I'm not gonna lie...I just purchased Doll Domination for $7.99 from iTunes.

The stock market makes me want to throw up.

When you don't have a lot of money, then you lose 70% of it, it is physically painful. Part of me says if SIRI ever hits $3.06 again, I'll sell it all and invest that money in the S&P 500. But that's all play money anyway. I should just hold onto it for another couple of years. If Sirius and XM merge here in the next several months, that's bound to do *something* for the stock. Right? And I don't think they'll go completely under.

But, who knows? It's all a gamble anyway.

*horf*

To add to my Awesome List of movies with a Q&A:

Fame. Debbie Allen.

Rock out!

When I first moved to CA, I was incredibly sad to leave my AZ friends. I knew I would make more--it's super easy for me to do so b/c I'm outgoing and friendly. But I was afraid I'd never meet anyone as cool as the people of Phoenix. My first few months out here were very hard. I was in a new place. The boy I was butt-crazy in love with dumped me, and I was new to the improv scene. The thing that had been my life blood in AZ was now a new safe to crack. I was just beginning the program. I didn't really know anyone.

And now, over a year later, I'm in a new place. Physically, mentally, emotionally. I'm 6 weeks away from graduating the program. I'm about to start UCB in a few weeks. I'm on several teams that are rehearsing and performing. I have amazing friends.

Last night, Faith, Drew, and I had a housewarming party. It was fantastic fun. Our landlord is a bit of a spoil sport and called at 11:30, then midnight, then the cops came at 1:30ish. We weren't being too crazy, but there were a lot of outside smokers. Note to self: Let people smoke in room upstairs. Yeah, that will suck balls and stink all to hell, but it's better than getting evicted. The Boys who live down the way from us are on their Final Warning.

Anyway, at 3 in the morning, me, Will, Rob, Ben, Brian, and Faryl were sitting around my kitchen table eating Tostino Pizza Rolls and playing cards. I really love the people I've come to know out here. I'm two minutes away from jumping into the shower before heading over to The Standard for a swim and some drinks with my WSU crew. But, as I'm cleaning up from last night, I got really sad.

I'm not moving for another year. I *know* I'll make friends in ATX. Hell, I already have a handful of people out there I absolutely adore. I talked with MikeD about helping plan OoB West. My brain knows I'll be fine when I move. But there is a part of me that's really afraid. A part that doesn't think I'll have a group of friends out there like I have here. That same part that felt this way about LA from PHX. And I know that part is dumb. That not only will I make improv friends, but that I'll make friends outside the scene as well.

Still, I can't help it. I got really sad this morning. WHICH IS ABSURD! The move isn't until 2009!! I guess the problem is that I'm finally in a groove out here and I don't want to give that up. A YEAR FROM NOW. Get a hold of yourself, Ashley. It's not the end of the world.

I suppose it just goes to show how wonderful the people are who are in my life right now. I love you guys. So much so, that I'm having anxiety about leaving you in the future. Last night was great. The things that are about to happen are great. Life, in general, is pretty great. Thank you for being a part of it.

Fringe

This is how I imagine a meeting with a top executive and JJ Abrams goes:

"Sir, Mr. Abrams is here to pitch you his new-"
"Give him whatever he wants."
"But sir, his budget requirements are-"
"Whatever. He. Wants."

The End

It hurts to sneeze and laugh. And sometimes move. I did ab work on Tuesday. Not anything crazy, it's just been a while and I'm getting back into a decently intense workout schedule. I'm trying to get to the gym a minimum of 3 days a week. But, man, I can really feel what I did on Tuesday. Tomorrow is yoga with Chutney. It's an incredibly intense class. But afterwards is 10 minutes in the hot tub followed by swimming laps. Hopefully that hot tub heat will make me hurt less.

Hopefully.

What an awesome shoot! My original call time was 4, but they asked me around 11 to come in at 3. I said sure. Then forgot. Not a good way to start off. But I got there around 3:30, camera ready (which means hair and make up done for those lay people). They picked out my outfits and we were off! There was no script, they just told us what they wanted and we basically improvised. I was a lady getting discount botox and another actor played my doctor. He was pretty quiet.

When we were shooting the director jokingly said to me, let's get this done in one take. I said ok and did. When he called cut, he was all: man, you don't mess around. Nope. Especially when I'm 30 minutes late and we're losing daylight fast. I did some funny things that they really liked, but that were not over the top or corny. Mainly, what cracked the crew up the most was when the doctor was done giving the injections, I asked several questions in a row, very quickly. Isitdone,DoIlookOK,Arethewrinklesgone? So, we kept that. We did pretty much all of our stuff in one take.

Then we moved to the hot tub. That's where I had my big death scene. Basically, my entire body becomes paralyzed with the bad batch of botox and I slip under. We really only had one chance to do that. Once my head was wet, there was no going back. The last shot was me at the bottom of the hot tub, eyes open, grimacing. It was pretty cool. The crew was wonderful and really seemed like a lot of fun to be around. (They all burst into song at one point.) As I was walking to my car, everyone I passed told me I was awesome. The fantastic makeup lady, whose name I immediately forgot after she told me, like, 3 times, said the director was really happy with my stuff. I'm so glad! I seriously felt like such a cow turd for being late when they were rushing around trying to get out early, that I was glad to get my stuff done quickly and done well.

It looks like Spike posts the episodes online as well as show them on the channel. As soon as it's up, I'll post a link.

What an amazing experience.

It's quiet today. I'm happy for that. This weekend was a whirlwind of gym time, party time, iO time, and work time. I went to Eliana's housewarming/first IMDB credit party and was incredibly jealous of her place. Granted, she pays $250 more a month than me in rent alone and she's not in the best neighborhood, but she has a kick-ass giant/huge studio. Wood floors, nice little kitchen, raised area for the bed, fireplace, balcony. It was great. And she's all by herself. I miss that, especially now that I have 3 roommates.

Today Drew is in the office (he works from home except for Mondays and Thursdays), and Faith drove back to AZ til Saturday. I have the place to myself to work. Just the way I like it.

Well, it's over before it really even started. I'm not surprised. Just disappointed, I suppose.

Free your secrets and become who you are.

Frank Warren

I am such a proud mama bird! I just got back from Room 5, where Eric performed tonight. It was a small crowd, but he was amazing! He played guitar, harmonica, and ended on the piano. His lyrics are really great. Man, that kid has talent. And he's my friend, to boot!

Small world!

Friday mornings I take a yoga class and swim laps. I hopped in the pool and this guy came up to me and asked if he could share my lane. I blatantly stared at him because he looked so familiar. Is he on a TV show I watch? Is he a famous musician? So, I'm swimming my laps and trying to wrack my brain. I got out of the pool wanting to say something to him, but didn't. As I was grabbing my towel, he called out.

"Hey, you didn't by any chance go to WSU did you?"
"Holy crap, I thought I recognized you!!!"

It was Jason Lockhart (whose last name I'm sure I'm misspelling)! He was a freshman when I was a senior. I mean, LA is like the biggest city with a gazillion people and so incredibly spread out. And Jason moved here two days ago. Two days! Unbelievable. But now I can be a tour guide. Wow. Small world!

Austin was great and horrible and fantastic and uncomfortable. I was both a jackass and the highlight of someone's weekend. I didn't get to hang out with some people I wanted to. Instead I made new friends and hung out with them. I got so drunk one night that I not only threw up (until there was nothing left but dry heaves (sorry Michelle)), but I also don't remember several phone calls, text messages, and conversations. That hasn't happened in 7 years. The Naughty, to be specific.

Reset.

Can't wait to move there!

Faith and I added a 3rd roommate. My friend, Drew, from Austin. We met at OoB last year. Even though we signed our lease August 1st, he hasn't stayed the night. He ended up house sitting, then leaving for Austin the week before me. Tonight is the first time he is really here for reals. I went downstairs to turn off the ac and he was setting up the xbox. It will be different living with a boy. It's been several years since I've done that.

Fun!