An Evening of Firsts

Last night was rough. For this reason or that, we were both up too late, and then this morning we were both awake too early. I managed to get back to sleep in time for Stephen to call me about some things. He managed to go to work empty-handed, which means that by the time I got home from my fitting (yes, I get to go to work next week, YAY!), he still hadn't eaten anything all day.

We were both too tired to think about preparing food. We were also both too hot to do anything in this apartment. So we took a little walk over to a local casual dining joint, where I experienced an evening of firsts.

Three Good Things (and one not-so-great):

1. I sucked down my Arnold Palmer like it was heaven on earth. I rarely finish whatever non-alcoholic drink I am served with my dinner. I got a refill on that baby before our food was served! Possibly even before we'd ordered it, I think. I was either incredibly thirsty, or else there is no other place that even really serves a Real Arnold Palmer. Those other places will let you order one, but what they bring you is iced tea and lemonade. Island's' Arnold Palmer was just sweet enough, just lemony (tart) enough, and super cold and wet and refreshing. Gone, Baby. So Good, I had to have more. And honestly, I have never done that before.
2. I ordered off the menu! No substitutions, no leave-offs, no add-ons, just straight up "as it comes". I'm very Sally
   
   when it comes to how my food is prepared. I don't want to find in my mouth onions, eggs, mushrooms, or avocado. Y'all might like all that shit; I don't. Don't gimme no damn Swiss cheese, nor bleu, nor American "cheese". Yuck, Yuck, and what-the-hell-is-this-shit-that-ain't-even-actually-CHEESE? What I ordered tonight, off the menu, was the tuna salad sandwich. I got to choose a whole wheat (vs. white) bun, and were the fries okay with that? Yes'm, thankyoubellymush. But I needed no changes, nor anything "on the side". For the first time ever (in a real restaurant, not a diner), I ordered "as is". Wow!
3. (not-so-great thing) - I bit down on a french fry and popped part of my molar out into my hand. No, it probably wasn't the french fry that broke it, it may have been a bit of celery that made it "ready" to go. I have been having some issues with my furthest-back molar on my lower right jaw. I'd had an infection in the gums that had been irrigated and oil-pulled and night-guard-worn to prevent worsening. I do a lot of my chewing on the left side, particularly if I'm having any pain in that stupid tooth on the right. The last dental Dx I'd gotten was for a root canal and crown, and even with insurance, I ain't gonna afford that. I'll take an extraction if I must, fuck you very much! So guess which tooth broke tonight? You guessed it!

   

   that tiny thing, dead center

   

   you can't see it very well b'cus I couldn't get my phone INSIDE my mouth

   
   
   The FRONT molar on the LEFT! Wah-wah-waaaaaahhhhhhh.
4. I had a very active day today, what with laundry and other cleaning and my fitting, but by the time we returned from dinner, I hadn't gotten my steps in yet. So I put my leftover half sandwich in the fridge, laced up the sneaks, and did a twenty minute Power Digestion Walk. I don't know if I've ever cleansed my colon as quickly as I did tonight, nor do I necessarily recommend it. There's nothing quite like the feeling that you're going to leave little turd bombs on the sidewalk because you just don't make it to a toilet in time. I'm not talking accidentally shitting your pants for some medical (or drunk) reason; I mean, I thought I was gonna make like a rabbit with a poop-n-scoot, but while vertical and walkingasfastasIcould. Thank God I made it! Don't try this at home, kids. I am a trained professional. Professional Sphincter-Squeezer, that is. Yeah, Right!

Is it possible you've had an evening of firsts that somehow managed to "top" mine? Tell me about it.

The Martian - did you see it? - OMG, I know it's a year old, but you gotta see it!

First off, we added it to our DVR because DirecTV gave us a free HBO/Cinemax weekend, and Stephen hadn't seen it, and even though I thought I had, we added it to the queue anyway, because reasons. Secondly, having watched it together tonight, we know without a doubt that we will own this fucker on Blu-Ray, because it is Damn Good. C: I had not yet seen this film; there was not a familiar frame about it; I was confused because Interstellar (from the previous year) also starred Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain. 4: There is no 4.

So let's get to The Martian, shall we?

Three Good Things:

1. If you only know Matt Damon from the Jason Bourne movies, or Any/All of his work with Ben Affleck, then you are seriously missing out. The man is a genius. He can do Boston; he can do action; he can do drama (see The Informant!); he can do science-based-sci-fi-that-is-also-incredibly-funny (i.e. "comedy")
2. If you don't typically bother with sci-fi because it's too "fi" and not enough "sci", you should definitely see The Martian. Lots of sci. Loads of sci. Scads of sci. And not ever in a "wait, I have a liberal arts degree so all this science is too technical for me to get" way. Always good.
3. Do you like your actors floating through the scenes? This movie has it. Do you like your actors to cuss, but not too much? Matt only actually says "Fuck" ONCE, and not when I was expecting it, so they were able to keep their PG-13 rating. Do you like to laugh at impossible situations that, if you couldn't laugh, you'd be sobbing over? DONE.

See this movie, kids. I'm not even joking. It was awesome. It was funny. It was sciency. It was clever. It had cool camera angles. I never felt like I was ready to barf from the handheld work (honestly, if it was ever handheld, it was subtly done, which is how handheld camera work should be). It was as NASA as I needed to be, and in the watching of it, I had an out-loud thought of my trumpet-playing band-leader friend who also happens to be a rocket scientist. If a movie "loses" you to the real world for a sec, who better to think of than your trumpet-playing band-leader friend who also happens to be a rocket scientist?

Have you already seen this movie and you Neglected To Remind Me To See It? Or have you NOW added it to your playlist/queuey thingy of sorts? You need to tell me YOUR opinion, because CLEARLY, if you are a real human being (not a robot), you OBVIOUSLY love it as much as we did tonight! Tell me!

Bedhead ... and Mailing Shit ... and other Stuff

Yeah, it's been awhile since my last post. No, I haven't been as busy with work as my last post indicated. I have done a bit on the student project; still need to complete my Crew Deal Memo and get that turned in. Yeah, she's going to pay me! Yay!

Had my friend's other gig all lined up and then received an email about another Scripty gig. Have had a phone interview re: that one, and received the scripts for the previously-shot episodes in my email, so I'll be familiar with the story. Haven't yet received the scripts I need for that one, or my Crew Deal Memo, but that shoot doesn't begin until the 25th, so I'm fairly certain at this point that it's a "Go". Meaning, unless my friend's gig gets pushed again, I won't be able to participate. I kinda hope it gets pushed, but that's a selfish hope. I should be hoping that she swings it without me (just not as easily as if with me). Nah, just do the work to beget more work. It's all good. We all want what's best, and she's got me in mind for another gig in December. I should have zero conflicts in December. Nothing is shooting in December. Productions shut down for the holidays, can you believe that? ;)

So I've been getting all my steps in (except for one day when I did some nannying) and getting plenty of sleep, and today's bedhead is courtesy of Cocoa, who joined me for some belly rubs both in the bed this morning and now:

So what else have I done this past week? Let's see, I paid some bills, as I am wont to do. I picked up some supplies at Wal-Mart (yes, kids, we have a Brand Spankin' New Super Wal-Mart in walking distance, and Boy Howdy, is it CLEAN) for a small project I'm working on to enhance my career. I'll show you the finished project, when it's finished. It's not the kinda thing you'll need a blow-by-blow for. I'm a little excited about it, but it's going to take some time, as the Brand Spankin' New Super Wal-Mart hasn't yet settled into a routine, and my supplies keep getting depleted before I can pick 'em up. And no, I can't get 'em elsewhere. I just gotta wait.

I also updated my registration at one of the numerous casting companies around town. Need to do that with more. Gotta send some emails and/or make phone calls to find out about when to do that, if "in person" updates are required. I'll be able to link my SAG-AFTRA profile in emails, so that's something, at least.

Oh, yeah! I mailed some shit this week! No, seriously, I Mailed ... SHIT. I have begun receiving "Old People" Mail, ya know, like from AARP and such. The other day, my health insurance company sent me instructions for Mailing SHIT (a stool sample for a colon cancer screening). The day I collected my sample was a weird day. Well, mostly because those of us who do not work in the medical field don't typically "collect" our shit, we just let it fall into the water and then flush it away. I had to collect it before I could flush it away. Weird. Call your insurance carrier to see if you, too, need to mail in some shit! Fun for the whole family! NOT.

This morning, I had a Warner Bros. dream. It kinda freaked me out. I would still be happy to go back to touring, if they called me in. I didn't make it into the new summer stash o' folks, but I'm still eligible for re-hire, so after my August Scripty gig, I may check back in...

I had set this aside for a bit, and now that I'm back, I really need to comb out the bedhead and dress for a walk. And print, complete, and scan/email the Crew Deal Memo for the student film. I just wanna be working, ya know? But for some of the work, there's still "preparing" to be done, and for other gigs, it's just submitsubmitsubmit... Gotta do what I gotta do, right? So I guess I'll get on that.

See y'all in a week, maybe. In the meantime, what's the weirdest thing YOU ever had to mail?

It's Happening!

You know how I'm always saying how much I love the work I am #Blessed to do? I love (principal) acting, singing, dancing, standing-in, photo-doubling, voice acting, background acting, Script Supervising, AD-ing, even PA-ing. My favorite place in the world is On Set. I've said it before. So many times. Too many times, I think, for me to search my archives for the "Best" post to link here. So, go'head. Peruse the archives. Search "Blessed" or "BG" or "Scripty" or whatever, and you'll be reading posts all day, and possibly into next week (depending on how quickly you read)!

You know how I'm ALSO always saying that I want to be working? That work keeps me happy? That unemployment sucks? Stuff like that? Go'head, search some of those terms. I'm sure I've said it over and over again. I love The Work but I hate NETWORKING. I hate the self-Marketing aspect of "getting" the gigs. I just wanna pay someone else to book me (that's why I pay a Calling Service for my BG gigs), so I can just show up to DO the work.

Well, apparently, I've "put it out there" enough times. It's happening. I went to Central Casting's Union Visitation this morning, which could very easily lead to a booking for BG work tomorrow. Two days ago, I sat in on a casting session. Yesterday, I worked with my Scripty "shadow" to break down the student film script. Tonight, I'm attending the Production Meeting for the student film. I've been put "on hold" (or whatever) for a feature that was supposed to shoot at the end of the month and has now been pushed to August, which means I shouldn't need my "shadow" for the student film. Maybe. I got an email today, essentially offering me a Scripty position for a tv series (well, probably YouTube) that will be prepping and shooting at the same time as both the student film and the other feature. So now, it comes down to contract negotiations, and/or THIS:

Dear God, please help me to make the best impression on the best potential employer and give me wisdom, insight, and the freedom to choose my best opportunity. Amen.

This is really freakin' exciting, kids. Let's all keep putting that energy out there, that I will always have to pray that prayer. I love doing the work without having to do the work required to GET the work! Yay, hooray!

*****

In other news, the "news" that's hitting my Twitter feed these days is an absolute shitstorm. We re-watched "Clueless" last night, and I was ready for today's post to be my review of that 21-year-old movie (yay! It's finally old enough to buy beer or wine or "the good stuff"!). Paul Rudd as a young, geeky studmuffin (is that oxymoronic?), Brittany Murphy, alas, poor dear Brittany Murphy, Breckin-Freakin'-Meyer as a wastoid skater boy, Dan Hedaya much more loveable than as Mr. Waturi ("I know he can GET the job; but can he DO the job?"), Wallace "Inconceivable!" Shawn, and of course, the lovely Alicia Silverstone. I'm glad we watched it again. It's on Netflix. If it's been 21 years for you, too, then go ahead and grab your adult beverage and watch it again. It's cute and sweet, and so much better than what I discovered afterwards:

I can't fathom how many cops are resorting to a "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality and essentially executing the people (of color) they've stopped for questioning. It's just so sad, and nothing I say will make it better. Yeah, I own a pistol. No, I'm probably never going to need it for self-protection. No, I'm probably never going to get a "conceal carry" permit. But even if I did, and it were perfectly legal for me to conceal-carry my pistol out in the world, I don't have to worry about any encounters with police that I may ever have. Because I'm #Blessed to have been born WHITE. Yes, #AllLivesMatter. What that means is that #BlackLivesMatter too, not just white ones. I'm really hoping that the cops who've executed their potential perps this year (more than 500, at this point) will all be thoroughly investigated and face specific and appropriate repercussions, ranging from prison time to jail time to loss of jobs/pensions to significant retraining. If some of them turn out to be "good cops who made bad decisions", then give them an occupational overhaul, with psych testing and weapons training and situational management training, etc. If some of them turn out to be criminally "bad", then throw the book at 'em, and get them Off The Streets. Everyone should be able to interact with cops with the same carefree attitude that I am #Blessed to have.

That is all I can say about this. Do you wonder why I really don't consume news from news media outlets? Twitter is 140 characters. That's more than enough to inform me. All else is just Too #Depressing. And #DepressionLies, so can't we have a shitstorm of Good News for about a week? Please? That would be Awesome.

Your long-awaited review of ... Beetlejuice?

Yup. That's right, kids.

I had a fairly "busy" day (for me). I got up and puttered about and had a breakfast without milk, because we were 100% OUT. Then I jumped in the pool, after I had printed out the script for the short student film I'll be Scriptying (at the end of the month, not like in the next week or so, as I had originally predicted), in addition to printing my "facing pages" on the backs, and then I headed over to the casting session I'd planned to meet my student "shadow/sub" at, in Hollywood. Sorry if that was a run-on sentence; I hope you were able to keep up: print pages, jump in the pool, drive to Hollyweird for a casting session. Caught up? Yay.

Walking back to my car following the casting session, I discovered I'd parked on a street-sweeping side of the street on the street-sweeping "No Parking" day. Dammit. $73 poorer for a student film. Shit. "Good News" is that this may actually turn into a "paid" gig, because my experience is so freaking invaluable that they can't Not Pay Me. We'll see. In the meantime, I'm going to meet with my Student Scripty/Shadow (maybe tomorrow, maybe Thursday) to do the Script Supervisor's Breakdown and have Lesson One completed. Seriously, if you were to look at my Scripty resumé online or elsewhere, you would not expect me to have sufficient experience to train another human being. But so far, I'm not expecting either myself or my Shadow to get paid, so I'm happy to help another human being learn a few skills. The breakdown is the easy part of my gig. It's just a little time-consuming, is all.

Got home from there after a quick Trader Joe's run. We desperately needed milk, at the very least. Plus, Stephen wants to make an easy pie, if I would just pick up the appropriate chocolate and whipping cream ingredients. I hadn't had lunch yet, when I stopped at TJ's, so of course, in addition to my fave cereal and a gallon of milk, I also picked up pie ingredients plus wine. Yes, I've already had a couple glasses tonight before blogging. Of wine, not milk.

Put away all the groceries, caught up on my steps, and then jumped into the pool again after 5:30p.m. It was cold; there was no sun on it at all; I did a single lap and got out. I showered to wash my hair, because, seriously, it was major YUCK, and now it's major AWESOME (well, except for still being Too Damn Long and in Desperate Want For a Buzz-Cut). No, I'm not #Depressed anymore, but I still do a lot of chlorine-clean(s) instead of actual-bathing-for-clean(s). Sue Me. If I book work for pay, you can be sure I'll be "actually-bathed-for-clean" before I show up on set.

Decided to inform Stephen that he'd need to pick up a graham-cracker pie crust on his way home if he wanted to make that easy pie recipe. Realized it would be an easier "sell" upon his arrival if I had prepared a shit-load of rice and an actual Hot Meal for dinner, so I set about to do that. Submitted for some work, here and there. Tweeted, here and there. Hubby got home, and eventually, dinner was ready to eat, and we ate it.

And then, while he was doing an MLB-on-PS4 thing and I was Tweeting (or possibly something else), I asked him to pick A Movie. He picked our Long-Loved-But-Ready-To-Be-Upgraded-To-Blu-Ray-DVD of Beetlejuice, and we watched it. This is a movie from our college days. We both love this movie. Here are a few things we noticed tonight, either together (out loud), or separately (myself, essentially, in my own damn head). What the hell, let's call 'em Three Good Things:

1. There is No One other than Michael Keaton for the role of Betelgeuse. He's a phenomenal actor who, through his actions, can convince you that he's physically attractive and worthy of your notice. I'm sorry if this statement offends you. Michael Keaton is AMAZING. He is NOT, however, physically attractive. He IS, however, ALWAYS worthy of your notice. Not necessarily because of his performance in Beetlejuice. Certainly not in spite of it. I have yet to see a "bad" Michael Keaton vehicle, and I've watched Clean and Sober from start to finish (if you haven't, you should check it out). Okay, let me interject that I didn't love Birdman. Not Michael Keaton's fault, tho.

2. How the Hell Young was Alec Baldwin? 30, when the movie was released, so 28 or 29 (more likely) when they shot it. He didn't become our favorite "Fat Baldwin" until well after The Hunt For Red October (which was only two years after Beetlejuice). So Young. So Thin. So Much Great Baldwin. Not that he's necessarily "worse" as "Mature (and Bigger) Baldwin". I love me some Alec; I can't deny.

3. Seriously, How the Hell Young was Winona Ryder? 17 when the movie was released. See, the problem only arose because Geena Davis kept referring to her as "that little girl" and we could, in some moments, see maybe a 15-year-old, and in very few moments, we could see maybe a 13-year-old. But we never; Never Never Never saw a "little girl". Here's the biggest problem that I'm aware of, now that I'm linking IMDb pages. Yeah, Winona was only 17 by the time the movie was released, and maybe she wasn't yet as big a "name actor" as either Jeffrey Jones (her dad) or Catherine O'Hara (her stepmom). But her part is bigger/More Important To The Story than either of her parental units, yet, in the credits, she's not listed until AFTER the chick who plays Jane (the realtor), Ernie (who The Hell is Ernie?), Old Bill (I'm assuming this is the barber who sits outside his barbershop adjacent to Maitland Hardware and rambles on about the hippie), Betelgeuse (NATCH), LITTLE Jane Butterfield (the realtor's daugher? Are you FUCKING kidding me?), Delia (stepmom, NATCH), MOVING MEN #1 & #2 (are you Seriously FUCKING kidding me?), and Charles (dad, NATCH). Winona got a bum deal on the credits, yo. I don't care "In Order of Appearance". Ernie had One Line. Old Bill had One Monologue. The Fucking Moving Men? Had LOOKS, at best. LOOKS! Winona Ryder Was Robbed of Due Credit!

All right. Would you like my review? Here it is. This is a fantastically fun, if dated (by it's SFX), "paranormal" movie. It Always makes me laugh. If you have somehow Never Watched This Movie, you need to find it on Netflix (or other streaming device), and watch the hell outta it. I LOVE it. Pop yourself some popcorn, or grab a glass of wine with a serving of chocolate. Seriously, this movie is Nothing But Fun.

Wow. I REALLY have had nothing to say in, like, awhile. So here's an UPDATE!

Today is 4 July 2016. That means nobody in America is working (except for folks who work at hospitals, movie theaters, some grocery stores, and the Warner Bros. Studio Tours Department). That means that everyone else has made their beer-and-charcoal runs, and is now having barbeques and lighting illegal fireworks and ending up in the ER, or watching movies because they can. Or, if they're not 'Muricans, they're taking tours of Warner Bros. and wondering why there are no movie stars on the lot today. It's a National Holiday, Kids. Read this paragraph again if you're still confused. Here's a YouTube video to help you, or confuse you even more, as the case may be:

I've spent my morning on Twitter, as I do. I also trimmed Smokey's nails and gave both furbabies plenty of treats and lovin'. I'm also currently in the middle of de-crustifying the coffee pot, something that should happen monthly, but probably doesn't. Stephen has done a little writing, a little cleaning, and now he's updating his MLB team on the PS4 (I think that's what he's doing; I'm grateful he's doing it MOS). We're supposed to go hang out with our friends, the homeowner-hosts of my big blowout birthday gathering, after 3 today. We don't really know if it's a barbecue or what, or if we're supposed to bring anything, but more than likely, it'll be us rushing to catch an open grocery store before they close early, to bring whatever it is we're s'posedta. Also, Stephen had indicated yesterday that if we have time, he'd like a haircut. I've just asked him about that, and since we're both in the middle of things, we'll probably take care of that in the next half-hour. We'll see.

I got to work on set One Day in my birth month. It was a decent day; pretty lucrative, but it really just made me wonder why I'm not working more. Yesterday, my allergies flared up, only when I was inside the apartment. So the plan was to vacuum today. I'll be honest. I have a good vacuum, but I still hate running the damn thing, and since my breathing is perfectly fine today, I'm probably gonna procrastinate that task. Unless I do cut Stephen's hair and he doesn't manage to sweep it all up.

Tomorrow, I'll be attending some callback auditions for a student film that I will be Scriptying. I'm not sure yet what the shoot schedule for that is, but the director has also found a classmate who has expressed some interest in Script Supervision, so if I book any PAID work during the shoot, My Department will be covered. So that's good.

At the end of the month/beginning of August, I have a three-week film that I'll be working behind the camera on, for pay. Just not sure yet what my job will be, as my hat's in the ring for Scripty, but I may end up Key Set PA (which I'm perfectly happy accepting). We'll see.

So for the remainder of this month, I'll be getting my daily 10,000 steps in and submitting for other gigs, and hopefully booking one or two days of paid showbiz work per week. Three or more per week would be stellar. Y'all can do whatever it is that you do in the way of putting "good vibes" into the ether on my behalf for that. And on days I'm not working, you're welcome to join me in the pool. It's usually pretty clean (but for surface dust or bugs or whatnot), but it's also mostly cold all the time. Unless management pulls a "last year" and decides to heat it again, from today until Labor Day. Stoopids.

UPDATE: I know you kids are always saying "Pics or it didn't happen", so here is ONE "before":

and a handful of "after"s: