While I Was Out: Where the *Bleep* Have I Been, Anyway?

Hi guys. I know, it's been forever since I posted, but I can explain: life is weird.

Here's the deal. Over the past couple of months, things have gone from the ridiculous to the sublime at my house. To start with, Thomas and I have written a script, and stuff is kind of starting to sort of,  maybe, not completely but could-at-any-moment happen with it. I can't really go into it ('cause there's nothing to go into), but we optioned it (it's Facebook official, and everything), and now we're just pacing the delivery room, waiting and hoping to pass out cigars, eventually.

Now, as those of you who have been around here already know, we've also been steadily trying to renovate our sunroom. Well, the good news is: we finished it! And it's gorgeous! The bad news is: it immediately flooded, along with a good chunk of the rest of the house. No joke. Our area experienced "historical" rainfalls, and pretty much half the city ended up with at least some water in their houses. Before anyone tries to organize a fundraiser, or anything, though, let me assure you that we are perfectly okay. Thomas and I were extremely lucky that the water that came in was minimal, did absolutely no damage to any of our furniture or belongings, and was quickly cleaned up. We only lost the carpet in our room and the hallway, and for about a day, we honestly thought we'd saved it. It was really not a big deal. We also have a very elaborate system of drains that normally works perfectly. There was just so. much. rain. Like, half a foot in an hour, or some such nonsense like that. In any case, here's a shot of part of the sunroom. Thomas took a really nice panoramic video of the whole thing, but it hates me and won't embed.

 

You'd never guess it used to be teal with white trim and white-ish carpet. There's still junk in there that needs to be cleaned up, and an extra air hockey table (any takers?), but I'm calling it done.

 

And, since the carpet was up in the hallway, we took the opportunity to paint in there, as well. Since we already had orange and brown, that seemed a nice, warm and cozy color scheme to stick with.

Look, Ma! New carpet!



And...it looks like The Shining. Ronnie has two identical stuffed dinosaurs (his baby and a backup), and I really (like, you have no idea how badly) want to put them side by side at the end of the hall. We were about three-quarters of the way through painting when we realized the similarity, so we decided it was easiest to just go with it. We got the creepiest mirror and sconces we could find, and I'm planning to put a framed minimalist poster for the movie on the opposite wall.

It's hard to tell, but those are all distressed, and the candles are black. I'm planning to have a virgin light them on Halloween night to see if the Sanderson Sisters show up.

Anyway, while all this was going on, Thomas and I learned that Night of the Krampus was nominated for a Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award. Holy crap. People like Joss Whedon and Greg Nicotero win those things. Plus, the other shorts nominated were all amazing. It really and truly was an honor to be in their company, and associated with this award in any way. The winners were announced Monday night, and I am happily shocked to report that we walked away with First Runner-Up. The winning film was a shot-for-shot remake of the 1931 Dracula trailer, made by the folks over at Cinefix. It's absolutely hilarious, and I highly encourage all of you to check it out. I subbed to the channel after watching it. Congrats to them on a well deserved win!

Finally, I'm finishing up rehearsals for an Andrews Sisters tribute act, and we have our first gig next week. I've had a Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy earworm alternating with Do You Want To Build a Snowman for weeks (freaking memes). Blood may be shed soon.

Anyhoo, that's what's been going on around the Smith house--oh! We're filming tomorrow, too. I knew I'd forgotten something. Basically, it's a circus, but at least most of the acts are really cool.

In conclusion, I leave you with a chihuahua assembling a bed frame:

 

Awwwwww!!!!

Life With the Smiths (Or, I Really Need a Vacation)

I was flipping through the pictures on my phone today (read: I was bored), and came to the realization that Thomas and I are really weird. Also, I take pictures of the most random things. For example:

This picture was taken in July. July. Also, it's toast. Look closely. I assure you, that is toast, cut into a gingerbread man shape, slathered with icing, and dusted with sprinkles. We needed to shoot the poster image for Night of the Krampus, and I didn't have any cookie mix in the house. Oops. So, I improvised. And photographed it. For some unknown reason.

This is my kitchen backsplash. Thomas and I went through bloody heck to put this thing up, so I'm as proud of it as some folks are their antique cars. First, we had to pick out the tile, which was, of course, out of stock. Then we stalked the home improvement store a week or so until we could buy it, and then--and only then--were informed that it wasn't the sticky back, self-adhering type, but it was twice the price we thought it would be. There was grout involved. We ran out halfway through. Thomas threatened to divorce me four times. I threatened to kill him twice. A fun time was had by all. It looks fantastic now that it's all up. Of course, now the countertops look awful...

Thomas decided to be Batman for Halloween. This is the best picture I have of him in his costume, because the "professional quality" rental had to be held onto his body with duct tape and prayer. Indoor lighting was not its friend. In the dark, though, he looked amazing, and even had trick-or-treaters' parents asking for pictures with him. He had a blast, and talked like Christian Bale for about a week before and after.

It's a flying elf!!!! I love this picture! During the Night of the Krampus shoot, I snapped a few in-production photos, and this was a complete accident. The little boy jumped from the stairs to the ground, and somehow the stars aligned and I got this shot that naturally looks photoshopped. He's so clear, and the background is so fuzzy, and he looks like he's hovering in mid-air. Plus, the face is fantastic. Love, love, love.

Everyone should have a Herbie. Nothing says, "Fun times!" like a narcissistic skeleton torso in a plaid blazer and beret. Why, I keep one Herbie in the guest room closet, and another in a storage locker, just to be sure I'm never without the arrogant little so-and-so! Here he is with Soren, after we finished a shoot. Soren still has on his makeup, and we were all a little punchy. Herbie, of course, was a total diva throughout the entire day.

This is what happens when you watch too many Jurassic Park special features in a row. We had just watched a featurette on how they created the scene with the velociraptors in the kitchen, when I decided I needed a snack. This greeted me, and I darn near fell on the floor laughing. It's like Ronnie's little stuffed dinosaur wanted to imitate the movie, and failed epically. Still cracks me up. (Can't you just hear his sad little baby Rawr?)

Speaking of Ronnie, here he is sword fighting with Thomas. We make our own fun, y'all.

Thanks for joining me on this little journey into my weird life. This is what happens when you're trying to finish one film and promote another while trying to buy a house during Holy week (and you work for a Catholic church). I'm approaching delirium. Have a great day, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Taking Pictures Of a Dog Is Hard, Y'all

(ed. note: How's that for a post title? Took minutes of thought. Minutes, I tell you.)

Today's post is more of a public service announcement. With Spring now upon us (and the weather...well, as my mother puts it, it's not "being its best self"), Hurricane season is just around the corner, and God only knows how it's going to go this year. Oh, goody. If you have pets, please remember to take photos of them. In the event you're separated, a current photo greatly increases your chances of being reunited. /end of preachiness.

Last year was our first year with Ronnie, the wonder chihuahua, and as first-time puppy parents, we wanted to make sure we were completely prepared in the case of a storm. Thomas and I scoured the interwebs, read every Facebook post on the subject, and kind of drove ourselves crazy trying to make sure that little Ron Ron would never know a moment's discomfort. For those of you who haven't seen us around our little dude, he's spoiled and has us completely whipped. It's the eyes. And the ears. Man, I can't say no to those little ears. Could you?

Just take it! Whatever it is you want, just take it!

Now, I take a lot of pictures of my tiny guy (Lord, how bad are we going to be when we have a human child?), but they're generally silly pictures of him sleeping in a weird spot or wearing something ridiculous (he has a shark costume...). I'm pretty sure those weren't the kind of pictures that the news anchors meant when they said I needed a current photo of my dog. They are, on the other hand, the kind of pictures that make awesome screensavers.

"I'M A SHARK!!!"



So, with that, I set out to take a really good, really normal, photo of the Ronniebutt:

"DID YOU HEAR THAT?"

"SHLURRRP!"

"AAAHCHOOO!"

"SERIOUSLY, DID YOU HEAR THAT?!"

"OH. HI. WHAT?"

"MODELING IS SO HARD.  NIGHT NIGHT."

Oh well, I'll try again this year.

Fighting for Truth, Justice, and the Occasional Treat

My puppy thinks he's Superman.

I'm perfectly fine with that. When Thomas puts this little costume on Ronnie, the dog's entire demeanor changes. He stands up a little straighter. His ears perk up a little higher. He is SuperRonnie, the Magnificent.

I love my dog.

Happy Halloween to all of our furry little friends! If you're thinking of taking your pet trick-or-treating, here's a really helpful, informative article you might want to read first. Ronnie's going with us--no question!--but he's probably going to spend the evening watching over the city from the safety of Thomas'--I mean, Batman's loving arms. Oh, yes, there will be pictures.

While I Was Out: Movie Musicals and My Very Own Weasley

I'm sorry to have run out on you guys like that. Since I disappeared for a couple of days, why not have another installment of....

WHILE I WAS OUT!!!!!

So, to start out, I had an audition on Monday and a shoot on Tuesday, and I am STOKED!! I have no idea if I got the job from Monday, so let's skip past that, shall we? Tuesday I got to hang out with ACE Hardware's Lou Manfredini and learn all about maintaining my home. And learn I did. I'm going home and brushing all the leaves off my air-conditioner, right now. I had a fantastic time, and really appreciate getting to be a part of their project.

Photo Credit: Broadway World

Tuesday night, Thomas and I had tickets to see the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies. It was a recording of a live theatrical production out of Melbourne, Austrailia, and was showing in one of the local movie theatres. Frankly, I'd been hearing rumors about this sequel since I was a kid, and as a "phan" of the original (I wrote a freaking term paper on it in high school, and one of the highlights of my life was getting to sing for a vocal coach who worked with Webber's Really Useful Company, and having him say I sounded like a young Sarah Brightman. I could have died happy right there. I've seen the show twice--touring and Broadway--and have performed pretty much the whole score in pieces over the course of my career, such as it is. You might say I like the show), I was terrified. See, none of those rumors had ever been particularly good. Plus, the reviews of the London production had been...well, let's just say they weren't very nice. Luckily, the Melbourne production was completely overhauled and completely gorgeous. The singers were phenomenal, the sets and costumes visually striking, and the plot and characters much more complex and mature than the original. It was also nice to see the Phantom and Raoul have a real, honest-to-God, gentlemen's argument, sans weaponry. Watching those two let each other have it verbally and on even footing was downright cathartic. This is also one of Webber's finest scores to date, and some of the most emotionally moving music I've had the pleasure of hearing. It's not a perfect show--there are one or two character/plot issues that, if you know the original, might be a little jarring and will definitely spark debate--but it works both as a sequel and a stand-alone. If you leave without tears or chills, there's something wrong with you. The DVD is set to release on May 29th, and is already available for pre-order on Amazon. I highly recommend it.

The biggest news, though, is that we got a puppy!! Okay, so he's a year and a half old, so not really a puppy. He's tiny and sweet, so it counts.

His name is Ronnie, and he's part chihuahua, part angel. Ronnie's already house-broken, understands (and occasionally acknowledges) the word "no", and loves to snuggle and play with his toy zebra. I adore this little guy. In case you're wondering, he came with the name, but since he kind of ginger-y (though you can't tell in the picture, darn it!) we decided he must be part Weasley and kept it. He also has a little white spot on the back of his head, shaped like a lightning bolt. It was meant to be.

So, that's where I've been. How 'bout you? Let me know what you've been up to in the comments.