Wow..its been so long since I’ve actually had something to say. Lack of inspiration. Writer’s Block. Life struggles. Since I left my previous desk job to blog and then become editor for two sites, Twirlit.com and Kidglue.com, it was quite the difficult feat. Luckily, I work with a ridiculously amazing staff who make things run as smoothly as possible and also give me looks when I mention a RANDOM idea. (That’s my right brain talking. Usually I tell this part of my brain to shut up, but I should let it out more often)

Editing two sites, reading pitches, posts. doing outreach, and then personal life stuff had taken over my life. Oh and auditioning/classes. And suddenly, writing/blogging seemed to be the last thing that I wanted to do. Do all of you other bloggers feel like that? You’re just tired. Worn-out. Wondering if you should stop being personal on your blog b/c a random person you met 3 years ago might e-mail you?

Also, some dude e-mailed me and said,
“Excuse me, but you look like a cartoon. Just thought you should know.”
Can that be the randomest e-mail ever? YUP

Anyway, I think I’m back. Hopefully I’ll be back to my best blogging self, but instead of venting personal things on this blog, I’ll probably just not post that day when I’m in a horrible mood. I feel like life has given me a bunch of lemons these past couple of months and I’ve made it into a very watered down version of Crystal Light Lemonade. Too sweet and not exactly the real thing. This is not me. If you’ve read my blog from the beginning…I’m just a gal whose trying to figure out life through words, rapping karaoke, blogging, pursuing life dreams even when its rough.

No imitation required. Good night peoples! Oh, and shout out to Laura Ling and Euna Lee. You ladies deserve all the fresh fruit, food, and rest in the world.

So… I’ve started a new writing project recently…actually its from bits and pieces of old projects that I’ve pieced together into a new idea. New ideas are those annoying thoughts that bother you when you’re at the grocery store, trying to get that ketchup stain off your white t-shirt (happens to me CONSTANTLY), or in line at Coffee Bean. ( I probably SHOULDN’T GET THE RIDICULOUSLY SUGARY ICED MOCHA BLENDED BUT ITS SO FREAKING GOOD)
But when I start a writing project and am stuck on a character or plot point… I meander aimlessly doing things like…

ORGANIZE MY PAPERS- Um… I have stacks of papers in my room. Old scripts. Produced scripts. Old papers. Old college essays. My old journals. (Hilarious to read this a few years later). Old newspaper articles that inspired me, but now annoy me.

MAKE VARIOUS BEVERAGES- I love green tea and coffee. Sometimes I try to make random coffee drinks with my ghetto coffee maker and call myself a barista. Then, I realize that I possess no such skill. Sadly.

GO TO RANDOM WEBSITES-  Granted, I edit a website for my job, but I’m required to be on top of all the latest and greatest news that is happening AS WE SPEAK… meanwhile I’m Twittering or on food blogs, or just on random gossip blogs.  Occasionally, I’ll read Fox News.  Please don’t hate me.

DO BACK EXERCISES-  I’m convinced that my back and booty hate me for sitting in a chair 24/7.  If they could speak they’d say, “Dude, Kat, you’re such a freak.  Can you get off of me and walk around!!!?”  To which I’d reply, “Um… get over yourself.”  So to appease them, I do random back and booty exercises for about five minutes and then get back on the saddle…er..I mean, my uncomfortable chair.

BUST OUT IN SONG-  Okay, so when I write from my desk computer and need a break, am stressed about setting up an interview, or am working on an annoying post or plot point… what do I do?  Shocking but I’ll bust out in song by going on youtube and rocking out to whatever I feel like.  At my previous job, this was a no-no.  But now… I can do this to my heart’s content.

The thing is..I’m kind of weird and people who know me know this by now, so it’s all good.  Accept your odd quirks.

I have… and if you’ll excuse me, I should get back to writing.  Ugh…now I have to organize my papers again!!!

Wow… this is a really hard post to write, and I’ve been putting it off for a while because I don’t know how to write this. (NOTE: There will be rambling in this post) I’m the type of person who analyzes things to the “T,” and tries to make sense of everything little thing that happens, but recently…I’ve stopped. Truly. I mean, as markets fall, people lose their jobs and life savings, and uncertainty is the name of the game, nothing really makes sense to me anymore. People are probably wondering everyday, “How did we get here?” and most importantly, “What am I supposed to do about it?”

Life is RANDOM and doesn’t always follow a set planbook, even though you might be Type A and try to make it. (perfectly diagrammed with tons of notes/guidelines/stick-its).  So, right now is the time to figure out how to make things work.  My brother has always been pretty hard on me, treating me like a brother because he thought that it would toughen me up. (which it kinda did)  He always said, “Handle it,” meaning to not have any excuses and just do it. Finish the job. Do what you gotta do.

So… I’m going back to auditioning full-time, and also creating content for two websites, Twirlit, a fashion/beauty site, and also becoming the female voice for the men’s site, “Manolith.“ For the past six months, I was unable to audition because of my job and would work 50 hours per week, and then work on a comedic screenplay with Mark, my writing partner. (We’ve had meetings about this project and things are moving along….)

I was basically a robot that worked constantly and started to kind of lose myself, who I was.  With the constant influx of negative, scary Economic news around me, I just put my head down and worked like a very efficient elf.   Woke up, went to the gym, went to the office, and then met with Mark for a late night writing session.  But one day, I woke up and realized, “I can’t do this anymore.  I can’t give up my dreams/goals because you only get one life.” It was just one of those realizations and for once, my heart told my brain to shut up.  I decided to go with my heart, so I’ll be leaving docstoc where I’ve rocked the docs, uploaded a ridiculous amount of content, learned about SEO and HTML, worked with J, Alon, Ilya, and Andrew in our tiny office in Beverly Hills and then watched as the company moved to Santa Monica and grew.  Best of luck to you guys as the company continues to grow!!!

As for me, I’ll be going back to auditioning and will be blogging more about that process, and just more of the creative projects that I’ve been working on… and to start it off, I’ve decided to interview myself. Yup. Weirdo….yes I am.

“Why did you actually come to LA?”

Well duh, it was to act on TV shows/movies, do improv, write screenplays and sell them, live in a place where it barely rains, maybe date a cute surfer guy before realizing all he does is surf. Sigh.  Oh, and drink Coffee Bean iced blendeds. Those things are bomb.

What were your first jobs when moving to LA?

I worked as a waitress in Beverly Hills and then in West Hollywood, logged for reality TV shows (OMG…awful job but taught me a lot about sitting on my ass and staring at footage), worked as a tutor, worked as a temp…  Craziness. Was very broke. But, I do think everyone should work in the service industry at some point in their lives… you learn about patience and just being nice to people. People can be so rude, but working as a waitress taught me how to deal with a-holes, snobs, cheapskates and more delightful characters. So, remember to always tip well!

How the hell do you write a screenplay?

Uh… lots of drafts of crap where you wonder why your characters are way too obvious, why your scene needs to be cut, and if it’s funny enough.  I tend to lean towards writing comedies, and it just takes lots of practice. You need to read lots of produced scripts, watch a lot of TV shows (good and bad), read a lot in general and just be passionate about it.  Every single successful person has told me this… You really need to love what you do in order to make it.  Truly. Madly. Deeply. (Sorry.. OLD SKOOL SONG FROM THE 90′s)

What’s auditioning like?

Well, you go into a room with a Casting director, and if you’ve been called back, its with a few producers, an assistant and a camera.  Everyone is usually pretty cordial and then you have about 3-5 minutes to really nail your audition.  Pretty nerve-wracking, but like anything in life, you get better with practice and experience.

How come you gave up auditioning while working at docstoc?

My parents’ financial situation was pretty dire starting at the end of last year, and I had to decide between continuing with my dreams/goals and staying at a steady job to help out my parents.  It kind of tore me up inside to have to choose and I definitely felt as though I was sawing off my arm when I had a call with my agent saying, “I can’t audition anymore.”  She understood but you have to understand that even getting to work with a good acting agent who pushes for you and believes in you is VERY DIFFICULT. There are tons of actors in Los Angeles and to be able to get representation who actually thinks you’re worth making calls for, pushing for projects, etc… is something you have to be grateful for.  Anyway, it almost killed me when I had to stop auditioning, but then… I decided to put my creativity into screenwriting.

What’s screenplays are you referencing?

One is a comedic screenplay that we’ve gotten some buzz about (sorry, can’t be more detailed than that), and the other is a sports movie that is “Mean Girls” meets “Bend It Like Beckham.”  I started writing it about two years ago, did numerous re-writes, annoyed a bunch of people who gave me notes/suggestions on it, and just kept plugging away at it.

Why haven’t you quit yet?

Well, I’m basically psycho. Or crazy. Maybe a little bit of both.  The truth is that I’m driven by passion and my love of stories and making people laugh/making fun of stereotypes.  I grew up seeing a lot of injustice, hatred, racism, ignorance and would always daydream, write songs, and write short stories.  This was my escape… by creating stories in my head… and singing, of course!  Also, I’m a believer in God, and think that he has a bigger plan for me, these stories, and even this blog.  Hopefully the plan is to just inspire people to find their inner goals, passions and talents, and use them to give back and help others.  As an actor/writer, I also hope to inspire little girls/boys who might look different or just not fit in, to just find their talents and learn that what other people think really doesn’t matter.  Seriously.  I wish I knew that when I was younger.

So, what’s going on with the acting?

Well, I had a producers’ session for an NBC Pilot last week, and am just starting it back up again.  People look down on acting, but it’s something that entertains, inspires, and makes people laugh/cry.  I absolutely love playing weird/random characters like when I was on “The Office.”

Will you miss documents?

Hell to the yeah.  I mean documents have been my life for the past year and a half.  I used to go to bed thinking, “Oh snap, what do I have to upload tomorrow?”  Also,whenever we’d go grab a drink, one of my friends would say, “Kat, YOU CAN’T HAVE MY DOCUMENTS,” all because I asked him to upload his documents ONE time.  To this day, he still says this.  If you’re reading this Rich, I DON’T WANT YOUR DOCUMENTS!!! LOL.

Do you feel like a tool/loser for interviewing yourself?

Um…yeah, what else is new.  Story of my life.

Our script….. I was actually worried when Mark and I first decided to work on our comedy feature together, but having a writing partner is REALLY great if you complement each others’ writing styles, creativity, and well, sense of humor.

Meet Mark, Bad-ass and also my Writing Partner. Here’s his bio..yeah, um, he wrote it in the 3rd person.

Hailing from what you earthlings would recognize as 2404 A.D., Mark Charran arrived in Los Angeles 4 years ago with one thing on his mind; Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. After conquering this goal, he quickly turned his sights on the acting and writing field, as everyone knows succeeding in this area is extremely easy. He has Guest-Stared on shows like “Gilmore Girls” and shot a pilot for comedy central called “Dollar Theater”, and has also developed a pilot for T.V. which is currently being shopped. While out patrolling the city dressed as Robin, Mark was assaulted by an angry gang of Trekkies. Feeling sorry for his plight, a brave woman named Kathrien Ahn stepped in and rescued Mark. Mark is charged (ordered) to help her develop an absolutely amazing screenplay. He’d like to thank ESPN for always keeping him distracted, and internet #$@%!.