"Every Actor should have a Candy Store"

So the rest of the week has come and gone and I find it hard to believe that it has already been three weeks in LA- part of me feels as if it has whizzed past and another part feels as if I've lived here for ages! I have had a couple of sorely needed days off lately, peppered with the odd class here and there to keep us on our toes.

After a seriously stressful day of auditioning and intensive workshops it seemed only appropriate that we throw a house party and I am still thanking my lucky stars that the chosen venue wasn’t my little apartment. I’m sure you can easily imagine what a bunch of actors letting loose could turn into, but needless to say that it resulted in neighbors harassing the LAPD to shut us down. 

This also reminds me...you never know who you may meet on your way home, as Penny and I did a brisk sprint back to our block...we were interrogated by an older gentleman and an Asian lady, who seemed to be out for a jog in the middle of the night?! He was sure to tell us that he played the Grim Reaper on “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” at least 20 years ago and that he chooses to fly under the radar so we wouldn’t be able to find him on the internet...we smiled and nodded, apparently his lady friend was the major star of a credit card commercial neither of us had ever seen or heard of...yip everyone here has a story, a "claim to fame".

Also...my class has really taken to traveling in numbers, which is not always so easy to organize but always makes for the best time. We have trekked up the Sunset Strip...lunched fashionably on Melrose Boulevard and gone for a spot of shopping at the Beverly Center (May I say that considering myself somewhat of a shopping mall expert...Beverly Hills could learn a thing or two from South Africa). 

The vintage shops further along Melrose are just divine and despite my being rather suspect of stores expecting you to pay a pretty penny to wear other people’s hand-me-downs, the charm of these little treasure chests is very inviting - and I felt like I was five years old again playing dress up. The famous World of Vintage T-Shirts shop was an ultimate with autographed walls, cooky decor and threadbare tees with faded and peeling prints...and we had to laugh at the Johnny Cupcakes store, where we all were delighted at the huge sign outside “No Fat, Carbs or Sugar” only to find that the store was decorated as a bakery with clothing in fridges and on pop open ovens - very novel but a little disappointing to the taste buds.

We had a full on Mexican night with strawberry margaritas and all you could eat salsa and sour cream tortillas. This was a perfect little place just down the road, Don Cuco's...completely authentic and deliciously generous...I think I may have actually been Mexican in a previous life I loved the food so much!

Next...and don’t even begin to ask me how I was coaxed into this...a whole bunch of us went to 6 Flags! Now I’m a Disney fan through and through, a “Disney Disciple” as some call it, so any kind of theme park gets me excited! HOWEVER...this happens to be one of THE parks with the most hectic roller-coasters of all time. 

As we drove towards what I believed to be a harmless fun-filled day ...I realized that the growing shadows cast over the road were from the  monstrous structures towering over me...why the hell do they call it an amusement park? These multicolored torturous deathtraps seemed anything but entertaining and I was already planning my escape or strongly considering chaining myself to the carousel in defiance! 

Yet something came over me and my curiosity was irrepressible. I went backwards and forwards, upside down, sideways, I stood up for rides, sat, squatted, lay down and got soaked at least three times...as much as I screamed (discovering my very own Maria Carey soprano vocal range), I also laughed so hard I thought my head might explode. The final ride was most probably closest to what I would term self-abuse. They call it X2...and as the unforgettable slogan goes...”it’s a deformation of your senses”...I still get a rush when I think about it! So you are probably asking yourself what in the hell was I thinking...WHY???!!! Well truth be told I actually loved every minute and as petrified as I was, I figure if I could survive Goliath, The Terminator and The Riddler’s Revenge I could conquer pretty much anything I set my mind to!

As for class, it just gets better and better, from getting a first hand description of the adonis that is Ashton Kutcher - all the girls were swooning, to learning about the amazing history of casting in LA, a female dominated, complex and colorful industry. Speaking of domination.. I have played anything from a pimp to a doctor to a hardcore paddle-wielding dominatrix. 

I can’t wait to see what they throw at me next:)