Author: theactorvist

I love the Theatre. It's my church. It's my joy. I have been performing in plays and musicals for over half of my life, and I would be lost without it. Now more than ever, people are cutting back on everything that is too expensive or unimportant to their lives. As an actor, heck as a person, I don't know of anything that is more important than the arts. Art reflects history. It shows humanity at its worst but also its best. Every day some artistic program is getting cut from a school or a great show goes unseen. Maybe a talented singer isn't able to audition for American Idol. There are a ton of people who live in the South Bay Area of California, who go unseen or unheard. There are many production companies that are just bursting with talent, but people don't see the shows. I will do my best to bring you interviews with local artists of every kind, send out the call for local companies looking to cast people in productions, and much more. Stay tuned because this is only the beginning.

I Feel Like Dancing!

With the latest season of So You Think You Can Dance underway, I find that sensation and urge of wanting to get back into a dance class. I miss the structure of working on a step with someone with experience to tell you “Dude, you are totally screwing that up.” Of course, the teacher doesn’t say that, but I happily accept their help as a response to that message, whether verbally communicated or not.

On the way to the kitchen one day, as I was listening to music, I got the bright idea to bust out a double pirouette. It was on my good side, so I landed it, yeah, it was a wee bit wobbly, but I got a little jazzed and tried to do the other side just to even things out. HA!!

I got one rotation and soon I was hugging my coat rack and trying to keep from smacking my face against the wall.

Have you ever watched America’s Funniest Videos and seen a clip where someone for no reason whatsoever falls? Like they have NO sense of balance. I have that as a…hmmm, not really a fear….and it’s not a pet peeve, so I don’t know what to call it. I just know that I don’t want to be that sad sack that loses their balance just because I get looked at the wrong way.

Dancing has been a love of mine that I sadly admit that I don’t do nearly enough. There’s something about the beat of music that makes my soul jump and groove and glow with a happiness that I can’t get anywhere else. Some say that Latin people have a rhythm in their souls. In 2005, Tina Ramirez, founder of Ballet Hispanico, was quoted in the Washington Post saying that “In Hispanic culture, you are born dancing.”

One of the many books that I am currently juggling is about the women of New Mexico which features stories that were written during the Roosevelt Era. Many of the stories talk about all the celebrations and dancing from the time the sun goes down and carries on throughout the night.

With that in mind, I am researching which school would be best for me. I know Lee Ann Payne’s Musical Theatre Class at Zohar is a ton of fun, but I didn’t see it on the summer session schedule. I really want to take a hip hop class. I love the style of the dance, but I am the least likely candidate for the culture. I’ve also always wanted to try my hand at contemporary. I just don’t knowwwwww!! So many choices! I wish someone just had a flat rate for unlimited classes so I could give them all a test drive and see which one fit me the best. We’ll just have to wait and see exactly how that plays out. I’ll keep ya posted.

Do you take dance classes somewhere? What school are you attending? What’s your focus?

Oh the nerves!!!

As I get closer and closer to the point where I have to surrender my little book to be read to help me flesh out sections, my heart begins to race at the thought that I will soon be able to check off one more thing that I’ve wanted to do. I will have an actual book and not just a little novella. Of course, then that would mean shopping it around for publication. I wonder how much it would cost to self publish?

But back to the task at hand!

This little book o’ mine is about love, reincarnation and friendships. It bounces through time but the present is set in San Jose. It focuses on a young man who always claims to dream about the weirdest things, but one particular dream shakes him so badly that his BFF helps him remember through hypnotic regression. Throughout the book True Love will always try to find you.

As with any self critical artist who has ever created something, one automatically assumes that everyone is going to hate it. Not only will they hate it, but no one will buy it. Ugh, that is the worst feeling. As I began to read the novella, I find that I wrote one huge chapter. Hahaha. So already I have a huge problem. See, it’s gonna be terrible.

I wrote this as a challenge for National Writing Month (November) 2008. With only having 30 days to write 50,000 words with the distraction that is Thanksgiving, I wasn’t thinking about where I should break for chapters. I just wanted to get the story out. I think the final word count was 51 thousand and some change. Finding where I think the chapters should be located is kind of awkward, so that is one of the things I know I am going to need a lot of help with. Another challenge I am finding is that I jump from present to memory often and I think I jumped from present to memory to memory once. That even confused me! LOL! I had to re-read the page to work out the kinks.

I tell ya, editing yourself after 3 years away from the project is kinda tough. But I am pushing right along. While I love the idea of the story, I don’t see it as a musical. So I think I’ll have to scratch that idea. Indie film? Totally! Play? Maybe if it’s experimental. I wonder if Pacifica’s Stage One would consider it? Again, I shall cross that bridge when I get to it.

For now, I’ll just read the last half and figure out how to make it sound more mature in style. One of the thoughts that I have tumbling through my brain as I read is that the writing feels like it’s supposed to be a young adult book. It doesn’t feel well worded it some areas. I will be interested to see what the feed back I get from it is.

But I can’t really call it an accomplishment if I don’t get it done right?

What’s an accomplishment that you’ve recently that you were so excited to complete? Was it a long work in progress? This one took me YEARS! ;-)!

Did I grow up or just grow old?

I remember that there was a time not that long ago, that I could do a crapload of stuff in a day and still have energy to do anything else but sleep. My motto used to be “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

Today, I was watching “Bridesmaids” with my munster Perry and my Bestie Notblue, and I felt a kind of sadness fall over me. We met up after I got off of working at the nursery, and I was so excited because it’s been a while since we’ve seen a movie together due to conflicting schedules, being tired, or having other plans and what not. Yeah, I was a little tired, but it didn’t matter much.

The movie, which is freaking hilarious, made me think back to childhood friends. People that I had long since grown apart from. I felt that little tinge of sadness because I have no one to remember when we did this stupid thing or that crazy thing as kids. I have a lot of friends, a ton of acquaintances, and a handful of BFF’s that I cherish, but none of them have that connection of kiddie memories.

You may wonder what happened to those people that I grew up with. The truth of it is, I don’t know. We moved on to our various lives, and when we would meet up, it was more like “do you remember when?” but not really creating any new memories to share. I don’t know if it’s wrong, but I feel like friendships should be like that trusty old car that will always move you forward, even if it doesn’t look the greatest. You can always look into the rearview mirror, but you have to keep driving on. So, I just let them drift apart. We’ve grown to be so different that it was as though we were different people through and through.

One of the themes in the movie is regarding growing up, maturing, becoming an adult, or whatever you want to call it. Kristen Wiig, who is Maya Rudolph’s maid of honor and childhood friend, takes on Rose Byrne, the rich girl and new friend of the bride to be. They argue about whether people change. It was that argument that initially made me wonder about my lacking of childhood friends. But then I began to think a little more about whether I grew up or just grew old and changed much in the process of doing so. I know it’s a bit of murky thing to ask, but I feel like there is a difference between the two.

As I stated before, I could do a ton of things and have plenty of time left over to do more. I was also the weirdly dressed kid at school. I would take my dad’s old jackets that he never used anymore and tear out the lining. That is of course if it was a colorful or fancy fabric. Then I would re-sew the raggedy edges and remove the sleeves and wear them as vests. Sometimes I would add buttons if the mood struck me, but most of the time I just left it as is. I stitched emerald green sequins on my black backpack that read DTBD. Everyone asked me what it meant, but I would only tell my friends. It stood for Dare To Be Different. They too began to write it on their books and binders.

At my current age, would I recreate something like that and wear it out without batting an eye. Hell’s yeah.

However, I feel like I just don’t have the energy to put into making it. I’ve been feeling the desire to get out more and accomplish things sort of dwindle, and I let it happen. I have become content with staying in and pattering about the old homestead. But I have to admit, I do it with a touch of resentment in my soul. Just a touch.

So therein lies the question: Does that mean I’ve grown up or just grown old?

In the movie, the adorable Melissa McCarthy confronts Wiig to face her self afflicted pity party and fight for something good for herself. I can’t say what it was about that moment that made me look over to the seat on my left, but I heard something and I can’t describe what it was.

I am a big believer in “signs” so I am going to take that moment as a “sign.”

I guess there is my answer!! I did not grow up and I did not grow old. I grew complacent and I don’t think that’s enough for me.

I am ready to begin again.

Thank you for helping me talk, errr…write out this problem.

Do you believe in signs? What’s been your experience? I would love to hear about it.

Thanks for reading!

♬ Not last night, but the night before ♪

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, I was woken up at 3:30 in the morning by a weird whirring sound and the soft purring of an idling engine. I wasn’t sure what the hell was happening outside, but it didn’t sound “normal.” So I lay in bed with this dilemma: Do I dare look outside to see what is making that noise?

Hold on, what was that flash of light? What IS going on out there?

So after a couple of deep breaths to build up my resolve, I sat up and looked around the room and scooted to over to the window and slowly slid the blind to the side. The window was foggy and I could make out a truck that was had it’s lights out but the engine running. The robotic whirring began again with the sporadic flashes , and at first I thought “Shit, it’s the Singularity!” As it turns out, after I wiped some of the fog off the window and moved to a better position, I saw that it was a Comcast marked truck with a bucket lift and some dude was working on the power lines that are attached to a street light.

I had to get a better look but I still couldn’t see what he was doing. Being the paranoid fellow that I am, I began to wonder why there would be someone doing this at 3:30 in the morning. It just didn’t make sense to me, and it still doesn’t. So then I figure, I am going to get my camera so that way I have documented proof that this was happening and I wasn’t going mad. But then I began to think that if I get caught taking pictures, would I come home and find my place ransacked or something.

Still, I grab my good ol’ picture snapper and sneak into the second room to try and get a better look. So I get the pic above taken and I don’t know if the guy sees the little green light go off, but the basket starts to come down, so I try to duck behind the blinds before he sees me. Then the basket starts to make a higher pitch noise, and I am guessing that it was moving back up so I poke my head out once more and get:

And:

What is he doing?!?

After taking these pictures, I tried to post them on Facebook to see if anyone else thought this whole thing was weird and guess what? There was no internet signal. So I grabbed my cell and posted via mobile and the people that responded all agreed that this was highly suspicious indeed. So I contacted Comcast via chat and: (Yes, I used a fake name, shut up, gawd!)

DelfinYCBU: Hello Jason, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Delfin JR. Please give me one moment to review your information.

DelfinYCBU: Welcome to Comcast! I hope your day is going well. How may I help you?

Jason: I really just have a question.

DelfinYCBU: Sure Jason.

DelfinYCBU: May I know what about please ?

Jason: Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning at 3:30, I was woken up by a truck in the driveway working on one of the wires by a street light. Is this normal?

Jason: There wasn’t a power outage, and to my knowledge the internet connection was fine before I went to sleep, so I find it kind of alarming.

DelfinYCBU: I understand Jason.

DelfinYCBU: Have you checked on the truck if its familiar or a Comcast service truck ?

DelfinYCBU: I am not sure if it was ours but yes there are instances that we send out personnel on areas that could have been affected by an outage.

Jason: Yes, the truck said Comcast on the driver’s side door. It also had a bucket lift to reach the wires

DelfinYCBU: I see. Most probably there isa problem on the post wire. Could be someone or another customer in your neighborhood.

Jason: What’s a post wire?

DelfinYCBU: My apologies, I mean the wires on the street post.

Jason: Also, I don’t want to be rude, but do you know if there was a work order for that?

DelfinYCBU: My apologies Jason but I wont be able to track that here on my end. I’d advise instead to contact the Local Office to trace.

Jason: Oh, well, thank you for all your help Delfin. I appreciate it. Have a good evening.

DelfinYCBU: You are most welcome, Jason.

DelfinYCBU: I appreciate your time and patience with me too.

This little chat took a while to get through. In my head, I can just see some poor guy halfway around the world stressing because some regular Joe is asking questions about a suspicious late night patch job. So I guess Saturday I will have to go into our local “branch” and see if they could tell me what’s happening.

Here’s my concern: With all these big government agencies scanning all the millions and millions emails and listening in on phone conversations, thanks to the Pat Act, what if this is just another attempt at monitoring everything? With Comcast being the huge monopoly it is in this neighborhood and many others whose to say that Comcast itself isn’t in league with Big Brother for special favors? Comcast not only owns a large chunk of the telecommunications sector but now also Media thanks to it’s little “joint venture” with General Electric. I will never understand how the FCC or whoever sanctioned this massive agreement. “Special Favors” perhaps? Maybe this will be an attempt to even further restrict our bandwidth? There’s so many questions to ask that it makes my head spin.

Take look at your power lines. Have you ever paid them any attention? I think we should my friends, I think it’s high time we should.

My neck, my back…

Never think a simple thing like a bike ride doesn’t need preparation. Just sayin’.

As I am currently a little under the weather, due to back muscle soreness, I am faced with the saddest thing that I can think of: I am not as young as I used to be. However, as every day passes, that is true for all of us. So when I thought about it that way, I felt a lot better about getting older.

Have you ever had muscles so sore that you just want to cry? Or walked or ran for so long that the next few days your first steps were identical to those of a baby giraffe? That hurts! Not only that, it hurts extra when you don’t know what exactly is hurting or why. Oh, and why does it always seem to be worse the second day after the incident? Ugh! For me it was a double whammy.

On Sunday, I thought I was going to be fun and ride my bike to work. Now, I haven’t ridden a bike in 25 years, easily. That is, if you don’t count the 5 minutes of being on a stationary bike at the gym. I’ve never truly owned a bike but I used to ride my friend’s bike often. Silly me, I bought into the whole “it’s like riding a bike” mentality, and thought I would just zoom down the expressway like I do in my car. HA!

Here I am pedaling and pedaling and feeling like I would be making the same traveling time if I were walking. I am beginning to get a little warm even though it’s 7:45 in the morning. I can feel the work out I am getting in my legs and I am okay with that. What I don’t realize is that this posture and the shock that my body is absorbing from the occasional bump is taking a toll on me without my even suspecting. I don’t know if it’s because I have bigger things to think about; such as why is my front wheel no longer aligned with my handle bars?; why has it taken me 20 minutes to get a mile and a half?; and why aren’t the gears shifting at all?

With this being my first bike ride in 20+ years, I was super tense about the trip already. What is one of the things that happen when you are tense? Well, when you are gripping or grabbing something, your strength is multiplied and your shoulders creep up closer to your ears. So thanks to that tenseness, I had my arms locked and instead of letting my arms bend to ease the shock, I let it all go into my shoulders. Also, as I have yet to master the “stand up on your pedals when you hit a bump”, (Ouch!) and I let my lower back take a beating by absorbing all the road to sidewalk transitions I rode through.

So the lesson here is to be sure to stretch before you do that bit of exercise regardless of how simple you think it may be. I failed to do so, and I have been paying for it these last two days. Thank Alieve for getting me through work on Monday. I felt like I was going to be sick when the pain waves hit me.

After stretching for a bit and always doing a little throughout the day things seem to be getting back to normal. We’ll see what tomorrow holds. Take care of yourselves my friends!

Have you forgotten to stretch before doing something that had this same result, like dancing all night at the club? Let me know. How did you handle it? Or maybe I am just being a big baby? What do you think?