Iowa. Iowa. Iowa.

Last night, as I was getting ready to hop into bed, I did one last check of the email, to see if there had been any update from Bob in Iowa about his baby girl.
There was.
Read on…


Date: Tue Nov 26, 2002 20:43:06 US/Pacific
Subject: Boodlie-Face update from Bob
Wil,
I absolutely do not know how to thank you enough. At this very moment,
despite what you are reading, I am at a loss for words. Forgive me if this message is more rambling and incoherent than my last email, but I’m
basically just typing this as it slowly comes to me.
I am sorry for not responding to you until now, but I just got back from the hospital. First thing I did when I booted up my computer was to go to your site. I was astounded, and shocked, and pleased, and happy, and overjoyed that you took the time to a) post my message, and b) send me the mojo. But as astounded, shocked, pleased… is there a word that encompasses all five of those emotions?… as I was at that, I was completely blown away by the huge, and wonderfully loving, responses that it drew.
I read each and every one of them. I felt, in fact I *knew*, that I had to. I am sitting here, a grown man with a wife and child and ALL MAN BABY AND DON’T YOU FORGET IT!!!, and I am crying. Not a sobbing, heaving, snot-running-from-my-nose, I’ve-lost-all-sense-of-composure crying. Rather, it is a joyous, thankful, I-cannot-believe-how-incredible-complete-strangers-can-be-in-times-of-need, I-want-to-hug-the-whole-freakin’-world-and-I-just-can’t-hold-it-in kind of crying. To you, Uncle Willie, and to all who sent the love, prayers, and mojo to my little Boodlie-Face, I just want to tell you: you made a grown man cry, and in the words of The Martha, “it’s a good thing”.
I have barely slept since I wrote that last email to you. We had to get up at an ungodly hour to get Her Royal Highness to the hospital on time, which we did *to the minute*, I kid you not. After she went in for the operation, my beautiful wife, my wonderful mother, and I were in the Day Of Operation Waiting Room. And this, well, this is the kicker: all three of us felt, at various times, a little dizzy for no good apparent reason. And not necessarily in a bad way, either. Well, not so much dizzy, but more like light-headed. For no reason, well, no reason that we could think of: remember, I had no idea Uncle Wil had posted my email or that I was, at that time, receiving some MAJOR positive energy from ALL OVER THE WORLD. And, despite my trepidation… and that is an understatement… before the surgery, I was much calmer and my mind much less troubled when the operation was actually happening. I wouldn’t lie or exaggerate about this: it would besmirch the incredible outpouring of awesome good-will that Katie, my wife, my mother, and I received.
Bottom-line it, Bob! Okay, voices-in-my-head, here goes: the operation was
a complete success! No complications, nothing unexpected, everything went
textbook-perfect. Katie and her mother are at the hospital even as I write
this, and if all goes well, my beloved Boodlie-Face will be home tomorrow
evening.
But that’s not the real bottom line. The real bottom line is that I fully expect that the post-op stage will be as hitchless… is that a word? hitchless?… as the operation itself. I now believe that fully and completely. I didn’t just see the result of the mojonation in a successful operation; my mother and wife and I actually felt it. I wrote in my previous email that I’m not a very religious person. I am now going to reassess that stance. One cannot feel what I have felt, and am feeling, without being touched very profoundly, and I have Wil and all the
well-wishers to thank for that as well.
– Bob Roth, WWDN fan, and one very happy daddy to one beautiful little girl

Stop for a second now.
That feeling you have? That one that starts in the center of your body, and radiates outward to your fingers and toes? That joy? That astonishment? That feeling.
With just the tiniest bit of effort, you sent kind, loving thoughts out to a complete stranger, expecting nothing in return, and this is the result.
I defy anyone to tell me that we don’t have the power to change the world.

Play for today

To everyone who took a moment of their time and sent positive energy to Bob and his daughter in Iowa: Thank you. There are so many comments in that entry, and so much positive energy…someone commented, quite rightly, that if more people would take a moment out of their day to focus on the positive in life, and share that happiness with others, we’d live in a much better world. Thank you all for making a difference. I mean it.
Haven’t heard back from Bob, yet, but when I do, I’ll be sure to let everyone know how Katie did.
Today, my friend Kevin and I went down to sixspace to get a closer look at the Glen E. Friedman show, because it closes on Saturday, and have lunch with my friend Sean, who co-owns the gallery. It was awesome. The art scene in Los Angeles has come a long way in the last 5 years, and Sean and Caryn’s gallery is set to be one of the leading galleries in the city. I’m really excited for them, and I can’t wait to go see their next show.
Also, while googling for links to put into yesterday’s entry, I stumbled onto this review of “python,” which would be the worst movie I ever did, if “The Curse” didn’t exist. I just classified it as a “pay the bills while dressed up like a punk rocker” movie, but for some reason, they actually liked it, and gave it a “B-.”
Be gentle.
UPDATE:Some of you masochists have actually talked about wanting to see this movie. Here’s an Amazon link. If you really need to see this POS, and you get it from this link, I’ll get twenty-five cents. Which is twenty-four cents more than they spent on the snake. 😉

Mojo

I think about things like this all the time…if you had a chance to make a difference in someone’s life, however small, would you do it?
Read on…


“A short while ago, on two occasions I believe, you requested some “mojo” from your website fans, of which I happen to be one (I don’t care what others think, I liked Wesley on ST:TNG). And, upon your request, was one of the people who took a minute to “beam some mojo” your way.
Well, although you really don’t owe me squat, I would like to ask the same favor in return.
You see, my daughter, “Katie” to her friends, and “Boodlie-Face” to her daddy; don’t ask 🙂 is having an operation tomorrow morning. Specifically, she is having a Bilateral Ureteral Reimplantation to fix her Bladder Reflux problem. She needs this done, as she has Reflux Grade 3 on the left side, and a high Grade 2 on the right. At any rate, it’s pretty bad, and without this, her kidneys are almost certain to become damaged.
Understand, this is what everyone tells me is a “routine operation”. But frankly, my mind has been awash with the most horrible scenarios. I’m told that this is normal for a father, especially for a first child. It doesn’t make me feel any better, however. My 16 month old beautiful baby girl is going under the knife, and there is f*ck-all I can do to help, and the feelings of despair and helplessness that a father feels at a time like this can be quite overwhelming.
I’m not a very religious person, although I was raised to be a good Protestant boy. I have found myself silently praying over this, though, in part to try (unsuccessfully) to ease my own mind. I have come to the conclusion, though, that *anything* done is a positive manner can help. I do have my own website, although I get absolutely nada for traffic. Some of us don’t have the name or face recognition of Uncle Willie. I don’t have 50,000 monkeys that I can draw upon to try to get the mojo working for my daughter to help her through her operation successfully. I can only ask you. Could you put a small blurb on your site, just asking your huge fanbase to send the love, the prayers, the positive energy, the white light, the mojo, the *whatever* my daughter’s way tomorrow morning?
Her operation is tomorrow morning, November 26, 2002 at 8:00 am. CST, and is supposed to last for 3 hours. It is taking place at the University of Iowa Hospital, in Iowa City, Iowa. Did I mention it’s in Iowa? It’s in Iowa. You know. Corn. Soy beans. Iowa. :)”

I have been so blessed since I opened this lame website. People have sent me warm wishes and deeply personal stories when they’ve responded to the things I’ve written. Growing up in a medical family, I have come to believe that there is no such thing as a “routine operation” when you or someone you love is the subject.
I hope that you’ll take a moment tomorrow, and spare a thought for Bob and his baby girl, who are in Iowa.
Iowa. Iowa. Iowa.
Mojo. Mojo. Mojo.
🙂

Last Place You Look

It’s so windy here in Pasadena today, it’s snowing leaves. There is this large area of a hillside in Burbank where there was a massive fire a few months ago, and a huge cloud of dust hovers over it, like a sandstorm.
The Santa Ana Winds are in full effect, and my dry skin, nose and throat are a small price to pay for clear blue skies and warm temperatures in November.
So here’s something unexpected: I did a voice today on this new show for the Kids WB! The call came on Friday, and here’s the cool thing: the director, a wonderful woman named Andrea Romano, who has won seven emmy’s called my agent and requested me, based on my work with her last year on “The Zeta Project.”
I can’t say what voice I did, but I was told when I left today that they were so happy, I would probably be asked back to do the role again in the next thirteen episodes.
The episode I did was written by this really nice guy named Marv Wolfman, who co-created and wrote “Teen Titans” for sixteen years, created “Blade,” and was just an all-around cool guy. We spent some time geeking out about comic books today…it just killed me that he was referring to Alan Moore as “Alan.”
Animation is really fun, because it’s really quick work (usually less than 4 hours for an episode), and the people who do it are all really cool…but it’s also very hard to break into the animation world, because the community is extremely small, and very protective. Being asked by a very respected director to come back, based on her previous experience with me, is just HUGE, and it makes me feel really good, and it may signal my entry into the world of animation.
A few months ago, I made this major decision in my life: I would stop applying a singular focus to getting work as an actor. I would continue to accept auditions as they came along, but I wasn’t going to break my back, or sacrifice time with my friends and family to play Hollywood’s game.
Since I made that choice, stopped caring so much about acting, and started focusing on writing, and being a husband and father, I’ve gotten two jobs almost immediately.
So I guess I’m going to have to start calling myself “Writer-Slash-Actor.”
You’ll note that I did not say “Actor-Slash-Writer.” This is a very important distinction.

Scratch

Ferris is playing this game:
1. She picks up the soggy remains of her rawhide bone, and drops it on the ground.
2. She backs up, tail wagging, and stares at it.
3. She growls at it, then lunges forward, picking it up as she runs around the living room.
4. She brings it to me, and drops it in my lap.
5. I say, “that’s really interesting, Ferris,” and drop it on the floor, where she picks it up, and takes it back to the middle of the room.
Then she goes and does the whole thing again.
See, Anne went up to Oregon this weekend, and the kids are with their dad, so it’s just me and Ferris hanging out. This is how we entertain ourselves in the absence of any real responsible people around.
It’s actually a good weekend for me to take a break, because I’ve been writing and re-writing pretty much non-stop since last Friday –dramatic pause– and I finished my first draft of my book on Thursday. It went off to my editor yesterday morning, and I’m anticipating doing some rewrites next week.
I’m really excited about it, and I hope to have a limited first printing ready in time for Xmas. I’ll post details when I get it all worked out.
The weekend so far:
I went with some friends to see Die Another Day last night at the Arclight. I’m not an action movie guy at all, but I love James Bond, and this is easily the best Bond picture I’ve seen in maybe five years, aside from some inexcusably terrible miniature and FX work, the script is fun, paying tribute to some of the my favorite Bond pictures.
This morning, I went on a hike with my brother and my friend Mykal. We were hoping to find the Dawn Mine Geocache, but we couldn’t even get on the right trail to the damn mine before we ran out of time and had to get back to the car. We went up to a beautiful waterfall, though.
Oh, and last week, when I took the kids to find the Geocache at Rubio? Yeah. I walked RIGHT. FUCKING. THROUGH. Poison oak. It is all over my right forearm, my left bicep, my forehead, on my left knee, my neck, and my right ankle. I think I qualify for some sort of “complete dumbass” award for not seeing it.
Lame.
The really cool thing, though, is that I sort of look like one of those guys in “Scanners” right before they blow up. And kind of like pictures of the moon. And also sort of like an alligator…but a scary X-files mutant alligator from hell who shoots death beams out of his eyes and creeps out of your bathtub at night to suck your skin off, and sing Copacabana in your living room.
I read somewhere that massive itching can make one go a little batty…but I don’t believe it.