Wow, Time Flies by So Fast!

Hello to all of you!

Yesterday on September 27, 2009 I have been working for one year at Disneyland Resorts. I work at the Disneyland Park at the Main Street Stores, mainly the Emporium. I was just thinking back to one year ago when I first started the adventures of being a Cast Member at Disneyland and was realizing how much time has flown by so fast. It was even around this time I started my blogging experiences. I don't know if anyone out there reads them, but it's sort of like a journal writing experience for me to jot out little experiences in my life. Maybe one day I'll look back at these blogs and go, "Wow, I have done somewhat good." I enjoy what I do, working at Disneyland is a fun and workable experience. I like being the cashier, guest servicing and closing the store at nights. The perks are seeing the many changes at the park every season. Right now this is the first week that the park is decorated with Halloween themes: pumpkins everywhere, orange and black decorated all over Main Street. Even the huge Mickey Mouse face Jack O' Lantern is spotted right in the middle of Main Street rotunda.

Well, I just wanted to mentioned that it is my one year anniversary working for Disneyland and I am enjoying every minute of it. It'll be my second year to experience Halloween at Disneyland and the upcoming Christmas Season at the Park is always an enjoyable time. I can't wait for the snow covered main street and the fantastic fireworks at night during the Holidays. That is not so far away and that's why I say to myself: "Wow, Time Flies so Fast!" Mentioning the fireworks, you all have to go see the spectacular Halloween firework show that Disneyland has. It's brand new and you sure won't be disappointed! It's a neat show with music from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. Also, be sure to see TNBC's Zero flying by over the castle! (Zero is Jack Skellington's dog) Have a fun time during Halloween!

Good Bye Old Friend - Nissan, Hello New Friend - Kia Soul and Other News in the Chronicles of Gilberto

Well, it was time to let my ol' car go. The Nissan has been a good ride for me, and it was time for a change. Candice and I got a new car and we are immensely enjoying it. We went to Kia Depot and got the Kia Soul 2010. It's an awesome ride and I love the Sirius Satellite Radio feature. I am enjoying my rides to work, and Candice is enjoying her rides to school/lab. Alot has been going on this month. Alot of things will happen this week. Let me elaborate:

This month of September 2009, my Mom celebrated her birthday yesterday on Labor Day. Happy Birthday to my Mom! I love her dearly. And this is the month of my one year anniversary with Disney. I am enjoying my job at Disneyland alot and it has come to show how time flies by so quickly. I am enjoying the end of summer for it was my first summer to work at Disneyland. It was crowded and busy, at some times it seemed slower than usually, but it picked up with the holidays. So Summer is coming to an end soon and I enjoyed this summer because of all the events that I had -- auditions at Deaf West Theatre, Working at Disneyland for a year, a new car, and most of all I am looking forward to the D23 Expo at Anaheim's Convention Center this week. Should be lots of fun. I am going on Thursday and that evening going to see the preview show at North Hollywood's Deaf West Theatre, "Children of a Lesser God." Should be an awesome show, and I hope all the cast breaks a leg (good luck in theatre speak), and it would've been me in there since I tried to audition. But nevertheless, it will all be a great show. Hope success for all the actors and Deaf West Theatre Company.

I haven't blogged in awhile, but I figured I let all of you know what's up in the Chronicles of Gilberto. So there you have it, life has been great, and I am enjoying all the good things to come. Especially the D23 Expo, will post more about it after my experiences. And especially my one year with Disneyland will be coming up soon in the next two weeks. Well, till next time, but be sure to check out the photos at the end of this blog for our new car! Until next time, wherever you may be, Thanks for reading my blogs!

Ah, Peak Season at Disney/Work

Hello everyone, been a busy summer for me so far. Sad news was I didn't get the part I wanted at Deaf West Theatre, but sincerely wish the one that received he role big success and everyone in the cast wonderful wishes for a big production. I can't wait to go see it myself when it opens up. So this meant, not more driving down to Hollywood (which is kind of a good thing because the drive was so long and tedious) Other than that, I will of course miss my acting program at Deaf West because it gave me some great experience, and met some great people. And of course it got me this audition which I succeeded with a callback and then didn't get the role. The experience is what counts the most, and I am happy I did what I had to do to pull it off. So now, all I can do is wait for more auditions to come up. So I am on the listserv for Deaf West for any posting for auditions. So I will keep my eyes out for those.

Still the summer started off with such fun times at Hollywood and continues to go into the middle of July. Sometimes I've been busy with work, but I managed to squeeze in some summer readings (Marlee Matlin's bio) and some exercise by swimming laps in the pool. Doing laps made me sore, but hey, it's exercise. Sometimes it gets me so tired before I go into work that night. So a long power nap does the trick, but nevertheless I am still so wiped out when I get home; I go straight to bed when I arrive home. Everything is going fine during this not so hot Costa Mesa Summer days. All of us are doing fine, just working to pay all those bills. So thank God for peak season at Disneyland, meaning more working hours.

Just the other day at my job, two nights ago on July 12, at the wee hours right before midnight, someone was waiting on a guest and I couldn't figure out his face. As a Deaf guy knowing every person in a band out there is hard to recall. But someone came up to this guest and asked for his autograph. I was like, "excuse me, why did they ask for your autograph? Who are you? And oh by the way 'Happy Birthday.'" when I noticed his birthday button on him with the name Ray. He nicely replied back to me, "I am a guitarist in the band 'My Chemical Romance." Then I was like, "I know that band." Not out loud of course, we have to treat anyone famous or infamous with the same equal amount of respect as anyone that walks into our store at Disneyland Emporium. So it was nice to see someone like that. It was his birthday and he was like almost the next to last guest in our store before closing hours. If no one knows who the band "My Chemical Romance" is or Ray Toro, check out this link: http://www.mychemicalromance4u.com/ray-toro/

Been so busy lately with the summer crowds showing up at Disneyland, and working at the Emporium makes it a challenge to walk through, weaving through the crowds of people to get to your destination . Whether it be clocking in for work or coming back from a break. The crowds are so much, but it makes the day go by faster, and the night completes quicker when it's busy. I love the atmosphere of the people, and the pace of the job. Once I had long lines of people, that I was constantly checking out the merchandise for the people, and working the registers at a non-stop motion that it felt like I had no time to catch my breath. But there are some slow hours, this is usually during the firework show. Everyone is out there to watch a dazzling light show with Disney music. But then right after, the swarms of people invade our store and we are nonstop at work till we close. It's fun, really. So fun, when you know that famous people can just show up any minute. Once I saw Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter and their kids dashing through from store to store before I came to clock in for work. And there was talk that Jennifer Lopez and her hubby, Marc Athony with their kids were there during the holiday weekend. Also George Lopez. So I have to keep my eyes open for these stars, but I can't do that when there is a long line of people and I am ringing up everyone when they are purchasing their merchandise. It's always fast paced, but fun.

Costa Mesa has been nice here, the weather is fabulous! Both for sitting outside, walking the dogs, and going out for a swim. It's nice weather. That's why I take advantage of the pool, and relaxing before the high peak season at Disneyland. Once I get to work and continue on till the end of the shift, I get so tired! But having some nice days off does the trick! I've been BBQing outside on our patio and it's nice to have a cold one in hand while bbqing meats, veggies, and other things that the aroma is so appealing that it makes me hungry! As a matter of fact, I will be BBQing soon -- some vegetables, chilies, onions and whatever else needs to be BBQed. So grilling time in the middle of this nice Summer July month. . . then to the Happiest place on Earth tonight!

Until then, next time!

Life so Far, So Good in the Early Month of July

I would say Life has been good so far. I was kind of disappointed in not getting the role of Orin in the Deaf West Production of "Children of a Lesser God." It was an interesting experience though to participate in the process of the pre-production of a theatrical play at a great company. I will like to congratulate the person who got the role (it was down to two people! Him and me) So that was a great audition for the first time for me. I enjoyed every minute of it, and the experience not only gave me a glimpse in the acting world, but a growing experience that I can take with me wherever I go to audition again for future roles.

Now it is the early month of July and we just celebrated our nation's birthday. Happy Birthday USA! It's been a great country, with a newly elected president, and a lot of tough issues to iron out. The world is getting confusing and now the King of Pop has passed away. I recently watched the Michael Jackson Memorial on TV and listened to all the songs, all the people talking about such a great artist and I always will remember how his music moved the world. The man was a legend, and his passing on will only carry on the tune of his music for ages. His songs and his dance moves will only keep on inspiring others to imitate Michael Jackson, but never replicate any one like him again. So with a birthday of our nation we witnessed the passing of an American Icon. May he forever moonwalk into the heavens and may his music continue to keep the beat going.

This is why with all the music and the busy times in our lives, I say Life so far is good. Witnessing the passing of Michael Jackson shows how brief life can be. How one can continue to dance till the End of Time.

Disneyland job has been going well. I recently got recognized with a certificate for a good comment from a guest recently. It's great that guest recognize the work you do and in return your job acknowledges that with recognition by a certificate and a card to show appreciation. That was very nice and this was last week I got this, and I was happy to say, "You're welcome." Working at Disneyland has been busy since it's the middle of summer. People are still finding ways to go amuse themselves at these parks. Disneyland has been bustling with activity due to the new parades, fireworks show, and Fantasmic. These shows I have to see myself one day. One day off I plan to go and see the fireworks, parades and Fantastmic. Ever since I got my language pin - American Sign Language (ASL) and people see my name and under that the town I was from: Barstow. And beneath that my language "Sign Language", people start using their sign language with me and/or they say they are learning and try a little bit with me. I think it's neat when they do that and I have such an easier time at communicating. It's fun to wear the name tags with the city, language and it's such a great conversational starter.

Well, this was my blog for July and I haven't been blogging lately, as you may have noticed been busy. But I will try to get back to this blogging when I can. The latest book I am reading right now is Marlee Matlin's Bio: "I'll Scream Later." So far, I am liking it and movies I want to see this summer includes Harry Potter, Transformers and some others. I actually enjoy watching the news for Football. I can't wait for NFL to start off. Will be blogging about that later as well. So thank you for reading my blogs and look forward to seeing you all again! Ciao!

News update:

Today at 11:20AM I went to audition for the play "Children of a Lesser God" for the role of Orin. It was my very first time auditioning professionally. I had a fun time with it. Possible callbacks on Thursday! I will keep you all posted! This might be a start of something good, if I don't get it, the experience was very much worth it! Until next time, I'll keep you updated if you follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook. Again, it was a fun experience. Thanks to Amy Liberman for the chance to audition.

What’s UP?

May 28, 2009, Hollywood, California.

Candice came with me to my Deaf West Acting Program class. She enjoyed watching our class and it was Suanne Spoke’s last class and she was a wonderful teacher and person to have in our program. I am glad Candice get to see her. Ed Waterstreet stopped by to observe our class. We enjoyed the teachings of Suanne Spoke and will miss her dearly.

The reason Candice came along was because in the same area of Hollywood, her and I headed to El Capitan Theatre after the Deaf West Acting class to see the premiere film of Disney/Pixar’s latest film, “Up.” We saw it at the beautiful theatre of El Capitan. We came in and got our free soda and popcorn, courtesy of D23. I am a charter member of D23 and I was glad to join this Disney community at this right time because the movie UP! was the most recent movie during the charter year of D23. We grabbed our free tub of popcorn and soda and headed up the the balcony level of the theatre. We watched someone played beautiful and recognizable Disney music on the grand organ.

After the beautiful music we applaud the talented organ player and watched the wonderful and energetic fun show of lights and dazzling effects on a backdrop on the stage. It was wonderful sight to see. And then the backdrop rises for a show of dancers and fun lively music playing. 

First came down the screen  with its beautifully designed animated backdrop. The animation was like watching a lightshow as the colors and scene changes from rainbow display of dazzling colors to the backdrop of the famous Hollywood sign on the hills.

 

After all the fun dancing, the show was about to start.

John Ratzenberger, the guy from Cheers who voice a lot of Pixar/Disney’s film was there to introduce the movie Up. He stood there to talk about his voicing for Pixar/Disney films like Toy Story, and he even talked about Toy Story 3 coming out soon! And yes, before the movie Up there was a preview of it.

  The voice of John Ratzenberger is easily recognizable in Toy Story, he voices Hamm the Piggy Bank and some other voices for Pixar/Disney movies. It was neat to watch him talk about the projects in the future and how he thinks this film was one of the better ones that he was involved in. He mentioned to us to enjoy this movie and to enjoy the show. Thus the show began and I am telling you with the Disney 3D for the movie previews and the feature film was awesome! It was a great story of an old man and a little boy on a soaring adventure with a house lifted by millions of balloons. The film was opened to D23 members and I was glad to see so many people in the theatre who are members like me. We even got gifts on the way out – a D23 UP collectible pin and a balloon. We even went into the Disney’s Soda Fountain and Studio Store afterwards and bought another collectible pin and a mug to keep as souvenir of our adventures in Hollywood at the El Capitan Theatre. It was a fun time and I was glad to share it with Candice!

Mother’s Day – What It Means to Me

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. We spent the day with my other “Mother.” My girlfriend’s mother is very nice and wonderful, and shows a lot of enthusiasm in the things she does for Candice and me. Oftentimes, I think of my Mother and how she always does things for me. And unfortunately since the distance is far for my Mom to see her everyday like I do with Candice’s Mom; I feel like even thought I am Candice’s boyfriend, I still feel like a son to her and vice versa, Monica, feels like a mother to me.

So yesterday with Mother’s Day, we did what Monica wanted. A nice dinner, all three of us, and to have some Lobster and watch the Lakers. Well, sure enough, Candice, Monica and I went to the market and bought fresh lobster. It was my first time having lobster for a meal and I didn’t know to buy them, we had to buy them still living! I was amazed by how delicious these lobsters tasted. We had our little drinks, cheese and crackers as appetizers. While the Lobsters were cooking we watched the Lakers get spanked. All of this before I left for work, which was why I couldn’t go and see my Mother far, far away. I still called her, IM her and wished my Mom and Christina a Happy Mother’s Day.

Back to thinking of that day, Mother’s Day, was feeling like any regular day. Then I realized, wow, it’s great to be able to honor all the Mothers everywhere. I admired and respect my own Mother who strived to make sure we had the best of everything. My Mom, even though was the “stay-at-home” type of mother, she still was busy in her lives raising her two children – Christina and I. I show the love, determination and hard work in her as she raised us in her religious convictions: to be able to love and obey God in our lives. She raised us to love everyone and to be kind to everyone. My Mom went through so much effort to make sure we had everything – yes, our Mom spoiled us growing up. But it was out of her heart, her love and kindness that made us become who we are today.

I see that in my sister, Christina, and how she is now a mother raising her own son. Jake Michael Franks has become such a cute adorable young boy and he is so full of life! Christina and Larry of course are trying their best to make sure Jake is happy and living the life he should. This in retrospect has given me the perspective of Mother’s Day and what it means to me. Mother’s Day has the essence of respect, love and admiration for all those hard working Mothers. We shouldn’t just take this one day yesterday and say “I Love You Mom, and Thank you for being the best a Mom can be.” No, we should be able to show our Mothers through our own hard work and dedication and show appreciation everyday to our Mothers of our current place in our lives. Without our Mothers what we do today would not be possible for the love and guidance of our Mothers from the yesterdays we have lived in the past. Growing up my perspective of Mothers have changed so much with the ever-changing life of today’s society. There are a lot of single Mothers, a lot of Mothers who are working, a lot of Mothers still going to school, and so therefore, it’s twice the effort and hard work to be able to raise your children instilling the values that their Mothers passed on to them.

This is how I see Christina with Jake. This is how I see Monica with Candice and I. This is how I see the love and admiration I have for all mothers. It doesn’t have to take that one special Day of Mother’s Day to instill our values and appreciation for all our Mothers. It takes our appreciation for them by the things we do to make them happy and proud. Therefore, I say to my Mom, Annabelle Garcia, and my other “Mom” who stays with us in our home, Thank you for being my Mom and thank you for all the things you do through the kindness and love of your heart. And may faith be your strength for the new Mothers out there, and for my sister who is making one day at a time to be as enjoyable as the next for her own son. May God always Bless you with the gifts of love and life. You sure deserve it!