almost famous

So blah blah blah, friends of friends, blah, the point is this: On Wednesday night I got to attend a semi-private, highly exclusive Elton John concert - FREE! I know, right?

So, here's how it went down. This organization called AFER (American Foundation for Equal Rights) along with Rob Reiner...and other people...put together this benefit fundraiser concert to help raise money to, as their website states, overturn prop. 8 and obtain marriage equality. I know. Though I love my gay and lesbian friends/neighbors/acquaintances/colleagues/family members etc. I don't support gay marriage. But going into this I wasn't really thinking, "Yes! Finally the liberal agenda will be realized!" My thought process was more along the lines of "Yes! Free Elton John concert at an ultra-swanky Beverly Hills mansion!" And so it was!

I could probably go on for days about the absurd details of this event, but long story short is this: I saw Jane Lynch (actually had a short conversation with her - she's SUPER nice), Jason Mraz, Rob Reiner, Elton John, JJ Abrams, Matthew Morrison, sat two feet behind Adam Lambert, and ended up at one point being in Will Farrel's way (ironically it's because we were staring at Matthew Morrison). Plus we got to go inside the mansion thanks to my friend Kas and her BFF being in charge of the whole event. The bathroom I used was pushing 400 square feet. This place was INSANE! It's the kind of place that has a name (Green Acres). There were at least 2 basketball courts, a tunnel, spacious, verdant lawns, 3 dining areas, and enough room on the lawn for two huge tents - one for the concert, and one for food and cocktails. I don't know that I'll ever get used to that kind of thing. I honestly can't imagine living in a place like that.

Also, today I was supposed to be an extra on the TV show "How I Met Your Mother." This is kind of a funny story. Another example of why you need good self esteem out here. They called me into be a nerd in a bar scene. I'm cool with that. But they only needed 2 nerds, and they brought in 5 guys. Apparently I wasn't nerdy enough. So, they were going to use me as part of the group of people there to make the bar look more "average" because they had lots of pretty people playing extras today. In the end they didn't end up using me for anything, so I was done after sitting around reading my book for an hour and got paid for the whole day. Plus, I got to see Neil Patrick Harris up close and in person. Or...at least in person, he was kind of on the other side of the set, but it was him!

So, steps. I'm not sure if they're steps forward, but I certainly couldn't have experienced either of those things in SLC, so good things!