9:19 pm - Tues 10.21.2008
The Placeholder

(Watching V For Vendetta on FX)

So what's the good word...?

Well, earlier this week, I got a letter from AT&T, approving my application for a Universal Phone Line (i.e. a "poor people phone").

I was pleased - I thought I'd done a more-than-adequate job of providing "proof of income", but my proof had enough of a cobbled-together feel that I halfway expected to be rejected anyway. In fact, I'd been feeling "righteously indignant" about it in advance...just to save time.

In other happy news, over the past two days, I've gotten three checks.

Two were from SAG - Residuals for Monk totaling $178 (The lion's-share of which was for foreign airings) - and one was from AFTRA.

The AFTRA check wasn't for the infomercial; it was a partial refund of my initiation fee (Just under $800).

(I'd been told - first by the infomercial producers, then by AFTRA - that I had to pay AFTRA in full, in advance, in order to do the infomercial, contrary to what I'd previously heard from Brett, from JS, and from pretty much anyone else who'd had experience with AFTRA. Then I was told - after the fact, and after tearfully putting the $1300+ on a credit card - that Brett and JS and "anyone else who'd had experience with AFTRA" were actually right, and I didn't have to "pay in full" after all; I could have just signed over my paycheck to apply towards membership. All-in-all, there was a surprising amount of confusion for something you'd think would be a run-of-the-mill transaction - But long story short, at least I didn't take too big a hit for doing the gig.)

I had a commercial audition last week - a national for Budweiser - and I have another one tomorrow (For Time Warner Cable), which gives me hope that, with a little luck and a little pluck, I can bag another acting-related job or two before the year comes to an end (Actually, as I said to Jane in a recent email, my goals are a little more ambitious than that; I'd like to book four more gigs before the year is out, so I can beat last year's total of six bookings - as of this entry, I only have three. With not much year left to work with, booking four more gigs is a tall order...but it could definitely happen.)

Last week, with the infomercial shoot, the Budweiser audition, and a workshop, it felt like my acting career was pretty front-and-center.

But with no workshops (And only the one audition so far), it looks like the rest of the month could be more Weight Watcher-centric; I have some kind of new receptionist orientation tomorrow night, am working a meeting on Thursdays, and have three meetings the week after that.

As I've said before, regarding Weight Watchers, we haven't gotten to where it's going to pay my monthly bills (I'm not sure how many hours that would take, or if it's even possible with what they pay), but at least things are moving in the right direction.

(And it is my fervent hope that, before too long, I'll have booked a couple nice gigs, and how much I do or don't make with Weight Watchers will be a non-issue.)

When, during my visit this past Thursday, the Good Doctor didn't find evidence of a hernia, he assumed my "abdominal discomfort" was coming from the fact that I was constipated, and he prescribed citrate of magnesia.

It didn't help.

So now, the fact that it's not a hernia, and it's not constipation (Not just constipation, anyway) has me pretty damned worried - I'm back to being afraid that my surgery of two years or so ago has somehow unraveled.

But what is there to do, except try to find out what's going on? And, best I can, try not to freak out, unless/until there's something to freak out about?

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