Hodge Podge of Ramblings.

I’ve been back in Los Angeles for about a week now. The kids and I finished up our trip to New Mexico last weekend, just in time to see the serious peak in gas prices. Whew, it looks like I made it back just in time! Or did I? Gas is still about $0.50 cheaper in Arizona and New Mexico.

On the acting scene, the role that I was up for while in New Mexico ended up going to a man. It’s all good though, I walked away having met a new Casting Director, so the trip wasn’t a total waste on the acting front.

The day before we got back, my daughter’s agent made a request for photos of her in an athletic jersey. Ummm, okay...good thing we had one. I’m not sure what it was for, because we never heard anything, but below is one of the pictures I took. She has a print audition on Monday (3/19) for OLD NAVY, which is cool. It’s a trip, my little girl is kicking my BUTT when it comes to auditions!...I’m sure she’ll be booking something very soon. (At some point, I’m going to have to figure out how I can “tactfully” introduce myself to the commercial department over at her agency...:)...)

Speaking of agents, as I’m sure you’ve probably guessed, I still haven’t nailed down an agent or manager. At this point, I’m not going to drive myself silly looking for one since pilot season is half way over. I’m thinking that I might as well just wait until things slow down, and they actually have time to consider picking up new people. In the meantime, I will be focusing my efforts on the VO world by finally getting a new reel done for my ever-so-patient agent, and maybe taking a few VO classes. It sure would be nice to land a cartoon or something.

On my way back to Los Angeles last weekend, I had a long conversation with a dear friend of mine who asked me to be on the Board of Directors of a non-profit she’s starting that will merge theater/performance and healthcare. She also asked me to direct a one woman show that she’ll be doing in Chicago in May. I accepted on both, of course, and we will start rehearsals next week for the one woman show. Until she asked me, I’d forgotten how much I love to direct for the stage. (I’ve directed 3 shows to date.) By doing this project with her, it just might inspire me to do a little more directing in the future.

As for my trip to Tampa next month for the festival, I’m still waiting to find out if my proposal was accepted. I’ll keep you posted.

Okay, so I think I've mentioned before that I've auditioned for THE SHIELD a bazillion times, and never booked it. It's probably safe to say, that I can attribute that to the fact that I'd never seen a full episode of the show until about a week ago. And, guess which episode it happened to be? The very last episode I'd auditioned for in the Winter of 2005 when my baby bump was becoming noticeable. The episode I felt I was thisclose to booking. Not to brag, but the chick that booked it, hasn't done anything since. Hmph!...:)...

Lastly, since I feel like I’ve been slacking on this lately, I’ve decided to throw a few “I Met’s” your way…

Shawn Wayans – The very first celebrity I met, the very first day I moved to Los Angeles in 1997. Me and some friends of mine, decided to go see a movie at the Beverly Center. I’m sure Shawn thought I was insane! I asked him a million questions, and of course I asked him where Marlon was...:)…I’ve seen him so many times since that day, that I’m sure he’s the celebrity I've seen the most since I moved to Los Angeles. I even went to a taping of the THE WAYANS BROS. Hopefully he doesn’t think I’m stalking him.

Niecy Nash – I met Niecy on the set of THE BACHELOR. It was one of my first background jobs. Really nice lady. We would run into each other all the time at auditions for many years after that. Haven’t seen her on the scene since she blew up though...:)...

Dante Basco – I met Dante at Miyagi’s on the Sunset Strip in the late 90’s when his Poetry Venue was just forming. My friends and I followed that Venue all around Hollywood. I even took Rockmond with me a couple of times.

Bokeem Woodbine – If I remember correctly, I met Bokeem at Miyagi’s as well. Late 90’s, when I was still enjoying the club scene. Very cool dude. We’d chat at the bar often.

Ellen DeGeneres and Joely Fisher – On the set of ELLEN, this was my first time on the set of a sitcom! I’d gone with an agent I was working with to watch a client taping. (Little did I know at the time, that her client would become a close friend of mine.)

Reginald C. Hayes - Met him at a party when he was still on GETTING PERSONAL. Remember that show? I used to love it!

So hey, I figure that if I never make it as far as I’d hoped in Hollywood, at least I’ll have some great stories for my grandkids one day...:)...


Nighty, Night!...