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[Sep. 19th, 2008|04:19 am] |
A short update, since I have to leave for work soon.
Katie and I are well, over all. We now live in Milwaukee. She works for a large charitible organization here and I currently work for a national toy company in Kenosha county.
We had to get a different car a few months back, so we replaced our '91 Nissan with a '96 Hyundai. Piece of junk, really, but the mileage ranges from ~34 to ~ 37 mpg. Which is good, since I put 100 miles on it every day I work. Yeah, "SmartCars" are for suckers.
Not much else is really happening. I'm boring now, other than plans and goals and, well, I update this with some of that later.
Who knows how much later? |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 23rd, 2008|05:59 pm] |
"Back from the dead. The sleeper done slumberin'. Pass me the mic and I might start mumblin'." --TobyMac
More to come.... |
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[Jan. 14th, 2008|12:31 pm] |
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This is long and political in nature but I don't think it's really all that controversial. Nevertheless, since it's a response to a thread found here (though it's too long to be posted there) it is behind a cut.
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 7th, 2008|05:12 pm] |
Holy crap!
A tornado (only the second tornado in Jan. EVER ... the other being in 1841, I believe) ripped through JUST barely north of here (Twin Lakes). And yet, there was hardly any wind here at all.
Crazy stuff. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 7th, 2008|08:45 am] |
Seems pretty accurate to me:
82% Tom Tancredo
79% Fred Thompson
76% Mitt Romney
71% Mike Huckabee
67% John McCain
52% Ron Paul
51% Rudy Giuliani
36% Joe Biden
32% Hillary Clinton
31% John Edwards
29% Bill Richardson
29% Barack Obama
28% Chris Dodd
18% Mike Gravel
12% Dennis Kucinich
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
I just wish that those were Tancredo or Thompson's POLL numbers. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 1st, 2008|03:40 am] |
If this is the way 2008 is gonna start, I'd rather it were '09 already. |
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| This is not late, dangit! |
[Dec. 27th, 2007|09:41 am] |
Merry Christmas, all!
Remember ... it's still only the second day of Christmas (second of twelve ... um, thirteen, I guess, if you count Christmas Day itself). So, let's keep the party going.
Okay? Allwight?
All wight. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 15th, 2007|10:43 am] |
So, I am now posting a real update as to what is happening in my life.
The opera finished on a solid note (oh, nasty pun). For the sixth and seventh performances of the show, the fight coordinator was absent, so he put me in charge of the fight rehearsals (officially I was "fight captain." I guess that looks pretty good on the resume.
During the last week of performances, I was hired to work nights at American Girl, the company that hired Katie to work in its customer service dept. I, on the other hand, am in the warehouse, from 9:30 pm to 6 am, Sunday through Friday through the new year. Then in January, I work five nights a week. And then there's a CHANCE they might hired me on a more long-term basis. We'll see.
That's the short of it (if not the long it). More later. How much later? Who knows? |
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[Dec. 15th, 2007|09:35 am] |
Sigh. First things first.
Almost a month ago, I posted a quote from Martin Luther which I found quite telling. A friend posted a response and I'm finally getting 'round to responding to that.
My friend quotes Ephesians 2: 8,9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."
And to this I say, "Yes, that's true, but it doesn't mean quite what you seem to believe it does."
Firstly, let's think about it this way. Four children fall into a man-hole because of their own stupidity and wrongful pride and recklessness. A very strong man (now, understand me, this is not your average "body-builder" type who works out solely for appearance, but a real power-lifting type, the kind who can maybe clean and press a freight car ... with each arm) comes along with four ropes.
One of the children grabs the rope and, following the man's instructions, ties it around his waist. The man pulls the kid up and cleans him off.
The second kid grabs the rope and tries to climb out. Being all covered in raw sewage, he quickly loses his grip and falls back into the soup of nastiness, drowning in said soup, mixed with his own vomit.
The third kid, looking at the rope with disgust, tells the man, "I don't need yer ole rope. I LIKE it here!" And begins to make and consume poop-pies ... and dies from his sewage consumption.
The fourth kid says, "Thank you so much!" ... And then does nothing. The man at street level tries to tell the kid to tie the rope to himself like the first kid did but this fourth kid just says "Amen." And then he starts singing "Cum-bai-ya!"
Now the first question is, did the first kid DO anything to MERIT his being saved from the sewage death his friends suffered? Not really. He was just as reckless and prideful and stupid as the others. At first, anyway. But he did COOPERATE with the man above ground. Is that something he could boast about? Not at all. Why boast when all he did was what any reasonable person would've done?
The second child tried to get out on his own, but it was an impossible expectation so he ended up dead.
The third kid, prideful to the end (and maybe a bit messed up in the head), pretended to like the sewer and died.
The fourth one, while believing the man above would save him but without his own cooperation, also ends up in trouble in this scenario.
God wants our cooperation. He told us, when He was teaching directly, that "he who loves me will keep my commandments," and elsewhere tells of those who were welcomed into Paradise because "I was hungry and you gave me to eat" and so forth, and elsewhere "unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life within you," and again tells us to "STRIVE (emphasis mine) to enter the narrow gate." St. Paul tells us to "WORK (emphasis mine) out your salvation with fear and trembling." St. James tells us that faith without works is DEAD. Like those three kids.
(So we see that Faith begets Hope and together they create Love. Love is a verb. An action. Love is, in short, a WORK.)
Back to the passage in question: "For by grace you have been saved through faith ...."
THROUGH faith. But not by faith alone. Did you know that the only time when the phrase "faith alone" appears in the Bible (Luther's purposeful mistranslation notwithstanding) is in the book of James, when he tells us that we are not saved through faith alone.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves ...." THAT, of course, referring to (the most recent reference) faith (and not salvation): Faith, which, itself, is, as the passage continues, "the gift of God ...."
The passage says that faith is "not as a result of works ...." Of course faith is not the result of works, for that would turn the situation on its head. Works are the necessary result of faith and never the other way 'round, just the same as that it is God Who always acts first.
(That's what God is. That's what God does. He ACTS. He is the Prime Mover of St. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica. This is one of the prime reasons why Jesus taught us to call God our Father as opposed to our Mother, because God's activity is necessarily masculine [strictly translated] in that it is He who initiates. Next to Him [in Him really] all of us, all that IS, is feminine. But I digress.)
The passage continues, "... so that no one may boast." And again, how could we ever boast given our slippery sewer situation?
Sorry this was so long. It coulda been longer. A lot longer.
Off to bed. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 17th, 2007|01:51 pm] |
Just a quote I don't want to lose:
"You tell me what a great fuss the Papists are making because the word ‘alone’ is not in the text of Paul. If your Papist makes such an unnecessary row about the word ‘alone,’ say right out to him: ‘Dr. Martin Luther will have it so,’ and say: ‘Papists and asses are one and the same thing.’ I will have it so, and I order it to be so, and my will is reason enough. I know very well that the word ‘alone’ is not in the Latin or the Greek text, it was not necessary for the Papists to teach me that." Martin Luther as cited in John Stoddard, REBUILDING A LOST FAITH
The background: Luther had a trouble with verses such as (James 2:24) “See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” So he inserted the word "alone" in Romans 3:28 to make it read, "For we hold that a man is justified by faith [[alone]] apart from the observance of the law.” |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 17th, 2007|12:18 am] |
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Quick update and off to bed ('cause I need to work at Air Liquide tomorrow): So, I did not get the second opera gig. It was much less of an audition and more of a walk into the room and walk back out due to not being the preferred physical type sort of thing. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 5th, 2007|01:24 pm] |
Had a decent opening night for the opera on Friday night. Packed house, standing ovation, blah blah.
Today I took the day off work to go on an audition at my agent's. It kinda cool that the same train that drops me off less than a block from Lyric Opera also drops me less than a mile from my agent. I still hate public transpo though. I just don't like being on someone else's timetable plus all the other stuff.
Anyway.... |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 28th, 2007|02:12 am] |
A couple of news items in brief:
--I have dumped my "old agency" (who got me no auditions and didn't even have time to talk to me once I'd signed on with them) in favor of Encore (who only deals with actors who sign exclusive deals with them). They appear much more proactive and have already begun the hunt for my next gig.
Frankly, a huge part of my signing with them had to do with how much they scrutinized me. Firstly, they had me perform two of my monologues (I chose the Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Felling So Sad piece and the one I've had from The Winters Tale) one song (the first verse and chorus of "The Minstrel Boy" was my choice for that one) and a pair of contrasting cold readings provided that day. On one of the cold readings they asked "Could you do it again and make the character a little scarier?" Can I make him scarier? :D All of this went really well (I hope that doesn't sound like bragging) and after they sent me out of the room so they could deliberate, they offered me a contract.
--Opera rehearsals are almost done. I may have more to say about that later but, some good stuff and some really bad stuff came out of this. Meh, I don't wanna dwell on it at present.
--One of the good things that came out of the opera actually stems from something ... mmm, not so good. I have a shirtless scene in the production and this forced me to "bulk up" and "cut weight" simultaneously. As of this evening, according to the scale (accurate or not is anyone's guess) I'm at 186 lb. and from 11 to 13% body fat (depending on the time of day). That's about the same weight I was a month ago but back then I was around 14 to 16% body fat. And all that's with less-than-optimal meal-plans (read: "I'm still too poor to eat exactly what I should" or "Dag yo, meat 'n veg'tables is e'spensive!")
--Katie has been undergoing a whole battery of medical tests. We don't have any definite info but if prayin' types could offer up prayers, it would be appreciated as always.
--More details should be forthcoming, but who knows if they will be? Not me, that's who. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 28th, 2007|01:30 am] |
So, I woke up over an hour ago after sleeping for like three hours and could not get back to sleep.
Anyone who wants free tickets to the dress rehearsal of Julius Ceasar ( http://www.lyricopera.org/productions.aspx?arrRef=20082 ), for Monday at 1 pm (I know, short notice and a really inconvenient time) let me know by Monday morning.
I'll update you on life in general in a bit.
If anyone still bothers to check this after my long hiatus from lj.
'Til then, as the Count of Monte Cristo says "Wait and Hope!"
For what? you ask. I dunno. I guess would be a raise but what do I know? Just do it, a'ight? |
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[Sep. 8th, 2007|01:06 pm] |
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So, I'm currently listed with one agent, Charlie's.
After I sent out my submissions, I got an email from Schucart saying, " Thank you for the material sent our agency. Happy to hold for future casting."
This Wed., I have an audition with another, Lily's. And I got an email from Encore this week (it was sent Thursday but I just got it today) asking me to call and arrange an appointment with them. So, that means that about 22% of the 18 agencies I contacted have shown some kind of interest. Not bad, considering that only one of the 120 agencies I contacted in L.A. (the last volley that I sent to them) sent me any kind of correspondence back, and that was an email pimping their online group.
For the Lily's audition, I have to prepare two contrasting monologues for no more than three minutes of acting. So far I have one monologue from Arthur Kopit's Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad (I'm not crazy about the play but the monologue is pretty good). I need a contrasting one so, I gotta get cracking.
More later. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 1st, 2007|10:01 pm] |
Well, I'm now being repped by Charlie's Talent Agency out of Chicago (Highland Park, actually).
And exactly one month 'til rehearsals begin on Julius Ceasar.
Gotta train. And take care o' some other issues.
To quote my old Wushu coach: "Shooom, GO!" |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 25th, 2007|12:57 am] |
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Brief career update and then to bed:
I will have an interview with an agency on Wed. night. Any of you actor types (or your contacts) know anything about Charlie's Talent Agency in Highland Park? |
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