Thursday, July 12, 2012

LA Tips

There are things that you learn about LA living right away. First, let me pass on some tips about a visit to Beverly Hills. One, if you want to fit in, you need to do two things: dress as well as you possibly can, and act like a big shot. Here, I have already noticed, attitude is everything. If you at least strut your stuff with confidence and act like you belong, people will most likely believe you do. You have to be an actor on some level when living here- whether it’s pretending to be rich and confident or acting on screen.

A rule for LA in general: do not be so easily star struck. Yes, celebrities with varying degrees of fame are everywhere. For my first couple of days, I went weak at the knees when I heard something as minimal as an aspiring TV writer discussing a pitch with his agent. Then imagine how I was around a writer for the show Parenthood and Henry Rollins (who I actually found out way later of his celebrity status).
The driving is as bad as they say. However, a good rule of thumb to determine how long it will take you to get from point A to point B is to double whatever the Garmin tells you it will take. As long as you have a good deal of patience, there are a ton of great radio stations to listen to while hung up in traffic. Just remember to breathe and, without fail, plan on delays. When you expect horrendous traffic in advance, it makes it a lot easier to tolerate.

The hipster, artsy vibe thrives in this city like fruit flies on bananas. Last night, I dragged my lonely little butt to the Hammer Museum to attend the Literary Death Match. In this competition of sorts, four authors are judged by three panelists on the literary merit of their words and how well they performed the aforementioned readings. The first two compete, then a winner of the two is declared, followed by the second two, and then the last two standing compete. My favorite part of the night was when the event host passed around bottles of wine to the audience and stated that it was on our honor that we were 21. Only in LA?

As I discovered today, people here are climate spoiled. A cloudy sky producing rain drops I could count on one hand may as well have been the apocalypse for LA dwellers. I detected a tone of panic on the news anchor's voice as he noted how humid it was today. Clearly he has never been on the east coast or in Minnesota for the summer. If I ever complain about the weather here, it will be an open invitation for a slap in the face. Yet that invitation is only valid as of now, not retroactively- the first night here I complained of the cold. Now, I have sweaters in tow nightly.

One last thing before I "over and out" for the night- an announcement, actually. Brace yourselves! You are all lucky enough to read my class homework for the next couple of months! I know you're excited. We were told to post our assignments on either a new or an existing blog, and since I do not feel like creating a new one, they're goin up here!

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