So at the scene where Seth walks near me, there were two actors dressed as cops standing nearby. They were also extras. One was old and one was young and cute. He kept staring. Then I suppose he got flirty. We chatted a bit until we had to move to a different area of the airport.

And…I told him he was being weird. He laughed but seemed surprised. I asked him if he was one of those weird actor types. You know the ones… He said he could be if I wanted.

He had that typical actor thing–holding eye contact far longer than normal. I don’t have a problem with it, but only actors (and Landmark Forum graduates) do it. They must learn it in acting classes–to be able to “be” with someone. I have done that exercise many times to the point where I can be with someone completely without distraction. However, real people don’t do that. If you notice, you will find that they look all around. They don’t gaze directly into someone’s eyes. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to talk to the guy again–not even to apologize if my comment left him weirded out. Heck, I’m weird too. No big deal.

One thing that was odd all evening for me was that I spoke to a lot of different people. Sometimes they initiated the conversation, but I always kept it going. When we moved or went back to holding, I was suddenly without someone to talk to. It seems that others paired up more. I always met someone else to talk to though. Yet, I never spoke to the same person twice. I think I spoke to eight different people. It was odd to me. I also noticed people staring. Weird.

It’s that time again. I’m off in San Francisco on my birthday this year, but I am having my first party–ever–on January 31. So why no birthday party ever? My dad was a Jehovah’s Witness, so I didn’t have birthday parties as a kid. Once my parents divorced, it didn’t matter. I never thought about how weird it is not to have a birthday party until I started telling people. So this is the year! I have preparations to make next week. Mostly I have to make the cake. I don’t think I should have to, but I can’t get the kind of cake everyone else can. I have to have a gluten free cake. Not a problem though. I have some great recipes, and no one will know that it’s gluten free.

After the long line, came the wardrobe check. Surprisingly, I didn’t need to change. I wore a lightweight, v-neck, purple sweater and jeans. I brought all those clothes, shoes, etc. for nothing. I would have done just about anything to go back to my car and dump the stuff–at least get rid of the bag of clothes. Next line may have been the worst. It was back through the mud to wait for a seat on a shuttle bus. I think I waited 20 minutes or longer. They came in shifts. The buses filled right away and returned to pick up more. I suppose I was lucky both times because I was on one of those luxury buses, not a typical airport shuttle. Again I waited to get my bags back. It was time to go into the terminal.

Everyone was remarkably friendly. I have no idea how many conversations I had with complete strangers while waiting. We did a lot of waiting. I guess that is normal, but this was my first extra job, so I didn’t know. I had brought a book to read, but I didn’t read. Once we got to the “holding area” (sounds like we were farm animals), we sat for a few minutes, got up, came back, sat for a few minutes, back up again. Once the filming got started, we didn’t sit much.

The crazy people were the ones who were so adamant about getting on camera. It’s almost a competition to see who can be first to get picked to do various shots. It was funny. I don’t think that extra work gets you “discovered” unless you have a speaking part–and maybe not even then. Then there were those people who were professional extras.

I did a lot of walking. At one point, I began to hate my bags. They were far lighter than anything I would carry to the airport even for a short trip, and yet they got very, very heavy. My arms hurt this morning.

I did get in a shot were you see Seth walking through a mass of people near the check-in gate. I was talking to someone else. Seth walks within two feet of me and turns to dodge some other people. I will have to wait to see if it’s in there. I was definitely in the shot. The other areas where I walked back and forth? I have no idea if I was ever in the camera. Maybe.

One idiot got in trouble for taking a photo of Seth with his iPhone. I barely paid attention to the actors. We were usually rounded up back to the holding area or busy being given directions.

We had an audience at one point… SFO workers and travelers were watching. The whole set up caused some confusion for a few travelers. We had a few who thought the fake airline was real. The airline that is normally there was closed. We also had a few travelers insert themselves in the background. Often they stopped filming to let groups of travelers go by to get to their airlines.

Next, I have to tell you about cutie “cop” who acted weird enough that I called him on it…

So I spent late Wendesday afternoon and night being an extra on Funny People. They were shooting some final scenes at San Francisco International Airport. No, I didn’t see Adam Sandler. I did see Seth Rogen, and I was shot in a scene with him. I saw Leslie Mann, but not Judd Apatow. It was quite an experience. I think the people who do extra work are crazy. Not a little bit, but a lot. My first ordeal was driving in the rain to SFO. Now, driving in the rain doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, but people out here don’t drive well in the rain, and I was driving during the evening commute. I left an hour before my call time. Once at the airport, I followed the signs to the garage where I had been told to park. We had to park on level 8. That meant driving seven spirals to get there. I had to stop once along the way to be checked by security. We had special parking tickets. The most exciting part was that parking would be FREE! So I’m thinking this could be a lot of fun and interesting. Nevermind that I had to bring two changes of clothes, a suitcase, a carry-on and my purse. My bags were light–far lighter than when I travel. Next was navigating the parking garage elevators to find the shuttle bus that would take us to where we check in.

Base Camp

It looked a lot like a camp. I got my bags off the bus. I pulled the bags through the puddles and mud while carrying my clothes that I had put on hangars in a bag. Once I arrived in the tent with my first form, I saw all the people. Lots of people. Some sitting. Most standing. Some in uniforms. Lucky them to have a uniformed part so they didn’t have to carry several changes of clothes, shoes and accessories. My suitcase and carry-on were full of shoes, makeup and accessories. The first line was short. I just had to provide ID. The next line? That one went halfway around the enormous tent. This was the line for badges and more paperwork so we could get paid. While waiting, the generators went out twice–darkness fell. It was dark outside already. I could hardly see in the tent. My biggest concern was to avoid hitting the person in front of me with my bags.

I just love this video. I would never have seen it if it hadn’t been posted on Salon.

and this…

The videos came from Born Free, an organization that helps wild animals return to the wild.

There was some good and some bad for 2008 in my opinion. Then again, there’s “what happened,” which is neither good nor bad. May this year be the best ever.