Nighttime Boredom

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All my roommates have gone to sleep, because they have to get up for their internships tomorrow. I have cleverly decided to take my last week in LA off for some me slash paper-writing time, so I have no motivation to call it a night. Instead, I choose to sit in my living room, alone, with a book at my side, chatting on AIM and checking twitter every 5 minutes. Productive and healthy use of time, I feel. 

There have been some gems of wisdom shelled out during my conversation with LA friend, Patrick, including: ”41% of your daily fiber needs in just one artichoke fyi.” At least I’m learning something. 

This is what happens when I go home for any sort of vacation, too. I have no motivation to sleep, as I have nothing to get up for in the morning, so I stay up ridiculously late, alone, doing absolutely nothing. This then leads to me wasting my entire next day sleeping in until noon to make up for my lack of sleep. It’s a dangerous pattern, and I end up getting bored and antsy. On top of that, I get mad at myself for accomplishing nothing during my days. Yet, during the semesters, when I’m busy and stressed, all I do is think about how much I want to go home, relax, and do nothing. Then when I’m sitting up til 3AM on my parents’ couch watching reruns of “The Soup,” I wish that I had a more interesting life. Why am I never satisfied? 

This has quickly turned very philosophical. (See, I told you this would happen, and I’m not even home yet!) I promise this week will not all be me sitting around typing nonsense into the night. My friends and I have vowed to make this last week in LA awesome, especially after Grace, Jillian, and I finish and pitch our Business of Hollywood project tomorrow – an amazing remake of Roman Holiday staring James Marsden and Marion Cotillard. (Don’t act like that wouldn’t be amazing!) We have vowed to hit up every place we haven’t been and do everything we haven’t done. That most likely will not happen, but we have the motivation and the goal, so we will most likely get something accomplished. Cross your fingers for me. Maybe I really should be getting some sleep.

Winding Down

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I feel like I haven’t been posting a lot, but nothing too exciting has been happening. Everything is winding down here. My casting internship ended on Friday with a three hour casting session in the valley. I had the morning off, which would have allowed me to sleep in had I not had to move my car at 7:30AM due to street resurfacing outside my garage. Grace and I made the most of it by heading to IHOP for a surprisingly delicious breakfast. I then had a ton of time to do all the shopping I couldn’t do on Thursday, being stuck in my apartment due to said street resurfacing. I FINALLY bought gladiator sandals, fulfilling my three week obsession with finding some. Thanks DSW! They were inexpensive and are actually quasi comfortable. Very exciting. The only downside to the morning was having three cups of coffee before 10AM, which led to my crashing later in the day. Oops. 

Leaving my internships was weird. I’m terrible at saying good-bye, because I’m one of those people who doesn’t really feel something has ended until I’m sitting alone in my room thinking about how awesome something was a month later, leading me to cry alone in my room like a crazy person. When I’m still standing there with the people I’m saying good-bye to, it just doesn’t feel over. I’m still there! Even now, I feel like I’m going back to see all these people next week. It won’t sink in until I’m walking around Target in Wilmington with my mom two weeks from now, bored out of my mind, friendless and alone. Dramatic enough for you? I kid you not, this will happen. When I moved from Alabama, I didn’t cry when I said good-bye to my best friends, but had a nervous break-down two weeks later when I toured my new school and realized I wouldn’t be with them anymore. It’s never a good situation. Anyway, everyone was amazingly supportive when I left, telling me to stay in touch and offering any help they can in the future. It’s nice to know I’ve made such a positive impression on everyone I’ve worked with. Hopefully, I’ll actually stay in touch and be able to use all these people as resources in the future.

The people from my production company internship gave me a $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble (aka my favorite store of all time), which I got on Thursday night, making it an extremely positive night. Later when I was still reeling from the gift receiving, I found out that I get to be co-executive producer of the Bay State (America’s longest running college soap opera, in case you didn’t know.) next semester! My goal in starting to work on the show the first month of my freshman year was to eventually run the show, and now I get to, so horay for accomplishing goals! 

I apologize for the lack of coherent blogging. I try to come up with fun topics to discuss, and then nothing interesting happens to me. When I get home, I’m sure my boredom will cause me to become more philosophical in my blogging, so look forward to that.

Things I’m Loving Right Now

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1. The Paper : This show about high school is actually like real high school! Novel idea! I totally knew these kids in high school, and now I’m totally hooked. Plus, the narrator’s name is Amanda. Automatic love.

2. This purse: 

It’s big. It’s purple, and it’s got two different sized straps. What more could I ask for?

3. Michael Ian Black and Ken Marino on Reaper: Two of my favorite random guest starts from old shows (Ed and Veronica Mars respectively) playing a gay demon couple: sold. *

4. Twitter: Seriously. It’s like internet crack. 

5. All of my television shows coming back: The Office, 30 Rock, Gossip Girl, Greek, How I Met Your Mother, Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs…I’m drowning in new episodes of fabulous television. 

6. Cooking my mom’s recipes: I’ve made many friends this week making brisket, cheesy potatoes, and chocolate covered matzo. So delicious. 

7. John Oliver’s rant about the oreo pizza: During his special, John Oliver: Terrifying Times, around the 16 minute mark, he discusses the patriotic nature of the oreo pizza. I laughed to tears. Really, the whole thing is gold. 

*Ah! During the writing of this post, the devil killed my favorite gay demons. Sadness. Stupid devil. Wait! One came back, but is now evil. Still…sadness.

Popping In

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First, I’m jumping on the band wagon with the 50 Bloggers in 50 States link-fest. (Sign up here.) I’m going with Massachusetts, since that is where I will be soon and indefinitely living. 

Second, today was my last day at my production company internship. I managed to get through the day without leaving the office, which is a feat unto itself, and I wrote thank-you notes to all the assistants, because I am brown-nosing loser. Whatever. It’s all about networking.

No one really knew it was my last day, which made it slightly awkward when I went to say good-bye. Everyone could not have been nicer though, genuinely thanking me for everything I have done. (Coolest: Reading scripts slash meeting celebrities. Uncoolest: Taking used yogurt containers out of the kitchen sink, half filled with water, because people think they are dishes.) They offered me any help they could give should I come back to LA, which is definitely nice and comforting should I choose to come back. (Still very much undecided.)

I’m going to be doing a huge semester wrap-up soon about what I’ve learned and where I think I’m headed form here, but now is not the time. American Idol is on soon.

Story Time

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I have a few minutes before heading out to brunch slash final project meeting with my roommates, but I will tell these stories if it kills me!

Story #1: Thursday was a particularly long day at work where I may have almost fallen asleep several times at my desk. I dragged myself to class that night, sat down in front of my professor, ready to push through class. (Although, I do love my Thursday night class. All we do is sit around and talk about television.) Anyway, my professor says not to get too comfortable. We are going on a field trip across the street to see a taping of “The Soup”! (Yes, our classrooms are in the same building as E! We are also right next to The Weinstein Company offices.) So we packed up and headed across the street and into an E! studio. Behind us was the E! News Set (also the set of various scenes in Knocked Up) and in front of us was a giant green curtain, aka “The Soup” set. 

Now this is where I should pause and say that I am mildly obbsessed with “The Soup.” We have a series recording on our DVR, and my roommate who works at E! has basically stalked Joel McHale several times. This could not have been a cooler trip for us. 

Anyway, Joel came out and was adorable, as expected. The audience was very small and basically made up of friends of people who work at E! so we felt very exclusive. Joel came around and talked to the audience, and by some sweet miracle, I got to talk for our class. I made a slight fool of myself:

Joel: And how did you guys get in?

Me: I’m with my class, courtesy of Jason. 

Joel: Oh, yeah, the AV class.

Me: (a little condescendingly… unintentionally of course) TV Class.

Grace (whispering): That’s the same thing.

Me: Well, now I feel pretty stupid.

Joel laughs. I hang my head in shame. 

Watching the show tape was kind of surreal. It felt like a completely different place than what you see on television, and it was so interesting to see how he would try out a joke, see it didn’t work, meet with the writers, then come up with something so much better in two minutes. We tried to hear our laughter on the finished show, but alas, all we heard was the awesome stage manager yelling. 

This is probably not interesting to anyone but me, so I digress to…

Story #2: Thursday night was my friend Chrissie’s 21st birthday, so she got a table at Winston’s to celebrate. (Getting table service in LA has been a goal of mine so: check!) Anyway, Chrissie is kind of seeing Jeremy Piven’s assistant, and once we were a little tipsy, Chrissie got a text from him saying “I’ll be there soon. Jeremy might come.” We all paused to take a moment and think about how Jeremy Piven was probably coming to her 21st birthday party. I had flashes of my years of watching Cupid and Entourage, while Jillian basically fell to the floor. I put it out of my mind, thinking it wouldn’t happen, but came out of the bathroom some time later to find Jeremy hugging Chrissie and dancing with my friends! Sadly, by the time I got over there, my friends had already talked to him, and I didn’t want to be creepy and stalker like, so I simply danced by them and said nothing. Still…Jeremy Piven came to my friend’s birthday party! It was pretty exciting, for me personally. He was shorter than expected.

The rest of the weekend has been spent being tired, seeing “Saving Sarah Marshall” and then using that as an excuse to stay in and have a Judd Apatow movie marathon. (Very fun. I highly recommend it.) Tonight is a Passover Potluck that I fear will turn into me bringing my delicious brisket and everyone else bringing things like fruit and veggie platters and gefilte fish. Someone needs to bring an actual dinner dish. This is a concept lost on many college students. I’ll let you know how this goes.

A Glimpse of What’s to Come

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I feel I’ve neglected you, dear blog! This week has been crazy ridiculous. I didn’t even twitter today. *GASP* A giant amazing post is forthcoming, but to give you a taste, it includes not only me going to a taping of “The Soup” (Joel McHale totally talked to me out of ALL the kids in my class. OMGZ FANGIRL SQUEEE….and I loathe myself….) but also Jeremy Piven coming to my friend’s 21st birthday party. For real. Oh, LA…

Oh, and while it’s on my mind, Jim and Pam make me drip loneliness. I literally threw a pillow across the room when he pulled out the ring, both out of a ridiculous amount of excitement for them (Yes, I am that invested in fictional characters), and out of my own self pity. Damn the lack of real Jim’s in the world. Damn.

Things I’ve Learned About Myself This Weekend

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1. Two nights out a weekend is my limit: Thursday night I somehow spent all of my cash and lost my favorite jacket on the ride home. Friday night I went to a pretty exclusive club and had to fend off sketchy club guys all night. Not that either of these nights were not fun in their own special way, but by Saturday night, I had absolutely no desire to drink or leave my apartment ever again. SNL was the perfect entertainment, and you know what? It was free. Score. 

2. I am not a beach person: Saturday we ventured to Hermosa Beach. It was sunny and 85 degrees. Who wouldn’t want to be at the beach? Apparently, my body. After laying out for about an hour, I went to get up and find food with Grace. I made it about halfway up the beach before I started getting those black spots in my eyes that happen right before I pass out. I ran into the nearest bathroom to get out of the sun, but the second I came out, I literally couldn’t see Grace standing in front of me, and my head felt detached from the rest of me. I was forced to sit on the ground against the bathroom building, as there were no benches or other shaded areas around. Thanks beach planning committee! The rest of the afternoon, I couldn’t sit in the sun for more than 20 minutes without feeling nauseous. Luckily, this served as the perfect excuse to eat ice cream, as the shop was shaded and cold, and hey, I had to get my blood sugar up, right? It also gave me the perfect excuse to not go out Saturday night. Again, score. 

3. I want, nay, need gladiator sandals for this summer: My flip flops are no where near fancy enough to go out in, but my feet simply look too beautiful from my pedicure to wear regular shoes much longer. I’ve found these at Target:

They are $15 and thus, entirely practical. However, I’ve also found these and several others at Urban Outfitters:

Sadly, they are $145 and most decidedly impractical. There are also several pairs I’ve noticed at Steve Madden. Sadly, all are not as practical as the Target pair. 

I should learn how to be more practical. Maybe that will be a project for next weekend. 

A Good Start

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This weekend has started surprisingly well, and it hasn’t even technically started yet. At work yesterday, my boss informed me that they again didn’t need me on Friday. Obviously, I took this as an excuse to go out last night, as all of my friends routinely go out on Thursday, while I stay in, watch Lost, and go to bed early in order to get up early for work. Anyway, we ended up, after some wandering around Hollywood Blvd, at CineSpace. At night it’s a club, obviously, but I want to go back earlier in the day slash night, because it’s actually a movie theater where they serve you dinner! Fabulous combination of things, in my opinion. Sadly, though, I found out that the cast of the Office (!!!!) was at a bar a ton of our friends went to, but we decided against. Unbelievable opportunity missed. Me drunk around the cast of The Office may have been a life highlight. 

This morning, sadly, was not fantastic, as I definitely felt every drink I had last night. I stumbled downstairs to do laundry, had enough money on my laundry card to do the wash, and then discovered I had no cash to refill the card with for the dryer. Sadly, I only had a dollar and the stupid laundry machine only takes fives, tens, and twenties. Boo. I then set off on an adventure to find cash that lasted hours, while my clothes sat wet downstairs. Classy. 

Luckily, the journey to find cash took me to Coffee Bean and to the nail salon to get a pedicure. Two activities that are always winners in my life. I finally got change at Urban Outfitters and was able to start my laundry again. Hopefully, it won’t be all gross when I go get it. Maybe my day didn’t go so well after all…but my toe’s look super pretty, so I’m happy. 

OH! And joy of joys that NBC Thursday night comedies are back. I may have teared up from laughing at 30 Rock, and The Office obviously never disappoints. I was surprised at Jim almost abandoning Pam at the party, but I guess that just drives the point home of how terrible this get together was: Jim was willing to abandon the woman he pined away for for years just to get out of there. Tough stuff.

Things are finally lining up for old Liz Lemon

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This week of things coming together for the summer slash fall is almost over. On Sunday, I successfully, if not quite punctually, signed up for my fall classes, ending up with class only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Mildly ridiculous, but who am I to complain? Having those classes straightened out finally allowed me to straighten out my classes in the summer, somehow miraculously ending with me taking one class a session as I originally hoped. Then this morning, after many emails and angry rantings via AIM away messages, I finally got the Work-Study office to confirm that I do indeed have work study for the summer. Horay! I can have my job back for the summer! Now I just have to get through someone attending my housing meeting tomorrow to hopefully pick out a sweet two-person apartment for me and Jillian, and I will be set for life…or at least until December. 

My happiest epiphany  came when I realized that none of my fall classes lend themselves well to having a regular final exam during the regular final exam period, which means that my chances of getting to visit my very lovely and amazing friend Sarah in Australia come December are climbing. I worked with Sarah at camp for the past two summers and have been DYING to visit her with our friend Sharon, as she has been to both of our houses and clearly needs to return the favor. The dates we wanted to go overlap with my final exam period, but if I don’t have any final exams, then I don’t have any reason not to go. I mean, can I really pass up free lodging in Australia? I think not. 

Lastly, and most randomly, does anyone have any blog reader suggestions? I can’t deal with google reader’s chaos and messiness.

Oh, and if you understand the title of this post, you win 10 cool points. Don’t act like you aren’t excited.

Week-end Wrap Up

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My weekend in a nutshell. Here goes: 

Friday: I get up and get ready for work, as per usual. Ten minutes before I am supposed to leave, my boss tells me that it is really slow today, so I don’t have to go in! I decide to be productive and start writing one of my three final papers I have due in the next three weeks. Then, Jillian and I go out to lunch at Eat Well, then walk to The Grove to see Leatherheads. (Yes, it didn’t get stellar reviews, but my love of John Krasinski rises above the critics.) The movie is cute. Nothing life changing, but I was not expecting much. Friday night, we meet up with tons of people from our program at Happy Endings on Sunset, which is the bar equivalent of a frat party. The night ends up as most frat parties do. I’ll leave it at that. 

Saturday: Jillian, Grace, Grace’s friend Sam, and I head to Joan’s on Third for lunch, which is always a good idea. Afterwards, Jillian and I run some errands, stopping by Sephora and Bloomingdales, where I spend entirely too much money on moisturizer and Elle McPherson bras. We head out early Saturday night to go see Minnie Driver perform at the Hotel Cafe. She is delightful, to say the least. Her voice is impressive, and she tells some adorable and amusing stories about her songs. My love for her grows 10 times. Grace and I then head back home, because we are old women, while Jillian and our friends Rachel and Pauline go out and end up sighting Tom Calicio at S Bar! So jealous. Other drama in my life resurfaces, but I am still too paranoid to talk about such things on my blog. Maybe one day…

Today is just being lazy and making dinner for my roommates. It also includes Jillian and I stupidly sleeping through our registration times for fall classes and getting mildly screwed in the process. (You know what BU? I didn’t even want to take pilates anyway!)  Perhaps some Pinkberry is in my future as well. Only three more weeks left of work! This semester went by entirely too fast.