Best of Luck in the Afterlife, Al...

Al's just a name I gave our long-tortured air mattress. It's the one we purchased before leaving Phoenix, knowing that we would need it for our first months in LA. Two weeks at friends Lorri and Jason, almost three weeks at friend Leah's, and now almost two weeks in our new apartment. It was all just too much for old Al. He wasn't made to take our giant fat asses every night, hour after hour. So, Tuesday morning, he said his last goodbye, smoked a cigarette and blew a hole in his body. We slept another 3 hours, and then had the unenviable task of finding a replacement. So, late last night, we were searching on Craig's List (we had already gone to the wonderment that is IKEA to find something, but found only an expensive "as-is" possibility). Many, many beds for free, for sale, people moving unexpectedly, etc on Craig's List. Our luck must be changing, for I emailed a woman with a queen size mattress, box-spring, and frame, $75 bucks. She called me immediately (it was about 8:30pm), and we made the deal. No smoking and only a dog was in her household. She too was allergic to cats. Thus, we made a fast stop at our local Target for some new sheets, a mattress pad and some FeBreeze. Found her place quickly (luckily she was in West Hollywood--a mere mile or so away--finding a mattress in Venice would have been pure hell, I'm sure)--left the frame, and took only the box-spring and mattress. Seemed to be in great shape and CLEAN. Yeah! No sleeping on the floor for us. After much stress on my part, we got the pieces home--in the midst of nightmare traffic--the BET Awards after party was across the street from us @ the Roosevelt Hotel. First night on the bed? Excellent. It's amazing to have a real bed underneath us...the first since we left Phoenix and stayed at Harrah's outside San Diego. My how we missed it. So, thank you Al for all that you did for us...I want you to go toward the light...and take a well-deserved break...forever. Of course, once we get our stuff from Phoenix, we'll have a whole bed and another mattress. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Found out last night that I will be auditioning for an indie sitcom pilot; about the local cable access studio shenanigans. I sent my stuff out over a week ago, so I was surprised to get a response. Based on what I read, it sounds quite funny, and they only called in the people they found to be worthy of their time. Nice. I told them the part I wanted to read for, and that's what they're calling me in for. It's a lead role, and based on the schedule they sent to everyone, I am up against only 8 other actors for this role. Keep your fingers crossed. For a long time. This is what I want to happen. I must first get the role, then shoot it. After that, it must get seen by some random studio, willing to produce it, then I must be chosen to stay on--rather than have some "name" come in and steal my thunder--then I get paid lots per episode, til it becomes as big as Friends, runs for 10 seasons, makes me a household name, makes me millions, and I never have to worry about being homeless again. Are your fingers hurting yet? If so, I thank you for your sacrifice.

I have so much to update, and I've got little to no brainpower right now. I have a bajillion more "Local Actors Spotted" posts to do, a million and one movies to update (okay, not that much), and with all of the celebrities taking their last bow, many obits I want to complete; thus paying tribute to their legacy. I'm behind folks. I need to catch up. Soon. I've got too much crap floating about in my head.

No job. Other half...some good prospects. 'nuff said.

This last weekend saw me doing two twelve plus hour days on my friend Justin's webseries. I had a blast, and was transported to my fabulous days on the crew for House of Black Wings. I got to meet some great, dedicated actors (once I reveal what this is all about, you'll know how dedicated--get it out of the gutters folks), a fun DP and sound guy, and have gotten to know friend Justin a bit better. I did A Night in Mantua w/ him back in Chicago...about 5 years ago. He's a very talented writer, and I think he's doing quite well behind the scenes on this project. I was brought in as a script supervisor, but am now officially the Assistant Director. Feels nice. I had a great time hanging w/ everyone, bossing them around when I needed to, but mostly it was just nice to be in the midst of creativity again. It feels good, and it clearly suits me. The DP also told me he liked my organization, and suggested he might want to use me as AD on his feature. Okay? Does it pay? So, I'll be back this weekend for another two days (taking Sunday morning off to go to my audition--are your fingers still crossed?), and I'm so excited.

BTW, amongst all of the freaks in front of the Kodak and Grauman's Chinese Theatre, there is a dude in a 300 outfit. Seen him a couple of times, and would love to see if his face matches the epic hotness of his body. Conquer me, you false King Leonidas. Nice.

So, here we sit on our new-to-us bed, looking out at the red lights of the Roosevelt Hotel sign, and a ginormous picture of Will Smith in a Hancock ad. The film doesn't look promising to me. Anyway, as time moves ahead, I am starting to feel more at home. Certainly having an actual bed pushes the nesting instinct to a new level. We're here to stay. I am really curious what will happen to our lives here. I pray that we don't become jaded; as so many folks are. I hope that we don't become lazy sloth-like humanoids as we were back in Chicago. I wish that we could finally find stability in every way...Hell, we've come this far, we just have to keep wishing and hoping and praying. Things happen for a reason, and I believe we're destined to be here.

Perhaps more blogging later, but I do have 7 pages of dialogue to memorize before my Sunday morning audition...in the valley. I like saying that, cuz it makes me sound like I know what I'm talking about in this place. Tee hee.

PS, gas prices suck.

PPS, I think it's kinda cool/kinda not cool that Obama wants his supporters to help my gal, Hill pay back her campaign debts.

PPPS, I like having a bed.

PPPPS, Fagabeefe.

PPPPPS, I still have not heard Madonna's new album; aside from "4 Minutes"...and the flippin' thing has been out for what, like a month? Some fan.