The Right Hand of Justice? That Would Be Me.
After a brief Chicago detour for, oddly enough, a Big Hollywood Meeting, I came back to L.A. with new headshots, a full head of steam, and even a couple of meetings set up.
And then I almost immediately called to postpone those meetings because I got called in for jury duty, which I’ve been on ever since. Say what you will about the County of Los Angeles: They do not screw around when it comes to jury duty. Seriously. Postpone if you must, but do NOT just throw away that summons.
They are, actually, incredibly efficient about the postponing, as I discovered when I first got summoned while still living aboard the ship. And again when I went in for my new date a couple of weeks ago. They have a table right in the back, just write down your new date and your phone number and don’t bug them, OK?
But you might want to go ahead and do it now, because they will get you. One guy in my group had been coming in and postponing every three months for well over a year, right up until he got the letter that acknowledged that, yes, he was very funny, but this time he’d better clear his day or they’d be issuing a warrant for his arrest. Remember what I said about the not screwing around part?
L.A. has less comfortable jury pool rooms than Chicago, but they make up for it with the little video presentation about how you get to be such good friends with your fellow jurors (which I thought was hilarious, but turned out to be accurate) and the posters that let you know that Edward Asner and Jamie Lee Curtis, among other luminaries, have come in to do their civic duties just like you. I was actually already a fond fan of both of these people, but they did earn special extra bonus points with me for coming in for jury duty.
Anyway, it’s been very interesting (except for the parts that have been really tedious) and I’ve been enjoying learning a little bit about downtown L.A. on my lunch breaks. Thursday I went into the Bradbury building just to look around. OK, to look around and pretend, just for a second, that I was in Blade Runner. It’s a beautiful old building. I would have been happier if it had been dark and constantly drizzling, but I did have a couple of Replicants break my fingers and try to kill me, so overall it was a pretty good visit.
So far I have stood firm in my refusal to go back to my old day job, and jury duty has made fishing for freelance work challenging. Batlike, I swoop in with e-mails in the dead of night. But, hey, that $15 a day puts a dent in it. And the panel selection process alone allowed me to watch three great crazy people, so you never know what’s going to lead to a new writing project.
One Big Hollywood Meeting down, one little Hollywood meeting and one Big Hollywood Meeting coming up.
And then I almost immediately called to postpone those meetings because I got called in for jury duty, which I’ve been on ever since. Say what you will about the County of Los Angeles: They do not screw around when it comes to jury duty. Seriously. Postpone if you must, but do NOT just throw away that summons.
They are, actually, incredibly efficient about the postponing, as I discovered when I first got summoned while still living aboard the ship. And again when I went in for my new date a couple of weeks ago. They have a table right in the back, just write down your new date and your phone number and don’t bug them, OK?
But you might want to go ahead and do it now, because they will get you. One guy in my group had been coming in and postponing every three months for well over a year, right up until he got the letter that acknowledged that, yes, he was very funny, but this time he’d better clear his day or they’d be issuing a warrant for his arrest. Remember what I said about the not screwing around part?
L.A. has less comfortable jury pool rooms than Chicago, but they make up for it with the little video presentation about how you get to be such good friends with your fellow jurors (which I thought was hilarious, but turned out to be accurate) and the posters that let you know that Edward Asner and Jamie Lee Curtis, among other luminaries, have come in to do their civic duties just like you. I was actually already a fond fan of both of these people, but they did earn special extra bonus points with me for coming in for jury duty.
Anyway, it’s been very interesting (except for the parts that have been really tedious) and I’ve been enjoying learning a little bit about downtown L.A. on my lunch breaks. Thursday I went into the Bradbury building just to look around. OK, to look around and pretend, just for a second, that I was in Blade Runner. It’s a beautiful old building. I would have been happier if it had been dark and constantly drizzling, but I did have a couple of Replicants break my fingers and try to kill me, so overall it was a pretty good visit.
So far I have stood firm in my refusal to go back to my old day job, and jury duty has made fishing for freelance work challenging. Batlike, I swoop in with e-mails in the dead of night. But, hey, that $15 a day puts a dent in it. And the panel selection process alone allowed me to watch three great crazy people, so you never know what’s going to lead to a new writing project.
One Big Hollywood Meeting down, one little Hollywood meeting and one Big Hollywood Meeting coming up.