2:55 pm - 09.16.2009
Gifts From The Universe

Tues 9/15/09 (11:30 p.m.)

Not long ago, I noticed my Bible was missing.

I don't know where it could have gone.

And I don't remember where it came from.

And I don't remember why I was looking for it.

But I noticed it was missing.

And it bothered me that it was missing.

It didn't bother me enough to buy a new one - These days, I'm not buying books I'd actually like to read, let alone books I'm just going to stick on the shelf - but it bothered me enough that I wandered how I might obtain one for free ("Is this going to require going to a church or homeless shelter or cheap motel?", I wondered).

Well tonight, courtesy of the giveaway area in the lobby of my apartment building, I have a "New International Version" Holy Bible.

(Earlier, I was entertaining myself by reading aloud from it in a vaguely European accent - Good training if I ever have to audition for the part of a minister with a vaguely European accent.)

Before acquiring my new Bible, I'd been wanting an office chair.

For years, I've "made do" with chairs scrounged off the street, then when those fell apart, with cheap padded folding chairs and what-have-you, but I really wanted a comfortable office chair, with wheels, a chair where I could spin around in circles, should the mood strike me.

But I didn't want to pay for one.

Now I have two - for free.

(One is the chair I'm sitting in as I type these very words; the other is the chair I sit in when I play the handful of simple tunes I know on the keyboard.)

So three cheers for the "Giveaway Area" of my apartment building!

But last week, our numbers were low enough that a second receptionist - which would be me - was not going to be required this week.

This made me unhappy - losing that meeting meant I was going to lose that money, which meant I was going to not be able to pay my rent and buy food, which meant I was going to end up homeless and hungry and - eventually - dead.

I remember thinking, "Okay, if I'm not going to have that meeting, I want to at least have an audition that day, during that time".

I had an audition today during that time.

Then I had an audition in the afternoon.

AND I filled in for another receptionist for a WW meeting in West LA this evening.

So I got what I wanted...and then some...and then some after that.

And I bitched about it - internally - every step of the way.

At first, the two auditions (One for a small, low-budget movie, the other for a Target commercial) were both in the afternoon, not very far apart.

I wasn't happy because the first audition that came in (For the movie) would barely pay enough to be worth my while.

Then I was unhappy when the second audition came in, because it was too close to the first one - I was afraid the stress of trying to get from one to the other in a timely fashion would negatively effect both auditions (And then there was some tension with Brett, because my first inclination was "Screw the movie audition - Jim needs to make some big commercial money!", while Brett basically said, "I confirmed you for the movie audition, so you're gonna go to the movie audition").

But the time for the movie audition was rescheduled - Problem solved (The casting place rescheduled the audition - Not for me, specifically; they just rescheduled the whole thing).

Then I got a call from Ben S., from WW, about filling in for him tonight.

And even though I had not wanted to lose my regular Tuesday morning meeting (Because of all the homelessness and hunger and eventual death that was going to result), I still didn't want to do this evening meeting - I was tired because, with the two auditions I'd had, I felt like I'd had a full enough day...and I just like having days that are completely about acting.

But since no one pays you to audition, I said yes to filling in for the WW meeting.

I just wasn't very happy about it.

So what's my point, you're wondering?

I guess my point is that I'm getting lots of "gifts" these days - from free office chairs and Bibles to auditions and extra WW meetings - and a little gratitude to The Universe might be in order.

So "Thanks!" Universe - And sorry I spent a good chunk of the day being a pissy little bitch when all you were trying to do was be nice to me.

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