Let's Get (a Little) Serious

The past few days have been much more slowly paced than my first few days in Hollywood.  The biggest thing I did on Friday was my UTLA orientation.  My roommates and I walked together to the orientation at noon.  After getting my picture taken, I got some of the delicious catered food and then found my seat.  There to greet me was a UT Austin hat and a welcome packet.  As I ate my lunch, I acquainted myself with the other people at my table.  One of the UTLA staff members came around to all the tables to give us raffle tickets and tape names to our backs.  As an icebreaker, we played the classic game where you have a famous person's name on your back and you have to figure out who it is with yes and no questions.  We went around the table asking one question at a time, so I never figured out who my person was before the game was over.  Later on, I took the name off my back and learned who it was.  What I had determined during the game was that the person was a European woman who is not a movie star, a musician, or a supermodel.  I also knew she was in the entertainment business and not old (I defined "old" as 60+).  If anyone wants to take a guess, you're more than welcome to!  Anyway, it was a pretty typical orientation - we learned some ground rules and some emergency procedures.  Then we heard a little bit about all the classes that were offered and looked at the semester calendar.  We also talked about fun events and activities that are available.  All throughout the orientation, they drew tickets and gave away a bunch of raffle prizes.  The final raffle prize they gave away was 2 tickets to the Magic Castle, a fancy and exclusive place in L.A. where they have magic shows.  They called my number to win the prize!  The only problem is, you have to be 21+ to get in!  Imagine my luck!  I ended up trading it away for a Bradley t-shirt, and somebody else got those tickets.  I would have liked one of the pairs of movie tickets they were giving away!  After we got all the important information out of the way, we played one last game - the classic "Two Truths and a Lie".  The people at my table figured out my lie, but it took them a while!  They debated it for a long time!  I usually feel like I'm bad at that game, so I felt a little better about it!  After orientation, we returned to the apartment.  For the next several hours, I was in extremely bored/couch potato mode.  However, I knew my roommates and I were planning on going to a movie later on, so I looked forward to that.  When night came around, we went out to see "Foxcatcher".  It was a pretty good movie, but I wasn't a huge fan of the ending.  It was also one of the mildest R-rated movies I've ever seen.  Steve Carell was fantastic, and I think it'd be cool if he won the Best Actor Oscar!  I would also like to see Mark Ruffalo win Best Supporting Actor!  We returned to the apartment after seeing the movie, and the rest of the day was pretty typical.  Today I slept in a little bit and hung around the apartment for a while.  Just before 2:00, my roommates went out to see another movie and then hang out on Sunset Blvd.  I didn't think I would enjoy the movie, so I stayed back.  I hung around the apartment, watched GSN, and did other (mostly) unproductive stuff.  Later in the afternoon, I got on a bus headed for Hollywood and Vine.  When I got there, I ate at a place called Juicy Burger.  I had seen that it got excellent reviews, and I was in the mood for a burger, so I went for it.  It was so delicious!  The burger I ate tonight was one of the best I've ever had!  I would definitely recommend it!  After I was done, my goal was to reload my TAP card (which pays for bus and subway rides) and get on the bus leaving at 5:41.  The problem is, I walked in the wrong direction as I left the restaurant!  By the time I turned around and started actually heading for the Metro station, the bus was already there.  Since I couldn't pay for it, I had no choice but to take the next bus.  The buses don't come around very often, so I was stuck for a while.  On the bright side, I found Pat Sajak's star on the Walk of Fame when I was in the wrong place!  After I reloaded my card, I had to wait until 6:36 for the next bus.  I found a store along Hollywood Blvd that had a whole bunch of t-shirts and other souvenirs, so I hung around there for a long time.  When it was time for the bus to come around, I found the station, boarded the bus, and finally came home.  Since then, I've just been sitting around listening to music and watching GSN.  I believe my roommates want to go to the beach tomorrow, so I'll definitely join them!  I'm not sure which beach they want to go to - they said Santa Monica at first, but not everyone likes that idea.  I was a fan of Santa Monica Beach when I went there in July 2013.  No matter what happens tomorrow, it should be fun!