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4:28 pm - Thursday, Jan. 22, 2004 Thurs 1/22/04 (1:54 p.m.) Learned a new word today... Reading an online review of The Butterfly Effect, it referred to Eric Stoltz�who's in the movie�as "typically an estimable actor".. Well, that didn't sound good to me (I equated it with "adequate", somehow), but I looked it up, and according to the second definition in my American Heritage dictionary, "estimable" means "Worthy of esteem; admirable" (The first definition is "possible to estimate". But I doubt the review meant to suggest Mr Stoltz was "possible to estimate". Though you can see the logic in my thinking "estimable" was a bad thing; as an actor, I certainly don't want to think it's "possible to estimate" my abilities). For a week or two now, I've been the proud (?) owner of a wad of gum chewed by Melanie Griffith. I'm not a particularly big fan of Ms Griffith's (When I recently tried to think of Melanie Griffith movies I've really enjoyed over the years, the only thing I could come up with was Something Wild, the movie she did with Jeff Daniels and Ray Liotta. Oh, and I just thought of another one�the Paul Newman movie Nobody's Fool). And while I thought she was "cute" at one point, now she's cosmetic-surgeried herself into looking like a mutant.. Anyway, Ms. G. was in the store recently�Actually, not looking as freakish as some of the pictures I've seen of her�and afterwards, Amy (The coworker who'd waited on her), brought me a wad of gum she had apparently deposited at the register (The gum in question had been stuck in a bottlecap). I wasn't exactly sure why Amy gave me a wad of Melanie Griffith's gum. I'm also not exactly sure why I didn't ask, "Amy, why would you think I'd want a wad of Melanie Griffith's gum?". But once I had it, it was too weird and funny a thing to just throw away. So I kept it for a couple days in my locker, not really knowing what to do with it, before remembering I had a couple of gumball machine prizes at home, and one of those gumball machine prize containers (Is there a name for those?) would be perfect for my new acquisition. So there you have it. Officially the weirdest thing in my posession�A chewed-up wad of gum chewed by the "Working Girl" herself, Melanie Griffith. People were saying I should sell it on E-bay, but it's hard to imagine anyone being interested in such a thing (Besides, how would I authenticate it?). But if the idea of owning something Melanie Griffith once had in her mouth really floats your boat, let me know. I'm sure we can make a deal. "Long time using this messager, health accompanies you forever". I saw that recently on the package for a $15 wooden foot massager, and all I could think--to steal a line from "Vincent Vega" in Pulp Fiction--was "That's a bold statement...". "I feel like I didn't have any choice. I don't�didn't have a lot of confidence in myself to do anything else but pretend. And act. And entertain." That could be a line in my autobiography. But it's actually Jennifer Aniston, talking in an interview about her father trying to persuade her against being an actor. "I enjoy being with human beings and making jobs happen." A customer recently said that to Amy while at the register, apparently appropos of nothing they'd been talking about before. For some reason, when she told me that, it immediately brought to mind "Ah-nuld"'s line in Terminator II: "The more I am around humans, the more I learn". (Try it�Say "I enjoy being with human beings and making jobs happen" in your best "Ah-nuld" voice. Then tell me if it doesn't sound like "The Terminator" as the job counselor from hell. Or worse yet, governor of California.) There's been a lot of attention around Charlize Theron's transformation in the movie Monster (If you haven't heard about it, Theron plays Aileen Wournos, a real-life serial killer who's already been the subject of two documentaries). Theron put on 30 lbs for the role, in addition to getting made up with prosthetics and so forth, but more than that, she apparently just inhabits the role, showing acting chops few people knew she had. That's all very well and good�It must be gratifying to be Ms Theron right now�but all I can think about, from my perspective as a "character actor" is "If beautiful actors now get to play beautiful people and ugly people, what's left for me? Am I going to get busted down to playing members of the animal kingdom? Inanimate objects?". I need to regain a sense of perspective about the commercial thing. I've had four auditions so far this month, and I've made myself crazy about them, particularly the last two (A promo for CBS, and another one for Hyundai). I'm so anxious for something to happen, for that big national to deliver me from Borders, that I've been on pins and needles after each audition. I just can't do that to myself. It seems almost impossible, but I have to do my best to just "put it out there", then let it go. If I live or die on the results of every commercial audition...well, that's going to end up being a lot of dying. (The only one of the four auditions that's still theoretically "outstanding" is the one for Hyundai. Callbacks for that are going to be either tomorrow or Monday. Much to my disappointment, I didn't even get a callback for the CBS thing; I'll probably write more about why I think that happened in my next entry.) Karoake tonite, for the first time since before the holidays. Which means I need to get to an ATM (JS bitched in a recent email that he was stuck with a disproportionate portion of the bill last time we went. It wasn't because of me�I think I also paid a "disproportionate portion of the bill"�but it still makes me want to make sure I have enough money to pay my own way; even if I don't eat, I still might want to have a few Diet Cokes, and it's $1.00 a song to perform). I also need to get some stuff back to the library (I checked out Children of a Lesser God, a big favorite of mine with William Hurt and Marlee Matlin; it wasn't as good as I remembered it, but I totally got why I liked it so much�In my head, I'm William Hurt and Marlee Matlin).
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