Merry Chirstmas!! And then some.

Hello Lovers!

I don't have too much to post about acting wise. Good news though! I was cast in a trailer (hopefully feature) where I will be playing the nurse one of the main characters falls in love with. O yea. Flirty eyes from across a room are my specialty! (Duh, I got the part. And constant attention at bars...just kidding. I'm so lonely!)

HOME played a gig a few Fridays ago at Kulak's Woodshed in North Hollywood. The venue was sweet and there was a live stream of our concert online. If I would have known ahead of time I would have advertised it a little more so my Ohio friends could have watched us live! AH! Next time. Here is a little peak of us at Kulak's.

Dee (our lead singer) is producing a webseries about HOME. Yay! I will definitely post links to that when it is ready to launch. I might even tweet about it. 

In other news, my brother Aaron got married on Sunday! Say What?! Yes. Aaron is married. I don't think it has sunk in quite yet. The wedding was beautiful. I was so happy to be there and witness Aaron and Hannah's love in action. I have not gotten to spend a lot of time with my sister-in-law, but the kids are most assuredly in love. And it was an excuse to get the Leow Trio together. (Yes, we record music together. Check out our band page by clicking our name.)

The Leow Trio

I miss my brothers a lot.

LAism of the Week:
LA was voted the #1 rudest city in America this year by Travel+Leisure.When I heard this on NPR, I was not surprised. If working at a Coffee Bean did not teach me this, I don't know what would have. The people stumbling in at 5am for their first sip of precious caffeine were not the worst offenders. It was the housewives, industry types, and just plain entitled that came in after dropping off the kids or on the way to work. I was having a discussion with a fellow bridal party member about how nice people in Seattle are when I realized really how rude residents of LA can be. I feel like I could write and write on this subject, but instead of working myself up, I just want everyone to take a moment and realize we are all humans. We are all coming from somewhere. Maybe traffic was bad and now this person is worked up because he/she is late (always in LA) Or, their pet just passed away, or said person got into a fight with his/her significant other. If we all treated each other with respect and tried to really understand one another, America wouldn't have any rude cities.

We've Got that Holiday Feeling

Hello Friends and Lovers!

The holidays are upon us! Happy Thanksgiving last week! I had a "Friendsgiving" with my fellow Sierra Crest residents. I made the mashed potatoes. I should have taken a picture of the massive pan I had filled with potatoes, but I had too much wine. Ooops. Still turned out non-poisonous.
I also attended a Hanukkah party with some SoulCycle people. It was delicious! And I'd never been to a Hanukkah party before. 

My last few weeks has been surprisingly busy acting-wise.

I was on the Mindy Project! LOOK! It's my legs!

AND my whole body!

Stole the show, I know!

In other news: I have links! LINKS LINKS LINKS!

Remember a few months ago I was in a 7 minute short that was done all in one take? You don't? Well I did! And here it is!

My leading man also has a fun YouTube series on SoulPancake. Check out one of his episodes of Science of Happiness

I also got the link to the L Word campaign video! Watch the video, sign the petition. Warning: Contains hilarious lesbian themed humor.

Other than having some footage for yous guys I had a few auditions and one call back in the last few weeks. Notably, an improv audition where I got to play the role of a young Charlie Parkhurst. If you've never heard of him, GOOGLE IT. I'm serious! What an interesting story. I'll leave it up to you though.

I'm glad auditions have picked up a bit. I just need to find a couple good clips to add to my reel and I'll be ready for pilot season. All I need now is all the money in the world so I can go to some casting director workshops or agent "meet ups" and get my foot in the door somewhere.

I'm currently, at this moment, preparing for an audition in an hour for a play version of the Diary of Anne Frank. I'm auditioning for her older sister, Margot. Wish me luck!

LAism of the Week:

I'm in class with the guy in the blue boxers second on the right.

10 hour rehearsal day then a 12 hour shoot day! A good prep for the Christmas season!

Woeful Lack of Credits

Hello my friends!

The reason I haven't been writing the last few weeks is because I have almost nothing to write about. I had strep throat. Yuck. Katie Yak Attack was here for her birthday...unfortunately during the strep throat. That didn't prevent us from rocking some karaoke to celebrate though. The show must go on I always say.

Last week was AFI Fest!! The most wonderful time of the year! Here in LA on Hollywood and Highland every year American Film Institute puts on a film festival showing old movies, new movies, foreign movies, new auteurs, scary midnight movies etc etc etc. And it's ALL FREE!! One has to reserve tickets OR stand in long lines, but it is so much fun. There is so much energy and Dotty and I got to see movies we probably would not have seen anywhere else. We saw In Bloom a Georgian coming of age movie. Beautiful. I don't know much about Georgian culture, but this was a great peek. My favorite film we saw was The Congress. Starring Robin Wright. It was truly brilliant. I am serious. If you have a chance to see this film see it. So inventive. I have never seen anything like it. It has been two an a half weeks since I have seen it, and I'm still thinking about what if the industry turned into THAT. The technology is there. It could happen. See it!

Last week, due to over work and a date that went till 3:30 am in a karaoke bar (I can't get enough karaoke!) I was so exhausted. I have not been submitting for student films on LA Casting for months now, but also have not been auditioning. No offense to the students out there trying to learn their craft, but some of the student film scripts I have read are simply horrendous. There was one last year I read where the lead character moved to LA from Texas and had been here 3 months. Her controlling boyfriend wanted her to move back to Texas, so in a night after a fight with him, she has sex with her agent. Of course, her boyfriend shows up on her doorstep the next morning while the agent is still there. She tells her boyfriend the agent raped her. The boyfriend kills the agent and then the girl and the boyfriend have sex next to his dead body....needless to say, I did not go to this audition. First of all, what 20 year old comes up with a story like that (watching too many Russian films). Second of all, HOW in the world is a student film production going produce a story like this well?! I have been eager to work though, so last week I started submitting for student films that seemed like I could at least use them on a reel. I had three auditions and did not go to any. The scripts were awful. The one audition, I had barely any lines to say, I was just going to act while my boyfriend forced me to play Russian roulette. What? I wouldn't have been able to use any of the footage. Then of course, I felt guilty that I had opportunity to work and didn't take it. *sigh* Catch 22s all over this industry. And I'm not even in the industry yet.

After a disappointing week career-wise last week, I had an audition for a country rock music video yesterday. I got to play my violin! LOVE! I walked in and they asked if they could play the track and could I play along. YES! My specialty! I think it went pretty well. From looking at some of the other girls there, I should/could have dressed a little sexier. High waisted jeans, my hobbit shoes, and a country looking shirt from Old Navy wasn't the most tittilating outfit choice. They said to dress country. That was my version. O well.

I also did some ADR work for the short where I licked a girl's face that was filmed a few months ago. My first ADR experience! For those of you who don't know, ADR is voice over. So I had to re record my lines from the short over the video of myself. It was fun. Also a little difficult. It's hard to get the same feeling you had when acting it in a room months later. Hopefully, I'll have that footage to show you guys soon. It's short, but sweet.

This weekend we have a shoot for HOME. My band. We're producing a webseries about the band, so when that comes out, I'll definitely fill you guys in. We're also looking to produce another album next year and I'll be on it! WEEEEEE! I'm very excited! 

LAism of the Week:

Maybe this is more human rather than just LA, but this has struck me more here than in Ohio. A culture of self denile. Not because you cannot except that your boyfriend left you, but you cannot eat a chocolate cookie because you have .02 ounces of belly fat that no one else can see that you're trying to get rid of. Personally, I do not want to live if I cannot eat a chocolate cookie. What is the point of life?!

Happy Halloween!

Hello loves,

I love Halloween. I wish I could always dress up like someone else and go out and see other people dressed as someone else. First of all, it's an amazing ice breaker. You can't go up to the hottest guy in the room and just talk to him. No! But if he's dressed as a pirate you can. Not saying that I pulled out all the stops with my ARRRRRs last night. I did make peace with my arch rival, Megan Draper.

O and Ke$ha.

So before I get into my acting life. Here is the opposite! My dad and step mom were here a few weeks ago and we went up to Yosemite. If you are my facebook friend then you've seen these, but they are just too beautiful not to share!

Who Says!?

Yea Clint

From Griffith Observatory

Yay! Family vacations. It was just what I needed. To get out of the city and also look at it's beauty again through the eyes of guests.

Last weekend, I got A-list treatment, almost. I flew back to Toledo (in coach) to film a commercial for Concentrek Group. (Say that 5 times fast...hahahaha...you can't!) It was me singing a jingle my step dad wrote and playing it on ukulele. I had a blast! It was a long day on 4 hours of sleep, but I love my job! I flew back to LA on Saturday, after a day and a half because I had work on Sunday and coincidentally, I had been called to do a viral video for the show "The L Word." She called me and asked me to be in it. No audition. Very bourgie, very gorgeous, very A-list. But I didn't make a tree and leave Toledo until after I ate my yearly caramel apple.

Yum!

 This week has turned out busier than I expected. I got promoted at SoulCycle!! Yay!! I am now a Key Holder, which means I can add to my extensive collection. I have 12 keys on my key ring now...too many people trust me with their things! (j/k I love being trusted. Please don't fire me!) Also, I got a job dog walking! My new pups are so cute and they are bringing so much joy to my life just walking them. Abby and Bella are so cute and so joyful. Abby is a mini schnauzer and Bella is a chihuahua/dachshund mix. This job fills me with happiness and it will help me pay for some acting business of which I need to take care <--- what a great sentence.

Weeee acting! Some goals I want to take steps in accomplishing. Theatrical agent by pilot season/ Casting Director workshops set up to prepare for pilot season. Saving up some money for improv class at UCB. Advancing to Margie's weekend at Margie Haber Studios. With promotion and dog walking I'll be able to save up some funds :)

LAism of the Week:
Diets. Have I brought this up before? Everyone is something...except me. I just eat. Healthy. Most of the time. The other day at work my co-workers were talking about diets. One is a pescatarian and the other used to be paleo but she's working grains back into her diet. Paleo turned to me and said "Cait, what are you?" And I was like... Nothing. And then she declared "That is so not LA!! You have to be something ;)" True. I'm a minority.

Karaoke Professionally a Possibility?

Hello Friends!

Two weeks in a row? What?!

I don't have a ton to report this week because I was dogsitting/my dad and step mom are coming to stay with me on Friday, so acting wise not much has happened. Next week, if the government can get their shiznit together, I will be in Yosemite. Either way, I'm out of LA for a few days and it is going to be glorious and I will post pictures don't you fret.

This week I had a serious revelation. In the last two months in the depth of my stress and my second year in LA beginning, I was having doubts about being here. It's slow going folks, and no one has a straight answer on how to make dreams come true out here. Everyone has a different story. Jack Nicolson was working as an actor for 13 years before he was in Easy Rider. 13 years working as an actor. He had been here longer than that trying to make it just getting bit parts and being told he'd never amount to anything...hahahahahahahahhaha. There are 1,000 stories just like that, so it becomes a numbers game. 10,000 people move to LA every month to try to break into the industry. 9,000 move away. 90% give up. And most don't make it a year. I'm over that hump at least.

The doubt crept in and I started to think. Why am I here? But when I asked myself the question, What else would I rather do? The answer was nothing. I cannot imagine myself being happy working towards anything else. I may be singing a different song in 10 years if I'm not making a living off of acting or singing, but that's 10 years away :)

I auditioned for a game show last Friday called Killer Karaoke! Remember how I mentioned if I could karaoke professionally....well I could!! The competition is 50% audience vote and 50% judged on tone, pitch, and lyric accuracy. The catch is while you sing, they scare you. I was born to win $10,000 on this show. Born. The casting director loved me (his words not mine) and said if the producers like me then we shoot next week, if not he'd try to get me on another game show. O my goodness. $10,000 would help me SO much. Fingers crossed I get called in! And my dad and Karen would get to be audience members!

LAism of the Week:

Parking. If there aren't parking instructions attached to audition information in a part of town I don't know, I consider not going. For example, this morning, I drove all the way downtown to audition to be a spokesmodel for a new car that is coming out and I didn't end up going to the audition because there was no where to park...this is not a usual habit for me. I almost did not get out of bed this morning because I didn't want to go sit in a ballroom at a hotel with 1,000 other actors for hours on end and worry about getting to work on time this afternoon. But parking in LA is awful. When I was dogsitting I had to park on the street and I didn't go anywhere for 3 days except work just because I had a good parking spot. O LA life. 

Stress. September. Gone.

Hello Blog Readers!

I have been too stressed to write. Why you ask? I honestly cannot answer that question. Wasting too much time probably. When time is wasted, or at least what I view as wasted, it slowly builds up in my brain and then kills me from the inside. The source of most of my anxiety is gone and now normality will hopefully return. Normality. Nothing is "normal" in this line of work which is the beauty of LA.

So a lot has certainly happened.

I work at Margie Haber Studio now as the Sunday girl. Guess what? The kids ain't bad. Most of them are serious actors and mature. They work and I make sure they stay on task for about an hour out of my day. Not too shabby.

I also got through the Intermediate intensive and now I am in the Intermediate ongoing with Courtney Burr. He's an amazing teacher AND he's worked with a bunch of cool people like Joanne Woodward!

I've had auditions here and there all of September. Notably, I was cast as an extra in a Google commercial. Before you tell me how amazing I am, let me explain. I was called back to be a principle in one of the spots and I wrote YES on the sign-in sheet when it asked if I would be willing to be an extra. BRRRRRRTTTT! Wrong answer. My agent called me the night of the callback and I was SO excited, until I answered the phone. He told me I should never say I'm willing to be an extra because if casting boiled down to me and another actor for principle and the other actor said they would not be an extra, they will cast me as the extra and the other actor as the principle. It makes complete sense, I was simply never told that. To make matters more disheartening, the person I was getting drinks with at the time was like "duh" and made me feel like an idiot. Then said person went on to say I can't think of myself as and extra, I need to think of myself as the leading lady. Fair. It's true. I need to inflate my confidence a bit to make it out here. It's not that I don't believe in myself. I do. I just wanted to work so I could pay my bills.

The commercial shot on Monday and the group of extras was fun, luckily, since we were there for 12 hours. Yikes. I was also late for my first ongoing class with Courtney. Boo :( It's okay. Monday paid for half of my rent next month :)

Both of my shows went well at the the August. When I get the video footage from my show with Home I will definitely post the link. Speaking of Home, Dee and Greg asked if I would become a permanent member of the band! Yay! So now I'm in a band and I'm really excited about it. We have some shows coming up this fall in Santa Monica and I will be posting about them regularly. Also check out Home on Reverbnation. We've been trending!

And now the moment you've all been waiting for. BachelorsPadTV on Youtube posted the Literal Enforcer video I took part in. Here it is. O so ridiculous!

In other news, the creative types in my apartment have started meeting once a week to begin collaborating on projects. Our first presentation is a web series called Living Unemployed. Please subscribe and keep a look out! Dotty and I play an interesting role in the second episode.

So, as you know, maybe, my birthday was in September and I celebrated with my friend Brittany at Soop Sok Karaoke bar in Koreatown. We had a blast and a half! I posted some pictures to Facebook, but here's one, just so we can get a taste of September. My favorite month. Gone already.

If I could do karaoke professionally. I might.

LAism of the ... month:

People and their dogs. I'm sure you all know one or two people, not in LA, who treat their pets like human children. I emphasize HUMAN. Here, almost everyone treats their dog this way. I see dogs in restaurants, on buses, in strollers... and I think this week, as I am currently dog sitting, I understand why this phenomenon happens here more than other places. (This may be the same in other big cities as well). Big cities can be the loneliest places on earth. LA definitely falls into this category. I am dog/house sitting right now for my boss and I have decided there is NO WAY I could live on my own here and not have a dog. I need companionship and if a dog is your only companion they become everything in your life. One of my co-workers lives by herself with a dog and she loves him so much she has started spending $250 dollars a month to put her pup in doggy day care where she has to drop him off, pick him up and pack his lunch. This is a common practice in Los Angeles. There are pet hotels everywhere and parks specifically for dogs in many convenient locations. I am just happy to be a dog mama for a few days :)

So Much to do, So Little TIME!

Hello Friends and Lovers!

I have completely lost track of weeks and time and no excuses, I have been a lazy blogger these past few weeks. And I have so much to report. Hopefully I can remember some of it!!

I have been using Google calendar more and more since I started showing up to work half an hour late at the end of July. *fail* My phone automatically synced up the calendar online. You go smart phone! I will use you as a tool for memory now. Good job!

I was cast on a makeover show! I will post the clips as soon as I see them, if I see them. It paid which is amazing! So when Sara Marsh said she wanted to nominate me in high school for What Not to Wear, her dream came true. It was basically that. The casting director called me to ask if I was interested in being on the show. He then proceeded to tell me that I would be myself, but not. I don't think I'm allowed to publish details, but when/if you see the clips, you'll know what was me and what was a complete lie. My first complete lies to America! Yay! *crossing off bucket list* I went in for a fitting on a Wednesday and some wonderful gay black man named Todd, of course, fitted me with me cute little outfits, then Saturday I went to this cool warehouse (where the Mentalist was also filming) and they shot me in the clothes talking to a super model "who picked them out just for me." It was a fun experience! Now you know Ohioans, all of those makeover shows? Fake. All of them. Sorry!

I've had a couple auditions for short films this week and last, notably one about PTSD that went pretty well. My beautiful roommate and I were having a discussion about how we feel about Hollywood now after a year. One of my comments is feeling like I put responsibilities, like work, ahead of acting and I need to get my priorities straight. I had a moment of this last Friday. My commercial agent submitted me for an audition for an almond commercial on Friday morning and I didn't get the notification until late on Thursday evening. I had planned to babysit Friday morning and told my agent that I was shooting and wouldn't be able to make it. He obviously was a little angry and said the casting director would be "pissed" if I wasn't there. So I texted the family that I wouldn't be able to make it and my midwest self felt awful. Us midwesterners do not like to let people down/ break plans/ be unreliable, but I had to tell myself that ACTING is why I'm here. Not babysitting. Really? I was about to put babysitting ahead of my chance at being the new face of California Almonds. I'm crazy.

I was cast in a short that filmed last Saturday. It was a cute little 8 minute piece about a girl who is addicted to online shopping and is a terrible girlfriend and her boyfriend who must really really...really love her. The director is submitting it to a contest of shorts that are done all in one take. Yikes. We did a 14 page script in one take. Ah! I haven't been memorizing huge chunks of dialogue like that since I've been out here, but it came to me pretty easily and we got through it 5-6 times. I think there was a good one in there. I'll post that as soon as I get it too.
All of these promised posts. You guys are getting a taste of how long it takes to get footage.

In other acting news, I got into the work study program at Margie Haber's Studio!!! I'm so grateful and so excited! I will be able to take ongoings for free and intensives at a discount. It will be amazing. I need to workout my acting muscles. They have weakened over these lazy summer months. Guess what I'll be doing? Wrangling children! AH! haha. God must really want me to work with kids. Really badly. Maybe He wants to get me back on the "I'll have children someday" train. Good luck. Not that I don't want kids someday, it's just, the older I get the more I realize what an immense responsibility they are. They are tiny humans, not kids. They aren't a different species. They are so complicated and wonderful and anything you say or do can effect the way they live the rest of their lives. That is mind melting. If I have to watch some kids and make some copies to make my Hollywood dream come true. So be it.

Other than acting and SoulCycle, I have been filling my time with singing. The wonderful magnificent Kevin Stanley and I have a show this Saturday night at the Pig & Whistle on Hollywood Blvd. 9:30pm. $10. Be there. We'll get money! Yay!

I have also been rehearsing for my final concert with HOME which is next Saturday night. Here is the poster.

Be there. I have a 15 minute solo slot :)

Thanks for reading about the last three weeks of my life. :)

LAism of the Week(s):
LA is SO big! My fran Lauren came to visit last week and she got to experience how two of her friends can live in LA for about the same amount of time and have two COMPLETELY different experiences and live in two COMPLETELY different places, but still both be in LA. Her friend April lives in Culver City. Some celebs live there, it's closer-ish to the beach. There is a lot of less touristy things to do. Great restaurants, GREAT karaoke bar. I live in Hollywood. Everything is expensive, SUPER touristy, great bars, Runyon Canyon etc. I work in Brentwood. Small town feel, I know a lot of the other employees of the businesses around Soul, super clean, super expensive, lots of moms. If you don't live in LA, you don't realize how there are 88 (I think) cities in LA County that all count as Los Angeles. That is the same amount of counties in Ohio! Fun facts. LA is so diverse and has so much to offer for any person in any walk of life.