good news

well, things have made a bit of a positive turn over the past few days. i got a call late sunday night from shannon saying that i was to be on set at 6am monday. that was very exciting, and i left my house at 5 in the morning. it was so cold and i wasnt expecting it to be. nor was i expecting to be doing an outdoors scene in my 'office' attire. as anyone who has spent time with me in cold weather knows, i shiver pretty badly, and i was shivering so much i honestly couldnt hold my coffee cup. it was embarrassing having such a hard time controlling my own body. i had to set my cup down for a while because i was spilling it!
then right after we got breakfast they directed us outside. and again, we just started walking back and forth to the direction of background action and cut. it was fun talking to some of the other extras. one guy was telling me that i was really lucky to have gotten work that day bc it was only union actors on set! then sarah (shannons friend who got me on set) showed me the call sheet with my name on it. it doesnt really matter much, i will still be a blur behind the actual actors, but it was fun to know. i was paid 130 bones for 3 hours of looking pretty. then they said thats all! so at 9 am i was done working and i went to the community college and played piano.

tonight was also a nice change, it rained! me and zack went for a walk while it was just drizzling and then it started pouring so we ran home. fun times.

in other good news, lindsey is out of the hospital and doing good.

also, kyle and i are going to record some more music tomorrow.

and i watched the blues game tonight on vs. and they freakin won.

oh sake bombs.

For zacks bday we went to this place Tokyo delves sushi, which was complete madness. The outside was not unlike a club with a long line and big bouncers with a list. When you walked through the door you were greeted by a line of waiters and asian bartenders screaming ‘heeeeeeyyyy!!!’ This reminded me of college potluck nights when we greeted people very similarly. Everybody gets in and you immediately have a sake bomb. Everyone would fill up their beer mugs under the mini wooden kegs, then put their chopsticks on their glass. Then we’d put a shot of sake on top and the waiter would yell “SAKE!” and we yelled back to him, “BOMB!” Three times or so and then he would slam the table and our drinks became one big mess of alcohol. Then we chugged. I hadn’t eaten all day under the impression this was a sushi night I was getting myself into. After two bombs I was feeling very light.
Before I knew it they were playing ‘my humps’ and we were up on their chairs get-getting love drunk.
After 6 sake bombs and lots of sushi and chair dancing, we got a very sobering bill. $867 for 15 people! Ouch. So we paid and got out of there quickly.

LA driving, my fonzi moment, and trials

funny 'you had to be there' story...

me dan and zack were driving and some guy who mustve thought we had wronged him in some way on the road pulled up next to us screaming, 'you f*#king jerk!' we looked around confused and realized he was looking at us. i started laughing because we were clearly not doing anything wrong, so dan slowed down and me and zack started hanging out the windows waving our fists, then when he was next to us again zack yelled 'HEY! HEY...YOU WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE!!!' the guy looked so confused and just drove on. probably the quickest defused situation ever.

today i became incredibly scared about my living space. while i was playing guitar all the lights in my room and the room and bathroom next to mine went off. i looked at the circuit box, which is on the wall connected to my room, and i could see sparks of light behind the breakers...yikes. for hours i didnt have lights, and then in mild anger i hit the wall next to the breaker. it sparked inside and my lights came back on. i am pretty much the modern day fonze, bc i can hit the dash of my car and the inside lights pop back on too. crazy. and mom, dont worry about my safety please, ill be fine. we will call the landlord tomorrow.

in further unfortunate news:
kyles wife has been in the hospital for at least 4 days! if you think of it please throw up a prayer for her.

i was suppose to get another tv part, but it fell through. that sucks.

kelly had her credit card hacked into online at REI. dont buy from there online, and please be careful with your identity! hopefully everything will be sorted out there too.

amongst the fires and setbacks, life is treating me very well for some reason. i am happy and healthy and enjoying some eggnog. i have a feeling things are going to start looking up for everyone.

recording, and chicago planning, and camping pics

well, here are some pictures from my camping trip from oh so long ago. one is of kyle crawling out of the bramble patch, one is from me reenacting my hole in one, and one is just a cool shot i took of the ski lift. if you have facebook, i made an album, check it.

well, i didnt get on the screen in the office. they cut the scene i thought id show up in. and on the plane you could see the kid i was sitting next to! however, on the mentalist i did walk behind the main characters, and am blurry as they walk down the aisle in the casino. so thats fun.

i have logged 8 hours of recording time with kyle and almost have 3 songs worth of stuff down that now needs editing. once i get it, i will post it on a myspace.

i put an ad out for people interested in a band in chicago and have only gotten one reply so far from a 43 year old. i guess i shouldve clarified an age limit. ive also begun looking for a place on my own in chitown. this is a first. i feel dumb because i dont know where to start, but i am learning day by day. also, i am looking into getting a new winter coat for the first time since high school probably. woohoo!

um...in further cali news, i dont think i mentioned that we had dom, an old high school buddy, stay the night a few weeks ago. reunions are always great fun. also, there have been alot of 'firestorms' out here lately and that just seems crazy to me. these things are starting late in the day and going all night. just like a storm. very apocalyptic.

Shows

The two TV shows that I was an extra on are airing this week. Wanted to tell you about them in case you have an opportunity to tune in...

Tuesday, 11/11, Channel 4, CBS: The Mentalist
In a scene outside where they are just getting to the casino. Greg is walking in the background.
In a scene one character is at a blackjack table, Greg is in the background.
In another scene, one character goes down an escalator and then to some people at one of those "claw" machines (where you put in coins, and you can move the claw to pick up something) - Greg walks either in front or behind him.

Thursday, 11/13, Channel 5, NBC, 8-8:30 p.m.: The Office
In a scene where the Boss is sitting talking on an airplane, Greg is sitting behind him on the other side of the plane, in the first rows of the economy class.
In another scene, one of the characters is in a booth at the airport; Greg walks quickly from one wall to another.

moving and creating in obama nation

well things are moving right along. i haven't had much to blog lately, but i figured id give a little bit of an update.

lately most of my days have been planning how i am going to move back to the midwest. i was going to drive back but i took my car, lovely lucille, to a mechanic and he said she needs at least $1000 worth of repairs...so i spent the rest of the day cleaning so i can sell it. i got pretty melancholy as i finished up, looking at her like it was the first day i got her, making a montage in my head of all the fun times we've had together. all the road trips, camping trips, concerts, events, dates, and lazy drives around town. its been such an integral part of my life and now i am ditching it.

i am also cleaning my room and deciding what i can throw away, what i can sell, and what i need to u.p.s. home. i considered u hauling, but that is like over $1000 also.

i did get some great news from kyle also. he scheduled me in for next Tuesday to start recording some of my songs. this makes me a happy camper, although he said he may not have time to do all the songs i wanted to do. so is life. i have been staying creative though. i thought up a new song idea, and wrote a short story about being a valet the other night. it always feels so good to create something that doesn't completely suck. it makes me feel like I'm not wasting my time.

speaking of creating...Zack and I were a bit bored on Halloween so we made a mock scary movie with my camera. we acted like the lights in our house kept turning themselves on. it was really funny to us, probably not so much to anyone else, but i am going to try and get it on you tube someday for you all. man, i wish i was tech savvy. i want to show more of my life than just words! ugh.

oh well, I'm tired so I'm ending this. i still can't believe obama is president. i am very interested in seeing how this country progresses or regresses over the next few months and years. i have to say, i was ambivalent before the election, but now i can't help but feel a certain happiness that obama got it. everyone seemed so happy in Chicago and it just feels like a new era, a fresh chance to renew our country. i sadly didn't get my ballot in time and wasn't able to vote, or get free Starbucks. oh well, i would've voted for obama anyway.

i cant believe how quickly Christmas is approaching. i am getting very excited about the prospect of seeing my girlfriend and my nephew Evan and my moms and dads and my siblings and friends! oh joy.