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| DIVAS!! |
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| me, Sue & Nicky -- the triplets!! :) |
AMERICAN IDOL AUDITIONS SEASON 4
Twice-Jilted Idol Part Uno
The good news is that
I lost 12 pounds in 3 weeks. The bad news is that once again, I didn’t
make it past the first round of auditions. This year’s American Idol auditions
were tougher than last year’s, so I don’t feel too bad about not making it past the first round. I found out several
days after my rejection that they took only 350 people during the first round as compared to taking 700 or so the year before. Despite the stricter judging, there were a few more positives that made this experience
better than last year; the first being that auditions were practically in my backyard.
The second thing improved from last year was the line-up process and the staff involved in it. The last and most important bonus were the friends that I was able to get together with.
I was supposed to
meet my friends Sue and Nicole at 4 a.m. on Tuesday, August 16th to get in line for American Idol auditions. Nicole arrived in D.C. on a bus from New York in the early afternoon hours of Monday, August
15th. I got a 4 o’clock phone call from Nicole saying that there
was a line at the Convention Center for auditions and people were being let into the building already. I had mixed feelings about this; one being joy that sleeping on the sidewalk was unnecessary, the other
feeling frustration because the line wasn’t supposed to officially start
until 6 a.m. the next day. After many confusing phone calls, a lot of stress,
and even a few tears I pulled out of my parking space at 8:45 p.m. and headed towards our nation’s capital to meet Sue
and Nicole. Fortunately, the convention center was extremely easy to find and
after going in complete circles for only 15 minutes (hey, it’s D.C.!) I managed to find a safe-looking hotel parking
garage. Hoping to leave that evening and sleep in my own bed, I took only my
purse with me to the center. I got in line around 9:30 p.m. To my astonishment and delight, I was inside the hall with my wristband by 10 p.m. Like last year, wristbands identified those who were auditioning; we were able to come and go pretty much
as we pleased (we were searched each time we entered the building). When I got
inside, I found that Nicky (and her friend Marc) had gotten inside first to reserve a place in line for our trio, but Sue
had not yet arrived. Originally, I had planned on leaving by 11 p.m., but Sue
(and her boyfriend Paul) did not show up until 11:30 p.m. I ended up leaving
just after midnight for home.
I awoke Wednesday morning
at the heavenly hour of 9 a.m. in my own bed, ate breakfast, took a walk, and showered.
I decided to go into work for a few hours after lunch since I was planning on going back to the Convention Center late
in the afternoon. Around 4:30 p.m. I was back in Washington, D.C. hanging out with my friends as well as
talking to the other people who were in line near us. Akin to the previous year,
the people that I met were funny, outgoing, and for the most part talented. The
only person who didn’t quite measure up was a 21 year old named Brandon who thought he was the next Justin Timberlake
– only he was really the next William Hung. We had all been performing
our songs for each other in line and when Brandon sang, we
did a great job of pretending that he was good. The funny part was that he was
overly critical of every auditioner there – he told me that less than 50% of the people there had talent. I did hear some horrible singers at karaoke (including the infamous
Edgar), but I would put an estimate of overall talent at 80% or higher. Quite
honestly, I would put my own talent level at only 75% compared to my surrounding line mates; it was a humbling experience. During the late afternoon, I was interviewed by Vanessa Franko of the CapitaI newspaper,
who had walked through the room holding a sign for residents of Anne
Arundel County to come talk
to her. Me being the press darling that I am chased her down and told her my
story in great detail. That evening, Sue and I walked around Chinatown
a bit. We planned on getting to sleep at a decent hour (before 9 p.m.), so that
we could get up at 3:30 a.m. to go to Sue and Paul’s hotel room to get ready.
This plan was based on mine and Nicky’s previous audition experiences on what time we should be ready. Of course I didn’t try to sleep until nearly 11 p.m. The
lights were left on overhead, people were singing, people were clapping for the people singing, people were talking loud,
laughing. Then I kept getting kicked by someone on the other side of the tape
barrier. Sleeping was impossible. I
was wishing that I’d brought earplugs or a radio to block out the noise. I’ll
remember that for next time.
Twice-Jilted Idol Part Deux (yeah, I switched from Spanish
to French, so sue me!)
Three-thirty a.m.
came just as I started to think I might find a way to sleep despite the obstacles that hindered my z’s. Our group resentfully trudged the 6 seemingly endless D.C. blocks to our primping place. The five of us anxiously fought for mirror space, outlets, and showers, since it was rumored that we had
to be back to the convention center by 5 a.m. My final wardrobe consisted of
khaki capri pants, 2 tank tops (silver and pink) layered over each other, white heels, and some gaudy jewelry. After putting my ensemble together, I wheeled my luggage to the parking garage and stashed everything I
could live without in my car. I re-entered the building shortly after 5 a.m.
sans suitcase and made my way back to my spot in line. It appeared that there
were still people coming in that morning for auditions, but they were being taken to another hall in the basement since our
hall was full. I tried napping to no avail, it was hopeless.
While waiting for
auditions to start, we noticed a very peculiar girl. She had her hair on top
of her head, tightly coiled into a 4-tier bun with a flower stuck in the top of it.
She was standing on one leg with her mouth wide open and was doing some bizarre exercise that none of us had ever seen
before. It was impolite of us to make fun of her, but it did help pass the time! Near 7 o’clock, they started filming people in our hall screaming as they zipped
by on an electric cart. They did that for a bit, and then came back around 8
a.m. to announce that they’d be taking volunteers out of the first few hundred people to film the opening sequences
for the show. It was declared that the Washington
D.C. auditions were going to be the opening scenes for Season Four of American
Idol. All of my friends decided to
volunteer to go outside for these scenes. I decided to stay behind to watch all
of our stuff. I kind of wished that I’d gone outside for that, but I was
tired and I wasn’t in the mood to do a hundred different takes of whatever they wanted.
My line mates didn’t come back until nearly an hour and a half later, so it looks like I may have made the correct
decision in not volunteering. The only thing that they got to do that I didn’t
was see (and in a few cases meet or touch) Ryan Seacrest… the overwhelming comments I heard about him? He was short and his hair looked funny.
At 10 o’clock,
auditions finally were under way. The
only problem was that the line was moving incredibly fast and I was having a heck of a time remembering the words to my song. I felt like I’d been hit by a brick, and my voice was also a bit on the strained
side. At 10:30 a.m., we were outside the audition room. It was large, and the set up was similar to last year, only this time they had 12 tables set up instead
of 11, and people auditioned in groups of 4 instead of 3. As I was standing in
line, I saw some incredible performers cut. That was the start of my nerves. From the time I walked into the room until the time of my audition, about 200 people
had auditioned and out of them, only one or two had advanced. Last year, they
were taking two to three times that amount. This year I was put in line for table
number 5, the judge: Simon Lythgoe, the Executive Producer’s son. Lucky
me. I was fourth in my group to sing, so maybe that made me more nervous than
I would have been. I stepped up and smiled, said something stupid to make him
laugh (and he did, at least), briefly forgot the words to my song, and remembered them again.
This was all in the span of about 10 seconds. Then I started my song,
“The only one”, by Melissa Etheridge. As soon as I started, I knew
I was in trouble… I squeaked out a high note at the end of the second line, completely lost the next note, lost my confidence
at that point and went sharp on pretty much the rest of my song. Simon looked
like he felt really sorry for me – he’s probably mastered the art of that look!
Hoping to redeem myself, I asked if I could try another song. He said
that I could and I commenced with, “The first time (ever I saw your face)”.
I started out pretty strong, but by the end of the first line I knew it was hopeless.
I’d lost my voice and self-assurance. I felt horrible for making
a mess of my audition, but I hoped that maybe because I was so bad that he would send me on.
Alas, he did not. I guess that there is some solace that he didn’t
think I was as bad as William Hung. My judge did
send on another girl in my group, Eileen, who had a beautiful voice. I later
learned that she was cut in the second round. Eileen was the only one who made
it past the first round out of my surrounding friends. We also saw that a girl
who had been wearing a hat filled with fake fruit had made it through singing “Eat it”. I never got a chance to talk to her before auditions, but I did see her on several occasions since she
was just two rows in front of my camping spot. I imagine that Chiquita banana
girl, along with an interesting drag queen will be aired on TV in January.
I was not upset that
I didn’t make it past the first round. I was upset that I botched my song so horribly during my audition. The
disappointment passed within a few days and I am now on to pursue other projects. I
like singing, but it is not my strongest ability, nor is it even my favorite. Acting
is what I enjoy most. Over the summer, I landed a supporting role in an independent
film which was shot in Herndon, VA. In the past month, I’ve had two more auditions; one for a horror flick to be
filmed in January and the other for a spot on “JunksTV”, a weekly sports show due to air in September. I am determined to succeed in some aspect of the entertainment business, even if it means holding the world
record for most rejections. Maybe one day you will be able to sell this issue
of the Harmonizer on eBay for thousands of dollars. Hey, it can happen! Better get my autograph now before I’m a narcissistic celebrity.
AMERICAN IDOL AUDITIONS SEASON 3 JOURNAL
8/14/2003
This
shall be my first Idol entry... I will explain a little bit about the audition process, what I'm expecting, what songs
I am thinking about performing, etc...
A few months ago, I decided that I wanted to get back into the performing arts; more specifically
singing. So I started taking voice lessons with Carmen
Mason (see the Music page for more info) to get my
instrument back into shape. At this point in time, no audition cities had been announced, and it was assumed that the
auditions would be coming to 6 or more cities, two of them being NYC and Nashville. I had also
assumed that the auditions would be in October or November, as they have been in previous years. Kurtis and I made a
preliminary plan that we would stay with his uncle outside of Nashville during the audition time period,
thus saving some money and visiting family at the same time. Of course, none of this happened. During this time,
I went to visit my grandmother, she was very excited for me and of course was convinced that I was going to become a big star.
Relatives have a way of thinking those things. ;) Bless her heart, she even offered to pay for my trip.
Audition dates were released in July with the following information: Los Angeles:
TBA, Houston, TX: August 13th, Atlanta, GA: August 20th and
New York City: August 25th.
Of course, this completely threw off my timing with voice lessons and also travel plans.
I thought that I had at the very least two more months to prepare. I considered going to NYC... I figured that it was
cheaper transportation wise... my dad suggested Atlanta because he thought that it would
be safer and there would be less competition than NYC. Then my grandmother
passed away on 7/14... that obviously took my mind off of auditions for a little while, but in the end the auditions ended
up keeping my mind off of her passing. I kept changing my mind about audition cities. After I had decided
on NYC, I started thinking again of course. In late July, I changed my mind for the final time: I was going to
Atlanta. The only problem was that I had no money! I took my problem to my father who very
generously gave me what I needed to make my dreams a reality. He remembered my grandmother telling me that she would
pay for my trip, and he contributed to the "Idol Fund" in her memory.
Of
course to further complicate matters, I had waited until the last possible second to book the flight and hotel room.
Needless to say, the rates went through the roof... to cut down on costs what we are ending up doing is this: renting
a car one way, driving it down to Atlanta... checking in to the Quality Hotel on Luckie Street on Sunday the 17th. I
will be switching hotels on the 21st (hopefully if I get a callback it will be on a different day) to the Fairfield Inn, which
is a little farther away from the Georgia Dome, but is still within walking distance. I will be at the Fairfield Inn
until the 24th when I will fly back via AirTran! (Kurtis will be staying with me from the 17th through the 20th to make
sure I am okay while I'm waiting in line and he will fly back on Wednesday, the 20th)
I
have made several friends already via the American Idol message boards on Prospero. Some of the people on there are
rather bitter when they are posting their messages. Well, I did promise some people on the message board that I would
make some new recordings, so I must do that before I forget. I will try to fill in the rest sometime tomorrow or Saturday.
The next few days are going to be very busy!
I'm
getting very nervous, but am excited and I think that I am pretty prepared! At least I hope so!!!
I just returned from the American Idol auditions in Atlanta, and boy am I
glad to be home! Following is my journal of the trip and my experiences. I'll be adding some pictures once I either
a) get mine developed or b) have them emailed to me. :)
I believe that I forgot to further clarify this on my last entry, but I was supposed
to be renting a car and driving down one way, then Kurtis would be flying back on Wednesday and I would fly back on Sunday,
just to make sure that I wouldn't miss any callbacks, should I get one.
(By the way, please excuse how I switch from present to past tense as I write this,
I'm typing from my written account in my journal and there is so much stuff that I simply do not have the time to make everything
pretty and grammatically correct... I think that I've caught most of the typos, but let me know if you find any so that I
can fix them!)
8/17/2003
Kurtis and I had decided that instead of picking up the rental car the night before
leaving, we would get up at 3am, drive to the airport and THEN pick up the rental, so that we wouldn't feel as rushed to get
down to Atlanta. Rentals consider 1 day as 24 hours from the time you pick up the car, so instead of picking up the
car the night before, we wanted to do it on the morning of the 17th. I
called the rental agency and made sure that this wouldnt be a problem they are open 24 hours, so we were good to go. At around 3:30 we arrived at BWI to pick up the rental.
As luck would have it, the attendant at the Budget rental car kiosk had mysteriously disappeared. Great... Some of the other attendants mentioned that he had a habit of wandering off. To make
a long story short, we got tired of waiting and we wanted to get on the road. I had already called Budget 3 times and
they kept saying, "OH, but we're open 24 hours, there must be somebody there."
Yes, I know that you're supposed to be open 24 hours, but what I'm telling
you is that this guy didn't just go on his lunch break, he's probably joyriding with one of the rentals to go score some crack! They insisted He must be checking on the cars.
Problem: all the cars were parked right in front of me and I think that
I was doing a better job of checking on the cars than he was! I was not too happy. We checked with some other
rental agencies in the garage, and the cheapest rates we found were $180... NO THANKS! Kurt generously offered to drive
his Jeep and after seeing that I was visibly upset by the events that had so far transpired, he told me, This is a military
operation! Dont you worry, well get to Atlanta today. That made me feel a little better about the situation. So we drove back home, loaded
up the Jeep and got on our way at 5:10 a.m. Not quite the early start that we had hoped for. (Thanks a lot, BUDGET!!
You'll be hearing from me!!!)
As we drove around the Washington Beltway, we had a silver eclipse fly by us going
about 80 mph... several minutes later, we had a cop fly by us... several minutes after that,
I happened to notice the silver eclipse in a ditch. Very satisfying. (the person wasn't hurt, so I can say that
;)) At 7 a.m. we stopped at a VA welcome center on I-95... it had very stinky bathrooms.
(<-- mile marker 131) At 7:40
a.m. our stomachs were getting a little angry at not being
fed, so we turned off at Ashland (mile marker 92) in search of a Cracker Barrel. We explored Ashland
for the elusive restaurant, but did not see it until we'd given up and were on the exit to get back on I-95. I guess
that it just wasn't meant to be!
At 7:51 a.m. we reached Richmond, VA.
I noticed an exit called "Boulevard", I thought it rather strange. It wasnt Sunset Boulevard or International Boulevard, just plain Boulevard. At 7:53, I passed the company
that makes Preparation H!
8:11 a.m. -- the search for Cracker Barrel saga part II -- SUCCESS! After a few wrong turns, we reached
our destination. At 9:06 a.m. we departed with full tummys, a CD and a cowboy hat for Kurtis.
At 9:08
a.m. Kurtis gave me that look that he doesn't have.
10:38 a.m. We are now on I-85, we got into North Carolina around 10 a.m... listened to dueling banjos. There are a lot of gypsy moths, but no roadkill. Seeing lots of retreads
on the shoulder. Spilled tea on my shirt.
10:47 a.m. Spotted first roadkill! One poor creature was smashed beyond recognition, the other was either
a bloated hedgehog (Kurtis's opinion) or as I suspect, it was a stuffed toy seal on its back. I guess we will never
know!
11:23 a.m. Stopped for gas at a Shell Station in Hillsborough, NC. There was
Daniel Boone stuff everywhere. Bought a super sweet
iced tea at the Wendy's next door. Thought that sugar crystals were going to form in my nostrils!
11:39 a.m. Mile 146 in North Carolina, rockin' out to Ozzy... we are past the Halfway point!! (Burlington, NC)
YAY!!!!
1:52 p.m. 481 miles and we enter South
Carolina!! We just passed a U-Haul truck
with "Just married & kicked out, SC-TX" written on it in electrical tape. There have been slightly better views
for the past few miles... similar to Virginia on route 66. Beautiful red flowers on the median and roadside. Im still
pissed off about Budget, but I will take my revenge on them when I get home.
2:40 p.m. I must mention that Kurtis has done an awesome job driving today, despite complications, lack of
sleep and weather (it started raining just as I wrote this, at mile 48 in SC). We are on the final page of the TripTik!
I didnt mention this earlier, but Kurts mom is a member of AAA and she was sweet enough to get us a TripTik book put together. Its a handy thing to have, it tells you all sorts of good stuff, like mileage between
cities, travel times and where to expect construction delays! 140 miles to go
and it is pouring! There are some idiots in an orange '69 (?) convertible
Camaro driving with their top down... they haven't even bothered pulling over. More signs are now saying Atlanta.
Thank God! I have to pee and I'm getting hungry!
3:00 p.m. Stopped at McDonald's travel plaza thing. I spoke with a girl at the counter who has
family in New Jersey. We're listening to NASCAR on the radio now.
3:49 p.m. 589 miles -- we are entering Georgia! 100 miles left
to Atlanta. The end is finally near! It's really, really
hot. Nose is kinda stuffed up. Hope that it goes away, will probably get Claritin if it keeps up.
4:25 p.m. 55 miles to Hotlanta, according to the road signs. I predict ETA to hotel as 5:30. I can't wait!
5:00 p.m. Stopped for gas at a shady looking Shell off of I-85, we are now in Atlanta;
at least the northern suburbs... 85 has turned into a 7 lane highway, it's completely insane. I'm glad that I'm not
driving!!
5:25 p.m. Pulled into the Quality Hotel! (okay, so I'm 5 minutes off from my ETA still pretty good) A really rude guy checked us into the hotel.
He kept rolling his eyes and he barely got off the phone while we were standing there.
8:40 p.m. Just got back from the Hard Rock Cafe... there was a super annoying bartender there who kept screaming.
After a 12 hour drive, you certainly don't want to hear that. The host there is 7'2", he looks like a giraffe (height-wise,
not that he has spots!). There are tons of people here and everywhere for auditions, they are just walking the streets
in this area. I'm popping Tums like candy, didn't eat much dinner. There are lots of teenagers.
8/18/2003 -- The day of the line-up
11:00 a.m. It's been a busy morning. Woke up early, around 7 a.m., went down for continental
breakfast. It was okay, but nothing special (actually, it sucked). Im wondering where I'm going to buy all the
water that I should have brought from home. Getting a little anxious, trying to stay calm. I still don't know
what I'm going to wear for auditions.
4:00 p.m. I got to the Georgia Dome at 12:15, there were already 2,500 people in line, even
though they said that you couldn't line up any earlier than noon.
The line was to get in to the Georgia Dome, and it was formed around the outside of the building. I wish that
I had an aerial shot of the line, it was incredible... I would guess that it went around 2/3 of the way around the dome, and
that is including 2 dense zig-zag type lines, one at Gate D, the other at Gate C (I think)... each zig-zag line had about
800 people in it. When we first got here, I didn't think that the line was very long... I was horribly deceived!
I kept thinking that the end of the line would be just around the next corner, but it kept on going!! Maybe I was being
too optimistic sure doesnt sound like me! It was actually pretty comical... all you could do was laugh, really. I met
some cool people in line... so far, I've come the farthest way. I'm tired and would really like a nap! Forgot
to mention that we can't take any food or water into the dome, we have to eat or drink it while we're in line or throw it
away... that way they can force us to buy $2 bottles of water and $5 pizzas and other junk food.
7:41 p.m. I am now inside the dome, probably got in about 40 minutes ago. I'm hanging out with this cool redhead,
Ashley and her dad Mark (that's an easy name for me to remember! ;)). Mark has been an awesome sport, he's been with
his daughter all day. He even seems to be having more fun than the rest of us! I feel pretty dirty and nasty from
being outside all day... fortunately we weren't in the sun very much, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't hot! I picked
out my seat in section L47 (Row 23, seat 21)... apparently what's happening is that we take a seat in our assigned section
and that will be our audition order. Ashley and I tied some belongings to our seats so that people would know that they
were taken.
I'm
now wondering about the whole shower thing. I would like to go back
to the hotel and take one, but I really don't feel like walking all the way back there. I also would like to mention
how incredibly organized this has been, I'm sure that it's not easy to organize 4,000 people or so into a line! Although
waiting in line sucked, this has already been a really cool experience. If I don't make it, I'll be disappointed, but
everything so far has been fantastic. There are TONS of talented people here and I know that the judges are going to
have a really tough time. I've seen all shapes and sizes of people here, mostly talented, but a few are just doing it
to be on TV. That's fine with me, actually... some people are complaining that those people take away a chance from
someone who is talented, but I think that is a bunch of bull. If you are that talented, you will make it over the person
who is just trying to be funny.
I've
started talking to some other people by my camp out spot, they all seem nice. It's funny, for some reason, I feel less
nervous now than I did a few days ago. Maybe part of the anticipation was just getting down here? I think I forgot
to mention that when we got in, they gave us wristbands...I already want to tear it off, it is getting on my nerves.
No can do, though! The wristband lets us in and out of the GA dome. Its
nice to know that I can leave this place if I want to. Well, I'm going to clean
up a little and hopefully take a nap.
9:15 p.m. Just got off the phone with Kurtis. (he's back at the hotel right now) He's watching Monster Garage
- they're turning a cop car into a donut maker... I wish that I were watching it! They announced a little while
ago that you could leave; you are probably okay if you go shower or eat, but sleeping somewhere else is not a good idea, they
may start auditions early/at any time. I think that they're just trying to scare people into not leaving, I really doubt
that they'll start auditions early. I think someone said that they pulled the same thing in the other cities, but you
could leave if you wanted to. I also met a guy named Chris from NC... he's 21, originally from Pittsburgh,
but I won't hold that against him! Very nice, funny and most certainly mature for a guy his age.
Getting
pretty tired. May take a nap. Lots of people are wearing out their voices... it's like 24 hour church or something,
there are people singing gospel all over the place... huge groups of 100 or so people just getting together and belting it
out, it's crazy! I forgot to mention, behind me in the line outside was this funny guy, he got everyone to start singing
"We are the world" -- absolutely priceless.
People in line that Ive met -- Stephanie, 17, FL; Dustin, 17, GA (Steph's boyfriend);
Ashley, 22, IN; Mark (Ashley's dad); Wes, 23, AL and his father. I've also met a guy named Dan from NC
who is camped out two sleeping bags down from me, he came by himself. In the bathroom I met Jillian and Theresa, both
nice girls.
I
have noticed that a lot of these people have pop star type voices, and they sound kind of similar to each other. I'm
hoping that that "unique" quality that I have to my voice is enough to get me through. We shall see!
11:25 p.m. I'm REALLY tired. Not sure how well I will sleep, wish that I would have brought a foam pad to sleep
on (some of these people have air mattresses! I am so jealous!). I'm also worried that when I wake up in the morning,
I will have a backwards "American Idol" stamp on my forehead (remember Mel Brooks in "Life Stinks"?). They are going
to turn off the TVs and dim the lights at 11:30. I imagine that we will soon be seeing the rest of our bag buddies, I still
haven't met the person who belongs to the bag on my right. It looks like a sea of bagworms in here, some wiggling, others
not.
An
hour or so ago I went outside to hang out with Ashley, Mark, Dustin, Stephanie and Kim. They were all out there drinking
and having a good old time... not me! I went outside, drank a bottle of water and then bade them goodnight. Maybe
I'm getting old? I also saw a frightening sight out there, too -- I don't want to talk about it! I'm wondering
if they will come back in soon. I wish I had a regular pillow. Kurtis was
sweet and thought about that, he gave me this headrest beanbag type thing that was perfect, as long as you slept on your back,
but not much good to me since I sleep on my side. I should have taken a pillow
from the hotel!
I haven't seen Chris (not sure where he is camped) and my buddy Dan is asleep, there's no
one here to talk to right now... there are fewer people walking around. Fewer still are singing, which is a blessing.
Some other linemates agree with me. Hey, let them wear out their voices! I've been pretty good about keeping my
mouth shut, although Ashley and I sang "I dreamed a dream" while we were outside waiting in line... I think it sounded
pretty damn good!
She's
super talented and has a sweet bubbly personality. I'm pretty confident that she will get a callback. They just
announced that they will be dimming the lights. I guess I'll wrap this up. Good night!!
8/19/2003 -- The day before auditions
8:58 a.m. 'Tis morning at the dome. They lied about what time the lights would be turned off. I think that they finally went off around midnight, but they left the TVs blaring
until about 1 a.m. People werent too happy about that. I woke up early, around 7. I was
also woken up at 5 a.m. by some carts. We're about to go out and get some breakfast. I slept
pretty well, considering it was on concrete.
3:18 p.m. At 10 a.m., I went with Ashley & Mark down to Underground Atlanta (a local mall in Atlanta)
to meet up with Kurtis. I ate a piece of ham & cheese quiche and a caesar salad. It was fantastic and the
first real thing that I think I've eaten in days! We walked around the mall there, then went over to check out the World
of Coca-Cola. Browsed their gift shop, bought a back massager. Sat on the polar bear and had Kurt take my picture. It
started talking when I sat down, it really freaked me out! After that, I went back to the hotel with Kurtis to get some
stuff. Tried to take a nap; not very successful. Just laying down on a comfy bed was nice, though. (Just
had a camera man walk by me, this place has press crawling all over the place) Got up after a while and headed out of
the hotel at a little past 2. Tried a new, much more pleasant route to the dome at Kurtiss suggestion. Walked
down Luckie Street and then walked through the CNN center -- that place is amazing! There is
a food court there and a few shops. Bought some postcards there and I also found my Jeremiah (frog).
I'm
starting to get a little nervous. I think I'm going to see if I can track down some unsuspecting strangers to bore,
since there is no one here to hang out with right now... Ashley & co. are outside tailgating (again).
5:19 p.m. Trying to get a hold of the "other Lauren" (a girl I was talking to on the message board) to get everyone together
to take a shower (not a group shower mind you!). If she doesn't call me back, I guess I'm going anyway... the battery
on my phone is dying and I've been leaving it off to conserve the power, since I have no means of charging it while I'm down
here. But anyway, I think that we'll leave here around 6:30 to shower. I'm really ready
to get all this over with... I hope that I do well tomorrow. I bought a pair of flip flops that say "Fabulous" before
I left on this trip... they sure are getting a lot of wear, Ive been wearing them to walk around the city. Atlanta is
definitely a city that you want to avoid driving in if possible, although walking is probably more dangerous. I think
that I'm going to write some postcards now.
10:16 p.m. There are still people coming in. I'm kind of wishing that I hadn't come so early, but knowing my luck,
they would have stopped letting people in... not to mention that I wouldn't have met all of the cool people that I have.
Around 6:30, Ashley and I went to my hotel room for showers. I tried to get a hold of Lauren, but to
no avail. I felt bad going without her, but I didn't want to wait until it was too late, since I still had to get something
to eat. We finished showers and headed out the door of the hotel around 8pm. The weather
was slightly cooler and the sun wasn't as blazing. I didn't think that it was possible for higher heat and humidity
than MD, but it is nasty in Atlanta! Me,
Ashley and Kurtis went to "Jock & Jills" for dinner... our waitress was kinda goofy, but it added to the experience.
Got back in the dome around 9 or so. Kurtis came in with me and gave me some
words of encouragement before A Day. There
were throngs of people near Gate D, apparently a lot of auditioners arrived throughout the day and were all gathered near
the entrance. It was like a concert there were so many people! Thankfully
the crowd was thinned out by our camping area. There are a few people still practicing, but not any more of the gospel
groups.
I'm
starting to get butterflies... those Tums that I bought the other day are being put to excellent use. Other here seem
to have those same butterfly problems. Well, I may write more later tonight, not sure. I'm going to go brush my
teeth and try to find some people to wish them luck in case I can't find them tomorrow... exchange email addresses and such.
8/20/2003
-- The day of auditions
12:30 a.m. Moved down to L15 with Chris and Teila, there was some shady guy that pretty much camped right on top of my
sleeping bag. Apparently he made his nest while I was making my rounds with my
Idol companions. No sign of Ashley to tell her that I moved, either. I think she's still outside hanging out.
A 19 year old named Jade and her mom, Elloise walked in around 11:30 and got a spot next to me.
They stayed up talking a little too long for me... it didn't help that Wes came over and started annoying us. He was
talking really loud and keeping people awake. Only a few hours until auditions.
4:00 a.m. I think that I finally got to sleep between 1 and 1:30 a.m. Woke up probably
half an hour or so ago freezing; woke up in a cold sweat. My body temperature is all outta whack. They turned
on some of the lights for a while, but then turned them off again. I wonder if they're trying to psyche us out?
I'm getting some major butterflies now, I feel like I'm going to throw up. There were already women in the bathroom
getting ready when I went in. Some lame white rapper just came by and woke some people up... not very nice. I
think that I'm going to try to at least lay down and relax a little, try to do some breathing exercises to calm my nerves.
By the way, of course when I went to the bathroom the shady looking guy who was invading my space had miraculously disappeared.
I'm thinking that I shold have left Ashley a note. I bet she's gonna be exhausted this morning, I know she was outside
until at least 1 or so. I hope that she does well today. I REALLY hope that I make callbacks along with some other
people that I have met. I think I also neglected to mention that I saw a girl laying on one of those metallic shades
that you put in the dashboard to keep the sun out. Poor thing, she didn't even have a blanket. Well, it's relax
and Tums time. Will write more in a bit.
7:11 a.m. MY it has been a busy morning. Right now we're filming the opening stuff for the show. We've had
to do quite a few takes to do all of it... they want everyone to be enthusiastic when we cheer, but everyone is tired.
Expect to hear things like, "Good morning, Atlanta!","Who thinks that they are the next American Idol?!", ("I am!") and youll see everyone
cheering for Clay and Ruben (on the big screen, they werent there) and also doing the wave.
I wouldnt be surprised if they got canned clapping and cheers, it sounded pretty bad, even after doing 4 takes. The people here are grouchy and exhausted.
There
are 11 tables set up for auditions... they just said that there are 11,000 people here. I doubt that all of those are
people auditioning, but who knows. They just asked all the press to leave the building for the audition process.
I wonder why that is?
So far the only complaint that I have is about this morning... last night they said that they would
wake everyone up in time to get ready for auditions. At 5:30 they turned the lights on, at around
5:45 a.m. they told everyone that they needed to get their stuff together, be ready to audition and
be in their seats by 6:15 a.m. The bathrooms were mobbed, I couldn't even brush my teeth! Then when
we got to our seats they told us that we had to take all of our stuff out to our cars, or when we audition we have to bring
it down on the field... that was just crazy. So that is my only complaint so far about the audition process.
7:53 a.m. They just called the first section down to audition. My butterflies are up and down. I've decided
to take Jeremiah up with me to the audition, I'm going to put him on the table while I'm singing. The auditions look
like they are going to go pretty quickly. Everyone is standing in line in front of the tables. Table 1 is going
now. Trying to stay focused. It's difficult to do when there are so many people that are nervous. It is
amazing to see how many people are getting cut. It is now 8:15, I'm estimating my time of audition to be no later than 10. They are doing a great job keeping things moving.
I hope that at least someone I know makes it. I'm going to give it my best shot. To be honest, I've had such a
great experience, I can't really complain too much. I'm just happy for the experience. (haha, we'll see how bitter
I am though if I get cut ;)) Man, they are sending people packing in droves!! So far they've only taken maybe
10 people for callbacks out of probably 200 people! Talk about discouraging, haha. I'm still going to do it, though...
I can't chicken out or not do my best at this stage of the game. They are calling my section, so I'm going to put my
stuff away and see if I'm lucky enough to get a "good table". I say good table because it seems that certain tables
are letting more people through than others... generally speaking, it looks like tables 2, 4 and 8 would be good tables
to get in. I also wanted to add that I did get a chance to brush my teeth, but
I had to do my hair and makeup while sitting in my seat not an easy task! My
hair looked pretty crappy and my makeup was sub par, but thats every day, right?
1:39 p.m. It's the moment you've all been waiting for: I didn't make the first cut. My eight ball lied!! Neither
did anyone else I know. They just dont know what theyre missing out on! ;-) I
thought that I did a good job, but according to my judge, neither me nor Ashley were "what they were looking for." We
were both in line #2, but then a guy came over and moved us to line #1. I guess that I'll always wonder what would have
happened if we'd stayed in line #2. ;-P~ I wonder what they were looking
for in my particular line. Oh well, better luck next year. The girl in our group who was picked had a great voice
and she was very pretty, but I thought that her song choices were questionable. I thought that Ashley did a great job,
too, and she is gorgeous, has a great voice and I think that she picked good songs to audition with. Hmm. It would
be easy to be bitter about it, and I know that a lot of people are... the truth is that all of the people who I saw picked
deserved it (including the girl in our line, even though all 3 of us deserved to be picked). There was just so much talent in one place, and there is no way to make everyone happy. Afterwards
I joked to one girl, "I'm going to go back to my hotel room now and cry." (okay, so I wasn't really joking) but she
said, "Don't you dare! Don't you cry over what they're doing because it's all bullsh*t!!" Something along those
lines, but I think slightly more bitter.
8:30 p.m. Woke up from my nap about half an hour ago. I'll try to fill in the blanks that I left out. Once
I get my pictures developed, I'm going to post them to show what everything looked like. I should have one or two of
me and Ashley, some of the Sleeping Bag Expo 03 Atlanta Convention, and some of the line outside, although is it impossible
to get the same perspective of how many people were there unless you were as well. About
half of the lower sections were filled with people, it was very impressive (and daunting!).
I guess that I will be a little more specific about how things actually happened... around 10:30 a.m. or maybe slightly later, our row was called down to the field. We stood in a line (of course we
stood in a line... everything there was about standing in lines) and a guy (randomly?) selected us to go to one of the eleven
tables that were set up on the field. He directed us to table 2 (us being me and Ashley, we managed to get in line together)
and we were okay with that, it seemed that they were letting a good number of people through, although table 8 would have
been ideal! After standing in line for Table 2 for a few minutes, a guy came over and waved us into the line for Table
1, which I wasn't too happy about, but what can you do? So we ended up auditioning at around 11:30 a.m. or so. The auditions went like this:
We lined up, 3 abreast in front of the table that we were assigned. When
we got up to the table, there was 1 producer/judge and 2 production assistants; one to cut off your wristband if you didnt
make it and the other to give you the info that you need if you DO make it. We
all gave our release forms to the judge before auditioning. I went first in my
group and sang Joy to the World complete with my little buddy, Jeremiah the bullfrog.
I had a lot of fun with my audition, thought that I performed well and the judge seemed to really be enjoying it. After the 2nd chorus he stopped me and said, "I've never seen a frog with
hair before." Well, me neither but it was the only one that I could find on short
notice! After me, Ashley went and sang a wonderful rendition of No Rain, followed
up by Me and Bobby McGee. The other girl sang some Christian song and I cant
remember what else. The judge said Thank you, but you arent quite what were looking
for, to me and Ashley. The other girl was put through to the second round.
We had to exit left, leaving the building from the field and go out the back door. The
people who got callbacks got to exit from the front, through Gate D -- talk about some psychological and emotional trauma!
When we got outside, we recognized some people and everyone was exchanging hugs and words of encouragement... it was pretty
nice. There were a few really upset people, but I think by far most people were still in shock. From the moment
that my wristband was cut until probably 5-10 minutes after I had walked out the door, it felt kind of like a dream, reality
came in waves probably once a minute or so. I could feel my eyes welling up and my throat constricting, but I tried
to still have a good outlook and be objective about things. Ashley and I waited for a while by the back doors as all
of our friends that we had made over the past 2 days slunk out. Most of them took it very well... the younger ones didn't,
but MOST everyone 20+ still remained calm, if only on the surface.
I have to
interject something in here about the ages that are allowed to audition... I do not think that teenagers (girls especially)
16-19 years old are emotionally prepared to handle an audition like this. I know that I was upset that I did not
make it, and I think that I was barely emotionally prepared Im 23! Luckily, Im
in therapy, haha so I think that Ive handled things pretty well. I went in with
the attitude that the audition would be an incredible experience, and whether I made the cut or not, there isnt anyone that
I know in my day-to-day life that has auditioned for American Idol. So just auditioning
and having the guts to do it is pretty impressive, in my book. Not only are the
kids heartbroken if they dont make it, their parents usually get involved as well. They are mad because their child
wasn't selected and the kids are so overly optimistic that they will make the show... it just makes for a really bad situation.
I think that less people would complain about the audition process if they would increase the age limit.
Okay, getting off my soapbox now. We all knew that our chances were slim, but we took them anyway. Some
people may think that we are stupid for sleeping on the concrete for 2 days just for an audition that lasts a minute or less.
I think that it took a lot of courage to do what we did, and I know that come next year, I'll be right back in that line --
that is if I don't become famous before then. ;-) Everyone has their own ideas about who the judges chose and why they
chose them. What does everyone really think that the music industry is all about anyway? Nothing is done for the
artists's own good, it is all about creating a marketable product and making tons of money. I think that if people would
be more realistic going into this that there would be far less calling foul and complaining about the audition process.
Well those are my thoughts mostly about the actual auditions... and now for something completely different! (no, not
really)
After auditions, I waited for 45 minutes to see how other people made out. I'll put it this
way; not a soul that I talked to made it. Maybe I'm just bad luck? Nah, not really! I walked around front,
hoping to see someone come out that way, but it was all for naught. I saw Teila come out of the building, but without
Chris, so I pretty much guessed before she even told me that he had been cut. They wanted to get a hotel room, I suggested
the Quality... and they offered to drive me back to my hotel. I walked down to Mark's van where a great number of people
were congregating and tailgating... almost everyone was enjoying a well-deserved beer (or 2 or 3) ... who cares if it's
before noon, right? It's gotta be noon somewhere in the world! I grabbed my stuff,
thanked them for everything, exchanged my info and rolled my entanglement of luggage through the parking lot.
I miraculously escaped all bum encounters on the way to Chris's car, too... how about that?
(I forgot to mention that the bum population of Atlanta is UNREAL, you can't go a block without being harrassed by one, it's awful)
We left the parking lot and proceeded to get lost in downtown Atlanta with at least 2 near miss accidents (Fords involved
of course) and a driven through red light (yes, Chris -- there WAS a light there and NO, I will not let you forget it).
The biggest problem in downtown Atlanta has to be the one way streets (and the pedestrians)... since I was used to walking
everywhere, (hence, I was also a problem pedestrian) I wasn't much help with driving directions. I suppose that we could
have driven on the sidewalk, but it wasn't quite wide enough. After not striking any pedestrians (even those who deserved
it) we managed to find the hotel in a fair amount of time.
Chris
and Teila decided to opt for the Super 8 that is down 2 blocks from the Quality; that is where they rented a room a few days
ago. I snagged a card off the front desk of the Quality and wrote down my room number so that we could meet up later
on. (Great, apparently the girl in the room next to me made it to callbacks and I have to listen to her practice...
talk about frustrating! These walls sure are thin!)
Anyway,
I got to the hotel room and Kurt wasn't here; he had gone looking for me (I hadn't checked my voicemail, actually, I still
haven't). So I called him and he came back to the room and tried cheering me up (when I got back to the hotel of course
I finally started crying). He gave me a pretty good pep talk and finally I calmed
down. Kurtis is good for helping me keep things in perspective. I just
wanted to take a shower and then go to sleep (I may have gotten a full 2 hours last night) but the maid hadn't come yet, so
we left in search of food. We'd only walked 2 blocks when a guy came out of the Montana Grill, a restaurant that
we had looked at several days ago, but it was new and hadn't yet opened. He asked us if we wanted a free lunch; they
were training their staff! So we each had a bison burger -- pretty tasty! So even though I didn't make callbacks,
at least I got a free lunch. :-P~ Not much of a consolation prize, but it certainly lifted my spirits. When
we got back to the hotel, they STILL hadn't cleaned our room, so when they came to clean it, we went downstairs and read for
a while. Afterwards I took a shower, followed by a 4 hour nap. Boy was it nice to sleep in a real bed! Shortly
after I woke up, Chris called and invited us to dinner at the McCormick Seafood place at CNN center. I would have liked
to have gone but a) For some reason I was still tired b) I wasn't hungry c) I looked like crap (I think that this audition
has put an extra 10 years on me!) and d) I wasn't in the best of moods and I didn't want to bring anyone down. So I'm
going to call them tomorrow morning and see if we can meet for lunch somewhere. Well, I think it's time to go back to
sleep, so there will be another entry tomorrow, perhaps.
8/21/2003
-- The day after auditions (Thursday)
7:22 p.m. Today was better than
yesterday. YUCK! I just sat in something wet. We're over at the Courtyard Hotel washing clothes and I just
sat in a puddle. I guess that the air conditioning is leaking. Gross.
Anyway, this morning Kurtis and I walked down the the espresso bar and had coffee and breakfast. Walked back, took a
shower then called Chris and Teila. We made arrangements to meet up with them for lunch. Checked out of the hotel
without much of a problem. Found out that I left some bananas in Betsy (Kurt's Jeep)... they didn't smell too nice.
Went to the Super 8, tried to call up to Chris & Teila's room, they were in room number 502, but the woman at the front
desk told me to dial 6702. I told her that the room number was 502, but she insisted that 6702 was what I should dial.
Of course, I didn't get any answer. Finally I asked another woman at the desk to check if they had checked out... she
told me that they hadn't and that I could call their room by dialing 6502. DOH! Seems like they're just as incompetent
there as the Quality Hotel people (Chris said he had tried calling my room for almost an hour but couldn't get through to
the hotel). After the four of us got together, we walked down to Mick's on Peachtree Street
where the conversation piece of the restaurant is a full size white grand piano suspended above the bar by cables. There
is also a plexiglass area where someone could theoretically put a bench down and play. I don't think that I would like
to have the bartender's job... I've seen cartoons, I know what happens when
a piano falls on someone's head! We had quite an interesting server named Will. He kept hovering around us, especially
when the checks came. He asked if we wanted the check split 4 ways or 1. We all kind of looked at each other,
dumbfounded that he would ask such a stupid question... then we asked for the check to be split 2 ways (obviously).
Lunch was decent, except that I could barely eat. I could probably attribute my lack of interest in food to some of
Chris's jokes, but I doubt that his humor had much to do with my stomach.
After lunch,
we parted ways in the parking garage... I'm hoping that I get to see them again, at least at the next American Idol auditions.
We all agreed to never go to Atlanta again, next year we'll try NYC. Hopefully I'll be able to stay in close contact
with them! (Teila has already emailed me)
Kurtis
and I walked down to Underground Atlanta for a while to kill time while we waited to check into our next hotel. We had
a beer at an Irish Pub down there, my first one in several weeks and it still didn't appeal to me very much. We asked
the bartender what there was to do and it seems that all there is in Atlanta is to go to bars
and clubs in Buckhead, which is 15 minutes north of here (downtown). She also mentioned a graveyard that she really
likes. I think that we're going to skip that one! I could have put in something about hot and cold here, but I'm
not going there -- not naming any names!
We made
it to our second hotel; The Fairfield Inn. Let me tell you what - I am booking online with Priceline from now on!
This hotel is absolute heaven. There is a REAL parking lot here that is managed by the hotel and although it is still
steep to park here, it is $1 less a day than the Quality. I don't think that I ever mentioned how ridiculously expensive
parking is in Atlanta -- $9 a day at the last hotel and $8 a day here. That brings our grand total
up to $50 for parking alone. Utter insanity! You would think that since you're paying for a hotel room that parking
would be free, but of course not! Sorry for that rampage, Atlanta has just really pissed me off.
So anyway, we checked into the Fairfield Inn, this place seems like the Ritz-Carlton compared to the Quality. Even though
it is further from the Georgia Dome, I wish that I would have booked this place for the entire time. The woman at the
front desk also mentioned that someone staying here made callbacks. Blah! I have to be honest; I'm just jealous,
haha! After settling in, we walked over to the Hyatt to check out their restaurants.
Polaris was at the top of the hotel, we took a crazy express elevator up to the top...talk about a nauseating ride!
We sat up there in the lounge area long enough for the restaurant to make 3/4 of a revolution. I'm not too keen on merry-go-rounds
while I'm eating or drinking; especially at high altitudes. With dinner entrees
starting at $26, we decided to eat somewhere that was lower, both in price and in relation to the ground. We did however
get to view Atlanta rush hour traffic. Think of the 495 Washington Beltway,
only with 7 lanes. We ate at the Durango Steakhouse off of Peachtree Street... the
bacon-wrapped shrimp were spectacular, but as a whole, the restaurant was overpriced. I've really become spoiled by
Kurtis's cooking. We made a pact to never eat steak out again unless it is somewhere like Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.
Kurtis sweetly picked up the check!
Back at
the hotel, we had an adventure with the washing machine, apparently the drain hose wasn't properly attached and water was
going everywhere... fortunately, there was a tray underneath the wash machines, but it still overflowed. I feel
sorry for whoever is in the room below the laundry facilities!
I'm ready
to go home now. I've had a lot of experiences, both good and bad. I've certainly learned a lot from this trip,
such as:
- There are more bums per square mile
in Atlanta than in all of Baltimore City
- It aint called "Hotlanta" for nothin'
- Anyone who moves TO Atlanta is OUT OF THEIR MIND
- If you're in a "good" line for American
Idol and someone tells you to move to another line, don't do it!
- Bring earplugs and an eyemask to sleepovers
- Snores echo loudly in the Georgia Dome
- So does Gospel music and people squealing
Mariah Carey-esque scale runs *shudder*
- When 10,000 people stop talking, televisions
become very loud
- When TV's AREN'T on and 10,000 people
stop talking, suddenly your voice becomes very loud
- Avoid people named Wes from Alabama
- If you're looking for someone you know,
hang out by the back door and you'll probably find them
- The nicer the hotel, the crappier the
TV reception
- The only thing that you can plan on
at an American Idol audition is to expect the unexpected
- Get sleep WHENEVER and as OFTEN as you
can
- 17 year olds and vodka do not mix well
I'm sure I'll think of some other good advice
later, but that's all that I can think of right now. Good night!
8/22/2003 -- Friday
4:30 p.m. My adventure is drawing to a close. We have decided to leave tomorrow morning and drive home. I
have mixed feelings about going back... on one hand, I will be happy to be in familiar territory and in my own bed, but I
know that I'm going to be constantly asked by friends, coworkers, neighbors and family members about my trip and auditions.
I really feel like I've let everyone down. A lot of people were convinced that I was going to make it, even though I
tried to emphasize that the odds weren't really in my favor (or anyone else's for that matter!). Getting on American
Idol takes a combination of things: talent, personality, looks and a whole lot of luck. You don't know exactly
what the judges are looking for, so all you can do is give it your best shot and pray that on that given day, you have the
perfect combination that they are looking for. The reason that you aren't picked could be as simple as a judge not liking
the song that you audition with. Or maybe they woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or maybe their underwear is too
tight... who knows??
Well, on to the current days events... We went to the Atlanta Zoo, which was expensive...
but parts of it were cool. They had an excellent reptile exhibit, complete with a reticulated python that looked about
15 feet long, it was beautiful. They also had an Aruba Rattlesnake (? I think that was the name) that is on the critically endangered
species list... some other neat exhibits included a King Cobra, Black Mamba, Timber Rattler and an enormous alligator snapping
turtle. (Maybe that was the one that escaped from its aquarium when I was 10?) Other highlights included a nice
elephant exhibit, a pair of giant pandas, a group of gorillas and orangutans. The weird thing about the zoo was that
it was sponsored by major companies, like ING and Ford. It reminded me of the movie "Fierce Creatures" when they got
corporate sponsorship for all of the exhibits. Like "Sammy the Mustang, brought to you by Ford." (poor example,
but I couldn't think of anything clever) Pretty tacky!
After the zoo, we visited the Cyclorama, which is a 42 foot high, 350 ft (?) round painting of
the battle of Atlanta during the Civil War. It was an absolutely incredible exhibit and combined
with the diorama that was added to it after the original painting, it was almost like you are right in the midst of the battle.
You sit on a revolving set of stadium style benches while a recording plays and spotlights are shown on the various details
of the painting. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed, but I think to get the whole effect, you should really go see
it... it is one of only two cycloramas in the whole world. I don't know if I would go all the way to Atlanta
just to see it, but if you are in the vicinity, you really must go to view it. A $6 admission charge well spent.
We
took off north up 85 in search of the Chatahoochee National Recreational Area in hopes that they had canoe rentals and such,
but no luck. It was just hot and muggy and there was a big catered event of sorts down by the riverbank which hampered
any hopes of serenity. We quickly gave up on that place! I've never been to a national park like that... it was
truly a disgrace to even be called a national park, right down to the ranger's reply when we asked what there was to do there:
Well, we aren't an amusement park, we don't have any rides or anything like that. He was a real smartass about it, too.
After departing the park, we drove in circles for 45 minutes trying to find a place to eat, with
our hunger making each of us grouchier as every minute passed. We found a tasty Mexican joint somewhere in Roswell,
I think. Not really sure where we were, but it was a welcome meal and a breath of fresh air after all of the places
we tried in downtown Atlanta. Too bad I can't remember the name of it!
This concludes my journal entries for my entire stay in Atlanta. My
next entry will be about the drive home.
In case you were wondering, for a number of reasons, including the rental car fiasco, Kurtis decided
to stay with me in Atlanta for the entire time, and both of us cancelled our flights. I'm glad that it
worked out that way, because Atlanta is not a good city to be by yourself in. I know that part of the reason that
I auditioned in Atlanta was because I thought that it was a safer city than New York.
I think that I would actually feel safer in New
York than I felt in Atlanta.
I have at least visited NYC a few times and feel more comfortable with it than I did in Atlanta.
The thing about Atlanta is that the bums there have absolutely no shame. They will come into malls
and bother you while you are eating... on Tuesday when I was with Ashley, Kurt and Mark at the mall, this bum came up
to Ashley and asked her if he could have the rest of her meal. She offered it to him and he told her, "No thanks, I
don't like salad." Talk about beggars cant be choosers! It was probably one of
the funniest things Ive ever witnessed! You cannot walk one block in Atlanta without being harassed by a bum.
The woman who worked in the espresso bar was particularly upset with the problem. She really started going off about
it... she was this cute little Vietnamese woman and she got all worked up into a frenzy. She told Kurtis and I that
we should write the mayor of Atlanta when we get home and tell him how much we are bothered by their bum problem, lol.
Actually, I still might.
That's
it for now, though!
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