Category Archives: Class

by | July 14, 2010 · 8:55 am

Last Class!

     Today, a Tuesday in LA, I ate real food! Shocker, I know!

First, I had coffee with my new peppermint mocha non-dairy creamer. FAIL! It tasted okay, but kind of chemically, then when I looked at the ingredients, I found there isn’t a single natural ingredient except for  water. This’ll be going back to the store tomorrow.
Breakfast was powerful! 3.5 cups of spinach, 2/3 cups of unsweetened soymilk, 1/3 a banana, 1/8 a cup of frozen berries and the juice of 2 small lemons.
     I toasted up a slice of my fresh bread and covered it with my new chimichurri sauce!
This tasted like a freshly cut lawn. I don’t know why it always turns out like this. The stuff I buy pre-made from the farmers’ market tastes amazing! I’ll try tweaking my recipe. Any tips to make it taste not-so-fresh-from-the-yard?
     It was a slow drive into the city. Luckily, I had the new Sky Sailing album to cruise along to: such a lovely album. Very relaxing and nostalgic. Go listen to “Brielle” as soon as you can! On the way in, I got hungry so I ate the single banana I’d brought with.
Banana. Exciting.
     Today was my last class for awhile. I’m trying to buffer my bank account, so my class is one of the first to be cut :(. Sadness. It was a great note to end on – adjustment day. We get a scene, perform it in front of the class, then get an adjustment (first half irritated, second half impatient, on this line, throw the paper down, on this line cross to the couch and sit, etc.) and apply it. It’s incredible to see how many actors can’t take direction. It’s much easier to work with someone who’s open to suggestion and able to handle surprises on the fly. After class, I got tons of good-bye hugs and well-wishes, and I was pretty bummed to walk away. Sniff.
     I got to interning around 4pm and had to fill out some booking info for clients. It was a busy day on the submission front and I was go-go-going! My boss wonderfully made me a ham and cheese sandwich when she found out I don’t eat on Tuesdays if I don’t have time to stop by the store, and I inhaled it!
Ham and swiss on wheat with a little mayo. Yum! Thanks, Terry!
     The drive home sucked massively, but when I got back, my roommate had made me a big KSS!
Lots of chopped lettuce, diced bell peppers, sauteed zucchini, warmed lentils and egg white salad with homemade dressing. I’m so spoiled!
I also had a glass of pear cider that I forgot to take a picture of. Take my word, it was delicious.
Dessert was another slice of bread toasted and drizzled with honey.
     I’m getting dozy and watching That 70’s Show, so since I have nothing profound to say, I’ll leave you be :). Good night!
What are some bands that you’re obsessed with? Owl City/Sky Sailing has my obsession over the last year!

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Filed under Class, coffee, green monster, honey, kitchen sink salad, Los Angeles, sammich

by | June 30, 2010 · 9:21 am

Food On-the-Go!

     A quick warning to everyone: Do not attempt to recreate or consume the meals I had today! Today was definitely not a “balanced” food day :-/.

This be an omelette with 2 eggs and a massive sprinkling of sharp cheddar cheese. See what happens when I don’t have GM ingredients in the morning? I sabotage myself!
     I had two gigantic mugs of coffee, then headed out to pick up supplies from Trader Joe’s. The drive into LA took about an hour (traffic was horrific – lots of highway construction going on). I parked on the street with 15 minutes to spare, so I scarfed down my lunch.
Trader Joe’s Turkey Club Wrap: Turkey, lettuce, tomato, BACON, and some mayonnaise wrapped in a piece of lavash bread.
     Class today was “listening day”. We get our sides (scripts) with the our partner’s lines blacked out. We have an hour to learn our lines, but can’t rehearse with our partners at all, then the first time we run the scene is in front of the class. This exercise really forces you to listen to everything your partner is saying, instead of just waiting for your cue word to begin your next line. 
     I had an audition last year right after this “listening” class, and the casting director said to me, “You are the first actor I’ve seen so far that was actually listening to what I was saying, and not just waiting for your cue!” I got a callback for that role. Then they ended up doing a second round of auditions and hired a cast made entirely of models. Seriously, the entire cast was 5’9″ or above! Not that I’m bitter because I’m short or anything… 🙂
     On my way over to work at the management office, I scarfed down a Clif Bar.
Oooooh, yeah! Chocolate Brownie, baby!
     Work was really busy! There were about 34 different series/films casting out there, with a few roles in each project to fill. I spent a good four hours doing nothing but matching actors to roles, sending e-mails, and calling actors who got called in for a commercial that’s casting tomorrey! Woohoo!
     I fought some evil traffic on the way home, swung by Trader Joe’s (twice in one day!) to pick up some dinner makings. It was so wonderful coming back from LA: I drove into a wall of marine layer and got a nice misting from the low clouds. Heavenly! 
     When I got back I had a Mission St. Hefeweizen waiting for me in my new wheat beer glass.
So purdy! That glass is gigantic!!!
     Dinner was a wonderful gourmet coconut-butterfly shrimp. Recipe to follow:
Coconut Shrimp Recipe:
1. Go to Trader Joe’s.
2. Pick up box of frozen Coconut Shrimp.
3. Preheat oven, then put shrimp in.
4. Take shrimp out.
5. Serve with mango chutney.
6. DEVOUR.
     I hope you could all follow that recipe. I know it’s a little intricate, but if you just take the time to read it through a few times before you attempt it, it turns out to be quite delicious!
     Dessert was two (!!!) Trader Joe’s chocolate soy ice cream bars. I now feel slightly ill as I gulp down water and watch Chopped on the Food Network, hence my beginning warning: DO NOT ATTEMPT TODAY’S FOOD CHOICES!
     To recap: today was not my smartest in food choices, but I have the entire day off tomorrow, so I’ll be sure to make lots of homemade meals, and start the day off with 3 servings of veggies in my Green Monsta! Also, keep your eyes peeled for Friday! Something amazing is coming that will involve wood, salt water, lavender and tents! 
Go ahead, try to guess what that means 🙂

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Filed under Acting, Class, Hefeweizen, Los Angeles, marine layer, Mission Street, omelette

by | June 23, 2010 · 9:30 am

An L.A. Kind of Day

     Happy Tuesday everyone!!!

     To me, Tuesdays say:

MONSTERS (of course every day says monster for the past 3 weeks)! For some reason the GMs I’ve been making have been getting really, really thick recently. I think my blender is on its last legs: two of the five motor-prong-thingies have broken off. I may have to empty my entire savings account to get a Vitamix blender!!! IN MY DREAMS!
     Tuesday ALSO means a day off from work! I made a lovely mini-breakfast – an omelette with one egg, a teaspoon of goat cheese, 2 teaspoons of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and a handful of wilted spinach.
 
     Unfortunately, a day off from work doesn’t mean an actual “day off”. It means fighting the freeways so I can make it to my acting class in Los Angeles by noon.

     Holy crap. Here’s the thing – I don’t live IN Los Angeles. I live a short distance away on the outskirts, but add rush hour traffic into that and it equals HELL. LA freeways and I have had a very strained relationship. We were on good terms when I lived in the center of it – WeHo (West Hollywood) area, but now that I’ve cheated with one of its close relatives, it makes me pay dearly.

     Once I finally pass the traffic, I receive a lovely LA welcome.

I love overhead wires!
I love anti-landslide plastic!
Hollywood!
Aaah, the beautiful panorama of white skies, smog and palm trees!
     Honestly, I don’t have any real issues with LA. The thing is, I’m a small-town girl! I love the blue skies, clean air, traffic-free side streets, bike paths, clean rivers and FREE PARKING that small towns have! The crazy part is that to have the career I really want, I need to be in close range to this town. Until I’m working here on a consistent basis, I’ll live in my clean-aired, small-ish town paradise and make the painful commute. Then I will proceed to whine about it to you :).
     I didn’t have time to pack a lunch, so instead I had some super-healthy chocolate tortilla chips in my car.
On Tuesdays, I’ll accept calories from any source because I don’t have enough time between class and work to stop for a real meal! Pitiful :(. What “on-the-go” meals do you make for days when you have no time to stop and eat?
     Class was the usual – we get a scene, go outside with our partner to rehearse for 30 minutes, then head in and perform in front of the class and get critiqued. All the lines are memorized by performance time, but we keep our sides at hand just in case we need them. 
     This class is more of a business class than an acting class – we focus on the networking aspect, and learn how to sell the product that we’re offering (ourselves, in a non-hooker way). In the real world, it’s not about the art anymore: It’s about business – making connections and making producers/directors realize that they would enjoy spending two or three months (or more for TV shows) on set with you.
One scene of the day. 
Faces are blurred out of respect for our famous actors :). (We actually do have a few that have starred in some network shows. The Old Spice commercial guy, the “Swagger Waggon” Toyota girl and one of the leads from “Arli$$” may or may not also be three of them 😉 ).
Today was “easy day” in class. Last week was “casting director workshop” day which makes everyone incredibly nervous and awkward unless they’ve had a lot of experience in the audition room, so this week helps everyone realize that even though they may have bombed last week, acting is still fun!
     I had a scene with the lovely Rosanna which involved lots of ghetto head-bobbing and girl-fighting – FUN! Note on that: there are NEVER good fighting scenes out there for actors unless they are the stars of the show. I got some good screaming scenes in Lonelygirl15 though, so I’m one of the lucky ones!

     After class I worked at the talent manager’s office for a few hours. I called some actors that received auditions for tomorrow, sent some e-mails, submit many, many actors for different roles on the many feature films that are casting right now, and got to eat a banana!!!

(Picture omitted because I was so hungry I inhaled it)
     When I FINALLY got home at 8pm after fighting yet another rush hour, my wonderful roommate had made me a gigantic KSS!
AND a Fat Tire! She is honestly the BEST roommate ever! This KSS had about 4 cups of chopped lettuce, 1/2 a cup of warmed lentils, 1/2 a cup of egg white salad, 1/2 a cup of chopped bell pepper, a teaspoon of goat cheese, and homemade dressing made with 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon of whole grain mustard, and 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
     Now I am completely stuffed, completely exhausted, and completely ready to fall into bed and crash – and yes, I realize it’s only 10:30pm Pacific Time, but I’m an old soul and exhausted and not ashamed to admit it. 
I’m off to sleep before yet another full shift at work!

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Filed under Acting, banana, Chocolate, Class, green monster, kitchen sink salad, Los Angeles, SUCKS, Tortilla, traffic, Vitamix