Merry, Happy Christmas Wishes

My favorite Christmas carol is Carol of the Bells. The song is shrill, kind of silly, features the onomatopoeia ding-dong a lot and is fast/allegro with people singing over each other at points. What's not to love? I played this song in my church handbell group when I was in the sixth grade. I never enjoyed or enthused over my violin or piano lessons (despite my parents' best efforts), but I loved playing the handbells. Wearing the white gloves, polishing the brass on the bells and depending on the other bell-ringers was all part of the ritual and the fun. After our handbell group played, the candlelight service commenced with the sanctuary lights dimming and the flames passing from one candle to the next in our very large Southern church. Those flickering points of light provided lovely illumination and cast everyone in angelic glow. I have this aural and visual memory firmly etched in my mind.

By the time I was in the eighth grade, my family had moved to the tiny town of Cross Lanes, West Virginia. Our church there was much smaller, as was the church sanctuary. The candlelight service was held late on Christmas Eve. This smaller church did not have a handbell group, but relied on the voices of the congregation for the music. As we left the Christmas Eve service that year, snow fell at a quick rate. The snowflakes caught bits of light in the quiet night sparkling like tiny stars falling. By Christmas morning, the whole town was covered in a gorgeous white, glittering blanket. That's my only white Christmas so far in life. I treasure the memory of it.

A good story features groups of three, because three is the magic number. It takes at least three legs for a stool to stand, three wishes for the moral of the tale to unfold. Even in the Holy Trinity of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, three is the number.

I'm only listing two favorite Christmas memories here, because I think that the third is yet to come.

Merry Christmas to all.

Validation

Yes, this video is 16 minutes long, but well worth your time. Watch it! I went to school in Plano with the star/producer of this video, TJ Thyne. I often ran into him at speech tournaments and theater events. He's always been a charming person and a great actor. Someday I hope to be part of such a fun yet poignant film project.

And remember, you're great!

Saucy... Pasta Sauce

Yesterday I ventured down to south Austin at 4:58 AM to shoot a commercial for an Italian restaurant. Much pasta was consumed during filming. The pasta was delicious when it was warm, but cold pasta is not my favorite. I highly recommend the peach Bellini, and am craving one now despite the chilly temperatures outside. The cran-grape juice masquerading as wine featured a prominent fruity bouquet with a smooth, sweet finish.

The gorgeous ladies in the photo with me are Anne Clare (with whom I've worked on four different projects now), Yael and Michelle. They were so much fun! If you see the commercial, rest assured that we didn't have to fake the laughter at all.

I feel blessed to get paid to giggle and slurp pasta all day. However, that 5:00 AM call time was not so heavenly.

Way Too Tender-Hearted

One of my favorite cats I used to visit during my time as a Furry Godmother petsitter has a blog. The cat's people-mom is a writer, so you do the math. I subscribe to the blog updates and had not seen an update for nearly ten months. I figured that Tippy, the twenty-two-year-old sassy cat, earned her wings in kitty Heaven already, but I just received a blog update from Tippy. She is very tired, but still here in the earthly realm. She talks about how her mom is strong, young and healthy for a person, while Tippy is nearing the century mark in kitty years. Tippy assures her readers that she has had a great life, feels that she has fulfilled her destiny and needs to nap forever soon. She thinks that her mom will be okay since she's young and healthy.

I can't stop crying. It's ridiculous, I know.

Selling Out, But with Principles

Last Monday marked my second acting appearance in a commercial capacity. I worked as an extra for a series of promotional videos for the University of Texas' new business conference center. Because I graduated from UT, and have fond memories of my time there as a student and an employee, I feel just fine about lending my image and implied endorsement to the new conference center.

The other actors, film crew and I were treated to lunch at one of the center's dining halls. The food was delicious with lots of different choices. The dining area was comfortable and lovely. Well dressed porters stood by to clear dishes. It was by far the best craft service (food) I've ever had on a set. The rest of the conference center features warm, modern design and decor. Fast, free wifi is available throughout the building. The conference rooms offer options for huge windows with natural light that can easily be covered by an automatic shade for better viewing of projector presentations. The staff from the UT School of Business who managed the shoot were incredibly nice and appreciative of our time. Overall, I'd love to work with this bunch again should they ever need me.

You'll never catch me in a commercial for (dead) fur coats, weight loss potions or raisins. A girl has got to have her principles! I can't endorse goods or services that I wouldn't willingly use.

Deck the Dog

Chad and I haven't had time to deck the halls just yet. I managed to hang an evergreen wreath. Chad put the lights along the roof, only to find that half of the bulbs are burnt out, and that the timer (which he naturally left up on the roof) isn't set right. But, we did deck out Janie with her new Christmas collar and leash. I love that her collar says "naughty" and "nice", because Janie behaves very nicely when she knows you (or Santa) might be watching, but she naughtily squeezes through the kitty gate to grab kitty toys or kitty food when she thinks no one will know.

An Open Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

Over the years our relationship has had its ups and downs for sure. The Barbie Condo with elevator was awesome, but the boxing gloves -- Santa, what were you thinking? Anyhoo, I've been a mostly good girl this year. I cleaned up my room, removing that big pile of junk from the top of my dresser drawers. I cleaned out my closet and donated most of the old clothes to charity after Buffalo Exchange turned up their stylish noses at much of it. I've kept the cats' ears clean and walked the dog a couple of miles each day. Which brings me to my first request:


I really like this wall mounted fish bowl, and think I can find a place for it that will be safe from the cats and dog. I also want a blue beta fish that will happily swish around in his fancy digs.

Santa, you know I love to read, but have little time to do so lately. Please no books, DVDs or CDs this year as I am well stocked with these items.

I know it's a big request, but what I really, really would love is an automatic dishwasher. Any washer that's energy and water efficient in a white color will be perfect. Honestly, with our 56-year-old cabinets and low counter tops, it will be hard to install a dishwasher, so if you could send an elf skilled in electrics and carpentry to install the new dishwasher, I'd be ever-grateful. Pretty-please!

I don't know if you have any pull with the talent agents in Austin, but I want Heather Collier Talent Agency to represent me in my pursuit of an acting career. I've heard she's the best! Put in a kind word for me, K?

Maybe it's a little odd to make requests for other people, but if you could bring my husband, Chad, a new bicycle for Christmas, I'd love to ride bikes more often with him. Ozone Bikes has several stylish and comfortable cruiser bikes that I think he'd like.

Please stuff my stocking with some M&Ms, Toblerone, Regal Cinemas gift cards and invitations to fun parties & delightfully dorky game nights.

What kind of cookies do you want me to leave out this year? Or is it a raw veggie plate kind of year?

Thanks from your friend & fan,
Jenn

That's a Wrap!

Monday marked my sixth appearance as an extra on Friday Night Lights. Monday was also one of the last days for filming of the show's third season. I've become chummy with some of the other regular extras. I'll kind of miss them, as the large majority of Friday Night Lights extras only work on FNL, and not on other television shows or films.

I finally got a title for my recurring extra role which was "upscale booster mom". Talk about pressure to impress the wardrobe people! Extras for FNL are told to bring their own clothes, and are further instructed about which season you're supposed to be representing in your wardrobe choices and sometimes specific colors. Not only did I need to bring appropriate choices that were not white, not black, not covered in busy patterns, not adorned with logos, but that were upscale looking. It was tough, but I never had to borrow any clothes from the wardrobe truck for FNL! If an extra has to borrow clothes from wardrobe, the person gives their pay voucher to a wardrobe team member to "hold hostage", meaning that if the extra doesn't return the clothes, they don't get their pay voucher back, and they don't get paid. Trust me, the last thing I want to do is stand in line at the wardrobe truck at the end of the shoot to return clothes, and then have to go stand in another line to get my pay voucher signed.

Back to Monday's scene, Connie Britton, who plays the (very attractive) school principal and wife of the (very attractive) football coach, delivered hilarious jokes and spoiler information while ad libbing a speech at the "senior brunch". She is one funny lady! It was one of those you-had-to-be-there moments, for which I was happy to be there.

Maybe by the time season four of Friday Night Lights starts production, I'll have the talent agent I want, and I'll be able to book a speaking part with more than one line.

My Favorite Things 2008

Oprah has her list of favorite things. Just in time for the giving-thanks and gift-giving season, here's my list of faves (in no particular order):

Chad

My furry family of Marigold, Kenji, Sonic & Janie

Scented candles of all kinds, but especially the Mexican Cocoa soy candle by Pacifica or Thai Lemongrass soy candle also by Pacifica



Books and time to read them, but don't buy me more books. I have plenty for now!

Movies at Regal Cinema's Arbor Theater

Sporty shoes and gym couture from Betty Sport

Soigne boutique's great selection of clothes and accessories

And finally, I pine for this ridiculously expensive wreath from Pottery Barn.


Unlike Oprah's super-lucky studio audience, you won't find these items under your chairs. Sorry.

Make It Work

Today's title refers to Tim Gunn's signature saying on the reality show Project Runway. Tim looks over aspiring fashion designers' creations in various states of readiness and says, "make it work." What a great catchall statement. One can convey a variety of sentiments ranging from heartfelt encouragement to implied catty disapproval with this one phrase.

My television and film career thus far has consisted of only a few spoken lines and many extra/background roles. Adding a few more "extra" credits to my acting résumé last week, I pretended to be a college student for a Westwood College commercial and played a concerned constituent at a Dillon city council meeting for Friday Night Lights. I made some money while making it work.

This week, I was back on the Friday Night Lights set as an "upscale booster club mom". I donned my multi-strand fake pearls and tweed blazer with straightened coif to give the impression of an upscale mom. The wardrobe lady didn't like my tweed blazer, and while rifling through the other clothes I brought, plucked out a royal blue velvet blazer, aqua v-neck sweater and said, "I'm loving the blues. Make it work." She then sent me to change clothes. The pants I brought were too big and hung low on my hip bones. I wiggled out of them without even unzipping or unbuttoning them. So I tried a skirt I bought this summer. The skirt fit better, but was a little loose. I guess I made it work, meaning that my outfit looked okay, but this situation has driven home the point that it's time for another closet clean-out and another list of need-to-buy wardrobe staples as my body shape changes to a healthier size. Make it work.

Yesterday was a long, sweaty day on the FNL set. We shot a pep-rally scene in a school gym and then a hotel lobby scene as if we had traveled to an away football game. I spotted lots of FNL principal cast members, but am no longer giggly with starry-eyed fan feelings. They're just like the popular kids at school to me now. I like some of them, and don't particularly like others, but I respect their position in the pecking order. I was so glad when my scenes finally wrapped yesterday to come home and have a shower after wearing my sweater and velvet blazer outside in the 80-degree Texas weather. I heard a rumor that filming of FNL will move to Canada next year, which contradicts an earlier rumor I heard that this will be the last season of the show. I have no idea what the truth is, but think it would be odd to film a show revolving around landlocked, dusty, small-town Texas football in the chilly, scenic coastal city of Vancouver. Make it work.

I'm tired of being an extra. In stage shows, I am accustomed to playing larger parts with spoken lines and, well, some real acting. Walking back and forth through scenes without looking at the camera isn't really acting. And while I've never been an enthusiastic sports fan, pretending to be all cheery and peppy at the fake football pep rally yesterday wasn't really acting either. I'm having trouble right now making this work, this acting career that doesn't include much real acting.

BYOP 2008

Gather round as I tell the tale of the first BYOP party many moons ago. I lived alone in a tiny studio apartment, only about 350 square feet total with a giant closet and a tiny hot water heater. I had to walk uphill both ways to the bus stop to go to my stupid soul-sucking job trading mutual funds. The only thing that kept me going some days was the grand plan I had to host a pumpkin carving party as Halloween grew near. I invited my seven friends at that time to "Bring Your Own Pumpkin" to my apartment for some fall festiveness. I spread a plastic paint drop cloth on the floor and all seven friends and I crowded around and wielded sharp instruments in close proximity of each other. We crafted some lovely creations, but that was back before those new-fangled digital cameras, so it's hard to share the photos with you youngsters in the blogosphere. Each jack-o-lantern was lovelier than the next. And lest you think the pumpkin carnage was senseless, we roasted the seeds and ate them, providing sustenance for our merry-making.

The BYOP party grows larger each year now. While each pumpkin carving party is great fun on its own merits, I'll always remember that first one fondly.

Here are a few photos from BYOP 2008:





I have to admit, this last pumpkin was my fave. Nick M. made a trick-treat-toe game with removable Xs and Os. Clever!

Sadly, Chad was so busy helping me prepare for the BYOP party this year, that he did not carve a pumpkin. Eek! I've requested that he pay penance by carving a turkey portrait into a pumpkin for our Thanksgiving centerpiece. Look for photos of that later this month!

Not Gonna NaBloPoMo

For those of you who are unaware of what NaBloPoMo is, as I was until last year, this shortened phrase stands for National Blog Posting Month. The idea is to have bloggers post each day for the month of November. I did this last year, and while it was good practice for writing and a good exercise in discipline, many of my posts were boring and full of psychobabble. I'm sparing myself and my loyal readers (Hi Grandma!) that exercise this year.

However, I wish Jensational the best as she embarks on NaBloPoMo. She is a far wittier writer than I can hope to be with fabulously irreverent accounts of her adventures as a new mom, working woman and city dweller. Go Jensational!

How I Spent the Weekend Before Last

It took two days, a big roll of blackout fabric, one expensive trip to the nursery, two semi-expensive trips to Lowe's, twelve bags of mulch, much sweat and exertion, but Chad & I finally have something approximating landscaping in the front yard.

Chad also tilled up the yard and spread grass seed and nontoxic fertilizer in the front yard. Now we just have to wait for the grass to grow. In the process of digging and tilling, we found several big rocks and lots of little plastic plant markers. One of our sweet, octogenarian neighbors told us that a part-owner of Shoal Creek Nursery lived in our house for several years, and planted the whole front yard like a lush flower garden. Then the next owner of the house ripped up all of the plants and had grass in the front yard. I'd love to see a photo of the yard back in its flowering garden glory.

Coffee, Tea or...

I've been busy, and alternately, recovering from the busy. A week ago, I got to play that 1965 flight attendant after all. According to one of the casting people associated with that movie, the director handpicked each extra based on their photos. The director insisted that I should be the flight attendant and ordered the wardrobe crew to make the dress work. Luckily, the vintage dress was stretchy polyester and posed no problem.

Last Wednesday, I awoke at 5:00 AM to put my hair in hot rollers and drive an hour down the road to the tiny Georgetown airport for my 6:30 AM makeup call time. The hairstylist teased my hair and used about twenty bobby-pins to coax my hair into a 1960s updo. Then the makeup lady worked her magic with liberal use of black eyeliner to make me look 1960s glamorous. Then the other extras and I sat in the big tent and waited for the rain to stop. We waited nearly two hours, because the airport was supposed to be set in Tuscon with a line referencing how hot and dry it was.

When we finally got to go to the airport landing area, we climbed aboard a vintage 1957 airplane to film our scene of disembarking the plane with the film's title character, Temple Grandin, who was played by Claire Danes. Claire climbed slowly up the steps to the airplane. She took her spot and asked where I'd be standing as we exited. She & I talked about how flying seemed much more glamorous back in the 1960s compared to how grueling and unglamorous air travel is today. Claire has gorgeous eyes in person. She is very willowy. One can't help but want to hug her and offer her a hearty meal upon seeing her.

After a rehearsal of the scene, the director decided that he wanted me to stand at the bottom of the airplane steps and say goodbye to the passengers as they left. We shot the scene about fifteen times from different angles and with different cameras, pausing a few times to wait out short rain showers. At one point during all of this, I heard a voice behind me call out, " Dear, your slip is showing." I turned and said, "Thanks for telling me, but why are you looking at my slip?" to none other than Catherine O'Hara. She replied, "I gotta stare at something between takes." Then she called a wardrobe lady over to help me fix the slip. Catherine O'Hara is strikingly beautiful in person. She seemed very nice and good-natured, hanging out with the extras between takes.

We finally wrapped our scene around 3:00 PM and headed back to base camp/the tent to change out of our costumes and hand in our pay vouchers. When I gave my costume back to the wardrobe lady, she smiled and asked if I knew I was singled out to be the flight attendant. I said yes and explained about the concern over the dress not fitting. She told me I looked perfect and that I got a lot of attention from the crew. *blush* Then she congratulated me for doing such a great job. Her very complimentary gushing was the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae on that rainy Wednesday.

Housewife/Actress Needs Vacation

I've been busy. The past few weeks have seen me at auditions, acting workshops, working as an extra, acting in a film director's workshop for the University of Texas and then filming that scene, doing the usual housework/chores and trying to make it to the gym three times a week for 90-minute sessions. The next few weeks of my calendar hold more of the same.

I'm tired. I want to go away to a nice hotel somewhere quiet for a few days (maybe weeks) where I'll sleep a lot and read some books. While I'm gone, I'd like for a professional handyman (or handywoman) to patch the sagging trim work around the carport steps, replace the carport door, repaint all the exterior doors and shutters from black to "blackberry jam", install an electric dishwasher, build custom cabinetry and drawers in the kitchen to replace the 55 year-old cabinets and drawers that will be damaged when the electric dishwasher gets installed, replace the columns around the front porch & carport, repair all the cracked concrete in the carport and repair the rotting wood trim on the corner of the carport roof. While I'm gone I'd also like for a professional landscaper to level the yard (front and back), design and install an irrigation system, plant lots of pretty native/drought-tolerant plants, artfully place some big boulders along the front and busy-street sides of the yard and build a raised bed in the back for my veggies that are outgrowing their pots.

Just call me when it's all done, and (maybe) I'll be ready to return home. Thanks!

Friday Night Lights, Take 2

I worked as an extra again yesterday for "Friday Night Lights". (I have got to watch that show this year!) Another lady and I got plucked from about twenty other extras to stand with actors who actually had lines at a scene featuring a real estate open house. I got to say a line too! It was, "No. Not yet." Exciting stuff!

Super-cute (but not as cute as my husband) actor, Kyle Chandler, said "hi" to me as we passed in the doorway to the open house. I've liked him ever since he was on "Early Edition".

After my scene was done, I had to clear out of the camera range, but was not allowed to leave yet. A nice crew lady gave me a folding chair that said "cast" on it. I got to sit in the room with the sound guys and watch the monitors of the different cameras. The sound guys even gave me a headset so I could hear what was happening on set. I felt like a real actor, and not just "background".

I think that FNL gets such good reviews from critics because the use of natural lighting whenever possible and the multiple camera views of each scene make the show look real, as if you're there. I also love that the scripts are somewhat loose on this show, allowing for a bit of adjustment for the situation and realism in the language.

Just before sunset, the director told us we were wrapped and sent us back to base camp in big, white shuttle vans. This second go-round on FNL was nicer than the first.

But They're Real

I got a call today from an HBO production shooting in Austin. The Casting Directors liked my look and set aside my photos for consideration for a role as a 1950s era flight attendant. This is one of those phone calls actors dream of getting! And the movie stars Claire Danes, who I've loved ever since she played Angela on "My So-called Life".

Anyway, I'm confirming some information for the casting lady over the phone which includes my clothing sizes. People in the 1950s were generally smaller than people today. My shortness is working for me, as are my small-ish feet. My pant size, dress size and shirt size are all fine for the vintage costume pieces. Then the casting lady asks my bust size, and I tell her. She says, "Really? Are you sure?" I confirm that I had a professional fitting for new bras recently (after all that weight loss) and that, yes, that's my bra size. She then says, "I think that takes you out of the running." I'm crestfallen and watching my role as a 1950s flight attendant slip away. I blurt out, "but they're real. It's not like they're crazy implants. I can mash them down with some ace bandages or something." The casting lady goes on to say that she's sure they'll have something else for me, and that they'll be in town shooting until Thanksgiving. Don't call us, we'll call you, and all that.

Sigh...

I Love Facebook

My acting workshop teacher wrote a scene last week called "I Hate Facebook". After the scene was performed to a warm response with lots of laughter, our teacher informed us that he actually deleted his Facebook account last week, because he hated it so much. He went on to say that he loved MySpace, but that hardly anyone but seven-year-olds use that site anymore. He & I will have to agree to disagree. I love Facebook, and hated MySpace. I was a slow adopter to online social networking, only joining Facebook about a year ago. I had my doubts early in the game, and scoffed at people who had hundreds of "friends" on Facebook. However, I love reading my friends' status updates, viewing their photos and following links they post. It's a fun way to stay in touch with people. Then when I see one of my friends in person, I can ask about the audition they aced, or the ailment they suffered, or the vacation they took, etc...

I just read this great article in the New York Times Magazine from Sept 7 about how people can totally digitally know each other via Facebook and twitter. Read it for yourself and we can chat about it in person or online.

When We're Crazy-Rich

Chad and I have several shared verbal tics, one of which is to muse about things we'll do or have "when we're crazy-rich" as in, "when we're crazy-rich, I don't want a giant house, but it should have a big area for parties and two bedrooms with big closets and two bathrooms and solar panels on the roof and sun tunnel lighting in every room except the master bedroom, because when we're crazy-rich we'll sleep late everyday."
* happy sigh as I envision this house *

When we're crazy-rich we'll also have:
a long vacation touring England, Scotland & Ireland
a tiny apartment in Rome for extended stays -- Io amo Roma!
two kayaks and somewhere to store them
a Toyota FJ Cruiser to carry the kayaks to the lake -- Maybe there will be a more eco-conscious version of this vehicle by the time we're, you know, crazy-rich.

When we're crazy-rich, we'll continue to donate money to the following, but on a crazy-rich scale:
Emancipet
KLRU / PBS
Unicef
Capital Area Food Bank of Texas
Caritas of Austin

That's Me Right Behind the Stars

Last Tuesday when I was on the set of the movie that's probably going to be a Lifetime movie, but not definitely, the extras casting lady pulled me aside and said the director wanted to be sure I'd be back for a scene shooting later that night. The very nice casting lady could have been pulling my leg, or maybe the director said something like, "ask that girl in the yellow top to be sure and come back tonight." I'll never know.

Later that night I did go back for another scene. I was delighted when the first assistant director (AD for short), a sweetly efficient teddy-bear of a man, pulled me and another actress out of the bunch and positioned us directly in front of the camera. He and the director had us scoot up a few inches, back a few inches, look this way, look that way, and then they dropped little sandbag Xs at our feet to mark the spots where we stood. Then we were dismissed so that the principal actresses could step into their shot. I simply served as a stand-in for lighting purposes. Ouch.

Fortunately, I returned for two more scenes later where I was very likely recognizable in the shots. Yay.

Last night, I went back for yet another scene, set in a small-town Texas roadhouse. The first few shots, I doubt that my own mom could pick me out of the crowd. The third shot (third time's a charm!) I was getting a crash course in the Texas-Two-Step dance when the teddy-bear of a first AD, asked if he could borrow me for a moment. I gladly agreed to get away from my overzealous dance partner, even if it meant I was a stand-in again. Imagine my delight when I was seated directly behind the main actors for the pivotal dramatic scene in the movie! Why yes, that's me reacting to the big news that actor C. Thomas Howell reveals! *Remember no spoilers here. You have to watch the movie when it comes out.* Yay! Oh, and that's also the back of my head in the final scene where all the principal characters are lined up at the bar.

In my humble opinion, C. Thomas Howell is a super-nice, super-funny guy. He was juggling billiard balls and cracking jokes between takes for our amusement. During a scripted scuffle with another actor, CTH was very respectful of the other actor, making sure that he was comfortable with the staged shoving.

Last night's schedule didn't see me hit the hay until 4:00 AM, but it was worth the missed sleep.