ABT, Film Festival, & Last Day of School!

May 16th
It felt like I spent the entire morning on the train, because on Saturdays the trains delay like there's all the time in the world. But it was worth it because I got student rush tickets to go see ABT!!!!

It's ABT's 75th Anniversary so they were showing a program called Classic ABT. I got to see Isabella Boylston in Theme & Variations, Hee Seo in Jardin aux Lilacs, and Misty Copeland in Rodeo. Love, love, love ABT. It would be a dream come true to dance for them one day, but in whatever capacity, be it student, dancer, or patron/audience member, ABT will always have a special place in my heart.

May 17th - May 19th
These days were spent mostly working on final scenes/ monologues. I've been trying to complete the transition from vegetarianism to veganism, but it's been hard, especially under the stress. But I made myself a simple meal of penne and tomato sauce with kale!

May 20th
Went to my school's BFA Film Festival, because I acted in one of the thesis films.

It was so nice seeing everyone dressed up, and all of their hard work finally coming to fruition. I only stayed for the first batch of films, and everyone did an amazing job. It was pretty daunting seeing my big face on the big screen, and when I saw the opening shot of a close up of my face, I almost gagged. That is the natural response of seeing myself. But overall, I thought the film was pretty good, although I hate my voice!!!

May 21st - May 22nd
Final day of classes! It's sooo hard saying good bye to professors and people in your class. Granted, you might see them again in the future, but it's not going to be the same, especially in my acting classes. We're all a group, and it sucks that we won't all be together again, performing and commenting on each other's scenes. Everyone in that class is talented, so I'm sure I'll be hearing about them in the future!

For my last final, I had to prepare a commercial monologue and a film monologue. I did a Garnier Fructis one and one from the film Rachel Getting Married. I've never seen that film which is why I chose to do it from there b/c I don't want to be copying Anne Hathaway's performance. The monologue didn't go as planned, and of course I was pretty disappointed with myself, but whatever because SCHOOL IS OVER!!

I literally flew out of school yelling "I'm freeee!" and I knew I freaked out the security guard, but I don't care because I'm done with school foreveerrrrrr. It still hasn't sunk in yet, but when it does, I'm sure the feeling will be pretty daunting.

May 23rd
Went to Long Island with parents & a family friend. Had lots of fun and got to see Avengers: Age of Ultron! To be honest, there were many parts where it was boring but the fighting sequences were cool. I don't really fangirl over the Avengers movies like other people, but I enjoy them a lot. I love Elizabeth Olsen though, and I was looking forward to her scenes (and James Spader's).

May 24th - May 25th

I am a huge Jessica Chastain fan, so I saw A Most Violent Year - and to be honest it was pretty disappointing. It wasn't violent at all - in fact, I thought everyone was pretty nice. But I loved the acting!!

Final Papers Stress

May 5th - May 6th
Watched this documentary called Gardeners of Eden, and cried my eyes out! It's about orphaned elephants who are abandoned because poachers killed their mothers to make ivory out of their tusks. It makes me so mad and upset all at once. I want to do everything I can to support the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust because they do so much to take care of the elephants and reintroduce them back to wildlife. They also help other animals affected by the attack on elephants. The whole ivory trade makes me sick and I hope they'll catch the poachers and business people involved. More should be done to protect these majestic animals. Once I get some money (get a job ahem ahem) I'm going to be a foster parent to one or more of the elephants.

May 7th - May 9th
Presented my final scene in acting 2. I really didn't like the scene in general and felt disappointed in myself (the theme of the following posts will be being disappointed in myself, haha). Worked on other final scenes and final papers for psychology!

May 10th
Happy Mother's Day! I made my mom pancakes & gave her her gift. I love her a lot and she does so much - working to show my appreciation for her more!

May 11th - May 15th
These days were filled with writing papers, rehearsing scenes, and saying good bye to professors!

Trip to New Jersey

May 3rd
Errands, errands, errands. Didn't enjoy this day in particular because I hate judgmental people.

May 4th
I know, a trip to New Jersey doesn't sound like the funnest thing in the world. But this day was really special because it was a nice outing with my parents that I don't have that often.

We had to go for an appointment, and while I was waiting in the waiting room, I was browsing through Time Magazine, where I found an article on Kazuo Ishiguro. I loved Never Let Me Go, and I've been itching to read a few more of his works. But here's a quote that I came across:

"I'm kind of a plain writer--that's always my style...I'd gone through various ways of writing songs, and I ended up with something that was quite plain on the surface. The emotions would be there, but they'll be slightly obliquely there, in the words themselves. People have to feel it between the lines."

Afterwards we went to a nearby mall to eat at the food court. I had a delicious meal of tofu and eggplant (I don't really like eggplant, so I gave it to my mom), veggie fried rice, and vegetable lo mein.

Then mom and I walked around and I found a dress for my graduation for only 7 dollars!! The store was closing down and so was having a clearance sale. It's such a beautiful dress, can't wait to wear it.

We headed to Bed Bath & Beyond to buy my mom a mother's day gift. My mother doesn't like surprises and would rather pick out her own gift. Then we went to Path Mark to get some ice cream and then we headed home!

#NoAgGag, Pacquiao Fight

May 1st

I joined Mercy for Animal's #NoAgGag campaign on Instagram. I was happy that my selfie was featured on their instagram & facebook page! 

That's me in the middle of the bottom row

The meat industry is trying to silence whistleblowers and hide the cruelty that goes behind factory farming. Even if you eat meat, this affects you too! Whistleblowers are the ones who expose unsafe meat for consumption which leads to meat recalls. We need to expose what goes on behind our food! What if you ate a meal at a restaurant and wanted to see how the chef made it, but the chef is tirelessly trying to get you away from the kitchen. You can't even get a glimpse. Would you still eat food from there? I would hope not. I would hope you would be wondering what the chef is trying to hide - what's the truth behind what you're eating. That's exactly what this Ag-Gag Bill is. It's the people who make your food trying to make sure you don't know how your food is made! We can't let them win. Please visit NoAgGag.Com to sign the petition and learn more!

May 2nd

My parents and I went over to a family friend's house to watch the MayPac fight! We came a little early to eat and stuff ourselves with too much food! My parents had the traditional Filipino meals (laden with meat), but as a vegetarian, I made sure to bring my own food. I ate veggie patties with mashed potatoes and corn, mangoes, and chips!

We watched the documentaries that came before the fight, and it got a little repetitive. Like, yes, we get that this is a highly anticipated fight, please stop saying it in every sentence! But having said that, it made the actual fight all the more frustrating.

Before I get into that, I have to mention that this is my first time watching a boxing match live, mostly because my parents have never really invested in Pay-Per-View. But our family friend bought it anyways and instead of watching it by herself, she invited us, which was really nice of her! I fell asleep during the two amateur matches, but once the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight started, I was soo awake!

I think the real highlight of the match was seeing Jimmy Kimmel as part of Pacman's entourage. Before that fight, I loved watching Kimmel sing along to Pacquiao's entrance song - it's hilarious!

I think that it's awesome that Jimmy Kimmel would work so hard learning a song in a foreign language just so he could be in his entourage. So I was stoked to see he was there! My parents and I were rolling on the floor laughing.

But the actual fight was sooo disappointing! The main thing was that Mayweather was so scared of Pacquaio that he kept running away from him! And when Pacquaio did get in his range, he would just hug him or hide his face. What a coward--we want to see an actual fight! Both boxers went out of that fight without a bruise. 

Britney Spears's song Sometimes describes Mayweather perfectly

I got to hand it to Pacquiao. He never ran away, took the blows, but calculated his punches effectively so he wouldn't get knocked out. He's a true boxer. I'm not just saying this because I'm Filipino - but PacMan deserved to win! Mayweather is a lousy, scared boxer. I don't know if his arrogance is just part of his business tactic to attract more viewers, but Mayweather deserved the boos. Pacquiao is the true winner, and we love him no matter what! 

First Time Filming!

Over Spring Break, I had the joy of working on my first short film! It was a student thesis film, and I played the lead. It was so much fun--mostly due to the lovely cast & crew.

We would eat dinner together (all vegan!) then shoot all night. Film time was 9pm to 4am but for some reason I wasn't tired. I guess it's because I love acting so much, and I was in most of the scenes, so it wasn't like I was waiting around doing nothing for a long time. One of the scenes involved me running in the freezing cold, but it turned out fine, and as an actor you just got to suck it up and get the shot! I had a great time laughing and joking with the cast and crew, despite it being a serious film!

I also filmed a short scene as a street performer in the subway. I'll admit, I was pretty anxious that I was going to dance some random ballet moves in the middle of the subway where people were passing. I never performed ballet in front of people before (besides when I took class) especially since it was going to be improvised and I hadn't danced in a long time! But I prayed about it, and my anxiety was lifted off of me, and I just did it, and it was great! The director, Kham, is really talented so I was honored to work with him, even if it was for a brief scene!

I can't wait to see the final products. I'm a little nervous to see myself act, but it's all a learning process, and I'm grateful that the directors chose me to be in their films! I can't wait to do more acting, meet and work with amazing people, and channel all these different characters!