Halloween post? XD

It's been a while since my last post and I realized that this Halloween post was saved as a draft and not officially posted! Better late than never?

Halloween 2012

I got some friends together to hang out with the warning that if they didn't come in a costume, everyone else gets to "Jigglypuff their face." Meaning we all get to draw on the costume-less person's face. I can say it worked because everyone came dressed as something. (A little disappointing too tho haha).

I finally made use of the wig! I just need to buy Seirin's Jersey.

Manliest game of DDR Ever!

After Every song, we were fixing our hair, checking up on our makeup, 

and playing on standard so we wouldn't get sweaty and gross. XD

Obligatory group shot

It was day full of a couple rounds of Dominion, DDR, Celebrity Charades, Smash Bros., pizza, and pumpkin carving! A number of my friends had never carved a pumpkin or hadn't carved one in a long time, which is why I suggested this activity. 

I thought it was funny seeing the others react to what the inside of a pumpkin looks like. ("Why's mine all stringy and gross?" "They're all like that!") It took a while to also separate the seeds to bake. I hadn't really had pumpkin seeds before... ours tasted like chewy popcorn...? 

Dragon Fruit

I AM THE MOTHER OF DRAGONS DRAGON FRUIT!

A family friend gave us some dragon fruit from his backyard and they are so good! I love how cool they look. The inside looks nothing like you'd expect based on its outward appearance. But I think it's comparable to a watermelon. It has a mild, slightly sweet, almost tasteless flavor and a watery, refreshing crunch. 

It looks so beautiful n the outside!

And here's a view of the fruit on the inside!

James Arnold Taylor's "Talking to Myself"

Oct. 20, 2012

I went with close friend to see James Arnold Taylor's one man show called "Talking to Myself". If you aren't familiar with this fantastic man's work, please google him. I had discovered a snippet of the show on his youtube channel a year ago and was amazed at how quickly and accurately he was able to mimic or voice match so many voices.

I found out about this free show through his Facebook fanpage and knew that I just had to go see it. I was almost put off by the distance I'd have to travel, but when would I get another chance like this? Luckily, I had invited a friend that offered to drive me half the distance, yay! So I drove an hour-ish to meet him and he drove us an hour-ish to Moorpark.

It was at Moorpark Presbyterian Church, which is large, airy and beautiful. There were two projection screens off to the upper left and right where JAT constantly had images or scenes to help elaborate points as he explained them, but mostly used them to dub to picture live. He performed spotlit on a slightly raised platform in between the screens, . I was constantly torn between wanting to watch the animations he had playing on the screen and him physicalizing as he performed his lines. Due to the fast-pace and high energy, the show was engaging from beginning to end. I'm being intentionally vague because I hope you'll be able to see it one day (and plus it would take pages and pages to detail what I experienced haha).

Here's a link to the trailer of the show:


And here's a clip of the show (that I first discovered)


I was most touched by his ending segment where he opened up about a very personal incident. He first started off saying how he was glad he didn't have to hold back or veil his appreciation to God for blessing him with his talents.

He talked about how he had unluckily gotten laryngitis and lost his voice. And through much grief and rehab, he realized how much he loved doing what he did and appreciated that he gets such opportunities and pushed to continue on. He went on to encourage everyone to work toward fulfilling their own individual goals and dreams, whether it was to also be a performer, or be a good student, parent, daughter, lawyer, ect. I fail at trying to eloquently regurgitate how he phrased it. My friend had nudged me during this bit because JAT's words were so very pertinent to me at this time. I almost teared up because it felt so directed at me.

He had a meet and greet after the show, where his wife helped to delegate time so everyone got a chance to quickly speak or take a pic with JAT. During the wait, I ran into another fellow voice actor friend of mine. She and I were getting the super jitters waiting for our chance to meet JAT. It was kind of funny and cute I think haha. When I met JAT, I just thanked him for posting on youtube and responding to fans on fb (makes me sound almost stalker-ish, but really... I just see what pops up in my newsfeed ;p). I also told him I'm a VA and how I'm trying to really break in and he was very encouraging.

Me with JAT! 

Moving Forward (I hope!)

I've been taking some time to meet up and talk to some close friends lately about where we are in our lives and what we think we're doing to move closer towards where we would ideally like to be.  Hearing myself say some things out loud to another person and getting their thoughts has been eye-opening. Listening to their efforts toward success has been inspiring. I sometimes feel a bit embarrassed when I tell people for the first time about my passion for voice acting (which is stupid, isn't it?). It's feel a lot like confessing my secret love. As though it is something that should just be whispered to a close confidant. I almost creep myself out at how impatient and eager I am to go be an actor.

But getting back on topic, I am so lucky that my friends truly support me, listen to my woes, and offer advice. For the past year or so, I've been thinking people were judging me for veering off course (for personal reasons I don't expect others to understand. Not sure if I entirely do either to be honest.) It's weird that it wasn't until a little while ago that I finally realized... I'M THE ONE THINKING THESE THINGS! I'm working myself into an anxiety frenzy... BY MYSELF! All the awful things 'people thought about me' were my own inventions. Everyone has their own lives to worry about, why would they bother thinking about me? I've been my own most frightening bully. I've been holding myself back, afraid to move forward. I'm not great at what I do, but that shouldn't stop me. If I don't respect myself, no one else will... right?

Once I finally cracked down that barrier, I've tried to plan out how to best maximize my free time and find a better balance to enjoy everything that makes me happy. Since I've been in a actor's dry-spell, I'm currently taking some VO classes while working out my game plan to get to where I want to be. Hopefully if I can stay calm, ignore my negative side, and keep my momentum going... I will be proudly reaping the fruits of my labor thanks to the love and encouragement from those close and dear to me.

wig-supplier.com Wig Review

I originally found this site as I was searching the web for Lolita dresses, but I just couldn't believe the prices of the cosplay wigs! They're cheaper than many shops on ebay and the pictures looked really good. Felt a little too good to be true, so I did a little Google search for reviews and didn't find anything negative. 

I decided to buy two wigs from Kuroko no Baske (Kuroko's Basketball) because it's a series I'm really into right now (watch it on Crunchyroll.com!) and they were on sale! I wasn't in a hurry to get them so I paid just $5.13 airmail shipping from their shop in China to California.

Kuroko Tetsuya (got it on sale for $8.23)

http://www.wig-supplier.com/kuroko-no-basuke-kuroko-tetsuya-short-light-blue-anime-cosplay-p-1454.html

Kagami Taiga (got it on sale for $8.33)

http://www.wig-supplier.com/short-red-mixed-black-kuroko-no-basuke-kagami-taiga-cosplay-wig-p-1455.html?relatedpage=1

My package went thru quite a lot to reach me apparently haha. :p

It had a glossy waterproof layer and no tears. 

Here are the wigs in individual zip baggies and cardboard framing.

The wigs were flipped inside out, no wig cap, and you can adjust the size of the cap with fasteners in the back.

Does I look manly nao?

The Kuroko wig had a smaller cap and fit snug over my hair (I have a lot of hair to stuff in!) so I didn't need to use the hooks. How it looks here is pretty much how it looked after I unfolded it and ran my fingers through a few times. The site does warn that the back may be thin due to the short cut and to remedy that by fluffing the hair. Sorry I forgot to take a side/back view pic. >.< But I thought the back still looked okay even with all my hair underneath. 

Overhead lighting really shows off my eyebags.  XD 

The Kagami wig doesn't have has much red as the one the model is wearing, but does look like the pictures they took of the wig itself. The red part is easy to fluff and style, but the fibers of the black hairs seems to be thicker and aren't as easy to fluff with just my hands. The wig cap for this one was a bit large, so I did need to fasten the hooks (made it easy to fit my hair underneath though). 

Here's a side view of the Kagami wig.

I just took a pic with the wig over my hair since it matched my natural hair color. Yay mullet?

Kickass Photoshoot!

April 21, 2012

After messages back and forth and postponing and postponing, the photographer Matt from Jedimatt Photography (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jedimatt-Photography/213396590527) and I finally agreed on a date and decided that if I couldn't get other people to be in the shoot, then it would just be me. I'm glad I was able to rope in 3 people to take part of this little project of mine. For a pretty cold, cloudy week, this particular day was 80 degrees! I swear it happens every time I do a photoshoot. >.< I felt a little bad since everyone was fully dressed, but I think I had it the worst so meh...

MEET:

Joseph Fredzess as Average Joe

 Arnold Cruz as Chuckling Ace

 Ken Gutierrez as Kickass

 And me as Hit Girl!

D'awww... we're so menacing. <3

Ready... and... ROUND ONE!

"Those guys are obviously planning something bad."

"I should stop them!"

Chuckling Ace just can't believe this doofus in a Halloween costume is challenging them.

"You sure you want to do this kid?'

"Let's make him wet his pants."

"Oh no, don't shoot me! I'm sorry!"

"Psych."

"Hahaha... he got you good. You all right?"

"Gahckk!"

"Hyuuck!"

"I'll show you this time Gumby."

"heeeee-

-yahhh!"

Heh heh.

"And take that!"

"Shoot him full of holes Ace!"

"I.

DON'T.

THINK.

SO!"

"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!" 

(Imagine blood splatters on Average Joe. 

I may come back and photoshop this pic again)

"Hey, there's something I want to show you."

"Huh?"

"Uh-huh..."

"Rat-tat-tat-
(Blood splatters)

tat-tat-tat-
(continuing blood splatters)

tat-tat-
(more blood splatters)

tat-tat-tat!"
(and more blood splatters)

*hack* *cough* Good one kid. heh. heh.. *plop*

Same sequence, but zoomed in on the action!

And.... ROUND TWO!

"She thinks she's so smart heh heh heh..."

"Wh-why are there three purplies~?"

"Peek-a-boo!"

(Matt told me to raise the pole, so I did hahah... luckily I did not strike a delicate area)

"Have a nice trip!"

"Wanna see my new toys?"
The sight of a little girl trying to threaten him with swords is amusing to Chuckling Ace.

But then again...

...sticking around...

probably wouldn't be a good idea...

"Whoops, sorry! That ended up lower than I predicted."

"I won't miss this time!"

FINAL ROUND! FIGHT!

Oh yeah, I forgot. Kickass can't actually fight...

"I guess I could give you a hand!"

"Here. You forgot these, dumbass."

(Continuity error? There is no continuity error... ;)

Chuckling Ace wanders around dazed and still slightly amused.

"Get out of the way!"

Up

and

OVER!

"How pathetic."

"I'll take care of him."
"Sure."

What a duo.

"Now you're safe!"

"I'm the one that saved y- oh, whatever."

And that's all folks!