needless to say it was bad. Like it could have at least been a cute cheesy movie, but instead it had really awkward diologue (like a touching moment where the grandmother starts brushing Amanda Seyfried's hair and just says something like "one of the greatest pleasures is getting your hair brushed". That's it. No words of wisdom, no touchingly cheesy line, just that. It could have been such a guilty pleasure, but instead I just feel guilty for spending my money.

Sunday I went to the Grove where I got Korean BBQ and a bubble tea. This is a problem. I think I'm becoming addicted to Boba, and it doesn't help that there is a Boba Time 5 minutes from my house. PLUS it is only $2. I want one right now. Oy.

Yeah, I watch movies for a living...

Well it's been a while. I can't believe its been almost a week since I've last posted. Even though I don't know if I have any particularly exciting stories to tell. Hmmm lets see...

Oh, Tuesday. Okay so Tuesday I went to Lionsgate for only the second time, although I'm starting to feel like I've been there longer. I got there at 9:30 like I was told, unfortunately, my boss went into a meeting before then and didn't leave me anything to do, so I got to read Fahrenheit 451 for about an hour and a half. Anyways, after he came back, I was told to watch some webisodes and one movie and then summarize them for him. Since I didn't yet have a computer to watch them on, I was brought to this locked room in the office. So, one might think that this "viewing room" would be all nicely decked out or at least very office like - on the contrary. This little room had a large flatscreen with every sort of device on which to play a movie or video game. It had boxes stacked up in the corners, guitar hero (or rock band, whichever, i don't know video games) and the most interesting piece of furniture - a fuzzy leopard print fouton (or as my boss called it "a casting couch"). It was just odd that in the deep recesses of Lionsgate is room fit for a college dorm.

Not much happened at the Casting Agency on wednesday. I did some random work around the office and got to know some of the girls a little better. They are all very nice, but for some reason it is just taking me longer to get out of my shell.

Thursday was pretty great at Lionsgate, actually. I had a slight repeat of Tuesday (meaning my boss came in like a half hour + after I got there), but once he did arrive, he gave me an awesome task. He wanted me to rent movie on YouTube (you can do that!) and then report on the process and quality (since Lionsgate is one of the first Studios to participate in this rental thing). So basically, I got to watch The September Issue at work, write a summary and leave by 1. It was awesome. OH! Also, I was not only given my own computer/cubicle, but I officially have a Lionsgate email address!! Its so crazy! I feel so official.

Friday I had the day off and I just sort of hung around the house, nothing spectacular. Babysat for my cousins that night. Wow I sure know how to live!

Note

Oh and just as a funny side note: So i went to the casting agency wearing black skinny jeans, a decently nice red top and leopard flats, and when I told the girls at the agency (who dress VERY casual) that I basically dress like that all the time, they were SHOCKED. I thought that was funny. Just wait until I start showing up in my dresses and skirts all summer. HA.

Back to Work!

It is 5:30 on a Monday and I am still at work at the casting agency, but somehow, that doesn't really bother me, although I wish I had a project to work on or something. I am actually pleasantly surprised. Last time I was here, they had nothing for me to do and I stayed for a total or 2 hours. Today, I thought I was going to leave by 2 but here I am, still at work!

Well, before I get into my workday, let me talk about my weekend. Friday, I went with Sarah and D to this thing called "First Fridays" in Venice Beach. It was totally happening. Except I stupidly ate beforehand. Why is this stupid, you ask? Because little did I know there would be tons and tons of street food, including at least 3 Korean BBQ trucks, and we all know I am a sucker for Bul Kogi. Anyways, that was a fun night out, although I so wish not only was I 21 and could go enjoy the bars and whatnot, but also that I didn't have to drive everywhere so I could still enjoy the bars.

Saturday day was pretty uneventful, but Saturday night was fun. I went with Sarah to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, which is like Church Street in Burlington VT for those of you who are familiar with that. Mostly its just stores and street performers, which I LOVE even though they make me feel bad because they are such freaks and rely on this odd act that they probably aren't very good at. Although I did see some people with like religious propaganda set up which I did NOT like, obviously.

So back to work. I video taped a casting session today! It was so fun. I was in with Lisa who is very cool and we got to audition a bunch of feisty black women (auditioning as feisty hookers) for the new Katherine Heigl movie. I loved mentally critiquing the actresses, because I always do that, so to be able to do it for a purpose was great. It was also awesome to finally see a real casting session, which was not as intense as I would have thought (although maybe it differs from agency to agency). After that I did some office work and went to lunch. I decided to eat at this coffee shop (since everyone was out of the office) and try and follow the walk of fame as far as I could get, which was hopefully Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Well I started walking and they just stopped. I was confused but later figured out that I was going the wrong way, so on Wednesday at lunch I will walk as far as I can, and hopefully reach the theatre. YAY.

After lunch, I was invited into one of the offices with everyone to have cake for Sara's Birthday (a girl who works in the office whose real name is Saraphina which is just cool). The cake was lime cake with cream cheese frosting. It was soooo good, and apparently healthier, since literally EVERYONE in the office is on a diet. I think they are all doing it together. Oh, LA. Anyways, after that, apart from all of a sudden feeling very sick, I didn't really do much. Ran a few errands which stunk only because I had massive blisters on my feet. Too bad, those shoes are sooooo cute. Also, there is a W hotel right next door to us and I had to go inside it to get to Bliss, which is a store and a spa IN the hotel. They have all of these nice stores and spas and whatevers INSIDE the hotel. Ooh it was sooo swank I wish I could stay there! Ah, dare to dream.

So that was my day. In the celebrity news department (if you can call it that)...

It turns out that my cousin Stacey is friends with Beth from The Real World and all the other shows that came after. And by friends I mean BFFLs. For those of you that don't know who that is, she was the older sort of crazy blonde one. Apparently that is all an act, Stacey says... I don't know cuz I only met her for a second. But even though she is apparently very very nice in real life, it somehow makes COMPLETE sense that she is so close with my cousin. What a match, them two.

Okay that's all. More on my movie watching day at Lionsgate coming tomorrow.

First Day, Big Studio, Lots of....Poop?

Today was my first day working for Lionsgate and I was NERVOUS! Like woah nervous. Like I haven't been that nervous in years. So instead of showing up at the office like I normally would have done, my new boss thought it would be a good idea for me to sit in on this meeting. Well this wasn't just any meeting; this was a meeting at this swanky hotel with the ENTIRE Home Entertainment Division of Lionsgate, being led by the COO. So here I am, this little inexperienced intern that really has no familiarity with much digital media sitting in a room full of many high powered people at Lionsgate hoping I don't do anything embarrassing. I was so irrationally nervous that my phone would go off (even though I was 99% sure I had turned it off), or I would somehow fall out of my chair, or I would yawn and be rude or whatever. Needless to say I was scuuurrrrrreeedddd. So anyways, the meeting ends and I go back to the offices with my boss' new assistant (new as in it was her 3rd day on the job), who originally came out to LA to be an actress, which didn't work out (further making me realize that I could never cut it as an actress out here or maybe anywhere), and just watched material all day. I watch one sample Anime movie which was TOTALLY not my thing (although Amy, if you're reading this, I think you would really enjoy) and then watched some YouTube clips from YouTube stations such as Mondo Media, The Station, and Lisa Nova (check them out). So that was my day. Oh and plus I was able to use my boss' office which was SWEET since he is like a BIG WIG at the company. How often do you get to sit at a president's desk as an intern? Not often, I'm sure.

So I realized that Thursday was, as odd as this sounds, a shitty day. Not in the sense that is was bad, but literally had lots of poop in it. Poop you say? How foul, Hillary. Disgusting. And, yes. It is, but let me explain because it is quite odd (I think). Okay first, the Anime movie I watched revolved around a world that revolved around people pooping (seriously, I'm not kidding). Second, I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into my house after my stressful day and realized it stunk. At first I thought the dog who had been sitting in the doorway had just farted really badly when I realized that she had not farted, but pooped all over the living room floor, smelling up that entire section of the house. Poor thing was obviously embarrassed but still, it was gross. Third, my 6 year old cousin almost pooped her pants stuck in traffic on the way home from swim class where; fourth, 5 minutes into their swim lesson, a kid pooped in the pool canceling all the lessons for the day. Lots of poop. Poop filled day hence shitty day.

I apologize if this last paragraph offended anyone but, I'm just telling it like it is (or was). I'm not normally such a shitty writer. HA. Get it? Shit... poop... okay moving on.

So yes, that was my first day working at Lionsgate, where I still have a hard time believing I got an internship at.

Also, I've decided I need a hobby. I don't know what to do in my free time, and my life isn't interesting enough to blog about all the time. Maybe I will pick up a craft. Then I can write all about my trials and tribulations of like, basket weaving, or finger knitting, something like that. Wouldn't that be exciting? Just another exciting day in the life of Hollywood Hillary...

First Day, Casting Agency

Today was my first day of work in California EVER. Woah. I could not believe this came so fast. Not only that, but the fact that it actually came through and I am truly doing it. So, I am actually at the agency now, having already organized tapes and having nothing else to do. I feel sort of guilty just sitting here doing nothing - I want to be busy and like being busy. Right now, I just feel like an obstruction. But I guess its not my fault. So walking in today was incredibly nerve wracking, starting with the fact that I could not figure out what to wear and got a late start, so I was stressing the whole ride here (which took me a little under 45 minutes). Not only and I very overdressed, but I sort of feel like a Grandma, with my black dress pants that I found in my closet (probably either thrift or my mother's from the '90s). I just want my skinny jeeeeeaaaannnssss! Oh anyways.

So even though I've only been here a little over an hour, seeing some of the actors come in for auditions or just hearing what goes on to cast a movie totally makes me not want to really pursue any sort of acting. With the incredible physical demands and the competition, it just doesn't seem like its for me. Although it is interesting hearing them talk about certain celebrities that they've worked with, since that whole world is so foreign to me. Well anyways, I don't know what else to say now, since I only have an hour + of "work" under my belt. More on the life of this new-found Cali working girl later, if there is anything eventful....