Señor DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up

If this theme hasn't already been expressed, then here it is (again?): A great thing about being a stranger, a tourist, out of your element, is that you are willing to take chances (perhaps), with fewer (if any) routines, instinctual reactions, and that as such opportunities that might not otherwise present themselves occur, and then you might take advantage of them. While there is a comfort to the familiar, of course, there is of course a great excitement in the UNfamiliar, delight in the new, a revitalizing aspect to the path not yet taken (and worn out from overuse).

The phone rings in my BA apt and I answer it. A male African voice asks to speak with Alyssa (the owner of the apt) and I inform the voice that she is not here, that she is, in fact, in the US for the next few weeks. He tells me he's calling to inform her of an audition, for a tv commercial but if she's not around, not to worry. And then he asks me what I look like.

Resisting the urge to say something like a cross between Johnny Depp and George Clooney (see how being a tourist changes you!?!?) I describe myself more accurately. And despite these details I'm invited to go to the casting call if I'm so inclined. I laugh then, as I laugh now because Alyssa, from what I've seen in photos, is a sexy black woman with big green eyes, a lithe body and cute nappy hair. Despite my hazel-green eyes, I think it's safe to say that I bear little resemblance. And yet there I was, being asked in at the door and then later videotaped as I was interviewed about my life, my favorite songs, asked to SING my favorite song (I sang "Ain't No Way" by Aretha Franklin as I knew that "Kentucky Avenue" by Tom Waits just wasn't going to do it, and "Everything Happens To Me" a la Chet Baker would be too slow), then onto what makes someone sexy, etc. I knew I had no shot in hell but I hardly cared. In LA I would feel polluted hanging around with trendy modelly wannabes willing to sell whatever soul they had left in order to be the next Face of Nokia. But here it was new, fresh, and I must say I enjoyed the experience. Truth is I actually thought these folks were considerably less vapid than the analogous LA bunch, but I might be fooling myself there. Not sure.

In addition to the good time, I had some great conversations with some absurdly pretty girls and even got the number of most interesting woman with whom I'm spending the day tomorrow. So goes the life of a tourist.