A stroll through the park and a ferry to Sausalito.

Yesterday afternoon I shot some more footage for the Rendezvous short film project I am a part of. The shoot consisted of me running around a ferry boat looking scared and confused and having the wind blow through my hair - making me look absolutely terrible. Fun! The boat engineers stopped to chat with me, asking if this was for Hollywood. I told them, no, unfortunately it was not! Anyway, all in all, it was rather fun, though tiring. You can see a few of the ferry photos here.

We also shot some scenes in Union Square.Heart of San Francisco!

Today, the weather was nice enough for me to take a short stroll through Golden Gate Park. I visited the Children's Playground - it seems to have gotten a lot smaller over the years. Perhaps they really did nerf the slides, coupled with the fact that I'm twice as large as I was when I was a young girl. How nice it is for people to be playing tennis, ping pong, and lawn bowling on a sunny Wednesday.

Rendez-vous!

I shot part of a teaser on Saturday for a project entitled "Rendezvous" by Ed Moy. Pictures are posted here. Hardly my best angle. I did have a few lines in French - may have been butchered! Zut alors (I know real French people don't say that!)! I play the role of the scared wife Emily.

There will be more footage shot in Union Square some time this week.

Coming full circle, down Venice Beach

Wrapping up my recent trip to Los Angeles, I took a physical trip down memory lane and also a new venture to parts of LA I had never been to before.

On Friday, hours after I had posted the last blog post, I made my trip to Inglewood to check out a potential apartment I could rent. I'd never been to Inglewood before and did not even know of Inglewood's semi-shady reputation. A kind woman who noticed me looking lost directed me to the right building and advised me to keep looking for other places in light of the money I'd be paying and what I'd be getting. (An honest third opinion!)

Afterwards, I drove on through what seems to be the heart of LA during rush hour up north to North Hollywood to audit a class at the Playhouse West. I ended up returning the next time to see a free improv show put on by Playhouse West students - and laughing a tremendous amount. I was glad my trip was worth it - good improv is hard to do, and I know this from personal experience. Apparently a concerned fellow auditor wanted to see me off to my car as she saw me walking about on my own, telling me about how she was staying at a motel with a bullet-proof window. I suppose I am used to going to events alone - but I should definitely take caution when walking on a street at night. As far as I know, North Hollywood isn't the most dangerous place in LA.

After the class, I made my way down to K-Town to meet a friend from college who will be leaving in a few days to teach in Italy. This friend of mine was always someone I admired for her ability to be friends with virtually everyone - from all different kinds of backgrounds and beliefs. She's one who knows how to keep in touch and have fun with her life. I do admire those who are naturally social butterflies and are always positive. A group of young men approached our table, which was sporting several beautiful ladies besides myself, and attempted to get to know us better. Ah, LA! Good effort, though.

File photo of me and my socialite friend Annie!

And so, my trip down memory lane began the next day when I headed back to UCLA/Westwood to visit another friend after checking out a second place (and getting honked at for driving too slowly). Seeing the closed down businesses made me feel a bit sad. Seeing the dorms and remembering the friends I'd be able to see all within a second years ago made me feel nostalgic. We had all lived so close together, we had all laughed and grown together - and now all of us were so far apart - maybe in Korea, Seattle, Washington D.C., Florida...all with different lives. UCLA left me with a lot of great memories, and for that, I'm glad. But as time passed, we all moved on. I did stop for some Diddy Riese for old times' sake though, with the cookies becoming all soggy and sticky from the ice cream.

Nostalgic view of dorms, taken by me years ago

Finally, I wrapped up my Sunday by driving down to Venice Beach with yet another old friend of mine. He'd driven from Pasadena to come see me, so it was only fair that I drove! Alas, there was an enormous amount of Sunday beach traffic - but we finally pulled into the lot by the beach. I love Venice Beach, for reasons I can't quite articulate. It may be touristy, but there's something about the air that I love. The first time I had gone there was as a sophomore in college with my dorm mates - the last time was some random time for no particular reason with a close girl friend of mine. My friend and I exchanged our recent life stories and I remarked that I thought it was so unpredictable where life would take us - and that I wouldn't have imagined the two of us meeting on Venice Beach at this point in time so many years later. I suppose this is both the beauty and challenge of life - one never knows how life plays out, where you'll be, who you'll meet, and who you still keep in touch with.

A picture I snapped at Venice three years ago

I'm thankful for the journey.

Awesome Day in LA

While it is well past what should be a normal person's bed-time and my preferred hours of sleep, I thought I would check in with what was a beautiful day spent in L.A. with gorgeous weather, kind people, and fun times.

I had lunch with an old high school friend who was in the National Forensics League with me. She's currently studying to be a surgeon at UCLA Medical School, so that is quite amazing! I had resorted to Yelp to find a suitable restaurant and picked SushiStop on Sawtelle Blvd. It definitely was a nice place to go and a cheap place to eat! Afterwards we had gone to Max Karaoke to sing some songs (they have a good happy hour deal for $4/person before 8 PM), alternating from Japanese, Chinese, English and my one favorite Korean song. She wowed me with her traditional Japanese singing and lovely tenor voice. I haven't had many karaoke solos, so I was getting hoarse after about two songs. I didn't do Bon Jovi's "It's My Life," my recent signature song, but instead teamed up at the end for a rendition of Eminem's "Not Afraid." Eminem certainly has some poignant lyrics, so holler if you feel like you've been down that same road, raise the bar, and shoot for the moon.

Anyway, the folks at the car repair shop Major Muffler on Santa Monica Blvd. were really nice to me. I waited about half an hour to get my gravel shield screwed back in place. They didn't even charge me for it - how crazy is that! I had gone there on the recommendations I had read on Yelp about the service being honest, so I must give them their due credit. If you need auto repairs in West LA, go to them!

Finally, after a quick nap, I drove on over to meet my college friend for the Downtown LA Art Walk. I had the pleasure of browsing through all the food trucks and looking at various pieces of art or other goods being sold at booths (like leaves dipped in gold). I suppose the whole feel of the event made me remember why exactly I love LA. It's full of artists...full of soul...so many people.

Alas, I did not bring my DSLR to share photos with you (my blog certainly needs more photos, as previously mentioned in the post below), but below is one I snapped with my (non-smart) phone.

I suppose my entry today was very specific to places in LA, so perhaps my one reader in San Francisco, New York, and Singapore won't really be able to comprehend, but I'll definitely add some photos for next time. I just felt like sharing my great day. In other news, the soaps All My Children and One Life to Live were canceled. I'll add an entry with my thoughts on that because I've been exposed to soaps ever since I was 5, so I have some strong opinions. In the meantime, sleep beckons and hopefully tomorrow will be another beautiful day.

Me, the Non-Model

At the end of May, I participated in a group photo shoot in San Francisco. I really don't have any aspirations of becoming a model - I merely attended because a photographer by the name of Blaine Dixon invited me to attend. I'm definitely not the traditional model type as I am a mere five foot three inches tall - but I wanted to see if I could get any cool headshots. The studio owner did say that he liked me look, which was a nice compliment. I've met a couple of photographers from Model Mayhem and have a slew of various other photos, the below courtesy of Aaron Loukonen.

I realized my blog doesn't have many photos in the entries, so that can easily cause someone with ADD to have their eyes glaze over at my blocs of text. I will attempt to incorporate more photos into my occasional musings. Also, I've been told I should smile more in my pictures and that I have a beautiful smile. Perhaps, perhaps.

More pictures, more media, more updates to come, hopefully, in this journey of life! I'm currently reporting from Los Angeles (funny because I got a last minute callback for something in San Francisco for tomorrow, but cannot go now!)

There and back again.

Unfortunately, I only cracked open the Blogspot editor once in March. I've been busy with my life, despite my lack of stable full-time employment at the present moment.

To update the happenings in March - I successfully drove to and back from Los Angeles. This was a milestone for me as it was the first time I've made the trip by myself via automobile. I even drove on some icy roads after it had snowed on the I-5. Just so you know my skill of driving - I saw some older man (in SF) yelling "Learn to drive!" at me at the gas station. Another kind soul stopped me at a LA gas station to check my engine as he saw something leaking below my car. There are nice people in LA after all!

In the professional realm, I've had a couple of interviews, with varying degrees of success. I might actually be getting better at it (though I've had some terrible bombs in the past). I've also had some auditions, all with an astounding degree of failure. Methinks it is time for some fresh monologues and a different approach.

Of course, all this being said, I think I've really come to understand that, on the whole, my life has been pretty wonderful so far. Most people have treated me with such kindness and hospitality all across the world and I do wish to be able to return that favor to others. I don't want to take anyone for granted in my life and I hope there will be a way for these people to know that I've always appreciated them.

All of this being said, it's my nephew's 10th birthday today. He woke me up this morning when he rang at the doorbell to fetch my sister for some Jungle Island fun. Apparently he thought I was still sleeping, so he didn't drag me along. While he can be naughty sometimes ("I didn't do it!!!"), he is a true sweetheart who always is willing to give hugs. After he'd opened his presents, he said, "Thanks for getting me all these awesome things." Aww. I wish he'll always be able to give me hugs, but I know he'll eventually be a teenager and...all kids grow up.