November to Yescember

*My plan this year is to publish a blog entry each month. As I'd like to publish my final post at the end of the year, this entry (#11), has been delayed until mid November as it is the half-way point between entries 10 & 12. Or because I had a lot going on & haven't made the time to finish this post by November first...Tomato, Tomato.  
​Blog #11 Contents
~October Recap~
~Pish Tosh Podcast~
~Acting/Performing~
~Planning/Goals~
~TikTok~

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October Recap!

October, the spookiest of the months, has always been a favorite of mine! In October, the leaves change color, Halloween is celebrated, & those greedy winter holidays begin to stretch their tinsel tentacles into stores near you to suffocate us all with Christmas cheer. Personally, October was a fulfilling month of acting, auditioning, podcasting, & wrapping up my Improv for Actors program to begin my first level of the Conservatory Program at the Second City. The highlights of October depicted below include but are not limited to: Haircuts for Judy & I, Celebrating Halloween, experiencing the first snow since moving to IL, the Scarecrow Festival in St. Charles, the Morton Arboretum, Seeing Blue October in Concert, staying on the Mississippi River in IA, performing on the Podcast from Hell...

Judy & I got haircuts!

.    Blue October.

Celebrating Spooky Season as Maya Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer & Corey the Friendly Elf...& also toast 

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I got to perform on one of my favorite podcasts!
The Podcast from HELL!
The episode (#30) was published on Oct. 30th. 
Please Follow, Share, Rate, Review, Listen, etc. :D

The Podcast from HELL

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THE
​PISH TOSH PODCAST

Thank you to all of the amazing, talented, generous performers that have taken the time to sit down with me at the Second City to discuss this lil' old thing we call life. October & November feature Julie Harris, Erica Mendez, Margaux Lantelme, C.J. Darnieder, Marcus Strokes, Grace Bahler, Phill Ty Moore, Nick Hodge, & don't miss this Tuesday's episode (#24) with Nicole Perkowitz!!! Nov. 26th!

I'm so excited to announce that The Pish Tosh Podcast
now has it's first official sponsor: 
Full of Knit!
Full of Knit is created by knitting-enthusiast, Joey Poole who hand-crafts each item in a smoke free environment. Click the button below to follow Full of Knit on Facebook & see beautiful examples of creator/knitter, Joey's work & to order an item of your own!
Mention the Pish Tosh Blog &/or Podcast
for 10% Off of your entire order!

Full of Knit

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Acting/Performing

     Since quitting my second library job this year & moving from outer Illinois into the City of Chicago, I have been lucky enough to find work as a background actor/extra for major films & television shows working alongside talented & famous actors. I've learned so much from being in & around professional film sets. I've met wonderful people & worked alongside diligent professionals. It's wonderful to actually collect a paycheck, be it modest, for doing what I really love. I am painstakingly vague about my set time as revealing details about the scenes is prohibited. Yet, I think it's safe to tell you about a few quick personal experiences which all took place within a three day period. 
     It was a Monday that I headed to a new set. The commute there included an hour drive & 2 van rides. There were only a handful of extras that day & I enjoyed making some friends (a women who lives less than a mile from me & a cool guy that writes & directs short films). During a scene that day, I was upgraded (I didn't know what that meant). I was asked to sing with the talent & to improv a bit with a small child actor who I was parenting in this scene. At the end of the day, I was asked to fill out separate paperwork in my trailer (WHAT!). I filled out the paperwork & learned that the upgrade meant I would get a SAG credit (with The Actors Union) & I would receive a check that was...more than I expected ;D.
       The following day was Tuesday, I worked 14 hours on the set of a major Hollywood movie with an award winning director with FOUR HUNDRED other extras. By the time I got on the train it was one a.m. & my face was raw for two reasons. The first being the cold. Four hours of the shoot were spent outside in the cold night air on Lake Michigan. We had to remove all of our coats, blankets, hand warmers, hats, scarves, gloves, etc. each time they called "Pictures Up" so that we were convincing summertime characters. The second reason my face was sensitive was because it had recently been scrubbed clean by a thorough makeup artist. I spent most of the bitterly cold evening with blood on my face & hands (Hey! You get paid extra! & it wasn't real blood). 
      I got home & showered the remainder of the blood out of my hair & proceeded to fall asleep around 2:30 in the morning. My alarm went off an hour later because I had to be to the Cinespace Studios Parking Lot to catch a 4:30 am bus that would take me to my next gig. Fortunately, this shoot only lasted 6 hours & I slept the entire bus ride to & from the shoot. 
       I have had days as short as a few hours & as long as 16. I've had shoots with horses, explosions, children, fire,  & fake shooting. I've acted in 1920's, the 1960's, the present, alternate universes, & the near future. I feel like the luckiest person. I'm currently booked for a commercial gig & I am a core background player on a Fox show. Core means, I work multiple days on the set & I'm reoccurring. I'm a long way from gaining reoccurring speaking roles, being the star or costar, or making six figures but I'm so thankful to be working successfully in a new exciting field that I love. 

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Planning/Goals

"They say, "We Plan, God Laughs."
That's why I do so much planning. Because if I can make GOD laugh, I must be a pretty good comedian." Emma Rose

   It's that time of year again! The time of year in which I look back on my deliriously lofty goals made in January & sigh in shame at what I have not accomplished. This year is different though! No, I haven't actually completed the goals I set for myself (Not Even Close! HA!) YET, I am choosing to focus on what I HAVE accomplished instead of what I have not. I am also using this time to finally set some reasonably attainable goals for myself & manage my expectations more appropriately so that I am not overcome with guilt when I inevitably do not, for example, read a book every singe week for a year!

     Each year, since as long as I can remember (so at least three years), I have created goals in January & worked diligently (& anxiously) to mark each off of my list. These lists are deeply personal & I typically never share them. I decided to be vulnerable & share this year's list with my partner Corey. I am so glad I did because it led to a powerful discussion about how important it is to set attainable goals so that your confidence & self-worth are not eroded when you are not successful at completing them all. 
     
     I have decided to stay on the vulnerability train & get off at the next stop by sharing with the public my list of 2019 goals right here below. As an exercise in positive self affirmation, I have also re-framed the goals so that they reflect what I have accomplished this year. Upon reflecting on the Green text below, I hope to feel proud of myself instead of ashamed, strong instead of  weak, accomplished instead of worthless as I have in so many autumns past. 

Goals of 2019:

1. Quit Smoking. I went over ten weeks in a row without a single cigarette (That's longer than I have since I was nineteen years old). Cumulatively, I have went an estimated four months of this year without having a cigarette. I have learned & continue to learn about my triggers for having a cigarette & my avenues for avoiding the temptation to smoke. Currently, I'm eight days smoke free.
2. Pay off Student Loans & Medical Bills. I have healthy teeth, a healed right hand, up-to-date contact lenses, & a Master's Degree. Maybe I still need to make my monthly payments for a bit longer but I certainly would never trade back my abilities to draw, smile confidently, see clearly, or think critically. 
3. Bike 30 miles in one day. I worked my way up from 3 miles in one stretch (my highest record previous to this year) to 20 miles!
4. 50 Books/Audiobooks. I read 25 books & I'm still reading. 
5. 19 fitness classes. This is a rare goal I achieved & even exceeded. Some goals benefit from their specificity & some from their open-ended nature. By setting this goal with the vague term "fitness", I was able to explore a variety of classes such as cross fit, heat yoga, roller derby boot camp, & zumba. 
6. Enter 100 Contests. As I only entered 3, this is a great example of how some goals need necessary specificity to keep you motivated.
7. Perform stand-up 20 times. I did stand-up comedy twice. The first was a warm & successful Friday evening set. It was attended by a crowd which included family & friends at The Mean Mug Coffee Shop in my familiar city of Salisbury, NC. The second was on a cold, damp night in the then unfamiliar & daunting landscape of Chicago. I wasn't aware at the time but I had chosen the most notoriously mean comedy open mic night in Chicago & was heckled off stage. (I may have offered to fight someone outside). I am proud of both!
8. Do stand-up for 30+ minutes. See above. Haha.
9. Perform in a play. This is another goal achieved & I am so indescribably grateful for my experience performing in Bekah Brunstetter's "The Cake" with a fabulous cast, crew, director & stage manager whom all carry I piece of my heart!
10. 30 pushups in a row. That's a hard NAWP! I did 20 in a row though! #PROUD
11. Finish writing music accompaniment for 5 original songs (perform at least one of them for an audience of some sort). I want to say that I am musically challenged but the truth is that I am practicing-challenged. I may not have instrumental accompaniment to my original songs YET but I have performed them at open mic nights, to my steering wheel, & in the shower. #BOOMPROUD
12. 12 blog entries: one post per month. Well, Looky-there! I am accomplishing this one as you read...how meta! One more to go! December's blog entry, my final of 2019, will come toward the end of the month/year so that I may wrap a bow satisfactorily on the year's events & experiences. 
13. 100 auditions. I did 15! That's 15 times I reviewed & printed my resume & head shots. Fifteen times I overcame sweat, shakes, fear, & self-doubt. FIFTEEN times I spoke audibly in front of complete strangers for the sole purpose of them judging me from my head to my toe, from my clothes to my voice, from my spirit to my style. Yep, when I think of it that way 15 starts to feel like a much larger number.
14. Finish Writing my Book Trilogy, Illustrate it & publish it! I have completed over 45,000 words when I planned for the first in the trilogy to be around 50,000. I plan to spend these next few chilly winter months sipping coffee, pulling the threads of thought & memory, & typing them up into my first draft. There are so many steps between first draft & publication. #Specificity #Attainability #Proud! (I don't think hashtags benefit me in any way but I enjoy them as emphasize & often accidentally say them in my day-to-day conversations so I'm just being true to myself here.)
15. Publish 10 Podcast Episodes: Although this was a late addition to the 2019 goal list, I have 22 published Podcasts & another 7 will debut before the year is over!​

After doing some research I've learned how important it is to set S.M.A.R.T. goals:

     As I plan my 2020 goals, I'll be asking myself if they are truly SMART goals or just more unrealistic hopes. I won't be coming up with these overnight yet I will be sure to have them airtight by the time I publish my next & final blog entry of 2019. 
     

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TIK TOK

TikTok is a social networking application that was once known as Musically. It's popular with the younger generation. It features short (15 or 60 second) videos. They offer a lot of editing & enhancement options such as filters, stickers, text, speed variation, & voice effects that have me rollin'! @pishtoshpodcast & @judybooks
   Anyway...maybe I'm too old but I'm embracing TikTok pretty hard right now. Peace from the bandwagon, ya'll! 

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I'm Most Thankful for the
​Healthy & Positive Relationships in my Life!

Happy Thanksgiving to All!