How I Met Some People on the Set of HIMYM

After Saturday's barrage of pictures on the set of How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) you're either wondering, “Wow, how did Rodney get that opportunity?!?!?” or “Wow, who the heck are you taking pictures of and why do you think I would care????” Well, to make a long story medium-length, a friend’s best friend (Shannon) is the assistant to one of the show’s creators (Carter Bays). Shannon helped organize Saturday night’s fundraiser on behalf of the other creator, Craig Thomas. His son is diagnosed with a rare disorder called Jacobsen Syndrome (or 11q Deletion Disorder). The research behind the disorder doesn't get much support so Glodine & I were more than happy to contribute. We heard stories from affected families and the lead research doctor shared his staff’s work and the possibility of their findings impacting other conditions such as Alzheimer's or Autism.

Thanks to our hookup, we received our invite a month ago and we made it down to LA despite me being sick. We arrived to Fox Studio Stage 22 right on time for the 7pm start but were not prepared to be suddenly thrust into the presence of celebrities. We walked into the studio and were immediately next to five actors... geeking out in the inside, we tried to keep it composed on the outside. Here were our encounters that night:

• Alyson Hannigan (HIMYM’s Lily aka Willow from Buffy aka One Time at Band Camp) – while it would have been a dream to take a picture with her, she was always deep in conversation with people so we left her alone. But her husband on the other hand…
• Alexis Denisof (annoying anchor guy on HIMYM, Mr. Alyson Hannigan, best known as Wesley from Angel) – got a chance to chat with him as his wife was busy talking. He was gracious in our compliments to him saying what big fans we were (this past year, he was in Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing) and he didn’t mind at all taking a picture
  
• Josh Radnor (HIMYM’s Ted) – turns out my friend used to be his travel agent; I mean, how cool is that? He did a great job emceeing the event and was always nearby but seemed somewhat unapproachable – even though lots of people did ask for a picture with him and he always obliged
• Jason Segel (HIMYM’s Marshall, movie star, extremely tall dude) – possibly the highlight of my night was Jason tapping my elbow and asking me to grab a pink gift bag with wine that was next to my foot. After handing it to him, I smoothly said, “Here you go Sir!” I still question why I referred to him as “Sir”. Ugh.
• Bob Saget (HIMYM narrator, Full House’s Danny Tanner, also very tall) – couldn’t believe how much older he looked but he was cracking jokes making Jason & everyone else around him laugh hysterically
• Cobie Smulders (HIMYM’s Robin, SHIELD agent from Avengers, brunette cutie) – after we donated to the Giving Tree, we turned around and, BAM, there was Cobie. As if though we were long lost friends, I casually said, “Hi Cobie! I’m Rodney” – she thanked us for our donation and was totally down for a picture together. With nobody was around to snap a shot, she suggested we take a three-way selfie.
   
  As she sent us on our way, we could hear her introducing her husband to a former HIMYM costar…
• Taran Killiam (Cobie’s husband, SNL funny man) – Did you guys know this currernt SNL featured player is married to Cobie? No idea. Some of his SNL characters are disturbing but he’s hilarious.
• Nazanin Boniadi (former HIMYM costar aka Nora aka one of Barney’s serious love interests) – I only bring up seeing her because she looked absolutely GORGEOUS. Yes, I’m happily married, but I’m not blind. This woman was stunning and if I had gone up to her the only thing that would come out my mouth would have been “blehrrrrrrrr”
• Scott Foley (from Felicity aka ex-husband of JenniferGarner) – this guy. Man, looked skinny as heck. He walked in with us and was next to us for awhile in MacLaren’s Pub. While I wanted to say something to him, it got to the point where it would have been awkward to start a convo. Totally lost our window of opportunity. But thanks to IMDB, learned his wife is an actress too…
• Marika Dominczyk (Mrs. Scott Foley aka actress in random stuff) – wish I had gotten a better look at her the other night but turns out she was in 40 Year Old Virgin. She played Bernadette - the girl who Seth Rogen's character hired to replace Steve Carrell's character in the stockroom. I swear, I remember the oddest things.
• Kevin Weismann (Marshall the tech geek from Alias) – randomly standing around, Kevin and I made eye contact, face to face, in MacLaren’s Pub. I, of course, had to introduce myself and told him how awesome I thought he was on Alias. We chatted a bit about his new show with Stephen Merchant cuz that’s something I noramlly do on Saturdays – ya know, talk casually with a Hollywood actor about his current projects. No big deal.
  
• Lyndsy Fonseca (the "daughter" on HIMYM listening to Ted's stories aka Alex on Nikita) – well, we didn’t see her but saw a picture of her at the event on Instagram. Wish we had seen her since she’s a badass on Nikita.

So that was it. Lots of good food and drinks. Saw someone figure out the hard way that MacLaren Pub's bathroom isn't really functional. And, even though I was sick, the trip down was totally worth it - a great cause and a memorable evening.

Almost to the finish

Here goes. Tomorrow morning will be my final weigh-in of the twelve week Slimfish competition. It's been a grueling experience. But all the hard work comes down to whatever number spits out of the scale at 9am manana. Right now I'm almost 25 pounds down with one final morning run to do.

At work, I left behind my scale and change of clothes. I'll get into the city in the morning, head out for a run along Embarcadero, shower up, and then see what poundage I'm at. I honestly can't wait for this to end. It's rare that I've had the lead in any competition. I don't like it. I'm obsessive and super concerned about the fellas in second and third place. They shouldn't be able to catch me. But they could. Nah... there's no way! But maybe they'll figure out a way. Is it possible? Paranoid I am.

I can't wait for this be done. I'm over it.

Weight for it...

Drama. Enjoyable on TV and movies. Not in real life. But, of course, it's often unavoidable. This weight bet I'm involved in has had a wee bit of cray cray and I have no shame sharing what happened with my closest pals.

I live in the Bay Area. California. I happened to be in Seattle in March where I joined this biggest loser-ish competition. When I started, the people in charge casually agreed that my final weigh-in would have to be in San Francisco and verified by a trusted person in that office. No biggie? Wrong. It became a big deal especially once I was in the lead.

I happened to be back in Seattle for work near the end of Week 10 of the twelve week competition. I promised competitors that I would bring my scale to compare to the one in Seattle and then we could adjust my May 31 final weight accordingly. Again, no biggie? Oh no girlfriend. It was not enough for someone who we'll anonymously refer to as "Diana". Even though I lugged my scale to Seattle. Here was her message to everyone:

"Several of the folks that initiated this competition learned that Rodney will not be here for the final weigh-in, and after discussing it as a group we feel that his final weigh-in needs to be at the same place using the same scale as everyone else.  We discussed comparing his scale to the one everyone else has been using, and we still feel that there is a possibility that using a different scale may sway the results.  Even though this is a friendly competition, everyone has worked hard to achieve their goals and we feel there should not be an exception to the final weigh-in.  Similar to any other race or competition, everyone starts at the same starting line, ends at the same finish line, and is clocked by the same stop watch. 

So we thought we should see what the consensus is on this matter . . . since Rodney will be here to weigh in this week, should this be his final weigh-in and the results used for the actual final weigh-in on the 31st? 

Again, this was a group discussion and I was the only one comfortable in delivering this message, so please do not shoot the messenger . . . I volunteered to facilitate an open discussion so that the decision can be made by the group and everyone can feel comfortable with the results."

If you didn't cuss while reading that, I have a lot of respect for you. I was filled with nothing but WTF and couldn't believe what I was reading. I won't share every detail of what followed. But I truly appreciate one individual in particular who defended me (such a great person):

"Who discussed this?  I don’t recall being a part of any group discussions on this matter. 

If you are proposing that the competition ends early so that Rodney can weigh in on the same scale, then it seems only fair that the competition ends early for all of us.  Otherwise, everyone else gets a two-week advantage over Rodney, and that hardly seems fair.

Let’s also be honest and admit that this wouldn’t be an issue if Rodney wasn’t kicking ass!

I’m all for an open discussion, but it seems as if there was a pre-discussion to this “open” discussion…"

There was a little more back and forth but, after a vote, it was decided that the original plan would stick:

"Rodney compares his scale to ours (he has his up here) and if there is a difference we can determine the amount to adjust his final 5/31 weight by. Linda will also verify his final weight."

How did I personally respond to any of this? I immediately bit my tongue and decided against any haste response. Of course I wanted to tell this person off and defend myself. But, honestly, what good is negativity vs negativity? It was clear this person needed to add drama to this otherwise friendly competition. Instead, I replied the next day trying to keep it positive:

"I’m sure we all have stories to share but, just to let you all know, my weight loss journey has been filled with declining on tons of social outings in order to avoid temptations. The Razorfish SF people think I’m ridiculous – don’t even get me started on friends & family. Or, if we do meet up, I’m eating only a salad or avoiding the most deliciousest options. And no alcohol (GASP). I’ve been focused on consuming ONLY healthy foods. Running/working out helps but it’s definitely what I’m eating that’s made the difference. I’m quite obsessed and my body has never been happier (yes, my body and I chat about it all the time).

It’s also pretty awesome that my wife has been my rock and the support that’s helped make this lifestyle change possible. If I win any money, trust me, half my winnings go to her. Actually, a first place win would mean treating her to a nice weekend get-away to celebrate what we’ve done. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Anyway, please realize that I completely appreciate being part of this competition (shoutout to Kelly for being our commissioner). And "Diana" was completely right - everyone HAS worked hard to achieve their goals. I love that we’re all making changes for the better!"

I have about one more week to find out how I finished. Wish me luck!

Where ya been Rodney?

Wow. Where have I been since Thanksgiving? Let's quickly recap:
     - Christmas back in Seattle for a week
     - January visit in Seattle for a week to meet new client
     - Back to Seattle a week later for my bud relocating to SF - helped her drive her car down to the Bay
     - Back to Seattle beginning of February for five weeks to spend time with mom-in-law who had a bad head injuring fall outside her house but who's now recovering nicely
     - Before leaving Seattle in March, joined in on a "biggest loser" type bet with Razorfish accounting/HR folks. Started my new healthy eating lifestyle (week ten and counting now). I'm leading the competition with eight days to go. Hoping to win that $400 first place prize.
     - Also in March, started running again... was part of a SoCal 200-mile -ish relay (Ragnar) and now prepping for another one in September

And, lastly, I turned 39 this past May. Wow. 3. 9. Can't wait for 40 so I can get away with old man antics. Or do I have to wait until I'm in my 50s? Is that when I can flirt with waitresses and my wife rolls her eyes at me?

Life is good in the Bay Area. Still haven't explored as much as I would have wanted at this point but that's why we'll be here for several years to come. And the sun. Oh, the sun. Cannot be beat. Especially here in the East Bay. And can't wait to see the Seahawks play in the Superbowl here in SF in 2015.

Next post, I hope to share pictures of before and after Rodney. Totally naked. Just kidding. Wouldn't want to traumatize peeps for life. That's just gross. Nah, just shots of my face to see what changes in food have done for my weight.