One day only! (Thank goodness)

So...going to try to make a long story short (though the day seemed to last forever).

Up at 1:45am to be on set by 3am. Meanwhile, we are renting a house that is for sale, and hopeful buyers want to see it at 8am. Jim (husband) leaves for work by 8:30, leaving a crowd of people in the house, plus our real estate agent friend (the selling agent), plus our kids. Unbeknownst (love that word) to me, our real estate friend's car breaks down in our driveway.
Sitter shows up at 9, so kids aren't stuck in house all day. They go bowling, and via texts, I learn they are dropped at the house so sitter can go to her dr. appt, after which she returns (which I didn't know...I thought the kids were still home on their own).

I get home around 2:30pm (the whole way remembering I hadn't eaten since 9am, and was craving an omelette) to find real estate friend's here, car in driveway...she's waiting for the tow truck. I have a cup of tea, stomach growling, and catch up with her, talking about plumbing issues in the rental house (her selling clients). Oh, I am also at this time selling an old bicycle of mine, and the buyer for my bike shows up, gives money, takes bike. Just as she is about to leave the tow truck shows up, blocking us all in the driveway. She has to go, I have to go...I have to get to a walk through of our home (under renovation) with the electrician. Tow truck man is now ticked off, pulls across the street to let us leave.
I grab daughter, bring her to play with a friend so I can do the electrical walkthrough, only to be waiting at the house by myself and calling the builder...and no, the walkthrough is at 3:30 tomorrow. Awesome.
As I am waiting for my non-meeting, I check the selectmen board's agenda for tonight's meeting. Skatepark funding is on the agenda. Call Jim, let him know. I thought I was going to be off the hook for dinner tonight. Ugh. I leave Mia to play, go home to eat (an omelette has never tasted so good), and tow truck is still in driveway. I pull into the house's second driveway, go in and eat. Real estate friend now has to wait for a second truck, as this one is not equipped for her problem of locked wheels. I go pick up Mia, chat to mom friend, we take a peek inside work site house, head back home.
Second tow truck is now blocking driveway. Pull into extra driveway, real estate friend now too late for window for getting a rental at the dealer (where the car is going) and needs a ride home. Kids stay home, I go bring her home, drop off money to sitter's house. Back into driveway, forgot about returning friend's lobster cooker. Get kids to bring in trash and recycling barrels from this morning, return lobster cooker, and it's scrambled eggs or cereal for dinner tonight. Good night.

I take solace in the fact that this is not my every day. Phew!

Jumping (back) in....

So...as I have been a rather infrequent, inconsistent blogger, and I intend to step it up a bit, allow me to introduce myself...

It's not everyone who will leave their driveway in Maine at 4:30 in the morning to drive 4.5hrs to Stamford, CT, take the train into NYC, go to a 5 minute audition, turn around and retrace your trip back to your driveway by 7:45pm. While managing childcare logistics, the arrival of the piano teacher, and suggestions on what to do for dinner along the way.

That's what I do...

I guess you could say it started a couple of years after we moved here. Our second child had entered the world, we had opened my husband's dental practice, and something for me was missing. I decided it was time to see if I still had some oomph with acting, as it had been since (gulp) high school.

I answered an ad in the local paper, looking for actors for a murder mystery dinner theatre. I called, and was told by a nice woman to come and read for the part available at her apartment in the next town. Now, the next town is not always known as the nicest, but hey...it's an adventure, right? I find myself driving through a fairly quiet residential neighborhood, down a steep hill into this rather secluded apartment complex. Did I mention it's dark out?

I buzz the apartment number she gave, and get let in to the building...knock on the door, and this older man answers and I swear he has one tooth (ok, maybe 3) left in his mouth! I didn't know if I should stay, run away, or give him a card for my husband's office!!!

Well, I stayed, read, and then was pretty much absorbed into the show on the spot. And now? That show is referred to "the show that shall not be named." It was...wow, just wow. Very few of the cast knew their lines, there was certainly more than one director, and it was to the point where the character who was killed off during the first act was on stage hiding behind the couch with a script to prompt those around him! Ugh.

There had to be better than this in Maine.

So, after a couple of more rough patches, Leslie got her groove back. Well, in acting anyway. The bug bit again...hard. It hasn't let go...more stage led to film (another story), and here I am today. I have a career coach, a talent manager...oh, and a husband, two kids and a cat. There were some chickens as well, but then we had a stalker fox who kept eating them and...oh, never mind.

There have also been acting classes, workshops, headshots, resumes, a website, facebook, twitter (still figuring that one out), etc etc etc...

I am hoping to get to this more often. I have to admit, I have some silly stories to share...

Just me, a full time mom making the transition to full time actor...want to join my journey?

It's about freakin' time!

So...it's been a while, huh? I have no real excuses for that, except that sometimes, with all that comes through in email boxes, etc...I just don't want to bore you with, well, me! But, I guess I am over it, because here I am!

It's the start of a new year. A fresh start. A clean slate. Ambition. Excitement. Resolutions.

Yep.

Also...at least for me...slow to get going, to "recover" from the holiday expectations and chaos. A time to wonder how to get where I want to go, and not finding the answers as immediately as I want. Not to mention, it's freakin' cold out, at least where I am, and there's a large part of me that just wants to hibernate. As if I am part bear.

Rather than the normal feelings of guilt and beating myself up over the lack of constant high-energy, I am letting myself be OK with it. Well, that's taking some energy as well. I am right now constantly on alert for the negative feelings, beating them back with an internal broomstick. I like to think it's working...

I am taking a class right now that is going to culminate into a feature film. The class is not large in size, only 7 students, and the script is written around us. In other words, my character in the film is written for me. Highlighting my strengths and weaknesses as a human being, and my abilities as an actress to translate those on screen to the audience.

Do you have any idea how incredibly exciting this is? Not only that, but the whole storyline of the film is so flippin' relevant to life today...it may be one of those films that's hard NOT to see. I can't wait to be able to share more as we move forward.

Just wait. It'll be worth it.

I've got feelers out for other projects as well...so we'll see. Patience. That's another thing I'm working on. It seems one needs a lot of that in this industry, so I will continue to work on that too...

I think that's all from me for today. Happy New Year...no matter what your energy level...

Cheers!

Hi.

It's been waaaaay too long. Sorry. Winter is…busy and not busy, so a little confusing for me to deal with.
Busy with skiing, sledding, family stuff, which is great, but not busy with the work stuff, which is…isolating. I have to admit I have been a little lost in self-pity world.

I started off strong, I really did…thinking positively, sending great messages out to the Universe, really starting to "get" the meditation thing, finally…filming a couple of regional commercials in between.
Then, nothing. Nada. Zilch. ugh.

This winter has felt a bit isolating. I haven't been traveling to NY as much, because the weather and timing has not allowed for it, and it's leaving me feeling like I am missing out on so much. I have been submitting online, have established free-lance relationships with a couple of agencies, and have a one night only staged reading next week in Portland, and a great class starting in the near future…which are all good, right?

It is always in these "work ruts" that I start to feel lost. Like if I don't have some kind of something related to acting, and soon, that I will forget how, or lose my spark.

This is the hardest part of the industry for me. The not knowing my schedule from one week to the next. The not having something to schedule from one week to the next. Putting stage on a bit of a back burner to make more room for film opportunities has been both an empowering career choice, and very difficult, as it has been leaving my schedule a bit too open. This is where the dragons, or gremlins, or negative thoughts (or whatever you want to call them) come knocking and letting themselves in. Where the doubt hits. Hard.

My career coach Jenn has a blog and this week her subject matter is so timely and I can't wait to get it and read it…"Comparitivitis." Yep, guilty. When looking at others' FB posts, tweets, etc and seeing how busy they are, doing this, doing that, going here and there, blah blah blah…every day…and you start comparing yourself and wondering why you aren't as busy…sigh. I can't wait to read what she has to say about this one…you can sign up to receive her blog too…www.Jennlederer.com

Hopefully not too whiney today…I will sign off now, so thank you for your patience. I will keep plugging along and try my hardest not to get sucked into the void of monotony.

Til next time…! Cheers...

Hey there!

Have you ever felt as though you were on the cusp of something but not sure what? Something big? Something positive?

That's where I am right now.

And there are many doubts, or gremlins, haunting me. Have you ever read Daring Greatly by Brene Brown? You should. I am fighting those gremlins back, and it's taking some strength. You know the ones…the ones that tell you you're imagining things, that you're being delusional, to hold on…brace yourself for the disappointment.

I have been fighting them off. It's hard work. Exhausting, really. But listening to them is useless.

Anyway…I stepped out of my comfort zone…by going to a networking event the other night. It turned out to be a positive experience, which was great. I met some great folks on the ride down, and a couple of new faces while there. And, I won a raffle prize! I won a tour of the new New England Studios. Yay me!

In between "jobs" right now, and I am not feeling the usual restlessness and "rut" I often find myself in when not actively working on a specific role. Again, back to that feeling of being on the cusp of something big. It's as though this is the calm before the storm. So, I am buckling down and working to tie up loose ends. And maybe actually stay ahead of the laundry situation in my house.

Have a great day! And don't let those gremlins get to you, okay?

Send Me Back...

...to school! And I don't mean college...I'm talking elementary school. 3rd or 4th grade. This computer stuff...aack!
Now, I am...somewhere in my 30s...and I consider myself still pretty young. But if you were to compare what I was learning about in elementary school about computers and what my kids are learning...I am pretty much an antique!
I guess that's why people pay others to do their websites. I was determined to figure it out. And I did, numbing my ass in the process by sitting so long in front of my computer. I set records on myself, for the longest period sitting.
But, alas, completion. Damn, that feels good! Of course, it should and will be a constant work in progress, but the foundation is there...the hardest part of that is over.

In other news, I got new headshots, which is partially what motivated the revamping of said website. I traveled to NYC to have some photos done by Mark Bennington. He was amazing...check out his website at www.benningtonheadshots.com. He was so much fun to work with, and a wiz with that camera and lighting!

And in still more news, I am involved in a staged reading coming up the first weekend in November, Agnes of God. I will be Agnes. What a role, what a script! Intimidating to be sure, definitely jumping out of my comfort zone with this one...bring it on!

All for the moment...happy website navigating!

'Til next time...

Boy, has it been a while!

Sorry about that...things that I find might be blog-ful seem to filter through my mind like a sieve. Like, something happens and I think "gee, that could be in my blog," then a second passes, and bam! Gone from my head, usually never to return. Sigh.

Anyway, since my last post, there has been a new addition to our family. A goat. Yep. A goat. She's a pygmy named Gertrude, Gertie for short. She's pretty funny, and even goes on walks with the kids. Because the (human) kids, cat, and chickens weren't enough. 

Other than that, other than rehearsals for On Golden Pond in Portsmouth, NH, and several video auditions, there have been several beach days, and even a little surfing...!

Oh! There was a little indie film I was in...my first film experience...called Heavenly Angle. It filmed in NH a couple summers ago, written and directed by the same writer as On Golden Pond...and it's funny...I was so excited about filming this, that of course I had told everyone...and now it was a couple of years ago, so people now ask "Weren't you in some movie...?" 

I swear they think I made it up. Like a make believe boyfriend. This was a make believe movie part. 

BUT! It is being screened at the Woods Hole Film Festival this week! Yahoo! Thursday Jim and I are going on a little roadtrip to Cape Cod and checking out Heavenly Angle on a big screen! So, there. It's for real. I hope HD is not too scary to look at...