The Current State of Affairs

My wife and I are seperated. I can’t really go in to the finer details as to why, how, etc., as these aren’t only details of my own life to decide whether or not they are to be shared, however it should be known that I am alive and well. True, I am sometimes plagued with doubt, paranoia, fear, shame, anger, resentment, and sorrow, but I know that this step is necessary, and that the end doesn’t necessarily mean the worst.

As of now, we’re not getting divorced.

I am currently staying with a friend, and can be reached via my new cel phone. Email me, and the number is yours.

Finger in the dyke

There are a lot of things going on in my head these days, and in my life, which I have decided to reconcile after the play is done.  I suppose there’s a level of not wanting to deal with it at all, but there is also the truth that if I know friends and family know what is going on in my head at the time, they will see my performance in a different light.

So, come see me, then wait for the inevitable landslide.

The Lady Cries Murder

Days 3 & 4 on the set

The final two days went off without a hitch, except that the Production Assistant that we had for the previous days was no longer there, and we had to work with this woman whose style was drastically different than her predecessor.

Anyway, I saw a couple other celebs, and I got my first SAG voucher, which means that I am only 2 away from being eligible to join SAG (The Screen Actors Guild) which would just about rock my socks completely off.

I’m very tired, and very excited.

Day 2 on the set

For the first half of the day, I sat in “holding” (not a cell, but rather the place where “background” folks dwell when they’re not on the set), which was more tiring than being on set.  I wandered around the studio, checking out the various offices that the characters use.  Shatner’s character’s office had two framed photos…  both of Shatner.

The second half of the day I was in a courtroom scene sitting in the audience, second row, behind the prosecution.  There were many shots where I was visible.  Here’s hoping some actually make it in to the cut.  I looked up some folks that I recognized, and also saw some new faces.  The star sitings now also inclu
de:

Constance

Anthony

Curtis

Julie

Craig

and Armin

I’m excited as all hell, and will be in the second row again tomorrow.  God bless continuity.

My day on the set

I got a job as an extra for Boston Legal.  I had an absolute blast, despite having to be in Manhattan Beach at 5am, despite being there for 14 hours, and despite getting paid minimum wage.  I played a member of a news crew covering a big trial outside and inside the courthouse, which involved filming outside of a building in Torrance, and inside their studios in Manhattan Beach.  It was tiring, I had a blast, the food was great, and I saw several celebrities.

Bill

Katey

Ethan

and I spent a good time working and chatting with Joan.

I go back Monday, and will keep everyone posted.

It doesn’t get much better than hearing Joan call someone a “crime slut.”

A Message to the Passive Agressive Waste of Space

I don’t hate you.  I don’t wish harm or evil upon you.  I pity you.  The chip on your shoulder was cut so deep, you have no heart.  You have no compassion.  You have no desire to be open to different people.

When you have 3 bosses, and 2 of them constantly say how valuable you are to the workplace, and you are suddenly not so valuable, who has the feelings that you are inadequate.  Inadequate because I work (data entry) more efficiently while listening to music?  Inadequate because I wear Hawaiian shirts?  Inadequate because I (gasp) look at the internet from time to time when the workload permits it?
I learned the tasks at hand that freed up 2 complete work days for my supervisor working part time, and made progress with projects/tasks that had been backed up for up to a year in some cases.  You have nearly crippled a coworker because of some childish grudge based on fear or pride.  You have left me in a lurch, and not just because I was let go, but because there was no notice.  No time.  It was now or never, and “now” triumphed.

I will get by.  I always do.  And in the end, I will know that you are the kind of person to avoid at all costs.  That workplace is hindered by your presence.  You hide behind your fake smile, the saleswoman demeanor never wavering.  I wish that you could have the heart to realize what others around you have to offer.  Instead you saw me through judging eyes.  I’m sorry.  You will miss out on so much in life because you won’t see beyond their exterior.

Goodbye.

Man Job 3.0

Man Job 1.0

Man Job 2.0

All caught up?  Alrighty then.

Saturday Milca, a friend and I went hiking, as it was Milca’s last day in the country before taking her 17 day trip to Argentina.  We hadn’t been hiking in some time, and we both were looking forward to it, as were the dogs.

The weather was nice, and the temperature had cooled down, as we went in the late afternoon while the sun was still up, but not over our heads.  We went to our normal spot, “The backdoor to Millard” as I call it, and trekked on.  We were about 2 miles in when Milca noticed that Louie may have had a run in with a bird in the bushes, as he was in some high brush near the stream, and something appeared to have fled the scene leaving Lou.  We moved another hundred yards or so when we all noticed a pungent smell that we guessed was something decomposing (plants/animals/etc.).  Since we didn’t want to smell that anymore, nor did we want to smell it again, we turned around to head back, only the smell seemed to follow us, even uphill.  So, the first thing we did was check the dogs.  Joni was fine, but Lou…  well, he wasn’t.

Skunk.

If you’ve passed a dead skunk on the road you think you know what skunk smells like.  The thing is, you don’t.  Those skunks were likely run over by a car, and the smell is the glands and whatnot rotting in the open air.  This is drastically different from a live skunk spraying its victim directly.

So, the friend and Milca couldn’t bear the smell, nor did they want to risk having Lou touch them and rubbing the smell on to them.  I then started phase 1 of Man Job 3.0; I put Lou on his leash, and hiked 20-30 feet behind them, which was nice…  for them.  I was in the wake of the foul stench, which was slowly getting me high as nail polish might.

We got to the car, with only one small incident where Lou bumped in to our friend, and then we drove home.  If the smell on the trail was bad, the smell in the car was horrific.  Even with the windows down and Lou restrained from coming to the front of the car, it was awful.  When we got home at about 7 or so, I left for the grocery store to get tomato soup (a good remedy for removing the smell).  I then came back home and proceeded with phase 2 of Man Job 3.0, the washing of the dogs.

I covered the dogs in tomato soup, who gave me looks as though I was out of my mind.  They’d had baths before on countless occassions, but this was strange for them (and me).

The tomato soup bath did help, but Lou still smelled.  The next morning, before leaving, Milca gave them each another bath with dish soap, which helped some more but Lou still smelled.  The bathing from the night before left my hands smelling of skunk for a while, but it did come off with rubbing alchohol.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve sait it a thousand times, “Fuckin’ Lou.”

Playabound

I wish I was, but sadly that is not the case.  My friends (not all, but a big enough chunk) are on their way, or are already at Burning Man.

I went 3 consecutive years (2000, 2001, 2002), missed two years, and went last year (2005).  The playa will always be home for me, and I feel an annual longing to return, like the Quickening summoning me to the Gathering, only no heads are being cut off.

What makes this particularly painful is that there are some old friends who are attending this year that I don’t get to see very often.  I was able to see them shortly the other night before they left, but that’s hardly the same as spending an intimate week with them in a place that we all call home.  This couple got married there in 2004, a year I missed, and on this trip they conceived their son, who I only met last week.  This will also be the first year for several old friends, and though my presence wouldn’t be necessary for them to have a good time, I only wish that I could be there to share in the good times and experiences.

I have made a solemn pledge that I will not go again unless I am taking my wife with me.  I made a similar pledge before, and intended to keep it, only Milca couldn’t make it, and had to break the plans to go, so I went without her.  Though I still had fun, I missed her dearly.  This is a mecca for creativity, and we are creative people.

So, before I can get her to the playa, I have promised her that we will go to Argentina together.  I have never left the country, so this would be my first trip to a foreign country, and it would also allow me to meet family that I have yet to meet.

Which leaves me here, longing to leave the country, longing to be on the playa, forced to go to school, and forced to go to work.

So ronery.