The Hollywood Intern: Part 9- Glendale

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I was standing in a long line at Starbucks, and sort of staring at the strange hippie who was grabbing a hot cup of Tazo Tea, when I began to think about my next move. I watched her leave as the ribbons that were tied to the halo of flowers around her head fluttered about in the rush of the warm air that was promptly wafting in from outside. No matter how weird the city of Los Angeles was to me, I realized that the giant collection of—interesting people would give me more opportunities than heading back to the Central Valley.

The more upbeat life, where unprotected turning lanes littered the city and spending an extra half hour on the freeway was completely normal, was obviously going to have more job prospects as far as writing, editing and publishing went, but the cost of living was definitely higher. Granted I was in line at Starbucks, not for myself but for the people back in the office at my first internship, but I was seriously considering moving here permanently and stay where the action was.

I needed to find a neighborhood in the large area of Los Angeles and find a room to rent or a roommate to bunk with in an apartment if I wanted to continue living in this sunny SoCal area, but I wasn’t for sure exactly where the best place to live was. The majority of my internships and the jobs that I wanted were all in and around one side of the city, and my university sat on the other side, and the amount of cash I had was pretty limited.

I knew that I was only able to live in on-campus housing for the remainder of my time at school, and that after about three months I would get kicked out because I would have graduated and wouldn’t be taking any more classes. Staying with my aunt and uncle was obviously a great option for the summer, but it was insanely far from my campus and I didn’t want to continue bumming off of them and take up a room in their house forever.

I just felt like it was time for me to grow up and get a place on my own in an area that I could stay in for more than just a few months. So I pulled up Google maps one day and place-marked all of the cities that I thought I would probably frequent and then measured out the distance between all of them. I placed my finger at the center of the web of mapped and routed lines and read the city that was nestled right underneath my finger.

Glendale.

Well. That’s where I’m heading. I thought to myself as I closed up my laptop and climbed into bed. It was a totally random idea that could probably pan out if a freak rain of cash fell from the sky, but I was also completely broke with literally only a few dollars to my name ever since I quit my other job at the beginning of the summer, and I didn’t know anyone who would move out there with me to help split the rent.

For now Glendale was a pipe dream that would sit silently in the back of my mind while I tried to find a legitimate job that would work around my school and (unpaid) internship schedule. I would spend the rest of my summer shuttling myself all over Los Angeles interviewing for jobs, looking at places for rent and trying my best to move to Glendale just hoping for a chance to make it out here.