the finish line

Obviously, I made it. Thanks to all the folks at NaBloPoMo for their support, and thanks to all of the readers, regular and visitors, who came by during the month of November.

It was tough to do it every day - I had a couple of close calls - but I did it. And it's help show me how important writing is to my life. Even if it's just some inane remarks here, or comments about my latest crush in my journal, it helps me immensely to jot stuff down every once in a while. And I'm glad that a few people like to read my stuff - makes a boy feel good, you know?

I'm going to try and continue to post daily, but I can't make any promises. Until the next NaBloPoMo, that is...

new meme

The Hot Librarian gave me this meme a while back, and when she says jump, I say, "How high?" So, enjoy. Let's hope I don't get myself into any trouble...

Four First Names of Crushes I Had
1. Tyler
2. Erin
3. Alice
4. Karen

Four Pieces of Clothing I Wish I Still Owned
1. footie pajamas - those things were the best!
2. I didn't actually own this, but there was this black jacket I saw in Philadelphia once that had a silver reflective stripe all the way around the chest. It was really cool, and it was $35, but I had no cash and my credit card was nearly maxed out (I used to be GREAT with my finances, let me tell you) so I didn't get it. And it still hurts.
3. Any number of my old Steeler jerseys
4. my two skully hats I lost in Cowtown

Four Professions I Secretly Want to Try
1. quarterback
2. play-by-play announcer
3. Rolling Stone journalist
4. Senator

Four Musicians I’d Most Want to Go On a Date With
1. Alicia Keys - I want her to be Mrs. Rover
2. Amerie
3. Mya
4. Mariah Carey - yeah, she's crazy, but I had a huge crush on her when I was 13, and I'd totally go out with her if I had the chance - I'm not even gonna lie

Four Foods I’d Rather Throw Than Eat
1. any kind of squash
2. curry powder (and anything with curry in it - yuck)
3. milk (I know, it's not really a food, but I hate it)
4. chitlins - you haven't lived...

Four Things I Like to Sniff
1. new cars
2. new shoes (before I put my feet in them)
3. clean laundry
4. apple pie - mmmm

I'm not tagging people - unless you want to be tagged.

feeling yucky

I'm not feeling too great. Something's going on with my stomach. I'm not sure if it's an acid reflux problem, or if I strained something, or what.

Think I'm going to eat fairly conservatively over the next couple of days, and I'm going to try and see a doctor tomorrow, since I'm scheduled to fly to Chicago on Monday. Don't want to rupture something on the plane...

Time to catch up on some TV before I watch the Packers-Cowboys game (thank God I have NFL Network).

a bender?

Wow, it's the 28th already? Where did the time go?

Headed out for a drink or two with the Hot Wing - these nights never end well. I mean, we have a great time, but I always end up going to bed about 5, and waking up all hung over and dehydrated. I'm going to do my best to behave myself, but I don't have to be anywhere until 2:15, so it will be tough.

The best way to combat this will probably be to remember how much money I have in my checking account! That'll quench my thirst.

Until tomorrow...

return of the mack

So I had an audition today. Doesn't matter what it's for.

I go to one of the big audition places in NY. The floor that it was on is normally quiet, but today there were at least a hundred dancers all over the place. And if you've ever seen dancers before an audition, you know they're kind of obnoxious - sprawled out all over the place, and loud, and always in the way. (And I love dancers - literally, in a few instances.) ;-)

To make things worse, at the other end of the hallway was this ridiculously loud drumming - I mean, insanely loud. Like you were at a club.

The room for my audition was between these two receptacles of sound.

So I'm sitting there, wondering exactly how screwed I am, when a hot woman comes around the corner. She's looking for the same room I am - turns out she's the audition right after mine. We chat about the noise and the craziness, etc. She seems really nice. Very pretty. Dark hair (that's for Melissa). Great teeth. Small tattoo of a rose on her ankle. Hmmm...

I do the audition. It goes well. And it's at this point that I decide I want to ask the woman out.

I come out of the room. She's standing up. There's another guy waiting there now outside the room, too. The woman and I exchange a few more pleasantries. I do my traditional post-audition stall, and I pull out a post-it notepad. I figure that I'll get all my stuff together, write the note, and by that time she'll be doing her audition. That way I can slap the note on her purse and take off.

But they're proceeding very slowly in the room (maybe they were having a debate about me!), so by the time I finish my stall - it's about 2 minutes these days - and write the note, she's still outside. So I take all of my stuff and leave the hallway. She says good-bye with about four other comments, smiles real big, showing her perfect teeth (I'm a sucker for a great smile). I'm thinking that now I have to leave this note for her.

So I fight through all of the dancers and go into the bathroom. Wash my hands. Turn my phone back on. Fight my way back through the dancers. She's gone - yes! I slap the note on her purse. The dude in the chair looks at me like I'm crazy. I nonchalantly say, "Good luck," to him and bounce out of there.

Now I'm sitting at Quizno's (who knew they have internet access?) - came here right after my audition. About 20 minutes after I left, guess who called?

That's right.

It was hard to hear the message, due to the Xmas music that's blaring in here (seriously, it's not even DECEMBER FIRST yet), but I definitely heard her say, "I thought that was really sexy."

Nice.

She wants me to call her tomorrow. Of course I'll let you know how it goes.

cough cough

There's nothing quite so humbling as having to take your shirt off in front of ten people you don't know. But that's what I found myself doing today.

I'm doing more standardized patient work, this time serving as a human model. The med students had to listen to my heart beat, find my pulse points, etc. (My heart is fine, thank you.) I was watching them in class and I found myself thinking, "Thank God I'm done with school!" I don't miss those days at all.

Headed up to my brother's to watch the Monday Night Football game. Go Steelers!

back

I'm back, and I'm exhausted. Funny how the holidays can do that to you, huh?

I'm fortunate because I don't have a crazy week next week - just some standardized patient stuff during the week, about a day's worth. Plenty of time to focus on auditions and eat the leftovers I hauled back from New England. And I can watch a lot of football, too!

Hoping that your weekend was as grand as mine...

awesome!

We had a big 80th birthday party for my grandma today, and she got the coolest gift: an album containing our family tree. It's a little confusing how it's laid out, but it's really neat to be able to trace my family back to the 1790s - most blacks in this country can't do that. I don't want to bore you with the details, but I found out some interesting stuff...

Now I've got a bunch of family downstairs, and I'm gonna go socialize. Headed back to the BK t'm'row - next post should come from there...

leftovers

Just finished a rather satisfying meal of Chinese food.

What? Why were we eating Chinese food the day after Thanksgiving instead of leftovers? I'm glad you asked. Two reasons.

1. Today is my dad's birthday, and he basically spent most of today preparing for his mother's birthday party, which is tomorrow. We spent a few hours at the church decorating and moving furniture. My brother decided that he needed something special done for him, so we let him decide on a meal. He picked Chinese with jumbo shrimp involved. It cost $120, but it was worth it.

2. You're kind of not going to believe this one, but my cousin actually took/borderline stole a lot of our leftovers. He and his wife flew back to Cali today, and apparently he brought a bunch of containers with him. He reportedly said that if he was coming all the way out here for Thanksgiving, he was going to be damned if he didn't take some food home with him. I hope security confiscated it all.

This cousin was particularly delightful this holiday. (Sarcasm intended.) Remind me to tell you in the next couple of days about Frying the Turkey.

i would love to put up a longer post...

...but I'm having such a fantastic time with my family that I don't want to leave. I brought Maxine and the Flying Squirrel up with me, and I couldn't have made a better decision. So I'm going to go downstairs and grab dessert #3 and watch some more football (and then American Gangster, which my cousin bought a bootleg of - I'm not sure how I feel about that) and spend some more quality time.

I'll try again tomorrow.

short post

...because I have to shower and finish packing and buy cheesecake and make the train to my brother's house so i can meet my parents to get a ride to Rhode Island so I can finally celebrate Thanksgiving with my family!

Safe travels to all out there on the road.

work work work work work

(Post #450, by the way - hands up!)

I'm writing this during my half-hour break at home - that's blogging dedication, no?

I'm working 12 hours today. Spent the first half of my day doing standardized patient stuff - oh-so-much fun - and tonight it's off to the theater to hear some band I've never heard of. Can you tell I'm excited?

Off to find something to eat before I go...

no soup for me

I was all excited earlier in the day because I thought I was going to be moving into a new two bedroom apartment. I had to do a lot of leg work to get everything lined up, but now I had finally gotten everything into position. Now I just had to call the landlord to officially see the apartment (which was still being prepared to be put on the market) and I was set.

Except, when I called the landlord, he said, "Oh, that apartment's gone."

Um, what?

"It was rented. Where were you last week?"

Um, I CALLED YOU. AND YOU SAID IT WAS OFF THE MARKET.

"Well, I'm sorry. I have a one bedroom in that building for $1100."

That's eleven hundred dollars per month. No thank you.

So...back to square one.

snapple is cool

If I've ever wished that I could be in love with someone, I wish that about Snapple.

Just got off the phone with her - about an hour, I think. She's really great. We talked about our love for Tila Tequila (the reality show, not the woman herself), and gossiped about the people we met this summer in Rockport. And she said something really great: "Not that our summer together wasn't great, but I really wished I had more time to myself. I really like being alone here now, so that I can explore, and just chill out and relax."

Now, if she had done that when we were dating, things may have played out very differently.

(For the record, she's doing a show out in Rockport now - flew out there the day I left Valley City - oh, the irony...)

I know that she's not the girl for me. And I know that if I end up working with her again on the road, I'll have to be careful not to fall into "old habits". But I do think she's really cool, and I'm glad that we seem to be becoming friends.

Bedtime. Sorta have to work t'm'row.

i'm crabby again...

...because the Steelers lost. To the Jets. Ugh.

However, I may have better news t'm'row...

i have a sinus headache...

...which is making me grumpy. Because I'm grumpy, you're getting a bullet-point, quick-hitting kind of blog entry. Sue me. (Wow, I am grumpy.)

- I'm finally unpacking. Even though I want to move out.

- Went back to work last night. It wasn't that bad.

- Why do Hot Wing and I always start drinking at 1 and finish at 5?

- I'm glad to have my room to myself, but I'll miss living with StefStar.

- I'm hoping that I can go to the Steelers-Jets game t'm'row.

- I'm starting to get worried about money. So maybe I won't go to the game.

- I need more Swiffer pads. I wonder if my roommate is hiding them in her room...


More room cleaning to do. A cheerier post t'm'row, hopefully.

one of those weeks

Four auditions, plus a reading gig...and nothing to show for it.

I mean, I think I did get on the radar of a couple of casting directors, which is good - maybe there will be some future employment coming from this.

But I don't have a job.

(sigh)

On top of that, tonight marks my return to my "maintenance job". It will be nice to see if some of the old faces are there, but I'm not really excited about being on my feet for five hours. It's completely not mentally taxing, and the money's good, so I shouldn't whine TOO much - just a little.

Enjoy your weekends! See you tomorrow!

why o why can't i work?

Tomorrow is a very exciting day. I'm auditioning for my favorite play on earth, and a casting director that likes my work is in charge.

So why can't I pick up the script?

It's been sitting next to me for over an hour, and I can't summon the strength to look it over.

I know that part of it is fatigue - I've been working really hard this week, and I want to have an entire day off (which hasn't happened, and won't for a little while). And I am very familiar with this play (I understudied it once), so I really wouldn't have to do TOO much work.

But I just know that, if I'm not prepared t'm'row, I'm going to be SO upset with myself.

Maxine invited me out for a drink - maybe I'll take the script with me and look at it on the train. Then I'll come back early and try to pound it out a few times before bed. That should get me where I need to be.

More later.

Frustrated

...about my living situation. I wish that I could have a situation that is constant, and works for me, and makes me happy, for more than a couple of months. It's frickin' ridiculous.

The latest obstacle is my newest roommate. I was really happy previously because I had the apartment all to myself during the day. That meant I could warm up, or practice monologues, or do whatever during the late morning/early afternoon, and then I could be out of the way when they came home from their 9-to-5s.

This guy has an irregular schedule, like me, which means he tends to be underfoot when I need the space. He frequently sits on the couch in the living room, and multitasks with the TV and computer, so I can't watch my programs. And, apart from talking my ear off during the Steelers game last week (NOT COOL), he barely says two words to me. It really fucking gets on my nerves.

I've been working really hard for the past couple of days, and I have a decent amount of TV I want to catch up on. I came downstairs for two seconds to make a phone call, and during that time - of course - he turned on the TV. Grrrrr...

I know that I only have to put up with this through the end of January (when our lease expires), but this is one of those days...arrrrggggghhh...

I have a lot of other things to be thankful for. I'll try to focus on those.

auditions auditions auditions

I've had an agent for a year and a half now. I've been unsatisfied for a good portion of that time. While my guy is great for getting me regional theater auditions, I've only gone in for a couple of TV shows, no movies, and one off-Broadway play - an audition I got myself. I've also snagged most of my jobs by myself.

Nowadays, though, I'm glad I've got him.

I've been back for a week, and he's scheduled 4 auditions for me, including three this week. I'm now being seen for high-profile roles at good theaters; a couple are even in NYC. This is very exciting.

Why the change? Two reasons, I think.

1. My resume is a lot better. The three roles I played this summer and fall are all huge roles, which I did with established directors. And nothing makes you hotter than disappearing from NY to do some big-time roles.

2. The director of my last play has been friends with my agent for a long time, and during the rehearsal she wrote him several e-mails telling him how good she thought I was. The last time I saw her, she said, "Make sure to stay on your agent; he needs to be sending you out for big-time stuff. I'll send him another e-mail to back that up." Needless to say, I love this woman.

Now, if only the writers would come back, I might really be able to get somewhere...

Off to shower and prep for the next one.

wedding

...was fun. Not tons of fun, but fun. The bride looked gorgeous. Her husband is a pretty quiet guy - I've known him for three years and I've probably heard him say 100 words before Saturday. But I learned a lot about him through the ceremony and reception. So now I'm confident that the two of them fit together.

The best part about the whole thing, however, was that I got to spend the weekend with one of my best friends and his fiancee. It's always great to see people whom you care about, and who truly care about you. He's blowing up in the TV/film scene, and I couldn't be prouder of him. But he's managed to avoid the "LA mentality", which is awesome. Not that I really had any doubts, but still.

Another deadline beater. I promise I'll be more timely t'm'row...

travel & football notes

Whew! Just made it! Got home about half an hour ago, and the first item of business was to eat. I really wanted to buy something on the way home from the train, but I'm cheap.

And I'm also being distracted by this incredible, unbelievable Indianapolis-San Diego game. It's one of the best games I've ever seen in my life. Can't wait for it to show up on NFL Replay this week (boy, did I miss the NFL Network when I was gone). The Colts just missed a chip-shot field goal. I can't believe it.

No ridiculous travel adventures to report. I did sit next to an Eastern European couple on the way to San Francisco, and the man kept grabbing the woman and kissing her every fifteen minutes or so. And there was definitely a few minutes where he was feeling her up. And they also got up together and walked towards the bathroom - I think they were trying to join the Mile High Club. Fortunately for the rest of us, there were a lot of people around the bathroom they chose (which was the middle of the plane). On the whole, it was entirely gross.

There was also a really hot woman, around my age. I think she was a dancer. She was sitting in the row behind me to the left, and she was chatting with this older guy. Her bags were above me, and we talked a couple of times, but I couldn't figure out a suave way to get her digits.

(Chargers just won. Six picks for Manning. Wow.)

All right, must watch the Steelers game I recorded (thanks DVR!). Details about the wedding t'm'row...

i look classy

Just a quick post. I've got on a blue suit, grey shirt, no tie. Ladies will swoon.

More later.

weekend trip!

I feel like such an adult! I'm flying to San Francisco for a friend's wedding. My flight leaves in three hours, and I come back on Sunday night.

It sucks a little, leaving so soon after I got home, but I'm looking forward to the trip. And I do like SF - it's the most New York-like city that I know.

Gotta figure out how I can blog t'm'row to keep the streak alive - perhaps I'll have a story or two to tell...

moving again

Looks like I'm starting another apartment hunt.

There are some great things about the place I'm living now - most notably the fact that it spans two floors and I have the whole bottom floor to myself. And I have a spiral staircase.

But my roommate situation is a little unsettled - one of my roommates is in love, and she's probably moving out within the next six months, and the other roommate is new and young, and he wants to bring in one of his friends, I'm not sure that I want to be living in an apartment with two early-twenties guys. I've done it before. It's called "college".

And there are other negatives. The heat doesn't always work in my room. The super is painfully slow to react to any problems. There is very little sunlight in the apartment, which drives me crazy. And the kitchen is very small, with hardly enough space for pots and pans and food for three.

I know that I want to stay in Brooklyn, and I would prefer to live alone, but I don't think I can pay $1000/month. And I don't particularly want to live in the 'hood, or ridiculously far from Manhattan. And there are only a couple of people that I would consider living with at this point.

I suppose the one beam of light shining through these various clouds is that, for the first time in my New York life, I'll be able to actually choose the place that I want to live. Even if it's not in the neighborhood I want, or if it isn't too big, or I end up paying more than I want, I will be the one who made the choice. And that's kind of exciting.

So, if you hear of anything opening up, let me know!

got it!

Sometimes I have trouble thinking. My mind just feels strange...



...like I've got fruit for brains or something...

i'm trying to upload some pictures for you...

...but, for some reason, Sprint is being ornery. So you'll have to wait for my newest self-portrait. It's really powerful.

Not a lot going on here. The auditions are actually pouring in. I'm supposed to be working on one right now, but I've been procrastinating for about an hour now. I also need to sneak a workout in right now, but my room is so cold...

All right, one more try, and then I've got to exercise...

i can't walk!

I was running some errands in Manhattan, and I kept walking into people. Or I'd do that whole move-in-the-same-direction-as-the-person-who-is-walking-towards-you, following by the triple-feint move. Outstanding.

Apparently, living in Valley City has left me out of shape for city walking. Who knew?

Off to see another movie. Details later.

home again

Back in the casa. SO nice to be here.

I'm a little surprised that I'm happy to be home. I was kind of ambivalent about the whole thing - sure, it's nice to be on vacation, but that means I'm not making any money. And I miss all of my Valley City/Rockport friends, but I've got a lot of peeps in NYC, too.

So now I'm kickin' back with StefStar (who sublet from me, and cleaned the place up better than any sublettor I've ever had) and watching the Steelers beating up on the Ravens, which I'd be enjoying a lot more if our starting QB hadn't gotten hurt a little while ago. (He just came back into the game - thank God.)

It's good to be home.

prepping to go

I'm in the process of packing, while watching "The Blitz" on ESPN's SportsCenter, to catch up on the day in the NFL. I just said good-bye to Trouble and her sidekick, which was a bit sad.

It's kind of surreal that I'm going back to NYC. I went and saw American Gangster tonight, and I kept forgetting where I was. (Great movie, by the way. You should see it.)

But I'm excited to see what comes next. Besides a lot of traveling. Here's my schedule:

NYC next week
San Francisco next weekend for a wedding
NYC for ten days
Rhode Island for Thanksgiving - after last year, you know I'ma be there
NYC for two weeks
Chicago for a few days - not in stone yet
NYC for two weeks
home for Xmas
San Francisco for New Year's - another wedding

Crazy. And I've got a couple of auditions that could change everything.

So I better get used to packing, huh? I guess I should get back to it...

rest for the weary, please

I really like Valley City. It's a great place, clean and beautiful, and I have a lot of great friends here.

But I'm ready to go home.

I think what I'm really ready for is some rest. I worked for 12 weeks this summer, and the month off I had between Rockport and here wasn't so restful - I think I got about five days of actual downtime, when I was visiting my parents.

And all of the shows have been pretty demanding. I haven't been playing big roles the past couple of years, and all three of these I've done this year have been massive. Today was the first time my body stopped responding - I didn't have any vocal power for the last half of the play, and that's a BIG problem.

So I'm looking forward to getting at least a touch of rest, before I start traveling again. I'll post the itinerary later.

3 dates? 1 day?

Is this possible? Legal? I'm not sure if I can technically call them all dates, but I think that all three women are interested in me...

And get this - they're all in their thirties! (OK, I haven't totally changed my ways - I did hang out with Trouble last night.)

The first one is in an hour. This woman MySpaced me a few weeks ago. We've been trying to find a time to meet up, but things keep popping up. I have no idea what to expect. Except that I think I'm a bit too hung over to really enjoy anything on the menu at Chipotle.

The second one is around 2, with Power Broker West. Yes, I know, she has a boyfriend, but... It's an investment in the future. Ginger can back me up on this one. Right?

The third is this evening - she's an Irish girl who works at the theater I'm at. I thought she was cute from the jump, but I didn't get on her radar until a few weeks ago. She likes making fun of me, and for some reason, I'm a sucker for that. And for accents.

(She looks a LOT like a girl I went to college with, who I've had a huge crush on for almost ten years. Is that wrong?)

I got to say, the miser in me is not looking forward to paying for all this. I'll let you know how it goes...

i heart obama

I read a great article about Barack Obama in the NY Times this morning, and I have to share.

It's here. Check it out.

This is the phrase that really got my attention:

The debate [between Clinton and Obama] was “orienting” because it exposed the very different orientations of the two — one toward tough-mindedness and resolve, the other toward transparency and dialogue; the one toward the peril that we face, the other toward opportunities we must explore. How you felt about the debate had to do with how you felt about the world.

He's more liberal than I would usually go, but the more I read about this guy, the more I think he's the answer.

Discuss.

NaBloPoMo

...stands for NAtional BLOg POsting MOnth. (For more info, go here.)

That's right, you're being subjected to another full month of posts from moi. Congrats!

It's going to be difficult, as I'm taking at least three plane flights and two car trips this month. But I'm confident I'll be able to provide you with a few moments of entertainment each day.

With so much posting, I'm sure I'll be needing some inspiration, so feel free to throw some posting ideas my way. Holla!