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9:39 pm - Sat 11.23.2013
Hamlet: Feline Prince Of K-Town

Hamlet: Feline Prince Of K-Town...And Other Tales.

So...

Have had Hamlet for a week now.

Over the course of the week, he seems to have gotten more comfortable with me and his new surroundings, but I think it's still "a work in progress".

As per instructions, I cleared off some surfaces for him to jump up on/jump off of, and got the garbage bags of recyclables out of the bath tub

He's still not making with the solid poops - his bm's are more "cat-pies" than cat turds - and his nails clearly need a trim (Which I'm afraid to try, out of fear of traumatizing the both of us early in our relationship), but beyond that, I think things are okay.

(If the pooping doesn't straighten out soon, I might take him to the vet for a two-fer, and have him checked out for that while getting his nails done - Maybe I can have them show me what to do, so I don't get myself clawed to death and/or give him a case of feline PTSD.)

I'm being something of a "Nervous Dad", I guess, but it's really more about feeling guilty. I want to do better than I've done before with my pets; I feel like, in the past, I've gotten more out of having cats than the cats have gotten from having me as an owner.

My anxiety and surprising amount of emotion over pulling this particular "trigger" have made me realize I haven't really cared for anything - haven't really cared about anything - in a very long time.

Reminds me that, some days back, I saw a headline for an online article - I guess about some study on male depression - that said something like "Surprise! In Order To Be Happy, Men Need Love".

I didn't bother reading the article (I assumed they were talking about romantic love), but it did make me think about how, if you don't have something/someone you love/care about outside of yourself, there's really not much point - You're not of much use in the world. You're just spending your days trying to keep yourself entertained.

(I love acting...but most of the time, I'm pretty sure acting doesn't love me back.)

So anyway, I have a cat again. A furry little living entity in my apartment (To give the larger "furry entity" already living in the apartment some company), and I hope he'll have a nice life with me (Macabre Thought Of The Night: This is probably the last cat I'll have that - assuming we both have average lifespans - I can reasonably expect to outlive).

It was nice to have something of interest to post about on Facebook that wasn't about acting (Especially since posting about acting is, by acting's nature, more often than not about frustration over what's not happening rather than joy over what is).

And I was touched by the amount of interest people had, which I think was half about liking me (And wanting me to be happier), and half about just liking cats.

But speaking of acting...

Wasn't terribly happy about how November was going, in acting terms, till the audition I wrote about in my last entry (Which felt very good, even though I didn't book the gig).

Even then, I worried that might be it - As "busy seasons" go, let's just say this fall has not been a record-breaker - but on Thursday, I got a call to read for a couple roles on Brooklyn 99 on Friday morning (My second time going in for that show).

And on the heels of getting word about the audition, I got an email saying I was pinned for an additional episode of Shameless. And that was especially nice news, because it had been so long since getting notice about the first pin, I'd started to think they'd had a change-of-heart and written "Kermit" out of the episode.

So now, even if the stat has an asterisk next to it - My first appearance in the coming season wasn't really "supposed" to be me - I'll be able to say I was in (at least) three episodes of the 4th season, and that's apparently the magic number which makes the difference between feeling like I'm actually on the show, or like I'm just hanging out on the periphery-of-the-show.

Thursday night I had what I thought was a bad allergy attack - my sinuses were stuffed and swollen, I was sneezing like crazy, and I had a post-nasal drip that wouldn't quit (Though the "tickle" in my throat the past day or two now tells me something else is going on)- and I was deeply worried it was going to impact my audition Friday morning (My always-crappy sleep had already been affected by the cat, so adding "sinus trouble" to the mix felt like "Why did I even bother going to bed...?").

I bought some Allegra, and some "emergency" nasal spray - In the event I was still blocked-up/drippy come audition time - and though it didn't help that night, things "calmed down" enough in the morning that, even though I was really tired, at least I wasn't tired and sick/stuffy-sounding.

I'd had a very positive experience the first time I'd gone in for the show(I'm thinking now I must have seen this CD before Brooklyn 99 - Maybe at a workshop "back in the day"?), but this time was even better; there was "a lot of love in the room", as I like to say, and it was clear everyone was having a good time ("Everyone" being me, the CD, and the assistant).

(Just an aside: The CD also happens to be really attractive - really attractive - which didn't hurt matters at all.)

After that, I was just hanging out at home, not doing much of anything - cause that's what I do when I "hang out at home" - when I got a call from Brett, telling me I had an audition at UDK for a different Fox show (That I wasn't supposed to post about by name on FB because they really don't like people to do that).

Not nuts about "same day auditions" as a rule - I'm "not nuts" about them to the point that they make me kind of angry - but the "timing" was about as good as these things get (It was happening on my day off, I had no other conflicts, etc), and it was for a nice, "same day guest star"/"possible recurring" role.

So I looked over the sides, which were fun, got myself dressed, and did the thing.

And again, it went very well (How do I know? Because like with the first audition, the CD told me so - Though she didn't say they were actively trying to get me on the show. But anyway...).

So, counting the Deep Tech audition, that was three auditions I was pretty happy with in a row, so I was happy and, let's say, "not completely surprised", when I got an email from my agent saying I was pinned for "Brooklyn".

I read for two scenes as separate characters, so I don't know, right now, which one I booked for (And I'm torn - One scene is bigger than the other, but the smaller scene is with characters I think are more interesting. I guess we'll just have to "wait and see").

The only "downside" to this booking is it means I can't book the "other Fox show" - Fox has a mandate against co-star/guest-star actors appearing on more than one Fox show in a season (Which seems needlessly restrictive to me).

(And again I'm torn - I like "Brooklyn" better than "UNNAMED Show On Fox", but the "UNNAMED" role was a bigger, better role. I'm actually fantasizing that the "UNNAMED" Showrunner is so intrigued by my work he uses his clout with Fox to push things through...though that seems really unlikely.)

So I'm kinda in the weird position of hoping I didn't book a show (Cause it would suck to get the call and not be able to do it). But as people have been telling me, "That's a classy problem to have".

____________________

Mon (10:27 am)

Just got a call from Brett, who was checking to see if I knew which "Brooklyn" role I booked, and when it was working (But as of now, I don't know anything).

He also opined that, should "UNNAMED" call to book me, we should just go through our paces, checking to see if we have any shoot-day conflicts (With "Brooklyn" or Shameless), and let them figure out (Or not) that I'm already booked for "Brooklyn".

Seems ballsy, and it honestly makes me a little nervous, but ultimately I'm okay with it - It's a dumb, arbitrary rule, and since the show has to get "network approval" anyway (I'm presuming if one show does, they all do), let FOX enforce its own rule.

(I'm a working actor - there's no reason I should have to take myself out of consideration for tv work, unless I have a work conflict on the actual day.)

But it probably won't even come up (It's not unheard-of for me to book jobs back-to-back...but it's pretty rare). And for all I know - cause I don't know how these things work - "UNNAMED" could have the ability to check whether I've done, or are booked for, another FOX show before they'd even call Brett or Sharon (But probably not, or else they wouldn't want us to do it for them in advance).

So it'll be interesting to see what happens...if anything happens.

(And Sharon - my agent - just called; my "Brooklyn" job shoots next Weds & Thurs, though I'm thinking she might have meant Weds or Thurs. But she wanted to let me know that, and that she'd talked to Brett about how we're going to deal if/when "UNNAMED" calls.)

It can be slightly nerve-wracking when things are happening like this, because there's a lot of uncertainty, and uncertainty make me nervous.

But you know what? It's a damn sight better, and less "nerve-wracking" than having nothing happening.

And with that, I am outta here...!

 

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