epiphany

Daylight savings time has really fucked with my head today.  This day seems to be going on forever, which i should be thankful for because it is a Sunday, but somehow…i am not.

While doing laundry today i realized something, I have gotten really good at folding sheets by myself.

HalloweenHead

Well, here it is…Halloween, again.  I am at home on a crisp morning with Bella, chocolate croissants, and coffee.  It isn’t the same this year.  Halloween was the best when i was in Nashville with old, good friends frolicking in graveyards, drinking vampire merlot, and carving pumpkins to “Nightmare Before Christmas.”  This year, i am less excited.  Could it be i am growing older and the spell Halloween has always cast on me is losing it’s power?  Or do i just miss my old life, old friends, and old haunts?  Growing up is hard.  Living in a city you have yet to connect with is hard.  Missing those you love at a time that you have always held so dear, is even harder.  I wish i had all the money in the world.  Not because i think it will bring happiness, but so that i could jump on a flight whenever i wanted and see the people and places i miss so much.  Why is it that i am never content right where i am?  Is it the nature of your 20’s, or is it because i have made a series of wrong decisions that i should now make an effort to change? 

I will probably spend my day at the free SAG theatre or hanging with my friend Channing who just had a baby.  She needs a friend right now and maybe a hand with laundry.  I hope everyone has a fantastic Halloween and that you are spending it with great friends.  Happy trick-or-treating!

Totally X-treme Weekend

Ok, so i am constantly annoyed by the misuse and overuse of this term ”Xtreme” on products and countless other things these days, but in the case of the Six Flags ride “X2″…it is absolutely appropriate.  I rode this ride while i was at six flags this weekend with Alex and Siobhan, who were visiting from Birmingham.  It is a roller coaster, but to quote one of my favorite movies of all time, this was “a horse of a different color!”  You climb a hill in an individual seat that can rotate 360 degrees, plunge to the ground in a completely straight line, and even have fire shot at you while looping and spinning through the air.  It was single-handedly the most exhilarating thing i have ever experienced and 100% worth the two and a half hour wait we had to endure in the sun while watching extreme sport videos.  Other amazing attractions included The Riddler, Batman, ever classic non-looping Goliath, and Katsu…you know, the one where you are facing your impending death of plunging to the ground the entire ride because you are literally hanging parallel with the ground.  It was terrifying, but oh so fun!  And if all this weren’t enough, we finished the night out with the best Mexican food i have had in L.A. so far and margaritas at Don Cuco’s.

Today i woke up to heavy fog till about 10am, which was heavenly because it kept the temperature down long enough for me to pretend like it was fall.   I pulled recipes from Martha Stewart and caught up on laundry and cleaning, then cooked eggs with biscuits and gravy with some friends at 4:30 in the afternoon.  Now, Corpse Bride is on t.v. followed by Edward Scissorhands…i mean could you write a better afternoon?  I think not!

Babies and Flowers

What a fantastic Sunday here in L.A.  My friend Channing, her mother, her 9-day old baby girl Elena Marie, and I ventured out to the Santa Monica farmer’s market for breakfast and produce.  It was a mild, sunny day today and i came back with some beautiful flowers for the house and some raw almonds from the “Nut Man.”  He informed me that even if you buy “raw” almonds in the store, they have still been pasteurized!  Well as you can imagine, i was appalled by this fact.  So, i bought some of his raw, totally UN-pasteurized almonds to snack on for the week.  After a hard day of cleaning i am chilling with some french onion soup and a mild headache.  Good news is, it’s the first one in weeks…and that is progress.

Let’s hear it for New York

I just spent four fabulous days in the big apple visiting friends and enjoying fantastic food.  Sunday i got in around 9:30am to my friend’s apartment, let myself in, and slept till he got in from being out of town at a wedding.  We spent the entire afternoon just sipping coffee with his roommate enjoying the fall air breezing through the open windows.  Later, we walked to a pizza place and had some of the finest pizza i’ve ever had, and of course, beer.  We took a walk around SoHo and his neighborhood, the east village, and called it a night after sharing a late night glass of wine over a delectable ham and brie sandwich.  The next morning we walked down to 5th avenue and ran into a Columbus Day parade.  We met some friends at the NBC studios and took a private tour of the Saturday Night Live studios.  After a much deserved nap in the late afternoon, we walked to a restaurant called Frankies and experienced yet another fantabulous meal.  We shared a carafe of wine, gourmet cheese plate with walnuts, honey, and the greenest, most heavenly olive oil i have ever tasted.  I had the sweet potato and sage ravioli and Adam had meatballs stuffed with pine nuts and raisins.  For dessert we shared red wine prunes over marscapone cheese.  All in the fantastic atmosphere with beautiful lighting, looking out into the busy streets of New York at night.  We topped the evening off by watching Woody Allen movies till we fell asleep.  During the days i explored the Natural History Museum, The High Line, the Chelsea Market, and got lost around NYU.  On the final night, Adam and i went to dinner with our friend Logan Lin in China Town and had Peking Duck and Tsingtao.  It was a truly magical trip, for many reasons.  I think im going to have to make this a regular thing

I can smell my dog again

I love the way my dog smells, especially her ears.  But since june, until this past Monday morning, i haven’t been able to smell her.  Not only that but i haven’t been able to breathe out of my nose and have been sneezing non-stop!  I went to an acupuncturist last week known as Dr. Kim (see previous posts) and after the first session i really couldn’t tell a difference.  But this time…it was a miracle.  He did more than twice as much as he did last time and i left his office still stuffy and feeling weary.  I am all for investing in my health in positive ways over popping loads of Claritin, but this was becoming expensive!  Then, it happened.  I got a full nights sleep.  No tossing, turning, weezing, or sneezing.  In the morning, i awoke to full passage of air through BOTH nostrils.  Now here we are on Tuesday night, still going strong.  I am so happy i can’t even begin to describe to you how much.

On a totally unrelated note…well, now that i think about it, it actually is related in that this too makes me very happy…you should all watch GLEE on FOX tomorrow night.  Not only is it the episode that i believe i am appearing in, BUT it is an incredibly entertaining, heartwarming, hilarious show.  Also, someone i work with recently turned me on to a new band.  Bon Iver.  I will attempt to describe how i felt when i put it into the c.d. player for the drive home from work.  I was literally entranced.  It was a spiritual experience, riding down the freeway, staring into the bright glow of the red lights in front of me.  I did’nt even care that it was taking longer than usual to get home, i was actually thankful.  Me.  Riding in my little church on four wheels down the 405.  Blissfully happy, (and yes there were tears) stuck in rush hour traffic, and totally unphased.

Night In

Overall i’d say this hiatus was pretty successful.  Some rest and relaxation and a much needed trip to Disneyland and out of town for the day.  The only downside to Disney is that they were decorating for Halloween and two of my favorite rides were closed: Space Mountain and The Haunted Mansion.  But we got to ride Indiana Jones multiple times so that made it all better.  Then yesterday i went up to a little winery south of Santa Barbara and did some wine tasting with my dear friend Channing, who is about to have a baby, so for her it was more like wine spitting.  It was so nice to get out of LA and drive up the PCH just gabbing about babies and girl stuff.  I bought some wine and we ate at a little seafood place across the street from the tasting room.   I hope to make this getting out of town stuff a regular weekend thing.

Am i an odd or really old 26 year old if id rather stay home and watch movies on a Saturday night, than go out and paint the town red?  Either way, here i am spending my evening with Georgia O’keeffe and the cast of Mad Men…happy as a clam.

Dr. Kim

I visited Dr. Kim yesterday, an accupuncturist in Beverly Hills.  We discussed why i was there and my medical history and then he checked my pulse in various places on my hands and wrists for a good long while.  We did this test where you hold an object, a kind of food, vitamin, or herb, in one hand and then put your thumb to your first two fingers of the other hand and hold tight.  He will try to pry your fingers apart.  If the object is positive for you, then you will be strong and he cannot pull them apart.  The opposite will happen if the object is negative for you.  It was the weirdest sensation going from super strong one second when i held something like yogurt or beef, to literally not able to hold my fingers together the next second when in possesion of red beans or chocolate.  This whole philosophy is based on the fact that everyone is made up differently, he calls this different constitutions, and that food has a different effect on different people.  Therefore, what may be a power food for me, could inevitably make another person very weak or sick.  It is super interesting and although i didnt know anything about constitution medicine, i have always believed that illness can be treated or avoided by changing diet.  After this he did some acupuncture on me for my allergies.  It wasn’t the kind you see in movies where you are lying on the table with these long needles sticking out of your body.  He had a little thing very simalar to that stick that diabetics use to take their blood sugar.  The needle just went in and out about fifteen times in each spot.  Quick and painless, i didn’t really feel a thing.  After this was all finished, he gave me a few more things that i cannot eat ,that is if i want to get rid of my allergies and break-outs.  Among them were two of my favorite things, beer and coffee, and the list went on to include pork, shellfish, red beans, egg whites (although baked things with egg in it are ok, thank God), kombucha, melon, and berries.  He did say that it could get longer as we go on and see how i feel, or some of the items could go back on the good list too.  It all depends on how i feel.  So, i do not take this as fact yet.  I am going to try it and see how it goes.  If my belly goes away, my skin clears up, and i can breathe again…I’ll definately become a believer.  For now, i’ll stick to Maker’s Mark and wine.  At least he didn’t take away my beloved cheese

Out with the negative, in with the positive

I have allergies.  There is no way around it.  I have never really had a problem with allergies before i moved here but as of now i cannot breathe, cough non-stop, and sneeze multiple times in a row multiple times a day!  It’s just no fun.  Could be the old house i live in, or the fires that were raging just a couple of weeks ago, but either way, something has got to give!  I believe i will finally get around to seeing an acupuncturist here in town that many of the people on ‘Weeds’ recommended  to me.

 We are on hiatus this week so i plan to do some fun stuff around L.A. that isn’t too expensive.  I haven’t been to many of the art galleries this city has to offer so that is on the list.  Anyone have any other suggestions for fun things to do that don’t break the bank?  I found a play based entirely on works by Edgar Allen Poe that is only ten bucks, so i’ll hit that up too.  Mainly this week will be about positivity.  There are some negative vibes in the air, just turn on the t.v. and you can see it.  A grown man who also happens to be a congressman, screaming “liar” at our president in the middle of a session of congress; a tennis star, who is usually very well behaved, freaking out on a line judge and threatning to shove tennis balls down her throat; and a certain tacky rapper taking the mic from a teenage country singer, as she is accepting her first VMA award, and basically telling her she didn’t deserve it.  People don’t seem to want to lift others up…like, ever.  Grow up people!  I graduated from highschool, and i’d like to stay out of it.  So this week, i will surround myself with things and people that can add to my life, not take away from it.  I really should be doing that all the time but sometimes those people are hard to find, or we have them right under our noses and never reach out for whatever lame reason we can come up with.  You need great people in your life, especially in L.A.

On a totally unrelated note, i need a new phone!  Can you give me your thoughts on the iphone vs. the blackberry bold?  I just can’t make up my mind.

Life goes on.

It’s been an eventful last few weeks.  I was broke, couldn’t find any work, and about to take the trip home to have a little money saving and family time when i got the call.  I had an interview to stand in on Scrubs full time.  Now i know i said that i didn’t want to stand in anymore but, desperate times call for desperate measures.  To make a long story short, i was offered the job and accepted, and let me tell you i am so glad that i did.  The vibe on this set is so much different than that of Weeds.  Less stress, that is all i will say.  And watching the actors work and play is fantastic.  I have liked the movies that Zach Braff has put out in the past, but never really regarded his acting as something of note.  Now that i have seen him work on set i can definately say that he is a stellar performer.  As are all the actors on the show.  Every take is new and different, and they all have an amazing talent for improv and playing off of each other.  Like my experience on Weeds, i hope that i am learning and taking away something that will improve my own acting abilites. 

In other news, i went through my first workshop at Act Now, the “networking studio” that i had mentioned in a previous blog.  I am very happy with my decision to invest in classes here.  I feel like i have learned so far, and can only learn more as i take on different workshops.  The one i am currently taking on Saturday mornings is with a casting director named Wayne Morse.  He is blunt and very supportive of actors and what they are trying to do, and i respect and appreciate that greatly.  The office he works out of casts only feature films and they are currently casting for The Strangers 2.  Past credits include Training Day and Requiem for a Dream….the latter being why i signed up for this workshop to begin with.  He gives us sides and then emails us the entire script within the week so that we can put the sides into context.  Then when we come to class, he sets up blocks of 20 minute intervals to give us one on one feedback.  I love this structure because it is exactly how you would audition and for me it takes the pressure off because there aren’t 20 something students watching you too, its just you and the casting director. 

I couldn’t think of a good way to transition this so i am just going to say it.  Getting older sucks.  Not the responsiblity part, or the slow creep of wrinkles into the corners of my eyes.  I’m talking about watching the ones you love in your family get older and succumb to the rapid succession of aging, and all that it can do to the body.  My grandmother can’t remember alot of things anymore, and she can’t do the one thing that she loves most in the world…spend hours in the kitchen cooking.  She doubles up on ingredients or forgets something here or there and in one quick swoop, age has taken her most prized possesions.  The things that no one else can make like she can…pound cake, buscuits, eggs, caramel cake, cornbread, green bean casserole, any casserole for that matter…and countless other recipes that i may never taste again.  And on top of that, i am thousands of miles away, and missing out on precious memories everyday.  How do you live your own life as an adult, but still remain present in the lives of those you love as you once did as a child?  Part of me feels it is impossible…but i guess that is growing up.  Letting go of childish things.