Chasing The George

I Popped My Cherry…Again.

And I did so in front of a room of very talented artists and an incredible acting teacher. On Thursday, February 18th at approximately 9:30pm, Lindsay Hopper and I took to the stage and got into place. The lights went down in the theater and Robin Karfo called out the name of our scene. Accompanied by her amazingly talented boyfriend, Jordan Bull, on the guitar, Lindsay and I began to sing “That Would Be Enough” from the insanely brilliant Broadway smash musical, “Hamilton”.

Weeks leading up to our song, she and I received texts, emails and in-person shout outs from various people who couldn’t wait to see us sing together. After our song ended Thursday night, we received a wonderful round of applause and cheers. We sat downstage center and received our assessment from Richard Lawson. It was a great first take.

I popped my cherry again because the first thing I said when I sat down for the assessment was, “I have to say that this is the first time I’m singing in front of an audience, with someone else and with accompaniment in 9 years!” I cheered and everyone in the room immediately cheered and applauded for me.

Singing in front of my peers and friends was a big moment for me. To give you some context of the magnitude of this event, please check out two previous blog entries I wrote in 2015 that addressed a failed purpose I had with singing and what I did to fix that:

Part 1: How A 15-Year Old Inspired Me:
http://wp.me/p8uI5M-3d

Part 2: Care-Fronting My Director:
http://wp.me/p8uI5M-3c

The rehearsal process was fun and it was a re-training of my ear in terms of singing with someone else and singing with an instrument and being able to re-learn the song quickly whenever the key was changed. It was like stepping into a dance studio after not having trained in a long time…you’ll always be a trained dancer, but you start re-learning, you start rehabilitating, you start re-awakening and the rust slowly but surely comes off.

I was like a giddy five-year old kid during rehearsals. I would then obsessively rehearse the song on my own. I also found myself singing additional songs in my free time. I started to remember how much I love to sing. I started to remember that I once sang at Madison Square Garden!

Lindsay and I will repeat the song and take it to the next level with the notes we received. I’d like to continue putting up musical scenes in class. How singing will fit into my overall dream remains to be seen, but maybe it’ll find its way into characters I write for myself in feature films and TV series. Perhaps my character will be that one that busts into a song in the middle of the restaurant to profess his love for someone. Or maybe when my character comes home from a long day of work, he busts out in a musical number to shake the day off. Sky’s the limit as a writer.

But in terms of staying in alignment with the concept of “Chasing The George”, singing “That Would Be Enough” after 9 years of not singing in public is an example of and testament to that: To move full steam ahead and commit. To not flinch. To have fun. To do the work and then let it go the minute I get on stage because I know the work is in me.

Here’s to more!

Chasing The George.

“Hamilton”…with a twang.

Chasing The George

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! I hope everyone had a great weekend! This has been an action-packed week and it was awesome to end it with a great rehearsal with Lindsay Hopper. We’re working on “That Would Be Enough” from the smash Broadway musical, “Hamilton”, and at the end of our rehearsal last night, we decided to do a silly take. With her amazing boyfriend, Jordan Bull, on acoustic guitar, here is 45 seconds of us singing the song in a country twang…and me trying to understand how to sing and dance on the 1 and 3 instead of the 2 and 4 LOL.

After a great week of career administration and Chasing The George, it’s important to have a moment of fun too! Click on the link below and enjoy!

https://youtu.be/W5VV3Wx4hrg

Armed, Fabulous & Dangerous

Chasing The George

For those of you just tuning in, my blog is called “Chasing The George” because it’s a play on the phrase, “Chasing The Ambulance”. In emergency mode, ambulances will cut through traffic with intention to get to their destination. And because ambulances do this, some people illegally follow behind them in order to get to their destination as well. “Chasing The George” has been and is a weekly chronicling of my journey…my intention to carve out and forward my career…with humor and passion thrown into the mix as well. Get to the destination.

I’ve already shared what I wanted to achieve on a personal level for 2016. Now, I would like to share what I want to achieve on a professional level for 2016. I have spent the last three weeks creating an entire Declaration of Independence (DOIN’) aka a business plan for one of my postulates. My DOIN’ will definitely keep me on the path and keep me intentional. It’ll keep me “Chasing The George”.

A postulate is defined as:

A proposition that requires no proof, being self evident, or that is for a specific purpose assumed true, and that is used in the proof of other propositions; a self evident conclusion, decision or resolution; a self generated truth, a prediction.

So this is the postulate I have chosen and am focusing on for 2016:

Cristela Alonzo, Tyler Perry, Mindy Kaling, Lena Dunham, Jorge Ortiz: Self-generating artists who have carved a name and empire for themselves in Hollywood and in the world.

I presented my DOIN’ in class this past Friday and I am incredibly excited. I am now armed, fabulous and dangerous. My road map for 2016 is clear.

My DOIN’ is on the wall. So if I ever fall off the path or get diverted from it, I just have to look at it again and it’ll put my sexy Dominican & Puerto Rican ass back on it.

I will do everything in my power to get closer and closer to achieving my postulate. The postulate is the top of Mount Everest. I am climbing this mother fucker every day.

I am armed, fabulous and dangerous because my plan is clear.

Cristela Alonzo. Tyler Perry. Mindy Kaling. Lena Dunham. Jorge Ortiz.

Diversity.

Subversive.

Open the closet door to topics people are afraid to talk about.

Actor. Writer. Stud.

Armed, fabulous and dangerous in my acting work, my writing projects, the relationships I continue to cultivate and nourish.

Laugh with Harvey Weinstein.

Selfie with Madonna. Dance with Madonna. Shout out from Madonna.

Eduardo Cisneros.

Vladimir Caamano.

Writing competitions.

Internships. Apprenticeships.

In front of the camera.

Behind the camera.

Engage. Inspire.

TRANSCEND.

James Franco.

My Story Can Beat Up Your Story and Contour.

In demand.

I belong.

Armed, fabulous and dangerous.

Chasing The George

Oscars So White Again.

Who knew that the above picture would inspire my latest blog entry! I originally downloaded this picture on December 8th, 2015 because I was struck by its beauty and by its ultimate message of love and humanity without boundaries.

For those of you who know me, I become obsessed with awards season. My obsession begins in September (with the kick off of the Telluride and Toronto International Film Festivals) and it ends on Oscars night. Literally, the next day after the Oscars, I am depressed and it takes me a few hours to get myself out of it. Why? Because from September through Oscars night, I watch many films and I read many online industry sites like Gold Derby, The Envelope and Scott Feinberg. I follow statistics and projections and predictions. I feel like I am on the same journey with the nominees in many different categories. I love reading interviews and watching round-table discussions with the nominees. I get so invested because I’m POSTULATING that I will be a nominee as well. That I will be up there delivering my own speeches. Side note: I always cry during the “In Memoriam” section of the SAG Awards and the Oscars. I cry because these are my artistic brothers and sisters and I’m having a moment of respect for them. It’s a camaraderie, a fellowship much like you see amongst cops, firemen, military, sports teams, etc. and how they come together when one of their own dies.

So naturally, I’ve had a few people ask me about the current “Oscars So White Again” controversy. It’s taken me a while to really process my whole viewpoint on this. I’ve read different opinions from both sides of the fence. Some very hilarious, some very tragic, some very poignant, some moments where I could see the viewpoint from both sides of the fence.

And then I stumbled upon this picture. And I felt like the picture represented my answer. I could let the picture speak for itself, but it would be nice if you also got my viewpoint. This is how I see my world. I see my world through the lens of vibrant colors. I see the world through diversity, love and humanity. It’s hard for me to see “differences” or “different” because I see people. Straight, gay, transgender, black, white, Latino, Asian, man, woman, older, younger, able, challenged…I see people. I see two beautiful human beings in this picture. I’m not concerned that one is black and one is white and I’m not concerned that they’re both men.

I can only hope that Hollywood and other industries can see people as people. That they can see things through a similar lens. That we are based upon our work and qualifications. That’s why it’s vital to create for ourselves and show others what we can do.

If you had seen the courageous, bold, moving work that went up this past Thursday at the Richard Lawson Studios scene study class, that’s what I’m talking about. Had you seen that work, your perception of humanity would have been changed for the better. Three standing ovations in a row for three different pieces of work that went up. The class saw humanity expressed through the power of art on that stage. Robin Karfo, Beth Pennington and Carole Ita White each transcended race, class, sexuality, gender and age with their work. The previous Thursday in class, Reed Iacarella and I put up a scene from My Beautiful Laundrette that also transcended the same areas, that produced the same results and received a standing ovation. People saw two human beings on stage. People walked away with a more expanded appreciation of humanity. People learned something about humanity. That’s the fucking power of art.

I hope that people continue creating vehicles and opportunities for themselves to change perceptions and to create change. I’m fortunate to be part of the RLS where people create for themselves. Beth, Robin, Carole, Reed, myself and countless other RLS students can (and do) take their work out into the real world and make a difference. Walk the walk. Change viewpoints. Create more diversity in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, masculinity, femininity, etc.

I’m working with an actress on auditioning technique and she told me this past Wednesday that a casting director told her that the only characters she is going to play are baby mamas and crackheads. My mouth dropped. Yes, I understand casting. I understand that we all have a first circle of casting of parts we can kill. And I even told her from day one that she could play those characters as well, but I saw more! I saw her potential. But to dismiss someone like that and to say that that’s all they’re capable of ever playing, pissed me off. Particularly (and ironically) because on this day, this actress was dressed to the nines to play a character that called for that look. Her hair was done, her makeup was done, she was wearing an expensive and powerful young executive outfit. I told her that this character was great casting for her. It really shows her in a different light. This character expands her casting. I believe her in this casting. She did a great job during our session and took my re-directs wonderfully and like a pro. And I have seen her tackle other material with me that was light years away from the baby mamas and crackheads.

When she told me what that casting director said, I looked at her and replied, “You are going to nail this audition today and then we are going to repeat this same audition next week. I want you to have this girl solidified in your pocket and then you’re putting this on your reel. CREATE THE EVIDENCE to out-create that shit!” She can put this character on her reel and send it to that casting director.

Create the evidence to out-create narrow-minded perceptions in whatever field you’re in. Create the evidence and change the model. Create the evidence to expand expectations of what women can do, of what gay people can do, of what a 50-year old person can do, etc. Create, create, create so we have more diversity to enjoy and celebrate!

The more we can create for ourselves, the more we can get to a place where we can see things like the above picture with total comfort and ease. It won’t be a big deal anymore. It’ll be a part of every day life and eventually reflected on screen and recognized.

That being said, I’m not mad at this year’s Oscar nominees. I am still watching the show. To be recognized with a nomination is no small feat and I applaud every single nominee in every single category. I have to appreciate and applaud these individuals for what they achieved.

What I Really Want In 2016

Chasing The George

Aside from the obvious goal of taking my career to the next level and ruling the world, what else do I really want in 2016 on a personal level? What do I really want that will fill my spirit? Some goals:

1) Meet my partner in crime. Someone who is definitely on my artistic career bus and supports me. Together, we raise each other up to be the best versions we can be in our personal and professional endeavors. Someone I can laugh with, cry with, rule with, feel alive with. Someone who encourages me to jump because they’ll be my safety net.

2) To experience various forms of art. Experiences that make me fall to my knees, that make me weep, where the Holy Spirit enters my body, where I have visions, where I speak in tongues, where my senses are assaulted, etc. These things immediately come to mind:

**The rain room at LACMA:

image

 

**To experience art together with my partner in crime

**Attend the LA Philharmonic

**Would love to see Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s magnificent “The Sleeping Beauty”. The first 45 seconds alone rocks me. I am seriously considering extending those first 45 seconds on Audacity:  http://youtu.be/hJkTvPXRztU

**Would love to see the German opera, “Der Freischutz”, by Carl Maria von Weber. MY GOD, the famous Wolf’s Glen scene alone is worth the price of admission. “Hilfe Samuel!” The pathos, the desperation, the evaluation and degree to which a person goes to get what they want:  https://youtu.be/rdUdnDpnqFQ

3) Travel! At least twice this year to decompress, check in with myself and reset before going back on my artistic journey. I would love to go back to Cape Cod and Hawaii. I used to visit Cape Cod every other weekend during the summer after my sophomore year at Vassar. Rustic, quaint, New England, beautiful beaches, great seafood. Feels like a different place and time. Must own summer home there. Hawaii…the minute I stepped off the plane, the ancestors of Hawaii entered my body and I had a religious experience. The history of Hawaii ran through my veins. Beautiful, stunning, wonderful. Must go back.

And while I’m at it, more self-care in the form of massages, acupuncture, etc.

4) KILL MY CREDIT CARD DEBIT MOTHERFUCKERS!

Writer Whore?

Chasing The George

I love James Franco. He and I have a special connection and relationship. Our chemistry is undeniable. I’m about to start the third draft of my screenplay where James is the antagonist. By the way, I finally have a title for it! But I won’t reveal the title until I finish this third draft and register it with the WGA and the U.S. Copyright.

Every time I read James Franco’s dialogue, I blush. I become giddy. When I read his dialogue, I hear his voice and I see him looking at me with an irresistible twinkle in his dark brown eyes. At 5’7", 167.5 lbs and 10 inches…….in shoe size…….he is my muse for this particular script. We love each other and I always thought we would be together forever.

But lately, something strange is happening. I find myself sneaking out at different hours of the day and I don’t want James to know about it. And to a certain degree, I don’t want the other characters in the feature film to know about it either. But James in particular because he is my favorite.

What am I doing at these different hours? I’m writing a new series set in NYC! And I feel guilty because I’m falling in love with the new characters in it. I feel like I’m cheating on James Franco. I invested all this time into James and now I’m investing time into these new characters. And like James, one character has emerged as my favorite and he might end up being the break out character of the series. He is scraggly, skinny, unkempt, rocks dental braces and looks like his brain is a little fried. I love writing dialogue for him and breathing life into him.

This new character makes me laugh. He makes me smile. He makes me blush. I find myself reciting some of his lines out loud as if they were Shakespearean sonnets. I have a visual prototype of this character and I can look at it forever. His eyes are also dark brown and he looks at me with a twinkle in them. And don’t even get me started on another character who comes in at a very close second place. At four years old, audiences will fall in love with this adorably complex character.

OMG, I’m having a fucking affair behind James Franco’s back. I feel horrible. I’m betraying him. Should I come clean to him? What the fuck do I do? I’m a horrible person. Then it hits me: I’ve done this before. I was in love with the characters in a feature film titled Love Returned. It was all about them. And then, when I came up with the idea for the James Franco screenplay, I moved on from Love Returned. I’m a fucking writer whore. Oh God, a writer whore. Brand me with the scarlet letter.

A writer creates characters in a particular world for a certain period of time. A writer develops a very personal, intimate and long-lasting relationship with these characters from conception to completion. Sometimes, completion occurs when the project is released in the cinemas, or on TV, or online, or in bookstores, etc. Completion could also occur once awards season is over or once a project has run its course on the film festival circuit. And once that journey is complete, the writer moves on to a brand new set of characters and begins a whole new relationship with them. Or sometimes, like in my case, writers will be simultaneously managing multiple projects with different sets of characters and worlds. I’m having multiple affairs. Oh God, I’m a fucking writer whore jumping between the peeps in the James Franco screenplay and the peeps in the new series. And oh shit, I just remembered that I recently revisited a short film script and made changes to it as well.

But wait a minute, this is a common occurrence in the literary world. For example, JJ Abrams created the TV series, Alias. He was incredibly involved with Alias until he turned his attention to creating LOST. LOST became his new lover. And he kept that up until he created and/or executive produced other TV shows and movies. He’s just ONE of COUNTLESS examples.

I have written two feature films, two TV series, a short film and a non-fiction novel in the last few years. I was madly in love with the characters from the TV series, Chris/Tina, before I moved on to the amazing characters in the feature film, Love Returned. Then I moved on and fell in love with the characters in the short film. Then I moved on to the James Franco feature film. Now I’m falling in love with the characters in this new TV series. And each project has that one or two characters who become my favorites: Chris and Diego in Chris/Tina, Xavi and Jordan in Love Returned, Emilio in the short film, James and Laura in the feature film, Pito and Dominic in the new TV series.

But the amazing and cool thing is that whenever I re-visit any of these stories, I fall in love with the characters all over again. They are all part of my literary universe and life. They all are part of an artistic theme and arc. Baz Luhrmann has his Red Curtain Trilogy (Strictly Ballroom, Romeo & Juliet and Moulin Rouge) Krzysztof Kieslowski has his Three Colors Trilogy (Blue, White and Red) Quentin Tarantino wanted to combine Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained with a third film to create a Rewritten History Trilogy. Other writers have their own trilogies, arcs, series or themes. I feel like the body of work I have created falls under an arc. And they fall under the category of Urban Operas: Works that are cinematic, dramatic, musical, hard-hitting, real, impinging, tells it like it is, humorous.

Every character and world in each of my projects is connected to each other and they create something greater. The challenges Xavi experiences in Love Returned is no different than the challenges that Chris faces in Chris/Tina or the ones that Laura faces in the James Franco screenplay. These are human beings trying to survive and be the best that they can be against extraordinary circumstances and challenges. Even my non-fiction novel chronicles my own personal journey against a particular set of extraordinary circumstances and challenges during the summer of 2014.

I share something special with each character. Each one brings a new dynamic to the table. Sometimes a character in one project informs a character in another. Sometimes I recycle dialogue: I’ll take a paragraph or a monologue from one project and use it in another project and I’m amazed at how beautifully it still works.

Wow, maybe I’m not cheating after all! Maybe in this case it’s okay to be a whore. These characters and these worlds all take care of each other. They are part of an artistic whole. Part of the Urban Opera I’m weaving and conducting.

So now that I am aware of this, I don’t have to sneak around anymore. I don’t have to feel guilty anymore. I can embrace my whore. I can look James in his dark brown eyes and say, “Babe, I’m going to spend some time with the peeps at the new series. I’ll see you later tonight.” And vice versa, I’ll let the peeps at my new series know that I’ll be spending time with the peeps at the James Franco movie. I can tell Laura that I want to spend some time with Emilio and Jacob from the short film. And on and on and on.

I’m a writer whore and proud of it. Brand me with it.

A 7-Day Experiment

Chasing The George

I recently performed an experiment on Twitter where I time-lined seven days in the life of my journey and career administration as an artist. Every day, I shared with my followers, and with the world at large (through hashtags that would speak to my target audience), what I was doing to push my career forward. What this did for me was that it created a higher level of accountability. Once I tweeted out my concept for this experiment, there was no turning back. There was no way that I could not share my journey for the next seven days. Being accountable at a higher level created an environment where I couldn’t flinch. Where I couldn’t back off. I had to show up and deliver. I had to walk the walk. And not that I haven’t already been walking the walk all year long. And not that I haven’t already been walking the walk for many years point, blank, period. But this time, it was different because I was sharing my process, in real time, with people outside of my friends, peers, class and immediate community. And I had to share everything no matter how big, small, significant or elementary the career action was.

By day four, I completed everything on my career administration list and became inspired to add eight more things to it. It felt great to add additional things to my list to move my career forward another step.

Along the way, I received supportive tweets from followers and non-followers alike. I received likes, mentions and retweets. I also lost some followers as well. I wonder if they got turned off or intimidated by the fact that having a career actually takes work? Or if they got turned off because I posted a substantial amount of tweets and it started to feel like, “Look at me, look at me, look at me”? I was conscious of that and sprinkled in moments where I engaged with others and where I tweeted about other things outside of my career administration. For example, I took a thirty minute break from my administration and discovered the world of artist Roy Nachum. I love his work and he has four pieces that I would LOVE to own: “Kid King”, “Gold Powder”, “Brief Silence” and a piece from his “Blind” series. I would also break up my tweets by reminding people of my experiment. I would also compose certain tweets like, “Day 5 of 7 of my #ActorsJourney timeline…” so that people would see that I was experimenting/trying something out.

After seven days of this experiment, I put in 31 hours into my career…and this is with a full-time day job. Another week under my belt of moving my career forward.

And of course, celebration is as important to the #ActorsJourney as is the business administration of it. So I celebrated my 7-day experiment by ordering a copy of Evangeline Lilly’s book, “The Squickerwonkers”. I love her work as an actress and I’ve wanted to purchase a copy of her book for a while now. I mean, how can you not smile and feel good when you say, “The Squickerwonkers”? 🙂

And less than 24 hours after my experiment ended, an opportunity came my way for advancement.

Below is a sampling of the Tweets I sent out:

Going to do an experiment for the next 7 days where I post a timeline of my actor journey & administration. #actor #actors #actorsjourney

My #ActorsJourney timeline: At 7:30pm I watched @TipsOnActing #Periscope re: “Is Having Followers More Important Than Talent?”

My #ActorsJourney timeline: At 8:35pm I labeled postcards for commercial #CastingDirector mailings.

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 9:45am. At library to rent #DavidIves. Doing a scene with #Oscar winner @kellytighe.

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 11:05am Researching @HamiltonMusical by @Lin_Manuel. Yo yo: @lindsayhopper & I are doing a scene from it. Word.

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 12:20pm Confirmed 2 meetings. Now cleaning out my bathroom. It’s all about creating a space where art can occur.

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 10pm, spent 35 minutes making final tweaks on my new blog entry. Now off to dance for at least an hour. #Actor

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 9am, Posted new #blog entry titled, “I Have Artistic Tourettes”

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 12pm, career administration meeting with @SapirAzulaybe (one of the most beautiful & powerful people out there)

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 8pm, continuing edits on film script I mentioned earlier. Excited that actor Franco Vega wants to read it!

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 11:15am, Blessed to be surrounded by talented people: Justin Huen would also be great as the lead in my film.

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 1:30pm, Justin Huen is HIGHLY interested in reading my script. He’d be the lead. I’m thinking of crew to hire.

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 7pm, I have my target list of major management companies. Moving out of comfort zone & contacting them. #Actor

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 6:40 pm, Researching the casting directors behind three new TV series that look really promising & interesting.

Day 6 of 7 My #ActorsJourney timeline: 5pm, Researching & compiling a new target list of literary agents & managers. #ArtistJourney #Writer

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 8:12pm, Smiling at my growing body of literary work: 2 pilots, 2 features, 1 book, 1 short film. #Writer

My #ActorsJourney timeline: 8:37pm, Creating the log line for a new TV #pilot I wrote in 7.5 hours. #Writer #ArtistJourney #TV

Day 7 of 7! My #ActorsJourney timeline: 7am, Tackled the log line again for my new TV #pilot. This is truly a game of words. #Actor #Writer

Day 7 of 7! My #ActorsJourney timeline: 8am, Materials ready to go for #LiteraryAgent submissions. Will send after the Thanksgiving holiday!

My #ActorsJourney 7-day timeline ends tonight! 5:50pm, Here at the theater. Getting ready for scene study class, planning my next 7 days.

I Have Artistic Tourettes

Chasing The George

It felt weird not posting a blog entry last Sunday, November 8th! But I’m back! So let’s get right into it.

I have a confession to make.

Are you ready?

It’s something I’ve never admitted before. Not even to my lover James Franco. Not even to my second mother, Madonna.

Ready?

I HAVE ARTISTIC TOURETTES!

No, seriously. I have artistic tourettes.

Before I get into the WHY I have it, let’s get into the WHAT. According to the official website, tourette.org:

“Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (Tourette Syndrome or TS) is a neurological disorder which becomes evident in early childhood or adolescence. The first symptoms usually are involuntary movements (tics) of the face, arms, limbs or trunk.  These tics are frequent, repetitive and rapid.”

This paragraph below really resonated with me:

“Many persons report what are described as premonitory urges – the urge to perform a motor activity. Other symptoms such as touching, repetitive thoughts and movements and compulsions can occur.”

That’s it! That’s exactly what I have! I have the URGE TO PERFORM A MOTOR ACTIVITY on a daily basis. COMPULSIONS. In other words, I have a compulsion to be an artist 24/7. And this compulsion to be an artist expresses itself in the form of motor activities. Okay, who’s still with me on this one? Have I lost you yet? Have I lost the plot? Or do you FEEL what I’m saying and you’re yelling “AMEN!” right now?!

And whenever I’m in public, the compulsion is at its highest. I mean, come on, it’s a free audience waiting to receive your brilliance. For example, I’m currently experiencing the “joys” of public transportation here in Los Angeles. Yes, Los Angeles has a public transportation system. I know, I know, it’s hard to believe since it feels like everyone drives. Now, is the LA public transportation system as extensive as the one in NYC? No, but Los Angeles DOES have a public transportation system. Anyway, I’m on public transportation because my “Tesla” is currently at Express Auto Shop. Sam and his crew are simply THE BEST. Here’s their address and tell them George Ortiz sent you: 8927 W. Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035.

Anyway, taking public transportation and being forced to interact with people has been an interesting learning experience. We spend so much time in our cars that we start losing touch with human connection. We start forgetting how to interact with people and how to handle and manage energy. Taking the train and bus has been a great way for me to observe people and life. As actors, we sometimes say, “The character would never do that” or “That’s too big/bold of a choice to make”. Um, stop for a second and take a look at LIFE and you’ll see the bold, crazy, daring, evaluated choices that people make on a daily basis. They are committed to their choices, they are moment to moment and they let their scene have a beginning, middle and end LOL.

Anyway, when I stand on the subway platform or I’m walking down the streets to the train station, and I have my headphones on for example, I can’t help but perform. The streets, the subway platform, the bus stop feels like a stage and it seems like such a waste to not take advantage of it. I’ll be walking down the street and then all of sudden, all of a sudden, all of a sudden, WOO HOO! I’ll start dance-walking. I’ll be in the zone with my music. I’m moment to moment with the music and my body becomes the vessel for which divine inspiration flows through. I don’t fight it. I can’t fight it.

I’ll be standing on the subway platform and then all of a sudden, all of a sudden, all of a sudden, WOO HOO! I’ll start performing a monologue to myself. Or I’ll recite lines from an audition I’m working on or from a film (The confrontation scene between Woody Allen and Kirstie Alley in “Deconstructing Harry” has been my go to scene lately)

I’ll be on the bus heading home and then all of a sudden, all of a sudden, all of a sudden, WOO HOO! I’ll start writing dialogue for a script I’m working on. Or I’ll start singing. Or I’ll be re-inspired with creative ideas for my career administration.

At the supermarket, WOO HOO! HERE WE GO AGAIN! GET DOWN! Dancing down the aisles. My body becomes a vessel and Bob Fosse enters. Madonna enters. Jerome Robbins enters. Michael Bennett enters. Prince enters. Whichever musical act I’m listening to enters. But they filter through my interpretation and my experience.

I can’t help it. I HAVE to perform. I HAVE to create. When the MUSE, when the COMPULSION comes, I have to express it. I can’t NOT perform and create and express. I don’t want to be a regular, normal human being. It bores me to tears. I don’t want to be like everyone else. I want to stand out. I want to shock myself. It’s almost like I’m creating performance art in the public eye.

I come home and I see the courtyard in my building and it looks like a large arena with a raised stage and everything. And then all of sudden, all of a sudden, all of a sudden, WOO HOO! GIVE IT TO ME! I’m on that stage and launching myself into an hour and a half dance extravaganza with a beginning, middle and end. During that time, I go on the classic hero’s journey from Orphan to Wanderer to Warrior to Martyr–Read “My Story Can Beat Up Your Story” by Jeffrey Alan Schechter if you don’t know what I’m talking about 🙂 🙂 🙂

And look, I know some people look at me like I’m weird cause it’s more “important” to be cool. To be unaffected. To be glib. Fuck that. They don’t pay my bills. I do. So they are of no significance to me. If anything, I’m hopefully inspiring them to chill out, to relax, to get out of their middle-class thinking and behavior, to stop being so uptight, to have fun. FUN. FUN. FUN. My God, when did we stop having fun? Who said that being an adult meant that you stop having fun? That you’re supposed to be dead on the outside and the inside? Being around the public, I truly see how unhappy a lot of people are. And how people don’t like seeing other people happy. That only makes me, that only makes me, that only makes me, GOD DAMMIT! WOO HOO! GIVE IT TO ME! It only makes me want to perform bigger and harder (wait, am I still talking about art or am I talking about sex? Then again, I’ve experienced incredible art that was the equivalent to experiencing amazing sex. No lie.) And I’m sure there are videos of me on Youtube, but whatever, I don’t care. I don’t want to be normal. I am extraordinary and it needs to come out. If it doesn’t, I become miserable. I become restless. I go crazy. I need to stay sharp with my creativity.

I smile when I see other artists performing in public without apology, without fear, without self-consciousness. These two male dancers got on the train recently and did their thing. I loved it. And of course, the stanky, snooty, middle-class thinking people sneered and snickered. Why???? They weren’t bothering anyone or harming anyone. What makes you better than these dancers? Why are you bothered by their artistry? Why are you not smiling? Are you secretly jealous and upset that you can’t be that free? I’m inclined to believe that the last question has incredible validity as I remember a former teacher saying, “We criticize the things that we ourselves cannot become.” I applauded the two dancers on their bravery and their artistry.

On the other hand, I’ve also made many people smile because of my artistic compulsions. They’ll clap for me. They’ll cheer me on. They’ll ask what I’m on and if they can have some of it. I remember seeing the fireworks this past July 4th with a buddy of mine. Afterwards, we went back to his car and waited for the crowds to disperse from the parking lot. We were listening to music, talking, killing time. Before we knew it, the parking lot was almost empty. A great, infectious song came on and I told him to turn on his headlights. He was confused by my request, but eventually complied. I got out and started dancing in front of his headlights to the song. I felt like Nicole Kidman in that iconic dancing scene from “To Die For”. I got such a rush. This guy walked by and said, “I’ll have whatever you’re on.” I said, “I’m on life, baby, life!”

I remember jogging through Barnsdall Park in Los Feliz and I stopped by this secluded, quiet area. I put on a mini-concert to about three songs. When I was done, I turned around and realized I was dancing in front of Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. I looked up and saw a young kid looking at me through the window. He waved and had the biggest smile on his face. I don’t know if he was a patient or not, but I became his hero and brought joy and happiness into his life. Can you imagine if I held back my compulsion to create?! What a crime that would have been! I smiled, waved back and continued on my jog.

I guess the point of this blog, the bottom line, is that we are artists. How BLESSED are we to be artists?! To know that any given moment, we can create and express in so many ways and in so many places?! To move, inspire, heal people in some way. I am an artist and I have to share and express it.

I HAVE ARTISTIC TOURETTES!

According to tourette.org:

There is no cure for Tourettes.

THANK GOD FOR THAT. I NEVER WANT MY CREATIVE COMPULSIONS TO STOP.