It’s been a little while since an update so here goes (and where to start??). I believe in my last post I had mentioned how I would be soon starting to work for a new dog walking company. Due to my work related injury (all the way back last December!), this plan got scratched. In the end, it is so obviously for the best it would have been a committed Mon.-Fri. day job, which would make it difficult to do films, have day rehearsals, and go on many auditions, and many other necessities towards my acting career. What I WILL be doing instead is freelance babysitting, cat sitting, background work, and doing freelance errands. I have taken actions towards all of these and have plans and appointments laid out for the weeks ahead, and am excited about doing work I enjoy that also gives me the complete flexibility needed to continue building my acting career. I won’t be going back to waiting tables as I am physically unable, but even if that were a current possibility, I wouldn’t as I don’t want to ever risk this type of injury through that work again. It has been a LONG 5 months of recovery; I’ve been going to PT consistently since February, and my physical therapist is GREAT (wonderful positive energy), but quite frankly I’m over it! I have an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon on the 14th, so I’ll give a further update after that. I am certainly not bed ridden (by any stretch of the imagination); it’s that certain actions (lifting, carrying, specific range of motion) will still bring pain after a short period of use (or sometimes immediately). So I keep doing my PT sessions, at home stretches, etc, but I have long mentally and physically moved on to “OK, what can I do with where I am at now.”
Speaking of, my classes have or are coming to an end (one more Alexander Technique class left for the quarter). My monologue audition class was fantastic in so many ways, not just with the technique but even more importantly in the details that most don’t think about. How you walk in the room, when do you say hello, how do you close the door, how you smile, don’t step back at the end when saying “thank you,” etc. My classmates were/are AWESOME, and with some I have joined a weekly rehearsal group to meet with so that we can get feedback on what we are currently working on, which is SO HELPFUL–and I especially love supporting these truly wonderful new friends of mine in the same way. While the class was still in session, it required a fairly large time commitment and so I was selective about what I was submitting for (castings wise). Now, however, I’m submitting for any and all that I could possibly fit for and interests me, as is Jack. Last Sunday was particularly great because Jack and I both had 3 auditions each (all of mine were theatre based and his were all film based). It looks likely that Jack will be doing one of the films, in which case he will be shooting on location in New Jersey for 4 days in June. One of my auditions granted me membership into their theatre company, which does consistent work year round (full plays and one acts, etc); looking forward to working with them and learning a lot! Jack has also been going on EPAs, which haven’t given him a chance to audition yet, but he is persistent.
My plan is to join Jack in going to EPAs as soon as I update my headshots; I asked the advice of an off-Broadway casting director that I know, and they are truly in DIRE need of updating since they just don’t look like I do now. I want my first impression at the EPAs to be that of a professional who takes my work seriously, thus the waiting until I have the new headshots. My “official” goal is to have them by September 15th, although I’ve already gotten the ball rolling so it is likely I will have them much sooner. As they are pretty costly, I am gathering a list of those that are recommended and whose work I like, then setting up appointments for consultations/interviews before making my decision.
Let’s see, what else??…the steriods I was on for my herniated disc added a nice (not-so-nice) sack of potatoes weight to my body, so I am working out on a regular basis now. Regular means at least 5 times a week at the gym, and on non-gym days, at least a 30 minute walk. At the gym I am only doing the elliptical as it provides a good cardio workout but is also low-impact on my body and so doesn’t effect herniated disc. The Alexander Technique work I’ve been doing has helped a LOT in this regard, too, because I am constantly checking in with my body: where am I touching the earth, am I holding my breath, is there any tension in my body, where is the back of my head (critical for me as it helps me to allow it to go back rather than forward, which puts strain on my neck and shoulders); release, soften, head up an out, etc. The exercise has been GREAT for my spirit and daily perspective. Jack and I are both focusing on eating *mostly* vegetarian (he has actually swayed this way by no prompting by me), although there have been a few rare exceptions but only with “organic, humanely raised (MOST important!), properly fed, hormone and antibiotic free” eggs and beef. Mainly dark green leafy vegetables and multi-colored produce remains the goal.
We are currently in our last three months in this apartment! Seems strange although I am READY for us to finally have our OWN place, where we will not move again for quite a while. I’m ready to paint and decorate and build our own home. We will stay in Astoria although we are flexible as to what exact street/area. I would kind of prefer Ditmars as it seems a bit quieter, plus the trains are always running there (whereas there has been a lot of construction and rerouting at our current stop). I’ve been periodically keeping a lookout, although we won’t start seriously looking until probably the middle of June. We would LIKE to avoid using a broker, but are not limiting ourselves to owner-rented only, as we have pretty specific desires for what we want and thus want to have access to all of the options possible.
Alright, that’s the update! Kind of an informal post (I’m not going to go back to reread and edit), but it’s been a while so I wanted to just get it out. Maybe for June I will do another 30 day challenge where I post at least once a day…the last time I did that in January, it really inspired me and evoked a lot of big changes and positive action that were REALLY good for me and my life.:)
OK I will send you off with a couple of pictures from Jack’s 46th birthday dinner in April! We ate at this beautiful little place called Locale in Astoria. Amazingly delicious food and surprisingly inexpensive (another good reason to live in Astoria!).
PS–I lied, I had to edit (or actually add to) this post! I completely forgot to share about the theatre AWESOMENESS that I have been so blessed to see lately! First, we saw War Horse the day after Jack’s birthday (it was a gift that I had bought tickets for back in December). The crazy thing about that show was that I bought first row mezzanine…like that is what I specifically selected and paid for. I don’t know what the heck happened, but we ended up in our own personal row, FIRST row (as in FIRST first) center!!!! We literally had THE best seats in the entire theatre (even one of the ushers commented on it). I cannot do this show justice by even attempting to give it a review, so I will just say that it was worth EVERY single penny. I also get offers for free shows when I am registered at ESPA, and so I got to see Primary Stages, “Morini Strad,” “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Neil Simon Theatre, and Second Stage’s, “Lonely I’m Not” thanks to ESPA. My absolute favorite out of all of those (that I just saw last night in fact) was “Lonely I’m Not.” I’m so impressed and inspired with everything that I’ve seen Second Stage put up. In addition to being a member of TDF (through which I can get discount tickets), a lot of my acting friends have been sharing other resources, one of which gets me tickets almost for free. Thanks to this particularly awesome resource, I got to see Tennessee Williams, “In Masks Outrageous and Austere” at the Culture Project in the Village. Only in NYC can I see 3 shows in one week for almost nothing, one of them being a Tennessee Williams world premiere! How incredible is my life! Not only that, but my seats for both “In Masks” and “Lonely I’m Not” were BOTH 2nd row!!! Hot damn, knock on wood, I’ve got some serious theater seat karma lately…maybe I should play the lottery!
Happy Birthday, Jackie!
My incredible pasta dinner–that’s a beet sauce!
Dylan says, “Chow!”
The Search for my Treasure 