During the first full day here I wanted to get comfortable with finding my way to the nearest "pony cake" and figure out which streets, if necessary, would take me hastily away from the city in case of emergency. We took a brisk walk around the block and got a good feel of this part of town. We examined each building as we walked by... apartment, house, apartment, church, church, church, apartment, church, ominous government building labeled "Superior Court."... church. We've discovered there is approximately one church per resident of Los Angeles.
The streets are lined with palm trees, all of which had somehow migrated here from Florida, with dreams of becoming the next Hollywood star. I shot a few pictures of the trees, and the churches, and the ominous government buildings, and then, as is customary when living in a foreign country, we stopped in at a local Korean restaurant for lunch. It was the middle of the day, and other than the restaurateur, and his wife-chef, we were the only occupants of the building. The menu was enormous; around a hundred different menu items all listed on the wall in both English and Korean, and when I looked around the corner of the small restaurant I was trying to figure how it would be possible to get all of those ingredients into that small little room called a kitchen.
Having rarely had a chance to eat squid in my usual routine, I pointed at the Korean title and followed the syllables across the page as I tried to pronounce them. It was delicious. I'm not even a fan of spicy foods, or creatures of the sea that don't rhyme with "bish", but this squid was truly amazing. And for desert, the kimchi helped clear my sinuses while I watched the Korean news (luckily subtitled) on the TV.
We head back to the apartment after an hour or so, and we met up with our timid cat. We're still unsure whether it's a male or female at this point. In the instructions on how to feed and care for the cat, the owner used both gender pronouns, which left us confused but reassured that maybe we're not the only ones who don't know. The owner of the cat (and the apartment) has a talent for fashion and decoration however. I think you can tell if a place is decorated well not by looking at the walls, but rather the corners. At least they were interesting enough to me to snap a few pictures.
I've begun researching how to get a job as an extra, and after talking to a few friends who know a thing or two about Hollywood, they've made it seem like an easy task. I think my problem will be separating out the scams that litter the internet, promising to find you work as an extra, while they charge you 40 dollars a month to keep you on their list, and maybe you'll hear from them, maybe you wont. I've only come across one casting company that seemed legitimate: Central Casting. I'll be going in person to meet with their representatives on Friday. In the meantime, I'll have to explore more of the city.
