The Beach, Poetry, Perfect

(Disclaimer: I can't figure out why the color of my text is showing up grey. Has something to do with the copy and pasted stuff 
at the end, but I can't fix it and I'm sick of trying! I hope you can read it ok!)

Aubrey and I took a beach day on June 27! The weather here in SoCal was stunning and it was perfect for Aubrey's first time 
in the ocean. Aubrey has been to "the beach" many times here in SoCal, but usually just to walk or play in the sand or at the 
playgrounds. This day was the first time she played in the water and I wasn't sure how she would like it. She has a tendency 
to be a little hesitant in new situations, but if I push her, just enough, she almost always loves ANYTHING. I think it's all 
just part of being two years old. 
 

 
After settling on our blanket (this followed a great disaster in the public beach bathroom which I'll share on LAMomsBlog.com, 
soon) and a picnic lunch of sandwiches, Pirate's Booty, cookies, raisins and juice, I asked her if she wanted to go in the water 
and she said "no". Being the good mother that I am, I responded by picking her up, walking her down to the water's edge and 
putting her down. Luckily, she went nuts for it. This video is of her first moments with her toes in the Pacific. 
 

 
After this video was taken she couldn't get enough and I couldn't stop her from running, full speed, into the waves. It was a day 
of new experiences and discovery for Aubrey and a day of much needed peace and escape for me. It was truly one of the most 
joyful days of my life.
 

 
The afternoon reminded me of one of my favorite poems, by the great e.e. cummings. I hope you enjoy it too:
 

 
maggie and milly and molly and may
 

 
maggie and milly and molly and may 
went down to the beach (to play one day)  
 
and maggie discovered a shell that sang 
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and  
 
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;  
 
molly was chased by a horrible thing 
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and  
 
may came home with a smooth round stone 
as small as a world and as large as alone.  
 
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me) 
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
 

Comedy Workshop! Are YOU Funny?!!

It's time for me to get back to my roots! I've always been a teacher and I even have a degree in education (maybe you didn't know that about me)! It has been a while since I've taught a class and I have really missed it. This July, I'm starting a stand-up comedy class, here in L.A. and if you've ever wanted to give comedy a shot, I hope you sign up and join me! Here's the info:

AMY ANDERSON’S

Stand Up Comedy Workshop:

LEARN AND PERFORM STAND-UP IN ONLY 6 WEEKS!

 

Are you funny? Have your friends and family always told you that you should be a comedian? Are you interested in trying stand up, but just aren’t sure how to start? Or maybe you’re just looking for a creative outlet in your life.

 

Whether you are a comedy virgin or an experienced speaker, this Six Week Stand-Up Class will show you how to take the stage with confidence and make people laugh. You will develop your unique performer’s voice and gain practical, first-hand knowledge from a working professional with teaching skills, not just someone whose career is teaching.

 

Amy takes a “workshop” style approach to her classes where each student will rehearse, participate, receive individual attention and learn from each other. It is a supportive and fun environment and each six week session ends with a showcase at a comedy club. Classes are also ongoing, so after your initial six weeks, you can continue on to the next session, further developing your act and performing in future showcases.

 

Whether you’re a comedian, actor, writer, host, public speaker or just want to try something new, this class has something for you!

 

During the class you will learn how to:

* Choose premises that showcase your unique personality

* Construct and develop a joke

* Avoid common mistakes made by most newcomers

* Build a starter set that will serve as the foundation for more material or add to and enhance existing material

 

SIGN UP NOW:

Beginning Wednesday, July 1, 2008 - $295, 7:00pm (Every Wed, July 1 – August 5)

 

INFO: (310) 927-2309 or
ComedyWorkshopClass@gmail.com
to reserve your spot in class! Class sizes are limited to ensure each student receives ample individual attention. Amy is also available for private coaching – call or email for rates

 

 

Comedian/Actress/Writer Amy Anderson has been an entertainer her whole life. Stating out on stage as a child musician and earning a degree in music education from the prestigious Westminster Choir College. She began her acting and comedy career in 1997 in Minneapolis as a member and teacher of various improv and sketch comedy troupes as well as acting in live theater and on camera. Since coming to Los Angeles in 2001, Amy has established herself as one of the hottest comedians in the country and one of only a few Asian Americans in the field. Her numerous national television appearances include, Hot Tamales Live! on Showtime, Premium Blend on Comedy Central, National Lampoon’s Funny Money on The Game Show Network, Latino Laugh Festival and Inside Joke on Sitv, Asia Street Comedy on AZN, Loco Comedy Jam on Mun2, A2Z on VH1 and she was the first Asian American comedian and guest on The Tom Joyner Show on ABC. Amy was a featured comedian at HBO’s: The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas and she is getting ready to tour with Hot Tamales Live this fall. Amy headlines hundreds of colleges, universities and clubs each year and is a regular performer at all of the top clubs in the L.A. area including The Improv, The Icehouse, The Comedy Store and The Laugh Factory. You can visit her official website at: www.AmyAnderson.net

Aubrey is TWO!!!!

My super duper amazingly awesome little Aubrey turned two last weekend! We had a big "Yo Gabba Gabba" themed party here at our house and almost all of Aubrey's favorite people were able to make it. Here are some photos from the party and her enjoying some of her birthday loot the days following! Thank you to everyone who came and all the kind birthday wishes for my special girl! We really appreciate it.

The Yo Gabba Gabba cake! This took a while to make, but was really fun.

Aubrey and Mommy enjoy the first piece together

Super fun baby doll stroller from "Auntie" Sheri

The kitchen where many delicious pretend meals have already been prepared

Nelly the Elephant helps Aubrey type up some thank you notes on her new laptop from "Auntie" Jennie (Now mommy needs to get crackin on the REAL thank yous!)

The Summer Struggle

I have been living in L.A. since the fall of 2001 and I have been very lucky, worked very hard and so many amazing people have helped me along the way. I am one of a small percentage of people who is making some kind of living at this nutty thing called show business. But people often think that just because someone makes it onto national television or a film or two that they've got it made in the shade. This just isn't the case. Even very famous people still have to hustle for work - especially nowadays. Los Angeles is a very expensive place to live and promoting oneself in this industry is not cheap either. Add single parent to the job description and it's enough to break the bank

.

There are so many things I love about summer here in Southern California: jumping in the pool and stripping down at the beach, The Hollywood Bowl, eating dinner and having drinks on restaurant patios, dressing down and chilling out. Nice! But this is also the crappiest time of the year in my profession. 

The entertainment industry typically slows down a bit during the summer and on top of that, I make most of my living performing at colleges and universities. Schools kind of shut down during the summer so summer is my time of financial SUCK and I dread it every year. 

Last summer and this summer have and will be particularly dreadful though because they are my first summers as a single mom. Motherhood as a struggling artist in La La Land is expensive and even with child support, it’s enough to make you want to rob a bank every now and then. And now, the banks don’t even have any money, so… what’s a comedian with a toddler to do?

In the past, at least I knew how to struggle. This is a hard time for the entire country and it’s interesting to me to see so many people having to come to grips with job insecurity, loss of benefits, loss of employment, decrease in salaries, having to dip into savings and more. This is how I have lived, on and off, for my entire adult life and I wouldn’t have it any other way. An artist’s life is not for most, but I’ve never suffered too much because I’ve usually never had much to lose in the first place. My mantra has always been, “Do what you love and the money will come.” It always has and about five years ago, I started making a full time living as a performer. This is more than most performers in Los Angeles ever get to claim. 

I’ve been blessed with a true calling, a thick skin and a love of frugality. Sure money stresses all of us out at times, but I guess I became a pro at not having any for so many years, that I learned not to stress too hard about it… except during the summers. I’ve made it through every year, but throwing a child into the mix took being “stressed about money” to a whole new level. 

Summer of 2008 was a nightmare. I had just gotten the nerve to leave my ex in the spring, my baby was about to turn one and I had no work, no home, no bed, no couch, no crib, no dishes… you get the picture. It was bad.  

Babies really do need to eat and have diapers and pediatrician appointments and clothes and car seats and and and and and. Further more, since I’m a single mom who travels for a living, with no family near by, I need a live-in nanny which means I need a 3^rd bedroom, a second bathroom and, well, to pay a live-in nanny.  There are actually two people who depend on me to bring home the bacon and it DOES stress me out. It’s a lot of pressure and some days I feel like throwing in the towel and getting a “real” job. Then I remember I have no marketable skills, outside of comedy and acting, whatsoever, and I’m too old and have too many stretch marks to be a stripper, so… back to the mic I go.

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been told my life story would make a great sit com or movie, I wouldn’t still be trying to land one. Hollywood is experiencing horrible financial woes right now and the big break is even harder to come by these days, but I’m going to keep chasing the dream. My biggest fan is 2 years old and she’s counting on me.

Going, Going... Gone

My one and only baby girl is turning two tomorrow. In some ways, these two years have flown by but for the most part, it has been a long journey to the place of big-girldom. If there's anything I am as a mother, it is honest. Most would say too honest, but I think it's important. I'm really glad the baby days are over and that's the truth! Pthhhh!

The high chair is GONE! The crib is gone (well, almost gone… it’s in the garage and listed on Craigslist)! All in the same week my girl decided to jump out of her crib, stand up in her high chair and she even pee-peed in the potty three times! My little baby is a “big girl” now and I’m feeling emotions of, well, honestly? JOY! I will openly admit to not being a baby person. Women and moms especially are usually afraid to admit this because it makes you look like a “bad mother” to say you don’t care for babies as you’re holding one that is suckling off your breast. But I find it funny that moms are often first in line to talk about how much they dread the teenage years or the terrible twos. Yes, babies are cute (most are) and it seems a little evil to say, “I don’t like babies” but I’m into honesty. Babies are not my thing.

NOW, this being said, don’t take this to mean that I didn’t like MY baby! I totally dug her in a motherly kind of way, but doing the baby day to day was nothing short of mind numbing to me and if I didn’t have full-time help, I’m pretty sure I would have checked into the looney bin at least a year and a half ago.

Every time I heard, “Enjoy them while they’re babies. It goes fast,” I thought to my self, “Not fast enough.” Does this sound harsh? Am I going to Mommy Hell? Quite possibly, but even though I didn’t love the baby days, my daughter seems to be turning into a lovely little person.  

Now that I have a toddler, I’m finding that people LOVE to warn you about the “terrible twos” and how the threes and fours are even worse. While the tantrum thing is a reality in my household now, I find it so much easier to deal with than a 10 pound person who only knows one word for everything (“WAHHH!”) and can’t even hold up her own head. That was far more frustrating and exhausting than laying my fit-throwing toddler in the middle of the living room floor and walking away from her and going about my business until she’s ready to behave like a big girl. I guess the big difference is that I know exactly why my two year old is crying and with an infant, it was a lot of guessing and failing.  And a lot more crying around the clock.

But now that I have my big girl, who eats real people food, can talk in full sentences, walk and run and all the cool stuff that two year olds do, now is when I would like to freeze her in time and keep her little and adorable. Snuggly and silly. Constantly learning and exploring. She is so beautiful and fun and I know the day will come when I’m just not cool anymore. When she’ll look at me and roll her eyes. When she asks me to drop her off a block away so no one sees her with her lame-o mother. When she will just want me to leave her alone.  So for now, I am enjoying my toddler while she is still my baby girl. I love having a “kid” and I know it will go fast.

Baxter, MN - Land of 10,000 Yawns

Hi Ho!

I'm in the beautiful town of Baxter, MN. This is where my parents live and I have come up to visit with them and help them out around the house while my dad recovers from a hip replacement surgery. While I'm glad to be here for them, sitting indoors most of the day made me realize how active I am. I'm not very good at sitting still unless it's in a movie theater or there is food going into my mouth. My parents' house is not a movie theater, but there are donuts and chips here. There will be running and swimming when I return to SoCal. Like a big dummy, I forgot my running shoes and have only gotten out for short walks.

SO, I am feeling a bit lethargic and doughy.  I can't stop yawning! It's really weird feeling this way because I'm so used to chasing around a toddler and/or trying to get one million things done before she wakes up or after she goes to bed. Life moves fast in the Anderson house. The Anderson house in L.A., that is. Things are a little slower post-hip replacement here at the Anderson house in Baxter. 

I have done such exciting things as: prepare meals, wash dishes, clean up cat barf, clean up cat barf, prepare meals, wash dishes, take out the trash, clean up cat barf, brush the cat, fill the bird feeder, prepare meals and wash dishes. It's all part of being here, for now.

Also, this is not the town I grew up in. My parents retired here a few years ago and it's a little, uh, rural for my taste. These are some pictures from my outing to the lovely mall today. Enjoy. This truck has so many things going on, I'm not really sure where to look: the Confederate flag, a Jesus fish, 2 McCain bumper stickers, 2 Marriage = (stick man) + (stick woman) bumper stickers, the side window has an American flag with an eagle on it and the license is a Vietnam vet plate. LOTS going on! 

I'll be home a few days and then I'll be getting ready for my daughter's 2nd birthday party! Yo Gabba Gabba theme! WOO-HOO! I can't wait! I hope you are all having a fun and productive week... yawn.