They "upgraded" my workplace's content filter in July, resulting in LJ now being unaccessible from work. Since that's where I tend to post from most frequently, this has resulted in my entries almost entirely drying up.

Not much to post about recently anyway.

I just got my vacation day approved for Monday, July 30th, which allows me to take the opportunity to drive down to San Diego to audition for next season's American Idol.

I will, obviously, keep you all updated on anything that may come of this. I'm dead-certain that I have the talent and showmanship that it requires to become a contestant, but the I still have to contend with their image standards. Being a Man Of Girth promises to limit me a bit in this regard, but I'm choosing not to let it stop me from auditioning.

I could be the next Ruben Studdard! Only, yknow, not black. And hopefully not erased from the face of the world by whoever comes in 2nd place. ;)

My parents moved from their construction trailer, into the nearly-finished house, on Mother's Day. They'd just finished moving the bulk of their belongings from the trailer into the home, prior to going to Texas recently.

Last night, their second night back home from the trip, they were awakened by a loud boom, followed by a series of hisses & crackles.

The trailer had exploded.

Well, not QUITE exploded, I guess. The refrigerator (which had been giving them issues anyway) caught fire, and caused a few of the other portions of the trailer to violently rupture. Luckily, not the septic tank. Also luckily, they'd detached the propane tank a few months ago and switched entirely to electricity.

Anyway, the trailer is a total loss, and they're dealing with the homeowners' and auto insurance for the damage to the trailer & their property.

Kinda scary! If that'd happened one night earlier, it may've spread to the garage and/or shop, before the neighbors had noticed and responded.

But I figured I'd let anyone interested know, that I'll be offline until next Monday or Tuesday.

I'll be flying to Texas to attend our first EVER Family Reunion, for my mom's extended family. It'll be interesting, I'm sure.

In an effort to further motivate myself to work on my music career... I have signed up for another website!

This one's for finding Voiceover work, or for jobs finding me. It's like a Monster.com, for people that talk for a living.

http://randallj.voices.com

Pretty sparse at the moment. I need to go lay down some voice tracks now, but I'm not sure what material I'd use as a demo.

Today is my dad's birthday. He was greeted this morning bright & early, by a knock on the door. It was a neighbor, bearing the news that my dad's dog - a beautiful wolf/husky mix, named Kopek - had been hit by a car on the highway about 1/2 mile from their property, and found dead.

She really was beautiful, and extremely friendly considering her "wild" lineage (confirmed by multiple vets). I barely spent any time with her, but even I'll miss her.

So, my dad got to spend the first few hours on the morning of his birthday, burying a best friend. =(

Kopek w/ my little brother Kenny :

Really, really good film. Definitely Will Farrell's best work in my opinion, though it was sorta one of those roles that could be played by almost anyone -- the guy that things happen TO, instead of the guy that makes things happen.

But that doesn't mean he's a stagnant character - there's a huge amount of character development over the course of the film. Really, that's the entire point. The quirky plotline (guy hears the voice of his narrator, who intends to kill him at the end of the story) is only the hook for a heartfelt story about growing beyond our preconceptions, and embracing the life we're given. It really plays well, and I enjoyed the writing a lot.

The whole cast puts out great performances, even the small roles.

Without giving away too much of the plot, I have to tell you my favorite part. The main character (Will Farrell) has fallen for a baker (played by Maggie Gyllenhall - so cute), and so shows up outside her shop one night with a gift. A shallow box full of small brown bags.

He brought her flours.

I believe I audibly went "awww" at that point.

Anyway, I rarely write about movies, so that should give you an idea of how much I really enjoyed this one. I highly recommend it.

For anyone interested, my demo tracks are back online on my new website.

http://voicewithoutlimits.com

That is all.

Last night I dreamed that I got fired because I was tricked by a co-worker into surfing for porn from my work machine.

What a bitch! hehe.

No real news in my life. Still actively trying to figure out my plans for the end of this lease. Scott is trying REALLY hard to keep me here in California.

It would make it easier to go back to school....

I've created a blog/webspace, dedicated to promoting and tracking my fledgling music career.

http://voicewithoutlimits.com

It's a bit sparse at the moment, but I intend to have my demo tracks back online within the next few nights. After that, there will also be an online repository for my lyric sheets (and later on, tab/lead charts). And eventually even video clips of some of my stage performances (soon as I can get them out of storage and transferred from VHS to digital).

My hope is that having this big, vacant webspace will prompt me to keep my mind on my music career, if only to have something to occasionally write about. Gotta find motivation where I can!