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You’re 97, huh? Well, you have the right to remain silent…

So, an old lady gets pulled over for speeding or something and then they throw ‘er in the slammer because of an outstanding warrant for her arrest. And of course, people are all huffed up about it because “how can you arrest a 97 year old woman?!” Well, my calloused thinking goes like this: If she’s young and alert enough to drive, she’s young and alert enough to pay fines. The bigger issue, though, is “where do you draw the line?” It’s obvious, but I’ll say it anyway: if 97 is too old, what about 96? 95? 80? 70? 60? And then, whenever you say “well, that’s young enough that they could be arrested…”, then I add one year and we go again. The point is that there’s no objective age (on the books) where people are exempt from paying fines and being arrested on outstanding warrants. In order to allow that woman to make her appointment at the beauty salon, the police would’ve had to make a subjective decision to let her go. That’s not law enforcement, it’s bias, and that’s not their job.

Bottom line: I think it’s pretty crazy that such an old woman was arrested, but that’s just a strange example of a statistical outlier. I don’t think the law–at least in this instance–should be subjective to someone’s age. Also, she’d have never been arrested if she’d paid that fine.

Friends: Jennifer Anniston

I’ve been a fan of the show for a few years now, but I can’t say I’ve ever been really sucked in by the acting. Occasionally, something will catch my eye, but I mostly watch for the comedy and story. Tonight, though, I was really impressed by the scene that Anniston did with Schwimmer near the end of the episode. Her energy was right on from the moment she entered the room, slamming the door behind her. I just thought she nailed the scene: she didn’t go over the top with the emotion, but she seemed really honest about her trepidation and frustration. I suspect a lot of that emotion was real emotion that the cast is experiencing as the final episodes are winding down, and I think it’s fantastic that she did such a great job channeling that emotion into her character in that moment. Kudos to Jennifer.

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Finally setting in?

Not surprisingly, last week’s trip to Gainesville has reminded me of what I’ve left behind and where I’m going. What is surprising is how rough it’s been my first day back. When I first moved here, I wrote how I didn’t take it as hard as I thought I would. It seems like I had somehow delayed the inevitable and my trip to Gainesville seems to have catalyzed those feelings of loss that I anticipated in January. I’m sad to be back here and I miss my family and friends. This week will be rolling starting tomorrow, so I guess I hope I’ll just be caught up in the routine as I have been for a few months now. I’ve said many times how I can’t picture myself being an engineer forever, but even now, the thought of being an actor is difficult to bear. I mean, acting sounds great, but I’ll probably still be just as alone as I am here, only I’ll be alone in California, which could be better or worse.

Anyway, I do take solace in knowing that my situation here is all but permanent. I just hope that, in the next phase of my life, I have friends around me to experience it. Back to the couch.

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Gainesville trip: Day 5

We spent most of the day at the annual End-of-the-year Crusade Picnic. I think this was my sixth such picnic and it was the first time I’ve actually stayed for the whole thing. We had a good time goofin’ off, playin’ frisbee golf (Frolf) and Ultimate Frisbee. It was an all around good time, but it sapped my strength for the rest of the day, so this post is about to get even more uninteresting.

Crusade with old guys emceein’

I emceed the 2002-2003 school year at Crusade, but had only been on stage once since then. Last night, my former co-emcee and I talked to the CRU Planning Team leader (who’s actually our protege) and we all decided to pull an emcee gag. Basically, us old guys got up as though we’d never officially left and declared that we’d been on vacation for a few weeks, but we were glad to be back. From there, we did our regular routine of improving and doing everything unscripted (because that was the way that we got the best response from the audience). Then, this year’s emcee came walking in (intentionally late on his cue because he was trying to rattle us) and asked if we are still playing hide and go seek. We told him yes and did you hear us say ‘one hundred’ yet? He said no and we asked where his bindings were and how he got untied. He said he had opposable thumbs and just reached down and undid the stuff. We said we shoulda’ tied his hands. Anyway, that was the gag, then we turned it over to him and everything when on normally from there.

Jumanji house

After Crusade, a bunch of us went over to this house to celebrate a recent (as in, at the meeting an hour before) engagement and just hang out for the end of the semester. Basically, it was a big, hot house where people were walking around and talking and being sweaty. It was fun and gross.

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Gainesville trip: Day 4

I spent most of the morning sleeping and watching TV. Then, I went to lunch with a couple friends at the Chicken Kitchen and went over to see their new place where they will be living this fall. It’s a pretty nice place, but it reminded me that, for some reason, architecture here in Gainesville is really strange. There was one place in the living room where the previous owners had cut a hole in the carpet in the middle of the floor, so they could run a phone wire up to an end table or something. I guess they were pretty certain they’d never move that end table.

Frisbee golf

Then, we went and played a round of frisbee golf at the old course. My best score there when I was playing a few times a week was 3 over par. I shot a 13 yesterday. Most of that was just general rustiness–I hadn’t played in about 9 months or so–and some bad luck–if there was a tree, even if I made a good throw, I found it. Anyway, it was fun and we all had a good time.

Newberry Backyard BBQ

This place has some of the best baby back ribs I’ve ever had and I’d been looking forward to going there since I started planning this vacation. Of course, they didn’t disappoint and I had a great time with about 7 of my friends. I hope I can make a trip out there every time I visit Gainesville.

Kill Bill Vol. 2

Even better than the first. I don’t want to do an all-out review or analysis, but I’ll say that I’m seriously impressed with Trenton ability to mix various genres of film from different eras into a seamless, solid movie. Also, Uma was spectacular and I was very surprised by her performance. I could see that she took direction very well and that she was a great fit for the role. I can’t wait to see the DVD with special features and “making of…” kinda’ stuff.

Funnier ’cause we were tired

As we were all startin’ to go to bed about 4 am, I was walking through the kitchen when the phone started ringing. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was one of the other guys in the house calling in on his cell phone. I decided not to answer, but my roommate did and this is what he heard at the other end of the line: “Hey. What’re you doin’?” Then, the same guy called about five other people around the city and did the same thing. That delayed our getting to sleep by about an hour because we were just laughing too hard to realize we were tired.

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Gainesville trip: Day 2

I was up until 4:30 last night; I haven’t been up that late since before I left here, I think. The CRU leadership meeting was good and it was great to see everyone. It was also really good to hear what all has been going on here during Spring semester and to hear what they have planned for the Fall. After that meeting, a few of us went back to a friend’s place and played Scene It!, which is basically a movie/pop-culture trivia game. It’s played with a gameboard and a DVD and the types of questions are pretty clever and we had all had a pretty good time.

Then, we played the Spades, another first since I left. That went on till around 4, but I honestly don’t remember when we quit or too much about how we played because we were all so tired and delirious. Everyone was making pretty bad plays by the time it was all over and I got the impression that we weren’t so interested in winning anymore as we were in messin’ with each other and crackin’ jokes.

Just as we finished playin’ cards, we got a little surprise: One of the guys who was planning on coming up this week–late tonight or early tomorrow afternoon–switched shifts at work so he could come up last night. We didn’t get to hang out with him too much ’cause we were all already so tired, but it’s cool that he’ll be here today so we can start the goofin’ off and arguing over moot points that we do so well.

Support

I’m about to go to my first ever support appointment with someone on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. It’s nice to finally be in a position where I can contribute something tangible to ministry and I can’t wait to get started. I also can’t wait to eat some freakin’ breakfast.

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So far, so good

I spent most of my day with my family and I enjoyed every minute of it. I went out to lunch with my dad and had a great conversation, then hung out with my stepmother and two siblings and had a great time, then I went out for coffee with my sister and we had a great conversation, then I had dinner with my Mom, sister and grandparents and we had some great conversation. I also picked up a Bible at the Family Christian Bookstore; I’ve been needing a new Bible for about a year and a half now as my current Bible is no longer bound and tends to separate itself into books and chapters and then throw itself on the floor if I don’t carry it properly.

All in all, I’ve had a great day and I know the week will only get better. Off to Gainesville!

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Robin Williams on Inside the Actors Studio

I’ve always been fascinated by Robin if for no other reason than his brain seems to work at twice the speed of most humans’. All he needs is an inkling of an idea and he will go off on a twenty-minute rant about that and any other subject that happens along. He was no different on Inside the Actors Studio and I believe James Lipton when he said Robin’s interview was a five-hour event capped by a girl being sent to the hospital with a hernia due to “uncontrollable laughter.”

I’ve sometimes heard the term “force of nature” used to describe various actors and pop-culture personalities, but I’m not sure I’ve ever felt totally comfortable with that description for anyone until I saw this interview with Robin Williams. The man truly is a force of nature. Once he gets going, I’m not sure if anything can stop him.

What’s amazing to me is that he’s also capable of an Oscar winning performance in a dramatic role (with, of course, a little comedy sprinkled in) in Good Will Hunting and that he can play such convincingly disturbed and introverted characters as he did in One Hour Photo. This was definitely one of the most entertaining interviews I’ve seen to date on the Actors Studio.

Easter with friends

Friday, I wrote about eating dinner with some friends here in Dallas. Today, I went with them to their church and was invited to an Easter lunch afterward. I had a great time just talking with them and enjoying some company for a change. I have enjoyed living alone, but I also enjoy spending time with friends and engaging in meaningful conversation from time to time. I’m glad they invited me to spend Easter with them and I think it made my day much better than it would have been.

Back to the grind with lots to look forward to

Well, of course tomorrow’s Monday and that means I have to go to work, but this week is packed full of stuff that I anxiously anticipating. Tomorrow, I begin the fifth week of my new workout routine and it’ll be the last week before I’m off in Florida next week. Tuesday, I have my second acting lesson. And Friday, I leave for my vacation out east. The rest of the time, I’ve got several books to read, including The Last Battle–the last book in the Chronicles of Narnia series–and a few other books I’ve been working through. All in all, I think it’ll be a good week.

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Dinner with friends

Since I moved to Dallas, I’ve been quite the hermit. I hadn’t really noticed it until tonight when a friend and his wife invited me over to dinner. I hesitated before I accepted the invitation, but then I asked myself, “What’re you gonna’ do if you don’t go over to their place for dinner?” The answer: Sit around watching TV and reading like I do every other night.

Anyway, it was nice to get out and see some friends and get off the couch. I need to get out more often… maybe I’ll go to Florida for a week or something.

Workout busted

I decided to take a nap after work and before my workout today, but when I finally got off the couch and went to the gym, they were closed. I guess they had posted signs saying they’d be closed today for Good Friday, but I never bothered to read them. Maybe I should start payin’ attention to stuff like that; it’d save me some time if nothing else.

Basketball tomorrow

I didn’t get to shoot around too much this week, but I still feel like I’ll probably play well tomorrow. I guess there’s no telling since I’m often not even awake at 9 when we play, but I’m hoping to start steppin’ it up. Last week, I played pretty well, but I still have a lot of room for improvement. I guess I’ll just wait and see.

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Good idea, Bad idea

We’re getting into Spring now, so I thought I should go ahead and start gettin’ me some sun. So, I figured I usually shoot hoops before I work out, so why not shoot hoops in the sun? I’ll tell you why not: It’s stinkin’ hot out there and the sun will sap all your energy if you let it. Sure enough, it let it and it did. So, I shot around for about a half hour, hopefully getting some sun, and then I went ahead and started my workout. About two sets in, I felt awful–tired, nauseous, sweaty, dehydrated–and all I wanted to do was go home. Looks like I need a new way to get some sun. Maybe I’ll have to resort to reading by the pool.

The books are in

The books that my acting instructor recommended have arrived and I’m well into Acting in Film. So far, I’ve found it to be a very practical book with a lot of good information for a guy like me who hasn’t ever been anywhere near a set. The book’s not about “being a tree” or the ethereal part of acting, but it covers more of the basics like how to act on a set, how to prepare a scene and things like that. It’s really interesting and I’m sure it’ll help me even next week at my lesson. Best of all, it’s an information-packed, fast read.

One week

A week from tomorrow, I’ll be in Jacksonville, beginning my version of Spring Break. I’m really looking forward to it and I’m sure it’ll do me some good to rest up, but I’m not yet to the point where I feel I need to “get away”. I think that’s good, though, because I’m not getting stressed at work and I won’t put unrealistic expectations on my trip. I’m looking forward to seeing my family and friends and just sittin’ around and gettin’ paid.

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Good article in People magazine

Yesterday, I picked up the latest issue of People, mostly because there was another cover story about The Passion inside. The article was actually pretty interesting in that it touched on a few of the prevalent religions (and philosophies) in Hollywood. The stuff written on the movie was pretty interesting, but I thought it was good that People took space to explain each of a few different religions being practiced in Hollywood. I think it gave me a better idea of what people are thinking these days and some perspective on how the writers at People view religion and its role in society and peoples’ lives.

I noticed a common theme in their choices was “self improvement” of some kind. In fact, most of them seemed focused on helping their followers find happiness, treat others well, perform to their full potential and be less focused on themselves. I guess People‘s explanations of these religions could have been superficial, but it seems to me that most of the religions aren’t so much “religions” as self-help philosophies that people follow to be “better” or “more successful” or whatever. Ultimately, I thought it was a little odd that People seems to believe that Christianity (and these other religions) is primarily about helping people be “good” and successful. Seems to me they’ve missed the point.

Acting lessons start tomorrow

I officially feel totally unprepared and a little nervous. Mostly, I keep asking myself “what can I do to be prepared tomorrow, so I don’t make a total fool of myself?” And, of course, I know the answer is “nothing, I will make a total fool of myself regardless of how much I prepare.” I’m looking forward to performing awfully, so I can look back on my first performance and say, “Man, I sure have improved!” I figure I’ll probably start off pretty awful, but hopefully I’ll be a good enough student to become a decent actor. Time will tell.