2012 in Review

In November of this past year, I took part in a little daily project on Facebook called The Month of Thanks.  Every day I sat down to write, publicly, something I was thankful for that day.  And let’s be honest, there are some dark, dark days in November in Minnesota.  Some days many of us are just thankful to wake up in the morning, the small victory of not having died in our sleep.  Ahem.  Um, did I mention we don’t get much sunlight ‘round these parts in the winter? Even so, it was a beautiful project to partake in – one that made me grateful for the gratitude alone.  And in considering this 2012 Year in Review, Day 28 of my Month of Thanks leapt off the screen at me:

:: Month of Thanks, Day 28: today's recording session was in a pretty, pretty studio I'd never seen before. And the longer video for which I was providing voice-over was really quite lovely (there was a commercial, too, but that was, you know, short and commercialey). I am profoundly grateful that a combination of luck, training, skill, and perseverance has enabled me to do what I love for a living.

That, right there, is the essence of so much of last year.  The joy of exploring new studios. Of meeting engineers, writers, and producers.  Of realizing that I am able to make my living doing what I love because of luck, training, skill, and perseverance.  No single one of those things alone would cut it; it takes every piece to create the balance.  Some of those things are in my control, some are not, but every one is a gift.  And for that, I am most grateful.

And so, without further ado, my performance highlights of 2012:

JANUARY

Stage

• Continued part-time work at the Science Museum of Minnesota on the Science Live team – performing live science demonstrations and science-related short plays for museum audiences.
• Traveled to Portland, OR to present to national museum colleagues the first draft of Kitchen Chemistry, a new live stage presentation I created for the Science Museum of Minnesota.
• Joined the advance-publicity team for public appearances and started rehearsals for my roles as Anne Bonny and Mary Read (depending on the day) in the Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  

Voice

• Voiceovers for Marketplace Events spots - fourth year running.  Ty Pennington and I on national TV and radio urging you to attend home shows across the U.S.  TV commercials aired on HGTV and ABC and their affiliates.  Recorded at Audio Ruckus for Coordinet.
• Voiceover for Land O’Lakes butter – my first truly-national television commercial.  I had done plenty of spots in the past that were aired in specific markets all over the U.S. (and therefore recorded multiples with appropriate city names filled in), but not one single commercial that would be aired everywhere.  Network TV, cable, everywhere.  It was very exciting.  Recorded at Echo Boys for Campbell Mithun.  

FEBRUARY

Stage

• Opening of Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah at the Science Museum of Minnesota.
• Started rehearsals for Rajiv Joseph’s achingly beautiful two-person play Gruesome Playground Injuries.

Voice

• Voiceovers for KeyBank - this was the first session reading tags for their “Vase” (and another – the name of which I’m forgetting) TV and radio ads. 47 tags, to be specific.  Recorded at Todd Syring’s studio at Campbell Mithun for Campbell Mithun.  
• Voiceovers for KeyBank (yes, more) – I ended up having several more sessions at Campbell Mithun this month – just a couple tags here and there – but still a delight to be in their studios every time.

MARCH

Stage

• Performances of Rajiv Joseph’s Gruesome Playground Injuries, which merited some lovely press, a hug from a newspaper critic, and a sweet note from the casting director at The Guthrie.  AND a new “Facebook friendship” with the playwright.  An honor and a joy.  
• Continuation of Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

APRIL

Stage

• Performed/read at a new script workshop at The Playwrights’ Center for a new play, which I’m embarrassed to say I retained no notes about – so cannot recollect the playwright nor the name of the play, nor if I read a role or the stage directions.  For shame, Leigha.
• Continuation of Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Voice

• Voiceovers for more Marketplace Events spots – this was for home shows that would be taking place later in the year, hence weren’t recorded at the year’s first session in January.  TV commercials aired on HGTV and ABC and their affiliates.  Recorded at Audio Ruckus for Coordinet.

MAY

Stage

• Read stage directions at a new script workshop at The Playwrights’ Center for A User’s Guide to Hell, a new play by Lee Blessing.
• Opened Kitchen Chemistry, a new live stage presentation I created for the Science Museum of Minnesota about the science of spaghetti – covering topics from boiling water to starch structures to smell and taste perception.
• Continuation of Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Screen

• Wrote and hosted the filming of the third in a four-part series of short satirical 1950’s-style educational films, titled The Wonders and Worries of Nanotechnology:  Who Benefits? on behalf of the Science Museum of Minnesota for The Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net).  Film + Production by Teddy Media.  

Voice

• Voiceover for The Gimmie Awards, General Mills’ bi-annual awards ceremony.  Recorded at Syring Studios for Campbell Mithun.  I have to admit that it was a little exciting knowing who the winners were and why before the winners themselves.

Featured Press

• Interview and photo shoot for small feature article and very large photograph to run later in the month in Vita.MN, a local arts and entertainment magazine owned by the Star Tribune.  The focus of the article was my work in Minneapolis/St. Paul as a full-time stage, screen, and voiceover actor.  

JUNE

Stage

• Read stage directions at a new script workshop at The Playwrights’ Center for Way West, a new play by Mona Mansour.
• Continuation of Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Screen

• Performed on-camera as The Bride in Girls in Lane 4, Steeltoe Stiletto’s entry into the Minneapolis 48-Hour Film Project.  For our efforts, we garnered a “Best Film” nomination and walked away with a coveted “Audience Favorite” award.  

Voice

• Voiceover of animatics (they’re like roughly-animated storyboards) for a new Land O’Lakes product, which I still believe is going through the development phase.  I’ve been told that if it does make it to market with this concept, I’m in for the final spots.  This is, however, a months-long process – so who knows.  Keeping my fingers crossed nonetheless, because optimism feels better than the alternative.  Recorded at Todd Syring’s studio at Campbell Mithun for Campbell Mithun.
• Voiceovers for KeyBank – a few more sessions this month – just a couple tags here and there for their “Vase” TV and radio ads.  Recorded at Todd Syring’s studio at Campbell Mithun for Campbell Mithun.

JULY

Stage

• Performed/read for a new script workshop at The Playwrights’ Center of a new play, which I’m embarrassed to say I retained no notes about.  This is the second of two in 2012 that I somehow didn’t manage to keep records on – what on earth?  My apologies to the playwright.  For shame.  Again.
• Continuation of Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

AUGUST

Stage

• Read stage directions at a new script workshop at The Playwrights’ Center for Regulation 18B, a new play by Scott Wright.
• Read the role of Diana Margineanu at a new script workshop at The Playwrights’ Center for No Hay Luz and the Search for the Red Bourgainvilleas, a new play by Domnica Radulescu.  Thank goodness for my four years of Spanish in high school.  Rusty as all get-out, but the foundation is still there.
• Continuation of Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  I KNOW, right?  When on earth did this thing end?!  Labor Day.  And so this is the last time you’ll see this particular gig mentioned.  It was a hell of a lot of fun, but I was so, SO happy when it was done for the sole sake of not having to fuss with that wretched dirt makeup anymore.  That shit was satanic.

Voice

• Voiceover for Cheerios – this was an incredibly sweet online video featuring a “panel” of really cute kids talking about how their moms don’t really realize that they still like Cheerios even though they’re not babies anymore.  Adorbs.  Recorded at Spotnik for Orange Filmworks.  
• Voiceover for Marketplace Events spots – yes, more.  I love these people.  TV commercials aired on HGTV and ABC and their affiliates.  Recorded at Audio Ruckus for Coordinet.

SEPTEMBER

Stage

• Performances of the remount of Rajiv Joseph’s Gruesome Playground Injuries.  Man, I love this play.  Rajiv is brilliant.  He didn’t write it for me, but I want him to write for me always.
• Started rehearsals for kaotic good productions’ The Cooking Show con Karimi & Comrades: Viva la Soul Power! at Intermedia Arts.  This year’s show was going to be HUGE.

Voice

• Voiceover for Target – the second iteration of a short film about inclusiveness - entitled Anthem  (originally voiced in December 2011 and entitled You Make Us).  Recorded at Media Loft.  
• Voiceover for Crystal Farms’ Simply Potatoes – announcer on two fun radio spots featuring some fantastic Minneapolis/St. Paul talent.  Recorded at Babble-On for Gabriel deGrood Bendt (GdB). 
• Voiceovers for KeyBank – a few more sessions this month – just a couple tags here and there for their “Vase” TV and radio ads.  Recorded at Todd Syring’s studio at Campbell Mithun for Campbell Mithun.
• Voiceover for the National Bone Marrow Donor Program’s annual awards ceremony.  This was my second year back in the studio for this client, and it was an honor and a joy to be asked back. Recorded at Aaron/Stokes for Blue 60 Pictures.
• Voiceover for General Mills’ Yoplait Yogurt – dialogue with the delightful Gary Bingner, announced by the equally-delightful Mark Benninghofen.  Recorded at Audio Ruckus for Shout! Creative.  

OCTOBER

Stage

• Read stage directions for a new script workshop at The Playwrights’ Center of The Toupee, a new play by Tom Dunn.
• Performances of kaotic good productions’ The Cooking Show con Karimi & Comrades: Viva La Soul Power! at Intermedia Arts.  This was part of a much-larger project called 28 Days of Good Energia, which included a full (and gorgeous) gallery exhibition, and it was, again, a whirlwind of activities and some of the most amazingly soulful and creative and funny people.  And incredible food.  Ohmygod.
• Started rehearsals and research for my role as Nephthys in the Lost Egypt at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  The evolution of ancient Egyptian mythology is a fascinating beast unto itself – and oh boy was there a lot to learn for this project.

Voice

• Voiceover for LifeTime Fitness – this was for an animated video that will, in theory, play on their exercise machines in gyms nationwide.  Recorded at LifeTime Vision for LifeTime Fitness.

NOVEMBER

Stage

• Closing performances of kaotic good productions’ The Cooking Show con Karimi & Comrades: Viva La Soul Power! at Intermedia Arts.

Voice

• Voiceovers for a gorgeous short film and not-yet-completed commercial demo made by a reputable marketing firm campaigning for a very large company.  Unfortunately, I’m unable to share more than that due to confidentiality requirements at present, but if they land the gig, I can share.  Recorded at BWN Music.  
• Voiceovers for KeyBank – a few more sessions this month – just a couple tags here and there for their “Vase” TV and radio ads.  Recorded at Todd Syring’s studio at Campbell Mithun for Campbell Mithun.

DECEMBER

Stage

• Read the role of Jane for a new script workshop at The Playwrights’ Center of ColorLines, a new play by David Wiles.  Keep an eye out for further developments on this play.  Because wow.

Screen

• Cast as host for on-camera industrial for DraxImage’s RUBY-FILL Strontium- and Rubidium-82 Generators.  Turns out my gig at the Science Museum has made me pretty adept at presenting information, like about machines that provide measured doses of radiopharmaceuticals, as if I know what I’m talking about.  Filming to take place in January 2013.  

Voice

• Voiceovers for Marketplace Events spots - fifth year running! FIFTH year!  Love.  Ty Pennington and I on national TV and radio urging you to attend home shows across the U.S.  TV commercials aired on HGTV and ABC and their affiliates.  Recorded at Audio Ruckus for Coordinet.
• Voiceover for Crystal Farms’ Pancake and French Toast batters – TV commercials. Recorded at Echo Boys for Gabriel deGrood Bendt (GdB).

EPILOGUE

At the start of last year I promised to dream bigger dreams and then run to catch them.  The dreaming did indeed happen, and continues unabated.  It is, however, now accompanied by blueprints for the life I intend to build.  Plans are afoot.  This is the year that I’m going to break ground on new land.

A Little Love for the Pacific Northwest

For the past several months I’ve been working with some of the coolest people on the planet over at Campbell Mithun (that’s right, Mim, I’m talking about you) voicing tags for KeyBank spots – tv ads and just audio, I believe, to run on Pandora – and, of course, having a blast. I also learned something really cool about marketing on Pandora – they can target which ads they play based on your location, almost down to the block on which you live, so that it’s ultra-relevant. I’ve found myself listening to Pandora in the past, hearing an ad come on, and thinking, wow – my neighborhood ACME Anvil company had the money for an ad on Pandora? Nah, turns out they can just be super-specific, and probably, in turn, find it more affordable.

Anyway, KeyBank has locations in 14 states, and I’ve taken the most quiet joy reading the tags for Portland, Seattle, and a couple of places in Colorado, just because I’ve got family and dear friends in those places. Here’s hoping that even if they didn't recognize my voice, they maybe felt just a little closer in that moment.

Topless. No wait – LIDless. Got it.

I’ve thought long and hard about this (perhaps too long and hard about this, but whatever, don’t judge), and yet I’ve got no other choice than to declare this a tie. Because I just can’t decide what was better – getting to play Gary Bingner’s wife, or sharing a spot with the most fabulous Mark Benninghofen. Because, I mean really - those deeply funny men in that tiny little studio at the same time? Ohmygod.

It’s probably a good thing commercial voiceover sessions don’t get their own behind-the-scenes treatment. We might never work again.

Cheerios Roundtable

I do believe this might take the prize for most adorable spot I’ve ever had the pleasure of voicing.

Kid 1: “Who do you like to eat Cheerios with?”

Kid 2: “You.”

Kid 1: (bashful giggle)

GAWWWWWWWW!  So cute.

“Working With ______”

I’ve had the joy of sharing a table with the amazingly talented and equally delightful Sally Wingert for new script development and readings at The Playwrights’ Center, but it was an absolute joy to discover her voice on these Crystal Farms/Simply Potatoes spots for which I voiced the announcer. She’s the woman who cries, “Cheat! Cheat!” in the “Bake Off” spot. I come in at the :23 mark on both spots to wrap everything up. That’s a curious thing about voice work – as an actor, it’s so different from stage and screen work wherein the process is collaborative and your casts can end up like temporary families. In the recording studio actors are often like ships in the night, never seeing one another. I have “worked with” Laurence Fishburne and Ty Pennington, but have I ever met or spoken with either of them? Nope.

Funny, that.

And a big shout-out to Babble-On Recording Studios for the great, multi-layered sounds on these spots. Love them.

2012 Minneapolis 48 Hour Film Project

I was delighted to join Steeltoe Stiletto Films for their entry into this year’s Minneapolis 48-hour Film Project.

Steeltoe Stiletto 2012

And for the team’s efforts, Girls in Lane 4 garnered a Best Film nomination, which is no small beans - out of 68 entries, we were one of just 10 nominations. Ultimately, we walked away from the Best of Show screening with a coveted “Audience Favorite” award.

Audience Favorite Award

This is my second time participating in the Minneapolis 48-hour Film Project, and second time on an award-winning team – my first go-round was in 2006 with Climaxx Pictures’ Burnout Trail, awarded “Best Acting (Ensemble).”

Makes me curious about the kind of charm a third time would be.

SAG + AFTRA Merger

A rising tide lifts all boats, no?  Let's do this.

The Silver Lining

Hey, Science Nerds - this one's for you...and me, because I'm a Science Nerd, too.  Let's be nerdy together! (hugs, bashes glasses together)  Nerdery aside, I voiced this short documentary back in 2012 for the Museum of Life + Science in Durham, North Carolina on behalf of NISE Net (the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network).  And yet I was remiss in not posting it at that time.  Forgive the oversight, and have a listen.  I guarantee you'll learn something that'll assuredly make for sexy cocktail party banter.  Because smart most definitely equals sexy.

2011 in Review

While relatively tedious to compile, I’ve come to love these year-end reviews.  They remind me that I actually make a living at my craft, no matter how insecure I get during the course of the year about my abilities or accomplishments (or seeming lack thereof).  Lists like these remind me that I am doing what I love, and am being rewarded for it.  Lists like these remind me that my career choice bought me passage into my very first house, all on my own, and keeps me there.

Because let’s be honest - there is always a point (or five) in the year when I panic.  I think, ohmygod, they’ve finally realized that I’m a total fraud and NOW I WILL NEVER WORK AGAIN.  EVER.  This happens regularly.  Without fail.  And then I end up inexplicably landing another incredible gig and think, oh, well, okay – maybe I’m not that bad.  It is a joy and an honor to be so lucky.

Without further ado, my performance highlights of 2011:

January Continued part-time work at the Science Museum of Minnesota on the Science Live team – performing live science demonstrations and science-related short plays for museum audiences.

Marketplace Events spots - third year running.  Ty Pennington and me on national TV and radio urging you to attend home shows across the U.S.  TV commercials aired on HGTV and ABC and their affiliates.  Recorded at Audio Ruckus.

VOs for General Mills, but I took very poor notes about this, and have no recollection of what it was for.  My guess is that it was, perhaps, some pickups for the 42 spots I did back in December for Progresso Light Soups, Yoplait and Yoplait Light Yogurts, and Big G Cereals national TV spots.  Note to self in 2012: take better notes.  Recorded at Babble-On for Shout! Creative.

February Script workshop and stage-direction reading for public presentation of Carson Kreitzer’s new play, Behind the Eye, as part of The Playwrights’ Center’s Ruth Easton series.  Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and commissioned by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park for a world premiere in April.

Not much else to report other than travel to Florida.  It was warm.  I remember needing that.  Oh yes, and travel to Madison, WI, to teach museum-theater techniques to institutions across the U.S.

March VO for the trailer of TRIUMPH67, an independent feature-length film that went on to become the official selection of the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival.

Spent the day in studio at Minnesota Public Radio (MPR), recording the voice for a sultry character in The Winner, a pilot for Minnesota Stories – a new program dedicated to showcasing Minnesota writers.

VO for Target - a short film about inclusiveness called You Make Us.  Recorded at Audio Ruckus.

Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio at Minnesota Public Radio

April Table-read of a new script by Patrick Coyle at The Jungle Theater.

The Winner, recorded in March, airs twice on Minnesota Public Radio.

May VO for Cadillac.  With Laurence Fishburne.  I played his talking GPS.  Recorded at Babble-On for Fallon.

I bought my very first house, all by myself.  I think this is what officially makes me an adult, but I’m still not quite sold on that idea.  The only reason I’m including this here, amongst my gigs, is because those VO gigs are what made this possible.

Home, in as many words.

June Script workshop and stage-direction reading for public presentation at the Playwrights’ Center of Scratch, a new play by Shira Naharit.

Started rehearsals for Minnesota Middle Finger, Ben San Del’s Minnesota Fringe Festival entry.  Yes, Fringe is in August.  We started way, way early because of everyone’s insane schedules.  I think when all was said and done we only had 12 rehearsals.

July VO demos for Hormel, recorded at Modern Music/Fischer Edit for BBDO.

Co-wrote and produced a short satirical 1950’s-style educational film, The Wonders and Worries of Nanotechnologyon behalf of the Science Museum of Minnesota for The Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net).  Film + Production by Teddy Media.

August 2011 Minnesota Fringe Festival, and my performance in Ben San Del’s Minnesota Middle Finger with the incomparable John Middleton and Tim Hellendrung.

VO spots (more, again) for Marketplace Events home shows with Ty Pennington – TV and Radio.  Continued airings on HGTV and ABC.  Recorded at Audio Ruckus.

Three-day script workshop at The Playwrights’ Center of Outcasts of Eden, a new play by Andie Arthur.

Served as host/barker for the AFL-CIO Labor Pavilion at the Minnesota State Fair, on behalf of AFTRA.

Cast in kaotic good productions’ The Cooking Show con Karimi & Comrades: Viva Las Roots! to be presented at Intermedia Arts in October 2011.

Script workshop at The Playwrights' Center

September Cast as both Anne Bonny and Mary Read in the Science Museum of Minnesota’s next major exhibition, Real Pirates, as well as cast in the publicity crew for advance event appearances.  Exhibition opens mid-February 2012.

Attended the 7^th annual Ivey Awards – Minneapolis/St. Paul’s version of the Tonys.  Very, very swank.  Very, very inspiring.  I know I said that last year, but I still mean it.

VO spot for General Mills – radio spot for Yoplait Yogurt in the NYC market.  Recorded at Audio Ruckus for Shout! Creative.

Real Pirates coming soon to the Science Museum of Minnesota

October Cast in The Peanut Butter Factory’s next production, Rajiv Joseph’s Gruesome Playground Injuries – a two-person show with Adam Whisner to be presented late winter/early spring 2012.

Went on a three-day writing retreat to northern Minnesota with the company of kaotic good productions’ The Cooking Show con Karimi & Comrades: Viva Las Roots! to create character and storyline.

VO narration for short documentary Does Every Silver Lining Have a Cloud?, a look at the effect of nanosilver on the environment, created by the Museum of Life + Science in Durham, North Carolina, on behalf of the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net).  Recorded at Babble-On.

VO for the National Marrow Donor Program’s annual council awards ceremony recognition film segments.  Recorded at Aaron/Stokes for Blue 60 Pictures.

Script workshop and stage-direction reading at the evening performance of Sarah Gubbins’ new work, The Water Play at The Playwrights’ Center.

Performances of kaotic good productions’ The Cooking Show con Karimi & Comrades: Viva Las Roots!at Intermedia Arts.

November Performances continue of kaotic good productions’ The Cooking Show con Karimi & Comrades: Viva Las Roots!at Intermedia Arts.

Got my eyes did.  Yep.  Lasik.  No more contacts or glasses.  This changes everything on stage and in the recording booth, for the better.

Spent the day at the Hennepin County Courthouse, serving as a key witness in Faegre & Benson’s mock trial program.

Spices in the Viva Las Roots! kitchen.

December VOs for Marketplace Events Home Shows with Ty Pennington – fourth year running!  Recorded at Audio Ruckus.

Appeared on Kare 11 News morning program as Anne Bonny, marketing for the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Real Pirates exhibition opening February 2012.

Script workshop and stage-direction reading at the evening performance of Kira Obolensky’s new play, Vasa Lisa at The Playwrights’ Center, co-presented by Ten Thousand Things.  Workshop in preparation for a late-spring full production by Ten Thousand Things.

Real Pirates get sassy with the news crew at KARE 11.

Epilogue 2011, you treated my career well, and for that I thank you.  2012, we’re going to roll up our shirtsleeves and till this soil for continued growth.  My last major career goal was to make my living as an artist, which I have been doing for the last few years; it’s time to dream bigger dreams.  And then run to catch them.

Car Sounds

A few weeks ago I voiced a cab-stealing, tiny-dog-carrying Manhattanite for Yoplait Yogurt, thereby effectively extending my car-themed run of VO work (did you miss the Cadillac commercial with Laurence Fishburne where I’m the voice of his talking GPS?  Good GOD, go listen!  It’s ridiculous!  And wonderful!  But mostly ridiculous!) Getting cast for this spot provided a funny realization - there were two spots – one for California, one for New York – and I was cast as the New Yorker.  Funny?  Funny how?  Funny because I was raised in San Diego.  California.  It ultimately made perfect sense as the client was looking for two different voices, and the Californian was the mother of teenagers (doubtful I could pull that off convincingly).  But funny the dichotomy of self-perception v. the perception of others.  Gotta say, I kinda love being considered a believable New Yorker.  It reminds me of the last time I was there, and constantly being asked for directions, even by local kids.  I was in it.  SO in it.

All in all, the session was a delight.  Spending the morning with the boys from Shout Radio Productions/Shout Creative ranks high on my list of good ways to wake up.  And by "boys," I mean "incredibly talented and accomplished adult men who are also super fun to work with."  Love those guys.  Love, love, love.

Now – some audio that’s good for your bones:

And yes, I know there’s 10 seconds of general silence at the end with just traffic noises in the background – that’s left open for local tags (“Yoplait is on sale now at your local [insert grocery store name here]”), and I presently have neither the patience nor the…well, just patience really…to edit that ten seconds out.  Too busy carrying my tiny dog around.

Luxury, Laurence Fishburne, and Leigha

So, you know Laurence Fishburne?  Morpheus from The Matrix series?  Dr. Raymond Langston from the CSI: shows?  Well, he just happens to be the spokesman for Cadillac.  And it’s no wonder; the man is smooth.  So, so smooth.  

So you can imagine my mind-blown excitement when I got called in to voice his GPS for the new Cadillac radio ad “Shield/What Doesn’t it Do?”  The spots are now playing in New York and LA…I imagine they’ll work their way inward soon, but just in case you would prefer not to be surprised in your car, I offer the file for your personalized listening pleasure:

Teleportation mode initiated, indeed.

Writing Minnesota

A few weeks ago I was invited into the recording studios at Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) to work on a pilot program, Writing Minnesota.  I was joined by the immensely talented Patrick Coyle, Charles Fraser, Michael Booth, and Tena-May Gallivan to record a scripted version of Charles Baxter’sThe Winner.  I voiced the sassy seductress/Other Woman, Lorraine. Writing Minnesota will air Friday, April 15, at noon and Sunday, April 17, at 6 p.m. on Minnesota Public Radio News stations across the state – listen live (91.1 in the Twin Cities), or stream online.  UPDATE 4/16/2011: Writing Minnesota is now available for online listening!  You can listen to the whole program or just Charles Baxter's The Winner here.

And now, a peek inside the studio at MPR:

Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio

The last time I was in this studio was for a piano performance by Koji Attwood while he was in town for the Walker Art Center's Baryshnikov: Solos with Piano

B_IMG_3848

Who knew MPR transports their artists to and from studio sessions via pneumatic tubes?

C_IMG_3875

Koji's piano.

D_IMG_3852

Could this be yet another Neumann condenser mic?  Why yes, yes it could.  I'm sensing a theme here.  As demonstrated by the lighting, you can see that the heavens also approve.

E_IMG_3857

No separation between mics meant my stomach growling could ruin Charles' take.  I'm neither confirming nor denying whether that actually happened.

F_IMG_3853

Nuemann condenser mic + windscreen.  This beauty deserves representation from all angles.  HOT.

G_IMG_3851

Hanging up the headphones for the day.

2010 in Review

End-of-year lists can be so tedious.  I know this.  And yet here we are.  Because the only thing more tedious than end-of-year lists is searching for some documentation of some thing that happened a year or two or three ago, and not being able to find anything about it because I was too lazy/tired/overjoyed/myopic/disassociated to actually write about it.  I therefore offer up this end-of-year list as a compendium of my professional shenanigans so that searching for them in the future won’t drive me crazy.  You’re welcome, Me. Be sure to thank me later. In 2010 I made my living in front of an audience and behind the mic.  And for that I am so deeply in awe.  So deeply grateful for my fortuity.  While our economy is not nearly as bad as 2009, it’s still in terrible disarray and record numbers of people are still unemployed.  Even so, I was able to make a modest living via my profession; a modest living that didn’t require me to engage in morally questionable behavior (the kind where one would accompany a raised eyebrow with ‘actress’ in air-quotes).

Without further ado, my performance highlights of 2010:

January

• Voice-overs for ParentAwareRatings.org (listen).
• Voice-overs for St. Catherine University (listen).  Turns out a friend heard the spot multiple times and never realized it was me until I mentioned it on Facebook.  I kind of like it when that happens.
• Finished the six-month run of Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  I spent part of my weekdays engaging with the general public as Nurse Evelyn Marsden – sharing, in a darling English accent, her experiences aboard the ship in the first-class cabins and hospitals.  I was sad to say goodbye to her.
• Voice-overs for Marketplace Events -  2nd year in a row (listen).  Ty Pennington and me on national TV and radio urging you to attend home shows all around the U.S. (watch)  TV commercials aired on HGTV and ABC and their affiliates.

February

• Began rehearsals for the Science Museum of Minnesota’s next exhibition – The Dead Sea Scrolls: Words That Changed the World, wherein we would perform a three-minute introductory monologue for visitors every 7.5 minutes.  In all honesty, it was mind-numbing, but the visitors were mostly appreciative.
• Interviewed by Minnesota Public Radio’s Chris Roberts about my line-memorization techniques – ultimately compiled into a clever on-air story and accompanying slideshow with fellow actors Steven Epp, Mo Perry and Clarence Wethern.
• The Big Oscar Crunch 2010 – wherein I try to see as many of the Oscar-nominated films as humanly possible before the awards ceremony.  The fun of doing it that way is not only seeing excellent movies, but actually feeling invested in more than just the red carpet.
• Started rehearsals for Spring of Freedom/Summer of Fear – a new Iranian play by Ali G. Ravi , produced by Table Salt Productions.
• VO gig for Carlson Companies – got to put Nurse Evelyn Marsden’s darling English accent to good use.

March

• Devastated to drop out of Spring of Freedom/Summer of Fear due to a harrowing family crisis which, because it apparently wasn’t bad enough, led to a nasty case of shingles.  Yes, shingles.  Probably the worst three weeks of my adult life to date.
• Called in by the lovely Barbara Shelton at Bab’s Casting to audition for a new WB pilot Mike and Molly.  The network was looking for someone 30 pounds overweight.  I was exactly that (not anymore, thanks to a newfound love of yoga), and so happily went in.  Between the script (and the eventual casting choice), it became quite clear that LA thinks 30 pounds overweight is the same thing as obese.  Surprising?  Not really.
• Called in by the Guthrie Theater to audition for the role of Eunice in Streetcar Named Desire.  Almost missed the e-mail because I assumed it was Guthrie marketing spam and was about to delete it.  Didn’t recognize the sender’s name, though, so opened it.  Close call.
• VOs for Nexxus demos/animatics.  These are voice-overs for a concept by the ad agency for the client.  If it gets approved by the client, the agency then films the spots.  Since I almost never watch commercial TV, I have no idea if these ever made it though the pipeline...my guess is no (especially since many of these were the same as, or similar to, the ones I did in April 2009).

April

• VOs for Nexxus demos/animatics – two more sessions.
• Public reading of Casa Cushman, a new work by NYC’s Tectonic Theater Project (the folks who brought you The Laramie Project, at the University of Minnesota Nolte Center.

May

• Crickets. Both figurative and literal.  Aside from live science demonstrations at the Science Museum of Minnesota, it appears that I did nothing performance-related in May.  And I went camping.
• On Tuesday, May 11, amongst of a jumble of scheduled meetings and things to do, I found written in my calendar, “Hell-cat Maggie and Slops McConnell.”  I have no idea what that means, but I think it’s funny, so thought I would share with anyone who is still reading by this point.  Kiss, kiss.

June More crickets.  Figurative.  See May.

July

• Started rehearsals for See You Next Tuesday, my very first show with Walking Shadow Theater Company.
• Three-day script workshop of Trista Baldwin’s stunning Forgetting at The Playwrights’ Center.

August

• 2010 Minnesota Fringe Festival, and my performance in Walking Shadow’s critically acclaimed See You Next Tuesday.  I was so excited to be back at the festival that I advance-purchased an Ultra Pass, with which I ended up only seeing three shows due to an emergency hospital visit and an emergency vet visit.  2010 was not turning out to be a great year for health.
• VO spots (more, again) for Marketplace Events home shows with Ty Pennington – TV and Radio (listen).  Continued airings on HGTV and ABC.

September

• VO spots for General Mills – TV tags for Totino’s Party Pizzas (listen).
• Attended the (somethingth annual) Ivey Awards – Minneapolis/St. Paul’s version of the Tonys.  Very, very swank.  Very, very inspiring.
• VO spots for General Mills – TV tags for Progresso Soup (listen).

October

• Obscenely busy month that had almost nothing to do with performing.  Included business travel to San Francisco for continued work on behalf of the Science Museum of Minnesota for NISE Net (Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network), with a little leisure travel to San Diego and LA on the side.
• No! Wait!  Because of my General Mills VOs in September, this is the month that I was required to join the Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG)!  That’s right, I got my SAG card in October.  October was not an actorly loss, after all.

November

• Started rehearsals for a three-week, 30-hours/week workshop of Casa Cushman – in collaboration with NYC’s Tectonic Theater Project, choreographer Carl Flink, University of Minnesota Department of Theater Arts and Dance, a couple other U of M departments that I can’t recall at the moment, and The Playwrights’ Center.
• Sent live the brand-spankin’-shiny-new leighahorton.com.

December

• Performance of Casa Cushman at the Northrop Auditorium.  This was a wild ride, and at the end of it all, despite some crazy-cray-cray, it was kind of awesome.  And I kind of loved it.
• VOs for General Mills (42 in total) for Progresso Light Soups, Yoplait and Yoplait Light Yogurts, and Big G Cereals national TV spots.  I just about died and went to heaven.
• VOs for Marketplace Events Home Shows with Ty Pennington – third year running!
• Authored and published a children’s book for NISE Net, Alice in Nanoland, which, as you read this, is being mailed to 200 informal science education institutions (science museums, children’s museums, etc.) across the nation in the 2011 NanoDays kits.  What a curious little experience that was.

And there we have it!  The months of 2010 demonstrate both feast and famine and average out to healthy; December being, by far, the most entertaining (well, for me, anyway).  I continue to stand, mouth agape, at the wondrous profession I have chosen and the beautiful trajectory it has taken thus far.  I cannot wait to see what delightful paths await!

An Actor Prepares (Her Taxes)

Taxes. Bleh. I’m not going to wax poetic about the royal pain in the hoo-ha that is filing taxes every year - especially actor taxes that come in the form of a slew of W-2s and 1099s, a kajillion itemized deductions, and a bevy of industry-specific tax questions that tend to escape the expertise of the average tax preparer. Instead, I plan to arm you with the best resources I have: ONE - Fox Tax. These fellows know their business. They know artists. They specialize in artists. They’re affordable to artists.

TWO - Actor’s Tax Tips. Free! A brand spankin’-new blog by local actor and tax whiz and all-around responsible and intelligent guy, Mark Bradley.

THREE - The Actor’s Tax Guide. Not free! But totally worth it! Chock-full of industry-specific tax info for you, handy-dandy worksheets, organizational advice, AND tax-deductible! By the aforementioned Mark Bradley. And he’s local, so if he steers you wrong, you “know where to find him.”

FOUR - Backstage.com’s Actors’ Assets. I just found these articles today when looking up what it means to be a “Qualified Performing Artist.” They’re well written and quite informative. I must say, though, $16,000 cap on your adjusted gross income?! What a joke. Too bad “Qualified Performing Artist” and “Successful Performing Artist” seem to be mutually exclusive.

If you, too, have a little bundle of actor tax preparation secrets up your sleeve, by all means, do share. Misery does love its company, does it not?

2009 In Review

Oh dearest 2009, how I neglected to give you a proper adieu. But because I always need to have the last word, your shenanigans shall not go untouted nor unscathed. This here is my farewell parting shot: The past year brought a load of work, a load of appreciation for the work I was getting, and one giant, lazy attitude toward writing about it.  Of particular note, midway through 2009 I was able to make a return to performing for a living.  “What?  What do you mean?    Actresses in the Twin Cities aren’t filthy stinking rich and famous?!”  Surprisingly, no, not so much.  See, periodically a girl like me is obliged to suck it up and take a part-time “day job” to keep some steady cash rolling in while filling in the rest with voice-overs and stage work.  What is this world coming to?

What happened was this: in June I was cast as Nurse and First-Class Stewardess Evelyn Marsden in Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the Science Museum of Minnesota, as well as joined the museum’s Science Live Theater cast. When at the museum, but not in 1912 costume, I bust out my mad knowledge of nanoscience to thwart an Evil Scientist From The Future, as well as demonstrate the important properties of surface area by blowing giant fireballs and discussing chemical reactivity.  It has been a joy to perform regularly for the (what by now must be) thousands of audience members taking an interest in science.  Additionally, I am responsible for coordinating and moderating public forums for adults about nanoscale science on behalf of NISE Net (Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network).  Moreover, it’s less than part-time, and voice-overs and stage work really ARE filling in the rest.  Even in this wretchedly hobbled economy.  My stars are indeed lucky.  And I thank them regularly.

So here, for posterity, are my performance highlights of 2009:

January Marketplace Events spots - Ty Pennington (that dude from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) and me on TV and radio urging you to attend particular home shows here and there in the U.S.  TV commercials aired on HGTV and ABC and their affiliates.  Read more about my sister's hilarious request.

February Nothing of note - sometimes that’s a good thing.  Looks like I was in rehearsal.  Not always a good thing.

March

• Performances of Adam Szymcowicz’s The Captivity Plays at the Bryant Lake Bowl
• After 18 months of pain in the form of oral torture, treatment was completed and my braces were removed.  I was rewarded with awesomely perfect teeth and new-found confidence.  Join me in reliving my happy dance.
• Supervalu spots - radio spots for grocery stores around the U.S. - Albertson’s, Lucky, Supervalu, Shaw’s/Star Market, Cub Foods, Jewel-Osco, Kroger, Hornbacher’s, etc.

April Nexxus spots - I don’t believe these were ever aired - just voice-overs for a concept by the ad agency for the client.  If it was approved by the client, the agency would then film the spots.  Since I almost never watch commercial TV, I have no idea if these ever made it though the pipeline...my guess is no.

May

• Played Nerve 123080 in full-length feature film, The System, with Voices Media, Inc. - the same folks who brought you the award-winning web-series Chasing Windmills.  Devilish early morning feats trumpeted here.
• Joined Twin Cities AFTRA Board.

June

• Caroline or Change, The Homosexuals’ Guide to the Universe, Tiny Kushner - now these didn’t involve me at all, save for my presence in the audience.  But I found the first two to be incredibly moving, incredibly powerful pieces of work.  And I was thrilled that Minneapolis was able to honor such a fantastic playwright in this way, and that such a fantastic playwright got to workshop a brand-new play in our fine city.
• Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition opens at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  This is my new “day job” wherein I get to spend part of my weekdays engaging with the general public and informing them about Miss Evelyn Marsden’s life and the hospitals aboard the ship in a darling English accent. Personal ship preparation stories here.
• United Health Care spots - my first political spots, something about calling your congresspeople somewhere in New England. Connecticut maybe? Urging you to take a particular stand on some kind of health care legislation.  Don’t remember the particulars, but got to work with the guys at Shout.  And I absolutely adore Mark Benninghofen, so it was a joy.

July Joined the Science Museum of Minnesota to work on NISE Net (Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network) projects - both performing live stage plays and demonstrations that deal directly with nanoscale science, as well as coordinating and facilitating adult public forums about nanoscale science.  This is only 10 hours per week, and I love it.  And it makes me feel a little closer to my scientific heroes of audio over at RadioLab.  And to paraphrase the words of my delightfully brilliant colleague Michael Ritchie: I realize that my day job can never be bad, because I work in a place with musical stairs.

August

• Fringe Festival fail - this was hard.  This was very, very hard.  The Ministry of Cultural Warfare, the company I have both figuratively and literally sweat and bled for since 2000, planned to do a show.  Due to a Perfect Storm of really crappy circumstances, I had to remove myself from the process, and we ultimately had to back out of the festival at a late date.  It was heartbreaking, and the fallout was equally heartbreaking.
• Marketplace Events radio and TV spots - the plus side of August was that Ty Pennington had some more home shows to promote, so it was back into the studio to add my special female aural sparkle.
• The Minnesota State Fair - I spent an afternoon as host of the Labor Pavilion at “The Great Minnesota Get-Together.”  They gave me a wireless mic, put me in a Green building and the adjacent pavilion, and let me loose amongst the various Labor kiosks and the throngs of fair-goers.  There was trivia, there were hand-crafted on-the-spot copper roses, there were nurses and flight attendants and machinists and steel workers and everything in between.  At the end of my shift, they snapped a photo which made its way into the national AFTRA magazine.

September I spent nearly half the month on the road, traveling to Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco - this was for my work with the Science Museum of Minnesota on behalf of the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net), and it was incredibly inspiring.  It did indeed involve some performing, but it also involved meeting with social scientists to consider the social, political, and ethical implications of nanoscale science, and how to get audiences considering these aspects, as well.  We also met for the purpose of setting goals for years 6-10 of NISE Net’s grant funded by the National Science Foundation, and it involved learning how other organizations engage audiences in learning about nanoscale science.  Inspiring, and the locations were fantastic.  I love the Pacific Northwest.

October Lead role of Hannah in Table Salt Productions' inaugural show, Burned at the Gremlin Theatre.  Nothing like spending an hour before each performance putting glue on my face, letting it dry and manipulating it and coloring it to make it look like nasty scar tissue.  While it was a serio-comic post-apocalyptic tale, it was a joy to make a foray back into dramatic work.  Read a little more about it.

November

• Workshop and public reading of Dog and Wolf - an incredibly well-crafted, powerful,  and riveting play about a Bosnian refugee by Catherine Filloux, in which I played the lead, Jasmina.  This play is being produced Off-Broadway this February.
• My first public nanoscience forum about privacy, civil liberties, and nanotechnology.  It was a small group of about 15 people, but helped me get my feet wet.  Now that I’ve done something in the accepted mold, I can hack it and make it more interesting, accessible, and engaging.  Watchout Twin Cities - you’re about to get schooled in nano.

December

• more Marketplace Events spots - this time for home shows around the U.S. in 2010.
• Caribou Coffee spots - The tone and delivery in these spots makes me feel like we’re sitting on a front porch swing, lazing the day away.  And they’re all about handcrafted oatmeal.  And I got to spend some good time with my friends over at Babble-On Recording studios.  I love those engineers.
• General Mills spots for Tuesday Taco Night - you know you’ve made it when your VOs keep getting interrupted by a mariachi band.  Plus more time at Babble-On!  Whee!

Plenty to share for January already - but it’s a new year, so it gets a new post.  Here’s looking forward to a peaceful, prosperous 2010.  And I'll actually work on getting all of these 2009 (and future) voice-over spots posted for your listening pleasure.  It's not as hard as I make it sound, and yet here we are.  Soon, I promise.

Extreme Voice Over

Last month I did 20 commercials with Ty Pennington and I could just squeal.  There, I said it.  I've been trying to find a dainty or clever or daintily clever way of saying it, but nothing has come to mind and this news is verging on stale.  So there you have it – I just did 20 commercials.  With Ty Pennington.  For those of you who have effectively killed their televisions (mine is stuck on PBS and I love it), he's the dude who hosts Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, yells into a bullhorn, and then makes viewers weep when they see how he’s improved the depraved lives of the family whose home is being remodeled that week. And before anyone asks – no, I don't know Ty now, nor does he know me.  We were in completely separate cities when we recorded, and never interacted with one another.  It follows then, much to the dismay of my 14-year-old sister, that I can't tell you what he smells like.

We split out the recordings over two sessions, the first of which had me regrettably on the tail end of a nasty cold; I was, however fully redeemed in the second session by being smokin' hot.  Or at least something that resembled healthy non-suckage.  The fellas talked football, I met them with blank stares.  They laughed.  Good times were had by all.

Anyway, 10 commercials for TV, 10 for radio, all location-specific, advertising Marketplace Events home shows with various HGTV star appearances and special attractions.  The TV spots will be shown on HGTV, not sure about the market for the radio spots.  Anyway, I am your friendly announcer for spots in New York, the Washington, D.C. area, Philadelphia, greater New England, Minneapolis, Denver, Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, and Des Moines, among others.  You hear me, you hear Ty.  That's it.

Samples or links or some kind of proof coming in the near future.

In Your Radio 3.0

Last month I recorded a couple of radio spots for Target. Yes, that Target. I had to keep mum on sharing the audio files due to proprietary-product-launching-somethingorother-yadda-yadda-yadda, BUT – here, finally, they are:

[audio:http://www.leighahorton.com/docs/audio/Final_Mix_QDAF-7671_TargetHP.mp3] Target - “HP Pavillion Notebooks” Recorded and Produced by Babble-On Market: Our entire Estados Unidos - Baby’s first truly nation-wide spot. Line: All of them. I am Narrator; hear me roar!

[audio:http://www.leighahorton.com/docs/audio/Final_Mix_QDAF-7695_TargetToshiba.mp3] Target - “Toshiba Laptops” Recorded and Produced by Babble-On Market: U.S.A.! U.S.A.! Line: Same as the HP Pavillion Notebooks spot. Rawr!

Ta-DAAA!

In Your Radio 2.0

Just when you thought I was getting a little too quiet…again…

[audio:http://www.leighahorton.com/docs/audio/050708IWantVers1.mp3]

Cellular South – “I Want” Recorded and Produced by Babble-On Market: Mississippi, Southwest Tennessee, Coastal Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle to Destin – so, basically, the old confederacy – or the Dixie Cup of Shame, if you will. Line: “I want to find my friends online.”

[audio:http://www.leighahorton.com/docs/audio/VOeditedselectGlobalReLeafvideo.mp3]

Landscape Structures, Inc. – “Global ReLeaf Video” Recorded and Produced by Babble-On Market: Industrial and Internet – so, uh, I guess the market is worldwide. Line: All of them. I Am Narrator. Rawr!

I had me a blast over at Babble-On for these two gigs (one Wednesday right after the other – score!). Although my allergies were getting the best of me for the Cell South read, so I’m not thrilled with my contribution to that one; pollen is my kryptonite. Damn you, pollen! Dammmmnnnnnn youuuuuuu!

In summary: Spend more time in the studio? Check. Foster diabolical plan for world airwave domination? Checkity-check. Make more friends and contacts while doing so? CHECK, baby. CHECK.

In Your Radio

Just when you thought I was getting a little too quiet…

[audio:http://www.leighahorton.com/docs/audio/Centex_Breakup_40.mp3] Centex Homes – “Breakup” Recorded and Produced by Audio Ruckus Market: Minneapolis I play the ummm, erm, “snotty” daughter. Biiiiiig stretch, right mom? It was pretty easy to channel that character, as the attitude was clearly mine from roughly 1992 through 1999.

[audio:http://www.leighahorton.com/docs/audio/KL8025A.mp3] Kansas Lottery– “Keno Radio: Questions” Recorded and Produced by a confounding digital relationship between Minneapolis’ Babble-On and Kansas City’s (yes, MO) Evolution Audio. Market: Kansas I am the ditz: “My boyfriend went to Topeka and played Keno…should I be concerned?”

[audio:http://www.leighahorton.com/docs/audio/RLTF8008.mp3] LifeTime Fitness – “In My Lifetime” (1 of 2 – my favorite of the two - it positively smolders) Recorded and Produced by Audio Ruckus Market: Minneapolis, Dallas I am the dreamer: “In my lifetime, I will listen to my heart.”

[audio:http://www.leighahorton.com/docs/audio/RLTF8008REV3.mp3] LifeTime Fitness – “In My Lifetime” (2 of 2 – more practical, straightforward) Recorded and Produced by Audio Ruckus Market: Minneapolis, Dallas I am the doer: “In my lifetime, I will listen to my heart.”

Quiet? HA! See what I did just there? I unleashed a fury of sound because I CANNOT BE SILENCED. BWAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Kidding. In all honesty I just wanted to share because voice-over work makes me feel all shiny. SHINY!

"In my Life Time..."

Monday? Yes, Monday. Monday I did a radio spot for Life Time Fitness at Audio Ruckus. God, I love being union; it was the best paid nine words I’ve ever spoken (yessiree, whittlin’ down that AFTRA initiation fee-beasty little by little).

I got there early and killed time discussing books with Engineer Jim. Engineer Jim might possibly be the most conversational-in-a-good-way engineer I’ve ever met. Good times, Jim, good times. Then Mason from Life Time arrived and was instantly bombarded and subsequently baffled by an Ayn Rand reference – turns out it’s hard to explain Rand’s work without sounding like an Objectivist oneself (ack! NO!), so I clumsily added that I’m on the far opposite end of the political spectrum but that her works are still fascinating reads. Um, awkward. I blame Engineer Jim for bringing it up in the first place. Blame, Engineer Jim, blame. Despite it all, Mason was cool. It boded well for the session.

And what a great session it was! I supposedly nailed the spot in the first take (One-take Wonder, thankyouverymuch), but we did a handful more just for good measure. Not sure what take they actually ended up using – I suspect the guys were just trying to pump my ego.

Now, the story would normally have ended there, but I later received a call from my agent indicating the need to re-record the spots because Engineer Jim botched the recording. Son of a… Kidding, Engineer Jim, kidding. We needed to re-record the spots because the client wanted to offer an entirely different mood to the CEO – it sounded like a clash in the eternal marketing battle of vision vs. sales. But, I love me some studio, so that was just fine by me.

I’ll be sure to post the spot at some point in the near future – until then, listen for it in Minneapolis and Dallas – it starts with a heartbeat and then I say, “In my lifetime, I will listen to my heart,” then the announcer comes in with all the Life Timey details.

Can I say how much I love the studio atmosphere? Yes, I can. I love the studio atmosphere. It feels like home.

p.s. - if it appears that I'm harassing Engineer Jim in the post, it's because I am. He likes it.