A Taste of Hollywood

When I left Nashville a few years ago, I wasn't the only one. There were a few people at my old place of work at the same time and with that a natural changing of the guard. One of those who came in as I left actually moved to SoCal a month or two ago. We had mutual friends and a mutual place of work and had met before, but hadn't really hung out. 

Until last night. She and her boyfriend were gracious enough to come up to Hollywood from their place in Orange County. She called me a little before we were supposed to meet and said they got tapped on the street to come to a Jimmy Kimmel Live taping and did I want to join them? My office is only a block away from the studio so I made good time and we were able to go.

It was fun. I had never been to a talk show taping. The guests were Hugh Jackman, Carson Daly and some guy from the show Happy Endings, which I'd never seen. He was actually the most entertaining of the three. Here's what I learned from the experience:

• People will do almost anything for a $150 gift card.
• There are a lot of people who will gladly laugh at anything.
• I am not one of those people.
• It's hard and oddly tiring to clap and cheer for what felt like an hour of the two hour taping. 
• I may not be as in shape as I think since it hurt my upper arms to move my arms that much.

I had a great time and was super happy to have dinner and some drinks with my new friends afterward. I love how an ordinary-seeming day can turn into a memory if you just go with it.