USC you in LA

Okay-
I'm going to write about my experience in L.A.
I am going to tell a lot of it with pictures because I want you to feel like you got to go too.
Also--I've been telling my story to every member of my family for the past 3 days, so I'm a little spent. I will probably either do this in pieces or I'll elaborate later...who knows...? Here we go!

I was awake this past Friday from 3:30am EST to 12:30am PCT...aka 3:30am EST. A 24 hour day, and one of the best days of my life.
I left the Eastern Shore on time, but my arrival caused me to almost be late. My shuttle had to make a stop in South Central L.A., which made the other lady in the van nervous, I talked her down. We were okay.
We rolled up to the Vagabond Inn (name fits) at 12:00pm, it was exactly when the meet and greet at the Zemeckis Building was starting. Luckily, for me, the inn was 2 feet away from the building, so I was only 5 minutes late!


I met up with Nicole and Brian at the Luncheon. They are two fellow future Trojans who I have talked to before the weekend.


(Brian and Nicole)

We had a great lunch, watched a film about the school, listened to the Dean, who told us that "USC SCA is harder to get into than Harvard Law." A great way to make us smile!) and then broke off into specific groups, based on studies.
We listened to our future teachers talk, then took a tour around the School of Cinematic Arts.



(The new SCA building...thanks George Lucas' $175 Million!)



Tour!



Afternoon meet and greet where there was free booze (I had one corona...didn't want to embarrass myself!) and free fun! Met some teachers and a TON of cool people!



Nicole said that this weekend was "fan-fucking-tastic." That's on the record.



This is the "Frank Sinatra Theatre" where we saw a screening of Forrest Gump and then listened to a Q&A with Robert Zemeckis, Eric Roth, Gary Sinise and Tom Hanks.
Check it out!



The next day, I toured the campus with Brian and Tyler. We took pictures of everything, including under "Tommy the Trojan's" skirt. Sexy.



Tried taking a random pic, Tyler apparently is photogenic and smiled.



After the self guided tour and lunch, I headed to Santa Monica to see my cousin Jess. While she was at work, at Houston's, I went down to the beach, near but not on the pier. It was a gorgeous day and I soaked it all in!



I ate lunch with Jess and then walked the Promanade. I looked at everything I could see and then went to see Sunshine Cleaning, which was AMAZING!!



Jess lent me her car for a bit, so I went back to her apartment and played with Moos and Ace, Jess and Matt's cats. "Moos" means "cat" in Gambia, so it's not spelled wrong, lol.



After work, Jess and I headed to Beverly Hills to pick up some frozen dinners. Nothing like a little Passover Pizza to brighten up a little girl's night!



Sunday, Jess and I made our way down to Orange County to see my Aunt Mary and Uncle Bob. My Aunt Mary was in the hospital recovering from surgery, but this is her view, so I think she'll be fine as long as she occasionally looks outside!



After Jess left for work, I headed out to drive to Hollywood. I wanted to do the whole "tourist" thing. I took pics on the way there, whenever I was stopped, which since it was L.A., was quite often. LOOK AT THE BILLBOARD! I'm a nerd.



I went to Hollywood Blvd. and saw Grauman's Theatre...



...stood in Cary Grant's footsteps...



...and of course, paid homage to Ingrid.

My last night in L.A. I went up to Jess' roof deck and wrote for a long while. This video clip is of the view from the roof. It was a great way to end one of the best times of my life. I can't wait to rejoin my friends, make some films and go to USC SCA!