famous

the weather finally cleared up out here, so i'm attempting to enjoy the cali sunshine. last week was bizarre, but by friday all was well with the sky. it's nice to be able to run outside. yes, i could run after the rain stops, but i'm clumsy and i know i'll slip. i have tripped on a flat surface before so i don't wanna take any chances with the elements. 

but speaking of friday... this past weekend was pretty darn excellent! started with a morning run followed by a lovely lunch on the ucla campus with the bestie. i was going to take a drive up the coast to explore malibu when my long-legged friend, lala, from austin called me. she was in town for work and happened to wrap early that afternoon. she was staying at the JW Marriot downtown. freakin' fly! so nice, in fact, that president obama was staying a few floors above us at the ritz carlton. the president. yes. so cool. 

i also experienced my first concert friday night. lala got tickets to the vince gil concert at the nokia theatre through the hotel so we went to check it out. i'll admit i didn't know who vince gil was and it really wasn't my style, but it was a cool little venue. 
 
some of our austin to LA friends met up with us for the show and then we went to a midnight dinner at this retro diner called cole's. that was, surprisingly, my first time in downtown LA. it's like a whole different world down there. the architecture is pretty amazing. looking forward to going back.


i hooked up with some variety magazine folks a couple of weeks ago and was able to take part in their event 'the power of youth' on sunday at the paramount lot. it was a pretty amazing presentation. tons of activities, stage performances, free food vendors and a huge red carpet. and everything was set up on the nyc backlot, where they film lots of movies and shows.

lots of celebs in the house, too. i knew they'd be honoring little bow wow and bieb's, but i didn't realize that lots of the young local celebs would be there. i'll be honest, i didn't know most of their names, but i recognized a lot of them from shows like 'parenthood' and 'modern family.' there were also a lot of wanna-biebers (copyright - ME :)) hanging around. even mark wahlberg was there! beib's is pretty freakin' adorable, though. i can't zoom on my phone, so it's kind of far off, but he's the little guy on stage in the orange flannel.

i had a sweet spot right in the thick of it. i was next to the stage and the dell sponsor activation. there was a press photog next to us, so every time a celeb would walk by he would grab them. can you guess who this is...?

i'll give you a clue. GLEE. for realzies! yes. chord overstreet, who plays 'sam.' he was actually hanging right next to us all day. see the popcorn machine in the corner. that was us! i tried to take a better shot, but i didn't want to be too obvious. my paparazzi skills need work. amber riley 'mercedes' was also there, but i didn't get a pic. sorry folks. 




and here's a special little treat to close with. seems fitting with the power of youth and the wanna-biebers. enjoy (hahaha!)

Big Time Rush - Famous (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Big Time Rush

californication

i've had a lot of inquiries about florida bux since my last blog, so i thought i'd update.

monday - he walked into 'bucks while i was there, but no warm intro. just a wave. he sat at a different table and then left. i won! i think he was just peeved that i didn't return his phone call. if he did find my blog, then oh well. yes, i'm a horrible person.
wednesday - he was there before i got there! i saw him in the window so i turned around to head to a different location. after a 10 minute walk in the rain i decided to turn back and deal. he wasn't going to keep me away. once again, no major interaction. i did see him talk to a chipper young girl in close proximity. poor thing. luckily she wasn't as dumb as i was, and i didn't see any number exchange.
today - i really thought it was all in my head and a bit silly until this evening. heading back from a trip to the gym and grocery shopping, i turned the corner onto my street and i saw him just sitting there on the sidewalk. in the dark. alone. literally sitting on MY street, just a few houses away. again, probably just coincidence, but i will admit it was a bit eerie. i don't think he saw me and i don't think he knows my car, but that didn't prevent me from locking myself inside the house and closing all of the blinds.

i know i've been writing a lot of debbie-downers lately and i really don't want to give this creep all of the attention, so let's switch gears! aside from the weirdo, everyone else that i've met out here has been over the moon lovely! my friends of friends intro's have been pretty spectacular. i actually had a full day-o-fun last week with a friend of a friend. we had lunch near ucla campus, went to the getty museum and hit up a movie screening of 'secretariat' complete with a q&a from the director, randall wallace. my apologies to the bestie for not answering my phone that evening. after a few unreturned texts and a missed call, the bestie was a little freaked out about my day with a stranger and ended up taking a drive by over to my house to see if i was home and alive. glad to have her around!

and as annoying as this job hunt process has been, almost every person i've come into contact with wants to help me out. i've had lots of people pass along my resume and tap their resources for openings. it's like a have a huge group of cheerleaders, some of which barely even know me. it's pretty amazing. so much for those rumors of all LA folks being superficial ladder climbers. false!

i have some exciting weekend plans brewing, but mama p says it's not safe to lay out future activities with people like florida bux on the loose. guess you guys will have to tune in later. until next time...

ps: here are a few celeb sighting updates...

tia (or possibly tamera?) mowry at the getty museum


nathan fillion at aroma cafe. i will report he was sharing a muffin with another man. feel free to draw your own conclusions.

rex linn (apparently csi miami IS filmed in la) at 24 hour fitness

who are you?

have you googled yourself lately? omg, it's frightening! i found an assortment of things including my high school home phone number, my parents names and birthdates, my acl schedule from 2009, an old work email, my old personal cell phone number and other random tidbits of information about my previous employment. apparently google doesn't know that i've moved west, just yet, but give it time.

now why would i google myself, you ask? funny story! let me back track. i have been meeting an assortment of new people through friends of friends, but i've also just been meeting randoms at neighborhood places of interest. ya know, striking up convo's with people sitting in close proximity to you. i can't say that's a regular thing i used to do, but i find myself chatting it up with strangers fairly often these days. i think i may have finally gotten myself into a bit of a pickle. i am sorry mama p, i know you taught me 'stranger danger.'

as many of you know i have been planting myself at starbucks multiple times during the week, just so i can get out of the house and have a new change of scenery whilst knee-deep in the job search. on monday, while i was sitting by my lonesome, a boy my age (we'll call him florida bux) asked to share my table. totally cool, no worries. so after a bit we got to chatting and he said that he is from florida and he's also new to the area. he said he used to live here a while back and was into acting but he decided to head home for a bit and now he's just returned. he's also on the job hunt. further into the conversation he tells me that he used to be a motivational speaker and a physicist. kind of seemed a bit strange for a 26 year old to have such a diverse professional background and still have a hard time finding a job. hmmm... strangely enough i decided he seemed friendly enough and we swapped contact info.

the next day i worked from home. i usually sit in our dining room with the balcony blinds open. whilst typing away, i saw him walk right by the house. woah, i just met that guy yesterday! not totally weird, i guess, because we're kind of close to starbucks, but my street is strictly residential. i thought it was just coincidental, but i did remember that when he asked me where i lived i vaguely pointed 'over there.'

i'm back at starbucks on wednesday and here he comes. i really wanted to get some work done, so i pretended like i didn't notice him (yeah yeah, i'm a biatch, sorry). he ends up sitting at the table next to mine, facing the opposite direction. sneaky little devil! i keep my head down for a solid ten minutes while he just sits there. i figured he'd give up, but he's stubborn. i gave up and we chatted again. he started the convo saying he was in the works of creating a non-prof. 'a 501(c)3?' i ask. 'yes' he says. i wished him luck with that one, but thought it was totally random. we start talking about hobbies and i mention that i really like music and going to concerts. he says that he doesn't go to shows and the convo kind of dies. then he shouts, ' my favorite band is incubus!' wtf? for realz?? i honestly looked around to see if i had any incu paraphernalia lying around (very likely), but i didn't. then he mentions that he makes ringtones and he's written lots of piano music and wants to know how to sell his stuff on itunes. 

i usually believe everything people say at face value, but he was just a little off. idk. maybe it was the fact that he regularly sits at starbucks and just orders water. or that he was wearing shoes for crews with a white t-shirt and khaki shorts, very similar to a work uniform. or that he admitted that he always thought darkroom photography sounded erotic. who says that to a stranger?? 

now it's probably because i just watch those stupid criminal minds marathons or too much csi, but i started to get a little paranoid. i told my roomie about our convos that evening and she yells, 'maybe he's stalking you!' i will say that she's also into crime shows, so i guess that's just how our minds work. she guesses that he probably googled my name and that's how he knows so much about my interests. google search 'shannon' enter and viola! madness. the blog and facebook didn't pop up, but myspace did. while i'm discovering all of these creepy info tidbits available to any internet browser, my phone rings. it's him! i didn't pick up but he left me a message:
'hi shannon, it's florida bux. i was thinking about going to starbucks and i wanted to know if you wanted to join me. i'm just dropping off a movie right now, so i'm right next to your house. call me back if you want to hang out. or call me back if you don't want to hang out, you can just call me back. okay. bye.'

no, i didn't call him back. i decided to do some reconnaissance work. i went to starbucks outside of my usual window and asked my new barista friend about him. she had the same general info (florida, new, unemployed) but she did mention that he's super friendly. like overly friendly and maybe a bit socially awkward. i guess when he does decide to order something he'll stand at the order pick up area for a good 30 minutes and just watch them work. 

i haven't had any encounters with him since the voicemail, but i'll probably cut back on my starbucks visits. i'm sure he's just socially awkward and maybe a bit of a grand storyteller, but i'm posting this video just because i like it. i'll keep you updated on any new sightings. and yes, i am keeping my balcony blinds closed.

how do you afford your rock n' roll lifestyle?

i supplemented my acl experience for a local music festival called 'cultures collide' hosted by filter magazine. it was free and they had a decent line up, so it made sense to check it out. tokyo police club was awesome. definitely the highlight of the day. it was held right off sunset in a parking lot and side street in silver lake. i finally made it over to the hipster hideout! it was actually so perfect for that weekend. i felt like i was back in austin at acl. tons of golfer hats, tights, flannel, cut offs, mustaches, etc. just like home :)

i'm actually really jazzed about all the great music that's coming to LA over the next few months. it's pretty difficult to pick and choose. i would attempt to go to about half the shows, but i need to watch the funds. i'm actually on the fence about checking out INCUBUS this weekend. *gasp* i never thought i'd say that. they're playing in san bernadino, about 2 hours away. no big deal, as i do love a drive, but i'm not sure if i'll have a buddy. kind of makes for a long day. i must tell you that the name of the show is called 'smokeout festival' and while i don't really mind the cali-legal drug, i don't know if i want to hang around it all day. meh. on the fence. i really want to check out the local venues in the area, so i'll probably catch a show this week or next week. that's a promise!

take it easy

acl is this weekend and i'm not going to be there. weird. i've been fortunate enough to run the klbj fm broadcast for the past 3 years, giving me 3 day access to the fest. the best perk of it all would have to be the private potties, free water and snacks! i was really tempted to stay away from the lineup list since i knew i couldn't go, but i was just too darn curious! while i'm gutted to miss muse and m.i.a. i'm pretty stoked that most of the other bands will be heading my direction in the next month or so. 

if any of you kids are lucky enough to get into the fest but a bit confused about who to see, check out some of my picks. i especially want to highlight the morning benders, beach house, the soft pack, first aid kit, and lissie. they're all a buzz these days. enjoy! 

shannon's ACL 2010 sched

 hope you don't get pooped on this year!

but you picked me

i celebrated my one month anniversary of california living on sunday. i actually didn't realize it was my anniversary until the following day, but sunday was pretty darn nice. i want to say that i'm sort of falling into a weekend routine. i went back down to the farmer's market on hollywood and sunset. my weekly produce only totaled $7!! steal. i drove down to santa monica for a run along the beach. there's this really nice paved sidewalk in the middle of the sand that stretches maybe 20 or more miles from south of venice to north of santa monica. i haven't really explored the entire strip, but i will say that it's lovely to run next to the ocean. after my oceanside run i went home and made a lovely dinner. 

i think it's the routine that i'm missing. i would say that i'm a pretty spontaneous gal, but i think the familiarity of a regular routine would help me feel more at home. right now my usual is heading to starbucks for 5 hours and sending out job applications. i'm hoping that doesn't last too much longer!

i was curious to see if follow up emails/phone calls are necessary or tacky when applying for jobs. i posted the question on facebook and received an overwhelming amount of yes's. good to know. i guess at this point i'm not going to be shy about following up because they have either taken me off the list already or haven't even gotten around to choosing candidates. i wasn't quite sure how to scribe a follow up email without repeating everything i had said in my original cover letter. i decided to go for the upfront and comedic approach. here is a little excerpt from my follow ups:

"I am sure your Inbox is over-saturated with numerous applications, so to make the selection process easy for everyone I suggest you choose me!"

wish me luck!