Lydia's Journey BEYOND Hollywood

Man, you would think I have all the time in the world to keep up with this blog considering I'm not working yet... I guess it seems like not much is happening to update this. But I will try my best... I did talk to the people at the office who sent me to that middle school class and told them what I was dealing with. They went ahead and sent one of their team leaders there to finish off the school year and sent me as a substitute to a different school for the last couple of weeks of school. I audited this class when I first came on with the program, so I know what I'm in for, and it's not bad at all...So it all ended for the best. I participated in a play reading a couple of weeks ago for the first annual Austin Latino New Play Festival produced by Teatro Vivo. It was a success and I was so proud to be a part of it. :) And so proud of my friend Erica Saenz, who wrote the piece I was in. Tonight I have a callback for a play called Too Many Husbands, produced by Differ...

This week was kinda crappy for me. I'm just sayn... Without getting too personal, I'll share some of the "lowlights"... I started the afterschool program this week. I've taught in classrooms for many years as a substitute teacher for public schools, I've also taught acting to ages 5 to 65! But I don't think I was prepared for what I encountered this week! I was assigned to a middle school to teach theater to a group of kids who lost the teacher they've had since the beginning of the year. Not sure where he went, but he couldn't continue with the class anymore. I went in on Tuesday, and although they were crazy "energetic" and had a hard time focusing, I finally got them to do a few improv scenes and the day didn't end so bad. But then Thursday came... Ugh...Thursday. I couldn't get them to listen to me from the start. And the good students from Tuesday had decided to trade places with the other ones and have a bad day tha...

Rehearsals began this week for Lightning Strikes, the play written by my friend Erica Saez, that will be performed as a staged reading in about 2 weeks. It's so nice to be in rehearsals again. It's been so long - I forgot what it was like! I wasn't sure if my memory could memorize a full script anymore - but good thing it's a reading and not a full on production! And I have to say, there is a calm in this sort of work. I'm not on edge and I'm not stressed. And it's so not about "business" - or who will be in the audience the night we perform this, will they bring me in for pilot season? None of that matters. People are doing this because they love doing it - not because it will further their career. And ahhh....That's all I want right now. If I perform, it's because I want to and not for a paycheck. :) What a different way of life here in Austin Texas. I tell you, I must've been burnt out with the "business" of i...

Well, life in Austin is so much more different than what I'm used to in LA. I have to find a "real job" which is weird for me. There are many things that interest me, and I'm sure I can be happy doing a number of things. Adjusting to having to be somewhere everyday and work for someone else - that's something I'll have to get used to. But, there are some things you can't beat - like being able to go to my goddaughter's 2nd birthday! If I was in LA, I doubt I would've been able to fly in for her birthday in Dallas this weekend. This is the time of year where I'm usually busy with auditions, or waiting to be busy - so I never really allowed myself to leave town until the summer. Now I don't have to worry about that. And I got to see family this weekend, and watch Ava have a great time at Chuck E Cheese's yesterday. :) I wouldn't trade that for anything! So - this morning I decided to get back to working out again. For some ...

Well, I am all moved and unpacked here in Austin. I had a job interview earlier this week for a position I had with a different company in the same field before I left for LA. I really liked that job - I was a marketing representative and I had fun meeting different people everyday. When I found out this position was available and i was being considered for it - I got SO excited. After my interview Monday, I realized how long it's been since I've been on a real job interview, other than an audition. I was rusty. And I didn't know how to answer some of their questions. They asked me about dealing with customers in the past and asked me a lot fo sales questions. man, I haven't dealt with a "customer" or sold anything - other than myself in auditions - in quite some time, so I didn't know how I could spin it to relate to my past experience. All I can say is, that interview was a learning experience. We'll see how it turns out. I did audition for...

Talk about being burnt out. Talk about needing a much needed BREAK. I have been away from Hollywood for 2 1/2 months now and I don't miss it one bit. I miss my friends and awesome people I have met there, of course. And I do miss the weather... Ahhh...that sunny 75 degree weather! Ok, maybe I miss it a TINY bit. But is it weird that I don't miss auditioning? AT ALL? My world was my career. My days consisted of going to my auditions, or waiting for a good one to come in. Sitting in traffic, looking over my sides, dealing with my frustrations about the stereotypical role I was going for YET AGAIN, and self doubt about my ability - EVERY TIME. I loved my acting class with Howard because I finally felt like I was WORKING - even though class cost me instead of paid me. But I got so much more out of it than my actual acting jobs. I've been back in Texas and my days couldn't be more opposite! My mornings start off with coffee with my mother, and watching American I...

Wow - I am so sorry. I have to start off with an apology. I promised to be better about updating my blog. I said I would write even after I left Hollywood and for some reason, I haven't had the chance to...I'll try my best to be better. :) Ok, the updates... I spent a week in El Campo Texas last month, trying to raise funds for a feature film I was helping to produce called HOMEBOUND. Thank you to those of you who pledged and supported, but no, we didn't make our goal. Not yet. The plan is to keep trying to raise the funds and hopefully get this film made eventually. We'll see. But this process did put me in contact with local legend Pepe Serna , who is originally from Texas and has had an amazing film career spanning over 4 decades! What else is happening...? Well, I'm moving to Austin this weekend. Every year for the past 10 years while I've lived in Los Angeles, I've always talked about moving back to Austin someday. Well, that day is finally...