Cannon Fodder: The Vlog

Because babbling in writing just isn't good enough. ;)

Cannon Fodder: The Vlog



Yep, I added a bunch of annotations and captions. I thought doing a video would be faster than writing.

 

I was wrong.

So very, very wrong.

Ready for the Magic!

Well!

Yeah, it's been a rough couple o' months. A rough year, even. One of these days I'll talk more about how I feel and how I'm working on getting out of my Cave. But not right now.

Right now, I'm writing authors and agents and directors and casting directors, inquiring about submissions. Across the pond, as usual. :) I can't help it--that's where I've always felt was my home, and my sensibilities are much more in line with what's coming out of the entertainment industry over there.

I don't hear back from people very often, but when I do, it's always from someone in the UK or Ireland. If anyone's going to take the time to reply to an unknown actor, it'll be someone from the British Isles. Maybe I'll blog about various theories as to why that is some other day. ;)

Today, I started the Do What Matters Challenge! I came across a tweet mentioning it yesterday--just in time, as they started today. I suppose it doesn't really matter if you start at the same time, but I procrastinate a lot, so if I put it off to start later, who knows when I'd actually begin?!

I didn't get to my emails till late in the day, though, so Day 1 wasn't super-productive. I learned more about the challenge and about each of the three systems, though, which was my #1 goal. (After chiropractor and errands, that is!)

Tuesdays and Thursdays will be tough, since those are the days I nanny for 10-11 hours. I'll set smaller goals for those days (and days where I have a lot of appointments), and do what I can. When I find another Survival Job, I'll re-organize my days and weeks, but I won't worry about that until it happens.

My goals:

1) To be able to write my screenplay WILD GEESE for an hour (to start), 3-5 times a week

2) To catch up with correspondence/organize inbox/implement an email system

3) To catch up on my Creative Pathfinder lessons

4) To notice when I'm distracted, and immediately be able to continue on with what I was meant to be doing

5) To find a system that works for me.

6) To manage my time much better

7) To relieve the guilt & stress that occurs when I don't accomplish my goals and to-do lists

8) To update my blog more regularly

9) To find extra time to devote to genealogy

10) To be able to have a day off--from everything, even emails--WITHOUT feeling guilty or stressed out!

 

I think those are pretty good goals...and do-able, too. That's on top of all the other things I do, but ehhh, whatever.

Hey! Did you know David Mamet started out as an actor? I didn't, either, until I picked up his book True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor.  (And damn, I wish I hadn't bought it on impulse at a certain book superstore, and waited till I got home and ordered it cheaper on Amazon! I also picked up Michael Caine's Acting in Film: An Actor's Take on Movie Making. Again, for not that cheap.)

What pulled me in to Mamet's book, though, was the very first sentence in the first chapter: "As actors, we spend most of our time nauseated, confused, guilty." Oh, my GOD, I thought. Is he stalking me and taking notes or something? I read on: "We are lost and ashamed of it; confused because we don't know what to do and have too much information, none of which can be acted upon; and guilty because we feel we are not doing our job."

I shut the book and bought it. Rest assured I will be sharing many, many nuggets of fantastic information from these books!

Oh, I also downloaded Do the Work to the Kindle on my Droid...I haven't even started it yet, and I've had it several weeks already! (Queen of Procratination and Distractions! I will become Princess of Doing Quite a Lot in no time, though!) Download it now--it's free until the 20th!

Okay, peeps...I gots to get to bed. Another loooooong day tomorrow. Someday soon, my looooong days will all be on set, where they never feel long, and I never feel exhausted. Doing what you love is magical, isn't it?

I'm ready for that magic.

 

 

 

 

Waffling, Rambling, Stream-of-Conscious Zombie Talk

Been doin' a lot of thinking lately. Not a lot of doin', though.

My mind's been in such a bad state lately, that I decided to re-do my Vision Board. I figured it would help me focus, and remind me why I go through the things I go through.

Here 'tis:

Things I Didn't Learn in Kindergarten

Too often we focus on what went wrong, instead of what went right--or what good things came out of the perceived "wrong" things. For my first post of 2011, I'm going to take stock of the past year and share just some of the many, many things I learned. Maybe you'll learn something, too...or at least get a chuckle or two. :)

1) I can be pretty lazy about some things, I admit that. But I am not lazy about

Fests, Readings, and Geese

Howdy, howdy!

It's been a bit since I actually gave you guys an update, so that's what I'm doing!

The past couple of months have been ca-razy! I was able to attend several events at the Denver Film Fest, including red carpets, after-parties, late-night lounge festivities, premieres, and filmings.

So Your Kid's Got Talent, Huh? (or Kidz in the Biz!) Part III

You've made it to my final piece on getting your child into show business...or at least seriously considering getting them into it, anyway. :) Congratulations! I know I can waffle on, so this is no minor feat!

I'm going to talk a bit about scams in this one, and it's very important that you pay attention to that! But first, I'll open up with

So Your Kid's Got Talent, Huh? (or Kidz in the Biz!) Part II

Welcome to Part II of my Kidz in the Biz series! Last week, I talked a bit about Stage Parent Syndrome, a couple of books with TONS of advice, and then I posted part of a Q&A session with Sharon Chazin Lieblein, VP of Talent & Casting for Nickelodeon.

Today, I'm going to finish that session, as well as

So Your Kid's Got Talent, Huh? (or Kidz in the Biz!) Part I

I recently did a commercial with a little girl whose mom was asking me about how to get more established in the biz. I figured I could do a blog on this subject, while also helping her out. :)

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on children in show business, but I do know some stuff.

My first, and biggest, piece of advice woud be to

Hard Times, Not End Times

"So, uh, what exactly was this? I can’t control what people think this was: I can only tell you my intentions.

This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith, or people of activism, or look down our noses at the heartland, or passionate argument, or to suggest that times are not difficult and that we have nothing to fear—they are, and we do.

But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus, and not be enemies. But unfortunately,

Just the Good Parts Version, or: The Actor's Resume

Hi!

My title, in case you didn't know, comes from William Goldman's abridged version of S. Morgenstern's The Princess Bride. His father had read it aloud to him when he was a boy, and he gave the book to his son when he (Goldman) went on a business trip. When he came back, his son reported that the book was so boring that he couldn't even get through it.

When Goldman picked it up and started reading it, he realized that his father had cut out all the boring parts when he read it aloud, and was reading "just the good parts."

(But can I let you in on a little secret? S. Morgenstern is actually