My big week of...maybe.

It’s been a big week in potential, but don’t know if any of it will pay off or not.   I have had an interview with an acting manager, a commercial agent, and had a voice over audition for one of the biggest VO agents in Los Angeles and she complimented my work on the audition.   I’m pretty sure it was sincere too because she does not come off as a warm person.  

Of course I hope that all three come through for me, but just one or two would be nice. 

The job front is still looking bleak however.  I can’t understand what in the world would keep me from getting hired at any restaurant.  I have had many interviews that seemed to go well, but I never hear from them again.  It’s kind of been shaking my confidence lately in the food service industry.  I mean, I would much rather make a living in acting/voice over, but the possibility of that happening right away is probably really slim.  So all I can do at this point is keep on trying.  It’s just really, really frustrating.  

I’m slowly starting to learn how to get around in LA.  It’s a bit of a different world out here when it comes to driving.  You either are going 80 miles an hour on the freeway or you are barely moving at all.  Drivers don’t seem as aggressive and rude out here as they did back in Dallas though.  I’m glad, because if they were like that, there would probably be a lot more wrecks out here.  

A few days ago Kristin and I went to check out Chinatown.  It’s only about 10 miles from here so we figured it would be a cheap day out.  It was really interesting walking around down there.  Almost like visiting a foreign country… almost.  We had food in a place where very few people who were not Asian were eating.  It was good, but still pretty typical Chinese food I had most of my life.
There were all kinds of stores and markets that had little things we might have liked for the house.  But since I don’t have a job right now, we can’t warrant spending any money on anything we don’t actually need.  It sucks, and I feel down about it, but not much else I can do.  

Tomorrow is Saturday, so I can’t really look for restaurant jobs again until Monday  (They only interview weekdays from 2-4) So I’m kinda stuck until then.  UNLESS someone calls with some good news about something I’ve interviewed or auditioned with in the past week.  

It's been, One week today in LA...

So, here we are... One week into our move to Los Angeles, and I have accomplished so much, but somehow don't feel like I've done enough.  I tend to have pretty big aspirations, and when they don't tend to happen fast enough, I start to feel like I'm failing somehow.  I know, I'm not, but stress can mess your brain pretty well in situations like these...

 In the past week, I have had 2 interviews for the same restaurant and an audition for a commercial.   On top of this, we got all new living room furniture and went to a taping of the Tonight show with Jay Leno.

Sounds like a pretty busy week, right?  Then how come my brain keeps yelling at me that it's not quite enough?  Maybe it will never be enough.  Perhaps that's my driving force that keeps me going in life.

I just really hope this move isn't one of those situations that ends in failure and I'm supposed to take away some great lesson from the experience of it all. 

On the upside, I'm finally getting myself to a place where I have decided not to worry about it for the whole day.  I give myself about an hour in the mornings, (hence writing this blog now) then, no more for the day... As much as possible.  It's just really difficult when you have a limited supply of money with no new income coming in, but your bills still come on a regular basis.

There's not a lot I can do through the weekend, so I should just enjoy my weekend and try not to stress.  Because, if this doesn't work out somehow, I should at the very least have some fun while I was here.

First Interview/Audition down... Come on good Karma!

10/11/11

I went on my first Job interview today.  It was an Italian restaurant in Old Town Pasadena.  It was called Mi Pinochi or something close to that.  First, there was no parking, so I had to go into a paid parking garage.  The only spot I could find was one with an SUV over the line, so it was a really tight squeeze.  I got parked and couldn’t get out of the car.  SUV got door checked a few times though.  Maybe they’ll park in the lines next time.  I crawled over the passenger seat to get out. 

We went in and were taken to a room FULL of people applying for the same job.  Probably around 45 people in there… It was nuts!  It took us about 45 minutes just to be interviewed.  The interviewer was obviously a professional interviewer.  I have never had so many rapid fire server questions shot at me in such a short time.  He almost seemed to smirk when I got flustered at one point.  No matter, I don’t think that place was a good fit for me anyway.  Kristin’s interview went a lot better though.  She got a nice guy who worked there and he just chitchatted with her for about 15 minutes and she came out feeling good about her audition.  Go figure…

Got out to the parking lot, SUV is still there, so had to climb over the seat again to get out.  I had to pay $3.00 parking for the interview.   I don’t think I have ever had to pay to interview before.  I have had to feed a meter for auditions though, so maybe I should just look at it that way… 

I got home and I have an audition notice in my E-mail.  My first LA audition!  It’s a small commercial, but I’m still pretty happy about it. 

Tomorrow our new living room furniture is due to arrive.  I’m excited but also a little nervous.  We spent almost twice what I expected to for furniture, but we also got twice as much.  It was a great deal and Kristin had her heart set on this set, so I knew that there was no getting around it.  My only argument was “The floor isn’t that bad to sit on.”  I clearly wasn’t going to win this one. 

Hopefully good things are in the cards for us soon.  God knows I’ve seen my fair share of struggle.  I really hope this move is truly what my life needed right now. 

Summary of my moving day 10/4/11

Woke up at 8:40, went to get the U-haul at 9:00.  Brought it back home, ran around the house to put something in my car.  Hit a patch of mud, slid and fell HARD.  It road rashed my leg pretty well. 

I got something out of my trunk.  I forgot that the bike rack was on the trunk.  It kindly punched me in the eye as I closed the trunk back… 

We moved furniture into the 6’X12’ trailer most of the day.  That went about as well as it could.  I just happen to be good at finding a lot of void spaces to cram stuff.

Went to return the modem and cable box.  I swear, every single car got in front of me and slowed down.  I checked with Kristin to make sure It wasn’t just me. 

Went to eat at La Hacienda Ranch for the last time.  Kids at the table next to us were screaming and carrying on and their parents just seemed to think it was funny.  Kristin offered to pay and when the waitress saw her put the card in the binder she looked at me and said “So, the lady is picking up the check tonight?”  I felt like saying “Oh yeah… I’m a HUGE Douchebag.” And grin back at her.  Instead I just looked at Kristin having a laughing attack at my day. 

One Month From Today...

It's finally time that we are starting to do things like, taking art and pictures off the walls, deep cleaning the apartment, finding out about electrical/Internet/Cable/etc services out in California. 
We think we have a place nailed down.  It's in Pasadena.  We had our hearts set on Sherman Oaks to begin with, but we seem to be getting more "bang for the buck" out in Pasadena.  It will just require a little more travel  time to auditions.  It seems like about the same amount of distance from Plano to Dallas... It's just the traffic we'll have to take into account every time we leave now.
I am told that Pasadena is a beautiful city though and one of the lower crime, more family centered communities.  I really hope we like it out there.  It's a one bedroom condo near a national forest, so hopefully there will be lots of cheap/free things to do in the area.  I'll post pics of the place as soon as I'm sure we have it.  :)

As far as the acting thing is concerned... I'm probably going to have to focus more on finding a table waiting job or something first, before I can give my acting career  my full focus.  Not thrilled about that part, but it's what I have to do to get by it seems. 
Kristin already has a few possible acting jobs lined up, so maybe this is a good sign that we've made the right decision to move. 

I know that it's time for me to leave Magic Time Machine at long last.  I can almost feel the place distancing itself from me and letting me go for the first time.  I know that sounds weird, but it almost seemed like I was there for a reason and I couldn't leave until the time was exactly right.  This is the time. 

As for today, Texas hot summer fever broke and we are out of the 100's for the first time in almost 3 months!  We have the doors and windows opened and it's so nice out.  It almost feels a bit chilly at 83 degrees,  after living with a low of 93 at night! 

Now all we have to do is make arrangements to say goodby to everyone here, pack all our things and head out west for a new life adventure...  So nerve wracking, but also seems so necessary. 

T- Minus 4 Months...

I had a hard time waking up this morning.  I kept trying to wake up and sleep kept dragging me back under.  I was having dreams that I was trapped on an island like the television show LOST and situations were weird as the show was.  I wish I could remember some of them to write about, but I can’t. 

I got up and checked my online messages and all that fun stuff then realized something that I have been realizing a lot lately.  I have nothing to do.  I can’t afford to go out and spend any money because I am saving for LA.  So, it has been a cause for a lot of boring days off.  It’s not easy to be this disciplined.

I also have some nasty sinus pressure going on today.  Heavy drainage and my eyes feel like they are dry and swollen.  Hopefully I don’t develop new allergies when I move to LA.  I have heard many people talk about moving to different places and allergies plague them until they get acclimated to that new place. 

Speaking of new places, it’s now only 4 months until the big move to Los Angles.  Part of me feels like its right around the corner and part of me feels like it’s forever away.  The second part must be my inner child. 

I’m still really worried, because there is still so much to be done.  We still have lots of money to make and save.  We have to find new homes for Shelby and Kristin’s cat.  Although, at this point, Shelby may be coming with us.  We’ll just have to see.  We’re going to have to find a place to live that we can afford, find jobs, etc.  It’s a lot to wrap my head around. 

This is a Google map image of where Alex and Lindsay live.  I think we are going to try to move into their building, so we can be near someone we know to ask for tips here and there.  It's a 6 unit apartment building built in the 1940's but it's affordable and in a safe area.  Kinda my only requirements right now.  I just hope they have an opening when we are ready to move.

Today is Dad’s 67^th birthday.    We are going to Joe T Garcia’s in Fort Worth.  He loves that place, although I have never seen what the big deal is about it.  They only serve 2 things, Fajitas or Enchiladas.  Oh well, it’s probably our last year to be here for his birthday, so we should go do whatever Dad would like.

Speaking of birthdays… I am now only 12 days away from my 39^th.  I wish I could say I was excited, but birthdays stopped being something I wanted to be excited about after age 25.  Oh well, at least I’m in the best physical shape of my life.  And, I’m about to start a positive midlife crisis with the move and all.

In other news…The screening of "Hold Your Peace" (The gay romantic comedy I stared in last year) will be on June 20th at The Texas Theatre in Dallas. 

 I started out pretty excited about it, but of all the invitations I sent out for it, only Mom and Josie from work said they could come. Other people I have invited are going to be out of the country or away on trips.  I guess I should get used to that sort of thing.  Not everyone will be able to come to things I act in.  I understand that.  

 I went to see the Oswald thing I shot 2 weeks ago.  It looked AMAZING.  I typically don’t like watching myself act, but this almost seemed like I was watching someone else.  I really hope we’ll be making the rest of it very soon.  Not only for making some much needed money for LA, but also because I think the credit will be a great addition to the resume AND more of walking in the footsteps of history!  

Strange Days, Indeed.

More weather weirdness headed this way.  This last week, it’s been around 70 degrees and nice out.  There’s supposed to be a really nasty storm on the way though.  If the weather predictions are true, we could see temperatures as low as 8 degrees on Wednesday (2/2/11) Oh, and 100% chance of snow tomorrow.  Awesome…  I guess it could be worse.  I could live up north.  I just hate cold weather, so very much. 

I auditioned for Breaking Bad on Saturday.  It’s a major TV credit, if I book it, but I’m not holding my breath.  I feel like the audition went pretty well, but we won’t know unless I get the call that I’ve booked the roll.  Secretly, I am jumping out of my skin for this role, but I’m trying to just put it out of my head. It’s tough though.  Especially since auditions have been so few and far between lately. 

Last weekend was decent at work.  Thank God.  I really needed a good weekend.  It may have something to do with the Superbowl coming here next weekend.  People are so caught up in sports fever that they are going out and spending money more.  The economy is still pretty bad, but it seems, for the meantime, to be getting better.  I think it’s just a matter of time though, before it gets even worse than 2009.  With the national deficit in the trillions and technology seems to be making more and more jobs obsolete, it seems it can only get worse from here.   I’m just hoping that the acting thing really takes off for me soon, so I will at least have steady work. 

There seems to be some pretty uncertain days ahead.  It’s almost like the whole Mayan calendar thing may have a bit of truth to it.  Natural disasters seem to be on the rise. (Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Sinkholes, massive hurricanes, and drought are in the news daily since last year.  Oh, and now it seems that Egypt and the Middle East is in severe civil unrest and WWIII may be starting soon. God only knows what more I’ll have to talk about as this year progresses. 

Harvest Time at Ford Manor.

Today my red potatoes were ready to harvest on the balcony.  There were about a dozen ranging from penny sized to golf ball sized.  I planted a few more in the place of the uprooted plant so I can have an ongoing steady crop.  I think I must have been a farmer in a former life. 

I really hope  that when we get to LA, we have a place to grow my herbs, veges and lime tree.

Speaking of LA... It's weird for me to think that in a year from now I might be living there, at last.  We are online searching for housing, but it's a little difficult without being able to go out and actually see the places.  I just really hope we end up in a place in a decent area with affordable rent. 


Kristin and I were discussing all the things we will need today for the move.  Apparently most places don't come equipped with a refrigerator, so we'll need to buy one of those.  We need a new couch pretty bad.  Our leather is wearing through a bit and I don't want to pay to transport couches that have less than a year across country.    Man, this is going to be an expensive move.