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Perfectly good 3-day weekend totally wasted

That about sums up my weekend, but I’ll go ahead and hit the highlights: Friday, I did nothing but watch a couple movies. Saturday, I went to Outback Steakhouse for the first time in over six months and then watched Dodge Ball: A True Underdog story. Sunday, more sitting around and watching movies. Today, more of the same along with some grocery shopping and a good workout. Also, I’m pretty close to finishing Mario Kart: Double Dash as I’ve only got Star and Special Cups left for Gold at the 150cc level.

I need to start scrounging around eBay and lookin’ for a life.

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The car is stupider than I initially suspected

Well, the nice guy at the shop across the street took a look at my car and provided some pretty bad news: “It’s a cracked lower manifold intake [or something like that]. Looks like about 6 hours’ labor, but I can’t do it this weekend because I’m booked solid. I wish I could help you out, but I’ve just got no room for it this weekend.” Super, so I’m lookin’ at 6 hours’ labor at about $65 an hour and I got nobody to work on it! Of course, I mentioned how unenthused I was to drop a bunch of money in a junker and he, sensing my hesitation, said, “You want an honest mechanic’s opinion? Sell it and get out from under it as quick as you can. They [piece of junk Grand Ams] aren’t reliable, they’re tough to work on and the motor doesn’t go back together well when you get in there.” Then, he suggested I put some “Stop Leak” sort of stuff in the car and try to sell it. He even gave me the Stop Leak stuff for free.

So, I’m all of a sudden put in a difficult situation, financially. Do I drop some money (probably $500-600) on a car I hate, just to keep it on the road? Do I go ahead and buy a new car, which I’ve wanted for a while now? Do I get a short term lease so I have something to drive without a high monthly payment until I can free myself up a little more financially? I dunno’. I do know that the decision wouldn’t be difficult at all if this had happened about 6 months from now because I’d be much more free financially. Of course, knowing that, I’m inclined to dump a little more money into the black hole now to buy some time until some other stuff is paid off. That way, I can reconsider when it’s more feasible.

I’m afraid I’m about to put more money into a piece of junk car that I can’t stand. I’ll never buy another Pontiac, regardless of how sweet a deal it is at the time.

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Long but gratifying lesson

My lesson today lasted about 2.5 hours and that’s a long stinkin’ time. The good thing is that the entire lesson was instructive and useful and I feel like I learned a great deal about the two scenes I was working on this week. For next week, I think I’m going to try and find a good monologue from High Fidelity and I’ll work on my business plan. This Sunday, STAGE is having a “Christmas Party” and my instructor is recommending that I go ahead and join. Of course, if he recommends it, I’m in so I’ll see how that goes. Should be a good time and a new experience.

Stupid car

I own a ’98 Pontiac Grand Am SE. It’s a piece of junk and has been since I got it. Today, my “low (coolant) fluid” light came on when I was on my way to my lesson in Ft. Worth. I got it to Ft. Worth and decided I’d fill ‘er up with water after the lesson (I almost brought the DexCool, but decided to leave it at home). Well, after the lesson, I went outside with a little bottle of water only to find a big puddle of coolant next to the curb. Apparently, the car had sprung a leak and wasn’t doing too well. I decided to risk it, fill the reservoir with water and try to make it home. After an hour of staring at the temperature gauge and praying, I found myself in the parking lot of a car repair/maintenance place. The dude that was working (this is 9:30 or so at night and he said they shoulda’ closed about 3 hours ago) took a look and said he couldn’t see much and he’d look at it in the morning. He topped the reservoir off with water and told me where to leave the keys when I drop it off.

First off, I hate my car. Second, the dude at the repair shop should get some sorta’ medal just for taking a minute to look at my car even though he couldn’t see anything. I don’t know how that guy could’ve been there 3 hours after closing and still be willing to say, “Just pull it next to the bay over there, so we can have some light.” Here’s to the nice guy at the repair shop.

No, this post has no point.

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Weeks fly by

It’s really unbelievable how quickly time passes for me here. When I was in school, I generally felt time move in days and I counted down the semesters in weeks. Here, time passes in one-week increments and I’m counting passed time in months. I think most of this is because of my monotonous schedule: when I was in school, every day was different and ‘routine’ wasn’t part of my vocabulary; now, every week is similar and routine is the dominating characteristic of my life.

I guess this is ok for now, but it’ll drive me nuts if I’m this wrapped up in routine forever. I don’t know if I’ll be a successful actor, but if I am I’m looking forward to having unique days again. I’m sure there’s some monotony involved with shooting a film, but I’m betting there’s also a lot of variety and hopefully that’ll help time feel like it’s passing slower.

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Big ol’ Texas storm

I had dinner at my friends’ place tonight, but had to leave a little early ’cause there was a big fat thunderstorm headed my way. The drive home was on a main highway that’s pretty flat with few trees and buildings around, so I could see a lot more of the sky than I usually can in the city or on other highways around here. There are a lot of thunderstorms in Florida, and most of them have a lot of lightning, so that’s nothin’ new to me. But for some reason, the lightning that came with tonight’s storm was pretty impressive to me. I’m not sure if it was because I could see more of the sky than I usually could in Florida, or if the storm was just different than what I grew up around, but this lightning was really something. Lightning was streaking across the sky at a rate of about one bolt a second. Some bolts were horizontal, some vertical, some a single strand, some several strands flashing together. But the really odd thing was that there was virtually no thunder. I mean, some of this lightning was really bright and vivid, and (probably because I’m used to Florida thunderstorms) I would expect to hear a big boom after a particularly bright flash of lightning. But there usually was no boom. It was pretty eerie, but really beautiful at the same time.

I hope I get to see some more of this cool Texas lightning before I move on.

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Wacky workout schedule

Ideally, my workouts (or at least the weight-lifting ones) are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Because of my schedule and my laziness I haven’t had a set routine in several weeks. I mean, once I’m in the gym I do about the same stuff every time, but it’s a matter of actually getting there. I did my Friday workout yesterday and last Monday’s workout on Tuesday. Today, I went to the gym and played basketball–a little one-on-one and mostly just some shooting around–for about an hour and a half. No weight lifting. Tomorrow, I’ll do my Monday workout and then I’ll play it by ear for the rest of the week.

I guess the reason my schedule is so wacky is that, right now, my ultimate goal is to get into the best shape possible, so I can be ready for the basketball league that starts in June. Basically, I’m hoping to be at my best during the league and that means I’ve gotta’ work pretty hard right now and until June 15 when everything starts. I’m still very focused on weight-lifting, but with the intention of getting stronger and faster, so I’m a better basketball player. I’ll save the benefits of weight-lifting as seen on the basketball court for another post.

Early day on Friday

I put in 9.5 hours today, which means that if I work the standard 8 hours for the next 3 days, I’ll leave at 2:30 on Friday. Of course, my goal will be to work that time down to around noon, but I’m not sure if I’ll have it in me. My acting lesson is cancelled this week, so I’ll have a little more flexibility, but I just don’t know if I can stay at work past 5 o’clock for the next two days. I guess it’ll just depend on how busy I am.

And now it’s time to sleep.

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Hanging curtains? What?

That was the highlight of my weekend. I’m not sure what it means, exactly, but let me explain. I moved in here about four months ago and, ever since, I’ve gone to sleep at night annoyed by how bright it is in my room. As with many apartments, there’re street lights outside and one (or two, or three) of them happens to be focused on lighting up my room. So, I’ve sort of gotten used to the light, but not completely. That’s just at night, though. In the day, it’s like God put a super nova in my room, just for me. About 6 am, when the sun comes up, I start tossing and turning because it’s just too bright to sleep well. Naps have been out of the question and “sleeping in” has meant 9 am.

So, this weekend, I went out and blew a bunch of money on stupid curtains. I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond, which I realize could have been a financial mistake. They have really nice stuff, but they’re not exactly bargain priced and that’s really what I was looking for. Next time, I’ll probably go to Target instead. Anyway, a couple hours and $130 later, I have navy curtains covering my windows and my room is dark as night whenever I want it to be. Naps are back and they’re here to stay.

Bad Basketball Blues

I played pretty poorly yesterday and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought so. There were some highlights–I hit a couple “big” shots including a game-winner–but all in all, I played pretty miserably. I knew I was in trouble when, during the first game, I missed a couple layups on fastbreaks. They weren’t the easiest finishes in the world–both were reverse layups with a defender in pursuit–but they’re layups that I’ll usually make. I just couldn’t get anything rolling and, more importantly, I couldn’t seem to synch with my team. I have that problem with a lot of the guys that play on Saturday morning. It’s not that I’m a bad player or that they’re bad players, we just don’t play well together. It seems like whatever I’m thinking, they’re thinking the opposite: if I think we should switch on a pick, they think we should stay at home; if I think they’re going to the rim on a fast break, they’re actually spotting up at the 3-point line; if I think they’re trailing me in the lane, they’re actually trailing on the block.

Anyway, I feel like I’m in pretty good shape and I’ve been playing well overall, but I just can’t seem to get on the same page as the guys that play on Saturdays. To them, I’m sure I seem like I don’t know what I’m doing, but the real problem seems to be that they play a style of basketball that involves a lot of selfish play and yelling at teammates. I figure if I can learn to play well in that environment, then there aren’t many situations in which I won’t play well in the future. Here’s to learning to play well with dudes who don’t want to learn to play well with me.

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Crazy week in Texas

Monday was my last night house-/dog-sitting for a friend. Although I didn’t mind helping him out while he was vacationing, it was really nice to get home where I could sleep in my own bed. I didn’t realize how much I like my apartment until I was displaced from it for a week. I really have made a home here and I’m very comfortable in the environment that I’ve created. It’s cozy and it’s home.

My first movie premier

Tuesday evening, I attended the premier for a local indie film. I have to say it was pretty bad and I was really surprised at the attention that such a low-budget, low-quality film received. I think a lot of it was pure hype by promoters and moneymakers, but in the end, it just wasn’t a good movie. I would give details but it’d be easier to say this: the only redeeming part of the film was the lead actress, but even her performance wasn’t enough to save this movie. It was so bad that, at the end, they were giving away prizes–copies of the DVD, T-shirts, movie posters–but when they called the winning ticket numbers, no one claimed the prizes. There were three or four unclaimed prizes before an older woman and a child claimed some stuff. It was sad and funny at the same time.

Another great session for the acting

Tonight, I was given a cold-read–it was a scene from a local Dallas indie–and I had a reading partner. It was a great experience because I was able to learn a lot about myself, my natural ability, the ability that I’ve gained through my work so far and my ability to interact–listen and react–with another actor. All in all, I was very pleased with my work tonight, but I definitely see much room for improvement. While I’m learning more and more about breaking down a scene and making it into a workable, believable piece, I’m still having some trouble digging into the scene to find the proper motivations for myself and my character. This will come with time, I know, but at least I’m aware of my shortcomings and that’ll give me something to work on.

I just e-mailed my instructor a copy of (what I guess one would call) a treatment that I wrote back in the Summer of ’02. He’s going to look over it and we’ll decide whether there’s anything worth turning into a short film. If there is, we’ll probably start working on it and eventually lay it down on tape. I’m half expecting him to hate it and pan it, but I’m half expecting he’ll find something worth working with. I’ll just have to wait and see.

Busy tomorrow, too

Tomorrow night, I’m going to a friend’s belated birthday party (he and his wife are actually sharing a party and it’s closer to her birthday than his), so I’ll probably be good and exhausted by tomorrow night. I’m not really sure who’s going to be there, but at least I’ll know the happy birthday couple and maybe a few other kids. It should be fun.

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Sparsely blogging

I’m house-/dog-sitting all week, so I’m not in my apartment much… that means the blog is going to be neglected for a few more days. Things are good: I had another very solid acting lesson last night, work is ok and I had dinner with some friends to celebrate a birthday tonight. All in all, things are going smoothly and I’m enjoying myself.

Off to the other house.

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Love Actually

A fantastic film. Of course, I coulda’ gone without all the naked people, but that was the only part of the film that I didn’t love. The writing was superb, the acting was fantastic and the story was fun to watch. I guess this would be considered a “chick flick”, but it’s excellent regardless. I feel that it transcends strict genre and represents a creative, well told story about love of different kinds and by and for people in different stages of life. Often, a romantic comedy (which is the single genre that this film most resembles) different types and aspects of love are explored, but all forms are generally portrayed in a shallow way until the payoff when the couple falls in love and lives happily ever after. This film covers platonic love, unrequited love, characters choosing a greater love in lieu of a less personal, less necessary love, and even love that simply must not be expressed due to circumstances and poor timing.

A great, great movie.

Mondays are always so rough…

…because by Sunday night I’m used to being up late, getting up late and sleeping a lot. I don’t need bunches of sleep, but I tend to take advantage of extra sleep time if it comes my way. That kinda’ time comes my way once a week in the form of the weekend and it only takes me those two days to become totally used to the luxuries of sleeping however long I want and napping at any time of the day. Of course, it won’t be long until I’m thrust back into sleepy reality as my alarm clock drags me out of bed and throws me in the shower at 7 tomorrow. I should be getting ready for bed, only I’m not tired. It’s going to be a long, short night.