Back in Hawaii

Back in Hawaii to shoot another episode of Hawaii 5-0.  Yay.  the crappy part is that I had to fly myself all the way back from Beijing to do it.  I had only been in Beijing for a few days when I found out that I would have to fly myself all the way back to work.  That's so typical.  In my business the saying goes, "If you want to book work, book a trip."  It's so true, but why does that always happen?Ran lines with my very patient friend, Tracy, for a couple of hours last night.  I get all the exposition on this show.  So hard to get all those names and titles right.  At least I'm familiar with the Hawaiian words that come up.  Would be horrible if I had to learn that, too.So I took an Ambien (10mg) last night to make sure I would get a good nights sleep for my big day on set tomorrow with all that dialog and I found myself wide awake at 2:00AM!  WTF!  This damn jet lag even kicked the Ambien's butt!  So I figured I'd catch up on some blogging since I'm wide awake anyway.  Been too busy traveling and memorizing dialog to blog in the last few days.Can't wait to work again tomorrow with the Hawaiian crew.  Hawaii's such a small place that I've worked with a lot of these folks before on other shows.  I even worked with a couple of them on the very first show I booked as a teenager on "Growing Pains"!  Funny enough, my on set dresser is also my 1st cousin, Michael.  I love having him near me when I work.  The first time he stepped onto a set was when I took him with me to Bulgaria, as my personal assistant and chef, to shoot "The Tournament".  Guess he had a good time because he joined the business when he got home.Michael and I looking at the scary house in back of our Bulgarian apartment.I feel so well taken care of on set here, better than anywhere else I've ever worked.  I wonder if Hawaiian crews just treat everyone so well in general or if they give me extra attention because I'm one of them.  Or maybe it's because they're just so happy to see a fellow Hawaiian on the show.  Speaking of which, hung out with Jason Scott Lee on set for a bit today.  So glad he booked the show, too.  Only makes sense since he lives here.  Well, not on this island, but in Hawaii.I feel so supported being from the islands.  Not just with this crew, but with the entire Hawaiian community.  I'm constantly told by strangers here that they've been watching my career since I won Miss Teen USA (that's a heck of a long time ago) and that they are so happy for my success.  Does that happen anywhere else in the world or is there a special bond that connects us here in these islands?  Do people from big cities like NY get excited when they see a fellow New Yorker get a tv show?  Or do folks from LA care if a fellow Angelino books a huge movie?  Do people from big cities get the kind of support we do coming from small towns or islands in the middle of the Pacific?  I sure hope so.  Everyone should be able to experience what it's like to have a whole town rooting for them in life.