On the case!

On Wednesday I wrote a blog about Jury Duty, little did I know that I would be coming back to the Courthouse for more than one day.

After lunch on my first day at Jury Duty on Wednesday they called another group of people, but this time instead of 20 people there were over 50 of us called and I was the first of the group.  As I walked up to the 15th floor and waited, when most of us had arrived they did role call and we waited for everyone to show up.  It was amazing to see that we had already lost a few people on our way up 2 floors.  So that delayed everything and when we finally got into the courtroom and took our seats it was after 3 pm.  The Judge introduced the case and the lawyers and said we wouldn't be in court on Friday, not because he was playing Golf, but because he had a prior commitment.  It was nice to see a little humor in the courtroom.  

Then one by one, they called people up by their Juror ID and I became Juror #6.  I was nervous as I took my seat in the Jury Box and as we filled all the seats the next part was something they never show on TV or on the Court Shows.  There was a question and answer format as well as general information about yourself.  You say where you live, your marital status, your occupation as well as if you've served on a Jury before.  The Judge told me to be elaborate and asked if anyone would have seen me in anything when I said I was an Actress and Bartender.  I didn't want to get into too many details since everyone in the room including the defendants were there so I mentioned my Hosting Job for PowerTV and said it was a great experience.  Then we had to answer if we knew any police, lawyers, knew of a crime to a family member or ourselves, and if we'd ever testified or been a witness in court.  I thought by saying that my purse was stolen might get me excused from the case, but I said I could be unbiased in the trial that would happen next week and they went on with everyone else.  It was easy to spot those that were trying to get out of serving on Jury Duty and everyone has their reasons so if someone is scared or doesn't want to be on a case for whatever reason, just let them leave.  This process took a long time and we didn't finish before the end of the day so we were required to show up on Thursday at 10:30 am to continue with this.

When I arrived the next day, Stacy, another juror I had been chatting with the day before was there already and we started talking since we both were Actors and the younger people of the group.  It was an hour before we even went into the courtroom and we continued the question and answer process and some of the jurors got excused before the Attorney's could ask questions to the Jury Panel.  Some of us were addressed personally by the Prosecuting or Defense Attorney's based on the answers to the questions from the previous day and I got asked about my stolen purse, but I said it was a learning experience and I don't blame LAPD for their inability to find or convict the girl who stole my purse.  As people answered questions, and counsel took breaks to discuss in private, more people were excused until we went to Lunch at 12 pm.  The process continued around 2:15 pm until around 4 pm when they finally had their 12 Jurors and I was one of them.

The Defense Attorney's made sure to explain that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and the Prosecution needs to prove that the defendants did what Prosecution is accusing them of beyond a reasonable doubt.  To be perfectly honest, I'm a little nervous but also excited because I think the whole process will be very interesting.  Of course, I can't say much more than I am or give any details until the case is over but I'm looking forward to the first day of the trial on Monday and listening and making an informed decision based on a fair assessment of the information given to me.

Who knows, maybe I'll decide after this process that I'd like to be more involved with Legal Issues and decide to go back to school and pursue a career in Law.  Those are my initials so I think I have a good start on it ;)

My Civic Duty

Jury Duty.

How many times in our lifetime do you think we get called in for Jury Duty?  Does it depend where you live in the US?  Are there any deciding factors that make us more eligible or likely to be called in?

My Mom in all her '28' years of life has never been called in for Jury Duty.  EVER.  I've been living in Los Angeles for almost 7 years now, and this is my second time.  Clearly, there's a lot more crime happening in Los Angeles County than in Sheboygan County (better yet Plymouth, town of 7,000) but how in all the millions of people do we get called in?  And me, twice for that matter?

To be perfectly honest, I would rather get the phone call that I have to serve on a Jury than to sit here and wait to find out if I'm going to or not, depending if they get to me by the end of the day while I sit in a room with 200 other people awaiting their fate.  I understand that everyone deserves the right to a fair trial, and by that, lawyers deciding who they want on the Jury to benefit their client, but isn't there a way they can decide that versus calling us into the courtroom to see us and question our life and choices?  We all fill out the paperwork but perhaps there should be a background check or a lengthy form you fill out when being requested for duty and if they want you, then they call you in.  I'm sure all this has been thought out and this is the best possible way to do it but while I appreciate being a citizen of the US and all the rights I have this is a major inconvenience to my day (not to mention the people that need to get off of work or have someone take care of their children, etc).

I had to skip a Fitness Audition today that I was requested for last week.  I got an e-mail from a Producer I worked with in the past, wanting me to come in today for a new Fitness Series.  I was all ready to Audition when I found out I had Jury Duty at the same time and there would be no way I could make it to the Courthouse without being late and then being turned away and the consequences of that were far worse than going into the Audition.  I just had to think that this wasn't the Audition or if they really want me, I'll be able to go in at a different time or perhaps they'll have Call-backs.  I'm trusting in God that he has it all figured out for me and today I had to be at Jury Duty.

At least nowadays you can bring your laptop and get work done while you're here.  The last time I was here, there were no laptops, just people, magazines, books they brought, snacks, and a 1000 piece puzzle I finished all by myself.  Hey, now that was an accomplishment :)  But for now, here I sit...haven't heard anything over the intercom in an hour, no one has been called in as a group to go to a specific room, and people watching is getting boring.  I should have brought a 'Friends' DVD!  Next time...let's just hope that doesn't happen next year.

Letting my Hair do the talking...

On Thursday evening, after I got home from work at Irish Times, I was going through my Castings and saw that I had a Hair Audition in Woodland Hills on Friday morning!  This was a job that could be working this weekend, a month from now, or 6 months from now, so it was a great opportunity to meet with this stylist and teacher.  

My favorite Great Hair Headshot :)

*Let me give you a little back story about my issues with my hair...I remember when I was younger in my grade school and middle school days when the girls in my class would make fun of me, tease and laugh at me.  My hair was one of their issues with me, and the butt of their jokes.  They would say I had terrible hair, and should shave my head, because I would be better off bald.  Back then I would cry and it would make me wonder what was wrong and why they would say things like this.  My Mom would always tell me that they were just jealous but when you're 10 years old, it's hard to believe that; now that I'm older and understand relationships and friendships, I know my Mom was right and they were just being mean and jealous.  I had very long dark hair that was naturally wavy, was healthy and shiny.  What was so wrong with it that I should shave it off?  Nothing.  It was something that these girls knew they could pick on me for, and push me down, to make them feel better about themselves because they were bullies.  I've never held a grudge and even when I see these girls when I'm back home, I will always be polite, but I've never forgotten how they treated me, and how I will teach my children to treat everyone they meet with respect.  I make sure people in my life, even people I just meet, don't feel like outsiders, make everyone feel welcome because we all have our insecurities, we should give everyone a chance and not make a snap judgement.

Waves for my Hair Casting

So back to the Audition.  I waved my hair that morning, doing more natural make-up to let my hair do the talking at the Audition!  It's good to stand out and give Casting something to remember you by so I chose a simple bright purple dress to accompany my favorite Guess heels.  Since I had driven to Woodland Hills last week for my Fitness Audition around the same time, I knew that even on a Friday, traffic should be moving, and I was able to make it there in less than a half hour.  The big difference from Culver City to Woodland Hills was the over 25 degree temperature change; it was 75 degrees in Culver City and 102 in Woodland Hills!  I'm never one for air conditioning, but going to a casting on a day like today was a must!  It was the same place the last Hair Audition I had was at (a training salon for students), and after signing in, I took one of the remaining seats.  I was 15 minutes early and able to read a little bit of my book. Then around 10:45 (the audition time) I noticed a man, walking around, looking at every girls hair.  There were some gals walking in just then, even 5 minutes late and not wearing heels.  That was one of the main things on the Audition notice, always wear heels, and considering they wanted girls to be 5"5 I had a pair of my highest heels on!

They called about 30 of us who had signed in first, to a classroom to wait for the Teacher and his Stylist.  They were shooting videos in the next few months, and since N* had just moved here from New York he wanted to get a group of girls together to work on these videos, where he showed cut, color, updo's and styles.  We were separated into two different groups, girls who were willing to cut at least 4 inches of hair, and then girls who weren't open to major cuts, but would be willing to color or hi-light, do trims and styles.  I was in the second group and they called 8 of us forward.  N* looked at each of our hair, and flipped through mine and then asked all of us for our pictures.  They were actually filming a video this Sunday already.  I noticed I was one of a few brunettes, as most of the girls were blondes, and then a few redheads.  At both Hair Castings I've been to, they tend to lean towards the redheads because I think they're more unusual, and all the redheads had great hair so I can see why they were chosen!  After they got all of our info we were dismissed from the room.  As I walked out of the building, I saw that more girls had showed up so they still had a lot of people to see before the day was done.

Even if I don't book a hair job in the next couple of weeks, I'm sending my information and more photos to N* because he's got a ton of videos coming up in the next few months and I'd be more than happy and lucky to work with him in the future because it's all about the net-working :)

Laryngitis can't stop me!

I've been feeling a little under the weather on and off for a month; I've taken a break from drinking for weeks at a time, tried to get plenty of sleep, and have been eating healthy to figure out what's been going on, but nothing would stop this on and off cold.  I thought it could be allergies, perhaps my busy schedule, the changing season, but knew a month of feeling like this, including a Monday that knocked me on my butt, wasn't just allergies.

On Tuesday I made an appointment with my Doctor.  Luckily, the huge goiter (in my exaggeration) that was on my neck had disappeared, and wasn't inflamed or hurting the way it did the week before, but a slight temperature, my 'turtle voice' and aches needed to be checked out.  The Doctor right away said there was no way this was allergies with my hoarse voice and very swollen glands.  That lovely goiter was actually a really inflamed lymph node and the singing I've been doing so much at Karaoke wasn't helping.  He said I had Laryngitis.  The last time I had this I think I was in High School, it was Spring Time, and I was the lead in 'State Fair.'  I couldn't talk during our final rehearsals, and stayed silent and didn't sing for a whole week but when it came time to perform, I made it through and made my family and friends proud as Margy Frake!  There's not a whole lot you can do, except rest, not overexert yourself, and continue to take cold medicine, as Antibiotics won't affect it.  So I've done my best all week to take care of myself and aside from sneezing, feeling a little lethargic, and like I've got crap in my lungs, I'm feeling better taking my daily Theraflu liquid medicine that I swear by, along with drinking plenty of fluids and juices.

I had Karaoke on Wednesday and even my Laryngitis wasn't going to stop me from working.  I just turned that microphone up louder so I wouldn't have to talk as loud and tried to make the most of the night.  It actually ended up being a blast even though it was really slow.  A couple guys that had been in the week before showed up to check it out, and even sang a few songs, and Amy said that Jamie & Zach's version of 'Picture' was the best she ever heard!  Sean had come in and got the night going with 'Careless Whisper' and later sang 'You've Got A Friend,' that the crowd loved.  Jamie sang this awesome Musical song that was perfect for her voice.  She also sang a new song for herself, 'What's Up' by 4 Non Blondes, and she killed it!  Khad came in shortly after and sang some new songs as well, and I loved his version of 'Alive' by Pearl Jam.  It was a really slow night but a very supportive crowd, and even though the rotation was short, it was filled with a lot of my friends and a couple regulars so it was actually a really fun night!  Now, I knew I was sick, but it's been over 8 months of me singing new songs at Karaoke, and a little 'cold' wasn't going to stop me, so I decided to try 'Because the Night,' the Patti Smith version, which is definitely different than the 10,000 Maniacs version.  It's more rock and roll, which I love, but the words and ending were majorly different but something I would work on.  I actually don't know which version I like better, I'll have to do the Patti Smith version a few more times to find out!  Since I was only doing one song so I could do my new song of the night, I let Khad close out the night with 'Mulan' and got to call it a night early!

Friends, come and visit me at Karaoke; we all have such a good time, and it's so much more fun when you know the people singing, and we can all be supportive and can challenge each other to try new songs and new material!  This was one of those nights and I'd love to be able to share it with more of my friends, because Gabe's is a little gem that needs to be discovered :)

It's a small World...in the Bud Light World.

Last Thursday I was working at Irish Times when a group of people came into the bar because they were scouting locations for a Bud Light Commercial they were shooting.  They had come in earlier in the week but wanted to get everything finalized before the weekend.  As the Director came in and looked around, he gave me some of the details, and I made a joke that if he needed an actress for the Commercial to let me know.  He smiled and said I was in!  I laughed and said ok, and went back to some other customers.  The whole crew was there for about a half hour and before they left the Director said, you know you're in, right?  And I said ok, as one of the scouters came up to me, gave me his card, and asked for mine to contact me about the shoot.  Cool!

Fast forward to Friday morning and I got a text saying I had a call-back.  The only thing I auditioned for that week was the Fitness Video and I didn't think they were doing call-back's, so when I checked my e-mail and saw that it was for a Bud Light Commercial, I was a little confused.  After talking to my Commercial Agent, she said that it was a straight to call-back audition (yay) and that my Audition time was 5 pm.  I was going to be playing a part of a Hispanic couple.  It's so interesting because in Wisconsin I'm never called ethnic, but in LA, I'm Middle Eastern, Italian, Greek, Hispanic/Latina, etc.

I made my way to Santa Monica that evening and after finding the correct address, signed in, showed my ID (you have to be 25 or older to be in an alcohol commercial), got my sides, and then sat down.  A group went in right before me and as I read the sides, it was a pretty funny spot.  I only had 2 lines so that was great and when 2 guys got called before me, I sat waiting another few minutes when they pulled me in with them.  We were about to practice the scene when one of the Assistants came out to give us some pointers about the scene.  He said the Director was looking for very natural responses and expressions and to keep things flowing conversationally.  It's always great to get advice because it gives us a better chance to show the Director exactly what he's looking for!

When we got called into the room, I smiled at everyone and one guy looked familiar and I figured it out as he said, 'Hi Lyndsey, from Irish Times.'  Yup, it was the Director from yesterday at Irish Times, and they were doing a couple different Bud Light Commercials, and this was one of them, though it was different than the one they were filming at the bar.  It's such a small world.  After taking photos and slating, the Director gave us some ideas and then we got into the scene.  After getting through it the first time, he suggested I make a different choice with my lines, more chill, more one of the guys, so I did it that way that time around, and he had me go even further with it, saying to completely throw the line away.  After doing the scene one more time, he said he loved it and it was great.  I felt a little bad because he was focusing on me but lucky because it's not often that you get to work on a scene and really get into it.  Plus, he got to see me do it a few different ways showing I was able to take direction and give him options!  After he thanked all of us we were on our way out.

Then as I was about to leave they had me wait, and when the Assistant came back out, they were having me read again with another group of guys.  YAY!  I would get another chance to be seen and do more!  This time around I was more comfortable with everything and as our second group got started, he stopped us, saying I had the line perfect but the two yahoo's with me, messed it up, and to start again.  He was joking but I think it made us all feel a little more at ease.  On our second time the scene went amazing.  Everything flowed really naturally, it was funny, and felt easy.  He said that it was awesome but that he wanted to try it a different way and said that the 'weird guy' on our couch should be even weirder and gave him a line reading.  He also gave me a different line as my last line.  As we went through the scene this time, it didn't flow at all, everything felt off, and unfortunately, the 'weird guy' on the couch took it a little too far and slowed the scene down majorly.  When the 'weird guy' asked how it went, the Director didn't shut him down, just said that it was different but thankfully, he told me he loved my delivery of the line change.  Again, he thanked all of us and I was really done for the day.

As my group and I walked out, the 'weird guy' said he definitely wasn't going to get the job, and I disagreed saying that they all seemed to love our original run-through, and he was able to show range and do something different which shows that he can follow directions and that's always a good thing.

Overall, I felt really great about the Audition and hoped that since I had met the Director the day before at Irish Times, that it was a positive thing, and helped make me memorable!  And since I got to Audition, it gave him a chance to see me Act and prove that I would be great for the Commercial based on my talent, not just my cute face ;)  Plus, it was a Football based Commercial that was going to be airing during the NFL Season and how much fun would it be to get to wear my Aaron Rodgers Jersey for the Commercial...Go Packers!!

*I found out on Monday that they were going to be shooting at Irish Times on Wednesday, and James, my boss, congratulated me.  I asked why, and he said that they called in and told him how much they loved me and wanted me to play the 'Bartender' in the Commercial they were shooting there.  (I auditioned for a different commercial that took place in an apartment).  Sadly, it's Tuesday night, and I haven't heard anything.  It's hard to not be disappointed but I try to trust in the fact that everything will happen at the right time, and this just wasn't it.

Pack-Rat & Hilary Duff

It's been a great week so far; I feel like I've gotten so much accomplished, auditions, grocery shopping, great work-outs, spending time with friends, Karaoke and Bartending, and more organizing!

I've been on a kick to really clean my room and get rid of a bunch of stuff I don't wear, or use anymore, and have to question why I'm holding onto some of these things.  Empty boxes that have sat in the same place for years, when I could have gotten rid of them years ago, and now I tackled the magazines that have been sitting in my closet since I moved into this apartment 3 years ago.  They've piled up over the years, since I moved to LA which is nearly 7 years ago at this point, and why I've kept them...I have no idea!!  I literally am getting rid of hundreds of magazines, Los Angeles Magazine, Bazaar, Marie Claire, Elle, Allure, Cosmopolitan, etc.  I think my original thought was to keep them in case I used them for something; I did craft projects for a short period of time where I cut pictures and words out of magazines and made jewelry boxes (thanks to Ash for the idea, and they actually turned out to be really fun projects and great gifts), or used the articles in my daily life, cleaning certain things, recipes, places to grab lunch or find a great Happy Hour, make-up tips, whatever it was, I thought I had a need for them later on.  My need now is to get rid of them!  I'm pretty sure the library can't even do anything with them since they're so old and they probably don't want Cosmopolitan filling the shelves either.  I decided that anything older than 2010 is probably going to get tossed and anything from 2010 to now I'm going to take to a Homeless Shelter if they'll let me give them to them.  I'm sure the people in there would find some enjoyment out of them, and then I'm doing a good deed, which makes me feel all warm and toasty inside :)

Meanwhile, I'm practically tripping over the stacks of magazines that are sitting next to my sink/vanity area in my room, but at least I've freed up a ton of closet space, opened up a shelf on my bookcase, and am slowly but surely, clearing the floor space along my newly picture-framed wall! *(Refer to my last blog in July for that story!)*

So after going through some more magazines to make sure I'm not losing any valuable information because I am that OCD, I had to Host Karaoke last night!  I didn't have anyone signed up until after 9:15 pm but then there was a rush and we had nearly an hour and fifteen minute wait between the rotation.  There was a whole group of people that I didn't know that were singing, and another group of regulars that were all cheering everyone on and trying new songs.  I opened with Garbage and Marcus wanted to sing 'Time of My Life' as his first song so we sang that and then I took a break for the next two rotations because it was so busy and I'd rather have other people sing than sing myself.  Lucky for me, some familiar faces showed up when Sean and Julie came in, and Sean tried '3 am' by Matchbox 20 and that was awesome!  Jamie came in around midnight and sang a few times, even closing out the night for me with 'Gravity.'  Thank you Jamie!  My new song of the night because I didn't know what to sing was Hilary Duff's, 'So Yesterday.'  The song actually went well but because it was such a different vibe in the bar it may not have been the best night for it, but oh well, I needed to do something new.  I'm going on 8 months of new songs and it's definitely getting more difficult to come up with new material but that just means I need to go for artists I would never have thought of and try something crazy.  Crazy = Great!  Then to top it all off, Amy had made this Spicy Meatloaf for Chris, whose Birthday it was at midnight, but he never showed up.  I got to have a slice of the Meatloaf and it was absolutely amazing...Amy gave my Grandma run for her money!!

Now, here I sit on a Saturday evening, after getting home from Church, 'Friends' is playing in the background, and I'm thinking about what I want for Dinner (probably the other half of my Meatloaf from Amy and a fresh Veggie Quesadilla), and so excited to have a quiet night to myself.  Well, I'm sharing it with Debbie to help her figure out some stuff for her headshots but she's such a ball of energy, perhaps I'll be in the mood to attack more of my room!  It feels so good to let things go...

It's already August?!?

Can you believe how quickly the Summer has flown by...before I knew it, it was May and the weather was getting to be perfect in LA, then it was my Birthday in June, and all of a sudden it was 4th of July and now August!  Where does the time go?!?

Considering how quickly the past couple months have gone by, yesterday at Karaoke was quite a change.  It was by far the slowest beginning to my night since I started...a couple of us sang at 9:45 pm to get the night going but didn't sing again until after 11 pm!  I couldn't believe how slow it was...and of course, at 11:30 the bar just filled up and we had Karaoke singers just waiting for their next song, and I went until after 1:15 am because I wanted to give everyone a chance to sing one last time.

I actually don't mind when it's quiet, I can catch up with some of the regulars, my favorite Bartender, Amy, and yesterday the Olympics were on, so I was watching that.  Go USA!  I got the night started with a little Eurythmics and felt like it was going to be a more soulful kind of quiet night and I was right.  It didn't get loud until later on when we had a rowdy group come in and sing some Flock of Seagulls, Queens of the Stone Age, and Metallica.  I was so excited to see Jamie as it had been forever since she had come to Karaoke, and Khad was with her, and they were trying some new songs for the night so that was awesome!  Khad sang a new Jim Croce song, and reminded me yet again that I need to learn 'Jackson' so we can duet that.  Jamie sang some Deana Carter and reminded me about the 'Rent' song we want to try together!  My new song of the night was En Vogue's 'Don't Let Go' and I was super scared of the song initially, but once it got started, it was right in my range and I felt a connection with the song, and normally even if you can't tell, I'm a little nervous or shy with people watching me and for some reason this song just felt like I was born to sing it and everyone seemed to be enjoying it.  Of course, I was reminded that the song came out in 1996 or 1997 which is at least 15 years ago at this point but what a fun song to sing!  I highly recommend it :)  Debbie and Judy both came in, Judy singing some Patsy Cline and Debbie trying some new songs by Madonna and dancing her heart out!  Jamie's last song was 'Gravity' and she asked me to close with a Jewel song and since I haven't seen her in so long, she was my deciding vote!

Overall, it ended up being an eventful night with good people and lots of fun.  If it had been that busy all night, no one would have been able to sing as much so it's always a nice perk when everyone gets to sing a few songs and get to have their Karaoke fix for the week!