I have got to put my feet up. It's hot I'm swollen and when I say hot, I don't really mean hot I mean hotter than I usually experience which is only mid-70s. It's going to go higher next couple days but where I live it never gets in the hundreds unless you go through the tunnel to the east. Gotta say, I don't do well in any heat.

When us kids lived in Sacramento it used to get blazing. Our next-door neighbors had a swimming pool and we got to go swim the one time but that was it. They owned their house and we rented. We didn't rate a repeat. That got my mother's gizzard good. It was the kind of heat where you lay sweating on your bed at night, the sheets are sticky and you twist and turn and can't rest. By the same token you could go six months ahead it could snow. That's not a real thing in Sacramento it's really rare but it did happen a couple of times so we got to stay home from school. Exciting times.

My therapist has been spitballing with me, like he'll say things such as why don't you sell your house and move into an apartment with a nice view? And then I have to admit that I'm a sucker for routines. I love my routines. Not that I don't like starting new ones; I can start new routines, it's just if I end one and don't start another that's a problem. Takes energy. Plus, I can't lose my view out the back window—that's way harsh.

Me and the old man had a routine once, a while back. First week of the month we'd walk down College Ave and stop in at Pendragon Books, sneak over to the magazine section and get out the new Theater Bay Area issue and turn to the back. Pencil and paper in hand—we wouldn't buy the issue—just go through and pick out the auditions that seemed suitable for me. Then we'd go home and make a plan. I would put things in my little leathery binder calendar, start making phone calls and appointments or if it was just strictly show up at a date and time that was OK too.

Occasionally I'd be going to a nighttime audition and since I was using paper maps it was a little problematic to be driving down the road checking out my route. I usually looked at the map beforehand and figured it out. This time I took a Redwood Road exit I thought I was supposed to and the next thing you know I'm heading down the hill looking for a cross street that clearly is not there. I was almost down to the next neighborhood so that wasn't right. Had to stop and pull over recheck my directions, and discovered to my horror there were two Redwood Roads: one in Oakland one in Castro Valley. It was the second one that I needed.

I was pretty pumped up by the time I had raced over in the dark to the Castro Valley address of this little theater I'd never been to before. Half hour late…gaahh. I was always early. There was somebody still in the lobby so I just tiptoed quietly into the theater with my resume and little form all filled out. Nice turnout. There were people up on-stage doing sides. This was probably one where they had not asked for monologues. I was ready with one, but I do remember that the director turned around and scanned the room, which was a good thing because she saw me. I immediately apologized for being late and the next thing you know I'm up on stage in a cold read.

Adrenaline is your friend in these cases. Not that I don't bring energy to auditions, no I generally am able to summon what I need. But there's something about an extra jolt that sometimes puts you over the top. It was a small, exquisitely pivotal role, my investment would be mid-range so I didn't have a whole lot to lose by just going for it, and it was fun. Decent scene partners, which always helps. Also, I expect it once again might have been my hair because there was a scene where my character goes a little nuts and I certainly was accustomed to using my hair to advantage, whipping it around and going kind of wild.

Finally, we're all back in our seats. I've still got my buzz on and the director spontaneously does one of those things where they just feel like they don't need a callback, I guess. She had just reached the end of her process 'cause she said OK thank you everybody, here's who I want, and she picked her five actors. I heard my name and that was that. What a rush.

I was thinking shoot I gotta get lost more often.