the lion sleeps tonight

Achieving the status of Best Present Ever, Dane took me to The Shambala Preserve last weekend for my birthday to go on their "Safari Tour" they host one weekend a month. The Shambala Preserve is run by The Roar Foundation, which states its mission as: "To educate the public about exotic animals and to advocate for legislation to protect them. To provide sanctuary for exotic animals who have suffered from gross mistreatment and neglect so they can regain their physical and mental health and live out their lives in dignity." (taken right from their website, here). You can also click on that link to read a beautiful mission statement about the exotic cat trade and Shambala by its founder, Tippi Hedron.

Getting to see these amazing big cats up close felt like such an honor, and I was giddy the entire way to the preserve. My favorite animals, lions, didn't seem quite as excited to have me visit. I don't know how vigorous their morning was, but it seemed that we had arrived just in time for their afternoon naps in the warm sun.

But one guy, Zeus, was awake! Unfortunately, he chose to hang out waaaaaay on the other side of the compound.

The good news was that the tigers and the black leopard were much more active. 

The entire preserve was so well maintained, and all of the workers (mostly volunteers sporting "Proud Parent of _____" adoption pins) exuded such a love and respect for the cats.

the poem's the thing

If you never stopped by my good friend Lauren's poetry blog bahnheur, I highly suggest it. I am working on a little project for her this morning, and was reminded of how amazing talented she is-- her writing is so lyrical and hearty. Give it a read some time.

inspired by: Miranda July

image from here

 As I work on my movement piece project (I posted a bit about it here) I appreciate artists like Miranda July, who I've always admired, for making her own art on her own terms. One look at her website introduces you into her outlook on her creative process. Her films, performances, and art are woven together by the desire to simultaneously connect with others on a genuine level while celebrating one's own personal voice.

image from here

Sometimes it is difficult to explain to people (especially in LA) that I consider myself an actor but am not currently going on any auditions. To some, it seems less legitimate to create your own art, film, or theatre piece than to participate in the expected way of becoming an actor. And when I try to describe exactly the kind of art I'm creating, things only get more complicated and my legitimacy seems to plummet.

Thankfully, I have some solid friends and fellow artists who support me 100%, understand what I'm doing, and are excited for me. Yesterday, I was texting with a far away best friend, who wrote: "I am so proud of you for doing your own thing." I am always thankful to hear simple words like that.

This little compilation "Don't Give Up": 20 lessons for creatives from Miranda July has a few pearls of wisdom in it (even if you'd rather pursue science or technology or accounting). Mostly, she just inspires me to do my own work and not to worry if it doesn't fit neatly into a category.

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exactly where I need to be

I am feeling extremely inspired these days. I have been working a lot on a collection of movement pieces that I am planning to film, and I feel like I could write for days. What are "movement pieces" you may ask (cause everybody does ask me this)? To put it simply, they are stories I write that use movement instead of dialogue. Kind of a cross between untrained dance and a scene from a play. Most often, they are written to a song that inspires me through its lyrics or musical arrangement.

I started writing and performing movement pieces in college. The song in the above video, "Exactly" by Amy Steinberg, was the first one I performed. My wonderful, creative friend Kathleen created the idea for a directing project and let me run with it. The first one I wrote myself was to the song "Sweet Religion" by Imogen Heap. I loved that the pieces let me fully express a story in a more heightened, stylized manner, and I was hooked.

I am currently writing to "All That You Have Is Your Soul" by Tracey Chapman. I usually prefer to perform my pieces live, but I am thinking of doing little film shorts since producing theatre can be expensive by yourself. My ultimate goal, though, is to do a Night of Movement, performing an entire collection of my pieces.

Movement pieces aren't exactly a real thing--they fall somewhere between theatre, dance, and improvisation. But I kind of like that I have my own little art form. I liked that, in college, I was known for doing movement pieces. I don't know where they quite fit in with some of my other career goals yet. Since I am still inspired to create and perform them, I'll take it as a sign that I should still be writing these pieces without questioning their legitimacy too much.

**please note: these videos are not my own creations. You can find their original pages here and here.

Inspired by: Elle Fanning

I first saw these photographs by Pierre Debusschere over at Honestly, WTF and followed their link to and interview over at Bullet Magazine. Elle Fanning is one of my favorite current actors--I am always amazed by how normal she is. It seems popular for young celebrities these days to act moody, angsty, and "over it" as an attempt to seem cool. Based on interviews I've seen and read, Elle retains a genuine enthusiasm for her job which is hard to come by in Hollywood.

renewed focus

You may have noticed that I haven't posted in quite some time, and I apologize! In December, besides rushing around trying to get it together for the holidays, I was working quite a lot while training for a half marathon. However, I finally have secured a full time job that I'm happy with and my race is on Sunday, so I feel like I have time to return to lionheart.

During my blogging hiatus, I took some time to think through how I wanted to blog in 2013. This online world can come with a lot of pressure sometimes--there are so many blogs out there that crank out one or more posts every single day, are always creating new recipes and crafts and outfits, and it can get exhausting trying to keep up. So I asked myself: what do I want to blog about? The question seems simple (and I asked myself this when I first started) but I arrived at a new answer this time. This is a not for profit blog (I don't have sponsors or ads), so I can write about anything without outside pressure. Yes, I want to share recipes and crafts with you, but only if they are something I will truly eat or use. After moving to LA, I don't exactly have the disposable income to be making daily trips to Michael's anymore! The posts I have loved writing and revisiting the most are focused on places I discover (near and far) and the adventures I find along the way. So in this new year, I plan to write more about where I'm going and I'm up to, with the occasional recipe/craft when they so arise. I'm aiming to post 2-3 times per week.

The design of the blog will be tweaked slightly to reflect my new focus. Don't worry, I don't know enough about graphic design and HTML to change it too much!

These are photos of the Love & Peace Spiral at Runyon Canyon, taken during a hike with some dear friends on New Year's Eve. I don't know who built it or maintains it, but it is a lovely and inspiring place.

It's great to see you again!

Inspired by: Michael Jackson

image from here

On Thanksgiving evening, Dane & watched a TV cut of Spike Lee's documentary about Michael Jackson's BAD. Now, everyone has his or her own opinion on the controversies surrounding Michael's personal life, but his professional talent and accomplishments are mind-blowing.

Dane has always been a huge MJ fan, and has officially converted me. I did listen to some of his bigger hits growing up, and "Black or White" and "Billie Jean" were on heavy rotation in my college playlists, but it wasn't until I saw Michael Jackson's This Is It in 2009 that I really started to see his behind the scenes work and appreciate him as an artist. He had such a specific vision for his shows, and worked so incredibly hard to make sure every single detail was perfect. And now, after seeing Spike Lee's doc, I must say: WOW. There's a part in the film when Quincy Jones (his producer) tells a story about the writing of "The Way You Make Me Feel" in which Michael recorded the melody then stayed at the studio all evening and wrote and recorded every single voice part for the backing vocals (ten voice parts in all). He was there for every single instrument recording session. He would also have late night dance sessions in his hotel rooms during the filming of the "BAD" short film with his dancers to come up with new moves and choreography.

image from here

You could tell through the interviews how much his producers, dancers, co-writers, musicians, and entire artistic team loved working with him. And how much he inspired and pushed every single person he worked with. I think that's what affected me most: how his hard work and passion inspired those around him. Thanks to Dane's record collection, I've also learned that MJ wrote and produced most of his siblings' records as well, keeping their careers afloat.

image from here

It's bizarre and kind of sad to me to think that current artists like Katie Perry and Rhianna are breaking records set by Michael Jackson. Our current pop music landscape is just so vastly different than in MJ's time. Michael Jackson worked years to perfect an album, carefully choosing the songs and fine tuning every detail to put out something spectacular. Now, artists release a new album every year with a few singles that will top the charts and little regard for the deep cuts. Michael Jackson studied old movies and dance styles and stayed up late night developing new moves that pay homage to the greats. Now, when a trend is established, it is ridden to death in the hopes of becoming a one hit wonder or having the most Twitter followers. Michael Jackson's shows featured his band, backup singers, and him performing, and were electric and mesmerizing (although the This Is It tour did have more spectacle planned). Now, few artists actually sing during their shows, and a good show is determined by the number of wigs and costume changes and set spectacles.

image from here

Michael Jackson is inspiring to me because he was a true student of his craft, who pushed himself and those around him to innovate and create fantastic music, shows, and short films. Even after just watching a documentary about the BAD album, I wanted to start on some of my own work.

Inspired by : scream queens

imgae from here

Despite Halloween falling on a Wednesday, I hope you have an opportunity to celebrate! Of course, this means dressing up in costume. I'll be sharing some costume photos of myself later, and am pretty excited about this year's getup!

One of the best parts of Halloween season is watching horror movies. There are the classics, the teen slasher flicks, the thrillers, the cheesy 80's movies, the sci-fi weirdos. Our netflix "recently watched" history is full of these movies come Halloween. And let's not kid ourselves, the ladies that propel the great ones are pretty bad-ass. Elsa Lanchester (above) in The Bride of Frankenstein sports one of the most iconic Holloween hairdos of all time (did you see the homage in Frankenweenie? That movie was wonderful!).

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Alien is so. Bleep-ing. Scary. Once you can sleep with the lights off and the nightmares have gone away, you say to yourself, "Wow. Sigourney Weaver was awesome in that movie."

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Poltergeist is one of the must-watches of the season. Both the young daughter, Carol Ann (Heather O'Rourke) and the mom Diane (JoBeth Williams) are great. And everyone loves Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein) shouting, "THIS HOUSE IS CLEAN!!!"

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I, embarrassingly, had not seen the original Halloween until a horror movie marathon last year in Chicago. The movie itself wasn't one of my favorites, but Jamie Lee Curtis was so endearing and sympathetic that I would give that movie multiple viewings.

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I've only seen two of Barbara Steele's horror movies (The Pit and the Pendulum and The Mask of Satan/Black Sunday) but she is one of the top scream queens of all time, often called "Britain's First Lady of Horror" (she's also one of Dane's favorites). Some of her films are available on instant Netflix--but be warned, just because these movies are old does NOT mean they take horror lightly.

Obviously there are many other great women in horror films (I know, I know, Janet Leigh isn't on this list). Who are your favorites?

Happy Halloween!

Inspired by: Laura Berger

I've mentioned Laura Berger's adorable artwork before, and her Etsy shop laurageorge is just the gift that keeps on giving. I love her whimsical, playful style--I double dog dare you to look at these illustrations and not smile. We have a couple of her prints in our home (Winter Animals & Holding Hands) and I absolutely love them. I'm itching to add to my collection even more--I'll take one of each, please.

all illustrations ©laura berger 2012

I also love that Laura is from Chicago! You should check out her blog--she just unveiled her holiday cards and prints, and seems like a genuinely lovely person.

Happy Monday! I just want to reiterate that it is going to be in the 80's this entire week, and I am very jealous of you coat-and-scarf wearing folks right now...

male birthday party inspiration

In two weeks my incredibly wonderful boyfriend Dane will be celebrating his birthday. I've been scouting inspiration to make his party truly special, since fall stubbornly refuses to land in LA, robbing him of his beloved October colors and weather. Sometimes it's tricky to throw a male-driven birthday party (lots of decorations and treats seem a little too girly or too child-like) so I'm taking some of these ideas and applying them in very small doses. We still want a casual, invite-friends-over vibe rather than a full themed party. The last thing a guy wants on his birthday is more cupcake toppers and bunting than booze and food.

Source: abeautifulmess.typepad.com via Elsie on Pinterest

I love that this black & white theme from the mavens at A Beautiful Mess can be a nod to Halloween without being a full-blown costume party. Also, I really want to make those chocolate covered potato chips!

Pumpkin cinnamon rolls from smitten kitchen instead of birthday cake? I'm sold (I'm not a big fan of big cakes).

Of course, a celebratory Moscow Mule is in order!

And the birthday boy will need a crown! I could go classic...

note: this is a product photo, not my boyfriend

...or contemporary.

That's the beginning of my brainstorming session...it seems so difficult to find ideas for men that aren't childish or heavily sports related. I'll be sure to share photos of the finished product Dane's big day!

little bighorn

On our way to our campground in Montana, we stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument/Custer National Cemetery (the site of what's often known as Custer's Last Stand). The battlefield sits quietly on the top of a mountain in the Crow Indian Reservation. If you don't know much about the Battle of Little Bighorn and its controversies-- both the action and the historical treatment of the event--I'd encourage you to at least do a little googling or wiki-ing if you're interested in the creation of historical perspective.

I'm not going to say much about it, because I think these photos speak for themselves--they're some of my favorites from our trip. Please enjoy.

It felt a little strange to pose for pictures. The site has a somber but proud feeling in the air--smiling at a battle ground felt disrespectful (here's where the cavalry fell!--eek) but not smiling felt too stern. Is there any proper way to take photos at important but bloody historical sites? If you know the answer, please share.