December 15, 2014

Sassy Cassie, not from Tallahassee


After a late summer storm tore apart my kids' playset, I was building a bigger, better scrap-lumber fortress, distracted by a marathon of podcasts. Sure, I stared blankly at the growing structure from time to time as the voices coming through my earbuds mesmerized. I may have mismeasured a few times and accidentally trimmed a fingernail with a miter saw, but I have no regrets. I love learning. I love multitasking. I even multitask while typinggnngn ngingnnkdk...............

While I impersonated Bob the Builder, I listened to an episode of Pilar Alessandra's On the Page screenwriting podcast (episode #369) with her guests, Cheryl Texeria and Cassie Daniels. Aside from wondering if Cheryl had a Yankee first baseman for a husband or if Cassie had a Dumb and Dumber dad, I really enjoyed their well articulated syllables. They were bubbly, funny, upbeat... just a bundle of shared positivity. Check out the podcast. It's ear candy.

I love reaching out to people on their way to success, so I tracked down Cassie and asked her a few questions before she blocked my e-mail address. I'm not sure she's getting my faxes, so I'll fill in any gaps with my own answers.

Why Cassie? Why do I spend more time asking others about their experiences than sharing my own in this blog that I foolishly subtitled, Reflections on my journey from small-town Minnesota to Hollywood?

Truth is, I don't relish talking about myself. I don't feel the need to put into the universe answers to unasked questions. I know there are a few who take interest in my escapades in this crazy industry, but really, I'd rather make small-talk about the weather and illnesses currently going around than talk about my acting/writing/directing career.

Okay, that's a steaming pile of reindeer poo. I hate small talk. But I don't like talking about my own experiences in this industry unless I feel someone is genuinely interested. And I don't know that many are. Certainly not enough to warrant my own little corner here in Internetblogville.

Then there's the fact that I've been chasing this Hollywood dream for a solid fifteen years with only modest success. The subtitle of this blog should be, Reflections on my journey from small-town Minnesota to moderately-sized-town Minnesota since that's all the further I've made it.

So back to Cassie Daniels. I'm interested in her career for two reasons. First, our backgrounds and interests in the industry are similar. Second, she and Cheryl sounded delightfully cool on Pilar's podcast. I like cool people. I root for cool people. If I can do anything to help cool people out, I do it. Introducing Cassie Daniels to my three blog followers is going to do wonders for her career and then the karma chameleons will slither their way to me.

See. It's all selfish. Just my way of manipulating karma.

At least I'm not delaying the point of this blog entry. Time to dive in and talk about Cassie Daniels, someone who is going to be huge soon. I'm lucky I got to her when I did.

But let me just say first, as I sit here at the coffee shop, I was struggling with the decision to buy a hot or cold drink this morning and I chose cold. Now I'm chilled. Not chilled enough that I need my coat back on, but I wish I had a thicker shirt or a sweatshirt to throw on. Do I regret my decision to get a cold drink? No. I regret my decision to wear the shirt I wore.

The color is nice. It's blue which brings out my eyes.

But enough about coffee and shirts and karma chameleons. Let's talk about Cassie Daniels.

Tomorrow.

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