Story of L.A.: Part Three

After my meeting at Sony (yeah, I know, right?) Natalie took me to a diner where she promised I'd see writers from The Office, because of this. We drove on over and sat down, and guess what: NO ONE FROM THE OFFICE WAS THERE. Plus, a slice of pie cost nine dollars. And they were out of pie anyway. So we booked it to a way Jewish enormous deli with pictures of Jack Benny on like every wall. I kept expecting to hear Fred Allen go, "Say, it's our old friend Muffin MacGuffin" and then the studio audience would applaud and then I'd do my bit about how I wish audiences were listening to my show instead and people would crack up. Anyway, at this locale Natalie did a thing that I have always wanted to do but never had the courage: She stole pickles off people's plates because they were leaving without eating them. This sort of behavior is completely unacceptable, so I'm glad Natalie was with me to act heroic.
Next on tap for the day was a meeting at a coffee shop with a guy with whom I've been in touch for some months. He knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows my mom, and he went to my college, and he now writes for a very popular cable series. I was excited to see him, as we'd never met in person.
This coffee shop's name entirely escapes me, but I have its address written down: 124 N. Larchmont Blvd. Here are two things about this location: 1) Larchmont is a city near my hometown of White Plains, NY. Little touches like this make being across the country pretty pleasant. 2) I saw a high number of famous persons during my time there. These famous persons include:

1. Rob Huebel (meeting with someone and looking very busy)
2. Ken Marino (trying to walk away from a dude who claimed they'd worked together once)
3. Neal McDonough (being absolutely enamored with a little kid who was walking pretty well
4. A surprise guest, to be described soon!

Finally, my television contact arrived (exactly on time, or: a half hour after I arrived) and we sat down and chatted, and it was really nice. He has a project he's working on, which sounds cool, and in general we were both interested in what's happening with cable series right now. He gave me some advice, mostly: keep writing and come out here. It was very nice to hear.
This was actually different from advice I got the next morning, at the same coffee shop (by coincidence), where I met with another television writer/alumnus of my college. His concern was that the current economic climate suggested that it may be in my best interests to spend some time making stuff on my own before trying to find employment. All things to consider. Also things to consider:
While we were sitting down, he greeted a woman who stopped to chat with us. She has just finished editing a movie that I am dying to see. I read the script for it, it will be incredible. She has edited all of this director's movies, and I am a fan. And she said this one will be the best of them. It was way cool to meet her, and as soon as I mentioned it to Natalie, she knew EVERYTHING about this lady. Some people, am I right fellas?
Later that day, I had a meeting scheduled with the boss of the television guy I'd met with the previous day, a guy who produces a popular sitcom and has more than a few sitcoms on their way in the coming season. I will let you know all about how that went
IN PART FOUR.