In the Begining

So let me give you the low down...I am stranded in a village of retired folks masquerading as a city known as Tampa. What?! You may ask. Isn't Florida fun in the sun with days of Disney and nights of moonlit beach strolls. No. No its not. I hate to disillusion anyone who enjoys the yearly vacation to our fair state but its more like a secluded, humid hell where you're perpetually stuck in traffic behind a redneck turning out of a Dennys traveling 20 miles per hour who's forgotten to turn off his turn signal.

One might ask how someone like me ended up here? I often ask myself the same question when I get home from work and spend my evenings staring at the brightly painted pink walls of my sister's ex-room that I now call home. And the answer comes back at me loud and clear every time - Who the heck knows. And the only advice I can give to you kids out there is, spend your money wisely and choose a college you can afford or you too might be forced to return home to live with your parents and sleep on a pool toy in a part room that has been officially claimed by the family cat.

In short I'm an actor who went to school in New York and was trained to sing and dance on the stage - but ended up answering phones for Coldwell Banker with my "perfect for radio" voice sounding so efficient that I'm mistook for an automated service 9 out of 10 calls and have people beeping extension numbers in my ear before I can get the whole phone greating out. Why? Because there is NO THEATRE in Tampa -- I'm not JUST a snob whos appitite is forever tainted by NYC (well, I am, but it's not the only reason here...), but there is just nothing for an actor to do here in Tampa. This is basically where your career comes to die in dinner theatres where old people come to enjoy a buffet so they can chew, choke and use the restroom in the middle of your performance.

Wait it gets better.

Because of my financial situation - and the fact that I previously lived in a city where Public Transportation was easy and accessable to EVERYONE - I no longer have a CAR to get around in. So I am always stuck at home unless someone feels sorry enough for me to cart me around.

But I do have some saviours while I'm here - my best frined TJ and her new husband are living out in St. Petersburg (across the bay) until the first of the year. Then they are heading back to their Brooklyn home. I see her at least once a week when we hit the Karaoke scene at our favorite gay bar in downtown Tampa. I'm also hoping to do a video verson of Christopher Durang's "Laughing Wild" with her(its a satirical look on how society makes us feel seperate and unimportnat in the vast scheme of things - fairly appropriate). And then there's Jen & family who've pretty much been my saving grace since I've been back. Got my job through them plus NUMEROUS rides and even a offer to help with the purchase of my wheels.

Every once in a while I get to hear from my NY friends as well. There's Big Red, my ex-roomie who I'm a little worried about right now actually. Things just have not been going her way lately. Lost her boyfriend and her apt in the past month and has been staying with a friend who is leaving the city on Friday...leaving her broken hearted and homeless -on the plus side though, she just signed to do a part in a mini movie shooting in Manhattan, so things can't be all that bad....And then there's Juan-Michael, my ex-dancer roomate who's living the high life off his parents money in Brooklyn. He's from the other side of the tracks...the side that has the Private Property sign and the Big Glass House called Porter manor. He grew up in Califonia and loves to regale me with instances about how his mother once felt sorry for the Immigrant Mexican workers in fields so she brought them all they're own bottled water.

Anyway - that's my situation right now and hopefully it will change some. If not, I'll keep regaling all the interesting points of my existance. Tata for now.

I'm feeling a little

Car Tunes:

Today's Motto: