Just Chillin'

Still living the lazy life in West Hollywood while I wait for my California Nursing License to be issued.  The company is still paying my rent, so I have no complaints - except for I'd like a bit more cash flow for sight-seeing and new clothes.

Tomorrow I will attend my first screenwriter's workshop at CBS studios.  The workshop is on 'finding your voice' for writing scripts.  It should be interesting.  The woman teaching it, Jen Grisanti, has some killer credentials and connections in the Television industry.

Networking.  Networking.  Networking.

As for Los Angeles, I'm starting to get a bit of a 'feel' for the people.  The rules I've learned so far are this:

Avoid eye contact and needless banter with strangers:

People here aren't friendly and talkative in Los Angeles like they are in Tennessee.  My mother still hasn't grasped this concept.  When you are shopping in a store, and walk in front of someone who is perusing the shelves, don't say 'excuse me'.  Nobody will acknowledge your comment.  They just ignore you.  Which also means that they don't say 'excuse me' either when they cut you off with a grocery basket or squeeze their grocery cart in between you and the meat case while you are deciding on a piece of meat to buy.

Even in the laundry room of my building, nobody will start a conversation with you and if you comment on something, most people will grunt in response or say as little as possible and then ignore you.

I'm guessing that 'keeping to yourself' is a protection thing for people living in such big cities with such high crime rates.

For a couple of days I kept saying 'excuse me' but then I just dropped it.  And to tell you the truth, it's kind of nice just tooling around in the stores, walking in front of people and not continually apologizing. Add that to my already growing mistrust of what is really going on in other people's minds, and keeping to myself feels very comfortable and safe.

Watch out for pedestrians when driving:

San Francisco was a hundred times worse, but pedestrians in Los Angeles also don't pay much attention to traffic lights.  When the light turns green for cars to go, pedestrians still cross the street - and leisurely so.  They walk in front of moving cars and don't speed up their pace.  It's up to the drivers to stop and let them walk.  I learned this the hard way when I almost mowed a man down.  You should have seen him jump.  And, the look of surprise on his face would have broken me up in laughter if my heart hadn't been skipping beats.

No Drive-Through Starbuck's

Getting a cup of Starbuck's coffee is a chore since I haven't yet found one in Los Angeles that has a drive through window.  It is usually hard as hell to find a parking space and when you do, it's usually at least two blocks from where you are headed and the meters cost a minimum of $1.00/hr.  I have actually passed 2 or 3 Starbuck's before I've found one where I can pull over and park.

This doesn't sound like a big problem to most coffee drinkers, but my family and friends know of my addiction to Starbuck's and will understand my irritation with the lack of drive-through windows.

One thing good about moving across 3 time zones in bedtime.  I was very lax in Tennessee and my daughter Lucy would sometimes still be awake at midnight - even though she was in her bed.  The time change has worked magic there.  I put the kids to bed by 8pm (which would have been 11pm Eastern time), and they fall right to sleep.  Then, mom and I eat dinner and watch a movie or two in the wonderful, kid-free silence.  Ahh.  The Bliss!

Speaking of bedtime, it's 8:02 pm now and I need to put the kids to bed.  Then it's open hot roast beef sandwiches and Dianne Keaton in 'Baby Boomer'.  Mom has never seen that one.  She's going to love it.

I'm thinking a hot fudge sundae for desert.  Mmmm...

Later guys!

Script Girrl