I took this shot on Melrose last week. I just kinda like how the taggers
worked with the image even as they defaced it.


Seriously? More than a month has passed since I wrote last? I apologize...ironically I am writing now more than at any other point in my life, with the possible exception of particularly hectic weeks in college. Not only am I writing scripts (or should be, as the case may be) for work, but I am working on a few projects that I am pitching to some folks of interest. I am really excited, so much so that I actually took yesterday day off and spent much of it writing away before I went to a callback. This is the first time I have ever felt that I could actually do this, that is, writing full time, which is kind of an awesome feeling. Of course, it’s really hard--it’s one thing to make time to write, it’s quite another to get any kind of good writing out of that time. I am both over and underdoing it, at least with my pitch documents, but I want to make sure I have all of my stories straight so I can answer with something other than, “you know, that’s actually a good idea...”

Acting has picked up a bit, at least commercially. I go out, I get called back...and I don’t get cast. Frustrating but what can I do? At least I am getting called back in consistently. The other day I went out for a spot and it was seriously everyone that you’ve ever seen in a commercial that you’d think I would be good in. All of those guys. I’ve mentioned this before, but it really is kind of funny how we all know each other from hanging out in various waiting rooms together. I bumped into a waiting room buddy of mine to compare notes and we were both relieved to hear that it wasn’t just us--it’s been slow for everyone. We both were laughing at how we used to go to certain casting offices all the time and then, suddenly, we haven’t been in those rooms in 4-5 months. Like from 4 times a week to 2-3 times a year? Not good.

If you are following me on Facebook, you might have noticed that I posted a link to an episode of The Business that I thought was quite interesting (I posted as such, apparently not everyone agrees with me); the show featured an interview with a psychiatrist to see how people in the entertainment industry are managing the slings and arrows of outrageous (mis)fortune. I had a bout with some major frustration last week because I was basically doing exactly what the psychiatrist says that other people are doing: blaming myself for not being ____ enough as opposed to understanding that this is one of those “reality” things that personal effort/talent probably has not impact on. Even better was the comment that feelings do not foretell the future, which sounds so obvious but is worth remembering every once in a while. Just because one feels badly does not mean that things will continue to go badly. Simple, sure, but useful.

I saw Star Trek. I loved it. I saw it again and still loved it, which is not usually how these things go. Viewing it did send me into that morose mood I mentioned earlier, because it was basically exactly what I wanted to be doing, to be part of a movie like that, and yet, again, I was just sitting in the audience for it. I got better though, and will not dwell, rather, I will just continue to focus on the work I am dealing with now.

I am officially allowing myself to get excited for my trip next month, my first trip to Europe since 2001. It’s going to be quick, with 3-4 days in London, Paris and Rome apiece, with extra time in the Italian countryside. Then I am off to New York and San Francisco for similar lengths of time, then, suddenly, I guess I will be rafting down some river in Sacramento for a few days--again, something I haven’t done in a very long time. I will leave my apartment and not return for three weeks. Yikes--I gotta figure out what to do with my car!

Okay, I am going to end this post with a shot I took of Raney and Katie during their first dance at their wedding. Amazing time, befitting these two wonderful friends....

more photos here