FACEBOOK WILL END ON MARCH 15th, 2012!

PALO ALTO, CA –Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will be shut down in March of 2012. Managing the site has become too stressful.
“Facebook has gotten out of control,” said Zuckerberg in a press conference outside his Palo Alto office, “and the stress of managing this company has ruined my life. I need to put an end to all the madness.”
Zuckerberg went on to explain that starting March 15th of next year, users will no longer be able to access their Facebook accounts.  That gives users (and Facebook addicts) a year to adjust to life without Facebook.
“After March 15th, 2012 the whole website shuts down,” said Avrat Humarthi, Vice President of Technical Affairs at Facebook. “So if you ever want to see your pictures again, I recommend you take them off the internet. You won’t be able to get them back after Facebook goes out of business.”
Zuckerberg said the decision to shut down Facebook was difficult, but that he does not think people will be upset.
“I personally don’t think it’s a big deal,” he said in a private phone interview. “And to be honest, I think it’s for the better. Without Facebook, people will have to go outside and make real friends. That’s always a good thing.”
Some Facebook users were furious upon hearing the shocking news.
“What am I going to do without Facebook?” said Denise Bradshaw, a high school student from Indiana. “My life revolves around it. I’m on Facebook at least 10 hours a day. Now what am I going to do with all that free time?”
However, parents across the country have been experiencing a long anticipated sense of relief.
“I’m glad the Facebook nightmare is over,” said Jon Guttari, a single parent from Detroit. “Now my teenager’s face won’t be glued to a computer screen all day. Maybe I can even have a conversation with her.”

SIGN THE “SAVE FACEBOOK” PETITION HERE

Those in the financial industry are criticizing Zuckerberg for walking away from a multibillion dollar franchise. Facebook is currently ranked as one of the wealthiest businesses in the world, with economists estimating its value at around 7.9 billion.
But Zuckerberg remains unruffled by these accusations. He said he will stand by his decision to give Facebook the axe.
“I don’t care about the money,” said Zuckerberg. “I just want my old life back.”
The Facebook Corporation suggests that users remove all of their personal information from the website before March 15th, 2012. After that date, all photos, notes, links, and videos will be permanently erased.

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Sincerity

I started my second job tonight. We opened Tanner's Bar & Grill in Middleton, Wisconsin. Going into it, I thought it would be terrifying. Receiving the menu yesterday and having only 4 hours of training, which mostly involved cleaning, under my belt, I thought it would be a nightmare of now knowing what I was doing. I don't know if you've ever had to memorize a menu before, but it's difficult.

I learned a lot tonight.

Oh it definitely was chaos. Tonight was our soft opening, so we offered free food and the drink profit will go to the American Red Cross. Yeh. Free food and good drinks. It was insanity. The food took forever because our kitchen was so backed up. I mean, why get two appetizers when you can try four for free?! So people had to wait for their food. We were a bit sloppy, unorganized, and we definitely tripped over our feet.

But people liked us.

One of my tables was of four guys. They ordered 4 entrees, an appetizer, and 8 beers. The food took an eternity. I felt awful. But when I got my tip, they gave me 25%. I was shocked. What did I learn? Sincerity matters. The beauty of life is that you don't have to be perfect. You can mess up and make mistakes constantly, but people will take you as you are if you're sincere, if you are genuine. If I had given them great, speedy food, but was a crabapple, I wouldn't have received 25%. Not a chance. But I apologized probably 25 times because I really was sorry. And instead of hide the disorganization (although it was pretty obvious) and owning up to it, it was owned up to.

I guess my encouragement is to be sincere. Don't hide your mistakes or the places you're imperfect. Own up to them and you may find that people take you as you are, and that is far more beautiful than trying to appear put together.

My other encouragement is for you to come out to Tanner's. Wednesday, Thursday, come get free food. We're starting a limited menu tomorrow (we learned our lesson and will not back up our kitchen like we did tonight!), but food is free and drink profit goes to the American Red Cross Badger Chapter. You won't regret it, friends.

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I'm here!

So, last time I wrote I was on my way to L.A. And, after being in the crowd on the Jay Leno Show, watching the Angels win and the Dodgers lose, and going to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library (basically a museum dedicated to Nixon. Presidential libraries are located where ever the former president was born and were started with Herbert Hoover), I had to take my dad to the airport and say goodbye. I never have looked at this move to L.A. as being a big one, just another opportunity in life that I would regret if not pursued. But after seeing the emotion in my dad's eyes before he left to catch his flight, I finally realized that this move was a lot larger than I had given it credit for. With that said, I have a responsibility to seize each day the best I possibly can.

Right now, I am typing this update at my buddy Joseph's friend's apartment. Joseph currently "lives" in Newport Beach (45 min. south of LA), but usually stays with friends living around L.A. during the week since he's getting more work up there. As of now, I'm tagging along with him until I find an apartment of my own (I'll be moving in with Joe no later than January). Besides finding a temporary apartment, I am setting up meetings with my agent, my dad's friend's nephew who is a producer out here, and any other contact who will agree to meet with me to talk about the business. I'm also looking into acting/scriptwriting classes, potential social justice theater leads, and substitute teaching out here. Well, before I go to a local sports bar this evening to watch the Vikings destroy the Packers on national TV (and find a spot to watch the Twins tomorrow- I can't believe they might pull this off!), I gotta get going on all the above. After all, that is what I'm here for, right? (Right!)

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Thanks for sticking with me

Hey, I'm sorry I haven't updated this blog in a while- but if you remind me to post something new (thanks Kelly!), I'll will happily oblige! So...like I said I would do back in November, I'm going to tell you a story. The votes narrowed it down to "Fight Club Theatre Fiasco" and "Wait a minute, my character has to make out with a bikini model?" In the end, though, the latter outweighed the former by a whopping two votes to one! But before I begin, I'll give you a speedy update on my life the last few weeks: last Monday I got to be a featured extra (aka you can actually see me rather than just being a blur in the background) in a Boost Mobile commercial as a doctor; I started taking acting classes on Monday nights with the Australian Institute of Dramatic Arts; last Friday I got to be in a short film called "Expired" as a cocaine butler (the film is about a drug addict includes recognizable actors Bob Clendenin and Chris Owen); I've been tutoring three students: Cindi (Lang. Arts), Ronald (Lang. Arts) and Stephen (Math); I have been going to about 6 auditions a week; and I've personally been submitting my headshot/resume to multiple casting directors: Dorian Frankel (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Parks & Recreation), Nikki Valko (Big Bang Theory), April Webster (Criminal Minds), Julie Ashton (Psych), Patrick Rush (Chuck) [quick story about dropping off my headshot/resume to Patrick Rush: when I knocked on his office door, his secretary opened the door and said with one of the sweetest smiles "How can I help you?" Taken aback by her friendliness (most casting director offices are annoyed when I come by with a headshot/resume) as well as her physical beauty, I responded with a "Uh...I just wanted to, uh...Sorry. I guess I just wanted to drop off my headshot and, uh, resume- if that's alright." "Sure, no problem." "Hi, my name is Michael." "Hi, Michael. I'm Georgia." We shook hands and somehow I pulled myself away from that door. For weeks I contemplated living dangerously by calling the casting office to ask her if she would like to grab coffee sometime (and I don't even like the smell of coffee). Our meeting even had me changing the words to James Taylor's song "Carolina In My Mind" to "Georgia In My Mind." Instead of calling her work line for a personal inquiry, I've decided to personally deliver a Thank You card to Patrick Rush for considering me for the Nerd Herd in Chuck and, if I have enough boldness that day, I'll ask her if she would like to chat sometime over a cup of apple juice (or coffee, I guess)]. Oh, about that story I said I would tell...

"Wait a minute, my character has to make out with a bikini model?"

Everyday I submit to projects (called "breakdowns") that are in need of actors on lacasting.com. Many of the projects I am allowed to see and therefore submit to are student films and other non-paying gigs (my agent is allowed to see and submit to all the paying gigs because she's an agent). The benefit of these non-paying projects are the experience, the chance to work with up and coming directors and footage for your acting reel. Back in November I saw a project titled "Calendar Girl" and I quickly submitted without a second thought as I normally do (I usually submit to about 25-30 projects a day). About a week later, I received an email saying that the director of "Calendar Girl" would like me to audition. Alright, I thought, let's check out what this project's all about. I went back on lacasting.com and read the character description: a down-on-his-luck photographer shoots a swimsuit calendar to make money after getting laid off. Interesting- I've definitely never had this role before. I emailed the director back about setting up an audition time and he responded by asking me if I could be in the film at a specific date and time in the middle of December. I said sure- I mean, I wasn't going to complain about not auditioning. I decided I should read the character descriptions for the other roles if I was going to be in the film. Back to LA Casting. I scroll down and start reading about the bikini model character. First off, she was getting paid $200 for her role (all I get is gas reimbursement). I suppose being in a bikini in front of the camera is probably uncomfortable for someone who's not used to it, so I could see why she would be getting paid. The description continued: "...will be making out with the photographer..." Wait a minute. What was that? I'm the photographer. She'll be making out with me! That wasn't in my character's description! Instantly getting nervous- I've never kissed someone on stage or film let alone making out with them- I considered backing out. But I slept on it and eventually reasoned that, hey, I'm going to have do it sometime, so why not now?! To be continued....

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