Writer's Diet, Days 6 & 7 - Lazy Conclusion

Where did I go after last Friday's Writer's Diet Experiment? What happened to Days 6 & 7?

I guess you could say I went on a mental vacation. Wish it were a literal one to Hawaii or something, but no, I just could not bring myself to blog after my busy weekend.

But for those who've been anticipating the end of my experiment, here's what happened last weekend.

Saturday started the way every Saturday starts for me - with class at Relax & Write --

And ended with a fundraiser for Artists at Play, a friend's theater company --

FUNdrasier, to be exact, with all the trappings of a great event. Drinks --

Food from The Bun Truck --

I got a Kalbi Marinated Sirloin Bun, a Deep Fried Pork Katsu Bun, and Duck Fat Fries. Flavor heaven!

And a dessert bar from Sugar Fix --

The Brown Butter & Sea Salt Rice Crispy Treats were amazing!

And of course, great friends --

Entertainment was terrific - from an intense Rock Paper Scissors tournament --

To the always incredible Prince Gomolvilas recounting the hilarious adventure that began with his blog post "How Gay is 'High School Musical'?". Epic.

I had to leave early because of the short film shoot the next morning, but not before I won a prize in the raffle --

A 2-Hour Headshot Session with M. Palma Photography - woot! Teresapalooza out!

Here's the video recap of the event -- congrats to Artists at Play for a fantastic evening!

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Last Sunday began early - 4:00 am to be exact. I whipped up some Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches for crafty and picked up a coffee traveler from Starbucks.

The shoot began in the apartment in downtown LA --

Then moved to outside a Walgreens --

We don't look conspicuous at all, do we?

The bulk of the day was spent shooting a scene in a car. From the outside, we couldn't hear a thing.

You can see me in the background of this shot, trying to figure out if the scene is going well.

Then back to the apartment building to grab one last scene in a public bathroom --

A long day, but a wonderfully successful one. Happy director --

And a happy producer, with the lead actress and the key prop --

That's a wrap on the shoot...

And a wrap on my Writer's Diet experiment! Phew - day in the life blogging can be time-consuming. I don't know how Lynn Chen does it.

Until next time...

Writer's Diet, Day 5 - Futile Friday

Friday was just about as productive as Thursday, creativity wise. Maybe one hour total useful work on my short story and a smidge of thought on my pilot. Pathetic.

Began with another croissant and green eggs --

Along with some thawed frozen fruit, a la The Actor's Diet --

And after much stressing over finding a production sound recorder for the short film shoot, my day degraded into fast food --

Though in my defense, we're using a Jack in the Box bag as a prop in the film, so I needed to secure it. It was my job, people.

I booked another Set PA, picked up some library books, and shopped for breakfast and crafty with only a $30 budget - I am invincible!

Put on some incense for an afternoon meditation --

Before heading out to a farewell dinner for an overseas guest at Cafe Del Rey. I had a few wonderful dishes that made for awful pictures, so I'll just show you our desserts - a Pistachio Carrot Cake and a Kaffir Lime Creme Brulee.

The cake was amazing but the creme brulee tasted like household cleaner. Wish I had Ben & Jerry's Key Lime Pie ice cream instead!

Writer's Diet, Day 4 - Thoughtful Thursday

Blech. Today was one of those unproductive, unhappy days that was a wash as soon as it started. Most people can have a bad day and get through it, but as an artist, bad mood days equate to un-creative days. It's hard to flow with creativity when your heart feels icky.

It began with a terrible nightmare - one of those wake up in a cold sweat before the sun comes up kind of nightmares. After a futile hour of attempting to fall back asleep, I just turned on my bedside lamp and reached for this book I've been meaning to read --

Writing the Pilot by William Rabkin- a wonderfully succinct method for creating a compelling television pilot. I read it cover to cover as the sun came up. Highly recommended!

Despite finishing the book, I wasn't inspired to dive into ideas, so I just worked on producing tasks until it was time for a late, late breakfast.

I decided to make green eggs - inspired by Dr. Seussand my attempt to inject more vegetables in my diet. One egg, a handful of spinach, the last chunk of cheddar in my fridge, and a glop of TJ's Spinach and Kale Greek Yogurt Dip, just because --

Blended and scrambled to a bright, bright green finish --

Finished off with the last of the brownies my roommate made last night --

Craved salty after the sweet, so I ate three packages of this roasted seaweed from Costco --

Told you guys I eat some random stuff.

Prepped SAG paperwork for set --

-- made a bunch of phone calls, and continued to crew up. (Looking for Set PAs now, if anyone's interested!) A long afternoon of email and household errands followed. No inspiration in sight. Sigh.

Eventually, it was time to eat again.

Grilled Tilapia with a butter garlic sauce, paired with the last of my black kale. Not great, but hey, it was on sale.

And more sugar - ginger snap cookies. There are only three cookies in this picture, but I actually ate about seven.

After a long hot bath to calm my heart, I drove down to Orange County to see an MIT actor friend in Last Summer at Bluefish Cove at the Mysterium Shop.

Terrific show with a terrific cast - go Katie! Got a cupcake at intermission, just so I could get the plastic happy face ring.

Oh yeah, and I had Del Taco on the way home. Here's hoping tomorrow will be better!

Writer's Diet, Day 3 - Woot-Filled Wednesday

Another Hump Day, another green smoothie --

Began the uncomfortable, arduous task of editing my short story today. Read through everything - eek - and made a quick outline of all my plot points as well as a list of problems to fix. So, so many problems to fix.

Bolstered my spirits by snacking on crackers and leftover dips from my last clothing swap - all Trader Joe's again --

Met with my director to get a few signatures on the second round of SAG paperwork. The short film production is coming together beautifully - we locked a fantastic DP and are close to locking the rest of the crew. Woot!

Producing is incredibly satisfying for me because I'm a born multitasker. Plus there's nothing like checking tasks off a list.

Head to a casting office in Santa Monica for my third audition of the week --

And look who I ran into!

That's me with Cris Franco and Larry Cedar, original cast members from Square One TV! Otherwise known as my absolute favorite educational TV show from my teen years.


Square One TV was mix of comedy sketches, animated shorts, music videos, and game show segments that taught basic principles of math. That's right, it was a math show - and I loved it! Funny, clever, and so fantastic.

My two favorite music videos from the show, sung by Larry and Cris, respectively --



I acted with Larry on The Riches some years back and gushed to him about the show then. He was tickled I'd even seen it. When I told Cris I watched the show today, he laughed heartily. Probably not something he hears every day, but I was happy to be his fan girl. Sometimes I love my life.

Wasn't able to get back to work after the audition - got an invitation for sunset happy hour at The Lobster by the Santa Monica Pier that I couldn't turn down --

Indulged in Steamed New Zealand Cockles and Black Mussels --

and Espresso BBQ Pork Belly Sliders - yum!

And of course, a mojito!

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Writer's Diet, Day 2 - Typing Tuesday

Breakfast of champions - a green smoothie made of spinach, kale, strawberries, mango, banana, and chia seeds. Full of fiber and sweet goodness!

Before being pulverized by the Magic Bullet --

And after!

I learned how to make these from my friend Ruth from Dublin, Ireland. Check out her blog Kitchen Greenie!

Also baked up a multi-grain croissant from Trader Joe's. (You're going to see a Trader Joe's trend today, for sure.)

Ended up looking pretty much like the package - super yummy!

Spent the bulk of the morning and afternoon typing, typing, typing. I write all my fiction longhand in blank journals and I'm not always diligent about typing up my work. I just finished a long short story - sounds like an oxymoron, I know - and I'm eager to get it transcribed so I can start editing and filling in the holes.

Hence, a day of typing. I have Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSIs) from too much typing at MIT, so I use an ergonomic keyboard --

The danger of working at home is always getting distracted by household errands. Like re-covering my burner drip pans in aluminum foil --

After typing up almost 10 pages of writing and completing a few more tasks for the short film I'm producing, it was time for lunch!

I know, I'm not in college any more, but I'm a sucker for mac and cheese and these are so easy. I added some frozen veggies to make it slightly more healthy --

And steamed up some black kale with Bragg's Amino Acids--

Ate while catching up on the latest episode of Top Chef Masters. My money's on Takashi Yagihashi to win it all!

Was still feeling munchy while watching, so I devoured a handful of Lemon Crisp Cookies --

And the last two cheese straws in my pantry --

Stuffed and satisfied, I finished typing up my story - 23 pages in all! - and got ready for my commercial callback.

It was in an office shared with a modeling agency, so I was surrounded by glamour shots like this --

Ignored them - this spot was mine! Callback went well - we'll see...

Then I drove to Burbank to see my man.

Yes, I have a new man in my life. His name is Jack.

I bought him that Boppy. He's the newborn son of my friend and frequent guest blogger Christopher Tillman. Cutest kid ever!

The Tillmans always have fun snacks around, like these Jungle Animal cookies. They're like Circus Animal cookies, but green and shaped like jungle animals!

While there, I sent a few more emails for the short film, then heard about another commercial audition for tomorrow - I'm on a roll!

Ended my night with drinks at The Federal Bar with JulieAnn, a diversity exec at NBC Universal. We caught up on television chatter and gushed about Downton Abbey while enjoying a spread of appetizers --

In addition to being an amazing creative spirit, she's a deal hunter like me. Check out her fashion deals blog Champagne Clothes on a Beer Budget - fabulous!

And so ends another day in my life - is this interesting at all?