Awkward Moments with Famous People

Another title for this entry could be "I really need to start blogging again," which is probably the most frequently written phrase in any blog I attempt to keep. Here goes yet another attempt.

I've been in LA for almost a week now, and mentally it definitely feels better than my last attempt to move here. Turns out spending most of your time on a couch watching syndicated reruns on broadcast TV, while leaving a laptop open to a blank word document and calling that "writing," is not the best way to handle a move to a new city. This time I'm keeping those blank documents open at coffee shops in different parts of the city that I'm driving to. Today I'm at a Coffee Bean in Studio City, but I've also not written at such places as the Bourgeois Pig, Solar de Cahuenga, and Aroma Cafe. Seriously cannot recommend these places enough for slacking off on your life passions.

The fatal flaw of this city though may be the fact that it is already so beautiful that it makes it kind of hard to get too down on yourself for being unproductive. I mean I'm sitting right now at an outdoor cafe with a full view of palm trees and attractive people. So what if I never finish this screenplay? Who needs self respect when you've got sunscreen?

I've met two famous comedians in the last week and both encounters couldn't have been more awkward, so that's fun. I've always fancied myself as someone unfazed by famous people because I've met so many comics over the years and had cool relaxed conversations with them, but it turns out the vital ingredient in those scenarios was the fact that we were working together at a comedy club. It's easy to feel like someone is a peer when I'm working with them, not quite the same when I run into them on the street while they're walking their dog and all I can stammer out is "Um.. I hate to be this guy, but.. lot's of respect," which wouldn't really be that bad were not preceded and followed by the multiple minutes of awkward silence and then walking down the street way too fast in what was a blatant attempt to escape from the whole scenario. Seriously, I probably should have just kicked Dave Foley in the shin and ran away.