Law of Attraction

Law of Attraction is seriously at play...and maybe a bit of restoring some "harmonic emotion" in my life.

So, for about three to four days this week, I was in a ridiculously stressed state. No solid reasons why, I was able to find reasons as to why I shouldn't be stressed about situations, I was able to find the positives in the situations, and I knew that I was actively correcting these situations, so why be stressed? Yeah, I don't know. Except that I simply just got too focused on it and made the situation bigger than it had to be.

Some background: As you may know, one of my biggest dreams is to have a contract role on Days of Our Lives. I know Peter Reckell by way of my boyfriend, whose client is Peter's wife. He knows me; he and his wife have given me some furniture. Neither he or his wife know that I'm an aspiring actress. My apartment manager has had - what I guess you would call - a co-starring role on Days. During that time, my toilet had backed up, and he stopped by to take a look. We got to talking about the industry and of course, his co-starring role, and he learned about my big dream. "Well, would you like to get on as maybe an extra?" he asked. To which I, of course, responded "Sure!" In the back of mind I'm also hoping that it never interferes with getting a contract role down the road. Well, my apt. manager is friends with one of the producers, so he promised to talk to him about it. Rock on!

I ran into my apartment manager yesterday afternoon (again, this is after having a few slumpy, woe-is-me days). As expected, I kept things upbeat ~ "Oh, I'm good! How are you?!" After the everyday greetings, he said that he still had to call his friend about getting me on the show, but he knows that they'll be going on hiatus in a week or so and will be up and running again mid-July. I handed him my business card, which is my headshot on a business card with my name and contact info, to give to his producer-friend. We chatted more about the industry and said our goodbyes.

That evening, Andrew and I went out for dinner. After a few minutes of contemplation and deciding on sushi, but not our usual place, and not in Hollywood (I could not deal with crowds last night), we headed to a place more down the street from me in Studio City. It was a nice change of scenery...and at the end of dinner, just as Andrew is taking care of the bill, and we're laughing about...something...I recognize this guy who's sitting at the table behind Andrew. It's Jay Kenneth Johnson, aka "Philip" on Days! *a small inward excitement dance and giggles* Thank God I have a boyfriend who puts up with me and my small obsessions! ;-) And he also knew who I was talking about since Jay's been on Scrubs a few times, as well. Anyway, I did not stop by his table as we were headed out to say "Hey, I've enjoyed your work" or anything like that; maybe I should've, but for the moment, I'm okay that I didn't. What would happen when I'm cast on Days and have to work with him day-to-day? Can't have him remembering me as "one of those fans." ;-)

Waiting for the valet to bring my car, I remembered that Jay and my apartment manager have also worked together! It was one scene when Philip came to the island to take "his daughter" back and the sheriff (my apt. manager) had to deal with that situation. It's crazy to think how we're all interconnected, and I can't believe how much Days "stuff" I'm attracting. As The Secret says..."Attention goes where energy flows."

Just Call Me Haley!

Haley...the cute girl from this season's American Idol who Simon said was cute, but not memorable. I rooted for her because - well- her voice amidst the powerful female voices of AI is how I see my voice amidst what's popular on Broadway today (sweet/classic voice vs. pop/rock voice). And last night, I saw it all come to fruition...this time in an acting class.

"Your outfit is so cute! You look VERY 'irresponsible'; great choice! But I need [xyz in acting] from you." Good lord...how do I put this? I don't want to say that I'm God's gift to acting; I'm still refining my craft. I'm currently researching and moving forward and finding places where I can grow and break through these blocks. But I seriously felt like Haley up there. 'You're cute, but hon, you need some work with that talent' (paraphrased into my own exaggeration, of course).

Then again, it could've just been the scene that didn't work for me. The first two weeks, I didn't receive one criticism from her.

In any case, I think in the end, I'm glad to hear the criticism, rather than a re-direction and a "gooood..." and not knowing if it was simply a polite statement. She made me aware of what I already knew, and it's now simply a reaffirmation, and a stronger push to find something even sooner to make me really focus on making my craft better!

The recent news before last night: I have a POTENTIAL commercial agent. He seemed interesting/a character, but nice and was interested in representing me...I'll be calling later today to see if I can schedule an interview. He didn't give us much info during the Q&A about his agency, so in an attempt to find info, I emailed some of the actors he represents to get their opinion and to find out if he's been sending them out on enough auditions. Two responded, and both said that he was interesting/nice, but he hasn't done much for them.

My other piece of news is that I'll be interviewing with Beverly Hills Playhouse tomorrow afternoon (info on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills_Playhouse). I found out about them as I was researching the above mentioned agency, checked out the website, and their classes, style of teaching, and instructors seemed perfect! Just what I need to kick my butt into real acting. Not to mention, one of the beloved evil characters from Days takes classes there. ;-)

Other than that, today has been all about getting acting errands done ~ thank you cards, postcards, getting postcard stamps, calling and making appointments...and of course, making a stop by Starbucks, where today, my name is Sharmane.

So...call me Haley...or Sharmane. Whatever you please...though I really don't know who Sharmane is.

My life is being abducted again...

Whew! My world is spinning! One day off can certainly put things in perspective for a girl.

Okay, first of all, I knew that my month was going to be a busy one. Every hour I was remembering that I was scheduled for a class, an audition, meeting up with friends on this day or that. I was at a loss each time when I didn't have my planner on me! Finally, I was able to lay everything out today. What I discovered...I'm booked for 6 days straight starting June 11th for acting classes and one audition. June's gonna be non-stop...and I don't think it's going to slow down till my birthday in October, as I've just agreed to do another community theatre show. I say "another" as though I do this all the time. I used to, but my last one was two years ago, two *cities* ago.

Sidenote: going to the "Oliver!" audition the other night was so great! I can't say how much I loved being around that community theatre atmosphere. It doesn't seem to change no matter where I go ~ whether it's Richmond, D.C., or L.A. It's all the same. Musical artists coming together to put on a great show for the love of theatre. And as cheesy as it sounds, you can feel that love.

Woo! This is the first thing I've been cast in in Los Angeles! Fabulous! ;-) LOL ...oh wait. I'm forgetting "Grey's Anatomy." That was the first. Right!

I've also just submitted myself for an audition for "Bye Bye Birdie." Rehearsals would start June 9th, with performances going up July 14th-29th. How psycho am I??? No telling if I'd be cast, though.

Wow. Other than that, I've prepared my cover letter today for soap associate casting directors, I'll mail them out on Monday...it'll be mighty tough to work a schedule with them IF they want me on set this summer. If not, I can wait till the fall. ;-)

My head's still spinning...no wine for me tonight!