It's cool to have no hair!

I just found out this evening that one of my favorite bloggers, Jen of Cakewrecks and Epbot, is going to lose her hair because she's sick. She's asking for all of her girl geeks to find her nifty hats online that she can buy and wear to cover her impending"chrome dome." That's cool. I'm definitely a girl who appreciates a good hat. You take for granted how much hair keep your head warm until you have very little of it.

But, I just want Jen (and any other lady) to know that having very little hair can be cool, too. It's completely liberating... I hate to think that anyone would want to cover up their lack of hair, unless their head/ears are chilly.
 
I went to the Epbot site looking for something to cheer me up... a video of red panda cubs playing, and the video worked! I feel 100% better. I only hope that Jen's readers can help her feel as good as she helped me feel tonight.

Election Day! And other news

It helps if you fill this out before you go!

It's Election Day in America and I hope everyone is going out to vote. My other blog has been getting a lot more attention than usual because I did a post on Judicial Elections in California and it had 300 hits in one day! I wish I had gotten around to it sooner! Voters are starved for information and there's so little out there for them! This also led to my first experience with negative comments. Oh, well. You can't please everybody! It was really just for us, but if other people find it helpful, I'm very pleased about that. By the way, if you read this blog, but happen to be a religious conservative, you won't like my other one. Fair warning!

In other news, I've been making good strides towards furthering my career. I've joined both L.A. Casting and Actors Access and have my photos and resume uploaded. I've been submitting every day as long as there's something appropriate for me and I've already had an audition! It was for a student film at Chapman, and I read for the role of a cancer survivor. See, I knew the short hair would come in handy! It was just a cold read, but I was stupidly a little nervous, so I don't know that it went that well. I think they might have been looking for someone a little more emotional, but I just don't believe in forcing anything. You can only go with what you've got. Otherwise, it will just read as a lie.

Thank goodness for online profiles, though, because the day before my audition is when my computer died! Like an idiot, I didn't have anything backed up, so I had to re-write my resume. Luckily, all that info was right on my profile! All I had to do was copy and paste. It didn't look as good as what I had saved on my computer, but it got the job done.

My next step is getting my IMDb Pro account set up, build/edit my reel, get a website started, get business cards, print about 5 million headshots/resumes, and then submit like crazy to agents! Hopefully, I can work on a few more projects during that plan's execution. I also need some new headshots, because I keep my hair shorter now than I did when I got the last ones taken. *sigh* It's not drastic, so I'm not in a rush to do it. LP has a fantastic camera, so I just might have him take a few shots for me.

Tomorrow/Today is looking like it's going to be a great day! So much planned, I hope I can get everything done!

Houses, Dogs, Weather, Babies and Gender-Political Issues (whew!)

I've been house sitting since last Thursday while my brother and his family made the Grand Tour of Iowa to visit family. None of them (except our parents) had met Baby Z yet, so I'm sure it was pretty exciting for all of them. MORE exciting though? Me getting to house/dog sit!!! Here's the highlights:

1. Having people over.  We haven't been able to host a get together or party since we've lived together. It was nice playing hostess and Jake used the grill to make fajitas and everyone enjoyed a porch and a backyard.
2. LAUNDRY. Holy shit I think I've washed everything I own, plus Jake's clothes, plus towels and all our bedding. Not worrying about quarters or timing is an amazing gift.
3. Cable/TV. On Thursday night, I got to watch Project Runway before midnight on a big screen TV. I've been numbing my mind with bullshit shows like "Bridezillas." We don't own a TV, so we normally just play movies on our laptop and watch Netflix/Hulu.
4. Having a Dog. Although Spike is a bit of a jerk, I fell in love with him the first time I watched him for my sister-in-law. Spike and I lived together for three months and I adore him...even if he is a pain.

   

   Our First Kiss, 2008

    
5.  Space to Live. There's an excess of room in this house, and it's spacious, clutter free, and CLEAN. I'm naturally a clean freak, but I've made concessions and sacrifice in the name of cheap rent and love. Having some time to chill and focus has been great. I also like eating at a table instead of on my lap. That's nice.

 The only downfall of getting to enjoy this house is that it's in Burbank, which is farther away from my job, which has meant a longer commute and more gas burned. Since LP's commute is already ridiculously long, he hasn't been able to hang out with me much while I've stayed here. Sad. We miss each other and I don't care much for sleeping alone.

Los Angeles has been cool and rainy while I've been staying here. I'm currently bundled up in my favorite sweatshirt. Hooray Ernie and Bert!!!! I also went to Locali and snagged my favorite vegan marshmallows. These are cheaper than the ones they sell at Whole Foods (Sweet & Sara), which are delicious and gourmet, but cost about $7 for a half dozen. Dandies sell for about $5 and you get 10 oz. and lots of marshmallows that taste exactly like the non-vegetarian variety. I've been eating them plain, making s'mores, and putting them in hot chocolate! I found a great vegan recipe for spicy cocoa. Perfect on these cold nights.

Last night, the family returned to L.A. and this evening marked my first night of watching the baby. Z was pretty strung out from all the traveling and time zone changes, so I wasn't surprised when she cried, and cried, and cried, and eventually cried herself to sleep. Poor thing. Although, she did go down at her usual LA bedtime, so I'm pretty pleased with myself! And Z.

My brother and sister-in-law have a nanny (she's amazing) who watches Z during the day when they work, so she's able to come by while I work a lunch shift. Thursday and Friday though... I'm watching her all day!! Eek!

After work, I stopped by Target to pick up this awesome thermal from the Boys' Department! It's super cozy and it came in a package paired with matching long underwear! Woo hoo! Guess who's going to be snuggly and warm tonight?!?! And, of course, I had to pose for this photo with my "sexy" silly model face. What could possibly be more appropriate?

And that brings me to the final point that I mentioned in this post's title. Gender-Political issues. And babies. As I was strolling past the kids' section at Target, I noticed the cutest little T-shirt. It was baby blue and had a little stethoscope print around the neck! ADORABLE! I was hoping it was appropriately placed in a gender neutral kind of section for babies. It wasn't. It was on a rack labeled "Boys' Licensed T-Shirts" and was displayed next to the Toy Story, Spiderman, Tonka Truck, and other similarly branded clothing. There were also little boy T-Shirts to look like police officer and firefighter uniforms. I figured, surely, these same career related clothes will be located on the girls' rack, too.

In the clothing section for babies and toddlers, the racks are intermingled for boys and girls. But they are clearly defined by pink and blue signs. Labels. At 6 months, we're already putting labels on our kids. When I found the rack for "Girls' Licensed T-shirts" it was NOTHING put princess gear. And pink. How fucking depressing. So you know what I did? I bought the doctor shirt. For my niece. FUCK YOU clothing manufacturers for deciding that my niece wouldn't have career goals some day.

She may decide to become a baker or a stay-at-home mom or a teacher or a CEO or a pop star or maybe, just maybe, a doctor. Whatever she wants to be, that's cool. But maybe we should treat all kids equally, regardless of gender. They can wear whatever they want as they get older and decide what labels they want for themselves...but we don't need to be bombarding them with it from birth. This t-shirt is a little big now, but she'll grow into it soon enough.

If you want to know more about gender-neutral clothing and child rearing. Check out Pink Stinks! or one of my favorites (even though I don't have kids), Offbeat Mama.
Someday, when I have kids, I'll probably dress them in bright, colorful clothes and neutrals as much as possible. There's nothing wrong with having some pink clothes for girls and trucks for boys... hell, I love pink because it looks good on me. But I don't think it needs to be so extreme on each side. I just wish more manufacturers gave better options for kids.

End rant.

Awkward Conversations

The most recent Hyperbole and a Half post definitely had me thinking about awkward conversations as a server.

Please visit Hyperbole and a Half!

I adore her comics and the most recent one was just a reminder of how socially awkward I am.

I notice that other servers at work have loooooooooooong enthusiastic conversations with their tables. They LOVE talking to their tables and find a connection with every single one that walks through the door. They remember names and develop regulars. I can barely remember the person who came in the week before.

The only regulars I have are the annoying ones because those are the only ones I remember. And I must be the only person who's nice to them because why the hell else would they always request me??

There's one table that I don't mind as much. They always tip decently and don't require conversation. They like each other well enough and that's something I can appreciate. When they sit down, I know that they want:

1. Ice tea with light ice
2. Coke with extra ice
3. Burnt bread (no seriously, we burn the bread for them)
4. Butter
5. Well done salmon in a lemon butter sauce with capers. 

And that's it! Once you know what it is that they like, it's the easiest eight bucks ever.  And I like them because they don't try to make conversation. That's when I get into trouble.

ME: Hey folks, how's everything taste so far?
TABLE: It's really delicious.
ME: Fantastic! Enjoy your meal!
(I start to walk away)
TABLE: Seriously though, this is really nice. The sauce is incredible.
ME: Oh, good. I'm really glad you like it. That's a really great dish.
(I start to walk away)
TABLE: And her food is really good, too. Thanks for the recommendations.
ME: Yeeeeaaah. I'm really, really glad you're enjoying it. Um... do you want another glass of wine or anything?
TABLE: No, I'm fine... But speaking of wineries...

And then I'm trapped. I don't know how to extricate myself from this conversation. Usually, I'll pretend that a different table has motioned for me and leave to get them unnecessary refills.

At least when we're talking about food, then we're dealing with something job related and it doesn't get too uncomfortable. What I hate is when the conversation turns personal.

AWKWARD DUDE: It's really funny that you mentioned how young she looks. Can I tell her why we thought that was so funny? It's so funny.
AWKWARD GAL: Yeah, go ahead...tell her.
ME: Ummmmmm...
AWKWARD DUDE: Yeah. It's so funny! She has a STEP-DAUGHTER who is OLDER than she is!!!
ME: Um....Wow. Your step-daughter is OLDER than you? That's....pretty funny.
(Meanwhile, I'm thinking how extremely f'd up that is)
AWKWARD GAL: Yeah! And I have a son who is 22 years younger than his half-sister!
ME: Wow. Um... do you all get along?
AWKWARD GAL: Oh, yeah! She likes me. Loves her little brother.
ME: Huh. So when you go out, people must think you're sisters and that your son is actually her son.
AWKWARD GAL: Yeah! That happens!
AWKWARD GUY: Isn't that hilarious?!
ME: Yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaah.

And then I turned around and walked away while forcing canned laughter. I really didn't understand how that could be funny.

I've also had people try to talk me into their pyramid schemes and convince me that I should host their Dove Chocolate Party at my house. Of course, the most awkward conversations are the ones that end up focused on my non-existent acting career. Yes. PLEASE remind me why I fail at life. THANK YOU for reminding me that I don't have an agent. NO, you haven't seen me in anything.

So, thank you, Hyperbole and a Half for reminding me that I am not alone in my dread of awkward conversations!

Not that this has anything to do with this post... It's just how every day of my life goes.