10:00 pm - FRI 3.23.18
-Be A Successful Actor, Save The World, Get A Good Night's Sleep - Top Three Things On My "Bucket List"

Where to start...?

(I'm going to try and move briskly - these things tend to take me a very long time to write, whatever you may think of the general writing quality - so we'll see how that goes. Anyway...)

Well, on the glass-half-full side, "Yay!" to having an audition today!

...but on the glass-half-empty side, we're nearing the end of March, and I've had one motherfucking theatrical audition so far this year.

...but I have to say, at least today's commercial thing was fun (And the late-afternoon/early-evening drive home from Santa Monica was not as onerous as I imagined it would be, in part because I didn't end up having to pee while stuck in traffic, which I had worried about), so I guess the glass is half-full again.

That's just about it for the big acting news of late...though I did recently go to Longbeach (Or is it "Long Beach"? Never mind - I don't really care that much...though I pronounce it as if it's "Longbeach"), to enjoy BBQ and general good times with the Producer, Director, and three fellow cast members of what we all hope will be a successful TV show on Comedy Central or Netflix or someplace like that).

I feel I should perform a self-NDA on this one because I don't know if the Producer and Director (Who are also the Writers) would want me going into a lot of detail (Besides which, there isn't that much detail to go into - The show has a premise and some situations, but there isn't really a "script" as of yet).

I don't want to nay-say, though it comes really naturally to me, because as I said, there's no script as of yet. And I'd genuinely like it to work out.

But I can't really yay-say at this point either, because, as I said, there's no script as of yet.

But I'd genuinely like it to work out.

In any case, whether it works out or whether it doesn't, it's nice to be wanted, because - referring back to my "one motherfucking theatrical audition so far this year" - it's not like anyone's banging down the door to be in the "Jim Hoffmaster" business.

So, since I have a lot of free time that would otherwise be tied up with being a successful actor, I've decided to save the world - I'm participating in my first march tomorrow (Which, comment about free time to the contrary, I'm actually having to create free time for, by taking the day off from WW. But anyway...).

Not sure what's motivated me, when I've never been motivated before...but it may have to do with some vague sense of embarrassment that high school kids are having to "man the barricades"/"lead the charge"/whatever-you-want-to-call-it, for an issue that the adults should have successfully addressed a long time ago.

And I am, ostensibly, one of the adults I'm feeling pretty "judge-y" about.

Did the march today.

Someone asked me this afternoon, "Was it fun?", and I didn't quite know how to answer - I think I would have enjoyed it more had I gone with some other people, and I had some "Why am I here?" moments...but I was proud of myself for actually doing something political, rather than just opining on Facebook, and at times, I was quite aware of being a (very) small part of history being made.

And if nothing else, it was me doing something different on a Saturday morning when I'm usually at Weight Watchers - Nice to "shake things up" every so often.

Kinda regretted not making a sign of some sort (For a time, I had a sign handed to me that said something like "Down with the Trump/Pence regime", which is a sentiment I could get behind, mind you, but which didn't seem quite "on-point" for an anti-gun violence march (Then part-way through, I switched that sign out with a sign someone had abandoned that said "#neveragain" on one side, and "Enough" - Or something almost as succinct - on the other).

Had some moments of claustrophobia initially (I'm not in crowds very often), and at one point, I remember nervously thinking "If someone should open fire on us from one of these buildings, there won't be much to do about it, except get shot and/or trampled" (Happily, there was no gunplay at the gun violence protest).

But the actual marching was kind of fun - a lot of the signs were quite witty and/or pointed (And I was very impressed with a paper-mache Trump effigy someone had made). And I enjoyed the relative novelty of chanting (I don't have much occasion to chant in everyday life).

(I thought about starting up a chant at one point, but thought better of it, fearing social embarrassment if no one chose to join with me.)

Overall, while I'm not sure about the efficacy of peaceful protest (Maybe the sheer number of people protesting "sent a message" to some politicians who really need it? I certainly hope so), and the fact that I got turned-around downtown and exhausted myself getting home afterward cast a slight pall on the proceedings, I was glad I did it.

Cause really, if there was ever a time to "stand up and be counted", this is it.

And I stood up.

(If I had gotten out my crayons and construction paper and made a sign for today, it probably would have been something thanking the Margery Stoneman students "For leading the way, when they should never have had to". Because they're basically what motivated me to finally "take to the streets".)

So what else is going on...?

The short answer is "Not much".

Over the past number of days, I've watched the 1st and (just released) 2nd season of The Santa Clarita Diet.

I thought it was fun - It's an amusing slant on the zombie thing, and I particularly enjoyed Timothy Olyphant in full-blown comedy mode (We're a long way from "Raylan Givens" and Justified here, even though Justified was pretty humorous in its own right). The only downside for me, even though I've become somewhat inured to it over the years, is I'm still not totally on board with comic gore, and there is lots of it here. So if that's a deal-breaker for you...well, you were warned.

And in medical news, I've decided to give CPAP another try. Because it would be cool to not feel tired all the time, and cooler still not to die earlier than strictly necessary from some sleep apnea-related malady (ex. a heart attack or stroke).

So of course, my machine worked for approixmately a day before it turned into a paperweight.

Went to the CPAP specialist at Cedar Sinai this past Thursday, where he determined my power cord/battery thing was dead.

So I've ordered a new one off Amazon - actually assumed I would have gotten it by now - and am really going to try and make it work this time (Another reason to do this - I suspect my sleeping issues now have an overlay of insomnia, but my Doctor will not prescribe sleeping pills if I'm not addressing the apnea, because as he put it last time this issue came up, "I don't want to 'Michael Jackson' you".

Well, there's more I could write about - at some point while writing this entry as briskly as possible, it became Sunday night - but...it'll keep.

11:19 pm - Sat 9.26.2009
A Boy And His Bucket

Happy news - I booked my first commercial of the year yesterday!

It's for Kayak.com, a travel website.

Everyone auditioning had to sign a "confidentiality agreement" (Which of course I didn't read), so I'm thinking, in this case, the less specific I am on details, the better.

So I'll just say I'm one of three principles in the spot, and it's shooting sometime between the 1st and the 5th of next month.

And it's a national.

And I'm happy.

(I don't know exactly how happy I am - because with a commercial, you don't know how often it's going to run, or for how long - but I'm going to go out on a limb and say I'm definitely happier, having just booked a national commercial, than I'd be if I hadn't just booked a national commercial.)

And what's even nicer is that, between the Corn Pops audition on Friday morning, and The Forgotten audition on Monday, there's a possibility I still might get another gig out of this month's record number of auditions (A record for 2009, anyway - I'd have to check the "archives" to see if I've ever done better than a dozen auditions in a month).

Weird year - Seven months into the year, nothing's happening, then all of a sudden, I don't have a bucket big enough to catch all the opportunities raining down from above.

What's happened?

I don't know...but it would be really cool if it kept happening for awhile!

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