Yulu Youwho?

Ok so the local market here in downtown Phoenix just started selling these things called 'yulu beans.' I've found out very little about them on the internet except that they are seeds of the wild papaya (or 'bonete' in Spanish.) They're surprisingly tasty and I've found that just a small handful satisfies my hunger. They're high in protein and taste phenomenal in salads, or mixed in with some hummus on top of freshly baked pita bread! I bought a 6 ounce bag for $5 and I've still got three-quarters of it left after having it for over a week. There's a rather frightening picture of a rattlesnake on the side of the bag, but I didn't let that faze me.

In other news...can I just say I can't wait until this week is over?

I got little to no sleep over the weekend - which is fine - I had an amazing weekend  - but now I am much more inclined to sleep all day than do my work.
Midterms..how you vex me. Working 32 hours a week and going to school full-time was manageable for a little while..now I'm thinking I might just have been a little over-ambitious. I have to read an entire book and write a book report on a book I don't even own but fortunately found an electronic copy of on the internet for my news class, finish about two weeks of French homework, take an online statistics quiz and exam, write a 4-5 page argumentative paper for English and...I think that's it. I have to confess I'm a bit peeved at myself for not getting the book sooner. I've had to put down "Interview with a Vampire" for "The Corpse Had a Familiar Face."

I'm going to look at an apartment on Friday in Tempe. It's really close to the main campus and is only $650 a month! I must confess I do a little dance in my heart whenever I think about getting out of these dreadful dorms.

Spring break is almost here..California roadtrip is almost here....

Well..should probably get to work! Wish me luck...

Tomatoes - More than a healthy snack!

Ok so here's another tip for skin-care that's worked really well for me. Here's what you need:

-One organic tomato
-Sugar (granulated white sugar works best)

Cut off the top of your organic tomato with the vine still attached to the top. This will be your handle. Pour out a small amount of sugar into a dish and rub the tomato in the sugar. Apply to your face in a circular motion. The sugar exfoliates your skin and the natural juices of the tomato are super healthy for your skin!

I do this scrub about once a week - you can do it as many as three to four times a week, but you shouldn't exfoliate every day.

Enjoy :)


-E

Healthy Skin, Healthy Wallet.

So. Skin care products can be obscenely expensive. Make-up remover, masques, lotions, creams and ointments can cost a fortune. Being but a lowly college student, I took it upon myself to explore my options. So, without further ado, let me present to you my miracle, desert-island product:

 

That's right folks. Extra-virgin olive oil. 

I use it as my:
-Make-up remover
-Shaving lotion
-Moisturizer
-Facial Cleanser

It is without a doubt, THE most effective make-up remover I've ever used (especially for the eyes.) It's gentle enough on the delicate skin of your eyes, and it moisturizes your eyelashes too! I've been using EV olive oil as my primary make-up remover for about a year now, and I can honestly tell you NOTHING works better. My eyelashes are fuller and healthier, and my skin feels nourished and moisturized. I keep a little dish of it in my medicine cabinet and use round cotton pads to remove the make-up.

It's great for shaving too (especially the bikini and under-arm areas.) My skin is pretty sensitive, and I always seem to end up with razor-burn no matter how much lotion I use. I used EV oil oil to shave my legs, bikini line and my underarms, and it left literally NO razor-burn. And because it's a natural moisturizer, I didn't have to put on lotion afterwards!

I also use a solid, 100% olive oil soap bar to wash my face. I kid you not, within three days of using it, almost all of my blemishes and redness were gone. I've tried Clearasil, Oil of Olay, Dove, Neutrogena, and even some of those really harsh benzoil peroxide treatments, but nothing has worked as well as olive oil soap. And the best part about it? One bar of soap costs $4 and it lasts me about a month. It's amazing. I can't praise it enough. Once I started using it, I began to rue all the money I spent on countless skin creams, night masks and moisturizers. But hey! I'm older and wiser now right? I get my soap from www.jacobsspring.com

So, not only is Extra-Virgin Olive Oil great for cooking, seasoning and dressing, it is my all-in-one skin-care regimen!

So....Go try it! Stop wasting your money on chemically-enhanced products! Yay!

<3
-E

Notes from Oxford - Vol. I

I stumbled upon one of my notebooks that I took to Oxford with me this summer. For those of you who don't know, I spent the summer in Oxford, England studying with the British American Drama Academy. The program lasted four weeks, with classes in voice, speech, movement, classical and modern theater as well as master classes every week that were taught by guest actors, directors, producers and playwrights. I want to put these notes on my blog so I'll have another record for myself, and for you to enjoy. If you are at all inclined in the theatrical department, I think you might enjoy these notes. I do need to find my journalist's moleskine notebook that contained all my notes from the Sir Derek Jacobi masterclass though..

So, here are my notes.

Things to try to remain active: Butoh, Alexander Technique, Capoeira, Pilates, Yoga. Live in your body. Be active. This will help you on stage with your movements.

Books to read:
Peter Hall - Advice to Players
                   Exposed by the Mask: Form and Language in Drama
John Barton - Playing Shakespeare
David Mamet - True and False

You do not have to feel anything before you learn the words. Learn the words, understand the form, and then decide what you feel. 

Shakespeare uses alliteration, repetition, assonance, etc. to HELP the actor. Always wordplay.

"For Shakespeare, what you need is a warm heart and a cool head."

Inspiration comes from an honest regard for what's on the page.

Tip for breath control: Think of hitting each line like a diver diving straight into the water. Do not expel the breath before you say the line.

On Actions: The Actor's Thesaurus
**You can't play an emotion. Emotions are the result. You play actions. Transitive verbs.


DAVID LEVEAUX MASTER CLASS QUOTES:

 

*David Leveaux is a UK theatre director who has been nominated for 5 Tony Awards. At the time he came to visit us at BADA, he was in the middle of directing the revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia on the West End. These are some of the many memorable quotes I was able to jot down during the session. Enjoy!

 

"Failure is a tool. So is boredom. If I know I'm bored, I know something has to change."

"When I'm in this room I'm working. As Actors or people who love chaos, we can't let that permeate our work."

"A rehearsal room is a series of little deaths; humiliations."

"We are all of us trying to do the art of the possible and the impossible."

"You can have a relationship with failure. Never mind the f****ing critic. What about you, and the energy you can bring from it?"

"Tom Stoppard said that 'laughter is the sound of comprehension.'"

"The directorial need to 'sign' a production is nonexistent."

"Great plays are an enduring mystery."

"Life itself is not catchable by concept."

"Catch in the inherently incatchable..and freeze it."

"We the living, have an obligation to stay alive."

David Laveaux on playing Pinter:
-what is the immediate moment?
-don't bring a lot of backstory; it's what's happening in the present tense.
-Pinter's background was in comedy!
-Pinter is vivid, writes facts.
-there are no enigmatic pauses in Pinter. All the pauses are real.

David Laveaux on auditioning:
-listen, be directable
-be open to changes
-auditioners are looking for you, not trying to weed you out.



*Important words in Shakespeare: IF, NOW

PLAY TO READ: Judas Iscariot


Make sure your intention on stage is stronger than the nervous voices in your head.





**David Laveaux

Personal Monthly Budget

Monthly Expenses:

Food: $110.20
Books: $277.38
Entertainment: $117.30
Clothes/Essentials: $91.49
Bills/Debt: $449.24

Total: $1045.61
Estimated Gross Monthly Income: $1200

Next month, I will not be spending any money on books, and my bills will be reduced to $100/month since I paid off my debt.
Breakdown:
$60/month - cell phone
$40/month - Insurance
$appx. 50/month - credit card

So, next month, my expenses should look like this:

Food: $110
Clothes/Essentials: $100
Bills: $150
Entertainment: $100

Total: $460
Estimated Gross Monthly Income: $1200

Savings: $740

Wasn't that rain today just glorious?

I spent the morning sitting in silence in my comfy armchair by the window watching the rain. It was such a delight. Inhale, exhale. Now you begin.


Work was long. And I hate how it takes up my whole day. By the time I get home, I'm too tired to work out and too brain dead to do homework, but I stay awake anyway because I want to feel like I haven't wasted the day. So. Here I am on blogger.

I've joined tweetwhatyoueat.com. I saw an ad for it in Women's Health and thought I'd give it a try. I've never done a food diary before so this should be enlightening.

Well. So long.

Step in Time

Good afternoon, my darlings! I do hope your day is going well. I'll have you know I've procrastinated revising my English paper just for you. Don't you feel special? Aw..... Well. Onto things that are cool.

After French class I took a little walk around the city. Can I just say that I love Arizona weather? Thanks. 'Cos I do. Anyway, I deposited my first paycheck from my second job into my bank account and then mailed my very last check to pay off the loan I took out for my trip this summer. Woohoo debt free! Because I was in such a jolly mood, I decided to treat myself to a new restaurant.

After attaching myself to my iPod and selecting "Step in Time" as my walking song, I wandered down central avenue until I came across Cafe Roma. What caught my eye was the menu taped to the inside of the window advertising breakfast for $2.95. Scarcely after I ordered my food, there was a line almost out the door. Haha! I had vanquished the lunchtime-business-crowd rush. Two minutes later I was ignoring the sting in my fingertips as I munched on my delicious, fresh off the stove English Muffin cheese, egg and sausage sandwich. I knew I should have let it cool down before I ate it, but after the banquet that was the first bite I simply couldn't resist. Needless to say, I've found my new breakfast place. Matt's Big Breakfast will always be #1, but really, you can't beat homemade breakfast for $2.95!

I have to confess, I have mixed feelings about leaving downtown Phoenix. I had resolved myself to transfer to the Herberger College for the Arts next semester, but I've really started to like my life here (aside from school, living in the dorms and never doing anything creative.) I guess, I just wish the Arts college was in downtown. I love the artsy vibe, the dozens of little hole-in-the-wall coffee shops, the local grocery stores, the library, the fact that the Irish and Chinese Cultural Centers are just a short lightrail ride away from my dorm, the fact that the Herberger Theater, Valley Youth Theater and Phoenix Theater are practically on my doorstep, and the fact that it's small and not over-crowded. I am really dreading about going to school in Tempe because the campus is so huge. I really like that all my classes are 100 feet from my dorm building. And, this sounds strange, but not studying theater gives me even more motivation to do things on my own. In a way, I feel more in control of my own education. I like the idea of working on the degree even if it's something I detest, but secretly studying my real passion in private. It's kind of..I don't know. I wish I could describe it. It makes me feel rebellious and in control and out of control and powerful and motivated and inspired. It's almost like I'm treating pursuing my acting dream like pursuing someone who is way out of my league; in that I only want what I can't have and if I do get it, I won't work as hard for it. That may not be exactly right, but it's the best I can describe it for now.

Well, I should pack this up. I've got a bus to catch.

Until we meet again,

Ellyn