Lydia's Journey BEYOND Hollywood

OK, last week was supposed to be my first audition for a Merrick commercial, but because of our lovely LA traffic, I had to cancel because I couldn't make it there on time. Today I went on an audition for a pilot for USC called EastLA. I thought it went well. But I doubt this role is mine. Just a feeling I have... Not even sure if it's a paid gig. Man, this writer's strike is having all of us actors try and grab for anything! Even non-paid work!

It was another rainy day here in southern California, so I decided to stay in and finally watch one of my SAG screeners that were sent to me. (free dvds!!!) I popped in No Country for Old Men , and I was loving it from the start! And WOW, Javier Bardem was awesome!!! And even though I had some issues with some scenes that left some questions unanswered, I thought it was a great film with an equally great cast! :) It was also a nice surprise to see my friend, Kathy Lamkin , pop up. I didn't know she was in this, and she did a great job as well! Tomorrow I have an audition for a USC television pilot. They kinda just emailed me after finding me on NowCasting . It's a non paid SAG gig, but since not much else is happening, I'll go and check it out. Who knows, it could win some festivals or get sold to a network...you never know.

ok, This week was pretty much a bust. I started getting sick on Saturday and I was laid up in bed all of Sunday and Monday. So much for the three day holiday weekend! I wasn't completely 100% back to normal, but I ended up back at work on Tuesday, heavily medicated on cough syrup. I did have one commercial audition yesterday, that I actually made it to. It was for Merrick Pharmaceuticals and I was in for the role of a nurse. They just snapped some pictures of me and asked me some questions: Do I own a dog? (in texas) Do I do yoga? (I've taken 2 classes - ever) Can I drive a motorcycle? (I can ride as a passenger!) Do I rock climb? (I'm willing to give it a try) Yeah, pretty random questions. The weather here has been HORRIBLE!!! It rained non stop this week! And today was so bad that some of the streets were just completely flooded! I'm SO happy that it's Friday and I'm here in my cozy house. I don't plan on doing anything - until next Wedne...

Congrats Lett! And Welcome Vinny! :) Wow. Where the hell have I been? I can't use the excuse that I've been "super busy" because we know that's not true, especially with the strike. So let me catch you up on the stuff I've been up to this week - which isn't much. Last week I had one audition for a Ford commercial!!! .....That I missed thanks to LA's horrible traffic! :( I had to rush right over there after subbing one day and I was stuck in traffic so long that I had to cancel. There was no way I was going to make it to Santa Monica in the 5-10 minutes that I had left! :( There goes that. And I saw that my ER episode was going to air this past Thursday....then I get a call from my manager saying that the casting office called to let me know I was cut out of the episode. It was very nice of them to make that call. They didn't want me sitting around the tv with friends, excited to see myself on ER - and then nothing. They wanted to assur...

I received this awesome motivational email this week: This is not a dress rehearsal. With every new day we are in the act of creating the story of our own lives. Too many people spend theirs wishing for something better or envious of those who seem to have more and do more. In reality, the life we have is the product of our actions and attitudes to this point. If it is not to our liking, we can change both and consequently change the results that comprise our life and circumstances. Refuse to live vicariously through depictions in film and television. Refuse to envy the good results of others. Get on about the task of discovering what talents have been given to you by God and heredity and how they can be put to use in creating a remarkable life that properly reflects those gifts. Consider how to be the best you in matters spiritual, family, social, career, financial, physical and mental and determine to rise to become that person.

Hanging with the girls during the holidays in Texas. :) With all this free time I have (since the strike, my auditions have been scarce), I've decided to take this opportunity to get myself organized for 2008. I have to go through all my paperwork and see if I have my books straight. I need to file everything away and start fresh for the new year. And I want to keep better records this year, from every penny I made, every penny spent, every audition I had, every mile driven, even every project that each casting office worked on. I really need to try and be anal about everything.

I just got to town last night from an almost 3 week vacation in Texas. Even though it's a week into the new year, I feel like 2008 is starting today! :) Maybe because I'm finally back in LA where I can focus on my career. Today I ran errands and made calls to my manager and agent, letting them know I'm back in town and ready to work! Too bad the strike is still going on. Things are pretty slow. Hopefully there will be an end to that very soon. But it seems like everyone I know has a commercial audition or callback today! So that's good! Maybe my phone will start to ring. I plan to get back into the swing of things with workshops. I want to find that same enthusiasm I had when I forst moved to town. I took workshops constantly, drop offs nearly daily, postcards mailed for every booking and airing, I lived, and breathed my career. I kind of relaxed a bit and slacked off these past few years, so it's time to get back on track. I have a really good feelings ...