"Playing Catch-up"

Alright folks. Let's play catch-up. :)

First of all, my sincere appologies for my absense. Blame it on my work schedule. I've had every intent of "bloggin' on", but time, work, rehearsals, and who knows what else have repeatedly pulled me away from you (my loyal fans, readers, family, friends, etc), and, as a result, the posts have been nill lately. But, I'm going to try and change that. I gotta get back on track. I started this blog because of you. Time to get back to my commitment!

So, without further adeu, here's where I've been these past three weeks....

On July 23, "A Little Princess" wrapped, and all of us in the cast went our seperate ways. It was a great little show, and one I had a lot of fun being part of. It's sad to develop the bonds that any theatre cast does, only to disolve them once the show comes to an end, but, such is the way of things in theatre. It's a constant journey from one project to the next. A learning experience. And, most of all, one heck of a thrilling career to be part of! I'll definitely miss the cast, but I'll probably see some of them down the line in this great journey called professional acting.

Oh, and before I forget, to all of those who came out to see the show, thank you! I think I speak for the entire ex-cast when I say, we loved having you join us. Sure we have fun auditioning, rehearsing, and ultimately performing, but it's you guys -- the audience -- we're doing this for. It's you who make it all worthwhile!

But enough of "...Princess", on to the next show. As many of you are aware, I auditioned for another Milwaukee show titled, "The Liar", before "...Princess" wrapped. Apparently my audition went well because I was cast in the role of Florindo -- the shy haphazardly romantic "male drama queen" (no, he's not gay!) of a character upon whom the dilemma of the whole play revolves -- and have been in rehearsal already for the past three weeks. In fact, as luck would have it, I started rehearsing for "The Liar" only two days after our last performance for "A Little Princess". How's THAT for keeping busy in theatre!

Performances for "The Liar" are September 9-18, and will be produced at Concordia University in Mequon, WI through the Acacia Theatre Company -- a well-established Milwaukee-based Christian theatre group. My role is a notable one.

But, that's just the theatre end of things that have been keeping me busy. Art has been grabbing just as much of my time if not more....

The commissions -- especially for graphite portraits -- have been pouring in left and right, and have been keeping me busy. So much so, that I'm actually a little bit behind in meeting my self-imposed deadlines. But, hey, so far, the clients have loved the work they've recieved, so I suppose it all evens out in the end. It's nice to see others enjoying my hours of detail work. It's a great perk to loving what I do. :)

But, when I'm not rehearsing, drawing, or trying to keep up on everything else, I'm filling my time with even more projects... Such as helping my apartment landlord with a variety of upkeep projects -- in return for some much-appreciated credits on my housing! Or parking cars on my apartment lot for the Wisconsin State Fair these past two weekends (I live very close to the grounds). Or, my "third" job (other than acting, and freelance art), my creative auctions on Ebay!

Whew! And if that's not enough, I now have a "fourth" job!... Last year I worked for a local graphics art company (Bluemound Graphics) that prints religious calendars for churches all over the country. I was their copy editor. Now that the 2006 calendar season is in full swing, I'm back working for them in the same capacity. I'm signed on again to work until Christmas.

So, four jobs. Acting (currently starring in "The Liar"); Art (currently creating a good many commissioned art projects); Ebay sales (currently selling a variety of creative 'mystery auctions' and other unique items); and working as the copy editor at Bluemound Graphics. Yeah, I've been a wee bit busy! But the best part is, I'm doing what I love, and having a blast at the same time! And, contrary to what I've heard many times lately, I ain't gonna compromise away my passions! Flipping burgers at Micky D's to make a living? Nope. Not my kind of gig. I'm going the route in which my loves reside, and I'll be riding on patience and trust with God as my chauffeur!

That's my kind of life, and, well... that's sort of where I've been these past three weeks. :)

So, many thanks to all of you as I've remained elusive in the blogging world. I hate to keep you waiting and wondering, but I have appreciated your patience. Hopefully, now that I'm back, I can once again entertain you along my journey of creativity and musing -- If you're still with me that is, and haven't already gotten off a few stops earlier! ... [wink]. :P

Have a blessed Tuesday all, and until the morrow,

Your happily blogging, always busy friend,
-Jon
posted by Jon at 11:16 PM  I   I  0 comments