Month: April 2005

I have an audition for a play this morning. I’m excited, because this is something that I can totally do, but I’m slightly nervous, too . . . in situations like this (where I feel pretty confident), it’s easy to grip the bat too hard. So here’s how I’ll have a successful audition:

1. keep it simple
2. respect the material
3. make it my own
4. don’t over-think or over-complicate it (see number one)
5. have fun
6. when I’m done, let it go

. . . don’t forget that “successful” doesn’t necessarily mean that I get the job . . .
This week’s Games of our Lives is Tapper:

For maximum fun, whenever your video-game counterpart chugs a beer, chug one of your own. If you can make it past level three, you’re an honorary Frat Guy. At level seven, you’re an honorary Kennedy. Past level 10, you’re Ted Kennedy.

I feel like I’m starting to hit my stride with Games of our Lives. Writing it is currently the highlight of my week.
Later today, I have another audition, this time for a cool improv job. I get to work with my friend Travis from ACME, so I’m really looking forward to that. Whether we get the job or not, I’m guaranteed to have fun there.
It’s kinda weird to write about auditions . . . they used to be so important to me, but my priorities have changed, and my focus has switched so much in the past few years, they’re not life-or-death any more. I can honestly say that I just hope to have a good time, and not stink up the place. At the very least, I usually get a good story out of the thing.
. . . and that’s when I realized that I was really a writer: the day I started treating every experience I had as an opportunity to get a good story . . .

Anne’s away overnight celebrating a Big Birthday with her friend, so I’m home alone with the kids.
That means pizza for dinner, Family Guy and Futurama on TV, and some general goofing off until their bedtime which was a few hours ago.
After they went to sleep, I sat at my desk, fired up my Death Cab For Cutie / Wilco / The Shins / Nada Surf playlist, and worked with my friend Russ on the Great WWdN Redesign of 2005. It’s coming along nicely, and I’m really excited to get it finished.
Riley has slept under my feet for much of the time I’ve been here, while Sketch has walked in and out of the room about a hundred times (that guy who said “A cat is always on the wrong side of a closed door” was talking about my Fat Guy). Sketch has been coughing a lot the last week or so, and I’m really worried that he’s nearing the end of his life. I just can’t afford the ~300 dollars it costs every single time I take him to the vet, (and he hates the tests and the drive there) so I’m just consulting with her on the phone once or twice a week, and hoping for the best. Sketch’s little heart is sick, and his disease is clearly advancing, but he still sits in my lap when I write, and sleeps on my chest every night . . . the thought of losing him (probably sooner than later) is just too much to bear. It’s really hard to face that reality, because the rest of him is healthy and happy. I guess when it’s time, he’ll tell me, just like Felix did.
I think he knows I’m writing about him — he just walked over to me, put his little paws up on my leg, and meowed until I picked him up. He’s looking over my hands as I write this . . . Hi Sketch. I love you, you fat little guy.
(Just in case he can read . . . I swear, he’s turning his head to follow the cursor while I type. Heh.)
It’s just after midnight now, and I’ve been working without a break since I put the kids into bed around 9:30, so it’s time for bed.
Before I sat down to write this, I walked through the house and checked the doors to make sure they were locked, turned off lights, got myself a glass of water . . . and walked out onto the porch to call Felix in for the night.
I really did it. I opened the door, and without even thinking called out, “Feeeeeeelix! The Bear! The Be—” before I remembered that he’s not ever going to come trotting across my lawn and up the driveway again.
That made me sad, and I cried a little bit before I walked back into the house. Then, I walked past the little memorial we made in the house for The Bear, with his (now empty) cup of water, his dish and his little paw prints in plaster, and I cried a little bit more. I still miss him. A lot.
And now Sketch is still sitting on my lap, looking back at me with his little fangface, and the tears are threatening to come back, this time for him.
I think it’s time to go to sleep.

Via boingboing, I found the Dummy Text generator:

There’s a voice that keeps on calling me. Down the road, that’s where I’ll always be. Every stop I make, I make a new friend. Can’t stay for long, just turn around and I’m gone again. Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down, Until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on.
80 days around the world, we’ll find a pot of gold just sitting where the rainbow’s ending. Time – we’ll fight against the time, and we’ll fly on the white wings of the wind. 80 days around the world, no we won’t say a word before the ship is really back. Round, round, all around the world. Round, all around the world. Round, all around the world. Round, all around the world.
Ten years ago a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem and no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-team.

I think I may use this to create my next masterpiece!

In an effort to be more like my hero David Sedaris, I’m doing a live performance of Dancing Barefoot, which will be recorded and turned into an audiobook!
Details:

WHAT: Dancing Barefoot, live on stage!
WHERE: Acme Comedy Theatre (where else? 😉
135 N. La Brea
Hollywood, CA 90036
(323) 525-0202
WHEN: Wednesday, April 20th and Wednesday, April 27th at 8 pm.
TICKETS: $12

I will have a very limited number of Dancing Barefoot books for sale, and if you already own a copy that you’d like to get signed, please bring it out. I’m happy to do that.
I just love Dancing Barefoot. When I read from it, I get to revisit the great memories I wrote about, but I also get to remember how fun and exciting it was to write, publish, and release it. In contrast to the frustration and disappointment I experienced with Just A Geek, I have nothing but fond memories of the Monolith Press run of Dancing Barefoot.
This is going to rock! \m/

We had our last preview show for ACME A Day In The Life on Saturday night. Previews are scary, because they’re the first time we put our material up for a real audience, but they’re also extremely important. Previews help us figure out what sketches need work, what sketches can be left alone, and what sketches need to be quietly taken behind the shed and told a story about the Rabbit Farm.
In this show, we’ve got a fairly complicated stunt to work out, as well: we’re doing this thing where the whole show takes place in one day, and the same characters show up in more than one sketch, with some incredibly hilarious call backs. We were unsure if the audience would get what we were doing, and worried that even if they did, they may not think it’s as clever and funny as we do. But over both previews it’s worked incredibly well, and I think it’s going to reward audiences who are paying attention.
We open this Saturday night:

WHAT: ACME A Day In The Life
WHERE: Acme Comedy Theatre
135 N. La Brea
Hollywood, CA 90036
(323) 525-0202
WHEN: Saturday, 8 pm.

I was blown away by the number of WWdN readers who came to see Love Machine. I hope you will all come out and see A Day In The Life, too. I promise you won’t regret it.