Tag Archives: class

Starting To Plan Some Next Steps (or Researching Classes and Looking At My Schedule)

Posted on January 27, 2023 | Comments Off on Starting To Plan Some Next Steps (or Researching Classes and Looking At My Schedule)

I really want to get back into my acting career this year. I’ve been way too passive about things lately and I know I need to stop doing that. I was using the pandemic as an excuse at first, but I know now that isn’t really the reality of the situation anymore. Things aren’t completely back to how they were before, but they are almost there and I need to get back to pursuing my acting career that I did before as well.

Because it’s been a while since I’ve really been working hard at my career, I do have to restart a few things and make sure that I have the best situation as possible for various things. I’m going to look for a new agent, which will require making sure I’ve got a nice new headshot and demo reel to use when I submit myself to agencies. I also know that having new headshots will help when I’m submitted for work. Most jobs will come through my agent (whether it’s the one I have now or a new one if I change agents), so I won’t be submitting myself as much as I did before. But I still plan on continuing to submit myself for work because that’s one of the few things I can control about this career.

The photographer that I used most recently for headshots is no longer in LA. Another photographer I’ve used before is still here, so I may see her again. But I’ve been looking into new photographers in case I find someone new that I’d like to work with who I feel could get some great shots. I know getting my materials updated is important, but I also think that planning is the easier part for me. I just have to decide when I want to do the photos and book them. But there are other things that I’m trying to get ready for and that’s taking more effort.

I haven’t been in a formal acting class in a while. I miss being in class, but before I had my current job it was harder for me to find a class that worked with my budget. There were a few affordable classes I tried to get into, but they usually had a lot of interest and I wasn’t picked to be in the class when I auditioned for it. And I wasn’t really sure what type of class I wanted to be in since I’ve done a bunch in the past and I have liked the different focuses and couldn’t pick either a favorite or one that I felt I really needed to focus on more.

Now that I have the ability to spend money on classes again, I’ve been trying to do some more serious and specific research. I’ve been asking my friends who are enjoying their classes where they are studying so I can look into those teachers a bit more. Some of them aren’t a good fit for me or have a focus on something I’m not interested in (some classes, for example, focus on both directing and acting and I don’t have an interest in directing). But I’ve started to build a short list of some classes that do seem to be good fits for me, at least when considering the focus and the price. There are a few that aren’t super close to where I live, so it would be harder to get to them.

And then I have to consider my schedule. A lot of classes are during the day, and I can’t do those unless they were a 1-hour class on Zoom and I could do that on my lunch break. But classes typically are longer than that, so daytime classes wouldn’t work. And I’m not always free every evening so there are only so many nights a week that I could potentially go to a class.

Finding the perfect class or classes for me is going to take time when I consider all the different factors. I’m not in a rush to get into a class, but I do want to get a plan going sooner rather than later since I know how easily time can just slip by. I hope that it won’t take too long for me to find the perfect match with all the different things I have to work with and around. And maybe with all this research, I’ll have a good list of classes to consider in the future once I’m ready for a different class option.

Even though I won’t see results from this research right away, I’m glad I got started on it already since this will all take time. And hopefully, by the end of the year, I will feel like I have accomplished so much more with my acting career than I have in the past few years.

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Default ThumbnailNew Things To Think About With My Acting Career (or I Need To Plan Things More) Default ThumbnailI Should Start Focusing On Acting Again (or It’s Been A Crazy Few Years) Default ThumbnailFiguring Out The Next Step (or I Need To Keep Acting) Default ThumbnailThe New TV Season (or Starting My Research Early This Year) Default ThumbnailMasterClass (or Another Online Community) Default ThumbnailFinally Back To A Full Work Schedule (or I Really Do Like Having A Stable Schedule)

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New Things To Think About With My Acting Career (or I Need To Plan Things More)

Posted on October 19, 2022 | Comments Off on New Things To Think About With My Acting Career (or I Need To Plan Things More)

I’ve written several times about how I want to get back into acting more. Things really came to a standstill for me the past few years, but I also used that time to get things a bit more settled in my life. I’m in a better place financially, which is important since so many things with acting cost money. And I think having a little bit of a break did help me really think about what I want to do and how I want to accomplish it.

I still want to get back into taking an acting class and have been looking into some options near me. I haven’t found one that fits in with my schedule or that I like yet, but I’m making an effort to find something because I know it would be good for me. I also miss the camaraderie you have being in a regular class. But because I have limited time after work and classes can be expensive, I don’t want to join one just to be in a class. I want to make sure I’m in a class that fits my needs as well as a class where I fit in with the others in the group. There have been a few people who have talked about starting up our own casual scene study class, and if one of those happens it might be a good match for me since they tend to be less expensive and very supportive. But since I don’t know if or when those might happen, I’m still looking into more traditional classes as well. And hopefully, I’ll find something that works for me soon.

I also know that I might need to start looking for a new agent. This is a longer thing I need to think about, but I’m not sure if my current situation is the best one for me or if I’m the best client for them. I know that with the pandemic, things have been weird. So I want to start conversations with my agent again before making any decisions because it’s not easy to find a new agent. And just like how I feel about classes, I don’t want to make any rash decisions. This is something that might take a lot of time to figure out, and I’m not in any rush.

But whether or not I want to look for a new agent, one thing I know I need to do is get new headshots. And I’ve been saying this for a while and I haven’t done it yet. I’ve talked to a few friends who are photographers to figure out who I’d like to take photos with, but now I’m realizing I might need to plan this out better too. There’s no guarantee the new medication will help me lose weight, but if I’m lucky it will make a difference for me. And if I lose weight, I will need to keep getting new headshots because my look will be changing. Headshots are not cheap (or cheap headshots are not usually good), so this is another thing that really has to be thought about. If I do new headshots now and then need new ones in a month or two, that can be expensive. Maybe I need to keep the ones I have for now until my appearance is different enough and then finally do the new ones. And maybe I can make a plan with a photographer friend to have sessions with fewer looks if I will be doing them more frequently. For example, if they normally offer a 4-look session, maybe I could split it into 2 sessions and pay a little bit more than half each time. I haven’t asked anyone yet because I want to have a better plan in mind before asking.

All of these things are things I feel I need in order to get my acting career off again. I know that I could still get auditions and book work with the headshots I have now and through my current agent. But I also know that having outdated headshots aren’t helping me much. Plus, I have used those headshots for a while now so a refresh would be nice and something different for casting directors to see when I’m submitted for roles.

I’m not going to let not doing these things stop me from continuing to pursue acting, but I also know that I’m probably not going to have a lot of success without them either. So I need to make a plan, even if it’s a 1 or 2 year plan, and get back into things with a purpose. I have been putting this off enough, and I can at least take the first few steps toward making these changes and then get into them more when the timing is right.

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Default ThumbnailI Should Start Focusing On Acting Again (or It’s Been A Crazy Few Years) Default ThumbnailBack To Basics (or How A Win At My Day Job Can Help My Acting Career) Default ThumbnailFiguring Out The Next Step (or I Need To Keep Acting) Default ThumbnailJob vs. Career (or Being Undercover At My Day Job) Default ThumbnailAudition Prep (or Taking My Career Seriously) Default ThumbnailBeing Proactive (or Bringing Acting To Me)

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Another Speaker Series Night (or Watching Obama)

Posted on October 12, 2021 | Comments Off on Another Speaker Series Night (or Watching Obama)

I’ve been lucky to get to watch the San Jose Speaker Series a few times because my parents had an extra ticket. Right now, the series is still virtual, so they can watch from wherever they are in the world and I’m able to watch from LA. I know that one day it will be in-person again and I won’t be able to enjoy these. But I’m grateful that I get to do so now. And when my parents were here about a month ago, they showed me the upcoming series and I immediately saw one that I was interested in getting their extra ticket if they had it.

I knew that I wouldn’t necessarily get the extra ticket since sometimes my parents give them to a friend, but I asked if I could have it if they had it available.  And when the lecture was coming up this past week, my dad let me know that it was mine if I wanted it! And of course, I said that I did!

I’ve learned from the few times I’ve watched these lectures about how to make it the best setup for me. It’s done over Zoom, and it’s best if I run it through my laptop and then use AirPlay to send it to my AppleTV. And I also learned from the past to double and triple check the start time so I don’t miss the beginning of it. I also set an alert on my calendar so I wouldn’t miss the start time. Thankfully, this time things went a lot smoother for me with setting everything up so I was ready to watch and sitting on my couch with a little bit of time to spare!

The only negative for me this time was that I was feeling pretty nauseous that day so I wasn’t as focused on watching as I could have been. I did try to time out my medications so I would be feeling my best while watching, but I was distracted by feeling sick and I know that I missed parts of what President Obama said.

But even with feeling sick and missing some parts of it, I really enjoyed this lecture! President Obama had some fun stories to share about his time as president and his life in politics. And I appreciated how he was honest about things that were tough for him during his presidency and where he might have been able to improve. I think admitting flaws or imperfections is a positive character trait because it shows you can grow from your past.

I do wish these lectures were recorded because I would love to watch them again and see what I missed. And I know that because of other distractions in my life that I had moments when I zoned out. Even though I really tried to focus, sometimes my mind wanders. And if I could rewatch this then I could see the parts that I missed the first time.

I’m still so grateful that my parents let me have their extra ticket for this. President Obama was the first speaker for this new series, so maybe I’ll get a chance to watch another one this season. And I’m guessing that after this season, as long as things are safer, the next season will be back to in-person so I won’t have this same opportunity. But I’ve been enjoying them, even when things aren’t always going my way, and I’m going to appreciate whatever lectures I can watch even if this was my last one.

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Default ThumbnailAnother Speaker Series Evening (or I Really Should Read Emails) Default ThumbnailA Night Of Learning (or Watching A Lecture Online) Default ThumbnailWatching History Happen (or Actually Enjoying A Political Morning) Default ThumbnailBig Musical Instead of Big Game (or Another Sunday Night Out) Default ThumbnailA Night Of SAG Awards (or Watching Union Unity) Default ThumbnailAnother Night Of Debate Watching (or Trying To Have Some Fun With This)

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Another Night At Hipcooks (or I’m On Fire!)

Posted on January 11, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Night At Hipcooks (or I’m On Fire!)

My first experience at Hipcooks was a few months ago. I was very lucky to be invited to check out a class and I had the best time! But that class was a bit weird for me because it was the morning after I had to force a friend to check into a hospital for being suicidal. As much as I wanted to focus on the class, I know I was distracted and not totally there. I still had an amazing time, but I couldn’t wait to take another class so I could feel completely involved in the experience.

The classes at Hipcooks are amazing and I’d take a class every week or so if I could (I am looking at their volunteer assistant opportunities so I can be in classes for free), but anything that isn’t essential isn’t in my budget right now. So I was so grateful when my friend Dani invited me to check out a class that she was teaching! She was going to be teaching another cocktails class so it would be similar to the one I went to before. But it was all new recipes and drinks so it was totally different. As soon as she invited me to her class, I said yes because I knew there was no way I was going to miss it!

The first class I went to was in West LA very close to where I live. This time, I went to their class in the art district near downtown LA. I gave myself plenty of time to drive there because of traffic, and I got there nice and early. They have a ton of free parking at that location which is amazing, so once I parked I headed over to the class to relax before everything started.

The space is very similar to the one I went to before. They have the same set-up for the cooking with the semi-circle table so everyone in class is working together.

And there was the big table for us to sit at to learn the different cocktails we were going to make and to enjoy the food we prepared.

The cocktail class I took last time was more of a summer themed class with lighter drinks and food. This time, the class was a winter themed cocktail class and we had food and drinks that had different holiday spices.

When I was a bit distracted in class last time, I was able to put my focus on taking photos of everything that we were doing. I loved being able to share photos of things we made and I was hoping to do the same this time. But I guess the more involved in the class I am, the less likely I am to take any photos! I took a few photos of things while we were making them, but they don’t show the finished product.

So you’ll just have to read the about what we made. For food we made glazed walnuts, gorgonzola stuffed apples, pears with Manchego wrapped in prosciutto, mushroom and goat cheese empanadas, croustade cups with salmon, seared beef on parmesan crisps, and spiced cookies. And for the drinks, we made a rosemary pomegranate gin fizz, a winter dark and stormy, mulled wine, a new fashioned, and a hot apple pie. All of the food and all of the drinks were so good! And even though I don’t really drink, I did try all of the drinks we made and I really liked the gin fizz! I don’t normally like gin, but this was really good and I could see making it for a party!

While I didn’t get that many photos of the food, I did get one amazing photo. The benefit of being more attentive and involved in the class is that I got to do some really fun things. For the glazed walnuts, we added alcohol and got to flambé the pan. There were 3 pans going and Dani demonstrated with the first one. The second one was done by someone else in class and the didn’t quite get it to burn in a really spectacular way.

Then it was my turn. I know I’m not a great cook and doing anything with fire can be scary, but I wanted to see if I could do it. Thankfully, I asked one of the other instructors to take photos of me while I did this because I think I got one of the greatest photos of me ever!

I thought I wouldn’t be as terrified as I was, but it was scary when it started going. After the initial shock and I started to move the pan around, it got easier and I was so proud of myself for doing it. It’s not something I would need to do in normal cooking (or would probably do in my own tiny kitchen), but it’s nice to know I have this skill if I ever get the chance to do it.

I also was involved in a lot of the other dishes including helping to shape the parmesan crisps into tacos and bowls after coming out of the oven. Everyone in class was working together so nicely and we had a really fun and silly mood in the room. The last class I was at probably was like that as well, but I just wasn’t totally there. This time I got to enjoy how nice it is to be in a cooking class where everyone is just having the best time.

I was a bit sad when class was done because I just had the greatest time! Dani was an awesome teacher and I’m so proud of her. She is new to teaching and I think she did so great and I know that she’s just going to get better as she continues to teach. And I know that I want to take more of her classes because it’s always fun to be in a class with friends, even if they are your teacher.

I hope that I get another chance to take a class at Hipcooks soon. Both of the times I’ve gone I have had an incredible time and have left feeling empowered. Cooking is something that still makes me a bit nervous to mess up, but Hipcooks class emphasizes having fun and trying new things. I know I need to do that more often not just in cooking but in my life.

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Default ThumbnailMagic Castle Fun (or Girls Night Out) Default ThumbnailCooking At Hipcooks (or Remembering Cooking Doesn’t Have To Be Hard) Default ThumbnailMargaritas and Mexican Food (or Girls Night Out!) Default ThumbnailA Concert, Film Premiere, And A Fire Pit (or The Best Saturday Evening Ever!) Default ThumbnailBook Of Mormon and Marrow (or Another Night Out At The Pantages) Default ThumbnailA Tasting And Theater Night (or Enjoying A Fun Night Out)

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Auditioning For Class (or When Rejection Is Really A Win)

Posted on November 13, 2018 | Comments Off on Auditioning For Class (or When Rejection Is Really A Win)

It has been a while since I’ve been in an acting class. And it’s been even longer since I’ve been in an ongoing regular acting class. I’ve struggled to find a new acting class that I wanted to be in for a long time. Part of it is financial and part of it is finding someone I connect with as much as my acting coach who passed away. But I know that I should be in class because it’s always a good thing to work on your skills. So I have looked into a few different classes to see if there are any that seem to be a good match for me.

A friend of mine told me about an acting class that she is in (I’m not saying the name just to keep things a bit discrete). It’s an ongoing class that meets once a week to work on scripts. You can bring in a script you need to prepare for an audition or work on random material in class. But what is so special about the class is that there is no teacher or coach. It is a group of 12 actors that work together supporting each other. Everyone is a teacher and a student at the same time.

When she told me about this class originally, it sounded really amazing to me. I love the idea of a collaborative class where everyone is an equal. And not only did the class sound great, it was one of the cheaper classes out there because they only had to pay for the rental of the space they used. They hold auditions to join the group once or twice a year, whenever one of the 12 members is leaving the class. Sometimes they have 1 space, sometimes they have more than one. But it’s always a very limited number of spaces open when they have auditions.

My friend told me about the auditions about a month ago so I could check my schedule, and the actual audition was last week. We were given a script to work on and present to the group. Then after we did our scene there was an interview portion where the current members of the group could ask me questions. It’s so important with a small collaborative group like this that everyone gets along, so I understood why they had to do an interview along with the audition.

I don’t want to make excuses for myself, but I did not have my best audition. I was dealing with some nausea and cramps that evening. I’ve been lucky over the past 2 years because I haven’t really had any auditions on my bad days. But this time, I did have that. And because I wasn’t feeling myself, I was struggling with keeping the lines memorized. Again, I don’t want to make excuses for myself because I now know I need to work harder at being extra memorized to be prepared in case I have to audition on a bad day. But it still was unfortunate that I felt pretty bad after I finished my audition.

I felt much more confident during the interview. The questions were things that I was expecting like if I could commit to the time the class was held, if I was ok with how much the class cost, and what I would bring to a group like this. I tried to answer as openly and honestly as I could without rambling too much. I was very conscious about making my answers solid and quick so I didn’t seem unsure of my answers. I was actually much more prepared for the interview part and was expecting much harder questions, so when it was done I was almost shocked that it was over.

When I left, I told my friend I was sorry that my audition was bad. I knew it wasn’t great, but she let me know that it was good and that I did a great job. But she also let me know the next day that I didn’t get accepted into the group. It wasn’t a surprise to me (I would have been surprised if I did get into the group) and she gave me some notes about what the others thought. The main thing was that because I wasn’t as memorized as other people, I didn’t appear to be as prepared. It was actually good to hear that because I knew that was an issue. I was happy it wasn’t an issue I wasn’t already aware of.

Although I would have loved to have gotten into the class, I know that I can audition again the next time there is an opening. And I plan on doing just that and making sure I work even harder on my audition. I now know what to expect when I go into the room so I will be more prepared than I was last week. And hopefully I won’t have the audition on a bad day.

But even with being rejected from the class, I had the best time at this audition! Any time I get to act is an amazing day and brings me so much joy! This is how I know I’m on the right career path right now. Being rejected from an acting class is still better than my best day at my day job. And I have gotten good at rejection from auditions and other acting related experiences. It’s a part of this career and I am glad that I don’t let rejection affect me or make me question if I’m not supposed to do this.

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Cooking At Hipcooks (or Remembering Cooking Doesn’t Have To Be Hard)

Posted on September 12, 2018 | Comments Off on Cooking At Hipcooks (or Remembering Cooking Doesn’t Have To Be Hard)

I’ve written about my struggles with cooking on here several times before. I will probably never understand why cooking is something tough for me to prioritize and do more often, but realizing it may be a struggle for forever has helped me feel a bit better about it. I don’t think I’m a bad cook and I do like cooking, I just don’t do it.

Even though this has been something I’ve struggled to do more often, I’ve never really taken a cooking class to help to motivate me or make cooking more fun. So when my friend Dani asked me if I wanted to join her at Hipcooks for a class, I said yes to see what cooking classes are like there. Dani is a volunteer at Hipcooks, which means that she helps clean up during classes. But she can still participate and she earns free classes by volunteering. And for the summer cocktails and infusions class she was also told that she could have a friend come with her. So I got to check it out for free!

The location is actually very close to my house. I could have walked over if I wanted to, but I decided to drive so I didn’t have to walk home in the dark. And as soon as I got there, I noticed that everything was set up to have everyone work together. I imagined it would be individual stations where people learn to do things, but it was a much more collaborative class. Where we did most of the cooking was around a semi-circle station where the teacher was in the middle and we were all around.

And the table where we would be eating and making cocktails was a big square table. It has the feeling of being a party more than a class.

There was also a menu with all the food and drinks we would be making in class.

While I’m not a big drinker (and I hadn’t really had a drink since my birthday party last year), I was excited to learn how to make different cocktails. I knew that even if I didn’t drink for a long time, a bunch of the drinks could probably be made without alcohol. And they would be new skills that I was going to be learning.

The class had 8 people not counting the instructors and Dani so it felt small but we could also have little groups to work on different things. The cooking at Hipcooks is a collaborative effort and everyone gets to work on different things. For example, I was working on the bruschetta with another student in class while other people worked on a salad and a tart.

The bruschetta was an easy process. The instructor toasted the bread and I took a clove of garlic and rubbed it on the bread. Then we covered that in mascarpone cheese and layered sliced figs and prosciutto on it. It was so easy to do but looked impressive which is the best!

What I loved the best about this class was that there were no recipes and no measuring tools. The idea is that cooking is fun and doesn’t have to be perfect and I love that idea! When we were making wontons we were filling them with goat cheese and avocado. We were just told to fill them and as long as we could seal them closed it was fine. We didn’t have to worry about making sure everything was measured out and precise. It made everything easy and relaxing.

Since the class was a mix of cooking and cocktails we went back and forth between the cooking area and the table where we mixed drinks. The square table had different stations for us to work in for making cocktails and we all worked with a partner. I was partnered up with someone who was in class alone as well and we worked together making the different drinks.

We learned how to do a proper pour of alcohol, how to muddle herbs and fruit, and how to shake a drink using a shaker. I took sips of everything we made and some of them are drinks I know that I would totally make another time.

While we were having our drinks, we also got to eat some of the food we made. The instructor did some of the finishing work or baking things that needed to be baked, but most of the work was done by the students in class.

We went back and forth between cooking and making drinks a few times, but I liked that because it split things up nicely. I never felt like we were making drinks for too long or cooking for so long that I forgot what we made. The class was 3 hours long, but it really felt like it flew by. And although I wasn’t in the most social mood while in class, I did chat with everyone who was there and had a great time. I had a lot weighing on my mind while I was there, and it helped me to put that out of my mind for a bit and have some fun.

I also loved how the group came together over the course of the class. While 4 people in the group were friends and there was another group of 2 friends, but we didn’t all know each other when we started. But at the end of class, it really felt like we were one big group and that we weren’t a collection of strangers in a class together. It was really nice and exactly what I needed when I was not in the best head space.

I seriously loved this class! Not only were the things we made awesome, it really proved to me how flexible cooking can be and helped to take away some of the feelings of needing to be perfect that I know I’ve had when cooking in the past. I’m looking at taking some other classes there since they have so many different types. And I’m also looking into maybe volunteering there so I can do some free classes!

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Audition Prep (or Taking My Career Seriously)

Posted on September 14, 2017 | Comments Off on Audition Prep (or Taking My Career Seriously)

I’ve felt a bit out of the acting game lately. Doing all the work with SAG–AFTRA does help, but it’s not the same as auditioning and working. Unfortunately, I don’t control when I get auditions or work so I have to just be grateful for when I get those opportunities.

Last week, I got an email from a casting director that I know socially but have never had the chance to audition for. They had a script with a character that they thought I’d be right for and they wanted to know if I was interested in auditioning. This was the first time this happened to me and it was really exciting! I wanted to say yes right away, but I also wanted to make sure I read the script. I did, I loved it, and I told them that I would love to audition! So it was set up through my agents and I got my scene to prepare for the audition.

I’m lucky with the auditions I normally get. They rarely are 1 or 2 line parts that are actually tougher to audition for because you can’t do too much. I get bigger auditions that have pages of dialogue to work with. When I have those bigger auditions, I have started to use an audition coach. As much as I know I can work on the audition on my own, it’s so much better to have some feedback.

But I’ve never used a coach for the smaller auditions. But for this audition, I really wanted to be as prepared as possible and to take things seriously. I need to make sure I maximize each audition chance I get, and this time I felt a little extra pressure because I know this casting director as a friend but he doesn’t really know me as an actor. Plus, since I was asked if I wanted an audition versus just getting an audition made it feel extra special and like I needed to be the best I could be.

I’ve got a few audition coaches that I know and that I’ve worked with before. So I sent out some emails to see who was available and could help me out. And I’m so lucky that Marci Liroff was able to help me! I’ve auditioned for Marci a couple of times in the past and I also took her audition bootcamp class a few years ago. So she knows my abilities as an actor and I know that I work well with her when she’s coaching me and guiding me into working a script.

I went to meet with her this Monday and it was exactly what I needed to do to get ready for my audition. I was apologizing for asking for coaching on such a small part (the audition scene is only about 6 lines), but she reassured me that it is totally fine and actually it is good to get coaching on auditions of any size. That made me feel so much better. I didn’t want to feel like I needed the help, but that I was using the help to improve what I can already do. And that was the sense that I was getting from Marci when I was meeting with her.

We started out with doing the scene simply and built it up from there. I had made a strong character choice but as we worked on it we realized that it wasn’t the right choice. Those are the sort of things you can only find out if you are working with a coach or someone else. You don’t get the same reactions if you are working on your own because you need someone to bounce things off of. We also practiced in what is closer to an audition setting with me walking in so I could get the flow of things down.

I had walked into the coaching session feeling like I had made a strong character choice but wasn’t feeling too certain about things. After working on the script with Marci for less than an hour, I felt super confident about how I was interpreting things and that I could feel that way in the audition room too. It’s amazing how powerful audition coaching can be and how it really does change how I felt before going into the audition.

I really think that I need to do coaching for my auditions from now on no matter how big or small the part is. Getting to work on the script is good, but just spending some time working is even better. The time I was working with Marci felt like being in class (it pretty much is like a private acting class) and it did make me happy getting to do that. It’s not free to get coaching, but it’s not outrageously expensive either. And if this is what I do as an acting class type thing, it’s cheaper for audition coaching than an ongoing class. I would like to be in class again one day, but right now the timing isn’t right.

But besides how getting audition coaching makes me feel, it’s also a sign of looking at my auditions more seriously. I take my career seriously, but if I’m being honest with myself I probably could have been taking it more seriously before. I don’t think that getting coaching before auditions I’ve had in the past would have necessarily changed anything, but I’ll never know. But from now on, I’m going to take each audition as seriously as I would for a series regular during pilot season and hopefully I can do coaching before as many of them as possible.

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A Podcast Hangout (or Observing A Vocal Class)

Posted on August 30, 2016 | Comments Off on A Podcast Hangout (or Observing A Vocal Class)

This past weekend the podcast I work for hosted an event for our members and listeners. I love that through the podcast not only have a made so many amazing friends, but I’ve found a community of actors who are really supportive and are not just waiting for the phone to ring with their next audition. They are out and creating work and that’s partly what inspired me to try to work on creating my own work as well.

Our events in the past have been hikes, parties, and lots of fun social gatherings. This time the event was a vocal class with my friend Darci Monet. I love that we were able to do an event that is education! Darci is an amazing singer and teacher, and I met her through Marie and Chris (and that group of friends). I know several friends who have taken vocal lessons from Darci and they have all said the most wonderful things about her as a teacher. So we asked if she wouldn’t mind doing a free class for the podcast and she agreed!

We hosted our event at Acting Up Network, which was a very lucky find for us. I learned about Acting Up when I was dropping off some donations for my friend Dea after her house burned down. Jodie, who owns Acting Up, was collecting donations for Dea at her studio and I got to check it out. It’s such an amazing location and space and Jodie was super generous to donate the space to us to use! If any of you are looking for some great acting classes (or need a space to rent for classes you are running), I highly recommend talking to Jodie about Acting Up!

The vocal class we had wasn’t that big, but I think that might have been best. Everyone who wanted to sing had the chance to get up to sing and have Darci give some pointers or work with them on one or two things that she noticed. It was really great to watch Darci work with people because you could really see people gaining confidence in their singing or improve something that they had been working on. Watching the results happen right in front of us was fun and I’m glad that everybody there got to leave with something new to work on.

I didn’t sing (I’m tone-deaf and have been told by other vocal coaches that because of that I’m not that teachable), but I may take a lesson with Darci to see what she says. She believes that pretty much anybody can learn to sing, so maybe there is some hope for me. I don’t feel like I need to sing (I don’t really like music that much), but it would be nice to be able to carry a tune a bit and not to sound like a cat being strangled when I try.

Our class lasted about 2 hours, and while that is longer than the typically class I think it worked out really well for everyone there. We didn’t feel rushed at all and everyone could take their time to calm their nerves before singing. Even though I would have loved to have more podcast listeners there, I love that we had a small and really supportive group for everyone who was there.

We are hoping to do more and more events like this for the podcast. It’s really important as actors that we work on new special skills or make sure that we are keeping up with the ones that we already have on our resumes. I think we are planning on a few other classes coming up that will be about special skills like singing soon and I can’t wait to see what they are! And if you are interested in doing those I highly recommend signing up for our mailing list and also becoming a member!

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Taking A Run Class (or Proof I’m Faster and Stronger)

Posted on August 23, 2016 | Comments Off on Taking A Run Class (or Proof I’m Faster and Stronger)

Like I mentioned yesterday, I technically did 4 workouts last week. My Saturday workout wasn’t a regular class at Orangetheory, but instead one of the special classes they offer for members from time to time. This time, it was a 1 hour running class. So instead of the hour being split between cardio and weights, it was cardio only.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t feeling too sure about signing up. I actually didn’t sign up until Friday because I was going back and forth if I should do it. But there was one space left when I was there on Friday and I saw that as I sign that I was supposed to go. I had already talked to the coach, Dana, about it and she said that I could do it as a run/walk without too many issues.

While working on Saturday before the class, I was thinking that I made a huge mistake. I knew I couldn’t back out, but I was having some serious regrets. But I decided to try to have a positive mindset and hope for the best (similar to how I was feeling for the Dri-Tri). And by the time it was time for me to drive over to take the class, I was feeling a bit better about things.

I knew that there would be endurance, strength, and power work during the hour, but I wasn’t sure how it would go and was a little nervous that I wouldn’t know how to split things between running and walking. So when class started, I jumped on my favorite treadmill (number 11) and was walking to warm up.

The first thing we had during the class was endurance work which was really more like speed work. The plan was to try to bump up our base pace and push pace each time, but I knew speed work wasn’t what I needed. So for all the 90 second push paces, I ran at the speed I’m comfortable running at (pretty much between 4.5 and 5.0 mph). I walked during all of the base paces, but was able to run for all of the 90 second pushes.

Our next work was timed distances. The first thing we had to do was .25 miles, which I knew I could do. But since I knew I could do it, this time I did want to try to bump up my speed to see if I could get a bit faster. I was able to get my time down below 3 minutes (2:53 to be exact) and was feeling super exhausted and out of breath after that. We were supposed to then do .5 miles for time, but I knew I couldn’t run that and to run/walk it was going to be very tough because of how much I pushed it with the .25 mile. So I just walked it at an incline and tried to calm my heart rate down a bit.

Our next segment was strength, which is all hill work. I’m not ok with running on hills really, so I did this entire segment as a walk. I tried to keep my inclines up higher than normal, but I’m really having trouble doing anything beyond 12% incline. But this part went by pretty quickly for me so I’m glad that I didn’t have to just walk for too long.

One of the last segments was power work. This was short push to all out paces. Some of them were at inclines, but below 4% which isn’t too bad for me (4% is considered flat road for power walkers). For all the push to all outs, I ran everything. I did walk during the walking recovery, but I know that I ran a lot more than I have ever so that was pretty awesome.

To finish up the run class, we had a mile challenge. We had 8 or 9 minutes to get it done, and I knew I wasn’t feeling ok to do an entire mile (nor could I finish in that time). So I decided that I was going to push myself to do a half mile as a run/walk with 1 minute runs and 1 minute walks. This is the pace I feel like I might be able to do for my next 5K, so I really want to work on feeling more comfortable with this pattern and get my endurance up. It wasn’t easy considering how much work I had already done, but I was able to get it done and felt pretty great that I finished!

We had to keep starting and stopping our treadmills, but I knew I’d want to know my distance so every time we stopped I got a picture. And here’s what I ended up doing within the hour.

OTF Run Day

That’s 3.55 miles in 56:36! To put things in perspective, my last 5K was about 20 seconds slower than the class was and I did almost .5 miles more! That’s way more improvement than I would have expected! Since we had the treadmill segments broken up, I have no clue what time it was when I got to 3.1 miles but I still know that I am faster!

After class was done, I was so happy that I decided to go for it. It was not easy and there were times in the middle that I questioned doing it, but I know that I need to push myself like this. It’s only going to make me stronger and faster in all aspects of my life. While I’m still nervous about my next 5K, I’m feeling slightly better that it’s not going to be impossible and that I can at least run/walk part of it!

I’m hoping to start doing some non-Orangetheory run practice soon. I need to figure out a safe time for me to be running on the running path near my house (so during the daylight but not when it’s too hot). The more practice I can get in, the better! And this class was a great way to get that practice started!

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Default ThumbnailStill Taking This A Bit Easy (or Not Going To Push Too Hard) Default ThumbnailMore Running! (or Gaining Endurance) Default ThumbnailTaking It Easy (or Trying Not To Be Hard On Myself) Default ThumbnailProof Of My Progress (or I Am Doing Better) Default ThumbnailHomework and Other Work (or Taking My Class Seriously) Default ThumbnailStronger And Stronger (or Week 7 Is Done!)

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Figuring Out The Next Step (or I Need To Keep Acting)

Posted on August 4, 2016 | Comments Off on Figuring Out The Next Step (or I Need To Keep Acting)

As soon as I finished the shoot for “Single Parent Date Night”, I got the feeling that I had been missing out on acting for far too long. I’ve had auditions from time to time (I wish I had more but I understand that sometimes that’s out of my control) and I was in my improv class last year. And of course I have my meetings with my WIF mentoring group which is one of the most inspiring things for me.

But since my shoot, what I’ve been doing doesn’t feel like enough. I know I’m limited in some situations like I cannot force myself to get more auditions or don’t have the financial ability to do a short film like that one all the time, but that’s no excuse for me anymore. I need to keep going and I feel like I have no other choice.

I’m looking again into acting classes. I’m still torn if I should do the next level of improv classes, but I’m leaning more toward not doing it now. I’ve got a few more months to sign up for the next level before I have to start back at the beginning, so I can still change my mind if I want. But there are so many other types of acting classes outside of improv so I’m exploring those.

There are some acting classes that I’d love to take, but they are just too far beyond my price range. I can’t afford classes that cost more than my rent, and there are some like that out there that I know would be worth it if I had the money. And while the cheap ones are a good deal for me financially, I have to make sure that they are the right choice for my career as well.

I’ve got things narrowed down to a couple of classes that meet both the financial and career requirements that I have. I’m going to take a bit more time to look into all the options and I’m going to try to figure out what order I want to take them in. I will have to save money for each class I take, so it may take me a few years to get to all the classes that look interesting to me right now (and by then I’m sure there will be even more classes I want to take).

I’m also looking at doing more work on my own. They won’t be as professional as “Single Parent Date Night” all the time, but there are some beautiful projects I’ve seen that were shot on an iPhone. So I figured why couldn’t I do the same thing? I would need to keep the script and locations simple, but it is possible to work on my own stuff instead of always just waiting for someone to create one for me.

I took the first step to self-producing by becoming a SAG-AFTRA Signatory Producer. It was a very simple process online for me that allows me to produce union projects (which I have to do since I am union). Since I’m still not really a writer, I need to find friends who do write that I can collaborate with, but this is a start.

And I’ve already started working on another project. This one would actually not have me in it, but it’s an idea that I’ve been wanting to do for a little bit. I’m working with a writer friend and the script is done now. We are working on finding what actors want to be in it and once that is done we can submit all the paperwork to the union to get everything approved and ready to shoot.

Hopefully through the collaborations I’ve been a part of lately, I can find more people to work with and who can help me create my own work or will create work for me to be in. And yes, I still want to get more auditions so that I can book something that is on network tv so that I can feel like my career has taken a big step. For but now, I need to focus on what I can do where I am right now and hopefully that will be enough until whatever big thing I will book comes my way.

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