9:03 pm - Fri 11.15.2013
"Hamlet" & "Kermit"

I have definitely fallen behind in my reporting...

The big news - big news for me, anyway - is that I am once again a pet owner!

It all started last weekend, when I heard "No Kill LA" was doing a "Pet Fair" at the Tar Pits.

Since I've recently been "pulling the trigger" on a number of things I've been thinking about doing for a long time, I thought "Why not this?".

I have never been to a "pet fair" before, at least not when I was really "in the market" for a pet, so I didn't quite know how it worked - I didn't know if I could just go in and walk away with a cat, or if I had to be "vetted", or whether I'd have to go pick them up later, or what.

I went on Saturday, after work, but ended up bailing, and going back the next day.

There were way more dogs than cats there, but I still felt pretty overwhelmed by the experience, trying to decide, among I-don't-know-how-many cats, which one was for me; it was a more emotional, anxiety-provoking experience than I'd anticipated.

One way I "narrowed the field" was deciding I was looking for a black cat; I'd heard in my travels that black cats (and dogs, for that matter) don't tend to get adopted for some reason (One volunteer's theory, which makes sense to me, is that it's a "visual thing" - they get overlooked in favor of more "colorful" animals - which makes more sense than my theory about everyone in the world being superstitious).

So I left on Saturday with information about a few cats - a young female named "Penelope" (That was kind of a "non-starter", since her info specified she had to be adopted with another cat), a cat named "Boomer" that wasn't actually at the fair (Because he has Feline Leukemia), and "Hamlet".

So when I went back on Sunday, I ended up filling out an application for "Hamlet".

He was a "rescue", and I was required to submit to a home visit, so they could ascertain if I was "suitable", which made me anxious on a couple levels - 1) I'm embarrassed about my housekeeping, and the only people that ever see my place are repair folks, and 2) I didn't want to be rejected.

The visit was scheduled for yesterday morning, but I had to postpone till the afternoon when my agent called me about an audition (More on that in a bit).

But eventually the visit did happen; her main concern was that my place was "small and cluttered", so there were no clear surfaces for the cat to jump up on, and it would be tough for him to get the exercise he needs as a young cat.

I'd already thrown out a garbage bag's worth of plastic bags the day before, but I still had three grocery bags stuffed full of more plastic bags on the kitchen counter, and she made me throw them all out - She's a "de-cluttering expert" in addition to her volunteer work with the "The Cat's Meow" - and that, my assurances that I would keep working on it, and her general sense of my good character, sealed the deal.

I picked him up this morning, and we've basically been hanging out the whole day.

So I've had young Hamlet for about a day-and-a-half now.

He seems to be becoming acclimated - My only concerns are, 1) He clearly needs his nails clipped, and that is something I'm not very good at (To the point where In the past I've tended to either not do it, manhandle the situation badly, or give up and have the vet do it), and 2) He hasn't taken a solid poop yet.

I was worried so much about #2 - See what I did there? - that I was ready to take him to the vet today, until "The Group Mind" on FB suggested it was likely just anxiety over being in a new environment, and that taking him to the vet when he just got here would amount to piling anxiety on anxiety.

So for now, I am periodically checking his litter-box - As I told a coworker earlier today, I don't think I've ever anticipated a cat turd as much as I am right now.

(As you might imagine, I'll have more to say about my new roomie in the days to come, but I want to move on to a few other things, because time is slipping away from me...)

I had a very fun audition on Thursday, for a new comedy on HBO.

I was called in for the role of a Satanic priest.

I realized a couple of things while prepping for the audition.

1) I like the feeling that I have a "problem to solve" in a scene - not that I want the scene to be flawed, but I like there to be something I have to "figure out".

2) One difference between a small role being satisfying to me or not, is whether there's any "transition" - Do I have more than one thought to express? Do I have any emotional change, any shift in character, within the (typically) one to three lines that I have? Basically, "Do I get to act?".

And this little scene - two little speeches, really - gave me both; it was fun to work out how I wanted to address the particular challenge of the scene, and the scene had a fun "shift" that amused me when I first read it (That's another thing - If it's a comic bit, I really like when I actually find it funny).

So I had fun getting it ready and working on it, and that fun "carried into" the audition room; I read, the casting director gave me one small "redirect", I did it again, and she was clearly amused by what I'd done (And this was particularly nice because I'd never been in this particular office before).

It looks like I didn't book it, which is disappointing, but almost beside-the-point; after a string of auditions where I was disappointed and angry with myself, it was nice to feel like I'd "gotten my mojo back".

And I feel pretty confident that the CD will be looking to bring me back in soon - This was the textbook definition of "a good introduction".

A couple hours after I'd gotten back home, I got a call from my agent.

For a wild moment, I actually thought she was calling to tell me I'd booked the gig...but it was a different bit of good news; Shameless had called to put me on hold for another episode!

I think I've said in here that this year I was trying to assume I was all done with Shameless, because I was so disappointed in how last season went for me (I'd hoped for three or more episodes, and instead I got a line in one episode, and one nice scene in another).

But when they made that generic co-star into a "Kermit" bit, "they pulled me back in" to thinking about the show, and I was going to be tremendously disappointed - again - if, in the coming season, "Kermit" only appeared by accident.

So I'm very pleased to have gotten the call (Right now, I don't know what day it's shooting, and haven't gotten the script, but it doesn't really matter - In this particular case, just knowing I'm doing something in the near future is good).

I have to say, I have had my moments of anxiety - mostly around my re-entry into the world of pet ownership - but all-in-all, this has been a decidedly "not bad" period-of-time.

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