2016 A Year in Review

Much has been said and made about 2016.  All the famous deaths, the election. It has not been a good year.  Many feel that 2017 can't get here soon enough. And who can blame then? I'm not going to go into it here. So many others have done that. Let's just move on and take on 2017 with a positive attitude.

2016 was not my best year but not my worst either.  I took a leave from my job in the first quarter of the year to try and figure things out...I went back to work after three months. Nothing changed. Or did it? My co-workers and manager claim that my attitude/behavior has not been the same since my return. I don't know what the F they're talking about. I've been a frigging peach. F-heads! LOL! (That was a joke for this of you who don't get me.)

I thought by taking off time from work, my acting career would get a boost. It has become increasingly difficult to balance the acting career with my day job. But not much activity took place during the leave. So back to work I went. And of course days before I went back, I booked a commercial that shot on my second day back to work! Ain't that always the way?

I spent the Spring rehearsing and performing as Twimble in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Glendale Centre Theatre. The show received a few Scenie Awards and was nominated for some BroadwayWorldLA awards. While performing in How to Succeed, I was rehearsing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Sierra Madre Playhouse which opened less than two weeks after How to Succeed closed. Spelling got unanimous raves reviews, received a few Scenes and was also nominated for a few BroadwayWorldLA awards. But no audiences. We actually cancelled two Saturday night performances!  In addition, it has received three Ovation award nominations. The awards are in two weeks and I'm very excited to attend. I've never been in a show that was nominated for Ovation Awards, despite having been in two dozen shows in Los Angeles over the last 13 years.

The week Spelling Bee closed, I was asked to jump in to rehearsals for Chico's Angels Five-0, Aloha Angels. Closing day of Spelling Bee was tech night for Chico's.  Chico's sold out before it even opened. And the audiences were loud and raucous. It was a hoot! The Angels have a built in following and it was amazing to perform for sold out houses every night.

I flew to Sydney and New Zealand for two weeks in September. I flew in a helicopter, hiked on a glacier, bathed in a hot spring, and pet a koala and a wallaby. A nice retreat from LA where the traffic seems to get worse and worse. I get so stressed out driving from work to audition to work to rehearsal.  The stress really gets to me trying to do it all. And I think as I get older its getting harder to do it all.

While in New Zealand, I got word that I had booked a commercial shooting in Denver the day after I returned to LA, on my birthday. But the flight to Denver was on the same day I flew into LA form New Zealand. Seriously. I flew into the International Terminal at 6:20 am and was scheduled to fly out of Terminal 1 at 7:35 am. I managed to get them to push me back to a later flight and left LA at 11:30am just five hours after arriving. I went home, unpacked, re-packed, and went back to LAX.

It all worked out and I got a cupcake and birthday song from the crew upon wrapping.

These last two months the commercial auditions have increased. Yay! No bookings though. But I did book two films that are shooting this coming month. I look forward to playing the understanding Dad of a teenage boy coming out and dealing with bullies in high school. A departure for me. Then I play a priest in a gay Mean Girls parody film.


Happy New Year! Here's to a better 2017! Here I am with my sisters celebrating New Years a few years ago.

To Eat or To Exercise. The Eternal Holiday Struggle

Its that time of year again. Holidays. Time to go out with friends for drinks. Go to holiday parties and drink and eat food. Lots of of food. Oh, it doesn't look like much because all the foods are small. That's how it gets you. Its not going out for dinner or a meal. Its a cocktail party at a friends house or maybe visiting old college friends or family.

Stop by for a bit. And there's always cookies and snacks and cheese and crackers and appetizers.  Small stuff. Finger foods as they say. How innocent sounding...finger foods. Light snacking. I'll just have a couple of these. Oh! So good. Let me have another. Oh! And what are these. OK. I'm done. No more.   So I'm good. I don't eat anything for a bit. But now, Oh look! Shrimp! I got to get me some of those! Yes! Mmm. Oh! And look Aunt Wendy just showed up with three platters of fresh baked Christmas cookies!

Before you know it, you're feeling bloated. Because at the same time, you had some drinks and you need something to absorb the alcohol. So now you've been noshing for over three hours. And none of it is health food. Yes, you didn't gorge yourself on a meal. Because that's being served in 5 minutes! What!?

See? That's how they get you. Your tricked into thinking you're not cheating because its all just small foods. But its all fattening and sweet and bad for you but soooo good! Personally, I can't stay away from cheese and crackers. And shrimp! Which I really need to steer clear of because of my cholesterol. And then cookies. Oh boy! I have a HUUUUGE sweet tooth. Seriously HUUUGE! I eat chocolate every day. Can't get enough of it.

Oh God, just hoist me on the couch in front of the TV and play the old Christmas specials. I am done.

And just this past couple of weeks I was being better about getting to the gym more and increasing my cardio. I've been trying to get to the gym at least one night during the week in addition to my Saturday and Sunday workouts. But now, well Friday night have drinks with the girls and then Sunday I'm going to Disneyland followed by a cocktail party. Maybe I should skip the cocktail party and go to the gym instead since I won't be able to go in the morning cause I'll be in Disneyland.

Oh shoot! I just remembered theres a work luncheon Friday and then Monday my team guest for lunch and then the company party is on Thursday. Yeah, keep it coming. Don't even give me chance to work out. Maybe if I take a couple of weeks off from work, I can get to the gym every day. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.

Or, I could just be motivated enough to make the time to go in between work and sleep and parties. Nah! I'll just go after New Years.