The Hollywood Story

Hollywood is a place of show. Everyone is trying hard to be who they think others want them to be. Walking down the streets lined with celebrity look-alikes and rising artists “giving away” sample cds for a small donation it’s easy to get swept up in the whirlwind. All of us are guilty of this to some degree: we work on certain tasks to impress a supervisor for a promotion  (despite what you know to be more pressing) and  we pretend to share our significant other’s taste in music or movies.. It is human nature to try to impress our peers, and Hollywood is quite the epitome of trying hard to be what others want us to be, in the ironic hope that it will allow us to, eventually, be who we want to be.

I woke up today to look out the window and see the sun shining brilliantly into the courtyard of my brother’s apartment complex. I got ready, taking my time to curl my hair so I wouldn’t have to do anything to it for tonight. Today, I was going to Hollywood. And tonight, my brother, his roommates, and I would be ringing in the new decade in Hollywood.

After I was all ready I woke my brother up, knowing he had to drive his roommate to work today, and went outside while he got ready. I found the perfect spot in the courtyard where the sun was directly shining and laid on the concrete to soak up as much of the warmth as I could. In many ways I feel like a reptile when I do this, the warm sun making me feel warm and fuzzy- literally. You can’t help but smile, even if it is caused by the sun’s rays.

Finally my brother and his roommate walk past me on their way out and I join them mid step, to them I had appeared out of no where. We walk the couple blocks to my brother’s mustang and he has to pull out so we can get in the car- his door sits too low and hit’s the curb.

I would like to now proudly point out that I am not the only one that has problems with their vehicles, and that most of my problems don’t affect the performance of my vehicle’s engine at all. That said, let’s head up the entrance ramp in my brother’s shiny black mustang:

Chug., chug…studder.

My brother’s roommate and I look at him.

“Um…what was that?” I ask

He says it happens from time to time. A side effect of him tinkering with his engine (for example, putting in new headers, etc) and not having a tune up afterward. Now, he has no money to get a tune up. I laugh, and try to keep my hair from being completely destroyed as we manage to reach speed with the windows open.

After we spend a little time milling around the roommate’s place of employment my brother and I head out to explore Hollywood. He drives for a while so I can get a good picture of the Hollywood sign, then we head to a Del Taco so he can eat lunch. I’m not terribly hungry because I had a bagel at his roommates’ workplace, but Del Taco does have something I need: CHURROS! I get two.

We get to Hollywood and find a spot in a parking structure that is only $2 if you get validation. Wandering out of the mall/parking structure we get to the sidewalk, covered in stars with the names of the famous. Actors, Singers, Writers…just anyone you could think of seeing their name on a billboard. Even Godzilla has a star. I laugh, as does my brother.

Covering this sidewalk are tons of tourists, many wearing Ohio gear for the Rose Bowl game tomorrow, and of course the entertainers. The entertainers are dressed up in various costume ranging from John Travolta, to Spiderman, to Jack Sparrow to Bumble Bee. Also covering the sidewalk are musicians who are trying to peddle their Cds to get their name out on the streets. Surprisingly, even with all of this hustle and bustle, I still manage to get some really good pictures of the stars in the sidewalk.

One of the more popular stars along the walk is Michael Jackson’s. There isn’t a minute where someone isn’t posing beside his star for a picture. The Chinese theater is amazing, standing there picturesque behind the hand and footprints of big-time celebrities. Many of the handprints are fairly recent, even as of this month. There is one black-colored containing the handprints of the stars of Harry Potter, and Clint Eastwood proclaims “You Made My Day”.

After milling around Hollywood, exploring all the tourist traps, we decide to head back. We get to the parking structure, and we realize that for you to get parking validated you actually had to ask for it….a receipt from the shops doesn’t work. Shame.

As we head up the mountain to head back down to the valley where my brother lives his gas light comes on and his car begins again to chug.

“I hope we make it over this hill” My brother says.

I laugh. Maybe I’m not such a strange member of the family after all. It’s just in the genes to live a precarious life.

We make it over the hill and get back to his apartment safely. After we run to the grocery store to stock up on soda, and find myself a bottle of champagne, I decide that it’s time to dress up. I had purchased a dress almost 8 months ago that I had not had the opportunity to wear even once. Despite the fact I knew that no one else would be dressing up, I decided I needed to do so.

It was something amazing, ringing in the new year in Hollywood. One of those surreal events that many people talk about but most don’t get to experience. I, of course, drank a little too much, but I had lots of fun and had a driver.

As I sit in the bar in downtown Hollywood enjoying all the merriment that swirled in the air I felt complete. Here I was celebrating the new year on the pacific coast. I wasn’t here to impress anyone, or to even prove my worth. I was here because these types of places make me happy.

In the city where people make a living off of being someone else, I was happy to be exactly who I am.

This new year, new decade…is going to be great.