baby, you can drive my car

I am going to blog backward since who knows how much time I will have and yesterday NEEDS to be blogged about.

After lunch yay yay (LTD) went out to the garage to gather some things and PDL followed immediately after her.  I went out with L to gather him up since he was just in his socks and it was almost nap time.  I put L in P's radio flyer car just to see his reaction which I was sure was going to be no no no no no! up! up! up! but instead he grabbed the handle and took off running down the driveway.  hilarious.

P drove L all the way down to the lake so that she could look at the ducks - we saw in P's words, baby ducks, a mamu duck, and a yay yay duck.  He even turned the car toward the lake so L could see the ducks.  He was also intent that she listen to the radio as she was riding so he stopped every 30 seconds to turn it back on.

Be sure to stay tuned for the video shot by LTD ( yay yay) while she was walking backward toward the lake...

yep, thats yay yay....falling off a ledge and almost into the lake.  P thought it was hysterical.  It was.  :)

Silent House

This past weekend, little l, LDL, LTD, and I went up and over to Pensacola Beach, FL. That beach is definitely a home a way from home (even though I've had a million plus "homes" in the last decade). LTD went to high school at Gulf Breeze High and her side of the family has lived there since. We've been vacationing there every August to celebrate our grandmother's birthday. It's always a time of great joy, high drama, and general shenanigans associated with a fun loving family that enjoys each others company.  The view from that condo is spectacular and every time we get out of the car, after 7 hours, we sigh and say "It was worth it".

This visit was a little different and was for two primary reasons. The first was to visit the wonderful J&M Treesh family and celebrate the baptism of their youngest. The second reason we were there was to visit and check in on our grandmother, who is in a giant battle with Alzheimer's. I remember her so young and vivacious. She was always happy, well groomed and bragging on one of her 13 grandchildren. Purple is her favorite color; the color of royalty. She's a queen and a child of God. I'm trying hard to use the present tense here when describing purple grandmother, but the truth of the matter is she is not the woman I remember. Alzheimer's is a terribly mean disease. So LDL and I go to pay a visit, introduce a great-granddaughter (who shares a name with purple grandmother), breathe in the salt air, and do our best to love our own mom in every way we know how.

Truthfully, it's still too difficult for me to really talk about the drastic change in my grandmother. I love her. I miss her. This new person makes me nervous. And yet, somehow, despite being completely uncomfortable, I managed to convince myself she knew exactly who I was, where I had been, and all the stories we've shared. But when the day was done, she looked at me and said "Are you the lady who does my hair?".

Guess what's for dinner?

Silent House - The Dixie Chicks

Everyday that will pass you by
Every name that you won't recall
Everything that you made by hand
Everything that you know by heart

And I will try to connect
All the pieces you left
I will carry it on
And let you forget
And I'll remember the years
When your mind was clear
How the laughter and life
Filled up this silent house

More upbeat stories to come! A scavenger hunt for a lost phone; multiple trips to the Plant City Strawberry Festival; making p a tee-ball set from a tennis ball and tights; swimming in February; passionate conversations about politics; Fawning over The Ellen Show; D family happy hours; learning, adventuring, and loving. Be kind to one another.

Long Time Gone

This post may not be a whole lot of fun, but it has been a long time coming.  Every time I sit down to write someone (P man) wakes up, or the internet is working, or the internet is working but I can't access my computer with my pictures on it.  Forgive me.  It's true, living at 1127 definitely has its perks, but it also has its fair share of trouble too.  I mean, what do you expect when there are 5 adults, 2 kids, & 2 dogs all living under the same roof?  Not to mention the bazillion people in and out and around of the house all day every day.  Throw in a toddler who won't sleep, dogs who are sick sick sick with the rest of the crazy that surrounds us and you can imagine that life is a little hectic here.  In a good kind of way.  Most of the time.

Milestones of our family that I may or may not have already told you all about:

P man: no longer uses a pacifier, and demands to sleep in a big boy bed.  I have two major goals to accomplish with him before this summer, potty training and riding his balance bike.  I haven't concluded yet which adventure will be easier to accomplish - depends on the day.

MLL:  almost 6 months old.  I probably won't be writing again until she actually is 6 months old, so I'm updating you now :)  She's a happy, easy going baby who rarely cries and is always smiling.  She especially smiles at her brother and when no one is looking he can be caught making funny faces in her direction.  Though he really hates it when she grabs a hold of his hair (who can resist!?) Speaking of P's hair - I have yet to go ANYWHERE since that kid was 9 months old without someone commenting on his hair.  And as far as I can tell, everyone had white blonde hair like his when they were young.  Thats the word on the street anyway.

We spend most of our days in the back yard or taking a very slow stroll around the lake close to my parents house.  Sometimes we only make it around the creek but it takes P an hour to do that and its mostly nice to get out in the sunshine.  We are also still swimming at least 3 times a week so I am thinking of putting the kids in swimming lessons (amend my goals to potty training, bike riding, and swimming).

Everyone is still busy adjusting and making friends.  We'll be church hopping soon to find a church home (suggestions??), I'm going to a Bible study, an occasional girls group, date nights, exploring parks with different friends and trying to be somewhat helpful in maintaining the house hold. Its a full time job.  P still loves to bake so we try to do that on occasion but he is less than helpful now that he has discovered that cookie dough tastes delicious.

I'm starting to get a bit anxious living in transition mode since most of my things are still packed away in storage.  BML saved some of my sanity by setting up a small little office space just for me that is far enough away from the action that it takes someone at least 3 minutes for someone to find me - so that's some good quiet time :)  I think we'll start to move our stuff into different storage with more access soon since it is on average 77 degrees here each day and I still have Annapolis winter clothe hanging in my closet.

Aunt T, LTD, MLL, and I are headed up to Pensacola Beach / Gulf Breeze this weekend for our cousins baptism and to see family.  We're looking forward to the time together, but we all will miss the boys!  Especially P...we'll miss everyone, but especially P. :)

I'm attaching some pictures of everyone from LTD's computer - is anyone out there on instagram?  we just started - i put pictures on there fairly often and would love to see some of yours!  Leave your name in the comments (ha, like anyone ever comments :) ) or search for us!


p.s.  how awesome is CMD for doing IMPROV!!??  I about wet my pants just thinking about it.  i could never do what he is doing....we're pretty proud!

p.s.  attaching pictures is frustrating me.  i will try again later.  maybe.

Improv and stuff

So, the past two weeks have been pretty interesting for me. I think I told all of you that I was starting an improv class at the Upright Citizens Brigade. If you don't know anything about UCB, it is a very well respected improv program throughout the country. It started in Chicago, then migrated to New York, and finally opened up a theater in LA.

I was late the first day, because there is only street parking around the theater, and Monday is a street cleaning day in the area, so only one side of the street is available for parking. I parked forever away, and was none to pleased about my first impression. Being late, I missed role call, which also meant I missed a very telling introduction from a classmate.

For our purposes we will refer to the teacher as "Teacher" and the other student as "Student".

Teacher: "Student? Is Student here?"

Student: "Student? I know that guy. He's pretty funny."

Teacher: "Is he coming?"

Student: "Yeah, I'm Student"

Teacher: "Oh. Nice. Brilliant introduction"

Student was annoying throughout the two weeks.

The first day mostly consisted of little games to get warmed up to each other and the process. It really didn't take too long to see who might be pretty good at this whole thing, and who might struggle. I hadn't made up my mind about myself yet, but I didn't feel too much like an idiot, so that was a nice start. The second day, we started to really get into more scene work. After class, the guy who ended up being the best in class, pulled me aside and said, "Hey man, really funny stuff today. You really had me going." So, that was pretty good to hear.

I am trying to remember details from each day, but that is proving to be too tough as the days sort of run together. I was able to make a couple friends, who happened to be the two best in class. They are also from Canada, but that doesn't really have much bearing on anything. We ended up hanging out a bunch outside of class and going to comedy shows and whatnot. Towards the end of class we would talk about who we wanted, and didn't want, on our team for the graduation performance. No one was sure how the teacher would split us up. Would he do A team and B team? Split up the best people and make sure the teams were even? Totally random? It was a source of much debate.

RBD3 was in town for the weekend to watch the performance and report back to the rest of the family whether or not this whole acting thing was working out for me. Friday we went for a quick bite at the Oaks before going to an open mic night to see if one of my Canadian friends would get some time. We were obviously good luck, because both people I knew who put their names in the hat were drawn. After the open mic we drove to City Walk (very reminisent of Orlando) to see a friend of mine's movie. (It's called 'Gone' if you want to see it to support her, just don't expect a great movie. She is definitely the bright spot of the whole thing. She's also married, so no questions of that nature will be answered.) We went out for drinks with the whole group of friends after and that was a pretty good time.

Saturday. The big day. Showtime at 5:30p. Unfortunately there was quite a lot of noise early in the morning because one of my roommates had movers here taking all of his stuff to storage. He is headed back to Spain for a TV show. It looked like we had been robbed. RBD3 and I then headed out for lunch to a place I had never been. It was pretty good. After lunch, I entertained the thought of trying to entertain, but then decided just to go back to the house and watch some golf prior to getting my mind right for the show.

I get to the theater very early. 440. Supposed to be there at 5, but I didn't want to be late. Kill some time and head back to the theater to meet up with everyone else, go through warmups, and get our team assignments. After warmups we are standing in a circle when the teacher starts counting us off. 1-2-1-2-1-2 and so forth. I quickly realize this is his highly scientific way of forming teams. I also catch that team number 1 is looking awfully strong. A slight panic begins to set in that I will be a 2. I am not. Team 1. Varsity. Literally everyone I wanted to be on a team with was on my team. Now, that's not to say it was perfect, because there were also two people I would have exchanged, but the people I cared about being on my team were on my team. Team 1 was happy. Team 2 was not.

So we go back to the green room to discuss team names and use the restroom or puke if needed. My phone has now started to blow up with texts from family members, which I don't read. I can't decide if I'm excited or full of dread for what is about to happen. 5 minutes till curtains. Teacher comes back to tell us, "if you're not a little bit nervous, you're not human- and there's nothing you can do about it now anyway."

Team 1 is up first, naturally. We file backstage and I kind of jump around a little (and do a little shadow boxing against the wall). I am nervous. But, in a way, feel ready. It sort of feels natural back there, which I took comfort in. Our name is called. We head out, clapping. The lights, blinding. I literally could not see past the first row, which I decided was a very good thing.

The show itself is a little bit of a blur, but we were on stage for 30 minutes, much of which was filled with laughs. It feels really good to get a laugh. I am out there for the first scene with Canadian friend P, and we get some great laughs. I feel good. My next scene is with Canadian friend B. Again, some good laughs. I didn't get a joke in that I wanted, but overall it was good. He said a line about beating me to monster.ca (the jobs website) and I wanted to make a Canada joke, since it is monster.com here in the states, but alas, the lights were called and it didn't happen. My last scene left a sour taste in my mouth as I sort of dropped the ball. And by sort of, I mean, totally. Canadian friend B and I went out on stage after an uncomfortable pause in which no one was headed out. A joke that was made in class was, when this happens, someone has to save the show. We did. Sorta. We fumbled through some lines, I was reaching hard, not coming up with anything. "Student" from earlier came into the scene and made it worse (and better since we could now make fun of him for making it worse) and after a couple minutes of scattered either polite or confused laughs, the scene was over. I think there was one or two more, but I can't remember exactly as I was very much in my head now. Our portion ends. Applause. I sit back down and re-run all of my mistakes, and get very down very quick. As the night progresses though, I feel better and better about everything. I was also drinking, so I'm not exactly sure how much that played into it.

In all seriousness, I had about 6 friends show up, which was really great. They all complimented me, which at first felt a little empty, but later I think they meant it. Over drinks and conversation with the Canadians I announced that I gave myself a C+ based on what I thought I could do, and what I did in class. I asked for their honest opinion. They said B- and based it solely on nerves. Probably right. The biggest compliment came from the Canadians as they said they would have no problem trusting me enough to plug me into their group if need be (they both do multiple forms of comedy as professionals). That made me feel pretty good. They also agreed that I should continue with it, and see where it leads, so I am planning on signing up for the 201 intensive course beginning in April.

I didn't know what to expect from this adventure, but I am very happy with what I got out of it. A great experience, some new friends, and maybe a better grasp on what it is I am good at.

Thanks for sticking with me. I meant that as like, thanks for reading a long post, but then thought, "hey, thanks for sticking with me in general." So, that too.

PS I think the video my roommate took didn't really turn out and has since been erased. There were some curse words in the show anyway and this is a PG blog. I didn't say any. Promise...

I Will Always Love You

Hi friends. I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I even meant to blog about my epic road trip with my friend Richie. We hit Lake Tahoe, Inyo National Forest, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Roswell, Area 51, Santa Fe, Dallas, New Orleans, and Pensacola before making it back to Orlando. Home base.

After a pretty dobie Holiday season, I started school at Rollins so that I can earn an MBA. So far, it appears that my life has been reduced to eating (sometimes), sleeping (occasionally), classes (regular), and studying/group work (more than I bargained for). It is hard to go back to school - for some reason I thought that it would be easier than working 40 hours a day. I was wrong!

I  miss San Francisco; wouldn't be fair to pretend that I didn't. I miss the good friends I had found (and rediscovered), I miss the amazing food, and plethora of outdoor activities out my doorstep. However, life has been good here in the Sunshine State. There is much to be said about some solidly warm weather, bike rides with some of my favorite people, and a mid-January swim with my nephew.I've been especially thankful to have family by my side when my bestest pal in the whole wide world, Pax, had to go to the animal hospital last week. Turns out he's going to be fine, but I was a complete wreck. I'm going to need 100 massages to get rid of this tension.

Life is going full tilt here at 1127, so if you promise to check in on the blog, I promise to update more frequently. Currently, I am brainstorming how to write about most recent adventures as a nanny. Plus, stories originating from my MBA class are pretty amazing. . . if I tell them right.

Stay Dobie.

Well, it only took five months for me to get out on a golf course in LA. It wasn't a good course, but it was free, so that was definitely a bonus. I had been trying to set up a game with a childhood neighbor's friends pretty much since moving here but for a number of reasons and scheduling conflicts, it just didn't happen. Thankfully, he and the two buddies he brought were cool dudes and fun to play with. I didn't play particularly well, but just getting out there was good. And, now I have some guys to play with every now and again. One of whom works for an elite agency. There is no chance I would be represented by them at this juncture, but it is good to know someone who shares an outside interest, that way talking shop is easier and more natural, and could also lead to some positive things. We all exchanged numbers, so hopefully I'll be playing quite a bit more than once every five months now, which is good.

Keeping in the spirit of following up with friends of friends, I met an industry professional for breakfast yesterday. I had met with him once before back in the fall for the obligatory, "yeah, sure I'll meet with this random dude because he says he's your friend" breakfast. Thankfully he didn't think I was a big loser, and agreed to meet with me again. While there are certainly other factors to gauge how well get-togethers go, a one I sort of focus on is the length of said meeting. Maybe these folks don't have somewhere they have to be at a certain time, but they could absolutely lie about that fact and get outta there. Regardless, I feel like it was a good meeting. I mean, it wasn't really a meeting in the business sense of the term, we just "met" for breakfast and discussion. We went to this french café in Culver City, which was pretty tasty. I had the 3-egg (organic, of course) omelet with bacon, spinach, and goat cheese. It came with a small arugula salad and I got myself a coffee as well. We chatted about what movies/tv we had seen, select performances, "that guy", the process of getting a movie made - all sorts of things. We also talked about my upcoming classes at UCB, and how great of a thing it was to do. First, to stretch the boundaries of comfort, to meet other people (some of which you may click with and go on to do your own content with), and to see what areas you're talented in. We got a little more in depth into finding things you are good at, and really being the best at them, while managing the things you were not as talented in. Basically, the journey is important to success, which I guess is a little esoteric, certainly so LA, but also true. It is imperative to find the things you are good at, and really hone those abilities so you (and others) can "pitch" yourself. Potential is way harder to pitch than the tangible, something I am finding out all to well right now. Lastly, he is going to try and make it to my "graduation showcase" and give me honest notes, something we also discussed - finding people who will give you honest feedback whether it be good or bad. He also energized me about reading and writing more, which is a good thing, no doubt.

The last thing I'll leave you with is a few thoughts from a workshop I took this past Saturday. A few of the shows this particular casting associate works on are: Sons of Anarchy and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Both great shows (in my opinion), but the first is a drama and the second a comedy. I initially was attracted to the Sons angle, but quickly learned that this workshop was going to skew more towards comedy. There were a number of people who performed who got some really good laughs. I happened to go last, and managed to get some laughs myself, which really is quite a good feeling. I thought I did an OK job, but wasn't really sure I left much of an impression. While at the gym yesterday, I got an email from my consultant (the girl who passes along workshops she thinks I might enjoy) saying how much both the employee who produced the workshop, and the casting associate enjoyed what I had done. This news made me feel pretty great. There is always kind of an empty feeling after workshops, or auditions for that matter, because there is rarely any personal feedback. I mean, you can sort of tell, but nobody is really all that interested in telling each individual what they thought. So, it has been a pretty good week or so, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the next couple of weeks bring before I throw myself headlong into the world of improv, which I have less than zero idea whether I will be good, decent, or terrible. Regardless, it is sure to be an adventure as well as a learning experience.

Till next time.

That guy, and other news

So I just did something that I am super nervous about. I signed up for improv classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) here in LA. Everyone keeps saying how beneficial it is and blah blah blah. Not much of a story here, except part of the class is a mandatory performance. Live. In front of people. Whats that you say? An actor with a little stage fright? Well, I haven't done anything live in front of people since Chief Osceola was running around Lake Silver with no shirt on. That was the 4th grade, so I'm a little rusty.

In other acting news, I was at an audition yesterday for a student film. It was a graduate film at one of the best film schools around, so I was kinda pumped about it. I'm sure I killed it, so don't worry about that. But, the reason I'm telling you about this, other to keep you informed, is that I continue to come across people I can't believe exist. Let me set the stage for you a little bit. I walk in the room, and there are probably about 6 other dudes in there, the casting is obviously running a little behind, no big deal. I spy the sign-in sheet, so I go over and put myself on the list and sit down to go over the sides while I've got some time. Then, HE walks in. I didn't immediately know it was him, but I found out pretty quickly. Upon crossing the threshold, he, loudly, asks the room where the sign-in sheet. 6 heads look up and motion to the only table in the room, which also has a notepad and pens on it. AKA, the sign-in table. So he signs in and sits down two people away from me. He then starts with general niceties, "Hi, whats your name?" etc. Since he is a person away, I don't answer, or engage in any way. Then he begins this conversation, as loud as possible, about how most student films are total [crap] and he was surprised that this one "flowed really well, and didn't try to hard, the writing was actually pretty good, and not pretentious at all." I had to relocate. Not only could I not concentrate on the sides, I had to stifle my laughter at this clown. I go get water. Come back to hear him saying "Daniel Day-Lewis is overrated, and frankly just not that good." Ok, kid still auditioning for student films (I forgot to mention that he studied at the Strasberg theatre in NY before moving to LA. I also neglected to mention he dropped out after 6 months of a 2 year program) here's a little tip: hating on two-time Oscar winners isn't really gunna get you very far in the acting world. Also, who doesn't like Daniel Day-Lewis? I mean, seriously. Next, he launches into this whole big rant about how he hates it when no one is talking in the lobby before auditions because it's so stiff. He likes to be loose when he auditions. To which the other (now 7) heads looked at each other in inward laughter, not believing this guy was for real. Numerous people relocated because he was talking, yet he never picked up on the fact that no one else wanted to talk, to anyone, let alone his annoying self. I know I may not get the part, but I hope he doesn't either. I dont even feel bad about saying that.

Through too many connections to write, I had a meet and greet with the Head of Casting at MTV (scripted shows, not reality, though maybe I should sign up for Real World 117) this past Tuesday. We met for coffee. He had an expresso, I had green tea. So LA. I really only expected for it to be a 15-minute sit down, the obligatory "someone asked me to do this, so I'm going to, but I'm not that pumped about it" meeting. Well, an hour and a half later, I was proved wrong. It turns out that I'm doing a lot of the right things, which was nice to hear. When we were done talking he encouraged me to continue to email him with future questions, and if I were to meet with any agent/manager/casting director he would be happy to put in a good word on my behalf, assuming he knew the particular person the future me would be meeting. A very productive meeting, I think. I sent him a thank you note.

One of these days, I will post about some awesome thing I just booked or something, but until then, you will continue to get posts about people I don't like and meetings that may or may not go well. My improv class doesn't start for a couple weeks, but I imagine you can expect some posts about people and events from that. Till then.