A-Musings

Week 2 - Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien Sun., June 3.  Livorno  Que Brutta ! Pardoxically, the uninspired industrial port of Livorno, with enormous fields of new cars extending far as the eye can see, serves as Grandeur’s unflattering gateway to Pisa, Florence and the inspiring glories of Renaissance Tuscany. While the passengers disembark, boarding busses to visit them, we stay on board to shoot … Up pre-dawn to shoot the Izumi, then the Concierge Lounge.  Both look perfect, thanks to my pre-planning, and help from Chef Travis and Co. in Izumi, and Raj and chefs in the Concierge Club.  A bonus: an espresso machine, a real macchiato to toast another jewel in the can. A quick work-out, a few meetings.  Patience and diplomacy are key on board:  asking busy, underpaid people to work extra hours, frequently at odd hours, requires a delicate touch.  Both Teams A and B shoot the Casino.  At sunset, Julien and I capture the Spa Reception, Relaxa...

Week 1 - Temps Perdus? Mon., May 28.  Later, NYC … Nearly 90 degrees this afternoon.  Crawling on the A train to JFK.  Arrive almost 30 minutes later than my rendez-vous time with Giacomo.  Checking in at American Airlines requires a labyrinthine, multi-step process, further complicated by some mysterious unattended baggage.  This ownerless duffel has the power to make scary looking Security cops have everyone exit the terminal.  What follows is 15 minutes of chaos as the initially small crowd on the sidewalk outside grows into a hot, harried, time-pressed mob shuffled from line to line by clueless and confused airline personnel.  Giacomo and I slip into the 1st class area, check in, and proceed to the security checkpoint.  Air travel used to be glamorous; now, thanks to 9/11, it has become what its Latin root implies: travail , or work. Miraculously, the flight takes off on time with us in it.  I’m seated one row in front of th...

Free Will, God’s Will, Written-in-the-Stars Destiny, Mathematical Scientific Probability, Newtonian Cause-and-Effect, There-Are-No-Accidents-or-Coincidences/Everything-Happens-for-a-Reason, Utter Randomness, Mind Manifesting a la "The Secret", Pure Consciousness, Dumb Luck, or Some Combination Thereof Recently, on the set of the season finale of “Blue Bloods,” I won the background actor’s Jackpot.   Nabbed the brass ring, seized the Holy Grail, scored the pot of gold at then end of the rainbow:  I was given not a featured extra spot, not even an “under 5” (less than 5 words of dialogue).  No, I was asked, by the director , to open the scene by ad libbing a few lines on camera. Bingo. First, a little context:  April 2012, Friday the 13 th .  The show was nearly ready to wrap for the season, just one more day of shooting after this one.  I was in Scenes 1 and 3, meaning I had to arrive early and would leave late, change locations a...

The 1st rule of background work:  whenever possible, sit; you could be standing for a long, long time 2 nd rule of background work:  no matter what happened, it’s always your fault 3 rd rule of background work:  the waiting is the hardest part; bring something to read, something to do, and/or someone to talk to 4 th rule of background work:  it could always be worse Worse than melting out in the July midday Sahara-like sun for hour after hour, in full period costume, hair and make-up, unable to sit or seek shelter in the shade? Worse than being dressed for spring in November, buffeted by an icy rain and a relentless winter wind?  Or, for several long 14-hr. consecutive overnights, having to stand on the street or on rooftops in a driving rain wearing highly absorbent winter city attire - wool coats, hats and scarves - but no umbrellas? Worse than coming up out of the subway at 4:45am onto the dark, fog-shrouded pre-dawn streets of...

First, the negatives …  With the economy still stalled, dragging my coaching practice to a near halt along with it, I’ve had to rely on the other two of my triumvirate of “a-muse” services – writing/creative coaching and acting - to keep the lights on.  Frequently, it hasn’t been easy.  Or pretty.  Or fun. Oh yes, of course I have the random two-week cruise ship photo shoot in the Caribbean, South America, Alaska, French Polynesia, or the Mediterranean (this coming May and June!) working as production manager/stylist to keep me out of the poorhouse and off the ledge.  Thank God. But in between these heaven-sent projects, life can be challenging to say the least, sometimes petrifyingly so, the other 11+ months of the year. As a very last resort, as I wait for the economy to turn that corner, for the time when people and corporations will once again feel secure and confident enough to invest in “non-essentials” such as the career, creative and w...

I’ve had this woo-woo, new-agey idea kicking around my head since early 2007.  It first popped into my consciousness during a weekend seminar on Energy Leadership, conducted by the amazing teachers at the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching (IPEC), from which I received my coaching instruction and certifications. For the final project of our training that weekend, we were encouraged to “think outside of the box” and come up with original, radical ideas that would spread the concept of Energy Leadership.  (What is Energy Leadership?  The mastery of one’s actions and reactions through increased self-awareness.  By acknowledging and accepting responsibility for our thoughts and beliefs, and the emotions and behaviors we allow them to produce, we can better choose our responses to the slings and arrows of life.  We can decide the grace - or lack thereof - with which we navigate through our days, and better determine our own experience of life....