For the birds

I had a commercial audition on Friday.  After I parked my car, I waited to cross the street to get to the casting office.  As I waited, a bird passing by decided to...how should I put this delicately...poop on me.  I mean, that's gotta be good luck, right?  Yeah, that's what I figured.

After my audition I got to work more on my screenplay and I'm very nearly done with my next draft.  A few more adjustments and then we'll see!

On Saturday night, I got to be Fadhia's plus-one at a party that her agency threw to celebrate their 20th anniversary and the agency founder's birthday.  It was a lot of fun!  Probably the most fun I've had at one of these kinds of parties.  Usually you go and it is at a loud Hollywood club, parking is twenty dollars, drinks are twenty dollars, the music is not my cup of tea and there are too many people.  And when that's the case, I'm the kind of person that would much rather be at home on the couch.  But we found free parking within walking distance, it was an open bar, the DJ played fun music - from old school rap to Gaga - and there was plenty of room for everyone.  So we danced and smiled for the cameras and had a great time.  Thanks, Fa!

Revived

Just a little glimpse. 

This past weekend was a lovely and quick trip to Florida.  My cousin got married on a beautiful property that means a lot to my family and the rain that was forecasted (and that happened in the hours leading up to the ceremony) decided not to show up for the wedding.  So we all took off our shoes and danced the night away.  It felt like a hug to be around my family, even if it was just for a few days, and was just what I needed.  Improv class yesterday was a lot of fun.  Only one more class before our show and a bunch of us went out afterwards to celebrate and get to know each other better.  And right now, I'm about to dive into another rewrite of my screenplay.  I received extensive notes this week that I'm excited to incorporate and tinker with.  I was feeling a little stuck for awhile and now, armed with this feedback, I'm ready to tackle the project again.  Truly thankful to A. who took the time to read and respond with such constructive notes.  Ok...enough of my slight procrastination...ok, my more-than-slight procrastination...time to get to work.

Goo

If you stay in your own world, you'll talk yourself out of living your own dream. - Kevin Knight

Met up with my buddy Kevin yesterday and talk turned to the world of acting, as it usually does.  And to be frank, I've felt frustrated lately.  Auditions are scarce, some projects I was working on have been put on hold, a major anniversary of my pursuit of this dream is looming and I've found myself sitting back and examining.  Wondering where I'm going, appreciating where I've been and looking for perspective.  Kevin is always one to look at the positive and when he said the above it really struck a chord with me.  This is a business of marketing yourself and honing in on your type and really focusing too much on what is happening with yourself.  There is so much more than this world of "me" and it is easy to fall into a narcissistic trap when examining your career.  The trouble is, when you are pursuing acting as a career and always hustling to make the next step happen, getting trapped in the goo of self is an easy one.  And if you stay in your own world, you lose sight of what life is really about.  This career is only one facet of what makes this life whole.  And empirically I know that.  Of course I do.  It is not and cannot be a main source of happiness.  Family, friends, experiences - these are the parts of life that are important.  But I, and nearly every actor I know, falls into the goo now and then.  And when you're in the goo, doubt and anxiety and that lowliest of human emotions, pity, starts to seep in.  And then we question whether we should keep going.  And you know what?  Sometimes it is time to transition into a new path.  But sometimes it is just time to just get out of your head for a bit and focus on the things that matter:  family, friends, experiences.  Refuel and recharge and, when you're ready, plow ahead.  Either on the same path or on a diverging one.  As long as you get out of your world and gain real perspective, you'll head in the right direction.

Reading is awesome

So I've mentioned a time or two on here that I'm a BookPALS volunteer.  It's a pretty special thing to be able to read to my two classes every week.  Usually I read the same book in each class but last week we did something different.  It was the return from spring break and we needed to start a new book.  I had a couple of options because my classes are really well-read and it was very possible that they would have already read something I picked out to read together.  James and the Giant Peach was my first choice to read but I also had The BFG and Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing in my bag, just in case.  Went to my first class and asked how many students had already read James and the Giant Peach.  Pretty much all of them had.  No problem, I had back up.  And while I was listing the other choices, one little girl says, "I want to read Charlotte's Web."  And then the whole class got excited about wanting to read Charlotte's Web.  It was in their teacher's library and they hadn't read it yet.  So then I got excited about reading Charlotte's Web.  So we made a change of plans and started to read it.  I love how there are certain books that just enthrall children.  They sit and listen, wide-eyed and swept into another world.  This book had that immediate effect.  I went into the next class, prepared with the same choices but this time I had Charlotte's Web as an additional choice.  But when I asked if anyone had read James and the Giant Peach, only one girl had read it.  And she has read everything (a little like me as a kid).  So I gave the other option of Charlotte's Web but this teacher had plans to read it to them soon so we decided on James and the Giant Peach!  Some of the students had seen the movie so they are having fun discovering the differences between the movie and the original story.  It is really fun discovering two different stories together with my 3rd graders and I'm excited to continue today!

**Update:  So I got to my first class yesterday and they were all like, "We saw the movie on Friday!  Charlotte dies in the end!"  And I was gobsmacked!  So was the teacher.  She didn't know that it was shown to them.  So I wasn't sure what to do...cause I left all of my other books at home.  Luckily, most of them (there were some dissenters) wanted to still hear the story.  I explained that the movies of the books always are different and there is more detail in the book and, sure enough, by the time we got going, all of them were caught up in the story...even the ones that dissented.  In my second class, several of the kids had checked out James and the Giant Peach from the library and brought their books to read along.  Love that!

Breathing is good

I spend some time on Pinterest, collecting recipes and inspiring images.  This one resonated with me yesterday and maybe it will with you too.  Here's to just breathing.

Source: a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net via Meagan on Pinterest

Fun

One glass was my limit.

I had a commercial audition today!  It was a fun spot and I ended up running into several people I know so it felt like a fun little reunion.  Yesterday was a fun improv class and then last night the hubby and I went to a super fun date night (I've used the word "fun" a lot in this post).  Anyway...it was with Wine and Canvas and we had a blast.  Basically you get three hours of painting instruction, along with all the materials you need.  All you do is show up and paint!  And these are held at restaurants so you can eat, drink and be merry as well.  At the end of the time you have a little masterpiece to call your own.  I highly recommend it.  I found out about it through Living Social so it was a great deal but we are already checking into when we can go again...at regular price.  I know.  Crazy.  That's how much we liked it.  And we weren't the only ones.  There were several people there for their second/third/multiple times.

This afternoon I'm running through lines with a friend for a project she is shooting soon and then hopefully will get a little writing done this afternoon.  Full and fun.  Word of the day.

Finished products!  Ta-da!

Sizzle Pop

The view at the starting line of the Hollywood 5K I ran on Saturday.

Bubblin' and brewin'.  Getting feedback on my screenplay, getting feedback on a short I wrote, making plans for making them beyond the page.  Running, exercising, eating right.  Balancing life out, letting go of fixating.  Going to improv class, going to improv practice, going to improv shows.  Watching movies, feeling inspired, painting.  Reminiscing, writing a new project, unlocking, figuring things out.  Looking forward, making new plans, making no plans, letting it happen.  Words words words.  Thoughts thoughts thoughts.  Actions actions actions.  Bubblin' and brewin'.

Learning

That could have been me in the overalls

While growing up, I went to drama camp, danced in recitals, sang at bars with local musicians, did community theatre, got paid to do murder-mystery dinner theatre and even snagged a lead role when I was in 9th grade in the one play my high school did my entire four years I was there.  We didn't have a drama department and I'm not sure why there were no more plays after that one.  Let's pretend it was some major scandal that prevented us all from performing (in reality, it probably had a lot to do with plays being low on the totem-pole-of-priorities at my school). The point is, I did what I could, wherever I could, whenever I could when it came to acting.  I had a dream, y'all.  When I was thirteen there was an open call for The Babysitter's Club movie.  THIS. WAS. HUGE to my thirteen-year-old self.  Not only was I a Babysitter's Club book nerd who read and collected all of the books and started her own Babysitter's Club (that maybe lasted only a week, but still, I made folders), it was a movie that I was absolutely right for.  And it was holding an open casting two hours from my house!!  This kind of stuff didn't happen.  There is a bit of a filming boom happening in Miami now but when I was growing up?  Nope.  This was a rarity.  With the resolve of new-teenage certainty, I convinced my parents to take me down to Miami to audition and, bless their hearts, they made the drive.  Turns out it was a good thing they did!  I'm pretty sure there was a cold read of some sort.  And I have a distinct memory of sitting along a hallway, waiting.  And then came the word:  Of the 700 girls that showed up, only 30 were called back...and I snagged myself a callback for the role of "Kristy"!  This was all I could have ever hoped for.  In the end, that was as far as the day went.  I didn't actually get cast but it didn't matter.  To my mind I could have.  They liked me enough to ask me to stay.  And the damage was done: that is when I learned that dreams came true.

Side note: When they ended up casting the role, I also learned a little about the advantages of being a celebrity offspring in Hollywood.  Schuyler Fisk (aka, daughter of Sissy Spacek) was cast as Kristy.  Surely not only because of her mother but I've since learned, in this town, family trees can help.