Turn Left, NOW!!

The audition for the infomercial day before yesterday in Venice went well, I thought, but obviously not well enough. I enjoyed it and handled what they had me do fairly easily. Still, it's been two days and I haven't heard from them so I must assume I was not cast. As Gordon Adams, my old agent in the Seattle area said about the aftermath of auditions, "No news is bad news," The actors among you already know this, but for the rest of you....it is rare for a production company, casting agent, etc. to call or email and tell you that you were not cast. Usually you find out you were not cast by hearing nothing. I completely understand why this is so. They are not being rude, but once a cast is in place, the wheels of a production start turning faster....in fact, a lot faster, and they have little time to tell every person who auditioned that they were not cast.

Venice is a beach town (I'm sure many of you have seen pictures of some of the colorful characters walking, riding, skateboarding up and down the beach front). I saw downtown, but not the beach front, saving that for another time. Venice is a pretty town, with cooler temperatures than most Southern California towns (well, it is on the ocean).

I have a good portable GPS which I plug into my car when I need to find a place. Without missing a beat, it has found every address I have asked it to find in three different states. Still, It's a weird feeling to be driving through a part of Southern California in which I have never before been, having absolutely no idea where I am, and glued to the cultured ladies' voice coming from the GPS, as he says things like "Turn left in one quarter mile and then turn right." Then just as you get to your exit or street, she says, "Turn Left." The voice is quite nice, but there is an implication of turn left NOW or you are doomed in her voice. Of course, if you do miss a turn, she very patiently tells you what turns to make to get back on course.

While driving through Venice after the audition, I had this thought. If, for some reason my GPS failed and her voice fell silent, and the maps on the screen disappeared, I wouldn't have the foggiest clue how to get back to where I live. My only recourse would be to call 911 and say, "You gotta' help me. Where the hell am I?" OK, maybe not, but still it makes you wonder sometimes, if we have great technology, or if great technology has us.

Until I learn some of the routes to places I will be going to repeatedly, or in visiting new places, I will continue to hang onto every word from the GPS lady, as I make my way through the freeways and canyons of Southern California.

A final note. I have auditioned for three separate productions in my first three weeks in California, when it truth, I expected no auditions the first couple of months. No, I haven't been cast yet, but I still regard it as a pretty good start. No complaints.

More later.........