Cash Flow

Anyone got $7,000,000 I can borrow? My favorite house in our neighborhood is for sale!

Oddly, Will and I just walked by this place yesterday, not knowing it is on the market. I don't know when it was redone, but the house is absolutely gorgeous. Understated yet breathtaking. I play "what do you think that would sell for?" every time I walk by.

My guess was $5M. I was just a hair off...

COULD YOU IMAGINE LIFE IN A FEDERAL ERA MANSION?! Casual elegance, friends. Casual elegance.

Dare to dream...

On Writing.

“Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.”

- Stephen King

via 1001 Rules for My Unborn Son

Competition?

Looks like there's more than one person in this apartment with some film credits...

(It's just a still image. Clicking that play arrow above will only lead you to a bigger image. I'll let our movie star release these videos on his own.)

Skiing (hold the crying)

Will and I hit the road yesterday and headed up to Hunter Mountain, just about 2 hours north of the city, for a day of skiing.

This may sound like a fairly mundane activity, save for the fact that the words "let's go skiing" send me into fits of terror so profound that never has a bigger pit grown in a stomach.

Will grew up skiing constantly, so he cannot comprehend this fear. The fear of jamming your feet into the world's most torturously uncomfortable boots and then locking them into two slippery boards pointed DOWN A MOUNTAIN. This sounds ridiculous, right? I agree.

The last time "we" went "skiing" was New Year's Eve 2009 at West Mountain near Saratoga, NY. It was freezing cold, snowing and windy, and not my ideal was of ringing in the new year:

Ski Trip from Robin Reed on Vimeo.

But yesterday I started with a lesson built for a three year old: "french fries" to go down the mountain, "pizza" to stop. Really basic, but it gave me a couple of hours to get comfortable on the silly little slippery sticks and not feel like I was just careening out of control.

After the lesson, I went down the little hill about four or five times. Then we had a little sushi for lunch (on a mountain. Crazy!) and then I went out with Will. This is where the whole thing nearly came crumbling down.

My biggest fear is the mountain being too steep. I don't want to go fast. I find it terrifying.

We get off the lift and I ski down to where the trail begins. I'm nervous, but it seems ok so far. We go down a little bit and it's fine.

I can't believe it, but it's fine.

And then it starts to get steep.

And I look at Will as if he just kicked a puppy in the gut.

And then it takes me about 15 minutes to go about 100 yards. In severe pizza mode going side to side across the entire trail. Poor Will, too, looked as if he knows I saw him kick that puppy.

But I made it. I went down that trail three times, and each time it got easier and easier. It didn't look pretty, I'm sure, but I'm starting to feel like I can at least medal in chair lift.

So. That was that. Three runs down the one-step-above-the-bunny-hill trail and it was just before 4pm, the time when the mountain closes. Will took one more run down the crazy mountain and it was all hot chocolate and stretching out feet after that.

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I might actually be looking forward to going again.

Hey, Tough Guy!

Bootcamp, Schmootcamp, folks. Until I can run through fire, I'm just a plain old girl.

Boston.com has got photos of the 2010 Tough Guy Challenge, an insane event that takes place in England. I remember seeing photos from last year's TGC, especially the one of this particularly memorable chap.

It looks like there are even ladies competing in the Tough Guy. I am not afraid to say it: these gals are certainly WAY tougher than me. All that mud? No thank you, very much.

The Unhappy Hipsters

Unhappy Hipsters is a hilarious blog that re-captions photos from Dwell Magazine.

We had a subscription to Dwell for a year. If they switched over to this writing style, I'd definitely consider re-subscribing.

Weird Day on the A

I had a doctor's appointment in Chelsea and then went to yoga in Tribeca, so I found myself on the A Train more than usual today. It appears the A has some semblance of a Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.), as he's got a little earache...

... and is entirely fatigued...

There were also not one but TWO different people doing a lot of preachin' for Jesus*. Loudly. I didn't take their picture, though, because... well, they were crazy and I wouldn't have wanted to cause a scene.

* This link doesn't have much to do with my post, but I do enjoy how quickly it devolves into people bitching about the MTA, which I, myself, have been wont to do:

Carroll Gardens: The Pilot

This is a little blip of what kept me so busy and blog-free for the bulk of 2009. You can get just a little more info here, and keep checking back for updates. I'll have more news soon!

Burrough's Stuff

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Could be sheer sentimentality, being from Kerouac town, but I am still fascinated by all things Beat.

This photo essay of William Burrough's belongings really got to me, especially the bit about these shoes.

What did we do before the internet? (uh, maybe walked around enough to bore holes in the bottoms of our shoes?)

The Last Thing I Need, really...

Great. Really great.

A new year already?! (or, Hi Bebeth & Courtney!*)

Hi. Remember me?

I used to post here. I know. It's been a while.

But I've been legitimately busy!

Commercials for Campbells kept me in the studio somewhat regularly this fall. Add to that spots fir GE Appliances and Wheat Thins and I practically had a full time job!

It all freed me up to work on writing a script. And after probably way too long, I am pleased to report that our pilot was shot the first weekend of October! I've seen a rough cut and I'm beyond pleased with how it's coming along. I should get a look at the next cut just as soon as we get back from our holiday vacation.

Oh, right. Vacation. Will and I decided to head south to ring in the New Year. I'm writing to you from beautiful warm Negril Jamaica.

If the start of the year is any indication of how the rest will go, it looks like 2010 will be pretty sweet.

Happy New Year!!

*Saw your mom. She said you commented on my lack of blog. You're right. I've totally slacked. But look now! Blog! Happy New Year!

Months Go By...

Lots of good stuff going on as we move from a very strange summer into what looks like a very busy fall!

The script I've been working on for what seems like an eternity is finally moving into production. I've got a meeting tomorrow to start making plans on fleshing out the production team and thinking about casting. I've got some ideas, but I'm staying open to input. I'm really exciting to get going!

I've been busy with voiceovers, too, lately-- I've been back in the studio for Campbell's and GE Appliances, and I also recently booked a national commercial for Wheat Thins. So far, a good year.

I also have a couple of ideas cooking for a new short film, as well as resuscitating an old project with a new twist.

Busy fall. Still doing Boot Camp, too.

In other news, remember my old photo project on this blog? I saw this person on the train today. Definitely a look you can't forget. Flashback!

Guess Who's Got a New Hobby!

Will is going to start brewing beer. We know a bunch of friends who do this, in addition to his dad and sister.

It's going to be fun. Delicious. And smelly.

The games begin once we get back from our big bike trip next week. More on that soon.

Four Digits!

This has been somewhat of a momentous week.

I booked another recording session with GE and did the final VO for this really cool commercial for kitchen appliances. I came home that day to my first round of payment for another GE spot that has been running for a few months already sitting in my mailbox.

I went to the bank yesterday and I am proud to report that I now, perhaps for the first time ever, have FOUR DIGITS in my savings account. And that's not even counting to the right of the decimal point!

Friends, dreams really do come true.

Reading the Writing

Part of the reason I've been MIA lately is, as I've said before, I've been working on this script. Writing, writing, staring into nothingness, changing the font on the script, changing it back, feeling inspired, writing, feeling hopeless, napping, etc.

Today was the first sort of "moment of truth" session, when I got a group of actors together to read it out loud.

This was one of the more nerve-wracking experiences I've had in recent memory. I've been working on this beast since December, and as you might suspect, I'd grown accustomed to the way I was hearing it in my head.

What if they didn't get it?

What if they didn't laugh?

What if it's just all drivel that's been done before?

Luckily, all of those questions were mere butterflies. Butterflies that had me awake at 5:30 this morning in a near panic, but butterflies nonetheless.

While I still have some work to do, it's not in bad shape. That's the word I got from my friend Jen, who is an agent with The Gersh Agency and has been helping me shape the project from the beginning. It was great to get feedback from her and to hear such a talented group of people bring these characters to life.

So back to re-writes/staring into nothingness. Hopefully more of the former and less of the latter. Updates will follow.

p.s. Will read the stage directions and as he was pointing out the fact that he was the "hardest working actor in the room today" because he "had the biggest part", I think I saw the faintest glimmer of stars in his eyes. Look out, Screen Actors Guild...

726%

According to my IMDb page, my popularity is up 726% this week. I never knew a jump like that was even possible, but let's not question math. It's practically science.

I did do a really fun show called Radio Happy Hour this weekend with the lovely Ms. Norah Jones... maybe statisticians at the IMDb got word of my elbow-rubbing... ??? (see photos here)

Oh. Me again.

Contrary to popular belief, I have not fallen off the face of the earth.

Truth be told, I'm working on a script, and every time I sit down at the computer, I feel obligated to work on that instead of writing anything as self-indulgent as blog posts. Which usually just translates into me procrastinating like crazy by playing lots of Scrabble on Facebook.

But the script is nearly finished, and I'm hoping to knock the rest of it out this weekend while we're away at Starlight for the annual canoeing trip. I don't know if I'm planning on trudging the laptop into the canoe, but... I'm sure I can eek out an hour or two and wrap up the damned thing.

More details on that to come. Until then, don't forget your sunblock this weekend!

More Crazy Train

I've seen some real doozies while riding the subway. Yesterday, I got another one to add to the list.

I got on the F train at 42nd St and headed to Brooklyn around 3pm. There were four boys that looked around ten or twelve years old riding seemingly solo. They seemed sweet*, passing a portable video game back and forth. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Enter: homeless man in winter coat, asking for change. Nothing out of the ordinary.

He made one pass up and back down the subway car. Nothing. But nothing out of the ordinary.

He decided to take a second pass, this time goading us, the tight-fisted strangers who did not seem to be interested in donating to his cause:

Sh-eeeeeeet, if I was y'all, I'd have my hands in my pockets already. What is wrong with y'all?

This was a little out of the ordinary. Usually panhandlers plead their case in one pass, get what they can and head to the next car. This guy was hell bent on not leaving our car until someone forked over some loot.

On his next pass back down the car, he passed the young boys and as he reached a young man who was sitting near the door, he screamed:

DON'T YOU MOTHERF$@*ING TOUCH ME AGAIN! I HAVE TOLD YOU: I AM NOT GAY! F&@* $##*@! #&%@@*! ***##&@%@

This was bizarre, and everyone was staring, even though we all tried to do it subtly. The guy on the receiving end of this rage seemed entirely nonplussed, considering that attack just spat upon him.

And the young boys... well, let's just say that I have never seen four sets of eyes bulge that far out of such small faces before. They sat frozen for a moment, dumbfounded. One kid played the lookout and when the coast was clear, they all began re-enacting what had just gone down. They nailed it and were probably more interesting than the crazy guy himself!

*I say "sweet" because they were relatively quiet-- I always expect kids that age to be total loud screaming brats.

The Funniest Phone Call I've Ever Received

I got a call from one of my commercial agents today. It was certainly unique.

Me: Hello?

Phone: Hey, Robin. It's Tony from Atlas.

Me: Hey, Tony! What's going on?

Tony: I'm just working out this breakdown here for a Yoplait commercial. I'm looking through your skills and you've listed yourself as an "expert" at yoga.

Me: I can do some yoga, yes.

Tony: Ok. Can you put both of your legs behind your head?

Me: Uh... actually, Tony, yes I can. Is this the strangest day you've ever had at work?

Tony: Yep. It gets especially awkward when I call women who have children my age.

We'll see if this saga continues...

Photo: Sunday, March 22, 2009

Zaytoons, Smith St between Sackett and Degraw, 2pm