yawn...

so last night, I fell asleep on the sofa watching 'Fringe', a new show we DVR'd. I passed out, then woke up a little after 10 and crawled in bed to sleeeeepppp..... the body is such a cool thing. I recorded a couple of hours of narration yesterday, went and recorded three radio commercials, took Chi to the vet... and when I got home I already felt pooped and wrung out. I think my body's shutting down and choosing sleep is helping keep me from getting sick... little sniffles and a general achy-ness make me think sickness wants to move in for a few days, but I've got some work to wade through here. so today, as I prepare to go read more chapters of a business course, I'm very grateful for the good sleep.

I've gotten more of the long-project narration work... this week's business course is just the tip of the iceberg. I spend next week in Dallas working, so right now we're just trying to manage how to get all of the recording done and satisfy the Indians (this is how we refer to them... an American company outsources these courses to some companies in India, who then turn around and contract this studio for the audio portion. weird.).

I didn't set out to do voice work, not originally. I mean, it's not all that I do - I do on-camera work and anything else I can book as well, and I've been writing anime on the side lately - but voice acting has certainly come to make up the lion's share of my income for awhile. college was mostly about theatre and local commercials... I was known far and wide as the Mitchell Pontiac Toyota Girl. ;) the first time I really thought of the possibilities of making money with my voice was in grad school... our voice teacher, Bob, told us about the Folger's guy - he had a house on Long Island with a studio in his home, and recorded his spots there and sent them in. it sounded crazy to me, but... awesome. I did a few spots in Baton Rouge, and then when I moved to Houston and signed with my agent, I quickly booked voice work. from there, it's been like any other business - if you stick around in one place long enough, you work with people, you try to do a good job, they like you, they hire you again. you develop a reputation and relationships, and try to build a base of clients that bring steady (as steady as it can be) work. it's pretty cool, and I'm so blessed to be able to act full-time. it was a colorful road getting here:

high school: I worked for an older couple from church who owned a gift shop and a florist.
college: I was an Arts at ASU representative, and waited tables at Mejor Que Nada during the summers.
grad school: I was on the publicity team for the Dept, and cleaned house for a semi-retired LSU professor. God love Mrs. Simms.
after the move to Houston:
I was hired by JW Productions, a company that co-produces some of the big festivals in town, to be a Production Assistant, and then I was hired across the hall by a woman who owns a sponsorships and promotions company, as an office assistant (I would work for JW, WP, and the festivals on and off for years and sometimes still do, doing various event prep and odd jobs). I left there and went to work briefly for a PR firm, and then heard that a job-share team at a radio station was looking for a part-time assistant. I was with those ladies for 5.5 years, and during that time also had a short stint doing bookkeeping for a local photographer. the component that all of these jobs shared, aside from working with great people, was flexibility... I've gotta have it to pursue acting. and everyone I worked with was so wonderful about understanding this requirement and working with me. there were some crazy times, when I was working three and four jobs at once... whew. it was a good way to learn to be a private contractor... I've done it for so long now, I can't imagine another way to work.

anyway, I'm just feeling blessed today. work is a funny thing... I'm always still looking around for something else to catch my eye. I like change in my work-life, and I'm curious to see if something new will come along that I really want to try...

and now I have to fill this coffee mug and go read 14 chapters about business.