I don't know why people say that LA moves at a more relaxed pace than New York. I feel like I've been moving at the speed of light since I've been here . . .

1. I finally bought a printer. It's impossible to do anything without one, especially if you're like me and like to print your own business cards/postcards. So add this to your list of things to either bring with you or buy immediately upon your arrival. I got an HP color printer/copier/scanner for about $130 at Best Buy. However, the only problem with having a printer is that now I don't have any excuses. I have to get on the ball with the . . .

2. Dreaded Mailing

Mailings to managers and agents are a necessary evil. You can't avoid them but you can't put too much faith in them either. (This business is so weird.) So I ordered my mailing labels from Breakdown Services (see link below) . . .

www.breakdownservices.com/store/actor_supplies.html 

. . . and grimaced when I realized that I'd received 600+ labels (cuz there are many, many more agencies here in LA than there are in NY). 600+ labels??!!! (wheeze, wheeze) I can't do 600+ labels!!!! I can't !!!!! I LEFT MY OFFICE JOB FOR A REASON!!!! Wait a #$#@^$* minute!!! Each envelope now costs close to a dollar to mail!!!!! (wheeze, wheeze, wheeze)

Hernia . . . aneurysm . . . heart attack . . . rubber room.

So what am I doing? I'm going through all the addresses one by one (ack!) and researching the companies to be sure that a) they still exist b) they're in LA and not someplace like Arizona c) they handle people like me instead of . . . . oh, I don't know, blonds only. Then, Craig my acting coach told me to narrow that list down to 50. 50 is still a huge number but not as overwhelming as 600+. Still, researching that many agencies is taking time and more time. . . and giving me Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

3. Lisa and Mike's Wedding Celebration! (April 18-20)

Little Echo and I didn't end up driving to Utah. I left her behind and flew instead. With the cost of gas, it was actually a bit cheaper to fly. (Insert expletives about the price of gas.) I arrived around midnight at Salt Lake City's tiny international airport and was greeted by a couple of Lisa's family members. (Lisa, by the way, has a very large and fantastically warm and funny family.) Then we drove through the biggest and most sparsely-populated part of the country I've ever seen. Now folks, as you know I grew up in Houston. Texas IS the land of big sky and wide open spaces. But Utah doesn't just have space, it has  

 S                  P                        A                        C                          E

While we were driving to the night-before-the-wedding party, I actually had a slight feeling of agoraphobia when I looked up at the endless, black, and unbroken-by-tall-buildings sky. (If I ever had any doubt, now I know the following: I'm definitely a city person.) If you look at the landscape and think about it, you can kind of understand why persecuted settlers would choose to live there. The mountains are majestic and imposing. There is a power about them that could be (if you were so inclined) attributed to the might of some higher being. The place is isolated and the ground is rocky so not much grows there. A perfect place to hunker down and hide. Nobody would come looking for you there, believe me. Salt Lake City is quite beautiful but if you aren't interested in sports that involve snow and mountains then there's nothing much to do but sit in the lodge, drink hot toddies, and admire the scenery.

The wedding celebration the next day was beautiful. It was held in the private room of a nice seafood restaurant. The room had lovely windows with stained glass fish and a spectacular view of the mountains. The food was delicious (especially the chocolate cake) and there was a string quartet that played throughout dinner. The couple looked quite elegant and there wasn't a dry eye in the place during the vows. CONGRATULATIONS LISA AND MIKE!!!!

4. Shooting . . . film not people you bunch of sillies!

Carlo and I started shooting his short this weekend. The script is so simply laid out and the locations so easy that we've already finished half of it. It helps that there are only two of us.

Also, I helped my acting coach, Craig, with his short film. I learn a lot when I work on the other side of the camera. So I've been a PA, a director, a script supervisor, and a make-up girl. I asked him to let me watch the editing process too because I realize that I have no earthly idea how a movie goes from the can to the screen. It just does, right?

Also, a guy I met doing catering work told me to send my information to his mother, Charlyn, who is in pre-production for a short film that she wrote. We were supposed to meet this week but she locked her keys in her BMW and apparently it's quite an ordeal to get them out. (BMW's being all computerized and stuff, not like Little Echoes). So we've postponed our meeting till next weekend.

List of background roles:

Beach party-goer for an Italian rock band called Sonhora--during the shoot we saw a school of dolphins doing flips near us on the beach in Malibu

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3kSV6NsEGE&feature=related

Beach party-goer for The Fast and Furious IV
Hip cafe patron for Californication
Construction worker for Verizon
Political Hottie for Heroes
Hot Club Patron for Mercy (don't know whether this is a film or a TV show/pilot)

5. Joy

I've met and agreed to temporarily work with a manager named Joy Parris. I can thank Kenny (again and again) for taking me to yet another wonderful party and introducing us. Joy is full of energy and very, very smart. The party had delicious, catered Senegalese food by a company called Ousai Catering. Also in attendance was Wawi Amasha, a beautiful Kenyan artist who was displaying her clothing and paintings.  www.mamiafrika.com   She found it cute that I was born in Nairobi Hospital. And finally . . . I met a group of older men who probably troll these parties looking for young aspiring actresses to . . . um . . . "flirt" with. One invited me to brunch but I haven't returned the call.

6. And now the bad news . . .

I had my first LA nightmare. I dreamt that Little Echo was stolen and the cop I found didn't help me in the least. Then there was a flash flood that caused the streets to turn into rivers.

7. Odds and Ends

I bought tickets to the LA Film Festival with a pass to the industry room where people go to party afterward. Very excited about that!

I met my first really crazy person doing background work on the set of Californication. At one point she took off her shoes and waved the blackened soles of her feet at us. She informed us that she had applied olive oil to her feet the day before and the black inserts in the shoes she was wearing bled ink into her feet. She loaded up on snack food while we were shooting. Then at lunch, when a set person asked her to be mindful of how much she was taking because there were still people who hadn't eaten, she started shouting at him to mind his own business. Security guards then escorted her off the premises but she planted herself across the street and continued screaming at them.

Even though I'm not drinking anymore, I've landed a job with a liquor promotion company.  ?  So far I've done one promotion for Jose Cuervo. We passed out gold beads, plastic shot glasses, and t-shirts for Cinco de Mayo. (This is probably the easiest, best-paying job I've ever had in my life.) One woman with giant bosoms said to me, "People ask me if they're real and I say, 'Yeah! Real expensive!'" Then she put her arm around my waist and told me she wanted to take me home.

And finally, I'm coming back for a visit. My mother's birthday, Father's Day, and my parents' wedding anniversary fall in one week. So I'll be seeing you June 15 -22! Can't wait!

XOXO!