South By Southwest (SXSW) is a Music, Film, and Interactive festival that takes place in Austin during Spring Break. This year, the festival spans from March 7-16, 2014.
A lot of films premier at SXSW, using the festival as a way to gauge how well the general audience will respond to a specific film before its wide release. Alternatively, many independent filmmakers submit their work to the festival, and if chosen to officially screen their film at SXSW they gain the chance for their film to be bought by a major film distributor.
The second day of SXSW was struck with horrible weather. Rain poured in bursts throughout the day. Because of this, I decided I should probably stay home. But, I really wanted to attend the red carpet for the movie Neighbors, a comedy about a young couple who are forced to live next to a frat house. So, I convinced Rigo and Albert to join me in my trek to try and see Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, and Dave Franco in person.
We stood in the rain, along with other anxious spectators, for about two hours. The good thing was that my friends were there, and we struck up a conversation with the crowd control volunteer. We also had an umbrella.
Finally, a couple people from the film's cast and crew began showing up to the red carpet. But, Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, and Dave Franco had yet to make an appearance.
We continued to wait, and the rain got harder almost as if to test our patience. Albert and Rigo decided to go get shelter in one of the restaurants across the street, and I stayed to try and catch a glimpse of the three men I came to see.
Seth and Dave arrived one by one and about 10 minutes apart. Seth Rogen was much more handsome in person, and Dave Franco, although shorter than what I thought he would be, was absolutely gorgeous. Zac Efron, on the other hand, was taking a long time to arrive. Soaking wet, and with my phone acting up (the reason I got very few horrible quality pictures), I decided to leave and join Albert and Rigo.
I cleaned myself up in the restroom of Cozzoli's Pizza, then ate a delicious meal with two great friends. We spent the rest of the night in the comfort of Albert's dorm room, watching movies, eating junk food, and laughing together.
The next day, Mindy Kaling was going to speak at an Interactive SXSW session. Because she is a great inspiration and influence in my life, I knew I had to meet her. My dreams were shattered when I arrived at the Austin Convention Center to find out that you needed a badge in order to even be outside of where the session was taking place.
I decided to go back to my dorm room, and nap. Then, I made an impulse decision to go home and visit my family for a couple of days.
While at home, I got to spend necessary quality time with my mom, dad, sister, brothers, and niece. It was wonderful to get to spend a few days with them. We went out to eat, watched tons of movies together, and spent hours just talking. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I went home.
During those couple of days at home, I made another impulse decision. I decided it was time for a change, so I went to a local hair salon, cut my hair into a bob, and added highlights to my virgin hair. It was a much needed change of pace, and a huge confidence booster. Needless to say, I absolutely love my new look.
Although I missed SXSW events from Day 3 - Day 5, I don't regret leaving to spend time with family. It's kind of funny, because in my Day 1 recap I raged about how SXSW is an event you don't want to miss. I did miss the opportunity to get free tickets to see Kanye West and Jay-Z, among many other things, but I really needed to get away from the craziness of life for a while. Sometimes you need to find ways to ground yourself. It was a much needed time away from Austin.
-TBCG
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