This is the true story...

I don't have a burning desire to have my whole life taped or to live with six strangers (or is it seven?) and yet I auditioned for the Real World today. If you can call it an audition.

I was working at Starbucks all day and the fine people at MTV were hosting Real World auditions at a restaurant close by from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. I wasn't scheduled to get off work until 7:15, so I went on my ten minute break to check out the auditions. It was less crowded than I had anticipated, but there was still a couple dozen reality show hopefuls filling out application forms outside. They looked pretty young, I'd assume they were mostly undergraduate students, but I can't be sure of that. I told the casting people that I had to get back to work but I asked them if I would be able to audition during my half hour break. They said ok and gave me an application.

The walk to and from the restaurant and my talk with the casting people took up pretty much my whole 10 minutes so I had to fill out my application in between ringing people up and making frappuccinos. Here are some samples of the insipid questions:
"What was your most embarrassing moment?"
"What would your closest friends describe as your best/worst traits?"
"What is something unique about you?"
"Describe your relationship with your parents."

I went back to the auditions during my half hour break with my barely legible form. As promised, they let me audition right away, but it was not what I expected. I thought it would be a video-taped one-on-one interview, but instead one of the casting directors interviewed a group of us at once. There were too many of us so I couldn't hear what was going on half the time. We were at a long table and I was at one of the ends. If you ask me, it would have made more sense if we were in a circle, but they didn't. First we all had to go around and introduce ourselves and say something unique about ourselves. Then the casting director asked us questions about why people our age don't vote and what we think about the casting of the Real World. I left early on in the process because half-an-hour goes quickly when you're taking part in such intellectually stimulating conversation. Or something. I was surprised that people were not going out of there way to impress the casting director. Everyone seemed pretty boring.

When I left the casting director thanked me and said if I was chosen for a call-back, they would call me tonight. I knew I wouldn't get a call-back because I didn't say that much during the interview and there was nothing about my application that would really stand out considering I filled it out in about five minutes and I'm not anorexic or manic deppressive or anything else that might appeal to the fine people at MTV. I almost did want a call-back because that's when they do the one-on-one interviews that they videotape and that's the only reason I went to the audition in the first place. I thought it would be fun to create a new persona, but since we weren't being taped, it hardly seemed worth the effort. All in all, my Real World auditions were disapointing, even more so than the time I was on TRL.

In Starbucks related news, I listened to parts of the new Bob Dylan album, "Modern Times," at work today. It sounded awesome, but I'm not sure if I should buy it. Apparently, partners now get a 50% off discount for CDs until the 24th, which is a nice incentive. But the only Dylan CDs I have are "Highway 61 Revisited" and a greatest hits. I think I should get classic albums like "Blonde on Blonde" or "John Wesley Harding" before I get his newer stuff. There is this section in Nick Hornby's book "31 Songs" were he talks about Dylan and I wish I had the book with me because I don't want to misrepresent what he said. He was saying that he likes Dylan, but isn't a huge fan, but he listed everything he knew about Dylan, things that even the most casual fans know (he was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota), and I think he made the comment that it was more than he knew about a lot of people. I too categorize myself as a casual fan, but I feel like there are certain Dylan albums I should own.

Some of my co-workers were looking at CDs and contemplating buying some, but I don't think either of them did. Right now I'm leaning to the conclusion that most people don't actually buy CDs at Starbucks, they just think about it a lot.