Happy End of Days!

It's December 21st, 2012. I have been terrified of this day, which as we all know marks the end of the Mayan calendar, since I was in 7th grade. My History teacher told us about it during our daily tradition of "News Quiz," in which he'd ask the entire class questions about current events before beginning our daily lecture. I don't think there were any prizes involved, but it was always a really competitive game. I was great at the game -- particularly when the "news" of the early 2000's had to do with arts/leisure topics, such as what Liza Minelli was up to at the time, etc (mainly, she was being dramatic). When he asked us a question about doomsday during a typical game of "News Quiz," no one could answer, and he proceeded to describe the predictions about 12/21/12, and how so many recent events pointed to how the world was definitely going to end very soon (this was 2001, right after the 9/11 attacks, mind you). Yours truly, a highly sensitive artist type for whom middle school was a fragile time, excused herself from class to hide in the bathroom for a few minutes to calm down. I simply couldn't listen to my teacher talk about these predictions without thinking he was right...

Since then, I've kept the date in the back of my mind. It's been a reminder that whatever is bothering me isn't that bad in times of desperation, because if the world's ending in 2012, then how much can it matter? This attitude has allowed me to let go of anxiety in trying moments, which is only a good thing for someone who is analytical and tends to overthink things. Now that the 21st is finally here, it's a bit anti-climactic. I'm still a sensitive artist type, but I've definitely grown up a lot since 7th grade, and now try my best to face anxiety-provoking things rather than run to a safe space to hide.

Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to perform something that I wrote. I'm a bit of a perfectionist -- okay, more than a bit -- so I've been wary of sharing my writing with an audience before it's "ready" (aka "perfect"). But hey, if the world was going to end today, what good would it serve me to keep all of my writing to myself, saved on my computer? Luckily, my talented friend Jenny read a scene that I wrote for us at the 11th hour for an audition for the first-ever Actor's Key Holiday Showcase. She loved the scene, and agreed to work with me on it and dove in with dedication and tons of ideas. The result was that we were cast in the showcase, and joined forces with an amazing team of actors and creatives. Our director, Carmen Aiello, was amazing!!

Here are some pictures from the showcase:

And our scene:

https://vimeo.com/56076357

It doesn't look like the world is ending today, but even so, I'm glad we got to perform our scene before the 21st, just in case!

Tiny Dreams

Woooosh! That was onomatopoeia for the year flying by! Seriously though, doesn't it sometimes seem unfair that everything (tons of work/holidays/copious amounts of food/weather/sickness/happiness/joy/depression/Lifetime Christmas movies or Elizabeth Taylor biopic ones) is crammed into a small chunk of the year? It's like, hey, stuff that takes up my time/energy: spread the wealth, and maybe go situate yourself in February when absolutely nothing happens? I guess having everything at once/it pouring when it rains (can I do that? Re-word an aphorism?) isn't what's crazy -- it's how fast it seems to go by. Chanukah is in, like, a week (what?)! I went on the Snapfish website today to order personalized holiday cards, and they had stopped advertising them already, as if to say that if you want to send out cards on time you should have already ordered them. And according to the ancient Mayans, the world is ending so soon! Clearly, the ancient Mayans/a lot of legit old civilizations that predicted this event didn't realize that the Game of Thrones season 3 premiere is in March 2013. Ergo, Armageddon shall have to wait.

Though the tryptophan level in my blood has been at an all-time high this November, I've had lots of energy. A couple weeks ago, I played a stewardess in a commercial for the Frankfurt Airport in Germany. Ever since I flew on Emirates Air to Africa five years ago (side note: it is geographically inefficient to stop in Dubai "on the way" to Africa), I've had a secret desire to be a flight attendant (the Emirates ones are all supermodels that speak multiple languages). Well, mainly, I've just been dying to play dress up with a stewardess outfit. So this shoot was a mini-dream-come-true. I know they say to "dream big," but I have a lot of miniature-bite-sized dreams that are a little more realistic to conquer, this being one of them. I will post the footage as soon as I have it as the spot will only be running overseas in Europe, and potentially at those little kiosks at the actual airport in Deutschland. In the meantime, here are a couple of stills from the shoot. It was a fun day -- I always love working with foreigners because they are so direct when talking to you because of the language barrier.

Not merely a mini-dream, but more of an overall continuous feeling I have is the need to work with/be around animals. If you follow me on Instagram and have any experience with statistical analysis you know this since about 90% of my photographic material showcases one or both of my dogs. I had the gall to take them both to a Petco commercial audition last year and it was incredible! They didn't book the job, but still: 'twas a mini-dream-come-true. Occasionally I get to act with animals, and this is always SO COOL. Seriously, when animals are on set, everyone seems to revert to their childhood selves (which is pretty funny because I think a lot of people in this business were once really bizarre/awkward children). Here's me working with some animals in the past (one is a stuffed dead one, sadly):

So, imagine my surprise at my own feelings when I was terrified to work with an animal on set during one of my latest gigs. Due to having signed multiple NDA's, I can't say what this was for or really what kind of animal it was...okay fine, it was the male version of a cow. The kind with the horns, that doesn't like the color red, and is associated with the country of Spain. Yup, one of those. When I was signing release forms, it dawned on me that this animal could potentially hurt slash kill someone, and that that someone could be me. After much deliberation and in-depth conversations with production, I stuck with the shoot. The animal was a pro and did his job like a seasoned thespian. So, continuous mini-dream of working with animals? Check! When the time is right, I shall reveal the details/footage from this foray into episodic television.

In other news, I just shot a national commercial for a popular dating site, which will begin airing in January. Having a consistent commercial booking track record is another mini-dream of mine that I have been fulfilling over the last few months. And finally, I am proud to announce on this here blog of mine that I have just signed with a manager. For those of you who are (un)fortunate enough to hear me talk about career-related and existential things like "what am I DOING?!" this should come as wonderful news! I have been wanting a manager for quite some time now and am feel really good about this new business relationship. Another teeny tiny dream, accomplished!

So basically, the moral of this post is that you can't really fulfill bigger dreams without knocking out and enjoying the little ones along the way. I know that's obvious and cheesy but this is the holiday season so I have permission to be cheesy and obvious. Because before you know it, it'll be 2013...woooooooosh!!!