Well, what to say, really? The once a week article in iFanboy has made keeping this thing updated more difficult than ever. However, the wait was worth it, methinks, because so much has been happening.

Man, what a weird month. I have actually been acting more than ever, it’s just in a variety of ways that were both unforeseen and unpaid. I was asked to help produce a few promotional spots for work--I will have them posted soon, when they are “ready”--and it has been a really fantastic experience. As I mentioned before, I wrote/co-wrote a few of the spots and everyone who has seen the initial edits have been very, very enthusiastic about them.

The shows what the camera is shooting. I love the lighting. We got the bottom light by using a frame of lights that the camera shot through, below:

It was really wild to have a crew (a small crew, sure, but still, a professional crew) work together to create the scene that I wrote for the camera. It was just an amazing, feeling really. I am looking forward to seeing what you all think of the spots! That’s Todd, the director, checking out the shot.


This is us going down to the beach to shoot one of the spots. It was pretty, but the high tide produced waves that totally soaked me--I had to throw out my shoes and my iphone and camera go wet and died. Argh.

Once the actual spots go up I will explain more about them, promise.

Went up to the country this weekend, which was a nice getaway. Whit and I are looking at some property up there, just for fun--I am beginning to come to grips with the idea that we may not be able to afford a place in LA in the near term, but we might be able to get a little place in the country, which would be a great hideaway. We'll see, but I am really liking the idea so far...

Random:

1 - I'd like to give a shout out to Paul and the test of the crew at the Star Trek:Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. Whit and I have visited gone there quite a few times and have always had fun hanging out with everyone there, and we were both super bummed that we just could not make it out to bid everyone farewell when they closed last week. It's totally geeky, to be sure, but everyone involved was incredibly good at their jobs and it was a fun to see them all in action. It's gonna be really strange to go to Vegas and not visit Quark's to hang out. I'm sorry we missed out!

2 - I was going to go on a full on political rant, but I think I'll hang out a bit. I find it hard to express how cynical the Palin choice was, but I find it even harder to understand how seriously people seem to be taking her. Over the next few weeks I hope people take a deep breath and focus on the issues and not the marketing-friendly personality comparisons. For the record: I tend to prefer a more educated, more experienced and politically savvy president. I think the country has already experimented with the so-called "outsider" -- we've had 8 years of it-- and we know the outcome. So much to write, but I will pause.

3 - DJ'd my friends Andrew and Patricia's wedding two weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. The crowd wasn't really a dancing crowd (though I did have people dancing the entire time) but they all seemed to enjoy the tracks. I just realized that I...ugh, I don't know. There are some people who actually understand how to talk to a DJ, and then there are the people who treat the DJ like a jukebox. Look, when you go to a party or a wedding, just realize that the DJ, most of the time, has things pretty dialed in. S/he knows what songs work and when a song doesn't work s/he's figuring things out and will provide a track that will get things back...on track. Now, we don't mind taking a request--it IS a wedding after all--but, really, don't make a request within 2 songs of making the first request. I had one girl come up to me no less than five times and it's like, "Yes, I heard you, I will play what you asked, but you need to recognize it takes time to build up to your little tune"...ugh. I don't know how "real" DJ's do it. I have a few friends who are not married yet whom I would gladly DJ for if asked, but otherwise, I think I am done, to be honest. Who knows. I like doing it, but some gigs are easier then others.


drat. I am so busy I just need to post this.

I am going to interrupt the vacation report for a second here and just provide a bit of an update on other things.

- I added a new page to the site called "web spots" that are, indeed, web spots. Work is getting me to do a lot more video and then they post them on a few Symantec sites as well as YouTube. I think they are pretty good and at least a few people have told me they are funny, so hey, why not post them here? Click on web spots on the tool bar above.

- I auditioned for a role in Cabaret--actually, I was called into read for a major role, the Emcee (MC)--and did not get it. It would be in poor taste to complain too much about not getting the role, but what was good was that I knew I had a really solid audition and assume that it was my complete lack of dancing skills and the fact that I hadn't auditioned for an actual musical in a very, very, very, very, very long time. Still, it was awesome and it was really nice to be back in a theater again. I realize now just how much I miss that stuff! So, I will just have to look for some other shows to audition for. On the flipside, it was really gratifying to get so much positive feedback and encouragement from the people I mentioned it to. It's not that I necessarily need that kind of validation and encouragement, but it's nice to know that people were excited about the chance to see me do a show again. So, good stuff all the way around.

- Things are quite good, I have to tell you. We're gonna see Iron Man tonight and I can't wait! And yes, we're staying until after the credits.

Okay, check out the videos, let me see what you think! (Update:I turned on the comments section.)

Have a good weekend...

I have been thinking a lo about TIME these days, which perhaps is no surprise. Time passes and that's that. It's just been going very, very quickly, as I am sure you are noticing. I remarked to Zak this morning that I feel like I overslept in 2008 and I am about 15-20 minutes late for everything.

As I was falling asleep I was kind of thinking about acting and well, you know, how I fit in with the rest of the community here in LA. There's this young actor on a show that Whit really likes that has a role that's a real career starter. He's pretty good, he's good looking, and he's intelligent (he used to be an accountant, quit to be a model and actor, and now he's got a great series regular role on a primetime show)--and he's 26. I'll be honest--I'm not 26. I don't even want to be 26, but you know, you hear about how LA is obsessed with youth, blah blah blah--and I guess that's true, the extremes are certainly out there with all the plastic surgery and that kind of thing. But it's also just a place where young people gravitate towards, not unlike San Francisco and New York. You just kind of notice it a bit sometimes. I auditioned for a role to be a co-host of a Tech show where I was supposed to be a tech expert who knows how to help businesses with their technical infrastructure, who reads Wired magazine, who knows tech culture and what's happening in the tech world. I was basically auditioning to be me, right? The audition, which was just an interview with legitimately technical questions (what kind of freeware security software is out there? what kind of backup infrastructure should small businesses think about? what kinds of machines would you recommend?) went great--this is my life--but I also knew that they were looking for someone in their late 20s. And I told them that I was not in my late 20s and also told them that they didn't want someone in their late 20s, that they wouldn't know as much as I do. And it's true! I defy the vast majority of actors in LA to setup an office in afternoon. But if I don't get the role, I bet I know why...!

Of course, of course, in many ways, age is an illusion. Charisma, energy and optimism can really shift people's perceptions. But every once in awhile, you think about it, at least in this profession. The flipside, of course, is that as you get older, you tend to reflect on your choices and your history and wonder, "was this right?" It's useless, of course--but those thoughts can sneak into your head as your brain settles into sleep. I thought about it last night, how I have definitely been at the party and showed up at the right time, but I feel sometimes like I was in one room having a great time talking to people, then hearing uproarious laughter in the room next door. Once I finally made it into that room, the joke was over and though the people were still there, things had moved on. But still, the party's great, right? Life is good.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the difference between "hope" and "expectation". I was actuall talking with my mom last night about this and we basically discussed how expectation, as a rule, is an illusion, a situation or reality that basically can never come true as one imagines. Take the typical New Year's Eve dilemma--oftentimes, people will have expectations of the crazy party they finally decided on, or whatever plan they made, and most of the time, it will go differently (better or worse) and the expectation will probably not be fulfilled. However, hope is far more general and a lot more open-ended. You can hope you have a good time, but you are not expecting a good time, and the stakes become lower, more manageable. My mom suggested that expectations, being so much more personally specific, are driven by the ego, which makes a lot of sense. We also discussed this in acting class, where Brian remarked how he thought it was crazy for actors to come into LA expecting to have a career just open up to them with in a year or two, that things would just work out and all would be great. You can hope things work out, but you certainly need to be patient, certainly need to relax with the expectations so your hope can be maintained. I also think that it's been really interesting how Obama has been using the concept of hope to rally his supporters--it's easier for groups of people to agree on hope than expectations.

Ah, Friday morning thinking.

I have some cool things happening this weekend, but I am going to keep it a secret. Believe me, if it all works out, it's gonna be very, very cool and actually a nice checkmark in my little "to do in my life" book. Should have something to tell you in a few weeks.


What else? Oh, I am reading Pictures at a Revolution by Mark Harris. It's awesome.

Oh, and my uncle Toby just came out with a new book. He's been getting a lot of press on this. Let's see...the book is called Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories. The press has been incredible. Check out this interview on KQED's Forum and this article from the LA Times Book Review. It's always amazing, really, to reflect on just how amazing a writer he is. It's really been amazing to watch his career and talent and legacy, really, grow as time has gone by. Very inspiring and proof, real proof, that if you just stick to it, you can do what you want.

Okay! two posts at once. I've got a lot of write today so I will end this here. Have a great weekend...

Tags: life, acting, people

Not a lot going on. Really. Usually I cannot seem to keep up with all the stuff that is swirling around me, but I gotta say, it's been pretty quiet. Which is ok, it's fine, but I am officially ready for things to start getting crazy again.

Whit's feeling better, slowly. She's probably going to fly to her mom's place in Ohio this weekend to get a break from the construction next door. They started sandblasting next door and it's jaw droppingly loud. So loud, in fact, that she's made a bed in the bathtub and has been napping there just to get some quiet. I really want to move but there's no way we can move right now...ugh, so frustrating. It really is intensely frustrating that there is so little I can do to make the situation better. Right now all we can do is wait for the gastridis to fade...away.

Work is okay. I am driving everyone nuts because I keep asking to get this updated posted because I have so many people asking me when the update will be posted. It's annoying to know your annoying people, but I don't really have any other recourse. I can't wait until this project is done.

Acting has been incredibly slow, slower than it has been in many, many months. No auditions in two weeks. (I think I had a callback last week.) It's fine, it's okay,but like I said...argh. The strike is now over, which is great news, so I am starting to get my stuff to all the people who told me to give them my stuff once the strike was done. We had a really good on camera class last night and I was relieved that the scene we worked on went well. (To be honest, everyone was awesome.)

---

it's a few days later and I can't believe I actually thought things were mellow. I'm at the tail end of a pretty slow going 3 day weekend and I am just gonna post this real quick. Really looking forward to next weekend, when I will be up in Wondercon in SF, I will take pictures and blather wildly.

Tags: general

I am waiting for Gary to arrive and having an SMS conversation with Aya about the upcoming election and it got me thinking and actually feeling so I figured I would hop onto/into the computer and get some thoughts out.

I have been having wonderful political conversations as of late. My friends (liberal hollywood lefty souls that everyone seems to love to stereotype) and I have these great debates on who would be better for the country/world and I just laugh and enjoy the fact that we are struggling to figure if we should vote for a woman or a black man. I feel like all got invited to this really great party, like we just ended up going to the wrong house and they let us in anyway, and the music is great, the food is awesome, there's great wine and it's an open bar, and we're just so HAPPY and COMFORTABLE and full of glee...but we keep checking in with each other to make sure, "is this okay? When will we get kicked out?"

I was just texting to Aya (and wow, do I hate that word, but is it not so right, in a way? i send her text, no pictures, no voice, just the ASCII, m'am) how we must accept the fact that it's okay to be kinda excited. Yes, there are problems with the Dems, sure there are, let's just assume that, but still--it's hard to even imagine, but I figured things have to change because balance must be attained. Bush and Corporation came mighty close (or already have, depending on how gloomy your day is) to bringing down this country (and I realize there is time), to truly destroying our standing on this planet, and things just have to change because, well, things cannot continue to suck for this long. Yes, I am an idealist/optimist, but that's my wiring.

I do feel that America, I really do feel this, can inspire the world again. And there's a reason why people are actually excited about this election, because we have a chance to rally around a FIRST, a NEW EVENT, to deliver a president that has never existed before...because no matter who they are now, Hillary or Obama will change, they will be better, I truly think, they will be BETTER at this job, even better than they think they will be, because they will be so conscious of the decisions they make and how they will fill out the history they are already making. And those of us who are so upset, we want this kind of transformation, because we believe that that kind transformation is inherently good, that good will prevail. Not only that, we will feel more ownership, we will hold them more accountable, we will feel this leadership more because we are all living the new era together.

So, I wrote that this weekend and now it's apparently super Tuesday and right now I am sitting in another hospital waiting room, this time waiting for Whit to get out of an endoscopy to check out what's going on with her digestive system. It's been actually kind of a rough couple of days, with Whit experiencing Emergency Room-worthy abdominal pain, but she got a CAT scan yesterday and now the endoscopy should help reveal whether this is an ulcer or something. Preliminary results seem to point to some kind of mild pancreatitis as a result of the internal trauma associated with the surgery, which is a real bummer...but I am confident things are going to be okay once we know exactly what is up and how to alleviate the pain.

It never seems to stop. But I'm still gonna vote today. My friend Christopher is threatening to make a sort of political roundtable podcast that he wants me to be a part of. The last presidential election we were meeting once a week to discuss all that was over drinks at The Shortstop, I guess he's ready to record our m/utterings.

Gotta post this now.

A pic of the whiteboard across the way from Whit's hospital bed. Notice how they remind you of your name.


So, it's been a week since Whit's surgery, and I must admit, it's been a crazy, crazy week. I am super happy January is almost over, because this has been a ridiculous month. CES, MacWorld, surgery, work...I mean, I guess that's how life goes, but jeez, 2008 needs to chill a bit.



Whit's doing great, walking around and gaining strength. It's truly awesome how fast her recovery has been. She actually ended up leaving one day sooner than we had originally thought! She's still in some pain in the mornings (nerves growing back), but even that is beginning to subside a bit. I am really proud of her--I know it's still going to be a while before she's at 100%, but this is a good start.

Unfortunately, the construction on the apartment across the way is still in full swing. It's really loud during the day, with all kinds of drills and hammers and jackhammers and yammer(ings). Whit's actually going to leave for a bit in February to hang out with her family, which is going to be good for her.



the view across the way. pardon the screendoor effect caused by an actual screendoor

I am working from home part of the time, but work is back in full effect, after a bit of a break during CES and MacWorld...MacWorld was surprisingly good this year. I am not sure why, but it just "felt" better than the MacWorlds of the past few years. Apple is obviously growing like crazy, and this is getting a lot of people to get more interested in developing for the platform (and making cases for the iDevices). I actually ended up get a nice backpack from STM...my last bag lasted me something like 7 years, so we'll see how this goes. It's a terrific bag, I gotta say.

What else? On the nerd side, I finally received my "do it yourself birthday present" -- Absolute Sandman Vol. 2 and the Ultimate Blade-Runner HD-DVD set. I know, why bother buying anything on HD-DVD when Warner announced for Blu-Ray? Well, I can always get the actual 5 disk movie on Blu-Ray at some future date, but for some reason, the collector nerd in me wanted the whole "super sized" set. And you know what? It's not really worth it, I gotta admit. The movie is worth getting--it's awesome--but the set is kind of "eh". I mean, it's cool and everything and I am glad I got it, but I wouldn't recommend it. The movie itself, the 5 disc version, is fantastic - I will talk about it once I watch more of the full movie package...but I popped it in two nights ago and watched it for awhile...it looked and sounded insane. So clear, so clean, so amazing---really, the whole idea of being able to watch an HD signal that is not compressed by the cable company, it's mind boggling; it totally makes a difference. I am sad that it looks like HD-DVD is on the outs, but it's still a great upconverting DVD player and I am not about to get a Blu-Ray player any time soon. So, I can rent stuff in HD-DVD until it all shakes out, but I must say, I have been very impressed with the format so far. True, it's not the insane leap of quality that we saw going from VHS to DVD, but it is still pretty intense. I got Zodiac as well, which is similarly amazing.


can I just say that the SF skyline seems to change every time I visit?

What else? Acting is going well, a few auditions this week but not really that busy. We're all waiting for the strike to end.

Okay, I know I am forgetting a few things, but I will post now and try to update this weekend...

10:40AM...

I'm posting two entries this time around because I got wildly distracted from my last one--it was getting a little too unwieldy and then by the time I got back to it, life got a lot more interesting.

I am currently waiting in the waiting room while Whit recovers in the recovery room. She had her surgery this morning and it all went great, they removed the fibroid, which, for something that is entirely natural, looked really, really unnatural. We got a picture of it but I guess I won't be able to get it bronzed...

Anyway, so the hard part is basically over, now we just let her sleep. I guess she's going to be staying here for a day or two, which is kind of annoying, but it's for the best. I am pleased that the procedure went by so quickly--the surgery was over in basically 2 hours.

Briefly:

1 - MacWorld was actually kind of cool this year, there was a good amount of enthusiasm. the new products, while not groundbreaking, are solid iterations. It's interesting that apple is charging $20 for iPod touch users but giving the AppleTV update for free. both are significant improvements, not sure how they decided on the $20 fee. And I still hate the 24 hour rental window (you have the rented movie for 30 days, but only 24 hours from the moment you press "play"--it is cool that you can move it from device to device, but wow, itunes...it's becoming it's own operating system now)

2- had a terrific audition for a pilot which I guess is not going anywhere. they changed the character around, so when I went in, I was asked to do something completely different. It was a great experience, and I was happy to show the casting director that I could flip the script on the fly, but I am a bit sad that I couldn't go further with it. I really love the show and really loved the character (or, at least, the one I was working on)...who knows. But at least the casting director saw me in the first place. Just need to be brought back.

3 - This week's theme so far is "my friends are totally awesome". I had a great night in San Francisco with the boys and then even saw some of the girls later. It was a really fun night and while I am always sad to leave my SF crew behind, to come back to such a wonderfully supportive army of LA friends has been a very humbling experience. I have been sending out little email updates regarding Whit's morning and everyone has been really keen to help out, etc. And, of course, the NY crew has been more than into it as well (Ravi, you are more than keeping it real from the International angle). Again, my friends are totally awesome.

4 - Last year at time, I was in Japan. Now I'm in a waiting room in a hospital in Beverly Hills. As I live, the future becomes less and less of a mystery and more of a surprise.

more soon.

Tags: Health, general

lots of TVs, all of them with the same stuff on...

I just listened/watched to a few TED talk (I really dug the JJ Abrams one), which is a really nice thing to do while eating a turkey sandwich. It's interesting; I often scoff when I hear people talk about the Internet changing, forever, the whole television thing, but I do find myself using the web to find good stories once in awhile. However, I am at work in a cube, not in my living room and I am not, in anyway, in a relaxed state of mind. I needed to back up and re-watch the Abrams presentation quite a few times, especially when he was referencing something visual). Different screens for different times, I guess. (Related, check out David Lynch ranting on people watching movies on the iPhone.)

Watching the videos from TED made me remember the tech lunches we would have at Razorfish, where we would get so-called movers and shakers to come over and discuss their ideas on technology and the directions it was going. We do that here, but I really miss the broad range of people we would get. Sure, we would get some Linux zealot to tell us the wonders of open source, but I was far more interested in the classical pianist who found inspiration in Flash. Inspiration comes from all over, from all people, from all times of day, I suppose. I was thinking about the whole idea of a technically savvy person growing older: will I continue to care enough about all this or will I need some 12 year old around to help me program some household media device so I can watch the construction of the moonbase from a camera on some astronaut construction worker's visor? Who knows.

Things I am thinking about:

1 - figuring out a way to actively help kids in school; how can I do this?
2 - what am I "missing" in my thought processes that is frustrating my ability to figure out what's "next" for technology? entertainment?
3 - why am I not using my camera?


Actually, I think i am going to start keeping the video camera around, like, in my car, so I can use it on the fly.

Oh, here's what I was thinking about while I was driving:

It seems like everything that has been pretty stable for the past 30 years is facing a pretty dramatic shakeup. Let's see:

- You have the whole national car industry, which was pretty much the Big Deal for the past few decades, totally getting their asses handed to them by Toyota and other companies because of a stunning inability to innovate and make products that people actually want. So everyone's freaking out there.

- You have the whole damn oil situation really freaking out big time because all of a sudden oil is so expensive that it's making everything expensive and really forcing people to think beyond oil, which is great, but it's probably going to be pretty painful because we are living right at the beginning of this massive-scale transition. Exciting times for people who see a future in change, scary times for people who have been through enough change, thank you very much and just want to retire and get some sleep

- There's the whole entertainment industry thing, which is having this wonderful midnight affair with the Writer's Guild Strike, which is really freaking out people in LA, because the already hemorrhaging TV market is bailing now that their Tivo boxes are empty. So, you see the networks makings shows that you just know no one is going to want to watch or they recycle previously made stuff....

Everything is changing, right now. And everyone who cares is trying to figure out how to adapt to these changes. What's crazy is that these are fundamental changes, both industry-wide and worldwide, in many respects. The trick is finding ways to help people manage and enjoy these changes and transitions.

ugh, I wrote this a week ago and totally lost my train of thought. I am going to start a new one now.

Tags: tech, general

Big ass TV! run for your lives!

(Deeeeeep breath.) I randomly went to CES on Tuesday, which was pretty cool, if only because I have always wanted to go to the show just to check it out. I have some pictures here, but they are not all that good, you can see lots of stuff if you dig around the web a bit. But it was cool, I mean, it's always fun to do something you have always wanted to do, right? But still--if you can afford a TV that is 7' tall, you are probably going to have a separate room with a projector, right? But I guess perhaps this could be used in public spaces...


It's gonna be a crazy month, more crazy than usual. I have an actual pilot audition for an actual series regular on Monday, which is notable because: a) I haven't had one in awhile and b) there are not all that many pilots getting shot because of the Writer's Strike. So, if your brain needs some thoughts at 2:40pm on Monday, just say to your brainverse, "Hey Mike, break a leg, that would be fun if you had a good audition because if you get it you can take me out to dinner and we can make jokes." I am really excited because I am actively leveraging some of the stuff I gleaned from a repeat viewing of Special Thanks to Roy London which lives on my ipod and offers some great items to think about before an audition. I really, really love the character and the script, so I need to just enjoy the process and be grateful to have a chance without projecting too much into the future.

(Very much enjoying the just-purchased Juno soundtrack, by the way.)

What I am trying to with the audition, by the way, is to use the moment of actually being in the office auditioning for the part as the emotional foundation/intent of the actual scene. Like, when I talk about loving my job, I am just going to be basically talking about how I love to audition, how I love the chance to act. It's the same intention, right, and I am not doing any substitution or anything like that. If I am nervous, I will just be nervous, and that's that. why fight it? Acting is reacting, sure, and acting is exposing, yes and above all, acting is about letting go and just living. I am fighting the normal impulse to imagine the moment and to provide an idea of how I want things to go--why add that kind of pressure? Why worry about it, really? The moment will come, it will happen, and then it will pass. That's all I want to have as far as expectations go...it's hard but I gotta try, otherwise, I'm just gonna fall into the same traps that I used to fall in. No more!

On a somewhat related note, Whit's surgery is a week from now, which is also quite a big deal and something that I am trying to prepare myself for without getting too crazy about it. She's probably going to be in the hospital for 2 nights and I assume it will all be quite intense. Rocco asked if I was ready and I was like, "I guess, I have no idea"--I really don't know what is going to happen, so it's actually irrelevant if I am ready or not--it's gonna happen and I will do everything I can to make it easy as possible for her. Doesn't matter, right? Accept the moment and deal.

But in-between those two events, I will be in San Francisco for MacWorld to check out the new announcements, see what my competitors are doing, say hey to friends, talk to a few press folks...should be a good time. It's being cut short due to Whit's surgery, but that's okay. I'm usually done with MacWorld after a day on the floor anyway.

Tech rants/hopes/predictions:

1 - Warner's Blu-Ray announcement sucks; I bought my HD-DVD player (it's a better system, IMHO for a variety of very consumer-friendly reasons) and now I'm stuck waiting for the Blu-Ray folks to come out with a reasonably priced, fully-functional player that's not the PS3 (I have a tendency to get burned by Sony products). None of this matters, of course, given the Internet distribution model that is rapidly becoming a fine alternative to buying discs...

2 - I have no idea what's happening at MacWorld, but I would guess that the an updated AppleTV will come out. If it can play Blu-Ray discs, that would be awesome, I admit. I bet they will introduce that sub-compact flash ram MacBookPro, and I can see them releasing the 16GB iPhone. I assume we'll have to sit through the Office 2008 stuff during the keynote, too.

Okay, let's post this thing.

a pic of a postcard that I made for one of our shows way back when in New York.
We actually did a whole photoshoot down in the in the subway, late at night.
I was on my hands and knees with a dog collar on...

Tags: CES, mac, macworld

gray, grey, san francisco day.

First off, Happy New Year. 2∞8. Hope you and yours had a good break, hope you had a fun new year's and I hope this year is packed with health, joy, growth, peace and all the stuff you need and want.

Ollie's boy Phineas encountering Tiberius, the greatest cat ever.

San Francisco was good, but oddly stressful at times for a variety of reasons. I was super happy to see everyone but the weather was such that I really just wanted to be home, in my apartment. It was weird, really; I loved being with my family and friends but I think stress of the last few months just made me want to hang out and be at home for a week and just stop. But the holidays are not designed to be relaxing, so I guess I'm just complaining. I had a lot fun, though, and I am looking forward to returning for MacWorld in a few weeks.

New Year's was really, really mellow, like, the most mellow a New Year I've had since I was a kid, really. Whit and I got dinner with the always fantabulous Jen Slimko and then hung out at home. It was really fun--we hadn't really hung out with each other the entire week, so it was nice, really nice. We missed hanging out with our friends in various places in LA, but it sounded like everyone had a pretty mellow time, I think, again, because of the weather.

The day before New Year's was crazy, though...I mean, I had to take my car to the shop for almost $300 worth of work (30k checkup time) and when we went to get a box spring, I went up a bit of a curb and popped Whit's car's tire! Like, the edge on the curb was just sharp, and the end dug right into the side of the tire somehow. I seriously have no idea what happened, but we went up the curb and the tire just started hissing...and was out in about 2 minutes. Then, much to my surprise, I found out (after unpacking the spare and all the tools from the fairly full trunk) that there were wheel locks on the wheels! I guess they put them on when we got the car--I actually had no idea what they were--they were originally in the glovebox--but I realized exactly what they were once I took a good look at the wheel. Basically, each wheel has an extra tricky bolt on it that you can only remove by adding a special adaptor onto the wrench. Of course, I had long since taken this out and left it at home...so we had to repack everything and walk home, look for the thing, then I went (I actually got into some workout clothes and ran) back and did the whole thing over again. Then I got home. Then I took the bus to Santa Monica to get my car. Then it was NYE.

So, yeah--2007 went out kicking and screaming. All is fine now, Whit's got a new tire (thanks to the tire store that was open on January 1) and the car is running fine. Still...a bit much.

Already things are starting to kick in; I've had a voiceover and a commercial audition and work work is making its way back into my head. It was good to get a break, if only for me to realize that yes, I do like my job a lot, and I am excited about what this year will bring. Of course, it's easy to say that when I am already in the office--I still just want to lie in bed and sleep...

okay, let's post this. more to come, more to come. I wish the iPhone would do video, I think I would post more vids up...

Tags: san francisco, christmas

my cousin Patrick playing jazz at Socha in San Francisco. He's the hep cat with the beard, playing sax.

Oh, man. Merry Christmas.. I am at Socha right now:

where I was last night to see my cousin Patrick Wolff play some jazz with a few folks. I forgot my jacket and scarf last night so I had to come back here and see if they still had them--they did, and I am very happy. Not sure how I forgot it, but I guess that's the way it goes. It was a really great night, Patrick and his friends were really good (I haven't seen Pat play in years, so it was a treat) and it was a nice blend of family and friends. Super fun--I just wish I wasn't so damn sick, I gotta tell you. I am usually good about powering on when feeling ill, but it's hard to heal when you are just basically cold and uncomfortable all the time! I know, I know, what does a guy who spends his days in LA know about cold, but really--I am wearing a jacket, a coat and a scarf! That's gotta mean something, right?

So, I am that guy in the cafe with a small cup of coffee typing away on the computer. Cafe scribbler. I am having a great holiday; Christmas went really well, we had our normal massive family gathering at Toby and Catherine's and it was great to see everyone. It's good to see that everyone's looking healthy and doing well. We used to have these kinds of things all the time when I was a kid, now I basically see my extended family only once or twice, which is kind of depressing. Such is life, I guess.

San Francisco is nice, clear blue skies (quickly growing dark, gonna rain tonight) and I am doing fairly well balancing my time between friends and family, which is the trick. I'm going to be up here for MacWorld in a few weeks anyway. Everyone seems to be doing well...surprised, definitely, that a year has passed. Damn this cafe is cold! What is up with the front door wide open? The cafe is obviously open..it's a funny sight; everyone's in full jackets and hunched over their coffees while some kid pounds away on the piano.

What else? I am supposed to meet up with Oliver for lunch, but I am not sure what the story is. I want to swing by Isotope to hang out with James, then I am going home to my parents' place and just going to read some books and heal up. I woke up with a wicked headache which is retreating, slowly.

I just wanna go to Golden Boy and be warm. I am blowing steam from my mouth.

What else? Not much, I am sort of drifting, here, it's like that when I come to SF, I don't really have a homebase in the city itself, so I tend to bounce from cafe to store to restaurant to store to cafe and to dinner to bar, that kind of thing. I wanted to take a bunch of yoga classes this week but I haven't had the time and I just feel like crap.

Anything else, Mike? You are rambling a bit. Any comments on how everyone seems so young here? No? The seeming resurgence of beards on guys? Rants on traffic and how it's just as bad here as it is in LA and how it's frustrating that the car has been thrust upon us in this here state? how you wanted to see There Will Be Blood but it's not actually playing in San Francisco yet?

maybe later. For now, I will upload this and figure out what the hell is up with Oliver.

Tags: general, cold, sick

a really stunning piece of graffitti art on LaBrea. I took this while at a stoplight.
What really pisses me off is someone actually tagged it! Weak.


here's the other part of it

well.. I have started this entry about 10 times, and I might as well give it another go.

The real crazy thing about the past two weeks is that I have literally gone nonstop during the weekday. I get in, there's a tornado, and then I leave. I mean, sure, that's I guess how some people work, but one would think that the end of the year would be a bit more of a slower time, when you can chill a bit, but it certainly has not been the case this year. And when I get home, the last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer, which means I slack on all the personal stuff I want to do, including Christmas shopping, writing in this journal, and editing Whit's band's videos. I am adding a page to the site today with four of the videos from Whit's work party, where their band, The RTG's performed nine songs. Whit did an amazing job, I gotta say. You can find the videos in the RTG's page, above.

Just when I was feeling a bit down, things start turning up. Last week I was invited to read two scripts, which was totally cool. I did two table reads for two very different scripts (one was a kind of family comedy, the other an action comedy), both very good; really fun characters, great pacing...both would make really entertaining movies. I was invited to read a lead character both times and I am pleased to report that the feedback was really good, which was tremendously encouraging. Hmm, perhaps that's not the right word, "encouraging"...gratifying, perhaps? That's better, honestly, because the goal is to really fill out the reading as best as you can emotionally so the writer can get some glimpses of how it might sound during filming, how some of the characters might look during certain moments how the flow would actually...flow. I really tried to read as best as I could, which was made difficult for the first script since I did not have enough time to read through it first and mark it up.

What's good about this is that you are being given the opportunity to add to the initial definition of the story, of the character. The writers can now go back to the script and use what we did as a baseline, which will help them make the appropriate changes. It's kind of a cool responsibility, because up until the readings, the writers have heard the characters in their heads, or just read a few scenes with the other writers to get the kinks out. Both writers brought in some really great actors, really driven actors who all were taking it very seriously and obviously trying to bring as much to the reading as possible. It was very cool and it was quite a cool way to close out the year, to be part of this collaboration. Reminded me of some very good times in New York, and I am stoked I have some folks around who want me to participate in this kind of thing.

Work has been crazy, as usual. We released a product and I have been getting really great responses from people who have actually used the software, but for every one positive piece of feedback, I get 5 intensely negative, fanatically nasty rants about why the software sucks...from people who have never actually even seen the software. I try not to take it personally, but I honestly wish some of the more passionate users out there would give the stuff a chance so they can see that I'm not some dumbass who is making lame crap, but someone who actually cares very deeply about this stuff and whose crew has made something very good, relevant, and effective. Whatever. I deal with this stuff enough in my "other" life, so I will just drop it, but I am looking forward to seeing how the reviews go. It's weird; for better or for worse, this new product is pretty much my fault. I was the one who pushed for a total redesign and for the addition of a completely new additional feature. We could have easily just updated it to work with the new operating system but I felt it was really important to make a full on change, to really draw a line and say "the old stuff is the old stuff, this is the future". We'll see, we'll see. I never expected the work to be so personal but I guess that's good.

On the acting front, all of a sudden, I am busy as ever. Two auditions yesterday; 1 callback (from yesterday), 2 auditions and a voiceover audition today, one audition tomorrow. Uh, what? I haven't gone out more than once a week in 2 weeks! It's great, but really unexpected and kind of crazy making with the week I am having. But we were able to schedule everything all out, so it's fine. My agents are really amazing, it's just crazy how hard they work for me.

I have more entries but I really have to sleep. I just apologize for being so late on this. I wish I just had more time. Perhaps I can write a bit more during the holidays. I have been taking notes on my phone when journal entries come to mind--I've got some good ones--so hopefully the week off will encourage me to invest a bit more time into this. I have been really bad about using the camera (except for the videos I took of the RTG's) but maybe I will bring it up to the city. I dunno. We'll see.

Regardless, hope all is well.

Hollywoodland in the early 1920s

Tags: general, tech, acting, auditions

Here's a shot from Whit's performance at work--she was awesome fronting for The RTG's--the work band.

Well, we keep
on trudging. My product went out last week and I gotta admit, it's been kind of crazy watching how people react to it. Some folks are going to hate it no matter what, so I do my best not to take it personally. This time around, I tried really hard to make a product that was low impact and really, really easy to use--we'll see how regular folks react to it. The interviews I have been having with the Mac press and other security publications have been really engaging; it's nice to have thoughtful conversations about security issues on the Mac. (I know, I rarely talk about my work life on this site, but I figure my name is getting out there a bit with the reviews and such and figure I might as well address it a bit.) All I know is that we've made a really solid product and I am pretty proud of it.

Other things? So busy. As you can see above, Whit rocked out at her holiday party. I will have some videos up later this week (I literally have the clips open behind this window)--they are pretty good. We had a great party at Noah's, then a birthday party for Abby (3 years old!)--I guess we're knee deep in "holiday cheer" right now. It's going by so fast!

Actingwise, it's been slow, but, at the same time, things are opening up, too. It's kind of odd. I made enough money acting this year to qualify for SAG health insurance, which is actually kind of cool. I don't need it right now, but it just shows that things have been moving along pretty well. I am doing some table reads of people's scripts this weekend, and I actually even got a nice email reply from a director I really admire. The small things count a lot.

Let's see. I have a magazine interview followed by a full on Internet Radio show right after....should be fun.

Hope all is well.

It's Monday and I just want to get something in before this week goes into overdrive. One would think that work would be a bit more mellow now that we have shipped the products we have been working on for the past year, but nope...for me it's just starting up. I have a few press interviews this week (including one with an public radio show called Future Tense which I hear occasionally), which is fun, but I must admit, I want a few days off. Problem is, the construction across the way is moving into the "saw everything you see" phase, so there's no "just take a day of and relax" option at home at all. Whatever.

Good weekend, if all too short. Saw American Gangster and was a bit disappointed, to be honest. The film is almost 3 hours long and at no point was there some kind of reversal or surprise. Totally by the numbers. Oddly, the movie's pacing was great and the story was pretty engaging, it just wasn't super awesome, which is what I wanted from Señor Scott. The theatre we saw it in was freezing cold, which might have effected the "experience" I guess.

Tags: general

San Francisco from Sophia's living room

Wow, what a week. Had a fantastic time in San Francisco during the Thanksgiving, and got back just in time to see Starting Out in the Evening, our friend Andrew's latest film. It's getting incredibly good reviews, and I was stoked to be able to see it on the always-important opening weekend...here's to hoping it gets some legs and opens in other cities. There has been a lot of attention given to Frank Langhella's performance, and I have to say, it really is a fantastically great performance--one of those kinds of roles that can only be fully expressed in film, really. He's so subtle and so...quiet (but focused, and alive in a way I think only those in their twilight (as the character feels himself to be) can be)...you need to see that kind of role done in a dark room, in a movie theater--it's just such a delicate thing. It wouldn't work onstage--you can never be that close--and on TV, well, you would have to see it in a dark room and not be distracted. No matter--it was a triumph, and the calls for an Oscar nomination are not unwarranted. I am so proud of Andrew, I can't tell you. He has been working toward this kind of success for a very long time and, honestly, it inspires me to continue to find ways to enjoy this often (I admit) frustrating pursuit. If you get a chance, check it out.

(click on the poster to see the trailer)

So, I was paging through a magazine today and, as is often the case this time of year, this magazine was telling us who the best entertainers of the year are, who the break out stars are, which of the big names are still relevant, that kind of thing. And, like, okay--look, this is not an ego thing--but really, this profession...it's just so damn random, and articles like this just make it look so easy. I mean, sure, the odds get better the longer you stay focused (for most of us, we hope) but, let's see, I went to class last night, and throughout the night, I saw some very, very good actors do some very, very good work. It's like this in every class. I would say that there are several--more than several--people in my class right now who are just as "entertaining" as any of the people in these magazines, and the other students? They are well on their way. Not to take away anything from the success of my fellow actors, it's just the pedestal that they get put on, well, it must be intimidating for them a bit but it just seems so...I dunno. I mean, next year it will be the same thing, right?

I had written a bunch of stuff but I just deleted it because it was just ridiculous. I was basically just frustrated, which tends to happen this time of year. Forgive how this might sound, but when I look at this stuff, I get frustrated because I know I can do it. I know others who can do it. It's not a competition, I know this...it's not even anything, but I mean, if I were an accountant (nothing wrong with accountants), it's not like I would be surrounded by magazines and shows and "news" telling me how there are so many other accountants that are doing so well, that are pushing accounting to the next level, that are living the accountant life that can see so tantalizing, with all the many exciting accounting gigs they are able to part in. I guess with acting it's just a lot more obvious when you find you are not where you want to be professionally.

No matter. It is working itself out. Every time I watch Chuck I send a message to my manager telling him that I am feeling a tad depressed and he always tells me to not think about it and to enjoy my day and everything that I am doing. Which is good advice, but when I see a show that I just want to be on and contribute to, it's nervewracking.

(I am very much enjoying the iTunes release of Daft Punk's Alive 2007, by the way. While it's not totally surprising since I have the recording of the Coachella set and I was at the actual show, it's still superbly dope.)

On the work side, we shipped three products this week, which is very cool. Most of my team is taking a bit of time off, I am just catching up on some loose ends and looking forward to solid yoga class tonight, then dinner with Allison, who is in town for a conference, and then the weekend.

Tags: travel, general, acting, starting out in the evening, daft punk

The picture above is kind of a joke, I am friends with a few members of the production team on this spot that I shot yesterday and I walked to my trailer door to see "Mr. Romo" taped on it. I laughed out loud, I think many an actor has thought about that transition--when do you go from "Mike" to "Mr. Romo"? Box office pull, no doubt.

Good news! I filmed another commercial yesterday--though I should mention that I am basically a featured extra for a skin care commercial that will not be aired in the US or Canada, but if I can get a clip, I will make sure to post it. For the second time in a row, I worked with a "big super star actor"---the person I worked with yesterday is an international super star, been around for many years, and it was really a pleasure to get a chance to meet someone like that, and it was fun just to work, even for a really short time, with a true professional. As with any professional in any kind of job, you just end up learning a tremendous about just by being in the same room with someone like that. Totally relaxed in between takes, then absolutely, incredibly focused during. He (he's a he) also made a point of introducing himself right away and basically put everyone at ease. I feel silly that I am not saying the name, but I gotta wait till the spot comes out, so I will just shut up about it.

Nick, Drue and I just got back from seeing Beowulf in 3-d IMAX, which is apparently the way to see the movie...it's funny to try and compare it to the last movie I saw, No Country for Old Men. It kind of shows you just how different movies are becoming, in a way. Country is jaw dropping amazing because of the direction, editing and, most of all (I would argue), the acting. Beowulf is amazing because there's all this crap flying around and it looks like it's gonna hit you right in the $%(*%@ face, dude! It was cool, but my eyes are killing me. It was well edited and had some sequences that could only happen in a truly virtual world (when the camera can go anywhere you like, there's a certain flexibility). The 3D effect was quite good, I mean, it's the best 3D you are going to find in existence, methinks, and there were a few shots where it really was gorgeously effective---sprawling landscapes and wide, expansive establishing shots were much more interested and engaging than the sword point right at you or the blood dropping down at you (though that stuff worked, too). It was more than just the longest cut-scene in history, it was a well-done fable (if way too violent for the kids, which was refreshing, in a way). What was trippy is that there were several very long takes on the character's faces and the audience endowed these pixels with human emotion, giving them life, even though it wasn't real at all. The experience was there, but it was like listening to music ripped from a CD at a low bitrate (I know, it's nerdy but it's relevant in many ways)--you can hear it, you can hear all the elements, there's just not enough behind the elements. The cynical part of me wants me to ask whether modern audiences even care, really, just as long as they get "most" of it, the feeling...but I don't honestly think that anyone would really accept, fully, that a virtual "actor" is going to deliver the same kind of experience a "real" actor would provide. (The fact that I can even write this sentence shows, once again, that we are living in the future.)

Beowulf is worth seeing (in 3D, in IMAX), if only to see what the studios are trying to do bring people into the theatres. Is this "the future"? Nah. It's neat, and it works for some movies (the stereotypical "Hollywood" movies, I guess) but these kinds of stories are the minority. Still, these stories sell more than others. Witness Transformers, featuring, again, non human characters moving the story along.

20 years ago, we had Roger Rabbit doing this with drawings. What will the technology-straining "movies" of 2027?

It's amazing, really, and I will admit I hate being just a witness to all of this. I want to be part of these changes, I want to make sure these changes are good.

One of things that I kept thinking about during Beowulf was how I really need to get out of my element, like, seriously out of my element. I've had this very cushy existence and I would love to get out of here for awhile and find some way to test myself, my physical and mental strength. Funny that one would have to "research" a way to live in a more challenging way. I have to use a computer to figure out how to live a more simple yet more engaging life? And I come to thinking about this after watching a movie told entirely by computer created actors in a computer generated world dealing with computer generated crises?

Tags: acting

Leonard Velvet and Lace from "Crystal Monorail" on Halloween weekend. You can find more photos here.

Oh man...I wish I had more discipline to actually write this journal when I actually have time. I was going to write yesterday but I just couldn't do it, I just didn't want to get in front of the computer again.

No matter!

I think that this year will be the year of "Everyone I Know Is Having A Baby". We are officially at the point where more of my "couple" friends have/are having a kid than don't/not. I went to Ruby's first birthday (or is that second? being born technically has to count, right? we'll stick with first, because it is more of a birth-versary, I guess) on Saturday and it was crazy with kids. And it was fun, I mean, I really like kids--I am more comfortable, I have to say, with 3 and up (I can't shop for anyone that ages in months)--I don't get freaked out by them or anything like that. Of course, the number one question both Whit and I get all the time usually starts with "When" and ends with "one" and it's just a constantly weird thing to talk about.

What's amazing is this feeling of watching so many of my friends go and experience this whole thing that I am not. It cheapens it to say I feel "left out" but it is just, obviously, one of the most significant life event that my comrades are gong through right now, and after being neck to neck in experience with everyone for so long, it's just odd feeling to watch this happening as opposed to sharing it.

Whit and I talk about it all the time, of course, and I am sure we will continue to discuss it for awhile. Who knows what will happen, but it's just something that's happening around me and it puts everything into a different kind of perspective. Like, when people ask me about what's going on, I just feel silly talking about my events and stories when talking to someone who is up 5x a night caring for a new baby. I know, of course, that I should not feel that way, but I do sometimes.

So, congratulations to the few people who have told me that they are pregnant this week (I had two in one day last week). An congrats to Kate and Joel and Ruby for making it through a whole year. I had a good time at the party, seeing all of my friends and their parents and their kids, generations and generations all talking and sharing stories, I felt like I was in the opening credits of some family movie.

Everyone's talking about the WGA strike and I am already feeling the effects of it. Auditions have already been slow, and I doubt they are going to start picking up if this does not get resolved quickly. I was talking about this on Saturday and was hoping they would come to some kind of compromise on the DVD residuals (it was 4 cents per copy, the writer's wanted up to 8 cents for certain (more popular) titles) and I was surprised to see they had dropped that issue altogether, that they were focusing more on Internet rights, which are going to be difficult to reconcile, pretty because one of the biggest challenges for any kind of online content production/distribution/exhibition play is monetization. I was hoping they would go 6 cents per DVD, get a deal for outfits like the iTunes store and others, and then go back to the tables in 2 years to see what the marketplace is like for PC and Set-top box streaming delivery systems. It's a pickle, that's for sure, but these are the challenges of our time, the way we deal with video and music is changed forever; it's an amazing time to be a part of this, right at this very major and crucial transition.

Still, people need to get paid for their work. I get really annoyed with folks to pirate movies and all that...you gotta pay people for their work!

I got an HDTV player on Friday and will be post about it later this week. I put it through its paces on Sunday and it was, frankly, awesome. While it is not the insane upgrade that we saw with VHS to DVD, it is very significant. And awesome.

Ride the rail!

Tags: Halloween

So, as some of my "tweets" have been reporting, I have been running around with a cold and feeling generally just tired and coughy. I would stay at home and get some sleep, but they are renovating the apartment building next door, so it's nothing but sledgehammers and yelling worker types starting at 7:30 in the morning. So, I am here at work and, again, this week is already starting out very busy.

Obviously the issue of the week has been the fires that are seemingly everywhere. I mean, it takes 3 minutes for the local NPR folks to list all the various fires and associated road closures, evacuations, etc. At first it was like, "whoa, fire," and now it's like, "uhmm...these are going to go out, right?" The other day I was driving along the 405 and about 15 fire trucks went down the opposite direction, and it was actually pretty intense; people were honking their horns, etc. It reminded me of riding in the subway in New York and seeing the workers on the train with you. It's like, these are the people who are deep in the story, who are heroes of this drama...and it is a drama, I mean, it's crazy. The skies were orange yesterday and everyone is walking around with red eyes, coughing. Monday morning I got to my car and it was coated with a tiny little layer of dust; it reminded me of the snow in New York and I felt sad--instead of snow or even dew, we get ash. It's like the Earth is burning itself up because it knows that the rains are dying.

It's screwed up, I gotta say. Puts some things in perspective and other things to shame, in a way. Like, who cares whether or not one gets called back for a fast food commercial when people are losing their homes? Their lives? What?


Other than the world burning up around us, things are okay. I have been more busy than ever with the release of Mac OS X 10.5, which comes about 10 days after moving to a new building, so there are all kinds of things we are working on. Whatever. Work is challenging, but I am learning a lot and so far things are looking pretty good. It should be interesting to see how the 10.5 launch goes and what the response will be...

The past two times I have gone to yoga I have been stuck in traffic and thought that I was going to be late for class, and both times I just made it, even when I was late, the class was already starting late, so it did not matter. I thought this was kind of nice, because we spend so much time trying to get places and freaking out about being late, but it seems to me that oftentimes the events that you most need to make it to, for me these days my yoga and acting classes definitely fit that category, the timing just works out. I am not sure if you can rely on it, you can't just dilly dally and assume it work out, but if you make the effort, things seem to work out. That mini struggle seems to be applicable to many of the challenges we find in our lives. If you work on it, if you really work on it, you can do what you want to do. Though it's pretty much a refrain in every other house song, it's something that I need to remind myself of these days. The auditions have been slow for the past two weeks (which works out since work is ruling my school) and I have been kind of bumming, just a bit. I look at some of the shows on right now (Chuck in particular) and it's odd to see so many of my type on screen at once. I mean, those of you who know me, if I had said there was a show about a goofball IT guy who runs around fixing computers and then finding himself in dangerous (and apparently hilarious) situations...well, it's a near fit, the goofball IT guy.

whatever. it's all coming. Stay positive. Listen to this new Sharon Jones CD. Good.

Tags: fire, weather

Funny, I thought all clowns were scary.

Well, it's been 10 days since I have updated and I apologize, again, for the ridiculous delay. A few things:

1 - we moved offices, so that's been fairly crazy. I now work on a street named "Corporate Pointe" (shudder) in Culver City. The good news is that my commute is way shorter, like, 20-25 minutes shorter, depending on traffic. I can actually get here and back in ten minutes if traffic cooperates (ie, is non existent). The space is way more corporate but we have a crazy view of LA:



My group works right next to the window, which is a huge plus, especially during lunch:


So that's all nice.

2. Ever since we actually moved to the new building, I have been out of my head busy. Like, out of my head. Early meetings, conference calls, late meetings, late conference calls...and since they have been having to keep the building at less than 65° all week, I have been freezing. And although I hear that the temperature has nothing to do with getting people sick, I think I am now, actually, sick. I was actually going to work from home today, but they are gutting the apartment building across the way, so we have been waking up to jack hammers and bellowing workers. Miserable. Whit was pissed this morning; she was out late last night at the Mt. Wilson observatory observing things space and I guess she got a cold, too. Fun fun fun.

3. On a slightly more positive note, I have been spending a bit of time playing Halo 3 and it's been super fun. Nick took this shot from last night: It's pretty amazing, the Halo 3 thing, and I have zero time to go into it now, but you can get a sense of how deeeeeply nerdy it is by looking at my player page in the Bungie site. It's odd to say, but the game might actually work its way into being worth all the hyper surrounding it...

4. Acting was crazy slow this week, which is actually a relief, to be honest. The move, which was really freaking me out, actually only adds 5-10 minutes to my "normal" travel time for auditions, and, in maybe a few cases, might actually decrease it. We'll see. My agency has been awesome about keeping the auditions during lunch time, so traffic tends to be pretty light anyway.

Actually, yeah, I have enough time to talk about something that happened last week. I got a message from my friend Kelly suggesting I get in touch with Caryne, who apparently had some news. I gave her a call, and she told me that she has decided that she was going to quit acting and that she and John were going to sell their house and live full time in Las Vegas (John lives and works near there in Pahrumpf), so they could all be together (they have a baby named Audrey). For years, John has been basically driving back for weekends so he and Caryne could be together while Caryne pursued (successfully, I should add) her acting career. But ever since Audrey arrived, Caryne has been spending much more time being a mom than a working actor, which obviously makes sense and is understandable. In fact the whole decision is laudable--leaving LA and being together just "fits" in all kinds of ways and makes a lot of sense for their family. I will admit, though, the news really has made a profound effect on me. Not only will I obviously miss having Caryne around--we have been friends (and have acted together) for many, many years, and having her in LA with me has kind of grounded me, in a way. Acting full time...well, it's basically a life decision, right? And it is nice to have other friends that are making the same kinds of experiences as you, so you at least have some comrades-in-arms in what is, in the end, a fairly frustrating and sometimes lonely endeavor. I regret that we were never able to book a job or do a play together in LA and now, well, I guess it won't ever happen. Caryne was so happy and I was so h

The choice to no longer pursue a professional acting career is always there, hovering behind the scenes. You hear about people "quitting" all the time, and for all the right reasons. I think one of the main reasons I have been able to confidently stick it out for so long is because I have always had another career to focus on when the acting slowed down. But for people who are able to make a living acting, it does become a grind when work starts to dry up. You do get tired of auditioning and not booking all the time. I mean, the past few months has been like that, many, many callbacks and no bookings. After a few years, one has to wonder, "What's the point anyway?" And when you have a truly meaningful alternative like Caryne does, to actually have a life with her husband and child full time...well, there's no argument, really. Still, when she told me about calling her agents and telling her them she was through..so crazy.

I was actually supposed to have uploaded this entry earlier tonight but the app crashed when I tried connect to my server...let's see if this works...

have a good weekend!!

my dad's cool 1967 MGB GT

Busy weekend. The talk at Santa Clara University went really well; Leanne and I had a great time meeting other SCU theatre/dance/tech grads and the whole affair went pretty well. I realize now that one of the tricks of teaching must be that tension between wanting to get all the information you want to share out all at once because of the time, but that not being possible due to time and the general flow of the conversations that take place. We had a really solid panel made up of actors, dancers, technicians and financial types, which was great, but I could see it being a little overwhelming. All of seven of us were pretty happy to talk about pretty much anything, but, you know, it's not like the audience knows exactly what questions to even ask. I can remember that one of the last things I would have wanted to do on a free Friday (and gorgeous) afternoon was spend my time listening to a bunch of old people tell me how what I need to do to survive in this crazy life. That being said, I would have gone anyway, of course..

It was really interesting to see how the general make up of the department had changed. There are apparently something like 54 female majors and 15 male majors, which is a real challenging situation for casting, especially given that there are approximately 20% fewer roles for women actors. Trip away. What was really interesting, however, is just how smart the students were. I mean, they were really thinking hard about what a life in entertainment would actually mean financially, and there were a surprising amount of students who asked about the technical and administrative positions, which offer a more stable and consistent income. I did what I could to offer substantial tips and suggestions, and tried to tell as many stories that illustrated the various aspects of working in LA and New York as I could. I had a lot more to talk about (I barely touched on headshots and reels and managers and agents, etc) but maybe I can go up and have a more actor-focused discussion in the spring. Regardless, I am trimming my notes to make a little handbook for the actors that might be of some use.

My brother Patrick is a junior at SCU so he watched the seminar, and it was fun to have him there. SInce I last saw him he's cut his hair and grown another 4 inches and his summer job building an environmentally friendly house (to be show in DC) has made him very lean and apparently quite strong. Crazy! The theater staff were very happy to corner him and suggest the he audition for a show in the spring and to attend an acting for non majors class...very cool, I hope his schedule permits it.

The rest of the weekend was spend with the folks (saw a fantastic production of Sweeney Todd at ACT) and hanging out with Paul and Al. San Francisco was doing its best Spain impersonation, and I must admit as I sipped coffee and beer at the "Rev" down their block, I did fantasize about living there again. Someday. The Blue Angels were in town as well, which was loud and fun. I wasn't able to see James and the rest of the Isotope crew; I will have to plan something with them next month...

I think my ACL is all screwed up, which is really annoying. It was fine in my workout, but I took a yoga class last night and, oddly enough, plow pose tweaked it--like, my one foot could touch the floor, but my left one could not. Weak weak weak. I have had pretty good luck with injuries but I jammed it last week during spinning and I thought I had taken enough time off...oh well. The real bummer is that this is the last week that we're gonna be at our current building---the gym is literally downstairs. Nick and I are pretty freaked as far as figuring out a new workout schedule...friends will remember that I was not always in the best of shape and I admit, I am nervous about the new situation.

Today I actually have a gig--I am doing ADR for the Comcast spot, re-recording new dialogue for the spot that was airing earlier this year. Should be fun; I've auditioned for an ADR job in the past, but I have never done one "for real". Huh. Suddenly a little nervous. Gotta use it!

Tags: acting, fitness

We were hanging out with Hans and Isadora this weekend and we passed this gym. You gotta love the name; I guess the woman who owns this is a rather brusque Austrian, so we were basically barking "Do it NOW!" to each other all night. I mean, I get it, if one is going to "Just Do It" I guess "Now" would be the time. I wonder if they have yoga classes there that reflect that same intensity?

Still, it's effective to think about doing something in the present moment..perhaps the removal of the "!" would help, and I don't think you need to underline all the words. I can imagine driving by this place every day constantly going, "oh, man I forgot to do [that thing]! dammit!"
This is Whit hanging out while we were waiting at the Honda dealership. We went in to test drive the 2007 Civic Hybrid (Whit's got a 2003 model) and we ended up buying it! Madness. Still, it all worked out really nicely, and I am very happy she's driving a car that's heavier, has more horsepower, and much better handling. Good mileage is not worth having some underpowered tin can that can get out of the way of a hairy situation on the freeway. I'll put a picture or two up when I get a chance, but so far, Whit's really happy.

I am heading up to Santa Clara University on Friday to talk to the theatre majors regarding the "Business of the Bidness," as I have mentioned before. It's been pretty fun, I must say, prepping for it. I have about 6 pages of notes/talking points, and I honestly feel they are pretty valuable. I remember when I was a senior in college, though. Man, I could no wrong. I was getting cast in everything, I was painting sets every day, it was great. The last thing I wanted was to be told how difficult everything was going to be. No matter, I have been positioning everything in positive terms, more like "here's the real deal and how to deal with said deal".

The past couple of weeks have been heating up in both of my jobs, which is good, but it adds a layer of complexity that I am not really into. Usually I would complain about the scheduling, but that's not the problem, it's just both the acting and the regular job are just getting more involved, in all ways. I just need to think more and plan more and commit more of myself into everything, which, again, is good, but just tiring, I guess. The auditions are getting more frequent, but they are also getting better, in a way. Like, the roles are really good fits, which makes it all the more frustrating when I don't book them. I went out yesterday for this thing that if I got it, I would be filming a new spot each week until the middle of January or so. Yikes! So, waiting on that. Waiting.

Much to do, much to do. Ravi is Bali and the site's loading slowly for him, thanks to all the widgets on the side. Weak. I will figure out which ones to take off. You can always check out the RSS feed, but I agree, slow loading is irritating. I like the widgets, though, especially the map one, which surprised me with how many people are reading this from far off lands. The more dots, the more updates, I guess. I wanna film something this weekend and post it, so I guess I will DO IT NOW! Or then. But I will do it...

Tags: iphone, general

Zak and I playing records a while ago, probably 1999 or something.
I wasn't working out back then, I guess.

A varied and harried day today. Work is stacking up and it's all manageable, there are just a lot of things happening and it's tempting to just sit back and let other people drive some of these efforts, but I am not that tempted and, anyway, I have an opinion about it and I want to get in the mix. It's good to be busy, but just once, it would be nice to be busy building a set or painting a very large painting or building a house or something more physical. My eyes are red not because of allergies or anything fun, I am just staring at screens really intensely right now. Stupid.

I got gently freaked out when I read that basically when you turn 30, it's half time, life is basically half over. At 30, your major organs start to decline, etc--it's all here. And, like, okay, I know--what's the point of worrying about growing older? Time, remember, is the absolute variable, uncontrollable and persistent, literally nothing one can do about it. We can improve the moment, sure, but we can't slow the sucker down. Now, I am not really freaking out, but I do admit, I really dislike the idea of growing older and pretty much have been that way all my life. I want to say it's related to not wanting to miss out on things, but...it's more about making sure I do what I want to do, to get what I want out of life. It does remind me of what Ravi said about life being a bottomless pit, where you keep adding experience after experience but are never satisfied, and kind of like what Steph was mentioning, how there is never a plateau in life, where you get to a certain place and it's all clear and easy from that point on. So life is an uphill battle as you slowly slide downhill.

Now, I do feel an artificial stress about this because of the acting career, I will readily admit. I am constantly reminded, several times a day, of someone younger getting some movie or booking some role, etc. Yesterday while I was waiting around for a callback, I listened to the other guys, all clearly older than me (3-5 years), discussing the parts they didn't get, the house they couldn't afford, the short films they were working on, etc, etc, and I gotta admit, it's distressing, you know? This one guy was talking about how it was getting so slow that he was looking for a regular job, that kind of thing. I mean, I have a regular job that I actually like, and I am always talking about how grateful I am to have a life like this, but it really did drive it home. Acting is not a good fit for people who have to responsible to other people. So rough. And it's 10 times harder for women, absolutely, so it's selfish of me to even worry about it, to be honest. My thoughts return to my upcoming visit to Santa Clara, where I have to talk to the students about the business of acting. I mean, I remember when older folks would warn me about how hard it was, how impossible it was to make a living, etc, and thinking, "Yeah, maybe it's hard for you, but [for some reason] I'll do okay." Well, you know what? I am doing okay--it's just been a very different path to this "okay" than I imagined.

Such is life, right? You have expectations of the future, expectations that are not based on any kind of real fact or experience, and then you get let down when things don't go according to this made up plan? You gotta let it go..Stumbling Upon Happiness talks about this in detail, actually, I need to finish it.

The one thing I know I will talk while I am there is the importance of actually taking care of your physical person. Not only because of the obvious benefits of a healthier heart and looking fit and healthy and basically better on camera/on stage, but because taking care of yourself is actually something you can control and be proactive about in the acting business. I may not be able to control whether or not I am going to book any of the last three spots I just got called back for, but I sure as hell know I can make spinning tonight so I don't get all chubby and tired looking for future auditions. The illusion of control, I think, is something that artists of all kinds need. Maybe not full control of everything, but something related to their craft. Painters can control their brushes and pencils so their tools will not fail them when inspiration strikes. Writers can control where and when they write. Musicians needs to make sure their instruments are in tune and ready to go. We can control aspects of our lives so that when opportunity strikes, we are ready. For actors and dancers and singers, we rely, heavily on our mind, our breath and our physicality. So, when I look at that picture above, I can at least appreciate the fact that even though I was younger and my internal organs were supposedly more efficient or whatever, I know for a fact that I am in the best physical and mental shape of my life, because I work out 4-5 times and do yoga 3 hours a week. And, happily, I don't do it because I have to, but because I want to--I actually really enjoy it, it makes me happy and fulfills very important aspects of my life...and that's the best way to approach any task, whether it's writing an article, singing a song, sketching a face, or teaching a class.

Speaking of which, it's time to get back to that work.

Tags: acting, life

Not much to report today, other than I have some kind of shin splint thing going on in my right shin, which is making me think I shouldn't go running today, which is irritating, since I really like to go running at lunch on Tuesdays. Whatever, I will take a break and just deal.

Had a good weekend, Whit's birthday was on Sunday, so we all hung out at the beach on Saturday, then we hung out with dad and step mom on Sunday, ending up at the Terra Byte festival at the LA Arboretum that evening, which was pretty cool. It's interesting, I went last year and commented on the music, which was pretty much a blend of uninteresting to irritating, which is never a good sign. I mean, when people are sitting out in the park, I just don't know if they necessarily want to feel like they are in the innards of a computer. There is a trick to play an hour of rhythm-free music, but I am not sure it is as rewarding for the audience as it is for the DJ. Still, it's something, I guess.

Wow. Other than work and classes...nothing. Slow week...

Tags: fitness

So many different ways to think about weddings:

1 - throw a big party for all your friends, thanking them for the life they've helped you create, celebrate that love exists and share it with your friends and family
2 - do what your parents expect, do it at a church and somehow link your relationship with some kind of organized religion for legitimacy and hope or something
3 - not a big deal, who needs the stress, "we don't need some piece of paper from the state to validate our relationship"


There are other ways but I wanna get straight to #1, which seems to be the general trend of weddings that we've been attending (and, indeed, thrown). I'm on a flight returning from Bryan and Anna's wedding in Minnesota. Anna is Whit's cousin and I was very interested in seeing another side to Whit's family. There's this whole MidWest vibe in my life and it's really different, it's really, really interesting to be exposed to it. I mean, you know, I come from San Francisco, I've only lived in New York and California, and I don't have much exposure to the MidWest and when I hear about "MidWest values" when politicians speak I admit it, I roll my eyes and say something snarky about WalMart and chain restaurants.

Which is totally unfair, I admit! Totally, ridiculously, idiotic. Now, I will not say I was "surprised" by how great this wedding was, because, to be honest, I had no preconceptions whatsoever (that's another entry, I've kind of stopped doing that). I did assume it would be fun, I was very excited to meet Anna and Bryan, because I was very impressed with their wedding invite and the overall quality of the communications they had crafted (no surprise there, given my take on how to produce a good wedding).

The thing about weddings (and parties and events, etc) is, not surprisingly, attention to detail and to the quality of experience, something that Anna and Bryan really, really delivered. From the program to the music performances in the wedding, to the venues and overall tone of the event, it really went without a hitch. They were able to invite a good balance of friends and family and even though they had to contend with throwing an outdoor wedding under grey, rainy skies, the production never let up, the whole thing just worked, most likely because people believed in the couple so much.

Which is, the key, right? If your friend is in a great relationship that you believe in, everything is so much easier and better. Yes, that sounds obvious, but I think that feeling carries through and builds over time and forces you to either be grateful for the relationships you have in your life, or to reconsider what you have and make the appropriate changes. Life is hard enough on one's own, I think it's exponentially harder if you persist in a relationship because it's convenient or just easier to stay in.

Again, obvious, but hey, this is an called "On Weddings".

A few points:

- great to meet Anna and Bryan, as I've said. I am looking forward to seeing what's next for them. It's nice to meet a couple that just exudes comfort and trust in each other right off the back. Notable, so I am noting it.

- I was talking to Whit and figured that the whole idea about a great relationship with someone "completing" you is actually not the best sign. In all of the best relationships I have seen (and like the one we're in now), it's not about completion, it's about extension, meaning, being with so-and-so extends your life's experience in unique and fulfilling way. You experience more out of life by sharing it with this person. There's more to write on this but I'll have to deal with that later.

- Great to meet Whit's cousin (and Anna's older brother) Josh and his wife Holly and their kids. Josh works in Portland and deals with mass transit. Like, he figures out how to make mass transit systems work. How cool is that? I mean, really, when I realized that that was his work, I resisted the urge to basically interview him for two hours. Can a society go from mass transit to individual transit systems then BACK to mass transit? Is there an example of this? This is truly a question specific to our time and it's just need to talk to someone who is involved with that discussion. Mass transit, believe it or not, is a huge topic in Los Angeles, and it's something I struggle with a lot. See, it's one thing to set up mass transit for commuters, who have, basically, a consistent schedule that can be addressed. People to go the same places twice a day. But for actors and so many other independent contractors in Los Angeles, we have to be able to leave wherever we are at a moment's notice and go somewhere completely different, quickly. So, unless you are in New York or Chicago (and, perhaps, Boston and even San Francisco), where the relevant geography has clear and consistent limits and the mass transit is regular enough that you can rely on it to get you to your destination, you are screwed. You have to have a car. The infrastructure of LA is designed for cars, so all the snide comments about people being addicted to cars and all that is, for the most part, unfair. There is no choice for many people.

Anyway, it was fun to talk to Josh about that stuff.

post time!

Tags: people, minnesota, travel

Had kind of an interesting night last night, if you think that waiting in line 5x longer than normal is interesting. The first line was for a burrito, and that wasn't really all that new, it was just kinda sad how overwhelmed the person behind the counter was and knowing that she was going to be dealing with person after person after person for awhile after I had the freedom to leave the building. Everyone in line kept asking, "Why are there so many people in line? What's going on?" And this was kind of different than normal lines (especially New York lines), where the main thing you hear is, "Why is [that person behind the counter] taking [such a very long] time doing [the job s/he was hired to do] and if things don't improve, someone's gonna get a piece of my mind!" This is, as I ahve mentioned before not a matter of New Yorkers being rude, just efficient. In LA, people are generally happier (take a look at the weather map and humidity levels around the country) so there is a lot less blaming of counter folk, at least when you are in line for food. For the most part.

So after that line "experience" (and there's a point to this, really), I went to the local Safeway/Pavilions/Vons store to get some stuff, and by this time it was getting late, 9pm (see above to see why I was there so late) and again, for some reason, the lines were really long. Like, 15-18 people in each line. Amazingly, though they had 13 checkout counters, only 3 were open, and, while my line was in session, the guy tried to "end" the line in the middle of our line! There was some protest, and the guy compromised saying that the person behind me was the last person and that she would have to tell all the new people that the line was over, they had to go to another one...of the two left.

And this was what was kind of interesting: when people would come up behind us (I say "us" because I ended up helping explain the situation, if only because I felt bad for my line partner), we would say, "oh, sorry, the line isn't really accepting new people, it ends with me/her" and almost every single person would nod and smile and stay in line. They straight up were not listening to us at all! Like, they were right in front of us and it's not like we were communicating "long line, huh?" or "how about Bonds, huh?" or even, "do you know what time it is?"--this was valuable line-oriented information, made more valuable as each moment passed--our line was always shorter than the other two, obviously, so when people saw our line, their eyes would light up and they would leap to the end of the line, only to have their hopes dashed across the sharp rocks of reality a few moments later.

But 99% of the time, we had to explain the situation twice, sometimes three times. We told this one guy and he nodded and said, "Really?" and then just stood there. The lady and I exchanged a look and just had to say it again, "no, really, the line is over" and he just nodded, and then we said it again and he was like, "Oh! really! Oh, okay," and then he left. Of course, everyone who heard our message (and comprehended it) was pissed the moment they heard it, some of it inadvertently directed at us messengers, which was mildly unpleasant (but, in the end, entertaining).

Finally--finally, when I was actually checking out (and this line, by the way, was going slowly, we were in line for at least 20 minutes), an old lady came up behind my friend and we both explained (for the last time! we were so stoked!) that the line was closed, etc, and then she just smiled, said, "...so kind..." and then cut in between me and the end-of-the-line lady! When the clerk tried to say something, she just cut him off and explained that she was buying a newspaper and saw no reason why she should have to wait in line to buy "the paper" and was clearly oblivious to the fact that she had cut into a line, etc. She even started getting angry at the clerk for some reason. It was crazy.

Long story short? It just brought to mind that adage that people only hear what they want to hear. Usually, this is just one of those things you hear or say when talking about messaging or advertising or arguments or whatever, but I have never actually seen it happen, physically, in person, in real time, over and over again. People just were so happy to get in the "short" line, that their mind simply was not accepting information that would dispute that happiness. It was really amazing.

So, that's that.

I must admit I am enjoying twitter more than I expected. I have quite a few friends from SF and NY who I follow (and vice versa) and it's fun to throw things out there to see what people respond to. I don't have the twitters going to my phone, but it's fun to get little check in's throughout the day. Such an odd, 21st century only piece of silliness, don't you think? I mean, there just does not seem to be a corresponding form of communication from any part of history. Communication has become so easy, so cheap, so effortless, that we actually have folks who just jump right into what used to be called "too much information". We live in a world of information, constantly shifting pieces of news, emails, websites, events that we can just share anything we want, whenever we want to whomever we want...it's really astounding really. Is it helpful? I'm not sure. Back in the day there were plenty of times when I would find myself talking and talking to just to fill the silence when I was with people and while some found it entertaining, I am sure some had to find it equally irritating. Ollie loves to remind me of the time when I had to remind everyone that it had been a while since I had last talked. There's a correlation here, but it's different. Now all of these bursts of experience are logged and tagged for your amusement at a later date, creating ongoing and pervasive diaries, often for the world to see. One thing is for sure, if any of this exists in a hundred years, our future friends will realize that while people were seemingly really busy, they definitely had a lot of time on their hands and they absolutely felt it was necessary to make sure that everyone else knew about it.

I bet you there will be a new term for the new kind of "Luddite". Now it's not just the refusal to incorporate new technology into one's life, but there are also the people that just don't freaking care to know all the stuff there is to know. Someone who is fine with "just" reading the paper, that kind of thing. Yes, it's related to technology, but perhaps this is a post-technology thing, perhaps a few decades from now, when most of the first world Luddites are dead, a Luddite will be someone who refuses to participate in the constant exchange of information, or at least resistant to the barrage of incoming messages. Not sure. I need to think about it a bit more. There is, of course, the other issue--does the ability to constantly report to people about what you are up to (how interesting you must be to feel the need to share so much about yourself!) provide a false sense of self-importance? Is this an ego thing? Or is completely ego-less? (I'm an open book, here who I am, judge if you like, I don't care.)


Wow, that was windy. Thanks for reading...have a great weekend!

Tags: people, tech

So, actually not a lot to talk about this Friday evening. I just got back from a very, very good yoga class (taught by favorite teacher, Liz Hage at the studio downstairs, TruYoga, which is awesome). I haven't talked about the yoga that much, but I will do so eventually. Suffice to say, I take two 90 minute classes a week and if I could, I would take three more. It's pretty much one of my favorite things to do with my time, I will admit.

A few auditions this week, nothing to write the web about, though. It's slow, which is fine; work is pretty active right now, so the balance seems to work out okay. Paul is in town, so we'll be hanging out this weekend, playing records and doing the dumb stuff that guys who have known each other for awhile tend to do. It's fun to have him back.

Gonna spend much of the weekend reading, I hope; many books to catch up on and I really just want to slow down a bit, which I always think I am doing but I never actually do. I guess that's just the way things are going to for awhile. I am looking forward to this summer being over, if only so it gets darker; it's still way too bright in the mornings for a ghoul like myself.

I got invited to speak at my old theatre department to talk about life as an actor in New York and LA, the various pitfalls, opportunities, bounced checks, etc. I must admit I am pretty excited and flattered to be asked, and hopefully the students will get something out of it. I certainly would have appreciated someone going through the various differences between LA and NY before I graduated.

All right, it's time to get out of here. Have a good weekend!

The robots have been hard at work, apparently! Not only have I moved to a new host, but I am gonna reboot the site using Rapidweaver, which looks way way way way better than iWeb. I have been spending a bit of time just trying to recreate the basic elements of the old site, which has both shown me the limitations of both this app and my terrible web development skills. Who knows? Maybe I will actually start working with more HTML and all that after awhile.

Anyway, I will link to the old site content with a button somewhere, should you be interested. What I have been having a hard time with has been trying to really customize the pages. Rapidweaver is, you know, for beginners, it seems like--lots of templates, very easy to use, the whole bit. It would be nice if I could drag and drop graphics into the templated areas (I like using my own graphics instead of the built-in banners and such). The site right now looks a bit generic, I fear, but it will just push me to be a bit more creative, I guess.

So, what's what? I went to see Daft Punk this weekend with the gang, and it was amazing, again. It felt very similar to the Coachella show but they closed out with a fantastic encore that was not part of the Coachella performance. It was utterly off the hook. It was nice to get out and dance again, with all these different people (crazily diverse crowd), it was fun to just make friends all around, which is what I used to do with Zak all the time when we went out a million years ago. I was wiped the next day, so I am obviously physically older, but I was absolutely just as into it as anyone else around me.

Off to Comic-Con this weekend, so I should have some good photos and stories from that madhouse early next week.

In case you are just joining us, Whit and I went to Baja California two weeks ago. We have some pictures on the Flickr page.

Tags: website,rapidweaver