Summer is starting to dwindle down -- there are only days left before school starts. I think that there is still plenty of time to cross a few things off your bucket list. Two weeks ago, I had the chance to go to a live taping of "The Late Late Show with James Corden." Maybe you have watched a few late night television shows and they have made you chuckle here and there, but honestly, it is the moments that don’t make the cut that are more hilarious. I was lucky enough to go to the show where Cara Delevigne and Dave Franco would be doing a rap battle and informing everyone on their new movies. Let us just take a moment and picture that. Cara the amazing supermodel and actress and Dave Franco the acting heartthrob. You know everyone freaked out, right?
CBS is located in LA right next to the Grove, so the day was spent getting the full of experience of what it means to be 19 and adventurous. There are so many clothing stores that are multi-floored, restaurants galore and numerous strangers all trying to do the same thing -- enjoy Los Angeles. It almost feels like you are on the Upper East Side and you are surrounded by all these bright lights, people who are in heels or button ups or Boggi Milanos. They are all lost in their own futures, and it almost seems like they have it figured out and walking in Los Angeles I could not help but want the same thing.
It was extremely hot in LA that day, and if anyone wanted to survive the adventure they needed a little sustenance. Me and a friend stopped for tacos before getting in line for the show. This was the beginning of our good luck for the day. Two carnitas tacos with salsa, cilantro and onions. Classic and effective. We rushed and were speed-walking in wedges through the many corners and windy walkways of the Grove. Our determination was our best accessory that day.
When we finally made it to the line, we started out in the back only for more people to follow. As we stood there, I wondered what it would be like? James Corden was hilarious with his carpool karaokes and rap battles with celebrities; it was really hard not to imagine me freaking out when I saw this guy. Everyone was talking amongst themselves and in that moment, I caught me and my friend talking about old high school drama that did not give the clue that we had already graduated. It made me appreciate how lucky I was that I was in a better place with all of it. All those childish times were irrelevant now, I was 19 and free. I went away to college and came home for the summer. I grew in that time. Today I would be seeing Franco, Delevigne and Corden and would be on national television? I had a lot to look forward to.
After what seemed like hours, the line started to move and everyone was thankful to hopefully move to another place that would not leave us so sweaty. As we walked the gates of CBS, I felt like I entered another world. It felt like opportunity. As we got our first black wristband, we walked with anxiousness and excitement and then this woman in her bright blue top and headset seemed to appear out of nowhere. She stopped us and gave us another wristband -- this time it was gold. We said, “Thank you so much!” and looked around at all those other hopeful faces and saw that not everyone had two; this was looking to be quite an interesting day.
We sat on these set of benches for a while and waited for security to tell all of us we could enter the building. Soon we were walking through CBS and I was already beside myself. We passed "The Walking Dead" and I about lost it when an employee heard me freak out and said, “You’re so cute. That show is coming back soon and we are also working on doing a talk show for the new AMC show 'Priest.'” I about gasped and was utterly happy. I saw so many new sets and old ones and couldn’t help but think how much history there was here.
As we stood outside the set, the network employees began to line us up and lead us into the room. The first sight that caught my eye was the three-dimensional recreation of the city of Los Angeles that I had seen in all of the Late Late shows. The lights were bright and emanating positivity. They placed us in the front and said we had to have a lot of energy because we were filming the rap battle first. The crew was probably my favorite part because they were so focused and hyped to be there. They gave us the run-down of where the entrances and exits were and then we were off.
Lights, excitement and anticipation. James walks out in his shiny white robe and was ready to beat his celebrity guests. Cara modeled down the walk way, fierce as ever. And Dave with his 5’7” look of strong confidence only made everyone scream just a little louder. James went first and set the bar pretty high without mistakes but Cara and Dave were experienced opponents. Eventually though Cara stopped holding back and she showed all the television watchers what “girl power” really meant.
I will admit that it was nice to feel lost in the moments that were happening. The fact that I was with my best friend at this taping and that Dave Franco held my hand as he walked off stage was a lot to handle. The best rule was that cell phones were not allowed, we were present as we watched Léon perform her single “Tired of Talking” and swayed to the beats of her Swedish pop music. We were lost. We left that lot high and alive, stuck on the city life.
As the day ended we could feel the city breathing with us. We started to feel as if we were part of that crowd that had seemed exclusive earlier. We roamed through all the clothing stores and found ourselves drawn to the three-story Barnes and Noble instead. The endless rows and shelves of books seemed to be a new world all in itself. Thousands of stories I hadn’t heard, bodies of lessons I had yet to learn and new adventures that I craved.
It was nice goodbye before I came back to SDSU. There are opportunities everywhere and you never know when you’ll be reminded how lucky you are to be alive.
