The cast/crew of Husbands (husbandstheseries.com): Jane Espenson, Cheeks, Jeff Greenstein, Sean Hemeon, and Alessandra Torresani at the sneak peek of Husbands at Meltdown Comics 9/12
Husbands director, Jeff Greenstein, and Exec. Producer, Jane Espenson
I have officially been in L.A. for a month! Here are some observations I’ve made in that time:
- If I could move Santa Monica to the Valley, where all of my friends are, I would. Alternately, if I could get all of my friends to move to Santa Monica with me, that would also be acceptable.
- I used to live in Jew York, yet I’ve met more Jews in one month in L.A. than I’ve met in 32 years on the East Coast. Weird.
- “Taking a walk” in The Valley is difficult when there’s a mile between traffic lights.
- I have game at geeky singles events. Said game has yet to pan out into any dates, mind you, but it also keeps me from being a blithering idiot around cute boys. I call that progress. 
- The Paramount lot is purdy. It looks all old-timey and 30s-ish. The screening room has squishy armchair seating. One day, I’ll be working on a show that shoots on that lot…
- “Good, kind people” and “People who are good for your career” are not as mutually exclusive as L.A’s bad press might have you believe. Maybe I’ve just lucked out and met all of the awesome ones first.
- Everything is so low to the ground! I’m used to buildings going up, not out. It’s as if someone flattened New York with a rolling pin.
- Do NOT jaywalk in The Valley/Downtown L.A. In NYC, jaywalking is a sport. In L.A, it’s a death sentence. Seriously, the other night I almost died crossing the street the way I would have in NYC. The major streets are just too wide to jaywalk. You think you can make it across in time – but you can’t. The sooner you admit defeat on that score, the better off you will be.
- It’s strange when you notice the subtle (or not so subtle) differences in plant/animal life across the country this large. First of all, CROWS. They’re everywhere. I’d never seen a crow up close and personal before. Now, they land in my backyard and are on every street. Also, the plants are weird. The trees are all gnarled and twisty, or growing straight up, or full of strange, poofy blossoms.
I feel like I’m living in Whoville.
- I’ve never been invited to this many dinner parties/pool parties/events in my life! Since everyone’s so spread out, going to visit individual friends is often impractical, so people look for excuses to have parties/get-togethers at the drop of a hat, and you have to go to all these group functions, otherwise you’d never see anyone. It’s strange. I mean, I’m a pretty social person, and I love meeting new people and hanging out. But there is a pressure here to be social that doesn’t exist in New York.
- Hi De Ho Comics is good, but House of Secrets is better. (particularly if you’re a woman)
- The possibilities for geekery in this town are ENDLESS.
- The people here get me amped and excited to create something. They might be cynical about lots of other things, but never about one’s ability to create something of value. I like that.
I am so lucky, and I know that. I’m lucky to have a network of people here who are willing to take care of me, even if they haven’t known me that long. I’ve moved again. Sadly, I wasn’t able to stay in Santa Monica for as long as I would’ve liked due to circumstances that completely blindsided my generous hosts. However, I put a call out to the rest of my L.A. peeps, and I’m now staying in the guest room of Theresa and Alan. It’s the same place where I was thrown a welcome pool party! Yes, you guessed it, I also get to live with HER:
Diamond. The cutest and sweetest dog EVAR.
Also, I get to live with her:
This is Bella. Also very cute and sweet, but a little more standoffish. Reminds me of my Scarlett. 
I anticipate I’ll be here until the end of the year, when I will move in with one of two friends who might have a room going for rent then. Either way, I’ll be paying $500. See what I meant about lucky?
L.A. is definitely growing on me. I’m still getting to know it, still getting used to it, but it’s not a bad place to be! Except I can’t deal with all the Halloween decorations in stores (the orange and yellow leaves!) or the pumpkin lattes in the coffee places. I kinda wanna be like “You’re not fooling anybody, California! We’re not going to HAVE leaves that change colors!”
But you know what? I’ll live. And I’ll be able to talk about how “chilly” I am as my friends back home are digging their cars out of the snow. Heh.
Teresa,
Glad to hear things are working out for you. I now have two months in which I will move to CA – jobs are in place and it’s solid and this would be *cue mad rush* time.
\o/ Hooray for creative people and cute dogs. Seriously, the dogs are adorable.