Lydia's Journey BEYOND Hollywood

YAY!!! Ok, I got the call yesterday morning, offering me the role in Graveyard Shift - the short film I auditioned for on Friday. I shoot that August 24-26. Then, I get the call today that I'm officially booked on Lincoln Heights ! I work next Friday, August 9th. August is looking pretty good! Thank God since I only subbed three days all summer! :) Oh, with all this excitement, I almost forgot...I have an audition tomorrow for the new NBC show LIFE .

Well, I went in to audition for Lincoln Heights and it went really well. I got the call today that I was put on AVAIL. Basically it means "hold". Don't get me wrong - That's GOOD news - but I just wish someone would call me with a BOOKING! Being put on Avail or hold doesn't pay the bills! :) Then, I got the call that I was let go from my "pinning" on Desperate Housewives . Damn it!!! It would be an easier pill to swallow if they had just written the role out, but apparently, according to my manager, they had cast someone else. I guess more than just one actor was "pinned". Oh well, as they say, when one door closes, another opens. I have a good feeling about Lincoln Heights . Maybe they'll call me soon to say it's a BOOKING!!! I had another audition today. It was for a short film called " Graveyard Shift ". The audition went well...we'll see how that goes.

I had a call from my agent's office about an audition for Lincoln Heights for tomorrow. I was a little stressed out since I hadn't subbed all week - but Friday was the only day I had a subbing job lined up! I was going to have to cancel it for this one day guest star role. I get the sides and the breakdown and see the description for the role. She was an african american mother of a 13 year old who is still strung out on drugs, oh, and THIN.....Hmmmmm....Well, I don't exactly fit the description to the T. I mean, how can I be the mother of a 13 yr old??? hahaha just kidding! But seriously, this description concerned me and made me wonder if they made some kind of mistake or just wanted to see someone different. My manager decided to call the casting office and verify since he looked up the little boy who would play my son and saw that he was full fledged African American...not even looking like he may be HALF, so as to get away with casting a Latina as his mom. Th...

Yesterday I received a fan letter to my manager's office from someone who claimed to be the "biggest Curb You Enthusiasm Fan in the world". He asked me to sign a color copy of my page in the Curb book, and even told me what to write! (To Scott, 'How do I put up with Larry?'....signed Lydia Blanco) I thought that was pretty funny - that he gave me my "lines" even on the autograph! :) But he did call me a "brilliant" actress and wished me luck with my future projects - so that was VERY nice. (Brilliant huh? heehee I like that!!!) I ended up missing that audition for the short film, but I did make it to the audit for John Kirby's acting class. It was good...a very long class, but good. And apparently last night was a short night! (from 7pm until 10:45pm) I may join up, I have to call and verify the cost of his classes, and it will be good to know what he charges for private as well, since I may need to have him on speed dial for my...

I see how it all happens now....I get back into town and I have two auditions within my first few days back to 'trick' me into believing this is the beginning of 'the busy time' for me! ;) Then nothing for a week!!! I see... :) Well, it's been downright dead since that audition on Tuesday for The Sara Silverman Project . I haven't even heard whether or not I'm doing Desperate Housewives or not. The only action I had was picking up my headshots that I got reproduced so I can be ready for when 'the busy time' really does begin for me! I also picked up my new postcards so I'm very ready to send out notices of my next booking - whenever that is! Tomorrow I am auditing John Kirby's acting class. I've heard good things about this coach and I wanted to check things out myself. Hopefully, if all goes well, I will be in a class this year. I really need to start stretching my muscles more. I'm beginning to feel pretty rusty, and tha...

Ok, don't get me wrong - this is VERY good news! It would've been greater if it was an actual booking...but this will do for now! ;) Just got the call that I'm pinned for Desperate Housewives starting this Friday until the end of July. Last time I was pinned they ended up writing my character out of the script, so hopefully this will not happen again! My manager made it sound as if they were just deciding on dates. But without an actual BOOKING, it's still me "pinned". So we'll just have to wait and see. But like I said, being pinned is better than geting the news that they went with someone else! :) I had that audition for the Sara Silverman Show today. It went pretty well. My accent, for some reason, was a little shaky. You would think I would have it mastered by now! But I guess 6 weeks of not using it made me a little rusty! ;) All in all, they seemed pretty happy with my audition, so again, we'll see. I need to get back into the wor...

Feels good to have auditions so soon after I just got back from vacation! I had an audition for Desperate Housewives today. It was for a small nurse role. It was a straight to producers call where I met the director. My audition went really well, they seemed pretty happy with it. Now it's just up to what "type" they are looking for. I was the only Latina in the audition room (that I saw), so we'll see what they decide. I have another audition (YAY!!!) tomorrow! It's to play a mayoral aide on the Sara Silverman Show . What's funny is...I was looking at the breakdown and the first role I saw was "Dora" the maid, so I quickly asked my agent which role I was auditioning for! That's when he told me it was the aide, not the maid. (Thank God! Finally!) But as I read the breakdown I noticed just how large that Dora role was in comparison to the "mayoral aide #2" role I was going in for. What a bad time to STOP playing maids huh? h...

A pic off of Ocean Drive in Corpus Christi Texas I can't even begin to explain how good it feels to be back home! I technically started my "vacation" at the end of May, so that's a good 6 weeks of living out of a suitcase. Last night I slept in my own bed! It was great! I have an awesome bed, so I really missed that! And I finished unpacking and getting my place back to normal. I'm sitting here on my couch with my laptop on my lap and the bright California sun shining through my window. And all I can say is that it feels GREAT! I'm heading out to my manager's office to drop off pictures and pick up a check, then off to my agent's office to drop off more pictures. Then I have to go grocery shopping. I can't wait to get back to my healthy eating that I abandoned the second I went on "vacation". UGH! 10 pounds later, I'm feeling very guilty about that! But, I'm back, and I'm ready to work my butt off (literally!) and get back to ...

This has been an interesting vacation - but well worth the trip. Before I headed out to Texas, I wasn't sure if I even wanted to do this anymore. I know! That sounds pretty shocking. I'm acually working as a professional actress and seeing a lot of success here, in a town where it can be downright rough for a lot of people. I truly have been blessed. But I was getting so frustrated with the industry and the stereotypes I had to face that I had to question if it was all worth it. I thought maybe I should just pack it up and move back to Austin and have a "normal" life and maybe just do acting on the side.... Well, I had a taste of what that "normal life" would be like, and I missed MY life! I missed my routine and my career and my friends and my apartment and the excitement that everyday I live in LA is nothing like the day before! I also missed being my own boss! Being an actress and substitute teacher guarantees you that every day is different - ...