Wordless Wednesday - Does This Count?

Toby goes for a Ride

Well, that was quite a hiatus! Thank you for all the kind words and support over these past few weeks as I worked, studied and researched. I loved hearing that ag.gray.gate's daily offerings were missed. For those of you who have been waiting...I handed in my completed business plan for the Boomtown Brewing Company last Monday and by Friday I had the news. It was accepted. Yay, for this Mompreneur and for this little family!!!! 2011 is gonna be a BIG year. I am equal parts excited and scared.
Other than me being fully engrossed in the brewing world, it has been life as usual. Since moving to Rossland six months ago my husband Mike commutes quite a bit back to Vancouver. On a good trip he goes to film something, on all the other trips he goes so that there is food on the table. Sometimes he crashes with friends and at other times he sleeps in the Cavallac. When he is able to take Toby (the Chihuahua) with him I am so grateful. Toby, our first baby, gets some serious one on one time with Mike, and I have only three beasts to take care of here at home.

One of Mike's most recent trips was for the explicit purpose of an audition. The audition was at 3pm. It takes roughly 7 and a half hours to get to Vancouver. Afterward, he would turn around and drive back to Rossland. He wore his costume in the car and didn't think to bring a change of clothing. Why would he? The trip was there and back again in 16 hours.

One of the things we have most enjoyed about life here in Rossland is the lack of traffic. Life here is super chill despite Forbes Magazine repeatedly giving us a spot on their top ten ski resort list. In fact, an article was written about our sleepy little town, labelling us the most laid back ski town in North America. Oh, and the Lonely Planet warns visitors about our erratic jaywalkers. Like I said, there is no traffic.

Anyhoo, 7 hours and 25 minutes into Mike's Vancouver trip, he was stopped in traffic two blocks from the studio. Suddenly, Toby begins to panic. Like, PANIC! He runs in tiny panicky circles in Mike's lap, pausing only briefly to put his paws on the window ledge and peer longingly outside, then resuming this frantic cycle. Michael barely has time to process that all three pounds of dog is in the throes of a man sized emergency. He says, "Just a sec Tobes and I'll find a place to pull over". Apparently Michael's reassurance was too little too late, for it was then that Toby placed his paws on the window ledge once more and shat helplessly all down the front of the only outfit Mike had.

Gagging, he found an ever elusive parking spot, and he struggled to figure out how to make this shituation better all the while managing to not strangle Toby. Mike went straight for the washroom inside. He washed out as much as he could which left little time for his still rank clothing to dry. Now he was wet and smelled like poop. Upon entering the audition room he says to the director, "Now, I know what this looks like, but it isn't pee. It's shit...but it's not mine". What an ice breaker.

Dreaming...

As an actor I volunteered to play the rejection game. I'm sadistic that way I guess. I walk into an audition room full of the knowledge that the people on the other side of the desk have made up their mind before I have even hit my mark. These are my choices and my experiences as an adult, so it is completely different to watch my children experience the rejection of not being chosen.

Stare.ca

I know this is a life lesson and that it will serve a child well in the future. There will be teams Jack and Isla won't make,  or friends who do not want to play with them. She might not get a speaking part in the school play and his poem might not be picked for publication. Then again, they might.

We started making trips to Science World beginning when Jack was just a baby. It really is a great place to wile away a rainy day in Van. The kids love the familiarity of the static exhibits, anticipate things like Lego or Body World coming to town, and always there is the excitement of 'making' things work. My little scientists.

Anyhoo, in the four years we had been going, Jack had never been chosen to be a helper on the Science Stage at a live show. Granted for the first year he was a spitty lump, then I guess he was still pretty little for a while to play with Hydrogen and such - but he didn't know that. Jack always wanted to be picked and every time he was not, he was crest fallen. I tried my best to use these moments as empathetic teaching tools. "Maybe that little girl had never been picked either", "They were using big kids today", "It will be your turn one day, it just wasn't today". But still, baby Jack really had no frame of reference.

Too soon it seemed, our final trip to Science World arrived. In between experiments and tactile experience I tried to impress upon Jack and Isla both that this was our last visit before we moved to Rossland. We went to a Science Show, it was great as always, except that you-know-who never got to go up on stage. Still, we stayed for many hours, and then it was time for the last show of the day.

It was a weekday, so after about 2pm all the school kids had gone. As we sat down, there were maybe 5 or 6 other audience members. Isla was sleeping in her stroller. I had a good feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Jack," I said "I think that you are going to get picked today! Make sure you hold your hand up high." He held his little hand up so high and this wonderful staff member called Jack onto the stage! After what seemed a lifetime of waiting to a little person, he was finally chosen.

I could not have been more proud. Afterward I approached my new favourite staff member and explained Jack's circumstances. He told me I could always come and make a special request, but somehow that would have felt like cheating. Jack had made a wish with his whole heart and that day the lesson he learned was that dreams do come true...and he has the video to prove it!

Homage Monday - Matthew Erickson

Matthew Erickson - IMBD 

I have been writing these Homage Mondays for a few weeks now and with every article I feel increasingly blessed to have shared a moment of my life with these incredible artists. This is especially true of Matt. He is easily one of the most fascinating people I have ever met - and I cannot help but think that meeting him was a touch of serendipity.

When I was a knee-high my parents started the Castor Little Theatre company in Castor, Alberta. I loved the smells, sounds and spectacle of the theatre. I still do. After moving to Calgary I adored heading to the Rosebud Theatre  for dinner and a show. It pulled on my heart in a special way. I would later discover it was Matt's parents who founded this iconic establishment in Rosebud, Alberta.

Charming, humble, funny and disarmingly handsome, Matthew Erickson was raised in this small arts community. He says that growing up in Rosebud made him an actor by default. He has performed theatre and opera, training in Canada and abroad. 

Photo by Jesse Hutch

Seemingly random (cause that is how he rolls!) yet nonetheless a wicked important side note about the man: Matthew spent six months as a lay Franciscan monk. Trying to live a life of chastity, prayer, and poverty is pretty difficult in a modern setting. Since Franciscans cannot touch money, Matthew signed all his paychecks over to his roommate and lived simply off of prayer and charity.  His Utopian life came to a crashing halt around tax season( <-- also the telltale sign one is an actor), when he was thrust back into the world of filthy lucre.  When you ask him about this experience, he usually just mumbles quietly and looks into the distance. 

Add to this that Matthew plays the banjo, is a Civil Engineer, amateur boxer, edited for Bodog Fight, directs for film and television, fences competitively - which is where he met his exceedingly lovely wife and future Olympian, Mona. They are Lovers AND Fighters!!!!!! He has spent many hours voicing over characters from the Dragonball and Gundam series for legions english speaking fans. I know that this might be the first time you are hearing about the man but, if you google Matthew or happen to hit an Anime Convention in Vancouver  you will find he is already a legend.

Homage Monday - Meg Sholdice

Meg Sholdice. Meg's Youtube channel.
I met Meg in Theatre School and have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with her on several occacsions, but what I really loved was getting a chance to sit back and enjoy her as an audience member. She is just so interesting - and funny. Like Catherine O'Hara funny...and I would be remiss if I failed to mention she is also Marilyn Monroe sexy! What Meg brings to the stage, or into a room which is rare and admiral is the power of her presence. She is very easy to watch.


After graduating from Mount Royal University Meg went south to pursue a 'real' career, "...the story goes like this, I was an actor but I was scared so I became a teacher..." At the University of Lethbridge Meg acquired both a Bachelor of Fine Arts AND a Bachelor of Education in 2005. 


Teaching did two things for Meg. First it helped her realize that she didn't want to give up acting entirely. In 2005 she started a improv theatre troupe for a hobby on the side. Then secondly, "...working with children, who have infinite potential, magnified my desire to follow my own dreams, so once again I am an actor."

Meg quit teaching to risk it all as a starving artist,  and her courage has paid off. She now bears the prestigious and highly coveted title of "Working Actor". In 08/09 she was even the Artistic Director of Alberta High School of Fine Arts.


Currently Meg is the Box Office Manager and heads the Educational Programming at the Pumphouse Theatre in Calgary, Alberta. She is an Artistic Director, Producer and Actor for Late Late Brakfast Show, and most recently she can be seen in the Shakespeare Company's latest production of the Scottish Play as one of the three witches. I highly recommend you get a ticket!

Freaky Friday

I spent the entirety of yesterday driving to Vancouver. For whatever reason I was feeling a little car sick. Being carsick as a backseat passenger is something I have never really been able to grow out of, but it usually seems to be abated by sitting in the front seat.  Anyway, Thursdays all day ride sent me reeling down memory lane.

I have always had a heightened sense of smell. I am not allergic to anything per se but I am often at the whims of my nose. I must choose my perfume (which I use sparingly and only on occasion) not only based on whether or not I enjoy the fragrance, but whether or not the scent gives me a migraine and makes me violently ill.

When I was pregnant with Jack I had the perma-heaves. It was gross. I was tossing my cookies up to twelve times a day. I constantly craved whatever, but when I had secured the whatever in my chubby pregnant hands, two bites in, I found the whatever wholly unsatisfying and promptly suffered through whatever being ejected from my body. I was miserable. Despite having reservations I resorted to medication. To my dismay/delight the tiny pills simply dulled the constant nausea and did little in the way of preventing chunder, making the decision not to take them easier.

Now some smells were worse than others and even thinking about onions or coffee brought on a bought of the barfs, which lasted well beyond the "normal" 16 week mark. In fact it took months after Jack was born for my onion aversion to ebb. The strangest thing (or so I thought at the time) was that it wasn't just the smell of food that made me ill, but the smell of places. The office where I worked was one such place, which, at the time, made me think this affliction was purely psychosomatic.

Round two: Isla. Second verse, same as the first. SOOOOO sick, but now I have a curious toddler pawing at me as I hang over the commode. Oh, and this time around I manage to break blood vessels around my eyes whenever I retch. We are in a small rented apartment in Indiana while we film a movie and the smell of our living quarters makes me ill. Then a new, unexpected side effect takes hold. This is the actual strangest thing - I develop a visual/aural aversion. Not just to a food commercial, which was old hat, but to jingles. The Elder Beerman ads were the worst. They ran frequently and muting the catchy/annoying tune wasn't enough (due to my aforementioned phonic aversion having intertwined itself with the images of insidious plug) bringing me to my knees.

Fast forward three years to yesterdays motion sickness. I am rarely sick, which is why I probably haven't noticed the kryptonite to my lingering pregnancy super powers. Aside from wider feet and heightened sense of smell and mommy intuition, it would appear that when under the weather I am still affronted by musical compositions. Good to know I guess.

To Whom It May Concern...

This blog began as an experiment.  I have never been a journal keeper, though I have always had much admiration for those who keep regular thorough account of their lives. My husband maintains the most wonderful travel journals. The last trip Mike and I took together I did make a point of sending the kids a postcard everyday. Almost all of the cards arrived after we returned but it really felt like some sort of accomplishment for me, they catalogued where and when we were and the minutia I surely would have forgotten otherwise. Apparently, for me, being culpable keeps me focused.

Despite my inability to reliably keep a journal, I have always loved to write. My family has imbued me with a legacy of actors, teachers and story tellers. In my youth I wrote prolifically, I have no idea how good it was or not because when I wrote I never kept it. Young and passionate, I wrote very personally, and the thought of someone else reading my stories, plays and poems sent me running script in hand to the bin.

ag.gray.gate is actually my second blog. A few years ago I posted my first and last entry on a blog entitled "The Everygirl". It went a little something like, "Well we'll see how this goes". It didn't. My former Twitter account also mirrored this lack of zest and is now defunct. These two failures hung heavy over me whenever I thought about starting a new blog. A few of my friends had started writing blogs of their own and I wondered if, maybe this time, I could do it too.

A little unexpected and unsolicited encouragement from a family friend set me in the direction. I put the idea of ag.gray.gate (and myself) out there, guns blazing and both feet in, actively telling people that I was writing and risking rejection every time I asked a friend to follow. Amongst fantastic family and friends who follow this blog, I am also blessed with patronage from those whom I have never met. They follow because they support others in this blogging community or better yet simply because ag.gray.gate is an enjoyable read!! Somehow, it never ceases to amaze me that I meet with resistance about reading or following after having known someone for years. It is as though for some it is giving away too much to participate in another's journey toward success. Life lessons I remind myself.

The process of keeping this blog has been full of lessons for me. First: I have really come to love it and 3 months in am taking it quite seriously. Blogging has been a wonderful outlet. When I sit down to write I am disembarking from the mundane while at the same time drawing upon it and focusing in on it in order to find the humour and my gratefulness. I look forward to writing. I keep an idea log in my new moleskin journal just like Hemingway would. I ordered business cards for pete sake! Second: I have slim to no tech prowess so this has been a steep learning curve (despite how relatively easy it has become over the past few years with designers creating forms, tutorials, and free stuff) what with buttons and banners and headers and layering. Third: Albeit not entirely unexpectedly (apparently being a blogger makes me an inherent comment whore) I love hearing what you have to say!

So thank you for all of your love, thank you for your auspcie, and thank you for taking time from your day to escape with me! Until tomorrow...

Homage Monday - Sara Bynoe

This Monday marks a new feature on ag.gray.gate. It is the start of my weekly homage to the artists I know.  These artists appear in no particular order but have touched my life in one way or another, I love and admire these people and the capacity they have to follow their passion.

Sara Bynoe - www.sarabynoe.com:

I first met Sara-without-an-H when we began theatre school together in Calgary. She has a killer smile, beautiful bright eyes, a laugh that makes you feel better about the world and enough talent to knock you right on your ass. Oh, and she has a Master's Degree. She has been featured in news and magazine articles across the country, from BC' s own Tyee to The Globe and Mail (not at all for the same thing) and nominated for a literary award in New York. Sara is truly an ecclectic artist and her passions have served her well. She is an actor, a writer, a painter, a singer, a dancer, a comedian, and a producer. 

After graduating from Mount Royal, Sara attended/graduated from the presitgious Studio 58 in Vancouver, then it was off to merry old England and when she came home to Canada she sported an MA in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London. Yeowzah!!! Those are the broad strokes. In there somewhere she also wrote and performed her own pieces at The Fringe (Vancouver/Victoria), The High Performance Rodeo (Calgary), and had Teen Angst (a collective of contributions from those courageous enough to go digging through the recesses of their painful, terrible teenage repetoire) published, hosting readings both nationally and internationally.  

More recently Sara has brought the popular phenomenon known as Dance, Dance, Party, Party to Vancouver.

Currently Sara is hosting "Say Wha?! - Readings of Deliciously Rotten Writing"

From her website:

EVENT INFO

Upcoming shows: Wed Sept 22, Wed Oct 13, 

Wed Nov 17 and Wed Dec 15.

Cottage Bistro – 4470 Main Street @ 29 Ave

Cost: $5 minimum suggested $10

FACEBOOK GROUP PAGE HERE

VANCOUVER COURIER ARTICLE HERE

Want to read at Say Wha?! READ THIS

I am sure I am missing a heap, the girl is busy! So there it is my first artist homage; celebrating a woman who has an incredible knack for taking "fun" and turning it into a career! 

****If you are an artist and I know you I will most likely be contacting you to ask your permission for a Monday Homage. However if you want to be featured sooner than later or that you have fallen through the cracks email me: aggraygate@gmail.com  There is no shame in self promotion!

Netflix

My husband and I are movie aficionados - some might say snobs - but we enjoy great films and then discussing them with equally snobby friends! Maybe it is a theatre thing. Stick us in a room with a screen or a stage as actors or audience and we are two immensely happy people!

In this season of our lives though we don't get out to see nearly as many plays or movies as we would like. In fact we have patronized far too many animated movies in the last two years then I would care to recount here! With one exception. The Fantastic Mr. Fox was one of the all time family faves of 2009. With great film snob friends in tow we went to the theatre for Isla's 2nd birthday and I was filled with pride knowing that my two small children enjoyed their first Wes Anderson film as much as I remember enjoying mine.

To remedy this situation in part, for Michael's last birthday I gifted him (and myself!) a mammoth plasma and surround sound system. We LOVE watching movies at home. Put the kids to bed, close the door, turn down the lights, turn up the volume and we are ready for our best viewing experience! In Vancouver I had recently discovered the $2 movie machine at Safeway. I think we are almost caught up on the new releases from the past few years - finally.

There is no such magical movie machine here in Rossland and I am having a hard time reconciling myself  to spending $6 to rent. We are falling behind again. My computer lacks the room and I lack the computer prowess to procure movies any other way...until now.

Netflix is coming to Canada. I am so stoked!!!!!

PImply-faced teenager

Day 4 of having the kids all to myself here in Rossland. Things have been a bit harried. I don't handle stress well. I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve. When I was younger I fancied wrangling my wit and intellect and becoming a lawyer. I remember being a blubbering wreck at some point and thinking to myself, "Who am I kidding, breaking down in front of a judge on a regular basis is not a great way to be taken seriously.". Our high school theatre teacher, referencing the difficulty in making a career of acting, spouted "If you can do anything else - do it." I still chose acting. I would rather make an arse of myself on my own terms. I'll probably end up playing a lawyer at some point anyway!

It turns out I have been, despite my telling myself otherwise, very stressed. You could probably have guessed from my incoherent ramblings. Looking in the mirror I look like the pimply- faced teenager from the Simpsons. I also have a raging heat rash on my back to match, a delicious skin condition I had never had the pleasure of experiencing until after I pushed out two kids. Oh, and I got the MasterCard bill today. I will be heading out soon to do some returns.

I guess I'll be focusing my wit and intellect on de-cluttering and cleaning. Easier said than done with two knee-highs wanting to be fed and what-not on top of the mayhem. I know doing it myself goes a long way and costs so little, but I had been seriously considering a one time hiring of Cinderella House Cleaners to at least get the ball rolling. This must be a life lesson of some sort.

G. Michael

Michael has gone back to Vancouver again for two weeks in order to put food on the table. He is a worker that one - a fine combination of Italian workhorse, Scottish determination and Little House on the Prairie work ethic. He makes me proud.

In an earlier post I mentioned that in between dream jobs Mike works as a mover. Aside from owning a business with yours truly, Mike's other dream job is acting and he does it very well. He dons the more prestigious moniker G. Michael Gray and has quite the resume to show for himself.

G. Michael in the Feature 'Silk Trees'

In fact at the beginning of next week he will be adding to said resume as he tucks a Guest Star on 'Psych' under his belt. After a dry spell that felt as though it would never end this is very exciting news. I adore seeing Mr. Gray up there on screen - it never gets old, but then again he has never had to film a roll in the hay!

Baby Jack and his Poppa on 'Supernatural'.

It is awesome that moving here to Rossland has not meant the end of Mike's auditioning and acting for film and television. I guess the only real obstacle to the whole thing is when and how we will be able to watch the shows he is in given that we have successfully avoided resuming our cable tv subscription thus far!

3 MORE WEDNESDAYS...

I packed our first box last night, well I put some baking pans into a box. It was this morning when I was taping it shut that I realized there will only be 3 more Wednesdays here in this home. In this city.

I moved to Vancouver to pursue my acting career 7 years ago. That was the only plan that I had...other than wanting to marry the very handsome and talented man who did indeed become my husband! Ffwd through countless auditions and serving positions and I have evolved into a stay at home mom who picks some sporadic acting on the side. I loved acting, but it is doing what I do day to day that has captured my heart and takes my breath away everyday.

Three months ago, as if we had both heard the same voice, DH and I suddenly began discussing moving out of Vancouver and closer to other passions that now seem to be more weighted; being closer to our families, being closer to a ski hill, our first house, a yard, and our own business. We started talking about what we wanted our life to look like, the quote unquote BIG PICTURE.

Trading our life on the left coast in a bustling metropolis for a town where we will become 4 of about 2,000 residents there are moments when I think, this should be more scary. Am I being naive? But I could not be more excited...and if I get lost in the move I'll take a deep breath refer back to this post!