SerenaObhrai.com

wooooooo! is how i begin this.

i’ll take this slowly and one step at a time, cos i have a lot to say. each paragraph should be something new, to give you an idea of what’s been going on with me since march 18th. they may not necessarily be in sequential order, cos i’m a ‘tard like that.

shooting on the four days for our movie was a fantastic time. we did all work hard, even though so many of us were not that impressed with the film idea in the first place, but we did the work anyway (kinda cos we had to!). so anyway, the film shoot was fun, overall. kudos to rebecca and her dad for giving us the location to shoot. unfortunately, some outside scenes had pretty bad sound, so let’s hope they can fix it.

the final performances (weds april 19th) went smashingly well. not just our class, but all the three groups on the whole did extremely well. it was so good to see everyone having so much and finally relaxing and taking the time to excel at what we do best. some more than others, of course. i was so very proud of our class for performing and maintaining a good balance of nerves and energy for the stage. then graduation and the movie screeners happened the end of that week on the friday (april 21st). watching ourselves on screen wasn’t that bad. also, i found that most of the stuff i shot wasn’t actually edited, so i guess i did good enough work for what was required. of course, in true NYFA fashion, the sound for our movie cut off half way through the movie, which disgruntled a lot of people. we had to wait a long time for this to be fixed, but people were keen to see the end of the movie, so they did hang about. which was nice james and i got a big ‘awwww’ during our intimate (not sexual) moment outside, which was adorable, hehe. rebecca’s step-mum also piped up (cos i’m talking about the baby james [who was vic in the movie] and i are about to have) and says “those’ll be some beautiful children!” haha. she’s very sweet, i like her. then we all went out for food and celebrated the end of NYFA september 2005 group in style by going to brooklyn and joining in the festivities at erika’s apartment and on the roof, and drank lovely frothy beer out of the keg.

my parents also came over for the week, which was superb. home-cooked mummy’s food again, and there is still stuff left in the freezer. gotta try and finish it all off before i move outta here. they left on the saturday (22nd april) and i made it on home at 4:55am, and they left in the cab at 5am. haha, i’m so funny sometimes. mum was pretty mad, though well, my excuse is that i told them i’d be there to see them off, i just didn’t tell them when

on the sunday (23rd) i flew to chicago to hang out with my friend, jonathan pitts, who runs the chicago improv festival. it’s the biggest improv festival in the world – chicago’s second city, i think, was where improv was born, so it was quite a week. i get there and he tells me we’re going out to dinner with some norweigens who are performing at the festival during the week. agreeable me says ‘bring it on’ and we go to dinner. there are three guys and two girls at the table, and jon and i. it was a nice mix of culture and countries. so, i tell them i live in new york and one of them pipes up (gunnar) and he says that they had a friend spend the last year in new york oo, he went to the new york film academy. i was taken aback. i said “i just went to the new york film academy, doing acting”. gunnar then said “yeh, so did our friend, it’s harald”. OH MY GOSH! it’s only harald who i’m good friends with and have been out with many a time during the last 9 months! small fucking world, i tell you. so, that was a good introduction to the norweigens. i spent the next week being looked after, and looking after the norweigens, and i had a fabulous time. i learnt so much in the workshops we all took, and i was on a scholarship thanks to jonathan, so i got them all for free. i did about 10 workshops that week, totalling like 600 bucks. all for free. i was a lucky bunny. also, i got to stay with jon (he just gave me some keys) and i could come and go as i pleased. it was a superb week, that inspired me to work for so much more and create an improv troop with my actors back here in nyc.

i called a meeting when i got back and the actors all came over, listened to what i had to say, and were all up for it. basically, during my week in chicago so many people thought i was a peformer. and i was just hanging with performers. so, i figure if they’ve seen my work in the workshops and thought i was performing, then perhaps i should be. so, i set myself the task of entering next year’s one. also, the norweigens invited me to perform with them in norway! wooooo! these guys and gals are irreplacable. they made me feel so welcome and looked after me so well, i can’t even begin to explain the love i have for them all. they really are a great bunch of people.

so, i’ve been back for a few days sorting my nyc life out and now i’m flying to indiana on tuesday for a photo shoot, staying with paul (my lovely director friend) and his family. paul’s editor is a photographer who’s done some pretty good stuff, including ‘vogue’ covers, and he apparently wants to take photos of me! sweet. paul showed him some footage (the same footage where i nearly drowned), well, the treated footage so far as much as he’s done, and gary (the photographer) wants to take pics of me cos he finks i’m goood lookin’, innit hah, i just find that funny.

got a voiceover gig next week also, on monday. music dave is currently working on graphics and sound for ‘neverwinter nights 2′. he’s getting some people together to record lines and sound effects for some minor bad-guy type characters and i’m gonna be doing some of the pixies and fairies. excited about that, cos i’ve never done voiceovers or modelling shoots, for that matter!

gonna move out of my apartment at the end of the month too, to save cash. paul says he’ll put me up until his lease runs out, and then in that time i’ll be looking to buy an apartment, which my folks said they’d pay the downpayment for, and with rent from peeps i can pay off the mortgage. sounds like a plan, stan.

i had a job interview friday gone, and they loved me and wanted to hire me straight away. they even offered me another position; they wanted me that badly. so, the person taking the interview goes to speak to her superior and comes back and tells me they’re not willing to sponsor me for the job. i have to basically get the visa and then they’ll hire me. it’s all bit retarded if you ask me because i need a sponsor for a job before i can get a visa and i need a visa before i can get a job. it’s quite upsetting really to see people be interested but not bothered to do the paperwork. kinda makes me lose faith, a little.

well, i think that’s about it really. i love nyc and i’m planning to stay here for as long as i can. my plans for the next year are to hopefully go to norway and possibly sweden (via london, hoooome is calllling) by the end of 2006, and then have the norweigens visit me in nyc in february of next year for my birthday. oh, and big ben’s wedding is in july in india… if i go to that mum’ll pay, but it does mean i have to spend three weeks there and not just the one for big ben’s wedding. mum’s good friend’s son is getting married and she’s going to that wedding, so i’ll have to stay for that too. it does mean new clothes and parties for three weeks, but it’s also the stress of parties for three weeks and travelling so much. i love to travel, you know that, but it is hectic and a bit of a mind-fuck when you do it so much. but, i love it at the same time. going to india also means i get to see university people i haven’t seen for about a year and that’s always a good time. and of course, not to mention seeing a good friend of mine get married!

so, it’s been a busy last coupla weeks, and hopefully a busy next year too. i’ll obviously keep things updated here a little more often, now that i have a bit more time on my hands… gonna go now and update the rest of my acting resume and gear up for going to indiana.

it’s been lovely, chaps…

snooch out.