"California Here I Come ..."

Damn. So last night I finally got around to writing a whole big entry and right when I'm about to publish, Blogspot goesY2K on me and completely freezes. So everything ... was lost. Dayum, that's not right. So I'll try to replicate what I wrote last night in the minutes before I head off to the airport. The airport? Yep, that's right, I am about to head off to Hollywood until Sunday, in what will be the continuation of a crazy two weeks. Yeah, when I started this blog I did so thinking I'd have tons of time to write, seeing as how I was basically sitting around in CT looking for a job. Now business has picked up a little bit, though I shouldn't say too much because in a week's time I may be right back to sitting around watching VH1 at 1 am. But it all started a few Thursday ago when ...

I'm planning a trip to LA, when suddenly the fine folks at Late Night With Conan O'Brien call and say they need PA's to help with their move to new offices. Start monday, let them know by THE NEXT DAY whether I'm in or our. So of course that's when OPERATION FREAK OUT BEGINS (as ol' Flava Flav might say ...). Luckily, things seemed to fall into place after only a few hours of panic. My aunt Amy, of Riverdale, NY, was nice enough to let me stay at her apartment for a week and a half. So I was in business, and headed out to NYC for a week of heavy lifting. It was great to be back at Conan, and nice to see all the staff there. The work itself was pretty brutal ... days filled with box-packing, box-lifting, and box unpacking. But kudos to the other hard-working PA's there who made sure I took minimal breaks and worked till I could not work no more. See, for those of you who aspire to be writers, you pay your dues by doing manual labor! Who says showbiz is glamorous?

Still, there were some great moments. One happened on my last day, when I got a glimspe of one of my all-time rock idols - SLASH~~! Yep, Velvet Revolver played the show, and some other PA's and I were called down to help move their equipment. Man, I have been a huge Slash fan since I first discovered the greatness of GUNS N'ROSES back in the day. So that was a pretty big thrill.

NYC was also great because, well, I got to get outta CT. But, also, I got to see a lot of friends in the area, many of whom I had not seen in way too long. Of course, my crazy schedule kept me from seeing everyone I wanted to, but hopefully I'll be back to the city soon. One of the highlights was definitely a Shabbat dinner at the house of one Rabbi Schmooley, right wing radio talk show host and author of such best-selling books as Kosher Sex. Yep, you read that right. It was a birthday celebration for both him and my friend Erica who is now working for him (and living in his house, odd since she is a liberal Catholic / Wiccan). Well, a good time was had by all and a celebration like no other I've ever seen, highlighted by the unveiling of two birthday cakes: Schmooley's cake of decency and morality, and Erica's rainbow-colored cake of immorality and sin! Yeah, craziness!

SO ... now I'm off to LA, well, Burbank to be exact. I'm interviewing with NBC's page program there and with Warner Bros. TV. Full report when I get back, and more sweet, sweet, verbal-candy blog-writing to come.