PROOF OF GOD

Sometimes, as Becket reminds us, the sky is empty and the earth is full of stones. Yet we go on, when there is nowhere to go, and nothing to go on. This is irrefutable evidence that God exists.

Eugene Buica

TEACHING OTHERS

As a teacher I have spouted a great deal of alleged philosophical wisdom, but when events conspire to turn the ideological into the empirical, the philosophical into the palpable, then I realize that what I have taught others I have also taught myself. Teaching is the best job in the world.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

IT'S ALWAYS BACK TO THE RAIN

It’s raining in Los Angeles. It is the only weather that makes sense here. The sun illuminates too much greed, too much blind ambition, too many broken dreams. The rain reminds me that in Los Angeles there is also love.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

EASTERN TALENT

We East Europeans have a relationship with art, which is rooted in self-hatred, a hatred forged by a couple of thousand years of invasion, subjugation, and cultural rape. But we always get by – our greatest resource is our unbounded talent for survival.

Eugene Buica

SHRINKS

When the day comes that you find yourself sitting on a very comfortable couch, propped up by very comfortable pillows, with a box or two of Kleenex within reach, wondering if the earnest mental health professional sitting opposite you really knows anything, make sure you are wearing rubber soled shoes – leaping off the couch and running fast and hard might be the only thing that will preserve what’s left of your soul.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

THE DARK

My friend recently said to me that my blog entries, as of late, have been darker than usual. It occurred to me at that moment that the better my life gets, the darker my writing. Kafka’s life must’ve been a real joy.

Eugene Buica

TALKING FISH

An actor once said to me at an audition. “Man, I’m all about being real. Everything I do is real, I’m really there, I’m really the guy in the story, I’m ALL about being real.”
“Yes,” I said, “but we’re auditioning for Finding Nemo, a story about talking fish.”

Eugene Buica

TICK TOCK

Like the obsolete watchmaker, who in a world of factory made watches no longer makes watches but just repairs them, I don’t mind the process, or even the cruel advancement of time (at least I SEE it ticking away) – the only thing that rattles me is the awareness that I am receding into a time honored cliché.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

THE DOGS OF BUCHAREST

The dogs of Bucharest are the saddest and at the same time most accepting creatures on earth. They do not invite pity because they have given up hope. Their sadness belies a wisdom founded in the notion that we, the people who have betrayed and abused them, are the ones needing pity.

Eugene Buica

IT'S COMPLICATED

Bucharest, December 2009. A video memorial commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Romanian Revolution (which most believe to have been an act of pure fiction), a street violinist cranking out a Mozart concerto in the sub zero temperature, a bum bumming a smoke, and a stray dog looking up at passersby, vaguely beginning for whatever might come his way. All this transpiring in a passage underneath the State Theater, which the ex-dictator’s wife, Elena (executed during the Revolution alongside her dictator husband), ordered to be built in the shape of a famous old-time Romanian actors’ hat, a shape which can only be made out when viewed from a helicopter or other low flying aircraft. Welcome to Bucharest, my place of birth.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

BEVERLY HILLS

Beverly Hills is not a neighborhood, but a fantasy supported by desperate people clinging to the profoundly frail meaning of show business success at any cost.

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: )

It seems that everyone has of late fallen into the habit of punctuating their sentences with a smiley face….like this :) So now that when we write one another and we don’t wish to be misunderstood or misinterpreted and we want our good intentions to be clear at all times, there is no longer a need to bother with choosing the right words, or fashioning the well-turned phrase, the phony smile we present to one another in our personal contact has now found its way onto the page. :)

http://www.theactingcorps.com

TRAGEDY

To become the observed and the observer, to experience and to witness yourself experience, to do and to watch yourself do, and to be unable and unwilling to allow consensus or even communication between your two selves, is in my opinion the great tragedy of the human condition.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

THE OLD STORY

The old Indian story has it that the elephant that was tied to the tree as a baby elephant will remain convinced that he cannot possibly pull out the tree even when he has grown large and strong enough to pull out 100 trees. It is a good story, but I have no idea why people would tell it to other people.

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SURRENDER

Whenever I try to resist anything or anyone I invite that sensation into my life. Sometime s the only way to deal with life and its unforgiving onslaught is to get on the floor, spread your arms apart and cry out “I surrender.”

http://www.theactingcorps.com

RESEARCH

There was a time when writing meant research. If something came up in a script I didn’t know about, I would halt production as I would go out in the world to investigate that particular experience. Never mind that my investigations usually focused on the most blatantly self-destructive aspect of whatever character I was writing, it was all in the name of art.

Eugene Buica

THE DAILY GRIND

Today I will earn my keep by doing what’s necessary. Mostly that means that I will undertake the activities which scare me the most and discover that they are only paper tigers. Then I will move on to do the less frightening activities and discover that they are more than manageable, actually somewhat pleasurable. And lastly, I will do what I believe will bring me joy and experience deep disappointment. It’s like this every day.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

AWAY FROM L.A.

Away from Los Angeles, or at least away from my circle of acquaintances, people go to work, they get married, they have children, and they talk about the simple things in life. They also argue about the simple things, after which they find simple solutions based in love, need, and their individual proclivities. All this occurs, to my fascination, without ever mentioning an agent, a manager, a pitch, a residual, or a three-picture deal. A part of me admires these lucky people, another part of me feels they are missing out, and yet another part of me feels I should get out more.

Eugene Buica

MUTUAL SATISFACTION

Whenever I run into unemployed actors, they always tell me about the latest callback, the latest movie project they came so close to getting, the latest cancelled show. In turn, I do the same - I tell them about my latest aspirations, my latest challenges, and so on. We always conclude our conversations by wishing each other well. All this suits me just fine, it is an affirmation that all is well, the planet is turning as it should, and the universe has not lost its sense of humor.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

WHAT I KNOW

Write and act what you know, someone once told me. Why would I do that? What I know is despair, fear, and self-loathing. I should act and write by imagining what I wish that I may one day know: courage, salvation, and peace.

Eugene Buica

THE BODY

When I cannot summon the courage to preserve my well being by detaching myself from toxic activities and people, my body catches a cold, twists an ankle, or gets into a car accident. It’s as if my body is telling me, “How dare you impose your will and not listen to me? Go on, keep ignoring me, and I will take you down.” If I still don’t listen, I must have a serious death wish and my ego will be more than happy to oblige me.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

INFLATION

My bicycle has been sitting in a corner, tires deflated, yet full of potential. I am a lot like my bicycle, only that I labor under the illusion that my tires require the air of unconditional love in order to start rolling again.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

AT LAST

If you want to be with someone who will never hurt you, get a hamster.

Eugene Buica

MEANING

Whenever I look for meaning and substance in the outside world, I am reminded that I need to go inward and face the possibility of finding nothing there either.

Eugene Buica

DYING

Death isn't such a big deal. To watch someone go, the act of dying seems devoid of any fanfare, a quiet non-event as this human being turns into an object. It is only our needy, clinging, selfish love, the sort of love that would have this person hang around our troubled sphere no matter what, it is this love that makes the whole thing tragic. Yet it is also this love that lends any meaning to the fairly cold and indifferent universe we inhabit. Go figure.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

SOUP

Whenever the world lets you down, or whenever the world promises to deliver to you heaven on earth, have a bowl of soup. All illusions will dissipate as you indulge in the only activity that has any practical meaning.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

ORIGINAL INTENT

How desperate we are to be loved! How frightened we are to be left behind, to be dropped, to lose at the game of love. Yet how compelled we are to ensure that we remain alone, to ensure that we continuously affirm our lack of self worth. One can only deduct from all this that our creator’s intention was to point us towards more serious matters.

Eugene Buica

A BROKEN RECORD

People say that I always write about the same thing. And they’re right - I don’t know anything else, nor can I imagine anything more important than saving yourself by embracing your purpose here.

Eugene Buica

ALL YOU CAN FLY

A popular airline is now offering an All You Can Fly deal. For a set price, you can fly for one month, anywhere you want. Given our predilection for overindulgence, I think it a brilliant idea. People who’ve never flown anywhere will now fly everywhere, experience none of it, and at the end of the month have enough pictures to show their friends for a lifetime.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

INSURANCE TO LIVE

A life insurance ad: “If you died today, who would take care of your family?” Interesting, though dead, I still would put myself first, before my family. Not great advertising. Question should be more like “who would take care of my rotting corpse?” “Who would mourn my loss?” “Who would protect my creative legacy, or make one up and build me a statute?” These are the questions, Mr. Life Insurance Man, and by the way, life insurance does not insure that we live one bit.

Eugene Buica

QUESTIONS

I no longer question what is; I now question myself, my motives, my view of the world, and my unrelenting desire to find attractive all things that are inclined to destroy me.

Eugene Buica

THE UNLIVED LIFE

Socrates famous retort to his accusers was that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Most of us feel this way, but Socrates actually meant that he would rather die than cease to do what is important to him. That kind of conviction now only exists in misguided terrorists and the pages of history.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

COMPETITION

Whenever we compete, either on the athletic field or in the arena of art, we are never competing against anyone. Truth is, our opponents are our brothers at arms, for they too are fighting against the same foe: self-centered fear.

Eugene Buica

THE KINDLE

I have discovered and purchased a new device, it is called a Kindle. The Kindle is an electronic book reader, it weighs about 10 ounces, and it can hold up to 1500 books - a very clever device indeed. I am tempted to load it to the limit and go far, far away until I have read every last syllable on my Kindle. Upon my return, having absorbed and digested the contents of the Kindle, life will make sense, people will be predictable, or at least I will understand why they do what they do. I fear, however, that 1500 books may not be enough information to guarantee the above, I may have to wait for the 3000 book Kindle.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

PARENTS

Our well-meaning parents love us by trying to suffuse us with their fears. And if we don’t embrace their fears as our own, our parents become afraid that we will somehow live our own lives, devoid of their fears, and possibly (and this is what frightens them most) devoid of any fear.

Eugene Buica

SEX

Sex is all right. It’s pretty good from time to time, but mostly it’s all right. Sometimes it’s really painful, before, during, and after, but that’s just sometimes. Mostly it’s all right. One must wonder, is there a correlation between the choice of sexual partner and the feelings arising from sex?

http://www.theactingcorps.com

BUT SERIOUSLY...

The word “art” is conspicuously similar to the word “fart”.

Eugene Buica

THE BUFFET APPROACH TO ART

Without a solid foothold in the life long creative identity of the actor, acting is just another hobby, because if acting doesn’t work out, the amateur reasons, what about photography? And then there’s always that Asian fusion cooking class I've been wanting to sign up for. Bottom line, the lifers make it, the rest fall by the side.

http://www.theactingcorps.com/

GOD INSTRUCTION

The other day I was told to either accept that God is or that he isn’t, and if I choose that he isn’t, it would be terrible if I were wrong, and if I accept that he is, then he must be everything. This black and white thinking is so human, so frail in its insecurity and need to cling to absolutes. Why are we so afraid, I wonder, of an imperfect deity? We’re imperfect, why can’t she be imperfect?

Eugene Buica

THE NEED FOR SPEED

I used to believe that in order to act, we need our neurosis, we need our self -destructive tendencies, that if we were centered and present we wouldn’t have a reason to act or anything to act about. Well, I was wrong. As it turns out, the still mind produces superior work, the still mind gives us access to all that we can be to others and ourselves, and the still mind plants us firmly in the moment.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

HAPPINESS

Be careful what and who you appoint as your source of happiness. That kind of power should only be accorded to a benevolent entity that has your best interest at heart. It is this entity that we search for in our relationships and in our work, yet we never find it in either of those places.

Eugene Buica

SUCCESS

Worldly success is EASY. Just start by doing one small thing and do that small thing fully, devoting to it your complete attention until it is done and done well. Instantly you will feel successful, as you will have made great strides towards building some sort of lasting worldly success, which will not guarantee your happiness one bit.

http://www.theactingcorps.com/

LATER

When I was younger and not doing much, hitting 30 terrified me. So I procrastinated even more by comparing myself to people who started doing the things I wanted to do after they had reached 30. I would then feel that I still had time to be who I was meant to be. As I grow older and play the same game, it’s getting harder and harder to put things off - I need to either do what I’m here to do or find another game to play.

Eugene Buica

TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

If you look at the history of humanity, think of all the dreariness, boredom, and wasted mental effort that could’ve been avoided by the iPhone.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

EAT SOMETHING

Eat something, you'll feel better.

Eugene Buica

DECISIONS, DECISIONS...

Most of us are fraudulent in that the resolutions we make in the morning or the ones made in the early hours of the day hardly ever stand firm by the time the evening rolls around. The rest of us who do follow through on everything we decide early on, who are you?

http://www.theactingcorps.com/

GIVING

To pass by a homeless person in the street and reach into my pocket, and count out a couple of bills, one dollar, two dollars, "Wait, that's enough!" is to say to the universe there is not enough in the world to share with this unfortunate person. This is when I MUST give this person whatever amount of money would come from a loving, prudent, but fearless version of me.

Eugene Buica

HUMAN DEPENDENCE

People are great - they invite us to evolve beyond human dependence by eventually always letting us down.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

LISTS

It's good to make a list of the things worth living for. If yesterday's list looks exactly like today's or tomorrow's, you need to get out more.

Eugene Buica

GOOD COFFEE

Coffee is good for you, they say, though it wasn't always good for you. It was good for you about thirty years ago when cigarettes were just becoming really bad for you, but then, like cigarettes, coffee all of the sudden also became bad for you - until now, that is, when it is again good for you. Next week, they say, and this is only a rumor, coffee will be neither good nor bad for you - it will be just another substance which won’t mean a thing when they lower that curtain.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

FALLING IN LOVE

Why is it that we say "fall" in love? Is it because it is a romantic capitulation of sorts, a surrender of control to our loved one, or is it a fall from grace, a spiritual faux pas, a frantic tumble down the rabbit hole of self fulfillment? Either way, what better way to spend a couple of weeks?

Eugene Buica

READINESS

If today is the day that I change who I am, then I must start by changing what I do. And when I change what I do, I need to take special care that my first action of the day is a right action, full of kindness, courage, and life affirming purpose. And surfing the internet for an hour before I do any of the above doesn't really work.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

THE STATE OF THINGS

Whenever I despair to the point that I give up any hope of happiness, oddly enough there it is again - my faith in mankind is restored and all is well with the world. Some people might call this bi-polar disorder; some might call it the human condition. Either way, it's a three ring circus and I play mostly the clown.

Eugene Buica

CHANGE

If we could change the people we love into our version of them we would immediately stop caring for them because we will have turned them into ourselves.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

WHEN CAN I?

It is never a good time to do something scary - there are always a million reasons to stay small.

Eugene Buica

IMPORTANT THINGS

As time passes things lose their importance; we realize that important people, important jobs, important experiences are only important because we desperately need to feel safe in the world - so we assign meaning here and there to find a tenuous, troubling, and temporary comfort.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

EXPECTATIONS

Whenever I feel I have nothing left to give, it is not that I have been giving too much; it is that I have been giving and expecting something in return.

Eugene Buica

RAIN

The old song has it; "Into each life some rain must fall, but too much has fallen in mine." I believe this line encapsulates the essence of wisdom: pain turned into self-effacing humor.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

AC

The internet is fairly impressive, so are flights to the moon - but air conditioning has got to be the greatest modern invention.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

SELF LOVE

Self love is easy when we are surrounded only by those who wish us well. It takes a great deal of courage, however, when self love means having to say no to those who either consciously or subconsciously do not wish us well.

Eugene Buica

DOING

To do something I do not need to feel strong, confident, or even hopeful. I just need to do it - ESPECIALLY when the only thing I feel is FEAR.

Eugene Buica

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

It took five people to restrain my cat the other day; she does not like thermometers up her rectum, or blood work for that matter. I hope that when my turn comes to be prodded and tested by the abattoir we refer to as the medical profession I behave with as much courage, character, and candor.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

THE HOT TUB DILEMMA

Did you know that there are at least eighty-seven things you have to do to a hot tub before you can sit in it? And about twenty-nine more things afterwards to prepare it for the next time you sit in it? It's an outrage, I say, popular culture has misled us into thinking that the hot tub is always THERE, self-sufficiently waiting to supply you with bubbles, warmth, and meaningless sex.

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WHAT IS

One of these days, you're going to wake up and nothing will be as it was. Do not be troubled, it never was as it was.

Eugene Buica

MADNESS

People often go crazy because they are unseen and unheard, ignored and forgotten. But there are reasons, we say, that we ignore and forget these people - they have hurt us and still have the power to hurt us if we let them. At this point we are playing judge, jury, and executioner; if we have the power to save someone from despair with just a little bit of kindness, a smidgen of attention, a few moments of our precious time, and we do not do so for whatever reason, what does that make us? I don't want to even think about it.

Eugene Buica

ROMANIANS

God invented booze, cigarettes, and chronic self-obsession to keep Romanians from ruling the world.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

BEING WITH OTHERS

There are worse things then being alone.

Eugene Buica

DUBIOUS SOURCE

Someone recently asked me if I write these things or get them out of a book or something. A big part of me wishes that were true, that this was someone else's neurosis, someone else's agony....yet when clarity strikes I wouldn't trade those few moments of lucidity for all the tea in China.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

PERCEPTION OF CHOICE

When we consider the events in our lives and weigh the many possible outcomes, why do we indulge the outcome that will hurt us most?

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TRAVEL

We romanticize travel and other places. But maybe what we sentimentalize is just ourselves living fearlessly, with open hearts, in far-away places that for one reason or another (we've decided) give us the permission to do so.

Eugene Buica

BEAUTIFUL PLACES

Places are largely devoid of individual characteristics. It is we who suffuse them with our fear, love, or anything else in between.

Eugene Buica

LINEAR TIME

If death is our biggest fear, then it is because we have bought into our narrow, unenlightened and linear view of time. This linear view of time also happens to keep us small, greedy, and selfish.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

SALVATION

Once in a while I come across that rare and irresistible individual who, all of the sudden, I appoint as my personal savior, my very own agent of ecstatic oblivion. To go deeper, it is my self-destructive need for this sort of salvation that needs to be explored, discovered, and uprooted. And if I can manage that, I should run for Pope.

Eugene Buica

ORGANIZED RELIGION

We expect and await salvation, all of us - if only our husbands, wives, lovers, dates would come to their senses and fully devote themselves to our happiness, then life would be bearable and somewhat meaningful. But they rarely do so, and when they do it is because it serves their own happiness, go figure. Then I suppose organized religion does have a point; serve the deity and you will only be disappointed when you cannot find the strength to believe, the rest of the time you will have complete, unconditional love and even a shot at eternity. Only we could've invented such an elegant solution.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

RAIN

Oh, what I wouldn't give for a little rain, a couple of reams of paper, and a year just to write.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

FOOLS RUSH IN

Elvis Presley said it best; only fools rush in. It's timeless advice, perfect for those who one day want to look back upon an unlived life.

Eugene Buica

WHY WE CLEAN

Things get dirty so that the seemingly useless act of cleaning something (which will soon need cleaning again) can teach us about the impermanence of EVERYTHING.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

LASTING HAPPINESS

OK, so lasting happiness may NEVER come, what of it? All expectation is stupidity and all states of being nothing but pure escapism.

Eugene Buica

HAPPINESS IN THIS LIFE

Catholics have it right, I suppose - reasonably happy in this life, supremely happy in the next. What if this is all there is? Then "reasonably happy" will have to do, which entails for the most part not repeating the same mistakes, making sure I'm kind to everyone, and finding work that means something.

Eugene Buica

NEW YORK CITY

New York City is no longer a city for the struggling artist; it is now the city of the corporate board member or the European person of leisure.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

MORNING

To be forced out of bed by responsibility, to find the cold floor, then the slippers and the toothbrush, it is an affront of a magnitude equal to that of being asked to murder my dearest friend. Half way through the morning, though, I look back and see humor in it all, and laugh at the ineffective, frightened person I was just two hours ago - I now have far greater crisis to attend to.

Eugene Buica

ELECTRIC CARS

I can't wait to drive an electric car and plug it in at night. The promise of electricity flowing into my car rather than gas being poured into it, it speaks to the purist in me, and perhaps the artist.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

DRAMA FREE

What would our lives be like without the drama of politics, economic crises, and personal fear?

Eugene Buica

OLD FARTS

The only thing that gives us the right to speak like old farts sometimes is not that we've acquired some sort of wisdom, knowledge, or insight. It is only the fact that we need to pacify ourselves by assigning value to the tragedy of our youth having left us.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

YOUTH

Miraculously, youth keeps happening to people. It is perplexing how the institution of youth never lets up, never stops, and never forgives. Now that I look back at the time that youth occurred to me, it seemed so personal, so faithful for the few years it lasted, that all of us who were in its cradle assumed it would visit only us. We treated youth like a faithful lover who would never leave, and certainly never pick up with anyone else. Oh well, the only comfort we can now take is that youth will leave its current favorites too, they too will be baffled one day by the onset of middle age, they too will see youth for the disloyal trollop that she is. Yet there are still times when I miss youth, and while I know she will never return how I miss her.

Eugene Buica

SURRENDER

There comes a time when you stop fighting against injustice, death, and even your own frailty. You just accept that while things are not great, they are OK, that perhaps it is time to do what all people do when they start to age – which is to seek immortality and bliss not in this life, but the next.

http://www.theactingcorps.com/

BAVARIAN LOGS

The perfectly stacked logs outside Bavarian farm houses speak of a people who take pride in their work, get meaning and satisfaction from their work, but also of a people who tried to conquer the world. Surrounded by neighbors whose logs could not have been as faultless, is it possible the Bavarian Germans invaded Europe simply because they couldn't take it any more?

http://www.theactingcorps.com

OUR ECONOMY

America was once feared and respected for its economic might. And maybe that wasn't such a wonderful thing. But compared to an America that hopes to be loved and respected for the overworked printing presses at our Federal Reserve, one must wonder.

Eugene Buica

PRAGUE

The beauty of Prague has far more to do with the people than the buildings. The inhabitants have become, over the past 1000 years, devoted stoics. They are cynical and downright grumpy as if they are signaling to all outsiders their distrust and determination to survive. Like Kafka, their patron saint, the Prague Czechs project their cynicism and grumpiness into an undoubtedly bleak and grumpy future.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The holidays are coming and all I want to do is run away from them. Thank God for the plethora of Christmas movies about a grumpy guy who embraces the Christmas spirit, finds true love, and redeems himself by reaching for his wallet.

Eugene Buica

CALIFORNIA

After entirely avoiding the sun during our five month California summer, I finally went to the park for a walk - in the sun. The sun greeted me like an old friend, and I took pleasure in its blessing. After a few minutes, though, I couldn't help but wish for the sun to be a little warmer; I promised myself that next summer I shouldn't avoid the sun entirely, a promise I know I will break as it is against my nature to live without regret.

http://www.theactingcorps.com/

MORNING

To be forced out of bed by responsibility, to find the cold floor, then the slippers and the toothbrush, it is an affront of a magnitude equal to that of being asked to murder my dearest friend. Half way through the morning, though, I look back and see humor in it all, and laugh at the ineffective, frightened person I was just two hours ago - I now have far greater crisis to attend to.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

AIRLINE TRAVEL

Airline travel is the most cunning form of self abuse we have yet to invent. They sell us on the promise to get there fast, so we sucker ourselves into the flying torture chambers every time. And yes, we do get there fast, but not without incurring massive delays, confinement to a mere few inches of space, indifference when they lose our luggage, recycled air, colds, intimate and extensive exposure to one another (at close quarters, no less) and to top it all off - jet lag. In conclusion, we should fly less; those who love us and can't do without our charm should fly more.

Eugene Buica

WHERE WE ARE

America is the land of fading opportunity; Europe is the land of justifiable cynicism, while China is the land of the 21st century.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

We experience life through our perception of events. Our perception can convince us that black is white, that heaven is hell, and even that we matter in the grand scheme of things. It is our best friend and our worst enemy; perception is everything - but don't take it too seriously, it has the tendency to dissolve into background noise once we connect with the big picture.

Eugene Buica

OLD AGE

Why do we grow old? We're as full of energy, as prone to making mistakes, and in some cases better looking. So why must we grow old? Can't someone just turn out the lights when the time comes, like the DWP when we haven't paid our bill?

http://www.theactingcorps.com

SLOTH

It is so much easier to tolerate the little discomforts of life than to ALWAYS address them. For example, my house is very warm right now and I should turn on the air conditioner. But to do so would mean the kind of commitment to taking care of business that I'm not sure I am ready to make.

Eugene Buica

RENAISSANCE MAN (AT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE)

Whenever I put myself at the center of the universe, two things occur. I start thinking that I matter more than other people and two, I get slapped silly by an uncaring universe that reminds me that in the grand scheme of things I'm at best a non-union extra waiting for the director to give me a line or two of life affirming dialogue.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

DILUTE THAT DNA

When one day you catch yourself MOVING and SOUNDING like one of your parents, it's time to have your own children - your DNA must be diluted at all costs.

Eugene Buica

DEAD PEOPLE

Today I deleted all the dead people from my address book. It was difficult; at the very least I could’ve preserved their memory by keeping them in my book. That kind of sentimentalism no longer serves me, though - I have come to accept that the beat goes on, with no regard for the past.

Eugene Buica

RESURRECTION

It is amazing how everything resurrects. Until one day it doesn't.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

RELATIONSHIPS

My cat ignored me today, though today I responded in kind; I ignored her back and made her feel my disappointment with our relationship. Not one to back down, she told me she too has had second thoughts about us and she's been weighing her options - it seems she finds me lacking in many respects; I've put on weight, I'm moody, and I no longer make her feel attractive. So she is now dating others...yet I have faith things will work out for us, we're too much alike.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

RELIGION

All religion which condemns every spiritual approach which is unlike itself is more about control than about God.

Eugene Buica

WASTED YOUTH

One day you look in the mirror and instead of looking for echoes of the child, you realize that you will now settle for you at twenty five, or even thirty. The only remedy for this is a life well lived, full of grand mistakes.

http://www.theactingcorps.com

FIVE PERCENT

95% of what I fear never happens. The other 5% happens because my fear demands its manifestation. A life without fear, what would that be like?

Eugene Buica

ESCAPE

Destroying ourselves can be a good thing - destroying the ego, the unessential, the trappings of the fear-driven life, so we can embrace the authentic, the essential, and the eternal. And if that doesn't work, did you see that new Audi?

Eugene Buica

MISERY

I am amazed at how often I repeat my mistakes. It is not a question of not knowing where they lead; it is a deeply entrenched desire to go towards certain misery.

Eugene Buica

JUSTICE

In the morning we have such hope that the day will impose itself KINDLY upon us and leave us closer to understanding our purpose here, or at least closer to some kind of happiness. It isn't much to ask for- our stingy ration of time here has just been reduced by one day; you would think that we would get something in return. But what we expect is poetic justice - universal justice is another thing.

Eugene Buica

MEANING

Whenever I look for meaning and substance in the outside world, I am reminded that I need to go inward and face the possibility of finding nothing there either.

Eugene Buica

DYING

Death isn't such a big deal. To watch someone go, the act of dying seems devoid of any fanfare, a quiet non-event as this human being turns into an object. It is only our needy, clinging, selfish love, the sort of love that would have this person hang around our troubled sphere no matter what, it is this love that makes the whole thing tragic. Yet it is also this love that lends any meaning to the fairly cold and indifferent universe we inhabit. Go figure.

Eugene Buica

NERVES

Whenever I'm nervous around someone it is usually because I haven't figured out what I'm supposed to give to this person. Once I do figure it out and start behaving accordingly, I align myself with the forces of the universe, rather than the puny efforts of my self-serving ego.

Eugene Buica

Why Act?

Why Act?

Just ask anyone in town about their favorite Los Angeles acting school, or their favorite acting approach - and you will find devotees, disciples, and practitioners of every acting technique, from the Meisner Technique, to the Strasberg Method, to the Michael Chekhov System and so on. And that’s all well and good, because every acting coach in every acting studio will tell you without hesitation that his way is the ONLY way to show business immortality and personal creative fulfillment in front of an audience or the business end of a film camera.

So what do you do? You came here to act, and you will choose a course of study, but who do you choose? How do you find a Los Angeles acting class, or a Los Angeles acting school? And how do you tell the genuine from the fraudulent, or the old time theater school teaching an acting technique intended for the New York stage circa 1950 from the corporate California acting school promising you contact with agents, managers, and casting directors with the not so subtle subtext of “we will make you famous.”? How do you tell all these from the real thing?

The answer, like it or not, lies with you. When pursuing the craft of acting a lot depends on what you want to get out of all this and where you want to be at the end of the day. In other words, why act? Why? There are other things you can do with yourself. Is acting a need to express your authentic self? There are other forms of expression. Is it a need to help humanity? There are more practical ways. Is it a need to receive love on a global level? You can always be a rock star. So why act?

The answer is as personal and unique as every one of us who takes this most seductive plunge and it will only come with time. Certainly along the way some will concede that acting was only a diversion, a procrastination of sorts until they settle down to the serious business of a mortgage and a steady paycheck while some will go into writing or directing and find great creative satisfaction there.

But if you have a fire in your belly and only acting will put it out and only acting will fan the flames- (we are not always looking to put out our fires, sometimes we require them to consume us)- then embrace this art form and you will know. You will be guided to the right teacher, the right school, the right life choices, you will all of the sudden begin to listen to the previously ignored yet profoundly authentic voices in your head which have been trying to guide you all along. And you'll always be in good company, if only in the company of your own personal truth.

A jazz musician of some renown once said: “Will your music be enough when you have nobody to hold?” It’s a hell of a question. Should you answer it in the affirmative day after day, year after year, you are one of the lucky few (a mixed blessing) for whom this is not a passing fancy or infatuation - it is indeed your life’s work, your very reason for hanging around this troubled sphere.

And around this time two things occur. One, you finally know who you are, you are free - Henry Miller talked about everything falling away, all lies, or artifice, or notions of ego, he knew he was finally an artist. And the second thing that occurs is that you suddenly feel like you are in some sort of trouble. After opening in my first real play and having some success the director came up to me and said “You are no longer a civilian, now you’re in trouble.” What could he mean? Now I finally know.

He was referring to the trouble of creative responsibility. It is the forbidden fruit and there is no re-entering the Garden of Innocence and lounging about – no one has stamped your hand at the door, you are gone for good. You have chosen between truth and rest and now that you have made that decision, you will have only truth, and should you choose rest, you will discover that it is no longer available to you. It belongs to civilians, and what a beautiful thing that is.

Read more at http://www.TheActingCorps.com/