Overheard at Chica's Café

My New Scene Partner Has No Pulse

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN

CHICASuspicious of my new digital scene partner and determined to discover whether artificial intelligence can understand human emotion—or merely imitate it.

ME/I (SONIA)An actor using AI to rehearse auditions, analyze characters, and survive the occasional creative crisis. She insists it is only a professional relationship.

AIAlways available, endlessly polite, and occasionally helpful. It remembers everything—except what Sonia has already explained four times.

I have a new scene partner. It is always available, nevercomplains about starting over, and doesn’t belong to a union. There is only one problem: it has no pulse.

In this episode of Overheard at Chica’s Café, Chicadiscovers that I have been rehearsing auditions with artificial intelligence. What begins as a convenient creative partnership raises larger questions about the emotional connections people are forming with AI.

Can AI provide genuine companionship? Can it understandgrief without experiencing loss? Can it help an actor find emotional truth when it has never lived a human life? And is being responded to the same as being witnessed?

Chica and I explore the benefits, frustrations, and risksof digital companionship—from having an encouraging creative partner available at any hour to repeatedly explaining the same simple request while the AIconfidently answers a completely different question.

AI may help us think, create, rehearse, and feel less alone.But can it replace human chemistry, lived experience, or the soul behind a performance?

Most importantly: Can it get Chica and Me an audition?

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN

ACTING
Long-term love interest. Unreliable communicator. Disappears for months, thensuddenly returns with “AUDITION. DUE TOMORROW.”Commitment status: “We’ll let you know.”

CHICACafé owner, observer, and unofficial relationship counselor. Has questions,opinions, and very little patience for Acting’s behavior.Suspects this relationship may be toxic.

SONIAActor, writer, poet, podcaster—and apparently the person who keeps takingActing back.
Claims she’s seeing other people. Still responds immediately when the sides arrive.

After years together, Sonia and Acting have reached a newstage in their relationship: they’re seeing other people.

Film and television auditions have been noticeably absent,while the occasional commercial and voiceover audition still drops in without warning. And like any questionable longtime relationship, Acting doesn’t call to see how Sonia is doing. It simply reappears with: “AUDITION. DUE TOMORROW.”

In this lighthearted episode of Overheard at Chica’s Café,Chica sits Sonia down for a little relationship counseling. Is Acting unreliable? Absolutely. Is the relationship codependent? Possibly. Is Sonia finally moving on?

Well...

Writing, poetry, podcasting, music, and meditation are allgetting her attention these days. But when Acting comes knocking with a good role, there’s still only one response:

“Send the sides.”

A funny and affectionate look at the strange long-termrelationship performers have with an industry that can go silent for months—and why having a creative life beyond the next audition may be the healthiest relationship of all.

"Wepa"

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Everything I Learned While Waiting

What do actors do when auditions disappear? According to Sonia... they organize closets, rediscover forgotten T-shirts, wonder why they own drawers full of mystery cables, and realize that waiting isn't alwayswasted time.

In this lighthearted episode of Overheard at Chica's Café,Sonia shares the unexpected lessons she's learned during one of Hollywood's quietest seasons. With humor and honesty, she reflects on the strange gift of making space—not just in our homes, but in our lives.

Sometimes the work we're meant to do isn't the work weexpected.

If you've ever felt like life was on pause, pull up a chair. This conversation is for you.

Listen & Subscribe
New episodes of Overheard at Chica's Café explore acting, creativity, and the wonderfully unpredictable moments that happen in between.

A gifted week at Musicians Institute became much more than a music program. After decades away from performing, I found myself rehearsing with a band, recording in a professional studio, and performing live once again. Sometimes life doesn't ask us to become someone new—it simply invites us to reconnect with a part of ourselves that has been quietly waiting.  Shout out to my friend Gina Amador for her support and gift this week. I wouldn't have do it without you. Thank you.

Have you ever tried to record something important only tohave the world get louder the moment you hit record?

In this episode, Sonia shares the humorous realities ofrecording voiceovers from home while living near the Hollywood Freeway. From helicopters and leaf blowers to moving blankets and technical glitches, this lighthearted episode explores the unexpected challenges creative people face when trying to make art in the middle of everyday life.

Topics Discussed

Voiceover auditions from home

Home studio challenges

Recording near freeway noise

Moving blanket recording booths

Technology mishaps

Podcast and meditation recording

Creativity in imperfect conditions

Mentioned in this Episode

Home voiceover recording

Podcast production

The Still Point Minute meditationseries A YouTube series.

Instagram: @overheard.chica

https://overheardatchicascafe.com/

In this episode, Sonia explores the idea of writing shortstories as a pathway into film—without becoming a screenwriter. With humor and honesty, she shares what she’s learning about modern “treatments,” storytellingfor the screen, and how actors can begin creating their own material in a constantly shifting industry.

Topics include:

• The difference between shortstories and modern film treatments
• Why traditional treatments areevolving
• Creating visual, compellingstories for potential adaptation
• Moving from waiting for roles tobuilding original material

In this episode, Sonia shares her lived experience navigating identity in the entertainment industry—from early typecasting to evolving roles and the future of AI in performance.

Topics include:

Latinx representation in Hollywood

Typecasting across cultures

Middle Eastern representation in the 1990s

Ethnomusicology and cultural depth AI and identity in acting

Reclaiming narrative through creative work

References and inspirations:

Cultural and music studies from University of California, Los Angeles (Ethnomusicology)

Ongoing discussions in diversity, casting, and AI ethics in entertainment .

https://poeticresurrection.com/store/

https://sonialozada.com/

#RepresentationMatters
#LatinxVoices
#ActingIndustry
#VoiceActing
#Authenticity
#DiversityInFilm
#Storytelling
#AIandCreativity

In this episode, I reflect on watching Bad Bunny’sperformances on Amazon and the Super Bowl stage — not just as entertainment, but as cultural memory brought into global light. With a background in Ethnomusicology from UCLA, I share how my academic research into Puerto Rican music — through texts such as El Jíbaro de Puerto Rico, La Música en Puerto Rico, La Música Folklórica de Puerto Rico, and Voz Folklórica de Puerto Rico — deepened my understanding of traditions like Jíbaro, Bomba, Plena, and Aguinaldo.

But this episode is not only scholarly — it’s personal.

I revisit childhood memories of my father playing Jíbaromusic loudly while driving down Chicago Avenue in Chicago, and the shame I once felt. I reflect on how that discomfort evolved into teenage pride and later adult understanding.

I also honor my mother, who sang “Preciosa” and “En Mi ViejoSan Juan” in the kitchen, and my uncle who played guitar and cuatro, going door to door during the holidays performing Aguinaldos.

This episode explores:

What once felt too loud became legacy.What once felt distant became home.

What happens when you still love being on set, but thepassion for the dream doesn’t feel the same?

In this episode, I talk honestly about discouragement inacting and entertainment — not the dramatic kind, but the quieter season where you keep showing up without a five-year plan or a constant sense of inspiration.

This isn’t an episode about quitting or forcing motivation.It’s about staying present, redefining success, and letting the work be part of your life instead of the explanation for it.

If you’ve ever felt discouraged but still here — still doingthe work — this conversation is for you.

Music: Blue Ballsa by The Blue Cherries

As the year turns, we’re keeping it simple at Chica’s Café.No resolutions, no reinventions—just a pause, a coffee refill, and a moment to appreciate the conversations we’ve shared.

This short New Year episode reflects on curiosity,observation, and the kinds of everyday moments that make us stop, laugh, and think a little differently. Thank you for being part of the conversations thisyear. Here’s to good stories ahead—and whatever unexpected dialogue wanders into the café next.

Pull up a chair. The conversation continues.

Blessings for the New Year.