The Internet Connection and Six Degrees

So, I was doing some Google "vanity" surfing/searching and for fun I clicked on the "Similar pages" link ...

It pulled some seemingly unrelated pages ... I think we were related by last names beginning with "Ch-----" only??? Anyway, I recognized a familiar name 3 listings down ... David Chiu, a fellow actor and first L.A. dayjob buddy when I first moved to California a few years back.

So, I went to his site and, yep, it was the same guy I knew. First thing that hit me was the sub-title for his site: "Unknown Asian Actor." I chuckled, "Hey, I'm one of those, too!"

He has a daily actor's journal/blog on his site, too ...

Clicking around his site, I noticed a link to an AsianWeek.com Feature Article from a couple years back, so I went to read it ... Get this, it's the exact SAME article that I was interviewed for back in 2002!
I guess I never read the original article when it was published? It is a nice article focussing on the plight and frustrations of a few "unknown" or "up-and-coming" Asian male actors in Hollywood: AsianWeek.com: Feature: Lunch With the Stars.

The article also features some great quotes by my buddy, Reggie Lee, the most established of the Asian male actors interviewed.

Small world, huh?
So, now, thanks to this blog, blogrolling.com, my website, David's website, I've made that connection even tighter: LINK me, baby, link me!!!

That "matrix" that we're all on is made even smaller and more noticeable with this internet thing!

Chris out.

The Nature of "Frustration"

What do you do when you're not getting what you want out of life?

Is your life not moving at the pace you want it to? Or are you not getting the results you want?

We all get frustrated ... we all get disappointed ...

Then what?

The only thing I can sometimes do when I feel like I'm drowning in frustration, disappointment, disallusionment, etc. is to keep even just a little door or window open to possibility or unexpected aid, hope, whatever ...

Sometimes that opening is made larger by seeing a segment on "Oprah" or from a friend's email or maybe even a smile from a stranger ...

As an actor, there's this "Secret to Success" that has been coming up over and over again:
The ones who "make it" are the ones who don't quit! Sometimes easier said than done, but as I stay in this game longer and longer, it seems downright inevitable ...

I have watched many talented, talented actors and performers that I started out with since leave the business ...
The rest of us keep hangin' in there ... and we will find our success!

Chris out.

Practice Kindness (& Don't Forget to Tip Your Server)

... having had a rough night money-wise at one of my survival jobs, I was going to blog about the frustrations of being a server.
However, during a PBS pledge drive, there was a repeat of the amazing "Dr. Wayne Dyer: The Power of Intention."

There were many "a-ha" moments during the program, but the one that hit me the most (esp. after my rough night at the restaurant) was the one about practicing KINDNESS towards others ...

I give the best I can when giving service as a server ... sometimes I'm "slammed" or distracted or upset by something else or maybe even a bit tired, but I try to do my best not to get that all over any of the guests I'm serving. The gratuity comes at the end: sometimes it's great, sometimes it's not (even if I've done everything "right.") The nature of the business ...
But I'm not going to lie: sometimes it really sucks!

Dr. Dyer talks about the power of practicing kindness towards others and refers to a study about seratonin levels (our built-in "feel good" chemicals) and immunity resistance when an act of kindness is practiced. Not only do both levels of seratonin and immunity resistance increase for the RECIPIENT who benefits from the act, but the GIVER of the act AND anyone merely witnessing the act also benefit as well!

So ... crappy tips ... okay, another day at the "office" ...
The best moment of the evening for me was when another server took the time to thank me for helping him get a couple of beverages to one of his tables ...
The thank you was nice, but I was more grateful that helping him made a difference for him ...

So ... don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses, and ...
More importantly, practice KINDNESS and generosity ... ALWAYS!

Chris out.

Who? Me? ASPIRING???

"Aspiring Actor" ... that is such a stupid label/description/whatever ...

It connotes someone who is "wishing" to be an actor, but not necessarily doing anything towards it? (other than aspiring to be one).

Here's another loaded one: "working actor" ... people generally think that means that it's someone who makes their living solely through acting (but not yet a celebrity or star?)

Well, I WORK at being an actor. I'm in class ... any extra money I make is hoarded away towards next month's acting classes plus headshot funds, postcard, mailing, gas for auditions and other actor-related expenses ...

AND I spend most of my waking hours either auditioning/interviewing for those acting jobs, or --as is the case here in Hollywood-- jockeying or trying to figure out how to get in there to get those auditions/interviews ...

It's labor and focus-intensive work. Not to mention working at two separate restaurants to pay the bills while I'm busy supposedly "aspiring." Not much extra time left over to hang out at some club (or trendy restaurant or lunch counter) "hoping" to be discovered ...

So, working? Yes.
ASPIRING? My ass ...

Chris out.

I am a Server WHORE !!!

As an actor, the simplest "substitution" or "personalization" or "parallelization" reference for being a prostitute is tapping into your being a server (aka waiter/waitress) ...

We whore ourselves for the tips that will pay for the rent/mortgage, new headshots, acting classes, etc.

Doing something that we don't really like, just for the money, and for a chance at surviving 'til that dream "other" way of making a living finally hits?

Sometimes it's okay ... we get a "John" (aka Guest) that treats us well and tips us large.
But most of the time we get abused ... by our pimps (aka managers & general managers) and often by the guest who "stiffs" us after we've already "put out."

It's a degrading way to make a buck, eh?

I am a Server Whore ...

Chris out ...

My Very First Blog II ...

Searching for Love, Success, Happiness and Fulfillment ...

My Very First Blog ...

Thank you, GuruStu, for showing me something new and fun each time I'm with you ...

My best friend and sister, Victoria, has moved from NYC to L.A.
I am so freakin' pleased!

I continue to seek my career in Hollywood ...
I am now a server at TWO restaurants (Islands, which I hate and The Cheesecake Factory, which I LOVE).

I like it when I have to do all three of my jobs: audition, lunch shift server, dinner shift server -or- lunch shift, audition, dinner shift ...

Ahhhhhhh ... soon, I will ONLY be paid as an actor and live comfortably as such ...

Chris out ...