After all of that...

I went to the gig on Friday morning and knocked it out of the park. I managed to memorize all of my lines, and they were actually very pleasantly surprised. I guess so many of the other actors have had trouble with it all that they are rigging up some kind of teleprompter. We got it all shot in under an hour, and they would like to use me in the future. They also paid cash. It really got the day off to a great start.

I was home by 10:15am. No problem getting the puppets done!

It went way down hill from there.

In the hour and a half I was gone, Dexter managed to drive Steve so crazy that he went to the movies for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Dexter made a groaning whine the entire day and refused to nap for more than a sum total of one half hour THE ENTIRE DAY. I got nothing done on the puppets all day. When Steve got home he obsessed over our computer issues for hours and Dexter continued to whine. Time ticked by.

At 7:30pm I pointed out that I still had 10 hours of work to do before tomorrow morning, and if I didn't get it started it might not get done. I would be staying up all night as it was.

The whining continued.

At 9pm I finally could get started. I went to bed for an hour and a half at 6:30 am, then got back up and finally finished around 10:30am. Everything looked awesome, and Dexter (still whining) went with me to deliver.

And they couldn't pay me.

Cartoon Network held their check that they should have gotten before Christmas. It's there in their offices, being held in a box to be mailed on December 31st. This is what big corporations do so that they squeeze every last cent of interest out of their money. They need to spend this money this year for budget reasons, but they want to hang on to it until the last possible second. It doesn't make sense when you are just one guy, but as an across the board policy, I'm sure it makes a difference when you are talking about millions of dollars.

Remember this when you wonder why the Writers are striking over 4 cents.

So I'll get paid right after the first of the year.

Dexter is whining because he is teething. We are combating it on all fronts. Baby Motrin, Baby Orajel, cold wet washcloths to gnaw on, chewy toys, hard toys, fingers, stuffed animals, blankies, cloth diapers, Schmedly, books, wooden puzzle pieces, pacifiers, his foam play mat.

Anyway, that blizzard of Must Do's has past. Next projects are comedy related. Must get those drawings finished for the Cartoon Overlord to scan and need to get my costume and wig together for the the next show run which starts Friday January 10th.

Well, I got my email fixed and it was surprisingly very easy. I spoke with someone who at least sounded like English was their first language and he got the problem solved in 5 minutes. I was never even put on Hold once. I went to the Dove audition, and it wasn't too humiliating. It was actually kind of empowering. Steve came home super early as he and Eugene finished the day's work in record time, and Steve is STILL sick. He watched Dex so I didn't have to lose time driving the baby to Glendale and back for babysitting. And I got a bit of an extension on the puppets until Saturday morning, so now I can get enough sleep tonight and make sure all my lines are memorized, and then pull an all-nighter tomorrow if I have to.

My incoming email on my sbcglobal account has stopped working, and I'm about to impale myself with my mouse. Outgoing is still working. We are still hooked up to The Internets. I have turned the computer on and off. All software updates have been uploaded.

It stopped mid-afternoon Christmas Eve.

It keeps asking me for my account password, but then not accepting it. Password has been double checked. Still nothing.

Is there some virus for Mac Mail going around? I have WAY too much work over the next two days to get done to be screwing around with this. I have had absolutely no work the entire month of December and this week I have two muppet style puppets that need their skin hand sewn on, I have an audition tomorrow that requires way too much personal grooming to look good for, and Friday I actually booked an industrial that has a bunch of gobbledy gook dialogue that needs to be memorized, and for which I need to do my own hair and make up before I get there. Which would have never been a problem Before (as in Before Dexter) but is way too much on my plate now. AND I CAN'T GET AT MY EMAIL!!!! Thankfully, the sides for Friday came through in the last batch that made it to my in box.

This may be the end of my sbcglobal address. I've had it so long. I absolutely hate changing email addresses, because people and companies fall through the cracks. I don't know where to even begin. And it will have wait until Saturday. If I don't throw the computer out the window before. I don't think it's actually Computer's fault. I blame Steve's x-box and renewed obsession with downloading music since he has been home sick so much this month. He assures me that it has nothing to do with it. His sbcglobal account works fine. I want to go to at&t and stab them all in the eyes with a fork. Then I want to go to Mac and poke their eyes out as well. Someone is going to have to suffer for this breech.

Like I have time in my life to play New Email Address. I am never going to get those cartoon characters finished for the women's comedy website or get time to work on my own webpage. Steve justifies 100's of hours of video game playing because it is his job. Which is true. I think I have to start pulling the I Try To Get Paid to Be Funny For A Living card, and he needs to play less video games and watch Dexter more so that I can get this shit done.

What is that you say? I had no work all month so I should have had plenty of time to draw? I played nursemaid to Steve and Dexter for almost the entire month. And got ready for Christmas. And kept the house clean, bills paid, laundry done and everyone (human or otherwise) fed. There went the month. I don't know why I even bother to try. I guess because I managed to before when my full time job was an actual job and not Housefrau. Which is also a full time job, but I did it before, so why not now? So frustrating.

It is now 12:45am. I really should go to bed, and I still need to shower and begin the audition grooming process. I don't even know why I'm going. It's unpaid. It's a spec commercial. That is all fine and good. It's for Dove Soap and they want "real women" and they will want to see me in a bathing suit. Looking real, of course. Which for some reason means WITH NO MAKEUP. I think my dark eye circles will discount me before they ever see my gigantic post baby thunder thighs. I'll show you a real woman. I've even arranged for babysitting. We came home early from SB.

The Luckies may not be so lucky after all. #2 and #3 have black markings on them that appear to be spreading, maybe some kind of Fish Fungus. #1, who is also the biggest, looks just fine. But they all seem to be doing okay, swimming around the bowl.

We have caught Schmedly drinking their water, because week old fishbowl water is far better than the fresh stuff in his own water dish. It has also inspired him to hop up on the counters and even on top of the kitchen cabinets for a better view. He has shown no interest in actually sticking a paw in, and I have a feeling the Luckies will go to the big Tank in the Sky before he gets up the nerve to even try.

Dexter is feeling much better, as are we. My happy-go-lucky baby is back.

I've been meaning to write about this for weeks...

In October, Paul, Angela, the babies and I all went to the LA Kids Consignment Sale. Paul, Ang and myself have gotten up early before to wait in long lines but it has always been a good time, and this was no exception. It was a crazy madhouse of bargains, and Angela and I are both smitten with it and will be participating in the spring sale in March. Paul hated it but smiled the whole time, and I'm sure earned himself many hours of Guitar Hero.

We didn't get there right as it opened, but maybe an hour or two later and it was packed. Paul immediately got into the huge line with the babies. Angela and I split up and would circle back with stuff. Like POW's, Paul and his line mates bonded. When we finally got up to the front to pay, I was impressed with the computerized system. Each seller prints out tags at home, so every item is logged in. The house takes a cut, and the seller gets the rest. What's left on the last day is half off, and whatever doesn't sell can go directly to charity, or you can go pick it up. If you sell stuff or work the sale as a volunteer, you get to go a day early when it's less crowded and all the best items are still there. For $30 I got toys, clothes and a little insulated lunch bag. So worth the effort and hassle!

These photos don't do the mayhem justice.