A sexy sliver of moon hung in the
pre-dawn sky as I awoke Zyla to get ready for her gig on Parenthood. Unfortunately it was not shooting at Universal.
Instead we were going on location down the 405 to park at one of the VA Healthcare Center lots off Wilshire Blvd. Because
of all the construction on the 405 traffic was a nightmare. It took us over an hour to get there at 6am in the morning.
Usually a half-hour drive. Zyla slept the entire way. Thankfully we found a full-catered breakfast was waiting
for us. 150 background were brought in for the job, 90 were kids. After checking in and going through wardrobe
who approved the adorable outfit Zyla was wearing, we were shuttle bussed to the location at Franklin Elementary School in
Santa Monica. I ran into set teacher Bonnie from my SSW show. She was a regular set teacher at Parenthood for
the big calls. The kids went to 5 minutes of schooling before being brought to set for the opening scene out front of
the school. Zyla started inside the entrance to the building then makes her way outside to some friends who then all
go into school together. After that scene, the kids went back to school for an hour. The next scene up was in
a hallway of the school. Parents had to wait outside since there was not enough room inside to watch. Regular
school was in session all around, and it was cute hearing the little kids walking past talk about how Parenthood was shooting.
I wondered how often the show took over half their school. At one point I saw Sam Jaegar who plays Joel on the show
exit the hallway scene. Zyla said she saw both Erika Christensen who plays Julia and Sam in the scene she shot in the
hallway. Erika was really nice and smiled at Zyla making her feel welcome on set. Our holding was a huge circus
tent on the grass area of the playground. Next to it were more tents set up for set school and changing rooms.
When the hallway scene was done the kids came back to set school for maybe 15 minutes then broke for lunch. I loved
working Parenthood for the wonderful catered meals they provided. But this call was so big, they separated the background
food from crew. Zyla snuck some canolis, her favorite, that were on the crew's dessert table. After lunch the
kids went back to set school for maybe a half hour when we were told they would be wrapping soon. I did not understand
how that was possible considering they had not done 3 hours schooling. But all of a sudden all the kids came out and
we walked outside the school grounds to get on a shuttle to go back to base camp at the VA Center. We wrapped out early
3:45pm, when they could have held the kids until 5:30pm. I was thankful since we still had to drive the nightmare 405
home. I found the onramp closed due to construction, so I took surface streets through Westwood, Bel Air and Beverly
Hills to Coldwater Canyon to get back to the Valley. Ed beat us home but not by much. While Zyla finished up her
homework, Ed and I watched Room 237. I enjoyed hearing all the hidden meanings behind Kubrick's The Shining. Some
of the conspiracy theories made sense and gave pause. The new season 4 of Glee had arrived from Netflix. We watched
two episodes. We missed Cory on the show and felt like it was not the same anymore with half the original cast gone.
The episode Britney 2.0 was depressing, not at all as fun as the episode they did spotlighting Britney Spears in season 2.
Wednesday I finished reading Bared to You and returned it to the library. So it was pretty much the exact same story as 50 Shades minus the SMBD room. I was not in the mood for the sequel, instead I browsed through the
aisles for something else. I picked up Zyla after her Mock Trial class and thankfully she did not have much to make
up from her day on set. We watched another Glee episode called Break-Up, which was really depressing. I liked
all the songs they covered, but this new season was just one depressing episode after another. Cory was on the two episodes
we watch, which brought Zyla to tears as she remembered his death this past summer. After prayers, we put Zyla to bed
and watched an episode of Homeland which had come from Netflix. I loved the new season, just as exciting as the first.
Carrie's recognition from the CIA for her theory on Brody coming to light and how she deals with her misdiagnosed ECT treatments
brilliantly performed by Claire Danes. Thursday I had to
do the library all by myself. The 3rd grades were complete chaos again. Their teacher assistant chaperoned
them, but they remained out of control. Knocking books off shelves, being loud while I checked in the hundred books
they returned. After checking in the books I could then start checking out books to kids who had returned all or some
of their books. I kept a hand written list by my side. It was a long slow process and the kids were very impatient,
not wanting to wait their turn, trying to throw their library cards from the books at me. I was so happy when 3rd
grade left. I had a little bit of quiet time to put the hundred books they checked in back on the shelves before 4th
grade showed up. They were sweeter and I knew them all from last year, so it was not so much drama. I came home
exhausted. I took a nap before picking up Zyla from school. She started her homework before Ed and I took her
to dance class. Like last week, after dropping her off Ed and I walked down the street to The Blue Room. Upon
walking in we were inundated with skeletons. The bar had a ghouly festive spirit encircling it. Tony was there
with our favorite drinks ready. I had champagne while Ed opted for Johnny Walker Black. We snacked on cashews
and M&Ms. A woman came in talking about how long she had been coming to this bar, since the 90's, and how fabulous
the bathroom was. I went to check out the posh interior, laid out in marble with French art on the walls, tres chic.
Friday I went for a short rosary hike at Stough, read
a bit from State of Wonder by Ann Patchett then crashed out on the couch before
heading over to Zyla's school. I loved all of Ann's books and was pleasantly surprised to get caught up in her new tale.
I especially loved the nightmares infused by the drug Lariam which the main character was taking to fight malaria in the Amazon.
I wondered if the book would touch on Ayahuasca. Zyla had to stay after school to attend a new training session for
Alter Servers in the Social Center where Mass was now held since the Main Sanctuary would be under construction for about
a year. She had not served since the move, but was now on schedule to start doing it again. Kids Management texted
but by the time I called back they had booked all the girls they needed on The New Girl for Monday. Zyla worked on her
Mock Trial Defense Attorney questions for her witnesses, then took a break for an episode of Vampire Diaries.
Saturday I took Zyla to the Stough Nature Center to her docent meeting.
She stayed after to volunteer stuffing envelopes for the Center and with the Hike for Tykes class, taking the pre-k on a mini
hike into nature. After lunch, Ed and I watched Lizzie. Interesting new twist on the old tale. It brought
me memories of my dad, for he used to recite the verse ‘Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother 40 whacks.
And when the job was nicely done she gave her father 41.' I drove Zyla to her friend Kamsi's birthday party in Canyon
Country. Unfortunately the short drive turned into a headache when traffic was at a stand still due to a brush fire
at the 5 and 14 interchange. Zyla and I had noticed that the Chance of Fire sign was set on Extreme near the Nature
Center. With 90-degree heat and crazy winds it did not take much to start a blaze. Helicopters were swarming the
area like mad dropping water then retreating back to the reservoir for more. After getting Zyla to the party safely,
Ed and I stayed off the freeway and shot across the Santa Clarita Valley to have a date day at Magic Mountain. The park
was all done up for Horror Nights I loved it! We stood in line 50 minutes to experience Full Throttle. We sat
front row and I kept my arms up the entire time, very thrilling. Next we waited half that time to go on Apocalypse another
favorite fast wooden roller coaster. Ed took my picture next to a zombie bus. We found out the hypnotist show
is free, meaning we did not need a maze bracelet to go in. The mazes here seemed cheapest off all the theme parks in
Southern California, only $13 if you had an annual pass. At Universal it was $70 even if you had an annual pass.
I wanted to ride Colossus backwards, but the line was an hour and a half. We walked over to Viper and waited in the
30-minute line. A praying mantis was playing havoc with guests, until one brave soul held the bug aloft on his finger
boxing with it. The line never ended up moving so Ed and I decided to leave the park for dinner at Macaroni Grill.
We missed our favorite restaurant. It had left Burbank a few years ago being replaced by Flapper's Comedy Club.
The closest one to us was out here in Valencia so we rarely went. I put our name in, then went to the bar to wait for
our table. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was Happy Hour and ordered the Ultimate Bellini, a swirl of peach
schnapps, rum, white wine, champagne and raspberry-infused vodka yummy. Of course it is just not a night out at Macaroni
Grill without having the house red wine, so Ed and I had a glass of that as well. Our waiter was part of a quartet of
Italian singers who stood high on chairs in the center of the room to sing to us. The atmosphere was magical, the food
divine. When we went to pick up Zyla she was a little jealous we had gone without her and we promised to return soon.
We finished our evening with the last episode of Vampire Diaries season 4.
Sunday, Zyla Alter Served for the first time in the Social Center. Fr. Chan said she did an excellent
job. It had only changed marginally from what she had been doing for the past three years in the Main Sanctuary.
Monday, I went hiking up at Stough after dropping Zyla to school. As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw a few people
standing on the sidewalk looking up at the side of the mountain. I assumed there must be some animal that had their
attention. As I pulled into a parking space, I looked up to the mountain as well. Six coyotes were surrounding
a deer trying to take it down. I felt like I was in some National Geographic special. I had only seen things like
this on youtube, not from a few yards away. The pack of coyotes were aggressive, but the deer held it's own. It
was unclear to all of us, why the coyotes were going after the deer. It did not appear to be hurt or bleeding.
Eventually the deer charged the coyotes one by one and cleared them away from itself. Some of the coyotes hid beneath
a bush off to the lower right side of the deer, the rest fled to a bush off to the left. With the pack separated, they
would try to take the deer but not at the same times, allowing the deer to run them off again and again. One of the
guys watching said he had watched the pack cross the parking lot and head down the ravine and up the hill targeting the lone
deer. Another fellow wished he had brought his gun to take out the coyotes. One of the park rangers there reminded
him this was nature doing what it does and guns are not allowed. It looked like the deer had won for the moment, so
I headed up the trail praying my rosary. I glanced back a few times and the deer remained alone on the cliff without
immediate threat. By the time I finished my hike there was nothing visible of the early morning scuffle.
Tuesday, Zyla had to Alter Serve at the 7:30am service, so I got her
up a little earlier for school. I finished reading State of Wonder.
I loved Ann Patchett's magical trip into the Amazon. I loved when the lead character Marina became one with the Rain
Forest eating from the bark of the trees themselves. I love trees. I wished I could join her embrace of the soft
bark pressing into my mouth. American Horror Story Asylum arrived from Netflix. Ed and I watched the first three
episodes one after another, getting caught up in the spookiness of the season. I liked Chloe Sevigny as Shelley and
her reference to Anais Nin and Paris sexual freedom. I started a new book The
Last Nude by Ellis Avery. I had just randomly found this historical fiction novel at the library and fell in
love with the story and artwork of Tamara de Lempicka. It was based in Paris 1927. I wondered if Tamara knew Anais,
if they were ever at the same parties. Tamara, an Art Deco painter used live models for her inspiration. It reminded
me of when I used to model for the sculptor Robert Graham back in the 90's. He would ask me to hold poses for about
an hour, then take a break, while he sculpted miniature nudes of my body. He also photographed and did sketches of me.
I left working for him, to continue my acting career, but enjoyed the quiet time in the sculptor's world. As a teen
I had walked by his studio in Venice many times seeing the little nudes in the window thinking they were so cool. When
he contacted me to work for him, it was because he had seen my HBO Sex Bytes episode, some of which was shot outside his studio
and he wanted to use me as a model. I felt honored to be part of it all and wish there were some way to see those works
he did of me today. My hiatus came to an end, and
I was called in to work SSW on Thursday with Alex and Elaine for guest star roles. I woke early, took Zyla to school,
then headed back to Universal. When I arrived Joe told me he had brought me in for Mrs. Ling, but that the actress was
available so I could just relax and enjoy an extra paycheck. I asked about the other featured background roles, and
he said yes I could play those for run thrus. Alex and Elaine were late so when the table reading was about to start
Joe asked me to read for the role of Becky, an 18 year old new friend of Ellie. Alex was supposed to be covering her.
Thankfully, just as we were starting Alex showed up to read the lines. Since there were two featured background ladies,
Elaine and I both had something to do in separate scenes. One scene had two principal guy roles but none of the guy
stand ins were brought in. Instead the director wanted to go with Eric our P.A. and Joe read the lines during the run
thru. The SAG-AFTRA rep showed up, which was unheard of on a Thursday. I was worried our show would be fined for
using them in the scene. The executives said they wanted Echo and Thomas to play the parts, so the rep left thinking
it was all good. Our director went over their heads and insisted on Eric. I guess whatever makes the actor happy
and Eric was really really funny reading the part. He added a Scottish accent to the role that had everyone laughing.
I'm not sure what the real actor hired for the part would bring when he showed up next week, but Eric set the bar. I
wrapped out after the run thru in time to get home and join Ed at The Blue Room while Zyla went to dance class. They
were learning Thriller for Halloween Flash Mobbing. After cooking dinner, we watched some more episodes of Glee that
had come from Netflix. I was happy to see more of Cory and his new role running the Glee Club while Will was on Sabbatical.
Happy National Coming Out Day!! Friday, I headed
back into SSW. It had been so much fun the day before, coming back from hiatus, catching up with Alex and Elaine.
Our day had been mellow, not taking notes, just covering quick things. The vibe felt a little different when the boys
showed up. I did not know if they were upset they weren't being used to run the lines. Eric was again asked to
run lines not only for the character Andrew but also for Parvesh's character Jerry, since he was not going to be available.
I was pretty busy taking notes for my girl and to cover Becky. Everyone was covering more than their main character
because there were so many guest star roles. Another lucky Friday wrapped us out right after the run thru! I was
told I would be covering the butler Roddy played by Troy Blendell on Monday and to be back at 9am. Alex and Elaine headed
off to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, I was looking forward to my scary family time tomorrow wandering the mazes
of Magic Mountains Fright Fest. I got home and helped Zyla with some history homework before taking her to an extra
practice of dance class for the Thriller Flash Mob shows. We distressed her Corpse Bride costume from Halloween a few
years back so she could wear it for the Flash Mob. I smeared green and black make-up into the fabric making it look
like she had crawled out of a grassy grave. I finished reading The Last Nude.
I loved Ellis Avery's work and was thinking about reading her memoir of 9/11. I really wished The Last Nude would be made into a movie. It shocked me there were no movies about the amazing painter
Tamara de Lempicka. It could be like Girl with a Pearl Earring. I
had loved that book and Scarlette Johansson playing the lead role Vermeer's model Griet in the movie pleased me greatly.
But if Ellis book were made into a movie I would end it at page 250. Part two of the book, which switches from the model
Rafaela Fano's point of view to that of Tamara did not flow for me thematically. I enjoyed getting a little more from
the author with the last 60 pages, about Tamara's life 60 years later and her memories of the past, but could not see it flowing
theatrically. Zyla and I watched another Glee, The Dark Side episode which themed around superheroes giving me nostalgic
memories of childhood comic books and Batman and Robin on TV. It was a fun episode and hard to believe that Cory was
gone. The actually current Glee episode that had aired the night before was in memory of Cory's death. Of course
everyone tuned into that and SSW's ratings fell from last weeks 1.4 to 1.0.
Saturday, Zyla had another practice for the Thriller Flash Mob, this time out front of the recreation center
in the grass. Her teacher Teri, wanted them prepared for dancing in grass as opposed to the smooth dance floor, since
the Flash Mobbing would take place in many different outdoor locations. We watched the ‘Thanksgiving' episode
on her disk of Glee, which stuck the song ‘Let's Have a Kiki' into my head for the rest of the weekend. Ed and
I watched more American Horror Story Asylum. The show was just so well done, so creepy, I was addicted to it.
Fright Fest at Magic Mountain summoned us and we responded by driving out to the theme park and entering the haunted hills.
Zyla wanted to brave the mazes, so we bought wristbands and made our way around the park to the scariest ones. Zyla
led us threw Total Darkness, very cool, completely in the dark, feeling our way through the maze hanging onto a rope.
We were reborn out of the theater and onto Weepy Hills ISANEtorium. All of DC Universe was alight with green lazers,
smoking fog machines and scary villains. The Aftermath maze was supposedly the biggest in southern Cally. I liked
the post apocalyptic city, felt like I was in Terminator. The mazes were more fun, suspenseful, than gory and horrifying.
I felt pretty safe going through them all, enjoying the visuals. I loved all the fog machines which at some moments
would be so thick you could not see two inches in front of your face. I would bravely walk through with my hands out.
We entered the Hypnotist comedy show starring James Kellogg Jr. Zyla was upset she wasn't brought on stage to be hypnotized.
But he wasn't picking kids out of the audience. Toys of Terror was fun and different, bright florescence and a cool
spiral path that really made me feel like I was spinning. Around midnight we still had half the mazes to do! We
ate a Caramel Funnel Cake to get our energy up and hit the haunted mansion maze Willoughby's Resurrected and Chupacabra.
At that point of night things got silly and we were laughing instead of really getting spooked. I kept asking where
is Chupacabra and would then be growled at by an unseen voice in the maze. I loved the scare zones, especially the Nightmares
one which was lit up in black light. We got in line for Tatsu, but the ride got stuck so we went on the last train of
the night for Viper before heading home. As I rode up the track in the front seat, I looked out at the park covered
in fog and spooky lights, listening to the sounds of screaming and laughter. I looked up at the stars seeing the Big
Dipper, Orion, the half moon. I loved this beautiful dark evening with my family. The coaster spiraled through
seven loops before it was time to exit the park a little after 1am. After all that stimulation I was not tired, so Ed
and I relaxed with some wine and another episode of American Horry Story before passing out around 3am. Sunday was mellow, Zyla slept in. I had a dream about Fright Fest almost
falling in a dark hole where a monster was waiting to eat me. I woke up around 7:30am and started reading a new book
Little Fugue by Robert Anderson. It centered around Sylvia Plath, the
suicidal poet who touched so many lives. Ed and I watched more American Horror Story. I was happy to see Chloe's
character killed off after everything she had been through but would miss her on the show. I liked this season finding
it just as eerily creative and interesting as the first. Ed was having a read thru of his script Sin Her Scared.
After feeding Zyla dinner I rushed her over to run the lines with the other actors in the movie. Zyla and I watched
an episode of Parenthood, which ended up being the episode I was featured in! Ed and I ended the night with some more
American Horror Story. Monday, Brian, the stand in for
Chris D'Elia from Whitney, came to visit our set. On Friday, I had seen a golf cart with Ironside on it and had no idea
his show was on our lot as well. I texted him and he said he had been working Stage 3 for the past three months!
Everyone was happy to see him and excited about his big news, that his wife Heather was six months pregnant! He was
going to be a daddy, showing us the 3D Ultrasound pictures he had of his little boy. The day went by quick and smooth,
ahead of schedule. The luxury mansion apartment set that was created for the character Andrew played by Craig Ferguson
was amazing. Craig was really funny, the Scottish accent made the scene. Now it made sense why Eric had played
it that way during the run thrus last week. Sean had been nice to me this entire episode, waving hello, saying good
morning. It was such a refreshing change from Whitney, who usually never acknowledged the stand ins. Linda Lavin
was celebrating her birthday and brought an ice cream truck for everyone to enjoy. Our first truck on the show!
The temperature had soared back into the 80's so I went for a Caramel milkshake. I wrapped out early for a Monday, and
joined my family for some Chinese food at Frontier Walk. Zyla had to study for a big history test, while Ed and I finished
watching 6 Souls, a creepy murder mystery starring Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Great acting, gave me crazy
dreams. Show Night number 7!!! Alex was not feeling
well, so we decided not to hit the bar on our 4-hour lunch break. Most of the stand ins just went home to chill.
The morning went by quickly watching the camera refresh. Alex was asked to run Sammie's lines since her call time was
later in the afternoon. I went home to relax, then picked up Zyla and her cookie butter from Trader Joe's. The
new hottest snack at school was cookie butter. I had never heard of it, but I spread some on bread for Zyla and took
a bite. Wow, yummy. It tasted like a gingerbread man cookie, lots of cinnamon sugar. I helped Zyla with
some homework before I headed back into the stages. Our evening in the AD office was mellow, the show ended with a huge
cake wheeled out and everyone singing Happy Birthday to Linda. On my day off, I got some errands done, went for a quick rosary hike up Stough, then watched two episodes of Glee
that Ed and Zyla had watched the night before while I was at work. I really enjoyed the episode ‘Swan Song', Rachel/Lea's
voice was amazing as usual and I was happy Kurt got into NYADA. Ed came home early from work so we had some alone time
before I had to pick up Zyla from Mock Trial. We watched the first two episodes of Sean Saves the World that were on
nbc.com. Ed loved the show and we both laughed at all the funny characters. Central called saying I was going
to be back at the stages for Thursday, which surprised me considering I had read the next script and there were no guest star
girls to cover. When I got the emailed call sheet, I saw that they were bringing in all the stand ins, so maybe this
would be a new regular thing we could always work on the Thursdays too! Zyla was texted by Kids Management to work Suburgatory,
but unfortunately Ed and I were both working and couldn't take her. Ed had to head back into work to film his school
play. Zyla and I went shopping for Teagan's gift. After dinner we watched another Glee, then I watched an American
Horror Story before heading to bed. Thursday, was
a long day not doing much at the stages. I really was not needed, but was happy for the extra paycheck. Most of
the time I watched the rehearsals. Joe asked all the stand ins to stand around playing office BG for the run thru.
I was also asked to be one of the two firemen who come to rescue Max and Hunter at a bar. By the next day those characters
were written out of the script. I came home in time to take Zyla to dance class. Since Ed was at his school filming
his school play again, I did not head over to The Blue Room, but instead read from Little
Fugue. Kids Management texted again for Suburgatory, but Zyla would have needed a pageant dress, which she did
not have. They texted again for kids to be in a classroom during a sex education class watching a video, for something
called Sex, Drugs and Bullying. It was shooting about an hour from our house, and while Zyla had no school and Ed would
be off, she did not want to chance not getting back in time to perform at the Thriller Flash Mob with her dance class at the
Stough Canyon Nature Center's Haunted Adventure. Zyla and I watched an episode of Glee, then I watched an American Horror
before calling it a night. Friday, back at the stages,
I took notes on my girl Megan/Liz as well as the guest star Sarah Baker playing Tippy. Tippy was in many scenes, so
I covered her in the scenes Liz was not in and Alex covered her in the other scenes. The entire bar had been reconstructed
at 1am, made over larger, with the doors now near the bar instead of across the room from the bar. So it was all new
blocking with the new set up and no lights were set. After the run thru Patti asked us to stay and help block the lighting
for the big scene in the bar. Kids Management texted again with a gig on Suburgatory for Monday. Zyla was getting
so upset that we had to keep turning down one of her favorite shows, but she was not prepared with any work to do during the
3 hour set school time and Ed could not take another day off and I was working. My show ended, wrapping out by 4:30pm,
in time to get home and Zombify Zyla. The Stough Canyon Nature Center was doing their annual Haunted Hike at the Starlight
Bowl and Zyla's dance class would be performing two Flash Mobs to Michael Jackson's Thriller. After doing her make-up
Zyla took cool self-portraits with her ipad. Ed filmed both performances under the full moon from different angles at
my direction. When we first got there a coyote ran down the mountain and trotted across the street toward us, spooky.
The dance looked amazing, we celebrated at Niko Niko with some tasty sushi.
Saturday I woke early to take care of some errands before we headed to my friend Jason and Jen's house to
celebrate their daughter Teagan's 2nd Birthday! Jen's mom was in town from Alaska and had brought moose treats.
Jen's brother had shot and killed a moose on their property up there and had the hundreds of pounds of meat processed into
burgers and pepperoni. I loved moose who knew. It was all very tasty with the chilled Chardonnay. After
cake we made our exit so I could zombify Zyla again for her second night of Flash Mobbing at the Starlight Bowl Haunted Hike.
Ed posted up the footage from the previous evening. Our friends David and Tobey showed up to watch and support Zyla
and her dance team. Zyla had fun dancing with her friends and teachers Teri and Amanda Richardson. Zyla wanted
to go through the Haunted Maze so I got tickets and we braved the Insane Asylum of Starlight Bowl. I loved how it wound
down into the depths behind the stage. I got scared at one point by a scary clown that I thought was just a mannequin.
Sunday was mellow, Zyla alter served at the 1pm Mass,
Ed grilled up steaks. Monday I was back at SSW early since Sean had to be at an awards show in the early evening.
We preshot a big scene in the bar, which took much longer than expected. At walk away lunch a taco truck came, our second
truck of the season. The guest star Sara Baker introduced herself to me when I was standing in for her during a Sean's
Apartment scene. Everyone seemed in a good mood, and we caught up on time still wrapping out
early for a Monday at 5:15pm. Watched some of The L Word with Ed before calling it a night.
Show Night number 8!!! Our day flew by on set, watching the camera refresh of all the scenes, then
we were given a 3 hours lunch break, so I went home to chill. When I returned to set I read more from Little Fugue but it just was not meshing with me. The book jumped between different character's talking
and their perspective of events. I mostly enjoyed Assia's perspective, but when I noticed she did not have voice for
most of the third act of the book, I gave up on it. The live studio audience was really pumped up, dieing laughing the
entire time. We wrapped out by 9pm. I got home in time to say prayers with Zyla, then started the movie Dead End
which Alex had recommended to me. It was on Netflix instant. It mostly took place in an automobile, everyone trapped
in this nightmare of a road that never ends. I enjoyed it. On my only day off, I went for a rosary hike at Stough enjoying the spooky thick layer of fog and chilly weather.
It was starting to feel like October again, if only for a few hours. By noon the sun was back out and temperatures were
in the 80's. I started a new book The Girl in the Photograph by Gabrielle
Donnelly. It kept my interest more than Little Fugue had. I liked
the main characters search to find out more about her dead mother off one photograph she found when her dad died. I
took a long nap before picking up Zyla from Mock Trial. Ed had to work late doing Parent/Teacher conferences.
I made dinner, then watched an episode of Glee with Zyla before putting her to bed. Ed came home in time to catch the
last half of Glee, then we watched the last disk of American Horror Story. I had felt the show sort of ended with episodes
10 and 11, but found the last two episodes interesting in the afterlife of survivors of Briarcliff, and the final episode
connecting the past with the present. Thursday I
was back at SSW with Elaine to do the guest star girls that were not in yet. I read for the character Tabitha, who is
part of Susan's posse. Susan was played by Leslie Grossman, whom I recognized immediately upon seeing her and hearing
her voice. She had worked on Whitney as Chris brother's wife. She looked awesome, new hair cut, great energy.
The drama of the morning was when all over the internet, Sean's interview about how he blamed NBC for the shows low ratings
came out. I think it was a publicity stunt maybe to get ratings for tonight's show, or he was just showing that he would
not go down without a fight. Kids Management texted with a job on Back in the Game for Zyla, but Ed and I were both
working on Friday so it wasn't going to happen. The day flew by and after the run thru, I went home to take Zyla to
dance class. Ed joined me in The Blue Room for our favorite cocktails before we all headed home so I could make dinner.
We all watched another episode of Glee, then Ed and I finished the extra behind the scenes stuff on American Horror.
It was truly amazing all that had gone into the show and how they brilliantly brought horror and imagination together to create
something new yet, creepy with innuendos of old. I loved the Asylum season, I wasn't sure which I liked better the first
one with the Haunted House or this one, they were both very well done. Ed and I talked about what horror movie we wanted
next from Netflix with Halloween right around the corner, and went with the new remake of Nightmare on Elm Street, which neither
of us had seen yet. Friday, I got ready to head into set
and checked the ratings for SSW. The show had held steady at a 1.1 same as last week. So nothing had changed.
It was a shame because our show was really funny and great. The guest star actors were all in attendance so all
I had to do was take notes on my girl Megan and the guest star Leslie. Sean was upset about the episode because he felt
it was offensive to gays and that was a big part of the target audience. He wanted a rewrite so that the episode showed
that not only was it wrong to pretend to be gayer than you were, but it was offensive. In the episode Sean's character
goes over the top gay to get a job at his daughter's school assisting with the art design of his daughter's art fundraiser.
The episode did come full circle in the end saying it's ok to be as gay as you are and not live up to TV stereotypes of what
gay is. Sean just felt the message might be too late in the episode and turn off fans before they watched that far.
Kids Management texted with a job for Zyla on Shameless for Monday, but unfortunately Ed and I were both working so no one
could take her. Patti did not need us after the run thru so I got another lucky super early out Friday and went to pick
up Zyla from school. I drove her over to Crespi to meet up with Ed after she had finished her homework and had some
dinner. She was helping his Media Department with the big Homecoming game that evening between Crespi and Notre Dame,
for some service hours. I spent the evening chilling back at home watching a beautiful artsy movie called The Perfect
Ending. I loved the story line of a married woman exploring lesbianism and orgasm through a call girl, who was a talented
sketch artist with troubling issues of her own. I read a bit from The Girl
in the Photograph before falling asleep. The weekend
before Halloween, I wanted to watch some scary movies, so Ed and I watched Scream. I loved this movie when it came out
in 1996 and still felt the same about it. I found it a clever anthology tribute reminiscent of past classic horror films
of my childhood. Zyla joined us for the last half of it after doing her homework, not scared by the slasher thrill ride.
We watched another episode of Glee so we could get the disk back. The episode ‘Girls (and Boys) on Film' had to
be my top favorite episode of season 4. All the song numbers were awesome remakes of classic films again from my childhood
that I had loved. This episode also held the 500th dance performance by the cast of Glee. Amazing all
the hard work that had gone into this show. Zyla and I watched the behind the scenes footage all about the making of
this iconic episode and a flashback to favorite musical numbers the cast had performed throughout the years of the show.
Kudos to the choreographers, Zack Woodlee and Brooke Lipton who help make the magic come to life. Ed had to go into
Crespi for a school event Saturday night and Zyla needed to be zombified again for a Flash Mob with her dance class at the
Haunted Wilsley Manor II in Burbank. I got her ready and she performed in the street in front of the Haunted House where
people were lined up around the block to get in. It was surreal watching her dance with such a big crowd and cars driving
by. Later that night when Ed got home we watched one of Ed's favorite classic horrors based off the book by Stephen
King, Pet Cematary. I think I saw it so long ago I forgot what happened, so it was fun experiencing it again.
On Sunday we slept in and kept it mellow. I wanted to go back to Magic Mountain for the last night of Fright Fest to
ride Colossus backwards in the dark. Unfortunately the ride was shut down for repairs. We opted for Goliath, which
was awesome in the dark! We rode Wonder Woman and Flash in DC Universe while the fog machines and green lasers eerily
lit up the night. Creatures came out as we walked through scare zones. To end the night we went on Full Throttle
which was the most entertaining line since the Voodoo Nights go-go dancers were performing right next to it and the monster
flat screen was showing flashes of horror from the different mazes around the park. That was an awesome ride in the
dark as well. Zyla had to go straight to bed when we got home, but Ed and I watched Bride of Chucky. Chucky movies
being one of my childhood favorites, this one was especially entertaining.
Monday I was back at SSW. The vibe was weird. We were running behind shooting the pre-shoots,
which is typical, but strange things kept happening. Bells would go off when they weren't supposed to. Actors
could not remember their lines. It just felt like pulling teeth to get the pre-shots done. Our director Mark wanted
to forget all about the pre-shoots once they were finished and start the day all over again, saying good morning while it
was already 1pm in the afternoon. I wasn't sure if the vibe was off because the script really had not been re-written
and Sean was still having issues with being a gay man, playing a gay man who is faking being an over the top gay man.
He kept questioning all his lines and how he would deliver them. I had heard he played an over the top gay man on Will
and Grace and couldn't understand why this would be challenging to him. But that had been a long time ago, and maybe
he was so far removed from it that to go back to it, went against his grain, who knows. We finally finished out the
day by 5:30pm. Sean would not be in until noon the following day, so Michael would be running all Sean's lines for the
camera refresh and Alex would be running all of Sammie's lines since she is a minor who couldn't come to set until 1pm.
I did get to do off camera dialog with Michael during the pre-shoot, we played Sean and Liz giving each other foot rubs on
the couch while Leslie/Susan overhears us from the hall outside the front door of the apartment. So that was fun and
an extra bump in pay on the paycheck! Kids Management called with a two-day job on Back in the Game, but no one could
take her. Then Kids Management texted like ten times desperate to get kids on Parenthood for the following day.
It seems a bunch of phone companies were down Verizon and Sprint so those people weren't getting texts and therefore not enough
kids were being called in for the job. No one could take Zyla since Ed and I were working, I felt bad, but we would
just have to wait on another gig to work out for her. Ed and I watched the latest Sean Saves the World episode on nbc.com
and barely laughed. I remember that not every episode of Whitney was funny. Some episodes are a home run hit and
some are just ok. The Nightmare on Elm Street remake came from Netflix. Ed had wanted to check it out, but he
ended up falling asleep half way through. It didn't feel as scary to me as the original, I made it through the first
hour then went to bed. Shownight number 9!!! We
got off to another weird start. Someone had cancelled the breakfast, no one knew who, but even the UPM had no idea it
was cancelled. Many upset crew members filed in to start the long day without any hot food waiting. Some bagels,
doughnuts, cheese and cracker plates were put out, but that hardly met up with what we were all used to, a big hot breakfast.
Things got started about a half hour late due to this, but eventually the regular shownight vibe got going. Music was
playing as camera operators pulled their cameras over to Sean's Apartment set to start the refresh. More food was brought
in, chicken skewers, coconut shrimp, little sandwiches. Sean would be gone until noon, he was a guest at The Talk all
morning apologizing for coming out as gay too late. I guess there had been controversy about his character on Will &
Grace being too gay, I had no idea. I guess this all made sense why he did not like this current episode we were shooting
of Sean Saves the World and having to reprise that role of too gay. We did the camera refresh in record time thanks
to Michael standing in for Sean. Everything went smooth and Michael played Sean's role pretty funny. Alex played
Sammie/Ellie's role, it all went well. Then Sean showed up just as we were finishing the last scene which had already
been pre-shot yesterday, but would be played out for the audience that evening as well. For some reason the director
did not like the camera angles and was stopping and starting the actors, which can be really annoying. Sean got upset
since we had already filmed the scene yesterday for 4 hours and it should be a no brainer as to where the cameras go.
Then we had to refresh the entire show again, so Sean could do it. He was still upset things hadn't been re-written
the way he wanted. He did not like the opening scene where he unbuttons his pants to let his tummy out. It looked
like he was going to masturbate, that was on most people's minds when they saw it. Sean asked for a show of hands, who
thought it looked like that? He did not want the opening of the show to be a joke around his stomach and finally the
writers re-wrote it so he is vacuuming the sofa. Eric, our PA told us to go for a fitting in the Production Office for
our crew sweatshirt hoodies. I went over and tried on the small, which fit great. We finally broke for lunch at
2pm, which gave me three hours to go home and chill. I finished watching The Nightmare on Elm Street. I actually
thought the last half hour was the best part, but I still did not like the new Freddie, the original was just so much better,
creepier. Ed came home for a lunar nooner with me before I had to go back to work and he went to pick up Zyla from Mock
Trial. I was the first to return to set to the AD office. Joe the 1st AD told me that next week we
would find out if SSW would be getting any back episodes. He said if not, that he was leaving to do the Mulaney sitcom
that had been picked up by Fox. He had done the pilot last spring for NBC, who had not picked it up. He told me
he would take me along if they left to go there. I finished reading The Girl
in the Photograph, thought the character a little harsh on her mom when she found out exactly what she had done.
I did not think it was that big a deal, love is love and God works through it all. As I listened to the episode play
out in front of the audience it just did not seem that funny. It had some moments, but I think had too many deep-rooted
issues. I wrapped out by 9:18pm, wishing everyone a Happy Hiatus! I went home to watch Hellraiser with Ed.
That was another favorite of mine. I used to be obsessed with all things Clive Barker as a teen. Read all his
books, saw all his movies. It was fun to go back into his dark twisted world.
On my day off, I went back to the library to find new books. Took a long afternoon nap before getting
Zyla from Mock Trial. Started reading a new book The Autobiography of Alice
B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein. Watched Dark Water, a horror movie I picked up at the library. I had never
seen it, but loved Jennifer Connelly. It was not that scary, I was not jolted out of my seat as the box cover art suggested.
We grew bored with it about an hour in and went to bed. Zyla was worried she might have nightmares, but in the morning
she had not. Happy Halloween 2013!!! I woke Zyla
early to help her get ready in her costume. I did her make-up and hair then got my beautiful steam punk off to school.
I was scheduled to work in the library since I finally had a Thursday off, but as I signed in the Principal told me that it
was cancelled due to the school's annual Halloween Carnival, so I went home. I had not given much thought to dressing
up this year, but after seeing Ed leave the house as the possessed Pope Innocent X, I thought maybe I would go as a mellow
goth girl. I started putting on white powder over my face and blacking out my eyes. I put on some black clothes
I would be comfortable in. Then an idea struck me how Ed and I could be a matching couple. I dug through Zyla's
drawer and found her old nun habit headdress she had used at her Oratorical Faire four years ago. I found a tight black
dress that went perfect with it, and some knee high black socks. I would be Sister Mary Eunice from American Horror
Story Asylum! I did not think the outfit appropriate to wear to pick up Zyla from school, so I changed out of it before
I went to get her. We had lunch, then watched Bride of Chucky before I took her to her friend Jillian's Halloween Birthday
Bash. The rest of the evening belonged to Ed and I only, our first Adult Halloween out in forever! I had wanted
to go to The Federal bar to see the burlesque show, but they were charging outrageous prices just to get in the door, so Ed
and I had fun taking photos in our costumes and role-playing American Horror Asylum about town. ‘Domi-nique-nique-nique
s'en allait tout simplement, Routier, pauvre et chantant' played through my mind all evening. Ed's make-up had been
extreme as was his way all day. I felt he looked like he had taken a nosedive into asphalt going about 50 mph.
I wanted to clean up his look, make him approachable, classic goth, so he spent some time in my make-up chair under phase
one of his exorcism. We wound up at Kabuki, my favorite sushi of downtown Burbank, it is just soooo good. We started
with the broiled mussels, which melt in your mouth with the sesame mayo sauce. Spicy tuna on crispy rice filled my mouth
with happiness and mmmmm. I got my usual roll spicy tuna crunch, while Ed opted for spicy seafood udon pasta.
I kept sneaking bites of calamari and tasty noodles from his plate, so insanely good! We left satisfied and headed down
the street to The Blue Room. Tony the bartender had said it gets crazy crowded on Halloween, but it was mellow for the
hour we were there. Champagne and cashews with chocolate amid the spooky décor. My favorite costume of
the night was a girl running around saying she was Kitty Krueger. Dressed in a Freddy sweater, with her fingers gloved
in knives, her bottom half was a black leotard and tights and a long cattail. Meow!
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