Sunday, February 28, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 19

Completed my fourth and final vegan/raw foods class in the series of transitioning (to raw foods) today. There will be more classes but I've decided to let what I've learned so far marinate (so to speak). I've got four weeks of recipes, menus and a lot of new techniques for preparing healthy food. I plan to get a mini food processor for some of the recipes that won't work in a blender. Today we learned how to make a delicious chocolate mousse where the main ingredient was....get this...avocado!! You wouldn't even know it. And the walnut/date crust was just as yummy. You use a springboard pan like my cousin used for her ice cream dessert at Christmas.
Then I went to a dinner party with regular home cooking Sunday dinner type food, but I ate in moderation and skipped dessert. I'll go back to vegan land tomorrow. Progress not perfection. Met some great people at the dinner party. I was immediately recruited to read a part in the hostess' 10 minute play. No problem, as an artist, I'm used to "singing for my supper" and she didn't serve dinner til after the reading! Later over coffee we discussed possibly publishing my solo show. That sounds very appealing to me. I will be looking into that further. Me a published playwright? Wow. That means "book" signings and the possibility of another actress performing my show someday. Hmmmm. My friend Harold also mentioned that I should make sure I have my show filmed in Dublin. Dublin. Full speed ahead now. Got to get my show ready for the April 1st performance in West Hollywood and then on to Dublin at the end of April. I will be typing my press release tomorrow and working on re-writes of the ending of my piece. Must meet with my director this week to discuss the lighting and sound plots too. Better get some rest, I've got work to do!

Saturday, February 27, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 18

Welcome to my two new followers who look a lot like one of my other followers! As I stated earlier if there is anything in particular you would like me to blog about, just let me know.
I know I have at least one other follower who must be shy because he doesn't make his presence known. That leads me to believe there are other lurkers out there as well. Blogging for me has become habitual and cathartic. It's a way dump out my day before I go to bed and I wake up with a clean slate. It's kinda cool.
Today I am grateful for mothers. My mother in particular. At this point in our lives we are becoming friends. I talk to her almost every day now. That was not always the case. It will be interesting to see how this new phase of relationship affects my solo show. If you have seen it, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Speaking of the solo show, there's a lot of work that needs to be done for Dublin that is sort of overwhelming for me. I'm so good at just being talent. All that technical stuff, artwork, synopsis, etc. drives me crazy. This is where I need to ask for help. Why is that so hard for me to do? Well today I did reach out to my director and graphic artist to help me with the specifics. I still need to write a press release specifically for the Dublin press. Let them know Hollywood is coming to visit!!
I made a yummy dinner tonight. Cucumber seaweed salad (yes, I said seaweed) with brown rice and Ahi tuna. Imagine me trying to explain to my dear mother that this tuna does not come out of a can. Forget it. Ahi tuna. It's the new chicken.

Friday, February 26, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 17

Got away from the computer and ran some errands today. Nothing too exciting. Went to Co-op for some healthy foods for the recipes I've been collecting in my cooking class. Sunday is the last day in this particular series. I'm not planning on taking any more classes at the moment, I'd like to fully incorporate what I've learned this month then move on to something new. I tend to get overwhelmed with information because I love learning but at some point I've got to put it into practice. Ironically, one of my stops was at Agape and I ran into some friends and fans of Laugh-A-Latte who work there. They introduced me to the young lady who heads up the Whole Foods Ministry. Perfect timing! The woman I've been studying with did a series on raw foods there last year. It's an extension of what I've been learning this past month.
Got a last minute invitation to the Image Awards tonight, but a sista needs more than 15 minutes to get camera ready!
Had a great conversation with my friend Ralph. He knows me so well and has the best outlook on life. I always feel great after talking to him. I am so grateful to be re-united with him after all these years.
I'm looking forward to a fun weekend!

A Clear Channel - Day 16

My blog has 3 followers! How exciting. I'm really trying to stay disciplined and blog every day. Some days I miss but I will blog the very next day about what happened the day before. I'm kinda getting into this.
Today I spent a lot of time researching airfare to Ireland where I'll be doing my solo show in May. The price I got seems reasonable so I'm happy. I booked my flight and will pass this info on the producers tomorrow. Now on to working on the ending of my piece and dealing with the technical director. With two months to go, it's time to kick it into high gear. Plus I have to get ready for the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival in April. I don't know how I thought I could do all this and Women of Brewster Place but God took care of that for me. I did not get an offer to do the play. I know they liked me, but why would the hire an actress who knew she would need an understudy for almost the entire run? Who do I think I am anyway? I'm not one to want to miss any opportunities so at least I was seen, did two great auditions and I'm sure I will be remembered. Auditions are great for networking like that. When people "Ask me how did the audition go?", I usually say, "Great" whether I get the job or not because unless it was a total disaster, another business connection has been made and that's always good.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 15

Confirmation that my new way of eating is working already. At an audition the other day a colleague of mine told me I looked like I was losing weight and asked me what I was doing. I was happy to share with her that I was eating less and making healthier choices. I told her I was incorporating more raw foods into my diet. I haven't been perfect, but further confirmation came when the pants I wore today literally fell off of me without the belt! Good thing I was home at the time.
Went to my Dave Ramsey class this evening and the discussion was all about credit and FICO scores. What a scam! Having a high FICO score merely tells creditors that you're a good candidate to get further in debt. I've never been a fan of credit cards, but now I will do everything I can to avoid credit of any kind. I know you are saying "Good Luck" but I believe it can be done. It's not the popular choice for most people, but American has us duped into believing there is no other way to live. I will happily challenge that. Being an artist, I'm used to NOT having everything I want anyway, making sacrifices and not living beyond my means. I always manage to pay my bills but I am learning that I could stand to increase my income. I am now in the process of doing that in areas where my talent, expertise and joy abound. If I do this right I will be able have anything I want and be debt free at the same time. You don't think it can be done? Watch me!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 14

Two auditions today. That's always fun. One for an internet commercial where I was a meter maid who gets lifted up by a major sports celebrity. Of course there was no real celebrity there so I had to pretend. Piece of cake, I just recalled the time Shaq picked me up over his head when we worked on a show called Cousin Skeeter. That man is strong!
The other audition was for the creator of Monk. He's working on a new pilot. It was nice to meet him. He gave me 3 adjustments. Hope I gave him what he wanted, I'm ready to work!! I'm a little sleepy, so short and sweet tonight.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 13

Today I spent a lot of time looking at what I need to accomplish for my solo show's appearance in Dublin. I met a performer who is very familiar with the festival at my show Saturday night. He gave me about an hour of his time on the phone today pointing me in the right direction about how to promote my show before and after I arrive in Ireland. I am so grateful.
I stopped work long enough to go to my acupuncture appt. My toe is almost healed but not quite.
Back at home I concentrated on my budget and looking at ways to pay off my debt as soon as possible. I'm so fortunate to have a small amount of debt compared to some people, most people actually, but debt free is my preference and I know it can be done!
Today I received an email with a Financial Angel attached. It said if I forwarded it to 6 people I would receive a Financial Windfall. I don't usually respond to chain emails, but today I did. When I went to my mailbox, I had received a residual check!!! For 55 cents.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 12

Started off this morning at the callbacks for the west coast premiere of The Women of Brewster Place. It's a musical and it's been a long time since I've auditioned learning songs and a dance combination. There were lots of sistas there, basically two groups: the younger women and the, well....more mature women. Need I tell you which group I was in? Remember this is Hollywood. We were put in smaller groups for one song and had to sing the other by ourselves. All went well. I knew I was in the running when the director said, "Carlease, you're killing me with these conflicts." The choreographer took us through a combination with stepping and pirouettes and me and my fractured toe hung in there! I would not be surprised to get a call offering me a role, but now I realize that I have even more conflicts than I told the director about. Geez! In all probability I should turn it down. Even if I had an understudy they would be doing so many performances production might not go for it. I always feel I can do it all...things can be worked out but it's not always up to me. I really want to stay in good graces with my Equity agents who believe in me, but there's always something.
Had a great meeting with a publicist who also believes in me and is excited about working on my brand, getting me out there to promote the J-Lo movie coming out in April. She's going to offer me a proposal by the end of the week.
I told you it was going to get busy....here we go!

A Clear Channel - Day 11

Had a few things planned for Saturday...walking, a movie and my comedy show tonight. Ended up reneging on all except my show and that was the right thing do to. I needed every bit of energy to run Laugh-A-Latte. I completely overbooked the comics and had several surprise guests. Gave every one a chance to go up and the show was off da chain! The room was buzzing with electricity from both the audience and the performers. I think some of the booked comics may be upset with me. I did apologize profusely and told them I would give them more stage time when they come back. If they come back. We'll see what happens.
Laugh-A-Latte is so successful, two people last night mentioned maybe I should think about doing it twice a month. Hmmmmm. If you are reading this, what do you think?
When I got home after the show, I had to learn two songs for a callback for Women Of Brewster Place. I had such an adrenaline rush I wouldn't have been able to go to sleep right away anyway. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, laaaaah.....

Friday, February 19, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 10

Watching "Big Les: Problem Child" on Showtime. This sista is hysterical! She's manish and hoodish and so damn funny. If you can't handle profanity and grown folks talk don't even bother. She's not for the squeamish. She does cartwheels and everything with her BIG self!
So about my day. Had a great audition for Women of Brewster Place, the musical. I have several conflicts due to putting my solo show up for the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival and the theatre festival in Dublin, Ireland. We'll see what happens. Hung out at the Actors Center for a while then went to see Shutter Island. Good movie. Was going to go walking with the Nawiri Walkers tomorrow morning but it might be raining so I think I just sleep in and finish prepping for Laugh-A-Latte. I'll so see Valentine's Day before the drive to Long Beach. Got a huge line-up tomorrow night. Gotta keep the show tight or it will last all night. Hey, that rhymes!



A Clear Channel - Day 9

This post is a day late. The first day I missed since I started this new adventure of blogging. Of all the days to miss, it was the most murky. I had a callback for a commercial and I did something I usually don't do and that was to run an errand first. I usually don't even talk on the phone before an audition if I can help it but since I was in the area early I thought I'd make a stop. Something happened that disturbed me (even though I ran into a friend that I was happy to see) but it took me out of my zone. I went to the audition vowing to take a few moments of quiet time to clear my head. Also at the callback was the actress that suddenly stopped speaking to me and another actress who didn't come to see my solo show and all of that seemed so important at the time. It took a lot to get me to focus solely on what I was there to do....book that commercial! When I got inside the room I felt like I just gave that part away. I knew I was on avail before I got there but that didn't even help. "On avail" means that the producer/director is highly interested in hiring you, hasn't made a final decision but wants you to keep the shoot dates available.
That said, I could be back here blogging about how I got the job. Hooray for Hollywood!!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 8

Had lunch today with a new friend. Went to Hugo's in the Valley. Lots of healthy choices on the menu and so I ordered....healthy. So why was my fork in his plate of pasta, bacon, eggs, sausage and cheese most of the time?
Went to a voice over class and was reminded that today is Lent. This is perfect for my new way of eating because I have to give up something I really like. For me it will be chicken....yes I said chicken. I love fried chicken and hot wings from Hot Wings on Melrose. For this moment til Easter I will not have any chicken!! Yikes.
Tomorrow got a callback for a commercial and then plan to walk from my house to the Apple Store to learn more about my new laptop. That will be a nice little walk. Gotta keep this up.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 7

Started the day out with a walk. Yay! At first I thought the fractured toe wasn't going to make it around the block, but I managed to walk my planned route. That toe is still rather swollen but it feels much better. I'm gearing up for a walk I want to do on Saturday with the Nawiri Walkers. It's supposed to be an hour and a half in Marina del Rey. Had an amazing green smoothie today and some brown rice with spinach and mushrooms. Had a little melt down later though. Spent too much time in front of this computer working on my ezine. I'm happy with it though and I finally managed to post it here on Blogger. It's called Laugh-A-Latte. Check it out. I think I was supposed to open it up and then post it. I'll try that next time. I learned a lot of new stuff on this computer today. Thursday I'm taking my Mac to the Apple Store for some more tutoring. Got to get to bed soon so I can get up early. Gonna try to start every day with a walk. Pray for me!

'Laugh-A-Latte'

'Laugh-A-Latte'

A Clear Channel - Day 6

Worked on finances pretty much all day. I need to get real clear about how much is coming and how much is going out. Even though I'm not happy with those amounts at the moment, I need to know what they are. There is a bit of peace in knowing exactly what you're working with. In an industry like show business, it's very easy to get excited when you make a lot of money and without discipline, you just spend like crazy for a number of reasons: 1) you think the money is going to be flowing all the time; 2) it's been so long since you've been able to splurge that you spend recklessly because you feel you deserve it or earned it somehow by sacrificing in the past and 3) sometimes your ego gets in the way and you just don't want to be that friend who can never afford to go out. I'm speaking from experience but I have to say with the new budget at least I can make choices. I either spend less or make more. Maybe both. Same with my weight. I got on the scale today and wasn't happy with those numbers either. Solution is simple: Eat less. Move more. There is no big mystery. Now that my fractured toe is just about healed, guess who's taking a little walk tomorrow?

Monday, February 15, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 5

It's Valentine's Day. The day of love. There's been a lot of clearing in this area of my life and I don't intent to go too deep on this subject. I'm already sharing so much of my business pertaining to other areas of my life. I just need to acknowledge that I finally feel that I know what a healthy relationship is supposed to look like. I know who I am and what I want in a partner. I heard someone on the radio the other day say, a person who is affectionate, strong and can take care of business. There are other qualities and characteristics that are important to me (I now have a list), but that's an excellent start. So now that there is a clear channel for love I will be paying attention so that I will know when the right person arrives. Stay tuned.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 4

Today I cleared away some fear and pain.
I was at a rehearsal for a Valentine's Day Cabaret where I am singing I Got Love from the Broadway musical Purlie. Melba Moore won a Tony for her performance in 1970 and I wore out the grooves on the soundtrack after my parents took me to see the show back in the day. That's when I knew I wanted to be an actress. At first I declined the offer to do the cabaret show because of fear. I prefer to sing within the context of a show or within my comedy material. Just singing a song by itself makes my stomach hurt. About a week ago I decided to get over it. I've been singing I Got Love as an audition piece for years so I knew the last 32 bars quite well. I believe this might be my first time singing the entire song. Rehearsal was fun. Piece of cake. No fear and I'm looking forward to the show tomorrow.
While at rehearsal, a bottle of water fell on my healing fractured toe and now it doesn't hurt at all. I've heard of freak accidents but this was a strange sort of freaky miracle!! Looks like I'll be walking and riding my bike again soon so I can clear away some of these excess pounds.

A Clear Channel - Day 3

Short blog today. Did a bunch of laundry. Ate some food I shouldn't have but tried the spinach crepe. Yummy. Have to get used to cooking with coconut oil. Was I supposed to melt it first before measuring it for the recipe? Looking forward to new recipes this Sunday.
I'm enjoying this time to myself to get some personal things done. My manager says he is crazy busy, so that means I'll be busy soon too. It's pilot season!!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

A Clear Channel - Day 2

I'm going to attempt to blog every day this year based on this theme A CLEAR CHANNEL... It keeps me conscious of my goals and accountable if to no one else but me.
Let's start with food. Today I made cashew milk!! I learned about it in a raw/vegan cooking class I took last weekend. It will be used for my breakfast cereal of chopped nuts, dried fruit and oat groats. I know, oat what? I never heard of them either but they taste good. I will also use the cashew milk to make green smoothies and a healthy spinach crepe. All these recipes were provided at the cooking class. It's a series of 4 classes to teach people how to transition to raw/vegetarian diets. The food is actually quite good. This week I'm supposed to be eliminating tons of stuff like soda, meat, dairy, caffeine, refined sugar and much more. Some people would come home and throw away all the food we should avoid, but my Daddy always said, "Waste not, want not." So I'm going to eat what I have and just not buy anymore. I know this sounds like a daunting task but I know I can do it since I've done it before. Back in 1994 I removed sugar and flour from my diet for an entire year. The results were amazing. Then I did the 573 mile AIDS ride. My body was tight! Keeping that vision in mind will help keep me on track. It's easy to control my eating when I'm at home but I tend to slip when I'm out in the world. I've got to have healthy snacks on hand (or just not snack at all) and avoid all my favorite eateries for a while. I chopped up a couple of bunches of spinach for tomorrow's smoothie and crepe. I'll get some more recipes this weekend.
Today I also de-cluttered the home a bit and worked on my record keeping for my income tax. I'm working on 2 years. How did that happen?
I also realized some other places that need clearing. My emails, my Treo and even my DVR. What is it that causes me to pile things up? What am I saving this information for? I need to be saving some money! Well I'm working on that.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

A Clear Channel

At the end of 2009, my career coach Barbara Deutsch and I came up with my theme for 2010. We decided that in order to accomplish my career goals, I need to clear up some space. De-clutter if you will. So I've decided to work on three areas of my life: My finances, my body and my home. Ironically, I'm am currently recuperating from a fractured toe due to me walking into a box of old papers in my own home. As I begin to clear away the clutter of papers, excess pounds and living on no budget, I can see how these 3 areas of my life are inter-related. I found my financial adviser Dave Ramsey on a weight loss site and until I started working his program I couldn't understand why he was even on there. Well, according to my budget, I spend an awful lot of money on food, which means I most be eating a lot so there's no mystery to why I need to lose ?? pounds! I will be examining this area very carefully. So join me as I take this journey. I think by writing about it, I will achieve the results I'm going for: A CLEAR CHANNEL to my career goals. I wish to keep those specific goals private for now. I'll let you know when I get there. In the meantime, why not come along for the ride?