Rene and I had a wonderfully relaxing, rejuvenating, and pleasant weekend. We slept in, walked the city, had some local drinks and read – oh lord how we read. I read so much that I accomplished goal number 1!
I have completed Born for This by Chris Guillebeau.
Achievement unlocked – and with seven days to spare. I had intended to do a video about my conclusions and talk about them here today. I also wanted to set the next career goal…
But then Monday happened.
Holy shit, today was non-stop from 6am to 6pm it was just go, full steam ahead. If I hadn’t gotten the rest I got this weekend I think I might have died.
DIED.
Also, I would like to say that my interactions with people over the age of 50 today did not help the stereotype that Baby Boomers do not know how to use technology. If anything I’m pretty sure that there is a breed of older person that probably should not go near a smart phone for fear that it might spontaneously explode in their hand from lack of understanding.
It was a rough day. A busy day. And I have a filming in the morning so I need to work on that stuff.
However, I have high hopes about getting more done tomorrow.
Don’t forget, my Portland Acting Intensive is Saturday:
Curtis Andersen began his professional acting career in 1985 at the age of eight. In the early years he was cast primarily in commercials and for voice-over work with his most prominent role being the voice of Schroeder from the Peanuts series for Met Life commercials, cartoons and a live stage show. As he grew so did his resume. Curtis has guest starred on shows like “Party of Five,” “3rd Rock From the Sun,” “That 70’s Show,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “Veronica Mars,” and “The Gilmore Girls.” He has recurred on “Saved by the Bell :The New Class,” “7th Heaven,” and played Gordie on “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.”
In addition to his television work, Curtis has also been seen in the films “The Rules of Attraction,” “Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen’s Winning London,” and the Oscar award winning “Pearl Harbor” among others.
After over 30 years in the entertainment industry, Curtis Andersen has learned a thing or two and has been trusted to impart that knowledge to those either interested in entering or continuing a career in the entertainment industry. He has been the Head of Faculty for the Kids Acting School in Southern California, founding partner at the award winning Studio 105 in Long Beach, California and Director of Curriculum for the world famous McCoy Rigby Conservatory of the Arts.
This class will focus on “finding your base,” script analysis, and making strong choices. This class is appropriate for actors of all levels.
Email Curtis now for a discounted rate of $75 for AIA talent, $95 for all others curtisandersen@gmail.com
Class size is limited so sign up soon to guarantee your spot!
I’m producing YouTube videos with some frequency (although that could be more frequent).
Here’s what’s not happened, though: I have not gotten very far into reading my book, Born for This, at all. One could say that I have not actually made any progress whatsoever in the last 2 weeks and that would be accurate.
Technically I still have 10 days to complete this book and hit my goal. It is times like this that I’m very glad that I gave myself a very generous timeline.
I don’t know that I’ll actually make any progress tonight, either, as there is still house to set-up, food to cook, and laundry to do.
I’ve been getting some pretty great responses from this 2.0 project. It is very exciting to have all of this support. Thank you all very much for that. I’m not doing it for the attention, but I will not deny that the attention is really nice. I have also been getting some private messages from people who don’t feel like they can do these kinds of things.
First: In general, yes you can.
You may not succeed – that’s just a cold reality – but there is no reason you shouldn’t do things.
I don’t want to condescend with a pithy, over simplified comment about hard work and following your dreams. That does not serve anyone.
Assuming some baselines:
That you have some general talent in the thing you want to pursue.
That you are willing to make the sacrifices required to pursue that goal.
That you are ready to produce in that field on a regular basis.
Then you are already farther ahead than most people who only dream of doing something.
That being said, I know that it is hard. I’ve been doing this of over 30 years and it’s still hard! So today I am reposting one of our most popular LIVE Broadcasts. It’s about Imposter Syndrome. It’s a good one, we cover a lot in a hour, I revisited it myself recently and it was good to be reminded that anyone trying to pursue anything usually feels the same way you do, we just don’t talk about it openly.
We are still getting the new apartment all set-up (actually Rene is, I have been working more than anything), and so I have not been able to do any real career work. The thing that I always forget about moving is that, while the actual moving part can happen pretty quickly, getting shit settled into its new place can take forever. A lot of my stuff is pretty simple:
Desk in corner.
Bed in bedroom.
TV near the wall plug.
Nightstand next to bed.
Etc., etc., etc.
But then there’s all the other stuff like couches and chairs and bookshelves and books and what clothes go in what closet and how do I fit the shoe rack there and where do we hang coats? The devil is in the details and that’s how I exect to spend the next week or so.
So imagine my surprise when my PNW agent called checking my availability?
Me: I am available. What’s it for?
Agent: An industrial. Do you still have the beard?
Me: Yes, but I’m willing to shave.
Agent: Can you do an English accent?
Me: Yes, several believable dialects and a couple that are more appropriate for Monty Python.
Agent: Great, I’ll call you back.
A little bit later – BANG! – booked! A no audition offer for a small industrial up here! Woo hoo!
I cannot share any specific details, but the important thing is that I am officially a working actor again. That’s the goal.
It happened! We are in our new place and we are exhausted. I CRUSHED the Weekend Warrior Challenge on FitBit this weekend with all the lifting and walking and running around. We got out of the old apartment, (almost) set-up the new apartment, and cleaned the crap out of the old apartment (well Rene did, but I helped) all in about 48 hours.
My whole body is sore.
I’m not 20 anymore.
Soreness aside, we are very happy to be in our new space and getting back to THE MISSION!
My acting class will be April 28th and it looks like we may have a few spots left open. If that is true I’ll be posting it to fill the rest of the space.
We paid our Portland Art Tax today! It is a tax specifically to pay for art and music education in grades K-5. I like these specific taxes, I like knowing exactly where my money is going. I kinda’ wish we could do that for all taxes.
To be clear I know that technically I can read the omnibus spending bill and see where funds are dedicated, but I hope you can interpret my intention.
Now Rene and I need to get back to setting up the new apartment. IT HAS NEW AREAS FOR ME TO SHOOT VIDEOS!!!!!!
What do you do when you’re waiting on things beyond your control and you’ve completed the goals that you’ve set for yourself at the moment?
I don’t know what you do, it’s a really specific instance, and it’s one of those times that comes up occasionally when you don’t really have time to start something new and there’s not really anything else to take up the odd time you have. (This is a run-on sentence. #SelfChastising)
I make playlists on Spotify.
Yesterday I made lists about moving, today it’s playlists. It’s like making a mixtape on steroids since I have access to nearly every song in existence (that has acquiesced to the licensing and royalty deal offered by Spotify). I like to listen to music while I write, and I’ve been doing a lot of that, so I’ve wanted a variety of playlists to match the mood I want to create. Since there are geopolitical politics involved in the toy stuff (in a kid-friendly way[?]) I’ve been making a Political playlist and it’s getting me all riled up.
Halfway through I realized that it doesn’t get much more “privileged” than making a playlist about the things that you’re upset about versus actually doing something about it.
Unfortunately I’ll have to worry about that later, I have run out of the extra time I had.
This task of rebuilding an entertainment career is not a small one. It requires focus, patience and persistence. Add a full time job, a freelance job, normal “life stuff” and now a move… it can all be a little overwhelming.
In these situations it’s easy to let it all get to you and freeze up! But that’s really not an option. So in order to avoid panic one must take things a step at a time. That is me right now through at least the next week (and probably a little longer as well).
No major progress has been made on my book reading or in securing entertainment work, but I have been getting all of the tasks complete for the move including changing our address in the most mission critical places, moving over the appropriate accounts, and prepping items for the actual move. So at least there’s that.
I got so distracted yesterday trying to get things done that I kept starting and stopping the blog post and I completely lost track and steam on what I really wanted to talk about. Again, this is the warts-and-all experience that this blog is going to be, especially since I’m pretty determined to post something every day. So, yes, I am tired (although I’m getting more sleep which is nice) but I really wanted to talk about going to the gym!
Yesterday I bemoaned the lack of energy and brain fatigue and one of the things that can combat that for me is working out! I don’t even have to do that much to make it work, thirty minutes on the elliptical and I feel super charged. Lots of endorphins. Even better if I can get on a couple weight machines! Endorphins AND rippling dad-bod muscles.
