Attention Starving Artists!

Okay you guys, I just wanted to share a hot tip with cha.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm always looking out for the best deals, AND since I'm always looking out for my peeps too, I thought I'd share. It's called the Grocery Game. Yes, the Grocery Game. (We all gotta eat right? And I'm sure several of ya'll have kids to feed like I do, so this will be well worth it.)

Now I have been an avid coupon clipper for years, so when my friend first e-mailed me about it, I was like, "I already do this stuff," but it wasn't until I went to the grocery store yesterday, that I became a true believer, and a life long member. I walked out with a cart full of groceries, and I only spent $61.71. I saved $65.56! Yes, can you believe that?!?

The first step is to sign up on the GG website. (They offer a $1 trial for 4 weeks for those of you who are already having second thoughts about reading the rest of this post...:)...just try the trial and see what happens.) The second step is to start purchasing the Sunday paper, and pulling out the coupons.

Each week the website will show you how to maximize your grocery shopping by pairing up the items on sale in your store, with coupons that come out in the Sunday papers each week (which Ralph's doubles by the way). Throw in your Ralphs Club Card, and with every grocery trip, you can save more money than you spend! (For all you non-Californians, Ralphs is one of our main grocery stores here in CA. Don't fret though, this website has lists for grocery stores all over the country.) Believe me, the money you end up spending on the Sunday paper, and to be a member on this website, will pay for itself your first week of shopping.

The cool thing about the website, is that it does all of the work for you, with the exception of actually clipping the coupons. You still have to do that...:)...If you've organized your coupons properly, all you have to do is go through them and pull out the one's you want to use each week. It's that simple! I always thought I was "lucky" when I happened to have a coupon for something that was on sale, but by using the Grocery Game to shop that way every week, the savings will definitely add up!...For example, yesterday I paid 50 cents for a tube of toothpaste, and 25 cents a piece for 6 bags of pasta. By Thanksgiving, I'm hoping that I will be under $40 a week for all of my groceries. (And that's for a family of 4!) The website also teaches you how to stockpile so you don't run out of things you know you will need. i.e. tissue, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.

If you decide to sign up for their free trial, please use this e-mail address as your referral: toddandshenita AT aol.com. Post any questions you might have to this thread. Also, make sure you come back to this post to share your success stories!

Still on the look out for us po' folk,

Shenita.

BROOKLYN'S BRIDGE TO JORDON on the Logo Network Tonight!

BROOKLYN'S BRIDGE TO JORDON will air on the Logo Network Today, 10/24 at 10:00pm as part of The Click List 2 : Best in Short Film. (The film is the first one in the time slot.)

Remember, my role is very small, but I'm there none-the-less!

If you don't have Logo, you catch the film, and even vote for it, on their website through the end of the year. www.logoonline.com.

P.S. The audition yesterday went very, very well. Hopefully well enough to garner a much need booking. We'll see!

S-Mo.

When one door closes...

Late Thursday night (10/19), I got word that I'd been released from Avail. It's all good though. It was a very nice surprise to begin with, since I hadn't even auditioned for the job. Besides I was able to go where I really NEEDED to be yesterday.

In Loving Memory of: MAXINE WEBB (1929 - 2006).

VO Audition - 10/23/06 - VALSPAR

Me.

I'm on AVAIL?!?!

The Lord definitely has a sense of humor when it comes to dealing with me!

I'm on Avail...

This Friday (10/20)...

For a JUMP MOBILE commercial...

A commercial I never auditioned for...

Guess what else is this Friday?...

The Funeral...

My husband has already given me his blessing...

I'm hoping that I can make both...

Cross your fingers for me...:)...

S.

Life is like a Vapor (James 4:14)...

When 2006 started, I had no idea if my baby would be born healthy, or even if I'D make it through her birth. I didn't know if I'd ever work on GREY'S ANATOMY again, yet alone take a trip back to New Mexico and work on something there. I didn't know that I'd lose 4 loved ones, or that I'd be an auntie again. Not once, but twice. I didn't know I'd start another "venture," make new friends, and rekindle old friendships in the Myspace world. All I knew was, I woke up, I was alive, and it was 1/1/06. That seems like it was just yesterday.

On 12/13 of this year, Lord willing, I will turn 30 years old. THIRTY YEARS OLD! I can not believe how fast time has flown by. I remember living in Northern California as a toddler. I remember moving to Florida. I remember my first day of Kindergarten. I remember the day my little brother was born (he just turned 24). I remember moving to Alabama when my dad was stationed in the U.K., and then to New Mexico when he returned to the states. I remember moving to NYC, ALONE, at 17, and then returning home with my tail between my legs weeks later. I remember coming to L.A.. I remember my 21st birthday party. Meeting my husband. My wedding day. My first born.

All of these things seem like they happened just yesterday. I can only hope, and pray, that I will have many more memories as I grow old with my husband, and watch my children grow up. I'd love for us to live comfortably, but a hot meal, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our heads will suffice. I hope to continue to travel the world, and see my daughters marry and have their own children one day. I can only hope, and pray.

I've spent a lot of time with my family over the past week. My husband's grandmother who had always been of ailing health since I've know her, passed away early Thursday (10/12) morning. She was of ailing health, but she still had this youthfulness and vigor about her. She still dressed to the 9's, got her nails done every week, and got her hair done. (She had the longest, most beautiful, salt and pepper hair, which I always asked her to wear down). I'd blogged earlier in the year about the death of one of her daughters (my husbands auntie). Ever since her child passed, her health had been declining, that is until last Thursday, when the Lord called her home. I just hope that I can I never relate to her grief.

We got the same early morning phone call from my mother-in-law, that we'd gotten back in June of this year, and back in October of 2003 when my husband's father died. The day of my father-in-law's funeral, I'd been booked to do a VO for SPRINT PCS. I turned down the job in favor of being with my family. They all wanted me to go do it, but what kind of wife/daughter/mother would I have been had I not of been there?

As you can see my thoughts have been a little preoccupied over the last week. I've been sick with a cold too, because of this crazy weather. With the exception of my new venture, and trying to get my daughter's photos ready for her agent, I've done little in the acting realm. I've tried not to think about the lack of auditions I've had all year, AND how the phone hasn't rung since I sent out my slew of postcards a couple of weeks ago. I've found solace in great TV: GREY'S ANATOMY, LOST, and HEROES; and treated myself to a 2 hour escape when my husband, when we caught an advanced screening of CATCH A FIRE, starring Derek Luke, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Pickford Center last night. The film was superb. Derek really out did himself with his performance. He showed up after the movie, did a 20 minute Q&A session, and then shook the hands of fellow actors out in the lobby. I was going to say hello, but we decided we should head out before it got too late. Seeing the movie really put the past week in perspective for me. As you can see from above, it got me thinking about the past year, the past ten years, and then ultimately, my entire life.

To make it through this thing we do, this rat race, this "vapor", we really do have to have faith. F-A-I-T-H. We shouldn't worry. We should forgive, and we should just know that God (whom I'm not ashamed to say I thoroughly believe in), will take us where we need to be, and guide us where we need to go. Just have faith that we are, exactly where we are: BECAUSE.

Shenita.

My Latest Venture...

Although I'm extremely nervous about this launch, I'm finally ready to throw it out into the universe! Your thoughts on the website are much appreciated!

www.newmexicoactorsguide.com

Actors, please note that you DO NOT need to live in the state of New Mexico to be listed in this guide. (On the order form, you will be asked to specify whether you are an out of state willing to travel, or a local hire.)

Thanks a bunch!

Shenita.

Hot and Cold...

Last night I went to a Cold Reading workshop with CD Melissa Skoff. If you recall, waaaay back in September of last year, I'd gone to an orientation to be eligible to attend the Casting Access Project workshops over at SAG. Well, since then, I have been very unlucky at beating other SAG actors to the punch, when signing up for them. I was finally able to get waitlisted for this particular workshop, and then when someone cancelled last week, I snagged a seat. I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why it was SO HARD to get into one of these darn workshops, that is, until I arrived last night and saw 16 chairs lined up in front of a large desk. WHAT?!? I could not believe it. In a million years, I never would have guessed that the workshop was going to be as "intimate" as it was. (Over at ITA, classes get as big as 25 most times.)

As they were finishing up the announcements, Melissa arrived, and we got right down to business. She started out talking a little bit about herself, and then she passed out scenes to everyone. She instructed us to work on them for 10 minutes, BUT don't work with our partners, work alone. WHAT?!? Okay, again, I'm taken by surprise. I don't know why I was surprised, I've certainly been acting long enough to know that things aren't always going to be as I expected. Melissa explained that she wanted us to prepare the way we would as if were going to a real audition, which meant we wouldn't know what we'd be getting from the person we were going to be reading with. True, very true!...I understood her point.

After all the scenes were said and done, I was very impressed by some of the actors in there last night. I don't think my scene went as well as I would have liked it to. I thought my partner and I did an okay job. I approached Melissa after class and thanked her for her time. She said that my partner and I had done a "great job," and she reminded me to "take control, and keep control of the scene." I'd like to hope that I am able to accomplish that when I go into real auditions, because I have much more time to work on the material, but it is definitely a point I'm going to store away in my memory banks. Actually, Melissa dropped a lot of science last night that I'm going to store away in my memory banks.

Before I move on, I want to point out that there was a real arrogant knucklehead in class last night that just would not take the direction that Melissa was offering to him. I kinda felt bad for him because I don't think he realized that he was painting a very bad picture of himself by not taking the direction. He kept talking back, and stressing his take on things, which is fine, but if it's NOT ENOUGH, and the casting director is trying to explain to you that it's NOT ENOUGH. Just sit back, be quiet, and listen! I mean, I'm pretty sure she knows what she's talking about, right? For all of you newbies out there, I can tell you right now, one of the most important things you MUST possess in order to be a successful actor, is the ability to listen and take direction. I just hope that guy learns this lesson sooner rather than later.

Okay, so last Saturday (9/30), my sister came to town and we took our kids to the L.A. County Fair. Now, I'm not one for big crowds, but I've been wanting to go to the Fair ever since I moved here, so I was very excited about going. I don't know why I expected it to be any different than the one I used to go to back in New Mexico, because with the exception of it being about 10 times larger, it really wasn't. By the same, I mean, the same "element," if you will. Anyway, to get to the meat of the story, towards the end of the evening, let's just say, your girl Shenita almost got into a "little scuffle" with two "ghetto-ites" over a very stupid reason! Now, these were grown butt women just acting a fool.

Side Note: Let me clarify something, I am a sweet, God fearing woman, but I WILL NOT let anyone mouth off to me, or try to make me look stupid, especially in public! I mean I am 5' 10 1/2" tall for crying out loud! I ain't no pip squeak. I will most certainly beat somebody's tale if I gots to...At least, I'll try...:)...

Okay, so back to the story. No need to worry my friends! In the end, nothing jumped off, but if it had, I know my 6' tall sister would have jumped in and helped me out if she thought I was struggling...:)...Even if she is 8 months pregnant...:)... So you might be asking yourself why I'm sharing this story. Well, it's because the residual anger I felt well into the next day really got me thinking. I realized that if my career goes as far as I would like it to go, I really have to learn to let things like that roll off my shoulders. I can only imagine the HATERADE that our celebrities/names/recognizable faces of today feel on a day to day basis. I mean if people (or the mags, newspapers, and tabloids for that matter) aren't talking about what they're wearing, they're trashing their looks, their pasts, their acting abilities, and even their families. I mean come on, I can't really go around socking people because they don't like what I'm wearing, or they make a crack about one of my kids, can I? Definitely food for thought. Gotta toughen up!

But hey, with the rate I'm going out these days, I guess I have time to work on adding those extra layers of skin!

Happy October...