Back Again

Back Again...

On a bus, sitting near a woman who's randomly laughing every couple of minutes. Aside from her looking creepy as Hell, I can't help but wonder if she's high or drunk this early in the day. Later on, a woman who looked like a homeless person I used to see in Montreal stepped off the bus. I wonder if there's someone else out there who looks like me, doing the same thing I'm trying to achieve here... In any case, now's as good a time as any for me to complete this.

I took a short trip to Montreal. I was somewhat reluctant to mention it because I hate coming back home and disappointing old friends that I cannot see, and because this trip had more purpose than a regular visit; I was part of a bridal party. Yup, my brother-in-law asked that I be one of his groomsmen! It's my third time being one, but this had a twist. He asked if I'd like to wear a kilt, the traditional attire for any Scottish man at a ceremony. Since I'm somewhat the adventurous type, and I'd get bragging rights for it, I said yes.

The truth? The kilt wasn't bad at all. It stayed down because it was thick and heavy, and breezes weren't strong enough to lift it. I was wearing a seal-skin pouch over it anyway, so it wouldn't have flipped over short of me flipping over. The catch was the entire get-up was black, wool, and I wore a shirt, vest, and jacket. Even my knee-high socks and shoes burned in the sunlight when we took photos outside!

As much as I joked about it being "Tanya's Wedding: Part Dos" (she and Jeff married in a courthouse in October 2010), it turns out this was a "confirmation" of the union in the eyes of the Anglican church, with a female minster to boot. Talk about progressive, eh? Every sibling of the bride and groom had something to do during the wedding as well. Jeff's brother Matt and I read Bible passages, Amanda read some holy things specific to Jeff and Tanya, and Jeff's sister Alayna sang Ava Maria (she has opera training and has one heck of a voice). I also had the privilege of moving the chairs for Tanya and Jeff, which was the toughest job of all.

Next, the bridal party and parents had pictures taken at the Botanical Gardens. It was hot as heck, but the photographer and I got some great shots of everybody.

Finally, we had a great time at the hall. Lots of music, open bar, and for the first time ever for me, an Italian reception with people my age. For the most part, I've only ever been to Italian weddings where either I was too young to have fun, or I was surrounded by kids. But this was different because it's my older sister with her friends I vaguely know, and with a bunch of Scotsmen who're eager to get plastered and have no idea how fun Italian receptions are. Apparently, Scottish ones are more organized, with specific, almost choreographed dances, while Italians just drink, schmooze, and dance to modern music. It was a sight to behold, young people everywhere, jumping around and having a ball. I was actually outside at one point and people from the next room were hoping the place could support all the ruckus going on.

It was so surreal being in that room with so many members of my family I'd not seen in years. It was incredible to say the least, as I saw cousins who've all grown up so much into really awesome people. One owns a business for making mobile websites and apps (http://www.app514.com), another married and moved a stone's throw from my parents' home, my little twin cousins are still little but are finishing up college at 20... Hard to believe how much has changed since I last saw all of them...

The coolest thing about seeing them all again? They all encouraged me to keep moving with my goal, thrilled I got a paid gig that I'm working on, and that I should continue following my dream. Considering when I visited Quebec last June I was told I wasn't an actor, this visit was a lot more pleasant.

I did see a small handful of friends while in town, but the highlight was that the night before my sister's shindig, one of my friends received a proposal from her boyfriend! You know who you are, and congratulations once more!

When I came back to Vancouver, I went to work the following night, still a little jet-lagged, but a graveyard shift would reset my internal clock easily enough. Perhaps the highlight of my weekend on the job was being asked to record for the automated system of one of our clients in English and French. I always wanted to do one of those automated voice recordings, so it was a hoot, and my bosses loved  it. Normally I'd say who the client was, but I doubt they'd appreciate receiving calls just so people could hear my awesome voice. I still have the script handy, so odds are I'll add it to my voice reel or something, or maybe just record it for YouTube, as I plan to do with the Bible verse.

I had a consultation with my agent Dean so that I could figure out what more I could do to help myself get out there more. We spent a good couple of hours chatting, along with his assistant/sister Bree, and had some fun times despite the seriousness of the subject matter. This guy works very hard; just today, he called me to tell me he has an audition lined up for me tomorrow, and he'll be getting some needed surgery tomorrow as well. That's dedication!

I'm going to invest more into acting now that I'm feeling more financially secure. For starters, I'll be starting voice acting courses tomorrow at the Vancouver Acting School. Next, I'll be getting new headshots taken with a better, more experienced photographer, who my agent's partner calls "the light whisperer" for how well he manipulates lighting for photos. I joined a gym as well to get back my strength, to improve my look, confidence, and, like last time, make myself look good for Halloween. I actually had the goal of gaining 15 lbs before the wedding, but all I gained was 5 lbs of flab after I got back. Oh well, now I'm 142, and feeling relatively fine.

I trained for the first time in a year yesterday and it felt great getting back into it. Sure, my body hates me and would kick my ass if it could disassociate itself from my brain and weren't tired from the workout, but that's the fun of exercising. Now only my arms are sore and reaching anything above my shoulders is a chore. I was actually worried I did some damage to myself when I performed an exercise called the overhead press, and though I've had problems in the past with it, I still pushed myself too much to do it. Of course, I won't be doing it again, as when I mentioned to one of the trainers what I was doing, they said they'd never recommend anyone do that kind of work-out, especially since there's no practical reason to do so. That logic convinced me.

Canada Day was spent sleeping. Okay, working from midnight to 6 AM, then sleeping, then doing whatever I wanted, then napping, then work from 10:30 PM to July 2nd. I really wasn't interested in the festivities and given how crappy the mood during the parade was last year, I didn't feel like being the loudest man in Vancouver for a second year in a row.

Anyway, I have auditions to prepare for, parodies to write and film, and a suitcase to unpack (yes, I'm terrible at that, I know). Until next time!