LMU

Today, I want to write a quick review of Loyola Marymount University, but first a few recent happenings:

After Wednesday night practices in the summer, the cross country team hangs out at Eat'n Park - a chain of family friendly diner-like restaurants that are famous for its Smiley cookies. Last night was our last Eat'n Park adventure. It was fun. A few friends and past runners dropped by to say goodbye before they left for college. That will be me in a short year.

Speaking of college, I am still working on finalizing my list. My parents are worried because I haven't begun to apply yet. They are now clocking my time. Yesterday, my mom yelled at me because I watched America's Next Top Model for twenty minutes while I ate lunch. This means I might have to do some secret blogging.

Finally, I keep hitting dead ends with my short film. On Tuesday, my faithful french teacher gave me a list of possible male actors. Two days later I still haven't found someone. Sigh. Summer feels as if it has been over for awhile.

And now introducing Loyola Marymount University.

I'm pretty sure that Loyola has schools across the country. LMU is a small Jesuit school in LA. My cousin Danielle went there. I'm not sure of the differences between the Jesuit and Catholic faiths. They seem similar.

Danielle and Erica took me on a little tour of LMU on the Saturday after film camp. While there, we got locked outside on a dorm roof. It also rained (drizzled actually). Rained in LA - I told said the weather was weird while I was there.

I went back later that week with Carol Anne, and we got a personal tour of the film building. The student who gave us the tour had some good information, but he also talked a lot of trash about other film schools in the area. He came off as a bit biased and arrogant. He also mentioned that he was attending LMU and his brother was going to attend USC because they had "connections." Which is what it's all about folks.

LMU sits in the middle of LA on top of a mountain. The location really is beautiful. It's in a safe environment - a residential neighborhood. It's also a short drive away from LAX and Manhattan Beach - one of my favorite areas of Los Angeles.

The school seems religious. Each dorm has an in-house priest. Although from what Danielle tells me, that doesn't stop the students from having a good time. As a whole LMU reminds me of a local college - St. Francis University. A ton of kids from my high school, Bishop McCort, go there. It has earned the nickname 13th grade.

After attending a small Catholic school for my whole life, I am anxious to break out. I want a big school in a big city. Just visiting LMU makes me feel chrostophobic, and I worry that I might go crazy there.

The film school itself is a tiny, and I mean tiny, little building. It is pretty hard to get accepted into the school. LMU has a two sound stages, a nice theater, and a cool editing suite. It sits in the heart of the action and seems connected to the industry. A bunch of cool people come to talk to the film students. Advanced film screenings are sometimes held. Plus, students can break out and explore opportunities in the city.

All in all, LMU is not my top choice. But the campus is very nice. LMU just got a brand new library that was probably one of the nicest buildings I have ever been in. The film school is reputable and connected to the industry. It serves as a good backup school if USC and Chapman don't work out.

I want to end by introducing you to Pratley. I know it's random, but my good friend Christina introduced me to his music. He's a student at USC. Listen to Fall Wind. After all, Autumn is around the corner.

http://pratleyproject.com/

UCLA

I just got back from a super nice twilight run. Literally 15 people beeped/screamed/waved at me. I'm not sure who all of you were, but "Hi! I love you!"

I'm about to go lock myself in my room and work on my summer reading. Right now I'm reading Snow Falling on Cedars, and I'm pretty hooked. It's suspenseful, sexy, tragic, and beautiful. Check it out. (Alaina, don't comment on this.)

Before I return to San Piedro Island via my too-small-for-my-growing-body bed, I wanted to write my review of UCLA.

Having spent two weeks at the University of California, Los Angeles, I feel like I know the place inside and out.

First of all, the campus is actually like a small city. In fact, it was overwhelmingly huge at first. Coming from a small town and a history of small schools, I loved this aspect.

The campus has plenty to offer - many places to study, eat, exercise, whatever. UCLA had nice cafeterias and an awesome central hub with a cool bookstore and some nice places to eat including Panda Express and Jamba Juice. Woot! Woot!

The campus is really pretty beautiful. Everything is well kept and perfect. It doesn't feel like you're in California. UCLA almost had an east coast feel. The athletic area was cool too. I liked running on the track, and the gym was huge - complete with a rock wall inside.

Believe it or not, you will most likely start to feel the grasp of the black hole at some point. In that case, you can escape to Westwood - the neato neighborhood outside of UCLA. It's fun even thought it's not as hoppin' as it used to be.

Unlike USC, UCLA is in a very safe neighborhood: Beverly Hills. The Sunset Blvd. strip is only a 30 or 40 minute drive away. UCLA is in the perfect spot for internships and access to studios.

The dorms at UCLA looked like hotels from the outside. The rooms were pretty nice inside too.

As for the film building...

It was a little run down. The equipment we used had a few issues. The hallways were white and small and made me feel like I was in an insane asylum. Compared to USC and Chapman, the facilities at UCLA needed work. But that's because unlike the other two, UCLA is a state school. California is broke.

Still, UCLA had everything you needed. What I did like was the emphasis on story. It seemed like the school focused a lot of attention and writing and creating truly worthwhile stories. The techanical stuff came last. Some of the teachers we met were cool. UCLA is definitely more of an independent film school. It felt very different from USC. The two are bitter rivals.

UCLA's film school is actually combined with the theater school. This guy is in charge: Myrl Schreibman. I actually met him last summer when I was walking through the school with Carol Anne and Danny. He told us about the U.S. Performing Arts camps. No doubt, he is an influential and helpful dude.

However, there was some negative talk about him at the film camp. From what I can gather, he lacks a welcoming and warm attitude, but his heart is in the right place.

Finally, UCLA is extremely hard to get into. And you can't apply to the film school until your junior year in college. It's a gamble.

The junior year risk, the rundown facilities, and the negativity around Myrl were enough for me to cross UCLA off of my list. But it may work for other people and is definitely worth looking into.

The Hipster Within

What the cinnamon sticks is a hipster? People from Johnstown want to know. Hopefully, this link will give a vague idea.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hipster

Hipsters mainly reside in areas such as Brooklyn, San Francisco, and Mexico. However, in LA there were sightings and talk of the hipster culture. My contact with said culture began on the first Wednesday at film camp.

That evening, we journeyed into Westwood for the first time. After eating at In-N-Out, we headed to Urban Outfitters.

Being from Johnstown, this was my first time in the store, and it was pretty cool. It was here that David and Auggie decided to help me define my fashion sense.

Together, we picked out two V-neck T-shirts. That's it. They are extremely comfortable, and I hear that Target is the place to get a bunch for cheap. Truth be told, I had wanted to try out a V-neck long before that night.

I got a short haircut the night before I left LA. Upon returning home, my Johnstown peeps saw my haircut and new clothes and labeled me as a hipster.

I think hipsters are cool, but I don't want to be one. I don't want the hipster mentality. I want to be Chad. Still, that doesn't mean I can't steal some hipster fashion once in awhile.

P.S. Here's a funny blog to entertain and distract you for awhile longer.

http://stuffhipstershate.tumblr.com/

The Black Hole of Film Camp

Let me start with a word about the weather. LA. Warm and sunny right? Wrong. My mom told me that I didn't need to pack any jeans. I packed one pair just in case and wore them throughout the trip. I arrived in LA during June Gloom, which carried over into July. It felt like fall in Pennsylvania. While the people of Johnstown were sweating, I was bundling up.

The days at film camp were long. After only a few days, I felt like I had been there an eternity. We often compared the huge campus of UCLA to a black hole that had sucked us in. It felt like time had stopped, and life outside of the college no longer existed.

This being said, we were easily amused by things such as instant coffee vending machines, Panda Express, and any murmur of Lady Gaga.

In the evenings, the people of US Performing Arts planned fun activities. We often had the chance to go to the gym or the pool (so I did get some running in), and we made trips to Westwood, the neighborhood outside of UCLA. Tuesday nights were Improv nights, and on Monday we ate this thing called a pizookie. It's basically this huge cookie of deliciousness that you eat with ice cream. People in Florida call it a cookie pie.

After an exhausting day of filming on Saturday, we took Sunday (the Fourth of July) off. All of the students boarded school buses, and we headed to Hollywood.

My group decided to stick together. We headed to Amoeba Music, the most beautiful place on earth.

The store has a top floor filled with used DVDs. The bottom floor is littered with posters, used and new CDs, and records. Posters cover the wall, loud Cuban music plays in the background, and the whole building has a welcoming smell of dust. I even walked into the back room where old school music is kept. I could have spent an entire day in that part alone.

I ended up buying E.T., Three Kings, and Phoenix's It's Never Been Like That.

After Amoeba, we grabbed some Philly Steak n' Cheese sandwiches, explored a Goodwill type store, and took pictures outside of the Chinese theater.

The day concluded with a trip to the Hollywood Bowl where we watched the cool firework show. On the late night return trip, I feel asleep on the bus. Reaching the dorms, everyone passed out immediately.

That adventure was a highlight on my trip. Getting the chance to just have fun and hang out with new friends for a day was great. The next day, we returned to filmmaking.

It's Not Said and Done Yet

Home sweet home.

The second week of Camp Zacchaeus ended yesterday. The experience was amazing, of course. It gave me the chance to hang out with old friends, make new ones, touch the lives of children, reflect on and absorb all of my summer adventures, and grow spiritually.

As Ryan, Tyler, Addison, and I left the grounds of Camp Sequanota, I became overwhelmed with the sense that summer was ending. Camp Z was the last of my excursions. LA. Film Camp. XC Camp. I've done a lot. This summer has been beautiful, but it's not over.

I still have three weeks until school. I am using this weekend to recover and regroup. Tomorrow I will be reunited with Alaina (who is at an Ok Go concert at the moment) and the cross country team. And on Monday, my 24/7 quest to complete my summer reading and make a short film before school starts will officially begin.

In the process, I want to write about everything. And I'll start with that long list.

I'm Hungry

I really want an omelet from the UCLA cafeteria.

Don't you just want to reach through the computer screen and eat it?

The food at the cafeteria wasn't always fantastic, but there was a lot of it. And the omelets were amazing. They had everything on them including spinach which made them especially delicious.

The one thing I did constantly while in LA was eat. As previously mentioned, Carol Anne kept me well fed, and we did our fair share of feasting at film camp as well.

And the best thing was....

IN-N-OUT BURGER = HEAVEN!

West coasters will know exactly what I'm talking about, but us Easties are in the dark. Basically, In-N-Out is a fast food restaurant that serves only burgers, fries, and milkshakes. But the burgers are out of this world! And I swear I'm not exaggerating. I ate there for the first time last summer, and for the following year, I would get In-N-Out cravings. Biting into one of those burgers once again made me realize that In-N-Out has the best burgers I have ever eaten.

Carol Anne and Danny took me... of course! And luckily, there was an In-N-Out in Westwood - UCLA's neighborhood. We got to go there for a couple evenings and In-N-Out was always on the list of places to stop.

So beautiful. And that's one of my film camp friends Agueda. She's from Mexico, so this was her first In-N-Out experience.

We took a picture with one of the workers... Doug!

Before film camp, Brad, Danielle, and Erica took me out to try sushi for the first time. I had salmon and tuna rolls. We stayed at the restaurant until it closed having deep conversations about life. It was one of my favorite nights.

As far as sushi goes, it was okay. I can't eat much of it, but once in awhile I get a little hungry for it.

But what I really liked was the sweet beans... Edamame beans. Go try them!

Takeoff

Where has the time gone?

Almost a month ago, I sat on a crowded plane heading from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles. This was my second trip to LA, and like before, I arrived at night. The sun was setting all across the country, and it was a beautiful flight. I knew that I was being transported somewhere entirely different from Johnstown.

You see those lit up pole thingys? They form my first memory of LA.

Once again, I was greeted by the night lights of Los Angeles. When the plane touched down, I felt as if I had never left. Last summer, I fell in love with LA. This time, I fell in love again. It's three thousand miles away and yet I feel as at home there as I ever did here.

My first cousins removed (I googled the correct relationship term) picked me up, and the journey began.