Living Horizontally

Everything in L.A. has been going so smoothly. I have had so much fun making friends, learning cool things at my internship and exploring L.A. I guess it couldn't be this perfect all summer long, right? Which is why God gave me this small chapter of my summer called "Living Horizontally," because that is exactly what I've been doing for the past week.

I got a severe headache on my way to work last week. I felt terrible when I got home at 11 p.m., so I went straight to bed but did not sleep one wink. My hands and feet were ice, but my head felt like a volcano. For some reason, since I was a kid, I have never carried around medicine, and I have never liked to take medicine. Desperate and exhausted, I called my parents crying at 4 a.m. They told me what medicine to go buy and to call in sick to work. My parents offered their always loving support, but they also reminded me that yes, I am 21 years old, and yes, I can take care of myself. If my life was a movie, this could be thought of as my revelation moment. I came to the shocking realization that I am no longer a child... and it was serious this time. In Texas, I could easily call on my sorority house mom to give me medicine or drive home for extra care. But not here. Being as sick as I was while away from my parents was scary, because I had never been sick like that before. But it was now time to embrace my adulthood and take care of myself. Although my head was throbbing and I could not talk or swallow due to the sores on the back of my throat, I got in the car and drove myself to CVS. I obtained an antibiotic from my doctor back home for strep throat and flu, and I cemented myself to the couch.

One week and a bottle of NyQuil later, I am feeling like myself again! I feel really proud of myself for surviving what I thought last week I would never get through alone. I know I sound dramatic, but when you are by yourself and that sick, the days ahead can look really bleak.

I went back to work today, and I felt proud of myself there, too! My hours at work have changed, and I am doing more preparing for the show now. My boss has me doing a lot of the work by myself. I was seriously left alone for three hours, locating film and editing clips today. I enjoy feeling like I'm contributing to the show, even though what I do is just a small fragment of the show as a whole. I'm proud of what I have learned and how quickly I have learned it. I get scared sometimes that I might do something wrong since this is all new to me, but I'm glad my boss trusts me. I unfortunately do not think I will be going out into the field as much as I was. The station has had to relocate a lot of people because of their budget, and Allan cannot go out with Ross anymore to supervise me. But, there are several premieres and other events coming up within the next week, though, so maybe I will get to go to some!

Sorry for not having pictures for this post. There was not much to take pictures of this week, besides me lying on the couch!

AFI Honors Michael Douglas

Jane Seymour

Hugh Hefner with his three girlfriends haha

The American Film Institute honored Michael Douglas with the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award last night at Sony Pictures Studios. I was more involved in the making of this story for our show than any of the other stories I have worked on so far. I did all the interviewing, and I think my interviews were the best I've done since I started. I got to interview Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones (his wife), Kirk Douglas (his father who is also an AFI Award recipient), Kathleen Turner, Jesse Metcalf, Anne Archer, Jane Seymour and Hugh Hefner. Matthew McConaughey, Tobey Maquire and Warren Beatty were also there, but they did not take any interviews. My favorite interviews were with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jane Seymour. The two ladies were so poised when they spoke and looked absolutely beautiful. When we got back to the station, I wrote the script for our entertainment reporter, Ross. I had not written a script for broadcast yet in any of my classes, only for newspaper, so I was excited that I was finally getting to write for a show. Writing hard news stories for newspapers at school has not been my favorite part of journalism. I love writing, but I want to write something more creative and upbeat. Ross gave me a lot of useful pointers. Writing for broadcast is a lot more fun for me because, as Ross put it, the writing does not always have to be straight forward like in print. You can twist what you say to make it more entertaining and engaging for an audience. Ross does not always stick to the script either. There is a lot of breathing room for him to improvise. Maybe its because of my background in theater and dance and my love for performing, but that's the way I think news should be: entertaining. Even if the news story is covering a crime, you have to be able to engage your audience. Afterall, it's television! If your audience gets bored, they will easily flip to the next station. Next week, my producer, Allan, said he would let me edit the film after we shoot, which I've been really wanting to do! I'm learning so much! Also, Allan said that he would let me shoot a "stand-up" at the next event we attend to use for my reel tape, which is like a resume for broadcast journalists that I will be able to send out to future hopeful employers. I'm so glad Allan lets me do so much, and I don't just sit back and watch. Sometimes I get nervous with how much he trusts me to take care of the interviewing, but I guess I should take it as a compliment, trust my instincts and do my best. I know I will mess up sometimes... it's all a part of learning.

The Wizard of Oz

Tonight we went to cover the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise. The event was celebrating the re-release of the movie in a fun, creative way by having some of the best shoe designers (Jimmy Choo, Oscar de la Renta, Betsey Johnson, L.A.M.B., Christian Louboutin, Stuart Weizman) create modern versions of Dorothy's famous ruby slipper and put them on display. Local artists' pieces surrounding the Oz theme were also on display, along with designer Tarina Tarintino's http://www.tarinatarantino.com/ new line inspired by the movie, called "My Pretty." Her jewelry and clothes were so fun to see!

This was the first event that I did all the interviewing myself. I got to interview George Lopez, Kristin Cavallari (from The Hills), Tarina Tarintino, Debi Mazar (Entourage) and Nestor Carbonell (The Dark Knight). My producer, Allan, let me come up with all the questions to use myself. My favorite was asking everyone what Oz character they'd be if there was a remake. Kristin Cavallari said that she would be the Wicked Witch, which was very fitting for her roll on The Hills, but she was actually a really sweet girl to talk to!

Allan and the entertainment reporter, Ross, gave me lots of tips when we got back to the studio and watched the tapes. Ross has been such a pleasure to work with. He is so fun and entertaining (maybe why he does entertainment news?). Ross also does two radio shows in England and has a Scottish accent, which makes him that much more fun to listen to! He's provided me with lots of reporter strategies, such as sucking on a cherry cough drop before going on-air because it clears your throat and makes your tongue look pink and "attractive" (who would have thought?) and staring at the sun with your eyes closed for 10-15 seconds when it is sunny out so you don't squint into the lens when it is time to shoot. Ross calls me "BB" which stands for "Baby Brinkley," because he said I look like a young Christie Brinkley - haha!

I'm having tons of fun exploring LA. Tonight was my first time downtown. This past weekend, my roommate, Amanda, and I got out to explore some more. We went out in Hollywood to Beauty Bar and Ecco with a group of UTLA kids. We had so much fun dancing! Saturday, we spent the day in Santa Monica and Venice beach. We walked the Venice boardwalk to see how Cali's weirdos compared to Austin's. I had high expectations, but they weren't as weird as I thought they would be... Austin prepared me too well! The picture I took on the boardwalk is hard to see, but its a picture of a man in an American flag speedo with black hightop sneakers who was listening to 90's jams with his mini boombox!

The Taking of Pelham 123

Here are two pictures of Denzel Washington after we interviewed him at The Taking of Pelham 123 movie premiere. He was ready to get to the Lakers game so he was the first celebrity down the red carpet. John Travolta did not come, so after we got Denzel, we left. He was all we needed for our 10 p.m. sound bite on the premiere coverage. Usually the bigger celebrities come last down the carpet and we interview all the other "smaller" celebrities in the movie first. We typically never use them in our show, but we like to say yes to every interview just in case they say something buzz-worthy we can use. It's also nice to say yes to every publicist that asks us if we want an interview with their client so people remember us as a nice group. We don't want to rub someone the wrong way, and then when we want to interview them later, they refuse to give us the time of day. I'm learning a lot about media coverage. I'm so lucky to have such a valuable hands-on learning expereince this summer!

The Hangover

I went to The Hangover premiere last night, and my producer, Allan, let me do more red carpet interviews! I got to interview Heather Graham, Rachael Harris and Ed Helms (Andy from The Office). Our news program used my interview with Heather Graham for the 10:00 news too! I personally thought her interview was the worst one of the night, but hey, they're the professionals. She was hard to talk to, but I think they used hers because she was one of the biggest stars of the night. Ialso got to meet Bradley Cooper, Ken Jeong and the director, Todd Phillips. It was my biggest celebrity spotting so far: Jim Carrey, Zac Efron, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the cast of Entourage, the cast of The Office (minus Steve Carrell), Audrina Patridge and more all showed up for the premiere. We didn't get to go inside and watch since we were on a deadline, but I can't wait to see it! You know you're movie must be funny if Jim Carrey shows up to watch it!

What else I've been up to:

My roommate, Amanda, and I are working on a scavenger hunt for our UTLA program. If we complete it before June 15 we get to go to the Magic Castle as members, which we're told is pretty special. The scavenger hunt has us running all over LA trying to complete the extensive items on the hunt's list. Saturday we spent several hours on Hollywood Blvd searching for certain stars. We didn't know any of the stars we had to find, but we have to write a biography on them as part of completing the scavenger hunt, so I'm sure we'll find out soon.

I started class on Monday. I can tell that I'm really going to enjoy Phil Nemy's class, How Hollywood Works. All the UTLA kids are nice and really interested in going out and getting to know each other. Monday night we went to Saddle Ranch to celebrate Matthew Robinson's birthday. Saddle Ranch was a little boring because it was comedy night (the comedians weren't funny), but I'm glad I went and got to know more of the students.

Pictures from top to bottom: 1) me at The Hangover premiere, 2) me with my producer, Allan, and camera man, Phil, 3) Bradley Cooper, 4) Ken Jeong, 5) me after interviewing Ed Helms who is in the background, 6) me with a star on Hollywood Blvd, 7) Amanda with a star on Hollywood Blvd.