Monthly Archives: October 2014

me and Missy.002

DREAMING BY DESIGN

So last weekend I ate lots of food, saw tons of relatives, and reflected on things that have happened for me between Thanksgiving 2013 and Thanksgiving 2014.

Like 2 super-exciting gigs, for example. I got to escape winter by singing in Dubai for 6 months, then I came home for the summer and filmed my first movie role playing the young Missy Elliott in Lifetime’s Aaliyah: Princess of R&B.

Of course there’s a silver lining in every cloud and a cloud for every silver lining. The Dubai experience was awesome, but being away from family and friends for that long can be tough. Playing the part of a pop culture icon in this major project is my biggest booking so far, but it didn’t come without a certain amount of . . . let’s call it . . . character-building.  =)

Now this post isn’t going to count, characterize or rehash any negative comments from the world of social media. (Although I offer a sincere “Thank You” to all those who took the time to send me encouraging messages; more than I expected! Bless up.) Nope, I’m writing this to share something that helped me keep my head up when it would have been easier to get angry or defensive or sad.

Let’s take it back to high school for a minute. As a tenth-grader at Thornhill Secondary, I had my first taste of graphic design in a course which I think was called Computer Sciences, and one project really stuck with me. Our teacher instructed each of us to Photoshop our face onto the cover of a popular magazine.

I loved the idea, and I scanned a hard copy of VIBE that I’d bought on a recent trip to the States (it was hard to find in Canada at the time).

double take

I’d never heard of a vision board or a dream board back then, but I kept a copy of this assignment. And I almost forgot about it until years later when the “controversy” arose about me portraying Missy Elliott. You cannot imagine how encouraging it was to find that 12-year-old piece of paper and hold it in my hand. It taught me 3 really important lessons.

me and Missy.001

 

1. THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS

Me designing this made-up cover, and keeping it, was my way of saying to God and the universe (long before I learned about the law of intention or self-fulfilling prophecies or anything like that) that I wanted fame and fortune and photographers. I still want to be a cover girl; I would love to do so in the world of music, but if it comes about through acting or some other form of expression, I’m fine with that as well. This taught me that making and using vision/dream boards is incredibly powerful as long as you’re putting the work in too. Mind what you wish for, because if you think it enough times, you’ll end up with it somehow.

 

2. NEVER GIVE UP

Notice, the time lapse between my magazine assignment and the headlines for this casting was 12 years. I originally thought I’d have a record deal around the time I finished high school — HA! It would have been so easy for me to trash this printout when I realized I was headed to university instead of being the next teen pop music queen, or any of the times I auditioned/applied/submitted for a role/gig/deal and didn’t get it. Now I understand that years or even decades can go by, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get what you’re going for. It might just mean you haven’t grown enough, or learned enough, or sacrificed enough yet.

Let’s say you set your ultimate goal 20 years ago and you’re not there yet. I don’t know when you’ll make it, but if you give up, I know you won’t ever make it. And it might be right around the corner. So keep going.

 

3. GOD HAS A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOUR

To be honest, my choosing that cover was a matter of convenience; it had nothing to do with Missy herself. Of course I’m a longtime fan; the woman is a legend! But it ended up as my backdrop simply because we were told to choose our favourite magazine (mine was definitely VIBE) and that was the hard copy I had to scan. Of course, the funny plot twist is that I went from replacing Missy’s face with my own to being the face of Missy in the movie. So the timeline looks like this:

June 2002 – I declare “I’m going to be on the cover of VIBE one day” by inserting my face onto VIBE’s cover and changing up the headlines to reflect my own interests and wishes.

Summer 2009 – VIBE goes out of print. I mope about my lost opportunity. Even the magazine’s later resurrection and reincarnations don’t make me feel much better. I sulk, but I keep working (duh).

June 2014 – I audition for and land the role of Missy Elliott in Lifetime’s biopic Aaliyah: Princess of R&B, and I keep an eye on social media as people speculate about the movie and about who will be playing the lead role. The majority of what I read confirms my suspicion that the public will be vocal about any casting choices they don’t like.

August 2014 – BlackFilm.com publishes a piece about the movie’s cast, announcing that I’m playing Missy. Figuring the cat’s out of the bag, I confirm via Facebook (where a bunch of people who know me are full of congratulations) and Twitter (where a bunch of people who don’t know me are full of something else). Remembering my 2002 DIY mag cover, I remind myself that I earned this role and that my job is to get up, dress up, show up, and play the part. I have an incredible time, working with amazing people — love and respect to Izaak, Alex, AJ, James, Brad, Etheline, Rose, Chris, Gisele, Joe, Michelle, Fast Eddie, and every single member of the cast and crew for making this experience as awesome as it was!

November 2014 – the movie comes out, and a new chapter begins.

 

I can’t wait to see what new things I’ll have to be grateful for by next Thanksgiving.

xoxo

busandstreetcar thestardotcom

10 REASONS I LOVE THE TTC. NO, REALLY

When it comes to the public transportation system of any big city or small town, it is way too easy to find fault with everything from the routes and the fares to the vehicles and the staff. As a downtown Torontonian and a hardcore commuter, I’ve complained about the TTC countless times. So today I decided to switch it up and give you ten things I honestly adore about our very own Toronto Transit Commission.

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1. MULTITASKING

This is my favourite thing about taking public transit instead of driving: driving requires my full attention. Having some other person responsible for getting the vehicle from A to B, with the computer lady’s voice reminding me of what stop we’re coming up to, frees me up to do . . . anything I want? I’ve learned lines on the bus, applied makeup on the subway, changed my shoes while riding a streetcar. There is almost nothing I haven’t done in transit (get your minds out of the gutter), and usually it’s multiple things at one time. Like, eating a snack and responding to a text message while listening to music.

photo: blog.bekahbrunstetter.com

photo: blog.bekahbrunstetter.com

And let me not forget the amount of times I have used a TTC commute for . . .

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2. NAPPING

Not every city can say that their transit system is safe enough for you to doze off, but I’ve done it  at least 50 times in my life.

Probably wasn't a great idea for him to do it, though. photo: cbc.ca

Probably wasn’t a great idea for him to do it, though. photo: cbc.ca

I rarely sleep to the point of missing my stop, it’s usually a light enough sleep that I wake up when I’m at or near my destination, and the couple of times I’ve knocked out for good, some kind stranger has woken me up at Finch Station. Thanks, fellow TTCers =)

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3. EMPLOYEE EYE CANDY

Within the past 5 years, there has been an influx of hot drivers on streetcars and buses (it’s really hard to say whether the same applies to subway operators). Especially on downtown routes, and especially during daylight hours. Strategic hiring? Who knows. It works for me.

Wasn't that him on the 509 shuttle bus?

Wasn’t that him on the 509 shuttle bus? photo: pinterest.com (and for those of you who are curious, his name’s apparently Curtis Briggs. Good luck)

And if any of you reading this knows the Usher lookalike who was driving the 501 King streetcar at one point, please reach out and let me know if he’s single.

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4. TECHNOLOGY

… downtown at least.

photo: cbc.ca

photo: cbc.ca

In the outskirts, I have a feeling it might be more annoying than reassuring to text your stop number to 898-882 and find out that the next bus won’t be along for another 20 minutes. In the heart of the city, though, I have come to rely on that text-for-next-arrival function so much it’s hard to believe I scoffed at the idea originally. All we need now is for the return text message to also include a photo of the driver who’s pulling up to your stop next. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

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5. RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

Call me a softie, but it makes me feel really good to see a child start interacting with a stranger across the aisle, or a teen give up their seat for an elderly person without being asked.

photo: funny-pictures-picphotos.net

photo: funny-pictures-picphotos.net

There are far more opportunities to witness these acts, and to participate in them, when you’re in a public place, like taking public transit, than when you’re alone in a car.

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6. UNEXPECTED REUNIONS

Yeah, another thing about being alone in a car is that when you do have a surprise meet up with someone you know, it’s usually hella dangerous to have an actual conversation with them! Once, driving in York Region, I looked over to my left and recognized a former neighbour I hadn’t seen in years. It was super-awkward to try to “catch up” through the window.

photo: raleighphilosociety.blogspot.com

photo: raleighphilosociety.blogspot.com

I’ve watched my cousin Kari expertly chop a man through the driver’s side window while navigating some offramp in New York City, but I really don’t recommend this. No matter how fine he or she is, I am not okay with being hospitalized in a car accident just so one of my people can pick up a new out-of-towner.

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7. CONVERSATIONS

Sometimes you end up talking to someone you don’t already know. Like the guy who sat next to me on the Scarborough RT and ended up becoming a business partner, or the young lady who was headed east on Queen St with me, where we were both on our way to crash a theatre audition. (And it was the first time crashing, for both of us — hooray for moral support! Will you end up being lifelong friends? Probably not. Then again, you’ll never know unless you smile and say hello.If you can tear your eyes away from the screen in front of you . . .

photo: akinokure.blogspot.com

photo: akinokure.blogspot.com

Maybe you and your new acquaintance will even get basic background info and exchange numbers. Shoutouts to Mauricio (511 streetcar.)

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8. RIDING THE WAVE IN THE BENDY PART OF THE SUBWAY OR STREETCAR

photo: torontoist.com

photo: torontoist.com

Self-explanatory.

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9. THE METROPASS

I’m not in love with how much it costs now . . . I long for the days as a student when it was only like $88 . . . but most months, the convenience and flexibility is worth it for me.

IMG_2269The TTC’s free rides on New Year’s Eve, plus passes for events like Nuit Blanche (although I feel there should be one for Caribana weekend) are pretty cool too.

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10. AWESOME DRIVERS

Not all the drivers are awesome; some aren’t even nice on a basic level, but lots of them are really dope! Friendly, helpful, funny. Some are able to keep a whole crammed vehicle full of sweaty, late passengers laughing or at least smiling, and that’s a difficult task indeed.

photo: torontoist.com

photo: torontoist.com

Hats off to you folks, you know who you are.

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So as long as I live in an area where the transit works, I’ll continue to work my Metropass. I honestly feel like the good outweighs the bad when it comes to the TTC

Now if only they could find that rude leprechaun guy, record someone dealing with his case and make that go viral.  =)