FYE

I have a new Dead Land up... life is a difficult mess, overwhelming and everpresent...writing is a wonderful escape.

I think this is one of my better ones.

http://thedeadland.blogspot.com

Chinese Unwelcomtries

He wiped the water spot off of his phone with a blue thermal sleeve. He had managed to find shelter from the rain under a fire escape. Still occassional drops hit him on the head, hands, and shoulders, always with unreasoned surprise. Another merciless rain drop hit his phone. He wiped it with his palm and typed the last bit of a sentence.

Production waited around with hands in pockets. They were not wanted here, in this little alley street in Chinatown. Hair salons and manicurists ran down the narrow roadway in binary form. The store owners were all out, some sitting in folding chairs, others riding the edge of the sidewalk, waiting impatiently for the camera and crowd to go away. One stood in the street smoking a cigarette in an orange wife-beater. He had a white streak through his spiked hairs and he made native threats at the production. Soon he ran over to the front of his shop, picked an aluminum chair and beat on it like a drum. This encouraged the other owners and all at once they were clanging with trash can lids, blocks and nightsticks. Still he waited under the fire escape wondering what these Chinese people were doing. Was it a protest or perhaps a rain ritual? He considered both seriously. After a few minutes it was obviously not a cultural thing, but a temperance thing. The banging never stopped. And the production moved.

Congratulations Dave! Even though you'll be working for a community that once hanged people because of witchcraft. Kalju- what can I say, we will miss you. Even a shit day, can give you a nice 22nd floor view of the city. Mta- thank you for breaking down and making my eye all twitchy. Did I say thank you? My bad, fuck you from the bottum of my heart......Yes I made unwelcomtry up. So what!

Revenge of the Lucas

Damn it, so I write a blog harping of George Lucas, then later go to tune in to the Family Guy and Attack of the Clones is on in place of. This isn't over yet Lucas!! You hear me?!?! Not over! Gather up your army of Star Wars geeks, you're gonna need 'em bitch!

Essentialities

I cannot operate without such references:

www.dictionary.com

www.thesaurus.com

www.rhymezone.com

There are others, yes, but they are too obvious.

Reel-ly??

I caught up on some entertainment news thanks to my internet sources. I heard that Lucas was coming out with another box set of DVD's for the original Stars Wars trilogy, the attraction being that they are as is from the 1977(8) theatrical release [I don't really fucking know the release date, and I'm not looking it up!] I really don't get the appeal of it or the rationale of spending non-counterfeited money on such a thing. And today I read he's releasing another anniversary DVD set next year. What the fuck man?!?!?! How much does that make it??? Like 15 different versions of one fucking set! I got an idea for you Lucas, you fucking no necked, gargle-voiced wash-up, first learn how to write dialogue!!! Second, come out with an interactive DVD set in 2008, where you just throw uncut scenes on there and allow fans to create their own overdone, unnecessary joke of a re-release for one last time! You don't even need to credit me for that shit!

In happier movie news, Jim Broadbent has joined the cast of Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd. Broadbent has the type of face, where you look and say to yourself, "he's looks really f'ing familiar" and your curiousity forces you to IMDB to reference it. I recoginize him from Gangs of New York. And now that I know who he is, I think it was a great casting decision (as Judge Turpin.) Oh and in response to comments on my initial Sweeney Todd post..... I wasn't saying that Big Fish and E.S were Burton's only good movies, I love many of his movies, and I've watched probably every one of them since Beetle Juice, I was talking about emotional depth. Yes, I think I was a little harsh on Burton/Depp, but I had just come from seeing the show on Broadway and was thoroughly affected by it. I am with you on it now, rock that shit Burton! I could see Helena Bonham Carter as the beggar women. Anyone else find her an incredibly talented actress?

Something's Missing

One pair socks, one pair underwear, deodorant, toothbrush, laptop, laptop chord....what am I missing???? Oh yeah, my cell phone charger. I traveled upstate yesterday, I was going home to take part in a surprise birthday party for my sister. And I forgot my cell phone charger! So I've been unavailable since early this morning. Last night was nice, I visited with my parents and the doggies for a while and then when all went nighty-night, I finished my entry for Dead Land. (which I just posted for anyone interested.) Today was been incredibly busy as I was volunteered to be chief chef today, I made a pasta salad, swedish meatballs, and a sausage dish. I was pretty much going non-stop until ten minutes my sister's ETA. Once she showed up, she was completely surprised by the party and also by my presence. So much in fact, that she began to cry at the sight of me. The party was a good time. There are so many different families within my family (mostly due to divorces and such) that it was alot of going from one group to the next and visiting. By the end of the night it was just me, one night owl niece, my mother, my sister's husband, her friend and me sitting drinking, shooting the shit. It's been a good day. A very good day. Tomorrow I am on the train at high noon. Back to my life.

That's a What?

A wrap!!!

Though my logic was somewhat flawed this morning, I had a feeling it was going to be a short day. And a short day it was! Just five little itty bitty hours. The day wasn't very exciting. I was on set most of the time just doing background doing what FBI tech's do, you know making mad dashes across rooms with metal cases, jotting notes, looking confused.
I did start the morning off right, with an agrument with a piece of shit extra, didnt even make it to set before (was in the courtesy van) I was mixing it up.
Had a nice NYC downpour on the way home. The rain felt great but there was just one problemo, I had too many electronics to be caught in a shit storm. So I opened my backpack, wrapped my laptop in my jacket, stuck my phone in my back pocket, because your backside never gets it. And stepped outside of the platform. So much wetness then followed. Came home stripped everything off, checked my laptop which was dripping water, but still seemed fine. And now here I am. Here I am.

Loud Mouths

SSSHHHHH-shh-shh-shhhhh!

Worked again today. It wasn't a bad day at all. About 12 hours. Did stand-in for a bit and then chilled (quite literally) in holding....
The trouble with a group of people who like hearing their own voices is that they all shout in order to hear themselves over the person loudest. Needless to say, there was just too much noise in holding. Too much for me to get into a writing flow. Since I am working on the same set tomorrow with the same people, I WILL be bringing headphones with me. I only hope that I will be able to hear music over their volume contests. Goodnight.

Word to your Motha

I dont really have anything nice to say about today so I think I just won't say anything at all. That's how my momma taught me.

The Adventures of a Subway Moron

So I had work today on a TV show. Filming was on the edge of Brooklyn, which wasn't so bad, just a few train transfers. Unfortunately, I wasn't sure about one of the transfer station (not that I had any help from conductor announcements) and I missed the stop. This slowed me down only a few minutes and I got there with time to spare. Since breakfast catering was right in front of the studio I figured I'd get an omelette going before I went into holding. Now I had been to this studio once before, very long ago, actually I don't even remember what the production was. The set up was a little changed, the holding in a different area. Well, I walked through about 5 doors looking for holding, went up to two crew who just completely fucking ignored my presence, then another who was nice enough to help, but sent me in the wrong locale, and then finally I was told that the door marked "catering" also lead to holding. Who woulda thunk it?
So I was a coroner. It was kind of a demanding day. First health-wise I haven't been so good for the last couple of days (a combination of exhaustion and a cold thanks to the promo gig), secondly I had to maneuver a gurney/body bag/dummy through a doorway. The direction...walk backwards three steps/ no scratch that five steps/no scratch that 6 steps, turn about, quicken pace through threshold, hug the wall, all of this timed precisely. I only mention the steps because otherwise I know you'd be thinking, how hard is it to pull a gurney around. So that was part was a stressful, but we got it done and I didn't mind the challenge, because everyone was appreciative of ours efforts. The other great task was getting the gurney up a flight of stairs, windy, narrow stairs, involving getting around a bounce and a light, once reaching the top of the stairs, lifting the gurneyup further and turning it 90 degrees down another set of stairs and passing it off to a PA. Take 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,wait back up guys and action! reset! Holy fuck! Is it hot in here?
Luckily the day was short. I'm still not quite sure what went down, but on my subway back home, I somehow ended up in Manhattan. Yeah, I've been a NY'er for nearly 2 years, that's right.
I finally got home, watched TV for about an hour and then passed out for a couple of hours. I've finally been able to catch up on my Dead Land readings...WOW!! Incredible!! Go Pop Sharks!!!

Kinda Got That Worn In Look?

I do! I don't even know where to start on the event that was this weekend! I have been in Brooklyn since Thursday night, staying at a very kind friend's house, because he lives much closer to the promo gig and he was also hired for it. Friday morning we arrived there at 7am and waited around for about a half an hour with no clue whom to talk to or what to do. Finally the supervisor comes along and we get our nifty promo shirts and security tags. I am paired up with a girl and we are at the x-box station. The actual event was the AVP tournament, you know, volleyball. And so we were whoring out the sponsors of the tournament. They had four stations at my booth, baseball, tennis, boxing and football. Then a table, where we had rows of frisbees and waterbottles and people could sign up to win a free x-box. Exciting? There was a wheel there they wanted us to spin for the "fans" as they were called. The choices on the spin wheel were... "waterbottle," "flying disc," and "try again." Now what the fuck is the purpose of the "try again"????? They're going to end up getting either a water bottle or frisbee, so why makes me spin that fucking wheel again? The wheel itself was ghetto-ass shit. Made of metal and near falling apart, the supervisor told us not to allow "fans' to spin the wheel in fear it would spin right off and kill someone. And loud as hell! So whenever someone asked to spin the wheel and this was often, I simply told them, "we can't let you, it could kill you." I don't know, I think people had the impression spinning the wheel was fun, like they got a chance at Wheel of Fortune or some shit. Come on people!! You're spinning for either a water bottle or frisbee!!! Why don't you just take the one you want (no! not both you greedy fuck) take that shit and go. Then of course there are the typical stupid questions/stupid jokes you have to smile through until they wear that fake ass smile on your face down to a threatening sneer (you'll soon figure out why my attitude is a little hostile.) About 7 hours passed and I decided I'd use my food ticket the supervisor gave me to get some eats. I walk down the beach to the place with the eats and order a chicken sandwhich. As I am eating this sandwhich I am watching them at the cooker, they take off the grill and lean it against a fence. As they pour charcoal into it, the grill falls over into the sand. So the guy picks up the grill , shakes it off and puts it back on the cooker. Well, I guess they were making "sand"whiches!!! heh-heh-heh!
Now, it's a hot, sunny day at the beach. Which sounds nice! And for a while it is. I has on shorts, their shirt and went barefeet. But it also really wears you down. About 12 hours into the day, they tell us we can go on a 15 minute break for more food. This is complete BS, because they were supposed to let us go at 6:30 and it was supposed to be an hour. So I am FUMING, my friend is pissed and ther girl we were hanging with was also irrate. We're walking on the boardwalk to try to make it to real food (Nathan's) and Leo and I are just throwing out all kinds of hostilities (mostly in the form of jokes.) We get to Nathan's and we've run out of time, so we walk back with no food, again with an endless barrage of hate flowing out. But it was an hystarical 20 minutes.. Long story short we worked about 15 hours and had a total of 45 minutes for a break.
Alright, I am getting tired of writing....The second day was shorter, we got released early, the supervisor knew many of us were pissed, so he was less of a Hitler but still an ass. I stopped using the spin wheel all together because the piece of shit wasn't working properly anyway (yes all is needed to do WAS spin and stop, but just trust me.) I brought sunscreen, as Friday my face got burnt under the sun, I tried out something called the IJoy, a massage chair. I wanted to hate the thing, but mostly it actually did feel quite nice. The volley ball players were really in sickly good shape with tans that made their skin look more like hide than well...skin. Took my shirt off during break to fight the farmers tan, kicked some ass in boxing, ate a nice dinner (I recently wrote somewhere online, "who eats eggplant anyway?" and I just had some. It's quite good,) watched a movie, a glass of wine and passed out.
Today another short day, filled with ducking and dodging to talk to people on my sidekick at the stand. Perhaps all this makes me sound like a terrible worker. Not the case. The first day I was really trying to make it fun, being overly excited to the "fans" and joking around and even yesterday and today, I might not have been smilely, but I only sneered at people when they REALLY deserved it. And I was always doing my tasks. I am completely burnt out. The sun, the heat, the smiling, the hours... all I want to do is slink in the chair and relax. But first a shower!!! My hair doesnt even feel like hair, it gives the appearance of, but certainly is not! There is sand everywhere and it needs to come off. Anyway, this was my weekend. It would have been much more interesting to read about had I blogged every day, but at any given moment I was too exhuasted for that.

Mr. Popular

Ain't it just the way!! Since I am booked tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday on this promotional gig, I get not one but two calls for work tomorrow. Ah well! Watcha gonna do? Hopefully they remember me next week.

I read online today that it is confirmed Tim Burton is directing and Johnny Depp is starring in the film version of Sweeney Todd. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this. First I don't think this musical needs to be brought to film. I think is stand up on its own just fine on stage. Secondly, I like Tim Burton and all. Visually the guy's a genius, but let's face it besides Edward Scissorhand and Big Fish, how much depth have his films had? I mean there are definately aspects of the musical I can see him handling very well, but I just wonder if he can affect me when it ends (like the play did.) And lastly I like Johnny Depp, but as Sweeney Todd? He's too eccentric, not bruting and intimidating enough, he can pull off creepy, but it's not the same. Maybe I'm wrong...

AUDIO:Dreamers
by rec327

The Weekend is Imminent

Ah... Today... Well I took a little walk though the park and along East River in the morning. Got a progress report on ShE, apparently audio masting is finishing up this week, so I came back and re-recorded my vocals for the opening song that I made last year to get it set for their purposes. Hopefully I can get them to send me some visuals to share sometime soon. BS'ed with Tony Two Fucks (my mafia my was Richie Bang Gang and the younger DeMarsh used to be Jimmy the Horse Cock.) Of course since I was already recording I decided to start recording a new song. Not much excitement to the day other than a work out, a trip to the grocery store, two wrong numbers and one kind of weird call. The weekend gig is nearly upon me.

AUDIO:Dumb-Drunk Gone
by rec327

Get the Thief!

Work did not stretch out as long as I would have liked it to. Nothing that special happened to mention. After I got out I decided I might as well get the necessary shopping I need to get done for the gig this weekend. So I went to gap looking for sales items, with my backpack full of changes. Suddenly a sales associates was in front of me with a, "hi, how are you doing." "fine." I know what you're doing miss sales associate, I used to work for your little company. Your veiled customer service! Don't worry I'm not going to steal anything. You don't have to bring attention to me.

Working did give me time to finish my Dead Land entry. So it's posted for any interested. Kalju also posted as well as Clancy's marathon of entries.

The Smiley Face Gang

Who else cringes when you hear that impatient "hello" comes from a banner full of smiley faces on the ad at the top of your screen? I hate you Mr. Smiley Face! Don't talk to me.

Absent of Mind

I'm just doing some stupid stuff lately. The other day I sent a thank you postcard to an casting agency, which is good and all, except that the person I was sending it to works in another company. Then today I get my mail and there's a response from a literary agency, so I open and inside is my original letter untouched along with the return evelope. So I think to myself, "man, that's insulting they didn't even read it, they just sent it back." Then I realize that I sent MYSELF the query letter and put the agency addressed letter inside. YEEEAH!

Anyway, work is good for this week though. Thanks to a friend I have some promotional work booked for this weekend. I've never done this type of work before. I'm a little nervous about it. Being thrown into such a blatant social situation, but the money isn't too bad (not for SAG standards but better than Gap.) They are going to be LONG days, 14 hours for the first two and I think 6 on the last, which I am not too psyched about, but it's gonna pay half my rent, so it's worth it. It's also on Coney Island, the bad: two hour trip away, the good: I'll be at the beach all day. I booked work for tomorrow so YAY some more.

FYE

I recorded this song today. I have to say it might be the best song I have recorded in a while. It is NOT about me, I did not lose a loved one in an accident. Please don't sympathize for me, it's just story telling :) But please DO enjoy!

AUDIO:A Shadow Chase
by rec327

Bar Hopping in the Rainforests of Astoria

Broke out the fedora and went with a friend to the many bars of Astoria last night. First it was to the Beer Garden. The drinks are cheap, smoking is A-OK because it's all outside and it's always hopping. Although we felt a bit out of place as it seems to be a place for large groups to convene. So we moved on. There was a bar at ditmars that I wanted to investigate, one that promised a pool table. $4 drinks, two pool tables and a dart board. I played a kick-ass first game of pool and then some guy challenged me so I played him. It was a close game, but I was drunk and he was taking the game way too seriously, so for entertainment purposes I made fun of him through most of the game. I accidentally agreed to play him once more and ordered another drink to get me through the game. Then we were bound for another bar, one I like to call "the creepy bar." But at the last minute, we made a quick left and ended up back at the Beer Garden. The reasoning being that the drinks are cheaper. Of course after I got another drink I realized I didn't need one, and he realized he was starting to feel it too much for the drive back to Brooklyn (plus the place was closing) so we left, my screwdriver hidden under the bottom of my shirt.
Today..... not much.

Broken Record

Yesterday was a good day in terms of getting shit done. In the morning I recorded the audio needed for ShE, amused myself taking the line and giving it several versions. It's funny how with a few subtilities you can change the tone of a sentence. We do it instinctively every day as we communicate. Somewhere in our heads we're thinking about how to say each and every word. And then when the inconvenient moment comes when we don't verbalize quite right we say to ourselves, "why did I say it like THAT?"
Anway, the recording ended up being a bust as I discovered today the battery in the mic was dying, so I replaced it and re-recorded today. Now I am going back and forth with the elder DeMarsh and frankly the line is getting really old. I hope I am done saying it. It is not very easy to replicate a line exaxtly when you're not looking at the action of a scene you filmed pretty much exactly a year ago. I'm sure it will all turn out in the end though.
I also sent out postcards and mailed all the possible literary query letters via Ross Reports. So I feel good about that. I had planned on watching a movie, but instead got caught up in writing and readying headshots for the mail today. This only confirms my stance on not getting cable as I am sure it would only be a disastrous distraction.
I've been recording a good part of today, a song that I began about a month ago. My microphone is working so much better, it's kind of pulling me into recording. Lyrically I think this current song is the best I've written in a while, so we'll see if I can finish it.
Bah! Clancy wrote new Dead Land entry!!! Oh the poor souls of the Metatron!!!

Sometimes Fat Is Funny

http://www.feedofman.blogspot.com/

Tonight I draw attention to this fat ass blog. Please read and laugh as I do.

Tight-Lipped

Today was mostly confusing and aggravating and I actually had every intention of not even bothering to blog about it. But finally at the end of the night I did something. It's feels SO good to actually work, I hate sitting around and doing nothing and it seems that's all I've done the last few times I've worked. I would really like to do more work on the film, so I am not going to go into details of the day or what happened on set, because I don't want to chance it. But by the end of the night, Ridley Scott was giving me direction in a car. I got to play cop using my hand as a gun. It definately ended the night on a good note. I am writing my thank you postcard first thing in the morning and getting in the mail. It sure would be nice to have some steady work on that set.
I have tomorrow off, which is okay. I had two 12 hour days this week and that is better than I have been having. So tomorrow, I will be doing some looping for final audio fixings to ShE, looking up more prospective film festivals and writing more query letters. I have received two responses so far. One saying they currently have no literary department and the other saying they are not accepting new clients. So not really turn-downs, and I am happy that they are still writing me back even though. And I must exercise tomorrow, it's been too long.

Where The Neon Lights Are Bright

Last year I was a down and out first year New Yorker too paranoid of sudden financial death to splurge on much. However I did manage it to Broadway a couple of times, watching 12 Angry Men and Dame Edna with my tourist parents. The experiences incited a need to see more and yesterday I got the chance to do just that.
A friend and I ran around crazy Manhattan yesterday in an effort that seemed to span the edges of known time. But we finally snatched tickets for Sweeney Todd (or Todd Sweeney depending on your mood) and The Wedding Singer. There really wasn't time to do much else before the curtain opened than to grab a snickers bar and run in to the frist show, Sweeney Todd. Out of both shows, I'd say this show was my favorite. Though at times the lighting was a little too moody and challenged my eye lids, I really like the storytelling and the song structure. The entire cast was amazing. The kind of cast that makes it really hard to pick a favorite. There was a casket on stage and nearly everyone ended up sitting in or standing on it. OH! The show is about a murderous barber who is swayed into making people pies by a local unsuccessful pie maker. It's a cannibal tale in other words and all the performers play their own istruments while acting and singing. It's dark and funny and pretty damn disturbing by its end. It was an awesome show of skill in every category of craft.
The Wedding Singer was the perfect follow-up, light to a point of peppiness, extravagent sets and bunches of laughs. It's of course based on the movie and many of the lines (mostly the jokes) are verbatim. So to be completely honest some the humor that Sandler brought to the film didn't translate as funny on stage for me and I think I was laughing more at the supporting cast than the two leads. The songs didn't grab me as much as Sweeney Todd. I find that I like songs in musicals more when they tell a story rather than describing an actor's particular emotion. But again I laughed a lot and the set design and costumes were great. My favorite one being the Delorean. I wish more of the show took place in that damn car. So there you have it, my reviews of Broadway.
In between shows I got a call to do stand-in for today. I am WAY up, 175th street, in Ghettoville. The film's called American Gangster, but it's defiantely American Gangsta in these parts. Definately not where I would want to be lost in the middle of the night. At any rate I am hoping this will turn into more work, if this actor has multiple days. I didn't sleep much; for some reason I've been worrying lately that I won't wake up in the morning, so I end up stirring myself awake and staring at the clock...... It's been an incredible week so far.

The Sopranos Belly Flop

Unfortunely the Sopranos experience was rather boring. I knew pretty much all the crew as they had all been on Mad Men and got a few hellos from some people. I was nearly featured in a little comedic moment but I was pulled and replaced with someone the director was chummy with. Cheap you say? Yeah a little, but it's not like I crying over it. I did however become more and more invisible as the night carried on. As an usher I was wearing a comany polo and I think I may have been confused with an actual employee of the theater. At one point I suggested to another forgotten actor/usher that we should sneak into a movie with our oh so perfect disguises, but we never did. So there was a bunch of notta, then a walkaway lunch that sent me to union square, then a whole bunch of notta after that. I was finally put into the scond to last shot, far back into a dark corner. I basically got paid for nearly 13 hours of smoking on the sidewalk and talking on my phone. Put in that perspective not bad, heh?

The Love/Hate Relationship

LOVE work/ HATE extras. Please stop talking about yourselves, please stop feeling important, please stop with the stupid. There is a balcony, I am sneeky, you are not safe.

New York State...Of Mind

The ride home was long. The train crawled through most of the Upstate stops. And there I sat in my seat, mumbling curses to Amtrak under my breath with a squinty eye. I dozed for a bit, admittedly a mistake since now I doubt I will get to sleep at a decent hour. As I dodged through crowds in Penn Station like a fighter pilot to make it to the subway, a quick thought crossed my mind. I'm back in the city, the city where nothing smells pretty or as the conductor dubbed it, the pearl of the world. (come to think of it conductors were kind of funny today. In Saratoga one announced, "some one please come to the lost and found to claim a hearing aid that was discovered in the parking lot. Though you probably can't here this announcement.") It's good to be back. There's a grittiness and a fight to New York City that I appreciate. SO HERE I AM. I'm going to go out get some food, some booze and celebrate my return real proper-like. I have some query letters to finish for tomorrow's mailing and some order to restore to my apartment as well.
I am now a respectable extra. Tomorrow I am working on The Sopranos finally. A theater attendant. I'm gonna shave and slick that shit back and see if I can't get some screen time. Usually I don't give a shit, but I guess I just feel like getting noticed tomorrow. It's a silly thought and will pass once I am on set I'm sure. I also received a second call for tomorrow, so I hope this is a good sign. I really need to get back on track. Because these last two months have been discouraging as all hell.

Upstate's Top 10

And so tonight ends my stay here in upstate New York. The earliest train out is at noon, so I expect to by home by 4pm. Though we're talking about Amtrak here, so who really knows. It's been a good getaway and I think very timely. Here are my top 10 favorite things for this weekend.

1. Seeing my family, friends and doggies of course
2. Pool time
3. Relaxing and reclining in the sun
4. Free food
5. Using my neices as projectiles in the pool
6. A wide array of conversation
7. Speeding on the highway (you fellow strap hangers feel me)
8. Taking it slow
9. Buying a pack smokes for under 5 bucks.
10. Barely using my cell phone

And there you have it.

circa...when I get there

Something I am doing for myself on this little excursion home is relieving the stress of time schedules by throwing out a lot of circas to people. "I'll be there around so and so." Everytime time I am here I end up dividing up my days like math equations, but this time....this time I am going with the flow. And damn it is nice. Did some visiting today, ate non stop and swam some. My body is seeing the sun for the first time in a while and I actually have a tan going on now.
I went to the racetrack for a bit to see a horse my step-father co-owns race and watched him gamble afterwards. Watched because I can't bring myself to gamble away money, even if its not mine. Later on there was a card game at my sister's and some drinking. I walked face first into a glass door (I am going to check for marks tomorrow) and ate toast. I am content to do it all over again tomorrow...even the door accident.

Taking the weekend off

It was a quick decision. Go home. I made some very blunt phone calls, threw the essential shit in my backpack, secured an Amtrak ticket and got out of dodge. The subway was very good to me. Every train was perfectly in tune with my arrival and I was at Penn Station in no time. This spoke to me, "it's okay Rick, go home, you're doing the right thing." I had a few minutes to spare, so I bought lunch to-go ( a Snickers bar and a bottled water) and boarded the train. Besides a large guy in front of me who had his seat reclined far too much and kids behind me, it was an alright ride. I brought my laptop of course and tuned out any aggravation with a movie. Then the phone rang. I haven't recieved a call for work in TWO weeks mind you. Now an hour into my ride a casting agency calls me and wants me to work. I listened to the voice mail fuming!! I was further enraged as my piece of shit T-Mobile service was getting ZERO reception and I had to wait about 15-20 minutes before I could call back. Luckily the work may still be available to me next week. But it just fucking figures, doesnt it??
Very soon I was suddenly thrown into the family environment meaning, parents, siblings, grandparents, nieces latching onto me. It's a little overwhelming going from bunches of solitude to being surrounded on all sides. Since my life's habits don't really coincide with my family's I was up alone watching a movie until the wee hours (2:30am) while they all slept snuggly. Like usual I was sharing the couch with a Boxer named Zeus who farted non-stop. The stench could not be compared to anything I know. But I forgave him repeatedly because he has floppy ears. This morning was a rude awakening. Kids yelling and the like. I did't want to get up, but there was really no choice. I ate half of a muffin before Zeus stole the rest, then I was coerced into the pool. There I stayed for quite a while as I was having a hell of a time picking up adult and kid alike and throwing them under the water. This while they tried to gang up on me (which NEVER worked.) At some point my doggy brother Max came over to visit and I gave him my behind the ears massage/scratch maneuver I do so well and tried to cool him off with some pool water, which he was very timid about. He is part Lab, just so you know, so he was being quite ridiculous. Then I helped my sister do some errands (my sister I must say is one of my most favorite people, goofy goofy goofy) which led us to a very long hour wait inside a hot vehicle to play musical cars. Then it was back to the house for hotdogs (which I usually don't deal with) and more water festivities. Then a BBQ with the family and the usual banter. Later on a good friend stopped by and we hung out for a while engaged in dry and suddenly hilarious conversation. I am having a great time so far. I'm trying to keep my mind of work related problems and all the other career or monetary things I stress about while in the city. (well I did bring materials to prepare some query letters, but I had to be somewhat productive) It feels like a vacation, but what work am I escaping? Maybe it's not about the work, but more about (again) the stress. Nevertheless, it's good. I really feel like I will return fully restored and energetic to get back into things. Tomorrow, plans for more swimming and more eating are already afoot. I may be back to write this weekend, but I don't want to give false promises.

Businesses Letting the Cold Air Right out!

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[I have an idea I think not only interesting but relevant to news concerning the city’s power shortage right now.
Pass by the clothing stores and tourist shops of Manhattan or any of the boroughs for that matter. Does it make any sense for the businesses to leave their store doors WIDE OPEN? It’s 102 degrees out, the power of every area is in jeopardy of suddenly losing electricity because of an overwhelming demand and these places are letting the cold air right out into the streets. It’s infuriates me! I am sure they do it to draw in tourists on hot afternoons, but they are also contributing to outages that tourists come here and suffer through. Meaning bad experiences and lost revenue. It’s so wasteful and insensible it makes me want to spit!
Another thing I don’t get is why establishments have to make these places SO cold!! It’s 100+ degrees outside, why do you have your thermostat set at 65. I walked into a post office yesterday and my body nearly went into hypothermic shock. Aren’t we supposed to be conserving???? I say shame on the businesses! Oh and how’s this for irony, in middle of my progress writing this letter, my power goes out! Please send someone onto the streets; I know you’ll see what I mean. Thanks for listening.
Richard XXXXXXXX
123-456-7890]

That was the letter I wrote this morning to each of the five news channels of NYC. Once I submitted the email, I followed up with a phone call. The first number I called was Channel 7 (abc.) The guy starts arguing with me, telling me that businesses don't do this...he's never seen it...it would be a waste of their money. So I argue right fucking back as well as give him specific examples of when I've seen it. Does this guy works overnighters on the sidewalks of Times fucking Square? I think not! Does this guy live with his head shoved up his own ass... I think so bitches! So after I said all this, he gives me a "well, we'll look into it." Don't fucking patronize me fucker!
He just pissed me off and made me more determined to reveal the truth. I called the next station (Fox 5) and restated everything, with some new points I thought up during the fucker conversation and I also used the fucker, saying people are trying to disregard it. She didn't say much, but she took all my contact info and said they'd look into it.
Then I called NBC and started in and the lady cuts in and says, "Ha, the governor JUST made a special point in his announcement to the public saying to all businesses, "you're wasting electricity, shut your doors and stop letting the A/C out." I laughed, "no way!" She said, "yup!"
I said I had been writing and calling news channels all morning about it and then I told about the channel 7 fuckface and she laughed more. You hear you fuckface over at channel 7, the governor agrees (listened??) to/with me and we laughed at you! And that's New York City!!

Is this Haiku?

Maybe we can go a full two weeks without work again.

Wouldn't that be charming?

I've about fucking had it.