Today I e-mailed a career coach. I went to see Shakespeare in the Park tonight with my friend from Fiddler - who told me she had been working with this career coach - and it had really been helping - and her roommate worked with the coach and after a few session booked two national tours - and another roommate became the winning model on PROJECT RUNWAY. (No seriously --- she did - it was during Pinafore!) Apparently the coach helps you actually present yourself well in the 8 awesome measures you get - everything from changing your name (I DOUBT my name is my problem- but my friends last name was Pitts - it's not Carroll - much better) - to what age range you play, and which 8 bars to sing, and how to present yourself, and how you actually read to the auditioner. Most people who have given me feedback thus far - know me - so their feedback has been very skewed and - I think - incorrect. For instance - everyone LOVES it when I sing WONDERFUL GUY - because I bounce around the room and smile stupidly and make silly faces - which is all well and good if you'd heard me talk about (gasp) Austin -

GAH! I WROTE THIS RELALY LONG EMPOWERING ENTRY AND IT GOT DELETED! and I"m too tired to rewrite. This is all that got saved.......

Crazy Eights

Crazy Eights

Courtesy of Sara:

8 T.V. Shows I Watch
1. Glee
2. Gossip Girl
3. Wizards of Waverly Place
4. Dancing With the Stars
5. The Bachelorette
6. Colbert Report
7. Classic Arts Showcase
8. Castle

8 Favorite Places to Eat and Drink

1. Bar Americaine

2. Yacht Club

3. Melting Pot

4. Josie's

5. Grom

6. The Baguette barge in Stratford

7. Spice Market

8. Grand Epicerie Paris


8 Things I Look Forward To

1. Bielski Ballet
2. vacations
3. baking Saturday Nights
4. Holidays
5. Troughton Encounters
5. Theatre Jobs
6. Olympics
7. Dessert/Grom
8. Seeing Corgis

8 Things That Happened Yesterday

1. I worked at Steps
2. I skinned my knees in a subway tunnel
3. I saw Olivers Show
4. I baked cookies
5. I sang a lot
6. I cleaned
7. I saw Jen and Lauren
8.I learned the word Agathokakological

8 Things I Like About Summer

1. Not having to carry around 50 layers of cloths
2. Sanibel
3. Outdoor Theatre
4. More dogs on the street
5. skirts and dresses
6. summer movies
7. boats
8. air conditioning at Steps.

8 Things I'm Passionate About

1. Theatre
2. Music
3. Shakespeare
4. Chocolate
5. Green Energy
6. Random Facts
7. figure Skating
8. Dance

8 Words or Phrases I Use Often

1. OMG
2. LOL
3. like
4.Mermaid
5. Troughton
6. GAH!
7. Mwhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
8. ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

8 Things I Have Learned From the Past

1. Smile - even though you're acheing
2. Listen to Megan Reinking with regards to boys
3. Listen to Megan Reinking with regards to fashion
4. Not all theatre is good.

5. Good will ultimately triumph!
6. Truth is always the best.
7. Out of order will come chaos and out of chaos will come order.
8. It's never too late to start over.

8 Places I'd Like to Visit
where I haven't been before

1. Rome
2. Amalfi Coast
3. Iceland
4. Switzerland
5. Sweden
6. Moscow
7. Egypt
8.Turkey

8 Things I Currently Want/Need

1. A job
2. money to finish paying my taxes
3. An opportunity to direct/or perform
4. Furniture that isn't broken
5. A new shower curtain
6. A doorman/way to get packages at my apt.
7. Someone to tell me how beautiful and talented i am - without prompting - and who actually believes it.
8. A corgi.

• • 
    

Words and Books

So - I am by no means a bookworm. To be truthful, I prefer to get my information from the internet. Even t.v. programs I feel the incredible need to fact-check on my trusty best friend - AKA - m y iphone. And as far being whisked away to far away lands - I'm a live theatre girl. Fiction novels I find relatively trivial and movies and t.v. (with the one exception of Gossip Girl see previous entry) bore me and make me wonder if I have ADD. (these fears are put to rest when watching 4 hour long operas in Sanskrit or endeavouring upon 3 hour research session on the symbolisms of poultry on-line.)

However - in my post-England depression - I decided to go and purchase a several books form the "humour" section of Barnes and Noble. A word on the humour section - I am also not one for knock knock jokes or books about how to seduce a vampire - BUT - this section also has all of the witty random facts and bizarre stories on men on sysiphisian tasks such a reading the encyclopedia or living a year as Biblically as possible. Since I don't really collect tangible things (though due to my pack-rat tendencies on could say I collect EVERYTHING) - I collect random facts. I have ever since me and my best friend in grade school Donna played dress up. The pay-off hasnt really been present until very recently when I realized I can cream everyone at Trivial Pursuit and at on-line trivia games so long as pop culture isn't involved (or dates. I was SO MAD AT MYSELF for missing "what year was Gandhi assasinated - three hours after I had read an article about the life of Gandhi and his transformation through clothing - complete with a picture taken in 1948 right before he was ASSASSINATED!) I'm a bad history major - I'm rubbish at dates. (To be FAIR - all my history teachers told me dates weren't important - just even and the chronology and major ideas.)

ANYWAY - random fact humour books seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. The first was THE ANIMAL REVIEW - which was actually a bit disappointing - less factual and more two dudes going off about stupid people are for thinking great white shark's only mission in life is to kill humans - and the only reason they jump out of the water is to try and eat humans flying around in airplanes) an - and how lame Pandas are. Needless to say - MUCH on-line fact checking was required. I did learn what an alpaca was - and that snails are truly ridiculous creatures and octopuses are way cooler than I ever knew - and that octopuses is preferred over octopi - but overall - a disappointing. F-U - PENGUIN actually was more factual - and that WAS supposed to be just someone ranting over how stupid humans are when they see cute things...but at the end of every entry was an interesting fact about the animal.

The one I'm reading now is READING THE O.E.D. (Oxford English Dictionary.) It is about a man- who I believe is in many ways my hero - who read the entire OED in a year - and then wrote an extremely witty book about the process. And it is providing MUCH amusement and MANY laugh out loud moments in addition to increasing my vocabulary for ridiculous scrabble words. For instance - I had to text JP the word "debag." to remove someone's trousers by force. This resulted in funny conversation about how JP wants to debag the world and us deciding he is DEBAGGER MAN! Maybe it's funnier if you know JP. Porporate is someone who wears a lot of purple. IIIII wear a lot of purple Aspectabund = someone with an extremely expressive face. Cachinator - someone who laughs way too much and way too loudly. Agathokakological = comprising of good and evil. Kat, Laura, and I are STILL trying to say that one out loud and not sound as though we are speaking a foreign language. We spent about 15 minutes yesterday working on that one. Epizeuxis = repitition of a word with vehemence and emphasis. (I immediatley think of the final scene in King Lear - but I suppose this is usually used when someone is expressing obscenities. Paneity = the state of being bread. I really want to use that one in a sentence! Constult = to act stupidly together. So do people consult to constult? My PERSONAL favorite word of the day is Disasinate - to deprive of stupidity! I want to disasinate the world - though I suppose one could argue that my writing this entry is completely an anti-disasinating process. Oh well.

The author is in many ways my hero because he does take on this ludicrous Sisyphean task - because he can - and because he LOVES reading dictionaries. He would rather sit and read a giant dictionary for the fifth time than do just about anything else on the planet. He owns Australian Dictionaries, American Dictionaries, Dictionaries from the 17th century, dictionaries written by ex-NBA players (Walt "Clyde" Frazier's Word Jam: Guide to an Awesome Vocabulary), basically if it has words in it - he has read it or will read it. Dictionary reading makes NO money - and apparently (according to him) impresses no friends - and - really you can't say -HEY PEOPLE OUTSIDE STOP EPIZEUXING! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP! It's useless - but he LOVES it - and instead of working a "real" job - he supports himself and his habit by working as a moving-guy - driving a gondola - and being a street musician. He is dating a former lexographer and has a unit of friends who also - collect dictionaries. Apparently one lady - Madeline - has an entire apt. dedicated to JUST dictionaries.

So I figure - HEY - this guy - literally spends his entire life on this quixotic love of dictionaries - and he does whatever it takes to read as many dictionaries as many times as possible - AND - found a girlfriend who COMPILES words for dictionaries - I can MY quixotic adventures too. Alright - so - I may have to be a tour guide and teach pilates and ballet to 3 year-olds - and be an extra in bar scenes on t.v. shows and write Transcripts for Austin - but isn't it worth it to read dictionaries? I mean - create great theatre? Sure - my heart doesn't race when I smell an old dictionary form the 1800s - BUT - it does when I hear a Shakespeare quote - when I hear the overture of a beloved musical - when I finish 32 fouette turns. And I'm HAPPIEST when engaging in any theatre-related activities - it's just finding band-aids for my soul when I'm not engaging that hurt. But hey - I'm a pretty cool person - I can do this in a pretty cool way. And I will be happy doing so. Thank you strange dictionary obsessed man for showing me this!:)

Gossip Girl

Never in my entire life have I been into fashion. (Beyond - you know - 1812 French Policeman coats and 16th century English and Italian peasant gowns...)

But - Kat - EVIL KAT - got me into Gossip Girl. We have DEVOURED the first three seasons (the only seasons available) and I THIRST for more!

First of all - to try and maintain a LITTLE dignity here - two of the leads - who play the charaters of Chuck and Blair are two of the GREATEST actors to ever grace the t.v. They are a study in genius. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) their brilliance is offset by how awful the girl who plays Serena is - the fortunate part is that the deadpan catatonic boredom that ensues whenever Serena has a scene only helps one appreciate, admire, and learn from the unique truthful witty line deliveries by Chuck and Blair.

And aside from making me obsessed with being an extra of Gossip Girl when it resumes filming (yay AFTRA card!) I have become completely aware of fashion! HOW STRANGE! All of a sudden - I care how I put my outfit together. I went out and BOUGHT FLOWERY HEADBANDS! I think about how to pair up shoes. I wore shoes that weren't sneakers to WALK AROUND THE CITY today! GASP! I - did some fancy hair curling thingy with my curling iron my hair stylist at Arrojo told me about but I never felt brave enough to attempt. I watch youtube videos on how to do makeup - then do it. I wear --- skirts! it's very strange. And it's --- real fashion - not - let me look like a mermaid or a Renaissance maiden or the aforementioned policeman. I feel so...modern...

Now all that being said...

what else has Gossip Girl inspired?

Well - obviously working on being extras more in t.v. shows being filmed in NYC. $134 a day...better than what I'm making now. Experience. Hey - who knows - I might get "discovered."

I need to enroll in an acting class. But a really good one that I won't immediatley reject (I tend to do that - I"m awful at taking direction) and maybe let me make contacts...

Non-GG inspired things ---

Gonna get certified in tour guiding. Seems like a bearable way to make money - and enjoy NYC as a tourist --- only - an extraordinarily well-informed tourist -lol.

Jen and I proposed our ideas to VLOG - we were approved. So - I guess I'm a co-artistic director of VLOG-works - the "black box" series of workshops and productions presented by VLOG. Doesn't pay - but will sound impressive to Boydy and keep me from going CRAZY until my big break - which is apparently NOT in the non-equity tour of OKLAHOMA...

Now...to find more flowery headbands...

round in circles I'd go...

GAHHHH! STILL NOTHING WORKING!

SDIUHVDIUGVHFUGDFHGIUSRFGO:ISUEGOI.

I mean - today --- I went to ballet and had a lovely lunch with Danielle and walked along the Hudson, worked on transcripts for Austin, wrote a letter to Boydy, then went to work at Steps where I sang pretty soprano songs then came home and binged on chocolate.

Oh yes - and real fast - a word about dating sites. Everyone tells me I should join because then I'll DEFINITELY meet straight men. Aside from the typical skeevy guys who want to meet up tonight to "cuddle" (Really? CUDDLE upon first meeting? I'll just write "Cuddling 9 p.m." in my planner...) I received this gem: "Did you know Shakespeare coined the word dildo?" Well first of all - the EPITOMIZES why I decided to not talk about Shakespeare with anyone outside of the UK. EGADS. Secondly - SO NOT CLASSY! THirdly - he didnt even COIN IT!

GAH!

I touched a meteorite

Today I practiced my voice again - for the first time since Fiddler closed. I had been so focused on RADA and then - moping - that I didn't really bother to do my scaled and arpeggios and sing - really at all. But - well - SURPRISE - I was cut immediately at the Oklahoma! dance audition - (which caused a pretty stupendous breakdown that involved me locking myself in a bathroom for 15 minutes - and Kim coming to my rescue...) so I thought I'd try to get seen for singing tomorrow - and well - I should practice. And let me tell you - singing makes me so happy. I love it! I know I'm not a belter or a rock star - but singing legit soprano makes me feel powerful and beautiful and special - lost in the music - and it is magical. I I should sing ALL the time.

I went to the Natural History museum today - compared to the FREE museums in England $16 + extra for any shows/educational films/etc...seemed very steep. I only got the $16 admission - so no planetarium movie for me. It is a very strange museum in my opinion. Gorgeous. Huge. The outer space exhibits are spectacular. (Hey - it houses the Hayden Planetarium - responsible for demoting Pluto from planethood.) There is a time line of the universe since the big bang that you get to walk along while above you hangs a HUGE model of the planets of the Milky Way. (no Pluto.) There is a huge meteorite exhibit and a huge "rocks" exhibit which was very informative - perhaps the most informative section of the museum. I didn't realize the swirls in marble are essentially squished pebbles. Also they had an ice drilling from Iceland where you could see different rings - each ring filled with a different amount of salt - which inform scientists to patters in the earths atmosphere for thousands of years. That being said - the animal exhibits were just strange. After visiting the aquarium in Brooklyn, looking at plastic models of jellyfish just seemed pedestrian. They were beautiful plastic models, but 99% of the fun of a jellyfish is to see it move! And Kat and I go for walks in the woods so we've seen real white tail dear - seeing a taxidermist version was just strange. PLUS - the Teddy Roosevelt exhibit was covered up by --- COAT RACKS? WHAT! ONE of the GREATEST conservationists of our time was covered by COAT RACKS? I actually was interested in seeing the different hats Teddy wore throughout his life. Seemed more interesting to me than plastic models of jellyfish - but I guess I'm in a minority.

With the exception of rocks and meteorites - most everything there was a "cast" or "model" or "copy." (Wait - I BELIEVE the NAtive American masks were real.) I'm spoiled. I like to see the real deal. And I always thought we had more of LUCY's skeleton. I dont know how they can so an artists rendering of LUCY when all we have is a lower jaw bone and top of a skull - but no - eye sockets, nose, teeth - but I suppose it was interesting to see a cast of her skeleton...

Overall - for people who don't get to see living animals - and even for people who do - the exhibitions are spectacular. There is a huge life sized humped back whale -that is pretty amazing. You can walk through a rainforest and peek into an upstate apple orchard. You can jump up and down on a special pad and see where your jumps measure on a richter scale...(for the record - my don't register - I guess I'm too ballerina like - the 8 year old boys who bounced up and down before me measure 1.8 - still not big enough to be felt by most humans - but definitely more of an impact than mine) - you can see samples of just about every mineral known to man - see what earth would look like without water - see a rock sample from Mars - walk a path of evolution - see a Lacross stick and ball used by Native Americans - and the museum is filled with videos and hands on displays - for a school trip - the experience is unparalleled. I imagine the planetarium is even more stunning - (I believe it is world famous) - but alas - I wasnt willing to pay the extra $10 to see it this trip around. Maybe next time if I bring a friend. (It is a pretty lonely museum to go to by yourself. I actually normally enjoy going to museums by myself - but this one I imagine is better with a buddy. It is more active than introspective.

To do...

So from my "to do" list in the past two days I have accomplished six things! Incroyable!

I went to the Mermaid Parade (Lame)

Visited Coney Island (Surprisingly fun - considering it is just a permanent state fair)

Wore my flowery headband (not really noteworthy but it apparently looked pretty.)

Went to the Brooklyn Aquarium (Really impressive - very small aquarium but it packs in a lot of bang for it's buck - plus it has a "4-D" experience - which is a nature documentary that sprays you with water as you watch which is fun.)

Saw the John J. Harvey fireboats (I thought you could explore it as a fire boat - it's now a club...)

Went to a jazz club. (MY friend Jen's boyfriend is a saxophonist so we went to see him play in a jazz club on a barge next to the fireboat - and his band was accompanied by belly dancers and we were fed DELICIOUS burgers.)

All of this got me thinking maybe I should get licensed in tour guiding --- and/or create a blog about being a "local tourist" - a local who does touristy things - what you can't miss (Aquarium and jazz boats) - what you should (Mermaid Parade)

Off to audition for OKLAHOMA!

wonder as I wander

I wonder --- if my heart is more in Stratford directing ---- or more on stage in the US....

I think...it's in Stratford ----

I want...

I want someone to tell me they love me and mean it. I want a job I love doing that pays the bills. I want to feel like I've made a difference. I want to be surrounded by people who make me a better person (and I do the same for them). I want to matter. I want to accomplish. I want to achieve. I want a nice apt away from the noise. I want a laundry machine and dryer IN the building. I want to not live 30 minutes on the MTA from where I like to spent time. I want gum chewing and reggaeton to be banned from the planet.

Right now - I'd settle for a job...

New every day

One of my resolutions for when I get home is to try to do something new every day. Here is the start of a list of things I'd like to try (these are not necessarily (and mostly aren't) CAREER oriented things - just things to make sure I don't sit at home and watch t.v. when I should be out SEIZING the DAY and meeting people!:

Ride in Hot Air Balloon

Clowning Course

Puppetry Course

Mask Course

Sword Fight

Poach and egg

Canoe in Central Park

Take an exotic dancing course

See the New York Philharmonic

Take an Aerial Silks Course

Take a Trapeze Course

Take a tumbling course ( course=one day class)

Go to the MOMA

Go to the Frick

Take a Vogue-ing Course

Visit Coney Island (Hey it's where LOVE NEVER DIES takes place!)

Bollywood Dance Course

Visit the Acquarium

Play Paintball

Whiskey Tasting

Spa Castle

Go to "Death Avenue" AKA the Highline

Visit the Intrepid Museum

Visit the Botanical Gardens

Go to a Rangers hockey game

Attend the MERMAID parade

Go to the Cloisters Museum

Attend a pub trivia night

See a Taping of the Colbert Report

See a taping of SNL

See a movie at the Bryant Park Festival

Visit the Planetarium

Visit the Natural History museum

Go to a jazz club

See a Fringe Show that I know no one in

Take a Hip Hop class

See a Belmont Horse Race

visit a winery

Hold a Henry VIII feast

Write to Kenneth Branagh

Hold a playreading/start a play reading group

Visit Medieval Times

Make a youtube video (that has actual acting in it...)

Attend Shakespeare Society events

Watch a Michigan Football Game at a NY alumni event

Attend an NYC cricket game

Sing a Song at the Triad

Attend Chinese New Year

Make dumpling

Make avocado ice cream

Paint or Sketch in Central park

Attend Midsummer Nights Swing

See an opera at NYC Opera (as opposed to the Met - which I also adore)

Wear my sparkly flowery headband

Wear Bright Red Lipstick

Feed the Ducks in Central Park a la Blair Waldorf

Take a walking tour of NYC (maybe the Sex and the City Tour???)

Go to the Brooklyn Brew House

See the Federal Reserve Bank

Ride the John J. Harvey Fire Boat

Go to the Top of the Empire State Building

Visit the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace

Visit the South Street Seaport Museum

See an outdoor movie

Participate in an improv everywhere event

Paint my wall

Write a letter/article and submit it to the NYTimes.

I've been...

I've been...

touching the Rosetta Stone

Seeing John Hamilton's original seafaring clocks (that helped discover LATITUDE!!!)

staring at Plaster casts of Trajans column

eating the best chocolate cake I've ever tasted

riding prehistoric Coracle boats down the Avon River

Taking therapeutic walks in Stratford

Pressing flowers of the Stratford Country Side

Watching Sam on stage (kind of...)

Talking to Boydy

Seeing (and adoring) LOVE NEVER DIES and War Horse

catching up with old friends

Making lists of ways to make living in New York AMAZING

tasting teas

taking a dance class at the Pineapple dance studio

Meeting Sierra Boggess

Visiting the British Portrait gallery and loving the corgis in the portraits of the Queen

Seeing some very strange modern art (including a self-portrait sculpture contracted of a froze mold of the artists own blood!!!!)

Getting Bacon Brie Cranberry Baguettes from my favorite baguette barge!!!!

Buying a Blair Waldorf-esque headband

Getting free ice cream from friendly English folk who think Americans are cool

As a result probably getting way too fat for Sanibel

Discovering it isnt ENGLAND I love - it's STRATFORD - and there are certain things about Stratford I love - that I can try and make exist for my life in New York...

Knowing I'm going to be o.k.!:)