1:15 pm - Mon 10/6/03
McGriddlicious

(Watching Ed...)

Haven't seen any of the new shows so far this season. I'm always kind of ambivalent about a new fall tv season; Obviously, I enjoy a good tv show as much as the next couch potato, but if past seasons are any indication, there won't be a lot of new shows worth watching. And I've been burned too many times by getting excited about a new show, only to have it be cancelled before season's end. And of course, there's the issue of whether or not I really need more passive entertainment to be passively entertained by. But anyway...

Finished reading Operating Instructions last night, and made a start on Traveling Mercies this morning. I'm curious if I'll find Lamott's religious journey as compelling as her advice on writing or her feelings about motherhood (I'm guessing I probably will).

The other day I wrote that the most compelling thing she had to say in Bird by Bird was "Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor".

After I wrote that entry, I realized something�"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor" doesn't just apply to an acting role, or a piece of writing, or any one particular endeavor; What struck me with Bird by Bird, and then Operating Instructions, is Lamott's complete, unvarnished honesty about herself. It's the voice of a writer, a mother, and more than anything, a flawed human being.

Flawed. Just like you and me. Only a much better writer (Well, better than me anyway; I don't really know how good a writer you are).

Being a messed-up human being doesn't work too well in real life�It hasn't for me, anyway--but put that messed-upness into a role, or a piece or writing, and suddenly it's... art.

When it comes down to it, what I'm looking for is pretty simple; I'm looking for someplace where who I am actually works

Sat 10/4/03 (10:49 a.m.)

Busy times in Jimlandia...

I've had commercial auditions every day since Tuesday (Two on Wednesday), and I have auditions for two films today and tomorrow.

But the big news is that I got called back for the McDonald's gig!

The set-up for the commercial is that a guy's eating a "McGriddle", while a song plays in the background, all about how he's just checking out all the weird people going by (Editor's note: In a bizarre bit of casting, I would be one of the "weird people").

But--oh the irony!--turns out the "weird people" are checking him out, cause he's eating this weird-ass sandwich!

(I think there's a lesson there for all of us, don't you?)

Anyway, It was an interesting audition.

I don't typically get to see other people audition at these things, which is something I miss from community theater (It was cheap entertainment, and more importantly, it stoked my competitive fires).

But this time out, since it was a group thing, they called a half dozen of us in at once.

In addition to Yours Truly, amongst our group was a fifty-something white guy (Bald on top, long hair, three-billy-goats-gruff beard), a heavyset Hispanic woman, and a young African American guy.

All we had to do was cross, from right to left, look at an imaginary guy eating an imaginary "McGriddle", have some sort of reaction to it, then move on.

And then the bad acting commenced...

The guy who looked more like "Fagin" than I did when I was in Oliver went first; He walked to center, stopped dead (Which the casting guy had told us not to do), and bugged his eyes out like a herd of wildebeests were stampeding down Wilshire Blvd.

Then the hispanic woman went, and I am not lying folks, she actually rubbed her stomach and made "Mmmmm...." noises.

But my favorite bad acting came from the black kid, who put on a real modern day minstrel show; He made his cross, got to the middle, and yelled "Hey man, yo sammich look good! Lemme have a bite of yo sammich!"

(You know, if your breakfast sandwich is so good you're being accosted on the street, it may be a little too good!)

So, are you wondering what I did?

Well...I basically walked by, slowed down a step or two, looked with mild interest, and moved on. Much as I would in real life ("Hmmm...that's that new McDonald's thing I've been hearing about...").

A very busy week, this past week; I had auditions every day, from Tuesday through yesterday.

I got called back for the McDonalds thing (That was Saturday), and I'm really crossing my fingers for that one; It's no big "acting" thing, but I just think it would be a good one to get.

But more--much more--on this and other matters, when I get home from work tonite.

Right now, Jimmy needs one of his "If I don't get a nap before work, I'm gonna kill someone" naps...

previous - next