I took a micro stay-cation this past weekend. You know, explore new avenues, seek after dreams, and go on a new adventure. I drove to Santa Clarita for a quick 24-hour trip. I follow this guy on Twitter and he holds voice over workshops every first Saturday of the month. Voice over work happens to be my dream job so I decided I needed to attend and see what it was all about.
My first exploration took me to a cute little soda shop diner called Route 66 Grill. For a Friday night, it was not very busy. The food was good, the prices were fair and the ambience was nostalgic. I really enjoyed it. It was a little dark inside. I had to use my phone flashlight to read the menu. But, my waitress was super great!
The next morning, I rose early and drove to a ranch where the workshop was held. It was in the home of the Twitter man that I follow. I got SUPER lost on my way there and ended up on a road with the same name as the road that I should have been on. As proof that there is human kindness in existence in 2017, a very kind real estate agent that noticed I was lost in the one horse area and took time out of his open house to help me. He used his phone and drove to my destination while I followed. Truly kind.
The workshop was time well spent. I learned about the different jobs that are available for voice over professionals. My dream involves being a cartoon voice over. It was a really good educational workshop. We were given the opportunity to read an ad into a microphone so that the Twitter man could tell us what we were doing right and wrong and he gave a lot of constructive criticism.
I had been so nervous to go to this workshop and do the things that were asked of me. But, before I left, I used the bathroom and saw this commemorative plate hanging on the wall. It brought me such peace. It's funny how something that probably cost $24.99, could validate my micro trip.
Honing my craft.
So, once the workshop was over I did a little local exploring. It turns out that Twitter man lives across the street-ish from Vasquez Rock Natural Area Park. I felt very in and out of my element. What I mean to say, I hiked around and explored and look at new areas of the earth that I had never seen and it felt good. It felt good to look at somewhere foreign. However, I was unprepared for the elements. Hiking around, I didn't have the right shoes on, I wasn't wearing work out clothes, my hair was down and blowing in the wind. It just wasn't ideal for the adventure, but I made the most of it.
At first, I was just going to walk around, but I began to grow jealous of everyone climbing the rocks and hiking the trails so I draped my Betsey Johnson purse around my torso, laced my Vans a little tighter and began to climb. It wasn't enough for me to see things from the ground. I need to see it from on high, which is weird, because I have a fear of heights.
I have a mantra. Whenever I find myself doing things that I don't want to do or that seem way over my head, I tell myself, "I can do hard things". And I did. I scaled a rock wall and climbed to the highest point that I could and looked down on the world.
If it looks familiar, it should. It's the location where numerous movies and TV shows have filmed. For a full list click here. Just to name a few movies: Alpha Dog, Holes, Little Miss Sunshine, Planet of the Apes, and 3 Star Trek movies.
Some TV shows that have filmed there: 24, The Big Bang Theory, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Friends, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, New Girl, and the Twilight Zone to name a few.
All in all it was a great trip, I learned a lot, I saw a lot and I had a good time.
