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9:37 am - Sun 8/14/05
Paging \"Dr Lube\"

Paging �Dr. Lube�

(Tuesday)

Had a commercial audition today--my first in about two weeks--for Jiffy Lube.

I was �Dr Lube�, host of a �Dr Phil�-like show extolling the virtues of Jiffy Lube, and in particular, the free �vacuum service� they now offer with their �Signature Service� oil change.

It�s not a �national��It�s �regional-cable & internet��but I�d still like to get it, because after all, they would still pay me in money.

And besides, it would crack me up to be �Dr Lube�...!

(A callback, should I get one, would be on Friday.)

Not much in the way of �news� to report...

I�m afraid I jinxed myself with the unbridled enthusiasm I�ve had about these casting director �workshops�, because the last two I�ve done have sucked.

I�ve taken it a bit personally, but really, it�s just been �the luck of the draw�.

This time out, I had the double whammy of a scene I wasn�t thrilled with, and a scene partner who just wasn't cutting it (It was a horror movie scene�I was the desk clerk at a sleazy hotel, while my scene partner was a �Vampire Slayer�, looking for her quarry, who didn�t have time for my crap, basically).

The scene bothered me for the same reason the scene last week bothered me�there wasn�t much to it, there wasn�t much to play between the characters (I leered at her, while she was anxious to just get past me, or through me, or whatever she needed to do), and I felt like the action following the scene would be much more interesting than the scene itself

At one point, the girl had to grab me around the neck, and she just wouldn�t do it with any conviction--even after I told her it was okay, and showed her how she could do it without hurting me--and that lack of conviction, or committment, or whatever you want to call it, was the problem with what she was doing in general (Sure enough, when we were doing the scene in front of Janine, the CD, she stopped us a couple lines in, and told my partner she needed to play the scene with more urgency. So we did it again, but honestly, it wasn�t that much better).

I know I�m running the risk of sounding like �It�s always someone or something else that�s the problem�, but what can I say?

In this particular case, it is always someone or something else that�s the problem; Unlike commercial auditions, which years down the road still don�t feel �second nature� to me, this sort of audition plays to my not-inconsiderable strengths.

Sat 8/13/05 (1:30 p.m.)

Had another audition yesterday, for a TBS promo (I�d be one of the scientists at the �TBS Center For Comedy Research�, or something like that). Not a big part or anything, but it would be fun to get, because the star of the spot is John Cleese.

(Callbacks aren�t until next month, so probably best to put it out of my mind at this point, and focus on the workshops I�ve got coming up...)

Had a rather impromptu conversation with David S. last night, regarding my hours at the bookstore (He had called me into the office to chastize me about something, so it probably wasn�t the best timing for the discussion, but I�d been building up a renewed head of steam about the issue, and there we were, so...).

During our free-wheeling discussion, he mentioned that he knows I�ve been bad-mouthing him to other staff (Stupid on my part, for a couple reasons, but particularly because there are fewer and fewer �old timers� on the staff, and more and more �Davidians�. How did I not think if I shot off my mouth to anyone who would listen, that it wouldn�t get back to him at some point?).

I was a little embarrassed to be called out on this, but not as much as you'd think, because I don�t think it constitutes �talking behind someone�s back� if you�ve made it pretty clear what you think of them right to their face.

But I did apologize, because really, I know I haven�t been on my best behavior in this situation. I�ve let my frustration and feelings of powerlessness make me angry and bitter.

That�s actually the issue I find myself fixated on today�I don�t like that I�ve become this angry, sour person about the bookstore, and particularly about this GM. Whether I�m totally on target and he sucks the big one, or he�s actually the savior of store 102 and I�m just too blind to see it, I want to be bigger than the person I�ve been these past months. I want to move past caring about petty crap like this, so I can focus, positively, on the stuff that matters out here.

(Granted, a lot of the �issue� here is money, and that feels like a pretty big deal right now. But things have always worked out for me�I seem to constantly forget that--and when it comes right down to it, Borders is not my life, it�s not my career. It�s just a �job�. And there are other jobs.)

But anyway, we talked about my hours, and he hinted (Didn�t promise, I noticed, which gives him an �out�) that if I were available anytime of the night or day, I might get more hours.

Over at least the last three years, my having a schedule that accommodated auditions wasn�t an �issue� for management(Actually, my schedule initially came down to me from management--It was only some time after I was already consistently working the schedule I have that I said "Well, this works pretty well for me, so let's make it official". I don't really understand why it's become a problem now--After all, you need someone to work those nights, and your average young Borders employee doesn't want to work nights and weekends. But here we are).

So keep my current schedule, which is about the best schedule I could have at the store in my circumstances, but not get enough hours, or else be scheduled all over the place, and be that much more likely to have to call in late, or call out altogether, and risk getting enough occurrences to get bounced from the job (And how can I do the casting workshops if I don't know what my schedule is going to be from week to week? How can I do any thing if I don't know what my schedule will be from week to week?).

It didn�t seem like I was being presented with good choices here (I know there's a third choice, but I don�t really want to �find a new job� at this point. I have a strong preference for having this be my last �crap job�).

But happily, the universe is going to pony up some extra dough for me: On Thursday, I left a note under the door of Apt 206, where the guy had asked a couple weeks ago if I wanted to start walking his dog, and his response to my �Are we still on for that?� query was to say that we are still on--He just needs to get an extra key made (I understand procrastination, mind you...except when it affects me. So get a move on, Dog-man!).

That�s going to go a long way towards making up for the shortfall at the bookstore. And recently, Yvette told me someone else had asked about dog-walking, and she once again mentioned my name (Much more of this, and I�ll have to start paying her a percentage).

Feel like I�m in the middle of things here, but even though I stayed in bed as long as possible today before getting up, I�m still feeling the need to sneak in a little shut-eye before I head off to work (Happily, the conversation with David did seem to clear the air. Or else this was him lulling me into a false sense of security before he finds some pretext for firing my ass. Six of one, half-dozen of the other, I guess...)


 

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