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2:14 pm - Fri 7/20/07
Just For Fun

Just For Fun

Thurs 7/19/07 (5:18 p.m.)

Well, I finally did it�Today I booked my flight back to Lansing, so I can attend Mark and Jane�s 15th anniversary party over Labor Day weekend.

I�ll be leaving on The 30th of next month, and coming back on the 4th of September (I thought that would give me time to see the people I�d like to see, but have me back in L.A�hopefully-right before Mark and Jane start getting sick of me).

This should be fun�getting to go back home, seeing friends I haven�t seen in years, having an actual �vacation� for the first time in quite awhile--but I�ve been anxious about this (spending the money), and anxious about that (�booking out� with JS, PMG, and Direct Talent), and most of all, anxious about keeping my job (At this writing, I�m not sure ArcLight�s going to approve my time-off request, because it might be a �blackout period� at the theater).

That�s an awful lot of anxiety centered around something �fun�, wouldn�t you say?

But I can�t have my life held hostage to worries about finances or missing gigs. And I�m sure not putting my life on hold for a $9.00 an hour job with shitty �benefits� at ArcLight.

I�ve been back home once in the past six years, I want to go back for this special occasion, and I�m going.

Fri 7/20/07 (9:20 a.m.)

Yesterday I also made arrangements for another trip, in October.

I don�t know if I�ve mentioned it in here, but Jon Gindick, author of the Klutz Press book Country & Blues Harmonica For The Musically Hopeless�the book I learned how to play on--runs a series of harmonica �Jam Camps� across the country (It�s a weekend �intensive� of instruction and �jamming� for all levels of players. I found out about it when I stumbled across some of Mr G�s videos on YouTube).

There�s a �Jam Camp� scheduled for Irvine�about an hour away from L.A.�in October, and anxieties aside (spending the money, nervousness about new people and a new situation, etc), it�s something I want to do (Mostly just for fun, and to do something different�which isn�t always easy for me�but also to see if it rekindles my interest, and �opens up� the possibilities of doing more with the instrument).

So right after booking my flight to Lansing, I made my reservation for �Jam Camp�.

It does make me nervous, spending all this money �just for fun�. But right now, I have the money to spend, and �fun� has been in pretty short supply these past six years, so I�m going to �take the plunge�.

But speaking of �nerves�, I have to take a break right now, because I have to call Jon G. for my �phone consultation�.

Be back in a bit...

_________________________

Well, that was fun.

He spent almost 45 minutes with me on the phone.

First, he had me just play, so he could hear what I could do. And he was pretty complimentary. He said what I did was very �musical�, very �playful�, and that I had a really good �tone� (He also liked my �vibrato�).

His main criticism was that I play a lot with my lips, and not enough with my throat (�Articulation� on the harmonica is mostly about air flow). So he gave me some basic instruction, some �things to think about�, to improve my �articulation�.

For the rest of the time, we stayed mostly on one hole (The 2), working on triplets, bends, breath control, being rhythmic/percussive, etc. (He would explain what he was going to do, play it, have me try it, then correct me or compliment me, depending on how I did). As he put it, �I want to hear what you can do, and what I need to teach you�.

Now I feel pretty silly for being nervous (Though it�s been years since I�ve played, or practiced, with any regularity). From his books, tapes, and YouTube videos, Gindick comes off as a friendly, upbeat guy, who wasn�t going to suddenly turn into an asshole just because I can�t play like Little Walter (He is a teacher, after all).

And talking/playing with him on the phone, turns out he really is a friendly, upbeat guy (And a really good teacher).

He mentioned a Monday night �jam� on Western and someplace, so even though I work on Monday nights, I emailed him for details, and to see if he knows any places I could go on Wednesdays or Thursdays (My �weekend�). It might be nice to have a little �jamming� under my belt before �Jam Camp� in October.

_________________________

In other Jim-news, I�m not walking the neighbor�s dog anymore, at least for now.

Mark called early last week, to let me know that his job, which had been temporary, was over, so he�d be able to walk the �Lady� himself for the immediate future.

Truth to tell, I wasn�t totally bummed about the news. Granted, that�s $100 a month out the window, which kinda sucks (Cause it was pretty easy money). But on the other hand, it�s been nice not having to factor walking the dog into my daily plans (When wanting to see a matinee at the theater, having a late-morning/early afternoon audition, or what-have-you). I�ve enjoyed not being tethered to my apartment by my dog-walking duties. If I want to leave the apartment mid-morning and be gone for the day, now I can do that.

One chronic worry I had with the dog? Just about every day, when I would go to get her, she�d be asleep right inside the door. And since she�s really old, she wouldn�t immediately get up when bumped by the door�or even when I�d call her name�so for awhile, the first thing that would pop into my head was �Oh Shit! She�d dead�. And I really didn�t want her dying on my watch (If she had died, I probably would have called Mark to break the bad news, though I�d have been tempted to just back out of the apartment, and tell him, �Hey, last time I saw her, she was fine�).

_________________________

Had a workshop last night, with Sherrie Henderson of Dream Big Casting (They cast a lot of low-budget features).

She talked for days�a lot of casting people are frustrated actors/stand-up comedians�and I thought her scenes were terrible.

But she was nice, and seemed to genuinely like actors.

And I was pleased when, at the end of the night, as we were leaving, she raved over my expressive face, and said she was going to give my headshot to so-and-so and so-and-so (producers/directors of one of her projects, I guess). So we�ll see what happens.

Well, there�s so much more to write about, but I think I�ll save it for next time...


 

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