It's a lovely day for a recession!

I must say, this recession certainly has given me a lot of free time.

I had yesterday, today and will have tomorrow off from work. I've been working about three days a week, adding up to about 20 hours. Back in the day, meaning when I had a more steady flow of cash, I'd relish these days off with shopping, classes, shows, movies, etc. However, now I open my wallet and moths fly out like in old-school cartoons.

So it has fallen upon me to find things to do that don't cost money, which as you can imagine, in NYC is pretty darn impossible.

Things I've done today:

-made an obnoxiously big breakfast of eggs, toast and little turkey sausages
-surfed the internet while watching "Save Me" on Netflix.
-joined the rest of America and started watching "30 Rock," also on Netflix
-listened to showtunes
-watched about thismuch of the Ellen Degeneres Show.
-listened to normal music
-Facebook stalked (learned that one of my former classmates turned into a fat republican with the Confederate flag painted on his tricked-out pickup.)
-made a salami sandwich
-did the dishes
-played with my makeup
-searched for a job
-submitted for some stuff on Backstage.com and Actor's Access.
-watched far too many old Luke and Noah clips on YouTube
-downloaded "19" by Adele from iTunes along with some Etta James and Bette Midler tracks I've been eyeing.
-Finally finished "Dead Until Dark," the book that inspired the HBO show TrueBlood
-aimlessly grocery shopped. Gave into vices and bough B&J's Phish Food and a six pack of Stella.
-made a big dinner
-watched the news, local and national
-booty danced to Beyonce and Aretha around the apartment.
-Made decaf and restarted the first chapter of "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn.

Yeah. That was my day. Exciting, right? I suppose I could be spending the time working on my show--I'm trying to write my own one-woman cabaret act--however I'm feeling rather uninspired. The fact that I auditioned for a job at Don't Tell Mama and haven't heard anything back from them makes me feel notsogood about the whole cabaret thing. I could go to auditions, but I've sworn off auditions where I don't have a prior appointment. Its just not worth the effort or the aggravation right now. And so I bide my time, for the rest of the month.

In February, I'll get a little more flow thanks to a CD I have at the bank finally maturing again. I haven't had to touch this money since I had to put down a deposit on my first apartment back in the summer of '07. But since Starbucks has decided to cut back on the little money they pay me anyway, I'll have to dip into those savings. I'm hoping that on Feb 27th, which is when I hit my 2-year mark with the Bux (good GOD) I'll have a hefty raise coming my way.

Lets hope, for my credit card bill's sake, that I will, shall we?

An Introduction

Well hello! And welcome to my blog.

(Did you read that opening line like Brenda Dickson? Then stick around, we're going to be very good friends.)

For the past six years, I have been keeping a rather scatterbrained livejournal. I started it in college, in an attempt to keep my family informed on all my crazy college experiences (okay... maybe not ALL of them.) It had served me well over the past six years, and I don't ever plan on deleting it, but I feel its time to move on to the more sophisticated "blog".

If you're reading this, odds are, you know me already. But if you've just stumbled upon this blog and have made it this far in the entry out of sheer curiosity--or you're wondering what my next camp-tastic reference will be--allow me to tell you a little about myself in hopes that it will catch you up.

As it says in the title, my name is Elizabeth. Yup, really, no fake names here. I'm an only child. I grew up in NY's Capital Region (read: Albany and its surrounding suburbs. I hesitate to call it "Upstate New York" due to the fact that it's not, technically, as anyone who actually grew up in the Adirondacks will be quick remind you)

I fell in love with performing in middle school and subsequently became the biggest theatre dork in my school district.

Oh yeah, I spell it "theatRE." Biggest. Dork.

But being a high school drama nerd wasn't enough. I had to go so far as to make this my career. What on earth was I thinking??

And so, I headed off to the snowy hills of Buffalo NY to study musical theatre at UB. I learned a lot, and miss it terribly.

::starts to hum "I Wish I Could Go Back to College" from Avenue Q::

I moved to NYC one year and five months ago, and began my quest to be an honest-to-god professional actor. I've been working at a Starbucks(almost two years now, good god) to pay the bills. There have been several auditions, numerous emotional face-plants, a couple gigs, lessons learned and friends made.

And now, a primer for those of you joining this progam already in progress;


Stuff I Like:

musicals

makeup

low-cut tops

Cuban music

Pad Thai

biting my nails

long showers

good coffee

good beer

gay men

The Characters of My Life... or "People I Will Probably Mention a Lot":

Mami- Sassy lady in her 50's. Cuban immigrant. My shoulder to cry on. Loves music, loves to dance, but can't quite work her iPod.

Dad- Cool dude in his slightly earlier 50's. Conservative. My sounding board. Plays golf, electric guitar and roots for the Giants.

Craig- Roommate and high school friend. Clever and catty. Owns the cast recording to every show ever. A little high maintenance, but totally worth it.

Allison- Former roommate who escaped NYC to live like a grown-up in Pittsburgh, PA. New agey vegetarian Jill-of-all-Trades. Can make me laugh harder than just about anyone. Closest I've ever come to a sister.

Tony- Tall skinny tenor who went from "The Guy Who I Met at the Godspell Audition" to a very good friend. Fellow barista who has moved on to a new job selling tickets to Broadway shows. Wonderful source of get-off-your-ass-and-go-to-that-audition motivation.

So I think that's it for now. Hope you've stuck with me this far and will continue along my little journey.