Shopping to Do...

Shows to enjoy...

The holidays have arrived.

And I have no desire to spend any money!

I know, I know; "Bah humbug!"

But can you blame me (or anyone) in this economy?

I'm very grateful to have work right now-

But if the past two years has taught us anything, it's to save not spend.

Yet everywhere I look people are spending!

I guess it's a good sign... Maybe things are looking up.

Still, I think I'm going to be creative with my gift giving this year...

I'll give the gift of joy and laughter! ...and maybe I'll bring a bottle of cheap wine too!

Hey, it's better than a lump of coal.

Big Brother Is Watching You...

It's official, I'm socially tapped in to the world!

The thought that once terrified me and sent me into a week long panic attack after reading George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four, in Mr. Goff's senior English class has become my reality!

I'm now linked, cross linked, integrated and plugged into every possible social website out there.

If I need a trusted opinion about the latest and greatest restaurant I'm thinking about eating at I can Yelp it. If I need to get a table at said restaurant, I can OpenTable it. If I want to let all of my friends across the world know I'm eating at that restaurant I can Facebook Place it. If I want to share a picture of my meal with everyone I will Tweet it. When I want to encourage new contacts to try it, I'll post it to Linkedin. When I'm ready to rave about that place myself, I'll go back to Yelp and write a review. Finally, when I'm ready to talk about the whole experience, I'll write a blog post, and share with everyone through GoogleBuzz!

And when the government wants to know exactly where I am and what I'm doing, I've given them a detailed map; with digital photocopies, bookmarks of every point along the journey including (but not limited to) a time stamped entry, my own personal commentary and an all access pass to use this information however they want!

Isn't technology wonderful!

Relentless.

Once I get something in my mind,

all bets are off!

I'll do just about anything to make my vision a reality.

At times I may seem; overbearing, adamant, feisty, pushy, and high strung-

I admit I have type "A" personality traits.

I'm doing my best not to strive to be such and overachiever.

I'm no longer a perfectionist, instead I aim to do the best I can with each project so that I can release it into the universe and make space for a new dream.

Yes, I may be annoying at times.

But always with positive energy and a motivative smile!

I'm relentless- and proud of it!

Ginger Gets A Bath.

My little yorkie Ginger hates taking baths.

She'll scurry side to side like a little sewer rat.

The entire bathroom is covered with a layer of soapy, watery foam-

Finally the last of the shampoo is rinsed from her coat;

Wow! That took longer than either of us wanted it to...

Now comes the fun part-

The blow dryer!

The shaking and whining begins.

Despite her magnificent struggle,

my powerful, yet gentle and loving grasp wins!

The dryer works its warming magic-

The adorable and fluffy fur ball is sparkling clean.

She is ecstatic to have her well deserved cookie.

Peace is restored in her luxurious doggy life!

...until the next time.

Black Friday...

Or as I like to call it...

Love

Eating

Filling

Turkey and mashed potatoes!

Omg

Very

Excited! I'm so

Ready for:

Stuffing

Thankful on Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for:

My faith and spiritual guidance.

My wonderful family and friends,

and for their health and unconditional love and support.

The amazing career I continue to cultivate.

The passion, drive and determination I find when I feel like giving up.

My home and all of the blessing inside.

The people who continue to inspire me to be a better person.

The adventures and opportunities that life continues to offer me.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade...

The delicious turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, buttermilk biscuits, squash casserole and pumpkin pie I will be devouring in about six hours.

A gym membership.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Six Word Essay on Holiday Decadence.

Overeating leads to a jiggly tummy!

Movie Madness!

My favorite part of Thanksgiving week, aside from:

Family, friends and food of course-

Is the holiday movies!!!

There are very few things in life that I luxuriate in as much as going to a movie...

I'm sure it has a lot to do with my childhood. Growing up, everyone in my family was always off in a different direction. Mom, dad, Shiree and me- never in the same place at the same time. That is to say, until Friday came along. Generally on Fridays, we would all come together for a "date night." Dinner and a movie!

So naturally, I became addicted to food and movies!

Anyway, I always enjoy this time of year, because this is generally when Hollywood pumps the theatres jam packed with big budget films they hope will gross millions and become OSCAR contenders.

Since I have the week off for Thanksgiving, I intend on watching as many of those block busters as I can!

So dim the lights, pump up the THX and bring on the popcorn!

So strange, the way life works.

One day you feel invincible, and the next,

you fear you're never going to accomplish another worthwhile thing in your life.

Release it;

Just let it go.

It's hard, I know-

Positive affirmations can feel cheesy or delusional.

Wondering, "What's the point?"

But inspiring how fast positive energy, creates positive action.

As much as I'd love to have a lifetime of constant happiness and success, I'm reminded:

"Happiness is a journey, not a destination."

It's frustrating that I can be so sure of myself and attain such wonderful things, and then buy into the disappointment while experiencing a "dry spell."

Nevertheless, we are programed to want more, do better, reach the top!

The question is, do you ever reach the top? And once you get there, then where do you go?

I think at some point you grasp that reaching one peak only means that you have a long trek back down the mountain, where a new challenge awaits: How to stay positive and focused as you begin the steep and rocky climb along whichever path you decided to explore next?

Let The Holidays Begin!

Woke up today with coffee and treats!

Next, no holiday week should start off without a festive movie...

Can you say: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Part 1

Then, a delicious brunch on Sunset Boulevard.

Later, a trip to the mall for some pre-holiday sales!

Followed by an overcrowded scavenger hunt through Trader Joe's for Thanksgiving groceries.

Finally, at home snuggled up on the couch in front of the Christmas tree drinking hot coco and getting ready to watch the latest version of A Christmas Carol!

Let the holidays begin!

In Fifteen Years... An Essay From The Past.

On a recent trip home to see my family, I discovered a box of my old school papers that my dad had tucked away for me in one of those plastic Rubbermaid storage boxes.
Of course my curious nature got the best of me and I decided to mill through it to see just how geeky a student I was. I spent most of my teenage years spread too thin. I was an overachiever in a major way. Between my dance and theatre training, Spanish club, drama club, student council, Boy Scouts and choir, I still found time to stress out about maintaining a 3.8 (or higher) GPA!
As I read through the essays, term papers and book reports, I was transported back in time. One part nostalgia, one part gratitude that I NEVER have to go back to high school!
Then, I came across an essay from my college prep English class circa 1996. The title "In Fifteen Years." I remember this class very well, as it was my first class of the school day and my teacher, Mr. Goff was brilliant. I read the essay and I was shocked-
I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise how well I knew myself. Even then.

Nevertheless, it's very validating to read a fortune cookie from the past, so to speak.
I thought I'd share the essay below. Although I'm re-typing it, I will make no changes to the words I wrote fourteen years ago.
The grammar may not be the best, but somethings will never change.

In Fifteen Years

As I approach the end of my senior year, I find myself thinking about where I will be in fifteen years. I have many goal that I would like to accomplish.

To begin, I see myself holding a successful career on Broadway. I would like to have a stable job, and name that is well known in the entertainment industry. I also see myself as a family man, I would like to have a strong bond with my wife, and children. Fifteen years from now, the most important thing in my life will not be money. However, I see myself as a wealthy man. I plan to live as well as teach dance, in New York City. My goal for the future, is to have a well rounded education. After high school, I plan on attending the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, in New York. There, I hope to receive an education that can take me far in my career. In years to come, I hope to gain success and a knowledge, that will help me become a leader of tomorrow. Most important to me however, is to be happy with my own life, in fifteen years, I feel that is the key to my goals in the years to come.

I find some small comfort in the fact that I'm living my life very much like I had envisioned it would be. Sure, there are some obvious differences- No wife or children, but I still have a year, and I still very much plan on the children. What I find most assuring is that on some small level, I have achieved my dreams. I've continued the journey toward the goals I set for myself so long ago, and despite the ups and downs that are par for the course of an actor, I'm incredibly happy.
Regardless of the lack of wealth I've yet to receive, I consider myself a success for the simple reason that I did not give up.
I will not give up on my dream. No matter how tough the journey gets, I know this immense passion pumping through my blood is there for a reason. I figure, if I was so sure of myself fifteen years ago... it's time to write a new essay with the same title: In Fifteen Years.

Holiday Excitement!

Twinkling lights line the streets.
Tree lots popping up on corners.
The smell of pine and cinnamon.
Hot chocolate, while walking along the festive faux streets at The Grove.
Holiday movies! ...I want to see them all this week!
The tree is up and decorated.
Christmas music playing in the back ground-
I wonder how long it's going to be charming?
Before the nasty shoppers ruin it for everyone...
Oh! I am so ready for a Gingerbread Latte!

One Word: (and a picture...)

Disneyland!

Overcomplicated.

Life is short.
It should not be overcomplicated-
A very wise man once told a dear friend of mine, "If you want to dance, dance. If you don't want to dance, don't dance."
...words to live by!

Releasing the Fear. Again.

I'm not sure where all the emotion is coming from lately?

I'm not experiencing any major life dramas.

I've managed to make it through this year without a lot of the fear and self-doubt that I've placed on myself in years past.

I know I'm not anxious about money or work, I've succeeded in staying out of debt and I have great jobs directing and choreographing theatre lined up through next summer, both despite this awful economy.

My relationship is thriving. My career is on track, and I feel like I've grown as an artist and a person in 2010.

Yet I cannot shake this uneasy feeling in my stomach.

I've spent the better part of this year doing everything in my power to move through the setbacks, negative energy and fear. I said yes to whatever adventure came toward me, and because of it, I found myself working with creative people on television and film.

My partner and I created a hit YouTube parody that caught the attention of the Bravo network and one of its reality stars.

I've stayed healthy and in shape- Plus, I continue to "check in" with myself; who I am and what I want to accomplish.

Nevertheless, I still feel like I'm not doing enough!

I'm positive this feeling should be categorized as "Fear and Self-doubt." Even so, I maintain the idea that I should be doing more.

Over-achiever? Perfectionist? Realist? ...or am I just another victim of the conception that you can never rest.

I don't want to go through life always thinking I need to do more, more, more! I hope to enjoy the fruits of my labor from time to time too. I guess my fear is that, if I don't push myself daily, I will float through life, and turn around at seventy years old, wondering why "it" never happened.

So I'm forced to constantly remind myself that "it" is happening everyday, and has been my entire adult life. I'm aware that I have a wonderful life. I've enjoyed an amazing career up until now, and I don't take that for granted.

This year especially, I've witnessed the power of positive energy and action. I made it a point to release the doubt, by focusing on an action that could change the path that the fear was headed. In every instance this year, it has worked.

Moreover, the bold steps in allowing my authentic (for lack of a better word, thanks to Oprah) self to shine, has reminded me that who I am is what makes me special. Something I've always felt inside, but with few exceptions, been too afraid of what others might think to unleash it.

What was I scared of? Standing out? Isn't that what I've been working so hard to do?

I guess I'm feeling so uneasy now, because a part of me wonders if I'll be able to continue this inspired state of mind into the new year. If I did so well in 2010, will I be able to top that?

But even as I write the words, and hear them bouncing around in my head, I see how ludicrous this notion is.

Everything in my past has illustrated that my life as a person and artists continues to evolve. There will be setbacks, I'm sure. How I respond to them is up to me.

There's a dark voice that plays in the back of my mind from time to time saying, "What if you don't book another job? What if you don't make it? What if you're forty-five and broke?"

For too long, that voice held me back from unleashing my true potential.

But the spirit inside of me is a fighter, and the flame that was re-lit in my soul is doing everything in its power to reach the darkest crevices in my subconscious- to shine that light and blind the self-doubt that serves no purpose.

"Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you" -Marrianne Williamson

Beside, the only thing in life to fear, is a missed opportunity!

Six Word Essay on Thanksgiving.

You can never have enough stuffing!

Sunday Coma.

The problem with spending all day Saturday eating and drinking,

is waking up Sunday in a food and alcohol coma-

Detox is necessary!

Saturday Meatball Dinner...

Rose's are red,

Violet's are blue,

My meatballs will rock;

The socks off of you!

There's nothing I love more than grandma's home cooking.

But I will admit- I make a damn good meatball!

...my friends would vouch for me, but they're all too busy shoving their faces.

Fall Down Seven Times Get Up Eight.

Fall down seven times get up eight.

This is a Buddhist quote that I try to live by...

I'll admit, it's not always easy. However, I imagine the people who follow this zen idea, accomplish a lot more than the average Joe.

Similar to a boxer, you don't want to stay down for the count... I'm pretty sure the goal is to get up and finish the fight.

There was a moment yesterday when I was knocked down. I continued the fight. But I did so from the floor.

After a night of sleep and clear head this morning, I decided to get back up and try again.

It's not easy. Especially because I think I achieved the success yesterday. Unfortunately, I'm not always the one that gets to make that call.

So, here's to the Buddhist- May getting up this time (somewhere around four thousand eight hundred and eighty-five) be the time that I conquer the world!

Annoyed!

Angry.

Pissed off.

Annoyed!

There's nothing worse than a disagreement between people that have completely polar views-

Especially when emotions are already high...

I hate going to bed upset!

Follow the Leader...

Remember the good ol' days when adults would ask us, "If Tommy jumped off a cliff, would you follow him?" After we'd been caught doing something insane, and blamed it on someone else.

I can't even recall how many times I heard a phrase like, "be a leader, not a follower."

But now, with the progress of social networks and websites like Twitter, children and adults across the country are being encouraged and rewarded for being a "follower."

"Follow me on Twitter" is now a phrase that you see on every website, television commercial, newscast- hell, even my dentist wants me to "follow" him! Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of it too!

I just had to stop and think about it for a moment today- The only place that following people is considered "cool" is on Twitter, and with roughly fifty million tweets per day, I'm wondering, where are all the leaders?

Ever Notice...

The closer we get to a due date, the faster the time passes?
Like my US history term paper, senior year. I knew I had three months to complete it. I was excited when I began working on it. I spent hours at the library researching and writing outlines. Then, distractions entered the scene; parties, theatre rehearsals, homework from other classes and an after school job. Before I knew it, I had a week left to turn in the paper, and only half the work was completed.
It's hard to believe that tonight's post marks entry number three hundred and thirteen!
With just under two months left with my goal of writing a blog entry a day, I'm fascinated that in many respects, it feels like I started this adventure last week.
Then again, there are moments when I've gone back and reread some of the entries from the beginning of the year, and it seems like those experiences I write about happened a lifetime ago-
I suppose life is funny that way. We're meant to experience things as they happen.
"Live in the moment."
Often we succeed-
Sometimes we fail.
When we first set out to accomplish something, the energy and spirit motivate us to push through all of the road blocks, jump all the hurdles and climb steadily up the hill. Soon, fatigue sets in. We get discouraged. At times, we spend a little too much time looking back, and then we stumble and fall.
As painful as it can be to accept, there is no way to rewind time. Nor can we slow it down.
However, in keeping this blog, I've come to terms with appreciating where I am on my journey.
I've had good days, and bad days. There have been times when I've had nothing to say, and I forced myself to write anyway.
This blog idea started out as a way for me to stay proactive in my career. Focusing on positive energy and creativity.
Ultimately, I'm beyond proud of myself.
What I've gained from keeping this promise to myself, is the ability to take a moment every single day, and focus on being present. A task that is very tricky for me. I've spent too much of my life feeling sad about the past and worrying about the future.
I used to cry every year on New Year's Eve. I never understood why? I think from a very early age, I was aware of just how fast time escapes us. Despite the fact that I can already hear the people lining up in Times Square to ring in the New Year-
I'm confident that 2010 was the first year of my life up until this very moment, that I lived everyday to its potential.

Six Word Essay on "To Do" Lists...

I need to stop the OCD!

Heavenly Horizon

I love Los Angeles. This view from my balcony is proof enough for me that heaven exists.

Football, Friends and Food!

Sun is golden, skies are blue;

Crisp chill in the air, just to remind you it's fall.

Carpool to the stadium with friends,

Taco trucks, gourmet burgers and cocktails-

the tailgate parties are more like parking lot stadium bistro's.

Funny stories, crazy competitions and old school networking...

The spirit of USC is in the air.

Kick-off.

We tipsily make our way into the coliseum.

More drinks?

Of course.

Football, friends and food!

I love Saturdays.

Friday Already?!?

Did you ever notice that some weeks feel like they drag on forever-

then there are those, where you turn around and you can't believe it's Friday?

The past week went way too fast for me!

Don't get me wrong, I love the weekend as much as the next guy...

However, I'm not wishing days away either.

I already feel like there is not enough time to accomplish everything I'd like in a week- let alone a lifetime.

That being said, I was able to finish several projects this week. Plus, despite having rehearsals and meetings in completely different directions, I managed to cross off everything on my "To Do" list! ...even though I'm trying really hard not to make "To Do" lists.

I guess I'm just going to have to accept that I'm a type 'A' personality. No matter how hard I fight it, there is going to be a part of me that wants to overachieve. Which can work out to my advantage, as long as I can forgive myself on those days where I accomplish absolutely nothing!

Daily Reminders 101

No matter how many times I've been taught and then learned, that everything works out in the end... I continue to forget the formula and research in the middle of the test.

Today, I was reminded yet again, that as long as I stay positive and focused on creating work and opportunities- the end result will be a success.

I'll never truly understand why we torture ourselves into fear, doubt and negative thought...

If my faith, friends, family and career have taught me anything, it's that I have always received exactly what I need, precisely when I need it!

It's so easy to be on the top of the mountain looking back from where you came from and think, "That wasn't so bad, and just look at what I accomplished..."

One of my main goals for 2010 was to recognize that moment, in the midst of the climb.

Though I think I've done a better job this year, than in any other year of my life-

Today I realized that I'm still a Freshman in this school of life, and the course I have to pass once and for all is Daily Reminders 101: Release the fear and doubt and trust it will all work out!

I Love Projects Like This:

From time to time I'm fortunate enough to work on a very cool project.

Several months back I was asked to choreograph an episode of the new hit television show

Childrens Hospital on [adult swim] Sunday's at midnight.

The show has an all-star cast including Malin Akerman, Megan Mullally and Rob Corddry. Directed by the hilarious and talented; writer, actor, director, producer, genius- David Wain.

I'm pleased to share the scene I choreographed for the episode, "Hot Enough For You?" as an homage to Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing:

Another Day, Another Parody...

Since our Real Housewives of New York parodies have done so well,

we decided to go after the big guns!

(Though we may have to relocate in the witness protection program...)

You never know what connections those crazy women from New Jersey have!

According to Danielle Staub we may have to watch our back-

Oh well! We'll take our chances!

Please enjoy: The Real Housewives of New Jersey Parody!

The Never Ending Quest...

To stay focused, creative and relentless-

The battle to continue the slow, steady climb along the steep, narrowing path to the next ledge is exhausting.

Once you've reached that bench mark on the horizon, you realize you're no where near the peak;

The goal looks so close, and yet you know the worn down trail ahead will continue to surprise you.

Still, your drive and determination to reach the top will force you onward and up that rocky new terrain.

But I know the view will be amazing from the top-

So I just have to continue to find the strength.

You can't turn back when you've invested this much.