Thought I'd blog a bit on the differences between living in Chattanooga and living in Hollywood California.
The lack of humidity is killing me. I never thought I'd say that. I figured that the lack of humidity would keep any extremes in temperature much more tolerable than the high humidity I'm used to in Tennessee. That much is true. The weather here is mild and wonderful. But, the lack of humidity is playing havoc with my skin and my hair!
My skin, which is usually very dry, is now extremely dry, requiring a ton of skin moisturizers - if I don't want to blow away with the first breeze. And my hair is becoming depressing.
I have spent years using Pert shampoo because it weighs my hair down thus keeping the frizzys minimal while allowing it to 'poof' out a bit and keep a lovely bounce. The lack of humidity in Hollywood has taken every bit of bounce out of my hair so it lays very flat to my head. And, it is loaded with electricity which pulls it even closer to my head - if that's even possible. It looks like I'm wearing a tight 'hair cap'.
For the first time in my life, I actually purchased a shampoo for fine/limp hair in order to puff it up. LOL Hopefully this stuff works.
Hollywood has virtually no bugs or spiders and very few birds that sing. The birds I see mostly are Ravens, Pigeons, and an occasional seagull or hummingbird. When I walk outside in Chattanooga I can hear the birds singing. In Hollywood, I have to stand quietly on my balcony and strain my hearing to even pick up the occasional bird chirp. On the other hand, there are tons of squirrels here and the one that comes to my balcony everyday to eat the bread and peanuts I put out, is friendly enough to take a bit of food from my hand. So, I do have a little bit of contact with nature.
As for bugs, I have seen 1 lady bug, 3 gnats, and 1 bee since I've been in Hollywood. No spiders, until last week...
I was straightening up the stuff on top of my dresser when I came across a spider. Having not seen a spider in a couple of months, I actually stood there in shock for a minute staring at him. Then, as I usually do, I trapped him in a cup and took him outside to release him. He ran like hell when I let him go.
Then, I got to thinking. There are no spiders around here. Even my co-workers say that they don't see spiders. My guess is that my little spider had hitched a ride in one of my packed boxes from Tennessee and was hanging around in my bedroom lamenting the lack of 'bug food'. That means I released the poor guy into a hostile environment where he'll have trouble finding bugs to eat, and will probably end up being a raven's dinner.
Poor little country spider!
I miss the friendliness of Southern people. The people in Hollywood are extremely anti-social unless they know you, and even then you can still feel a cool reserve under the smiling surface. People will actually ignore you most of the time if you make a passing comment in an elevator or while standing in line to buy something.
In my wildest dreams I'd never have thought I'd say this, but I miss the security of knowing that if I was attacked by someone in a mall parking lot in Tennessee, there would most likely be at least one 'good 'ole boy' around to come to my rescue. In Hollywood, the chances are that no one would physically help me or even call the police for assistance. No one wants to get involved. No one 'sees' anything.
Trying to find a parking spot is a nightmare in Hollywood, and you have to pay at most places to park. And I've found only one 'drive thru' store - a Kentucky Fried Chicken place.
Now for the good stuff...
I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.
For the last couple of years I have been working sporadically on what I believe is a 'killer' screenplay. I've taken classes on screenwriting through UCLA Online, I've taken workshops, and I've studied a ton of books on the 'craft of screenwriting'. Between knowing that I'm an excellent writer with a twisted enough imagination to produce something 'fresh', and having my last UCLA instructor, (a man who has three of his own movies on the shelves of Blockbuster), tell me that my writing has excellent potential, I have a dream of seeing my screenplay on the 'Silver Screen' one day.
Pumped up with belief in my screenwriting talent, I'd toyed with the idea of going to Hollywood and making some connections with people who could get my screenplay into the right hands for production. Surprisingly enough, those hands have appeared, and in the strangest way...
We were in Hollywood for a couple of weeks when my mother informed me that we had 'family' in Los Angeles who I'd never met. My uncle Eddie, (my mother's brother), was killed by a drunk driver when I was young. I'd never met him but his wife and their 4 children live in California.
Mom arranged a meeting with my aunt and and 3 of those children - my first cousins. It turned out that one of those children, Denise, works with Penny and Garry Marshal, both of who are film directors and producers. In fact, the other day while Denise was packing up the Marshal's crystals and valuables, because they'd sold their home to Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise and his wife dropped by the home to bring Tom Hanks some lunch and chat.
OK So Denise is a name-dropper, but her working life revolves around working for the Marshalls, attending movie premiers, and going to parties that are loaded with movie stars! She definitely has connections!! And, we get along wonderfully! Hell. The trip to Hollywood was worth it just to make the Denise connection. Thats a powerful connection, and worth the entire trip to Hollywood!!
I'm also going to make another connection that has potential...
Ernie Contreras, the UCLA instructor who loved my work, suggested I take a method writing class by a man named Jack Grapes. Grapes teaches a coveted writing class that is attended by all kinds of writers, known and unknown. He also has a couple of publications he puts out which contain work by his students.
I signed up for the class which is held in his office building on Wilshire Blvd. only 10 blocks away. The class starts in 2 1/2 weeks and lasts until 2 weeks before I head back to Tennessee. How perfect is that timing? Coincidence? Fate?
Who knows.
I'm excited about learning this new 'method' approach to writing. Ernie says the class is wonderful and that he still uses techniques he learned from Jack Grapes. That, combined with the possibility of making more 'connections' with people who can get my screenplay into the right hands, works for me.
I'm stoked!!
We have 12 weekends left to explore Hollywood. The 13th weekend will be spent packing to go home. That's a lot of fun and exploring in front of me!
Enough blather. Got to get to work on my writing. I'll try and keep everyone posted. Hopefully, with smaller blog entries. LOL
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