Pause for breath

The first subject line I typed up there was "Holding pattern," but then I realized that was silly, because things are still moving and growing every day. I think maybe I'm just so used to the pace now that even a slight pause feels like a thudding halt, like I'm slacking off. F'rinstance, an evening off to finish reading the shiny new book I drove to Toronto last weekend to have signed by a longtime favorite author. (And spend a few hours hanging out in the friendliest of bookstores -- seriously, if you're on Queen West and you read SF/fantasy at all, BakkaPhoenix is an absolute MUST -- gabbing with a gaggle of fellow fans/friends, munching on strawberries and cookies, and generally having a fabulous geeky time.)

Fabulous fun book. Will make you crave pie. Consider yourself warned.

Auditions all over the map this week: Student films, musical theatre, and storyteller/guide for haunted walking tours. One of these things is not like the others, I know. But hey, not going to turn my nose up at a paid gig that's also a bit of exercise and good spooky fun. Which is good, since I got the call today, so that'll be where you find me at least an evening or two a week through October.

And whaddya know, there's a video about it on YouTube, hosted by none other than my friend Mary!



I've got myself pretty well trained at this point to think of the audition as a performance in itself -- best way I've found to be done with it and not dwell on whether they're going to call me, what they were looking for, etc. I have to confess, though, I'm still thinking about the one last night for Man of La Mancha. Not second-guessing myself -- they're looking for what they're looking for, they'll know it when they see it, and I'm that or I'm not, so I give my best and that's it -- but definitely hoping to hear back. I love that show so much, and I like everything I've heard about this company. Promises to be a nice long run, too -- their current production of Evita has even been extended.

The cure for that is, of course, to keep the brain occupied with other things. Going to curl up and finish that book in a few minutes here. And in the next day or two, I should have the updated script for the film I'll be shooting in July, so I can prep for rehearsal on Sunday.

What film is that, you say? Yeah, I know, bad blogger, no cookie. It's an indie feature called One Night, of the genre that I call "postmodern romantic comedy," for lack of a better/standardized label (or at least I've never heard one) for films like Chasing Amy or Garden State. I originally read for one of the leads, and wasn't really holding my breath that anything would come of it, so I was delighted when they contacted me to offer a different character that's going to be a lot of fun. Can't wait to meet the rest of the cast Sunday and start building!

My life: It does not suck.