Today is my 9 year anniversary of moving to Los Angeles. Geez, where does the time go?

I have to say that I'm really proud of my accomplishments. I truly feel that I have something to show for these past 9 years. No, everything isn't perfect, but I'm moving in the right direction and poised for a breakthrough.

It's been almost a decade of pursuing this dream in the Superbowl of my chosen profession - Hollywood. This is the biggest of the big leagues. I beam when I think back of getting the news of going to Spain and Japan; of booking my first TV job and first studio film, my first residual check, qualifying for insurance, performing in my first play at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC…. I may not be a starter in the big game, but I've definitely played in the big game - numerous times.

I've learned a lot and I've given back a lot - that's something I learned from my mother.

This career can really take a toll on the body, mind, spirit, soul, car, etc. The constant hustle has been a test for me because I don't think of myself as this super resilient human being. BUT - As they say, "the proof is in the putting" and I have definitely been "putting" in the work. In my years in LA and NY I've seen many come and go and I have a tremendous amount of respect for those who "have had it" and decide to shift gears and truly move on with their lives in another direction.

On the whole I'm excited about the future, but I have a lot of work to do; both in the business and out. 9 years in LA? What the heck was I thinking? …I wasn’t thinking – I just did it…

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The Business of the Business. That is what we actors are staring in the face right now. It’s tough for the rank and file performer and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to get any easier. One encouraging thing is that we are led by a more effective SAG leadership, in my opinion, than in recent years, but we are also dealing with huge, multi-billion dollar, international conglomerates. These conglomerates are trying their best to restructure the system of paying residuals - as in get rid of the system entirely.

With all of the contract negotiations going on now and into the near future it makes me wonder if I'll be able to continue making a living in the business - or if I want to. The question of "making a living" is an interesting one. Sure, I've made my sole living as an actor for several years and it feels great to present my tax preparer with the W-2's to prove it, but the uncertainty of earnings can be trying at times.

I've admittedly put a lot of pressure on myself for a long time and it may or may not be the best way to go about things. I know that a major part of it is that I'm not crazy about living in Los Angeles. LA has been very good to me, but living here has turned into quite the challenge - daily.

What I need to do is listen to more music and less talk radio, LOL! Some Led Zeppelin, Teena Marie, Alanis Morisette, Pat Benatar, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Gangstarr, Jamie Green or Lynyrd Skynyrd definitely gets my spirit moving. I love music, but I have a need to know what is going on around me – politics, local living, education, business, real estate – reality, and frankly it’s depressing in many ways, but I’m addicted to it. So I’m trying to do less AM Talk and more music and National Public Radio these days. I’m an information junkie and I have to get my fix, but too much NPR gets to me after a while too. The thing is that I’m so curious about so many things – it’s a problem. I think I'm due for some restructuring in some areas.

Usually, when I return from my summer sabbatical I'm eager to get back in the rat race. Not so much this time; I hadn't even been back in Los Angeles 24 hours when I had the feeling that I wanted to be somewhere else other than LA. I've thought long and hard about how I can improve my outlook about being here and I think I have some ideas.

Crazy enough, sometimes I think it would be easier to leave LA if I didn't have the foundation that I do concerning my acting career. I've made a bit of headway and have a solid team that believes in me - I'd be silly to leave and divest in what I've worked so hard to build. There's also the fact that I absolutely love working as an actor and the entire process of making films, TV shows, commercials, etc. - plus, being on set is a great, magical feeling.

I just wanna work and make a decent living; I don't dream about "blowin' up", "setting it off" or having people scream my name while crossing the street or shopping at the 99 Cents Only store. Although I think I would handle that stuff responsibly I'd rather ride my dirtbike or go skiing with my family. So, I have a plan to shake things up a bit.

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Audition "Toyota" @ Ross Lacy Casting. I'm tempted to say "It went great and I'm really right for it!", but I'll spare you, BUT "it went great and I'm really right for it!" I know I get tired of hearing it too.



With my little brother Todd after catching some waves in Virginia Beach...Back when I was young and thin...19??

I gained some weight during my vacation...4 lbs. I'll hit the gym and get back to my fighting weight in a couple of days.

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Audition "XXX" @ XXX Casting. I had to sign a two-page non-disclosure agreement to even audition for the spot. So I guess I should shut up now.

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Audition: "Best Buy" @ Ross Lacy Casting. This goes really well. I was paired up with friend Yvette Nicole Brown as my wife and I think it worked. We came off as the "sitcom husband & wife". Ya know, the wife knows everything and the husband knows nothing. I see Yvette on TV way more than I see her in person and it was great to get to read with her.

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Audition: "Life" @ Mia Levinson Casting. This role seems like it could be recurring. She had me read for another role as well. So we'll what the producers think when they view the tape.

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Time's up; my month long, sanity-saving sabbatical from Los Angeles and the entertainment industry is over.

Am I ready to go back? …tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock…

That's complicated. I'm definitely excited about auditioning, skateboarding, seeing my agents, riding my mountain bike, being on-set and working and seeing my God-daughter and friends, but not at all excited about my apartment and having to find a place to park my car on my block.

I just really like being with my family; my younger sister, Avis, that has Down's Syndrome is one of the funniest people I've met in my entire life - ever. She is incredible.

Avis, blessing me after I cut my dreadlocks off.

No, every aspect of my family isn't "peaches and cream". Matter of fact some of it straight up "salt & vinegar", but the parts that are good are really good.

I'm not complaining...I'm just saying... LA has been really good to me, but I just have other interest as well. At the end of day I'm really happy and fortunate that I truly have a career to return to...

So I arrive at the airport at 1:50pm for a 3:16 flight. We didn't board the plane until 4:30 and sat on the tarmac in a very small propeller-driven plane until 6:30....with no A/C. Finally we went back to the gate and got off the plane.

An hour later we were instructed to re-board for the flight to New York. I said 'no'; I didn't wanna take the chance of sitting on the tarmac for who knows how long and/or missing my connection to Los Angeles. I requested to be rebooked for the next morning and called my brother to pick me up. One more night with family and another home cooked meal!

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Okay, so I agree to go out in the kayak with my neighbor Ryan again. This time we go in much more open water; I felt I could handle it....until I actually saw it. For a second I was wondering what the heck I was getting myself into; then I rationally reasoned that Ryan must have confidence in his skills or he wouldn't be out here either.

I know it looks calm, but 5 minutes before

this it was CRAZY!!!! LOL!

Somehow the 2-man kayak felt much smaller than it did last week in the calm inlet. So we launch the vessel and are paddling furiously to get through the current and a wave crashes over the bow of the kayak getting me soaked. There was enough water in the vessel that Ryan had to scoop some of it out. This was within 2 minutes of getting in the water! I’m wondering what the heck I’ve done in being out there in the first place, but tried to be cool about it. Actually, it felt good to risk things a little – kind of like living in Los Angeles – what the heck was I thinking….

Ryan and Flounder

Anyway, we caught some fish, but let them go to live another day. I hooked a skate which is a stingray-like creature; that thing put up the fight of his/her life...and won. It eventually broke my fishing line and got away; which was good because when I saw it at the surface and how powerful it was I didn’t want no parts of it.

Life Jacket - CHECK!

Afterwards we went to another spot and damn near got stuck because the tide was still going out. At times we were in 4-5 inches of water and the kayak was scraping the bottom. Ryan had to get out and actually push me into deeper water. You gotta understand that we were back in like a marsh area – just us two – and sun was going down. It was a little spooky to say the least. I thought Jason from Friday the 13th was going to show up next. I was definitely out of my element, but it was good time and I learned a lot.

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Yes! Another day at the motocross track for me and the boys. Things were going really well until I blew up the motor on my bike. That was not good news. Fortunately, the engine didn't quit on the face of a jump – me going over the bars could have been really bad news. So I rested up for a bit and then blasted around on my brother’s bike to get my motocross fix.

Later, my younger sister, Avis, joined us for fireworks.

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YES!!! I finally went dirt bike riding today. I have to say 'I still got it'. Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying “I’m the man”; but I feel like I’m the man – a little. Keep in mind that I only get to ride about 4 days a year. I get better and have more fun every time I get out there. One day I plan to have the means to have a motorcycle in Los Angeles and get to ride weekly.

My brothers don't ride as much as they used to, but my nephew knows that when I come home we are definitely gonna get a couple of days at the track. My nephew is completely amazing to watch; he has the balance of a cat and excels in whatever he does. Like me, he hadn't ridden his motorcycle since December, but also like me, he didn't waste any time getting back in the flow of things.

The last several times I've been home my brother Todd has had the upper hand on the track, but that is over! I had him under control for the most part - that felt good. So I guess I'm the MX champ in the family again. I love riding my motorcycle and I plan to do it for a long time to come.

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It's funny that I actually have neighbors when I go home to Virginia. It's not the neighborhood I grew up in, but I know them better than the people in my building in Los Angeles.

Anyway, one of the neighbors, Ryan, is an avid kayaker. For years I would see his kayak strapped to his car and I'd comment about how crazy I thought it was that he'd go out in the open water in the tiny vessel - and fish at the same time.

The other day, while joking around with him, he flipped the script and invited me to take a trip with him. It's probably not something I would have sought out to do, but I couldn't decline the offer and still hold my head high - I woulda felt like a chump.

So today Ryan took me out into a relatively calm inlet to get my feet wet. Admittedly, I was a little nervous because the thing was so small for two people. I found that the kayak was much more stable than it looked. I even caught a bluefish and saw some amazing homes on the water. It was fun and I'd do it again – thanks Ryan!

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I like fishing; it was one of the many activities I enjoyed growing up, but I haven't been in a long time ago - probably 1991. So today my brother, his wife and the kid’s surprised me with a half-day trip on a 61-foot charter boat in the Chesapeake Bay. We had a blast and nobody got sick - thanks Dramamine!

We kept about 25 fish, but caught more - the others were too small to keep. My brother fried it up and I must say that his skills in the kitchen are coming together - I guess you have to learn to cook if you're married with two kids.

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YES! Today, me and the family and a few friends took our annual trip to the AMA National Motocross Championship Race at Budd's Creek in Maryland. This is the 5th year in a row we've attended the event and we always have a blast. I think the racing we saw today was the best we've seen, thus far.

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It worked; I can't believe it. Usually when I fly home I’m routed through Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, etc. Well, this time I flew with Delta because the fare was considerably lower and one my choices for connecting flights was through JFK in New York. I chose that flight because I hadn't been to NYC since July 2003 and I really wanted to see my dear friend Genine who lives in uptown at 123rd & Madison.

I figured if by chance my connecting flight gets cancelled I'd rather be in New York than another, sorta random city. When I left LAX this morning I didn't really think much about it because I booked the ticket so long ago and I hadn’t heard any weather advisories....

Anyway, about 3/4 of the way through my LAX-JFK flight we were placed in a holding pattern and I got a great view of a couple of The Great Lakes.....for almost an hour. Which meant it was looking like I might not make my connecting flight.

We land nearly an hour late and I rush off of the plane...from seat 41A (I always pick seats with numbers of significance)...only to find that my flight to Virginia had been cancelled. I instantly became one of many, many people that would be staying in New York overnight.

Right about this time my commercial agent called…oops. What could this be? I wasn’t up for anything. So I answered and it was just telling me to disregard a commercial audition that had been email to me since they knew I was out of town. Cool, I’m on vacation…in an airport.

My mind started racing about what to do. Did I really "need" to get home to Virginia tonight? Nah. Did I really wanna see my friend Genine and New York? YES!!! So I surprised her with a call to tell her that I was in town and what my situation was. I didn't know what the airline would do other than book me on another flight. They wanted to book me in the morning to Atlanta to wait for hours to get back to Virginia……uhhh no! I wasn’t going to ride the train all the way to Harlem to rest for a few hours to get up to go to Atlanta when I’m really going to Virginia. That’s not gonna work for me.

So I made up a story and got them to book me on the last flight of the evening tomorrow so I:

wouldn’t have to get up really early in the morning.
could see Genine and have lunch with her tomorrow
could hang out in Manhattan for a good part of the day.

The only thing I forgot in my master plan of getting stuck in New York was that I didn’t really have anything decent to wear. I attempted to wait in line to get my checked bag, but then I thought about having to carry it around Manhattan with me. I abandoned that plan and rolled out with my backpack…at least I had my tooth brush.

OMG! It really showed that I hadn’t ridden the train in years; I felt like a tourist in the city that had been so great to me almost a decade ago. I rode the A train to the 6 to 125th Street. I was back in the Manhattan and it felt great! I even had a hooker whisper to me “what you wanna do boo?”, I was like “Nah, I’m good” and kept on walking. That was at 124th & Park Ave. I finally made it to my friend’s place and got some rest for the night.

The next day I met Genine at work for lunch and had a great conversation about several things as we usually do. It’s funny that my three brothers and I met Genine at a restaurant in Virginia Beach back in 1990 and she’s still a close friend of the family.

With the time I had left I went on little tour; things that I hadn’t thought about in years came back to me in an instant. I must say that it was a bit emotional at times. I walked by the first place I lived in New York, 450 W 46th St in Hell’s Kitchen – wow! Then I hopped on the M11 and went up to another place I lived at 244 W 61st St – wow again! From there I walked to where I used to work, The Harley-Davidson Café at 56th & 6th – it’s now a bank!

From there I made my way back through Times Square and thought about when I made a special trip to New York years ago to see myself on the Wrigley’s Jumbotron – in Times Square! That was a very special feeling because I used to walk through there all the time on my way to work and seeing myself on that screen gave me the chills.

So I made it back to JFK in plenty of time to catch my flight…little did I know I would be leaving 4 hours late. I was started to feel weird about having to rely on so many people – from getting a ride LAX, to having to call Genine at the last minute, to my brother that was supposed to pick me up last night, to not knowing if and when I was getting in tonight. So I talked to my brother and told I had no idea when I would really be arriving and if it’s too late I’ll just sleep in the airport and call him in the morning…what the Hell was I thinking? Actually, I was just trying to be super respectful of his time; he has a lot on his plate and work long hours. I got in after 1 am and slept under the courtesy phones for rental cars until 7am…well tossed and turned until 7am…in short sleeping on the floor in an airport sucks.

I left LAX at 9:30 Tuesday morning and didn’t get to home until 7:30 Thursday…and it was worth every minute to not be in LA right now AND I got a taste of New York for free. I still can’t believe my plan worked.

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This evening, as a sponsor of The Cricket Feet Casting Actors Showcase, I spoke to some of the actors for a couple of hours about The BUSINESS of the Acting Business. I must say it feels great to be able to add new ideas to another’s approach about something I’ve gain knowledge in.

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Tonight I attended The Upfront Network Preview at The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Attending this event is always inspiring for me to want to work in front of the camera more and it’s great to see people I know in the pilots and/or have worked with in the past. As far as the shows go, I saw some interesting things. I’m not the greatest judge on writing and stuff like that, but I like seeing actors with jobs. One year I even saw myself in two of the pilots shown.

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Finally! I played tennis today. I got my a** kicked by a woman I met online, but it was a lot of fun. I've wanted to play for a good while. Sometimes you can catch me hitting the ball against the Smart & Final on my street. It's not very smart because most of the "court" is in the street. I must admit that it's a blast and passing motorists get a kick out of it. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not 15 anymore.

Speaking of 15; I've been working out at the gym a lot lately. Not that I feel 15 or particularly enjoy it; but it keeps me busy and I'm probably in the best shape of my adult life. I'm fortunate that I'm pretty athletic, eat relatively healthy and have a metabolism that works me.

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Audition: "Hewlett-Packard" @ Joe Blake Casting. I may be a little young for this spot according to the specs, but it went great. This should be my last audition for a while; I'm due for a break and I need to, want to and can’t wait to get out of LA for a bit.

Tonight I participated in a staged reading for a casting director who specializes in low to medium budget films. It had been quite some time since I had been a part of one and it was again a cool experience. Not to sound "connected" or "exclusive", but I probably shouldn't mention the project by name since the director and writers' name were not on the script and I heard the director say that they were trying to keep on the DL. I'll say this; the director is the son of a very, very well known actor.

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It's back. What? This eye twitch that I get periodically. When I've asked my doctors in the past about it they say it's just stress. Admittedly I'm putting quite a bit a stress on myself these days. Non-acting stuff. Maybe "stress" isn't the right word; how about "new challenges". Yeah, I like the sound of that.

Actually I've been in the classroom for the past two Saturdays and have really enjoyed it. Again, non-acting. I like learning about almost anything; I think I'm the most curious person in the world. I think I'd like to take a ceramics class and a typing class in the near future.

I finished my 5-week voiceover class last week. I learned a lot; mostly that I have more work to do before I am ready to compete in the commercial voiceover world - I expected that. It's not easy to do well; it's a craft and a skill.

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Rerun: “Weeds” eps: “The Punishment Lighter” @ 9pm and 9:30pm on Showtime.

To all of the men, women, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers serving in the armed forces - thank you! Los Angeles National Cemetery

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