Dear Motivation........

.......O Motivation, Motivation! Wherefore art thou, motivation?

Seriously, I want to know.  Where in the hell are you?! I need you.  I want you.  But you are never here!  Why can't you show up just as easily as the extra fat on my love handles do?  Or the dimples on my derriere?  If you were around half as much as I needed you, I wouldn't have nature's permanent tattoos (aka stretch marks) riddling my thighs!  It's not like you are a bad influence that I need to get rid of.  You are the good influence that I can't seem to keep around.  Maybe our love story goes a little something like this:

Motivation is the good mate that we know we need but is not near as appealing as the bad mate, Weakness.  Why do we choose Weakness over Motivation?  Giving into Motivation will only leave us feeling good, happy, worthwhile, proud, healthy, hopeful and maybe even put a bounce in your step.  Whereas giving into Weakness leaves us feeling guilty, sad, doubtful, bloated, hungover and may even have you wanting to crawl under the covers until the disappointment goes away.

So why do we choose Weakness more often than Motivation?  Two words, instant gratification.  Face it, we want to feel good right now and not wait for results to show and Weakness only makes it worse.  When Motivation is whispering in one ear that you need to be nice to your body and take care of yourself, Weakness slithers up and whispers in the other ear.  Weakness says,"Why skip the burger and fries at lunch and brown bag it when you can work it off later?".  Then when later comes Weakness says, "Why work out almost daily for one hour a day to only have results not visibly show for weeks? Just skip dinner.  We will go out and have a few glasses of wine instead." 

As a society we have become more concerned with not wanting to feel deprived or left out.  But what we don't seem to realize is that following weakness makes us feel deprived and left out because you will eventually be too tired, sad, depressed, self conscious and weak ourselves.  Eventhough we are adults we sound like a bunch of spoiled little brats.  Let's stop being those crazy people we talk about and get off of our butts and PICK THE GOOD ONE!!!!! 


Let us always do our best to treat our bodies well.  After all, it is the only body you will ever have to carry you throughout all the days of your life.  The better you care for it then the longer, healthier and more enjoyable your life will be.

Pattie Hart

So Many Cheesecakes!

There are so many cheesecakes and this one is easy!........

I love cheesecake!  I mean love, love, love it!  I love it so much that watching The Golden Girls makes my mouth water for it.  Everytime they sit down in the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning and pull a cheescake out of the refrigerator I feel envy.  Envy for the wonderfully close relationships, but mainly because they are digging into a cheesecake with forks and not bothering with plates. 

There are a large number and variety of cheesecakes.  You could write an entire cookbook on the subject.  Many you bake, some you refrigerate, some take hours and others take less.  Opinions vary on which are best and which are not impressive.  I have a recipe for a cheesecake that not only is extremely easy, but I am always asked to bring it to food gatherings.  Ever heard of Sopapilla Cheesecake?

Sopapilla Cheesecake is no different from the others in this way.....there are many ways to prepare and cook it.  I am going to share with you how I make mine.  Can you imagine a fantastically delicious cheesecake that will take you 45 minutes, or a little less, to prepare and cook?  Well, here it is.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2- 8 oz.  blocks of cream cheese
2 containers of  Pillsbury 50% bigger crescent rolls
2 1/4 cups of sugar, divided
1 stick of butter
3 tsp. vanilla, divided

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray an 9x13 baking pan with non-stick spray.  Spread 1 container of crescent rolls on the bottom of the baking pan.  Mix 1 1/4 cups of sugar with 2 tsp. of vanilla until completely mixed and smooth.  Spread cream cheese mixture on top of crescent rolls in the pan.  Top with the second container of crescent rolls.  Melt one stick of butter and mix with 1 cup of sugar and 1 tsp. of vanilla.  Pour mixture over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon*.  Put in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes (your preference of how gooey you want the crescent mixture.

*Imperial Sugar makes a sugar and cinnamon mixture that you can find in a large container at many stores such as Sam's.  I use this instead of straight cinnamon.

Well, I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it.  I know that I and many family and friends do.  In fact, I baked one today for my acting class dinner, movie and scene night this evening.  There were six of us and we ate almost the whole thing.  Now that I have shared the recipe, it is time for me to slip into a sugar induced coma!

Pattie Hart 

A Must Read for Actors......Part I

Acting in Film: An Actor's take on Movie Making by Michael Caine.........

......Yes, actor Michael Caine wrote a book about what he knows best, being someone else.  I came across this book at a Half Price Books in Fort Worth.  After reading a few paragraphs I knew I had to buy it.  After reading the first chapter it was obvious that understanding and listening to his advice would be a fantastic acting lesson, and for only $4.95.  I said "Half Price" Books, remember?  I will write many blogs about this book using excerpts that I will italicize and make bold.  This blog is only my summarization and my personal opinion of what I received from this book.  Please buy his book and read it cover to cover.  It is a must read for actors.




Chapter 1 - Movie Acting: An Introduction 

There are many truths throughout this book and the first chapter is riddled with them.  As an actor there were so many important things that I made the decision to tattoo my pages with a blue hilighter.  Much of this chapter is about being natural and not letting people know you are pretending to be the character, but making them believe you are that character.  It is so very important that people not know you are simply speaking lines from a script.

Here are just a few things I marked:

- You would be suprised how large a "small" performance can be on film, provided it is rooted in naturalism. 

- It is more truthful, and more potent,to fight against the tears, only yielding after all those defense machanisms are exhausted.

These are just a couple of lines from pages 1-10 in this chapter which is a total of 20 pages. 
Please check back for more coverage of this chapter and really consider my advice, which is to buy Michael Caine's book!!!!  FYI, there is also a video series with Mr. Caine as he walks you through what he writes in the book which was originally aired by BBC.

~ Pattie Hart

Many things that are "something new"

On my mind today........

Well, today I have started my new blog and a week ago began working on an actor's website for myself as well. I haven't done much in the way of computers other than emailing, browsing the internet, writing and downloading pictures from my camera. I am learning these things because it does seem necessary and also a bit interesting.

You see, I am an actress, mother, wife, sister, daughter, teacher, cook, bill payer, chauffer, personal shopper, writer, producer, locations manager, movie lover, cake decorator, photographer, maid, boo-boo kisser, occassional book reader, TV addict and so many other things. As a wife and mom my list is endless. As an actress I strive for my list to be just that.......endless.

In my blog I will cover everything and anything that I find important, or am interested in, at that time. Because along with having a long list of things that I am the adjective "flake" also comes to mind. So many things, interests and wants change with my mood that it is on the verge of ridiculous. Maybe that has something to do with me being another thing, forgetful.

Hopefully some of my blogs will be informational, helpful or put a smile on someone's face. We shall see. So please bear with me as I learn the in's and out's of putting my life as I know it on the internet for all the world to see for, according to what I hear, forever.

Pattie Hart