I must expand my life...

Ever feel like you want to do an immense amount of stuff but for some reason you can't even get started? Yup. I have.

I can't even look at the calendar because to me it is unfathomable that in 2 and a half weeks I'll be 22. Nearly 6 months have gone by already in 2009? We're half way done 2009? WHAT THE. I feel like I have accomplished nothing in the first 6 months of this year. I still have 6 more to go, right? Not all is lost. If a career in acting seemed impossible a year and a half ago when I first moved out here - now, with the recent economy and even less opportunities for the struggling actor, it seems much more realistic to become an online blogging sensation rather then a paid professional. In terms of acting, I have discovered that I want to do comedies. TV, Web Mini Series, Mockumentaries, Films, Shorts... doesn't matter, I just want to make you laugh. Studying at Playhouse West with the legendary Mr. Robert Carnegie was an amazing experience. He lives, breathes, and talks acting. He couldn't be doing anything else. Thats the kind of mentor you need in any career. He produces fantastic actors (James Franco, Ashley Judd, Michelle Pfeiffer, Wentworth Miller, Chace Crawford...and the list goes on) however, the acting he requires of his disciples is soul bearing, stripped to your core, naked in front of everyone kind of exposure - because that's what moves people. You have to be very vulnerable to everything - letting that guard down is incredibly frightening. I feel like I could do that better through music. A cute quote from Benjamin Button, "It's not the song you play, it's how you feel when you play it." Expressing myself through song makes me vulnerable in a different way - now I just need to get on a stage more often. I have also been throwing around the idea of going back to school. It would only be part time and only classes I am interested in. I have discovered how passionate I am about religious studies, philosophy, and psychology (specifically human development). Here's a list of things I want to do...now. I WANT IT ALL NOW!

-Act in a comedy

-Sing on a stage

-Work with Amnesty International for Human Rights

-Study a couple classes at Santa Monica College

-Foster homeless dogs

-Fight for Schapelle Corby

-Take dance lessons

-And somehow work in between all of this?!

...oh yah, and I don't have a car. 

Phew. It's all about the climb.

Ganja Queen

Since learning about the case of Schapelle Corby, I have realized the true meaning of the saying "ignorance is bliss". I recently purchased the HBO documentary titled Ganja Queen, about now 31 year old Schapelle Corby from Australia. My mom and brother flew in for a week here in LA a couple weeks ago and she was the one who told me about this documentary she had seen on TV. 

To make a long story short, Schapelle had flown from Australia to Bali, Indonesia for a 2 week holiday to celebrate her sister's birthday. When she arrived in Bali, customs officers asked to check her boogie board bag where both Schapelle and the officers were surprised to find a clear bag filled with 10 pounds (roughly, $40,000 worth) of marijuana. In Bali, drug crimes are punishable by death. The evidence was not fingerprinted, nor was it DNA tested to find the origin of the marijuana. Her bag was not weighed after she landed for comparison of when she checked it, security cameras were "off" at the Brisbane Airport on the day Schapelle flew out of town and coincidentally 9 baggage handlers were arrested on smuggling drugs out of the Brisbane Airport on the SAME DAY Schapelle left for Bali. Ganja Queen is an inside look at the injust trial, the horrific conditions Schapelle had to face being held in a Bali prison, and how not locking your baggage could wind you up in prison for 20 years. Schapelle escaped the death penalty in Bali but was found guilty and is serving a 20 year jail sentence. She was 27 when this happened. 

Ganja Queen is aired on HBO frequently so I encourage you to please watch it. You can also purchase it on www.directcinemalimited.com. 

I am in the process of brainstorming ideas on ways of bringing awareness to Schapelle's case. I want to host movie nights to screen the documentary, I want to get Universities and Colleges to screen it, I want to do anything I can as an individual to help her not loose hope. I will continue to update my blog on any news involving her case and how you can help :)

I encourage you to sign this online petition...

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/help-bring-schapelle-corby-home-a-free-woman

And it begins...

My first official blog post! 

I don't even know what to say. Probably not a good thing right? Well as of right now, no one but my dad will read this but thats ok! He'll love it :) Today I am going to go hiking at Runyon Canyon (hiking in the hills of Los Angeles really reminds me how much I don't miss living in Ontario) with Phil - best friend/hubby - who has recently broken 3 ribs and punctured his lung sac grinding a big ol' double kink rail. That was a 3 weeks ago so right now he's a little better. We will bring with us our "chihuahua" and I say that in quotations because he is 17 pounds and way bigger than we ever thought a chihuahua could get. He is The Babe. Jimmy The Babe. He has the personality I did when I was 3, which means tantrums, sneakiness, talking back, and always getting what he wants. 

I had an interview yesterday with a Grassroots Campaign organization that works with other various organizations such as Amnesty International, and Save The Children - I will be going in sometime next week for my "demonstration" day! I am excited! I need a new job. I am currently working at The Cheesecake Factory, which don't get me wrong, has it's perks (the cheesecake, which I could easily argue as being a fat sentence than a perk). It leaves me feeling like a pawn in chess, paid very little money, and no tips. The job itself could be simple. I take the guests from the entrance of the restaurant to the table I have been told to go by the "Filler" (the filling of the restaurant is a very intense job) however, during those couple of minutes I am actually with the guest, I either get ignored, get blamed for not giving them the table they want, get argued with if they want to sit in a closed section, or am forced to run back and forth between the guest and the desk as a messenger. So fulfilling! It's not that bad really, the restaurant itself is beautiful, big and air conditioned! Things will change though. I am determined. Today is a my good friend Heather Sklar's birthday and we will be celebrating tonight at a spot in Hollywood called Velvet Margarita. I adore the Latin feel of the city of angels...