Life is Beautiful

This is a fire rainbow - the rarest of all naturally occurring atmospheric phenomena! The picture was captured this week on the Idaho - Washington border. The event lasted about 1 hour. Clouds have to be cirrus, at least 20k feet in the air, with just the right amount of ice crystals and the sun has to hit the clouds at precisely 58 degrees.

Petition against the SAG strike

Here is a non-partisan online petition seeking alternative solutions WITHOUT striking.  PLEASE take a moment to sign at
http://www.petitiononline.com/DealNow/petition.html
We CAN NOT afford another costly strike...

It's Official: SAG Wants Strike.

I just received the following email. I have only one word: unbelievable. After holding firm on deal points that AFTRA and all the other unions agreed upon, and after a federal mediator did not rule in favor of SAG, and in this horrific economy --SAG wants to strike.  But they don't want to put out ballots to vote for a strike until they have "educated " the membership. My greatest education was when I became a producer.  I spent 7 YEARS of my life working  to make a movie, promote the movie and find distribution. My biggest SAG actor worked a total of no more than 12 DAYS.  And yet if any check comes in, it's only the SAG actors who'd get paid. Don't get me wrong.  I'm a SAG actress, and I'd love to earn more money.  But I see the bigger picture. DISTRIBUTORS should be paying these upgrades, not the producers. That's where the money lies, and therein lies the problem. I can't imagine that with any amount of "education" this strike authorization will pass, but regardless, I wish that these officials would try their hand at producing and get a bit of an education as well. These are very scary times.  According to the Associated Press, the recent writer's strike cost the Los Angeles area economy an estimated $2.5 billion. 

November 22, 2008

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

The National TV/Theatrical Negotiating team was optimistic that federal mediation would help to move our negotiations forward, but despite the Guild's extraordinary efforts to reach agreement, the mediation was adjourned shortly before 1:00 a.m. today.

Management continues to insist on terms we cannot responsibly accept on behalf of our members. As previously authorized by the National Board of Directors, we will now launch a full-scale education campaign in support of a strike authorization referendum. We will further inform SAG members about the core, critical issues unique to actors that remain in dispute.

We have already made difficult decisions and sacrifices in an attempt to reach agreement. Now it's time for SAG members to stand united and empower the national negotiating committee to bargain with the strength of a possible work stoppage behind them.

We remain committed to avoiding a strike but now more than ever we cannot allow our employers to experiment with our careers. The WGA has already learned that the new media terms they agreed to with the AMPTP are not being honored. We cannot allow our employers to undermine the futures of SAG members and their families.

No timeline has been set for the mailing or return of the strike authorization ballots.

Shiba Inu Puppy Cam

I am addicted to watching the live stream of these puppies! I keep them on my computer in the background while I'm working.  Apparently, I'm not the only one. Often when I tune in I am joined by over 20,000 other people! You can learn more about them here: www.ustream.tv/channel/shiba-inu-puppy-cam

Why I Love Living in LA

Last night I had the honor of being in the SAME ROOM as Meryl Streep. Ummm. WOW!  I don't usually get star-struck, but Meryl Streep!  Life doesn't get much better than this.  Her new movie DOUBT (which opens December 12) is wonderful!  We saw a special pre-release screening at the Director's Guild along with (pictured right to left): writer/director John Patrick Shanley, and actors Viola Davis, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and the moderator.

Are you Ready?

After The Great ShakeOut Last week, Matt and I have started stocking supplies in the event of a disaster. We took a drive to Moorepark today and purchased all kinds of emergency provisions from a great store called www.quakekare.com. They have water packed in heat-resistant cartons especially made for the car, and 2000 calorie food bars which can sustain a person for an entire day. Then we took a trip to Costco and purchased a bunch of canned foods including: tuna, chicken, corned beef, chili, veggies and soup. For more info about preparing yourself for an emergency checkout www.earthquakecountry.info/roots/step1.html

The Law of Attraction in Motion

It feels good to finally get through most of my emails. Besides the usual invites to screenings and events, I received a bunch of emails from producers wanting to get together! This week I'm having lunch with (first names only:) Liz, Laurie, Tasha, Eve and Flo. And I did not initiate any of these meetings. Feels like a positive sign from the Universe.

The Girl Who Silenced the UN

I loved this. What an amazing speech. What an amazing child.

President Elect's Website

This is the incoming administration's website. it's informative, transparent, and just plain cool. Check it out because it offers multiple opportunities for us little people to talk to our president-elect and his staff about our concerns and ideas. Maybe this will be a government by the people and for the people again! Imagine that!  Together we CAN make a better world.  www.change.gov

Beautiful Julian

Today Matt and I hiked out in a little town called Julian, California (just north of San Diego). Population 160.  It was a gold rush town back in the day and is simply darling.  The little main street has rustic cafes which all feature apples.  I guess Julian is know for apples. There's a beautiful little lake there, surrounded by trees and fields.  Loved it.

My Grant Rant

I try not to think about Ideablob unless I absolutely have to (since I've filed complaints against them with various regulatory and consumer protection agencies). But I did yesterday when the CEO actually had the audacity to add me as a friend on my twitter feed. Hello?

My bad experience with them happened only a few months ago so it's no wonder I'm still feeling so down! As I'm sure you remember, I lost the $20K Ideablob grant when a greedy woman's notorious online forum (appropriately called "Something Awful") sabotaged my entry. I was in first place and likely would have won if she had played fairly. And when her "Something Awful" forum was discovered, this woman edited her posts to hide what she did. Hoping this was a "fluke" occurrence, I entered the grant competition and lost a second time when Ideablob favored TFA Alums with special bonus incentives. (They deny any special treatment was given, but here is evidence.) 

I'm usually a very peppy, positive, happy, upbeat person. No wonder I've been feeling depressed lately! I spent 3 months working on this grant full-time, and it was only 2 months ago. This really took a toll on me. I truly believed that Ideablob somehow did not realize (or think it through) that it was not fair to give an undisclosed $5K bonus award to TFA for TFA Alums only, and when they realized it they'd take responsibility for the error and make it up to the other finalists. I know, I know. Pretty naive. At least I take solace regarding that first woman: Jessica from Project Epiphany. If she has any conscious at all, every time she looks at her prize telescopes she is reminded of what she did to get them. She sent me an email after the voting ended saying she felt badly about what she'd done and was not going to accept the grant. My husband said it was a ploy and not to believe her. He was right. But the most hurtful part of ALL was how I never even got any sort of courtesy explanation from the CEO. I was completely invisible. No apology. Nothing. And now he's adding me as a friend on Twitter? Sorry, but no.

Jones Soda Labels

This is my Jones Soda bottle label!  I was surfing the net and just found it! I had submitted a few photos to Jones Soda back in December of 2005, and later changed my email address, so I had no idea this photo was selected as the Cream Soda label for October 2006! AND it gets BETTER!!! THEN I found out our label was chosen by Jones Soda as 1 of only 36 finalists for their "2007 Photo of the Year"!  (Out of almost 143,00 photos submitted, we are in the TOP 8!) If we had only known we could have had our friends vote for it!  I can't believe how many votes it got considering they are not from anyone we know!  Matt took this photo of me back in 2001 when I was performing the role of Jill Tanner in Leonard Gershe's play "Butterflies are Free".  What an honor!

Please Nominate OtherInbox

Will you take 2 SECONDS to follow this link and nominate my brother's new company? He's going to revolutionize the way we deal with email overload! Go Josh! http://blog.otherinbox.com/

I'm an Auntie!

Yesterday was historical in more ways than one.  My beautiful new niece joined us at 7:12pm (CT).  7 lbs, 6 oz.  She's still waiting for a name...  

Transcript: 'This is your victory,' says Obama

Words simply cannot express what we experienced in last night's election.  Matt and I cheered and cried.  We feel like America has reclaimed America. As each state's vote tally came in, it became more and more clear that it really was going to happen.  Obama WAS going to be elected our 44th President.  

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama spoke at a rally in Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois, after winning the race for the White House Tuesday night. 

Obama:  Hello, Chicago.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. Watch Obama's speech in its entirety »

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen. McCain. Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him; I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House.

And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.

And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America. To my chief strategist David Axelrod who's been a partner with me every step of the way. To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done. But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.

This is your victory.

And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Today is an historical day!

Today is history in the making. Matt and I woke up early and made it to the little school down the street at 7am. There was a small line, and all in all it took 47 minutes to cast our votes.  I've never seen people so happy to vote.  I have to say I'm feeling very moved.  By this time tomorrow we'll know who our new president is.  And if it's Barack Obama, it truly will be a new day.  No more racial divide.  People's wounds of the past can begin to heal, and we can all be one.  There is no red America, blue America, white American, black America. There is ONE America: The United States of America.  I have never cared about politics before this election.  I have never had the hope I have today. Here is a map of predictions courtesy of http://www2.hubdub.com/election_map

Yes we can.

This was POWERFUL.

Yes on Change

My friend Onyay wrote this song and performs it here. What an amazing video! I am remembering what talented friends I have. Talented and proactive. I am humbled.