Sorry it's been so long

It's taken a while for anything of real interest to happen. I don't want to post just for the sake of posting, but I was given a verbal beating by a reader for not updating frequently enough. Hopefully this will assuage the thirsty readers.

The Crucible has been going well. By going well I mean we've finally completed basic blocking. When I think about blocking a show I wonder if I might have more fun sticking a pencil in my eye whilst pondering the latest fashions in eye-patches than have to block another damn show. I know it must be done, like the dentist, but I dread both equally. My survival technique has been to turn The Crucible into a one man comedy show.

Oh yes, it can be done. Much to the consternation of some castmates, but sorry, I can't even think about character and acting when we have to stop every line. Just give me the basic movements and let's get on with it, dig?

I've noticed a change in my style a bit. Assuming that a) I actually had a style before and b)there is evidence of a style now. A couple months ago I read How to Stop Acting by Michael Shurtleff. I took a lot of it to heart. I also take every acting method I learn about with a grain of salt. It seems like each one I learn about ends up at some point telling you that The Process is more important than The Product. I'm really not into zealotry of just about any kind, so when I read that it doesn't matter if the audience doesn't get it as long as it's true I go a little fuzzy. But I take something from each book I read. This one helped me free myself up from too much thinking, which is a habit I have. I read this book right before I really got busy with doing film, and it really helped me to be in the moment when we were shooting, especially when it was hectic. It seems that it's influenced my stage acting as well. Where I usually was rehearsing for the perfect delivery each time, now I'm goin with what my gut's telling me, reacting not to what my brain tells me is my character's arc, just doing it and letting the audience piece it together. It's wonderfully freeing.

Sorry about the rant. If it even made sense.

Got cast in another movie. This one's UConn based and I'm pretty psyched for it, but the shoot is a couple months off. This is another audition I totally nailed when I was so sick with the flu I could barely stand. I'm sensing a pattern. I also got a call from someone I've never heard of who was given my number to see if I could fill a last minute role. Unfortunately I was unavailable for it, but hey, it proves the point, be nice to everybody, cause you never know when it'll pay off. Feed your karma.

A pin in my balloon

I didn't get cast in a film I was looking forward to. Sounded neat, had a ton of potential. I got the audition through people I'd worked with before. The audition went well, at least I thought it did, and it sounded as if I had the part by the time I walked out the door.

Got the email yesterday. Thanks for coming, but sorry.

First, I was just amazed to hear one way or the other. Very rarely have I gotten any kind of word from the director/production crew if I don't get cast. At least I know now, and don't have to wonder if my schedule is going to be juggled again. (This reminds me of something I need to write later. Don't let me forget, blog.)

Seems like lately I've had some fairy-tale casting. I haven't been turned down for much, if anything, in the last three months. I really thought I had this one in the bag. It's a nice attitude check. I certainly don't take it personally, and I'm not upset at all. (Mildly relieved I don't have to "make that weekend work.")

I have been lazy to the extreme. By lazy I mean I only spend two hours a day learning Dreamweaver, one hour on Final Cut, and two hours trying to get my home studio working again. (Curse Aardvark Audio for going bankrupt!) I really should be cranking out some product, REALLY need to be writing again.

Really need to kick myself in the ass.

It's way too cold for self-ass kicking though. Definitely weather for watching ALL of The Sopranos.

Super cool days like this make me smile

It actually started yesterday when I got to hang out with my two sisters and my nephew, who is currently approaching the ripe age of two. The sister that owns (?) him lives in L.A. so I don't get to see them very often. The last time I saw the little man he was still a non-walking, mostly drooling baby. Now he has legs that run and run and run. I didn't expect him to do anything other than run away from the scary man who hadn't shaved in five days, but he got right down to the business of counting for me. He can recognize his name when written down, knows the alphabet, and can recognize the planets. It's amazingly hilarious (and somewhat humbling) to hear him say Jupiter, "Dert-der-der." (He knows them, but that mouth coordination could use some work.) I'm pretty sure at that age I was realizing that my fingers could fit in my nose, and wasn't that an awesome discovery?

Today I put two more gigs of RAM in my desktop. I haven't even loaded the games that bog this beast down and I'm still excited.

Had to shoot pickups for Threads today. Made it to the Emerson studio and there were two of my favorite crew people there, Lucinda and Adam, and Adam's got his computer tuned in to this very blog. (I forget that people I know actually read it. Come to think of it, I never realize people read it as I write this. Uh...hi folks!) We hung out for a little while as everybody else filtered in. Great to see everybody again. They recharge my batteries. Make me realize how much fun/angst/love/pain/laughter/frustration/creation this whole thing is.

Adam, who's cutting the movie, said quite a few nice things about the job I did in the film. (Thanks Adam!) I got to see some of the original footage. I can honestly say I freaked myself out. There are some pretty heavy scenes in this flick. I put a lot into them. A LOT. It's nice, albeit mildly frightening, to see that what I was going for actually happened.

The day went pretty quickly, everything was fairly simple and laid out well. Ah, the magic of film. Some closeups for a bedroom scene were accomplished with a wooden box, a sheet, a pillow, and some black cloth draped over some chairs. I didn't even need to take my pants off. (...that sounds so wrong) A few other quick shots and we were chillin'. Left with more notices of auditions and, hopefully, offers of parts. As I walked back through the Common to get to my car I couldn't get the smile off my face.

Finished up by meeting a friend at the movies to see Smokin' Aces, which was surprisingly good, despite the drubbing the critics gave it. Sure, it's not The Godfather, but it was escapist fun done well.

Now if only I didn't have to go to work tomorrow...

Two super cool web things...

..I've found recently.

Flight of the Conchords. You can see their performances here. I recommend you start with "Jenny." A friend of mine sat me down to watch it because it reminded her of My Best Friend Mike and my penchant for sitting on my porch and making up songs as we go along. (Incidentally, his one known talent is the ability to insert the word "Motherfucker" into any song. Yeah, sure, anybody can but not like this dude.) I was howling. HOWLING.

I also realize that everyone in the world might already know about these guys and I'm just the last to get on the train.

The other thing is What is Joppa? There's a great article on them here. I love the homegrown attitude they have. I love that it works. I love that people are starting to watch them. There's a debate a friend and I have about the increasing affordability of making movies/recording music. He argues that it will ultimately dilute the talent pool, making it harder for dedicated and talented artists to stand out. I argue that if anything it will make the dedicated and talented stand out more. The recent glut of badly made online movies and lo-no budget films illustrates the juxtaposition quite clearly. Well thought out entertainment like Joppa, in contrast, allows you to appreciate well done projects even more.

Oh yeah, I saw The Hitcher remake. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that bad. It just wasn't all that good. In fact, it's basically the same movie as the original, with a couple playing C. Thomas Howell's part. Basically it's all bones and no meat. It has pretty much the exact structure of the original, without any of the tension, or any real sense of empathy for the hitcher. And I'd love to have been on set to see the dynamics, because I've never seen two people playing a romantic couple look less interested in each other.

Top Chef is making me ill. Did anyone else hear that Marcel was attacked by a crazed fan?

24 rocks.

Sore!

Ow.

First day snowboarding yesterday. Gotta make use of this stupid pass, now that we finally have some snow. I didn't get a chance to go last year at all, so I was pretty nervous yesterday. Fortunately I made it through the day all limbs intact. So much fun. Today will be an inside day, however. Having not used those muscles in some time, everything hurts.

Went from there to the first read-through of The Crucible. Methinks we have a very fine cast, indeed. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together. I have to find a new voice for Hale, though. What keeps coming out of me naturally is way too low for my throat. Reverend Hale as portrayed by Clint Eastwood. Interesting maybe, but no thanks.

Working with several filmmaker friends has got me started in the research/learning game. Time I'm not spending at either of my jobs or acting is now being spent on learning:

a) Final Cut
b) Dreamweaver
c) studying for an A+ cert

Because I have too much time on my hands.
(cue Dennis DeYoung)

Ok, for all you who wanted me to fix the computer, I'm actually almost done getting it all back in. The one smart thing I did was to print out the first completed draft. All I really had to do was remember some restructuring and I was there.

On the "throw out your first three scripts" thing I say nay! I've got a bunch of other ideas to start hammering into some shape of script, sure, but I wrote this one first because I LOVE THIS STORY. Whether I get it right out of the gate or have to redo the whole damn thing later, I will tell this story.

Saw the Equity tour of Chicago last night. Wow. It isn't my absolute favorite show but I'll watch it given the opportunity, especially if it's going to be done well. Man, was it done well. I'll have to check my program for some but I know Christopher McDonald played Billy Flynn and Ron Orbach played Amos. The rest had equally amazing pedigrees. Super well done. I really enjoyed Roxie. She had this bubbly, giggly thing going on that was way different than the soulless, evil that so many others try to portray her with. Really happy I saw it.

There's another one of those teaser trailers here. Under "selected works" there's a second teaser for Cillian. With my snazzy English accent.

Ok, I'm really not happy with this. The Hitcher is being remade. (That's the link to the REAL movie.) Why would you do that? The Hitcher is one of the best road/suspense movies ever made. You have no chance of doing better. None. It doesn't matter that I like Sean Bean, and would like to see him play more "good guys" every now and then (he always gets portrayed as the slug), it just won't work.

Why must Hollywood do this? Look what's been done to every remake, with the notable exception of the remake of Dawn of the Dead. That was awesome. Every single one has flopped. Every single one has been skewered by critics and fans alike. Sure, they got some teenagers money for a couple weekends, but they didn't really DO anything.

Grrr. I gotta go. I'm gonna re-write Red Dawn before anyone else gets to it.

Happy New Year, My Script is Gone

My laptop crashed.

I have three computers, but only the laptop had the whole of my first feature length screenplay. I've been in the heavy editing mode, trying to figure out if the thing is worth a damn. Last week, I got the Blue Screen of Death.

Another Windows re-install. I should become a Mac person. Of course, a repair wouldn't work. Safe mode wouldn't work. For complete hilarity, the flash drive I just bought (specifically for keeping my writing safe) hadn't actually had the script loaded onto it yet.

The good news. I had sixty pages of the first iteration on my office computer, so THAT most certainly went into the new flash drive. Also, after I finished the first draft (actually the second draft, but that's a long story) I printed it, so I could red-pen edit the thing. I have all those notes.

The bad news. Typing all the little changes from page one to page sixty is a royal pain in the ass. Also, I was on my third pass and stopped writing changes, just typing them into the computer, so all those are gone. I did some huge scene re-ordering, but I seem to be remembering that fairly well.

Sometimes I think it'll never get done. Actually, I know it'll never be DONE, but complete enough to show to people.

I hang my head in sorrow.

Oh yeah, Happy New Year, everyone.

Holidays and How I Love They're Over

I don't necessarily MIND the holidays. In fact, I think they're a generally good idea. If you remove the rampant commercialism and the holier than thou religious centrism (along with all the ridiculous "Holiday" vs "Christmas" debate) it's a good idea. Once a year, why don't we put all our normal bull#$%^ aside and just be nice to each other for a change? I actually like doing nice things for people, especially the people I care about. I don't always have the sense to get my head out of my own ass all the time, but a nice wreath reminds me to buy that book I know my dad's got his eye on.

It's the shopping I can't stand. The parking, the bumping into people, the clawing for the last item on the shelf, these things make me murderous relatively quickly. I try to do as much as I can online, but this year even THAT managed to piss me off. A major bookseller who isn't Amazon.com has earned my eternal wrath at their stupidity. While I don't hate the U.S. Postal Service, I hate the other people who use them. Generally I like to buy myself a little something as I go along, reward myself for engaging the hordes. Now that it's all over, I can relax.

There is one story that I just had to write down, though. This one's for the books. My family is relatively scattered this year. My parents are at my older sister's place in CA this year. My younger sister was hosting her fiancee's family for Christmas. I opted to spend the morning with my wonderful grandparents who continue to amaze me. I know I won't have half that energy at half their age. For the afternoon I would go to my sister's, I haven't met this group of people that are going to be family soon, and what better time than Christmas?

This is where it gets good.

I get to the house, walk in the side door heading towards the kitchen. Directly in front of me is a crate.

In the crate is a duck.

Yep, a duck. A big white duck that looks ready to sell me insurance. Staring at me. I stopped, cause I was stuck. I was stuck because exactly one thousand and three increasingly hilarious things to say popped into my mind all at once and I realized I could say exactly none of them because there was a house full of people who might be very attached to this duck.

So we looked at each other. It was then I noticed a woman kneeling next to the duck and staring at me as if the sight of a new person in the house was stranger than, say, a duck hanging out in a kitchen. Turns out it's her duck. See, she's something of a bird lady. Bunch of parrots, cockatoos and the like. And, of course, the duck.

She was an absolutely delightful woman and completely understood my duck consternation. The rest of the family was very nice and I had a great time meeting them all.

But every time I turn around, there's the duck, staring at me as if to say, "Well, used to me now?"

From what I learned ducks make very good pets. They have great personalities and don't chew the furniture. this duck also had a jacket. It was actually a dog's jacket witht the sleeves sewn in. To me it looked like a smoking jacket. All it needed was a long stem pipe, a wing-backed chair, and a British accent.

I know this had nothing to do with acting, but I have to remember this shit.

A Much Needed Kick in the Bottom

Oh, so lazy.

The past couple weeks have felt very stale. I know, I did have the longest work/class week ever, auditioned and won a part in an exceedingly good play, filmed one short movie and auditioned well for another, and then was sick for another week, but I don't really felt like I DID anything. No other auditions in the works. Gotta stay in the game.

Today I forced myself to work on my script. I keep making minor fixes, knowing there's holes but not really seeing any of them. Maybe I should let someone *gasp* read it. Then I can force myself to start on the next one.

I've spent a lot of time reading first timers scripts. You can have a lot of fun reading them here. Some are incredibly good. Some need a little good feedback and they'll be incredibly good. A lot are examples of what not to do. Those are the ones I learn best from. Like a lot of the bad no-budget movies I've ordered off the internet. I love them for their balls, hate their execution, and know deep in my soul that I could make something a million times better with less money. That's what Vince and I are setting out to do.

Whoa, digress. Basically I don't want to be that guy who thinks just because he put something out there he should be rewarded. I'm aiming for something more than passable, which is why I'm so hard on myself. It's also a reason why I DON'T do it more. It seems like such a high point to aim for, sometimes I wonder if I have any business at all trying. (Stupid, I'm aware.)

I still don't know much more about my friend's production, other than that he was cast in a VERY good role. The group has been around for at least the last four or five years, and are non-profit. I've seen several of their productions. Uh, that's all I'll say here. My friend is an excellent performer, and neither desperate for parts nor a moron. Listening to the plans for the production, I can see why he's excited. I thought it odd myself that all these stipulations were being added. I wouldn't agree to it myself, so I think I must have heard it wrong, or heard a wrong interpretation. I'll let you know, blogwatchers.

Oh yeah, Jonathan, thanks for coming. I AM reading your blog, but it's taking a while. Reading through five years of postings is taking longer than a week. Welcome to my blogroll.

This was supposed to be a short post.

The Verdict is In

I got the call yesterday morning about The Crucible. I've been cast as Reverend Hale, the inquisitor sent to Salem to investigate the charges of witchcraft. While I was gunning for John Proctor, the part I've been offered is mighty tasty unto itself. The gentleman cast as the lead looked as if he'll do a fine job in that role. I look forward to working with him.

Still haven't heard anything about last week's film audition. Generally, when a week goes by with no word I consider that my answer, but man, they seemed so positive. I know, I know, that was probably a sure sign I wouldn't get it.

My head cold finally settled into my chest, now I have the most fantastic stuff coming out of me. Lung butter. This is annoying. I could have been out painting the town red. Or out doing something that doesn't suck as much as staying in because you're sick.

I had an interesting conversation with a friend recently, who auditioned for a local musical with a group I have not worked with. He had to sign a contract saying he would be responsible for $300 in ads, or pay it himself, 15 tickets sold by him, and a monetary fine for every rehearsal he was late to. Now, as far as I know, there is no pay involved with this show. I may have been in some shows where they pushed us to sell tickets/ads, but this seems a little overboard. Anyone else ever hear of this?

Someday I'll Breathe Again

I'm never sick this long. Never. I picture my immune system as a 6'4" ripped dude carrying a baseball bat with nails sticking out of it. Named Diesel. I've never bothered to ask if Diesel is his name or the bat's name. Wouldn't be polite. Or safe. (BTW, Diesel came along way before Vin Diesel, so he's got dibs.)

Yesterday I dragged my best friend out to Boston for the premiere of Razor Man, a movie by Keto Shimizu. She directed Threads after this movie. Last night they held a screening at the AMC Loews on the Boston Common. I was really excited to see it. The trailer on the site was what initally convinced me to audition for Threads in the the first place. I also wanted to see what they were able to do with all that 16mm techno-gadgetry they have. I'm more than glad to say it was a success on nearly every level. I never asked about the story or any particulars so I could see it with a fresh eye. The shots were beautiful, the framing was amazing, the story really worked for a short. Not too complex, but not too simple either. It leaves you room to make a lot of your own answers. The actors did a great job. It makes me super excited to see the next batch of flicks, cause I'm in 'em.

Speaking of which, there is a teaser trailer online! The movie I did last week, Cillian, was shot on Canon XL2's with 35mm adapters. You can find it here, under "Selected Works." That's me in the suit.

Other than that, nothing of note has happened. Haven't heard about the film audition I did last week. Won't hear about The Crucible til at least tomorrow.

Ladies and gentlemen, just before the finish line...

...he collapses. I woke up this morning sick. Throat lined with sandpaper, head filled with cement. I knew I should have been taking more vitamins this week. I realize I'm so exhausted that my body has decided it's siesta time, but all I needed was one more *&^%ing day.

Grr.

I pumped myself full of cold medicine and made it to callbacks. I felt like I was underwater. Had to force my audition, hate it, but waddayagunnado? According to some folks they never even noticed, so I'm either a very talented actor or I always look like I'm juiced on NyQuil. I suspect the real answer is somewhere between the two.

Canceled my dentist appointment and actually called out of work for tomorrow. I never, ever call out sick.

Meh.

Nine out of eleven done

Two more days and I get some laziness in. After I clean my house, which is completely destroyed at this point. I've tracked dirt from both my basement and that warehouse all over the first floor. Piles of unfolded laundry have taken over my living room. Dishes rule my sink, and mail and assorted crap from my car have set up camp on my kitchen table. I do get a bunch of time tomorrow, it's almost like a day off, just a dentist appointment (hate the dentist) and Crucible callbacks tomorrow night. Maybe I should prepare for it but frankly I like winging it as much as I can in auditions.

The last of the weekend shoot went faster than any shoot I've done so far. There were only two shots to get, skeleton crew, so things went incredibly smooth. So smooth, in fact, that I had about six hours off before my next audition. See, Boston's an hour and a half away, so six hours off means I don't go home. Had I known I was going to have that much time off, I might have prepared an exciting day discovering things in Boston I have yet to see, or haven't seen in a while. However, I had no pre-plan for such events, and really didn't have the energy to traipse around town. So I went to breakfast with a few guys from the crew, then went to see Apocalypto. It was...interesting. It certainly wasn't bad. I enjoyed it, but I don't think I'll be hunting out the DVD.

Hit my audition and it went really well. Apparently my Boston accent is convincing. It looked to me like I was hitting points that jived with the director's vision, which is what we all hope for. Who knows, you can never really tell what they're thinking, right? At least I know I smoked that audition.

Cross your fingers for The Crucible.

I missed seeing The Pick of Destiny in the theaters. I nearly wept. I already have the soundtrack and wanted to see it SO BAD. Curse the gods of movie theaters that are still showing Turistas and turning their backs on the greatest rock gods of all time.

Oh, and personally I have nothin against the use of 'y'all.' I've spent some time in the South, and personally love it. It's beautiful, the food kicks ass, and the farther down you go the friendlier people get, until you hit Florida and the displaced New Englanders. I actually use it in conversation once in a while, just to spice things up. But it really didn't seem to fit here. I'm more of a 'dude' guy.

Later, dudes.

Oy

Tired. So tired.

Seven days into hell week and I'm fairly cooked. I survived the 105 hour fiasco to come home to no heat. Said loss of heat made me late for Crucible auditions. At least those went fairly well. I feel like I gave a fairly strong audition and met some really nice folks. I was pleasantly surprised at the caliber of my fellow actors, especially the teenagers. Fingers crossed for callbacks.

Now, it might be a good idea, if you get home at 10:30 and have class at 8:00 in the morning, to NOT have more beer than you think would be wise. I, however, usually fly in the face of all good ideas pertaining to me doing anything smart/sensible. Friday morning was r-o-u-g-h. But I found out I didn't need to be on set Friday night, so I had a glorious evening of watching the last eight episodes of 24:Season 2.

Finished my damn class this morning and made it out to set. In a warehouse. And the wares of this house apparently is dirt. Dirt that gets everywhere. On your cuffs, under your collar. Dirt that gives you those nasty black boog...

Ahem.

Apparently my fuses are so blown from this week I've become dumber than I thought. I could not figure out what we were doing. I looked at the script. I looked at the other actors. I looked at the script. I looked at the director. I thought to myself, "You know these lines, bro. Why are you being so stupid?"

I answered, "Dude, I'm trying. Help me out here."

So I said, "Okay. What can I do?"

"Thanks, man. I love you."

"I love you, too."

It would have been less embarassing if I did that all in my head instead of out loud. Fortunately such behavior is apparently commonplace with this crew.

So I pulled it together and we managed to get a nice shoot done, in a surprisingly short amount of time. I was even able to grab a bite to eat with the rest of the cast. Now I just have to get up at 5am to get back out there.

Night y'all.

(I will never say y'all again in this blog.)

Karma

You see? I made this guy's day. Well worth the twenty bucks.

Sixty hours in...

...about forty-five left to go.

It actually hasn't been too bad. Sunday was uneventful, last night I got to sleep the night through. Tonight looks like it might be the same, but I don't want to say it too much, because then I'll get no sleep at all. Class is hell, way overbooked and uncomfortable. It's already a necessary evil, having to be dealt with every two years, but this is insane. Only four days to go, I guess.

Trying to gear up for two auditions. Need to find funny a comic/dramatic monologue in the vein of Mean Streets. Not my favorite Scorsese. Any hints? Anyone?

In blog news, I came across a link to a website that I thought was really cool. It's a great idea. Power to the people.

http://www.adoptthismovie.com/index.php

I wanted to do more than just post it. What's twenty bucks to me? More important, what's twenty bucks to them? It's no big shakes for me, but if everyone does it, it could be a life changing moment for someone else.

Oh, and if you're in the fast lane, and you're only doing the speed limit, and another car comes up behind you, why wouldn't you move over? I've driven in a lot of areas in this country, and seen a lot of bad driving, but it seems my New Englanders take perverse pleasure in NOT making way for the guy in a hurry.

Longest week ever

Well, I've managed to not have to post every waking thought for the last couple days. It helps that they had nothing to do with acting.

It looks like next weekend is a go for both filming and audition. I'll be heading out to Boston for Friday and Saturday night followed by what looks to be a very long Sunday. Sometime next Wednesday I'll be able to sleep in my bed for more than four hours. Times like this, I don't even look for the light at the end of the tunnel. I just put my head down and get from one thing to the next.

The exercise regimen is in place. I want to svelte down a little before getting to head shots. I don't consider myself a fatty, but I could stand to lose some belly before I go for them.

Heard from B. They finished shooting everything yesterday for December 31st. Apparently it went much smoother this time around. I'm glad. Hopefully it'll come together fine. Time will tell.

I thought I had something interesting to write about, but whatever it was, it isn't in my head anymore.

You see? I AM addicted...

...but I had to put this down because it's ended up being a pretty cool day. I got an e-mail from the director of a short film I did for Emerson recently. Basically I was asked to do a part for another short. Reading the script, it's a great part, really intense, a great chance to showcase my range.

But they're filming it next weekend.

Here's basically my schedule this coming week. I go in to work Sunday morning. Between that and this class I have to take I will see my home for possibly two hours between then and Thursday night. That's about 105 hours straight. Plus classes from 8-5 Friday and Saturday as well. Which means I'd get out of class Friday (hopefully early) for the two hour drive to Boston (one and a half if traffic's good) Plus Sunday. Then go back to work on Monday and Wednesday, and then hopefully sleep sometime before 2007. I sent him what I was working with and he said he should be able to figure it out. Sweet.

Then I remembered.

I'm scheduled for an audition Sunday afternoon. Balls. Balls balls balls balls shit balls. It's in Boston, so it should be close. It shouldn't take long. But doesn't that seem a bit, ah, tight?

But I bet I could do it.

I don't want to cancel the audition. I haven't read the script but:

1) I love the story idea.
2) They seem like they have their sh#t together.
3) Although I have no idea, it seems like some money might come along the way.
4) I've been emailing back and forth with them for a month now, and they seem excited to meet me.

I don't want to refuse the short because:

1) I've worked with these people and I know they're quality.
2) It's a great part.
3) I like them.
4) They seem to like me.
5) A lot of these people will be in L.A. soon enough. (Helloooo, networking!)

So I email back telling him basically how f$cked things are but I'm willing to do it if he is, maybe we can work something out with the audition. I just heard back, he's gonna try to make it work, I'll get a call tomorrow night hopefully.

Then I realized I was planning to audition for The Crucible Sunday night, but let's call that doubtful now. Looks like I'll have to do it Thursday night. The night I was planning a coma.

I know, I know, plenty of people would LOVE to have this kind of quandary, right? I'm not actually complaining, I just don't want to see myself in the mirror on Dec 14th, the first day off I'll have.

Now I'm addicted to you, Blogger.

I swore I wouldn't let it happen. The only blog I've stayed faithful to is my sister's because I like to keep up with her life and she's an amazing writer. (Her blog is massively popular in the "mother" blog community.) But I told myself, "Nay, I will not spend hours reading blogs, mouth slack, unshowered, unshaved, convincing myself that this is entry is the last one I will read."

Sigh.

I finished reading Chris blog last night. The good thing about dudes' blogs, they seem to be much shorter. Only took a couple hours. Great blog. Read it.

As if the addiction to reading isn't enough, I now want to blog every other thought that comes into my head. (At least, I did yesterday.) This is probably a byproduct of not having much to do and reading so many blogs I feel I need to catch up on posts. Meh.

I have noticed a common theme in some blogs lately, and I am excited that I now have people to discuss my television obsession with.

Top Chef

Can't get enough of it. Was anyone else ill when they found out there was no new episode last night? I looked it up. They're only airing two more episodes this year. I want to punch Bravo, how dare they do this to me?

I think I don't enjoy this season as much as the first. No, I definitely liked the first season better. For one, most of the contestants were actually likable and were both fairly honorable in how they approached the contest and weren't so eager to stab each other in the back. I cheered when Harold won, I might have cheered more watching Tiffany lose, then cry like the little brat she is. The whole line she gave Harold about "my back just ran into your knife" made me yell at the TV, which I don't do. It's not the TV's fault. Harold had integrity, man. I was also shamelessly heartwarmed during the reunion episode when Stephen showed personal growth and apologized to everyone he'd been an ass to.

This season? Not so much. So many of these chefs seem to want to stay in the middle of the field and not be noticed, while pointing out everyone else's failures. Marcel? Yeah, he's obviously compensating but at least he's going out on the fringe and not making something he's been doing for years. Betty? H-A-T-E her with her death's head rictus of a smile. She's won too much based on her bubbly first impression, but the last couple times watching her I want to throw holy water on her or something, see if it steams. Everybody seems more concerned about complaining about the challenge, other people, etc, and don't get into the task at hand.

I feel so dirty talking about reality television. I should go shower. And shave.

Oh yeah, I heard from Vince this morning, looks like we're on our own with our little project. I kind of prefer it that way.

You can find B (Bernice) here and here.