Awww man!!!! I booked out with my agents and I was all set to leave tonight for Big Bear Mountain to ski this weekend. But @ 12:22 this afternoon the phone rings……it’s my agent……..and it’s a callback! Ugh!! I don’t mean “Ugh!!” Trust me, I’m not complaining. It’s not everyday that I get a callback for Ross Lacy. Ross calls me in more than any other casting director in LA and, in all honesty, my callback ratio is not the greatest with him.

I really believe that the commercial class I’m currently in helped me particularly for this one. So, needless to say, this is a good thing. It’s funny because I was accepted into the advance class based on my cold read in the interview and resume, but I opted for the intermediate class instead. One reason was that I felt it would move at a slower place; I really want to “get it”.

When I first considered taking the class I discussed it with a friend. The friend was like “You’ve booked like 25 spots! Why do you need to spend $400 on a class?” My response was “Maybe those 25 spots could’ve been 60 if I was really on my game.” I explained that, case in point; I was up for the new “Washington Mutual” campaign that is now running. That is a 10 spot campaign. If I booked that I would be much closer to buying a condo. The African-American actor that they booked is also from KSA. His name is Wayne Wilderson and he works A LOT. I wanna be like Mike…I mean Wayne. I’m kidding, I’m gonna continue be me I’m just wanna book more.

I fully believe that I have gotten a lot of things in my career that, in theory, I wasn’t supposed to get. There is no way that my experience with “The Terminal” or going to Japan to shoot the Honda commercial or going in for a 3-line part on “Good Morning, Miami” that turned into 14 episodes is normal. Most of it is because of thinking outside of the box and going against the flow. To me, it doesn’t feel like it going against the flow it’s just mostly logic…..with a bit of Zen thrown in. Hence, I describe myself as “Logically Zen”. Yeah, I can definitely get a little “it’s in the air” on ya, but I’m almost always firmly based in logic…..almost.

I realize I didn’t choose a career where things are just going to happen out of the thin air. I’ve always believed in “Making things happen, not waiting for them to happen”. I’ve watched people take that “wait and see” approach to their career and I just don’t think it works. I’ve also seen people bust their tails, do everything right (whatever that is) and just not get the breaks along the way. It’s not easy no matter how you slice it.

Back to my point…yeah my point…what was my point? My point was I could hang on to those 25 commercials or I can keep trying to make things happen. I think I know what I have to do.

So I booked out and then got the call for the callback. I again e-mailed all of my other agents again letting them know I was going to be in town, a least in the morning because I was still considering driving to the mountain after the 10:30 callback. Of course, a couple of hours later I get another audition for tomorrow. It’s @ noon so I might get there early and still meet my friends at the mountain or go to a closer mountain with night skiing. I wonder if e-mailing my agents a second time made a difference in getting that second appointment.

I’ve just wanted to go skiing/snowboarding for so long. I haven’t been in like 5 years. I could never find anyone here in LA to go with. I used to go with my family back East, but motocross has completely taken over.

Today I also went to look at some condos from the listing that Kelley, my talent agent turned real estate, sent me and some I looked up on my own. It was kinda weird, but it felt great. The first condo was still partially under construction and the front door was open so I went in. I didn’t want to talk to anybody so I stayed in stealth mode. Funny enough, it felt a lot like doing a drop-off.

I don’t really know what I’m looking for just yet, but I have to start somewhere. I feels great to be moving in the right direction. I also have to say that my family is wonderful. I had a great conversation with my older brother who lives in Prague; he is a new father. We spoke PC-to-PC for an hour……..free. Yeah, free. We used http://www.skype.com/. I really want to go for a visit this Summer, but it doesn't look like it will happen.

My new niece in Prague - Nikita

My two “little brothers” both have more experience in the area of real estate and have been incredibly helpful. One of them made it very clear that he will be there to help me in any way possible. That just meant the world to me. I guess I’m still on my “just got my taxes done high”; I hope I don’t crash and burn.