One hot mess.

Ahhh Christmas Eve…. T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house…I got the freakin’ flu. Yeah, some holiday. Sick on Christmas Eve, practically dead on Christmas. Sad times.
I felt better Wednesday morning just in time to go to work. Yipee. I was in a bit of a haze for half the day.
I basically have been working non-stop but I did have an interesting night Wednesday. My foot has been bugging me for about three weeks now so I decided to go get it checked on. I’ve basically been limping around like a goof. I kinda need my foot in order to walk (A LOT) in this city so I thought I should get this problem fixed.
After work Wednesday I walked (yeah, ironic) to the ER at Beth Israel Hospital on the Lower East side. I walked in and braced myself for a zoo. I mean, it is the ER in Manhattan, at night. I was waiting to see a scene from the movies or something. I was also a little anxious. I was about to have my first (and hopefully only) visit to the ER in New York City. (I actually don’t think I’ve ever had to go to the ER anywhere. Jumping straight to the big time.)
What actually happened was this:
I walked right in to a quiet waiting room and walked up to the nurse at the check-in window. She, very nicely, took my information and gave me a nifty ID bracelet. Then I sat in the waiting room with a few drunken bums and waited to be called. I had just enough time to pull my hand sanitizer from my backpack before I heard my name called. I had a nice nurse lady take my blood pressure and look at my foot. She decided to order an X-Ray, "Just in case." “Ok,” I thought, “Now I’m gonna have to wait.”
I sat in a different waiting room, alone. A couple different doctors and nurses walked by and said hello to me. One guy even made a crack about my last name. “Are you, by chance, related to Freddy Krueger?” Ahahaha. How does he know my last name? OK.
Just then I got called in to get my foot X-rayed. About 3 minutes later I was talking to “Yaakov” my very Jewish doctor for the evening. He was a very nice little Jewish man. Together we discovered that I don’t have a broken foot and all I really need to do is stop walking so damn much. Well, that’s not gonna happen anytime soon so Yaakov, myself and a bevy of lonely, bored nurses and doctors chit chatted a while. They told me that how slow the ER was that night was (obviously) not normal but they were kinda of weirded out by it as well. They teased me and said that I had a spy who told me when the ER would be slow so I could get in quick. You'd think I did.
I was in and out of the ER in New York City in 35 minutes. WHAT?! I mean, that’s a good thing right? I guess it’s just weird. I got some friends in the ER now too.
Plus I got this super cool bracelet!

The Holly Days

The week of December 10th was full of performances with the NY Dinner Theatre. We performed all over NY, Long Island, and New Jersey. I was exhausted by the end of the week but I’m so glad to be performing.
On Monday night I got to finally hang out with my friend Rachel from college. I ran into her a week earlier randomly at the subway station in Union Square. We ate dinner at the “Chat ‘n Chew” in Union Square. It was a really fun, inexpensive place to eat dinner. I loved it. I’ll have to introduce more of my friends to that place. We’re always looking for cheap places to eat!
I had a callback audition on Wednesday night that was pretty promising. Well, it wasn’t THAT promising because I didn’t get the part. Boo who…and I’m over it.
I went to the “spa” with my friend Annie on Friday before performing in a show. I got my hair “did.” The spa or shall I say “salon,” was very high fashion. Or so it seemed. There was loud techno music, lots of people, and a strong scent of high-end hairspray. I had no idea how I was gonna get out of there without dropping a small fortune. Somehow I managed to do alright, (with the help of my friend Annie’s previously purchased discount). I got my hair cut and highlighted, because the stylist insisted, (ouch) for about half what I probably could’ve paid. Not too shabby. I like my new do too!
I worked and performed and didn’t come up for air until I could let my hair down at my friend Lauren’s Christmas Party Sunday night. She had a few people over to her Upper East Side pad for a little holiday fête. I had a great time and some good grub to boot! This is Murph and I enjoying the party... .
Monday the 17th I worked at Sephora. I cut out early to go to the Knicks vs. Pacers game at Madison Square Garden. My Uncle Dan was in town with the Pacers just long enough to whip the Knickerbockers. He got me a free ticket and a pass to the team visitors’ area. The game was a lot of fun. I got to chat with him after the game for a little while before they jetted off to their next match city. It was really nice to see him.
Tuesday night (after work OF COURSE) I grabbed a bite with Annie before she headed out to Oregon for the holiday. We went to “The Burger Joint” by Carnegie Hall midtown (ish). It’s this popular, tiny burger place within the lobby of a very fancy hotel. The lobby is intimidating but you walk into the corner and right into an inane little dive to get a great burger. It’s a really small place and there where entirely too many people there. It’s definitely a New Yorker favorite. It’s off the beaten path so it’s relatively free of the hordes of tourists that hit the town. I liked it. I don’t eat many burgers so I didn’t have much to compare my meal with. I thought it was pretty good though. I liked the atmosphere most, I think.
Thursday I took the train out to Newark airport to buy a plane ticket to visit Oregon in January! The train ride was a giant pain in the…but I’m glad to have that over with because I’m one step closer to a much needed visit. I am loving it here in NY but I gotta visit home! I miss the good old OR and the family and friends I have there.
After my Newark excursion I went to a birthday party for my friend Murph. We played Cranium and celebrated Murph’s big day. It was so fun to play board games again. I don’t do that often enough if you ask me.
Friday I worked for the psychotic human beings that have decided Christmas shopping is a life or death matter. After that unfortunate endeavor I, once again, partied with some pals. This time we met up at the Belmont Lounge in Union Square. It was my co-worker Denise’s Birthday so we had a little dance/cocktail party with her. Denise is a lot of fun to work with. She does improve comedy like me so we never really stop laughing when we’re around each other. Glad to have her as a friend here; she’s a real New Yorker. haha.
Saturday the 22nd I had some coffee midtown with my friend Jason from church. Coffee midtown the Saturday before Christmas is just a bad idea. There were about 1 million people per square foot. Not exaggerating. Seriously. No really. Avoid midtown Manhattan for the entire month of December if you can help it at all. There are just too many people. All of which have somehow forgotten how to walk. But that’s just the “I really gotta get out of town for a while” Kira talking. But do avoid midtown nonetheless.
Jason is a really great friend I’ve made at church. We talked for a couple hours mainly about music and politics. Separately, of course. He really likes The Beatles too so we had plenty to talk about.
Sunday I went to the “Fourth Sunday in Advent” service at Apostles. There was a wonderful sermon on God’s love to hear. Sounds simple but it was very poignant at this time of year. If you ever wanna hear any of the sermons from Apostles you can hear any of them on Apostlesnyc.com. Good stuff.
Well, I’m up to date DAD! Hehe.

A little Christmas gift...

(I took this picture at the Christmas Party. Lauren had all these tiny little presents for decorations. I just had to catch 'em on film.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Finally, that "continued" part.

The majority of my life, recently, has been consumed by working at Sephora, performing with the NY Dinner Theatre, and being a part of my church.
I was pretty excited when I got to go to a friend's birthday party on Saturday Dec. 1. It was a welcome change of pace; my friend Paul's Birthday. I went to college with Paul and he now lives in Harlem. At the party I got to see my friend David from UE as well. It was so great to see those guys again. It's been a long time since we all hung out. Paul's party was crazy. I met a lot of new people and danced like it was going out of style.

When I finally headed home from the party I was out just in time to see the first snowfall of the season. It was beautiful! The night was so peaceful and the snow looked so pretty. By the time I got back to Astoria the snow was really beginning to accumulate on the ground so I got to be the first to make footprints in the snow. That made my week.
Sunday I went to church at Apostles then hung out with my friend Courtney. We ate lunch at the "Green

Kitchen" near church then went down to Union Square. There is a holiday bazaar on the south side of the square with all sorts of art and random gift ideas. Courtney and I walked around and checked out the vendors. It reminded me a lot of Portland's Saturday Market. I saw a ton of great gifts but, much like PDX's Sat. Market, everything was a little out of my price range. It was really fun to look though. I'm always impressed by the original artwork I see at those type of things.
After we bummed around the market for a while, Courtney and I went and saw the movie "Enchanted." I thought it was cute. The theater was packed but I still enjoyed the movie. Not sure if it quite lives up to the hype but that's just my opinion. Far be it from me to rain on Disney's most recent princess parade.

As for the rest of the week, I worked with the exception of a few highlights: On Wednesday night, (12/5), I auditioned for a play called 36:24:36. It's about how body image is being skewed and handled by society today. The audition went well and I ended up getting a callback.

On Thursday, (12/6), I had my last meeting with my Community Group that met up to read "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis. We wrapped up our discussion of the book and I have a great sense of accomplishment. That book is quite a challenge.

This week I got a Christmas present in the mail from my parents. They sent me a new camera so I can actually show instead of just tell! I'm so thankful for it and I will try to keep put more pictures on here.

The pictures in this post are ones I took with a disposable camera I bought because I was tired of not having a camera. The quality is obviously not too great but at least you get the idea. The picture above is of my community group. From left to right it's me, Cassie, Deirdre, Caleb, Brian, and Charles. They've become good friends of mine and I'm glad you get to finally see them. Oh, the cat in the picture is Deirdre's new kitten, Loki. He's adorable and has a hilarious personality. In our last meeting he slept between the couch cushions while we hung out. We had to be careful where we sat on the couch.

On Saturday 12/8 I had a performance of "Let's Kill the Boss" in Long Island with the dinner theater. It was at a banquet hall called Tivoli Terrace. The show was packed and the hall reminded me of something from "The Wedding Singer." It was due for a makeover. I had a great time with the cast, again. They crack me up.

On Sunday I was on the Load-In team at church. The sermon was on "spending less" and I appreciated hearing it. I'm finally trying to set up a good budget for myself here in the city.

After church I went straight to work. After work I decorated our apartment for Christmas! My parents sent us a tree and some lights and ornaments so we had fun setting that up. Our apartment is so cozy now. I'm so glad it's up to the season.

I better go for now but I'll leave you with some more photos from my disposable camera: There is a picture of a really pretty tree that's on the upper east side at 59th street between 3rd and Lex. A picture of my bedroom (I still haven't decided what I'm going to put on the walls). There's a picture of the view from my bedroom window. At night you can see the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building and it's a beautiful view. I also put a random shot of my street and the street sign marking my street. that's called wasting film. haha. I hate to do it again but, too be continued...

Where am I?

Where have I been? Apparently in some parallel universe where I thought I had written on this thing much sooner than now. Weird.
So let’s see. Thanksgiving I ate dinner in Valley Stream, Long Island with my friend Jana and her fiancé Alex. We ate a “3 person meal” from the local Boston Market. It had turkey, corn, mash tatoes, mac n’ cheese, cornbread, and punkin pie. It was super good. I had forgotten how tasty the Boston Market could be. They went bankrupt in Portland years ago and I hadn’t eaten at one since. Well, I’m here to tell you that if you can’t eat some home cooking for turkey day, Boston Market offers a lovely alternative.
Jana, Alex, and I had a great evening. I got all caught up on their wedding plans. Jana even asked me to sing in her wedding so I’m really excited about that! We have to decide what she wants me to sing now. Any suggestions?
After dinner and dessert we watched the Broadway production of “Legally Blonde” on MTV. I just love that show. It’s so cute. I think it’s so cool how MTV played it on TV. When else in history has that ever happened? Well, at least someone got to watch the show, with the stagehand strike on Broadway it’s tough to see any theatre!
After the showing I took the LIRR back to Manhattan and walked right passed Macy’s in Herald Square where earlier that day there was a live TV broadcast of the parade. There was confetti all over the street earlier when I passed by. On this pass everything had been cleaned up and you’d never be able to guess there had been a huge parade with thousands of viewers on the very spot. Good clean up crew.
I got home pretty late and hit the hay ASAP so I could be bright eyed and bushy tailed for my shift at Sephora on Black Friday. Dun dun dun!
The next morning I woke up before my alarm clock in a panic thinking I had overslept. I hadn’t thank GOD but my boss had called and left me a message. She wanted me to come in early. We had head honchos of Sephora coming to visit and she wanted me to come help out. Nice, come check us out on Black Friday. Nice!
So, I went in early. The store wasn’t ridiculously busy because we don’t have crazy sales but boy did we have some weirdies come in. Bargain hunters, if you will. They, (as I saw many), carried a lot of shopping bags. They actually looked kinda funny. The day went by relatively quickly so it wasn’t too bad. I went straight to the gym after work. I didn’t even want to attempt any shopping. I was scared for my life. I thought I was gonna drown in other peoples’ shopping bags on the subway. I was tempted to stop by Old Navy, though. I heard they were handing out iPods with certain purchases. Is this true? I can’t even imagine the chaos. Ouch.
I worked pretty much all day Saturday and then Sunday I set up at church. I was also on the greeting team. That was fun. I met a bunch of new people. I love my church. After church, you guessed it, I worked. Monday, I worked and thus, I finished the craziest, longest week of work. I should be pullin’ down big dough for all that. I finally got to come up for air on Tuesday.
Tuesday, being my first real day off in a while I ran a bunch of errands. I found the “Panera Bread” restaurant that’s near my apartment. It was lovely. I just love that place. I ordered some soup and a sandwich. I ate while I talked to my lil bro Kyle. That was fun. It’s been too long since we talked.
After Panera, I met up with my friend Courtney for coffee.
Wednesday I went back to work. After work I went out to Long Island for a read-thru of a new show the NY Dinner Theatre wants me to work on. It’s a murder mystery called “Candidate for Murder.” I would play the candidate’s wife AND the murderer. Sorry to ruin the ending for ya. Ahaha. The read-thru was fun because the play is funny. I don’t think I’ll work on the show though. I kinda wanna move on.
After the reading I took the train back to Manhattan with a new friend I made named Anthony. He’s a very talented actor who is a little older and has lots of good experience that I could learn a lot from.
Thursday, as if by some miracle from God, I had the day off. I was exhausted. I slept in. After that I ran around a bit then eventually met up with my community group at a restaurant just off Union Square. It’s called “Piola.” It is a really popular Italian/Brazilian restaurant. I loved it. The food was great and the atmosphere was fun. I had some good bonding time with my community group friends.
After dinner a few of us went to Strand Bookstore. It is just like Powell’s Books in Portland. Powell’s is a lot more crunchy granola hippy than Strand which is more like dusty granola hippy. Ya follow? Haha.
My friend Cassie and I both bought a copy of “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” It was ober cheap. We decided we’d read it and talk about it whenever we saw each other. So far I dig the book. I love how detailed it is.
After Strand we stopped by a famous chocolate shop/restaurant called “Max Brenner: Chocolate by the Bald Man.” We had heard of it and wanted to check it out. We where pleasantly surprised by free samples. Hehe It’s a place where you can get just about anything chocolate. You may have seen it on the Food Network.
On that sweet note, I’m headin’ to bed. To be continued…

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week has been full of anticipation for Thanksgiving. I had the day off Tuesday and I ran errands and watched my Netflix. It's become a guilty pleasure of mine to watch movies on my days off. I get stuff done but I also spend a lot of time watching them. hehe. On Tuesday I watched, "License to Wed." It has Robin Williams, John Krasinski, and Mandy Moore in it. The way the movie was publicised I thought it might be a little cheesy and predictable but I loved it. I think part of that is that I think John Krasinski is amazing. He's hilarious and adorable. The movie is worth a watch if you get a chance.
Wednesday I got up really early and went to the gym before work. I always have a better day when I start with a workout. After that I worked at Sephora and we were busy. We didn't really think we'd be that busy but it was nuts. I received an award at work and they gave it to me yesterday. It's called a "VIA" award which stands for "Values in Action." I felt pretty honored to get the award because my co-workers and managers nominated me and sent the info to the head honchos of Sephora. The award was for "Having respect for all." I thought that was pretty cool. I just try to treat everyone with kindness and I'm surprised it earned me an award. I guess I get a monetary award along with it which is also very cool. :)
After a long day at work I walked through the tail end of the farmer's market across the street in the square. There was all sorts of Thanksgiving stuff like pies, veggies, and even flower arrangements. It really got me in the holiday spirit.
When I got to the subway station as I was walking down the stairs I saw an old friend of mine named Rachel. I hadn't seen her in years and it was unbelievable that I was randomly running into her here in New York. I was friends with Rachel my freshman year of college but she graduated and went off to grad school and we lost contact with each other. I've really missed her friendship so I was so happy to run into her! I consider it a Thanksgiving gift to have a good friend back in my life. We talked for a while and caught up and exchanged phone numbers so we can hang out again since we both live here.
Today, Thanksgiving Day, I watched the annual Macy's parade and I have plans to head out to Long Island to have dinner with friends from college. I gotta go make the dessert!
Happy Thanksgiving! To my family and friends: I'm thinking of you all today and I hope you know how much I love you and am thankful for you. Have a very happy, yummy, and family-filled holiday!

An entertaining week...

Last Monday: Veteran's Day. Many businesses where closed, schools, the post office, etc etc. I worked at Sephora. Surprise.
When I got home my roommate Lebeka had made us all Korean food for dinner. I don't think I've ever had Korean food so it was a new experience. She had worked really hard preparing authentic dishes and it was very tasty.
Tuesday: 'Nother Sephora day. Right as I was getting off work my friend Drea came in to see if I was working. I haven't had a chance to see her since I got to NY back in August. I was so happy that she came to visit me!
I left work and Drea and I walked down to the west village and decided to eat at the "Jekyll & Hyde Restaurant." It's a themed restaurant where there's live entertainment and sort of a 'haunted mansion' feel to it. Don't ask why we decided on that but we'd never been so we though it'd be fun. On the way to the restaurant we saw Christine Baranski. She played "Mary Sunshine" in the movie "Chicago." She was just walking down the street with her grown kids. And just so you know, she's the same in real life as she is in every movie or TV show I've ever seen her in. haha. Random sightings never get old. I love NY.
When we finally got to the restaurant I checked to see if my friend Ed was working that night. Unfortunately he wasn't but we ate there anyway. There were about 6 other people in the restaurant so it was ever so slightly awkward. Characters in costumes come around to your table during dinner. I imagine that with a full restaurant it's pretty cool. With 6 people it's just weird.
After dinner Drea and I parted ways so I could go to my friend Murph's showcase. She was performing in a musical theatre showcase designed to gain exposure to casting directors for the performers. The show was at a historical NYC cabaret theatre venue called "The Duplex."
When I arrived I didn't see any of our mutual friends in the audience and no one had heard of Murph. I began to wonder if I was in the wrong place. I waited until the show started and discovered rather quickly that this was not Murph's showcase. Nope, it was a drag show. Oops. Somehow I wrote the wrong day down in my planner. My happy little mishap landed me in an interesting performance. Drag shows, don't get me wrong, can be quite entertaining I'm sure. This one was just awkward. It was a one shman (man/woman)show and he/she was less than entertaining. When there was a lull I made a quick getaway as discreetly as possible.
Well, wrong night, but the show was actually on Wednesday night so I didn't miss it.
Back to Tuesday. After I left the drag fest, I took the train up to 42nd street Times Square and I made a transfer to the NQRW line. In the train station I was walking to my train and someone behind me called my name. It scared me half to death but it turned out to be my friend Marianne (from college). She randomly saw me in the station and we rode the train back to Queens together. (What are the odds?) She also lives in Astoria. I hadn't seen her in a while so it was great to get caught up.
I had a good laugh about my unusually eventful Tuesday and went to bed.
Wednesday I slaved away in makeup land THEN went to my friend Murph's showcase. I knew exactly how to get there this time!
I sat next to my friends Clay and Lauren at the little cabaret theater and had fun catching up with them. We watched others perform 3 songs each for a little audience (with or without casting agents). Murph performed last and Clay accompanied her on the piano. They did a great job. In my entirely unbiased opinion, Murph was by far the best singer/actress up there.
After the show the four of us (Murph, Clay, Lauren, Me) hung out and talked for a while then we walked to the trains and went our separate ways to get home. I was so glad to get to support Murph. I hope something comes of this performance for her. Possibly work with agents or casting directors?
Thursday I had a much needed day off so I slept in. I watched some Netflix (little old school "Pride and Prejudice" ala Colin Firth, ah thank you) and went to the gym. In the evening I went to my Community Group meeting. Always good to see my friends.
Friday I ran circles in cosmetic kingdom then made the most of my evening. I went down to Soho to attend an album release party for my friend Jamie's band "The Johns." He plays the bass and his band has quite an admirable following here in the city. They had a great party/performance in "The Slipper Room" bar where there was free, yes FREE beer and no cover charge. That meant lots and lots of people to mingle with. I hung out with my friend Ed and we had some FREE beer and watched "The Johns" perform. I was rather impressed by Jamie's skills on the bass. He was so glad we came out to see him perform and to support his band. I was happy to be there. It was a great FREE way to spend my Friday night. Did I mention it was completely FREE? hehe. I couldn't get over it. Nothing in this city is ever free. Especially beer and entertainment!
I met both Jamie and Ed through the theatre company I'm working for. We're in "The Soapranos" together.
Saturday I slept in again,(so sue me). Then I was in a performance of the murder mystery I'm a part of through the NY Dinner Theatre. The show went really well and I really feel like I'm figuring out how to fit the mold they're looking for in this character,(Yet another OLD woman.) I have been thinking less about how old she is and more about how corny she is. It seems to be doing the trick. I really have to fight against playing up the fact that she's old. I'm just basically making sure that I don't let her age dictate her presence on stage. This would slow her pace down and, in turn, slow the whole show down.
After the show I hung out with my cast mates Aileen and Laura and we cruised around in Aileen's boyfriend's fancy SUV. I don't get to ride in cars in Manhattan very often, let alone fancy ones, so I had fun riding along.
Sunday morning I went to church then went immediately to work. After work I straightened up the apartment and went to sleep.
Monday, (today), I went to work (don't worry that's not all I do). After work I met up with my Community Group and we visited Toys R Us. We bought toys for a toy drive our church is supporting. We had so much fun searching around the toy store together. We were all nostalgic as well as astonished by all the toys kids get to choose from these days. I kept finding stuff I want to play with now,(ie. A "Guess Who" game modified with Disney characters). I settled on a huge set of Crayola art supplies. I knew,(from experience), that it was something fun to play with and that it will promote creativity (which I believe to be very important). So I knew it would be the perfect gift for me to donate to the toy drive.
After that excursion I went to the gym then headed home to Queens.

If any one's wondering:
I'm still searching for "The Cash Cab"
The word "Express" in reference to a subway line DOESN'T mean "fast."
Right turns on red lights are prohibited anywhere in Manhattan
Signs that read "Don't Honk: $500 fine" are merely for decoration
Tap water in NY is tasty thanks to the Pocono Mountains
Ice Skating in Bryant Park is free
The "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" has less public viewing area than "The Grand Floral Parade."

Just a few little "fast facts" for ya. haha

Summer-Winter....Where's Fall?

Friday the 9th I had a day off and it was spent setting up my room with all my new furniture. I had my bed delivered at 10am and got it arranged in my room. Then I proceeded to assemble my desk and chair that goes with it. My room actually looks like a room now and I’m real excited.
In the afternoon I watched a few episodes of The Office season 3. I hadn’t seen it yet so I rented it on Netflix. I haven’t been able to watch season 4 yet so I couldn’t wait to get caught up.
Friday night I hung out with my roommates again. We made dinner together and had fun goofin’ around that night.
Saturday I went and saw “American Gangster” with my friend Annie at our new favorite theater in the Upper West Side. That’s the movie with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. It’s based on the true story of Frank Lucas the big time NYC drug lord from the 1960s-70s. It was a pretty gruesome movie but I thought it was a great film. It was crazy to think about how horrible this city was back then. Drug abuse was a bigger, more prominent problem then and it made the city ugly. I’m so glad it’s cleaned up so much. I know drug trafficking is still an issue but this movie made it look a million times worse during the Vietnam War.
After the movie I auditioned for the show “The Man who came to Dinner.” It was pretty sad. I got there, did my monologue and they told me I was too young. Without another word they dismissed me. Damn. They did see my headshot and resume before they granted me an audition time. I felt a little annoyed. You can tell from my headshot that I’m not 40!!! Don’t waste my time! Oh well, it was an experience.
Right after the audition I ran up Fifth Avenue to catch the train to go to my show. Fifth Avenue was packed. There were wall to wall people out doing some Saturday afternoon shopping. It was ridiculous. You’d think there wasn’t another street in the world.
The most appalling sight to me was the line outside Abercrombie and Fitch. People were standing in line waiting to go in just to shop at the A&F. The security there was only letting a certain number of shoppers in at a time. There was nothing particular going on, no big sale or celeb sighting, just another day at the shop. I wanted to tell them all: “There are other Abercrombie stores, ya know!” Psycho people.
I had a performance of “The Soapranos” out in Long Island. We performed for a firefighters fundraising event. It was a blast. There were lots of firemen(wink wink)and they were all off duty. I didn’t get to flirt as I was busy playing a 90 year old woman. But I did use that as an excuse to tell them their muscles were big and to dance with them. At our show we improv with the audience, as you may remember. I was rather shy to be playing an old old old lady but it turned out all right for me.
The event planners fed as really good gourmet food and we had fun with the audience as its drunken state grew exponentially throughout the evening.
After the show the cast went out for an after show party at the local diner. Our producer bought us all drinks (and food if we wanted). We really click as a cast and I was happily entertained by my hilarious cast mates.
On the ride home 5 of us smashed into one guy’s car and we rocked out to “The sounds of the 70s” all the way back to Queens. Don’t worry Ma, I was wearing a seat belt.
I finally got home REALLY late and cursed myself for that because I knew I’d be paying for that in the morning.
I had to be up Sunday morning at 6am for a mandatory “Holiday Kick-off Meeting” at Sephora. They held the meeting to get us all geared up for the insane holiday season. (Which is already underway but whatever.)
Well, I accidentally slept through my alarm and got to the meeting late. Not too late but late enough so that no one was at the front door to let me in when I arrived. Everyone was at the meeting, even the security guy who was supposed to let me in. I waited and waited and finally gave up. I couldn’t get in to the damn meeting. So, I missed it. Oops.
I took the train uptown and arrived early to church instead. I was too early so I grabbed breakfast at the Barking Dog Restaurant across the street. They had a great breakfast deal that’s really inexpensive. I enjoyed that and a quick reading of the newspaper. I got all caught up on the news so the morning wasn’t a complete bust. I read up on the strike that’s taking place on Broadway with all the stagehands. It’s a pretty huge deal and it’s costing the city millions in tourist revenue. Who would have thought it’d actually be a good thing NOT to be in a Broadway show? (At the moment, of course). Not all the shows on Broadway are closed down but most of them are so this is just plain weird. I understand where the stagehands are coming from but I think both sides are taking the lazy route on coming up with a compromise or agreement. Make up your stinkin' minds; the show must go on!
After my scrumptious breakfast I went to church. Our church is meeting at a different venue for the next several weeks because our old one has to undergo emergency construction. Which is a little scary.
Church was great as usual. I got to catch up with a good friend who was out of town in a show for the last month. I got to hear all about her adventures in New Jersey. Hehe.
After church I went back to my place in Astoria and crashed for a couple hours.
When I woke up my roommates and I started our outreach project. We decided a while back that we wanted to do some volunteer work and to give back as the Bible tells us to. So we decided to clean Astoria up. We got all bundled up, put on plastic gloves, took out huge black garbage bags, and set to the streets to fill them up with litter.
The main streets in Astoria have an inordinate amount of litter on them. Frankly, they’re rather disgusting. We spent about an hour and a half picking up trash. We had a lot of people ask us what we were doing, thank us, and stare at us. It turned out to be very rewarding. There was an unbelievable difference in the sections of sidewalk that we cleaned up. Hopefully the people that saw us will be inspired to have more pride in their city and to think twice before littering.
Later that night I went to the Queens Mall to pick up my new winter coat. It was on back order at JcPenney. I got my pretty coat and ventured down the mall to Target. The mall was packed with people of course but Target was just silly.
I was really looking forward to going to Target. I had a bunch of stuff I needed and I’ve always liked Target so I was excited to go for the first time in months. When I got there I was sorely disappointed. There were hundreds of people there and there was very little left on their shelves. It seriously looked like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. Everything on the shelves was gone and a lot of crap was strewn about on the floor. It was kind of disgusting really.
I found one or two things to buy then I got the heck out of there. Shopping is freakin’ exhausting.
After that whole ordeal I had to transfer all over on the Subway to get home as most of lines in Queens are under construction. I got home, packed my bag for Monday, and went to bed.

Up 2 Date

Continued...
Sunday morning (11/4) I read the invocation at church. It was a lovely puritan prayer. I had fun taking part in the service.
After church my friend Courtney and I went out to lunch on the Upper East Side. There were people everywhere participating or cheering for the NY Marathon. The route included Central Park and we walked right passed it. Coverage of the marathon was on TV in the restaurant we ate lunch at so it was fun to walk right passed the spot we just saw on TV.
For a couple hours we hung out, scoured around Barnes & Noble then I had to go to work.
I worked the night away at Sephora. After work I got on the N train to Astoria and studied my monologs for my audition Monday. As I sat on the relatively empty train I was pretty self-involved but at the 49th street stop I noticed a guy get on and plop down across from me. When I looked up at him I recognized him. It was John Gallagher, Jr. he won the Tony Award for “Spring Awakening” and, at least to me, he’s a celebrity. He had just finished his show and was riding the train home. I’m such a fan and I really wanted to talk to him but he wasn’t exactly approachable as he was asleep on the train. (Tired from two performances of “Spring Awakening.”)
You can imagine my surprise when he got off at the same stop as me. I tried to come with something to say to him but I was dorkin’ out. I had ample time to come up with something to say as he walked in the exact same direction I was headed in toward my apartment. I never said anything but I have a feeling I’ll get to in the future as he went into an apartment one block away from my apartment. WHOA. John Gallagher, Jr. lives a block away from me in Astoria! I’m gonna resist the urge to become a stalker. Ahaha.
Monday morning I went to work. I had my lunch break at 4:30pm (I was starving) and I went to an audition during my break. I was cutting it real close. I took the train up to 34th and auditioned at Ripley-Grier Studios for the Texas Shakespeare Festival. I had applied for an audition time about a week earlier and they decided to schedule me an appointment. I realized that was pretty cool because over 1000 people applied for an audition time and only 300 actors actually got times. I’m excited that I made the cut.
I did two Shakespearean monologs for the directors (“Othello” and “Mid Summer”) and then I sang part of a song. I thought it went pretty well. I had a nice chat with the directors. I found out that they won’t be making casting decisions until MARCH 2008. Geez. I’m not gonna hold my breath.
After my audition I rushed back to Sephora and made it back and on the floor without missing a beat. What a trip.
That night after work I spent hours on my new internet connection out of my apartment. Most of that time was spent applying for audition times by writing to producers, directors and casting agents.
When I went to bed my room was cold again, I was pissed. I wore socks, pants, a shirt, my robe, and a hat to bed. And I slept under three blankets. I don’t have time to deal with a shoddy heat source. All I know is I feel like I’m sleeping outside.
Tuesday I awoke within my ice cube and went to work. Damn I’m working a lot. I could’ve sworn they told me I’d be working part-time.
Tuesday we had a big event at our store. We hosted an editor’s event for the Philosophy brand. The CEO of Sephora came into the store. That was enough to make me a little nervous. There were also editors from all the major beauty magazines and a bunch of Philosophy representatives. On top of that the store was packed with people who got time off “to vote.”
The day was high pressure. But we were rewarded with free stuff from Philosophy. I got two free products of theirs. We also got leftover desserts from Dean & Deluca who catered the event. I’m gonna say that made up for it.
Tuesday after work I met up with my friend Murph at Pinkberry. I lived with Murph for the first 5 weeks I was in town and we had some major catching up to do.
Later that night I got online and bought some much needed long awaited furniture. I finally bought a bed.
Wednesday I went to the Queens Mall and got my hair done. My hair’s a really pretty brown color now. I like it a lot. I also bought a new winter coat at JcPenney. They had to order it for me and I got a really good price on a fancy coat that’ll keep me warm in the frigid NYC winter.
Wednesday night I met up with my friend Jana for dinner and a show. We saw “Grease” on Broadway. We got to see the two kids who won the TV show “You’re the One That I Want,” perform. It was a reality show where America got to pick the actors who’d play “Danny” & “Sandy” in “Grease” on Broadway.
I have had far too much experience with that show. I was in it for two summers in Kentucky and I performed parts of it in middle school. I found myself almost singing the chorus parts on all the songs. It sure brought back a lot of memories.
This particular production of the show was, well it was your typical production of “Everybody’s favorite 50s musical.” It was a little too stylized for my taste. The contest winning Danny and Sandy were cute. Danny was in desperate need of a lower register and Sandy put the “drama” in melo-drama-tic. Also, it was painfully obvious that the show was only produced so the parties involved could make a lot of money on tickets and cheesy souvenirs. I will always like the play if only for the memories I’ve attached to it but I’ve yet to see a staged production that does anything new and innovative with it. It needs a serious, kick-ass revival. Maybe one day.
I still had a lot of fun and that’s all that matters. I learn something new with every show I see. In those show I learned…I’ll get back to you on that.
I always love me some quality time with my friend Jana. She’s planning a wedding for her and her boyfriend/fiancée Alex, so we have plenty to talk about.
When I got home I saw that I had an email from the director of a show in town that wanted to schedule me an audition time. I’m especially excited for this audition because, if I get cast, I’ll be eligible for membership in the Actor’s Equity Association. (There’s a bit more riding on this audition.) Joining Equity would be a big step in the right direction toward a career in professional theatre. Wish me luck!
Thursday I worked out and at Sephora. Surprised? I got more free stuff at training, though. Man, I love free stuff!

up, down, and all around

It’s been so long. Time flies when you’re having fun. Or if you’re insanely busy. Sorry…
Sunday the 28th I went to church. I went early and helped setup as I was on the “setup crew.” I had to go to work right after church. Boo.
When I got home I did a practice run hair-do for my roommate Kelly whose hair I was going to do for a wedding. It ended up looking really nice if I do say so myself.
Monday I slept a fair amount but considering that I nearly froze to death in my zzzzs, I hardly got a good night’s sleep. We’ve been trying to get our landlord to turn the freakin’ heat on but there’s a bit of a language barrier. Plus I get the distinct feeling that, like many landlords, she is being cheap and would rather see our apartment turn into an igloo than bless us with the basic human necessity of heat.
When I finally thawed out, Monday morning, I got ready and went to an audition for a midtown theatre company’s “Shakespeare Unplugged” project. There were approximately 2 million people squeezed into a 5x5 foot room so I didn’t have a chance at being seen by the directors. However, I left my headshot combo and a big smile for the monitor in charge. I tried.
I went to the gym after the audish and then finally did the unthinkable: I finished painting my room. I cleaned up my painting mess, swept, and now my room looks beautiful. The walls are all white and instead of looking boring, I’d say it really looks clean and classy. Yep, I’d use alliteration to describe it: it’s clean and classy. It’s so pretty! It’s really starting to look like a bedroom. Now all I need is a bed. Ahaha.
Tuesday I worked at Sephora and went to the gym after work.
Wednesday, aka Halloween, I had a really fun day. First of all we finally got internet access in our apartment. Yay! Now I just have to find time to use it.
Earlier in the day I went to the Queens Mall and I’m proud to say that it was one of the smartest ideas I’ve had in a while because the mall on Halloween is nothing short of the cutest place on earth. There were pint sized Pooh bears, angels, Spidermen, Disney Princesses and others…everywhere. The kids where trick or treating in full force.
I don’t know if I’m getting old or what but when did kid’s Halloween costumes get so cute? One of my favorites where 3 year old twin girls running around giggling and screaming while dressed as an angel and a devil. I almost had to sit down it was so adorable. So, note to self…future Halloween plans? Queens Mall.
While I dodged strollers and mini goblins I shopped around for some home making supplies. JcPenney and Macy’s were having sales (of course) and if it weren’t for a snotty halitosis ridden sales lady I may have bought some curtains for my room. I saved my dough and just browsed instead.
I got some great decorating ideas that I’ll put into action at some point, I hope. I had to hurry back to Astoria and get my script before my rehearsal that night. When I got back to my neighborhood I discovered yet another fleet of trick or treaters combing the streets of Astoria. Again, too much cuteness. Do you ever have the urge to stop parents on the street and ask them if they realize just how adorable their kids are? Sometimes I think parents get so pissed and impatient with their tiny dinosaurs that they forget just how precious they are. I’m one to talk though; I ain’t got no little monsters. Who knows?
I gotta say though, if you have little ones bring ‘em to Astoria on Halloween. All the local businesses hand out candy to hundreds of kids each year. It’s a fun, safe way for them to celebrate.
There’s something in it for everyone, too. I, for example, haven’t laughed that hard in a while. I can’t think of a better time to see a mini Dumbo get top heavy and fall forward into a bucket of candy. FUNny.
Well, I went to my rehearsal on Halloween evening, reluctantly. I had to meet a new stand in director for the NY Dinner Theater to work on “The Soapranos,” (the spoof dinner comedy show).
I really don’t know why this guy decided on Halloween night. My real director is in Denver working on another project so we have a different guy. The rehearsal wasn’t productive in the slightest way so I was happy to get out of there and get on with my Halloween plans.
My roommates and I threw our very own Halloween bash. I rented a Halloween-ish movie for us to watch: “Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit.” The other gals made very tasty baked goods that I would describe in detail but I don’t want to make you jealous. We even bobbed for apples a la “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” ehehe.
After our party I slipped into a sugar coma and somehow ended up in Thursday morning.
The first day of November…what?!
The highlight of Thursday was our weekly Community Group meeting. Again we met to discuss "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. Yes, we are still reading it. It’s dense. I love meeting with my friends I’ve made in that group. I see them at church and at our meetings and I’m so glad I’ve met them. They’re great people that help me feel more at home here.
When I arrived home Thursday night my roommates proudly informed me that they had convinced our landlord to turn the heat on in our apartment. Praise God. I can wake up without frostbite on my nose.
Friday morning I got up and instantly noticed that I had gotten a better night’s sleep. I was a little more chipper in the morning and getting out of the shower was a lot less painful. There aren’t too may things worse than getting out of a hot shower and stepping into a cold room.
I spent the day working at Sephora. Putting makeup on people doesn’t get any less absurd to me with each day that I work. For as long as I’ve been wearing makeup it’s been for fun. That’s it. It is baffling to me how so many women (and some men) feel like they can’t survive without makeup. The vanity is suffocating but all the same laughable. I get a kick out of bs-ing with clients about the differences between, say, two eye shadows that are practically the same with a $30 price difference. What a way to earn a living.
After work I spent some quality time on the phone with friends from Oregon. I needed that.
Then I met up with a new friend I made while sitting and waiting around at an audition a while ago. We met up and had a drink at a really cozy, reasonably priced pub in midtown. I liked discovering that. There’s nothing better than finding a cheap place to grab a drink with friends. We sat and talked for hours and then I finally made my way back to Queens.
Saturday morning I barely rolled out of bed (too little sleep) and went to work. Saturday's are by far our busiest days. Amongst the giant crowd of shoppers I did manage to spot a one, Rachael Ray. Yep, THE Rachael Ray, in our store all by herself no friends, body guards, husband, just her.
I didn't chat with her, as I was busy and truthfully didn't have anything to say but she certainly didn't look like she wanted to be approached. No one really noticed her so it was kinda fun to spot her as she was clearly trying not to be noticed in the crowd. She didn't make eye contact with anyone and looked very determined as she tossed nearly everything she laid eyes on into her basket. I'm pretty sure she bought enough to cover my next two paychecks. What a life. There's nothing like a good celebrity sighting to liven up your Saturday at work.
After work I rushed to the train station and headed to my first showing of “The Soapranos” with the New York Dinner Theater. It’s the second of two different casts I’m a part of with the company.
The cast is another great one. They are hilarious. I had trouble getting ready for the show on time because I was so busy laughing at the other actors. I got dressed, and got my age makeup just right. I had a little problem though: I had to wear a wig in the show and the wig cap I had fashioned cut off the circulation to my noggin. start to notice the problem until I was onstage and it was too late. Half way through the show I practically passed out I was in such pain.
I sort of used the pain for my character which didn’t let anyone in on the fact that I felt like death was approaching. Since I play a really old lady I just played up the choice that she had a contorted face and hardly looked anyone in the eye. The blood flow to my head was cut in half and it was the worst show to be doing for that to happen in. “The Soapranos” is about ¼ scripted and the rest is just improv with fellow actors and audience members. I was onstage the entire show. I somehow managed to sneak offstage with some line about burning things in the oven and I fixed my circulation problem. The show went a lot smoother for me after that. The audience really enjoyed themselves, or so they decided to tell me as I was improv-ing with them. Haha.
I got through the show without any noticeable issues, and I say that loosely. It was a great show, exhausting, but great. In spite of the pain I had a blast. Improv work with audience members is all kinds of crazy.
After the show I traveled back to Queens and luckily found my way home in spite of my brain damage.
Alright, I’ll have to finish my update later, I gotta sleep and most likely start a fight with my neighbors. They’re playing LOUD music at 2am. Not cool. And it’s not even good music for crying out loud.
To be continued…

Old lady debut

Tuesday Bloody Tuesday. I had a short day answering phones at Church Pension Group through one of my trusty temp agencies. Being a temp is quite an interesting experience. There's something that really sucks about coming in to work for a company for a day. Somehow I have difficulty learning everything I need to know about the company in the 2 minutes of "training" I get upon arriving at each assignment. I don't know, call me slow.
I went to the gym after my short day then did some serious line studying for my NY Dinner Theater debut. I can't, for the life of me, remember what I did for the rest of that night. Must've been life-changing.
Wednesday morning I went to coffee with my friend Lauren. It was great to see her. After that I bummed around Sephora trying on makeup for a good two hours. I figured I should probably spend some time getting to know the makeup I was selling. ahaha. My face was raw after all that applying and removing makeup.
Wednesday night I went to see "Legally Blonde" (the musical) on Broadway. It was pretty much like the movie with a few minor differences. The understudy for "Elle Woods" (Reese Witherspoon's part) was in that night. She did a nice job. The girl who normally plays the part, Laura Bell Bundy, was nominated for a Tony Award. I can only imagine what kind of pressure that would bring, being her understudy.
The musical itself was funny. I thought it was really entertaining. I mean it obviously wasn't the most powerful and moving thing I'd ever witnessed but I think it brought justice to the new wave of widely criticised movies turned musicals.
I also loved the guy who played "Emmett" (Luke Wilson in the movie). I think his names Christian Boyle. I saw him in Spamalot last summer and he was amazing. He's so funny. I love how natural he is on stage. He did so much with a part in "Legally Blonde" that could easily have fallen flat. He made the audience fall in love with him so when Elle Woods fell in love with him, it was that much sweeter.
Thursday I worked a LONG shift at Sephora. After that I took the express train to my C.S. Lewis reading group where we're studying "Mere Christianity." I'm still learning a lot it's just such heady reading that I find myself getting lost. It's so hard to focus on something for a long time in this city. It feels like life's moving too fast to take time out to comprehend the subject matter. I'm trying though.
Friday I spent the day getting ready for my performance in "Let's Kill the Boss." I studied my lines and otherwise got myself ready. I was so nervous and excited. The show was in New Jersey so the whole cast traveled in one car (6 people) to the site. It was a great bonding time for us. My fellow cast members are hilarious. We ran lines and got to know each other's sense of humor along the way.
We performed for a crowd of about 250 people that night. The audience was great. I'm so glad they were because the interactive part would've been torture had they not. It was a corporate party with a lot of older people so I felt a tinsy bit awkward as I was playing an older woman. I was afraid they'd resent me, playing an old woman.
The show went really well. I didn't forget a single line or any blocking. Yay! The cast, other than myself, had been performing this show together for a long time now so I didn't want to come in and mess them all up. It went off without a hitch. We worked together really well. I'm so lucky to be working with them.
The show's a murder mystery and most of the audience thought I did the murdering. I thought that was hilarious. I didn't, by the way.
We're encouraged to improvise so I walked around to the tables during breaks between acts and that's when the older folks said stuff like: "You're the youngest one in the cast aren't you?" Yes I am, but I responded with some comment about a miracle face cream that makes me look young. I stayed in character although they really enjoyed trying to get me to break. "You have a young face" "Do you use Avon?" "Your osteoporosis really showed." "Don't ruin that pretty face with the sun" ok. Good advice. "Did you study pantomime? You do a good job at it!" (This from a little old man whom I'm pretty sure meant acting. Did you study acting?)
Also, I didn't know I'd bring the house down when I used one lady's walker to exit the stage after the show. I think I filled some Depends with that one. Sorry, that was inappropriate. All this to say that playing an old person for a crowd of old people can actually be a lot of fun. You just have to be careful not to offend.
After the show the whole cast rode back to NYC together. That was a trip. You couldn't pay me to drive in the city. Ok, maybe you could but it would have to be a small fortune.
Alright, my first performance is complete so now I can relax a bit. I got a call from the producer of the NY Dinner Theater telling me she was pleased with my performance. Yay! I get to keep my job! :)
I have another show soon but before then I perform in a different show through the same company. (The Sopranos spoof) That's next week so I'll be rehearsing for that over the next few days.
Saturday I saw the movie "Dan in Real Life" with my friend Annie. We went to the cheap ticket matinee at AMC theaters. I really like the theater we saw the movie in. It was huge and there was a mezzanine level. We sat in the mezzanine level and I think seeing a movie from that vantage point is a better view than the usual orchestra level. Give it a shot if you get the chance.
The movie was adorable. I loved the cast. Steve Carell was just great. He's so easy to like on screen. Well, if you get a chance, see it.
After the movie we ate lunch at some sort of Oodles of Noodles place. Then we went to a bar called "Time Out" and joined other NYC U of O fans for a viewing party of the U of O vs. USC game. There were a bunch of people there supporting the team. Everyone, including me, wore U of O gear and cheered for the Ducks as if we were in Autzen Stadium (loudly). The game was very entertaining. I got so nervous for the Ducks though. There were some close calls but they ended up beating USC 24-17(Holla)!
I met a bunch of Oregonians now living in NYC with a common interest: The Ducks. I can't think of a better way to have spent a rainy Saturday afternoon.
Now I'm enjoying a mocha at Esparks Coffee where they finally have Wifi again. (It was down for 4 painful days). I'm sitting near the window watching grown adults walk by in odd looking Halloween costumes. Just a little premature Halloween partying going on here in Queens. I'll be attending some sort of horror fest(aka lower Manhattan)on the real Halloween. Should be a scary time.
Other festivities planned for Halloween include an appointment to have an Internet connection installed in our apartment. So I will have a more reliable source soon. I look forward to that, not that I don't enjoy Esparks's mochas.

Let's try this again.

Alright, I finally wised up and wrote this entry on my laptop BEFORE I came to the coffee shop. The coffee shop that likes to conveniently close before I’m done writing. Duh. Why didn’t I think of that before?
Let’s see I was writing about playing a prehistoric Italian woman in a 2.5 hour play/improv and how much fun I thought it was going to be. Yah, I’m having fun with that. The cast is a riot. The guy who plays the equivalent to Tony Soprano is straight out of Jersey. He’s great. I’d go so far as to say that James Gandolfini should be this guy’s understudy.
After rehearsal I called my Dad and talked to him as I walked around the Times Square area. We decided to see if there was a live web cam in Times Square that he could see me on from home in Oregon. We found one and he actually could see me. I got to wave at him through the miracle of modern technology. That was fun, I highly recommend it. If you’d like me to wave at you from Times Square give me a call will arrange a meeting time. Haha. No really.
Thursday I got up early and went to work at Sephora. It was a good day. I was there for a LONG time though. My keen sense of observation tells me that they were short people this week. I won’t be working that much in the future. I gots to audition!
Thursday night I went to dinner with my friend Jana and then we went to see a play. We saw Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway. It starred Kevin Kline as “Cyrano” and Jennifer Garner as “Roxanne.” Kevin Kline was great. He handled the heightened language with such ease. His spot-on comedic timing really shown through in this role. Jennifer had moments of great work but I don’t think she was very consistent. I think she definitely has promise as a stage actor though. The set, costume, and lighting designs were beautiful. It took place in France in about the mid-1700s. I thought it looked very realistic or at least like they’d done their research.
After the play I was a weepy mess. I was moved. Every so often something gets me. Who knows? I thought the play itself was incredible. I think it’s just about my favorite play now. If you get a chance, pick up a copy at your local library. But you don’t have to take my word for it…yes, that was a blatant Reading Rainbow reference.
Jana and I stood outside the stage door after the show. Kevin Kline didn’t come out to greet fans but Jennifer Garner did. She was very gracious and generous with her time. She’s beautiful up close (no surprise). I was too far back in the crowd to meet her but I liked that I could still tell that she was handling fame with grace and poise. She’s a class act. There was no sign of Ben Affleck though. Bummer.
Friday I went to the gym, did some laundry, and picked up ANOTHER can of paint. Last one I hope. I went back to my apartment and painted for about 8 solid hours. I realize that that sounds like a bit much but I had to use about 3-3.5 coats of primer and actual paint. My walls suck. My freakin’ walls are finally covered. Now I gotta get the grey smoke stained ceiling. AAAHH!! Damn cancer sticks.
Saturday I woke up early and did a tiny bit more painting and then grabbed lunch with my friend Annie. We hit up the CPK. That’s California Pizza Kitchen for the layman. It was tasty.
After that, I’ll be honest, I bought another can of paint. We’re on a first name basis at Home Depot these days. This time I bought ceiling paint. I’m sadly ashamed that I need so much stinking paint. I didn’t go directly to my apartment to paint this time though.
I had a rehearsal with my director to go through my blocking for “The Soapranos.”
After we went through the show I went to Long Island to watch a performance of the same show. The shows I’m joining the cast of are already playing in sort of an ongoing engagement. I’m just replacing actors so there is already a set cast I get to join.
The show was very entertaining. I liked what the gal did who plays the part I will be taking over. I’m excited to put my own spin on it though. I don’t really know how to describe the show but I’ll put it this way: dinner theatre + fun audience members + alcohol= one crazy night. I’m really stoked about this opportunity. I’m gonna have some fun. I start with the cast on November 3.
After the show Saturday night I took the train back to Manhattan. In the LIRR station I ran into Rob from the MTV show Rob and Big. I recognized him as I was walking by him. He was with a crowd of people and it looked like he was rushing to catch a train so I didn’t get to talk to him. I really wanted to though. I love that show. He and “Big” are unbearably funny.
Sunday morning I went to church. My friend Courtney from college came with me. I was really happy she wanted to come with me. She met some of my friends from church and I hope she’ll come back again.
Sunday afternoon I went to work. I had my first day as a “Color Consultant.” Which is Sephora talk for “makeup artist.” Considering that I had zero training on Sephora brands I think I handled things quite well. My co-workers complimented me on how well I handled clients and answered questions. It was actually really fun. While I don’t know half of what I need to know there, I feel like I know enough for a good starting point.
Sunday night after work my new roommate Lebeka moved in! She's a really nice girl that I get along with swimmingly. So now our apartment is complete. There are three of us and we're like a little family. We're having fun turning our cozy little apartment into a home.
Monday I worked at Sephora for 8 hours. I went to the gym after that then went home and crashed.
Alright, NOW I'm up to date!

Where was I...

I'm back in what's quickly becoming my favorite little hang out. Because my living room has no furniture and I currently sleep on a borrowed air mattress, coming to the comfy couches of the Eparks Cafe is the highlight of my evening. One tall hot coco and I'm a happy little internet surfer. I have no shame.
Did you know that if you're on a community wifi account(wireless free internet)and you have iTunes, you can listen to other people's iTunes music libraries(that are on the same wifi account)? I just discovered this and I'm enjoying someone else's extensive music library. It's awesome! And free. It is a bit distracting from the task at hand, however. I really need to get this thing up to date.
Ok where was I? I believe I just left the Salvation Army on Monday afternoon. Monday evening I went to my first rehearsal for the New York Dinner Theater. I went to my director's house and we sat and talked through the show. I'll only have one rehearsal with (almost) the whole cast so we thought it'd be good to meet up and discuss my blocking. It was a very productive first meeting and I felt better prepared for my short rehearsal schedule.
Tuesday morning I went to my second day of Sephora training. Again we met at Sephora University on 34th. ahaha.
It was a very informative 8 hour day complete with role playing and free lunch. I liked the role plays. I got to play the part of various customers and, of course, Sephora "cast member." We learned all about Sephora and I love how much confidence all this training is giving me. I would hate to sell cosmetics at a company I didn't like. I really feel like they take care of their employees. That's refreshing.
After the day at training I took a train to Long Island (via LIRR) where we where rehearsing. At the train station the producer picked me and some other cast members up and took us to the theater. The theatre was in a rural area with a good old American strip mall. It had been a while since I was anywhere rural. I also managed to look up at the sky and see the stars. It was like coming out of a cave after hibernation. With the all the huge buildings and hustle of the city you forget to look up and see the sky. I took a moment to enjoy what so many take for granted: a view of the stars.
I met my fellow cast members for "Let's Kill the Boss." I'll be joining them in a performance next weekend. They are hilarious and really wonderful. They made me feel right at home. They also made me feel more comfortable. I do, after all, have to memorize the blocking and lines for an entire play in one week. I also get to perform after just one quick, basic rehearsal. Instead of having a panic attack (because what would that accomplish after all?), I feel safe in the company of this great cast.
We rehearsed in, well, I'd call it an adult Chuck E' Cheese. It was a "Dave & Busters." Great space to perform in though. There were pool tables, bowling lanes, dancing, video games, and all sorts of fun stuff to do. Since it was a Monday night it was a little slow. I didn't really notice, I promise, I was rehearsing.
The producer bought us all some grub and drinks and we all had a fun, crazy rehearsal. I hope to GOD I'm ready by next Friday.
On the train ride home I had a hilarious discussion on the best comedies of all time. It was a heated debate. Not really, we just laughed a lot and quoted our favorite comedians. All the more reason to love the cast, we can talk forever about funny movies. Good times.
Wednesday I had my last day of training at SU. We had cashier training. I learned all about how Sephora cash registers work. I discovered that the only thing I won't enjoy is processing product returns. They are a pain with a giant paper trail. Nightmare.
After the training, I called my store and asked what my schedule would be like for the next week as I was now done training. When I finally got through to someone they asked me to come in right then. "Right now? Uh, I don't..have...my...uniform," I was caught a little off guard. But I hopped the train and went to work. I just jumped right in as it was BUSY and they needed extra hands. I had fun. I think I did pretty well too. It was all that good training, I'm telling you.
After work I went to another rehearsal for NY Dinner Theater. This time it was for the Sopranos spoof. It was a whole new cast of fun people. We played improv games and read through the script. It's going to be easier than the murder mystery ("Let's Kill the Boss"). I have fewer lines in this one and I get to improv most of the time. I love it, improv as an old-as-dirt Italian woman. This is going to be too fun!

Dang it! The coffee shop's closing. To be continued...again...

Makes One Weak.

I finally have internet access! Unfortunately it's only temporary. I'm in the "Esparks Cafe" near my apartment in Astoria. I get free internet access if I buy a coffee, of course. Well, I bought one, and now I'm finally on the internet after over a week of being without it. I never realized how much I rely on it. Kinda scary.
I had to wrestle with my computer for an hour before it accepted the new connection but I'm finally here. I'm proud that I was able to actually figure it out. I was so frustrated that I was about to bounce my computer off the ground but I decided that it wouldn't fix my plight.
I also resisted the urge to take down an old man who unplugged my computer thus causing it to shut down. He just reached down and unplugged my computer. Just like that. If he wasn't an old fart with no clue what he'd done I would've tackled him right here in the coffee shop to the smooth sounds of Louis Armstrong in the background.
Ok, back to the update, I have only a few minutes before the pleasant little coffee shop closes down and I have one busy week to write about.
Let's see. Last Friday I worked my last day at Juice Pharma Advertising. It was a great place to do some temp work. Answering phones, greeting "clients," and smiling at employees as they passed me to visit the restroom. And boy did they use the restroom. haha.
After work Friday I went to Sephora in Union Square to fill out my "new hire" paperwork. I'm officially a Sephora "castmember" as they say. I hope I filled everything out correctly. All those tax forms confuse the heck out of me.
Um, Friday night, I uh, what did I do? I think I painted my room some more? I can't remember for the life of me what I did.
Saturday I went to a church membership meeting at Kings College in the Empire State Building. It was a meeting for anyone at me church who decided they might want to be a member of the church. It was cool going to the Empire State Building with actual business and not just as a tourist. It being Saturday tere were tons of tourists in line to go to the top of the building and check out the view. It was a perfect day for it too. Nice and clear. I also got a kick out of all the double decker tour buses passing by the building. I felt like waving at them and saying, "Yes, I'm going in for a meeting. Official business. Aren't I cool?"
The actual meeting was very informative. Afterwards, I decided to become a member of Apostles Church. I'm really excited about it. I think it's exactly what I need in my life. It will help me get involved in the city in the right way. A Christian way.
Saturday afternoon/evening I bummed around Union Square with my friend Courtney. We checked out the many art vendors, Strand Bookstore (It's like Powell's), and learned about a sculpture from a very informative man who was collecting money for the homeless. There's a very recognizable sculpture thing on the side of a building in Union Square, and Courtney and I had no idea what it was supposed to be. The man saw us gawking at it and speculating and decided to school us. After about a 10 minute speech, we were very informed and inspired to donate to his worthy cause. I sure felt like a goof though because he was talking REALLY loud at us like we were hard of hearing or something so the masses stared at us as they walked by. We played along though. I now know everything I could ever wish to know about the lunar statue off Union Square. Come visit, I'll fill you in.
Saturday night I went and bought more paint supplies. This project is costing me a sweet dollar but I think it'll be pretty when I'm all finished.
I got home pretty late, had a chat with my apartment mate Kelly, and crashed. At least, I think that's what I did. All these paint fumes are depleting my memory.
Sunday morning I went to church in Central Park. Apostles met on the Great Lawn in the middle of the park. It was an absolutely gorgeous autumn day. I got to worship in the park and visit with my new friends from church.
Sunday afternoon I went to the gym, then I got to painting. I painted all afternoon and evening. I was still not done at the end of the night. Ridiculous.
Monday morning I got up early and went to my first day of training for Sephora. We met at the 34th street/Herald Square store. They have a training school in the upstairs of the store. We had training on company policies and loss prevention. I felt so informed! I've never worked for a company that spent so much time educating their employees. It was great. And I got paid for it!
After training, I ran some errands, and did a little shopping. I went to the bank, visited the library and got two new books to read: "The Secret Life of Bees," and "Flowers for Algernon." I was gonna check out "Eat, Pray, Love," because I heard it was great. There were a mere 1,036 holds on it though. (holy crap) I thought I'd be better off checking something else out. That's New York for ya.
I went to my temp agency and dropped off my old time sheets and picked up my paycheck. I went to the bank a second time and deposited it. I think I threw the teller off coming in for a second time in one hour. He looked at me like I was about to rob the bank.
I had no cooking supplies so I figured I should buy some. The Salvation Army had some nice silverware, pots, and pans. I had my hands full by the time I was done shopping. The store was hilarious. It was all I could do not to laugh at the employees yelling across the store, talking crap about customers, and saying things like, "My baby's Daddy ain't paid me yet this month!" Yikes. I bought my merch and bolted before I laughed out loud. I didn't want to get shot at.
Has anyone else ever been to a Salvation Army where they price the junk as you buy it? I was a little taken aback when Shaniqua tried to charge me $3.99 for a used silverware drawer organizer. Girlfriend, it's used, not Gucci. I passed that one up.

Alright, the coffee shops closing. Gotta go.

To be continued...

A move in the right direction.

Saturday morning I got up early and went to an audition right before I left for Rhode Island. It was a tight fit in my schedule but it worked! I had sent out my resume and headshot to a theatre that was participating in a One-Act Festival with an original One-Act play called, "One Good Thing." They called me in to read for a couple different roles. The audition was Saturday at 11:15am and my bus for Rhode Island left at 12:30pm. Thankfully the bus depot was only two blocks from the audition site.

The actual audition went well. They had me stick around longer to read more for the character "Rita." She's an interesting character: young lady trapped in a dead end marriage. I could relate to her wit so I think they liked that I had the timing for it. Right after I finished reading I hustled up the street to hop on the bus.

I had a heck of a time finding where I was supposed to catch the bus, however. The station is huge and it has hundreds of departure gates and very few signs to tell you where to go. I asked a couple Greyhound employees (of the few I could find) for help with directions. They were rude to me right off the bat and I thought, "Wow. This is going to be a fun trip."

When I finally found my gate, I had made it with 20 minutes to spare, thankfully. I set my backpack and pillow down and got my tickets out to board. To save time, I came to the station on Friday night and printed my tickets out. The tickets, receipt and itinerary all came in one long strip of paper so I detached my departure ticket and got ready to board. When I handed over my ticket to the driver he yelled at me for detaching the ticket from the other papers. I was so embarrassed because he treated me like a fool and screamed at me in front of the other passengers. I had NO IDEA that I wasn't supposed to detach my tickets. What the hell kind of sense does that make??? Moral of the story: if you should make the unfortunate decision to ride Greyhound do not, DO NOT detach your tickets, itinerary, and receipt unless you wish to be harassed and treated like an idiot.

The trip itself took over 6 hours. My itinerary said I was going to be in Providence, RI at 4:55pm. I didn't arrive until after 6pm. No reason for the delay, just another reason not to ride Greyhound. We had scheduled stops along the way at two different Indian reservation casinos in New Jersey and Connecticut and in New London, CT. It was funny to see all the weekend getaway travelers making their way to the mega casino resorts.

When I got to Providence I had a phone message from the director of the One-Act I had auditioned for earlier. They wanted to call me back to read for the part of "Rita" again. The only problem was that they wanted me to come in on Sunday morning. I was not going to be back from RI until Sunday night. I called her back and apologized (even though I warned her before I auditioned that I wouldn't be able to make the callback). She didn't answer so I left her a message. I think that was the end of it because I haven't heard back from her. Oh well.

I called Pattie and she came and found me near the bus station. She took me back to the restaurant where she and Megan were eating dinner. It was an Irish Pub called "Ri Ra's," and we at some dinner. We got to catch up for a while before Pattie had to go get ready for her show.

At 8pm I saw Pattie perform in Tennessee Williams' "Camino Real." It was put on by all the second year MFA actors at Brown/Trinity Rep Consortium. The play is one of Williams' more abstract plays and was a little hard to follow. I thought the group did a commendable job tackling the tough script. It was great to see Pattie on stage again after I hadn't seen her in so long.

After the show Pattie, Megan, and I went to the Trinity Brewhouse with the other cast members and had a drink. I really liked the pub it was very homey and reminded me of a McMenamins spot. I got to meet a lot of the cast members and other Brown/Trinity Rep students. It was really fun to get to hear about their experiences in the MFA program at Brown because it is such a famous program.

For the rest of the night (and well into the morning) Pattie, Megan, and I stayed up and had a slumber party. It was so fun to be around those girls again. I sure missed them. We stayed over at Pattie's apartment in Providence. I really liked her apartment. Pattie has put a lot of work into it and it is very cozy.

Sunday morning I said goodbye to Pattie because she had to get back to her busy MFA actor life. Megan and I walked around Providence a bit. We got to see some of the Brown campus and the surrounding area. We ate lunch at a restaurant called "The Meeting Street Cafe." It was very busy and smelled great inside. It reminded me of the smell of Thanksgiving Dinner. Aptly I ordered the Thanksgiving Turkey Sandwich. It was a huge sandwich that they put stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, tomato and lettuce on. It was probably the best sandwich I've ever had. It was so big I had leftovers, just like after Thanksgiving. haha

Megan and I walked around some more and visited the Brown University Bookstore. I promptly bought $10 worth of postcards. I'm a total nerd but it was worth it to me. Rhode Island is very pretty. I also liked the Brown shirts that said, "This is my Brown shirt" on them.

Pretty soon it was time to go downtown to the bus station and head back to NYC. Megan and I grabbed some Starbucks and I got on my bus and she got on her train and headed back to Boston. I think I'll go visit her next.

One obnoxiously long bus ride later I was back in NYC. On the way back we stopped at the casinos again, picking up the gamblers and their dough (or lack their of). I also got to enjoy my leftover turkey sandwich that was delicious, again.

When I got back to the Port Authority bus depot I ran to the subway and jetted back to Astoria. I was supposed to meet up with a potential roommate. I got back late but got to meet her anyway. She was very nice and I think I wouldn't mind sharing a room with her. I didn't want to make a decision that night though and I was exhausted from the trip. I reorganized myself for the week and went to bed.

On Monday morning I got up early and dropped off my timesheet at my temp agency so I could get paid. At 11am I had my third and final interview at Sephora. I met with the store director and it went very well. They're looking at me for a makeup artist position. I think it sounds like fun!

After my interview I went uptown to audition for Disney Cruiselines. They posted an open audition for performers of all ethnicities so I thought I'd give it a shot. Because of my interview I had to sign up later for the audition. That basically meant that I had to sit around all afternoon. What's new?

I finally got to sing my 16 bars. I thought it went quite well probably because I had all afternoon to warm up. I jumped around to all the empty rooms at the studio warming my voice up. I finished my audition and found out that they were only calling back people with an "ethnic look." They didn't specify that in their posting and then didn't tell us at the audition. So tons of white kids sat around all afternoon, sang their best, and had not a single chance of getting called back. I was a little peeved. Hopefully it wasn't a total waste of time, they do have my info on file now. Misleading casting notices are more common than I care to think about.

Monday night I went to the gym, talked on the phone to some friends, did some work around the new apartment, and enjoyed the rest of Columbus Day. haha.

Tuesday morning I had a job at Church Pension Group through my temp agency. I was working reception for the entire NY branch of the company which is over 300 employees. Heavy call volume. I sounded like a broken record but it was fun. I got calls from all over the US and some of them were hilarious. I swear some people still don't know what a phone is and what it does. I liked how the company had their phones set up. I got to wear a headset and all the calls where run through computer software called "Softconsole". When a phone call came in it beeped in my ear, I clicked on the call on the computer screen, talked to them, and then typed in where to transfer them to. All on the computer! I had fun doing that for the day but I can see how it might get a little old after years of doing it. That's why I like temp agencies.

Tuesday night I ran a ton of errands. I needed more headshot/resume combos so I hit up the Kinko's next to Bryant Park. Bryant Park is where they have Fashion Week and the big Project Runway finales. I always like thinking of that when I walk by the park. I did some banking and made a bunch of phone calls.

I had a message from a lady from the New York Dinner Theatre. When I called her back she offered me my first paying theatre gig in the city. I officially have a job in the theatre!!! I'm so excited. She offered me two roles in two shows she produces. One is called "The Soapranos" and it's a spoof on the Sopranos TV show. It's hilarious and she wants me to play the part of Mama Soaprano. (That's the part I read for in auditions). The other part is in a murder mystery called "Let's Kill the Boss." I get to play a librarian who's been married 10 times. (Another funny one). We start rehearsals really soon and I'll be performing in both shows on and off between now and December 31st. The shows will be in varying locations in NYC and nearby New Jersey. A lot of times we'll get a booking to come to an office party event and we'll take the show on the road. I'm excited because I'll be reimbursed for any traveling I have to do and I am getting paid per show on top of that. It's a pretty cool deal for a first job in the city.

Later on in the evening I had another potential roommate come check out the room. It turned out to be a waste of time because she failed to read the ad for the room and didn't realize it was a room to share. Duh. I made it really clear in the ad, and I'm totally annoyed to have my time wasted by someone who's too irresponsible to read.

When she left I went to the gym then came back and talked to mom and dad. That's about all for Tuesday.

Wednesday I spent the entire day painting and cleaning my room. I bought some primer and went over most of the room. I also spent over an hour cleaning the blinds. Apparently no one has cleaned them since the beginning of time and a smoker lived in the room. They were absolutely disgusting. I scrubbed them like crazy and now I have clean blinds. Ok, I have one set of clean blinds. I still have one more to clean. My windows look like a "before and after" shot. I was surprised to find out that they are white under all that crap.

In the midst of my fixin' up I had yet another potential roommate come by. She seemed very nice. I think I'm done looking for roommates now. I have a tough decision to make.

While I was working all day, I felt like my phone was ringing off the hook. Random. I had calls from Sephora, NY Dinner Theatre, Mom, a random guy who wanted me to babysit, my temp agency, friends. I felt so popular. haha. I think all the calls I've been making finally got returned. All in one day. Have you ever had that happen? Definitely makes you feel special.

Sephora finally got a hold of my references and left me a message that they would like to hire me. I'm gonna call them today and find out what they want to "offer me." I am so blessed. I'll let you know what happens.

Finally, after a long day's work in my room, I was excited to see it taking shape. I cleaned up my mess, propped open my windows, and went to bed.

Today,(Thursday), I'm working at Juice Pharma Advertising again. That's all for now!

Just a little update

So I hardly have internet access unless it's through a temp job so I thought I'd give a brief update.

Wednesday night after what turned out to be really relaxed, fun day at Juice Pharma Ad Agency, I went to Home Depot. It's kind of funny visiting a Home Depot in the heart of New York City. They have everything a standard Home Depot has you just have to have the big stuff delivered to you because there's no way you're pulling a big old 4x4 up to a loading dock in NYC.

I bought a bunch of painting supplies and tools to prep my room, (and the rest of the apartment), for a much needed coat of paint. I hauled my purchases around while I went to the gym before I headed home to Astoria.

By the time I got to the apartment it was pretty late and I had an early audition so I showered and went to bed (which is an air mattress on the floor of my room in case you were wondering).

At 6am Thursday morning I was up and getting ready to audition for a touring production of the musical "Little Women." They were searching for some understudies as well as a couple of regular lead roles. There where over 300 girls there of every size shape and color imaginable. I pity the people casting this production. I was number 143 on the sign up list because I had to wait for the stinkin' subway. My commute isn't bad but on mornings of early auditions it kills me because even when I get up early I'm still far down on the sign up.

The audition didn't even start until 10am so I had a lot of time to sit around, read, eavesdrop and bs with the other auditonees. It was alright but I was so tired I felt like my eyes where gonna roll back into my head. I have been reading that book "Skinny Dip" it's hilarious and a pretty quick read, if anyone's interested?

So at about 9:30am some representatives from the touring company told us all (All 300+ that were smashed into a small holding room and the hallway) that we were going to be typed. Since they are a non-equity touring production, they decided to type all the auditionees to save time. "Typing" means they brought us into a room 40 at a time, had us stand in rows and looked us up and down, scanned our headshots and resumes and decided if they wanted us to stick around and sing for them. They had a pretty good idea of what they were looking for for "Little Women" so they were able to scan us over quickly and say "yes" or "no."

It made me a little nervous. I've never been typed quite like that before, it was basically what some actors call a "cattle call." When my line was up I tried to look as "Little Womenee" as possible and I tried to stand like I always see celebrities standing on the red carpet. haha.

Well whatever I did worked because they had me stick around and sing. Thank God. Had I gotten up at 6am just to be typed out I would've been so disappointed.

I waited around and warmed up for a couple HOURS. Then I finally got to sing. The accompanist was the worst I've sang with here in New York but I was still able to pull off a nice 16 bars for the casting directors. A couple of girls were nearly in tears because they felt like the accompanist blew the audition for them. My rule? Just keep singing. No one's gonna rain on my parade when I woke up at 6am and wait nearly 4.5 hours to sing 16 bars. Sink or swim!? haha

After my little ditty, the directors and accompanist complimented my singing and I was done. I've noticed a trend: "Wow, what a lovely voice."... not cast. Well, I have a lovely voice. How about that? One day I'll get cast. :)

I don't know if I'll be cast in the production of "Little Women." It seemed like they were looking for 'Beth' and 'Amy' types after a while of sitting and observing. I'm not really either based on first impressions. But who knows? Stranger things have happened.

After that I went to my callback audition on Long Island for the Sopranos spoof dinner theatre. I got to take the LIRR (Long Island Railroad). That was an adventure. I had to take the subway to Penn Station (West Manhattan) then transfer to the LIRR trains. It reminded me of taking the train all over the UK when I studied abroad. I was a little surprised/annoyed with how slow those trains travel. Just like in the UK.

I arrived in Manahasset Long Island which is a cute, quaint little town where the callback was being held. The theatre was located right off the train station (thankfully). The callback went really well. It was a lot of fun. I got to play a really old Italian woman with a foul mouth. It was a blast. I read from the script with other characters and then they had us improv as the characters for a while. I thought it went well. We all had a good laugh, that's for sure. I'll know about the casting for that show by the middle of next week.

After the audish I took the LIRR back to Manhattan and train hopped up to the Upper East Side for my Community Group Meeting. I was pretty late to the meeting but I still got to discuss the part of "Mere Christianity" we read for this week. The book is really incredible and inspirational. Also, I really like the people in my group. We're becoming fast friends. :)

I finally got back to my apartment at 11:30pm Thursday night. What a long day. I talked to my parents and Kelly for a while then promptly passed out.

I got up and went to work at Juice Pharma Advertising again today. (Great name huh?) 'Nother good day at work. Now it's time for the weekend. Apparently they like me there because they want me to come back. I thought that was nice. I'm gonna come back next week when I can but auditions are my first priority. They're really understanding and encouraging which is nice.

I'm traveling up to Rhode Island this weekend to see my friend Pattie in a show she's in at Brown/Trinity Rep. She's a graduate acting student at Brown. I'm so proud of her and I can't wait to see her performance! She's a close friend of mine from Evansville. Also, our friend Megan from Evansville is coming into town to see the show as well so we're gonna have a little party. I can't wait!

Well it's Friday night, I think I'm gonna go get my party on.