Boobs. That's right. Boobs.

Well, it was only a matter of time until I did a post about boobs. After all, they've been such a large part of my life since I was 10 years old. Yup, 10. I have no idea why God thought a 10 year old needed or wanted boobs. Especially one that was already a foot taller than her classmates and really didn't need anything else to make her stick out and was a competitive soccer player, which meant lots of running. But, there I was in 4th grade receiving training from a bra. Little did I know then, these sacks of fat (attractive huh?) would keep growing until I was about 20. Now, I know some women would kill for larger breasts and some pay thousands of dollars for them and I should be grateful for what I have. Well, screw that, I like to complain. So here are my thoughts on my boobs:

• My Rack is a Pain in the Back. I have had constant back pain since I was about 16 years old. I can't sit in the same position for more than 10 minutes because no matter how I sit, my back starts to ache. Sleeping is a tossing and turning event because my back just can't seem to get comfortable.
• What a Slouch! My boobs weigh me down, therefore giving horrible posture. I am certain that I will one day develop a hump on my back because I slouch forward so much. It's so unattractive, but my back is just not strong enough to sit up straight all day long.
• Buttons: Boobs' natural enemy. Button up shirts and I don't get along. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part if the shirt fits me perfect in the shoulders, arms and torso, but has buttons, you can bet that those buttons are holding on for dear life across my bust.
• Sag Bags. I honestly don't know what it will take (short of plastic surgery) to get some lift! I have been fitted by some of the best lingerie stores in town and whipped out close to $100 for a single bra that was supposed to perk me up. But still my "fun bags" weigh the dang bra down. Sometimes I feel like I should carry a portable table with me just so they have something to rest on besides my belly button.
• Running: A Contact Sport. Unless my boobs are duct taped to my chest, running is pretty much out of the question for fear that I might suffer a concussion.
• Over The Shoulder Boulder Holders. Finding bras that fit is a constant battle. The majority of stores don't carry anything close to my size. So, I have to go to speciality shops or high-end retail stores. Even then, they only have a few styles to choose from and mostly they aren't very flattering. Often, they have to go in the back to find a bra my size. And then I usually don't like the cut or I'm not willing to pay $150 for it that day. Oh, and don't even get me started on strapless bras.
• Top Heavy. I have recently lost some weight - of course, I lost it everywhere but my boobs. So now, I look even more disproportionate. My legs and stomach have thinned out but yet I still have these 2 huge masses atop my chest. It's not hot, it's odd and I feel like no matter how much weight I lose my boobs will always make me look (and feel!) much larger than I am.

So what should I do about all this? Nothing, duh. I just like to complain.

Boredom

Boredom and me are good friends. We meet up with each other for several hours a day every workday. There are days where I absolutely love Boredom and others where Boredom is actually rather, well, boring. Work is slowing down significantly and I only have 1 real project that I work on and that will be ending in the next few weeks. So, instead of actually trying to find work related things to do with my time, Boredom and I like to surf the internet, check my email accounts about 30 times an hour, read message boards and work on publicity projects for CCCT. And after weeks of this, I feel like I have exhausted all means of entertainment. You'd think with the World Wide Web I'd have endless hours of mindless fun. But really, after an hour, you just don't care anymore. I keep checking my email in hopes that someone will write me something interesting and I can take 20 minutes to write a response or that someone will send me a task that I can complete at work. But most days, those things don't happen. So instead, I write a blog post about boredom. And here I am, done and bored again. Luckily it's lunch time, so I'm off to Noodles. (see below)

Noodles

I am the first to admit that I have a serious addiction to Noodles & Co. restaurants. There is one close to where I work and I eat there at least once a week. I limit myself to once so the folks who work there hopefully won't think I'm a total loser. I do make exceptions. If I go with a group a friends, then I'm allowed to go twice a week. Because of my addiction, the people at Noodles know me by name and know my preferences except when I mix it up and add chicken to my dish (on especially hungry days).

Over the years, I have transitioned from the Penne Rosa to the Pasta Fresca. I wanted a slightly healthier option and soon fell in love with the new dish. Now, I'm finding myself bored with the Pasta Fresca and often not finishing it. So, today I decided to try something new - once again going with a dish that had less fat and less calories. I was pretty hungry, so I didn't want to dive right in to a complete dish if I didn't like it. So I tried another first, a trio. For those of you who don't know, a trio is a portion of pasta, a salad (or soup) and a protein. I tried, for the first time today, the Japanese Pan Noodles. I'm usually not a big fan of Asian flavors, but I enjoy some so I thought I'd try it. Well, I wasn't too impressed. It tasted alright, just not exactly what I was looking for. However, I said the same thing when I switched from the Penne Rosa to the Pasta Fresca, so you never know - maybe I'll come around and be addicted to this now. Or I should just get 2 big rice crispy treats for lunch and be done with it. :)

Oops! It's been a week...

...and I haven't blogged. I guess that could be that nothing really noteworthy has happened in the past 7 days.

Let's see...last Thursday I had to watch my baby niece, Eva because she was sick and and wasn't allowed to go to daycare. Now, I think this is a crappy policy. While I understand that a daycare doesn't want kids to come in and infect other kids, they need to understand that they are in business because parents have no other place to take their children while they are at work. Parents sure as hell wouldn't pay up to $2000 a month if they did! I think they need to set up a special room and caretaker for the sick kids. (Why anyone would want to be that caretaker I have no idea!) I especially think they need to set something up because more often than not, kids get sick AT daycare. When half the kids in the place are ill, you can pretty much guess where they contracted the illness. It's not fair to the parents if their kid gets sick at daycare and then can't go back because they are sick.

Also, it's not like parents get a discount if their kid isn't there a day. Most day cares charge by the week or month, and missing a day here and there doesn't save you any money - only if you miss an entire week. So, in order to care for Eva - my mom, Eva's dad and myself had to take off work to watch her over 2 days (time was split between me and my mom the first day and dad took off the next). That's vacation hours that we won't get back or didn't have in the first place and therefore money lost, projects at work that had to wait until the next day, deadlines that were missed and then possibly jeopardizing future time off due to the sudden nature of taking time off for this situation. All the while the folks at the daycare center had 1 less kid to watch and got paid the same amount of money. Grr!

YESSSSSSSS!

Goooo Slumdog!! Please see the below post for my predicitons for the Golden Globes. Out of my picks, I only got 2 wrong: Lead Actress and Lead Actor. Both surprises in my book, but I'm glad that Kate Winslet won 2. Also, my beloved 30 Rock took home 3, John Adams swept their categories and my absolute favorite, Slumdog Millionaire, won everything they were up for including BEST PICTURE! Woohoo! I was so freaking excited when they won. Now I'm ready for the Academy Awards. Bring it on, Oscar!

A Role, A Jury and Some Awards

A few things have happened in the last few days that I'd thought I would share - and roll into 1 blog post because I'm lazy.

A Role
If you read my previous post about auditioning, you might have guessed that I auditioned for another play recently. I auditioned for The Last Night of Ballyhoo at Coal Creek Community Theater in Louisville. Although I tend to shy away from doing shows in the winter because I hate driving in snow, there was a role in this show that appealed to me. The role is Lala, a dreamy, unpopular girl whose mother is obsessed over her finding a date to Ballyhoo. The role is comedic, earthy and somewhat frumpy which are 3 words that kind of describe who I am. Also, the best thing about it is it's not the role of the pretty, popular ingenue. Not that there is anything wrong with being an ingenue - it's just that I've been there and done that. So I went to auditions ready to throw my country-bumpkin-witty-dreamy-sassy side into reading and thought I did a pretty good job. The competition was pretty steep though - as it always is for 20-something female roles. But much to my surprise and satisfaction, I got the role of Lala! So now I give up my life for the next 2 months and devote to playing this great character (with a stellar cast) in this wonderful show!

A Jury
For the 3rd time in my life, I was summoned for jury duty. The 2 previous times, my number wasn't called, so I never had to report. But, this time, my number was up. I reported to the Adams County Justice Center (in BFE Brighton!) to perform my civic duty. Or rather, I reported to go sit in a room for 2 hours. We were informed that there were 4 cases going to trial today and only half of the people summoned for jury duty actually showed up, so there was a good chance I'd be sitting in a jury box. Well, after about an hour or so, the lady comes in to gather the first set of jurors. My name wasn't called so I continued to sit. About another hour later, the Jury Commissioner comes in and says, "Good things come to those who wait. All the other cases have been cancelled and you are all free to go." Sweet! However, I couldn't decide if I felt guilty enough to go back into work. Verdict: No I did not, I sat at home the rest of the day and it was glorious.

Some Awards
Being an actress, I am always glued to the tube whenever an award show is on. Usually, I haven't seen any of the movies nominated, but I can sometimes tell who is gonna win what. The Golden Globes are this Sunday and I'm proud to say that I've seen (or will see by Sunday) 4 of the 5 movies nominated for best picture. Therefore, this entitles me to give you my picks of the winners, right?....Well, I'm doing it anyway, so shut up.

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Slumdog Millionaire
I freaking loved this movie!! Goooooo Slumdog!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Meryl Streep – Doubt
UNBELIEVABLE performance!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Great, great, great Nixon.
**Sean Penn could also win this award for Milk. I haven't seen the movie yet, but just from the previews, he looks like a top contender.

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
(I've only seen one movie in this category, so I can't really give a winner in any of these categories.)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Kate Winslet – The Reader
I know, I haven't seen it, but I can call it from a mile away. I would like to vote for Viola Davis from Doubt, but I don't think she'll get it.

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Uh, duh.

Best Animated Feature Film
Wall-E
"Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out..."

Best Director - Motion Picture
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Gooooooo Slumdog!

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
30 Rock (NBC)
I really wish The Office and 30 Rock could tie because I seriously love both of these shows.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Tina Fey – 30 Rock (NBC)
I LOVE Tina Fey!

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock (NBC)

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
John Adams (HBO)
One of the best things I have seen. Mainly because it showed me how ignorant I was about history.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Laura Linney – John Adams (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Paul Giamatti – John Adams (HBO)


We'll see how awfully wrong I am on Sunday. :)

Auditioning

I have been auditioning and performing for 10 years now. Some auditions require prepared monologues, some have a brief cutting from the piece to read and others have you read scenes with other hopefuls. I have auditioned for roles that I would kill to get, ones that I knew I had no chance at and ones that I didn't care whether I got the part or not. The one thing that ties these all together is, no matter what, I am always nervous to audition.

You would think that after so much time and so many auditions, it would be just like second nature to me. But no, my stomach starts to turn, I over analyze how I look and how I should speak and then once I get to the audition, I immediately start sizing up the competition. It's sickening. Instead of being a fun experience doing what I love to do, it turns into a stressful, maddening episode. You put yourself out there - you're completely vulnerable and you give it all you got and pray that you didn't make an ass of yourself.

And then of course comes the waiting. Waiting to see if you got a call back and then if you were cast. The rule is to audition and forget about it. That way, if you end up being cast it's great, and if not, you forgot about it, so who cares. I have only successfully accomplished this once in my entire life. Your subconscious is always aware that there is a director out there judging your skills and your confidence takes a hit for every minute they don't call you. If there was ever 1 reason why a lot of actors are ca-razy, it has to be all the agony of the casting process. And then us actors do it all over again for the next role and the next. We are seriously insane.