Grand Forks, ND

Forgot my camera all day. . . bummer

So, to the best of my reccolection, this is my first time ever in North Dakota. As I've been led to believe, our states are united (save two), and I've been to a great number of them, and now I get to check one more off the list.

Tonight was great. The past several months (and perhaps, the immediate future) have been a great challenge. The sheer size of the Los Angeles market is terrifying. I always have the feeling that success (as currently defined) is always around the corner, but I always feel like I'm on the wrong block. It's mind taffy. A mind-fuck, if you will. Being an actor was never such a job . . .

Anyhoo. Standing Ovation here in Grand Forks, ND. About half an hour from the Canadian border, and across the river from Minnesota. Tonight reminded me that not only do people need to be entertained, but I can be one of the many to entertain them.

I thought that it might be too late in the season, but lo and behold, I was able to witness some of the beautiful foliage in the Red River Basin on a letterboxing adventure today before the show (ended up being a 10-mile walk!), and had some great conversations with locals to boot.

It's strange, this life . . . all last week (between the Chicago trip and yesteray-leaving for this show), I had auditions . . . trying to prove to folks that I had what it takes to sell something or BE something or whatever, and then a night like tonight where seven hundred people stand up and applaud what I'm doing . . . it's just a nice reminder.

Anyhoo, it's late here. Just wanted to put this out. Love you all, and talk to you soon!

Chicago

Well, I still love Chicago . . . Let's see now . . .

Weds, 10/7 Flew LA-Chicago early. Beautiful sunny day. I bopped around downtown in the loop for a bit, just taking the city in-ogling the new buildings, etc. In the early afternoon, I met up with Dustin and Uncle Ken for a beer before heading over to meet Wyatt. Wow. Those babies are awesome. Wyatt is made out of muscle . . . every time I held him, I felt like we were wrestling, and he was sort of winning. O is awesome as well-talking up a storm! Ah, babies.

Thurs, 10/8 Woke up as O & W went off to wiggle worms with their grandma. I spent a couple hours in the morning relaxing at K&D's pad before heading uptown to meet up with Troy and his new puppy. While we were hanging out, Tanya got in to town, and we met up a Clarks-the first of many gastro-intestinal trips down memory lane. After lunch, T and I headed up to Rick and Cory's place to unpack. With Cory teaching 4th Grade, and Rick in his final year of Grad school, it's amazing to see the paths everyone has taken in life.

Fri, 10/9 Woke up and made the trip out to Ohare to meet Marie. The plan was to head straight from the airport to the Marathon Expo, but a fire at one of the train platforms pushed our plans back a few hours. We still made it down to the Expo, which was pretty cool. I had a few pounds of bite sized energy bars, energy jellybeans, energy drinks, etc. By the time we left, I was buzzing. On to Leona's for more delicious food.

Sat, 10/10 Allie (Cory's sister) arrived early in the morning, and we picked up Cynthia (Tanya's mom) shortly thereafter. We had a 4pm pasta party for the runners, combined with a "support group meeting". That was great. Lots of old war stories.

Sun, 10/11 Marathon Day. We made it down to our first spot (4mile marker) first thing in the morning and it was COLD! It was cool to see the pros pass . . . one of the Kenyans set a Chicago record! From 4, it was a short walk over to the 10 mile marker, then a quick train trip to 12. We missed Tanya at 12, but Dustin and Olivia were there to cheer! From 12, we trained down to Chinatown around mile 20, where it finally started to warm up. From 20, we headed to the meet-up section at the end. It was Epic. After a while, we gathered up our 4 runners and seven supporters and wound our way back north.

Mon, 10/12 Recovery Day. Ally went back to Ohare early, and we drove Cynthia to Midway shortly after. Spent the rest of the day in and out of consciousness while watching the first season of "Dexter". Caught the Broncos on MNF. Nice.

Tue, 10/13 Met up with Troy and Family for a late breakfast and then headed downtown to see the sights. Man I love Chicago. We checked out the new Trump building, wandered around Millennium park, and picked up some Garrett's. T and I had dinner with the Cousins, and got some good playtime in with O and Wyatt.

Wed, 10/14 T left for the airport around 4am and I had a pretty relaxing morning hanging out with Rick until around noon, when I headed off to Ohare. No excitement on the flight home . . . just the way I like it!

All told, it was a great week. Busy, but a load of fun. I always miss Chicago, but with winter setting in, I'm surely not going to miss the cold. I got a bit of a cold when I got home, but I've been hitting the auditions pretty hard . . . don't want to miss a step! Love you all, and talk to you soon!

Bodiless Bob and Beyond!

Hello . . .

Well, last Thursday through Sunday I spent a good majority of my time inside a refrigerator. Quite literally. The project: Bodiless Bob . . . a student film from Chapman University in which two roommates deal with the head living inside of their freezer. It was a strange script, but a very fun shoot. The hours were long, but the set was filled with fun folks.

On Monday, T and I got to see our dubious friend Jason Knauff in his performance as Baron Vegan VanHamburger with the Handsome Little Devils (google them for more!). They've been touring with the "Tour de Fat" with their vaudeville show, and though we only saw a smidge of it, it was a good time. Los Angeles can feel a bit isolating at times, so it's always nice to see a familiar face! Jason hung out with us Tuesday, and I did my best as a host to show him the best of Los Angeles . . . highlights including doing my laundry and packing for Chicago . . .

. . . where I woke up this morning! Got in Yesterday, and after watching the end of the Rockies game with D and Uncle Ken, I got to play with Olivia and Wyatt all afternoon. I don't know how they do it. By the time they went to bed (around 8?) I had seen them for 6 hours, and felt like I'd been run over by a truck! Currently, they're off at "wiggle worms" with their grandmother (Ken and Jo in town until Friday), and I'm playing with their toys.

The marathon frenzy will no doubt begin kicking up tonight as the old crew starts to gather! More to come soon!

Love you!