Saint Patrick's Day

 From today's sermon: So St. Patrick was not actually Irish but was kidnapped from Scotland and taken to Ireland and held as a slave for six years until after much prayer he felt God telling him to run away. He escaped, but later felt called to go back to convert the Irish to Christianity after prayer and receiving a letter from his captives saying "We beg you, young man, come and walk among us once more". So Patrick returned and for 30 years planted hundreds of churches and baptized tens of thousands in Ireland who in turn sent missionaries throughout Europe to spread the gospel. So of course we've deemed the correct way to observe and celebrate this holiday is to dress in a subtle fashion and to drink green beer. Go figure.

I'm paraphrasing that very small part of today's message and he of course was making a point but I still found it humorous.  Tom left early this morning to head back to NJ.  His mom is being moved into a nursing home tomorrow and he wants to be there for the transition.  After I taught Sunday school I headed out to find the St. Patty's Day parade.  Taylor was there too but he kind of wanted some "alone" time after hanging at the apartment all weekend. He likes to wander the crowds and people watch. We went to dinner last night with our friends Jeff and Denise Jones, who we knew from Utah (this pix is from a ball we attended at Hill Air Force Base...we actually did very casual dining last night) and invited Taylor along but for whatever reason he wasn't much interested in hanging with the old people!  Denise and Jeff invited us to stay at their home while we were looking for a place to live out here then Jeff was deployed so we stayed there with Denise.  They've only been here for 18 months and were supposed to be here 3 years but just found out their getting moved again to Colorado.  They're kind of bummed about it as both their families are here in the area and their daughter is just starting middle school, but being in the Air Force they understand that when plans change you have to make adjustments.  They are perfect examples of being flexible and of looking at change as a grand adventure.  But I digress!

 I found the parade and watched for a bit but there wasn't a whole lot Irishness about it.  Taylor said there was much more at the beginning but I guess I just got the portion where other cultures were performing.

Don't know these gals, but thought they were cute!

 After getting my parade fill, I walked inside the National Gallery of Art to wander around in the quiet and just enjoy the amazing art.  I'm still stunned that these remarkable pieces are right down the street from me.  Talk about a blessing!  And I can go anytime, FOR FREE and enjoy their gorgeousness!

 Was going to jump on the Metro to head home but it was fairly nice out so opted to walk.  It's just fun being with people out having fun and enjoying a glorious Sunday afternoon.

Job Hunting

 This past week has been full of seeking employment!  I was invited to come in and meet with an agency and audition for them.  I had to do a comedic monologue, a classical monologue, a song, a dramatic AND a comedic scene from a screenplay.  Sheesh!  I got there early because I took the Metro and I'm never quite sure how far I'm going to walk (well, the directions on the website tell you how far it is but I have a tendency to not trust them) so I always show up a little early just to make sure!  Anyway, the building where Capital Talent Agency is just happens to be RIGHT where you step off the Metro so I had plenty of time to look around.

 Had a lovely little sitting area where I could relax for 20 minutes before going up to the tenth floor for my appointment.

It went well, but you never know about these things.  Will just have to wait and see!

A little wall art on my walk in Crystal City to the Marriott

Next I had an appointment with the LDS Job Resources office and met a great guy named Stephen Boyd who after our discussion, invited me to the BYU Management Society luncheon where they have networking and guest speakers.  The speaker was terrific and used to be a big shot with Ford and spoke about ethics in the work place.  I also signed up for a 2 day workshop in Maryland which is the office of the Job Resources people and it's also the Bishop's Storehouse.  Anyway, there were about 12 of us and they talked about re-working your resume', networking, figuring out what you really want to do, etc.  A lot of great info.  I'm going back this coming week for a 2 hour class just on resumes.  I'm having a hard time making my 30 years of acting, 5 years of real estate and my 20 years ago event and banquet planning translate into marketable skills on a resume'.  Hoping they can help me!

Brother Boyd also suggested I call Judy Istook who is in charge of the big BYU Society Dinner coming up next weekend and see if she needed any help.  So we communicated, I went to her volunteer meeting at The Marriott Hotel where the dinner is being held and it just so happened she lost her person in charge of flowers so I got that job in a hurry.  That will be a story for next week!

Finally, I got an invitation to come back to Ford's Theatre for another audition for a musical they're doing next winter.  They sent me music and some scenes but I don't have a piano so fortunately I found this little piano AP on my phone along with a recorder so I could plunk out the notes, record them and play it back.  Awesome!  I did feel a little ridiculous doing it but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do!

I took the Metro again and when I came around the corner there a ton of people lined up in front of Ford's Theatre.  I thought, "Oh brother!  So much for an invited audition!"  But it turns out they were all tourists waiting to get in to see the theatre.  The audition was actually across the street in the education/museum portion.  Pretty sure I was the only dorky actor snapping pictures while we waited to go in. But look at this cool tower made up of books about Lincoln!

They took us up in groups of about 8.  While we were waiting I overheard a girl talking about attending an audition in Salt Lake. We talked for a minute.  Have never met, her face kind of looked familiar but I don't know where from.....anyway, creepily small world!  Audition went well.  Man, it's been refreshing to have great accompanists who can sight read music.  Big shot director from NYC who seemed to like me so again.....who knows?  It's the name of the game....in this business they call show!

Kentucky Hot Brown with Osbournes

These are our friends Jessie and Oz who we met while Tom was at ACSC in AL and who Tom ran the Sprint Triathlon with in Florida last year.  Now that Lance Armstrong has been stripped of all his awards (he won this particular Sprint) we figure they both can say they beat Lance Armstrong!

Anyway, they live here in Alexandria and Oz works at the Pentagon so we've gotten to see them occasionally.  They had us over for dinner Friday night where Oz prepared Kentucky Hot Brown and if you take a look at the recipe you'll see all my bragging about our good eating flies right out the window when you check out the ingredients!  I had never even heard of it before.  Oz is from Kentucky and they had actually planned to go to NYC to watch the Louisville basketball game at Madison Square Garden but their plans changed so we got to have this yummy meal with them, play with darling baby Boston who has grown considerably since we saw him last, and have a laugh filled evening with these awesome people!

March Weekend in New Jersey

Taylor was able to go to NJ with us last weekend.  It's the first time he's seen Eleanor in several years.  She of course wouldn't have known who he was without us telling her and even then, I'm not sure how much she was able to understand but she did seem to get that he is her youngest grandchild.

 We took some old movies with us and she watched them for hours but didn't recognize her kids, her husband or even herself in them.  It was heartbreaking.

Eleanor and Taylor in Florida 1994

 She seemed to be eating and drinking less so we gave her some meds to hopefully get stuff moving through her.  She was very uncomfortable.  She still seems to recognize her boys better than anyone else and they all came by during the weekend along with "little" Dennis who is her oldest grandchild.  While I sat with Eleanor Tom took Taylor to do a little shopping and sight seeing since he hadn't been to NJ for such a long time.  They went to see Lucy the Elephant which the kids have always loved since they were little.

 And you can't go to Atlantic City without hitting the beach.  And we also justify poor eating habits by including at least one sub and pizza while we're there like we somehow will never have them again!  It kind of defeats the good eating we're trying to do during the two weeks between our visits!  Anyway, I'm glad Taylor got a chance to go with us and at least spend a little time with his grandma.

A Saturday

 As with any big city there is a large homeless population in DC.  The Metro near the VA office is always surrounded by men with their carts, bags and sleeping tools.  They're all over town in doorways of buildings and near the metro stops where they can panhandle.  It's very sad.  Especially all the vets.  I could give away tons of money on a daily basis.

Saturday, my small group got together to make 50 lunches as an in-service project.  There is a group who go out after church on Sunday to visit with homeless friends....especially those around Union Station.

Sandwiches, chips, juice, fruit and granola bars in brown paper bags.  Then we included hand written scriptures of encouragement to include in the bags.  I included one of my favorites:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."   Matthew 11:28

 One of Tom's co-workers invited us over to their lovely home in Alexandria for a "low country boil".  The co-worker is from Tennessee and this is very much a southern thing.  A bunch of ingredients cooked in a large kettle and then normally just emptied out onto a newspaper covered table.  That wasn't the case here because we didn't want to ruin their gorgeous kitchen.  It was yummy!

 This version was corn on the cob, scallops, oysters, shrimp, and chirizo sausage all cooked in a delicious spiced broth....so good!  Great bread, cheeses, and homemade key lime pie for dessert.  A fun evening with 4 other couples and a chance for me to get to know the people Tom spends every day with!  They were terrific.

Taylor

    So Taylor has been finding his own stuff in DC.  He loves the old record stores, the live music venues, has been hitting the museums and being socially aware, he went to his first demonstration on the national mall.  I wanted to post his photo from the crowd but The Washington Post would like to charge me $20 to purchase it first.  It's photo number 7, not the guy in the gas mask! He said it was a very cold afternoon (we were in NJ) but he stood with a crowd of 35,000 to promote safe energy anyway.

    He spent last week in New York visiting some friends from Salt Lake who had recently moved there.  They actually live in Brooklyn but he did some touring around Manhattan with another friend who came to visit.  These are precisely the kinds of opportunities we wanted him to have in coming here.

     And, good news....as of this week he is training at Starbucks just down the street at L'Enfant Plaza.  A ten minute walk from here and closed on weekends because it's really in a location for people working in the city.  He's very happy!

Auditions

    So I guess I had hoped I would waltz into DC and just step into the theatre community.  What I found was that there weren't many auditions going on in the city.  If I wanted to go into NYC to audition, that was open to me but that's not really feasible with any sort of regularity.  I sent packets of my resume and headshots to local agents and paid for a skype meeting with a girl who does voiceovers and she was very open to sharing information.  Anyway, in the meantime I have been applying for "regular" jobs.  Keep in mind, I haven't done anything since we left Utah and I've had a varied career.  So my resume has all the real estate stuff,  some fund raising as a board member for a non-profit and then a big jump to almost 20 years ago when I was doing special event planning, hosting karaoke, and managing the front desk at a private club in Salt Lake City.  Well, as I'm applying for jobs I'm trying to manipulate those skills to look like something marketable in 2013.  The reality being I've been self-employed for 20 years.  Yes, I had a broker who oversaw my real estate dealings and an agent who managed my acting gigs but  I was still self-employed.  And then the whole school thing.  Really?  Yes, I have a bachelor's degree.....yes, it was 30 years ago.  But here are my transcripts if you really want them.  And, oh yeah, I'm 55 years old.  So starting a new career has not happened.  Why didn't I get back into real estate?  Because it meant having to completely re-license not only in DC but VA and MD as the three are basically one.  And the financial burden of starting a whole new marketing plan for a business in a town where I don't know people (which is the heart of real estate) wasn't really feasible.  Alas.

     So finally, audition season has kicked in and as I get my Equity (professional actor's union) email every morning with all the auditions going on, here they were.....FINALLY in the DC area.  So, for the first time in 2 years I was preparing an audition (they want monologues here, no cold readings from the script) for the Washington/Baltimore Liaison auditions at The Round House in Maryland.  This is one day only for local actors for a bunch of people representing theatres in the area for the whole upcoming seasons.  I was in the first group of 10 who went in and the only one in the group who opted to do a song.  Anyway, the point being I wasn't nervous because I finally felt like I was up for a job where I actually have the skills to do the work.  It felt like home being in that theatre and every audition since has been that way.  Ford's Theatre held their audition at the Shakespeare Company Studios, then I was off to Woolly Mammoth to read a script for an upcoming show.  Didn't care for it so opted out of that audition but went back for another.  Then The Folger Shakespeare Theatre which was way out of my comfort zone as I haven't done a Shakespeare play for many years.  I chose a monologue I was comfortable with as I had played the character before and the audition went well.  Ultimately it just comes down to being patient.  I have been fortunate to work in a city for many years where I was well known, didn't even have to audition as I was just asked to do things.  So there's the upside of the anonymity thing here where no one has any preconceptions about what I'm really good at, but the downside is that most people hire actors they know because they're proven commodities.  I did get an invitation to go audition for an agent in a couple of weeks so maybe that will help.  Don't know.  Still learning the ropes here.  All part of this adventure!