Now Everybody Hates Me

March 12, 2009 09:56 AM Filed in: Career Tactics

“I used to have friends at school, lots of friends, or at least I thought they were my friends. But now no one wants to talk to me. They make snide comments, say ugly things—totally untrue things. And it’s not just one person with a problem, it seems like everybody hates me now. And for what?”

Sound familiar? Well, you are not alone, and your problem is not unique. Fact is, it is very common and totally predictable. One day everybody at your school is happy, you have a lot of friends who like you, like being around you, want to do things with you and you with them . . life is good.
And all of a sudden things change, and change fast, and in a bad way. I hate to say it, but it is human nature, it is people wanting something you have that they don’t have. It rarely happens when you’re a tweenager, but by the time you get to be thirteen, look out! And it’s most severe with girls. Read More...

Peace, Baby

March 09, 2009 08:02 AM Filed in: My Garden

As attractive as this little jewel is, it’s her web that fascinates me most.

So often, there’s a whole ‘nuther world outside. We tend to be so enthralled with ourselves and situations we fail to notice the little things around us. Yet the world is bigger than we are, a lot bigger, and there are a lot more of “them” out there than us. Read More...

WILLARD

February 27, 2009 10:22 AM Filed in: The OutSide

We have 5 inside/outside cats here at the office, but we have only 1 house rat, Willard. He's about the same size as your average agouti, somewhat larger than a gray squirrel. Well, Willard got to removing all the dry cat food out of the dish on the shelf on the porch and storing it behind the trash can. Every night he would tote off and stash about 2 cups of dry food and he was getting fatter and fatter, but really pretty—shiny coat, bright eyes, pink toes, a fine specimen of Rattus norvegicus. Read More...

Hackberry Emperor—on the Flip Side

February 27, 2009 09:22 AM Filed in: My Garden

On a bright day in early September this little guy was sunning on a windowpane—a sorta dirty windowpane, but I don’t do windows. Besides, a less clean pane is easier to hang onto if you’re a butterfly. He was small enough that I could cover his wingspan with my thumb, but active enough to get my attention by rhythmically alternating his wing position from flat against the glass to folded vertically, and back . . . and forth . . and back . . and forth. Makes you wonder why. Probably a territory display since Emperors are quite territorial and aggressive toward other males. And it may look pretty sexy to cute little females too!
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Resumes That Work

February 26, 2009 10:27 AM Filed in: Career Tactics

Whenever you go to an audition, you are expected to leave the casting folks a headshot card, not just a snapshot, but an 8 x 10 headshot with your name pre-printed on the front side. Everybody knows that, but what a lot of people don’t think about is having a resume to accompany that headshot.
The acting business is a highly competitive field and your resume is a very important piece of information that can truly make the difference in getting selected for a part . . or not. If a choice comes down to two similar looking people who have comparable “reads” in an audition, and one leaves a resume and the other not, the odds favor the selection of the one with a good resume. Read More...