According to activityconnection.com, March is officially Optimism Month, which is pretty fitting considering I feel incredibly optimistic right now. It is also Women's History month, Cake in a Box Month (wtf?!), Dominoes Month, Deaf History Month, and the month where you celebrate the birth of my father and bro. Lots going on - lots to share! Where do I even begin?

Last night was the wrap party for The Anniversary, the comedic feature I recently finished working on with John Campea of TheMovieBlog.com and Robert Sanchez of IESB.com (a still from the movie w/ me and Jason Contini is above this post). They had it at Golden Apple Comics store on Melrose, which supposedly is the best comic book store in LA and, subsequently, the world. So here I am, chatting up some Bloggers at the Coolest Comic Book Store in the world, and I catch wind of plans to screen the film at Comicon in San Diego this summer, which excites me terribly, and I'm thinking - I am either the biggest geek or really fricken cool right now. Everyone was sounding very optimistic about the film being ready by then, as well as the interest we are generating for distribution, so I think I'm gonna allow myself to feel sweet right now. Then a strapping young Australian man kidnapped me...

Speaking of distribution, the feature I acted in in college recently signed a distribution deal!!! I don't know all of the details yet, but I am geekin at the prospect of Relative Obscurity being seen by a wider audience than the festival circuit we went on, oh, two/three years ago. More on that at a later date, I guess :)

Tonight begins rehearsals for the movement piece I auditioned for last week. The director, Ben Cox, will be leading us in a Viewpoints workshop every week until mid-April, when we will perform our creation in NoHo. The devised piece will be centered around Pandora's box. I LOVE first days of rehearsal - it's like the first day of school; who am I gonna meet? Will the director like me? Will I like working with the director? and then the added question with a devised piece - will we be collaborating on something amazing or will our ideals fall flat? I am reminded of one of my favorite poems, "I Dwell in Possibility" by Emily Dickinson:

I dwell in Possibility--
A fairer House than Prose--
More numerous of Windows--
Superior--for Doors -

Of Chambers as the Cedars--
Impregnable of Eye--
And for an Everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky--

Of Visitors--the fairest--
For Occupation--This--
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise.

It's a good thing I choose to dwell in possibility, because otherwise I most certainly would not be able to make it through some of these auditions I go on. I considered this the other day as I drove up Sunset Blvd., resume and headshot in hand. I really don't get nervous to audition - performing is fun, and if they don't like me, screw it, I can't be bothered with why that might be. But getting to an audition - driving in, parking, walking around a strange building, sitting, waiting, walking in a strange room with strange people - is absolutely terrifying! It's not like I'm fearful for my safety or my pride or anything, but to put yourself out there, to literally take that step, one foot after another, when it is just as easy to get back in your car, sit down/shut up/just not do it, is harddd. I literally have to talk to myself, convince myself of the beauty of uncertainty, remind myself of the excitement in possibility, so I can get the courage to walk in. I imagine the best way to explain this sensation to non-auditioners is to equate it to a first kiss with someone you realllly, really like. You know you should do it, you know you want to, but every fiber in your body is paralyzed with a kinda icky/kinda fun feeling buzzing through it. Then you shit your pants. Ha. Just kidding.

One of the reasons I am so optimistic right now is that auditions have really started to pick up. I didn't have a single one for the month of January, and just in the past ten days I have had 5, with two more happening tomorrow. Crazy! Everyone had been talking about how slow breakdowns were, but I was getting worried there for a minute. I always book my own work, so I felt I only had myself to blame for not getting out there. I hope it didn't just jinx things by saying that. Eek.

My lovely friend Chelsea invited me to a screening of the new Judd Apatow movie, Funny People, which I went to see at the Jimmy Stewart screening room at Sony Studios this past Thursday. So many funny people in it! The cut was still 3+ hours long, so Mr. Apatow asked for feedback re: what worked, what story lines were strongest, etc. It was fascinating to see such a large movie still in the development process, and fun to see Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen in the flesh. Good times - it's going to be a really funny movie.

News from the Homefront: Bambina, the foster dog Teresa and Chrissy have been caring for has found a permanent home. Not missing a beat, Teresa brought home another dog, this time smaller and kinda hump-crazy. Dylan and I agree, that girl needs to get a boyfriend (Teresa, not the dog). Chrissy has a guest from college in town and is still on the job hunt, working at the record label with me two days a week. Our landlord came over this week to "inspect the fire alarms" and interrogated me about how many people live in our place, what all the boys clothes were doing on the floor of Dylan's room, and gave the two yelping dogs a good long stare. We still haven't been kicked out though, so I think we are in the clear. I'm excited about going on a hike tomorrow and brainstorming/researching an LA Theatre website I want to build, as well as the prospect of my siblings coming out for a visit this spring. So yeah, March is gonna be good! That's all for now...