Stress Eats Me For Breakfast.

Things have been crazy stressful since I got back from my weekend in Ohio. (Which was mad fun, yo. And I learned so much, like red wine should not be drunken in excess of 2 glasses really.) It's only Tuesday, so this does not bode well for the rest of my week.

In good news, I got word on Friday, while in Ohio, that I am officially being offered employment as a part-time house manager at a prominent theatre here in D.C. I'm super duper excited...even if it is part time. I'll get to set up and organize the box office before shows and lectures and poetry readings. I think I'll get to watch them for free as well...I assume. As most of my resume is littered with customer service jobs, I am fully prepared to deal with the audience members. I'm actually jazzed about it. If there's anything I learned from working in a bookstore, it's that doing customer service is so much more fun when the customers like what you like. And if you hadn't guessed already....I heart theatre.

Outside of this good news things are going......eh. I really need a day job and my searches aren't going well. I'm a bit worried about using a temp agency to find work because I'm not sure if I want to commit to a regular work week and do the part time job in the evening and on weekends. When will that leave time for acting?? I want to be able to pay my bills, work at a job or two that doesn't make me want to kill myself and have time to dabble in theatre. Is that too much to ask? Apparently.....

To just add to the stress-pot that is my life, my first grad school audition in NYC is coming up in November. And it's for Central School of Drama in London, a BIG deal theatre school. I don't have anything prepared and it's my goal of September (outside of finding employment) to read some plays, find some good monologues and start getting my act in gear. Yeah fun times.

I don't really feel like I can handle all of this stressful stuff that's going on right now. I've definitely been drinking a bit too much red wine lately as well....not the best of coping methods, eh? I'm going to try and shape up and get myself into a set schedule, starting tomorrow. I want to work out a bit everyday and find time to read (and blog) everyday.

Yeah....we'll see how this goes. Tomorrow I will hopefully be getting a ticket to the FREE showing of Taming of the Shrew put on by The Shakespeare Theatre here in DC. They do a free play every summer I guess. If I do manage to secure a ticket, that's what I'll be blogging about tomorrow. I know you're just shaking with excitement right now, aren't you?

xxoo, Lindsay

P.S. Why yes, I will be watching the premiere of Melrose Place tonight. Don't judge me.

Totally not worth the expense.

I was trying to be all healthy getting the 100 calorie pack of nuts...completely forgetting that nuts aren't necessarily diet friendly, calorie-wise I mean. Bastards. 100 calories is not what I'd call satisfying.

Just wanted to share this monumental disappointment.

A Weekend Worthy Of Squealing

So technically I should be getting on the road now, heading towards Ohio for one of my college friends wedding, instead I'm trying to get well and truly caffeinated before I leave...and of course I need to blog about all this cause who know when I'll get the time to get online this weekend.

I have loads that I do want to write about, like the fact that I've been tentatively hired at the place I've had 2 interviews with already. I say tentatively cause I have to pass my background and reference check first. There's no reason I shouldn't pass those, but with my luck I refuse to get too excited until I have my first day and my first paycheck. Also it's only part time and no benefits, but it does involve working in the theatre and it will look fabulous on my resume! Will discuss more about it once the tentatively has been removed.

Can I just say that I can see myself falling in love with D.C. if the weather continues to be as heartbreakingly beautiful as it has been? I'm talking 79 degrees, sunny, small fluffy clouds and a beautiful, light and forgiving breeze. I really could do away with this humidity business that the city has been messing with for the past few weeks. Here's some pictures to show you just how gorgeous it was yesterday as I meandered around the city.

Beeeeeeeauuuutiful!

While I was out and about I experienced the wonderful theatre mecca that is Backstage Books, which is amazing. It's a tiny shop at 545 Eighth Street SE, packed to the brim with costumes for performing arts people and apparently people on the lookout for mad-awesome Halloween costumes. All that and loads of plays. I swear, as soon as I get some money I will be hitting them up for material. Grad school auditions are coming soon and I need some new monologues STAT! Oh...and that topic will be for a whole other post.

Another place that I need to mention, my favorite cafe to kill time. Le Bon Cafe is amazingly cute and they have delicious food! It's only really busy around rush hour times, so it's been a great place to chill mid morning or mid afternoon to read a bit, caffeinate, and read. And for some reason I always seem to be hanging in the neighborhood of the Library of Congress (which is where this gem is located). So yeah...try that. Look at me all helpful.

Hopefully will get to post this weekend but we shall see.

xxLindsay

P.S. Oh and not too excited about reading this little news nugget before heading off for a weekend of hanging with my bestie's from college...meaning drinking too much and taking far too many questionable photos.

Welcome to the 'hood.

Seen near where I live. Lovely. Something to make me feel nice and safe at night. Well, now I can rest easy at night knowing that not only do my fellow 'hood dwellers have security but they have a sense of humor as well.

"..she experienced that curious feeling, that mixture of elation and dread, that comes from having done something very significant."

Just so you know, it is so like me to start this blog post with a quote from Alexander McCall Smith's book, The Careful Use of Compliments, which is an Isabel Dalhousie novel. I love that series, it's like getting into a warm bath with a class of wine and knowing some dark chocolate is on it's way.

And that is a feeling I desperately need to focus on right now. I'm about to the point of freaking out on my life. Yeah me. I've been here in D.C. for a month without having secured a job and therefore haven't been able to get around to doing the stuff I really want to do...like say, um, acting? It's fine though, one step at a freakin' time. I did have two interviews with the same place though, and if you follow my twitter feed to the right of your screen, you'd know what that place was ;) Haven't heard back yet, so I'm not really holding my breathe.

A few things that have kept me sane while I refine the art of unemployment:

I have crazy, amazing friends that will take me out for these gob smacking beauties. I don't even remember what they're called, but we got them at this quaint little Chinese food place near the Van Ness Metro stop. The middle part was filled with 151 and lit on fire, so you had to suck that part down quick to make sure the liquor didn't go to waste. Yum! (I was not one of the suckers, mind you)

Finding out my local Safeway does indeed have an international section and includes many of my favorite British food items was quite exciting. I really don't think I'd like to face a world without my PG Tips and my Weetabix. But even bigger news than this, after reading up on a place in The Washingtonian Magazine, I went out and discovered this little shop near the Courthouse Metro stop called "Cigars and British Goods" or something similar to that and they have even more amazing stuff! They've got chocolate covered digestives (not to be found in any grocery store that I've seen) and they carry actual imported Kinder and Cadbury bars.

Little side note for those not in the know...if you find that your local grocery store does indeed carry Cadbury bars, don't get too excited. If you look a little closer at the label, you'll see it's not imported but instead reproduced by Hershey's...and that means using American chocolate. Not to bash American chocolate or anything, but the chocolate in the U.K. is far superiour, my friends, except no imitation.

In addition to these things, I wouldn't have survived this month without help from my parents and my older brother...I really do not deserve them, they are beyond awesome, to a point that words fail to accurately describe. And of course my roommate, Mark, who is so cool to keep me up here and kick my butt out the door to go socialize when I get in one of my anti-social moods. Love him. So in the place of money, these people have kept me here this month. I'm really hoping I can go balls to the wall for them, get my ass in gear, and get a job that won't disappoint. Fingers crossed. (Why is this suddenly feeling like an acceptance speech? Where's my statue?)

Warmly,

L.

P.S. Sorry I haven't been posting...me being too overly dramatic about my life takes precedence over everything else apparently. After a recent conversation with my good friend from home, Rachel, who is also an actress, I've decided I need to try to post more and find ways to write something, somewhere, every day. She said is best when after I told her "I'm just depressed and moody and nothing is going right..." she responded with the antidote "have you written anything lately?" I love having creative friends!

Movie and Books Galore!

I have officially been here in D.C. for a week. Yeah me! Still no job, but I did manage to apply to one or two places last week. I hate applying for jobs and the whole resume process. I actually like the interview more because it feels more real to me, more like saying "Hi this is me, look how personable I am and how much I can do!" as opposed to someone picking up on that just by reading a pretty list of the places I've worked.

Eh well...what can ya do?

In between applying for jobs and feeling guilty about not applying for enough I've been getting some reading done and been watching a few movies.

Some DVDs that I've seen this week, Feast of Love, Eagle Eye, Charlie Bartlett, Before Sunrise, and Before Sunset. The Sunrise/Sunset DVDs I actually own and adore. If you haven't seen these two movies you need to right away. I love watching the interaction between two people who so desperately feel a connection and are grasping to keep it longer. Even the silences between them are poetic, speak volumes, that's how good they are. Charlie Bartlett was surprisingly entertaining. I really didn't expect much but it was a nice way to escape an hour and a half. Eagle Eye had some awesome action scenes and I love Shia....but the storyline kinda sucked. Really not that interesting. Feast of Love....I'm not even sure what to say about this movie. I was pissed, first of all, that it was not the movie that they advertised for. I cried more times then I care to during a movie night. So much heavier than I anticipated. I think it was made well, excellent storyline...kinda preachy...but OK.

For movies not in the DVD format, I've only been to see Julie and Julia, which was DELIGHTFUL. And yes, I did yell that. I loved it! Perfect movie to see on an extremely hot August night in DC. Very witty and cute. They kept to the book quite well which took me by surprise.

Books I just finished are Emily Giffin's Love the One You're With and Neil LaBute's play Reasons to Be Pretty. Giffin's novel I really enjoyed, which was to be expected. I've really gotten sucked into every novel she's done. She's a very engaging author. Giffin manages to write about topics that I really, really don't enjoy reading about and then makes me enjoy it. I don't think Love the One was as addictive as her other books but I did finish it just as quickly, 2 days tops.

I liked LaBute's play, having never read him before, and I think I'd really like to check out his other stuff too. He really just touched on the whole argument of how important looks are in our society and showed a glimpse of what artificial needs couples have between themselves. I may use one of this monologues but I kind of get the feeling that a lot of other actors probably already have them in their arsenal, as the play actually sets four monologues aside, quite frankly, throughout the play. I do need to find some good monologues to start on if I'm going to be doing grad school auditions coming up in November through to February.

Ah lovely, just another thing to worry about while I'm unemployed. How exciting.

My goal for the week is to take advantage of living in DC and see something that is free every day. For example, today I'll be heading out to the National Portrait Gallery to check out the exhibit Reflections/Refractions: Self Portraiture in the Twentieth Century. Kind of excited as I haven't done anything on the culture side of things in ages.

After that, back to the job hunt. Oh joy. Are you excited? You should be. My updates will be riveting....as you can already tell.

Warmly yours,

Lindsay

Post.Script. Maybe one of these days, I will share some pictures I've taken. I will try and fiddle with that tonight.

The Start of DC Living

Well I am officially moved into the great city of DC. I'm not use to living on my own so this should be interesting. It's my 2nd day and I've already gotten a parking ticket and due to my roommates lack of cable, I have rediscovered the joys of Buffy on DVD. I've been sucked back into the buffy vortex. Hopefully I will get around to doing some job searching...cause if I don't I'm sure my roommate will kill me when he gets back from Spain at the end of the month due to the lack of rent money on my part ;)

Also, I'd love to do some updates equipped with fabulous photos from my new Coolpix camera I got for my birthday...however, as stated before, I am computer-illiterate and can't figure out how to get the pictures from the camera to the computer.

Maybe some wine will help with the problem...

xoLindsay