Slow week, but I saw my sister!!!

Last time I left you I was getting ready to be part of a student film entitled "Syrup Attacks." We filmed it overnight last Thursday and Friday in a Bristol Farms grocery (really nice grocery. Really overpriced), and it was so much fun! There was an entire crew for lighting, camera work, etc, and it was so great getting to know all of them. I'll post the video somewhere once it's completed, so you'll get to see that. Should be pretty hilarious.

As I also told you, I worked as Neil Patrick Harris' stand-in this past Monday. It was for a TV Land Awards promo commercial introducing Neil as the host of the awards and showing some of the stars who would be in attendance. I was there to stand-in for Neil while they set up lights and tested the camera, etc. There's lots of tedious things that have to be done, and they don't want the "talent" to have to stand there and wait while they set up. It was super easy, and I kind of felt bad that I wasn't doing more to help out. Guess someone had to do it, though! The crew was really great, and I loved working with them. Once Neil got there and was ready to film, I just sat back and watched everything. It's fascinating to be on a set and see how things unfold. I've learned that editing is HUGE! They can piece together so much stuff that I have no idea what the final commercial will look like. Plus, it was filmed on a giant green screen stage, so I'm even more clueless on what will be going on. Neil was really cool and funny, too. Seems like a nice guy. I didn't get to talk to him much, but I shook his hand and introduced myself. Played it chill. Haha!

Also, my sister came into town (well... came to Costa Mesa. About an hour away from me) on Sunday night for a business meeting, so I drove down to meet her once filming wrapped with Neil. It was SO GOOD to see her and just relax for a bit! I'm pretty crazy and my sister is pretty crazy, so when we get together we're just ridiculous. Monday night I went with her while she tried on wedding dresses, and that was hilarious! I'll just say that at one point she was laying on the ground in a wedding dress with her feet up in the air. Don't believe me? Ok... here you go:



I told you we were crazy. The salesman had no idea what to do with us. Here's a normal picture of us:



Ok, seriously. Here's one:



That night we just ate an extremely overpriced meal in the hotel restaurant (though, it was good) and then hung out in the room. I waited around until Rebecca was done with meetings on Tuesday and then we headed to Newport Beach! We ended up renting a bright yellow, double-seater bicycle and rode along the beach. It was amazing... and we looked like idiots. Haha!




After that, we drove around for a bit and then went to eat in Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach did NOT live up to the hype. It's a kind of sleepy, residential town. Nice enough, but not too exciting. Oh well.

Sadly, Rebecca had to head back home on Wednesday morning, so she didn't get to come to my apartment here in LA. That means she'll have to come back soon, though! I really do hope my family gets to come out here soon. I miss them, and it'd just be fun to show them around. It's such a cool city, and it'd be fun to have them here. Not sure if that'll happen, though, considering how far away it is.

The rest of this week has been spent waiting to get booked for some extra work jobs and not getting booked. Fun, huh? No. I guess the Lord just wanted me to have some time to slow down and remember to trust Him. I actually had a great time last night with a group of college students from Oregon (a friend of mine, Aubrey, has a sister thats with the group doing mission work in Compton, so thats how we connected with them) at this inner city church. There were some special musical artists there, who were... different. All the students had such a great energy and passion for Christ, which was really encouraging to see. I loved talking with them and sort of feeling like I was back on some youth group mission trip. Man, I miss those days of careless living! After we went and got some pretty disgusting shakes at some shady place in Inglewood, Aubrey and I took the Red Dragon (thats what I call her car. It's a bright red firebird) to Santa Monica and jumped in the ocean! It was so random and spontaneous and freezing cold. I loved it!

Today I just went and read a little up at Runyon Canyon up in the Hollywood Hills. It's so awesome! Tons of people go up there to run or take their dogs on walks (there's dogs everywhere), and there's usually a few celebrities. I finally got booked for some work tomorrow, so I'll be shooting some promo for MTV where I'll be a male gymnast. Haven't done any tumbling in quite some time, so this could be interesting. I think I've still got some in me if they need it! We'll see.

Alright. I'm done. Hopefully I'll have some more jobs lined up for this next week, so I'll keep you updated!

Robby