Motivation Monday

Acting is standing up naked and turning around very slowly.

~ Rosalind Russell

Me and Alex Hurt in the SF Playhouse production of A Behanding in Spokane. Photo by Jessica Palopoli

Beer Week

SF Beer Week is a celebration of Bay Area breweries and lasts about 10 days. While there are countless events and activities that take place during that magical stretch of time, we usually reserve our energy for the Closing Party. This past Sunday we gathered up a group of friends and headed to Berkeley, where Trumer Pils was the host. We have a few friends that work in the industry and were able to get discounted tickets. It was a great evening filled with beer, fried pickles, and buddies.

Waiting patiently for our next train.

bart

Downtown Oakland.

Enjoying the free espresso!

I ran into a dear old friend who worked with me at Pyramid.

All along the edge were the beers. 

If you're ever in the Bay Area during mid-February, check it out!

Instagram Roundup

Sunrise at Stanford University

Sparkle Bandaid!

One of my new sweaters that I got on Ebay. This was only $2

Karaoke for a friend's birthday.

It was a blue day.

Foggy morning.

My temporary desk.

Valentine's Day nails and scent.

Valentine's Day sweets from a sweet co-worker.

This week has been full of new experiences. As many of you know, I work at Stanford University as a Standardized Patient. This allows the medical students to practice bedside manner and diagnosing without the high pressure of real patients. They've asked me to help out at the front desk for the month while they interview canidates. I've learned that I'm actually terrible with a computer, but Google has been my best ally in figuring out what I need to do. Especially with Excel!

Thanks for reading!
Melissa

Good Sport

During my 'career' as an athlete, I was constantly reminded to be a 'good sport'. Be proud of your success and congratulate others on theirs, even if it meant you coming in second, or not placing at all. So when the Patriots lost to Denver, I donned some Navy and Orange to show my support for the Broncos in the Super Bowl (can I write that? Am I going to get sued?). I had a coach in high school, who told us to always root for the team who beat you. When they win, then you know that they truly earned it and to not be upset about losing to them. Of course, if they lose to a team who completely DOMINATES them, then you can rest with a different peace of mind. The peace that you weren't the team to get destroyed...
I believe that playing sports has helped my career and ambition as an actor. The intensity, practice, and set up for disappointment despite your best efforts, are all things shared by artists and athletes. It also helped that my parents would say that I was going to 'play practice', and intermission would mistakenly be called 'half-time'. Truth: They still say these things.
So when another actress gets cast instead of me, you can be damn sure that I'm rooting for her to kick ass and give a fantastic performance, because if she doesn't, then what kind of audition did I give where they thought she was the best choice? So be a good sport and root for the one who 'beat' you. Oh, and congratulations Seattle!

Melissa