I do, however, love seeing what everyone at my local Lucy's laundromat is reading to pass the time between spin cycles. After loading my clothes into the washer I scoped out my surroundings. Some guy by the "change" machine was reading a religious book en espanol but I didn't get a chance to chat with him. But I did have a lovely chat with J.B. I saw him perched on one of the tables, earbuds in place and legs dangling off the edge. When asked what he was reading he chuckled and said it was sort of like an "auditions for dummies" book.
He moved here a few weeks ago from Makati (in Manila, Philippines) to pursue his dream of acting. Coming from a strict Filipino family he was not allowed to pursue such "extra curriculars". "You must finish your studies...then you can have fun." I sighed and felt his pain. Being the offspring of Filipino immigrants myself, I knew all too well what it was like to "always focus on your studies" and not get to do regular kid things like play on a sports team or take acting or ballet classes because, God forbid, those activities derail you from getting straight A's.
Ever since he was a little boy J.B. participated in plays and productions at school and loved it so much. But his parents steered him away from taking it to the next level. After studying Business Administration in college he took a desk job and saved up his money so that he could move out here. Now here he was, in Hollywood pursuing his lifelong dream! "Yeah I worked all that time to save up and doing that job made me realize even more than I did not want to be at a desk job all my life."
He had visited a few acting studios here and most everyone recommended that he pick up a copy of "Auditions" by Michael Shurtleff. He lucked out because it was on sale on Amazon.
J.B. tells me he likes it in Los Angeles so far. "The weather is so much better." Quite the understatement, I'm sure. He hasn't really done much sightseeing. He did find this boxing studio on Vine and Santa Monica (close to my place!) where he takes boxing classes or simply takes it out on the bags. As he told me this I started to think of Kafka on the Shore. More so because J.B. is kinda sorta like a runaway. "Yeah, my parents don't know I'm here so be sure not to have my face in that picture." Wow. He even found a place before arriving. "Thank God for Craigslist..."
J.B.'s also read and enjoyed Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist. His favourite book is The Giver, a book he read in high school. Many of the books he read were in English except for a few textbooks. "It was mandatory to study English so many of our courses weren't really in Tagalog." I asked if he read any Filipino novels. I am not too keen on Filipino history but I know there has to be some amazing works by poets and novelists, right? J.B. told me that he's read a few Filipino novels but thought they were a bit "corny" for his taste. Similar to their television programming :) He asked how my tagalog was and I told him it was horrible. I can understand it alright but I struggle with actually speaking it because the internal translating in my head is mixed up with Spanish and French....so I'm pretty much hopeless. J.B. wishes he remembered his Spanish from school. "It would have come in handy here..." Thankfully he can understand a bit.
Growing up he read a ton of comics. Marvel Comics were his fave especially the X-Men series. The best X-Men character? "It would have to be Cyclops because of his awesome shades!" J.B. could have done without seeing the movies because he felt they bastardized the comics true core.
J.B. writes a bit. He told me he wrote a but of poetry and songs. "I learned how to play the guitar. Now I kind of wish I stuck with it." I asked him what he would write about if he got the chance. "I don't mean to sound egotistical but I'd write about my life experiences. It wouldn't be an autobiography, though. Most likely a novel with a character based on me."
Can you name a book you read that involved runaways?
Have you ever ran away from home or thought about running away from home? When I was younger I thought about running away with the Michelin Man. I wonder what that says about me...
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