I’ve been auditioning for theater lately, and that makes me pretty nervous. It’s not that I don’t think I can act on stage, it’s just that theater is a whole different culture than film and I’ve never been in the club. It’s a little scary. At my last theater audition the director said, “I can tell you’re a film actress.” I take that as a compliment. I have a theater audition tonight and I’ve been searching my head for excuses why I shouldn’t go to it, but it all comes down to me being scared. How stupid. I’m going.

The last film audition I went to went really well (I think), and it turned out that the guys I auditioned for know the camera operator on Half Empty*, Matt Bergman (who I adore). They also hired Darlene Sellers (also of Half Empty*) to be their exotic dancer character, so I’m really hoping that I get the job. It’d be really fun to work with them. The script seems interesting, and I think it might be a really cool film!

I got he mermaid job that I was talking about in the last post. I met with the director, Peter Lewis, and the costume designer, Jennifer Hurlbert, this past weekend, and it seems like it’s going to be a really fun job. Even if it doesn’t turn out just the way he wants it to, I think it’s going to be a super fun adventure. We’ll be hiking 3 miles to some secluded falls, I’ll be getting into basically a body sock with a mono-fin on my feet, and I’ll be tossed into glacier run-off to be a mermaid for a prepubescent boy. (It’s a Peter Pan themed short film.) What could go wrong?

*Half Empty is now officially titled: Fantastic Confabulations! As stated in previous entries, we’re filming pick up scenes for Fantastic Confabulations on the weekends in July. It’s great to be back with the crew, I love everyone on that crew.

The General and I will be going to Idaho tomorrow through Friday, because, sadly, Laura’s beloved grandmother passed away and we’ll be attending the funeral. The silver lining to a very dark cloud is that (ironically for my metaphor) it will be very hot and sunny in Idaho while we’re there.

On the 30th I get to meet my Little Sister! Yay!

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I just got a call from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound and they think they’ve found a little sister for me. She sounds really fantastic and I can’t wait to meet her next week!

I have a few good auditions lined up, and I may be cast as a mermaid on a short film this summer! Swimming in a mermaid tail may or may not be challenging, but I plan on working swimming into my workout regimen so I feel like a strong swimmer when it’s go time. Oh! I also have representation with Copeland Williams Talent! I hope they can send a few great jobs my way. I mean, come on, I’m fantastic!

We’re shooting a few more weekends of pick-up shots for Half Empty starting this weekend, so it’ll be nice to get the gang back together. I hope we can bang it all out and get it ready so that Andrew can submit to festivals this year. I really can’t wait to see this movie when it’s done.

Even though it was foggy almost every day, it was still really beautiful.

We just got back from my family reunion in Oregon. We all had a good time. It was nice to see everyone together, and be able to hang out with all the nieces and nephews. It kind of blows me away how big they’re all getting. Laura and I shared a yurt with Amy, Reed & Ruby, and we had a nice time together. Love that kid. Laura was a trooper for coming, and I’m so glad she did. “Family” isn’t my family without her anymore.

My little (not so little anymore… turning 18 soon!) cousin Melanie just got her GED, and I’m so proud of her! She’s going into culinary school this fall, and I know she’s going to do a great job.

Laura and I are going to London and France in September and that’s been a carrot dangling in front of us, but I still hope to eek out as much as I can from this little summer of ours. Butch and I have been running through Seward Park a lot. Our garden is going bananas! We’re going to have squash out the yin yang at any moment, and our peas are producing a lot of delicious pods. The tomatoes are blossoming, so I hope they start producing soon, and we’ve got some bok choy and broccoli coming up too.

YEAH!

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• We wrapped principal photography on Half Empty (working title). It was such an unbelievable project to work on. I made so many great friends and I can’t wait to work on NEW projects with them in the future. I’m also so incredibly excited to see it come together! You better believe that you won’t be able to escape knowing exactly when and where you can see it.
• Laura and I bought bikes and now that the weather is finally warming up we’re getting better and better. I finally bought myself a pair of those dorky gel seat biker shorts, because, well… it was time. I have yet to try them out, but I think they’re going to take their first ride today. I’m really loving bike riding and I just want to get better, better, better!
• The garden! I harvested our first bok choy last night and threw it in a stirfry. I have to say… it was pretty awesome. I’m getting better and better with my stirfrys, but I’m still having issues with tofu. Tofu is so delicate and I’m still learning how to fry it up properly so it doesn’t bust to pieces. We’ve also been making salads with our ever present lettuce, which is pretty cool. I can’t wait for the peas, tomatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cucumbers, green beans, carrots, squash, and potatoes!
• Upcoming events! Laurallani will be headed to Vegas next week for a few days. We’ll be staying in Encore (the other Wynn hotel) and I’m so so so very excited about the pool in the 110 degree weather.Seattle Pride starts on the 25th! I hope it’s super sunny. I may or may not be volunteering to BBQ for everyone. Stay tuned, friends. I already have our tickets for the Storm vs. Fever game on the 25th; it’s Sue Bird bobble-head night! Yes, I will be early to get my chintzy plastic knickknack.

  4th of July of course.

  My family is having a big reunion in Oregon the week after the 4th. I’m not sure how much time Laura will be able to stay, but I look forward to her meeting my whole family (ish). Heh. I love hanging out with my nieces and nephews, so it should be a fun time.

  We’re headed to a friend’s cabin on Priest lake the first weekend in August. I’m super excited about this, because I haven’t seen him in forever, but I haven’t seen where I grew up in even longer. Hanging out on the lake with a boat, good friends, and my gal? Come on, that’s heaven to me.

  August 21st: LADY GAGA!!!!!

  The first two weeks of September Laurallani is going abroad! We’ll be in London for a few days and then we’re headed to Paris, the city of lights! We’ve rented an apartment in Paris so we can stay there for a whole week, but we’ll probably leave a bit early to go meandering through the countryside. We plan to make our way southeast to Nice, where we’ve reserved a gorgeous B&B. You know The General and accommodations, so you can trust that it will be ridiculously grand. We’re also hoping to make a day trip (or two) to Italy, since we’ll be so close. Good luck getting “Holiday Road” out of my head on this European Vacation.

• In October I’ll be going to Scottsdale, AZ with my brother-in-law (slash dentist) to a dental convention where I’ll be his patient. I’m basically getting a mouthful of beautiful Hollywood teeth for free, because he’s taking me to work on his skills with all these other hot-shot dentists. I’m so excited about this. I’ve been wanting veneers for a long time, but they’re so expensive and I didn’t want my mouth to look piecemeal-ed together. This will assure that I have top of the line choppers, and I won’t feel guilty about letting Paul do all that work for free, because he gets something out of it too. Everybody wins!

And then it’s fall and winter again and we get a new calendar. The time certainly does fly on by quicker and quicker.

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Kyle Davis

I’m talking about a workout. I didn’t actually puke, but I might have if Kyle Davis, my trainer, didn’t insist that I lie in the recovery position. I go to 24 Hour Fitness, and every once and a while they send me a coupon for a free personal training session. I’ve gotten to work out with Kyle a few times and he’s great, because no matter how in shape I think I am,  he proves to me how ridiculously weak I am. I love working with him because he gives me a lot of new exercises to integrate into my routine and make things more dynamic. Love him.

So lately I’ve been thinking that I need to step my game up with this acting thing. It’s time that I get an agent (or three). I’ve spent a year getting acclimated to the film acting scene in Seattle, and I may have taken myself as far as I can go without help. I need help. I’ve received helpful advice from various industry professionals, and I think I know what to do next. My goal is to book a recurring role on a tv show within 3 years. I also want to have a substantial role in at least one movie that receives critical acclaim in that same time.

Carollani as Aimee, Scene 63

To do this, I will need an agent. Probably three: one in Seattle, one in Portland, and one in LA. I’m going to have to realize that shuttling between these three cities is what I have to do to accomplish my goals. I’m pretty lucky that I have a partner that supports me in my dream, and friends that encourage and inspire me to go for it as well.

I want Patti Kalles and Lana Veenker to remember my name, and I need an agent that’s going to get me through their doors. I don’t know what it is about casting directors and super outdated websites, but I’d gladly do a redesign in exchange for some casting love. That’s for damn sure.

On Saturday I finally got to get in front of the camera! My character Aimee is a sassy, down to earth, cute but not pretentious or snobby kind of gal. She’s the love interest for the main character in the film, even though I only have four scenes total. I was pretty surprised at how much adrenaline shot through my body when Andrew yelled “ACTION!” for the first time. I was shaky and kept forgetting my super easy to remember lines. I got all that out in the first angle of that scene, though, and was good to go for the rest of it. I think I did alright, and I got a lot of compliments, so that’s a good sign, right? Hell yeah it is!

We begin our very last week of shooting near the end of May and it’ll be so bittersweet when we wrap up. It’s been a total blast getting to know everyone on the cast and crew–we’ve become really tight and it’ll be sad to break up the band. I cannot wait to see this film completed, though. The rough-cuts I’ve seen have been pretty good, so I can only imagine what a polished film will look like.

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Some things are thriving (lettuce starters, zucchini, corn) but we’ve discovered a culprit: squirrels. Those quick little nut-suckers have been digging up the seeds and stealing them! How rude.

In light of our new knowledge of the squirrel’s actions, I’m going to get the starters going inside and make sure they’re fully ready for the ruthless digging squirrels. Besides the squirrels we also have to watch out for slugs. Slugs are a huge problem in Seattle gardens, because they’re so prevalent here. Well we set some beer traps for them and that seems to be working. The slugs love the smell of beer, but the salt in the beer kills them.

Our garden is so cute though, with little name tags for each of the vegetable rows. Adorable! I can’t wait until it’s full of life!

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The General and I have been shopping at the Ballard Farmer’s Market each Sunday for our groceries, and the result has been delicious. We get this great fresh pasta from La Vita è Bella. They give you $2 off your next purchase if you bring back the container. We’ve also been buying farm fresh eggs and the most amazing bacon I’ve ever had in my life. Not to mention all of the freshest produce Seattle has to offer.

It’s been awesome, because besides eating the freshest food, we also try a lot of things we wouldn’t otherwise. Lately it’s been leeks. The General made an amazing leek and potato soup, and I made a leek sauce to go on some pasta. Leeks–who knew?! I can’t even express how much better real fresh food is than grocery store food. Go check out your local farmer’s market and try it for yourself! Yum!

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Filming was awesome, but seeing a rough cut of one of the scenes we shot was even more awesome. If I was at liberty to share it with you all, I would, but I’m not. It was kick ass to see how it all fit together after all those hours of painstaking lighting set ups and continuity mishaps, etc. Ever since working on this movie I notice everything in other movies. I recognize how difficult some shots would be to set up, or the bad lighting or how a particular sequence would have to be shot. I have a feeling I’m getting even more annoying to watch a movie with.

I’m pretty excited for my turn in front of the camera next month. I’m going to rock the shit out of my four scenes–that much you can count on. Check out the movie blog that I’ve been posting to!

The General and I went to see The Runaways last night and I loved it. I had never liked Kristen Stewart until I saw this film. Maybe she was made for the role of young Joan Jett, or maybe she’s just coming into her own as an actress, but she played it perfectly. There was none of that pouty-lipped insecurity that she’s been slathering all over the screen since Twilight, and I was so relieved to see it. It did not hurt at all that there was plenty of girl on girl making out. I ain’t mad atcha.

I was also pleasantly surprised by Dakota Fanning. Somehow she managed to grow up while everyone was watching. She didn’t stumble at all while portraying the young and troubled Cherie Curry. Totally believable.

Go see the movie! It reignited my love of Joan Jett and I downloaded her “best of” album when I got home last night. Has anyone else noticed? She’s totally still hot!

Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart

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Dear Supporter,

Thank you for making your voice heard this week, rejecting a government takeover of health care, as I have been back in Washington, DC fighting Nancy Pelosi and her misguided plan to drive up cost, limit health care choices and STILL cost you- the taxpayers- more than $1 trillion.

Yesterday was historic, but historic for all the wrong reasons. Instead of representing the will of the people, Nancy Pelosi and her liberal allies failed to listen to the voices of millions of Americans who disapprove this bill.

Enough is Enough.

The Democrats continue to target me because of my stand against Nancy Pelosi’s liberal agenda, and they want someone in this seat who will vote in lockstep on legislation such as the government takeover of health care. In fact, they have recruited a self-funding millionaire to run against me who has strongly expressed her support for this deeply flawed health care bill.

With your help, we can continue to make your voice heard, and send the message that you don’t want this legislation that takes away your freedom. I can’t do it alone; I need your help and support.

November is coming! The next message we can send Democrats will come at the ballot box. Success in November will give us the opportunity to stop legislation like this $1,000,000,000,000 entitlement program. Please support my campaign with a contribution today.

Can you support me in this effort? Your financial support will send a strong message to Washington D.C. Democrats that you and I stand together against their misguided agenda.

Please visit my website today and contribute to my campaign for responsible government, lower taxes and a safe and secure America.

Sincerely,

Dave Reichert
[link redacted]

P.S. [Date redacted] is an important fundraising deadline for my campaign. Any contribution you can make before the end of the month will show the Democrats that we are serious about defeating their policies of growing government and runaway spending. Please click here and support my campaign today.

We, the American people, took one small step in the right direction yesterday. You’re walking the wrong way and you’re going to end up all by yourself.

BFFs Dave Reichert and George W. Bush

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"Enough with the friggin camera, auntie!"

Well, there’s lots to say. I’m in San Diego right now, but I’m headed back to Seattle tomorrow. I’m here to help my sister out with her new baby (and my newest niece), Ruby Claire. She’s pretty much the most beautiful newborn I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve been taking literally hundreds of photographs, like any good aunt would. No trip would be complete (it would seem) without a serious case of strep throat, though, so I made sure to work that in. Regardless, I’ve enjoyed being here with the prettiest baby in the world.

Back in Seattle we’re going to pick up on our second week of filming Half Empty (working title). We were going to shoot three of my scenes next weekend, but they’ve been moved to next month due mostly to my unreliable health at this point. I’ll most likely be well by then, but I’m somewhat relieved that they’ve been postponed so I can recover from my three weeks of non-stop travel. I’ve been tweeting and blogging the production process over at oldloyalfilms.com if you want to follow along.

Me and Lyle Lovett

Before I came to San Diego I was on a Cayamo cruise and it was so much fun. I met some great people (hey Rob!) and listened to a lot of good music. It was absolutely amazing to get some serious sun. Of course I was sick with a cold, but nothing could have stopped me from getting out and soaking some sun up and rocking out to the bands.

Before I got really sick I was able to go meet up with a friend I met at Sundance several years ago. It was really great to see her, and we had a fun time over a great happy hour at Napa Valley Grille. We’ve been trading favors, so it’s pretty fun to get together and be excited about our respective projects. My non-LA actressness was apparent to her when I told her the plot of Half Empty and completely excluded my part in the plot. Heh. What can I say? I’m all about the project as a whole. It won’t matter if I’m great in the movie if the film is crap in the end… I really just want to make sure it’s the best it can be. I believe in the script, and I hope we can do it justice.

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I’ll try to pick up the blogging here again soon!

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