Just Sayin’

Gold Rush

I’m Just Sayin’

#nogutsnoglory

Thanksgiving – Our Own Personal Prison of Brown

Okay, this one is mostly for the ladies, because let’s face it guys, you can just get away with wearing a sweater, or dress-shirt for the fancy family Thanksgiving dinner.

Right?

But women, I ask this, why are we so compelled to wear dreary brown on this warm, fuzzy, yummy, holiday?

Women the nation over are beginning to look into their closets to find their most qualified autumnal attire as we speak.

Some women have already got it all figured out.

 

In fact some of these same women, already know what their pets will wear on Thanksgiving.

Oh, and this guy. He knows what he’s wearing.

Some women will try to step up their fashion game by having the “spirit” of Thanksgiving, only with the elegance of the runway.

They will fail too. Still brown.

 

I mean let’s face it, there is only one woman who can get away with a holiday sweater…

Marilyn Monroe

I think the only exception to this autumnal blasphemy is children, because they are cute and all of that stuff.

Unless of course it borders on child abuse.

 

So, as I awoke this morning I just lay there, staring at my clothes rack, wondering to myself what brown garment will I be wearing for Thanksgiving Dinner, and it dawned on me – why do we put ourselves in our own personal prison of brown? It almost feels mandatory, like an imposed uniform.

Why not this year, we choose to stand out?!??!

Most autumnal colors are tertiary colors on the color wheel. So, if you really want to stand out this Thanksgiving in the sea of Chocolate, Rust, and Mustard, you need to wear some shade of Blue, Peacock, or Violet.

I say boycott brown and pull some other vivacious color out of your closet this year!

Save your brown clothing buying money for more important things, like gourd candles.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

THIS REMINDS ME OF YOU

I just received a very kindhearted email from a few of my girlfriends. Though I appreciate the gesture I’ve reworded it a little to reflect how I really feel.

First, the original email.

“THIS REMINDS ME OF YOU

She can deal with stress and carry heavy burdens.
She smiles when she feels like crying, and she sings when
she feels like screaming.
She cries when she’s happy and laughs when she’s afraid.
Her love is unconditional.
There’s only one thing wrong with her She sometimes
forgets what she’s worth!
Pass this to every beautiful woman you know.
Remind her that she’s unique.
I love you girl.

In twenty five minutes something will make you super
happy, but you have to tell ten crazy girlfriends you
love them, including me. Today is ‘love you day’ send to
everyone you love.
You’re spoiled if you get 5 back.”

Very sweet but, I’ve changed it a bit.
I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

THIS REMINDS ME nothing of YOU

She hates dealing with stress and has to have large amounts of carbohydrates to cope. Mostly wine.
She smiles when she feels like ripping your head off, and she sings when she has to pee really badly.
She cries when she stubs her toe and laughs when you stub yours.
Her love is completely conditional, situational, and uncertain.
There are only twenty things wrong with her, one of them being she sometimes forgets where she parked the car, and she often puts her underwear on inside out.

Pass this on to every relatively attractive woman you know.
Remind her that with a little bit of botox she could still pull off 35.

I love you girl.

*In twenty-five minutes something will make you super happy, but it probably won’t be money or fame. So make sure you tell ten crazy girlfriends you love them, because without the money fame, they might need to hear it.
You can also tell it to your next bottle of wine.

You’re spoiled if you get tell it to 5 bottles of wine.

Baby trashes Bar…

I have SO been there!

Fortune Cookies

Fortune Cookies,

Why do you mock me?

I’ve got something to say,

Screw you.

And you look like a vagina.

Love,

Erin

For my fellow American Idol fans.

I’m just sayin’

The Independent Filmmaking Blues

(Imagine Stevie Ray Vaughan music)

Beun-noo-noo-noo-na-na-noo-na-na-noo –

beun-beun!

I was thrilled when I found out in December that I was one of four to be awarded a Winter Fellowship with The Moving Picture Institute. http://www.thempi.org I couldn’t wait to get started, but the sad part is that was a month and a half ago, and I still can’t wait to get started?

Within the fellowship I planned to complete a feature length script, Roles, and a short film, by the same title. The first thing I had to do was write the short film script. And I did, but even though I was very happy with it, the scope was too broad for my modest budget. Back to the drawing board! Thank God for my experience as a producer because within one week I had a new script with only two locations, 1 ½ days worth of shooting, and only needed to cast 7 people, 5 of which were extras! Can’t get any better than that, right?

Wrong.

Now I’ve got to find a producer, some decent crew, and my actors.

Easy right?

Wrong.

Apparently people in the Lehigh Valley area are not as serious about filmmaking as I am; all the more reason to move to New York I guess, and I plan to at the end of the summer. I’ve done several casting calls, which produced nothing but non-actors, and one incredible douche bag. I’ve included his “actor” submission below for your enjoyment, or irritation; which was my first emotion. I’ve omitted certain details as to conceal this aspiring actor’s identity.

“Hey, uh…my fiance knows that chick who does the (blank) show, who I guess said that like…you need actors? I’m totally a mad good actor, here are some stats…

Male, 25 years old

large build

green eyes (sexy)

brown hair (balding, also sexy) and beard

about 6′

totally awesome

Anyway, my name is (blank). Let me know if you want a headshot or an autograph or something. Oh, I should probably mention that I don’t work, I don’t believe in having a job so my schedule is pretty open. I’m available 24/7 and I also do birthday parties.

Heres a list of some of previous stuff

“Anything Goes” (Blank)

“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (blank)

Various one man shows

Strip Tease for an old lady’s birthday party last year on Valentine’s Day “

Now obviously this person is trying to be funny, and I’ve got a great sense of humor, but I was not amused.

 

Other than that, three other non-actors, with no reels or resumes submitted.

In addition, I’m in desperate need of a very specific location, which I’m having one hell of a time securing, or even finding to attempt to secure. A strip mall Chinese Buffet, sounds easy enough right?

Well, not as such.

Now, let me back up a bit. I moved to the Lehigh Valley area about a year and a half ago because my husband’s job brought us here; he too, is a filmmaker. We’re originally from Northern California and left behind a very strong independent film community. I guess I’ve been spoiled because the people there were always eager and excited, not to mention dedicated, to filmmaking at any level; casting and crewing was never an issue in Sacramento or San Francisco.

 

Back to now. I’m now technically on my third producer and have my fingers crossed that she will be my savior. We’ve decided to cast strictly in NYC, with auditions in March. Hopefully, we’ll secure the perfect location and be able to shoot the film in April so that I can deliver the final product to MPI at the end of May when my fellowship term is up.

I’m nearly halfway through the feature length script now, and I’m truly excited about completing that. I only hope that I can acquire the resources to cast and shoot the short film.

Frustrated is an understatement. I’ve got The Independent Filmmaking Blues and if I’d ever stuck to the guitar lessons, I’d write a song about it.

 

 

 

 

Holy blue laser beams, frothy fruity smart drinks, and secret underground dance parties! This popped up on my ipod during my workout today, and it’s just as much fun today as it was then.

Robin S. Show me Love

Well, minus the chokers, pantsuits, and bell-sleeved shirts.
It’s hard to even feel sober when I hear this jam.

Alternative Ageing, and I don’t mean Holistic.

This blog entry is specifically written for those women who were considered, “alternative” in their youth. We’re talking about “New Wavers,” “Progressives,” “Punk Rockers,” “Goths,” and “Mods”.

Once upon a time you had pink, or green, or blue hair. You sat around at the mall and dared people to stare at you just so that you could ask them what they were looking at. You expressed your angst-ridden emotions externally, and with the added bonus of making your parents embarrassed to take you to the grocery store.

Maybe as you got older you toned down the pink hair, but then it just became a matter of, not brunette, but BLACK. Not Red, but HYPER-RED, and not Blonde, but PLATINUM. You toned down your make up, but perhaps played up the garish colors in your wardrobe, or wore really crazy shoes.

Then one day you turned 35.

It’s tough when you’ve spent your life standing out to now realize you can’t really do this or that; well you can, but you’ll look ridiculous. You’ve unknowingly conditioned yourself to want to express your individuality externally and after a certain age, you just end up looking like a clown. And besides if you’re stuck in another time that’s not really originality; you might as well be wearing Mom jeans, or  Member’s Only Jacket.

 

The only two women that can pull it off are Vivienne Westwood and Betsey Johnson, and even then…

So what do you do now? How do you grow older gracefully, but still maintain your creative individuality? Asking myself this question has caused me to develop a set of guidelines for ageing alternatively with grace.

If you want to have an alternative, meaning alternative to a color that occurs in nature, hair color, you must downplay the colors of your make-up and clothes, but you can play a bit with the shoes. I call this the Top and Bottom Effect; and no, it’s not a gay thing. Flair only at the top and bottom, everything in-between has to show great forethought and restraint.

In contrast, if you want to wear vibrantly colored clothing, your hair and shoes must be downplayed. * Note: You can have any kind of crazy haircut, and any kind of crazy shoe, but the colors must be a neutral.

If you are a jewelry-hound like I am, there are some things that need to be considered. If you like big chunks of silver or gold, these are considered neutrals and can be adorned freely with little-to-no concern for the hair, clothes, OR shoes. But if you like major sparkles, and/or major color, much needs to be considered. If you go with what I like to call the “Canvass Rule,” you should always come out a winner.

The Canvass Rule applies to only the colors, black, white, grays, and creams. Any of those colors are considered a blank canvass and can be enhanced with either big bold colors, or big bold sparkles. In fact, really any color, in its darkest form can pretty much be included in the Canvass Rule. Dark greens, blues, deep reds, browns, etc. Just make sure that the bold colors and sparkles are Complementary Colors to the canvass. If you don’t know what Complementary Colors are, you should read up, it would help you in life; whether decorating your body, or your house.

Pick a style ikon that you admire and do your best to emulate them. Call it your Spirit Avatar – mine is currently Julianne Moore. She is soft and beautiful, and always impeccably dressed, AND always with a hint of edge, whether it’s a jacket or a bracelet.

 

One last tip and it is about maintenance. At some point you’re going to need to take a portion of your fashion budget and earmark it for Beauty Maintenance. Whether it is facials, expensive creams and lotions, laser treatments, or Botox, you need to budget for this. I have yet to graduate to the Botox, but I feel it coming soon, maybe, but I’m a chicken so we’ll see. So, you have to buy fewer shoes, which is really okay with you because also, as you get older, you have less tolerance for shoes that only “look” pretty, but feel like medieval torture devices.

I believe this covers the basics of how to make a statement of personal creative individuality, and still look elegant, alluring, and age-appropriate.

That being said, I know that getting older bites the big one, but at least as our exteriors shift, and change, and become seemingly out of control, inside we feel more settled, stable, and content.