Extra Work !

I got in around 2 AM. I worked as an extra on "The Untitled BlackJack Project" filming here in Boston. I played a wiatress at Doyle's. I was told to show up wearing jeans and a black t-shirt. They didn't tell me to bring an apron, I could have, but I wasn't told to, so, I didn't. That was a little snafu. I hadn't been to Doyle's in a while but it was still as beautiful as I remembered it. I was one of two "Waitresses" . The other woman actually is a waitress. Her name was Maureen , "Mo" for short and she was really nice.
There were about a hundred of us "Extras". Both Mo and I got alot of activity to do and we were on set most of the time. I like being near where all the action is happening. My first postition starts the shot. I suspect you won't see my face just my waist and hips and possibly my profile in the distance.
I don't have time ot get into more detailt. I have to go to work and I 'm really late already. I'll try to post when I get home tonight.

As I Was Saying . .

Okay, I 'm posting from work. They replaced the entire exhaust system to the tune of $600.00 . That's 600 bucks that I don't have. They're going to have to take it on time. I 'll pay as much as I can on a weekly basis until it's all paid up. I'm glad the car is working but , I gotta say, this is the most expensive "Free" car I've ever had !
I hope a check arrives in the mail. I hope I find 6oo on the ground. I hope I win the lottrey. I just gotta get it done. I hate thinking about money and the lack of it. I'll get it taken care of , but I gotta figure out something with my life. This is nuts.

That's $600 Bucks I Don't Have

Today is Monday and the Sun is Shining Here

I got my car back and it was running fine but it sounded "loose". Lo and behold, Saturday, the muffler went. Now I sound like a souped up bad-boy tearing around town. I sound like a little motorcycle gang. I don't like sounding like that. Driving it is deafening. I'm trying to figure out if I can last until Wed. to take the car in . I hate to miss another Tuesday up in Andover.
I did stand-up on Wed at the Comedy Studio. It was a tough night. The last kid on the bill had brought a bunch of friends and they really wouldn't laugh at any body, except when their friend hit the stage. It's not a competition you Harvard Assholes !!!! I don't want to mention the kids name because he's apparently appearing at the Comedy Connection soon. At least, that's what he announced from the stage before he got off.
Anyhow, I've been trying to refine my technique a bit . Start talking to the audience , about anything before I launch into my material. It's a way to make me sound more natural. However, it feels a little sloppy to me. I do believe it's actually looking better . I'm feeling a little rocky on my pins doing it. I hate being on stage, to do comedy , and not getting laughs or not knowing where and when the laughs should/will come . So, you can imagine how well my efforts fared in front of this audience. Not great . They were receptive, no one started talking , but it could have more satisfactory for me . . .. . and it wasn't. Though I'm greatful for the stage time and being able to actually perform in front of an audience.
Saturday, I opened the store and then left , when my coverage came in and went to Rhode Island for an open call for the Showtime show "The Brotherhood". Mapquest said it would take 1 hour and 5 minutes to get there, and that's exactly how long to took me ! However, it only took just under an hour to get back home. It took just under 15 minutes to find my way in to the building, fill out the paperwork, have my polaroid taken and then leave. I don't think I actually saw anybody who makes decisions about these things. I used my crappy new headshot , because that's all I have. Sicne my photographer hasn't responded to my e-mails or phone calls, I'm going to have to print what I have left of what he gave me. It's money I don't have to spare , especially with my car problems looming on the horizon. I have to have headshots. I feel like I'm making a lot of sloppy compromises. I hope it's just a short phase I'm going through.
The muffler blew on the return trip from Rhode Island.
I hope I live an economically prudent week this week. ..or win the lottery. That would be good, too.

A Mammogram & A Movie

This morning , I had an appointment for my second mammogram , ever. I made it in time. After I had checked in, the receptionist picked up the phone and I heard her say "Ten O'clock Mammo" and she hung up . As if she was reporting that the "Eagle has Landed" indicating thet the invasion was about to begin. My technologist was very nice and she man-handled my mammories like a pro. It was a nice touch that she had a heating pad on the platform where the sacrificial breast lays. My tits hurt and that 's no lie and there is no story attached involving a sailor . .. Unfortunately. I saved the little stickers that they placed on the tips of my nipples to indicate left or right. Then I went home.
As in , "I drove home" from my appointment. I went home and put a couple of things together before I was to head out to my first job of the day. No dice. The car would not go anymore. I called my mechanic and he told me what to do . I had to loosen the clamp around a rubber vent attached to the engine. I was able to complete the task and got the car running . I felt so self-sufficient ! I left the car to warm up while I went to change my shoes and lock the front door. I came back out and the car was dead. The car would not idle. I drove it to the garage , stalling the whole way every time I took my foot off the gas. The car is still there-it's public transportation for me tomorrow. I was able to walk to the what was supposed to be the second job of the day from the garage. It wasn't a bad walk but I really had inappropriate shoes for the task.
The boss was not in a good mood and that 's all I'm gonna say about that.
Kiki and I went to see "Premonition" starring Sandra Bullock and Julian (the guy from Nip/Tuck). Though I cared about the characters and I thought it was well done, I don't think I would recommend it . I really like Sandra Bullock and she does a really great job. It was a hard story to follow because it keeps skipping around a linear timeline. Plus , there were people yacking and burping in the theater which distracted me. . .among other things.
I am tired . I will go to bed now. I hope this post takes.

Thoughts While Shoveling

Last night, actually it started yesterday afternoon, we got a traditional Nor'Easter here in Beantown. The traffic on 95 & 93 was going at a snails pace. The suggested speed limit was 45 , but I don't think I did above 30 the whole way back to town. It was tiny snow, so it was particularly difficult to see through. You could drive it, but it was slow going . Long story short- there is a lot of shoveling to be done.
However, it froze over. SO, its 6 inches deep of a hard icey substance preventing me from getting my car the 6 feet out of the driveway. At the end of the driveway is the toughest part because that's where the town plows have piled it pretty thick. Also, the sidewalk in front of the house needs to be cleared. I don't know what my brother was doing all day, but nothing was done while I was at work. When I got home, my brother had tried earlier in the day to get it teh snow blower going and he needed to fix it. SO, it wasn't from lack of effort that nothing got done. But , nothing got done.
Since I had to take the bus to work, Jack gave me a ride home and I started right in on clearing the sidewalk and driveway. It was chop and scoop the whole way. I would chop and area approximately two feet wide and one feet deep. Then I would scoop the loose ice chunks with the shovel and clear another patch of the same size. I repeated this process the length of the fron of my house. It was light when I started and very dark when I finished. It took me about an hour and a half to finish it.
While I was doing this activity, my mind would wonder. I would think "Chop, chop , chop , chop , chop, chop. okay that 's enough now let's see how much I can handle in the shovel. Chop, chop, chop -my back hurts-chop ,chop,chop-I;m going to be in pain tomorrow-chop,chop,chop-how come I don't have a soul mate ? -chop-If I had a soul mate , he would be here chopping the ice-chop,chop,chop-no-chop-he would have done it already-chop , chop , chop-if I was still with Barry he would shovel the sidewalk and driveway-chop,chop,chop-not because he's my soul mate but because he likes to shovel-chop,chop,chop-Mr Keeley used to drive Mrs Keeley to Mass on Sundays -chop,chop,chop-and then come back and pick her up after Mass was done-chop,chop,chop-Honey dip donuts-chop,chop,chop-we used to get them after Mass-chop,chop,chop-real honey dips-chop,chop,chop-I want to do a load of laundry-chop, chop,chop-I wonder if my brother is going to finish the driveway-chop,chop,chop-I'm almost done with the sidewalk-chop,chop,chop-I wish I had fried clams" Thta's what I did for an hour and half when I got home today.
The worse part was when I got in the house and "Return to Me" is on the tv-it's a movie with Minnie Driver and David Duchovny. A sappy "Chick Flick" tale David's wife dies in a tragic accident and her organs are donated and Minnie 's character was the recipient of the heart . The are in love the first time they meet, because, they're soul mates -ya see ? It's only half way through and I've cried a couple of times already.
Welcome to my Saturday night. oxo-Dot

I Shall Not Overcome . . .

I went up to Lew's tonight. I've been looking forward to it for a while. I hadn't been there in over a month. Kris, the host, is my friend. Most of the other comics are guys I like, decent guys. When I say "guys" I mean men. As in , I was the only female on the bill.It's okay, it's not the first time I've been the only chick on the bill. I had a choice of being first or last. I told Kris either was okay with me. Then another comic came over to find out his order on the list and he had a choice to go first or last. He chose first, because. . . . he wanted to start drinking and he didn't want to perform with a beer or two under his belt . Hmmmm. . .
Only a couple of people were trying out new material. When they did the new stuff, it didn't go over that well, so they would revert back to the tried and true material. For the most part it's sexist, mysoginistic and unoriginal (as in "street"). Frankly, their new stuff will be good, it's just so new it didn't feel right yet. But , for the love of God, they were taking a chance ! That's what Lew's should be for, trying out new stuff. Kris did a song about Brad Delp's suicide. It was crass but I thought it was funny.And it was new. Dave Decker & Steve Gamblin did some new stuff. The rest of the show was about masterbation and doing despicle things to the ex-wife &/or girlfriend. Comic after comic just straddling the middle line.
I was tenth on the bill and then Kris put this new kid on ahead of me. Apparently he was of Korean heritage because he referred to himself as being a "Gook".He kept using the microphone as a penis. In his defense, he had a kind of compelling schtick. He frantically paced back and forth across the stage, but it was coordinated with the timing of the "set-up" and then the "punchline". The thing that got to me was his impersonation of his "Girlfriend" getting raped. Now, it's not just that it was about rape and that rape is a specific crime of violence against a woman. I honesty believe that any thing can be funny. This was not . It was not really funny. I didn't think it was funny. After his little "rape" scenario (oh ,excuse me , his "Rape Joke"), Kris brought me up.
I wish that I could be truly,personally, offended by any of this . Or that I would somehow feel afraid. Or even uncomfortable as a woman. Nope. What I felt was defeat. No one on this show was going to think about what they were doing. I couldn't think of anything other than I don't have a penis and I can't do any good masterbation jokes. I didn't feel like talking to the audience to get into my stuff. They laughed too hard at the other masterbation jokes. I said so to the audience. I couldn't rally. I lasted about two minutes, then I realized I was talking into the "Gook's" penis. I said "Kris. I'm sorry . I can't do this. I gotta go". And then , I left the stage.
I'm not mad. I'm not angry. I really like all these guys. It was a disappointing use of an evening. It was a waste of my time. Last night was a lot of fun. Everybody was bringing their best to the table (and it was a smaller audience). I brought my best to the table. By the time my chance came tonight, my spirit was already in the parking lot warming up the car, smoking a cigarette and writing a grocery list.
Moral of the story ? When offered the choice , go first and don't let anyone cut in front of you. Also, I gotta go up early, I ;m too tired to go last.
I hope this posts. Of course, after a night like tonight, I wouldn't be all that surprised if it doesn't. . . . .

Another Attempt

I did the Isle tonight. I went first. It was a cozy little crowd. Rich Gustus was on fire. I talked a little about the traffic on the way there and then I got into my material. It went really well. I stayed too late. Now I need to go to sleep. The pizza got there really late, but it's really good pizza. I hope this shows up.

Another Try

Seriously, I've been trying to post. My friend recommended that I "Clear my Cache". I haven't had a chance to do that yet . So, I figured I'd try to get in from my Yahoo account. Hmmmm-It says "Done" in the lower left hand corner, I wonder if I've already gone too far and this won't post either. Damn. I wish I know why this was happening.

To Recap . . .

What the Hey ?

My last 3 postings have not taken. I am attempting now to make sure something shows up. I do apologize for any inconvenience. Trust me, I've been more inconvenienced than I can communicate. I spent a half hour Thursday and it disappeared into the ether. Okay. Here goes. Let's see what happens.

Crap!

And Oliver Twisty Cheetoes

Slow & Unsteady Reads About the Race

Arrgghhhh ! . . . I am moving slowly. No, I am not in pain. I am supremely unmotivated. Yesterday , I was so uninclined to leave my bed I subsisisted on Twisty Cheetoes and Girl Scout cookies rather than leave my bed for the refridgerator. I was postponing the inevitable because I had to go out to do Stand-up. I was pretty woozey and a little off my game. One of the comics brought about 12 people with her and they were really great . SO, it made it worth leaving the house.
I still have not watched the tape of the beginning of the Oscars from last week.
I have a bunch of dinners to attend this week. It is restaurant week here in Bean-town and I am invited to celebrate ! Tonight is a free dinner, as is wed. evening. Tomorrow's lunch and Thursday's dinner will be self-pay. All-be-it not full-priced.
I dawdle. I must collect meself and head into the breach ! Anon !

Another Day, Another Urinal