Hugh B. Forty

Jesus. I suppose I owe an apology to the Interwebs for my lack of buy-in over the last few weeks (month). The God honest(awful) answer is that I've been busy in these subjects:

Work: Who cares about work

Weddings: Attended and participated in a beautiful wedding between two of the most beautiful people I know in lovely Portland. There was a little bit of everything in a break neck weekend in Portland, OR. Got to dress up like 007 and have a prom style hookup. Basically, two kids groping in the dark in a hotel room. Just like prom. I also managed to find a first printing of The Shining in the hotel's main lobby bookcase. If it wasn't missing the dust jacket and such a rad Easter egg, I would've put that shit on eBay in a second. Had a wonderful time and managed to not ruin the wedding, go to the most surreal strip club (the strippers put their own music in the jukebox while they are completely naked and there is a full bar), and even get a couple of Voodoo Doughnuts and a gnarly ass-kicking cold from the weekend. Oh, and some kick ass Arsenal cuff links (Thanks, JD and B!). Really the wedding was an awesome time and you could actually feel the Jungian libido of my brain moving to the "everything is fine" side. When it was all said and done I felt more emotionally sound and actual happiness than I have felt since 1998.

Acting: Let me preface this by saying that I am no actor, but have now acted in something. In life's constant pursuit of a presence on IMDB, I've finally done it with a credit as Chris Isaak. A friend sent me an e-mail asking me to play Chris Isaak in a project that he was writing and I thought it was a jab at me. The script showed up shortly thereafter and I started learning some CI tunes on guitar, still half assedly. I received the shooting schedule and booked a flight and it was fucking on.

It was one of the most intriguing experiences I've been in to date. Let me say right here that acting is really fucking hard. There is so much more than memorizing shit. There is interaction with others and yourself while spitting memorized strings of text while you move around. There is emoting. There is guitar playing and massacration of Chris Isaak hits.

The anxiety when compared to playing guitar in front of a bunch of people pales in comparison when there is a camera a foot from your face and you are talking to someone and can't look at it. The whole thing was a real fuckin' trip and actually really awesome. The after effects have been seeing behind the curtain when you watch TV.

For instance, there was a dude from Mad Men in the shoot and when I got home, I caught up on my Mad Men and there's the dude I was watching football with and hanging out with, but it wasn't really him on the screen. He was really some dude in the 60s.

I was humbled and inspired by the whole experience and really enjoyed it. Plus, all the free Emergen-C you could drink and all of the snacks in the world. They also called me "Talent" which I found a bit presumptous, but they were all very gentle. The director and the other actors were so incredibly nice and supportive that the whole thing felt like an Alcoholic Anonymous session without the Jesus element.

By the end of it, it started to feel a little more natural and I think if I do it again, it'll be really awesome.

Legal Issues: I got officially convicted of Driving Under the Influence. In fact REALLY under the influence enough to get an enhancement on the charge. So, I had to go get enrolled in a 9 month DUI class and pay a gang of fines and go get my "Restricted" license from the DMV. An exercise in waiting and flaming hoops to jump through. On the path to resolution, though, and come July, god willing, this will all be behind me. I've learned my lesson and not going to jump over this candlestick ever again. Hugh be nimble (like a ninja). Hugh be quick (like a ninja shark). Getting a DUI kinda sucks dick.

So, that's it. Sorry I've been neglectful.