Why I Didn't Write This Week

I didn't really think through when to blog, I guess. I should've waited until after I returned from being six days away from the internet. Had I just waited to complain about not having a finished book and blamed my procrastination until last week, I would be on schedule. But now that I'm here, I will say that I really was away from my computer for six days. Not that I couldn't write without my computer, but I couldn't blog about why I didn't write. Were there too many negatives in that last sentence?
Last week, I stayed with my friend who just moved into a brand new apartment. As I love the aliases and simple adjectives, her name on this blog shall henceforth be Smarty Bookington, in honor of all the books she had strewn around her apartment when I arrived. There really is so much more to Smarty than books, but this was the first name that came to mind, and I usually feel that's the best way to go.
It was great spending time with Smarty. I helped her out where I could; washing dishes and buying a curtain for her shower (because I like to smell nice). We explored the area around her complex and found a terrific bakery! And we watched "Prince of Persia", which is just the silliest movie.
I've spoken with Smarty before about my story, and even let her read two chapters. She asked me if I'd found time to write, to which I answered no. But I told her about an idea I was working with to flesh out the storyline.
Without giving too much away, I have somewhere between fifteen to twenty chapters written already, as well as a pretty lengthy outline. The issue is there are holes that need to be filled in and things of that nature. It's very possible that I have a series on my hands, but I don't entirely have a sense of direction still for my story.
The idea I told her about was a way to motivate my characters. It was something that would impact them and cause conflict for them throughout the story, but would put them all in a dark place. Smarty was not too keen on the idea and suggested it might affect the readers negatively. That immediately made me think about the tv show "Stargate Universe". I am convinced that the reason it failed so miserably was you couldn't really root for the characters. Apart from the math whiz kid, there was no one on that show that I liked. The endearing qualities were few and far between, and I don't want that for my characters.
I'm wondering if maybe it would read better if I wrote out a chapter with that element in there. Can a character be both horrible and endearing? Dexter, the character of both the book series and tv show, seems to be (though I admit, I haven't read or seen either one yet).

I've been working on a novel...

I've been working on a novel for a very long time. I'd probably have worked on it less if only I'd not taken giant gaps of not working on it all this time. But you see, I'm what is called an ordinary human being. I procrastinate. I find reasons not to work on it. I start a new hobby. I give myself all sorts of excuses that ultimately prevent me from working on it. Then tv shows, films and other books come out with similarities to my own story and so I think, if I'd only stuck to it! Well, no more, hopefully.

There really is a lot going on in my life. I really wish sometimes I could be like the author of Water for Elephants and just lock myself in a closet for six months to finish my book without any interruption, but closets are dark and small and usually filled with coats. Not my ideal writing space, exactly.

The problem with taking a break for so long from writing a story is you start to see the faults within the story, even if it's only in its early stages. Your characters are not complex enough. Some of your characters just don't work. A major plot device gets contradicted later on or is easy to disprove. Then other ideas for the story pop into your head that sound great, but would cause a serious rewrite.

What I'm planning to do is this: I'm going to write my story, even if it's completely bonkers. And once a week, I'm going to blog about my progress. I won't be divulging my story, but I'll write about things that come about or complications I come upon. There may be blog posts where I might say, I didn't write anything this week, but I'll try to write about interesting things that happened or why I didn't write. Hopefully, this will get my mind working to actually write my story.

I'd like to take a paragraph and explain why I didn't follow through on writing about my time as an extra. Once I started thinking back to that time, the whole thing just really depressed and angered me. There were some really fun and interesting moments, but it mostly just took a toll on me. Along with other things that were going on outside of work, I just felt I wasn't being treated with respect as a human being. I didn't really want to put myself back in that mindset, so I chose not to continue. Maybe later, but I think whenever I try to look back on the whole situation, I'll feel crappy about it.

I guess some of us are just born city people.

I found this while sorting through some old boxes in the garage. I think this is from the fifth grade. We had to clip pictures out of magazines and write haikus about them. I never did well with poetry in school, but this made me laugh when I rediscovered it.
If you can't read it, it says:

Forest

Tall trees stand up straight
Pieces of moss on the ground
So harmless looking

One more thing about Koroneburg.

I knew there were bugs there, but I didn't realize they were mosquitos. They loved me, as is evident by the many bites I have on my legs and back. Maybe it's because it's an El Nino year? Anyway, lot of bugs. Obviously it's not the faire's fault, but if you know you're particularly tastey to mosquitos, you may want to avoid this one.

Koroneburg

Yesterday I dragged my mom with me to the Koroneburg Old World Festival in Corona (get it?). It's a renaissance faire that takes place in a German barony.

As far as renn faires go, Koroneburg is a very mellow one. I visited it two years ago by myself and had a pretty decent time. Renn Faires seem to be best for me when I go with a group, but faires seem to have a niche following. I have only been to two other renn faires besides this one: the Renaissance Pleasure Faire and the Age of Chivalry Renaissance Faire, as you know from my previous posts on it. Koroneburg is not nearly as crowded, but it does feel more personal. If the Renaissance Pleasure Faire is a big city, Koroneburg is a small, friendly town.

Koroneburg has some unique aspects to it. The biggest is that the park has actual buildings that look like little replicas of an old European village. I wish I had taken pictures, but my mom and I just enjoyed wandering around. I recognized many people from the last time I attended the faire two years ago, so it does have a faithful following.

My wish is that there would be more to do there, as it is a pretty small faire. The layout is sort of oval-shaped, with a more sparse, open area in the back. There is a stage where the Queen's Swordsmen perform. I've seen them both times I've been to Koroneburg and in Vegas, and their always entertaining. Also in the back is a water-dunking game and camps. There isn't a lot of entertainment, and pretty much all of it has a "pass-the-hat" procedure, so it feels a little awkward if you don't have tipping money (I came prepared for the Queen's Swordsmen this year). There are not too many food options, but the selections that they have are pretty nice. There are the traditional turkey legs and steak on a steak, but there are also sauteed mushrooms and even ice cream. Most of the food items are priced around $5.00, so you don't feel as though you have to choose between food or souvinieres.

As far as crafts go, there are some real winners. Apart from the usual items (costumes, leather goods, etc), there are hand-crafted wooden mugs (I loved the wooden flasks! Unfortunately, I don't have a link for them), magnetic broaches with nature photographs printed on them (not very authentic, but still interesting) and colorful, hand-blown glass-wear. One thing the glass-blower sold that I haven't seen at any other fair: mezzuzahs (also spelled mezouza). I haven't seen those since I lived in L.A. and I even got to explain them to my mom, since she'd never seen one. That was my "I feel smart" moment of the day.

As for costumes: most of the people I saw at the faire were in costume, but the level of authenticity was mixed. Two weekends during the festival, the park stays open until 9:00pm and both weekends have a theme. The first weekend was Robin Hood weekend and The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Erol Flynn was played in a tent. This weekend was Pirate weekend and The Sea Hawk, also starring Erol Flynn, was played. Since pirates have become popular, so too has lax costuming. You can pretty much throw anything on and call yourself a pirate, although some do it better than others. Knowing this, and not having complete costumes since my chemise fell apart at the Vegas faire, I threw together an old skirt with a silk blouse and some racey tights. I added some costume jewelery and ta-daa-- acceptable faux-pirate garb! Mom just wore normal clothes as we don't have any costume pieces for her... yet.

The regulars who attend this faire are very into their characters, but they are far mellower than their Renaissance Pleasure Faire counterparts. This is totally cool, though, as it helps with their distinct but equal vibe. The story is that the festival is being held by the Baron Heinrich Von Lauffer and you see him often. He's this big, pleasant man with a happy German accent (I can't really think how to describe it; ever hear Ludwig Von Drake speak?).

We stayed at the faire until it closed. Then we hiked back downhill to our car and noticed the smell of... poo. We smelled it earlier when we parked the cars, and my guess at the time was that horses were nearby. Leaving the parking lot, however, we took a wrong turn. The exit is twisty and confusing, especially in the dark. Following others doesn't help sometimes, as we did and ended up in a dark dead end. Then we smelled it.

"I think we're next to a water-reclamation area." My mom said. She was right. I turned the car around and tried to get out of there and back onto the street as quicly and as safely as I could, but the smell of sulfur and sewage filled the car. The only thing to do was endure it until we were back on the road and the park was far behind us.

James Dean

   In April of 2000, I graduated from the academy. I did not enjoy my experience there, but I did learn a lot (as I've stated on here before). Towards the end of my year there, I heard that the tv movie "James Dean" was going to be partly shot at our school, which then occupied part of the Pasadena Playhouse. Any of the students who participated as an extra would get a SAG voucher for it. While a few of us saw this as an opportunity, there were many who brushed it aside. Even though there have been countless stars and working actors who started as extras, the line of work has a negative connotation. Theatre and film departments of colleges are breeding grounds for snobbery and the academy was no exception. Out of entire graduating class, only about five students signed up.

   Three of us went together and signed up with the extras agency working for "James Dean". It was in a nondescript building on a very busy street. The man who ran the business was very cocky, though he had nicer people who worked for him. They took our photos and had us fill out forms stating our info and what we were willing and able to do. An older gentleman who was helping me out spoke up when I reached a box asking if I was willing to do nudity.

   "Don't do that, honey." He said. "Your dignity's not worth that."

   It was odd at the time to hear someone say that. Before we graduated, some of my fellow classmates had done a final play where they all had to be completely nude at least once. While they all took it in stride and complimented each other on what great actors they were, I saw it as being forced to go nude or being denied their degrees. It's so easy to allow yourself to be taken advantage of when you're a young actor just starting out. But of course, there are other ways that a young actor can lose thier dignity than by disrobing for no reason.

   The day I went back to the school for the shoot, the adjoining parking lot was full of white trailers. I met with a PA (production assistant) who signed me in and helped me fill out my voucher. Then he told me where the wardrobe trailer was. The wardrobe lady fitted me with the lovely ensemble you see me in in the picture above. My clothing was authentic from the early 1950s right down to the undergarments. I'm not cold in the photo, it's one of those lovely pointy-cup bras! I received many comments throughout the day, such as, "You'll take an eye out with those things!" I even wore a girdle and shorts with (unprotected) rubber lining. Let me tell you, it was not fun taking those off at the end of the day, as the rubber burned my skin. 
   After going to the hair and make-up trailers, I went to extra's holding, which happened to be in the theatre our final plays had been performed in. There were not a lot of extras for this scene and we were all working as union. Everyone, including the crew, was super-nice! People were more than happy to explain everything to me and how it all worked. You got snacks from "craft services", but you changed your clothes (or used the restroom) in the "honey wagon". I thought that was odd.
   Some of the extras had had pretty interesting careers already. One woman (who was the one who took the above picture) was also the dancing lobster on "The Amanda Show", while another woman had been a dancer in the Las Vegas show, "Splash". We sat in the seats and talked. One guy slept, which I thought was an odd thing to do at the time.
   Soon, the director came out onto the stage. Mark Rydell was dressed casually and was just the nicest guy. He told us what the scene we were going to be in was about with a soft voice and the flaire of a storyteller. James Dean was in an acting class that garnered lots of respect from the entertainment communtiy. He was doing a scene with another guy who played the owner of a watch shop. James was going to play a man trying to steal a watch. But the acting teacher couldn't foresee that James would get really into the scene and try to beat up the other guy to get the watch. All of the other students would freak out and the teacher would have to break up the fight. And that would be that.
   Eventually we went into the classroom where the scene was being filmed. It was one of the dance classrooms. This was a room where I learned how to fence (I totally sucked), brushed up on my tap-dancing skills (kind of sucked at that, too, but I had more fun at that) and even acted in there on occassion (whether I sucked or not was up for debate ;) ). The director and his immediate crew were against the mirrored wall. I looked on the opposite side out the window to see a large light on a craned platform. The man guarding it was sleeping. One of the extras whispered to me that he was getting paid tons of money to sleep there. In front of us against the was wall, was James Franco. He was laying down on a couch, smoking. After he finished that cigarrette, he lit up another. From what I could guess, he's an actor who tries to immerse himself in his character, whether he's at work or not. Every now and then, he'd scrunch up his face or make a pouty look, and he looked like a photo of the real James Dean. I enjoyed that.
   A props man came around and gave us various items to use in the scene. He gave me some feminine horn-rimmed glasses, which I chose not to wear (because I was dumb) and I regretted it later when he approached me and asked me about it later. He didn't yell at me, but I felt bad and used or wore whatever props or wardrobe gave me from then on.
   In the scene, I sat next to the guy who was playing the actor James was about to beat up "for his craft". I would list his name, but I don't remember what it was. If it's listed on imdb, there's no picture by his name. He was a nice guy, though. He did a little bit with me before he walked up onstage to do the scene with James, which I thought was nice and went along with. Working on that scene was one of the times I got to do the most acting as an extra.
   There were a few shots for that scene. One was focused just on the two actors and the teacher and I'm pretty sure we weren't used for that. Another was behind us looking at the stage, and another was on us reacting to what was going on on stage. There may have been more, but again, it's been awhile.
   After shooting, we waited around a little, ate some lunch (I think) and then we were done. I turned in my costume, got my voucher and went home, not knowing how soon my next extra gig would be.

Extra Work

I am about to do something that no woman is *supposed* to do: I am about to age myself. By that, I mean I'm going to describe events that will make you, the reader, figure out roughly how old I am. It's really not that hard to do anymore, given sites like facebook and what have you (and the description about myself on this blog) but it still is a taboo.

It was ten years ago this year when I left the academy and started my three year-long stint as a full-time non-union extra. Why three years as non-union, you might ask (if you are in the know enough to ask). I owe it partly to my magnetic personality, but mostly to the system.

Being an extra was a very exciting, depressing, angry and funny time for me. Whether I like it or not, it helped shaped who I have become. Also, along with my experience at the academy (which I won't go too much into-- it's just not as interesting), shaped my view on the entertainment industry as a whole.

Sitting in my room in a light blue photo box with water-color flowers on it, that my mom probably bought me from Kmart, sits almost all of my vouchers and check stubs I received from extra work. I think over the course of my "career" I lost maybe two vouchers in my trunk that were never seen again. I've been meaning to "one day" look at each one and remember what happened for each shoot. Then I wanted to either write a book or a screenplay about them.

But, as I previously mentioned, it's been pretty much a decade since all of that happened. I still have all of my faculties, but I'd like to write this down. You never know when something could happen. Some horrible catastrophe could prevent my story from coming out, though most of me thinks that's unlikely. What's more likely is I would prevent myself from telling my story, which has already been the case. When you're an actress completely starting out, there's a lot of things you're told you're not supposed to do. The same things happen in regular lines of work, but as far as I've experienced, never so much as in the entertainment industry. You get told "no" for so many things and soon you'll find you're telling yourself "no" to even the most obvious good opportunities.

And yes, that last paragraph was a bit of a rant without explanation. I'm sorry. All will be explained in the stories ahead.

Also, while this is my life story, this will be a truthful account. I know it's been ten years, but I'm not going to exaggerate. Some of it might be hard to believe, because the entertainment industry is silly like that. But I won't make stuff up like, "I was sitting in my unmoving car on the 405 south, when a pegasus flew down to my driver's-side window and said 'Get on my back and I will take you to the studios!'"

(But I have to tell you, that was one heck of a morning.)

As far a posting each entry is concerned, my goal is to do at least one a week. Maybe sometimes I'll do two, maybe sometimes I'll only be able to do one in two weeks. But I will be consistent. I would recommend subscribing to this blog if you want to stay up-to-date. I will be posting links to my updates on my facebook page, but keep in mind I only accept people as my facebook friends who I know. It isn't hard to become a follower of blogs on blogspot; you just have to set up a google account, log in and click "follow" on my page.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the stories.

Apple Cider Cupcakes

So today, I decided to continue my powdered drink mix adventure and make apple cider cupcakes! These also turned out well, and the house smelled amazing for an added bonus.

Again, I had a hard time tasting the flavor I was trying to add. If any pro bakers out there know of a site or a shop that sells a large variety of extracts, please let me know. Apple cider extract might have worked with this.

I decided to use a spice cake mix with this one. I figured a white cake mix would be to sweet. I also considered a lemon cake mix, but figured the lemon flavor would drown out the apple flavor.

APPLE CIDER CUPCAKES

You will need:

1 box spice cake mix

3 eggs

3 packets (or 3 oz) powdered apple cider mix

1/3 cups vegetable oil

2/3 cups water

1/3 cups apple cider (The non-sparkling, juice kind)

1/3 cups sparkling apple cider

2 cans whipped white frosting (The logic behind this is you don't serve hot apple cider with whipped cream, but it could potentially be foamy. Maybe. And cupcakes need frosting.)

Cinnamon sugar mixed with festive sugar sprinkles (As much as you see fit)

egg beater

large mixing bowl

enough cupcake tins to hold 24 cupcakes

24 festive paper cupcake wrappers

pastry bag with round nozzle

Prepare cake mix according to directions.

Pour apple cider mix into cake batter

Line cupcake tins with paper wrappers

Pour batter into tins

Bake according to directions on box

Remove cupcakes and allow to cool

Frost cupcakes

Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar/sugar sprinkle combination to desired taste

Refrigerate remaining cupcakes not devoured

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

This holiday season, I decided to make cupcakes. I flipped through one of my mom's Women's World magazines and saw some recipes. It then dawned on me that you could probably add any flavored mix to white cake mix and get your own unique cupcakes.

This recipe did not come from that magazine, but rather my own mind (I was so proud of my brain). They turned out pretty well (they certainly got a great response when I passed them out-- thanks, everyone). Unfortunately, I couldn't give them out to everyone, but I can post my recipe! I'm going to add my notes as we go along.

HOT CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

You will need:

1 box white cake mix

3 egg whites

1 1/3 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 packets (2 oz) powdered hot chocolate mix

54 mini marshmallows

2 cans vanilla or white frosting

egg beater

enough cupcake tins (or silicone cups) to hold 18 cupcakes

large mixing bowl

pastry bag and nozzle (I don't know the specific name for the nozzle. You'll want one that makes the frosting look like whipped cream on the top!)

18 festive paper cupcake wrappers

sprinkles if desired

Make the cake mix according to directions. Add hot chocolate packets into cake mix.

(You might be wondering why I chose white cake mix instead of just going for chocolate cake mix. I tend to make my hot chocolate with milk and it never turns out super chocolatey. I was going for that with this recipe. That being said, the sweet flavor of the white cake mix drowned out most of the chocolate flavor, in my oppinion. You could try replacing some of the water with chocolate syrup. At the store, I found chocolate-covered mini marshmallows! But they were naturally a little over-priced.)

Line the cupcake tins with paper cupcake wrappers.

Drop 3 mini marshmallows into each wrapper.

(They tend to rise during the baking process, but it's okay. Once they reach the top they melt, and then the top of your cupcake gets crunchy!)

Pour the batter into the cupcake tins.

(I just used a laddle. It was on-hand and simple.)

Bake cupcakes according to the directions on the cake mix box.

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Cover with frosting from pastry bag.

Sprinkle with festive sprinkles.

Refrigerate cupcakes you don't immediately devour.

Makes 18 servings.

Baking Cookies

     My dad and I baked some sugar cookies from scratch, last night. As he was pulling the ingredients out of the cupboard, he whipped this out:

     I was struck by how old it looked, and dad said it had been grandma's (who has not been with us for almost twenty years). So I had a look at the can.

     Ooh! Special recipe book offers? Do tell!

     Okay, I know you can't read this, so here's what it says:

TWO EXCITING RECIPE BOOKLETS!

BAKER'S CHOCOLATE AND COCONUT FAVORITES

This beautiful collection offers our 200 most famous chocolate and coconut recipes (many illustrated in full color) for Cakes, Cookies, Pies, Candies, Beverages, and Frostings. To get yours, send $.25 in coin with your name, address, and ZIP code to: (They're old address, which I'm not putting down.)

CALUMET'S TREASURY OF HOME BAKING

To get more than 20 illustrated pages of plain and fancy recipes, pretested by General Food Kitchens, send $.15 in coin with your name, address, and ZIP code to: (Same as the first one.)

     How amazing is that? Fifteen cents for a book? And they wanted you to put the coins through the mail? Who does that?

     On a side note, there is actually a cent sign after the "25" and the "15" on the can, but we don't have that sign on our keyboards anymore. Weird, huh?

     So I did a little research on this product. The can says it's made by General Foods Kitchens, which I was fairly certain no longer existed. It turns out it was owned by the founder of Post Cereals, but was taken over by Phillip Morris (now Altria-- they sound less evil that way) in 1985 and then merged with Kraft foods when they got Kraft. There's some really interesting back-story on all of that, including centuries-old products, biblically-offensive cereals and suicide, which I will let you read on a separate page devoted to it: General Foods History. So this product is at least twenty-four years old, but I would guess longer, considering the prices for the books.

     As for the cookies, we over-baked a tray of them. The ones that were safe seemed a little off. But the good news is no one died from eating cookies with 40-year old ingredients!