Such A Lack of Taste

I went to the Taste of Chicago yesterday to sample the best of what Chicago had to offer. I ordered a Puerto Rican steak and onion sandwich from Sabor Latino thinking it would be a killer sandwich. It was the blandest thing I've ever had. I've had mud pies that had more taste! Disappointed, I then headed over to the Vermillion booth for steak cilantro empanadas. It was just as disappointing. I was thinking it would be a deep fried empanada with cooked steak chunks and cilantro. Nope. It was an empanada with some mushy-like meat paste in the middle with an Indian-like cilantro drizzle on top. Pretty disgusting. In a desperate search, I got myself a chunk of fudge from Aunt Diana's Candy Makers. Aaaaahhhhh. That hit the spot.

I regularly get criticized regarding my food choices. I like to eat the same things over and over again, because I am guaranteed it to be satisfying. There's nothing worse than spending money on bad food for me. The Taste was an unusual leap of faith for me and I'm glad I took it. I now have an affirmation in my food choices .

Currently listening : Zeitgeist (W/Book) (Spec) By Smashing Pumpkins Release date: 10 July, 2007

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The Best Show Ever!

... that never happened occurred last night. Liquor and Dreams got all set to perform its first Level 5 preview show last night on the e.t.c. stage. Little did we know there was a mandatory attendance of 25 people for the show to actually go on. I think we had 10 or something of which most hadn't even shown up . 5 minutes before we were to start the show we hear "Pack it up!". Then like stunned deer we all looked at each other trying to figure out what the heck just happened. Shortly thereafter we found out about the attendance requirements. The looks on people's face ranged from pure anger to apathy to smiles. It was such a great show, I honestly don't remember it .

Next week, I really would like to see some of y'all in the audience to get the preview season started!

Currently listening : Burning For Buddy: A Tribute To The Music Of Buddy Rich By Various Artists Release date: 04 October, 1994

I'm Exhausted

I like being busy although it makes me tired I did three killer sets of Second City auditions this week (BrownCo and MIHE), read two new scripts, had a Salsation ensemble meeting today, am hosting a party of sorts tonight, and am memorizing my song for Monday night's show! Crazy! I am grateful for all the good fortune that's come my way and I have more to share with y'all soon. Thanks for the support out there folks! You keep me going!

Currently listening : New Found Power By Damageplan Release date: 10 February, 2004

Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Thank you Bob Barker for finally coming out and official saying what I've been telling people: his thoughts on Rosie O'Donnell hosting The Price Is Right (TPIR) do not constitute an endorsement. This is one of those cases I can truly say "the media" twisted his words to mean something else. Bunch of scrupulous arses.

I think I could host TPIR. I play Plinko every day right before a show

Currently listening : Reign in Blood By Slayer Release date: 21 August, 2006

Intention - Learning It Through Example

I'm seeing and extending my understanding of the word "intention". My vocal teacher would ask on a regular basis before starting on any task, "What is your intention?" It was a sobering experience because I consistently got the answer wrong on the why part of what I was doing. I became so frustrated with myself because I didn't get it. Well, over time, I am totally starting to.

A friend of mine is asking me for advice on how to detoxify your body. I shared my experience with the master cleanse and asked that a lot of thought be put into the entire process. The why in this case is under question. The master cleanse is meant to purify yourself both spiritually, emotionally, and physically. However, due to the incredible amount of weight that could be lost as a direct result of this journey, people will abuse it for that purpose. Now, the end result can be the same but the journey is completely different. Think about it this way. If your intent is to detoxify your body, your body, mind, and soul will align themselves to reach that goal. Anything that happens along that journey ca be taken in stride since your being is working in complete unison for a common reason. However, if you're going into it to lose weight, then there will be conflict holistically speaking. You can end up doing more harm to yourself than good. Most people who do it for the sake of weight don't complete the program for this exact reason.

While exploring the why, I finally got it. Being honest with yourself is one of the hardest things to do and stating the intention really helps with that. You'll make good decisions for yourself as you hear the reasons why you do things, for example, why do you choose to smoke or spend that additional $5 for Starbucks? It's something we all need to keep in mind as we go through our lives.

Currently listening : Greatest By Duran Duran Release date: 03 November, 1998

It's Just The Things That You Do

I've been a bit absent from the blogging as of late since a lot of stuff has been going down over the last few weeks.

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Gettin' Paid @ The Checkout
The run for Gettin' Paid: An Improvised Musical closed Sunday. It marks an end to a show and simulataneously marks an end to my era of servitude to the Second City Musical Improv Conservatory. Gettin' Paid's best show was the closing night and for all of you guys that missed it...you know. Everyone was firing on all cylinders, the scens were funny as hell, the songs were tight, and we just kicked arse. A big thank you to all of my castmates of Recapitulation and instructors in the MI program - you all helped make me a better person, actor, and performer, and I feel honored to have shared the stage with everyone of you. I love y'all. *kisses*

New Opportunities
The Sentence of Carlos Mena begins production in July and I'll be up in Madison, WI kicking it with the NaturalFilms crew. The film is about a high school senior who is half Black and half Hispanic, and is on trial for a murder he did not commit. I'm excited, yo!

I just did a 2nd audition for the Second City Outreach and Diversity Program today. Hopefully it will lead to a formal offer to join one of the many teams at Second City doing comedic improv & sketch. I'm incredibly happy to have been given the opportunity to showcase my talent and work along side many of the greatest improv talents in the city.

I just got contacted by a fellow putting together a show running in August. Apparently the director caught my performance in Gettin' Paid and wanted to work with me for the show. Very cool. Will let y'all know what it turns into .

Recapitulation will be hitting The Playground hard Wednesday nights with some musical improv short-form and long-form over the next 6 weeks. Word on the streets is that Recapitulation is going to work on a new long-form musical improv revue in the next couple of months. Will let y'all know what it turns into .

Car Troubles
The Mo-Mo has been violated again. Some dumb hag backed up into the front of the car and almost fawked up my second new bumper again! I'm getting protection for it finally. Fawk this shite. All of you stupid motherfawkers out there that can't drive for shite in chicago, stay off the the motherfawkin' road when the MoMos out, beatch! Sick of this shite, for real! As Ludacris says, "Move bitch, get out da way!"

Where There Are Actors, There's Drama.
I've been privy to a lot of boolsheet drama thanks to the various ensembles I'm in. The mixtures of fear, ego, star power, talent, and psycho-analysis makes for combustible interactions between people who need to work together. It made me realize that ultimately I need to continue keeping my perspective on my life and art and avoid getting caught up in the moment of the drama, thus, becoming disallusioned and full of doubt. Life imitates art and vice versa. Boolsheet begets boolsheet. Fawk Da Boolsheet.

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That's it. Much love.

Currently listening : Legend of the Wu-Tang Clan: Wu-Tang Clan's Greatest Hits By Wu-Tang Clan Release date: 26 October, 2004

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Fan Cheers Gone Wrong

I lived in San Antonio for most of my life. The one thing that set SA apart from other cities in Texas was that even though there were at the time 1 million people there, most people couldn't afford to go see a professional sports team play. The Spurs at the time were a pretty cruddy team, therefore, the tickets were cheap by most standards. Now, they are almost a dynasty of sorts with 4 championships in 9 years. Now people REALLY can't afford to go see the Spurs .

While having a championship team, San Antonians have yet to live up to their newly found status of being a real competitor in the realm of supporting big city sports. Cities like Chicago and LA had slogans like "Threepeat" or "Repeat the Threepeat". The best SA could come up with was "Go Spurs Go". That's something you cheer with at your pee-wee football league games when you're not even really watching it. When they made the first round of playoffs, everyone had GSG on their cars and windows. I thought "couldn't we come up with something a lot more catchier/wittier?" Apparently not. GSG is alive and well. I guess it's such an easy thing to say and not much thought has to go into it that people will go out of their way to chant it in your face when you're trying to eat at E-Z's Bar and Grill. I think this slogan should've officially replaced GSG:

"Go For Four"...now that's a bit more what I'd cheer. I propose "Alive For Five" for next year. Anything other than GO SPURS GO!

Currently listening : Gloria Estefan - Greatest Hits By Gloria Estefan Release date: 03 November, 1992

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Bomb With The Boom Boom

"Don't Ask Don't Don't Tell" Me that the Pentagon has come to their senses finally about using Gay Power to fight our enemies?! Check it out:

If a gay bomb was dropped on me, I would hope at least I become a top in the resultant.

Currently listening : Boom Boom/Let It Out By Paul Lekakis Release date: 17 January, 2000

Note: This was originally posted on MySpace with comments at:
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Nelson The Wise (Guy)

Over the last few of weeks, I have been speaking my mind on acting and life in general with just about everybody. A lot of the stuff I am saying is actually really good viewpoints/advice that even I myself need to be listening to . I keep adding the disclaimer of "Even though I might be a hypocrite...". Perhaps it's a safety valve of sorts to keep my ego in check or a way sympathize with those having to listen to me blab away on these kinds of subjects. I want to relay the advice I'm giving vs. being perceived as someone who thinks he's so much better than everyone else. Here's a small list I've shared with others:

1. Ultimately, you are responsible for yourself off and onstage. You do your best when you do those things that make you happy and are in your best interest.
   
   
2. Operate out of a place of love and not fear. You'll end up having a much better time if you are doing things because you want to. If you're writing material to be performed onstage, write it because you believe in what that material brings instead of fearing you'll get cut from the show .
   
   
3. Listen to your emotions. They are the best indicator of where you're at. If you feel horrible doing something, figure out why you're doing it. What do you get out of it? What is the impetus for those actions?
   
   
4. Remember the reason why you started engaging in your activities. I started doing comedy, music, and acting because it was fun. I would continue doing it as long as I was having fun. If you get caught up in the drama/politics of the craft, you can easily lose sight of why you're doing it.
   
   
5. Repeat #1-4 (I had to have a #5 to make it look pretty )
   

When you're in need for more sage-like advice, let a brother know.

Currently listening : Adore By The Smashing Pumpkins Release date: 02 June, 1998