Been a while...

In between the last few months since I have posted has been a crazy wild ride. I've spent most of my time with Louis which is very good. It is good because he's still not sick to death of me yet. We have had wonderful nights talking and he's been teaching me how to analyze text as an actor. I have learned the 3 addresses in a monologue. More people continue to come to me for Technical Theatrical work, which is alright, but I'm learning to say no when they offer $0. I'm also learning to be a Technical Director and have even gotten my Theatre and Film Studio Fireguard license!!! Yea for me!!! Vivian will save you all in the event of a fire. Louis and I make a great team. When Louis is unable to be present, I take over, and not fuck up. Things are working out wonderfully so far.

Say Your Prayers, Mug! was an awesome play and if you missed it, then that's your bad luck. Most people probably wouldn't have been able to get in anyway since a good majority of the nights the house was completely full. Many people laughed...some people got really into it and took it too seriously, but all in all, it was well written, well acted, well designed, and well directed. Kudos to Playwright and Director Todd Michaels. I had a wonderful blast and I hope to work with him again in the future.

I'm still going to meetings at A Company Of Players Monday nights at Shetler/Bridge Theatre. I learned a great deal about finding your light on stage, diction, vocal support, and all the goodness that comes from an experienced man in professional NY theatre of the last 30 years.

I'm not sure how this winter will fare. I'll still be office temping. I'll still be working for theatre during the evenings. In between I'll try to squeeze in a hug and kiss from Louis. I just need a cheap place to live.

Free Chocolate TV anyone?

Great Evening

After work, I met up with Louis in the East Village. He was attending a reading of Say Your Prayers, Mug at The Red Room above the Kraine Theatre. I'm supposed to help him out with the running of the show.

The play sounds really funny and interesting. I must send word out for it when it does go up. The Red Room is a nice little theatre. It's equipped with soo many things from projector screens sound speakers, lights, and all. It's a great little black box.

Not to mention Louis is incredible in Theatre. I bet you anything that he could act, direct, design lights, sound, set, and then have it become a hit. I'd say that Louis understand theatre and the workings of the human psyche rather than following the forms and rules of theatrical theory. He is extremely pragmatic. I can't say enough about Louis and I'm thrilled to be considered a part of his team, both for upcoming productions he's involved with and for his new endeavor, A Company Of Players.

Crazy Dream

So I'm standing there staring at the sky. The Sun is high and it's beautiful. Then out of the blue, I see the sun being eclipsed. I know I should look away, but I felt compelled to stare at it. This black hole with a glowing ring around it. It didn't even look like a real eclipse. It was a black blob really with a glowing ring around. The ring was reddish orange and it was soo bright and tangible. I felt as if the more I stared into it, the closer it got. It was beautiful and yet disturbing at the same time. Then I get news from other people around me that the sun is being destroyed right now. Some black mass is killing the Sun--suffocating it--eating it up. This is where my emotions get all twisted up. I felt sick...sick to my stomach at myself. The Sun is dying and I'm just standing there marveling at the destruction. I could have been finding out why. How to help the situation. But rather than doing that, I stood there watching it. Then the glowing ring faded into nothing. I wanted to take a shower so I did. Or well, attempted to. I tried turning on the water, but it was constantly cold. Apparently in this world, the water was heated by the Sun. Without it, the water would stay icy. With that, I sat there with the water running through the tap and I just felt soo hopeless. Desolate. Helpless.
Last night's dream really put me through the ringer. I know I was bit by several things last night. Perhaps a mosquito. Perhaps a poison mosquito that forced me to have hallucinations or realistic dreams??? I don't know. Mosquitoes love me...especially when I sleep...all over my feet and my hands and arms. Funny thing is last night, I didn't feel any bumps. It could have been a spider too. I've seen those in my room sometimes. I never kill them because spiders eat mosquitoes, but maybe it was poisonous. Didn't find anything in bed, nor did I feel anything different other than being really tired.

Navigate

This weekend has been dedicated to doing nothing and just milling about.
I am reading Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. I'm about 1/6 through with the book already and I just began reading it Saturday evening. It's quite addictive. I waited until the last book came out before I read the Half Blood Prince because I didn't want to wait. I wanted to read it through. Now, I'll have to go back and read books 1-7 in completion. I think the effect will be different.

I also took my bike out this weekend for some heavy trekking. Saturday, because the weather was nice and not humid and just generally pleasant, I rode it all the way down to Coney Island. I used my sense of navigation rather than use a map or a compass. I figure if I know some of the subway stops, I could maneuver my way around. I was able to get onto the other side of the Belt Parkway and ride alongside the water until Toys R Us. It took me about a total of 1 1/2 hours to get there and then back. On my way back, I caught a glimpse of 2 accidents. One where the fire fighters came and were trying to open the hood of a minivan. Another where I saw a man lying on a stretcher. And of course, I almost was run over on 4th Avenue and 19th Street by some guy who wasn't looking in front of him. He came within 5 inches from my bike. The good thing is that he wasn't moving very quickly. He had just pulled into the side and was about to pull out again.

Sunday I cleaned the kitchen. It was very very messy. And then waited till the sun wasn't too hot to take another bike ride. I have never ridden my bike to Williamsburg, so I thought I would give that a try. I got lost. With no cell phone on me and no compass, I went around in a circle before I hit Bedford Stuyvesant and realised I had gotten to the Bedford Nostrand stop on the G train. From there on out, I knew exactly where I was going. Getting there took me about 1 1/2 hours, but getting back only took 40 minutes. Really about the same time as it takes me to go over the Manhattan bridge from Park Slope. I do the ride without stopping now. It's pretty incredible that it only took me a short while to develop the stamina and endurance. I must be in pretty good shape. I have the drive...now all I have to do is apply it to my career and where that is going.

I signed up to Facebook today. I got several emails from friends and colleagues to join. So I did. I originally deleted the account because I did not want to be associated with Pace University. I have the option to not be a part of it now. It's a relief to also see that anyone can sign up to Facebook now. I felt it was detrimental for it to only be available to students and those with an email address that ended with EDU. There's a lot of new things now. Little applications that I've just put on my page. It's fun. Now if MySpace had something like that. I found out that my brother, stepsisters are all using it. Oh well...I guess I'll just have to join the crowd.

The last week or so

The last week or so have been the most productive I have seen in my life since I graduated college. It was sad to learn a month ago that I couldn't agree to a relationship that I have been having for almost 2 years now. It was also very difficult when earlier this month I learned that my only living grandfather had a severe stroke that caused paralysis on the left side of his body and forcing his right eye to droop. I don't know my grandfather very well, but I hear that he taught me how to walk when I was a baby. I guess if it wasn't for him, I would have started walking later in life. I have him to thank. I'm sure my parents have him to thank for that too, or maybe I am wrong. If I walked later in life, perhaps I wouldn't have driven my parents crazy by disappearing whenever they let me roam around.

Since what happened with my grandfather and the recent sad events, I am starting to take a different approach. I think one of the main reasons I can't have a relationship--a serious one is because I don't know myself at all. You can't love someone if you don't know them and you certainly can't love another person if you aren't able to love yourself. It's time to do some soul searching. I think it's also time to re-evaluate what I want in life. I'm in need to achieve the maximum capacity because right now, I'm young. Hehehe...

I recently met up with an acquaintance of mine, Max. Our lives seem to run parallel to each other. He recently broke up, and he just got his driver's license too. Hmm...*scratches chin* I got mine back in January this year. Anyway, we talked about acting and about keeping as busy as possible. I went to see his play Crazy Little Thing and during it, I shifted in my seat and heard a rip. :-( It was my pair of jeans that I had been wearing for the last 4-5 years. I guess it was going to happen sooner or later. I mean I already had a huge hole in the right pant leg. Maybe I'll turn it into some Hot Pants. :-) I'm convinced that I should start taking acting classes and start putting myself out there for auditions.

I'm currently working on a Science Fiction Feature Film in New York City called Transbeman. So until I am finished with this, I really can't submit myself to any Casting Directors. I guess I'll have to wait till this is done. But in the meantime, I've been submitting myself to several auditions through websites. I actually went to one audition this past Saturday and was cast in a student short film called The Plan. Shocking. I've only been to one audition! Doesn't it usually take 50 before you land a role?

I'm also pulling jobs out of my ass. I've gotten 4 calls about working as a PA, 3 calls for working as an electrician in Theatre and 1 call for a role in a student short film. :-\ I've said yes to 2 Theatre productions. One with Louis Lopardi, whom I work with every year on The Fresh Fruit Festival. I think this year it's going to be at the Cherry Lane. Then I've got a Fringe Festival Play. Something called Andrea Gothic.

My schedule is packed. I did spend $200 on clothes this Saturday. After auditioning, I had my watch battery replaced for my Tag Heuer. Then I went to H&M and Old Navy. I cannot stress how difficult it is to find jeans that fit for a woman!!!! The cuts for jeans and trousers are getting worse and worse for women. Nothing fits me comfortably. I like wearing jeans at the waist (belly button region). I hate it when they come out with jeans that are soo low that your cooch peeks out from the top. I don't know about you, but I like having my pants on. I don't like having them sliding off my ass or clinging to my ass. I like loose jeans and pants. Airy. No chafing then. And of course when the warm weather comes around, I can't wear any of these jeans because my sweat soaks the jeans and they become sticky thus causing me to take a 2nd shower in the day. How annoying and wasteful of time? I'm soo fucking upset about this. I think from now on, I will start shopping in the men's department for jeans. STUPID FUCKING DESIGNERS. Also stop making frilly clothing! I DON'T FUCKING LIKE LACE! I CERTAINLY DON'T LIKE CLOTHES THAT POOF OUT FROM THE BREASTS DOWN THAT THEY MAKE A PERSON LOOK LIKE THEY'RE 3 MONTHS PREGNANT. What the fuck is wrong with the world? FUCK YOU ALL AND YOUR STUPID CLOTHING DESIGNS. The only thing I need in my clothes are colours. I like colours...lots of them.

Life as a Background

Well, recently I've been working not as a Production Assistant. But as a background actor. In fact, I've been in 3 television shows already! First in Ft. Pit. You may just be able to see me in the background inside the police precinct.

Then I had a walking bit on The Sopranos. Of which, my roommate, Morgan, suggested that I bring a gun and start shooting up the set. To go along with it, yell out "How dare you steal Infernal Affairs!". I met a lot of other Chinese Americans. Old, young, and all with American accents rather than Chinese accents. It was a night shoot in the freezing rain right before it turned to ice. It was brutal. I got home at 2AM only to find out that I had to be on the set of another show in Yonkers by 10AM.

Yep, I had to get up at 4:30am to catch the courtesy bus to Yonkers in the UWS. You can actually see me in the background of the court room. I'm to be called back for 3 more days! Yea! I'm getting paid and being fed.

I know, I know, being an extra or background actor is not really "acting". But then again it does pay the bills and I can put it on my acting resume, which ain't bad. The more credits I collect, then I can send those head shots of mine to other casting directors. Get into some non-union film. I've realised that being SAG may not be such a good choice. Once you're a SAG member, I've learned from other actors, is a double edged sword. You get paid more for being a background actor, but you get less work because you get paid more. And you won't be able to act in any non-union films, which means you will have less creative choices. It just means that you're bound to only work in signatory projects. It sucks because let's say there's a brilliant script out there and you want to do it, but it's a non-union film. Then you're shit out of luck and other actors will get to act in it, and not you. Oh well...I think I'll stay non-union then.


I also think I should stick working in Production. At least that way, you get to know the producers, directors, and you get to speak to the principal actors without having them look at you as low-lifes.