A new kind of grilling...

Well, the last two nights I have gone out on a limb and have used wood instead of charcoal to grill with. I have never gotten behind gas grilling mainly because it adds nothing to the process. It's the lazy man's grilling method. Yes, it's easier to clean and light and blah blah blah, but you lose something in the flavor of the meat (or whatever) when you use gas. I don't know what it is, but every time I have grilled using charcoal, some type of flavoring shows up that makes the food that much better. Of course, you have to be careful with some of this match-light charcoal, since if you don't let it burn long enough you get the lighter fluid taste on the meat (yeah, bad experience with beer can chicken). Anyways, the last two nights I have grilled both steak and chicken using hardwood, and it's by far the superior method. While it takes longer to prep, it is well worth the effort. The unprepared, unmarinated steak I grilled tonight was mouthwatering. With only the marble in the steak to flavor it and the hardwood to cook it, something came out that I can't even coax out using charcoal. It made the extra time worth it. Oh, and grilled asparagus with sea salt and olive oil is awesome.

Well, other than that life is moving forward. I am actually leaving Starbucks for bigger and better things. I have gotten a job with just as much flexibility as I need, but doubles my pay while still giving me benefits. Granted, I will be working more hours, but that's fine since I'll still have time to audition and take gigs. While I enjoyed the people at Starbucks, I have mastered the job and have become bored (of course, the electrocution didn't help either). I am looking forward to adding to my savings and ira again.

Next Monday I am working on a short film for a writer buddy of mine who will be showing this film to some powerful people in this town. I'm not guaranteed anything of course, but it's a good script and at least it's more people seeing my face. Still pushing myself forward and trying to meet and network with as many people as possible which is what this town is about.

Was able to go out for with a bunch of the guys on Saturday night and of course had a blast. Good food, friends and alcohol. It doesn't get much better than that! Here's an interesting picture from that night. Yeah, I am crazy.

Storms

So at church, the pastor talked about storms. How we as humans focus so much on the storms and even hold onto the storms instead of moving on or dealing with them properly. Sometimes the storm while tumultuous can be reassuring since in this changing world they are something we can latch onto and are constant. These storms can be anything from the worst moment of your life to just small insignificant little moments that bring pain. The movie Swingers has a perfect conversation that explains it:
Rob: Sometimes it still hurts. You know how it is, man. It's like, you wake up every day and it hurts a little bit less, and then you wake up one day and it doesn't hurt at all. And the funny thing is, is that, this is kinda wierd, but it's like, it's like you almost miss that pain.
Mike: You miss the pain?
Rob: Yeah, for the same reason that you missed her... because you lived with it for so long.

Generally, I try to let the small things go...or slide. For most things, I couldn't care less about because in the scheme of things they don't matter. Fight Club talks about this and it's one of the reasons that it's my favorite movie. However, while I let most of the small stuff go, big events can be a problem. I mull it over in my brain, I try to analyze, and I replay through all my actions again and again. The problem is when I am dealing with the big stuff, it's harder for me to pass off the small events that I usually don't care about. Like today when the yogurt idiot had my car towed because he thought it wasn't an employee's car and cost me $200 to get my car out(which the landlord is going to pay for). While I would say this is more of a medium to large problem, I almost went nova. Luckily, some fellow employees calmed me down, but it was like this was going to be the outlet to let out all the pent up frustrations and emotions.

I bring up storms because even right now, I am still fuming about the car and I need to just let it go. Life is too short and too enjoyable to let that idiot ruin my day. I just have to let it go. Things I wish for I have to let go. I can't hold onto these storms anymore. Life has too much to offer.

I have to let go.

I have to let go.

A Boston tea party or...March madness and me!

Well, tonight is the first episode of John Adams; the short mini-series I was a part of for two weeks. While it's nothing to cheer about, it is nice to be able to tell people that I will appear on HBO today. It allows me a little bit of legitimacy in a crowd of under-worked actors. Speaking of legitimacy, I have started to work a little steadier and seem to have a good amount of auditions coming in which makes me feel better about myself. Also, on Tuesday, I had my first big "Hollywood" meeting with a voice-over casting director. A one hour meeting ended up being four and included a lunch and a great Mexican restaurant named Don Cuchos. There are several opportunities that will come from that meeting, and at the moment I am in the middle of two of them. They aren't completely finalized, but I am excited at what is on the horizon.

So March madness has started and like this past college football season, I have become swept up in the "madness". I think there are several reasons for my change in heart of watching sports. The first is that both my roommate and several of my friends are big sports fans and so as the social guy that I am I join in the fun with them. With this social experience, I begin to find the enjoyment in the game for myself and becomes something that I like myself. Second, with the recent relationship events and her hatred for all things sports, I take a little joy in the fact that I can sit and enjoy a good game of basketball and not hear any crap about it or how much she hates sports. Thirdly, when I was in highschool I played a lot of basketball and used to watch ESPN religiously for the NBA highlights and scores, so I do have an enjoyment of the game (definitely playing it more than watching, but hey, it's fun to be able to chat with the guys). The benefit of this year's March madness is that I actually have watched several games and know some stats which helps me bullshit my way through a conversation, which has given me more extended conversations with a certain lovely lady. Anyways, while I have never been anti-sports, I have never been truly pro-sports either. It's always been something that has never grabbed my interest, but it may be changing. I still would rather watch a movie, but the I won't turn down a good Wisconsin Badgers game either! Though UNC will totally win.

My arm is still half-numb and sore from the electrocution, so I am seeing a neurologist to make sure that the damage isn't completely permanent. After seeing a couple of doctors about it, I have been told that the jolt may have been even more severe than what they first thought. The last doctor told me that I may be looking at a couple months to a year of my arm being at this half-numb, tingling sensation. It's not fun at all. The other night, when I went to wash my hands the water was cold to my left hand while hot to my right hand (the one that got zapped) which freaked me out a bit. I hope that it's just nerve damage and nothing to do with the circulation. If this keeps up, I don't know what will progress with Starbucks.

Oh, I have to promote this guy Gabe Soriano because I saw him on Thursday night at a bar and he was phenomenal. I also have his two cds and I have been listening to them frequently since Thursday. He's got a good mix of influences and the tracks are good listens and I find myself tapping my foot or bobbing my head to his music. It's nothing out of the ordinary, but it's just good classic music. If you are looking for something new to listen to check him out, or of course check out Vampire Weekend since I am still listening to them.

Electric shock therapy and Death Stars!

Well, it definitely was an interesting weekend. I rolled into work around 7:30 am on Saturday to begin my long shift for the day (of course, after being there until 11:30 pm the night before!), and at first I just thought it was going to be hell. However, due to the fact that I both of the assistant managers on the floor were busy elsewhere, I assumed control of the floor. Ah, power in the workplace leaves me with such a heady feeling and brings the phrase "drunk with power" into reality. Though I am definitely a benevolent dictator, but I made sure things got done. By noon, I was walking the newest barista through the process of mopping the floors (the ones behind the counters, we don't do the lobby until close of course), and part of the process is to mop underneath the movable milk fridge that sits underneath the espresso machines. The unfortunate thing is that the cord for the fridge is too short for it to be moved, so every time it is moved the fridge is unplugged. Well, since it an enormous pain to plug it back in, especially if you have never done it before, I decided to show the new barista how and where it needs to be plugged into the wall. Unfortunately for me, having collected some water while it was sitting on the ground, when I plugged in the cord electricity arced through the water and shot up my arm. Now I have been shocked many times, but I have never been hit this hard. It felt like my arm swelled to three times its size before I was able to release the cord. Needless to say, there was a yelp of pain (ok, maybe a scream, but I won't admit to it, you'll have to ask the witnesses) and then me huddled up against the fridge clutching my arm for a solid two minutes. My arm felt both like it was on fire and that the entire Los Angeles Dodgers decided to practice there swings on my arm. Luckily, my arm went numb after about four minutes of this pain, and while my arm felt "weird" at least it wasn't hurting. Unfortunately, my arm "woke up" and it began to hurt and feel, the only way I can describe it, fiery tingling. I have never been one to treat electricity lightly, so after filling out a work injury report, I hightailed it to the urgent care and saw a doctor. Well, after calling me a lucky punk, he said that since my heart rate was normal, I had no burns, and my muscles weren't spasming that I should have no long term damage. He did however say that my arm would hurt and feel "weird" for the next week. Even today, my arm still hurts and is about half numb like its constantly in a state of sleep. Of course, now it's time to deal with worker's compensation which will not be fun.

In other news, I read an article today about the universe's true Death Stars. While the conclusions are typical alarmist journalism, it was a fun read. First off, 8,000 light years is a long distance and the chances that the pinwheel is perfectly aligned with the Earth to receive any of the death rays is slim to none. From that distance even a millimeter off from dead center would mean that rays would pass harmlessly by Earth. Second, the "short fuse" of this star is at a few hundred thousand years. Yeah, that's a guess if I ever heard one, but it does sound better than, "We have no idea." While this was definitely an interesting read (for one who loves astronomy, like I do), it definitely reminds that the general public is just not that interested in the Final Frontier when it takes this kind of story to make any sort of news.

Well, life as a whole is pretty decent. While I still have ups and downs, they have become easier to deal with and their strengths have lessened (well, the downs anyways). I still have many unanswered questions still ponder at night, I am making progress which is encouraging. Also, new openings have happened for the acting career, but too soon to really report anything quite yet. Hopefully in the next week or so I will have some big news.

The Coffee Master...or something like that

Saturday nights at my Starbucks are crazy, especially between 6-9pm. While generally, I am usually taking the orders and the money, tonight for some odd reason I was on bar making the famous lattes and mochas (and adding Soy milk to just about everything). In December, I began to feel quite comfortable at the bar. I understood the drinks and while I was still not the fastest, I was able to keep my counter low on drinks to be made. However, tonight, with generally 10+ people in line and a stack of cups going around my syrups, I was pumping out drinks like they were already made. It was that moment that you get at any job where everything clicks and you know exactly what to do, how to do it, and you do it fast. It was definitely an enjoyable experience even though it didn't seem to let up. Of course, I got to yell out the drinks too which always makes me happy. I get to project and not get told to be quiet or to settle down. While Starbucks is just a job, I am glad that I can have a little fun there and my coworkers are just good people all around.

Anyways, life is moving along and the acting side of life is definitely picking up. Still in the baby steps stage, but I am progressing which is more than I can say during the strike. I can feel it will happen, and my plans will bear fruit. I know it.