After going to the gym and then blowing off the rest of the morning by making phone calls and emailing, I decide I should probably do something productive. So after lunch I start in on a task that all new actors are familiar with: casting director mailings. This is when you send a postcard with your headshot and a brief note about the movie you’re in to as many casting directors as you can. The idea is that a casting director will get the card, see your face, see that you’re a good enough actor to currently be working, and then call you in for an audition.

My mailings take longer than usual because I don’t send postcards that are all the same. I’ve actually developed a card that goes in an envelope because then it looks more like personal mail (to further the "personal mail" look, I also don’t use the pre-printed address labels that most actors use…I hand-write the address). On the cover of the card is a graphic that I designed with my neighbors---it’s a stylized version of an atom. That atomic symbol is on practically everything I send out…I figure brand recognition works when marketing every other product, why shouldn’t it work when you’re marketing yourself? In case you’re wondering why I chose an atom, it’s because I have a degree in nuclear engineering.

When you open the card, my picture is on the left, and I write the note on the right. Again, because I handwrite everything, this takes time. I also make it a point to look up the person I’m writing to on IMDB to see what projects they’ve worked on so I can make reference to their work. This may seem like an awful lot of extra effort compared to sending a pre-printed postcard, but trust me, it’s worth it. I have friends who’ve been sending out postcards for a year and not received any response; I received two incredible auditions from my cards within two weeks of sending them out

I finish about 25 or so cards this afternoon and then it’s off to where I spend most of my Monday evenings: the Goodwill housing shelter. It’s a shelter for homeless families who have one or more family members living with HIV or AIDS. As a volunteer for School on Wheels (an organization that provides tutoring for homeless children), I spend an hour or two every week with an 8-year-old named Vicky. Her family came over from Zambia a few years ago after her father died of AIDS. She speaks English perfectly now, but she didn’t when they moved to America, so she’s been held back a little in school. Consequently, we spend a lot of time reading and working on grammar exercises. She loves doing anything artistic so tonight I’ve brought over some new watercolor paints and we spend most of the evening painting pictures for each other. I love when we paint, because that’s when Vicky is most likely to talk about what’s on her mind. Tonight is no different and so I learn all about how she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up. Adorable.

And that’s it…that’s how I spent today. This entry actually ended up being a little longer than I thought it would be–I do have a tendency to get wordy.