Okay...

I've got many things on my mind. I'll try to make this as painless as possible, to ease the boredom of my readers.

Laundry day today. Yeah. As much of a pain as it is, that first day after a ton of laundry is always a treat. You have the choice of anything in your closet, not the remnants; pieces of clothing that you generally only wear around the house; not amongst the general public. I feel like a fashion model after a day of laundry; except of course for my bad skin, protruding gut and double chin. Whatever works I guess.

I did three shots and three lines of voice over for a short film today. Friend Jen from Columbia College (she's assisted on three films I've done in Chicago) recommended me to this undergrad director. I play another father; this time for a little girl. I die in a plane crash as she watches from the ground. I only appear in her memory; in a church. We filmed in the (correct me if I'm wrong) Queen of Saints Basilica; on the north side of the city; actually in Sauganash. It was a stunning piece of architecture. I was told it was the same church from Home Alone. Cool. I'm not particularly religious, but the energy in the building was immense and inspiring. I felt good and actually took a moment to say a little prayer; as I waited for my close-up. Ahem. I was fascinated by the few intermittent parishoners, in there to pray. I felt a bit strange; but I watched anyway. The little girl playing my daughter is SAG/Aftra. I always find that a little weird and have a few tinges of jealousy when I'm around a small child who is further along than I am. Strange. But she seemed to be a good kid.

So you're probably wondering how I did this film today. Well, I was given today and tomorrow off, cuz I'm not needed at my temp-to-hire gig. The timing seemed to work out perfectly. The job is good thus far. I'm not sure what the long term permanancy will be on this job, but they did say they wanted to hire me. We'll see.

The other half and I are going to Vegas for the 4th of July weekend. We were there two years ago, for a two hour layover on our way to Mexico. I'm anxious to spend some quality time there. We've got 6th row seats for Celine's show. I'm not a big fan, but I'm sure I'll enjoy hearing her perform. We also will be seeing Cirque Du Soleil (sp?)'s "O". For that, we have "wet" seats in the second row center. Good times. Otherwise, we'll be hanging out, gambling, eating and enjoying a break from Chicago. Hopefully, I'll get to see some old friends as well.

The other half also got us tickets for Streisand in November (in Chicago). We'll have nosebleed seats, but who the hell cares. I can't imagine Babs will be touring much further down the road. She's a living legend and I'm gay. What do you want?

Sleeping Ugly closes this weekend. I'm thrilled and quite sad. It's been 4 months with this show and its people. It won't be easy to say goodbye, but I'm ready to have my weekends again. I got my copy of the "original cast recording", which, thanks to all involved; especially George Howe, turned out beautifully. Let me know if you'd like to hear it. I'll see if I can post it on my site.

This last weekend, my best friend from high school, Eric, and his partner were in town (for Madge's Sunday concert). We had dinner and drinks downtown. It was a gay old time (forgive), and I ended the evening telling friend Eric that I really miss him and I love him. I was being honest. I say my share of false pleasantries, but I meant this. We immediately reconnected, and it was as if no time had passed. We talked about old times, current horror films (we're both still addicts), while the other half and Eric's other half listened with a mixture of boredom, embarassment (for Eric and I), and semi-interest. I had an absolutely wonderful time and hope that Eric and I can be better about keeping in touch. How will that turn out? I don't know.