YES!!! Will you believe this? I hardly can myself! Okay, so here is the story, I thought you guys would want to hear it 'cause you all like her almost as much as I do (I *am* her #1 fan. I don't care if other people say they are, they're wrong).
So, I'm in LA on vacation, right? And I meet up with this girl I know who used to go to school with me, but moved out west after graduation. We talked for a bit about nothing, then she said that she was the biggest "Psychic Sleep" fan and I said "No, *I* am," and then she said that she was going to watch Apt. 34 (the production company that makes Psychic Sleep) film an episode and would I like to come too? I almost screamed yes! I had thought that I might see Summer in LA before I got there, but once I arrived I lost all hope of seeing her. LA is too huge! The chance of finding someone there seemed slim to none. Well, here I was talking to a pal from high school and about to see my fave show filmed and my idol in action! Cindy (that's my HS buddy) told me not the get my hopes up on the last count 'cause she had seen Psychic Sleep being shot more than once, but it was always second unit stuff -- no Summer. I tried to brace myself for the worst, but I couldn't help but hope. I mean I'd come so far, y'know? Everything was fitting into place; I *had* to see her.
So about 20 minutes later we find a place to park near this old building. It's like a warehouse, run down and all. It was so funny because it was in a kinda bad part of town, really poor, and here are all these fancy cars and trailers and stuff. You could just tell it was the movies (or TV, whatever). We got there early I guess; the crew was still setting up. Cindy and I found this nice security guard to talk to. He said that the actors weren't due for over an hour, but- get this- Summer was gonna be there! This time I really screamed! I mean, I knew I'd be totally happy and excited if I ever saw Summer, but when it was really gonna happen it just blew be away. I got major stomach butterflies and it still could be hours 'til I saw her!
The time pasted way faster that I thought it would. The security guard was sooo sweet to us. He gave us this little tour of the set and introduced us to the AD (assistant director, case ya didn't know) who was busy, but still nice to us (we got his autograph -not Summer's or Johnny's, but hey;-) Cindy stole a sticky roll from the craft services tent; I tried to, but another security guard ran me off (meanie!). I looked at my watch and hardly believed that so much time had passed! Summer could be here any moment, I thought. Sure enough, within five minutes a shiny black limo pulled up. I held my breath. The door opened.......and out came Phil Deckor. <sigh> Like, he is the series creator and all, but he wasn't who I'd hoped would be in that car. We waved anyway, and he waved back. Didn't come talk to us though, he went right to work. The security guard (a great guy, I tell ya) said that Phil D. was directing this ep. That must mean it's an important episode, but I don't know how. Nobody would tell us the plot or even the name:-(
Cindy and I talked about which character we liked and what our nicknames for them were. I can't believe that her fave episode is "Harvest". It seemed pretty stupid one to me, but then she's only been watching since Oct. and I've watched since the pilot. Well, about this time I noticed that some guy was walking toward us (actually towards the trailer behind us, but who cares). I didn't pay any attention to him until he was right next to us, and then I looked over and who should be smiling back but Johnny Klepper!!! I grabbed Cindy's arm and shook her and we both just stared at him. He laughed at me making a fool of myself and, I know it sounds dumb, but he has the most beautiful teeth I've ever seen. He is 100% better looking in person. I don't even like his character very much, but when I saw him WOW! He had to hurry to the make-up/wardrobe trailer (that one behind us), but he signed some stuff for us anyway. Mine says "Kimmie, Don't hurt your friend! Lots of love -Johnny". As soon as he was gone we started jumping and yelling and talking all at once. It was like that day when Cindy's crush finally asked her to the prom, only way better. "Did you see his smile, those perfect white teeth?" I asked. "Yeah, gorgeous! And what about his..." she didn't finish 'cause just then another limo pulled up. "This *has* to be her," I whispered. Cindy, who was staring at the car opened mouthed, nodded. The door opened and (YES!!!!!!!!) Summer stepped out. She was wearing dark blue jeans and a really tight animal-skin print shirt. I was so excited I could barely speak, but luckily Cindy didn't have that problem. She went crazy - screaming, jumping, waving, you name it. Summer flashed us this big smile and walked over to us. "Hey," she said. "Hello Miss Dupree," said Cindy, grinning like you wouldn't believe. "It's Summer," she replied, "What are you names?" She asked what names were!! It was like she really cared who we were or something. She is just too cool! "I'm Kimmi," I said, finally able to speak. "You're here to watch the filming?" she asked. "Yeah," said Cindy. "Cool. I've gotta go to make-up now, but do you want an autograph first?" We said yes (of course!!) and she quickly signed some napkins Cindy stole from Craft Services. "Hey Kimmy! Hugs -Summer" It's funny that Johnny and Summer both spelled my name wrong. Hey, if they like it that way maybe I'll just change it;-) Then she had to go, too. I really, really wish I knew enough about make-up to work on the show. What a dream job!! All I'd do would be to paint the faces of my favorite people. Or maybe I could be a hairdresser. Mmmmm.....that'd be nice too! Summer has the best hair. I mean it always looks fabulous on the show, but then it's like professionally done. When she got out of that car her hair looked radiant! Wow.
The next hour kinda dragged on. All the stars were in that trailer, Phil D. was waaay busy, and even our security guard and to work. We had fun anyway, trying to figure out what the plot was gonna be, what Summer was gonna wear, if Johnny would smile at us again, that sort of stuff. Well, someone finally knocked on the door of the trailer and called out that it was time to start filming. When Summer and Johnny came out they looked sooo great!! Wow, flawless y'know? Johnny didn't look our way (arrrgg!!), but Summer did and she smiled (she's got great teeth, too) and almost waved at us. Okay, here is awful part. All the shooting was done indoors!!! I couldn't believe it, but it was true. We didn't get to see a single bit of tape rolling, but it was still the best day of my life. We waited another hour or two, but nothing happened besides Phil coming out to get a cup of tea from craft services. Finally the nice security guard told us that they were set to keep filming 'til ten or eleven at night, so we decided we might as well leave.
Well, there is my brush with greatness. If you guys are ever in LA (or even kinda near it) do *everything* you can to see Psychic Sleep being shot. It was so incredible!! I can still remember all these little details from that day. And every time I see Johnny (or even hear his name) I flash back to that moment when he was laughing at me and I just swoon all over again!
--Kimmi (or Kimmie or Kimmy;-)