My May Top Ten

Here's a run-down of my "top" 10 moments of May... so far.

1) Summer is (nearly) here. And things are getting GREEN. Yay!

Apparently it'll seem like I'm living in a tree house by the time my trees fully bloom. Totally OK with that. And fitting, since my upstairs neighbor is half-ape.

2)Finding (the original) Chocolate Koala Yummies at my neighborhood Greek Market. 

KOALA YUMMIES, y'all! You know, the wafer-type, koala-shaped cookie, jet-pumped full of chocolately-who-knows-what-insides that were popular circa 1996? Yeah. Found 'em. 

Well, the Asian version of them. Fun fact? They're called Koala's March in Asia. Impress your friends with that one.

3) Being chosen to play the assistant to Jane Fonda's 

character in Aaron Sorkin's new HBO show "The Newsroom." Still no lines.... But I did get a special wardrobe, had my hair and make-up done in the chair directly between Jane and Sam Waterston (of Law & Order fame) while they rehearsed lines and spoke of Hollywood past, had a very-featured scene in which I'm Jane's right-hand lady and get into the limo with her at the end of the scene, and had my own stand-in! (aka: the person who stood in my place when it was raining, when the cameras had to be re-configured, etc.) Despite the fact it was more humid than I imagine Hell to be that day, and the hair dressers earned their salary trying to keep my naturally curly hair from pulling a Diana Ross, I had THE BEST TIME. I met Aaron Sorkin and he personally thanked me after we wrapped, Jane is just lovely in person and Sam Waterston is perhaps the nicest male principle I've ever worked with.
What. A. Treat.
Oh! And we even had our own paparazzi that day... so, I "Googled" and found a random passerby's pic. This hardly justifies the scene, as I'm now being "sent away for a moment," but still .... (I'm on the far left w/ the appointment book... Jane's trying to get into the limo...) This episode won't air until late summer. I can't wait to see how it turns out! I have some other great stories from that day, but they're better in-person ;)

4) Calling my Mom crying for the first time since I moved here. 

Yes. Truth. It's funny how life progresses in NYC.... especially in the industry I'm in. The higher the highs.... the lower the lows. Well, last week I was in quit a snit.

Yes, this is a highlight. 

You learn a lot from the seemingly rock-bottom moments in life.... especially when you hit rock bottom, your umbrella breaks in a rainstorm and all you want is a Dairy Queen Confetti Cake Blizzard only to realize there are no DQs in NYC.

 This was one of those real "son of a b*tch" moments in life.

However, it made me realize that if nothing more was meant to happen for me during this crazy adventure I started a year ago, then that's OK. 

I've been blessed with what's happened thus far, and can be content with that.

5) Losing all hope in the human race after watching a kid, in full view of everyone, whip out his you-know-what and pee on a tree..... right off one of the busiest walking paths in CENTRAL PARK..... in mid-afternoon...... while his mom patiently waited for him to finish.

I foresee some potential jail-time in this kid's future. 

Said hope in the human race was restored by this little girl:

Adorable.

6) Learning that an (accidental) Vitamin B-complex overdose makes for an interesting and ugly situation.

I've always been a bad bruiser. My friend Rachel says under my mid-20 exterior lies an 80-year-old woman.

But, add in too much Vitamin-B and clumsily bang into your bathroom sink?

You get a very impressive five-color bruise as big as a frying pan, that sticks around for 2+ weeks.

Wearing shorts out in public has been interesting. 

(I'm sparing y'all the picture.) 

7) Having one of those quintessential "NYC acting" moments in my Primetime TV class.

You know those actresses you see in a comedy sit-com? The ones that take themselves FAR too seriously? The ones that dress the part to a "T," even if that means dressing the part of their 'character' from 'The Playboy Club' (it was canceled for a reason, people.)? The ones that are offered an acting adjustment from the casting director and close their eyes, take a deep breath and use their hands to physically illustrate taking said deep breath and "truly and deeply feeling the adjustment within their character's soul"??

Ok, yeah. I witnessed one of those first-hand in class last week.

Far more entertaining than annoying.


8) Breaking into the exclusive TV STAND-IN Club.
______________________________________

stand-in (stndn)

n.

1. One who substitutes for an actor while the lights and camera are adjusted or during hazardous action. ________________________________________________

Additionally, a stand-in has to be of similar height, hair color and complexion of the actor in which they are standing in for. So, over the past few months I've seen many requests for 5'7", light brown haired females for stand-ins. The only problem? YOU MUST HAVE STAND-IN EXPERIENCE.
How was a little Midwesterner like me, who had NO stand-in experience, ever supposed to land one of these jobs? Well, two ways:

1) Lie and say you have experience,
and then pray your "experience" doesn't get questioned when you fail to understand what to do when hired for a job.....

or,

2) Submit for background work, but get a call from the casting agency telling you you're a perfect fit for a stand-in position they're looking to fill and that even though you have ZERO actual experience they're going to let you have a shot at it. This nearly never happens.

But, the Gods were on my side, or perhaps felt sorry about the whole Dairy Queen debacle, and decided to go with #2. Win.

Soo.... I stood-in on "Royal Pains" for multiple days for not one, but TWO different actresses. One being Ashley Williams, who I wasn't familiar with, but I had grown up watching her sister Kimberly in "Father of the Bride" Parts 1 & 2 (and her brother-in-law is Brad Paisley). Pretty sweet.
Ashley's character in the show has prosopagnosia (face blindness) and falls through a coffee table. I, sadly, did not get to go through the table for her --- stupid Union rules, but I did get to be her photo-double, so that when she looks into the mirror, she sees my face instead of her own.
I can't wait to see how the special effects work out for that!

So, I've officially been welcomed into the Stand-In Club, and look forward to more of that work.


9) "Call Me Maybe."
Not even kidding. I really heart this song and am not even ashamed to admit it.
It's like a big shot of Espresso minus the $3.50 price tag.

10) Seeing these kidlets on Friday:

I'm jetting off to Boca Raton to see my niece, nephew, brother and sis-in-law. Can't wait.



I hope you all had an equally wonderful, if not vitamin deficient, May!


Until next time,
~B

Happy Mom's Day!

Wishing everyone a happy Mother's Day!!

I'd like to thank my own Momma today....

She's been super-duper supportive, patient and encouraging this past year. And Lord knows she never needed to be, considering her only child up and decided to move to NYC to pursue an acting career... YIKES.

Thanks for everything, Mom. I love you!

I'd also like to say "Happy Mother's Day" to my aunts, sister-in-law, "adopted aunts" (you know who you are) and all of the other inspirational and, sometimes, "mother-like" women in my life who were instrumental in making me who I am today.

BUT... 
Perhaps, above everyone else... I want to wish Happy Mother's Day to an extremely important someone we lost unexpectedly on this holiday exactly 5 years ago.....

....one of my very best friends, My Grandma Irene.

Dear Gramma,

Happy Grandma's Day!!

Where have the years gone? It seems just yesterday you were reading "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" to me on your big, flower-print couch. 

I can't tell you how much I miss watching "Father of the Bride: Part II", drinking wine and sitting on the vine-covered front porch with you. 

I wish you were here to see all of the exciting things we're all are up to these days... And, I wish you were here this Mother's Day so we could take you to Bachmann's for some flowers and then to Weiderholt's for dinner and an Old Fashioned.

But then again, I know that the way things worked out were, perhaps, all for the best. Because I'm positive that now you're more here with me in NYC than you ever could've been while still living in your green stucco house on South 2nd Street in Cannon Falls. And I guess I'm OK with that.

We're all doing just fine, but we miss you.  

Love you always and much,

Brooke

Happy Mother's Day to you and yours.

XOXO

~B