Published on Wednesday October 15, 2003 .
Sometimes life feels like it’s moving too fast…
We have contractors starting work on our roof to replace all the shingles. Turns out that even though our roof is only one year old, the last owner of the house had an un-licensed worker install it - and they did a horrible job. Our roof is leaky and we need it replaced so we’re getting the work done now before the rain comes. We are also having another contracter come back to restore the woodwork and re-paint two more rooms downstairs. This guy did an AMAZING job on our dining room so we are using him again. Then there’s the whole issue of exterior paint colors and shingle colors… green or brown, etc, etc…
On another note, Heather’s G4 has a dead ethernet card and it needs to be repaired. Luckily she is between design projects or else I would just have to run to the apple store and buy her a new G5. I still might get her the G5 depending on how bad the problem is to her machine.
My machine is also continuing to have intermittant problems. Sometimes the machine won’t even boot! I tried to diagnose the problem and my suspiscion is either the video card or the mother board. But I no longer have the time or patience to fix it so I’m going to buy a laptop while trying to finish two freelance programming gigs. My cell phone is also dying on me so I will need a new cell as well…
Our old Ford Taurus is also starting to die. We’ve already sank over $1000 into fixing it but we will need to purchase a new vehicle soon…
My creative meeting w/ Dan Kwong for the second performance of “Everything You Ever Wanted to know About Asian Men” went well and now I have to schedule another creative meeting for next week before he leaves for Japan. That also means I need to start editing and working on my piece.
I have an audition tomorrow (today) for Avaya.
I need to reherse my new scene “The Country Girl” with my new partner.
blah, blah, blah….
Did you know Christmas is coming!?!?!?! Stores are already starting to put out Christmas merchandise!
I don’t even have time to put links into this post or even bother to change the posting date to yesterday. Oh well…
Published on Monday October 13, 2003 .
Since Thursday night, Heather and I have been in a mad rush to get our house in the best “appraisal” condition. The problem is that our upstairs bathroom is “in the midst” of renovation, the kitchen has been slightly “deconstructed”, the porch has been reconstructed but needed finishing and the house in general is a mess with boxes and papers laying about from our initial move-in. So my weekend consisted of staying up ’till the early hours of the morning stripping ancient linoleum off the porch hardwood floors on my hands and knees with a small paint scraper. I was lucky enough to discover sugarfree Red Bull which really did help with my energy levels.
By this morning at 6.30am, Heather and I had stripped linoleum off the hardwood floor on the front porch, sanded the railings of the porch, primed the porch, erected an arbor as an entryway to our side-garden path, touched up paint in several rooms, did the laundry, vacuumed the house, mopped the house, organized our closet, organized each room, washed all the dishes, painted the upstairs bathroom floor, re-caulked the tub and placed the toilet and sink BACK into the bathroom. Heather did the majority of the work as I also attended acting class, a creative meeting for an upcoming show and worked on two freelance programming projects.
Now we need a vacation. And a relaxing day at a spa…
Published on Sunday October 12, 2003 .
It’s 2.46am and I have not slept for more than 6 hours since thursday night. I’ve been stripping linoleum off the front porch for the last 3 nights and juggling an array of tasks from life to programming to acting…
must sleep…
Published on Thursday October 9, 2003 .
California has a new governer and the nation has a new $20 bill.
I still think our currency is pretty boring. Look at some of these international banknotes.
Published on Wednesday October 8, 2003 .
We have moved on from improvizations to scene study in class. I have a new partner and we have been assigned the play “The Country Girl” by Clifford Odets. The original play appeared on Broadway produced by the famous Lee Strasberg and featured the legendary Uta Hagen. It was later made into a movie with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelley. I will be playing the character Bernie. Unfortunately, this is a very hard play to find. I called the actors bookstore - Samuel French, Barnes and Noble, checked Amazon.com and nobody has it. Luckily we did not have to work in class tonight so I still have two days to find this play. I think I’ll check the library next…
Published on Tuesday October 7, 2003 .
Heather and I celebrated our 3rd year anniversary today. Three years ago on this day we were married at the Wayfarers Chapel - a glass chapel built by Frank Lloyd Wright’s son which sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Our wedding service was in the evening and the chapel was candle-lit. It was a beautiful ceremony. A day I will never forget.
This morning Heather and I went to Burke Williams Spa for massages. I got a full session Reflexology massage followed by a half-session Deep Relaxation massage. This was my first time at a spa and I really didn’t know what to expect. The Reflexology massage just concentrated on the feet, hands and ears. That was an interesting massage, but I would have rather had a shiatsu treatment. The Deep Relaxation massage was pretty intense. The massage therapist really worked deep into my muscles which at many times was not very relaxing. I could feel the knots and tension being squeezed from every inch of my muscles. This was intense, but good. Overall I enjoyed our time at the spa. The environment was serene and peaceful and the service was good.
Next Heather and I went to Authentic Cafe which serves great gourmet southwestern food. I had the spicy Jamaican jerk chicken with chile corn bread and Heather had a steak salad. We were enjoyng our meal when suddenly Heather was signaling me to see who just came in. I discreetly looked to my left and saw Kyle and Efram, the two directors who made the movie “The Battle of Shaker Heights” and was on HBO’s show Project Greenlight. I really wanted to go over and say something to them but I really didn’t know what to say. I watched the show, but I never saw the movie and I don’t think their movie did that well anyway. So instead we finished our meal and left.
In the evening we went to Inn of the Seventh Ray for dinner. This restaraunt is situated in Topanga Canyon near the ocean. The outdoor setting is whimsical, magical, and spiritual. If you watched Lord of the Rings and then ate at this restaraunt, you would think you were in the elven kingdom. The food is organic gourmet. We opted for the five course tasting with the accompanying wine pairing. My meal consisted of lobster bisque soup, belgium endive salad, honey glazed peking duck, rack of lamb, and maple cheesecake. We also had several half-glasses of different types of wine. The meal was delicious and we stuffed ourselves full.
During the meal we received two phone calls. One from family, the other one a friend - and they were all asking us if we knew that Arnold was our new governor. Well now we know.
It’s been an incredible relaxing fun day. Too bad we’re not going to Tahiti again for our honeymoon. Instead I have to go back to work.
I like watching MTV Diaries. It’s interesting to see how people got to where they are now and everything they have been through. It also makes me want to be more wild and spontaneous, to leave my fears at the door and charge head first towards my dreams.
What excuses are preventing me from achieving my goals? What frivolous distractions do I let get in my way?
I’m tired of waiting for things to happen. It’s time to MAKE things happen!
Published on Sunday October 5, 2003 .
I had a 7am call time this morning to be on set for the untitled short film I was cast in. The film is basically a parody on the show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy“. I play one of the gay flamboyant friends of the main character. The style of the movie is an “over-the-top” comedy - SNL style. By the time wardrobe, hair and makeup was done with me, my hair had been straightened and plastered down across my face with a ton of gel and hairspray. My eye lashes were curled and had mascara. My lips were a glossy hot pink. And I wore a very bright floral shirt totally unbuttoned with a pink ribbon around my waist. I looked like I was from south beach Florida - straight out of the movie Birdcage!
My shot was part of a series of testimonials from the friends of the main character - completey “improv’ed”. When it was my turn, I played the part very effeminate with a pseudo philipino accent. The director then told me to try doing the character as a super cool, deep voiced, model-esque gay character with no lisp or accent. That worked very well. Then they asked me to try it again while smoking a cigarette. The problem is, I don’t smoke. But I agreed to try it out for the character. After a couple of takes, we nailed some pretty funny lines. When I left the room I was flying high on the nicotine rush. I’ll be feeling that in my lungs tomorrow…
Overall I had a fun time, worked with a great cast and crew, and I can’t wait to see the final product!
Published on Saturday October 4, 2003 .
Wanna surf on the water at high speeds without waves? Then try a Powerski Jetboard!
I’ve never cared for water sports, but this jet powered surfboard looks like a lot of fun. Too bad summer is over. Now it’s time to shop for snowboarding gear! I’m window shopping online at K2 and Burton…
Published on Friday October 3, 2003 .
I just got an email from Dan Kwong reminding the “Asian Men” group that we will be performing at the Highways Performance Space as part of the Asian Pacific American Performance and Visual Art Festival in 6 weeks!!!! I’m very excited to be able to perform our show again! We will be working closely with Dan over the next couple of weeks to improve and enhance our stories and performances. This will be a GREAT show!