Christmas by the numbers

Today you'll get the math; tomorrow you'll get the pictures, I promise :)


Number of inches it had snowed when our plane arrived in Newark, NJ: 18 inches

Number of hours it took us to get off the plane after we landed in Newark because the doors were frozen shut on the airport terminal: 1 1/2 hours

Number of trains we had to take to get to a station where Benni's sister could pick us up because the roads weren't paved through to the airport: 2 trains

Number of hours total that it took us, after landing in Newark, to get to Benni's sister's house which was a thirty minute drive: 5 hours. Our plane landed at 9:50 pm. We arrived at her place at approximately 3 am.

Number of pictures I took when we went into New York City later that week: approximately 4 million (or so it felt like) pictures

Cups of tea consumed at Alice's Tea Cup, an Alice in Wonderland themed tea house that we went to for dinner in NYC: 4 1/2 cups (I had the decaf Irish blend...SO yummy)

Cups of hot chocolate consumed on the trip, in total: (including Starbucks and WaWa): 4 cups

Number of pictures I took of just the TREE in Rockefeller Center: 15 pictures

Number of trains we took to meet Benni's parents in Philadelphia: 4 trains (yes, we are aware that we re-enacted Planes, Trains, and Automobiles this Christmas)

Number of times Benni tried to convince me that Cheez Whiz is the ONLY acceptable cheese to get on my Philly Cheese Steak at Pat's: 8 times

Number of times I actually ordered Cheez Whiz on my cheese steak at Pat's: 0 times.

Number of times the guy behind the counter made fun of me for NOT ordering Cheez Whiz on my sandwich: 1 (PS Benni got Cheez Whiz on his...and yes, it was better. Don't ask me HOW or WHY, it just WAS.)

Amount of time it took to drive from Philadelphia to South Jersey, where Benni's parents live: 1 hour

Number of times I almost slipped and landed on my ass because of all the snow and ice at Benni's parents' place: 23 times

Number of cats currently living at Benni's parents' house: 7 (8 if you count the stray that they feed but it refuses to come inside their home)

Number of cat scratches I have from staying at Benni's parents' house with 7 cats: 1 scratch, just above my right eyebrow as a kitten aimed for my hair wispies and instead sliced open my forehead.

Number of times Benni told me that he was getting me a Snuggie for Christmas after I made fun of it on The Big Bang Theory: 5 times

Number of Snuggie's I now currently own thanks to a smart-ass boyfriend: 1

Number of days I plan on listening to nothing but Benni's Remastered Beatles albums, all of which he got for Christmas: approximately 82 days

Number of Dunkin Donuts munchkins I can fit into my mouth at one time: approximately 3 1/2

Number of hours we spent in security at the airport heading back to LA because of course we had to travel two days after some idiot terrorist sews explosives into his underwear and takes a flight to Detroit (seriously: who does that??): 1 hour

Number of hours our flight was delayed heading back to LA: 2 hours

One beautiful, adventurous Christmas: priceless.

I hope all of you had some lovely holidays - I'm gonna spend this week catching up on your blogs and I can't wait to hear all your stories :)

lights and buzz

So what is everyone doing for the holidays? You guys going out of town anywhere, or staying in? (My friend Joe used the phrase stay-cation and I had to restrain myself from smacking him. I have a firm belief that words like stay-cation and convo and 'rents [short for the word parents] firmly belong to the 14 and younger crowd.)

I am so incredibly excited - I am heading out to the East Coast and I get to finally see New York at Christmastime! It's been on my to-do list forever, so Benni and I are flying into New Jersey, spending a couple days commuting into New York to see how much the city lights up during the holidays, and then spending Christmas with his family in South New Jersey. Squeee!

Posting next week will be light (however, I am guest-posting over at Tay's early next week...hey, all the cool kids are doing it) but I'll make sure to take tons of photographs of the city (my New York girl Kris says that's allowed as long as I'm not obnoxious about it) and I'll post them when I get back.

Benni was asking me the other day what I was the most excited about for our trip - was it seeing New York during Christmas, the possibility of snow on Christmas day, scarfing down Dunkin' Donuts, all of the above?

And I had to really think about it, because I grew up on the East Coast but never saw New York at Christmastime so there's a bit of nostalgia blended with a really big fat sense of adventure, but I also think that what can really define the holidays is the people you spend them with.

I've met most of Benni's family before, albeit under less-than ideal circumstances, when, waaaaay back in July for Benni's birthday, I was making my first trip out to meet everyone...and Benni's father fell 20 feet through a roof two days before I showed up, ending up in the hospital for 12 days. (You can read my posts about it here and here; Benni's take on it is also a very worthy read.) So by the time I arrived, everyone was in full Chaos Mode and somewhat less concerned with bonding with me over our mutual love of Battlestar Galactica.

On day five of me being in New Jersey, the last full day I was there, I was finally allowed to meet Benni's father, after having spent the last four days reading Margaret Atwood in the hospital lobby, alone for hours while various family members attended to him. Benni's father was heavily medicated, weak, exhausted, bruised and battered when I walked into the room, so I wasn't quite sure what I should do or say.

And then of course there's my smart-ass factor. Keep in mind that when someone is raised in a household of violence, as I was, I find the sick and twisted incredibly hilarious. Hi, coping mechanism, party of one. So yes, I have a very strong sardonic edge to me, which trumps my edit button quite frequently.

And that smart-ass factor, the one that I rely on so often to just get me through life without crying, made me say, instead of something NORMAL and polite, like, "Hi, lovely to meet you, I'm so sorry for your accident," something so completely inappropriate that I still can't believe it.

I waved hi and said, quite literally, the first thing that popped into my head:

"So I hear you do your own stunts."

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

But Benni's dad just grinned while the nurse glared at me. Benni just shook his head, like, Yep, that's my little social retard, isn't she adorable, and to this day Benni's dad remembers meeting me in the hospital when he doesn't remember much else, so I like to think I make an impression. Or that maybe the drugs had been wearing off.

When it finally hit me what I was the most excited about for our trip, I called Benni.

"I got it," I said. "I know what I'm the most excited about."

"Yeah?" Benni said. "Is it the big tree in Rockefeller Center?"

"Nope." I said. "I'm excited that I get to meet your father when his brain isn't on drugs."

Happy Holidays, everyone! :)

Los Angeles vs New York

I thought I'd take a break from the relentless plugging of Hell Froze Over to offer you, my readers, some lovely insights into how LA works. And this came about in a very surprising way; namely, a casual friend of mine from New York called me during the holidays a few months ago, in despair, and asked if I could give her some career advice. I'll call her Miss New York, because she is totally and completely a New Yorker in every way.

My first thought, honestly, was that she was insane. Not because she was asking me for advice -- I give advice all the time, and not always asked for, but I have been told I'm a good listener and I like to think that I'm an almost-wise-sage-in-training. At least, that's what I tell myself as I notice my zen pep-talks gathering to a crescendo around the 20 minute mark. But I was astonished that Miss New York was asking ME for advice -- because this is a girl who is drop dead gorgeous, has a ton more contacts and opportunities than I do in the industry at this time, and oh yeah, her modeling picture (done by a famous photographer, naturally) is hanging in the Hollywood Arclight right now.

Readers, if you ever hear me blog about MY picture hanging in the Arclight, it's probably my driver's license that was left in a woman's bathroom stall and now it's posted on the Lost and Found wall. I rest my case.

But I agreed to meet with her over coffee, wondering what I could possibly offer her besides a four minute "Don't worry, it'll get better" speech and maybe an awkward "I haven't known you very long" hug. So there I sat, in the coffee house, checking text messages as Miss New York collapsed into the chair opposite me and told me that she didn't understand Los Angeles and was thinking of quitting and going back to New York.

"Don't do that," I said automatically, because it breaks my heart to see people I care about feel broken by this city.

"But LA is so different," she said, and I nodded sympathetically, having no idea what she meant. So I thought about it, and asked.

"What do you mean, LA is different? How is New York different from LA?"

"In New York, it's all business. If you're not on the ball and totally professional, showing up early to business meetings and looking completely polished and put together, you don't get work. That city will chew you up and spit you out if you don't know what you're doing."

I thought about LA, with the hoards and legions of actors and actresses and producers and directors and writers who show up to auditions and meetings late, dirty, frazzled and clearly have no idea what they are doing. New York IS different, apparently.

"So what's the problem with you being in LA? I figure that if you're more professional than most of the other actors out there, you'll blow the competition away," I pointed out.

Miss New York nodded. "That's what I thought too. But instead I have to show up to all these parties and network and schmooze and then none of it goes anywhere. And I manage to insult people without really trying."

I thought about this too, and then it occurred to me. So I asked.

"How are your relationships with people?"

She blinked, understandably confused. I repeated my question. Her forehead scrunched. "I guess they're...okay? Do I need relationships with people?"

And suddenly I knew exactly what she needed from me and why I was there. I leaned forward and told her that I was going to tell her a secret, the huge difference between New York and LA. Her eyes widened.

New York is business, I told her. Los Angeles is relationships.

And there you have it. You don't even have to read any more of this blog if you choose not to. But you might want to stick around for the explanation.

New York is business meetings, business lunches, and people are brusque, professional, and don't take things personally. If you audition for someone, you might be a really nice person who goes to church with the director's grandmother, but that doesn't mean you are going to get the part.

In Los Angeles, relationships are everything. There are so many people in this town, so people want to connect, and not feel lonely, and if you cultivate a relationship with an agent or a casting director, then that agent or casting director will start pulling for you and doing their job for you, because they know you. Because there's a relationship. People who move to LA and don't know anyone don't get very far.

Miss New York looked skeptical, so I found another example. "You have some of the most aggressive drivers in the country, right?" She agreed, although we both noted that Boston (::shudder::) is the worst. Well, of course Boston is the worst. If you lived in a city of one way streets that you may never see again if you missed turning onto one of them, you would drive through crosswalks to get to your street too.

I digress.

"But you don't have too much road rage, do you?" I asked. She shook her head no. "Right," I told her. "This is because in LA it's a PERSONAL INSULT when you cut someone off."

Miss New York looked a little alarmed, and I thought to myself, This is probably explaining to her right now why she pisses off people without even trying. And why she probably gets honked at a lot.

So what I thought was going to turn into a twenty minute You Poor Thing conversation turned into a four hour long psychological analysis of how LA operates differently from New York. And it really is all personal. For example, when Miss New York told me that someone let her down by not showing up for an event that they were supposed to work together, she fired off an angry email at that person, and then was surprised that this person didn't want to work with her again. "It wasn't personal," she explained. "That person just did a bad job and I needed to let her know it was unacceptable and unprofessional."

"Right," I said. "However, because you pointed out what she already knew, you turned her guilt into anger, and now not only is she not going to work with you, but she's going to make sure her ten closest friends won't work with you either." Miss New York looked dismayed.

"But I'm the best person for that job!" she said.

"It doesn't matter," I said. "Because it's all about relationships in this town, and you just ended eleven relationships. People you've never even met before don't like you now."

But it wasn't all bad news. We analyzed some stuff Miss New York had done in the past, but we also figured out how she could move forward, repair some relationships (relationships are almost always repairable -- that's the good thing about them) and she learned to not be as blunt or direct as she had been with people who, understandably, take things personally.

We hugged a hug of genuine friendship as she left the coffee house that night, and I have a feeling she'll do just fine in this town. Not because of me, per se. Because Miss New York did her first LA thing when she called me and asked for my advice. She cultivated a relationship and it helped her discover what she couldn't have discovered on her own.

I love LA.

lights and buzz

So I just got back from New York late last night, this being the first time I've been to New York (apparently, JFK airport doesn't count). I had such a wonderful time, but I'm fairly sure that I'm prejudiced because of the people that I spent most of my time with, who are just about the most awesome people of EVER.

I'll back up and start at the beginning, and try to skip any boring details -- I'm shooting a web-series called Hell Froze Over, about this girl named Jody, who's determined to change her bad taste in potential love interests by going on a date with everyone she's ever rejected. That's a lot of people, and let's just say that sometimes it was a good idea for Jody to have turned them down in the first place, but that's where the comedy comes in. I play Jody, and I have to say, again with tons and tons of prejudice, that the scripts I have been given are hilarious, the actors I've gotten a chance to work with are so insanely talented and hysterical, and the very capable guys (and girl) over at Misplaced Planet are so freakin' cool that I'm kind of worried they're going to wake up one day and ask themselves, Why do we keep working with Tracy again? And when that happens I will curl into the fetal position and eat lots and lots of chocolate to dampen the pain.

At any rate, I flew out this past weekend, we shot six(!) episodes in Brooklyn and New Jersey over three days, and lo and behold, I just about fell in love with everybody I worked with. It seems there is no shortage of amazing people on this planet, and I'm always somewhat surprised to learn that I get to keep having them wander into my life. I mean, I should share, right? Does everyone else get to meet as many incredible people as I do on an everyday basis?

Being the lucky girl that I am, I got to spend the weekend soaked in blood, hitting on girls, and throwing up in a bathtub, among other things. And if that doesn't raise your interest, I really don't know what will. It's looking like the episodes will debut in early 2009, possibly January, and I will let you know when they air, and where they can be found on the internet. I'm so excited to show off the hard work that so many talented people have put into this project, and I think you'll find the web-series just as funny (and sick and twisted) as I do.

The part of me that loves and misses and pines for seasons just snapped awake the first time I saw a tree lit up with brilliant gold leaves on the road to New Jersey for our first day of shooting, and everyone was really patient when I kept stepping outside between takes to take photos of the trees and just about everything else I could think of. I spent a lot of time thinking about how the change of seasons helps us keep better track of the passage of time and lets us feel renewed, almost as if the seasons help us remember that we, as human beings, are just as cyclical; we respond and awaken to nature just as much as anything else does, we feel the pull and give of the weather and the wind at our backs, and we can measure our lives in the change mirrored in the world around us, the rain beating down on the windows, the snow cresting softly on our cars, the crunch of leaves underneath our shoes. It's the one thing that I feel we lack here in Southern California -- well, that, and a good public transportation system.

I'm also feeling truly grateful that I got to spend so much time with some really incredible people, people who offered me a place to stay and got me addicted to mint tea and mildly curious about zombie movies, people who drove into the heart of the city and didn't make fun of me of for staring in wonder down at Times Square or squealing over the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, people who patiently put up with my endless questions about New York and who stuck with me during conversations about movies, music, politics, theology, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, people who took me to the Ninja restaurant so I could die happy and took the time to walk with me through a cemetery so I could take more pictures. I feel like I found some new partners-in-crime and I'm really excited that I made new friends, and made some already existing friendships stronger.

I had such an incredible time in New York, and I have a feeling I'm going to have some more wonderful times ahead of me when I get to work with these people again. I can't wait.