Audition: “Capital One” @ Joe Blake Casting. This goes really well.

Audition/Producers: “Monk” @ CFB Casting. I had an interesting experience when I showed up at the Ren-Mar Studios security gate. I’ve read for “Monk” probably 5 times over the years and hopefully, one day I will book a role on the show. Things were looking good, I found a parking space right across the street; I was feeling confident.

As I walked to the security office to check-in I saw the woman who is usually there when I do drop-offs. She is always very nice and pleasant and I am the same to her; I was last there about 2 weeks ago dropping–off for “Monk” or maybe it was a pilot. This is how it went.

EXT – REN – MAR STUDIOS – AFTERNOON.

Several people are waiting outside a trailer with a sign on it that says “Extras changing”. A few feet back is a small security office with an actor checking in. Exiting the studio is a blonde “actress” type with healthy…umm…assets. She was confused about something and talking to whomever would listen as she walked by; obviously I was listening. STEPHON, African-American, late 20’s early 30’s, actor, patiently waits his turn to check-in. As the actor in front of him finishes.

Stephon: Hi, I’m Stephon Fuller-

Security: (As she looks at a memo on the wall in front of her that I couldn’t read from where I was standing.) You aren’t allowed on the lot.

Stephon: Excuse me?

Security: You aren’t allowed on the lot.

Stephon: You’re kidding right?

Security: No, I’m sorry.

Stephon: Is there any particular reason I’m not allowed on the lot.

Security: They don’t have to give a reason.

Stephon: So you’re telling me I can’t get on the lot even if I have an appointment?

Security: Who do you have an appointment with?

Stephon: Corbin Bronson for “Monk”.

Security: Let me try to call. (She dials)

Stephon: You’re telling me I’m banned from the lot and you have no idea why? Am I on a list or something?

Security: Sometimes they put people on a list and then they change their mind and let them back on.

Stephon: Am I not on the list of actors who have an appointment for “Monk” today?

Security: Wait a minute.

Stephon is starting to get noticeably agitated. RE: Pissed.

Stephon: I have an audition that I am now late for and you won’t let me on the lot AND you don’t have a reason.

Security: Don’t get upset sir.

Stephon: I have an appointment and I don’t really need this right before my audition. “Why” are you saying this? Am I on a watch list or something? What does it say about me? What are you looking at on the wall? Can I look to a look at it?

Security: Sure.

Stephon: I didn’t want to just stick my head in your office and really start trouble.

Security: No problem.

Stephon peers into the office to look at the “memo” that she has been looking at. It’s two Xerox copies of the same white guy and it says something like “Banned from Ren-mar” in red ink.

Stephon: That’s not me; that’s a white guy.

Security: I know that’s not you; I can tell he’s white.

Stephon: But you looked straight at that memo when you first told me I wasn’t allowed on the lot. Why did you look at a white guy and then tell me I’m banned? How did that happen?

Security: I’m just doing my job.

Stephon: I understand that, but I’m trying to figure out why you just randomly said I’ve been banned from the lot.

Security: What is your name?

Stephon: Stephon Fuller, my agency is Schiowitz, Connor, Ankrum & Wolf. Are you telling me that my name is not on that list right in front of you? My appointment was @ 4:30.

The security guard takes a look.

Security: Yes, there it is.

Stephon: So it was there the whole time?

Security: I am very sorry; I got confused.

Stephon: No problem.

Security: Do you know where building F is?

Stephon: Yeah, around the corner to the right.

Security: I am so sorry……..


Can you believe that? In the beginning I was wondering what the heck I could have done to piss someone off. Yeah, I have dropped off there many times in the past, but I am never pushy or disrespectful. CFB Casting has called me in numerous times in the past and I booked through them a year ago. I didn’t think Corbin would call me on my cell phone with a producer session and then ban me from the lot the next day. Stranger things have happened I guess.

When I finally sign-in and get settled I see fellow actor Denver Dowridge at the audition as well. Denver and I are very similar types and are often mistaken for each other. We hadn’t seen each other for a while, although I see him on TV quite a bit. I assume we were reading for the same role. I wonder if he booked any of the many commercials I’ve been on avail for lately, lol!. Anyway, cool brother.

The audition went really, really well. There was about 8 people in the room and I did what I wanted to do. I was very happy when I left and can’t ask for much more than that. One of the days I am going to book this show – maybe today!Oh yeah, I made sure I waved good-bye and said thank you to the wonderful security guard on the way out. That was just weird; we had had such great encounters before.

I’m really tired; really, really tired, but the show must go on. At least until I leave town. I went a MX race over the weekend and I am paying the price for spending all that time out in the rain and driving. My much needed, annual break from Hollywood is approaching; I can smell it.

Print go-see: “Traveler’s Insurance” @ Yvonne Armstrong Casting. This went well.

After my go-see I went to the dentist because I don’t think the surgery in my mouth is healing correctly. So I reluctantly get in the chair and she takes a look. Sure enough I have a rather large blood clot forming. SH*T! She informs me that she has to drain it; which means that ******* needle is going into the roof of my mouth again.

THE NEEDLE:

I can’t stand this beeyotch! I call her “Nadine”; “Nadine the needle”. She is a necessary evil, but I give her “da finga” every chance I get. She is one mean mutha. I really need to work on my relationship with Nadine, because in reality she makes my life a lot easier by taking away some of the real pain. Just thinking about her makes my eyes water. Part of the problem is that I am such the thinker and I know that when the dentist is talking to me right before Nadine settles into my gums she, the dentist, is really just trying to take my mind off of what is really happening. I need to not out think the system and just relax. I’ve come up with a way to take my mind off of what is happening. I count on my fingers and toes; counter-counter clock-wise and then clock-wise. Usually it takes a bit of concentration and I can get through the pain.

Here we go. I see “Nadine the Needle” and look her dead in her eyes. She throws an especially sinister look back at me. I say “WHAT WHAT! DO SOMETHING TRICK!” She just laughed and said “Ima bust yo ass punk”. I say, “Whatever, here’s an Altoid”. I think that last comment was a mistake because Nadine laid into me with all of her fury. Counting on my fingers and toes was the last thing on my mind; it was all about survival. First, both of my hands balled up into fists and my toes curled up like I was having......well......my toes curled up. Then my eyes started watering. My body was so tense it wasn’t funny. Nadine came out of my mouth and said “NOW WHAT?! SAY SOMETHING!” I couldn’t even speak; I had lock-jaw. After a moment my body started to relax.

So they drain the blood clot and stitched me up AGAIN and send me on my way with another prescription of Motrin aka “Mo”. I leave with a huge piece of gauze that I had to leave in my mouth for 30 minutes. Ugh, this sucks. From there I had an appointment with the podiatrist to pick-up my inserts for my flat feet. The funny part was that I had to sit in the car and wait before going in because I couldn’t talk. Why? Because I had a FREAKIN TAMPON in my mouth. Oops; I mean a huge piece of gauze. The trip to the podiatrist was much more pleasant. I got my custom inserts and, get this, they even have my name engraved in them. I wonder if SAG is paying extra for that. All I know that they didn’t ask me for any money and my parking meter was again broken so it didn’t cost me anything. I was in and out in 7 minutes.

A couple of hours later Casting Director Corbin Bronson from CFB Casting called me on my cell phone to bring me in for a producer session tomorrow for “Monk”. Cool. I did a general drop for the show about 2-3 weeks ago at the studio. Yup, drops-off do work.

Ooops. One of my theatrical agents, Erin, left a message with an appointment for the new Showtime Episodic "Dexter" @ UDK Casting. She made it clear that she didn't submit me for the role and would rather that I didn't go in on it.

The appointment was scheduled for this Sunday. Sunday? Yeah, Sunday. I don't like passing on auditions, but sometimes it's the right thing to do. It's small co-star role. The thing that Erin doesn’t know is that I did a general drop for this show two days ago. I’m really glad they called, but not for this role, even though I really want to get in this office more often.

Hmm…what to do? What am I gonna tell Erin? I have the last word on whether I go in or not and I have gone in on things in the past when they wished other-wise. I have obligations to meet and they are very respectful of that. It’s great to have a people like that on my side. They protect me from myself. I really want to book something before I go on vacation and turning down auditions is not the way to do it.

Ha! I’m going out of town this weekend. That’s right! Cool; it’s settled. I called Erin back and she was glad I was to be out of town so I wouldn’t be officially passing on the project, but still not going in. I’m sure UDK wasn’t shocked that some people are gone for the weekend. I guess these things called “drop-offs” do work. Now, if I can get them to call me in for something else soon.

This afternoon I attended a therapy session. Yup, I stopped by my commercial agents’ office to ask them about my avail/release situation. I wanted to tap into their wisdom of being top agents at one the top commercial agencies in the country. I know they’ve seen it all or at least most of it.

They assured me that there is no “situation” at all and that every working commercial actor goes through these times of not booking as much as in the past. It was a pretty funny site to see, Alicia was on my right at her desk and Brooke on my left at hers. I was sitting in between them on the couch. I totally felt like I was in therapy, not that I know what that is like…at least not yet. Alicia asked me about the types I’m seeing at the callbacks; younger, older, character? Brooke assured me that “I’ve booked a lot” through them and it’s nothing to be concerned about. I’m getting callbacks and avails; the rest is out of my control. That was great to hear from such an agency.

Fortunately, I am not someone who is completely driven up the wall about the avails and releases. I am not at my wits end; I have a great understanding of how the process works and am sure my ride will come back around with greater frequency. I just needed to get the POV of them who are seeing the bigger picture on a regular basis. So, I guess the bottom line is that I’m doing much, much more right than I am doing wrong. I also think my classes with Carolyne Barry and her associate Amy Van Horne helped a lot.

It doesn't always happen like this because they are usually quite busy, but it's great to be able walk into my agents' office, unannounced, and get a 15-minute sit-down meeting. Reason #112,033 why I'm really happy being repped by Kazarian-Spencer & Associates, thanks Alicia & Brooke!

More shocking news for me this morning, I was released from my avail for “KFC” at Ross Lacy Casting. I don’t even know what to say about not getting past the avail point for almost a year. At least I’ll get paid for the second callback, but still.

By contrast, something I’m really happy about is that Ross Lacy calls me in more than anybody else in this entire city and for a good while I rarely got ANY callbacks for him. In 2004 I auditioned 16 times for Ross with only one callback and that was the last one of the year. In 2005 I also went in 16 times with 2 callbacks. So far in ’06 I’ve auditioned for him 10 times and have had a total of 5 callbacks or 2nd callbacks/avails. So the fact that I’m getting callbacks, second callbacks and avails for one of the most important commercial offices in town is a good thing. So that is progress and I have to remember that! I booked the first time I auditioned for him back in 2000 and wanna get back there.

Audition: “Mastercard” @ Ross Lacy Casting. This went really well.

Audition: “Drake & Josh” @ Krisha Bullock Casting. Ah, this didn’t go so well. I had a lot of baggage about this one. The biggest thing is that it’s an AFTRA show and I don’t usually pursue AFTRA shows. I know it sounds really stupid and I’m trying to get over it, but to be honest my feeling runs SO deep about us having two different guilds covering TV work that it gets in the way of having fun. Plus, I’m an AFTRA must join from a job I did in ’93 and I don’t wanna pay them to join. I don’t really care to be a member of AFTRA. Then I would be paying more dues to another guild and for what? Normally, I don’t even drop-off to AFTRA shows. It’s a complicated guild issue.

The good thing is that as bad as I was there were bright spots during the audition and I got to meet Krisha for the first time.

Tonight I was an observer at a SAG Hollywood Board meeting. From what I understand this is only the second meeting in the history of SAG that has been open to members; therefore I was one of the first 30 members to witness the process. It was pretty fascinating to watch even though I had no idea what was going on for the most part. It was kinda like coming into a discussion that had been going on for weeks or even months and years. There where other things that I understood perfectly, and frankly irritated me. I was aware of this prior to hearing it tonight and for the life of me still cannot understand it. Why does SAG spend $250,000 a month to lease the building it is in? From what I’ve read we/SAG are in a 10-year, 29 million dollar lease. Yes $29,000,000 and after 10 years we’ll have nothing. I thought me paying rent on my apartment was stupid for all of these years, but SAG’s situation is STUPID! Are you freaking kidding me? What doesn’t SAG have its own building? Actually, the deal was done under the previous administration and I am not shocked by it at all.

I truly appreciate the time the board members donate to help actors get a fair deal. They don’t get paid for the tremendous amount of work they do. There were some recognizable faces there too: Morgan Fairchild, I have to say she looks pretty good for 56!, JoBeth Williams and Elliott Gould, I spoke to Elliott briefly, I told him I was cast in a scene with him and Don Cheadle in “Ocean’s Twelve”, but it was cut before shooting. He said he heard that he himself going to be in “Ocean’s Thirteen”. Maybe Mr. Soderbergh will hire me again.

I miss my mom, I really, really miss her. I wish I had the luxury of picking up the phone and calling her today; or any other day for that matter. My mom was a funny lady; hilarious. She could roll with the best of them and she did a lot of nice things for a lot of people. I did talk to or left messages for some other moms though.

One woman I spoke to used to work for our family business back in Virginia years ago. Her name is Christine. I hadn't spoken to her in at least 15 years. Needless to say she was very suprised to hear from me. Christine is, I would guess, in her 80's and unfortunately her health is failing. I'm glad I had a chance to talk to her. She thought it was a really big deal that I called long distance from Los Angeles. I told her that a lot had changed over the years and "long distance" isn't wasn't it used to be.

I also babysat my Goddaughter Hazel while her mother and grandmother spent some time together. We had a great time at the park and went to the mall for pizza! She's almost 2 and ate about as much pizza as I did. No wonder I'm so thin!

Gotta love the same day auditions; especially when nothing else is going on. Well, I assume I’m still on avail for “KFC”, but no appointments for today. That is until Erin, one of my theatrical agents called with one for this evening. Yup, 6:55 this evening. Cool, I’ll take that!

Get this, I go to the post office this afternoon and who gets in line behind me? The star of Fox hit “Prison Break” Wentworth Miller. He was being kinda low-key hiding behind aviator sunglasses and I could tell by his posture he was trying to be anonymous. I wanted to say something to him, but not reveal him to the other customers. To be honest, I don’t know if anyone else knew who he was. On the down-low I say, “Congratulations on the show”. He replies, “Thanks”. I asked him about the new season pick up and he seemed surprised I knew about it. I also asked him if they were still going to be shooting in Chicago and say “no” the show will be shooting in Texas next season. Huh, Texas? He seemed like a nice, regular guy. I say “good luck”, he said “thanks” and I made my way to the window to handle my business. Not two minutes after that I am walking back to my apartment and who walks right past me on the sidewalk? Actor-comedian Bill Bellamy. Yeah, right in my neighborhood. I guess this means I moved to the right city to further my career.

Audition: “Evan Almighty” @ Aquila/Wood Casting. The role is that of a reporter; actually one of 3 reporters AND it shoots in Virginia. Yeah, so I can’t help but to plan out my whole trip if I am fortunate enough to book a role. I felt great about my preparation and was quite confident going to the appointment. The audition was in the same building that my theatrical agency is in; one floor below. So I arrive at the casting office and sign in and there are about 10-12 actors ahead of me. I hang out for a bit rehearsing and then figure I’d go outside so I could rehearse at full volume instead of whispering in the halls of the building.

One of my dilemmas was using a prop or not. My character was a reporter interviewing and thought it made sense that he would have a microphone. Ya know; you always hear “NO PROPS!” and “NO MIMING!” I didn’t have a microphone anyway, but I did have one of those little umbrellas that’s about the size of microphone, when closed, in the trunk of my car. I went back and forth for a bit about it and decided to own it and use it. Who cares what they think, it’s my audition! Right? Truthfully, I did care, but not enough to not use it. I thought about the hundreds of actors that I’ve auditioned with when working as a reader and what the most effective thing they had in their favor. More often than not it was their ownership of their performance. I’m gonna own this performance dammit!

So I’m back downstairs on the street, umbrella in hand, rehearsing at full volume. People in cars are driving by looking at me, talking to myself, in a suit, with an unbrella in my hand. Yeah, I was getting some funny looks, but you know what? It was a great feeling. Why? Because, I had to NOT be afraid of making a fool of myself. The location was Hollywood & Vine which is undergoing a lot of construction and the area is a little haphazard at best. I was rehearsing in the doorway of an empty storefront; an area where a homeless person might take a dump or vomit. It wasn’t too bad in there, a little cleaner than I expected.

So I’m reading the material, people are looking at me and I decide to move a little closer to the sidewalk to really expose myself and what I was doing. What happened next was kinda surreal. Who walks by? Not 1 of my theatrical agents, not 2 of my theatrical agents but all 3 OF MY THEATRICAL AGENTS!!! LOL! Yeah, Erin, David and Caleigh were leaving the building after work. So I had a little explaining to do, especially the umbrella in my hand that I was talking into. It was pretty funny. They were quite supportive and glad to see me working on my stuff. They also liked how I looked in a suit. I love my agents.

Back upstairs and all systems are go! I enter the room and Tricia says the umbrella/microphone is a good idea. The scenes went great. She gave me a little direction and we did some of them a second time. At the end they requested a 30 second improv. My “microphone” turned into umbrella again and it worked well for the scenario I came up with. I felt great about the outcome, so we’ll see what happens….or not. I have plans to be out of town next weekend, but given a choice I’d rather be on a plane to Virginia.

2nd Callback/Avail “KFC” @ Ross Lacy Casting. This 2nd callback went really, really well. I went in with a great group of guys, I took direction and had a lot of confidence, but for some reason I was kinda down when I left. I'm not sure what it was, but I felt the very familiar "you've been released" lurking closely around the corner. It's rare for me to feel that way. I mean I don't necessarily expect to book from an avail, but I don't take it personal and get too wrapped up in it either.

I guess it doesn't really matter since I left good stuff in the room. They don't have to know I was severely depressed on my way back to my car. THEY don't have to know I was calling my therapist for an emergency session to JUST GET THROUGH IT! THEY don't have to know I was looking at my wrist with a Swiss-Army knife in the other hand ready to CUT MY EFFING WRIST! THEY don't have to know it I went straight home, got into bed, curled up in a FETAL-POSITION with my thumb in my mouth! THEY don't have to know I looked at some of my extra Vicodin and was ready to END IT ALL DAMMIT!!

They don't have to know any of that. Why? Because it didn't happen and Vicodin is for pain. I think Prozac is the one I'm thinking of. Maybe for my next dental procedure I can talk the doc into some of that Prozac shit. Let me tell you, the ONLY reason none of that stuff happened is because I had to go home, change and rush to another audition. Without the annoyance of ANOTHER FREAKIN COMMERCIAL AUDITION you can bet I would have been home, naked, in a fetal-position, bleeding from the wrist, popping Vicodin every 10 minutes - convincing myself it was Prozac.

Audition: “Red Stripe Beer” @ Francene Selkirk Casting. This one went great. It was funny because they were waiting and waiting for an Asian guy to go in with this Asian woman who was there before me. Also, there wasn't a Black woman for me to go in with. So we both just had to wait, which wasn't a problem for me, but why? I'm thinking, are you kidding me it's freakin 2006?

Look, I don't know if the Asian woman was Japanese or not, but I do know that I've been to Tokyo and trust me, "it's all good" there is no problem with a Black man and an Asian woman having a little something in common - at least for a commercial audition. Sometimes the ad agency wants to see things a certain way I guess.

I had a busy day today. Mostly mental, just because I've got so much on my mind I sometimes feel like I'm going to explode. It’s all good stuff, but stuff nonetheless.

This marks the 11 year anniversary of my moving from Virginia Beach to New York. WHAT!? 11 years? Yeah, 11 years. Wow. Even I can hardly believe it. I gotta tell you I've had a good ride, a really good ride. I was talking to my friend SonHui just last night. She is embarking on a career transition and used me as a sounding board for some ideas she has about making it happen. I don’t feel like I have much to offer in the way of answers, but something she said kinda resonated with me. She commented that “you did it, you up and moved to New York to follow your dreams. Look at all the things you’ve done in the last 11 years.” “Huh”, I thought. I guess I have gotten a thing or two done in my time at the wheel. I mean I don’t usually see myself as someone who just up and does whatever it takes to make changes. I have a master’s degree in “procrastination” trust me, but I guess it’s all relative to what you’re comparing it to.

It was also an interesting day for another reason. My friend, Jonathan Julian, left this afternoon for Vancouver to work on "Noah's Arc"; a show that he is a series regular on. As I've mentioned before, he landed this role from a self-submission on NowCasting. Anyway Jon and I have been friends for a long time. He introduced me to my first acting teacher, Sylvia Harman, in Virginia Beach back in 1993.

When I think back to whom I studied with back then, so many years ago, and what some of them are doing in the business it bring a smile to my face. As mentioned Jonathan is in Vancouver, Michelle Krusiec is always working on something, Joanna Canton is anticipating pick-up on a new ABC pilot and William Gregory Lee is currently in Hawaii working on a series as well. I feel like I’m in pretty good company, but I better get my a** in gear to keep up!

Bright and early this morning I had my stitches removed from my mouth. It seems that my recovery is moving along well. While there I saw the gentleman who gave me a ride home last week after the surgery. It was then that it dawned on me that I had no recollection of getting into his SUV. I was on four different medications plus whatever I was given through the needle in my mouth. I totally underestimated what I was in for. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t do everything I was used to doing. Hello, I had been through a surgical procedure, duh. It worked out great though, I only missed one theatrical audition during the week and I was okay with that.

OMG! While they were removing the stitches I got pinched a couple of times. I was squirming in the chair like crazy trying to be a big boy about it. I’m really glad those stitches are gone, because some of them were coming out on their own and I would swallow them or worse “almost swallow them”. Yeah, if you saw a young African-American male running in the street looking for a bottle of water while making sounds like a cat with a hairball in its throat it was probably me. Good riddance to those stitches; it’s not natural to have thread in your mouth anyway.

I gotta tell you this dental stuff is crazy expensive and while there I had to purchase this special rinse to aid in the healing for $25. WHAT? The good thing was that when I parked to go to the appointment the parking meter was broken so I didn’t have to pay. Yeah! So I saved like a $1 right there. Every little bit counts. The even better thing was that when I was leaving the office I found $20 on the ground. There was nobody around, just cars waiting for the light. Yup, you got it; it went straight in my pocket. I knew when I woke up this morning it was going to be a good day. Free money before noon is always a good start.

From there I ran and did a quick drop-off. The drops will start to slow down since I am planning my month long break from Los Angeles soon. I’m really looking forward to that; I’d love to leave with a booking or two.

Callback/Avail "KFC" @ Ross Lacy Casting. Another one in the books; it went really well. I did all I could, so we’ll see. This is especially great because I didn’t originally have an appointment for it.

CUT TO: one hour later – 3:50pm.

My agent calls to inform me that I have another callback tomorrow for this same “KFC” spot and I'm still on avail. Well that’s good right? Of course yeah I’m still in the game! I don’t get paid to audition very often, but I’ll get another $133.75 for this 3rd audition. Oh yeah and I’ll get to eat some sort of hot wings or whatever it was we were pitching in the spot. Lunch is good, and I like chicken…it is chicken right? Of course it’s chicken! It’s right in the name “Kentucky Fried CHICKEN” – KFC.

It seems these days I attend as many financial/real estate seminars as acting related events. This one tonight was at the Marriot/LAX and it was about real estate investing and the importance of credit scores. I gotta tell you the financial world is just as interesting as Hollywood to me; incredibly creative.

Yes!! Remember that "KFC" spot I wiggled my way into a couple of days ago? Well I got a callback and they put me on avail. No, it's not a booking, but I'm really excited to get to the next round. I think I'm really right for it and, who knows, maybe it'll go my way. It's amazing how many opportunities they are here in Los Angeles. It's not easy to get them, but they are here right under our noses. I am thankful for each and every one I get; and to think I considered letting this opportunity slide - for a moment.

Print go-see: “Wells Fargo” @ Connie Conway Casting. Who knows how this went, I was in and out in 3 minutes. It felt great to have my zed card and not a headshot. I'm gonna start booking print eventually, at least that's what I tell myself!

I had 3 commercial auditions yesterday. Well, actually I had two scheduled, but when I went to the first one I peeped what was going on in the next room. It was a “KFC” spot also being cast by Ross Lacy. While I waited to go in for my scheduled one, I scoped out the “KFC” to see exactly who was going in for it. I saw several African-American guys that were my type; some of them I’ve auditioned with before. Hmm, should I make a move? What should I do?

On the one hand Ross calls me quite often and there might have been a specific reason while wasn’t being seen for this one so I wanted to really think about my next move. Actually, this same scenario has happened before and I elected to let it ride for various reasons. So I figured I could do one of 4 things:

• Try to straight up crash the audition and weasel my way in. (not likely, although I did do a version of that one time and booked a national “Pizza Hut” spot.)
• Ask the session runner. (I didn’t want to do that; I recognized the guy and didn’t think it would work.)
• Call my agents, let them know what I saw and see if they could get me in.
• Be happy that I have 2 auditions and call it a day.

I thought about it for a minute and there is something to be said for being able to recognize an opportunity when it is in front of you. That is a sense I think I have and it has served me in the past. It’s exactly how I got the “Honda” gig I went to Japan for; it ended up being like $10,000 when it was all over. I can’t afford to possibly leave 10K on the table if I can do something about it. I could probably pick-up some new gym shoes with 10K…or better yet get closer to buying a condo.

I opted for choice #3 - call my agents. So I speak to Don, one of the assistants and tell him what I saw. He says he’ll talk to the agent and get back to me. Cool. The great thing about my relationship with my agents is that I have confidence that they will, at the very least, try to get me in.

It’s not that important to me if they actually do. Well of course I want to get seen, but they great thing is that they take me seriously. They could easily just say “Oh yeah we submitted you; maybe they’ll go another day.” I would bet that I was submitted, but for whatever reason was not given an appointment. Who knows what the reason might be, but the key is trying to change that. I am very selective about when I call them for these types situations; I don’t want them to think I call about anything and everything just for attention.

19 minutes later Don calls back with an appointment. Bingo! That made 3 auditions for yesterday – and they all went really well.

Yesterday evening I attended a celebration for one my commercial agents who got a huge promotion. I am so excited for her; it’s great to see people move forward in their chosen field. I’m always going on and on about how great it is to be represented by these wonderful people – I can’t help it. All of my agents and assistants were there and I even met some casting people. I almost felt like I was doing the “Hollywood Thing!!” I had a great time.

Afterwards I went to a surprise birthday party for my friend Tanika Brown. I hadn’t seen her for a good while and it really showed me how the internet makes me feel like I’m in touch with folks, but in reality I’m in touch in a virtual world kinda way. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s priceless to actually get out in the company of others and have human contact. I was only there for a little while, but Tanika, myself, Melissa Madison and others at the party had some great laughs and the internet can’t really compete with that. I’ve gotta do that more often.

Audition: “Hummer” @ Ross Lacy Casting. I think my new strategy at this office will be to try “not” to book; maybe that will help me. I booked the first time I auditioned there it’s been downhill from there, LOL! I’m just kidding, not downhill, but Ross calls me in A LOT and I would like to score some points for the home team.

Now that I think about it I should be getting that 3rd callback check for that “Sprint” spot I was on avail for a couple of weeks ago at Ross’ office. Every little bit helps.

Audition: “KFC” @ Ross Lacy Casting. This went quite well and I feel really right for it. Hopefully, I’ll get a callback.

Audition: “Budweiser” @ TLC/Loree Booth Casting. I have booked two “IBM” spots at this office. The really cool thing about this office is that the first call is sorta like a callback because a lot of times director, the legendary Joe Pytka, already knows who he wants to see. They don’t usually have callbacks at all. It’s audition, hopefully an avail then a booking…or not.

I made it a specific point to get in this office years ago. I was on a mission to find out who the top commercial directors were. The name Joe Pytka kept coming up. I remember being at a producer session in January 2001 at Universal and I was talking to an actor who had just done a “Pepsi” spot directed by Mr. Pytka. It was his first time working with Joe, but he was telling me about another actress who was in the spot as well. She had made over $100,000 total after doing several Pytka directed spots. This actress said that she didn’t even think Pytka knew her name, but he kept calling her for jobs. If you’ve ever worked with him you’d understand; he is an enigma. He is also basketball fanatic; all of his commercial sets have a basketball court set-up for him challenge the crew…cast.

Needless to say he quickly went to the top of my list because I always heard he uses actors over and over and over again. I really wanted to get on that list. I had to do some research because it’s hard to get to commercial directors, so I figured if I could find who cast his spots I could eventually get to Joe. I found out that it was TLC/Booth Casting that did almost all of his spots and keyed in on them for drops and postcards. Now this was before online casting was what it is today.

Of course, all of this time my wonderful agents @ KSA were doing all they could to get me in this office too, like every other office in town, but I was really concentrating on this one. By June of 2001 I had started auditioning there and on my 4th time in May 2002 I booked an “IBM” spot! Sure enough one of the other actors in the commercial was shooting his eighth spot and last year while working on “Love, Inc.” one of those actors has done so many Pytka spots he doesn’t even audition anymore.

I’ve had several avails there over the years and booked another “IBM” last year, but don’t feel like family yet. I kinda feel like extended family; maybe a second cousin or something. I’m still working on it though.

I’m feeling a bit better these days; although I’m still bleeding a little, but sometimes a lot from the roof of my mouth. The swelling is almost gone, but I can still tell. I’ve slept till noon two days in a row. That is very unlike me, but very nice at the same time.

As far as the triplets go; “Moxie” moved back to the East coast, she and I are done. “Mo”, we talk every now and then, but I think it’s a wrap between us too. I still have her number and she has mine, but it ain’t what it was. “Vicky”, geez, we broke up and got back together and now it’s kinda strained and to be honest it’s best that we move on our separate ways. Dag! I used to luv her too, but too much of anything is probably not good.

On another note; I just talked to my brother in Prague and I was able to hear my 6-month old niece, Nikita, laughing in the background which made me want to get on plane right then and there an go see her. It made my brother think of this link he found of a laughing set of quads. It definitely made me laugh at 2 am.

The saga continues…Yeah, the swelling has gone down, but I still bleed overnight while I sleep. The black-eye is getting cooler everyday, but since I wear glasses you can’t see it too well. Actually, I wish more people could see it so when they saw me in public they would “bac ‘da eff up!” Ya, know, they would think I got drunk the night before and kicked some ass or something. I’m dying to yell “WHAT THE EFF YOU LOOKIN’ AT?” Okay, not really.

Check this out. Through this whole situation I have talked and talked about it, but fortunately I have not been in pain. I haven’t gotten much sleep, but I’ve been largely pain-free. Well, last night I was preparing to take my 9pm dose of Vicodin and noticed that it was the last one. Hmmm, I thought. “Do I really need to take this?” I was like “Nah, I’m going to save it.”

I wanted to know what it would feel like to always have a Vicodin at my disposal, even if it was only one single pill. It would just make me smile to know that I had it. I mean I hear so much about Vicodin in the news. Isn’t that what got Courtney Love, Whitney and now Charlie Sheen in trouble? Does that sound weird? It may, but you have to understand I am a guy that has had a gift certificate for a full session massage from Burke Williams for over almost 5 years – gratuity included. Yup, my girlfriend at the time gave it to me as a birthday gift. I just like to know that I have it “if” I wanna use it. I take it out of the gift box and look at it every now and then. When the time is right I’ll use it. I’m letting it mature like a blue-chip stock.

The real reason is that this same girlfriend bought me another one for a full body message when we lived in New York. That time it was at The Peninsula Hotel on 55th & Fifth Ave. I was very careful to use it when I really felt the time was right. OMG!!! It was out of this world! The very next day I had the audition for the “Pepsi” commercial that I booked and went to Madrid, Spain for a week. WHAT!! Yeah, to this day I still believe that part of the reason I booked that commercial was because of her and that massage. Ironically, exactly nine years ago, right now, as I write this I was flying over the Atlantic on my return trip from Madrid to JFK after shooting the spot. She has great taste. Thank you again!

Anyway, back to the Vicodin. I decided not to take the last one and let me tell you that stuff really works ‘cause pretty soon my whole mouth was throbbing and I had a pretty bad headache. I guess I had stayed ahead of the pain by taking everything on the proper schedule and I screwed it up by trying to be smart. That serves me right for trying to beat the system.

I didn’t want to just catch up on that now late Vicodin because my Motrin dose was coming up so I waited until 3am to pop that last Vicodin. I should have “just said yes” before; but I was curious to see if these drugs really make a difference – they do. Since I was now out of Vicodin and had to see if I was going to be cool without it. Well as the day went on I got my answer. I called the dentist and said “hey Doc, I’m dying over here. You gotta write me another script”. I love the underworld slang; “script”. I feel like I’ve really arrived in Hollywood now. The headline could say: STEPHON FULLER – PRESCRIPTION DRUGS? Looks like me and Vicodin aka “Vicky” are dating again. I pick up the refill tomorrow.

Guess what? It's 6am and I'm reporting for my morning meeting with my mistress; this chick named "Motrin" (‘Mo’ for short). Now, Motrin and I haven't known each other long, not even a week. We have an understanding. It's all good, I open her up, look around, swallow and that’s that…until we meet again.

I ain’t trying to say that "Mo" is a bootie call or nuttin like that. I have the utmost respect for her power and position in my life, but I'm hollering at this hottie named "Vicodin" (‘Vicky’ for short) too. You see "Vicky" has a twin sister named "Amoxicillin"; I call her "Moxie" and “Moxie” is something else!

At yesterday's morning staff meeting I was "swole up fo real" and I had a cool ass black eye developing. But after a threesome with Moxie, Mo & Vicky I was feeling much better and the swelling went down considerably. By the end of the day I felt I was getting back to normal. Well, that’s what I thought.

Last night, actually early this morning around 3am I sent a text message to Vicky and she didn’t like my approach and we got into a huge….disagreement. I thought we had worked it out and agreed to disagree. Well I wake up at 6am and get this; I’m freakin’ bleeding from my mouth and swole up - AGAIN! She let me know who was running thangs. I looked like a dump truck or Mike Tyson after Buster Douglas whipped his butt. This has to turn around soon.

I hadn’t mentioned this before, but I have a lot of bruising on the inside of my top lip and the bruising is slowly traveling to the outside of my lip. So I’m getting a ruby-red color to my lips, like lip stick – nice. It’s like one step forward and two steps back.

Something else I don’t think I mentioned is that I have an appointment with a podiatrist this morning. Yeah, I was getting my yearly physical a couple of weeks ago and the doctor asked me….

Doc: Do you have flat feet?

Me: Ahh…I don’t know.

Doc: Do your feet bother you? Or your back? Or Shins?

Me: As a matter of fact they do sometimes; yeah even when I’m not on them.

Doc: Yeah, you definitely have flat feet. I’ll give you a referral to a podiatrist to get them checked out.

I truly didn’t know; it’s not like I ever tried on someone else’s feet and could compare the two. What really tripped me out was that I had socks on and he could still tell. I guess that’s why he gets the big bucks and my feet are really flat.

This physical wasn’t as interesting as the one on Dec 15th ’04, yes I remember the date, when I surprisingly got my prostate examined as part of the procedure. If you’re familiar with what a prostate exam entails; imagine not having any idea it was going to happen until the probing finger was…….probing. Yeah, “in through the out door” and yes it is only an out door. Unless, of course, I’m getting my prostate examined….

Okay, so to the podiatrist office. The doctor takes a look at my feet and ask some questions. He has me roll up pants to my knees and walk. Right away he notices that my right side droops when I walk and my right leg is about an inch shorter than my left. WHAT!!! Yeah, WTF is going on? So he gives me temporary inserts for my shoes now and takes plaster cast of my feet for custom inserts. Yup, they’ll be ready in 10 days. All for a $15 co-pay. Gotta love that SAG coverage.

Lastly, this is worth mentioning I think. I have direct deposit for TV/Film Residuals through my credit union. So the checks go directly to the credit union to be deposited and the credit union sends me a credit union statement and the statement from the check. I’m guilty of not always looking at that mail right away because I know there isn’t any checks, just statements and I’m ALL about the money. Well I got one today and I opened it for some reason and sure enough there was actually a check in there. Moral of the story for me: check your mail it might be residual from “Yes, Dear”.

WHAT!!!! I’m up again at 6am for my Vicodin fix or is Motrin? Yeah, it’s Motrin. Thankfully, the bleeding has slowed down a lot, but the swelling is out of control. I look like an adult blowfish and get this; it’s spreading to my left eye! Yup, I’m developing a black-eye. Maybe I’ll put some steak on it like they do in the cartoons. I gotta tell ya, I’m loving it! I don’t know; it’s just interesting.

This is my med schedule:

12 midnight: Motrin
1am: Amoxicillin
3am: Vicodin
6am: Motrin
9am: Vicodin and Amoxicillin
12 noon: Motrin
3pm: Vicodin
5pm: Amoxicillin
6pm: Motrin
9pm: Vicodin

Plus some crazy mouth rinse, twice a day, which taste like $3 a gallon unleaded fuel. I should put that in my fuel tank and call it a day. I set alarms for all of these and have yet to miss one. I don’t want any trouble with the healing process. The stitches don’t come out for another 10 days.

I think I figured out what I look like. It’s not a blowfish; it’s a car. I look like a freakin’ car! What kind of car? A Chrysler 300. Ya know, one them sh*ts with the big ass grill in the front. Yeah, I got a big ass grill right now! To the casual observer I may not look like a car, but I “feel” like I look like a car.

I gotta really think about this. As it stands now, I don’t have any appointments tomorrow Monday. Who knows, that could change, my agent could get a call for an African-American male, late 20’s early 30’s, that resembles an American-made car with a big ass grill. Don’t laugh, it could happen. Would I cancel another audition tomorrow if I had one? I totally didn’t think about swelling up like this. It’s been 48 hours it should start getting back to normal soon.

Oh Sh*t!!!! I got up at 6am to take some medication and looked in the mirror and said “WTF! Who is that?” I am bleeding and my face is swollen, lol!!! This caught me by surprise. I’m trying to figure out what type of farm animal I look like. I think I look like a badger or better yet a blowfish. Man this is hilarious; I wish my brothers’ could see me. At least the medication is working and I’m not in too much pain.

This is funny except for a couple of things. Remember me not having had a print go-see in a month? Well I have one today AND a commercial audition. Cool, I look like a blowfish! Actually, I went to this same place last month and they requested that I wear my glasses this time.

Print go-see: "IBM" @ Ben Sealy Casting. It'll be my first go-see with my new zed card. Yeah! Thankfully, I didn’t have to speak.

Audition: "Walgreens" @ Deborah Kurtz Casting. This went really well too. I only had to speak for my slate and there were 3 of us in the shot for the audition, so I doubt they noticed I looked like a blowfish. Cool.

V" is for Vicodin! Yeah, today is the day for me to find out what's so great about Vicodin, Motrin, Ativan and Amoxicillin. I'm getting some gum reconstruction, ridge augmentation and bone grafting done in my mouth this morning. Sound painful? It was…at times. The first 6 incisions into the roof of my mouth was a wake-up call to say the least - OMG!

I did some internet research on the dental procedures I was about to encounter; which could have been a mistake. I might have been better off if I didn't know what was going to happen. My appointment was @ 8:30 to start the meds and the surgery was to start at 9:30. About 25 minutes after taking the stuff I started to feel.......well lets just say I was "happy"….and confused.

Thirty minutes later they put me in the chair and all system were go. I had my PDA playing music to distract me, but when I saw needles and heard drilling I couldn't help but be a little concerned. The first incision into the roof of my mouth was like "Hello! WTF!"

After a while all I felt was pressure and I was cool with that...eventually I was out completely. I made it through with a lot of swelling, a bit of bleeding, 4 different meds and a host of stitches in my mouth.

The coolest part about the whole thing was that, since I couldn't drive to the appointment because of the meds, I had the opportunity to ride the bus again. I really like riding the bus/subway and I'm going to do it more often. Actually, I'd planned and looked forward to riding the bus home, but the office staff wouldn't let me. They had a gentleman from the office take me home instead. The best part of that “trip” was being mesmerized by the navigational system in his expensive BMW SUV. I had never actually seen one work, they're pretty cool. It should be an interesting evening for me. I hit the sack for two hours then woke up to see if I could make my audition. It wasn’t to be.

Audition: "The Procrastinators" @ CC Harper Casting. Ooops, I had to call my agent and pass on this appointment. Too much blood, too much pain, too many meds and too little time. Maybe they can reschedule it. See ya, good night.

Oh yeah, funny enough, it’s been almost an entire month since I’ve had a print go-see. Everything stopped as soon as I got my card finished. WHAT?! How does that work? I’m sure I’ll start getting out again soon.

Audition: "Lifting Off" @ AFI. This went really well.

Today was a great day! I put my car in the shop for some routine maintenance, but it turned out I didn't need to get as much done as I thought. So, as a result, it was a bit cheaper than I expected. It's a Honda and if I take care of it, it will take care of me. I do my best to keep it relatively clean inside and out.

The best part of the trip was this: I drove to the other side of town to the shop with my bike in the trunk. After leaving my car, I rode my bike to the subway station and rode the train back to my side of town and rode the bike back to my apartment.

I LOVE riding the train! It reminds me of my years living in New York. I had SUCH a great time in NY, great job waiting tables at The Harley-Davidson Café, great friends and learned a great deal about how to run my acting career. Those things really helped my transition to Los Angeles, which has been fantastic as well. I am just the luckiest guy in the world!!! Okay, I’ll stop.

I wish it was more practical to take the train in LA – at least for me. It just doesn’t really go anywhere I need to go on a regular basis. I think I’m going to take it down to Long Beach one of these days and ride my bike down there.

I spoke to my older brother in Prague this morning (again for free PC-to-PC on http://www.skype.com/) and it’s really cool seeing the changes in him since he is a new father. He’s just a little different and seems to be having a ball with his 5-month old daughter Nikita. I thought it was interesting that he looks “up” to our youngest brother, Todd, as a role model of what to be as a father. That trips me out, but I’ll be the first to say Todd is “The Father of the Year”. My kid brother rocks; his children are really lucky to have him to raise them.

I also spoke to my older sister in Birmingham and she was talking about my niece and nephew in Virginia Beach spending a bit of the Summer with her family down South. That got me thinking…a huge part of my going home for a month is so I can hang with the kids. It would really be different if the kids weren’t there. Maybe I should carry my ass to Hawaii for two weeks and Virginia two weeks instead of a month in Virginia. That would suck if the kids were gone the whole time I was home, but I would have to understand; they have other Aunts and Uncles so I have to share them, lol!

Since I purchased an all day pass for the subway; it can also be used for the city busses. So I decided to take the bus to a pre-release screening of “United 93”. I can’t think of another movie that had me welling up in tears in the first two minutes; just knowing what was going to happen. The only other film that really broke me down good was “The Notebook” a couple of years ago. I was still quite fresh in dealing with my mother’s passing and “The Notebook” tore me up good, beautiful film. “United 93” was, for me, extremely moving. My body shook every time they said “LAX” “LAX” “….heading to LAX”. I couldn’t even move when it ended; you could hear a pin drop in the theatre that held hundreds of people. I cannot imagine what those passengers went through.

I’m sure most of us remember where we were when we heard the news of what was happening to our country. My girlfriend at the time and I were awakened by her roommate and she said “My mom just called and said ‘a plane crashed into The World Trade Center’”. Of course, that made no sense. It started to make sense when we soon witnessed second plane doing the same thing. Unbelievable – how could it be?

Several weeks before, a friend of mine, New York actor Dorian Missick, was in Los Angeles and stayed with me for a couple of days. He met with Denzel Washington several times for a role in “The Antwone Fisher Story”, took meetings and auditioned. While here, he booked a guest starring role on “NYPD Blue” I distinctly remember him saying “I come back out on the September 11th to shoot”. Now of course, the date September 11th didn’t mean anything special then, but I hit me like a ton of bricks when I thought he might have been on one of those planes. I frantically dialed his numbers and finally caught up with him – he had just gotten off the plane he was on as all flights had been grounded. Me? I was still shook because two days before the 11th, Sunday the 9th I felt my first earthquake in LA. OMG!!! That was freaking crazy! Nothing by LA standards, but for this East Coast Kid. WHAT!!!!? No more earthquakes and please, no more planes flying into buildings!

Today I attended the 2006 Screen Actors Guild National Membership Meeting. As I have said before, every time I'm in the company of the new guild leadership I feel much, much better than I did with the old leadership. To me, I was never sure what side the old leadership was on. It always kinda felt like they were more about being afraid of the opposition and we have paid for it dearly. Not that things are perfect now, but it does seem much more like we are moving in the right direction.

One of the things I thought was pretty cool was listening to rank and file actors make a suggestion during the Q&A. Yeah, they were able to go to the microphone, voice concerns about a union issue directly to the President of the guild then we took a vote of those in attendance and if there was enough votes it would be looked into further. THIS is where change is made and, believe me, we performers need some serious changes from the top down to survive and thrive in this business climate.

Important stuff - really important stuff. It's only our futures. It's pension, health, dues, pay rates, working conditions, background performers, residuals - oh yes, residuals. I really, really wish more of us would go to these meetings. There shouldn't have been an empty seat in that place. Don't get me wrong, I don't understand everything that is said at these meetings or even most of what is said. I DO understand that it has EVERYTHING to do with my future in the business and if I'm going to being able to make a decent living. Some of it can be kinda "lawyer-speak like" and I usually get lost in that, but every time I go I understand it better than last time.

SHOCKING NEWS!......I was released from being on avail for another "Sprint" national commercial today. Of course I say "shocking" as a joke; it seems getting released is the norm for me these days. I gotta tell you, it's getting old. There was a time when I got a lot fewer callbacks, but if I got a callback there was a really good chance I would book the job. I look forward to the days of having multiple conflicts again.

I'm glad I don't truly trip out over these things. I hear it drives some actors absolutely crazy - getting oh so close, but not getting the job. My take is that obviously I am doing much more right than I am doing wrong and that is a good thing. So I'll just keep it moving in a positive direction and trust that my agents will be patient with me. I will work again in this town! I had 3 really good auditions this week and hope to get some callbacks. FORWARD!

Audition: “Liberty Mutual Insurance” @ Laray Mayfield Casting. This audition went great. I think I “did less” pretty well. Hopefully I’ll get a callback.

Back on the phone with SAG – the story of my life. I’m kidding, it’s not that bad dealing with them I’m just the most curious person in the world. I have questions about everything – even if I don’t ask them all. The episode of “Love, Inc” that I was in aired again about a month ago. Obviously, I’m due payment for the rerun, but the question I have is how much will it be?

Almost all of the TV jobs I have gotten thus far have been on ABC, CBS, NBC or FOX. If “Love, Inc.” was on one of those networks I know that I’d get my original fee for a prime-time rerun. I also know there are some differences in the contract that UPN and The WB work under; hence my call to SAG. I mean, I'm gonna get what I’m gonna get, but I don’t want to expect a coupla G’s but only get 40 bucks after taxes and commission. Some of these SAG contracts we work under are funny like that. Don’t get me started on DVD residuals……..

So I got a nice, personable representative on the phone @ SAG to help me. He gave me a quick answer to my question, but I was suspect. He said I would get the full fee up to a certain amount, but that amount was lower than my fee. He kept using the term “syndication”. My thought was ‘how could it be syndication when it was a prime-time network rerun?’ It’s a first year show and it reran in the same time slot as it did the original time it ran. I mean it could have been true, but I needed to probe a little deeper. He backed off of his original answer and said nobody had ever asked the question. What? He needed to call me back after checking with someone else in the office.

I didn’t think he was withholding information, I just don’t think he really knew the answer. He gave me an answer assuming all 6 networks are equal; which they are not. It used to be The Big 3, then FOX, followed equally by UPN and The WB. In recent years FOX has joined The Big 3 and made them The Big 4, but UPN and The WB have a different contract.

He calls me back an hour later with roughly the same answer. I thanked him and didn’t give him a hard time. He probably gave me the right answer, but to tell you the truth I still wasn’t convinced. Before I let him go I asked him if the merger of The WB and UPN, “The CW” and also FOX’s new network “MyNetwork TV” will be under the same contract as UPN and The WB. I have to say I was very surprised that he had never even heard of the new networks coming this Fall.

Okay, I received my SAG dues in the mail yesterday and I just shook my head as I did last year and the year before and so on... Somebody please explain this to me. How is it that my annual SAG dues are $938.00 and anyone who makes over $500,000 pays the maximum dues of $2,650.00? Wait, I understand "how" because I can do the math, but "why?" Why is it that Tom, Jennifer, Denzel, Brad, Halle or anyone else that earns over $500,000 pays just 3x what little ole me pays. I understand that there are relatively few big earners in comparison to the number of working class actors, but still $2,650 for someone who earns millions a year?

I know the big earners don't need SAG in the same way as someone like me. And I'm not saying that they should be paying the same 1.85% or .5% of every dollar, but maxing out @ less than $3,000 just seems a little out of whack. I might have to bring it up at the SAG membership meeting this weekend.

I have to say at the same time that I received another letter; also from SAG. This was my Annual Summary of Earnings Statement. It showed my 2005 earnings and what my estimated monthly pension would be at age 65 (that’s like 5 years away!). It kinda made feel legitimate; that I have been doing something for the last decade and I have a little to show for it, LOL!! I mean, it wasn’t a lot of money, but it’s something. All I have to do now is keep working - much easier said than done – and keep building it - and of course other things to secure my future.

I looked at a beautiful condo yesterday that I couldn’t begin to afford. I wish I would have had my Annual Summary of Earnings Statement and showed the realtor that I AM SOMEBODY – I have a pension! In retrospect, maybe it was a good thing I didn’t have it.

Audition: "Holiday Inn" @ Ross Lacy Casting. This one went really well and I think I'm really right for it. I even saw Ross, which is rare. It seems like his company is always doing at least 3 or 4 spots at the same time.

Audition: "Mastercard" @ Kathy Knowles Casting. OK, I would really like to book something - soon. That goes without saying, but I would REALLY like to book this. Why? It shoots in Budapest, Hungary. I would love to go to Budapest and to have someone else pay for it would be really cool. The audition went great and I had the best partner, we click immediately. I think they should book both her and I for the trip to Budapest!

Now, I'm not totally green in this category. I've traveled to Madrid, Miami, Tokyo, Washington, DC and even Palmdale for acting jobs. I wanna add Budapest! My passport is ready to go, I can leave NOW. I’ve got all planned out: LA to France for a layover then on to Budapest. I’m smiling right now as I think of my time in Toyko back in ‘02 – that was butta! Shoot the “Mastercard” spot then change my return ticket to roll South to Prague, Czech Republic to see my brother Tommy and my new niece Nikita. Then on the way back stop in New York for a day or two to see friends, down to Philly to see family then, of course, to Virginia Beach to challenge my brothers on the motocross track and back to Los Angeles jet lagged with fatter pockets that are closer to a down payment on a condo. Damn that sounds great!!!!

Then I woke up and stopped smiling. I hope I can even make the audition; I have two and they are 10 minutes apart, but clear across town. I've got some juggling to do. I should probably slow my roll and just hope for a good audition and a callback. A brother can dream right?

Callback/Avail “Sprint” @ Francene Selkirk Associates. Cool, I’m back in a shorter line than before. Getting closer and closer to sealing the deal – but still so far. Avails are good; even if it just means sending a notice to my other agents letting them know that I’m close to booking something else. Yesterday when I saw my theatrical agents they asked if I booked the “Sprint” spot from last week. So it all helps, they want to know that you are in the game at whatever level – I think. At least they make me feel that they do.

This callback went great! Actually, I worked on the material in my commercial class last night; that definitely helped. I did it the first time and the director wanted me to tone down the "sell factor", I did it again and then he asked me to do it again without my glasses. I left feeling really good. I didn't get a parking ticket this time like I did at the first audition, I had some not so nice words for that meter maid. I mean, he saw me across the street heading to my car "before" he started writing the ticket. I got his attention and he wrote it anyway, so I gave him $35 worth of what was on my mind. In the end, it wasn't worth $35, but I felt a little better. I try to keep those ticket to a minimum; I ain't tryin' to get the orange boot on my car. No!

This morning I stopped by Debra Zane's new office and thanked her for thanking me for helping her move. This time I met her parents and they were as funny and fun as she is - great people. She gave us all the official tour of the place. Funny, I've been looking at condos in that same area; maybe her new office will be in walking distance again in the future for me.

It seems like every time I go to her office I leave there feeling better than when I got there and I felt good before I arrived. When she was showing the place I saw this stack of scripts. You know how the scripts have the titles written on the spine so you can read the name of them without puling them all out? Well, I'm looking this stack of scripts with names like: Pleasantville, Seabiscuit, Road to Perdition, Fun With Dick and Jane, etc. I dont know, it was cool to see the office copies of these big successful films. What was really cool was seeing the casting binders of films like The Terminal, Jarhead and Dreamgirls (also a life-size cut out of Beyonce) and knowing that I am in "The Terminal" binder. Yeah, I gotta get in more studio film binders!

After that I went to see my theatrical agents and talked about real estate. That seems to be what is mostly on my brain these days - getting out of this apartment. Even though it, most likely, will be some time before I'm able to actually do it; I have to start somewhere and get it out in the air. My agents gave me some tips on things to look out for.

Why is it that I hadn't been skiing in 5-6 years and then I go twice in one week? I don't know, but I'm glad I did. The conditions this time were just ok, but still fun. I brought my snowboard with me and used it for an hour or so, but then decided to rent skis instead. I like snowboarding and all, but hate having to strap and unstrap my boots every time I got on/off the ski lift. Either way, as long as I'm out there making it happen it’s all good. I just love doing athletic stuff.

When I went last week I was actually a little annoyed that I wasn't sore the next day. I was really looking forward to being crazy sore the next day and it just didn't happen. I had planned on being able to sleep the entire next day after taking a hot bath. It wasn't to be; I slept a couple of hours and was raring to go. I think this "trying to buy a condo" thing really has me excited. I just wanna go, go, go!

I asked my doctor last week about my weight and she said that I am a little under weight, but it's nothing to be concerned about. She also said I'm very, very fortunate to be in such shape. So, I am going to give myself a break. Since I don't really enjoy working out at the gym I'm going to cut down my 2-3 days a week (more 2 than 3) to 1+. I'd much rather skateboard, go mountain biking, rollerblade, ski, snowboard, ride my motorcycle, etc. instead of working out at the gym.

I was released from the "Sprint" commercial yesterday; there was a mix-up at my agency and I didn't get the message. Close AGAIN, but close doesn't pay the bills. I'll try and try again.

This is what I was afraid of……sorta. The background agency I worked with last month called today to clear me for several days of background on a commercial. I guess they have to submit my photo to the director and see if I’m chosen first before they can book me. I said yes, but I cannot help to wonder what I might be getting myself into. Well, for one thing, I know it would be a very nice payday; and it of course would be SAG earnings. I qualified for SAG Health insurance for the first time back in '99 and have yet to lose it. So I have to keep that in my mind - gotta get those numbers.

I told them I was clear for the days in question, but in reality I have some dental surgery scheduled. That can wait another week, but to tell you the truth I am really looking forward to seeing what the Vicodin craze is all about. NO, I'm not a dealer!! It's for the surgery. "Vicodin", it sounds so harsh and yet some people really like it. Well I'm going to find out - but it might have to wait another week. Who knows what else will be going on then. I’m not gonna worry about it; I am blessed and things usually work themselves out.

Well, I guess the “Sprint” commercial is moving on without me. I haven’t been officially released, but my avail day is Friday the 14th – which is tomorrow and I haven’t heard anything. Usually the casting office calls to release the actors that are on avail, but not always. It would have been really nice to book, but I’m glad to have gotten two callbacks for Ross Lacy Casting. Plus, most of the time I don’t get paid to audition and this time I did. It will pay for both of my ski trips.

I am so in denial these days it’s not funny. I’m trying to get a lot of things accomplished and it seems overwhelming. Matter of fact it is overwhelming. Sometimes I ask myself if I’m crazy and after pausing for a minute I usually say “no”. I have a healthy amount of confidence in myself, although some of that confidence is masked in denial. I simply deny that some things are not possible. What really helps is that I’m in an insane business. That insanity can go both ways though. I have experienced many great things thus far; the insanity has been good to me.

I remember when I had to get a newer car a couple of years ago. The car I was driving, my beloved ’89 Honda Accord, was ready for retirement. It was running hot so I had to put antifreeze/water in it every other day, the driver side door handle was broken so I had to get in on the passenger side for 6 months, the A/C did not work and sometimes it just would not start. I couldn’t imagine how I could afford another car, but I pretty much lived in it and had to do something. It was really bringing me down. Having a car payment of a couple hundred dollars a month was not a pleasant thought.

My brother talked me into checking out the credit union that I was a member of. I was terrified. I just could not afford to do it, I also couldn’t afford not to do it. The credit union ended up being a dream to deal with. They quickly approved me for what I needed, but there was one problem. I had no money extra money in my budget – NONE. I was living very close to the financial edge, but I knew the car situation was going to kill my spirit. It was just getting to be too much to run around everyday like I was for much longer. So I looked online and found the exact car I wanted; fortunately it was priced about $1,500 below the Kelly Blue Book price. I had no idea how I was going make the first payment on the car – seriously. I also knew that at the end of the day I can usually figure things out.

Two years later, somehow – someway, it’s working out and I’ve never been late on a payment. I have to remember that. Because right now I feel like I might be trying to do too much financially. It’s nothing frivalous, just investing in me and what’s mine and what’s gonna be mine. I keep telling myself to look forward to the possibilities. I’m definitely “a half-full and filling” type of guy vs “a half-empty and draining” type. That is my normal way of thinking, but I’m only human and I need help sometimes. “Gotta look forward, just make it happen”. So I say it out loud in my apartment, when I drive, to my family and friends and often times to complete strangers. Yeah, that’s it. “Gotta look forward, just make it happen”. That way of thinking has gotten me this far; why stop now?

On another note, I thought by now I would’ve gotten that very familiar call saying “Stephon, you’ve been released from the “XYZ” spot. Don’t worry we’ll get you on another one soon”. Well, as of 5pm Wednesday evening I was still “on avail”, but they are also still casting. I don’t know if they are still casting the spot I’ve auditioned for 3 times or if it’s several different spots. At any rate, I have a feeling that I’ll be released tomorrow. I really hope I’m wrong. If I’m right I’m going snowboarding Friday.

I’m not being pessimistic, it’s just a strong possibility I’ll get released. Trust me, I would much rather shoot a “Sprint” national than go snowboarding on Friday. I’ll just go Saturday! Here’s an idea; maybe I should just say I’m going snowboarding Saturday because I’m shooting a “Sprint” national Friday. YEAH! That sounds good; that’s my story!

How ironic is this? Since I’ve officially had my new print zed card, I haven’t had a single go-see. I’m sure that will change in the near future. I’m not expecting to get out everyday or anything like that, but I’m really happy with it and I think it will work for me. My agents will get me in the game on regular basis in due time.

Audition: "Sprint" @ Francene Selkirk Casting. Cool, another "Sprint" audition. Heck another audition period. Trust me, I am still thankful for each and every appointment I get. My first audition in LA back in ’98 was @ Francene's office. I've gotten close to booking several times, but haven't closed the deal......yet.

The audition goes well, so hopefully I will get called back to the next round.

Callback: "Comcast" @ Lien/Cowan Casting. YES! Another callback. I was a bit messy in the initial audition, but I remember the notes I got from the session director and I should be able to put it together for the creative team at the callback.

With the season slowing down my hustle has changed a little; I'm not slinging my photos around as much and did my last casting director workshop about 4 months ago. My goal is to make more out of every opportunity. When I moved here 7+ years ago my goal wasn't to get jobs; it was to figure out "how to get the 'opportunity' to get jobs". I've done okay in that area and have built up a pretty good foundation along the way.

It feels great to use my time in a slightly different manner; my acting classes are going really well and I’m excited about attending open houses in preparation for buying a condo. I won’t be buying in the next week/month or anything like that, but I think it will happen in due time. Oh yeah, and I would love to go skiing/snowboarding again before the season is out.

2nd Callback: “Sprint” @ Ross Lacy Casting. Not only is it great to make it to the next round, but I’ll get paid for the 2nd callback (3rd audition) and it pays for the ski trip and more! Funny how things work out.

If you’re curious about the rates:

· 1st and 2nd Auditions: No payment is due for the first hour from the call time or arrival time, whichever is later. For each additional ½ hour, a performer is entitled to $33.45.

·3rd Audition: A performer is entitled to $133.75 for the first 2 hours. For each additional ½ hour, $33.45 is due.

·4th Audition & thereafter: A performer is entitled to $267.50 for the first 4 hours. For each additional ½ hour, $33.40 is due.

The 2nd callback went well I felt. There were only 6 actors there for 3 or maybe 4 roles. I was the only African-American; there was at least one other African-American actor at the 1st callback. According to the copy, the 4th role was a man then changed to a woman, but they kinda had me doing it. I hope they didn’t think I was “woman-like” because I’m kinda small framed, LOL! Trust me, I am all male.

There was only one actor there for the role of the “Guy 1/Boss” so I’m thinking that he may be as good as cast…maybe. They did a bit of mixing and matching for the other roles. At the 1st audition I was “Guy 2”. At the 1st callback I did all of them “Guy 1/Boss”, “Guys 2 and 3” and here at the 2nd callback I was doing “Guy 4/Woman/Guy 4”. Go figure. Had they already cast the woman or is it really going to be a man? Who knows.

It was interesting to see the different approaches that actors’ take, because when I was in they rotated in two of the other actors and the spot had a completely different tone than with the other two actors. It was also interesting to be aware that I was being watched on monitors by the rest of the creative team in the next room.

So that was it. I did what I had to do and felt great about what I left in the room. When I was signing out me and the other actors were joking about who they would cast. I joked that I was the only Black guy there and that could be really good, really irrelevant or maybe I was fulfilling some quota. Just kidding, I doubt that. So I guess at this point I’ve done all I can do and I’ll either get a booking or a release.

Callback: “Sprint” @ Ross Lacy Casting. This callback went well, which is particulary great for me in this particular office. It’s almost like Ross wants me to make a lot of money in commercials. Afterall, he gives me lots of chances and that’s all I can ask of him. I booked the first audition I had at his office back in ’99. It was one of 3 “Pizza Hut” spots I did, but that was in a whole different era……the ‘90’s. Back then commercial agents were still sending headshots by courier and drop-offs really helped.

For this callback I was part of a group of 3 guys. I gathered one of the guys and then asked the other guy if he would like to rehearse and he declined. Ooops. In the room they had us each read all of the three roles. It felt good or rather great. And I think I’m really right for it. So that was it and they sent us on our way.

Audition: “Comcast” @ Lien/Cowan Casting. This one went okay, I guess. I don’t think I was horrible, but I got some of the words and inflections wrong. I had donwnloaded the copy from online and I wasn’t sure which one was correct. When I got to the audition I was informed that neither was correct; there was another, different piece of copy. So we’ll see. It’s a multi-spot gig.

After the second audition I had to decide if I was still going to go skiing and the answer was a resounding YES!!! So I quickly packed up my gear and got on I-10 East. My friends had gone to Big Bear, but I couldn’t make it there in time and decided to go to Mountain High since they have night skiing.

So here I am on this beautiful drive to the mountains and I’m thinking about how fortunate I am. I moved here almost 8 years ago to further my career and it is happening. I am continually amazed by the reality of that. I moved to Los Angeles on Tuesday, July 28th ’98; my connecting flight came in from Chicago to LAX @ 10pm. I had my first audition the very next morning @ 10:30 and haven’t stopped since. I mean it really “is” my job. I’d planned on going on this ski trip with my friends and I had to pull out at the last minute for one of the best possible reasons……because of my job. THAT is a great feeling.

So I’m on I-15 North @ 4:40 pm talking business with one of my brothers and a call is coming through. It says “KSA” on the screen and I let it go to voicemail. I let my brother go so I could check the message. Of course my mind started to think of what it could be.

· An audition for Monday
· A go-see for Monday.
· An avail from one of last weeks go-sees.
· A booking from one of last weeks go-sees.
· A booking for the “Sprint” spot. (I was not expecting that)

So I call my voicemail and it’s the familiar voice of Don and he says:

“Um..you have 2nd callback…..”

My world went into slow motions at that moment. I’m thinking “WHEN!?!?!?! WHEN!?!?! Please don’t let it be this evening!” You see, I was on I-15 North going 2 mph in a 70 mph zone. There was no way I could get back to the Casting Studios in less than 2 hours with traffic. In a split second I could feel my heart beating in my throat and I stopped breathing…..completely.

Of course I was thinking he was going to say it’s “this evening”.

Back to Don:

“……..Monday morning @ 9am and you are on avail for Friday the 14th….”

My blood started to flow again and my breathing resumed. Needless to say I was very happy to get the news. I called to confirm with Don and continued moving along at 2 mph on the 15 North. Again, it made smile when I thought about the reality of possibly being 15 miles away from the mountain, but needing to rush back to LA……….for my job. THAT’S what I’m talking about!!

Let me tell you something. This brother right here can ski. I ain’t trying to say I’m the man or nothin’ like that, but I can get down wit the get down. I hadn’t skied in like 5-6 years, but I think I got better during my layoff. How could that happen? I think riding motocross helped out a lot. I have a much better understanding of the sport than I did 5 years ago. I was out there skiing not just getting a ride on some fiberglass. That is my same approach to riding motocross and my career. The question is: Are you simply getting a ride on that motorcycle? Or are you “riding that mofo?” I had a shift in attitude and it helped a lot. It was a blast.

I fell a couple of times, but they were nothing more than “welcome back, you’re gonna feel this tomorrow” falls. Actually, the first time I fell I watching this little girl who could not have been more than 5 or 6, but she was at the top of the mountain. I was wondering how the heck could someone that young learn to ski that well in such a short amount of time. Obviously, I know the answer – it’s an activitely that her family enjoys. I love seeing kids out doing positive things with their families. I can definitely see my family in the future participating in alot of outdoors activities.

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.

YES!! One of my favorite days of the year – the day I get my taxes done. Why? Well, it’s usually a very good day. My tax preparer, Laura L. Stewart, has always made my visits an uplifting experience. Now I haven’t always felt this way about getting my taxes done, but Laura changed all of that…..it’s a long story, really long, LOL!

Anyway, she understands the entertainment industry and guides me in the right direction concerning my business as a performer. I always leave her office feeling like I accomplished something during the previous year. Maybe it’s because I see exactly how the numbers lined up for my business. Don’t get me wrong, they are not large numbers by any means, but they are “my” numbers and I solely make my living as a performer. It just kinda does something to see what I can deduct as operating expenses and what I invested in my future over the previous year.

Even years ago it was always interesting to me to hear other aspiring actors say “it’s like running your own business”. I would think to myself “No, it IS running your own business”. This is as real as it gets. My earnings as a performer are reported to the IRS just like when I worked at Old Navy or The Standard or anywhere else.

Part of our conversation always leads to real estate. I’m trying to position myself to jump in the world of a mortgage. It’s something that I need and want to do if I’m going to stay in Los Angeles. This “rent thing” is for the birds. After Laura calculated my refund she plugged in some numbers to show me what my return would be if I was buying instead of renting. It just convinced me more that I need to leave the world of renting an apartment.

Some things I am super aggressive about and others I just take baby steps forever! Ugh!! I’ve been talking about real estate for a while to my friends, but I need to step it up and face it head on. I think it’s time. It was just so exciting to hear her talk about how she purchased her home. I thanked her for the pep talk and told her that our conversation was going to be instrumental in me having a great day.

Laura L. Stewart
Overflow Tax Services
Registered Tax Preparer
Bonded – Experienced
(818) 219-3071
goflo-overflow@att.net
11914 Kling St #2
North Hollywood, CA 91607

Afterwards I went to 2 of my 3 favorite places to shop, Costco & Target the other being the 99 Cents Only Store. I was shopping for my new place!!! At least in my head I was. At Costco I saw a bedroom set and it looked almost foreign to me. I’ve been living in this studio here in LA for almost 8 years. I haven’t had a chest or a dresser since I left Virginia Beach in ’95! The notion of having a bedroom would just do crazy things to me. I wouldn’t know what to do with so much room and I’m only talking about a 1 bedroom condo. Buying would be so inspiring for me to continue to move in a positive direction…….I think.

Here is where reality sets in. Real estate prices in Southern California are legendary. We all know that. But you know what? I refuse to believe I can’t join the club of homeowners or at least having a mortgage. Yeah, doubling what I pay now in rent sounds like an insane undertaking and it is….BUT, I think I’ve been looking at it the wrong way. I’ll find a way to make it work. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Find a way to make it work. That is exactly what I have done in my career. I have found a way to make it work.

When I consider the number of people who come to this town every month to be professional actors it gives me confidence. And it should. I can’t think of many more difficult ways of making a living; yet I have been relatively successful. Go figure. Can buying a condo be more difficult than making a living as an actor? I doubt it. I know people who have bought property in the last couple of years and if they can do it I can too! I think THAT is how I should be thinking. That way of thinking got me out of Virginia Beach, that way of thinking got me out of New York and that way of thinking will get my narrow ass in a condo! For starters. I have much bigger plans than just a 1 or 2 bedroom condo.

I am so excited these days! I feel I have real snap in my step; like I’m really eager to get things done. I remember when I was a waiter at The Harley-Davidson Café in New York. The young lady I was dating at the time was a hostess who had been promoted to a server. One night there was a shift where I was her assigned trainer and the manager commented on how fast I moved on the floor.

Greet my tables!
Would you like that in an HDC souvenir glass?
Get drinks at the bar!
Get your side work done!
How long on table 45?
Can I get you another Sam Adams?
Would you like that wrapped to go?
Check Please!
Well, hopefully next time you’re in The City you’ll stop back in and see us. Bye!

They asked me why I was in such a hurry. I’m thinking “Do I really move that fast?” I wasn’t aware of it, but I thought about it later. It was because I was so happy to be working there; it was like the greatest job! Ha! I used to come into work 45 minutes early in the morning to make sure everything was set up right. Yeah my time waiting tables in New York was great! As a server, I was running my own business. I felt I was largely responsible for the outcome of my shift and what I earned; I wanted her to feel the same way. She turned out to be a great waitress.

After leaving Costco and Target I did some drop-offs and even dropped a few of my new zed cards to some places where I’ve been to print go-sees in the past. That snap in my step feels great. I even called my dentist called to prepare for some extensive dental work I am trying to budget. I also talked to my little brother about Money Market accounts, Certificates of Deposit and his idea of building a strip mall back home.

The other day I got a letter from one of my former agents who left the business to spend more time with her daughter. She has since partnered with her husband as a Real Estate agent. It’s funny, because when I said goodbye to her on her last day at the agency she said maybe one day I’ll be another kind of agent for you.

CUT TO: A couple of years later.

This evening I called her at home to catch up with all that has happened since we last spoke and to talk real estate. It may not seem like a big deal, but it was HUGE to me to get these thoughts out of my head and into the space of a professional. Even though it was just an informal conversation it was great for me. This was the next step I needed to make. I’m still going to move at “my pace”, but I now know what my next move is.

Obviously, if I’m going to purchase something I have to bring in more income. Last October I decided that at the end of the year I’d take a break from casting director workshops. I’d done a lot of them over the years, mostly at Actorsite, and they’ve been an absolutely incredible investment in my career. I'm sure I'll do more workshops in the future, but right now I'm changing my approach a little. So I studied at Amy Lyndon’s for several months and then I started a commercial class @ Carolyne Barry’s. I need to tighten up my game, so that’s what I am doing. Also, hopefully this brand new energy in the print arena will lead to another revenue stream. I am thinking more about consulting too. I’ve been saying that forever. I do consult on occasion, but I should be doing it more.

I wonder if the snap in my step will wake me up to go to the gym in the morning…..hmmm. I doubt it.

Audition: “Sprint” @ Ross Lacy Casting. I think it went well.