No Where To Go .

I've always felt really depressed walking by homeless people. I mean, to know that I have everything that I need and more, while they have absolutely nothing in their name except for what they have on. I always wonder how their life came to this and why no one will help them. I wonder how long they've been there and how long they will be there. I wonder if this is how they will leave the world. With nothing. Just die silently and be forgotten in an instant. I can't imagine myself doing that. I wonder where their family is. I mean, doesn't everyone have a family? I wonder what they must be thinking when our eyes meet. I wonder what they think when they see me. They must think I have everything in the world. I don't. But I have everything that they don't. I wish there was a way I could help them.Sure, I can give them any change I have in my pocket and they can have that one meal they've longed for hours, if not, days, but that won't last long. I want to do something that will change their life for ever. Put a smile on their face. Put a real, everlasting smile on their face. I want to get them off the streets and into a warm home. I want them to get a job and have people treat them with the respect everyone deserves. I want them to be able to have hope. To have meaning for living. To feel that their life has meaning. I want so many things for them. But I can't give it to them. I'm sure they share the same wants and needs for themselves that I do for them. But wanting and having are two completely different things. I realize that. They realize that. I feel that I was born to help these people. To help them and more. To become the solution to the burden that has laid upon earth forever. To eradicate poverty and homelessness.
I have a dream that one day each and every single person on this planet can walk the grounds of the Earth and be happy. To have everything they need in their life and more. That's my dream. I can't fulfill it alone.

Summer Fierce

Night of The Living Dead !

Tonight is Halloween. I never really understood the point of this day. Probably because I was always too busy trying to find a costume and too excited about all the candies I would soon have my hands on. But this year, it's different. Lately, I've been paying closer attention to my health, so the candy doesn't really appeal to me as much as it use too. And I have been watching the news more and more often and realizing what a terrible place the world actually is. There are murderers, rapists, pornographers and more just roaming the streets of every neighbourhood, including my own, just waiting for their next victim. Every week, there is a new face on the news or on the windows of stores, with another person missing. And every week or every other week, at least one of them turns up dead. With all this madness and chaos happening, are these parents that send their children out alone not scared? They are still living in a fairytale world where nothing bad happens. Where children can run out on the streets after dark and return home unharmed. Well, it's just not like that anymore. It's not just Ontario that's like this; it's everywhere. People are just becoming more and more ignorant, violent and cruel. These vicious people don't have any value of life or love. They live to see the pain and suffering of others. These are the living dead. They are like demons amongst our earth. They only bring pain and tears. These are the creatures that Halloween celebrates. Why are we celebrating the creatures that terrorize us?
I do still dress up in a costume when the school holds the occasion, though. As an alternative to trick-or-treating, I just ask my parents to buy a few Halloween packs of candy that I like. This way, I avoid possibly running into one of the terrible, monstrous people that I mentioned before, I don't have candy that I don't like, and I get to stay in a warm house. Why would children want to have to face all of that? Why would parents want them to?
I wouldn't want my kids to. But who am I to tell people not to celebrate Halloween? I'm not one to. I am just advising people that do decide to, to do so with caution.

 Happy Halloween `10

BE SAFE.

Summer Fierce

Let's Hit it Old School !

The shopping component of the challenge is completed. Although we were unsuccessful at following our plan blow-by-blow, we came out with astonishing items. We arrived downtown just before eleven o'clock AM. The problem with that, is that most of the stores don't open until 12 o'clock noon. But my group knew that the store we needed to see the most was about a forty-five minute walk away. So we purchased our teas and headed out. While on the way there, we passed by a few stores that we actually NOT on our list or map. To our utter surprise, they ended up having, amazingly, exactly what we need and for a low price, which they also allowed us to bargain down. So, on the way to the main destination store, we were able to pick up about five very perfectly suited for our scene and cheap items. In fact, the stores that weren't on our list were actually the ones that had more of what we needed and lower prices.
This was my first time actually going vintage shopping. I found the experience absolutely wonderful. I saw several items that I quite adored for myself at reasonably low prices. One of which, I actually purchased. You really do need a full day to go vintage shopping because there are so many stores and so many things to look through. Another thing I noticed, was how friendly all of the cashiers were. Not one of them gave attitude, which is very rare now-a-days, oddly.

Vintage shopping will probably be of my new hobbies!

Summer Fierce 

Challenge ` 03 - Game's On Guys !

This is it! This is going to be the challenge where Quadrant 2 shows the others exactly what we're all about. We are fast, furious and FIERCE. We are going to strategize for this challenge in ways the other groups can't imagine possible. We are going to win.
The challenge is commencing this Friday, October the 29th, as we are on our trip to Ossington and Queen in Downtown, Toronto. As many may know (don't worry if you didn't know; I didn't know either 'til this challenge arose) this is a popular vintage shopping area. People, including celebrities, from all over the world come down there just to go vintage shopping. Our challenge is to find an article of clothing in one of the stores for each of our group members. Each item has to correspond to the rest of the group members' items, as we have to create a scene using them next Tuesday. Also, here's the tricky part, it has to be under ten dollars. Pricing isn't bad in some of the stores, but we have to be able to find something that's stellar and eye-popping that will stand out in our performance.
To add on to this extreme load, while on this escapade, we have to capture a story in some way and turn it into a piece of art. It can be a visual, like a photo, video montage, blog, or a performance piece, like a spoken word or a song. To inspire this story, we are to observe the surroundings in the area, especially the patients from the mental institutions and the homeless and try to capture their emotions into a story of some sort.
This should be stressful & fun.

Let the games begin.

Summer Fierce 

Super Freaky ; Superstitious

Superstitions have been around since the beginning of time. Ancient history has been recording mysterious beliefs that 'til this day, are still believed by many. These include myths such as those that equal bad luck. Like, seeing a black cat cross the street, walking under a ladder, breaking a mirror, starting something at precisely 12 o'clock, etc. There isn't really any proven facts that these truly exists, just stories. Stories that are so powerful that they can sometimes have people scared to death of encounter one of the 'bad luck' type situations. I am one of those people. My self-conscience drives me insane sometimes. I feel like every little movement I make can disrupt the very fabric of time, causing colossal damage or even death. Not my death, but the death of others; people that I love. That's my greatest fear; losing someone I love. Another fear of mine that connects to superstitions, is ghosts and spirits. I always feel like I'm being watch - like I'm never alone. It's absolutely terrifying especially at night because I have a crazy, wild imagination that shots images and scary thoughts through my mind. This is the reason I have to avoid watching scary movies. It doesn't matter how surreal something seems in a movie, my mind will find a way to make me believe that the scary things in the movie are real and that situations like that, can and will happen. I believe that spirits do come back and haunt people with a vengeance. And I think there have been a few that targeted me, as I'm always hearing sounds and sometimes seeing things.
So, death isn't actually a fear of mine, it's more so, not being able to be with the people that I love.
I have arachnophobia. I am extremely terrified of spiders and, actually, most bugs. I refuse to go to my basement anymore because there are always spiders there and I know exactly where the biggest ones always chose to live; on the bottom step, in the corner. Also, my dad grows vegetables in the back that I like, and I can't go pick them because there are ALWAYS spiders and bugs surrounding them. So, I have to wait for my dad to pick them.
Hopefully, one day, I will be able to face my greatest fears and overcome them. Not the loss of a loved one, because I know I can never get over that, but my fear of ghosts, spiders and bugs.



What are your fears?


Summer Fierce

Do You Know Where The Line Is ?

For many artists entering the acting industry, their moral values and beliefs are highly tested. Many will forget all that they stand for just to get their foot in the door. They will bend over backwards, jeopardize their relationships, their religion, their life, just to get a role on a show or in a film. It is more common in children to come to Hollywood and forget who they are and think that they are supposed to become someone else once they're there. But there are millions of older people who follow this path as well. It is up to you as an artist to decide where that line is. How well did your parents bring you up? For me, I know where my line is. There are some things that I will do to get my foot in the door and things that I ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT DO. If there's a role that requires me to kiss someone and be in a relationship with, then I most likely will do that. If there is a role that requires nudity, or for me to get involved with some sort of drugs such as smoking, than I will decline it. I have too much self-respect for that and I would NEVER jeopardize my relationship with my parents or have them feel ashamed of me. They brought me up constantly warning me of the affects of drugs and smoking and they have advised me continuously not to involve myself in any of them. I've promised them, myself and God, that I will not under any circumstance allow myself to involve myself in them. As for use of cursive language, I am not a person who uses them. Never have been. For a role, I would, as I don't feel that it defines your character because the use of it is more and more common everyday. The reason that it is seen so differently than nudity and drugs is because those DO actually, in many ways, define who you are and what you stand for. I don't want to be seen as loose or an addition to the statistics of druggies. Which is what most actors that involve themselves in those types of scenes are seen as.
I advice you to think long and hard about where your line is. Know it. You don't want to live with regret. Don't ever cross it.

Summer Fierce

Tragic Monologue .

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I'm taking a course called Acting Academy. There are several components to the exam and one of them is to perform a tragic monologue. For this assignment, we are to find a famous person (famous, well-known to the world) that looks and sounds similar to ourselves that has lived a tragic life or death. For many of the students in the class, including me, it was quite challenging. First of all, it is hard to find someone that looks and sounds like you. Everyone is unique and according to myths, everyone has precisely one person in the world that looks EXACTLY like them (An 'evil twin'). And for this assignment you don't have to look EXACTLY like the person that you choose, but there has to be a strong resemblance. On top of that, the person has to have lived through some sort of tragedy. So, for mine, I had a short list of famous people that I saw a resemblance of myself in. First on MY list is Halle Berry. Her husband was abusive ( her first husband ) and that's when she attempted to take her own life.  But she realized that she couldn't when an image of her mom popped up in her head . Her mom sacrificed a lot for her and her siblings as they were growing up, which is why she felt it was cowardly to commit suicide. She's had two other failed marriages and is now convinced that she cannot remarry again due to the three failed attempts.( http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20016312,00.html )
A few people from the class including my teacher saw another choice of mine more suited for me, which was Dorothy Dandridge. "Denison not only took over Dorothy's career but he attempted to shut out her friends. He was also very abusive and it is known that he beat her. He was only interested in her money and he took it whenever he could. On top of this, an oil investment that Dorothy had entered into with other Hollywood stars turned out to be a scam and Dorothy lost a large amount of money. She had never handled her money very well and she always relied on other people to handle it for her. To alleviate her troubles, she began to drink heavily.
After almost two years of abuse, Dorothy finally threw Denison out of her house and filed for a divorce. She hoped that things would begin to get better but they only seemed to escalate." Dorothy soon had to claim bankruptcy. Her death remains a mystery to this day, as it hasn't been proven whether her overdose was intentional or accidental. ( http://home.hiwaay.net/~oliver/ddtragicyears.html )
And my third choice is Thandie Newton, who's life isn't as tragic as the other too, but some of my classmates and I think would suit me the best, looks-wise.
"Newton can be hard to get close to. Subconsciously she may feel that too much closeness in her relationships will interfere with doing what she needs to do and being her own person, so Thandie Newton puts up subtle walls and distance herself when someone begins to want more of her than she can comfortably give. However, Newton may cut off sources of emotional nourishment and support that way, and end up feeling alone and lonely. Thandie Newton might even develop digestive problems. Overcoming her fears of intimacy, while at the same time affirming and acting on her autonomous needs, is the challenge here." ( http://famous-relationships.topsynergy.com/Thandie_Newton/ )
The exam's coming right around the corner, so the decision making is quick and dirty. We also need to choose someone in the class to be a promoter and this person will be the one that gets your name out there and 'bamboozals' the audience into loving you and your performance. So it's going to be a dog-eat-dog world, come exam time for our class. But I'm up for the battle.

Here are pictures of the three :



Halle Berry



Dorothy Dandridge



Thandie Newton

Ramona (Me)



Ramona (Me) I don't have an updated
head shot at the moment, but will soon.

 Please let me know your thoughts on which one you think best suits my appearance!


Summer Fierce

Acting Professionally

In the Acting Academy, us Soul Visionaries are reading a book titled Acting Professionally written by Robert Cohen. There is a section that really stood out to me that I would like to share entitled Looks and Physical Type.
Here are the points that I really feel you can benefit from by reading.

• According to statistics taken in 2001, women have been increasing in role potentials. They take up about %38 of all T.V./Film roles, 39% of lead roles - which all together is an increase of over 55% from thirty years ago
• Men still get  61%
• The ten 25 million dollar club only consists of one woman and that's Julia Roberts
• Of all ethnic groups, African Americans have the highest percentage in actors, although they are usually stereotypically casted (12.9%)
• 4.9% for Latinos/Hispanics
• 2.6% for Asians/Pacific Islanders 
• 0.3% for Native Americans
• More actors under 20 are being casted and less actors over fifties
• Disabilities can be used to your advantage as well
• Weight, dress, health, hairstyle, height, voice, teeth, posture, grooming and complexion can too 
• Actor types are not defined solely by age, but by a position on some sort of romantic/sexual scale
• "Children" range from 12 years old and younger, and are ordinarily not involved in any romantic affairs
• "Ingenues" (girls) and "young leading men" are usually in their early to mid-twenties and they send off a vibration of youth, innocence and charm. They are often in the first love category
• "Leading men" and "leading women" are in their mid-twenties to mid-forties and beyond and are usually casted as wiser, more experienced lovers; they're glamorous, romantic, mature and sophisticated
• You need to know your type
• If you are going for a role as a romantic lead, you must be attractive and have sex appeal
• As you know, plastic surgery can go too far. Sometimes it can ultimately be what costs you a role or your entire career (Research Jennifer Grey)
• If you're fat, be fat, or skinny, be skinny. Nothing in between
• And if you're ugly, cultivate it and make it work. Just don't be bland.

I got all those facts from just one section of a chapter. I recommend you read Acting Professionally if acting is the career path you want to take.

Summer Fierce

Global Warming ; It's Not Just A Warning !

Many people still think that Global Warming is just a myth to scare people into changing their habits. Well, it's not! These are the people that are too caught up in their personal lives that they are blinded by the chaos that is taking place around them. Global Warming isn't just affecting the climate, it's affecting absolutely everything and everyone in the world as well. The thinning of the atmosphere is caused by the increase of toxic fumes being let out such as carbon dioxide and methane gas. Because of deforestation, there are less trees and less oxygen to balance out the amounts of carbon dioxide in the air. The thinner atmosphere is allowing more heat from the sun to enter the world and hit the surface. Hence the rise in temperature. This rise in temperature is causing rising sea levels, which is causing floods, tsunamis, loss of species, spread of diseases, formulation of new diseases, etc. The hottest years ever recorded happened within the past fifteen years. Hurricanes are becoming more and more common, as are other natural disasters. Don't they see that? Diseases such as H1N1 are arising and becoming epidemic. West Nile, Mad Cow Disease, Sars, etc. All these things are taking the lives or devastating the lives of millions of people everyday. Every single day. Where are our leaders? Where are the Mother Theresas' and the Ghandis'? Who will save us from ourselves? Ourselves. Yes. It was humans who creating this revolutionary chaos. We took for granted this beautiful planet God blessed us with. It has its defects, its imperfections, and its faults, but it's our home. Our only home. Is it too late to fix this? Maybe. But we need to come together as one race to combat it. We are one race. We need to stop acting like the Earth is just land that we can claim. Land that we can steal. Land that we have stolen. It is land that we've lived on. Land that has held us on its shoulders and allowed us life. We need to pay it forward. We need to allow it life now. We need to save it. Together we may conquer Global Warming.

I'm in.

. . .

ARE YOU?

[I have been studying very passionately about Global Warming since Gr.8. So all this knowledge is sown into me. I live it. Breathe it. And now I share it. So there is no way I can document my work.]


Summer Fierce

I Know Who I Am . . . I Think .

Recently I read an article entitled Don't Lose Yourself in Hollywood written by Kirsten Tetbar and posted on www.theactingroom.com . The article is written to actors considering or on the verge of moving to L.A. It states and restates and restates again how you should not lose yourself when you move there, which many people do. A lot of people, many child stars, come to Hollywood thinking that they need to totally reinvent themselves to make it in the industry. But that's not it. What actually makes you as an actor stand out, is your ability to be yourself and be true to your heart. Yes, of course, during an audition you are impersonating someone else, but at the end of the day, you can be the greatest actor in the world, but no director is going to want to work with someone like Miranda Priestly (From The Devil Wears Prada).
Also, people don`t take the time to realize that Hollywood isn`t all that it`s made out to be on television. It`s not all partying and picture perfect lives, it`s a whole lot more complicated than that. In fact, this came as a surprise to me, it is poverty stricken. Life is difficult there, as the expenses are a lot higher, as an actor, jobs are limited, etc.
You need to know what your morals and standards are. What lessons have your parents taught you as a child that you still continue to carry with you? Are you going to change your beliefs to get a role? Or are you going to be true to yourself? Many people say that they`re going to stay true to themselves, but as soon as they see the money that's attached to the role, they will cross all lines, even the ones that depict their religious values to get that part.
Personally, I know where the line is. My parents brought me up well. Everything they taught me and continue to teach me are my immortal values and understandings of life. If there is a role that requires me to smoke or do a nude scene and this is a once in a life time opportunity to get more than a foot in the door of the acting industry, than I will confidently have to pass it up. I respect myself and my parents way too much to cross that line.
So, my advice to you, as the article advised me, stay true to yourself. If you're going to move to Hollywood, know who you are and what is in your heart. Don't change for anyone, but yourself. You are you. God put you on Earth this way and gave you talent. Use it. Use it right.

Summer Fierce

Feed a Child . Save the World .

[ This is an article I wrote last year . I felt that with Thanks Giving around the corner and the previous enrty, this would go hand-in-hand with it all . ]

According to World Vision, 28, 000 children die needlessly each day. There are 2.2 billion children in the world today. One in three of these children live in poverty. One in five of these children have no access to clean drinking water.

What is Poverty?

                                Hunger

 Lack of shelter

 Being sick and not being able to see a doctor

 Having no access to school and not knowing how to read

Not having a job, is in fear for the future, living one day at a time

  Losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water

Powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom

 

Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen. (Global Issues) The world is so blinded by their everyday lives that they are failing to see the ones who are in great need of help. Yes, there are many other large global issues that the world has yet to account for, such as Global Warming, Wars, Recession and so many others, but poverty is an issue which has been costing millions of lives. Covering costs for war is not highly has important as allowing a child to have at least one meal a day. Allowing every child to have a home, have a family, have a feeling of safeness and well-being, have a voice, have their parents, have a childhood.  The world is just too ignorantly blinded to see that.

There are millions, billions in fact, of children living today without parents. HIV/AIDS have deprived many them of having their parents. It took away from their childhood, forcing them to grow up prematurely. There are children in this world that don’t plan for tomorrow, as they know their faith can never promise a tomorrow. They live every second of their life worrying when they’ll be blessed enough to have their next meal; their next drink of water – and it’s not even clean water they’re dependent on. A half of the world’s children do not plan for a future because they know they will simply never be able to afford it. They don’t dream big, as they know life will never take them that far no matter how hard they pray or how much they want something. It is deeply saddening to know that a majority of the wealthier nations are highly aware of this knowledge, yet are not taking action. Instead they are wasting time and money on wars. They are pushing aside poverty; leaving it as an issue to deal with later on. But they are failing to realize that every minute and every second they wait, a life is being lost. Who is to account for all of these lives being lost?

Summer Fierce

Be Grateful .

I'm not selfless. But I want to be. There are few people who have walked the grounds of the earth and who truly were or are selfless people. They give and they give and never expect anything in return. They put the need of others before their own. They put the happiness of others before their own. There are people who do selfless acts, but at some point they do expect something in return. Sometimes it's just respect that they want, but it's still something. It isn't an absolute sin not the be selfless or to be selfish at times. But it is sinful to always be selfish and never try to be selfless. Even just smiling at a stranger could be a selfless act. Your intention of the smile is nothing more than to acknowledge the person's existence and to raise their self-esteem.
I have so many things in life that I take for granted. I have a house, my own room, an education, a cellphone, a computer, clothes, shoes, and most importantly, a family that loves me. How many families do you know that actually sit together every night and eat dinner together? Mine does. And I never once stopped to think how lucky I am for just that. There are 28,000 children dying every single day that passes by due to poverty (according to UNICEF). There are landfills full of food, garbage bins full of food in North America. Food that could have saved millions of lives. Millions. There are people in your neighbourhood, your office, your class, that go a day or two without a meal. And yet, you have the nerve to complain about what you have or haven't. Greed. The youth these days are being controlled by greed. They see something they want and suddenly it becomes a need. Need is what those children have that are orphans fending for themselves, living one day at a time just with the hopes to make it through to tomorrow. And then the day starts over. Each day getting worse and worse until it's over. It's over. Their life is over. After fighting and suffering, their life has ended. Why didn't anyone help them? The wealthy is too caught up in their personal altercations and their own well-being that their forgetting about those who really need them right now. The world is to focused on hating that their forgetting to love. Why are there still wars? Why is the planet falling apart? Why hasn't the human race come together as one to conquer it all? Why is there still poverty?

I challenge you to do one selfless act everyday.

Summer Fierce

My Inspiration .

As an aspiring actress, I need inspiration. Who inspires me? The icons. Morgan Freeman, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, Will Smith and so many others. Although all of them impact my decision of entering the acting industry, there's one of them that had the greatest influence on me of all. Will Smith. I have been watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air since I was a about ten-years old and the re-runs still make me laugh. At the young age of 22-years-old, Will Smith was already becoming a star. His first great hit came to him when he was 28. Playing the co-starring lead role in Bad Boys. After that, his acting career took a plight. He went from goofy teen on Fresh Prince, to re-enacting the life of a man in The Pursuit of Happyness. That movie is what really captured my love for Will Smith. I thought it was phenomenal how big of a leap he took.
Another actor who greatly inspires me is young actress, Dakota Fanning. At the young age of six-years old, the young starlet already began her career in acting. She's well-known for her roles in horror films, which is what inspired me to take on that genre as my main focus. The role that really won me over for her was I Am Sam. I thought it was absolutely profound how well of an actress this little girl was already. To evoke such emotion on cue, I thought was impeccable.
Angelina Jolie is a whole other story. She is an extraordinary actress and the way she took on Hollywood and became practically Queen of the acting industry, was amazing. And she still holds this position. I think she is amazingly talented and versatile in her work and she is the actress I wish to be like.

Summer Fierce

Original Spoken Word Piece - ' Dreamer . ' [Unfinished]

Potential. What's the point of having potential if you're not given a chance. A chance to prove; prove yourself worthy of having that shot. Shot. You missed the first shot. A miss. Who's responsible for this? What happened to second chances with the possibility that your skill enhances - and then you gain victories, so you're asking; you're begging - please! - just one more shot. Success is my only option. Failures not. Too many times I've been put down. Yeah, I've been pushed to the ground. But I'm a fighter. I fight. If I go down, it's after I've used all my might. I'm in the game. I'm here to stay. Leave? You may. But I know where I belong and right here is where that is. You live your life, I live mine and he lives his- but what I have that you don't is a passion. A passion that burns hotter than the core. When I achieve something, I don't stop- I strive for more. I'm a dreamer. I waste my time with non-believers. They wanna take from me what I worked to get, but they don't realize that I'm not giving up - at least, not yet. I know the difference between wrong and right. My parents taught me well. They taught me to never allow the stress to dwell - dwell on my spirits and my passion. My passion to make a change. Make a difference. Reach further than my range and accomplish what you told me was impossible. Impossible. Understand that - without you trying to bring me down, I wouldn't have fought. Had I not fought, I may not be at the top right now. At the top. So no. I will not grow to hate you, the way you've always done me. I will thank you. Embrace you metaphorically. Because of you - my passion, my determination, my dreams have all gotten more and more strong. Doubt. Made me doubt myself? Of course you did. That only made me stronger though. You should know. Know that to make it in this world, isn't to crush the dreams of others, but to be a part of it. Guess that's too hard for you. For her. For him. Because your own dreams weren't fulfilled.

Summer Fierce