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Saturday, August 31, 2002


"It's in my bones, I tell you!"


I regularly read the weblog (and discussion board) on WilWheaton.net. (For those of you that are unfamilar with Wil, he's the actor that played young Wesley Crusher on the television show, Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as starring on the popular movie, Stand By Me...) .... Well, I was reading through his blog a few days ago and he posted a rather poignant post about loving acting, just becasue it's something you have a passion for. I thought I'd quote him regarding what he said.... It rang true with me, and perhaps explains a little about how I feel about my love for 'playing pretend'. ... [smile]

"If you want to be a professional actor, you have to love the acting, the performing, the thrill of creating a character and giving it life. You have to love all of that more than you hate how unfair the industry is, more than the constant rejection --and it is constant-- hurts. You must have a passion within you that makes it worthwhile to struggle for years while pretty boys and pretty girls take your parts away from you again and again and again."

- Quote by Wil Wheaton

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"Playing catch-up, and an awesome day!"


Thursday and Friday, August 29 - 30, 2002

Thursday was another relatively relaxing day. I worked on personal projects mostly. Nothing too fancy overall. Dinner-time was probably the most interesting of note, and I'll tell you why.... It was a free meal. [smile]

It's interesting what a television commercial can do. Most of the time we just see them and get annoyed that they are disrupting our favorite show. Maybe that's the time you go get a snack, I don't know. Either way, though they are intended to stimulate us into wanting whatever is advertisted, be it a new car (yeah right, like I'm going to go buy a car on a whim... lol...), or some product from the local grocery store, we generally ignor them. I usually do too, however for some odd reason a thought struck me as I watched that familiar McDonalds commercial advertising their new spicy chicken strips (you know, the one with the song, "...tell me what you want, what you want...I'll tell you what you want..." or however it goes.... It's on all the time it seems...).

Anyway, I recalled, totally out of the blue, that I still had $10 dollars in free MacDonalds food gift certificates, from I don't know where. Who knows where that thought came from, but it was true. I looked for them in my files, and sure enough, there they were.... $10 in McDonald's gift certificates....

... So, for dinner Thursday, I walked down to the nearby Mickey-D's and ended up having a free $7 dollar meal. Oh, and yes, those spicy chicken strips are rather tasty, although I don't know how keen I was on the buffalo sauce to go with them.... [chuckles] ... I also had one of those tasty butterfinger McFlurries.... Mmmm, not bad for a free meal at McDonalds. Thank you to whomever gave me those gift certificates.... [shrugs]... :)

Well, that, oddly enough, was the highpoint of Thursday. Hey, what can I say, I'm amused by the simple things in life.... lol

Today, Friday, was a little more of a go-someplace-do-something sort of day. I decided that I'd grab the bus (since I don't own a car yet) and head out to my former place of employment, Office Max, and return a few job-related documents I was lent. Hey, I don't need them anymore... I don't work there. (Honestly, I haven't finished reading them yet, but who cares, I've already forgotten what I did read... and it makes no difference now anyway...)...

I got out there, and made my way from the bus stop through the 'stripmall' parkinglot towards my old employment (of only nearly two weeks). I was a little concerned what I would be greeted with. By no doing of my own, other than accepting another job, my employment ended abruptly at the end of last week, despite my giving my 'resignation' notice. I was scheduled to work this week, and was fully willing to finish out my schedule, but alas I guess my Office Max boss was a little ticked that I chose to leave for another job, and he told me, ".... I'll take this as your resignation, effective emmediately." He told me not to come in. ... As I walked towards the store this afternoon, I was a little uncertain what kind of reception I'd get. Afterall, it was the boss's decision to leave the store in a sudden scheduling lurch, rather than ease me out of the schedule.

Well, as luck would have it, Tim (the boss) was not there. He's a nice guy, but I was glad I did not have to deal with him. Steve, a fellow co-worker about my age, was there. He was a little upset at Tim's 're-scheduling' due to my 'absence'.... not because of me, but becausee of how Tim had rearranged things.... Tim was favoring time off for himself, and that's not a good way for a manager to function (but, I digress...).... I got to talk with Steve for a little, as things were slow back in Copy Max. He's thinking of leaving Office Max too, for greener pastures, and this time BECAUSE OF Tim. Honestly I don't blame him. His reasons were sound.

Ironically, when I told Steve that I was now working a this certain Barnes and Noble, he mentioned that he planned to apply there himself... to that very same store. Hey, I wouldn't mind working with him again, he's a very nice guy. We seem to have a few things in common.... We'll see what happens.

By now, things were picking up again, so I bid Steve a farewell, and honestly, I don't know if I'll ever run into him again. I hope so, but we'll see. Today was also payday, and I actually did have a paycheck waiting for me. I picked it up and opened it.... I was pleasantly stunned.... It was for a much larger amount than I had been expecting. I guess I had miscalculated the kind of pay my short tenure at Office Max gave me. Hey, cool... It made my day. :)

I walked across the street to a branch of my local bank, took care of my banking, and returned across the street, deciding it was time for dinner. (Well, it was shortly after 5pm...). I actually had a strong craving for a thick, juicy hamburger -- not the wimpy-looking stuff Mickey-D's usually has. There was a Burger King nearby, so I stopped in and found something suitable to quench my craving .... You know, I must have REALLY been craving that type of meal, because that burger tasted very, very good, and the large Dr. Pepper was like sweet sweet wine. (Well, ok, I exaggerate, but it was very tasty to my tastbuds!) .... I realized something too while I was sitting there eating, I just had two very nice-sized fast food meals in the past two days for a grand total of five bucks! Wow, do I have a thrifty eye or what?!... [chuckles]

Well, I then grabbed a few groceries (including some of those new half mint, half creme oreos, which are very good by the way), and grabbed the long bus-ride back to my part of town. I returned to my apartment, and a few hours later, here I sit typing this....

.... I'd say today was a pretty cool day! Who says you need to meet a celebrity or win the lottery to have an awesome day. I've got the simple things in life, and that's more than enough for me!

Take care everyone, and until tomarrow, right here on my new weblog,

Your simple friend,
-Jon

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Friday, August 30, 2002


"Introductions"


Greetings and welcome to my weblog, which replaces a six month run of my journal on Opendiary.com. I have decided to phase out my diary there and move the entire writing endeavor to my own site, here on JonBaas.com.

Now, for those of you new to this journal, unfortuantely you haven't have been able to follow along with the happenings in my own life these past six months. I'll be honest, a lot has happened. I'll assume you have already looked through this nifty little site of mine and you already know that I am a hopeful professional actor. ... Well, that's my career goal anyway.... It's a slow, but exciting journey, and that's why this weblog exists -- to allow others to follow along in that journey. :)

Let's briefly recap these past six months shall we?... [smile]

There's probably not a whole lot of detail I can put forth in regards to my last few months of college (at Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee, WI) ... before graduation that is. Most of my time was take up just concluding things so I actually 'could' graduate. The biggest project was my Senior Art Show. I pulled a few long hours setting up for that, but, in the end, everything turned out well, and the show opened without a hitch.

Finally, by the end of May 2002, classes came to an end, for me, and preparations and rehearsals for graduation itself rolled around. A few days later I found myself in the typical black robe and tasseled hat accepting my diploma and shaking the hand of the college president. ... My how time flies. Four years, and now I'm down to this. ... I was no longer a college student. I was a professional in my field -- a college grad!

With graduation comes the time a grad moves off campus for good. No longer was I residing in campus housing/apartments as I had for the past four years. Now I had to find my own place, my own job,... my own life.

It just so happened, that I was good friends with my sister Rachel's boyfriend, Noah. Things worked out, and he and I found ourselves a nice apartment here in Milwaukee, WI, not far from campus. (Rachel had one more year of college to go, herself, so sticking around was a good idea for Noah... lol). Splitting the rent and apartment-related bills is also a nice blessing for a college grad just starting out on his own. Noah, on the other hand, had already attended a tech school and possessed an Associate Degree in auto repair. I graduated from my liberal arts 4-year college with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Art, and a passion for acting. Noah is the mechanical guy... I'm the creative on.... Nice combination huh?....[lol]

Well, the artist me, was moved in now, and looking for a job. I didn't take into account though the fact that this was the year after 9-11 and the American economy was a little on the low side. In other words, finding a job was a real challenge, despite my efforts constantly sending out my art resume and filling out applications at other places. I won't go into the frustrating details now, but needless-to-say, I could not find a job, and hense, was unemployed and looking, for nearly two months. Trust me, that can be VERY frustrating.

Well, by early August, I found a lead that impressed me, and that I was qualified for. I interviewed, and was hired on at a local Office Max, in the Copy Max section. My job: process phontocopying and printing jobs for clients in the store's customer desktop publishing department (much like a Kinkos). It was work I was more than qualified for, but slightly mundane work at that. I suppose the upside, was that it provided me a necessary paycheck.

I ended up working there for almost two weeks, before a major kink as thrown into the mix.... Finally, all my hard work sending out resumes and applications earlier in the summer started to pay off, and I was presented with interview requests. Sadly I had to turn most of them down. ... One request, however, would take me down a different path in terms of my current employment....

A local Barnes and Noble asked for an interview. 'Cool,' I thought... I could do this job. So, I accepted, and what-do-ya-know, both interviews went exceptionally well. I was hired on the spot, and now work as a bookseller in the very exciting world of Barnes and Noble (ok, ok, that's just my opinion... I guess, though, it sure does beat making photocopies for people all day!... lol...). As of right now, I'm a newby there, but learning, and I think I can really enjoy my stay there.... at least until my intended career takes me elsewhere.

Intended career, you may ask? Yes.... My goal is to be a professional actor. I'm sure you've already read that though. The kicker is though, I don't want to get into that field becasue it pays millions.... No, I want to be a Christian Actor. What that means, is, I am of the belief that our society needs more Christians willing to stand up for Christ in a career field normally reeking of immorality and a lack of good values. Am I the perfect person to bring that to the field, probably not, but my goal is to be the best at it that I can be, and shine as a beacon pointing to Christ. Do I want to make millions? No, not really -- just enough to get by. The key (other than being a witness for Christ) is that I want to do this becasue I enjoy it, and just want to have fun and entertain others through the hard work employing the God-given skills and talents that I have. You can call me strange if you want, but don't count me out. Motivation is a powerful ally!

So, there you have it.... The past six months in a nutshell. Sure I couldn't touch on the auditions, the movie roles, the girl I 'fancy', or the other simplicities of my life which I mused upon over on Opendiary these past six months, but I'm sure that will all pop up here on my 'blog' over time....

I've actually provided the link to my OpenDiary journal, and it'll remain active until my six-month subscription runs out on, or around, September 17, 2002. If you get the chance, you may wish to read over some of that. If anything, it's a pretty good read at least.

Thanks for reading this and stopping by JonBaas.com. Stay tuned because now, my online diary continues here!

Much love to all,
-Jon

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Monday, August 26, 2002


"A blogging we will go!"


Hey everyone, welcome to a little something new I am going to try.


Up until recently, I have hosted my Daily Musings (aka, my online diary/journal) on Opendiary.com. This is a pay service, and unfortunately, my subscription is about to come to an end (after six lovely months of posting!). Though I certainly love the service that website provides, and I'm going to miss the comments, there is a certain merit to having 'everything' hosted directly ON my own website.

I came across this weblog feature some time back, and decided to give it a try. It provides for a great level of functionality, and organizes everything nicely into an archive. I've set the archives to be organized monthly. We'll see how well that works down the road.

So, sit back and enjoy my Daily Musings, now organized into this nifty weblog. If you have any comments, please feel free to email me. I'd love to hear what you think. [smile]

-Jon

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Jon Baas

Blogging Since 2002!
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