The Adventures of the Macabre Faire Film Festival

The day before my birthday, a Saturday during my husband's vacation from work, we opted to go to the second annual Macabre Faire Film Festival. I'd heard about it through some new networking contacts & a friend of mine had a film screening there. Never having been there, trying to encourage my husband to start networking (I was told there would be some great contacts in attendance)& with the prospect of comic book vendors being present, I asked my husband about going. Off we went.

The festival was in an area of Long Island where you'd better be very familiar with parking rules and the street directions. It's a bit like New Jersey since there are some one way streets and bizarre laws on parking (apparently, in Rockville Centre you can't back into parking spaces). I was scared parking would be way too tight & we'd never get a space once we took our planned meal break to Moe's Southwest Grill (a long awaited planned destination we didn't really get around to actually following through on until we saw the Undercover Boss episode from the night before where the CEO of Moe's goes undercover).

Mercifully, parking was just fine on Saturday. We got to the venue, had no problem with the hotel staffers (in some places, you find people who aren't friendly to the convention attendees or workers), got our bearings & started talking to folk.

We weren't in costume but there were a few people there who were. The Freddy Kruger was quite authentic; he took a shine to me, I think. I even referenced to this in my interview (yep, I got interviewed as mentioned a couple entries back; see it if you haven't).

But one thing I absolutely had to get when I saw the vendor room was a creepy stuffed animal. These are now in my parcel of stuffed animals:

I noticed the bear right away & even said "I've got to get that!" Then, when my husband was going to the car or in the bathroom or something and I was looking at that bear I saw the bunny & knew I had to get it.

When my husband saw the bunny, he said "The bunny will keep the other stuffed animals in line."

Like many females, I like stuffed animals. However, I don't like any old stuffed animals. I like unique, interesting stuffed animals. I like animals that you don't expect to see. While some people can't have enough teddy bears & bunnies, I like reindeer (which weren't a common sight when I was growing up), jellyfish, anything you can think of that you almost never see as a stuffed animal or a plush of a character I like.

I have a giant flying Paragoomba from the Mario series my husband got me, a stuffed black Yoshi (because I'm not going to get a green one like everyone else & we all know Black Yoshi kicks the most ass), even a stuffed Oswald from "Epic Mickey" (since Oswald hasn't gotten love in the Disney merchandizing scheme). I even have a Minnie Mouse I got from Disney World proper where she looks like a goth cheerleader & a swear bear (those bears who have buttons you push where you hear crude things)!

I will also do voices for stuffed animals if I'm feeling like it. I went to a comic book store with my husband once. We'd recently cleared out his stuffed animals & he had this red bull plush. I notice a black & white spotted cow on the shelf & decide to have it say crude things about mating with the red bull he has at home. Apparently, I annoyed my husband enough with that that he decides to buy it. I told him he didn't have to since I was just having fun & amusing myself. He wouldn't hear of it & now it sits in my stuffed animal collection.

Awesome vendor who sold me the animals. I got a good deal on them since I couldn't choose between them & I was told they are custom made. The bunny actually looks like the evil side of a stuffed rabbit I got one Easter that's totally adorable. I wish I could find their name but I haven't had luck right now since I think my husband threw out our program schedule & vendor list.

However, my cat is definitely more adorable than any stuffed animal & is just as vicious. You should see what he does to our socks! The husband says that his bitchy ex, who collected Beanie Babies (I own some but never collected them since I only got the ones that appealed to me instead of chasing down all the ones from foreign lands & paying a fortune for them like she did; or rather, she had my husband bankroll those purchases), would yell at the cat for playing with those Beanie Babies. Apparently, he told her the cat was being a cat & you don't leave your stuffed animals near the cat. I don't & I wouldn't yell at him for playing with them. I'd have to yell at myself for leaving stuffed animals or anything I cared about in his reach. He's also too adorable to stay mad at for very long, at least to me. My husband & others say our cat is evil but loves me since he recognizes his own kind (not sure if he means the redhead or lawyer part since he tried to bite both my redhaired sister & mother when they came to visit; I think it was my dad who said the cat tried to bite everyone except me).

Since we were there for the day, we also watched a few short films. The features were conflicting with other films we wanted to see & we only had the one day since the next day was my birthday. I heard different things about the other projects from my friend & others I spoke to later who'd seen them. We were unfortunately in the room where a lot of technical issues were happening. I learned later they got worse after we left to watch films upstairs & talk to people.

One thing you should know about horror films, at least the ones we saw: there was a LOT of vomit. My friend's film The Nowhere Room was a welcome relief from the onscreen vomit we saw most of the day. It was also deeper than the other films we saw so if you had the chance to see it, then you got a real treat. However, there was one film we saw that was available for purchase & my husband bought it called No Clowning Around. My husband will eventually write on it so I'm not going to go into details here but it's definitely unique, creepy & has a puppet in it.

Overall, it was a lot of fun. I did look at the other vendor booths but couldn't afford much. There was even one that had chain mail stuff. I'm shocked my husband didn't ask them about the price of a chain mail bikini since he's said he wanted to get me one; he said he researched it, though, and that they're too expensive.

My husband even told me he had fun. I definitely found it better for networking since the people there were polite & approachable. I didn't feel that at Comic Con in October; Comic Con, for me, was just about buying stuff. My husband swears he will not attend on the Sunday this year since that's the same day as our anniversary. I'll believe it when I see it, though since most of his friends go on that day with their hard-earned money since they can't afford to go the other days b/c of work or crazy crowds.

Now to watch Anger Management. If you've not seen it, you should. It's the only sitcom I've seen that didn't go with the same old sitcom tropes. The writers really deserve credit for showing a functional friends with benefits relationship where the woman hasn't developed warm, fuzzy feelings for the man. I also like that Kate is a childfree woman instead of some baby hungry, man crazed maniac like nearly every other sitcom character (and you wonder why my husband calls them "shitcoms"). You have to give Charlie Sheen credit for this show; I certainly don't condone everything he's done but I do have to respect him for conceiving a show that violates the typical sitcom tropes. I don't want much in the way of new shows but this is one of the few we like.

NY Comic Con, Day 3: Is There Anyone In This Industry With a Name Who's Not an Asshole?

After our anniversary, we decided to go to Day 3 of Comic Con. For one thing, when you pay for a 4 day pass you should use more than 50% of it. For another, my husband says that's the day when you can get good deals from the comic book guys since they don't want to lug things back if they've traveled from far away to set up their booth.

Sadly, I bought nothing that day since things I wanted were long gone. Plus I figured I'd spent enough and seen enough. I chose to see about getting Chris Elliott's autograph since he was scheduled to be there and I didn't have any time conflicts pressing on me.

There were quite a few people with autograph tables & personal appearances at Comic Con. Most of the prices were highway robbery in my book. For instance, my mother's favorite Doctor from Doctor Who (Peter Davidson) was there but I didn't go get an autograph since his price was $40 & my mother's not big on celebrity anyway. My mother prefers him because, as she puts it, he's cute. This is certainly not untrue if you've seen '80s Doctor Who. I, however, was forced to watch it as a child along with my sister since we had one television set and PBS played it all day on Saturdays. After cartoons went off, we had to watch this all afternoon.

My mother is so not impressed with celebrity that she has zero desire to meet one in real life. If she happened to do so in her travels & that person was an ass to her, I guarantee you she'd tell that scumbag off. She is a natural redhead herself, after all.

Chris Elliott's autograph price wasn't ungodly & I figured I'd point out that I charge about 10 times more for an hour of my legal services than he was charging for an autograph and when you inevitably need the services of an entertainment lawyer, I'll be making sure you get no discounts from me. Maybe I'd even up the rate as a form of compensation for having you offend me in the first place by charging me for an autograph & likely not declaring that money as income to the government. Or, perhaps, charge you more as a means to have me behave myself & not hurt you if you do something slight to offend me since you already did something major to bug me w/that whole racket for your autograph.

Now, I'm being less that literal with that since I'd actually not bother doing squat for you in the first place if you're charging me money for an autograph considering entertainment lawyers are the ones who keep the talent from entering bad deals that leave them penniless. It's in any performer's best interest not to be an asshole to an entertainment lawyer.

Just as being mean to an agent or casting director can get you blackballed, so can doing so to an entertainment lawyer. Some of us DO have friends.

So as my husband was playing tour guide for those friends of his who only had Sunday passes and are much more into the comics & sci-fi scene than I am (that forced watching of Doctor Who & other sci-fi fare does play a role), I decided to start out in a line after the last people at the assigned table left so I'd be first or darn close to it & being certain to get the autograph. I would have considered doing this on Friday but I forgot the DVD booklet.

As I was standing in line, a gentleman in a press pass announced that Chris Elliott had been a no show for the past 2 days he was supposed to be there. A staffer at Comic Con even said that they had tried contacting him and his management with no word from either one. As people came into the line, we warned them about the possible no show. He was scheduled to be there from 2:15 to 3:15. I opted to wait until 2:30 under the 15 minute rule. One guy behind me told me that he'd lined up for both of the earlier days to see Chris Elliott's no showing behind.

As time moved closer to 2:15, no showing & no word. The staffers who were dealing with us even apologized for it. The guy with the press pass was quite mad & I talked about what I do and that it was highly unprofessional that NO ONE had told anybody about this whole thing & just did a no show. Press fellow told me that if he waited on Sunday, he'd have wasted a total of 6 hours waiting on this jerkwad & would be pissed. I wished him well on that & said at least I had come there mostly to shop and found stuff I liked. I would have passed on my business card but he left the booth before I did & I didn't see him again.

Since I have a life, I left at 2:30 & decided to start taking more pictures of great costumes and hang out with my husband and his friends.

If Chris Elliott could blow off Comic Con, a major event, there's no way in Hell I could trust him or any of his management team to show up for my company's stuff. If you own an entertainment company, you should feel the same way.

Funny thing: when my husband & one random guy in a group who came up to ask what we were waiting on heard about this, they both said "What does he have to do today?!" My husband referred to Chris Elliott as "that asshole."

Yes, Chris Elliott, I'm sure a multitude of Con attendees and the general public would like to know that one. I don't care if you were in the hospital or your grandmother died: you tell someone or have your manager do it. This is entertainment industry standard & a basic professional norm. Not doing it means you get a lot of people who won't take that shit.

This also says volumes to me about Michael Lasker of Mosaic & Christie Smith, who are both listed as his managers. Neither of them better be sending me or anyone I know solicitations for their clients since I will say "Your client Chris Elliott bailed on Comic Con with zero explanation or apology & none of you provided one either. Clearly you recruit unprofessional people, actively encourage it in your clients or refuse to effectively discourage your clients from doing this. Tell me, which is it? Why are you wasting my time? Do you think I'm stupid?"

There's no way in Hell I would have my company work with Chris Elliott and I hope no one else makes that mistake since it seems to be nothing but unprofessionalism if you make that foolish mistake. At a minimum, you can tell there's a lack of disrespect for the consuming public. Who needs that to dampen sales or harm public relations? While I can understand the fan hate & not wanting to deal with the crazies, you can at least tell someone if you can't show up to something instead of making people wait like they're a bunch of peasants & you're the fucking King of the Galaxy. That attitude will piss me off in about 5 nanoseconds & get you on my permanent black list.

After that whole Mark Bagley thing, I do wonder if there's anyone involved in Comic Con who is a name & is NOT a total asshole? I don't give a shit about your actions to an audience; I care about your behavior toward me specifically and toward the Comic Con staff, whom you are responsible to. How you treat them is a great indication in my mind of how you'll treat me & my business. I also think it's pathetic to be mean to the people who have the least amount of power in a given situation be it servers in a restaurant, extras on the set or anyone who already gets derision in some fashion for his/her mere presence.

Here's the sign we waited in front of:

To salvage the day some, I took some pictures of folk in costume. Here you go:

Here's Captain Planet! That Robot Chicken sketch with Ted Turner doing it also reminded me of that time Ted Turner came to speak at Oglethorpe. I think I wrote about that before but if I didn't, I will in the future.

Felix & one with his bag. I like Felix the Cat so seeing that did make me smile.

When I had nothing to do and others were taking pictures of folk in costume, I decided to just take a picture as well. Here's more:

Yes, Freakazoid! My husband remarked "His balls are hanging out!" Judge for yourself, folks. My husband also got the show when it came out on DVD.

Orko from He-Man! This Orko was cool & very happy to let us photograph him. This was a shot I got as friends were taking their picture.

After this, we went out to dinner as has become a tradition. This time, we chose 5 Napkin Burger. Service was SLOW but the food was pretty good. The burgers are very juicy so make sure you prepare for that.

My husband asked if I'd go to Comic Con next year. That's a good question since I'm not sure. There wasn't much of that networking I wanted (though I did get to confront that lying asshole who told my husband he had Rocko & Heffer plushes and NEVER followed up; I'll have to send him another reminder e-mail shortly). I think I will tell him "no sale" since he's obviously not bothering to follow up with anyone.

Shopping = awesome but will I find anything new in my second year?
Networking = nil; don't bother if that's your goal & you work in the entertainment industry
Panels = they were okay but not sure I can stand the obnoxiousness of fans & it's not even my property involved
Spending time with hubby = great
Seeing odd costumes & unusual stuff = some of what I saw & pics I got weren't half bad

I think the jury's still out on if I'll go again or not. At least I have almost a year to think about it.

NY Comic Con, Day 2: More Shopping, Some Free Practical Advice & Calling Out a Famous Douchebag

For the second day, we got to enter on our own time and without having to stand in a long line. There was more of a crowd but we had things to look forward to: panels, more shopping & a special trip to Artists Alley for me. We'll get to those in a moment.

While at Comic Con on Thursday, I got a call about an extra gig for the next week (this past week). Being asked & because it was for a company and show I had not previously worked with as well as having free time, I chose to take the gig. When I came in for this second day, I realized I needed to know more about the gig. After all, I can't exactly do any old gig.

Fortunately, the guy I spoke with about the gig on Thursday called me again. I asked what the role was & said he could put in the file on me that I would not do rape victims or prostitutes b/c of my career path. I think it would be damn awkward for me to have to meet some celebrity whose first meeting of me is associated with me being in scanty attire or doing something gross. Not to mention legal ethics concerns with such roles.

That being settled, we started with some shopping. After all, we had The Venture Brothers & Robot Chicken panels to go to later on. To get good seating, you have to sit through things you don't want to see as well as stand in line. Unfortunately, professionals don't get priority over non-professionals. This was the start of the unwashed masses being here (some literally unwashed).

Here are some examples of what I'm talking about:

The same basic rules for walking in NYC apply at Comic Con: follow the locals, keep moving & don't be an ass.

While there were people in costume on Thursday, there were more on Friday. Friday started the picture taking for me.

For instance, these guys did Walter White & Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad:

Then I saw this one. She was creepy in her stillness. You weren't even sure if it was a real person or a statue:

I also decided to do a little more shopping. After buying those I Heart Guts plushes the day before, inspiration struck me on a little rant & I decided I had to get a plush uterus.

This will be part of a soon to be performed video rant. I've got a doozy, let me tell you. I told the lady who'd sold me the other plushes about the idea & she liked it as well. They will be getting credited for this one.

I also decided to buy another dress since the white one I got the day before fit me so well. I'd seen a black one with red design that I wanted so badly but the smallest size the vendor had it in was a small.

However, she had this blue one I'd seen and liked as well as the red one.

I didn't realize until I got home and hung them all up that I'd gotten dresses in red, white & blue like the American flag. My intent on getting the red one was that I didn't have anything in that color & I wasn't sure if it would flatter me or not with my hair. Traditionally, I've shied away from bright red, yellow & orange since I felt they didn't flatter me. When I tried the dress on for my husband, though, he said I looked good so I decided I'd keep it.

Also, since I couldn't get enough of the guy with the Clockwork Orlando shirts I came back and got this one:

After some shopping, we went to The Venture Brothers & Robot Chicken panels after sitting through one for Silent Hill 3. Before that time, they'd decided to throw an unscheduled panel for Kevin Smith's reality show on Secret Stash (Comic Book Men, I think it's called). So we had to wait in this long ass line while Kevin Smith droned on (as my husband said). More pics from that:

That was the view in front of us. We had big bunches of columns for a "line" and it was horribly disorganized. Despite feedback, apparently the folk in charge of NY Comic Con have not remedied this. My husband says this has become tradition.

In the meantime, some people farther back in line decided to toss a beach ball around. The crowd got into it & people started cheering. I said "You've got to create your own fun around here." Personally, I think being able to create your fun is a trait people overlook. After all, if you can entertain yourself and find positive things in a situation you tend to have a better psyche & an energy that attracts others.

We got in and finally got to get good seats for The Venture Brothers panel. My husband has never missed that one or Robot Chicken's and he's told me about them for ages. Part of my reason for going to Comic Con was to see what he was talking about & since he kept saying "You have to see them."

Here's a pic you can look at. That fat fuck was in the way of the stage but you can see part of it behind him if you look closely. I was trying not to be the asshole violating the "no photography" rule. There were quite a few of those, especially in the Robot Chicken panel.

My husband loved going to both. I, however, have a few things to say.

* First off, can't we get some intelligent fan questions? I could come up with great stuff but before I join a line, I wish to think things out & not resort to cheesy stuff like asking for hugs, sexually propositioning people or begging for jobs. I'm not your fan, I'm happily married & my record stands on its own. You can find me; I'm not about to beg anyone for anything. Not seeing my awesomeness is YOUR problem, not mine. I'm also not selling anything so you can take me or leave me.

I would have liked a forum to meet with these people in my industry in a professional, pros only setting where I could ask intelligent questions & have a real conversation vs. being subjected to silly fan stuff. I'll say this: some of these people have far more fan tolerance than I do. I'd call you out for stupid shit or disrespecting my spouse in his/her face.

I mentioned this about intelligent questions & my husband says "you can't ask those." So, when pray tell can I do so? My company's moving up in the world & I'm dealing with similar BS now; it's just going to get worse for me. Plus, entertainment lawyer: be nice to us. Business owner in your field: be nice since you're likely going to encounter me or a friend of mine sooner or later.

* Clare Grant, I understand you are Seth Green's wife. Let me just say I admire your patience & tolerance for the whorey female fans trying to proposition your husband. You're a much nicer & far more understanding person than a good 90% of us. I know my husband would never have the self-control you displayed at the Robot Chicken panel unless maybe he was heavily medicated (and this is a man who thinks maybe 95% of the men who strike up conversations with me want to sleep with me, either secretly or openly). He even comments to me after we left that he couldn't believe some of these fans just disrespecting you & your relationship like that. Seth Green is a lucky guy & I hope he's treating you right.

Working in this industry, especially if you're a household name, is hard & there's so much misconception of it by people who don't work in it. Even the entertainment law field is glamorized by lawyers who don't do it or know people in it.

Finding someone who gets it & doesn't get pissy at you for not having the traditional job or thinking like everyone else is a blessing; you don't throw that away or take it for granted unless you're plain stupid.

If I were doing stuff & someone tried propositioning me, I'm certain my husband would grab my boob or something. I know if someone tried that w/him, I'd have to employ that trick Simon Le Bon's wife used to deal with overzealous groupies. Putting your hand on your spouse's crotch is a pretty unmistakeable signal of "That's mine; back off, bitch!" Let's face it, you have to be primitive with some people since they have no respect for anyone or anything.

The fact that you didn't do it shows you are a much better person than I am.

* You can ALWAYS blame the lawyers for something that didn't come through for a fan like merchandizing issues. We're used to it. Little hint for you folks at Robot Chicken. If you don't believe me, ask your lawyers if they're used to being blamed for stuff. You don't have to name them individually: just say "the lawyers." God knows enough people blame us for stuff (am I right or am I right?). If my CEO wants to use a general "it's the lawyers' fault" in a fan event, that's okay. Part of being a lawyer is being "the bad guy."

* If you don't want to give jobs to random fans who ask, free advice to Seth Green: don't ask people about being in SAG, especially if you're in NYC. You could encounter someone who's SAG eligible, a SAG member or even someone like me who has their own company, their own contacts & could get membership easily. Plus, there was that merger with AFTRA recently & some people may have bought their way into AFTRA to now be members of SAG/AFTRA.

A better idea is not to ask it in the first place. I heard it as "an excuse not to have to audition these nobodies who might be psychotically obsessed with one of more of our team." Come up with a different excuse: say you're not hiring or you already have a pool of people you know & trust to work with. Even go with "Could you move to [where ever you do the show; is it LA or someplace else?]?" Most people can't or won't do that. Maybe even tell them the wage is really low or they'd have to intern first. Something that sounds more plausible, would be unsavory to most people & might not bite you in the butt later on.

Go with your gut on this one but as the person handling the HR stuff for an entertainment company (among my other tasks), that's my tip. Or just offer an e-mail address for later on & then make sure your gatekeeper doesn't respond. Maybe even a fake or spam one (think of it as a woman giving the phone number for the time lady or some Christian Tell a Story line to some guy she doesn't like but is being pressured to give her number to). There's plenty of clever dodges to things if you're smart about them.

Plus, anyone who's been in the business long enough knows that you can get SAG eligibility if you get one line in a SAG feature so if you really liked someone enough getting them SAG eligibility is nothing.

Hell, maybe you can blame the lawyers for that one as well. Just a thought.

If you're curious about the "Tell a Story" lines, ask (that goes for any reader of this blog). Me, I like a business owner who's got a sense of humor. Maybe I should remember this for myself in the future.

Before I went to the panels, I took that visit to Artists Alley. I had a particular guest in mind for that one. First, it's necessary to give you some back story.

During my college days, I was in a sorority (as I've mentioned before). Now typically, once you go through the pledge period you're in a sorority for life. However, you can kicked out of one for violating sorority by-laws or chapter by-laws/rules of conduct. One such member, in fact, did get kicked out of my chapter. I wasn't there for the event that caused it but I do know it involved alcohol, a fellow sister, massive intoxication & leaving a fellow sister in a delicate condition. Thankfully, the abandoned sister wasn't raped, sexually assaulted or harmed in some way. I'm sure that's what our brass was thinking when the decision was made to kick out this first sister.

I heard about it after I returned to start the next semester. I really didn't feel bad for the first sister since she was not nice to me. For one thing, she was the sort of person who thought you were nothing if you didn't dress like her, have her interests or agree in lockstep with everything she said & did.

In short, one of the types of people I hate since they shun everyone who is different from them & refuses to entertain points of view that are different.

She also used the phrase "redheaded stepchild" in my presence & had zero to say about it. Not even "no offense!" To a natural redhead, this is the equivalent of using the actual "n-word" in front of a black person or some other racial slur in front of someone from that race. The minority in those situations will generally get pissed. I was no exception & fair warning that if you debate me on this one, I will debate you on any slur that offends you as a member of any particular group.

She also got attitude with me when I'd not tolerate her BS or disrespect to me. I remember times when I spoke at events or gatherings & she'd try slamming me down with cutting remarks and tone like some clique bitch from my past.

Had I been asked about kicking her out, I probably would have been fine with it. Being shitty to your fellow sisters is certainly grounds for dismissal from a sorority. You don't have to like them but you do have to at least be civil & respectful to them.

She totally started problems with me, as it's against my nature to start problems with people who didn't bother me first. I even got her a birthday gift one year when I was working at Godiva.

In a random meeting one day, during the announcement period when members could share their news & what they'd done since the last meeting, she proclaims that her dad draws Spider-Man. His name? Mark Bagley, a name many have heard of.

When I've shared this story with people who read comics (including my own husband), they immediately get all impressed. I vowed that if I were at some event he was at, I was going to make a point to meet him. However, in my typical fashion, I wasn't going to lie about my experience with his offspring. She wasn't my friend & didn't even stay in my chapter.

In fact, after she got kicked out she refused to speak to anyone from our group & didn't bother keeping friendships she'd had with any of us. I went to a Halloween party at Georgia Tech with some sorority sisters & one happened to see and talked to her. This girl only spoke to her and did not even say "hello" to me. Gee, is it any wonder I don't like this person?

So I made my effort to go there. My husband warned me there would be some long line so I made sure to give myself time in case that was happening so I would not miss those panels. It turns out there wasn't one. I also noted that he was charging money to autograph things. I had nothing to autograph, as that was not my point in showing up.

I went in, did my thing & mentioned my connection. However, instead of calling his daughter a bitch outright, I said "she wasn't particularly nice to me." I also mentioned what I did, handed out my business card & mentioned that if you want to work with my company, you have to go through me. That if you tick me off or I don't think you're professional, you won't be working with us (which is true, by the way).

One observation about this guy: he's a guy who lies then plays it off like nothing. I saw him do that with people in front of me. He also did this in telling me what his daughter was doing now. His account didn't match what I knew so I said "Really?" (not with shock or anything but more neutral). I learned a little more about what she was doing & said there was no need to pass my info along to her.

The next morning, on my anniversary, he apparently calls my house at 8 a.m. to leave an angry, nasty message. I was asleep so I didn't hear the phone ring. I deleted the message after hearing him say "Thanks for coming up to tell me how my daughter was a bitch at 17." I felt it was unnecessary to listen any further.

Gee, when I was 17 I had some maturity. I also had some class & didn't go starting shit with people who'd done nothing to me. I'd even mentioned being an old soul forever when he'd talked about how his daughter had started college at 17. This probably explains how I dated a 35 year old guy at the age of 21 & later dated a 30 year old guy at 22.

I had told people I was going to do that if I met him but he'd have never known. I never told my sorority sisters or anyone who knew that crowd. I made that choice when I lived up here & was talking casually to people involved in comics, none of whom have any acclaim. My husband sure doesn't know him.

Now, you'd think if a person of acclaim was going to call up some random person like me (s)he'd do it with a non-listed number. You'd also think Mark Bagley would have much bigger things on his plate than dealing with some former college sorority sister of his daughter whom he never met before & would probably never see again.

Nope! Apparently, like daughter like father. I also have a phone number that must be a cell phone since I know he & the lady he was with (possibly his wife & the former sister's mother) were in NYC and the call came from an Atlanta area code. I highly doubt he'd have skipped out on Saturday and Sunday of Comic Con to go back to Atlanta & then call me up at 8 a.m. Saturday is the biggest day for it. I didn't return to that area but logically speaking, that would make no sense.

Did I have a nefarious intent? Perhaps. I was also attempting to invoke a teachable moment (basically, don't be an asshole to people since you never know what they're going to end up doing in life & how long they hold grudges). I don't regret doing it since I got it out of the way & I can close the book on the situation.

I had no idea what his relationship with his daughter was like either. For all I knew, he was an absentee father & didn't have involvement in her life. A lot of famous people are that way with their kids. He also could very well have hated her guts or disapproved of her behavior for all I knew. My former friend's father sure wouldn't defend her recent actions & would probably be the first to condemn her for it.

If you went to my parents & told them about my being a bitch to you, they'd probably say "That's our avenger." If it happened today, they'd probably think you were dumb for expecting niceness if you'd been a jerk to me or that I was going to kiss your ass when I'm a lawyer.

Plus, I kind of got the last laugh since I now have his number. Literally.

Oh, and when a famous person or someone well known goes off on a random person, who ends up looking bad? The anonymous person or the famous one? It's the famous one. They look like they've got nothing better to do than get into little battles with folk. Plus, you've made the combatant famous if you talk about it.

So, what did Mark Bagley accomplish with that phone call? Bad publicity, proof of being a jerk (ensuring my husband totally dislikes him), giving a personal phone number to someone who could easily give it out to others (he's not or ever been my legal client, his daughter's not my sorority sister & there's nothing on me to keep that secret) & getting on my permanent blacklist.

I share this tale since too many people have found me from the past anyway and I already made preparations ages ago to avoid having to deal with her. Plus, the public should be aware of douchebags & it's not my task to enable them or let them flourish. I also have zero hesitation to call out jerks since my stories are true & always have documentation and/or witnesses.

Final lesson: watch how you treat lawyers. If they didn't represent you or have any ethical duties to keep your information private & you are nasty to them without cause, you should just dig your own grave. Especially if that lawyer is a natural redhead.

NY Comic Con, Day 1: Shopping Ahoy!

With all the stuff I've been doing this week, time has not been my friend. I had been meaning to write of my Comic Con experience earlier but sadly, that didn't happen so now comes my assessments & all that stuff.

This was my first time at Comic Con. The prices for passes are too damn high for me, I'm not a comic fan (that would be my husband's department) & despite all his stories, I figured it would appeal much more to my husband than me. I got my professional pass and figured I'd go to network, check out vendors, go to the infamous Venture Brothers & Robot Chicken panels hubby had been telling me about for years (he's been to every single one ever since we've lived here & he could go to Comic Con on a professional pass) & while we had that booklet for Get a Life, see about getting it autographed by Chris Elliott while he was allegedly going to be there (we'll get to more of this in Day 3).

My husband briefed me on the whole experience of Comic Con. A few tips:

1. Wear comfortable shoes.
2. Bring a bag for your loot. If it's your first year there, you will buy something.
3. Get there early for the professionals line.
4. Avoid going on Saturday like the plague.
5. Bring portable food to eat since the food at Javitz is greasy & too expensive, even by NYC standards.

One very valuable tip he gave me that I used was: if you see something you want, buy it because it may not be there the next day.

This turned out to be great advice because by Sunday, it was slim pickings.

We arrived there a little after 12:30 if I recall. Here's where we were in line:

As time passed toward 3 p.m., when the floor opened the line got longer. Here are some views of that:

It gets long, doesn't it?

So as we were in line, I overheard conversations, listened to music on my iPod & occasionally sat down to rest my legs. When the line moved, we got up really quick even with our stuff on us.

Eventually, we got onto the exhibit floor. We spent our whole day there. One observation worth noting: if you're not a comics person, you can probably still find stuff here. I bought quite a few things, in fact.

For instance, these plushes from I Heart Guts. The lady at that booth was awesome. She asked if I'd been there last year; I explained it was my first year & we'd seen her site before going there so it had been a planned stop.

Basically, I Heart Guts is a retailer that has plush versions of various organs. Things like hearts, brains, bladders but even lady & man parts like the testicles and ovaries. Here's what I got there on Thursday:

A brain. Because, everyone should have one. If you don't, you are an idiot who needs to stop taking up so much oxygen.

A black heart! Since as a lawyer, it felt only proper that I have one. Why not a literal expression of something people will already tell you I have based on my occupation & being "the enforcer?"

And an ovary since I like the weird & unusual in my plushes. Plus, it's controversial & since I grew up with a Puritanical parent there's always a part of me that's going to gravitate toward the controversial. Getting that also gave me a brilliant idea for a video blog & inspired another purchase from them the next day. I plan to do this visual rant right near election time (you know, pretty damn soon once I can get my hubby to be cameraman for it).

I gave the lady here my card since she was awesome & I'd totally love to use that product placement in my company's work if given the opportunity. Perhaps even in my own project.

We did a lot of browsing around on Thursday. Got some free cereal from the Kellogg's Krave booth. I'd had the regular chocolate before. With milk, it's the weirdest stuff.

Major point to make here: there are LOTS of things at Comic Con that have NOTHING to do with comics. There was a Craftsman booth, a Chevrolet booth that had cars with no relation to comics, wrestler booths, gamer stuff, weapons, etc. I had thought the Craftsman booth was to encourage women who were being harassed by the fan boys to use tools to beat them down & repel them away. My thought was they were giving live instruction on how to use tools for that purpose. No, they apparently created their own comic book that was being given away.

Even NBC Universal had a booth to advertise their daytime talk shows, many of them extremely trashy! I went with my husband to the dentist once in the East 100s of Manhattan (which is not a nice area & we thought it was low income). When I was in the waiting room, they were playing Maury Povitch and I overheard some people in the waiting room who struck me as being from the very demographic most people will tell you Maury Povitch is trying to appeal to say that they felt Maury was trashy with all the "Who's my Baby's Daddy?" stuff. The very same complaints, I might add that so called "educated" & "professional" types make about daytime talk shows (some of which I've heard with my own ears).

Steve Wilkos was scheduled to make a public appearance there on Saturday or Sunday but I didn't show up for that one. I personally think that show would be much better if Steve Wilkos were given a gun, could blow away proven child molesters & the like with zero liability on him or the show if he did so and enough checks were done to make sure the proper animals were taken out. If he also got to take out corrupt politicians & Wall Street bankers, I think we'd all be on board for that one (all proven of course; you have to make sure people are actually guilty first or admit to their wrongdoing). The only people who wouldn't be are too wimpy to live if you want my honest opinion. If you know one, ask if they would live next door to a convicted child molester if they had kids or let that child molester babysit for them since they're so gung ho about NEVER killing ANYONE, no matter what the person did (even if it was horrific, gruesome & harmed multiple babies/little kids/disabled people/puppies/kittens/whatever weakened group you feel sympathy for). Let's see how they feel about murdering people who do these things & have zero remorse or are actually proud of molesting babies (or whatever inhuman atrocity they committed)!

Doing that would also accomplish televised murders without too much extra cost.

Amidst all this craziness, I found another vendor whose clothing caught my eye. Specifically, this dress:

She told me she only had that one & it was in a Small. As I often wear a small or x-small in things, I wasn't sure if it would fit. She told me the sizing was a little different than normal & it was based on your hips. However, based on mine she felt the dress would fit. If it didn't, she said, I could come back tomorrow & exchange it. I decided to take the risk since I thought it looked awesome, I had nothing even close to similar & it was an okay price for me.

Sometimes, the vendors you get things from don't have names. They just have cool, awesome merchandise that catches your eye & says "Consider buying me." This one actually shouted "Buy me!" As per my policy, I had to get it and at least see if it fit.

Then, I found one jewelry vendor called The Silver Necklace. They were another planned stop for my shopping purposes. Their earring display in particular caught my eye so I spent time looking there. I ended up getting 4 new pairs of earrings:

Slices of cake. Definitely appealed to my unique sense of style.

You can't see these well but they are black hearts with some colored patterns on them. They look nicer with more light.

I saw these & immediately thought of a brown silver necklace charm I'd gotten recently. It was a brown heart, presumably a chocolate heart lollipop. If I can match something I see on a shelf to something I own, I definitely consider that in the choice to buy.

And lastly:

This was a no brainer since I thought "These will match that white dress & other stuff I have." Plus, they could work in a business setting.

I also finally got a corset. That had been on my wish list for ages:

This is a quality corset from Timeless Trends in Austin, TX. Has a lifetime guarantee, in fact. I also made sure to try it on before getting it. That had to be an event since people saw you being laced into them when you were trying them on.

If you've never had a corset on, it's scary as hell at first. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to breathe. I also wasn't sure if I could eat or move in it. I tried on 2 and this one felt much better. I think also having that sense memory of having one on helped some since the second try on wasn't as scary. In fact, I think wearing a corset could even help your back since my back felt much straighter after I was wearing them.

Their staff was very friendly & helpful in this whole trying on experience. The saleswoman there also made me feel at ease when I said I felt like I couldn't breathe when I tried on the first corset; I was worried it was just me who had that but I guess maybe it's one of those first timer things.

If you bought a corset at Comic Con, I hope you went here since some vendors had ones that weren't as well made or high quality in materials. The price I paid for mine also wasn't as bad as I thought; I expected to pay $200-300 for one & mine was $99.

For more shopping, we found another unnamed vendor. He was selling some T-shirts that were hilarious. He told us of a special fondness of parodying Mickey Mouse & apparently Disney doesn't mind the parodies as long as you clearly state that your product isn't from Disney or endorsed by them. Since we'd gone to Orlando before, I mentioned my husband's joke about Mickey controlling Orlando because of the mouse head power poles & how my husband did it in the voice of Goofy. It was hilarious & we kept making jokes about how gay people weren't welcome in Disney World because of Walt Disney's hatred of Jews and Disney World's branding itself as a "family" place. He had some Clockwork Orlando shirts that I wanted to talk my husband into getting for himself (at least one since I know he is a fan of A Clockwork Orange). He got a different shirt on Friday.

I, however, got one of the Disney parody shirts. I LOVED this:

Yes, it says "Mouse of 1,000 Corpses!" When I saw it, I had to get it.

Finally, I got a pink stuffed Nerd from the Nerds booth. Nerds: the snack that will give you an instant sugar rush & make you a beloved figure to 95% of children.

Picking a color was really hard, though. They had light purple & blue as well.

We also got some collective loot. First off, a Choo Choo Bear plush from Something Positive:

For those who haven't read Something Positive, Choo Choo Bear is the lead character's cat. This cat is hairless & boneless. He also reminds me an awful lot of our little kitty, who is just as smart & mischievous though he was fixed before he could have kittens and I believe our cat is asexual. He hates all creatures equally & has never liked other cats. When he was a kitten, he was taken to visit my husband's then girlfriend. That chick had a Maine Coon (here's what they look like). Maine Coons are large ass cats, to say the least.

Our cat was a very tiny kitten though he's a large cat now. The second smallest in his litter, if I remember.

Normally, if you are a cat entering another cat's turf you are screwed since the cat who lives there has the advantage. Not our cat!

Nope, that little gray kitten hisses the Maine Coon! The Maine Coon backs off. See what I mean about our cat hating all creatures? We love him, though. He's got moxie & doesn't take any shit unless he loves you. I sure wouldn't let anyone be nasty to this cat or they'd have to die/suffer his furry wrath. Cats have caused death before. Watch 1,000 Ways to Die for an example.

We also got a Felix clock:

The tail is a pendulum and the eyes move! My husband's wanted one of those classic cat clocks for ages & I always thought they were neat so this was another thing off our wish list. It was fortunate that we got it on Thursday because by Sunday, they were long gone.

I was shocked at all the shopping opportunities. My husband laments the shrinking number of comic retailers at COMIC con. I did also slip my card to the people at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. As an entertainment lawyer, probably a good idea to know something about it since I do know writers in general & it's a project I'd give a damn about that's more creative than most legal pro bono projects.

Stay tuned for parts 2 & 3 of this series. We did not go to Comic Con on Saturday since it was our wedding anniversary & Saturday's bad reputation. Me + long lines = bad enough to deal with but me + long lines + my anniversary = negative level of patience, more anger & great likelihood I will physically harm someone and end up being arrested, ejected or something not good for anyone concerned. I definitely have things to say about Friday & Sunday though the presentations will be less visual.

Extra Gigs #7 & #8: Helping A Brother Out & Not Chasing the Fly

The next 2 extra gigs I'm going to write about were through friends. #7 was my own film company and #8 was for the aforementioned Scott Powers Studio, whom I've spoken of before in this very blog.

Gig #7 happened a couple months back when we were doing some shooting for The Butterfly Chasers, our next feature film & the first one that will contain name actors. Being on my own company's set instilled a sense of pride in me. Here's why:

1. My people are incredibly professional. Our Production Coordinator was doing an awesome job and our dear friend Jen (my CEO's significant other who should probably have some hand in casting due to ) introduced herself to everyone upon arrival. This is not something I've seen often in my own extra experiences so I'm glad she took the time to do that.

2. I got to wear an outfit that wasn't mine though our wardrobe person did compliment what I brought for the shoot. The coolest thing was when I stepped out in my dress, everyone just sort of stops, watches me & raves about how great I look. I'm just all nonchalant about it, as I often am. It always kind of shocks me at times when someone & especially when lots of people just marvel at my looks like that. Remember, I wasn't the girl who stopped traffic when I was younger so for me it's not like I generally see a supermodel when I get up in the morning or look in the mirror. When people fawn over me, especially those who could certainly stop traffic themselves, it's like "Really?! You mean ME?!"

3. Our actors aren't pretentious or douchey folk. Granted, I've not personally met any actors on sets who were douchebags & I already knew most of the people on our set but I think even a total stranger would feel the family atmosphere going on. Our people actually spoke to extras & there wasn't that "I'm better than you" vibe going on.

If you ask me, this is a testament to my CEO & my team since they don't have time for or take any mess. I certainly won't, which you know if you've read this blog or met me in real life. It's not so much everyone else is bad; it's that my team went above & beyond to make life on set happy for everyone not just the talent with lines.

Overall, this was the best experience I had & I could certainly impart tips and advice on how to do it right if you've got a small set. Want to know? Ask me.

The best part about working with my team is I already have an IMDB credit for that role.

As for gig #8, which will cover most of this post, I actually solicited for that one. I solicited for #7 as well but that was largely due to it being my company and the fact that I would always be welcome to visit the set at any time as a partner, at my leisure and on my schedule. Plus, that was a shot to see some people I don't get to see regularly.

What happened to my saying "no more?" Well, I decided to look into Scott's gig since I had never done a gig with his company and he gets the most random projects for casting. Plus, knowing his reputation and his Weekly Tips, I figured it would be a good idea for me to go on one of his projects myself to see what caliber of folk he's dealing with, explore the professionalism involved and all that good stuff.

I responded to the ad the week before since the part was tailor made for me & my experiences (my extra gigs have mostly consisted of "pretty business person" & fashionista type roles; pretty much me in real life). I got the role of fashion show attendee/designer. The call time was on a Tuesday morning at 6:30 a.m. so I got very little sleep. As in, 3-4 hours of sleep. On 5 hours, I can function pretty well. On 3-4 hours, I actually didn't do half bad.

Mercifully, the shoot was in Manhattan and at a nightclub that hasn't gotten good reviews on Yelp. The setting itself looked very nice though. Holding was on the 3rd floor of this club on a series of cushioned booth seats.

I got the call for this gig on a Sunday, believe it or not. Since I had free time on Tuesday and two pesky 3 disc CLE courses I should watch before January, I figured it might be worth considering this extra gig so I'd actually make some progress there. I was also bumped up to a higher rate because the person at Scott's office said "You've been here before right? I'm going to bump you up to the higher rate." With that offer (which I never asked for), plans for gig #8 was set in motion.

On arrival, I started watching Disc 1 of one of those CLE courses. After all, it was early in the morning (I got there 30 minutes early) and I didn't know anyone there. In fact, this was the very first extra gig I've done where someone didn't recognize me from my entertainment law/film exec life.

The wardrobe person actually picked out for me the very dress I wanted to wear that day. It's a brand new one and I have not gotten to wear it elsewhere yet. It's black with red roses on it and has a jeweled shoulder piece. When I saw it online, I had to get it. It sort of makes up for a long dress I have in a similar shade that doesn't fit me so well now. I actually wore that one in my senior class picture. You can see me in it in my senior yearbook as I'm sitting with my classmates in our gym's bleachers.

I've said before that I can not take just any old role. Here is an example of why that's so:

One of the roles to be filed for this project was for lingerie models. That is the sort of job I will not do unless it's on my own project since I get to call the shots and decide what I will or won't do if it's my project. The main reasons I won't do any old part are ethical concerns (since I'd rather not be suspended or disbarred for bringing scandal on the legal profession; you can't even be a lawyer working in a dungeon or doing soft core porn if you hope to continue working in my field so I figure it's best not to take chances) & not losing credibility as a film industry exec.

There comes a scene where the lingerie models have to swoon and be groupies to a major hip hop star. They cast a real life hip hop star for this part. That star is affiliated with a well known hip hop group. An executive member of that hip hop group is someone I have met personally & who is a close friend of my CEO's. That executive member has also said very good things about my professionalism & if asked, I'd tell you good things about him as well since I've found him to be a good person.

So imagine if I'd played one of those lingerie models. How would I be able to be the film exec/entertainment lawyer for that hip hop star if I'd been doing this extra scene where I had to play his groupie? It's not exactly outside the realm of possibility that this hip hop star could be considered for a project with my company considering this link to the executive member of that group. Can you saw "awkward?" That kind of thing would mess up my professional cred. Hence, I do not put myself in situations where that could ever be an issue. It's also why I'm extremely & mega-picky when it comes to roles for myself (aside from a spouse who wouldn't appreciate the world gawking at and trying to touch my scantily clad behind).

Another fact you should know about me & being on extra sets: I believe in the whole "extras should be seen and not heard" ethic. If you don't speak to me, I'm not speaking to you. This has been stressed a million times at Central Casting (do not bother the talent) & as a film company owner myself, it is not my intention to disrespect someone else's set. I would kill someone doing that to my team so I'm not about to do that to someone else.

Unless maybe you speak about legal stuff & you're fucking it up, you won't get me to speak. In that scenario, I figure my words would probably be welcome as well as necessary since I'm a skilled professional in that context. It would be akin to a doctor giving medical attention if someone needed it or a person giving it was about to kill the unconscious person by giving him/her the wrong drugs. I think most of us would want that doctor to intervene no matter where we or the doctor was on the food chain.

Generally though, if you want to talk to me you WILL have to talk first. I don't care if you think I'm snobby or unfriendly. You'll have to get off your duff & do something first.

I also don't do much networking on the sets. This is mostly because I do not want a flood of actors bothering me with legal stuff. As I say, I won't ask for your autograph if you don't ask me for free legal advice.

Plus, it seems I also give off the vibe of authority & capability. I like to think I also come off as a professional since it does seem every time I want to sit some days, I get asked to be in a scene. I'm like "An extra's work is never done," & go ahead. After all, that's what you're there for. I did also get fake snow dropped on me as we were doing scenes but it thankfully did not affect my dress.

The biggest take away I have from doing this extra experience: pray for the filmmakers on this set. Pray hard for the cast & crew of this film. Why do I say this? Isn't filmmaking already a hard, long endeavor taking lots of time and energy?

Yes, but I say this for a special reason: the utter unprofessionalism I saw amongst extras!

Clearly, some of these people have never worked for Central Casting. Three standouts in particular come to mind. Let's call them Bitch #1, Bitch #2 and Random Photographer.

Both Bitch #1 & #2 complain about everything the entire day. I hear them at different times of day. Bitch #2 is sitting near me in holding & when the wardrobe person says she can't wear the outfit she had on, she throws a hissy fit about it. The wardrobe person said she liked it but they can't do that b/c of the camera. Apparently, Bitch #2 has never heard that you can't wear white or red for this stuff. She was like "they should have told us no bright colors."

Granted this was not an assignment I would have recommended if you hadn't done extra work before but if you don't know something, ask questions. That's what the people at the casting company are there for. I know they're more than happy to answer questions for you since they know if you aren't happy, you will make things bad for the filmmakers & that will fall back on them. They don't want that.

And some people bitch about Central Casting treating them like children. That experience symbolizes WHY Central Casting does that! Bitch #2 is a living example of why that method works.

Later in the day, she pissed me off when I was trying to pick up my shoes and coat after they'd been moved for filming the last scene. She apparently mistook me for someone who didn't have a life and couldn't squeeze through to get things. After I squeeze by to get my stuff while she's standing in the path (it became a bit of a Mexican standoff), she goes "Oh, that's real classy." After she walks off, I say (probably not loud enough to be heard or if I was, no one commented) "Real nice to make comments like that when you don't even know who you're talking to." She moves away from that spot in holding when we're changing to leave like I care.

Then, when we're signing forms & turning in the paperwork, she harasses this poor PA to make her a copy of the time sheet so she'll have one for her records. It's not so much the asking that bothered me but just her tone & behavior w/this poor young woman. Bitch #2 claimed the jacket in her initial outfit made her look like Anna Wintour. Apparently, she thought she should behave like Anna Wintour on set.

Let me advise would be extras right now: don't behave like Anna Wintour unless you want to be blacklisted from the industry.

Bitch #1 complained on set about not being included in the bar for a scene. She alleged age discrimination against her & the older fellow extra she was talking to. For some reason, they had to occupy space near me. I overheard parts of their conversation & eventually had to move away b/c the negativity was bothering me. For those of you who think I'm a negative person because I'm angry, I think this fact might poke a few holes in that theory. I consider myself more of a realist & rational thinker who will face facts vs. someone who bitches & causes problems where none exist.

I think Bitch #1 left early because I didn't see her later as we were dressing out and leaving set for the day. Another extra informed me later that Bitch #1 openly tried telling the director how to do his job. We were sitting in the audience in that scene & I was glad he was there since guess who was sitting there before? Bitch #1!

Bitch #1 also had the gall to tell me what to do when they were placing us & I was trying to find where to sit for the scene. I hope the director ejected her; she claimed she'd been in this business for years & had experience as an extra. If you heard her, you'd have probably also concluded the same thing I did. Which was "Clearly you are still doing this because you're a whiny, complaining bitch."

The director & telling me what to do stuff happened after she was speaking of her prior experience. She was telling a few other extras about this while I was sitting nearby but not participating in the conversation.

Random Photographer is how I learned about the hip hop artist being in that scene with the lingerie models. I ended up in that scene as someone crossing in front of the action. I don't think having done that will kill my enforcer cred or power as an exec or attorney.

When the director is getting his picture taken with this gentleman, she asks for & gets a picture with him. Apparently, this major hip hop star is looking at doing more films with this director (or at least the director wanted him to) so who knows if this director might be someone I meet or draft paperwork for later on. She tells folks about this major hip hop star being there & how he was with this major rap group where we have that contact. I thought "Info to store for later."

Random photography w/the famous is also a major no-no.

A third fact about me & sets: chances are, I won't know who the hell you are unless you tell me. I don't really watch network shows & remember that as an entertainment law attorney, I'm not a fan of anyone I've not personally met or had an interaction with. You have to actually do something for me to form an impression of you, good or bad. All I know from seeing you on TV or in a movie is whether you've got any talent or not.

I have no idea what type of hell you put the director through or if you return phone calls, have some general humanity or any sense of class. If I don't know that, I'm not going to bother dealing with you or referring you to anyone. I don't care how big your name is; my team doesn't need bullshit. We'll find other names who are respectful & won't be doing things to get on my shit list (a list you do have to put some considerable effort to get onto).

As gatekeeper, I'm not letting you through if you harass, annoy or cause problems for me. This blog should show you enough evidence of how steadfast I am to that ethic. Do your research.

This also goes back to number #1 about extras being seen but not heard. If you've heard I'm some great entertainment law attorney, you'll have to talk to me. Again, I won't talk to you. I prefer online correspondence anyway.

I don't know whether Scott knows about some of this but I really hope those people weren't coming in multiple days for the director's & the PAs' sakes. If asked, I'd certainly elaborate on it.

Lastly, we were there an hour longer that told. You can imagine the carrying on that happened w/that. My main concern was if we went past 7. Since that didn't happen, it was all good.

I also came to a major decision on the whole acting thing. Basically, I decided that doing the whole "get representation" thing & spending tons of days a week working isn't going to work for me. I even said before I wasn't going to do the full time actor thing but I think that includes not getting representation.

Took me a while to come to that choice but I feel it's the best one for me. I'd rather work on my terms and do things in my own way. If someone notices me & wants to do something, I'd rather it be their choice. Essentially, I've decided not to chase the fly but to let the fly come to me instead. If it does, great. If it doesn't, no big deal. I'll get my own opportunities and do things on my time.

I had also decided not to do more extra work until I got a call during Comic Con from a casting company I'd not worked with who asked if I wanted to work next week on "The Good Wife." I also got an offer to work tomorrow but I declined in favor of going shopping with hubby and generally taking a break from the crazy that is Comic Con. More information on that one, along with an accounting of my loot later on. Boy, do I have things to write for that experience!