Monthly Archives: October 2012

Debate (or Making Politics More Fun)

Last night was another presidential debate. I’ll admit that I’m not the most educated person when it comes to politics, but I’m trying.

I’ve voted in each election that I could, and I do have some strong opinions on things. I’m not going to share those on here, but if you really care what I think, you can see my tweets.

Last night’s debate was the first time that I was home for the entire thing. And I was watching it while I kept twitter open. The tweets that were coming through were pretty damn funny.

Having twitter as a live commentator made the debate so much more fun and in some ways easier to follow. I did write some snarky tweets, but there were some things that were said that made me pretty mad.

I highly recommend that if you aren’t on twitter, get on there before the next debate next week. If you follow the hashtag #debate, you’ll be able to follow everyone who is talking about it. If you don’t know how to get on twitter and you want my help, let me know. I’m more than happy to help any of my readers.

No matter who you want to vote for, please vote. If you don’t, then you better not complain for the next 4 years.

Also, on a selfish note, I had a tweet go a little crazy last night. I’m pretty excited that something that I said got a lot of people talking. That’s just amazing and proves how interactive politics have become.

Happy Birthday Ross! (or Here Are Some Not So Embarrassing Pictures of My Brother)

Today is my brother’s birthday! I gave him his present (6 month subscription to Netflix), and now it’s time to embarrass him a little bit.

My brother and I have almost always gotten along (not sure if my parents have a different opinion on this). He and I are 14 months apart (and 2 grades apart when we were in school), so there wasn’t a big age difference or anything but we weren’t doing all the same things at the same time.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of me and my brother.

Here’s a photo from Ross’ 1st birthday (thanks Mom for the matchy-matchy outfits).

Hanging out in the backyard.

On vacation in Yosemite.

Ross graduating from Prospect High School.

Ross graduating from USC.

Ross graduating from Georgetown Medical School (I’ve gone to a lot of graduations for my brother!).

This is my brother’s last birthday as a single guy. He’s getting married next year in September. His fiancée is a great girl and I’m super happy for the two of them!

Happy Birthday Ross! I hope you have an awesome day today!

And since I don’t think you read my blog, I hope that someone (Mom and Krystle, I’m looking at you two) will tell you that I wrote this.

 

 

DJ Tanner and Lip Gloss (or Just Another Saturday in LA)

This past Saturday, I happened to have the day off from my main day job. I was going to do some random work for friends, but I pretty much had the day off.

I was checking twitter (you all know how much I love twitter) and I saw that Candace Cameron Bure was tweeting about how she was selling lip gloss for charity at her kid’s hockey game. I guess a bunch of people tweeted back at her saying that they wanted to buy lip gloss, so she tweeted out again that she was only selling them out of the back of her car and you had to be in LA to get some.

Well, I’m in LA and I really needed lip gloss for my friend’s wedding coming up, so I tweeted at her and asked if I could buy some. And I was so excited to get a tweet back saying yes!

So I headed down to where she was, and the whole time I was thinking how the younger me would be totally freaking out that I was about to meet DJ Tanner from “Full House”! I loved that show as a kid, and even now, when there is a rerun on tv, I’ll still watch.

I got down to the practice, tweeted at Candace that I was there, and she met me at the front to sell me the lip gloss! And I have to say that she is the sweetest person I’ve met. We had a really nice conversation, and then she suggested that we take a picture so I could tweet it out (I love that I didn’t have to ask to take a picture).

 

Not only is it a great picture, but I absolutely love the kid posing in the background!

I didn’t want to take up too much of Candace’s time, so we said goodbye and I headed to my personal organizer job that I had that afternoon.

And the lip gloss that I bought, it’s pretty great and I got some nice colors!

What I’m Listening To (or I’m Not A Music Person)

I spend a lot of time in my car. I work 6 days a week at one job, and I never know when I’ll be driving to an audition somewhere across town. I like driving (I get that from my mom). I don’t even mind traffic all the time.

I have a cable that I got installed in my car so I can play music from my iPhone through my stereo speakers. I love having this. But most of the things I listen to aren’t music.

I don’t particularly love music. If I have a visual memory tied to a song, I love it. So most of the music on my phone are soundtracks from musicals, tv shows, or movies.

But what I love listening to are podcasts. I’m obsessed with podcasts. And I’ve had some friends ask me in the past for some recommendations on podcasts, so I figured I’d put them all up here.

So here they are:

Entertainment Industry Related-

Inside Acting Podcast (yes I work from them now, but that just started so I’m not totally biased)

KCRW The Treatment

KCRW The Business

KCRW Film Reviews

KCRW Hollywood Breakdown

How I Met Your Mother Podcast

Making it With Riki Lindhome

News Related-

Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me

KCRW LA Observed

Educational Podcasts-

Grammar Girl

Modern Manners Guy

Money Girl

Nutrition Diva

Domestic CEO

And Just For Fun Podcasts-

Nerdist

Freakonomics

The Moth

Enjoying The Now (or Not Trying To Skip Ahead To The Good Parts)

As much as I want to think ahead to what might be in the future, I’m trying to focus on right now in my life.

The future is so uncertain in so many ways. As much as I want to think about how much weight I’ll have lost by my brother’s wedding, I have no idea what will happen so I need to focus on enjoying the weight I’ve lost so far.

I’m focusing on what’s coming up in the immediate future. My brother’s birthday and my friend’s wedding are both next week.

I love that Halloween is coming up this month. It’s really one of my favorite holidays. I used to work at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios (I’ll write about that some other time and include some pictures) and that just made my love for the holiday stronger. I only wish that stores would have Halloween stuff up.

I went to Bed Bath & Beyond recently to get my new scale, and this is the display that was at the front

 

Stores: stop skipping ahead holidays! I want to see what you have for Halloween and Thanksgiving before Hanukkah (although I appreciate that they did include it and not just have Christmas).

So even though the retail world (and probably some people) are focused 2 months ahead, I’m making a serious effort to focus on the now. I’m making a real effort to celebrate all the moments coming up. I’m making sure I take time to make some nice Halloween decorations and enjoy what October has for me.

And as far as the weight loss goes, it’s really tough for me to focus on what I’ve done now because my head likes to go crazy with what could be in the future. But I’m trying to look at the little things. Like how my clothes fit and stuff like that. Because it’s not a hard and fast thing like the numbers on the scale, I feel like it helps me not think 100 pounds ahead.

#140Characters (or How To See The Documentary That I Produced)

I love twitter. Honestly love it. Right now, the push notifications for my twitter app on my iPhone isn’t working and I’m getting crazy frustrated about that.

Over a year ago, a few friends and I got together and discussed how much we loved twitter and how it’s done some amazing things for people. And we decided to make a documentary about the positive power of twitter.

We worked really hard on it. We got some amazing people to share their story and we filmed a little bit of all of their lives.

And now, we are ready to share this amazing project with the world!

I’m super excited to share with all of you the first screening of “#140Characters: A Documentary About Twitter”.

(Our fabulous movie poster)

You are all welcome to attend the screening. It will be on October 30th and free tickets are available here.

If you’d like to check out our trailer, you can see that here.

Please feel free to share this information with anyone. We want to share this movie with the world.

I’m so proud of this project. I’m normally not behind the camera, but I feel so strongly about this subject that I had to be part of it.

Check out the trailer, get your free tickets (only free until Oct. 20th), and I hope that I’ll see a bunch of you there on the 30th!

 

Working Girl (or The Secrets of Day Jobs)

As much as I wish I could survive on the money I make from acting, right now, that isn’t a reality for me. Hopefully it will be in the future, but for now, I work a bunch of random jobs to pay the bills.

I have my main job which is working membership and ticket sales at a performing arts center on the westside. But that job is seasonal.  But right now, we have no idea when the season will be ending.

It’s put me in a weird spot. It seems like all of my co-workers seemed to have lined up other jobs already. But my other co-workers are not actors, so they don’t have the same issues with jobs that I do.

I need a job that pays enough but at the same time has the option of leaving for auditions or booked acting work when I have them. So many jobs in LA don’t want to hire actors for that reason. But I hate having to tell jobs that I’m going to the dentist/doctor/car repair shop in order to leave for auditions. This job lets me go and I’m not willing to lose that.

I’m lucky at my job now. I’ve also got my substitute teaching credential and the option to go back to the district I used to work for. I also do random side jobs like babysitting and personal organizing.

Why am I saying all of this? Because I find that actors are super secretive about their day jobs. I don’t know if they are embarrassed to say what they are doing or they just want you to believe that they are making their entire living on acting, but for a majority of actors that I know, I have no idea how they pay their bills.

There are some exceptions. I have a friend who works for Nielsen checking advertising before films and working at screenings. I have one friend who owns their own business and is very successful at it. I know of a few people who are waiters or temps. And there is the odd friend of mine who does make their entire living by acting, and they share how tough it can be for them.

When I was looking for a job earlier this year to get out of a bad job, I looked for so long. And I told everyone that I knew I was looking for work. But other actors seemed so guarded when it came to day jobs. Most people just told me that it’s hard to find a day job. No guidance into what types of jobs are best or anything. I don’t know why actors aren’t willing to help each other with this part of life. Maybe they don’t want other actors taking the types of work that they want?

But I believe in being fully honest about my life. I’ve discussed my credit card debit and my eating disorder. And I don’t want anyone to think that right now, I’m lucky enough to be able to not have a day job. I’m struggling with whether or not I need to be looking for a new job. I feel so lucky to have found the one I’m in right now, and I want to come back next year for another season. And I know that unemployment is always an option if necessary when the season does end for this job.

But I feel so lucky and grateful to have found such an actor-friendly day job, I wonder if I could get lucky again. The fear of having another bad day job is paralyzing. So for now, I’m sticking with my current job and trying to not let uncertainty get to me.

What I’ve Been Eating (or Does It Really Matter If I’m Still Under My Calories?)

If I’m being honest with you all (and myself), my food has not been too great lately. With my work schedule, there are only certain days that I can go to the grocery store. And when I did go this past week, I didn’t really feel like getting enough to last all the days it needed to.

I’ve had some fast food this week. When I don’t bring a lunch with me to work, that’s almost the only option. We only have 30 minutes and most of the restaurants near my work would take much longer than that.

Even though I’ve been eating some foods that I probably shouldn’t, I’m still tracking my calories in My Fitness Pal. And shockingly, I’m staying under my calorie goal most days. These calories are not the best to have, but I’m wondering if that matters.

I’m maintaining the weight loss that I had from both not being able to eat food and being sick. Sometimes, it will go up a pound or two, but I think that’s more from sodium than anything.

I don’t want to be stuck in this routine. It’s not good. But it’s tough to get out. I should have gone to the grocery store yesterday, but I didn’t. And tonight, I’m working until 9pm and I really hate going to the grocery store that late. Honestly, I probably won’t make it to the store until Wednesday.

So I have to figure out what I’ll do for lunch today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. Dinner for tonight and tomorrow most likely will be Subway. Subway is my go-to place and since I get a veggie sandwich, I know I’ll get my vegetable servings in for the day. But lunch is the tricky meal. Since I eat lunch at 4:30, my body isn’t always hungry. But if I don’t eat then, I’ll feel faint by 9pm.

I wish I could write that I have a great plan figured out for this week, but I don’t. I’m probably going to have fast food again. But all I can do is track the calories and work as hard as possible to stay under my numbers for the day.

Yogurt Banana Blueberry Bread (or Another Yummy Easy Recipe)

I’m not the biggest baker. I feel like people are bakers or cooks. I’m totally more of a cook. But there are some things that I bake well (like my brownies).

I found this recipe on Daily Garnish and only changed some minor things.

Here is the recipe for Yogurt Banana Blueberry Bread

What You’ll Need:

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup Cane Sugar

2 Ripe Bananas

1 Tsp Vanilla

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt (I like non-fat)

1 Cup Blueberries (frozen not recommended)

What To Do:

Preheat the oven to 350

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.

In another bowl, mash up the bananas until they are gooey and liquid-like.

Add the sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the mashed up bananas.

Add the greek yogurt to the liquid mix and whisk until everything is combined and there are no lumps left.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix until just combined.

Fold in the blueberries. I found that the frozen ones end up adding too much extra liquid, so if you go that way, make sure to defrost and drain the frozen blueberries before mixing them in.

Pour the batter into a greased pan. I’ve made this both in a loaf pan and an 8×8 square pan. I now prefer the square pan. You can also cut the bread into cute little squares that way.

Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour. This depends on what you bake it in and how accurate your oven is. You will know it’s done when the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

When it’s done baking, let it cool for at least 15 minutes before trying to cut it.

This bread is so yummy and you don’t even taste the greek yogurt in it. But what I like about adding it in is it does add a little protein. It also helps keep it super moist.

And a tip if you freeze bananas when they are beyond ripe. Peel the bananas before you freeze them. It will make your life so much easier. It is almost impossible to peel a frozen banana.

Hope you all enjoy this bread and thanks to Daily Garnish for creating the recipe!

Nerves vs. Excitement (or How to Think Positively)

In my acting class on Tuesday night, I heard some advice that I’ve heard previously. But for some reason this was the time that the advice really stuck with me.

Nerves are just excitement that is labeled negatively.

This advice come from Jack Plotnick (you can read the whole story that goes along with that advice here).

This advice is perfect for my acting career. I don’t always get nervous for auditions. When the part seems so far away from who I am or what I look like, I don’t worry at all. But when the part I’m reading for sounds just like me and I fit the physical description perfectly, I’m usually a bundle of nerves.

But this advice also works out perfectly for the weight loss journey that I’m on right now. I’m so nervous if this will work this time. Ever other time I’ve lost 100 pounds (and there have been a few times), I’ve done it on some crazy diet plan like the Zone food delivery or on the RFO plan. But this time, I’m doing it the right way. I’m exercising more and being careful what I eat.

One thing that I’ve kept with me from my RFO days is how to figure out how many calories you need to be at any weight. The standard is 10 calories for every pound. So if you want to weigh 130 pounds, you have to have an average of 1300 calories a day. You can eat more if you burn calories exercising, but your daily average is 10 calories per pound.  But within the RFO program, there was a way to figure out our exact numbers. And I only get to have 9.3 calories per pound.

I’m not at the calories right now that I would have to be at to maintain the weight that I hope to be at. That seems a bit too low for me now. So I’m slowly working my way down to that. Once the number of calories I eat every day seems to be ok, I’ll drop my number by 50 calories.

I’m incredibly nervous that I’m never going to like this again:

But now I am going to think how excited I’m going to be when I get closer to my goal. I’m going to be excited to put on clothes that used to fit that now live in a storage bag under my bed. I’m excited to see what the future has in store for me.