The Callback

Well I've been pretty busy with auditions, callbacks, filming, classes..oh and let's not forget about family and my other job! Barely have time to read my emails but thank you Steve Jobs for the IPAD, made for that "On the go person" so I never miss one! Whoo hoo! I got a callback for a commercial! I am sooo lucky, the only thing is, it's in Santa Monica so I have to plan my day around it.

Now most of you know; I have two 15 1/2 year old boys, one son and one foster son, that go to two different schools at four different times..I know it sounds crazy but I am a devoted one! So, I think; "How am I going to do this?". Got it! Spoiled boys have to go to school at the same time and well, spoiled husband will have to pick them up and take them to the next school AND pick them up! Hmm! So, off to Santa Monica I go! But, there is one problem, I have an acting class in Hollywood at 7:15pm. Okay, so you say, well what's the problem Lynnette? I live in Orange County, that's the problem! My callback was for 12:30pm, now do I drive all the way back to the O.C afterwards only to have to leave by 4:30pm to get to class on time or do I stay in L.A.? I'm gonna have ta say no O.C., L.A. it is!

I get to my callback so excited and the CD says, "Gosh, I'm sorry, but you're the third person who's come in and there haven't been any callbacks yet". "WHAT?" I show her my printed out email (So organized) and she tells me that was a mistake. She said that was a general email to all those who missed their audition time....are you flippin kiddin me??? "Missed their audition time??? REALLY???" Gosh, I learn something new everyday...hmm! I didn't know you could miss your audition and have the opportunity to try again..how nice! Well, the CD knows I come from the O.C. and she says with a sad face; "I'm sorry but I can validate you parking". UGH! All that way for nothing! Oh well, my motto is..It is what it is. So I get to the gate and the guard says that will be $2.00. What, no, I told her my card was validated. She said sternly, "No it isn't". UGH! Well, I didn't have any cash on me so I paid with a credit card..thank you American Express! Okay, so now what do I do until 7:15pm since it's only 1:00pm???

I thought, well, my car needs to be washed so I'll just go to BMW to get it washed (free car wash, gotta save my pennies..gas, ya know). I drive all the way to...(well, I won't mention their name) and they tell me, "Sorry, unless you have service we don't wash your car". Okay?! So, then I decide well, I"ll drive to BMW in B....I know there they must wash your car for free. But I'm going to be smart this time and call. They don't do it either. "REALLY?" I told them, well I come from the O.C. and the dealerships out there treat you like Queens, wash your car, give you water, they even have free Internet, TV, and a little cafe. Okay so I don't drive a Mazarati, but my car isn't exactly cheap. I guess I'm just SPOILED..
Well, what do I do now??? It's only 2pm? I brought my lunch cuz I'm on a constant diet (thank you HBO, lost 25lbs. so far..whoo hoo!!). So, I decided to drive to class. Beverly Hills is soo beautiful!! So, I get to Hollywood and look for a safe place to park for the next 5 hours and study my lines for my scene.

Okay, so here's the real problem. I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM! I drive around and look for a nice fastfood place, but everywhere I went there were a bunch of homeless people around. NOW, I am not afraid of them, it's just that, remember,,I have no cash and I'm the type of person who wants to save the world.. (that will be another story) so I felt guilty that I had nothing to give them and I didn't want them to think I was a stuck up snob..(Yes, I do care what people think..even the homeless). So, yay, I find a Pavilions, whoo hoo!! By this time I'm ready to pee in a cup!! I run into the store, find the bathroom and it says 25 cents..OMG are you serious?? In Orange County this is, once again ... A FREE THING..lol Remember, I don't even have a dime, thanks to my children..lol So, I think I'll just go buy some Atkins shakes and use my debit card to get cash back. I go to the register and what???? No debit card..Can this day get any worse? So I pull out my handy dandy American Express and ask can I get money back on this so I can use the bathroom? She said I don't know, let's see. Well, of course you know what the answer was...NO! By this time I'm about to cry! So I say thank you anyway and start to walk away. She stops me and says, "You can go to customer service and get a token". Are you serious????? All that trouble and I could've just gone to Customer Service for a token??????

Well, the lesson I learned on that day, was...NEVER BE WITHOUT AT LEAST A QUARTER FOR THE BATHROOM OR DOLLAR BILLS FOR THE HOMELESS and forget about free anything..lol

I'M NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE!

Hookers, Hotels, and Cigarettes...

You all know I'm a busy actress (Praise the Lord!) living in the O.C. I will get an apt. in L.A. but right now I have two boys in high school and a husband who owns a business out here so it's tough! Until that day comes, I stay in hotels, which leads me to my story.

After one of my last blogs I decided to look for a new acting coach, so I booked an audit for Thursday night in Hollywood a week ago. Monday, I get a notice that I have rehearsal for my Pilot at 8am the next morning in Northridge. Ugh! Most classes don't get out until @11pm and I was not going to drive all the way home just to get up at 3am to go back. Sooo, I went on priceline (thank you William Shatner) and booked a hotel. It looked nice on the Internet and the description said it even had a bar - whoo hoo! Martini here I come! When I get there I discover the bar is a Dennys. Really??? Can you say PRINCESS! Well, thank goodness for NAV, I found Pavilion's, bought some cheese, salami and a bottle of J.Lohr and went back to the hotel. Yay, the guy at the front desk had a corkscrew!

It's hard to find parking on the street, but at the Hotel? Come on! I drove around two times and see this "COUPLE" leaving, yay!

OMG he gets out of the car, comes over to me and tries to pick me up. REALLY?? Now, I wear a rock as big as Gibraltar that says MARRIED, MARRIED, MARRIED! Can he not see that? Yay, he gets back into his car and pulls away. Whew! I pull in the spot and all of a sudden he comes knocking at my window and scares the livin' daylights out of me! He starts in again, ugh! I said thank you, but what about your girlfriend? He said, "Oh she's not my girlfriend, she's my sister." Ok, wait a minute, she was as white as snow, long blond hair and well folks, he was very obvisouly African American. Related??? (Maybe?) He insisted on me giving him my number. So, I did. What was I going to do? I was by myself, 11pm, scared to death, (SPOILED, LOL) and who the heck knows as persistant as he was, what he would've done if he found out I gave him a fake number.

I go to my room and lo and behold who is in the room next to me. THEM! OMG! I thought they were leaving! What to do?? PRAY! I said, "Hi guys, gotta study my script, night, night and closed the door." I opened my wine, poured myself a huge glass (plastic, oh well) and had a bite to eat. So about 11:30 I go outside to have a cigarette (Yes, I smoke. HBO told me I was too heavy, gotta lose weight somehow - can you say constant diet!) and I see this girl standing outside their room, hmm! I went outside (all non smoking rooms) checked to see if my car was okay and went back inside. Alright it's about 1:00AM now, I've studied my script, washed my face, finished my wine (not the whole bottle, lol) and decide to go out and have 1 last cig before bed. Guess who comes out to join me? Blondie! Minnie, minnie dress, big tattoo on her not so skinny leg, big bling pumps and a giant bling belt. Hooker? Drug dealer? Threesome? UGH! We start talking and she tells me she doesn't know who that guy was and that he was following her around. REALLY, do I look stupid? I saw her get into his car, then into the room together, did she forget? What about the other girl? What did I get myself into?? I never told her he said she was his sister, I felt like I needed to leave that one alone. I told her why I was there, then asked her why she was there when she lived just down the street. She said because she wanted to party. OOOOhhhh okay, hmm. I said well, "I've got to get my beauty rest (fearing HE might show up again and want me to join in)." Got in my room and locked that door tight! Slept with my clothes on for fear someone might come a knockin'. PAAARRRAAANNOOOIIDDD. Got an okay nights sleep (good bed at least) and high tailed it out of there for my rehearsal.

Every day is a learning experience for me and an adventure. At least I can use these things for my character work.

Oh well, what's a girl to do?????

THINK HE'LL CALL???

The Auditon

Okay, now we all know the auditon process is supposed to be a fun and easy experience....right??

DEFINITION OF AUDITION:

1. A trial hearing given to a singer, actor or other performer to test suitability for employment.

2. A reading or other simplified rendering of theatrical work, performed before a potential backer, producer, etc.

3. Something that is HEARD.

Now, when we as actors have an audition, normally we get our sides in advance so we know what to expect. We do a character breakdown and memorize our lines. (Well, most of the time)

So, today, once again I get up at the crack of dawn to be at an "Audition" in Hollywood off of Cahuenga at 10am after driving all the way to Northridge last night (3 hours mind you----NOT COMPLAININ') last night for my table read for the Pilot I'm in. (Yay, I love my character!!) I finally get back home @ 11:30pm, make myself a cup of tea and go night, night. (Gotta get my beauty rest). I think to myself, this audition is going to be a piece of cake, all the CD wants me to do is fill out some paperwork and tell him in one minute who my favorite Actor is and why. Sooooo, I got this!! Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp...I mean who wouldn't love them??? Talented and well, come on..Johnny is sooooooo gorgeous!! I even printed up a picture of him so I could show the CD how gorgeous he really is, of course besides being talented..we mustn't forget that!

Well I finally get there and get myself prepared and walk in to the Studio. I say "HI", to the receptionist, (I always try to be kind) then I looked down on the desk. I saw a paper taped to it that says, "NO CHEATING ON TEST". I look around the room and see everyone with a clipboard. What??? The receptionist then hands me a clipboard with a paper attached to it and says, "No cheating, no asking your neighbor for answers and no checking your cell phone." "No, no", I said; "Wait a minute, I'm here for an audition not a test". She said, "All of you have to take a test". WHAT???? Soooo, I take the clipboard and sit down. What was I going to do, drive all the way back home??? Nope, I'm a trouper!

Well, of course I wasn't prepared so I didn't know the answers to half of the questions. I don't watch Gossip Girls (Shhh, don't tell anyone) I thought that show was for teenagers. I mean if I would've known, I would done my research, ugh!

So, I finish my test, go in the audition room and he says okay put your stuff here, I just need to take a few pic's of you and you can go. I said, "What, I don't I get to tell you about my favorite actors?". He said, "Not today". Really??? I was completely disheartened. So, he took a few headshots and said, "We're done". Wwweeeellllll, I insisted! I took my picture of Johnny out of my purse and said, "Well, I'm going to show you anyway". I showed him the picture and said, "How you could possibly not love this face, besides his talent, isn't he gorgeous?????". They just laughed.

What's a girl to do??

THINK I GOT THE PART???? LOL

SCAMMED???????????

Okay, this one is a doosey!!

Now you all know, I am from Orange County, hence the title of my blog.  I am constantly driving back and forth all over God's green earth for auditions, classes, filming, etc. Not that I'm complaining..I love my time to prepare and just be with myself and my music.

So today, I get up at the crack of dawn (a Saturday mind you, a day when most of the world sleeps in) to go all the way to Burbank to an on camera acting class that I've been waiting for foreverrrrrr.

DISAPPOINTMENT 1:

I was supposed to attend this 6 week course with a well known director back in August and he got called to do a last minute job so they postponed the class until today.  Thank goodness I'm on top of things and am constantly checking my emails and texts because they emailed me at around 10pm at night telling me the class had been postponed. UGH!  Thank goodness I didn't drive all the way there to find out there was no class, wasting gas and putting miles on my LEASED car..(you know they only give you so many miles). I mean really, don't you think he knew more than 12 hours before, that he had a job to do on Saturdays. I know casting directors and agents call me sometimes for last minute auditions but that is usually only 1 day.  Normally if I'm going to do a show the Casting Director usually says were are going to be filming on so and so day..at least a month in advance.  But whatever, it is what it is and I waited patiently for the class to begin today.

DISAPPOINTMENT 2:

I go to bed early last night because I have to get up at the crack of dawn, foregoing partying with the girls. (Still a tad sick, but nothing keeps me from my acting..cough cough, sniffle, sniffle) I am soooo excited, this coach is supposed to be really great!!  So this morning I left a little late (so unsual for me..lol) and I was scared to death I was going to be late to class.  Yay, freeway is great (of course, it's a Saturday, duh)  and then all of sudden STOP.  Ugh!  They were working on the freeway..omg!! I just knew I was going to be late.  BIG SAD FACE!  Well, yay, it cleared up and I was speeding all the way there...my car kept saying, "Limit, limit".. and I just said..I knoooowwww.  Well, praise the Lord you will never believe it..I made it 10 minutes early...whoo hoo.  So I get my things together and go to the studio....................

The doors were locked,  (GASP!)mail had been thrown in through the mail slot for days, no chairs, just some random stuff on the floors and walls. Okay now I'm the type of person who gives people the benefit of the doubt and lo and behold, I get an email from the same company talking about another upcoming coach.  Sooooooo, thank you Steve Jobs, (R.I.P.) for making the IPAD 2, I emailed right back!  No answer. But I knew that was coming.

DISAPPOINTMENT 3:

 I had the phone number of the studio since I had taken classes there before, so I thought, well, I'll just call...............................................................

The number had been disconnected..  Are you flippin kiddin ?????????????????????????????

No class and out of a lot of money..........

Soooooo what did I do?????????

I went shopping! :-)

What's a girl to do??????????????

Ticket Day

Okay, so most of you know I drive from Orange County to L.A. " A LOT" for auditions, classes, films, etc., so I am very careful to leave in enough time to get there, get lost (so much for navigation) and find a GREAT parking space! Now that is a profession in itself. So, a couple of weeks ago, I go to an awesome 3 day seminar in Hollywood..

DAY ONE: Got my routine down, left early, got lost, found a great parking space....NO TICKET!
DAY TWO: Left early, got the same parking space (I knew where I was going this time) Come out after class..and behold.....
                                                                            A TICKET!!!!!

So, I think to myself, the sign says it's okay to park here all day on Saturday and Sunday, my Tags are up to date, what on earth could I get a ticket for????? You will never believe it......................................
 
                                   NO FRONT LICENSE PLATE......REALLY???????????

Okay so look at my car! It is a 2010 650i..okay this is the year 2011..don't you think that the people who give tickets would look at the car more closely and realized this is how they make cars nowadays..ugh! Where in the world can I put a License Plate?????? $25 fine..really?? Don't you have something better to do than give out that kind of a ticket???? Do you get a commission????

DAY THREE: Okay, so now I'm not sure if the same parking enforcement person is working on Sunday as well, so I make a copy of the ticket and write this note.
         PLEASE NOTE: MY CAR DOES NOT HAVE A SPACE FOR A FRONT LICENSE PLATE
                                               (I mean come on..isn't it obvious?)
So, I left both on my dashboard. I'm not sure if they came around again but at least I didn't get another ticket.

So, I go home and write a note to the L.A. parking enforcement saying,

"Okay, now I don't mean this to sound wrong but my car is a brand new BMW, made in 2010 and they don't make them to come with front license plates anymore, perhaps you should update your violation codes. Attached please find pictures of my Vehicle showing there is absolutely no place for a front license plate. I have had this car for almost two years now and have never received one of these tickets. I can't put a license plate on the front so can you please advise me on what to do?

So a couple of days ago I get a Notice of Delinquent Parking Violation and they want me to pay the $25! REALLY? UGH!

Soooooooooo, now here's the kicker..Today I get another notice in the mail saying,

"Thank you for your inquiry regarding the citation listed above. You were cited for violation of CA Vehicle Code section 5200, display of front license plates. Pursuant to section 40225 of CVC, you may have the fine reduced to $10.00 per citation by submitting the following items:

A copy of this letter with the proof of correcting verified by a signature from a law enforcement agency or an updated photograph of the front of the vehicle with the license plate properly attached to the vehicle.

Please make your check or money order payable to the City of Los Angeles.

OH MY GOODNESS...WHAT PLANET ARE THESE PEOPLE FROM????????????

Thank goodness I made a copy of the ticket, now I'm going to have to carry that with me everyday!

                             OH MY GOODNESS, WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO?????????????????