Had to check out of the hotel I had been in for the past 3 weeks: some strange rule about having to be away for 24 hours. My good friend Warren who has a lovely home up near the Hollywood Hills with his partner, took pity on me! And let me stay for the night. Today I have checked back in for another week with a slightly nicer room. It is primarily just a place to sleep, as the place has been so hot with no air con & the very hot weather of late, that the best idea is to go out by 11am, find somewhere cool to spend the day, maybe drop back in briefly before going out again, and then return between 10pm & midnight to sleep. I have been spending a lot of my days at Starbucks doing things on my computer, updating my website, writing my blog, I currently have a one week trial with a company that provides addresses, mainly emails for movie people (actors, producers, directors, writers etc) or their agents. So this week I will take full advantage of that & cancel before the $30 a month option kicks in. It really has been too hot most days to do much exploring. Walking in the heat to get somewhere is ok, but the sun has been strong and the air hot, so hanging out outdoors is not something to pursue.

With all these changes from being in hot rooms and outside with the heat, to being in cold air conditioned rooms, I have developed a bit of a cold and in the last day it has turned into laryngitis. Having breakfast with Warren this morning was a bit of a challenge as it is normal to chat while eating with someone else, but now that I am on my own working on my computer in the library, I am getting to do what I really need to do at the moment and that is not speak. I feel pretty ok, but talking is hard work, so if I rest my voice all will be fine in a day or two.

Yesterday after Warren collected me & I deposited my things at his place, we took his lovely dog, Chester, which is a chocolate lab for a walk in the local neighbourhood. Then we had a drink in his garden before going off to have lunch. He had to work & I headed to Starbucks in Los Feliz where I did a few things. Headed down to Wilshire Blvd to The Academy Awards building where there was a special screening of ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ and the original ‘Dracula’. http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibitions/events/2012/10/horror.html There were many big names in the reserved seating area, and the guy I was sitting next to said he had done the soundtrack to 'Seven". Have just googled that, and he didn’t look like Howard Stern! lol! There are so many people who I find tell you things that may stretch the truth a tad in this town!

And getting back to Warren’s place last night… what a journey… at least an hour wait for the first bus and then 25 mins for the next bus. The films finished at 10.30pm and I got back to my his house at 1am and that also included a rollercoaster ride through the Hollywood Hills from Hollywood Blvd, as the taxi driver couldn’t find the ave I had asked for. All experiences for the movie… J

But at least accommodation is sorted for the next week. I am learning how to function around the troubled people on the streets and where to give space. There aren't many people in LA who travel on buses, can hang out at an academy awards event, drink coffee at Starbucks in Beverly Hills & sleep at a budget hotel in Hollywood. In fact out of 12 million, I am probably the only one!