Last year, when I still had my blog on My Space, I wrote this blog- and this year I am checking the flights daily and getting ready to make reservations for my trip to LA in August! I have a film, too! Here are my thoughts last year:
The Hidden Hollywood at Starbucks
Current mood: curious
I was in Los Angeles for nine days. I thought I had given myself ample time to do what I needed to do, I was wrong. That's a good thing, though. I feel close to something happening, though I have again had my share of disappointments. But progress is progress and in many ways, people were a lot nicer to me out there, and knew what I was talking about, than some people have been to me here.
As I was setting up meetings--I noticed a theme. Okay, we all know that Starbucks are everywhere, they have littered the world with them, but I suppose I never thought about the important deals going on right there all the time. Seems like everyone meets there. I was meeting with people who looked like everyone else but had the potential to change my life-- and may still.
That kid writing her screenplay is sitting next to a major producer. She has no idea. We brush up against one another in line for lattes. It's creepy, really. Thet guy that looks like an aging hippie, he's your man. I had so many meetings and they ALL took place at Starbucks. The great divide still exists between you and them. I wish I could put on night vision goggles and spot the glowing people walking amongst the crowd. The scammers and the sharks would be a horrid shade of orange and the real deal could be a lovely shade of green. If only we had such signs because at any time I was only one degree of separation from where I needed to be.
I relied on the kindness of so many people that week, and they were kind. I was offered advice and granted meetings, I was spoken to like a human being with a real brain. In return, I was eager and thoughtful and kind and considerate. I still believe I don't have to be a bitch to get where I need to be. I just have to make tough decisions. I showed up on time and wrote thank you notes.
I discovered the personality of the Starbucks.
First I visited the strip mall Starbucks. It was quiet and clean, and people were well groomed and generally considerate. Then I went to the drive thru Starbucks. Crowded, busy and impatient. I was met with glares while looking for a seat. Territory had been staked out already. Should've been there earlier!
Then the really interesting ghetto/homeless Starbucks. The outdoor patio boasted people with no place to go. Do you have a cigarette? There was a man in the bathroom for twenty minutes, wonder what was going on in there? Some things are better not asked.
I had my dirtiest conversation at that place, met a friend from St. Louis and he gave me the low down sleaze that had been crawling around talking about me. I brought him up to date on the latest lies and gossip he needed to know. It was a necessary conversation. Lucky in this world, there are friends like him-- someone has to tell you about the snake trying to squeeze you out, even if it confirms what you already know.
Then there was the Farmer's Market Starbucks. I loved the buzz of the market. There was a Barnes and Noble in the outdoor mall and on the third floor, there is a Starbucks with an adjoining outdoor patio.
We sat outside and I had my most important meeting of the week, in a nice corner we discussed all the things I should be discussing.
I discovered that week I need a lap top. The world out there moves too fast without it. People are supposed to call you. They text. They email.
I believe in the old testament verse that says be kind because you never know when an angel will come to your door. Course I was not as kind as I could have been to the kid who came to my door and woke me up yesterday morning-- but she was a little rude and presumptuous as well.
In movies, the guy you got into an argument with at the coffee shop turns out to be your new boss. While that has yet to happen to me, I still think it is best to be kind until you cannot be kind-- and there are situations where you should no longer be nice. It is with great irony, I report how nice people were to me in LA, just as I previously reported her how nice people were in NY.
But I don't have a deal-- yet. More brick walls to climb and miles to go before I sleep. I inch ever closer to my dream.
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