10:18 am - Weds 8.13.2008
Last Month's Highlights

(For this entry, I'm getting in "The Wayback Machine", and going all the way back...to last month.)

I saw The Dark Knight on opening night, at the Laemmle Grand on Figueroa (Guessing it wouldn't sell out as fast there as at hot spots like ArcLight or the Chinese. And I was right - I got there two hours before the show and had no problem getting a ticket).

Ticket in hand, I went to a nearby Quiznos and had something to eat - A small Honey Bourbon Chicken sub, baked barbecue chips, and a Diet Pepsi.

I had a good book with me, something I'd just bought - The End Of Faith, which I'd been interested in reading for some time (More on that later) - and I remember I had either an audition or a callback (I forget which) scheduled that coming Monday.

And while I was at Quiznos, eating my sandwich and getting into my book, it struck me how completely happy I was - I was really enjoying my food, I was about to see a movie I'd been looking forward to for months (And a movie I wouldn't have been able to see that night if I'd still worked at ArcLight), I had a good book to while away the time till the movie, and I had an audition/callback to be excited about on Monday.

Nothing really spectacular going on there, so why am I feeling the need to write about it a month after the fact?

Because when I'm happy, it rarely pops into my head, in the moment, that "I'm really happy right now". So I think it's interesting that, this time, my mind made sure I "took a moment" to be aware of it.

And that realization of being "really happy" has stuck with me for a month now, no matter what else has happened, no matter what else I've written about in here, because, again, my mind wants to make sure I stay aware of it.

And writing about it in here is part of that "staying aware" process.

Because while life is sometimes hard for me - frustrating, frightening, and lonely - sometimes it's not.

Sometimes it's pretty good.

And sometimes it's great.

And that's important to remember.

I visited Cary and Kay last month.

Now, I always enjoy visiting Cary and Kay - I'm very comfortable there, they seem to really like my being there, and I get a big kick out of Donovan (Their 4 year old) - but lately, in the "Post-ArcLight Era", I've enjoyed visiting them even more.

In the past, the pleasure was offset by the anxiety of having to pay for my fun with a miserable night at work - Being normal people, the best time to visit them was on the weekends, and I always had to work those evenings.

And with my sleep issues, I'm a guy in desperate need of a nap most of the time, which I usually wouldn't be able to get on those days.

Now, without the specter of ArcLight hovering over the proceedings, visiting Cary and Kay in Santa Clarita has gone from being "fun, with a side of anxiety" to just-plain "fun".

Before my last visit, I spoke to Cary on the phone, and asked if he thought Donovan might enjoy some more of my old action figures (I didn't want to give Cary and Kay more crap to deal with if Donovan didn't much care about them one way or the other).

Cary said he thought Donovan would like that, and that he'd been particularly into Iron Man of late.

Now, for those of you who aren't comic book geeks, Iron Man has gone through various incarnations over the years.

So while I actually had two Iron Man figures, neither one looked like the movie Iron Man, which I assumed was the image Donovan had in his head.

So the night before my visit, I rode my bike to the Target on LaBrea, and bought my surrogate nephew a new Iron Man figure.

Long story short, if that's possible at this point, Donovan seemed very excited about the new figures, and particularly happy with his new Iron Man (And it is a pretty cool figure - I was tempted to buy one for myself, but taking a tip from the Bible, I'm trying to become a man by "putting away childish things". Besides, I don't really have the "discretionary income" for that kind of crap).

That day was chock-full of fun, even more so than most of my visits, but the big thing I came away with was how nice it felt to give Donovan something he really liked.

I'm not much of a "giver". I never have been. It doesn't come naturally to me, for whatever reason.

And on the occasions I've gotten past that essential selfishness, I've never felt like I've given anyone something they were really excited about, that made them happy.

So when Cary told me Donovan went to bed that night with Iron Man clutched in one hand...that was nice.

Haven't heard anything more about Wizards of Waverly Place, and I'm thinking it's best to assume I'm not going to get it, be happy I got close, and just look forward to the next audition...whenever it comes.

I'm hoping I'll get a call today or tomorrow for a callback for the NFL commercial - with them casting at least three guys, it seems my chances should be better than normal, but we'll see.

(There'll be more "acting stuff" in my next Characterman blog entry; I hope to have it up before the day is out, and I hope you'll give it a look.)

Well, I had a workshop last night, and I have karaoke tomorrow, but today's pretty much open.

So I think I'll say my goodbyes now, and see what the rest of the day has to offer...

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