Day 8: LA Sucks

Well my amigos, here’s what I’ve decided to do about this blog business. Instead of posting the day I live things, it’ll be the day after, so when I say “today” I really mean “yesterday.” Got it? Ok great. Well today was a very important day because I…BUM BUM BUMMMMM…started my internship! That’s right, I carefully prepared my wardrobe, ate a wholesome breakfast, and jaunted off an hour early to make a great first impression at Stein Entertainment and amaze everyone. I was 10 minutes late because I turned the wrong way onto Sunset Blvd. I finally found a parking spot, ran in the door while attempting to compose my disheveled self in the elevator, and stumbled into the small office that was to be my new place of work for the next 2 months. So about that first impression…regardless, it was a great first day! I did everything I wasn’t supposed to do: accidentally insult the company (sorry The World According to Paris), send out an important document in Word instead of Excel, and pretty much do all of the wrong things. But you know what? In spite of all of that, my bosses actually liked me, and Victoria and myself (Victoria being the other girl from my school that’s interning there) seemed to fit in surprisingly well with the business-yet-bro-session that is the office dynamic. I really like everyone and I can’t wait to prove myself to them over the course of this summer. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. Afterwards I came home to have Tuesday Taco Night with my roomies and we searched all over to find a freaking Target to get a DVD player. It was a fun bonding experience. Then we came home and…*sigh* yes, it’s happened again. I’ve gotten sucked* into another show…Vampire Diaries. It’s actually really good once you get past the Twilight-ness of the first few episodes plus Ian Somerhalder is really hot, sooooo yeah.

*”sucked”- see what I did there?? eh? eh? …cuz of the vampires…and stuff

Cheers,

Jayme

Day 7: Being Present in a Day of Acting

Although everyday has been meaningful and adventurous thus far, today was by far the most fulfilling experience I’ve had since I’ve been here. Early on in the day, we all drove up near the Hollywood sign and had a photo shoot for all of the actors so that we could get used to being photographed and so the production students could get used to their new cameras. It was a lot of fun and they got some good shots out of it! After that I grabbed a quick lunch and headed off to my first acting class at Howard Fine Acting Studio. We workshopped our monologues and filmed our first run-through of them. It was really helpful seeing the transformation of the other actors as we went through each piece; I’m excited to see what else everyone can do. More impressive was my ability to navigate my way alone of the 101 to get home. Yeah LA, I’m already dominating your roadways, it’s meant to be. Later on we went to see a Master class at the studio, which was amazing!! I definitely think it’s a place I’d like to check out after graduation to study at. Also, while I was there, I saw Scott Krinsky, aka Jeff from the TV show Chuck. You know, he was there, studying, doing his thing…and all I could do was try to act cool. I need to work on my celebrity-spotting-deer-in-the-headlights look, oops. I’ve learned so much today in these classes, much more than I’ve learned in a while, and I think this summer will be a great opportunity for me to grow as an actor.

Until tomorrow then!

Cheers,

Jayme

Day 6: Hitting Up Hollywood

Well friends, yesterday (we’ll pretend it’s today, shhh) was a pretty cool day. We went and took a tour of Grauman’s Chinese Theater and strolled up and down Hollywood Boulevard. I went back and checked Meryl Streep’s handprints, and still a perfect fit from when I was there 2 years ago, BOOM. It’s a sign, I don’t care what anyone says. Then after that we grabbed lunch at California Pizza Kitchen; I don’t know why but for some reason being in California makes the pizza more legit. After that we went to Amoeba to check out the biggest collection of movies, records, cds, etc. that I’ve EVER seen. It was entirely too overwhelming for me. Now prepare yourselves for a shock folks…are you sitting down? You should be. Despite all of the brilliant movies around me from $3 and up, I did not buy a single one. Why, you may ask? Because I did not want to arbitrarily pick out a DVD in the mere 30 minutes that I had to browse the area. Therefore, I will go back when I have more time to devote to the beauty of such a store. That night we went to Arclight Cinemas to see The Tree of Life. A lot of people in the group didn’t like it but I thought it was beautiful and visually dynamic. It’s pretty much a metaphorical comment on the journey of life, and Brad Pitt really delivered on his acting performance. All in all a good night. Gotta Love Hollywood.

Cheers,

Jayme

Days 4/5: Moving into Burbank

Hey guys,

So sorry I didn’t blog yesterday, moving in was hectic so I’m combining yesterday and today, so strap in! Yesterday Michelle and me said our goodbyes to Santa Monica and headed to our new home in Burbank. After checking in, getting groceries and moving in, we went out to Geisha House to meet a friend of Michelle’s mom, along with her family. First off, I just need to say that this place was really chic and classy; the outside looked like a club and the inside was like a fancy club/restaurant with geishas for waitresses and cheap but delicious food! And it was always nice to make connections and have someone to know out here, so I’m really glad I met them!

Now todayyyy, well today was a crazy Day 2 my friends…I woke up early and went to Enterprise to rent a car, and to my pleasant surprise, got a free upgrade to a Sebring Convertible, holla! Then we went on a “group bonding” hike up to the top of a mountain, a.k.a. OMG DEATH/ASTHMA ATTACK WAITING TO HAPPEN. My friend Brittany and myself decided early on that we were taking the “scenic route,” and by that I mean look like we’re stopping every 5 minutes to take pictures on the steep incline while really we’re chugging water and attempting to catch our breath. It was rough my friends, it was rough, but hey, slow and steady am i right? I was in no rush to get to the top. But the view up there was spectacular! We got a beautiful 360 degree view of the area, from Burbank to West Hollywood, all over. I’m going to say it was worth the hike, but I did not feel that way as I was climbing up it, let me tell you. After finally making it back down to flat ground, we hopped in the pool/hot tub for a relaxing detox and met some really cool guys from Temple University. Later we knew we had to experience the famous In-N-Out Burger for dinner, so we embarked on a journey (of 1 mile) to have this ultrafeast of artery-clogging, delicious goodness. Was it worth it, you may ask? Ohhhh yeah, and we didn’t even feel a little bit guilty because we climbed a freaking mountain hours before! Then after eating our savory meal (while we may or may not have been watching the end of Valentine’s Day), we took a stroll down Universal Citywalk, which is a really cool place to go chill and eat outdoors in a fun atmosphere. Also, for those of you who may have watched Smallville, we’re preeeeetty sure we saw Michael Rosenbaum, also known as Lex Luther, so that’s fun. That’s a lot in one day, so I can’t wait to see what lies in store next. Well that’s all folks, until tomorrow.

Cheers,

Jayme

Day 3: I Walk the Line

Haha well today was an interesting and great way to spend our last day in Santa Monica. Basically the world was our oyster (and by “world” I mean everywhere in downtown Santa Monica, but i digress) and we set out to take Santa Monica by storm before we left. Now apparently, as we later pieced together, I have an aversion to all things with “roller” in the title. Allow me to explain: first we went to the pier with one sole purpose: to ride the roller coaster. Now normally I get really motion-sick on those things, but I love them regardless, so like a champ, after eating an all-you-can-eat Indian buffet (bad choice?) I got on the roller coaster and rode that thing TWICE! …okay, to be fair, it had no loops or anything because it was probably designed for 6 year old children, but it’s a step in the right direction! Walking back down the pier we saw the two most adorable children, aged 5 and 9, playing guitars and singing Johnny Cash songs. We had mixed feelings about this because they were so cute we never wanted to leave, however, upon further reflection, we maintained that we weren’t that talented at anything at 5 or 9, and had to leave the pier so as not to be shamed by our own seemingly less prodigal childhoods. Next we thought it’d be fun to roller skate down to Venice Beach. Funny thing about that is though, I haven’t roller skated since I was around 11, and I was with Ms. Pro Roller Skater ‘01, so I felt like I should at least try to carry my own weight in this ‘venture. Upside? I became famous at Santa Monica today. Downside? It was because I fell so many times that everyone was rooting for me to make it 10 feet. But hey, I gave it my best shot, right? …right? ANYWHO, after that we walked around trying to find some cute clothes (and succeeded) and got mani/pedi’s so we could feel refreshed for LA. Then, exhausted from a day of fun (and falls) we chilled in the room and watched Misfits, which, by the way, is a great show you should all watch it. Until tomorrow then!

Cheers,

Jayme

Day 2: Today I got Trumped

Well hello Dear Readers,

Today was a lovely day. Still in Santa Monica, we took a leisurely bike ride down the beach from the pier to Marina del Rey and grabbed some lunch at a restaurant called The Terrace. And yes, because I know you are all wondering, I had a grilled chicken quesadilla and it was delicious. If you ever get a chance to go to Venice Beach go; there are a lot of interesting shops and places to eat and the people watching is ridiculous! SO many people out there, from hippies to muscle-builders, you name it, they’re probably in that vicinity. Later we went down south a ways (after battling LA traffic) and had dinner at the swanky Donald Trump Golf Club/restaurant. OK, well since you asked, I had the Ahi Tuna Salad and it too was delicious, geez, so nosy. Anyways, we watched the sun set over the water, and man, it was a beautiful sight to see. I’ve never seen such beauty as I did on the drive along the coast, where mountains and ocean meet, it’s picturesque! And then we drove back to the hotel. Yup, that pretty much sums up today.

Cheers,

Jayme

Well Hello All!

This is going to be my documentary blog/vlog of my California adventures this summer, so get pumped because hopefully my journey will be as exciting to read as it is to experience. And let me tell you what, I’ve already met some preeeeeetty interesting people.

Day 1: Arrival in Santa Monica

Well today the day that I had been counting down for months had finally arrived: the day I leave to spend an epic summer in Los Angeles. 6 hours and 2 plane rides of small talk with the people sitting next to me later, I finally landed at LAX, and let me just say I have a bone to pick with Miley. In “Party in the USA,” she ‘hops off the plane at LAX with a dream and a cardigan’: check, I was with her so far. But then she looks to the right and sees the Hollywood sign? I’m sorry, but unless she has super Miley x-ray-vision, that’s just not possible. I looked to my right, but did I see the Hollywood sign? NO. Needless to say, I was disappointed, but I did not let that break my spirits. After meeting up with Michelle, we checked into our hotel and set off to scope out our new surroundings. We hit up the pier, checked out shops down Ocean Avenue, (shout out to Yellowcard for an awesome theme song) and strolled along the Promenade. During said “stroll,” I danced with Michelle in the Disney store, thereby entertaining the employees and a 5 year old girl’s mom (you’re welcome), got hissed at by an old man, had a swing contest on the beach, and, most importantly, spent the whole day outside in 74 degree weather with…wait for it…NO HUMIDITY. Take a minute to soak that in East Coasters. For now we’re fighting jet-lag by watching Conan (the only sensible alternative) and storing up energy for tomorrow. Until then, have a great sleep everybody, can’t wait for what’s up next!

Cheers,

Jayme

Movie Review: Insidious A-

From what I could see from between my fingers, this was a great modern horror film. Made by the people who created the Saw and Paranormal Activity movies, this movie was the epitome of a psychological thriller. The premise of this is that Ty Simpkins, who plays the son of “Phantom of the Opera” and ‘Morning Glory”s Patrick Wilson, has out-of-body experiences in his sleep, and he wanders too far and slips into the realm of the dead. The problem is, demons and spirits of the dead have found his body and are looking to possess it, so the family has to take extreme measures to retrieve their son before it’s too late. You could definitely note the similarities between this and the Paranormal movies, partially because this was shot half-documentary style, and partially because of the lengths and methods of the Momentary Relief and the Jumps. It definitely made me jump out of my seat, so if you’re looking for a thrilling cinematic experience, go see this movie!