Trying to Sleep in a City that Doesn't!

It's Been A While...

2008-03-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

So, It has been about 3 weeks since my last post. I apologize to anyone who does check this thing.

I have Started Acting Class part time at The Atlantic Theatre Company. It is brilliant. The whole technique they teach is like God parting the clouds for me. It is all about being true to the material. No thinking about a dead dog, or a crazy fucking dream.... just good old reality.

Other than that, been living life, reading a lot, going to the gym, and hoping spring gets here sooner. I really don't like cold weather I have decided. It is not fun.

Also, still doing Naked Boys Singing. It's a pay check. Not a great one, but one knows that to start in this crazy business, you must take the work and not the money to get a foot in the door.

Much love!

JAckASS!

2008-02-21T06:54:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

I know it has been a few days since my last post, but I have been busy!

Tuesday, I filmed with one of the JAckass Team members, Chris Pontius. He, if you don't already know, is the guy who does the party boy skit, as well as Wildboyz with Steve-O. Any who, all day Tuesday, Chris Pontius, Me, and about 19 other guys took over Times Square, right smack dab in the middle of Manhattan, wearing nothing but Liquid Silver Manthongs and a smile. That's right.... I am going to be on MTV, Shaking what my momma gave me. It will air on SAT, FEB. 23, 2008(this SAT), when JackAss takes over MTV for 24 hrs, starting at 12pm est.

In the picture I have included, my head is poking out of the passenger window of the van! For more info, you are going to have to watch the show!

More posts in a day or so to catch you up on my life!

_sg

To my love.....

2008-02-14T10:11:00.000-08:00

A Valentine's Day Poem......

You are always there for me, When I am down.

I never have to call you, you always are around.

When I'm feeling lonely or frisky or I have an itch.

You can satisfy me, and never do you bitch.

I can talk dirty to you or spit on you whenever.

A partner is what you are, forever we'll be together.

No it's not a girl or boy or even a Fan,

It's just a little thing I call my left hand!

I hope you all have a fun Valentine's Day! I am sure I will later this evening.....if you catch my drift.

What This? What This? There's White Stuff in the Air!

2008-02-12T17:27:00.000-08:00

Today in NYC, there was a delightful snow storm. I live on a tree lined, brown stoned lined street, and it was absolutely gorgeous. The first snow is a most incredible sight. The snow was pure powder, white and clean. The snowflakes were big and fluffy, slowly crashing toward the ground. Everywhere, little footsteps leading to nowhere. Everyone bundled up in hats, scarves, and gloves. It was a lovely thing to see.

Unfortunately, it is a city, so tomorrow it is going to be black, slimy, wet, and dreary. However, today and into the night, it was a terrific sight!

Curbside Prophets.....

2008-02-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

"I'm just a curbside prophet, with my hands in my pocket, and I'm waiting for my rocket to come...."

These are the lyrics to CURBSIDE PROPHET; written and performed by one of my favorite singer/songwriters Jason Mraz. Since moving to NYC in 2006 I have come across my fair share of these curbside prophets. I know you are rolling your eyes and saying," Those crazy homeless people should be in the looney bin." But one second my friends. Do Not Count These Urban Nomads out quite yet.

Like I said a few posts back, I live in Harlem. For those of you who don't know the manhattan lay out, Harlem is what we NYer's call UPTOWN. For the regular citizen that means from Central Park North(110th ST.) up to 155th st. This extend width wise from the Hudson River(West Side) to the East river and Harlem River(East side). This is the complete width of the island in Upper Manhattan. For the average tourist's general information, Times Square is on 42nd street and Broadway(the Street. Since I live Uptown, and most of my life in NYC revolves around Midtown and Downtown on the West side, I end up spending a lot of time on the city's MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority). Because most NYer's depend on Mass transit to get for place to place, you get a nice cornucopia of people in the subway or bus that you ride everyday. Now, it's always a safe bet to sit next to the yuppie, wall street stock broker, but who wants to go through life living the "safe" way all the time. I personally don't. I love a little flavor in my days, so, sometimes I purposely sit next to the bum or bag lady or guy/girl talking to themselves.

Now, a lot of times, these characters are a little looney. But, many of these people have been on the streets for a number of years. Bouncing from shelter to shelter, train to train, station to park, back alleys to curbside. And, since this portion of the population is unemployed, they spend a lot of their time observing the ever changing NYC culture. They are like walking museum exhibits, breathing SoHo art pieces, living East Village Performance Art, and pulsing history book on NYC living. Many things can be learned from these self-talking nut jobs. Many a prophetic word can be said beneath the bits of insanity. Oh yeah, an interesting and informative conversation can come from these not so fresh smelling folks too! If ever I come across these panhandling, buscar-type, quick scheming crazies, I turn my ipod off, put my book away and switch roles with them. I BECOME THE OBSERVER. I BECOME THE QUIET SPONGE ABSORBING NYC LIFE. I BECOME THE LISTENER. Sometimes, the things you hear come out of their mouths can change your life.... really.

Next time you pass a crazy or a street dweller, drop back, listen, observe, and take into consideration that they aren't as crazy as they would like you to believe. Take some time and bow down(metaphorically speaking) to the CURBSIDE PROPHETS!

Sit-down, sit-up, SIT-COM!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

Hey Folks! How's life? I hope everyone reading this is in a good place in their life.... if not, sometimes life's a bitch. Get over it.

As you know, I'm up here, in NYC, trying to make it as an actor. But, also, as many of you know, successful people weren't always on top, especially in the show-biz industry. They usually were persistent(annoying) or hit it from all ends.

Writing has always been a therapeutic thing to me. Sometimes, i will jot down a line, or write a short story, but it has always been a thing I enjoy to do. One thing I have always enjoyed was funny writing. So, while I am up here, ... in NYC, trying to succeed and hit it from all ends, I too have begun to write a SITCOM. "It's a show about friends and a show about nothing." Sound familiar? I figured I would try to base my ideas around the format of two of my favorite sitcoms, and two of the most popular sitcoms of all time. Friends & Seinfeld. It won't be anything like these two shows, but I have been watching both closely, and let me tell you... it helps.

It's started, I am taking my time, and letting things come organically. So far, the ideas I have shared with people have been well taken. Hopefully in a few years, you will be watching my show!

That's it for now....

The Glamorous Life

2008-02-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

When people ask me what I do, I always say Actor. Sometimes people don't even ask, they just know. Either by my groovy "actor esque" style, i.e. a lot of Black, or just by the pale skin and good looks. But always, these people are like "Oh my God, what a Glamorous lifestyle!"

I hope and pray that my career will take that path.... and please make it soon. What most people don't know about the "biz" so to speak, is more actors are out of work than in work. Luckily, I am in the percentage of working actors. But, as most people who have goals do, I am always striving to get a better job. This basically means that my job is to Audition. For those of you that don't know, here it goes.

Auditioning is my job. I feel I am pretty good at it, but I know I can get better. Most auditions for Musicals mean you go into a room, with a little table, with 2 to 3 people behind the table. There is a piano and a pianist, and then there's you and your 16 bars. For those of you who have no Idea what 16 bars means, it basically is the equivalent of saying two sentences in a singing manner. Now, a lot can be achieved in this short amount of time.

1) The people behind the table can hear if you have legit vocal talent.

2) the pianist can horribly mess up your song and you sound like shit.

3) You sing well, the pianist plays well and the table people just don't react. (This happens a lot, and is very mind bending for the person auditioning).

It's a tough thing to wrap your finger around. Never can you guess what they are looking for. If you try you will fail horribly. You basically just have to go into thinking, "I'm going to sing, and expect nothing!" That way, if you do get a call back or a reaction even you are pleasantly surprised.

The only scary thing about being a "person that auditions" for your career choice, is you have to find other work to get you by until you get a theatre gig. This means many times the actor comes extremely close to becoming those people with cardboard signs asking for a quarter. What a glamorous life. But, if you have ever been bitten with the bug, it's hard not to give it a shot, and just hope for that break when it's you they choose!

Winter time ah..... SUCKS!

2008-02-04T18:04:00.000-08:00

Winter time to most people from the south means hot chocolate, cool coats, funny hats, crackling fires, and snow days.

Survey SAYS....... WRONG!

This is the single most depressing, horrible thing on earth. Every one is pale, eyes are saggy with black bags underneath, it's cold, it's hot, its cold (temp. change from outside to inside), your nose is always running, and all I want to do is stay in bed and sleep. How do people live in Buffalo? I know, this isn't a bitching post, but, my Florida roots are really coming out this FEB. Luckily, this has been a pretty easy winter. Only a few bad snow days, a few bad rainy days, and hasn't been "arctic" cold that many days. I'm just missing the sun, my shorts, and my flip flops.

Please God, get me hired on a cruise ship.

The Apartment.....

2008-02-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

I haven't told many people about my place, so here it goes.

Picture a shoe box.... you know like a nike one. Throw an extra shoe box next to it to make the letter 'L' shape. Okay, put a stove, a refrigerator, and a bathroom attached and there you have it!

No, my apartment is awesome. For those of you who don't know, I live in Harlem. Yes, like previously the "ghetto". Home of the Apollo Theatre, The Harlem Globetrotters, Sylvia's Famous Soul Food, and the famous 125th street. It's such an amazing neighborhood.

It's about a 10 min subway ride into the heart of Manhattan, and i have about three options when choosing which subway to take. As in three different subway lines.... which is great! I am in a townhouse, as in a BROWNSTONE. you should see is when we have a good snow... tree lined, brownstoned street that is all white. It's pretty spectacular.

Okay, back to the apartment. It is small, but I live by myself. That may not sound like a huge luxury to anyone, but in NYC that is HUGE!!! Most of my theatre friends(late 20's early 30's) still have 2 or 3 roommates. My apartment is Rent Stabilized, which means the rent can only go up a little percentage every 2 years. These are gems in this city. The heat works great, (VERY IMPORTANT TO THIS FLORIDA BOY!), and did I mention I live alone? Bachelor Pad city.

Pics will be posted soon. I lost my camera chord.

-sg

Bums are people too... well SORT OF!

2008-01-31T18:52:00.000-08:00

I know this is a back to back two pack in the post department, but I can't mesh ideas.

I was sitting at a table today in the Meat Packing District*. A table away, two hipster girls were eating lunch, conversing, minding their own business. Up to them comes this homeless guy who must just hate everyone because he will in about two seconds proceed to VERBALLY HARASS these two innocent bystanders.

The bum in typical pan-handling fashion tries to interject in their private conversation by saying,"I'm not homeless, just hungry!" No "excuse me miss", just steps right up into these girls faces. Doing what most people do, the woman says, "Please leave us alone, we aren't giving you any of our lunch." Notice, she said please... Most NY'ers would just have said,"Get the fuck other here man!" and put their hand in the guys face. But this girl just was like please leave. Well the bum wasn't having that. He let this chick have it.

bum-"FUCK YOU BITCH. That's all you is. A fucking dick sucking bitch!"

Girl-" please leave...(puts hand out)"

bum-" If you put that hand out again I will fucking slap you ho. That's why your lip's chapped... you's a dick sucking ho. Ho's only good for sucking dick anyway."

ME- (looking up from my magazine) In my head: What the hell am I witnessing here?

Well, I normally would speak up in a situation and say something like," dude, do you have to talk like that to a lady? Just leave her alone and walk away."

But I was like, if I say something, this bum will probably pull out a shank and "Fucking CUT me!"

So I just sat and watched like I was at the Regal Cinema 6.

I'm not gonna lie. I felt kind of shitty for not saying anything, especially because these poor young women were really verbal assaulted. But there's another instance of NYC blase-ness. I really didn't feel like getting stabbed today!

They should go around and capture all these bums and put them into a zoo. They belong in teh Gorilla and chimp case throwing shit at eachother. Honestly now. I believe the Bronx Zoo is looking for a new attraction.

_Ight Fools...I'm Out!

*Meat Packing District- A chic, trendy neighborhood in NYC(from 12th St to Lower Chelsea and from 9th ave over to 12th ave) YUPPIES!

NYC Makes You like SO Blase....

2008-01-31T18:36:00.000-08:00

NYC is such a crazy place. A normal day here could sometimes be compared to someone's Senior year of College. It's that crazy. But, because NYC is such a jungle, it can make the average joe very blase or indifferent to things that should make your skin crawl.

EXAMPLE: On the A train the other day. Minding my business, jamming to my iPod shuffle, (probably some Citizen Cope, the Shins, Coldplay..etc) and I literally watched a middle aged business man type pick his EARS and NOSE and FUCKING EAT his boogers and ear crust!!!!! Really, What the Fuck is up with that?

-But, like I said, I just sat there and watched and listened to some good tunes because I didn't really have anything better to do. It was like seeing a bad accident..... I just had to keep watching. And by the way, the man acted like nobody was watching him at all even though I was literally staring at him from 3 feet away.

Example 2: Walking to the train.... Once again jamming to my ipod. Said hey to a couple of people I see everyday on my way to the train, smiled at a few hot girls I saw on my way to the train. As I am about to walk into the train station I LITERALLY watch a normal looking guy FREE BASE A CRACK ROCK like its just a cigarette. He went from a totally normal looking guy to a limp noodle in about 2 seconds. I just kept walking and it wasn't until about 5 mins later that i said to myself,"Wow, that guy so just hit the crack pipe.... literally!"

It's an interesting to notice how crazy things are just the norm when living in the Big Apple. WOW.... what a world.

As many an Immigrant has said, "I LOVE AMERICA!"

-SG

Naked Boys Singing!

2008-01-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

Many of you know I got cast in an off broadway show back in July of 2007....

For those of you that don't, I am currently in the NYC cast of Naked Boys Singing! I am the 5 track swing.....no that isn't some naked sex joke.

Swing-(noun) a person who covers multiple roles in an theatrical show. i.e. understudy.

So that's what has been keeping me busy on Friday an Saturday nights. Literally thousands of people have already seen my penis! Well not that many, but a lot.

I thought I was done with school!

2008-01-30T13:28:00.000-08:00

So, As many of you know, I got excepted into a few colleges. But, I took the high ground and decided to bypass a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (total bullshit) and just move to NYC and give acting a shot. So far that has been going well. But, I didn't think it would include school work. WRONG-GO!

I am beginning an acting class at The Atlantic Acting School in FEB. (SO STOKED)

-For those of you who don't know, The Atlantic Acting School was founded by William H. Macy and David Mamet. Check it out.. www.atlantictheatre.org/school.htm

But, this class has some pre-requisite work...which kind of sucks! But, It could be math, which it's not. I got to read a pretty cool book by former students of Macy and Mamet on the acting technique, as well as, read A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE by Arthur Miller. Such a good play! I had to analyze a scene from the play in the AAS (Atlantic Acting School) technique and a few other questions about Shakespeare and classic theatre things.(thank you google)....

I am looking forward to learning how to rip apart a text and really break down a character. However, the AAS style seems really appealing to me. It is all about truthfully portraying a role, and not "acting" per SE. This is something I have always believed in, and method actors can go suck on a hard one. Just kidding. To each their own, but I have a really good feeling about this class!

Here Goes Nothin'

2008-01-29T15:26:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally did it! I have been meaning to make a blog since I moved to NYC in 2006, but shit happens and you put it off..... and put it off..... and put it off.... and January 2008 rolls around. It's cold out, a lot of things have gone on in my life since moving away from home in Aug of 2006, and I figured I just need to write!So this blog is for my Family, my friends (extended family), and any fans or random internet surfers who come across it! Enjoy and blogs away!