Getting Things Done.

Had a really nice day today. Got a lot of things done so am feeling very good about myself.

This morning I did some career office work - submissions and a little research. I also started up my exercises again. I haven't been doing them for the past couple of weeks or so because I twisted my knee trying to stay upright while walking on some ice. The kind of funny thing about it was that my knee didn't bother me that much if I was walking on level ground or going up stairs. Coming down stairs or getting up from sitting was really very painful. It has been getting better so I decided to try about half of my morning exercise routine (slowly) to see how things went. Got through the exercises fine, and it didn't bother me at all in the city. When I got home though the last flight of stairs from the subway was not fun. Didn't hurt nearly as bad as it did though. So I think I will keep the easier exercise for the rest of the week and see how it goes from there.

In the afternoon I headed into Manhattan to run a couple of errands. When I left my apartment at 1 pm it was 52 degrees and sunny. Oh it felt sooooo good.


When I got to Columbus Circle my first stop as usual was Starbucks. Since it was such a lovely day it was a great place to people watch plus indulge in my favorite coffee drink. I liked the quote on my cup:

"People need to see that far from being an obstacle the worlds diversity of languages, religions and traditions is a great treasure, affording us precious opportunities to recognize ourselves in others". Youssa N'Doer

I so agree!!

I ended up sitting next to a young man in his early twenties and a woman who I think was his mother. From the way they were talking it was obvious that they had just come in to the city. They didn't have an accent but they kept talking about a 15 hour flight so I don't know if this was a stop on the way home from a longer trip. Anyway they young man had longish hair down to his shoulders and a rather slight frame though a surprisingly deep voice. He was talking about an incident with someone who kept calling him "Ma'am." I could see it if you were looking at him from the back and didn't know but once seeing the stubble on his chin and hearing his voice I don't think there would be any confusion. Evidently this person just didn't get it since they called him ma'am several times even though he brought it to their attention that he was not.

Then his cell rang and it was someone who they were going to meet. I heard him say that they were at the Starbucks at Columbus Circle. The person on the other end I guess asked him "Which one?". "You mean there is more than one?" He replied. At that point I decided to be helpful so I said yes, there IS more than one and we are at the one on West 60th Street. He relayed the info and hung up. Then the three of us chatted for a few minutes about the over abundance of Starbucks in the City.

After I saw them off safely to their friend I headed over to Best Buy to price out some computer goodies that I need or want in the near future. A new keyboard (need), printer (need), speakers (want) and web camera (want). Found that all can be gotten for very reasonable prices. Was also surprised at how low some of the prices for other items were. They were selling laptops for under $600. Probably not top of the line but still I was surprised.

I noticed that the Circuit City store was still open although having it's closing sale. So I checked it out to see if they had any of the items I wanted for less than I saw at Best Buy. The funny thing was that everything in the store was supposed to be 10% to 40% off but even with the discount it was at least twice as much as at Best Buy.

Next I went up to Bed Bath and Beyond to pick up a picture frame for a Feng Shui project that I want to work on. On the way up I noticed that they had taken down a lot of the construction "stuff" around the new Alice Tulley Hall. To the point that you can actually see what it will look like now. Took some pictures (above). Although by this time it was getting cloudy I am rather impressed with how clear the pictures turned out. Love my new G1 phone!!1

Back at BB&B I couldn't find a gold frame so I got one with a thin black one and I think I will make up for it not being gold by putting gold paper around the picture when I get it put together. Hopefully that will work just as well.

Then after a stop to Whole Foods for supplies I headed home.

Tomorrow I get to see Susie for the first time this year. Hard to believe that I was at IGC for over 6 weeks. It will be good to get back to my lady.

Nice Sunday

Very nice day all in all. The Sun was shining and the temperature was above 40 degrees. Absolutely balmy considering the last few weeks.

I played with my new camera on my GI phone. Took a picture of my cat Aengus. (What else). Turned out really well me thinks.

I didn't hear anything from the people at IGC so I just might be free for this week. Believe me it is a good thing since I have so much to catch up on. Most importantly my career. So tomorrow I really have to hit the ground running and get this all jump started for this year.

Trying to decide if I should go back to my audition coach or do some voice lessons for a while. Really need to get my voice back in shape again. And as an incentive Michael Gilboe's Broadway Bullet is starting to have live events called Sunday Spotlight's. They are having one on Feb. 8th and although I wouldn't be ready to sing at one yet I am for sure going to check it out.

Today I mostly caught up on things here at the homestead. Did my personal accounting, did some cleaning and just basically caught up on stuff.

In my cleaning out of things today I found an old pin that I got at a Star Wars Convention when I was still in college. Soooo I decided to be adventurous and try out selling on e-bay. If the selling of the pin goes well I may sell some other goodies that are just taking up space at the moment that I am not into saving right now.

Here is a picture and the link if you are interested.

Madalyn's Shoppe





This week is going to be fairly busy. I am hopefully going to be going in and working for Susie at least one day this week. This weekend is Comic Con which I have never gone to before but sounds like fun. They are going to have a couple of panels that I am really interested in.

My friend Jane is arriving from Oregon at the end of the week. It is going to be so great to have her around again for a little bit.

I have also applied for background work to everything filming this week in NYC. Don't know if I will get called or not but at least if I don't it wasn't for lack of trying.

Which reminds me I need to register for some Actors Connection Workshops as well.

Yes this is going to be a busy week. But a good busy. A really good busy.

Back To Work!

The New Year festivities are now over for the most part so it is time to really get back to work.

Now of course right now I am working for IGC while Maria is in Ireland so as far as my career is concerned I am on "vacation" but that doesn't mean that I can't plan and put some things in order for this year.

Found my Horoscope interesting again today.

"Cautious optimism may be a big part of your story these days. You are hopeful that things will get better but remain unconvinced by recent experiences."

I would say that I am usually cautiously optimistic. I try to find the more positive side of any situation especially if it is one in which I am involved. And it is true that I am very hopeful that things will get better now both for me and the country now that we are going to have a new President. Though I am realistic enough to know that change is not going to happen overnight no matter how much I might want it to. There are a lot of problems that President Obama is going to have to deal with but at least with him I have a lot more hope that they will be handled in a way that I can feel comfortable with.

I like horoscopes not because I believe that they are a real forecast of coming events but I do think that they can give you something to think about and if it is something you like work toward. If you don't like what the prediction is you can be warned of the possibility and take action to go "another way".

So here we are in 2009! I have a really good feeling about this year (there is my optimism showing again). I want to carry forward my successes of 2008 and there were quite a few that I am very proud of. For example: Playing Queen Victoria in the MTWorks production of Anais Nin Goes to Hell at the NY International Fringe Festival, my first major principle role in a TV commercial campaign with the MTV/Playstation 3 Little Big Planet commercials, my being asked to be a member of the MTWorks Company of Actors and then on top of that be asked to be the Manager of the Company Actors, plus all of the work that I booked on other episodic tv, film and commercial projects.

I am also very proud of the work that I did with Ms. Susie and her company.

So these things provide a great foundation for the things that I want to pursue in this new year.

Although there were a lot of great things personally in 2008 there were things that were not so wonderful and those I want to leave go of. To shut the door on them and let them pass out of my life. I acknowledge the lessons learned but the actual experiences can fade out of my memory.

On a wider note. In just a few days G.W. Bush will leave the White House and Barack Obama will be sworn in as President. Let me tell you, I can not wait!!!!!!! Personally I feel that President Bush has been the worst president in my lifetime. I admit that I do have very high hopes for Mr. Obama and he does have an extremely difficult job ahead of him. He has quite a mess to deal with with the economy, environmental issues, Iraq, plus so many other problems left behind by Bush and his administration. I wish him a lot of luck on fixing this or at least making a lot of it better. He has been surrounding himself with good, intelligent people so if anyone would be able to turn this all around he has a better shot at it than most.

Well that all sort of went off on a tangent that I wasn't quite expecting.

I know that I wanted to make this journal more spontaneous this year but....

Off of my soap box for today. Tomorrow who knows.

Special Treat

My Horoscope for today:

"Let your healthy ambition take over and lead you to a success you deserve -- the time for hiding behind the spotlight so that others can shine in its glow is over! Right now you are totally on the ball and more importantly, you have the eyes and ears of influential people. So stop hiding your abilities and toot your own horn a little bit more loudly than you think is respectable. Otherwise, you will never stand out from the crowd and get the opportunity you have been waiting for."

Not bad. Rather like it. Now I just have to work on bringing it about.

What with the Holidays and taking care of the fur-people at Steve's I have gotten a little bit off of my usual schedule of career activities, practicing and such. So I am trying to get myself back up to speed with what I need to catch up on.

The good news is that I haven't managed to gain any weight in the past couple of weeks. I was sure that I would have gained a couple of pounds because I haven't really been exercising or watching what I have been eating for the past three weeks or so. I am rather pleasantly surprised.









Today as a special treat for myself and for some career inspiration I went to see James Barbours "The Holiday Concert" at Sardi's in the City.

As he fully admits he usually gets cast as the "dark and broody, guy" in most of the Broadway shows he has done. And he does play that type extremely well. Though here in his own show he does let his real personality shine through which is very upbeat and positive. He just seems so at ease performing and making the audience feel like they are a part of "his" family of friends. During the show he had a couple of friends come up and sing. My only real quibble is that when he introduced his "guests" he didn't always say their full name, so for those of us who recognize them but can't remember their names it is a little frustrating. But that is an extremely minor quibble.

Today is sort of being called Black Sunday due to all of the Broadway shows that are closing today after their afternoon performances. One thing that I really appreciated about James' show was instead of being downcast about it he took the more positive outlook of - Okay this is not good but lets make it an opportunity to create our own work. Lets band together and make the best of this. That is very paraphrased but was the basic outlook.

I loved his musical choices and the audience participation for the "12 Days of Christmas" was lots of goodhearted fun. I will never think of that song in the same way again. And next time I will not hesitate for a second in fully joining in.

This was also my first time at Sardi's. What a wonderful place. I want to go back when I can wonder around a little more and really look at the pictures. I didn't realize that there were so many. The food was good and not as pricey as I had imagined. The wait staff was nice friendly and unobtrusive.

Really enjoyed the performance and the performance space. Very inspiring for looking ahead to things that I want to do myself in the future.

I was a little hesitant going up to James after the show - although I did want to let him know how much I enjoyed the performance he is a fellow performer therefore I want him to see me as a colleague not as a "fan". I have the same issue with meeting any actor or singer that I don't know.

In the end I did go up to say "hi" and must admit it did not go as well as I had wished. I said something lame about wanting to work with him in the future and he sort of brushed it off. Which is Okay and it didn't dampen my feeling about the whole experience in the slightest just let me know that my instincts on this topic is correct.

So after this wonderful experience I sort of floated back home. Did some reading and did some goal planning for the rest of this year.

More on that in the days to come.

Meanwhile Back at the Ranch

Well woke up this morning in my own apartment with Aengus next to my pillow.

There is much to do but the first thing I did though was log on and go to iTunes to pick up this weeks episode of Stargate Atlantis. I only saw the first 5 minuts or so last night at Steve's before he came home so I just sort of got the "flavor" of the episode.

So my take on Vegas:

From the very begining it was obvious that this was not going to be a usual Stargate Atlantis episode. From the first strains of the Steele Guitar in the sound track to the desert outside Las Vegas it is obvious that not only are we not in Atlantis but also not even in the Pegasus Galaxy.

Now I knew from my following of the writing of this episode that this was going to be Earth based and have a more CSI style to it. And they did put in a lot of the visual techniques that have become the standard for those shows. The jump cuts, the playing around with video effects, freeze frames, the speeding up and slowing down of shots for effect and for the most part did a pretty good job with it.

This was also a very different John Sheppard than we are used to darker, moodier, more troubled and played as always with great skill by Joe Flanigan.

So just some thoughts on varius things in the episode:

Loved the quip by John to Jennifer Keller about her age as she is doing the autopsy on the latest murder victim. Shows to me that the writers are aware of the uneasiness that some of the fans have been having over the age of the character given her position as the head of medicine on Atlantis.

I really liked the scene with the Wraith putting on the make up and prothetics to make him look more human. I never knew that they had a ridge down their backs before. Is this something that is left over from the evelution from the Iratus bug?

I did think to myself several times that Joe must have really loved working on this episode since it was filled with a lot of the physical action that he loves so much. He must have had a blast with the chase scene in the casino.

Love Joe's expressions. That man can say so much with just a look or a slight movement. He is so in touch with the emotions of his character that you can really see what John Shepphard is thinking and feeling.

Really liked what this showed about how differently Shephards life would have been had the circumstances in his life turned out just a little bit differently. Which could give a little more insight into the John Shephard in our reality as well.

Interesting seeing the different versions of Rodney, Zelenka and Woolsey and the dynamics beteen them and Shephard.

I am not entirely sure about how I feel about the ending. Yes John became the hero in the end that he was always meant to be obvously no matter what the Universe which is a very good thing. I am sure that Rodney and the rest of the Stargate Group new that John was still there. They had a tracking device on his car so even though the EM emission of the Wraith device probably fried the cell phone they would know he was there. Besides they would have to "clean-up" before any civilians got to the area.

So in my own mind I think that right after the scene we say Rodney all of a sudden rememberd Shephard and sent someone to get him. Having advanced medical techiniques they got him back to health and he went on to be the hero he was always meant to be either with the Stargate Program or in the Pegasus Galaxy. I know I am always an optimist. Especially when it concerns characters that I love as much as this one. But even if they did not get to him in time he still was a hero and I think especially Rodney knowing this one and the one he met in his alternate universe would see that this "version" would be given his due in the end.

So that is my view on this weeks episode of Atlantis. Frankly I am dreading next weeks episode because it will be the final episode of the series. Although they say they are going to do tv movies they will never be quite like having 20 episodes to look forward to.

So on to other things: I talked a bit to my friend Jane in Oregon via IM.

Did some more data entry on my Performer Track (loving it)

Went to Dueane Reade to pick up some cat food for Aengus and noticed that they had a big sign saying that they were freezing their prices for the month of January. Nice thing to do.

Also watched some episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Da Vinci's Inquest on Hulu.

Last Day at Steve's

Well my time here at Steve's wonderful apartment in the great neighborhood of Park Slope is just about done. Tonight I will return to my apartment and my kitty. I look forward to cuddling up with my Aengus although I do love the fur-kids here as well. (pictures at end)

Since I always like to leave a place a little better than I found it (impossible for here) I have been doing a little cleaning around the place. Nothing much just sweeping up a bit and taking out my trash and stuff. I have done this often enough that Molly, Eve, and Solomon know the drill and are starting to follow me around everyplace I go to make sure I don't sneak out on them. Not that I would.

Steve will be a little later getting home than originally planned since his airline decided to cancel one of his flights today. Might work out just fine for me though since tonight is the 2nd to the last episode of Stargate Atlantis. He has cable so I could watch it "live" as the promos keep saying. Which would be great. Tonight's episode is featuring Joe Flanigan's character in an alternate universe scenario where he is a detective in Las Vegas. I have read some of the spoilers (of course - as we know patience is not one of my strongest qualities in these things) so it looks like it might be interesting. Not sure that I like the idea of them not being on Atlantis this close to series end but I don't know if they were aware of the series ending when they wrote the episode.

Okay back to the real world. It is cold out and there are one or two snowflakes drifting around but it is not nearly as cold as it was last night. One of the many things that I like about this place is that it IS nice and warm. My apartment is usually freezing. Yet another reason that I aspire to an apartment like this.

I have been working on my new Performer Track program by entering the data from my auditions and bookings from 2008. Why you ask? Well, last year really was a pretty good one for me career wise and I want to build on that momentum psychologically. I already have my first gig booked for this year which is good. I don't have all of my information here of course but I did bring a couple of months from my Show Biz calendar and I will fill in the details when I get back to my place. I must say that I am really liking it. Not only is it totally web based which means I can log onto it just about anywhere there is a computer connection but I found another goodie today. When you book a job you can put it on their bulletin board a little free publicity there. As you know I am always into that. Also, it is good to see what others have been doing.

Along with playing with that nice shinny toy I have been reading random blogs and going over the past entries in my blog to clean up some of the spelling boo boos and stuff. Don't worry I didn't heavily alter anything but just sort of clarified a few things. Also played with my facebook page and twitter account a bit. The things I will do in order to stay in where it is warm.

Later:

Well Steve's flight in to Newark arrived early so I only got to see about the first 5 minutes of Stargate: Atlantis. Very different vib to the whole thing so far. But since he let me take his car service back to my apartment (I can accumulate so much stuff in a week it is amazing) I was so not going to argue. I guess I will just have to wait until I can get the ITunes download tomorrow to get my Flanigan fix.

Aengus is VERY happy to see me he is actually trying to sit on my lap as I type this. He doesn't usually like doing that but I guess he really wants me to know he is glad that I am home.

Well, since I am home I will add a few pictures.




This is Solomon - the perfect big black cat. Though his tail can be used as a deadly weapon. He likes to wag it like a dog which can be interesting when you are in the way of the thrashing.



The lovely Miss Molly. She may be 10 years old but she more often than not acts like a puppy. Loves to play with her ball toys and thinks that snow was invented just for her to play in.





Miss Eve - as I was packing she tried to sneak into my overnight bag. She is cute but has a rather loud raspy voice when she wants you to know she is there. She always taps me so daintily when she wants to be petted or held.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Hello everyone,

Yup, I know I haven't updated since like April of last year. Well that is one of my things that I am going to try and work on this year. Keep all of my goodies (blog, webpage, twitter, facebook, etc.) better up to date.

Right now I am staying at a friends apartment in Park Slope taking care of his fur people while he is away for the holidays. Don't mind a bit, I love Molly (dog), Solomon and Eve (cats) almost as much as my own Aengus. Also, I love this apartment I could so live in an apartment like this. In fact this is something I aspire to. In fact this works so well for my "visualization" since it is tangible and I am HERE.

Also, love the neighborhood. Everyone for the most part is very friendly (everyone I ran into last night when I was walking Ms. Molly wished me a Happy New Year) and there is so much to do close by.

I like to think that what I do on New Years Day will be what I do for the rest of the year. That is why I like go through today in "as if" mode. So being here in this apartment and in this neighborhood is very much part of that for me.

Yesterday, I joined the new Performer Track system for keeping track of my career. So today I am entering some of my projects from last year. (Of course thinking of them like I was booking new jobs.)

Will go out to a restaurant in the area later as well as doing some window shopping (don't know if anything will be open).

It is really cold here today 20 degrees as I write this so I probably won't go for a "long" walk but I still will be out and about for at least a bit.

I am so happy that it is now 2009!!!!

I am so excited about Barak Obama becoming our new president on January 20th. He has quite a job ahead of him with all of our country's current problems but I have really been impressed with the people that he has been naming to his government. He has been going for the people who really know what they are doing not people that follow some sort of ideology. This is the first time in a long time (like since Bush was first appointed president) that I really feel good and optimistic about my countries future and therefore my own.

2008 was very good for me as an actress and performer and that I really want to continue into 2009. Which I know will be hard with the economy like it is currently but the performing arts usually survive economic downturns fairly well after the initial plunge. So although it will take a while before we see real substantial recovery I hope people will start felling more optimistic after President Obama gets into office.

Well all for now. Need to walk a certain doggie and then go out for an afternoon in Park Slope.

Later:

Well I am back from my walk out in the COLD! It is about 23 degrees outside but the wind makes it feel like -something. But I am proud of myself for going out since I could have stayed in my nice warm borrowed apartment and then be pissed at myself for the rest of the day for NOT going out.

Had Brunch at a restaurant on 7th Avenue called The Miracle Grill. Didn't know that it was a South Western/Mexican place until I sat down. But since this is the type of food I really like so I didn't mind at all. I didn't really want Brunch but it turned out just fine. I had Scrambled Eggs Chilaquiles with yellow and blue tortilla chips, salsa verde, sour cream and Jack Cheese. This was served with fresh corn bread and home fries (which looked more like roasted potatoes to me but didn't mind). I had wanted a margarita but it was to cold so had coffee instead. The food was good so in the end it was a perfect New Years Lunch/Brunch.

The store I wanted to shop in was closed (figured it would be) so I went up to Barns and Noble. Checked out some books in the "Witchy" section. Most I already have. Found it interesting that there was a boy there around 10 to 12 years old pouring over some of the spell books. Turned out that his mum was nearby and totally okay with him picking our several to take home. He and I got into a wee bit of conversation when we talked about several of the books. It was obvious that he had read quite a few of them and knew quite a bit about the craft. I was impressed although I have to admit a little surprised. He asked me how long I had been a Pagan and I told him. He quipped that it was longer than he had been alive.

I was so happy to get home to the warmth of Steve's apartment. This place is nice and toasty.

This afternoon I read an article in one of the magazines that I bought that I thought was rather interesting. It was saying that most of us make resolutions that involve some sort of paring down. Eating less, spending less, have less stress in our lives etc. That instead this year we concentrate rather on bringing in more abundance into our lives and not in a material way either though that might become part of it. To have more happiness, more experiences, to spend more time with friends that sort of thing.

So for me that would be to enjoy life more, to go out more, to be more involved in the things I care about, to do more magick, to more actively pursue career goals, etc. When you think about it this does cover all of the usual stuff but in a much more positive way that might just be easier to stick to than the usual I shall stop, quit, etc ones we usually make.

Something to think about at least.

Well this has been a long entry. Making up for lost time maybe? Can't say they will all be this long and involved but I will try to post more often.

If you stop by please post and let me know -

Have a great 2009!!!!!!!