Drowning in work

Remember way back, when I said that once my classes end, I'd be able to write? Ha!

I got that travel assignment from the blog, due early January. I need to get that done on time for it to lead to further work.

I have a Reader's Digest article to work on. It's about Afghanistan and some of its people. My contact at the magazine told me that unless I speak Afghani and want to go to Afghanistan, I don't have to reach the tribespeople to confirm their statements. Nice. Because the article is not scheduled in the magazine yet, I have no hard deadline, so I've let it slide a bit.

And then, there's this. And this, too, I suppose. Although it feels a bit like I've been cryogenically frozen, transported to a star system beyond the nearest one, and dumped into the deep end of an alien ocean of some sort of fluid in which I can't swim, with things that want to lay their eggs in me - and not in a nice way - I find myself a producer of Alex's short film.

The funding agencies want a cast in place before they fund. Alex is doing the casting, but I'm in charge of getting in touch with his wish list of actors, and finding any more that would be appropriate. And I have four days to do it, of which today is day two. I've done a pretty good job, if I may say so myself, but headshots and resumes and DVD reels have yet to show up in the mail. I really, really hope they appear tomorrow. We plan to hold auditions this weekend.

My biggest problem is finding a 30-ish East Asian male accent-free actor in Montreal. I don't think there is a single one with experience. I tried all the agencies, I tried ACTRA's Face to Face interface, and I tried my old pal Josa at the Montreal School of the Performing Arts. I found two people through Accès Asie, a local Asian cultural heritage group, but only one has acting experience. I had to stoop to Craigslist.

Ahhh, Craigslist. I've had three applications from that ad, one an Asian in Toronto, one local Asian with no acting experience whatsoever and not even a decent headshot, and one moderately experienced local guy who happens to look more Caucasian than Fred Willard.

To top it all off, I have to correct collections of two QuarkXPress assignments, two final quizzes, a database assignment, and a Web page assignment - and I should do it real soon now. I hate correcting QuarkXPress assignments.

Oh, and the wife is on a business trip tomorrow.

Maybe I should advertise on Craigslist for someone who wants to grade QuarkXPress documents. That way, I might find an experienced and appropriate Asian male.