One year of SoCal Living...

It's been one year since I've moved down to Southern California. A year of living outside the City of Angels. Some people didn't believe I'd be able to last a month down here. But I surprised them. I surprised many by my decision to move to Southern California. "Why?" They kept asking me, why there?

Well, it was simple in my mind. For as long as I can remember I have had a fascination with movies and television. I have always loved to go to the movies. I have always loved the behind-the scenes aspect of filmmaking. And now I am working at one of the world's largest television and movie studios. Sure, I haven't actually made the move into the business of the TV/film industry but I am one step closer than most and one step closer than I was last year.

I have survived being evacuated twice because of fire. And now 1 year after my move, there is yet another 85,000 acre fire. Luckily, I didn't get evacuated.

Besides the job interviews I had right after I moved down here last year, I did experience a little adventure the second week living down here. September 2008...



I went with my then roommate, Cole* to a bar called the Bridge because he had a gig there. After my other roommate, Giff*, got off work, he joined us. We drank a little and after we realized Cole would not be playing and I was sober enough to drive; Giff and I headed home in his car. When I was pulling out of the parking lot, I noticed that Giff's fuel light came on and he assured me that he could drive 40 miles with the light on. When we were almost to the 5 freeway, his car started to slow and all the lights went on, on the dashboard. His car had run out of gas!!!



Luckily we were near an off-ramp and I coasted the car down the ramp and came to a stop at the stoplight. Within moments of stopping there, we had red & blue lights behind us. Just my luck! The one night I actually drink, I was sober but fearful. A Highway Patrol car had pulled up behind us. Two officers got out, one came to my window (the driver's side) and one to Giff's (the passenger side). The guy on Giff's side asked if we had been drinking. Giff told them he had and I hadn't (I had one drink over 3 hours before). They asked me if everything was all right. I told them we had run out of gas and that Giff was calling a friend to come get us. They informed us that they were going to push us off the ramp. And sure enough they did. Talk about having a freaking heart attack!


I volunteered last year for AIDS Walk Los Angeles. I made friends and it gave me something to do while I was unemployed. It got me out of the house, a couple nights a week and kept me socializing with the outside world.


Also in September of last year, I went to a Movie Premiere. Though let me be the first to admit that all I did was stand across the street from Grauman's Chinese Theater and take pictures of the cast arriving for the event. I was so excited to be able to just stand there. I found out that it was going to happen and I drove myself to Hollywood & Highland just to watch it. It was very cool and fascinating to me.

I pursued the job that I now have. From the first interview to the day I got the job, it took about 6 weeks. I think I might have been a little bit of a pain in the butt to the recruiter but I wanted the job and I constantly kept in touch with him and now look where I am.



I have gotten to experience so many cool things from working at Warner Brothers. I have gotten to stand behind the camera and watch the filming of some of TV shows that film on the lot. I have made friends with editors, caterers, drivers and crew.



By working at the WB, I was invited to my first professional Basketball game, now granted it was the LA Clippers, but I still got to experience it and it was from the WB box seats. I also got invited to my first Dodger Game, again in Box Seats.



I have been fortunate enough to watch some of the WB's major films before they were released to the general public (Harry Potter 6, Watchmen, My Sister's Keeper).

In the past year, I have met a lot of interesting people and a lot of them I can call friends. I have been very fortunate with the friends I have made. Friends that have been kind enough to drive me to and from work when I was having car trouble. Friends that have been good to me. Friends that share a lot of the interests that I have. Friends who have introduced to me the wonderful events and experiences that I have gotten to do in the past year.



I think I have done very well within the past year. I think I have managed to survive on my own, and I think that the year to come will be full of new and exciting things.

My First Dodger Game!

I went to my First Dodger Game on Monday, August 17th. It was Game 59 against the St. Louis Cardinals. Unfortunately the Dodgers lost 3 to 2.

But I had a wonderful time. And that is probably due a lot to the fact that I was in good company, I had GREAT seats and all I had to pay for was my Dodger Dog. My first game, and I was a bit spoiled. I don't know if I am going to be able to top that experience. I got tickets from my work, Warner Bros. The seats were in a box, overlooking the first base side.

We had nachos and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Unfortunately the nachos ran out about a third of the way into the game and we never got refill chips until the 9th inning when all the toppings were bad. But I can't complain, I went over to the other side of the floor and got my first Dodger Dog, which was very good.

The experience was amazing and I was glad I got to experience it. Hopefully, I will be able to go again.

The Perks...

I love where I work. I love the perks of where I work. I love being able to walk around the Warner Bros. lot. I love being able to watch a scene being filmed over and over again. I love just being there.

If I am having a bad day or if I just want to clear my head; I will walk down New York Street which was used as Metropolis in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, or has been the city of Chicago for ER. Or walk through Embassy Court which houses the building that was used as the morgue in Pushing Daisies. I LOVE being allowed to walk between the sound stages of The Mentalist and Chuck. Yesterday, during my lunch I sat in the grass of the fictional town of Eastwick. It's a new show for fall based on the movie, The Witches of Eastwick. I think the tag line is "Desperate Housewives meets Charmed."

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Oh, how I love the perks of being a Warner Brothers Employee. My most recent perk included receiving a free Family Screening Pass to see Harry Potter 6 on Saturday, July 11th, 2009. Four days ahead of the worldwide release of the movie. And one even better, was that fact that my screening was held at the world renown Grauman's Chinese Theater situated in Hollywood. We were also given a free soda and a bag of popcorn.

I was fortunate enough to find true Harry Potter fans to go with me. We all wore red and gold to show our support for Gryffindor. They were just as excited as me to be seeing the movie early. Unfortunately for me, I had to use the restroom during the middle of the movie and for some reason the bathrooms in Grauman's feel very far away, so it seemed like forever before I made my way back to my seat. I missed the kiss between Harry & Ginny. I knew the moment I stepped behind the curtain that I had missed it.


****MAY INCLUDE SPOILERS****
I enjoyed the movie, especially if I separate it from the book. If it had not been based on a book, then it was a very good film, but because it was based on a book, there were some let downs. I was bummed that certain things were taken out of it. But I know they can't put everything in the movie. I just wish, I just wish they had left the battle at Hogwarts in the film. And the invisibility cloak in the end of the film.

Life in the last few months.....

There is so much that has happened in my life since my first few blogs..... I have so much to say and I want to say it all. However, I have not made the time to sit down each day like I promised myself and write on this blog site. So much has happened since the beginning of the year. Since my first blog....


I started the New Year off, at my house in Southern California, with friends and the new cat, 'Bosco' that we acquired right after Christmas. At work I went through the stresses of dealing with inventory. A thorn in my side, but I made new friends over those weeks leading up to inventory. I even went to a Clippers Basketball game. They won! I don't remember much else about that night other than that.

I made more friends.... friends through friends. I was fortunate enough to make friends with many of the Transportation Guys that were working on a new pilot episode called "Legally Mad."

I am still enjoying the wonderful aspects of my job and all my coworkers. I am also enjoying the interesting people I get to meet.

I know this sounds ridiculous, but my New's Years Resolution was to actually speak to one of the many people that I happen to run into while wondering around on the Warner Bros. lot. And I succeeded. Not long after I made this promise to myself, so to speak (pun intended), I actually said words, instead of my usual head nod or weak smile. I said a word, one word, but I was so excited that I actually made words, that I didn't stop there. I spoke to the next person I ran into on the lot. I said "Hi." That's it..... Yes, it is ridiculous, but after spending so many of my years blushing and turning bright red, when I either ran into a crush or ran into a celebrity, this was a big step for me.

I have also become much more confident and definitely less shy since I've been living down here; since I got the job. I start up conversations with people I meet on the lot. I want to know what they do.

I "network" while on the lot. I've met many interesting people. Most recently, I met an Academy Award-winning Editor. How cool is that? He is such a nice man. He even invited me to come watch him edit. I would love to be an editor. The editing classes I took in college really fascinated me. I went so far as to buy Final Cut Pro (which, unfortunately I still have not really used because I don't have anything to play with).

President Obama

Today President Obama went to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at NBC Studios, which is about a block away from where I work. The President of the United States was a block away from my work. And I didn't see him. I tried to get a glimpse after work, with a few of my fellow workers but alas, he had already left the building.

ER's final day of shooting

It was a sad day on the Warner Bros. lot on March 18. The end of an era. A medical drama era that in the beginning, no one was sure if a show called "ER" would survive past its first season.

Fifteen years later, it is over.

There seemed to be a somber presence throughout the lot, as many stars of the cast sat outside their trailers and appeared to be reminiscing about the show. Crew members walked outside the stage, extras in their hospital gowns paced outside, anticpating their call. And many WB workers made their ways over to Stage 11, in hopes of a glimpse of a Scrub-clad doctor or a white-coat actor.

A show that brought George Clooney into the spotlight, turned him into a leading man and into a movie star. A rough around the edges Emergency Room pediatrician with salt-n-pepper hair by the name of Dr. Doug Ross. A womanizer. The ladies man, whom eventually would settle down and have a couple of kids with Nurse Carol Hathaway.

A show that introduced us to a young Noah Wyle a.k.a Dr. John Carter, whom started as a surgical med student under Dr. Peter Benton and went onto become a fantastic TV doctor. One that went through many ups & downs including being stabbed by a psychotic patient, that lead to drug addiction. Noah Wyle left the show after 10 seasons, but he reappeared once or twice before coming back for ER's finale 15th season.

Audiences watched as many beloved doctors exited the show in many ways. From death by helicopter (Dr. Romano) to death by brain tumor (Dr. Greene), to quitting and moving to Washington (Dr. Ross & Nurse Hathaway), to trying something new. I was teary eyed by the end of the episode when Dr. Greene passed away. Though I wasn't to upset to see Dr. Romano bite the dust. What can I say, I didn't care for the doctor too much.

I was fortunate enough to get a job at Warner Bros. Studios before the end of ER's run. I began working in October and I was lucky enough to be able to see some of the shows' final episodes being filmed over at the famed "Ambulance Bay." On a sad note, not long after the show finished wrapping, the "Ambulance Bay" started to get torn down.