Story #48: Temptations

"Opportunity may only knock once in a lifetime, but temptation always has its finger on the doorbell."
~ Thanks to CoolNsmart.com

Knowing when to take a risk opening the door is important. Because every rare opportunity has a matching temptation existing in a form of a distraction...and that was a mouth full. But seriously, these temptations keep you away from doing the right thing and making the right choices. Although my recent temptations exist on a smaller scale, I still have them. Oh, the difficulties in life. Moving on...

...this past weekend my family took a mini vacation to Maryland! We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Golf Resort, Spa and Marina at the Chesapeake Bay, dipped ourselves in their pool, kayaked, jet skied, tanned a bit, danced, and shopped. What a way to spend the weekend. Saturday night we ate dinner at a French restaurant and Sunday night we ate at a Korean BBQ place. We ate Kalbi, Samgyupsal, steamed egg, kimchi, ojinguh, and bulgogi. SOOO amazing, and pretty cheap!  I can't wait to go back to Maryland. Here's a picture of my and my dad at the French restaurant. :)

Tomorrow I'll be working on Law and Order SVU and if I do a good job, they'll ask me to be one of their core detectives! But we'll see. It's a pretty far fetched idea.

Sorry if my entries lack the oomph they used to...it will come back, some day:)
Meanwhile, more updates are sure to come.
Mucho <3

Story #47: Strange People

"Life isn’t weird! It’s the people in it…"
~ Thanks to CoolNsmart.com

This statement is so true. I thought I met all the different personalities throughout all my years of schooling and office work I've done...that's definitely not the case. Life is full of surprises, one of which are the people you meet. And on these sets, there have been a few crazy apples in there. Loving what you do will change your entire experience and loving the crew and cast and just being on set, it puts you in a good mood...which helps you get through all the little rough patches you will have along the way. If I didn't love it, oh, all hell would have broken loose with one of the guys I was working with. Wednesday we were bar patrons in Blue Bloods, and a man was supposed to hit on me. I think you get the point, he was quite the character. Just breathe, smile and nod. I just took in all his thoughts and critiques and filtered it out. I'm not saying everything he said was wrong, I even agree with where he was coming from, but other than that...seriously, just let me be me. If I look a little psychotic on camera, I would rather see that in person and learn from my mistakes. Anyways, that small bit put aside, yesterday was great! Although being featured on a different television show would have been the smarter choice career wise, I can't complain. It was definitely a good time. Without these character of people, life would be boring. :)

We had three different changes to portray three different days at the bar, and for the second and third change, the hair dresser put my hair up:

It's hard to see from this picture, but there is a curl hanging down :)

What a fabulous man. I hope I see him again on the next set.

Yesterday, I had two auditions, one at 4:20pm for a commercial and one at 7:30pm for a film. Yea, that last audition was definitely not a good one. For a monologue that I have already performed in front of judges...I totally botched it today. And when I had to read the sides, it was like I became dyslexic (not even kidding). To top things off, I had to say the "B" word a few times since it was in my characters part. :(  You never know though, maybe he likes confused, nervous, dyslexic Asian girls.

Today I was supposed to be working on the commercial print that I auditioned for last week, and right after that...I'm was going to leave for Maryland (my family is going to take a short vacation down there); but, it took them until 1pm to get back to me. And guess what...they decided to cancel it completely. Mood = sooo annoyed

Other random news:
- I finished the Korean drama series, Can You Hear My Heart (내 마음이 들리니) a few days ago. It was (as you guessed it) amazing!

- I definitely cried while watching this video.



More updates are sure to come!
Mucho <3

Story #46: So much to do, so little time

Have you ever felt like our days were not meant to be restricted to a 24-hour clock. I hate the idea of missing out on being able to do something simply because there is not enough time or because you can't be in two places at once. But, I guess that's life. In life we are not only given choices, but we want the freedom to choose as well; ironically, it's having choices that generally gives us conflicting feelings of whether or not we are making the right choice. In this day and age, it seems to be difficult for people to be happy and appreciative of what we have. Now, happiness is more significant when you see it in a relative sense; whether it's being happy in comparison to a previous life experience or to hypothetical situations and ideas of "things could always be worse". However, in terms of being all we can be and striving for only the best, isn't it our dissatisfaction that creates the driving force that makes us desire? Well, either way, although I am proud of how far I have come and how much I have learned in these past few months, I still have a lot to learn. So, why the sadness? Let's just say that I wish a few uncontrollable things in life were controllable. I was called earlier in the day to work on Blue Bloods which I happily accepted (at the time), but later, I received two better opportunities. First, I was called by Girlhattan to have a feature role and then by Royal Pains...and I LOVE working on Royal Pains! Too bad I can't work on all three shows at once... :( And this is what led me to the conflicting feeling of disappointment - not being able to be featured or to work on a show I know I'll enjoy - and knowing that I should just be appreciative to have work. I guess striving to have something better holds me back from being 100% happy with what's right in front of me. Not to worry though, I am happy that I get to work and on the bright side, this will be a much-needed new experience. I will finally see if I like working on Blue Bloods or not. :)

On a happier note, this past weekend, both my aunt and my cousin (from my mom's side) came to visit NY. On Saturday we saw Wicked...AMAZING!!! I absolutely loved it. Then we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We originally went solely for the reason that the Met Museum was having a special exhibit on my cousin's favorite designer, Alexander McQueen. Low and behold...I fell in love with him too. His ability to mesh two opposing (difficult) concepts together is incredible. And to be able to do it well where you can look at his pieces and actually feel what he wanted us to feel, I'm speechless. Even more impressive to me was the uniqueness of his presentation, his fashion shows were nothing like what you would imagine. Although everything was a little dark, it was romantically captivating.

Wicked

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Finally, I heard back from one of the auditions from last Friday...and I got it! :) I have yet to find out what I will be doing or what it's even about, but I'm excited!

Sorry for the long post. I hope it was at least interesting and entertaining. More updates to come!
Mucho <3

Story #45: Friends

A friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely.
Pam Brown
~Thanks to BrainyQuote

I spent the last 4 days (Mon-Thurs) working on the set of White Collar: Season 3 Episode 12. I was a part of the principal character's mean/giggling girls posse - wow, that was a mouthful. Along with the 3-4 other selected "mean girls",  we all had our finger nails painted in the brightest and most random colors and have these out of the world stickers on them. And for the past 4 days, my color has been a puke green or avocado color with swirl and heart stickers on them. Admittedly, the stickers were kind of cute, but the color...definitely not my choice. To make me fit the high school profile, I wore a high school prep school uniform. It was a little awkward, anti-feminine fit and it definitely went through the stages that all school girl uniforms go through...it was fitted by "wardrobe" and then some how found it's way to becoming shorter by the day. Now to finish off the look, I had my hair and make-up done by the two nicest people at hair and make-up.

The set was amazing. I loved the crew, the other background kids, the stand-ins, the guest stars, and the main characters. Even the food was amazing. I made a lot of new friends (I hope we stay in touch) and even baked cupcakes and brownies for everyone!  As the quote says, in order to keep friendships from drying out completely, we need to keep in touch a little bit. My goal is to make sure that these new found relationships do not dry out completely. :)  Anyways, the four days definitely had its ups and downs but overall, I'd give it a 10 out of 10. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

The girls

The girls, boys, hair and make-up

Today I had two auditions; one of which I received information an hour after the actual audition time haha. No worries, I was still able to audition and make it to the second audition. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how they turned out!

More news, I am seriously thinking about joining Aftra.  I may join by the end of this week or maybe next week. :)

For all those who are wondering about the shows I have been on and the shows I will be on...these are the ones I know the actual information for:
Royal Pains Premiere (Episode1), Royal Pains Episode 7, White Collar Episode 6, White Collar Episode 12

More updates to come!
Mucho <3

Story #44: Extra extra, read all about it!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

"Extra! Extra! Newspaper boys are anachronisms in modern-day society! Read all about it!"

— Paper Boy, Robot Chicken

 

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Cliché stock phrase from the 1890s through the 1940s used to denote breaking news! Sometimes uses "extry" or "wuxtry" to denote a New England accent! Often shouted by overzealous newsies and paperboys! A Dead Horse Trope nowadays owing to television and the internet! Related to Spinning Paper! Extra! Extra! But what does it mean? In the old days before TV, radio, and the Internet, most people who followed the news got their information from the newspapers, which were normally published at best on a daily basis. If a major story (such as the death of a President or a declaration of war) broke after the day's deadline, a newspaper might choose to print an "Extra" edition on top of their regular edition. Sometimes they were short and carried only the story itself, but more often they were identical to the earlier main edition with just the first few pages replaced. By the 1940s, though, newspapers were in competition with radio for advertising dollars, and big-city papers like the New York Times and the Montreal Gazette published four or five regular editions a day, taking any possible opportunity to publish an "extra" so they could boost circulation. Even now, papers infrequently publish short "extra" editions if a really big story breaks; many did after 9/11, for instance.
~ Thanks to tvtropes

Man, what a busy week. I'm sure all of you can relate when I say, TGIF!

As a play on words, "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" refers to 1) obviously my post having grand news 2) it's about me being an extra!! :)

First on the news is my recap on the audition earlier this week. I'm not entirely sure what they thought about it but it was difficult. It required much more improv and creativity than most auditions, plus I'm pretty sure they preferred having a person who could converse in Chinese or Korean. All-in-all, I don't think I got it. But what I did get was a call from my pal at Casting Networks asking if I was free for work next week. I would be working with a principal character on White Collar. I'm so happy that I got a call for work! I will be part of the "mean girls" posse with the principal (character) where we will be giggling during class...something about a cute teacher?? Anyways, fitting for me was today at the studio - it's a legit studio - where I tried on my high school uniform and got a run down for hair and make-up. I feel so special! And to make things even better, this will be a three day shoot - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday! :)

I'll let you know how the first day goes when I get the chance!

More updates to come!
Mucho <3

Story #43: Every end is a new beginning

"Every end is a new beginning."
~Thinkxist.com

This post is not as profound as the intentions of this quote was probably made out to be; however, today marks the end my VERY busy week, which also marks the beginning of another hectic week. All I can remember from the past week was the non-stop shopping, cooking, and preparing food and decorations for this weekend.  Working in New York. Weddings and BBQ's are not as easy as they are cut out to be! Anyways, the rooftop lounge for the pre-wedding cocktail had a gorgeous 360 degree view, and the snacks were scrumptious (esp my truffles and my mom's 7 layer chip dip). The wedding was the cutest thing ever! I loved their theme, it was entertaining the entire time, and the dancing was great. If the bride and groom were not as creative as they were, the different selections of how they wanted to do things definitely would not have turned out well, but I give them props for making everything work out well. The bbq was great, especially at the end of the night. Drunk adults are hilarious! During the BBQ there were endless amounts of food, and it all ended with my baking skills! I will admit, a few of them became my own concoctions due to a few mishaps, but surprisingly, they all turned out well. And the one that I was the most worried about turned out to be one of the biggest crowd-pleasers. :)

I made crab and avocado crostini, Oreo truffles, truffles with pecans, bourbon and southern comfort, Oreo fudge cheesecake, apple cobbler pie (w/ vanilla ice cream), peach cobbler (w/ vanilla ice cream), and flan. 

Most of the kids :)

Crab and Avocado Crostini

Pecan/Bourbon/Southern Comfort Truffle (Outer Ring), Oreo Truffles (Inner Truffles)

Apple Cobbler Pie

Truffles (Left), Peach Cobbler (Top Right), Apple Cobbler Pie (Bottom Right)

Flan

Celebrating 4 birthdays!!

More updates to come!! (wish me luck on my auditions this week!)
Mucho <3

Story #42: Gotta keep truckin'...why?

To be honest, as busy I have been this week with work at One Stop and getting ready for this weekend, I was a little down about not having any acting/modeling work. But you gotta just keep trucking, right?

The most rewarding things in life are the one's we have to work the hardest for. And to be honest, where ever you are in your life, if you look back and see the struggles you have gotten through and achievements you have made, small or big, you will have to admit that you've been quite successful. Maybe you're not exactly where you want to be, but with all things considered, life is and has been good. What I'm trying to say is that, I realized, that even though it's a little disappointing that I was working on set 4 days a week before working at One Stop and now I'm struggling to start again, I think that I have still done pretty well. I may have mentioned this before, but being surrounded by so many actors and actresses, you hear all the horror stories and the trials they have had to face or the difficulties they are currently going through. Or, for even the small (but important) things like getting Aftra and SAG waivers, I got mine within a couple of months, whereas it has taken years for others. And after a year or two of working, they aren't able to get a lot of work. Or looking at the experiences on different sets, non-unions are supposedly treated like trash, but on all the sets I've been on, the casts, directors, PA', wardrobe...they were all relatively supportive and nice. Even the food and craft services were pretty good. I've done well and there will always be expected dry times. So, I just gotta keep trucking, right? Now, the big question...why do I bring this up now? What made me think of this? Although I was a little bummed, yesterday I got a call from my freelance agent asking me to audition on Tuesday for a commercial or print ad. And the most exciting part was that I was requested to audition. By whom or why I don't really care because it just feels good to think that I made it far enough to get my name out there a little. :)

I say this all the time, but I'm going to say it again, behind even the darkest of clouds, there is always sunlight.


More updates to come!
Mucho <3