actorfest '08

Observe, don't imitate.
- John M. Ford

Today was Backstage's ActorFest NY at the Hammerstein Ballroom. It's a one-day event, a conference of sorts, where actors, singers, dancers, and performing artists, meet with acting teachers, headshot photographers, casting directors, agents, and a multitude of other industry professionals. In addition to meeting with exhibitors, there are a number of workshops and panel discussions you're given the option to attend.

Since I already have headshots and an acting studio (also one of the featured exhibitors), I was there more to learn about agents and casting directors. Probably the highlight of the day - I got to meet Jonathan Strauss, casting director for Law and Order: SVU. And I was not at all dorky about it, or even awkward, which is more than I can say for some others who were at the panel discussion and approached him afterward. Once again, the theory that no question is stupid was busted. Based on what I heard asked during the workshop, that statement couldn't be any further from the truth.

Second only to the casting director Q&A was the cool black Actorfest bag I got out of the whole deal. That's a reusable keeper.

I'm glad I went. It reaffirmed certain things I already knew about the industry and alerted me to some new ones. The casting directors we heard speak also emphasized the importance of - obviously - honing your craft, whether you're in a production at the moment or not. So classes, private teaching, individual work - they can tell when you get up there to audition whether you've done your homework or not. Right now I'm taking Master Classes at PTS, which builds on the work I was doing in the on-camera classes. A couple of months of this, more work on my monologues, and getting into the habit of submitting myself for auditions, and then I'll be ready to start submitting to agents and casting directors.

Yeah, luck plays a part in all of it, but it's just the start.

After all, luck favors the prepared, right?

me again...

Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes.
- Benjamin Franklin

Check me out at this month's past NAVEL Expo, brought to you by Alex Lubarsky and the Health Media Group...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwuktPlIOaM

And me with no audio...

http://www.skheadshots.com

happy halloween '08

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion. - Henry David Thoreau

Hannibal, a viking, and a Smart Water bottle walk into a bar, and all is well.


And then Dorothy walks in, and this happens...


Ah, c'est la vie.

Happy Halloween =)

chicago-style urbanathlon

Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.
- George Bernard Shaw

I am a true believer that everything happens for a reason. So when we went to sign up this past summer for the 2008 Men's Health Urbanathlon in NYC, to take place on Saturday, September 27, and we found out the race had already filled up, we weren't too distressed.

So we just went ahead and signed up for the one in Chicago, to take place three weeks later on Saturday, October 18, in colder weather and approximately three miles longer. I admit, even after we signed up and secured our spots, the idea of a longer race in a city we'd never been in, still lacking airplane tickets and hotel reservations, did seem daunting. Plus, we had yet to really start training.

Well...we did it. And it was truly an awesome experience =)

The race turned out to be approximately 11 miles, give or take, and it was a total blast. In addition to the running, we had to tackle obstacles (hence the name, Urbanathlon), including jersey barricades, culvert crawls, marine hurdles, cargo net crawls, monkey bars, taxi hurdles, a stadium climb, and a rope wall from where you launch yourself, in less than graceful form, to the finish line.
As you can see from the pictures in the following links, Alex and I have two very different running styles. His is more serious, whereas I take the more lighthearted, if-I-don't-stop-smiling-maybe-I'll-finish-quicker approach.

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=36402&BIB=1173&S=230&PWD=

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=36402&BIB=810

In the race itself, we saw a good stretch of the city, including Navy Pier, Soldier Field (I'll never look at football stadiums the same way again), Grant Park, museums, aquariums, buildings, buildings, and more buildings. When not racing, we checked out the downtown area, went up Sears Tower, declared a restaurant our favorite in Chicago (the Exchequer Restaurant & Pub), ate Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, rode in an old-school elevator, and even slept in a park next to two giant Native Americans on horses.

And we did it all in three days. Pretty awesome =)

What about next year? Well, as much as we loved Chicago, we would like to get back to our roots and do the Urbanathlon again in NYC.

So that just leaves the question - who's up for joining us?

and then there were three

Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.
- Melinda Haynes

You know you're doing what you love when you can't stop smiling from the moment you start it to long after you've finished. I'm thrilled to say that in the past month or so I have been fully immersing myself in the three things that I really love.

1) Writing

I've been, well, writing, a lot. The writing competitions are definitely contributing to that, but I also have some more articles out in the latest edition of the NAVEL Expo magazine.

Check some of them out here -

Overcoming Weight-Loss Resistance

Cleansing and Detoxification of the Immune System's Power Plant

Reversing Common Symptomatology through Liver Detoxification

What Your Tooth Fairy Won't Tell You and Your Doctor Doesn't Know

And as for that book, stay tuned for updates...

2) Acting

I'm already into my fourth week of advanced on-camera acting technique classes at the Penny Templeton Studio in NYC, and I absolutely love it. My acting career thus far has been in theatre, but what I really want to start doing now is film. It's an entirely different beast to tackle. In theatre, there is an energy that is unique to the stage. In film, you need to be able to convey the world through your eyes, through the smallest of gestures, through simply saying nothing. Stage right and camera right are two entirely different things...and that's just the start of it.

Every week, we have scenes to perform, and at the end of class, we see everyone's performance on the big screen. I have to admit, the first week was a bit jarring. I have big eyes, and I feel I look like a kid. But putting such self-analysis aside, as you must, it's all been a real blast. Being around actors, rehearsing scenes, learning new techniques - I missed all this for so long. I also finished a three-hour Business of Acting seminar earlier this evening with The Organized Actor's Leslie Becker. It's off to the races now to look for an agent.

Oh, and * exciting * I start rehearsals next week for a production of The Christmas Carol here in LI and in NJ. Where I find the time, nobody knows.

3) Tennis

I'm playing at least three times a week and shooting to be a 4.5-rated tennis player before the end of the year.

And of course, there's my newest blog -

racquetgirl.blogspot.com

Show some love (no pun intended), even if you can't figure out the difference between a game, a match, and a foot fault. (Olga, this means you.)

Things are definitely busy, but I find myself smiling a lot more these days. I'm doing just what I want to be doing.

flash fiction...round 1, part 2

Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
- Albert Einstein

Shortly after the results of Round 1 were announced and points given out in the NYC Midnight Creative Writing/Flash Fiction Challenge, we were sent our assignments for Round 1: Part 2.

Same idea as before, i.e. under 1,000 words, certain guidelines, etc., and the top 10 point-getters in each heat move on to the official Round 2.

Before you read on, I have to admit that I was very annoyed when I first saw what the genre, location, and object were for my heat.

So I took those feelings of discomfort and annoyance and came up with something, I think, rather interesting. Read on!!

Title: Ashes to Ashes
Synopsis: A girl and an urn venture into a seedy establishment to dupe one greedy, scaly fool into trading his life for another, less scaly one.
Genre: Fantasy
Location: Strip club
Object: Urn

By Melissa C. Navia

The sun had barely broken the horizon, but Kate Patton’s heart was already pounding away. As she hurried down the deserted city sidewalk, she glanced at her watch. She was going to be late for school, she thought, pulling at the straps of her overburdened backpack. Purple on the outside, it protruded at sharp angles, hinting at the contents inside.

Kate stopped abruptly. Across the street stood a building with boarded-up windows and graffiti-streaked walls. “After Hours” it read, minus a few key letters. Yet another seedy establishment, Kate sighed. In her family’s line of work, she had been to many. Abandoned factories, vandalized castles, condemned estates—the more unscrupulous, the better. And a greasy strip club, long since shut down, was right up there. Looking both ways, Kate dashed across the street.

The Pattons were well-known in the underground community. They were Night Watchers, members of an ancient order charged with monitoring and destroying evil beings whose hideouts of choice were dark, creepy, people-less corners.

But ridding the world of them meant dealing with them first. And recent events were forcing Kate to do just that. Her grandfather, the patriarch of the family operation, had gone missing, and every demon, zombie, shape shifter, and fallen fairy knew it. Then her parents were kidnapped, leaving Kate vulnerable, and to fix things, she was resorting to desperate measures and a shady rendezvous.

Once across, Kate wasted no time opening a rusty metal door and disappearing indoors. It was dark, and she strained to see. Tacky leather-lined, termite-infested booths filled the space. Ripped velvet curtains dangled from the ceiling. Oversized light bulbs hung shattered. At the far end stood a stage populated with scratched metal poles that no longer glistened. Kate shuddered but advanced toward a table and the point of her excursion.

“You’re late,” said a man. Kate swung her backpack around and propped it on the table.

“This won’t take long, Vlar,” she replied, her voice shaky. “You tell me what I want, and I’ll give you what I promised.”

Vlar leaned forward and took off his wide-brimmed hat to reveal a swarthy grin. His features looked human enough, and his suit was Armani, but Kate knew better.

“You have the urn?” Kate nodded. “Which one?” he pried.

“First, where are my parents?”

“How do I know you really have it?”

“Because I wouldn’t come all the way here to be late for my chemistry midterm if I didn’t,” she snapped, her voice no longer shaky.

Vlar seemed puzzled but convinced. He put his hat down and licked his lips. His tongue was noticeably green and forked.

“They’re in the cellar of the Green Oaks Hospital, the abandoned mental institution upstate,” he said. “Draco and his sister are holding them there.”

Kate took a deep breath. We’ll worry about the dragon prince later.

Without another word, she unzipped her backpack and unveiled a brilliantly shiny silver urn. A faint line ran down the middle to reveal two chambers etched with elaborate markings. Vlar began to salivate and his features started to change. Any trace of humanity vanished. Behind her, Kate heard repulsive slithering and painful grating noises. In her periphery, she discerned three monstrous anomalies crouching and writhing around the stage. They, too, were entranced.

Seven mythic, magically-endowed urns resided in the world, and of those, Kate’s family owned one. Up until this point, it had proved to be dangerous; now she was hoping it would save her.

“Which is it?” Vlar slurred, his eyes transfixed on the prize.

“The Urn of Nemesis.”

“Who?”

“A goddess.”

“Goddess of what?”

“Look it up,” Kate said slowly, matching Vlar’s heavy breathing with her words.

“Why…are there…two chambers…for ashes?” Vlar asked with wide eyes, already drunk with greed. “For two…souls?”

Kate didn’t answer. She knew not to lie in the urn’s presence. So she quickly proceeded.

“Vlar, whoever possesses the urn must warn the next in line. If you’re unable to comply, I’m not at fault.” Vlar nodded. He was fully transformed; his true nature sat oozing before Kate.

“To rightfully take the urn, you must be clear in thought, pure in intention, and free of excessive pride. Are you?”

Another faint nod…

“Then you may take it.”

Instantly, Vlar lunged, but the urn repelled him. He let out a cry, as his hands froze suspended before him. The urn grew brighter. Vlar screamed in agony. Kate stepped back from the table. Vlar tried the same, but he began to convulse and scream even more. His expensive suit melted away, and the scales beneath it began to burn. Silently, the urn’s two chambers opened. From one, a steady trickle of ash poured into a neat pile on the table. Meanwhile, chairs were knocked over and windows smashed further as Vlar’s companions escaped screaming into the blinding daylight.

When Kate turned back, Vlar was a mass of suspended ash, and within seconds, the second chamber had sucked every last speck of him up, closing as quietly as it had opened.

“Well, I won’t do that again, that’s for sure,” chuckled an older voice. Kate looked up and frowned. There stood her grandfather, on the table, in a Zegna suit, with the same smile he was wearing when the urn had sucked him up one week before.

“You owe me one,” she said dryly, zipping up the urn. “Thanks to you, we have to rescue Mom and Dad from a haunted hospital.”

Grandpa Patton, agile for his age, jumped down from the table and put his arm around Kate. “Forgive my greed. If the gods can be merciful—”

“—and clever enough to have built a device with two chambers, fit for only one soul,” she interjected.

“Then so can you,” he smiled. “Now, off to find your parents.”

Stepping out into the open, the bright, cloudless sky a stark contradiction to the events that had just unfolded, Kate sighed and pulled on her backpack straps.

So much for that chemistry midterm.

flash fiction...first place

If you could get up the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.
- David Viscott

"Framed" gets 1st place!!

The 1st round results of the NYC Midnight Creative Writing/Flash Fiction Challenge were just announced, and in Heat 14, comprised of 15 writers, I placed 1st, garnering me 25 points going into the 2nd round this weekend.

Check out the standings -

http://www.nycmidnight.com/2008/CWC/1stRound/14.htm

Thanks to everyone who gave me such awesome feedback on the story =)