John Driscoll

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!

2008-01-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to one and all! 2008 has finally come as 2007 has now become a memory and a happy one at that for me. I hope that for the rest of you, your thoughts of this past year are joyous happy ones as well. Seeing as how I have been preoccupied with work and the holidays, it is once again time to play catch up of the passed three months. Please grab a chair and kick your feet up because this could take a little while ;p

October was a bit of a blur for me because there really was so much going on that I felt like I was running from one event to the next. The first two weekends of the month were dedicated to the ending of the Off Broadway show I was fortunate enough to be a part of (Angry Young Women in Low rise Jeans with High Class Issues). The show closed on a really good note for me leaving me wanting more of the stage to be honest. I have to say thank you to the lot of you who were able to come out and not only support me but also laugh along at the rather unusual roles I had taken on. It meant quite a bit to see so many familiar faces after the show especially knowing that the last weekend of its run was the exact same weekend as the Guiding Light Fan Club weekend. We all had so much going on that I’m sure everyone was pretty zonked at the conclusion of it. Following the Fan Club weekend was the October “Find Your Light” event. This event coincided with “NY Cares Day” which for those of you who aren’t aware of this day, it is a day where volunteers band together and tackle various projects throughout the city in an attempt to beautify the Big Apple. This year, I believe the total number of volunteers that came out throughout the entire city was somewhere over 8,000! It was a great day overall and we (the Guiding Light crew) really had a fantastic time again with our work and all of the fans who came out to work alongside side us. The only downside to the day I will say was getting ambushed by Frank Dicopolous and his daughter Olivia with paint. By the way, never let paint dry on your skin ESPECIALLY if you’re a guy with hairy arms and legs. I was in the shower for over 30 minutes when I got home trying to scrub that crap off and I ended up ripping more hair out than the water washed off. I had patchy arms and legs of missing hair for the next month….thanks FRANK!

Anyways, to wrap up October we decided to throw a Halloween party. We decided throwing a Halloween bash instead of paying to party at some club where people would be pushing and shoving in a small room with no air and tons of costumes and makeup coming off everywhere would be a smarter idea. So once we decided on a theme for the party we got to work on piecing it all together. With spider webs hung, creepy crawlies all over the room, red lights and green creating an eerie glow, a witch’s cauldron with skeleton hands climbing out of a smoking punch (bought dry ice) with waterproof orange lights illuminating it, food galore cooking and or baking, specialty cocktails ready to be enjoyed, and Mel Brook’s Young Frankenstein playing, how could a great night not be had. As for the costume this year, I went as a Robin Hood character. It was actually a pretty fun choice. Light weight, easy to move in and giving me a kind of Errol Flynn demeanor (yes, you may laugh at that), I was ready for the guests. The night turned out to be a great success amongst our friends and we in turn got to see some pretty creative costumes ourselves. So what I am alluding to by telling you all this is that I’d love to hear some of your Halloween stories and costume ideas if you are so bold. Can be a quick note or a longwinded response like mine are always, LOL!

Moving now into November, work slowed down for me which was a nice change but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t anything for me to do. I was asked to carry the “Outstanding Drama” Emmy to Salt Lake City, Utah to surprise a lucky fan in our traveling Emmy contest. This trip had to be one of the most random trips for me to be honest. Not because of the reason for it or meeting the woman who won, Marjan, and her wonderful family. It was random because of the scenery, my two office friends Pablo and Jay who went with me, the brand new Hummer we were given (HOLLA), the exclusive dining club we ate at the night we arrived which cost like $7 dollars to join, the wild radio songs we were rocking out to in the car, and the intense in-flight trivia game that we played both on the way out and back. This was such a fun excursion that took place over just two days and so memorable that every time Pablo, Jay and I hang out at work we always laugh about the trip.

The only other big event in November was Thanksgiving for me. I was down in Richmond this year and again was way too glutinous at the dinner table. If I keep eating that same way I’m pretty sure that I will be the Turkey next year.

December was a very slow month for me at work, I literally worked one day and had the rest of the time to prepare for Christmas. No matter how many limitations you put on the Holiday as far as gift giving, somehow we always manage to overshoot them by either a bit or a long shot! Before getting into that though I want to talk about the final “Find Your Light” event. Ricky Paul Golden, Crystal Chappell, and myself all went down to Baltimore, Maryland to help sort gifts and disperse to families in need this Christmas. It was run through the Salvation Army and I have to say that everything went without a glitch. Those in charge of organizing and maintaining constant supervision of the volunteers and sometimes the actors when needed (not naming names) really had this project air tight. We all came in knowing the importance of this particular project, that it was the last one of the year for us and that we really needed to work hard and quick. I’m not sure most people understand how difficult and overwhelming this undertaking was. There literally were huge wooden containers that resembled trash dumpsters in size that were filled with gifts that needed to be emptied. In the center of the room were rows and rows of bunk style shelving units (3 shelves high) that held about 25 packing box sized boxes sided by side. The bunk styled shelves ran the entire length of the room, about 30 rows deep. This was a huge depot and we cleared the place of all gifts, getting each box filled with at least a few gifts. As we finished the project, everyone gathered to do our customary wrap up pictures and video and at this point we were notified that despite our wonderful efforts there were still going to be families in need. In the Baltimore area, there were still1200 families that weren’t going to receive a gift box for their family and children. Now before going down on this trip I had gone out and purchased two gifts: action figures for a little boy and a “Bratz” doll for a little girl. Let me just say that those doll’s are scandalous in dress! The only reason I picked one up was because I found one that was fully clothed in winter garb. Anyways, after getting this news about the families still in need, Ricky, Crystal, and I all gave in total a little over $1000 dollars to try and help purchase last minute gifts for those in need. I know it wasn’t much but it was something to try and help with a last minute push seeing as how the boxes had to go out in the next 3 days. As we left that night, our whole group felt much better having done a really good deed especially one that was going to help bring smiles to so many families this holiday season. After returning to New York for a few days it was now time to head back down to Virginia to do time with the family. The 21st was my mom’s birthday so we went and took mom and dad out to a nice seafood place in Old Town, Alexandria. Dad and I wrestled verbally about paying the bill but I eventually won and was able to treat them (he didn’t put up that much of fight btw). After her birthday, we headed down to Richmond where it was time to wrap and assemble gifts for the little nieces and nephews. Now for all you parents out there or Uncles/Aunts, you already know what a pain in the butt assembling toys can be. We do it though because the look on the youngsters face Christmas morning is all the reward we want for our time. So there we all are, Christmas Eve, with two Power Wheels in pieces waiting to be put together with only 7 hours to do it in and manage to get some sleep before the madness of tearing wrapping paper off ensued . Well after many pinched fingers and a few obscenities the two gifts were literally ready to role and we still had 4 hours to sleep before the kids got up. That morning I was woken up by a 3year old (my niece) launching herself across the air mattress and onto my chest…MAN that feels good first thing in the morning! As we all finally collected ourselves and came into the living room, we noticed that the kids had already picked out the biggest coolest toys, the Power Wheels. That was at least something that made us all smile though looking at the time was a reminder of the lack of sleep we had. After doing Christmas Eve with my family and morning, it was time to head over to Sarah’s family’s place to do Christmas there. Everyone was very ready to go by the time we came over and obviously so were we. After a few hours of unwrapping gifts and everyone laughing and “ooooo’ing” or “awwww’ing” over each person’s gift(s), I came across a gift that was sent by heaven above! Now yes, this will be very materialistic of me and not dealing with the true meaning of the holiday itself but this was a pretty cool gift. Sarah had bought an Xbox360 for me and completely surprised me with it. This was something that I had wanted to purchase for some time now but didn’t due to other financial obligations as well as keeping my materialistic wants in check (not easy btw). I have to say that since setting it up, I’m totally in love and it’s as addicting as everyone says.

New Year’s came and went pretty quickly and quietly for us. Went to dinner with friends and was back home by about 11pm. By the time midnight came around I was already pretty tired but stayed awake for Dick Clark’s Rocking New Year’s Celebration. I have to say that it was good to see him hosting again but he also just won’t be the same after the stroke. I think it best to keep the show’s name the same to honor him but let him retire from doing it. Anyways, by 12:30 am I was in bed and actually thankful I didn’t spend anywhere from $150 to $300 for a ticket to some packed party with nothing but finger foods, rude drunk people, and no place to sit. It was a nice way to start the 2008 but I have to be honest, I haven’t really made any resolutions. I guess I just don’t feel that they are necessary you know. Why make a promise to either do or not do something just because it’s tradition? If you really wanted to do it, shouldn’t it be done when you’re ready regardless of day?

So those were my holidays but I’d love to hear about all of yours! If you have any wild and crazy stories, please share them keeping in mind that anyone will be able to read them and even perhaps laugh or relate to your family, lol.

Happy New Year’s to you all and I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

SO FAR, SO GOOD

2007-10-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

It has been two weeks now since my last post and quite a few things have been in motion. Everything from my obvious work at “The Light” to the past two successful weekends of “Angry Young Women…”, the surprise visit of my family and extended at one of my performances this past weekend and the upsetting loss of my beloved Washington Redskins on Sunday (many tears were shed). I guess I could summarize my life as a complete rollercoaster since my last post.

Things over at 523 West 57th street (the home of Guiding Light) are still moving along swimmingly! I haven’t been fired yet (lol) and the Coop and Ashlee storyline is stronger than ever. I know that sometimes it seems like the storyline is in some sort of a holding pattern and that it may frustrate some of you who want to know when that next step may take place in their budding relationship. To this I say that both Caitlin and I feel the same way. We only know up to what is printed in the next week’s script so we are just as anxious as the rest of you. I will say though that both Caitlin and I always make it a point to enjoy every moment that we share on the screen both in tears and in laughter and from what I’ve read thus far it shows.

On another note, I’m happy to say that we have a few familiar faces returning to Springfield that have already started taping and will be airing in the next two to three weeks. To some of you, you may already know who I’m referring to but to those who haven’t checked it out in the magazines and CHEATED, you’re in for a very pleasant surprise I guarantee.

“I am going to express an opinion that is probably not going to be very popular among JD fans but I have to tell you where I have been in order for you to appreciate where I am now. In the beginning of the whole Ashley-Coop story I was not convinced that this storyline would work. I admit I thought it was a sweet story however. I was not sure how it would work out. I still had a few reservations about the storyline until I saw the episode that aired on 9/17/07. I can now say without any hesitation that I see the connection between the two characters. I think the turning point for me was the casual nature of the kisses and tenderness that both actors were able to pull off flawlessly. The scene that I liked the best was the one on the “balcony”; it was very sweet, so now I am believer. Please keep up the good work!” -Raiden

And now to the other project in my life that has been quite an undertaking but a complete joy. “Angry Young Women in Low Rise Jean with High Class Issues” has just completed its second weekend with me as a part of the cast and has not been cancelled, lol!

First, let me just say that I have been bitten by the stage bug and have acquired a huge respect for those that give an absolutely hypnotizing and magnetic performance day in and day out on the stage. I had become so accustomed to saying “let me try that again” or “I can do better if I can get a second or even third go on that scene”. When you step foot on that stage it is do or die time and THERE ARE NO SECOND CHANCES to capture your audience. With all this being said though I have to also say that each performance isn’t always smooth sailing, problems/accidents do pop up from time to time regardless of how familiar you may be with the material. Yes, I have experienced a few surprises on stage with either flubbed lines or faulty props, even MISSING props. This is where the joy of live theatre lies though in how you accept this dilemma and transition through it so that the audience never has a clue. One of the most comically common occurrences in the production involves a rose that with every performance either gradually wilts, explodes at any given moment, completely snaps in half or finally and rarely survives the scene by a miracle. Yes, this prop belongs to me, the one actor with the least amount of stage experience. At first, I thought this was some sort of cruel trick that the cast always plays on the new guy…give him a faulty prop and see what he does. Ha Ha Ha people, real funny! Ok, jokes over, I’ve made it two full weekends now so please pass the rose on to someone else. I could honestly go on forever about the ins and outs of the show but I will spare you all and just let you read the review and interview that was posted on “Broadway World” after my first weekend. The website is www.broadwayworld.com and all you have to do is type my name (John Driscoll) into the “search” box and it should bring up the article. Have a peek and let me know what ya’ll think but be gentle please, lol.

So as I said before, my parents came up this past weekend to see the show. I was very excited obviously because they were coming to support me but also because less than a month after her surgery, my mom was willing to travel up here and start walking. She says that she feels great and that she’s lost weight already which is excellent but I knew that we still couldn’t overdo it with her. Having her in the audience that Saturday night inspired me so much that I just felt free and open with all of my movements and gestures which allowed me to give what I thought was a kick-ass performance. I did warn them prior to the show though that it would be vulgar and suggestive but somehow even with the warning I felt slightly weird walking out on stage half naked knowing they were sitting there. After the show concluded and I had gathered my things to meet up with them outside the theatre director, Matt, pulled me aside and said “John, it's so nice that all your family and friends came out to support you like this. I hope they enjoyed themselves.”

I looked at Matt with one of those expressions that says, “what the hell are you talking about?” I said “Well, I’m sure that MY PARENTS had a lovely time,” and that I would pass on his thoughts to them. So as I walked out of the theatre, opening the door onto the west village street, I saw all these familiar faces that were staring back at me and in unison they shouted “HEY JOHN, SURPRISE!”

Deer in the headlights must have been the expression because they all immediately began to laugh and encircle me. After a few moments of hugs and congratulations there on the street we moved the crowd over to a Mexican restaurant and kept the party going with food, drink and laughter (mostly at me). It was such a welcomed surprise to have them all there though I didn’t technically say anything to them about the show. They found out the details through my blogging and went to the show’s website and ordered tickets but didn’t say a word to me or to my parents. Regardless, everyone had a wonderful time and I’m sure this will be yet another memory that they will bring up at our annual family gatherings, talking about how my New York stage debut included me half naked in a towel that almost fell off with a rose that exploded on stage….good times!

Now, moving from the arts to another form of entertainment that is near and dear to my heart, I must chat about the NFL, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, it was a most upsetting Sunday for me when the unbeaten Washington Redskins fell to the NY Giants. All I can say after watching the game is that it was some sloppy football on the Redskins part. Not to say that there weren’t some good plays but they just got jumpy and perhaps even lazy/overly confident and began to make stupid plays and rack up amateur penalties. When you dominate the first half of the game and then finish up the second half with 17 unanswered points against you and lose, there are some serious issues to address with not just the players but the coaching staff too. Let me preface what I’m saying here by the way by stating that in NO WAY am I any less of a Redskins fan after a game like this but since I do love the team wholeheartedly, I feel that I can say/question these things.

Jason Campbell is the starting quarterback this year for the team and although it’s his third season in the NFL, he just started to get some game time at the end of last season. This I am guessing still qualifies him as a newbie to the position which means that he will ultimately make beginners mistakes. I have to say though that when you’re making a multimillion dollar salary, you are being paid to not make mistakes let alone beginners ones at that. Campbell has a great arm and a strong pair of running legs which he underutilizes from what I’ve seen. He could truly be a great threat in the league if he gets a little more confident in his own abilities and stays out of his own head using the god given talent that he has. So, to wrap this topic up, I will chalk this loss up to a lesson in humility for the Skins to not get cocky but to play smarter and not underestimate another team’s abilities no matter their season win/loss record.

I feel so much better after getting this all off my chest, hope it didn’t bore ya’ll!

It’s now Friday the 28th and I have to get ready for tonight’s show so I will be signing off but please take a few moments to check out the above website for reviews of the show and also if you’re interested in coming to it, just go to www.angryyoungwomen.net and you may purchase tickets. Have a great weekend everybody and talk to ya’ll next week.

“I was with Khouree this past weekend for the show. You were fabulous. Thanks for chatting with us for a few minutes. I'm glad to see that your mom is doing much better. I have to tell you that it was nice to see that your family surprised you. That's was very nice and it show's how much they and you appreciate each other. Thanks for the fabulous entertainment on Saturday night. I have told my friends that will be in the city in a few weeks that they have to check out the play.” -Amy

UPDATES....

2007-09-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

Hey again everyone! I hope all is well with you and yours and that the end of summer is finding you all in good spirits. Fall is just around the corner, kids are back to school, football is back in full swing (YES!), and depending on which part of the country you live in leaves are already starting to change color. Speaking of changes, there have been a few that have recently affected me personally.

I recently returned home to spend some time with my family as I enjoy doing every-so-often, but this time it was for a different reason. Not to divulge too much information due to its personal content, my trip was in support of my mother who had a rather routine procedure (surgery) done on her. Now I find it funny that doctors refer to this procedure as “routine” to their patients. It may be that (routine) to them but certainly not to the patient. Obviously my mother was very nervous about going under the knife and so the entire family rallied around her to give their support and love in her time of fear and need. My uncle (my mom’s brother) flew out from California, my sister flew in from England with her son, my brother came up from Richmond, Virginia with his family and I flew down from New York to spend about a week with her leading up to the surgery. Just this act alone of getting the family together was enough to make her weep seeing us all together as well as allowing her to handle the operation more confidently.

I will fast forward a little now just to spare ya’ll some details;p

Mom pulled through the operation like a champ! Within hours she was ready to see all of us who had been waiting for her and to get the good news of her “routine” procedure. She was still groggy from the anesthesia but coherent enough to sustain a conversation with each of us until we had to let her sleep. On a light note, I knew she was already back to her old self when I was saying goodbye to her alone (I had to head to the airport to come home) and she whispered “my throat hurts like a B*&$h! If that one statement didn’t sum up her attitude of where she was, how she felt, and what she wanted to do, I don’t know what would have, lol! I am happy to report that I have spoken with her everyday since then and she’s doing great.

The other change that I want to speak about is I have decided to tackle the New York stage. I have decided to pick-up a second project in addition to Guiding Light. I recently signed a contract with a theatre company to do a four week run of an Off-Broadway show called “Angry Young Women in Low Rise Jeans with High Class Issues”.

“The Players Theatre” on McDougal Street is the location and my run with the show will be from the 13th of September until the 7th of October. There is a chance that if all goes well I may continue longer with the show but at this point that’s my contracted time-frame. The show itself is comprised of a series of monologues and short scenes which were all created by Matt Murillo. The show is predominately driven by the female characters but uses men as the stereotypical well intentioned but poor delivering individuals. The situations may be extreme and the content may be vulgar and unacceptable to some but that is what makes it fun. There is something refreshing about stepping outside of your comfort zone and taking on character roles that are the complete opposite of who you are as a person. Although I am terrified of doing this I am also very excited at the chance to get up on stage. The cast has been absolutely wonderful in welcoming me and patient in catching me up on the blocking and rhythm of the show. During a recent rehearsal I actually had my first accident which although embarrassing I will share anyways. I was in the middle of a scene using a prop awaiting my cue to give my next line when the prop got away from me and smacked me in the face or rather gave me an impressive uppercut much like in a boxing match which left me momentarily dazed. I hoped that although it was a rehearsal no one had seen what I had just done! It was one of those moments that are caught on America’s Funniest Home Videos where the idiot in the background does something stupid that pulls the focus of the scene and no one forgets. Let me just say that I DID NOT miss my cue and continued the scene until its completion where I then proceeded to keel over in pain while laughing at myself. For those of you who decided to come see this production TRUST ME, that will not be part of the scene so don’t expect that to happen twice. I will keep ya’ll updated with the progress of this new endeavor and perhaps maybe even see a few familiar faces after the show. Please think happy thoughts for me not to screw up or even trip, they would be greatly appreciated.

I think for now that about wraps it up for me. I thank all of you who have returned to comment on my page and again I reiterate that I will be regular with my entries. I hope that your summers were filled with fun, laughter, friends and family. If they weren’t, let me say my prayers are with you and yours. Until my next entry…

GUESS WHO'S BACK!!

2007-08-21T07:21:00.000-07:00

SURPRISE…. guess who’s back to pick up where he left off over a YEAR AGO! I know that many of you will not believe that I will be back on a regular blogging basis, saying things like “sure”, “whatever you say”, or “I’ll believe it when I see it”. So I got a little sidetracked but things are much better now and I have quite a lot to talk about.

Just as a quick recent teaser, I went to the Constantine (from American Idol and Bold and the Beautiful) album release party at the club “Stereo” here in the city, met Lance Bass (from Nsync), had a wild and semi frightening dance off with Robert Bogue (A.C. Mallet), and had an opportunity to work with a really great semi-new character “Roc Hoover” (Mark Schlereth).

Mark is a former NFL player who had the fortune of playing for the Denver Broncos as well as the Washington Redskins (which is way more important as I am a Skins fan). As far as more details, that’s going to have to wait just a tad longer…BUT NOT MUCH!

I hope that all of you who once enjoyed reading my regular entries find your way back here and pick up where we both left off. Please keep your comments coming as well as the funny stories too. I try and incorporate comments from everyone in my entries so perhaps yours might just be the next one I choose. I hope everyone is in good spirits and as always I wish you the best.

Until next time, have a good one ya’ll!

VIRGINIA BOUND!

2006-06-02T05:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I’m back! I know that's a total surprise seeing that I’m posting again and I’m sure that ya’ll are expecting a very lengthy entry filled with fun adventures dealing with the Daytime Emmy Awards and great moments around the GL set here and around town. I will be getting to that shortly but this entry is about an even MORE EXCITING EVENT that’s coming up shortly and it's a total CAN’T MISS EVENT!

It’s that time again for the CBS “SUPERSTAR WEEKEND” down at Paramount’s Kings Dominion in Richmond, Virginia. The exact date that this will take place is Saturday the 10^th of June and Sunday the 11^th. That’s right, we are not only extending the event from one to two days this year but guess what??? CBS is bringing along “As the World Turns” too this year. Two shows this time means double the days, double the fun, double the amount of performers from your favorite network, double the amount of actors to meet, and maybe even perhaps double the amount of trouble to get into LOL! I have to let ya’ll know that we (both CBS shows) are already so excited about coming down again especially after the GREAT experience and WARM welcome we received last year from everyone. For all of you who did go to this event last year, you know exactly what I am talking about. For you newcomers or those on the fence about going, you need to go and experience what a great time it will be! CBS is doing the exact same format as was done last year but I have been assured that when it comes to the meet and greets/autograph signings, things will be a lot smoother and the actors will be more accessible. Now that I think about things, CBS and Paramount’s Kings Dominion are just giving MORE all around.

On a personal note, Virginia is my hometown as some of you know, so you can imagine how excited I am to be going back down again. Here’s where I really need your help! I have been telling my friends from ATWT how much fun this event was and hyping up how much there is to do down there and I would hate to disappoint my friends and even my colleagues here from the “LIGHT”. I would love to have as many of you as possible not only show up either day if not both days, but tell your friends to come too and just have a blast with us, the more the merrier! CBS and Paramount is giving more so it would be great for all of you to do the same…all you have to do is just show up, LOL! For more information about this great weekend adventure (or perhaps getaway for some) just go to www.cbs.com, click on the daytime icon and follow the prompts to either show (ATWT of GL). You’ll find a site devoted to just this “SUPERSTAR WEEKEND” with all the details and even some pictures from last year's event. For those of you traveling a great distance for this, there are plenty of Hotels near to the park so it won’t be a problem for accommodations to stay the night if that’s what you’re hoping to do.

Hope to see ya’ll there and more Blogs to come!

VIDEO KILLED THE TELEVISION STAR?

2006-05-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

Check out my exclusive video blog at CBS.com! (http://www.cbs.com/daytime/gl/#)

DEAR JOHN LETTER

2006-03-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

I must first start this Blog off by saying that “yes” I did survive this pasT St. Patrick’s Day here in NYC. The reason I say that is because I was hanging out with Mr. Mayhem himself, Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan). After work, a group of us got together at a local pub around the corner from the studio to have a pint and celebrate this most joyous holiday. It was a great deal of fun and we kept the party going until pretty early in morning, if you can imagine.

On another note, the storylines here at the “Light” have been getting really good. Filled with backstabbing, lust, hope, trials and forgiveness, everyone here has really been putting out some amazing work. As I said before, the Jonathan and Coop characters were going to have some interactions coming up and boy, have they! I‘m sure that you, the viewers, won’t be disappointed with how action packed and heated they are! Coop and Jonathan aren’t the only ones getting into it though, Lizzie and Ava start to swap fighting words and punches over Coop (two women fighting over one man…I love it) and the outcome is so sweet! Geez, there is so much I could talk about but I don’t want to necessarily give it all away, LOL!

Another event that just happened was a fun photo shoot that involved Ava, Lizzie, Coop, and Jonathan. Let me just say that Michelle Ray Smith (Ava) looked absolutely stunning in every picture. When we had to partner up, I felt like I was just furniture in the shot with her. As we started to get into the shoot, the photographer was really liking what he saw and was giving us some really great direction, so the pictures I’m sure turned out really hot. At one point Michelle was on a table with me between her legs, leaning in, creating a really sensual shot.

Let me just say though that all the shots were TASTEFULLY done, LOL. I then took a few with Marcy, which were cute and playful but because of our storyline split, they weren’t meant to be too “close." Tom and I hoped to have a few shots together, but no dice. I can’t wait to see these shots and I’m sure once they come out, ya’ll will enjoy them too.

I received a really touching e-mail from a friend of mine that took me by surprise last week. It was an e-mail I was told I would be getting, but wasn’t told about the content of it. After reading it in its entirety, I just sat on my couch thinking about how I could respond in the most direct yet supportive way. This e-mail deals with making sacrifices in your life to go after your dreams. In this case, my friend wants to pursue acting but is afraid of what might happen or won’t happen if she tries.

I wanted to share this with ya’ll because I have received many e-mails and Blog responses talking about the same subject matter. I have omitted certain names and details to keep this person anonymous so enjoy.

“This email is being written to you through tears, so I must warn you that the contents of what you are about to read are full of emotion and perhaps a bit of babbling. The truth is that I have stopped watching Guiding Light since you first made your cameo. Odd I know, but the reality is, is that the day you showed up in "the diner" I got a feeling, similar to the stomach ache you get when you are nervous, and that feeling emerged every time I saw you onscreen afterwards. The feeling is a great big combo of admiration and fear. Admiration that you had the ability to leave all that is conventional and all that you know, regardless of the thoughts and whispers of others, to pursue a dream that you knew was yours to have. And the fear that I may have missed my chance to pursue my dream of performing...because sadly, I was afraid to dream and believe they could come true. I was totally fine, better than fine, in college because I was pursuing something that I enjoyed, something I was good at, and something that was safe...government studies. And I truly didn't believe that I was equipped to pursue "wild dreams" of performing because I didn't really think dreams like that could come true for people like you and I. Well your cameo on GL proved me wrong and threw out my "no wild dreams come true" theory. I've obviously put off emailing you, in hopes that this dream and yearning to perform would perhaps go away. Well, it didn't. A few weeks ago I was at CVS and thought to myself "if John is in that CBS Soaps magazine, then I have to contact him...if he's not, then it's not meant to be." Crazy right!??! Yeah, I totally admit to being nuts. But, sure enough, you were in the CBS magazine and I've finally conjured up the courage to write. I found out a long time ago that my 2 passions are as follows; performing and helping people. I am currently pursuing my Masters in Counseling which totally relates to the second passion...and is going alright (by that I mean I have a 4.0 but I'm not completely satisfied with what I am doing). As far as performing goes, other than Greek Week, singing at church, and skits in class, I haven't acted since my lead in the middle school musical. I was addicted to theatre in middle school. I can honestly say that I have never felt so alive as when I am performing...nothing comes close. I stopped acting because I was brought up in a house where conventional and safe reigned supreme and dreams of acting and performing were not so encouraged. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't trade my parents for the world, but coming from 2 school employees, they supported the "good benefits, good vacation, and job security" case much more often than supporting rather unconventional aspirations...such as acting. So here I am, trying to give you an understanding of my feelings and praying that you may have some sort of guidance. I try to make myself forget about acting and performing as a career by telling myself things like "Sara you don't want to move to New York," or "you're not thin enough to act," or "you haven't acted since middle school," "how would you even start a career in acting?" you get the point...but regardless of my attempts to make excuses, the dreams, the feelings, and the tears won't seem to go away. I can't even begin to imagine how you will respond to this email. But regardless John, I really appreciate the opportunity to vent...because this desire to act and perform again, these dreams of mine, I don't talk about them...because I really don't know what to say or do and that for me, is an unusual feeling. Thank you for being you and not being afraid to claim what is yours....your dreams.”

My response: “Your boyfriend (my fraternity brother) told me that you might E-mail me, but he didn't exactly warn me that the content would force me to sit down ;p At this moment I really feel inclined to open up a bible and recite or rather type a very prophetic verse from a chapter that has great significance to the human spirit and will. Unfortunately, I have not been as devout as I would choose to be but I AM PICKING MYSELF UP and WILLING MYSELF TO DO IT. You see that I capitalized these two phrases because they are honestly all I did to make my dreams come true (or rather start this chaotic/unsteady journey). What I feel about myself and towards my faith these days and the actions that I must take are the same thoughts and actions that don't have to be applied just to faith alone. These T & A (thoughts and actions) as you can see don't have to be found in a bible either. I know you yourself have already done these two simple things and continue to do so everyday. Getting out of bed when you'd rather stay in, getting a job and being content after receiving your undergraduate degree instead of going back to more schooling just to get your graduate, sending an email to a friend about your dreams and aspirations when you could just tell yourself "be happy with all that you have and don't risk losing it". These are all choices that are on the same plane as the choice I made to not finish school but to head to New York and give acting a whirl. You know, for me it was a “win win” situation in that I would go up to New York and if things worked out in a full school year's time frame that I would stay and I would have won; or if things hadn't worked out I would still be able to come home and finish up the one and half years I had at GMU and thus would have won also.

I guess I could go on and on about this topic because it is involving a close friend of mine (you) and a dream and love for something (acting) that we both share. My advice to you is in short is if Acting is what you love and what you feel then don't be afraid to explore and even pursue it. At this point I could continue with facts about this endeavor both fun and scary in truth, but I won't go into it at this time. You're not looking for those at this point in time, but merely sharing your thoughts and for that I thank you in your honesty. If you wish to talk in more detail about certain aspects of this path, it would be my pleasure, your boyfriend has my contact information;)

You really are an exceptional person, very driven and focused. All my best to you and I hope that at least you find some pertinent information in this e-mail.”

Until next time and please feel free to comment on my response if you thought it was good advice or if to you the reader, it was missing something.

LA IS A GREAT BIG FREEWAY...

2006-03-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

Howdy ya’ll, I’m back! I am sorry about the delay in posting another entry but this month was pretty all over the page for me. I was back and forth from Virginia to see my family, out in LA for work and pleasure, auditioning in a new capacity for my Agents (as in starting Voice Over work and Commercials), and work at the Light was/is picking up now with a great upcoming storyline. I guess I should say that things have been moving along very nicely for me and I’m just trying to enjoy the ride. The one constant I have to say is that I always make it a point to check out my Blog Site to see what everyone is talking about so thanks for the postings!

With all the jumping through hoops that I have been doing I found that this month in particular, it was very difficult to focus on one thing as well as to keep up a happy go lucky attitude. I would just get home from work and be completely wiped and not even want to go out to grab a drink or even a coffee. When I got home to Virginia, my body just collapsed and I got the FLU, although there is no other place to feel so secure when you are sick than with your family, right? To make matters worse though, I not so recently injured my knee from too much physical activity i.e. intense continual running and have been dealing with a painful throbbing sensation that started the weekend I got home. The upside to going home though was that I saw my parents along with my little niece and nephew who are both getting so BIG! I feel old just looking at them but I also feel a sense of protection towards them too. I still won’t do dirty diapers, I been lucky thus far and I see no reason to start now!

Los Angeles was a great deal of fun, I have to say. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I really had a wonderful time out there in the sun and away from the snow. Crystal Hunt (ex-Lizzie) is doing very well by the way, and so is little Roxy. I saw my agent while I was out there and she showed me around the LA area again, seeing as how I don’t spend much time out there and I feel so lost on each visit.

The people out there are so different; I guess that’s the first thing that stands out to me. It's a society that seems to revolve around the arts and entertainment where everyone wants to “see” and “be seen” at the hottest places around town. I am not meaning any disrespect towards LA at all but this is just an outsider’s observation, you know? Perhaps if I lived there things would be different to me and it would seem just a part of the normal routine. New York is just a different ball of wax than Los Angeles is to me.

“Ava sees things in Coop, his family, friends, interests and she takes them and lets him go with them.... Lizzie was too clingy and to self-centered to let him keep doting on his nephews or his family”-Bruce

Well, that seems to sum up most everyone's thoughts and feelings on the subject of Coop and Ava being paired together. What you have seen and will continue to see for the next couple of weeks is the continual spiral downward of the Coop and Lizzie relationship…all caused by her, I might add!

Honestly though, please let me know if I’m the bad guy here because I don’t think I am. Then again most guys never believe they are at fault anyway, LOL! I haven’t really had a chance to see how most of the scenes with Ava have been turning out recently but I hear that they have been pretty sweet. I have to smile a bit and feel sorry for Marcy Rylan (Lizzie) for starting a role that already establishes her as a bitch and in the midst of losing her boyfriend. It’s not easy folks, I’ll tell you that, but I do hope that you have been enjoying her performances. Oh, a quick little inside note before I sign off…the long awaited Coop/Jonathan contact will be filming shortly and airing end of March time frame so be on the lookout!

I hope all is well with all of you and your families and please continue to update me with the goings on in your lives too!

FROM THE EDITORS

2006-02-02T06:44:00.000-08:00

John is out of town this weekend, but he wanted to let you all know that
JOHN can be seen in the remaining episodes of "Book of Daniel", of which
#105 is being broadcast continuously for a week in its entirety on the
internet at: http://www.nbc.com/The_Book_of_Daniel/ and then each Friday
will be replaced by a new episode #106 on 2/03/2006, and ditto for 107 on
2/10/2006...and then finally Episode # 108.

THIS IS THE END...

2006-01-26T04:46:00.000-08:00

That’s it, ladies and gentleman, the word is in and the votes are unanimous, the Book of Daniel has been officially cancelled as of this week. NBC has pulled the plug on the show and will not even be airing the rest of the episodes. There is some talk though that the Bravo channel may air the remainder but it is very doubtful. This means that all the thousands of individuals who were boycotting the show because of it’s content have received their wish and can now go back to watching a good wholesome show like the O.C. or Trading Spouses or even any of the other reality shows that provide humor from peoples embarrassment and tragedy.

I realize that I have a biased opinion here about the show (Book of Daniel) and I am not trying to slam these other shows that I mentioned above…they were picked up so there is something appealing about them. I am just simply stating (because it is MY BLOG) that these other shows have worse content at times i.e. drugs, sex, infidelity, murder and push the envelope even farther (with what they DO show) than Book of Daniel did, yet that wasn’t even mentioned from what I understand. Granted I didn’t watch all the debates or read both sides of the arguments, but I know what I see on television and what I filmed and I just don’t think it was a fair call protesting even before the first episode aired three weeks ago. If it was the religious aspect of the show, NBC showing Jesus appearing to Aiden Quinn’s character, I have a few thoughts about that. I do understand before getting into anything that there are TWO subjects one should never really get into debate over: Politics and Religion. Clearly I think I am treading a fine line here but if I can’t voice MY OWN opinions here, where can I, you know? I was raised Roman Catholic to which I am very devout to this day. I can say openly though that I do not practice as often as I would like but that is my own issue that must be dealt with. Also, isn’t a priest supposed to interact with Jesus, no matter which specific religion (Catholic, Methodist, Protestant, Episcopalian, etc.)? Isn’t he/she supposed to be the direct link between us, the congregation, and the Almighty? So what’s the deal if this particular character on the show (Aiden) happens to interact with his own idea of who the Lord is and not just when popping pills but when there are other emotional issues that affect him or his family? Don’t they give prescription drugs to those who experience pain or terrible loss? What won’t be aired is how Aiden Quinn got started on taking pain killers, the terrible trauma he and his family experienced. Perhaps that would’ve given some insight and answered a few questions….or maybe not, but now we’ll never know. Anyways, if I am completely way off base here, please feel free to comment on this entry. You are always welcome to and I read it often. Perhaps we should just move on to another topic.

Guiding Light has been going really well lately, despite the loss of Crystal Hunt (whom I do speak with on a regular basis and who is doing well though she misses her NY family). Marcy Rylan (new Lizzie Spaulding) has been doing very well in her new shoes, so to speak, and is carrying the Coop, Lizzie, Ava, Quinn storyline on very intensely. As I said before, I believe her episodes will start airing first week of February, so please tune in and tell me what you think!

Right now, in our story there are a lot of secrets going on, some behind my back and some right in front of me and I’m just too naive to believe differently, I am such a sucker, you know! I am trying to also be strong for my family which is not easy due to the fact that we, the Coopers, have no idea where Gus or Alan are and Harley is losing it more and more everyday and I don’t know what I can do to help out. I guess Coop is just feeling very overwhelmed at the moment and is turning to those he can trust, meaning Ava even more than he has already. After all, hasn’t she been there for him through thick and thin and doesn’t it appear that they might make a cute couple?

:) As for Coop and Ava, I love it. You guys are cute. - Lindsay

I like the little twist between you and Ava on the show :) It keeps me wondering what you are going to do?!?!?!- Lorrie

Anyway, keep watching to find out what happens to Coop and Ava and Lizzie and Quinn next, I guarantee that it will knock your sox off, LOL!

As for those of you who tuned into the Martha Stewart show today and saw me, thank you for your positive feedback. I was first caught off guard that I was going to be on finally but was even more struck by what a babbling moron I sounded like at times, LOL. Of course, Martha did move from one subject to the next pretty quickly so I guess I was just trying to “keep up” with the conversation. Anyway, thank you all for taking the time to write me and respond to my Crystal Hunt sharing stories offer, they were great.

For those of you who received pix and responses to e-mails, you see I told you I was working on it! For those who haven’t gotten one yet, patience is a virtue I don’t have but I really hope you do;p

Once last thing before I go though, I want to give a special acknowledgement to a woman who just recently posted on my site, Ms. Monique M. I will not give too much away about her as you all may already know from reading the responses that she knows me pretty well and I her. The truth is that Monique was the first manager I ever really had when I started back in the day as a model at the age of 17. She was the one who always pushed me and helped me understand where I was in my career but told me to work harder and that I would go far. I never forgot her and she has never forgotten me, as you all see. Monique, I am truly sorry for your loss and I can’t begin to understand how much losing someone so close can hurt. What I can offer to you though is my love and prayers in this time of mourning to you and your family and the memory that you were always a strong woman and never let anything or anyone drag you down. I know that with time you will heal and accept that your mom is always with you and watches you with every step you do and will take. God Bless you Monique “MO”!

All the best to you all and hope to hear from you all soon,

John

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

2006-01-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

Seasons Greetings to everyone and a very Happy New Year’s! It is now 2006 and I hope it started with a BIG BANG for everyone. I know that this entry comes after the fact but this is not just a happy holidays “I hope everyone is in good spirits” wish but one that is meant for everyday of the year. I am sure that this entry will be a bit sentimental so I hope that you’ll bear with me as I will not just be talking about my holiday break but another departure from the “Guiding Light” family that really hits close to my heart.

My time off started on the twenty-second of December, catching an early evening flight home and getting picked up at the airport by my mom whom I was very happy to see. Yes, at twenty-four years of age, I can say that I don’t mind hanging with the folks and spending time catching them up on the adventures and goings-on in their son’s life. Don’t get me wrong now, I do also enjoy going out with my friends from back home and grabbing a bite to eat or a drink too, but my family and I are very close and I do miss them, I just don’t always talk about it, LOL!

After doing some last minute Christmas shopping, I was given a little holiday surprise by two of my good friends (one a childhood friend and the other my fraternity brother): one had a little baby girl and the other was expecting a child with his wife! Congrats E.I. and J.G., I am so happy for you guys, but why are ya’ll always showing off! All kidding aside, I truly am very happy for them, but it is a wake-up call that this is the age when men and woman start to think about families and their personal futures. I believe that one day I will be ready for that, but right now there are just so many things to experience and so many places that I have yet to see, you know? Being a dad is a wonderful gift but being able to provide the type of life that helps a child excel and hopefully exceed your expectations is a position I am just not in right now. For everyone this is a different viewpoint, but for me I am more nervous than excited by that.

WOW, I think I just got really off topic there so let’s just move right along. My girlfriend came up from her home in Richmond to spend Christmas Eve and Day with my family, which was so much fun, before both she and I then headed back down to her home to do the same with her family. I think that this year I went a bit heavy on the spending towards gifts. It wasn’t that I felt that gifts were the most important part of the Holiday, it’s just that I kept finding things that I thought certain people might really like and before I knew it, I was missing quite a few “zero’s” from my bank account. I guess I will just have to work extra hard in 06’ to earn them back, LOL!

Before leaving to come back home to New York I had to get in some horseback riding with the new riding shoes I received from my girlfriend’s family. They worked so well, but they alone won’t keep your butt in the saddle, guess I still have much to learn ;p

No, I really am feeling more comfortable on horseback and am even getting better about riding bareback (that means without a saddle and not meaning without pants for those who aren’t aware)!!!

Once we returned to New York, it was time to plan for New Year’s. For those of you who haven’t been to New York before or maybe just don’t know the extreme price inflation over the holidays for entertainment, I will illuminate this horrific reality for you. To go to a nightclub for JUST finger foods and open bar access for about four hours will cost you roughly $75-175 per person and a pre-fixed dinner at a nice restaurant will run you about $150-300 per person. That tends to add up very quickly and coming only a week after Christmas, was a bit of an overkill for us. Sarah had some friends coming up to visit so we surprised them with a decorated apartment filled with banners, table cloth settings, hanging “NEW YEARS EVE” decorations and party poppers!

There was an abundance of wine and appetizers that we both made and set out, and soft music playing for entertainment. Her friends (who stayed with us) were absolutely shocked and touched for so much thought. We then went right around the corner to a French Bistro for a very mouth-watering and palate-pleasing meal before getting back to the apartment just in time for the clock to hit midnight.

We toasted in the New Year with a bottle of champagne and strawberrys and watched the fireworks display being shot off in Central Park. It was a really great way to start off 2006. I have to say that seeing Sarah’s friend’s faces and hearing their excitement about the wonderful weekend was reward enough for me. By this time though, I was very excited to get back into the swing of things at work, but there was a dark spot for all of us. Someone was going to be missing from the studio and so when Friday the sixth of January came (my first day back), I was of mixed emotions.

This is very hard for me to type and I have to apologize because I am actually getting a little teary-eyed thinking about this next part. Crystal Hunt (Lizzie) as many of you now know, will not be returning to the “Guiding Light” in 2006. Though her episodes will run through January and into February, her contract was up in December and she chose to pursue that dream that all actors on a Daytime show have and that is to move on to other avenues of work in either Primetime Television or the Movie Industry.

This was not an easy choice for Crystal to make, but she made the decision on what she felt was best for her, and that’s exactly what she and every other actor who either is or was or will be on a daytime soap needs to do.

Now I know that the magazines may have said something to the effect that “Crystal Hunt walks off set at GL” but that was truly not the case. Crystal was an extremely outgoing and vivacious young woman with tons of energy and a flair for just telling it like it is. I remember first meeting her back in the summer of 2004 when I first started and I thought, HOLY $*%@, I have to work with her, I can’t stand her! Yes, I will admit that her personality was bit much to take but that was only because I wasn’t used to her personality yet, I hadn’t given her a chance yet to show me the kind of individual she really was and is. We all make initial assumptions of others and most of the time they are NOT RIGHT, admit it!

Fortunately for me, our stories became involved and I was given or rather forced to interact with her and that’s when everything became much clearer to me about who she was and how Crystal ticked. I can’t give everything about Crystal out in one entry and I’m not going to try because some of who she is are memories that I really don’t want to share. I say that not to be selfish but we all have bits and pieces of others inside who help make us who are as people. Crystal helped me make the transition of going from a struggling actor in New York to realizing what being on a Daytime show would be like. She helped me get through my first fan weekend and bought me an alarm clock when I was late to work for the second time, LOL. I crashed at her apartment on the couch quite a few times when I didn’t want to travel back to Brooklyn last winter, no questions asked. She would give and give and if she couldn’t, Crystal would find the right person who could help out and give. I know that there has been mixed gossip about her as a person and an actress on some GL message boards. I know that people are entitled to their own opinions and I am not trying to sway that or trying to make people change them, but I will say that if you would trade places with any person who has as rigorous a schedule of not just filming but promotion, studying, keeping a certain image physically, starting their own company and trying to stay healthy while traveling every week, and tired from being constantly put under the public’s microscope where every action you do might end up in the soap magazines, you may not be in the best spirits or most talkative mood either.

I am certainly not trying to get off topic here about Crystal and her career on “Guiding Light”; I am simply just saying that I worked with her in person and feel that I know her pretty well to make a statement such as this, that’s all. Anyway, to get back on track, her last day of filming was December twenty-second. As soon as I finished for the day and returned my garments to wardrobe, I headed up to the production office to check my mailbox and wish everyone a happy holiday before heading to the airport. Crystal walked in and did the same then disappeared into one of the producer’s offices for a bit. I thought nothing of it. Later, we stood there in a strong embrace for the longest minute, tears welling up in both our eyes. The person whom I was so close and intimate with on the screen, my first on screen love was leaving and there was nothing else to do. Maybe I am making too much out of this and yes, the part has been re-cast and there will be another Lizzie Spaulding BUT, it won’t be Crystal Hunt. As Crystal said her goodbyes to everyone, she and Scott Bailey walked out together, as I had gotten caught up grabbing my things. As I got to the elevator the door shut and I impatiently waited for another hoping that I didn’t miss her and Scott before they jumped into a cab. I ran to the foyer of the CBS building and she was no where to be seen, so I proceeded out the door and saw them up the block. There I am dragging my luggage and trying to half run/walk to catch up to see her off, I must have looked like the biggest idiot! I finally caught up with them as they were getting in the cab and wished them both a safe and fun holiday and watched as the cab drove off. I assure you that Crystal will always have a place in all of our hearts as I hope she will in all of yours.

Alright, wow that was tough! The new Lizzie Spaulding started yesterday, January 6, 2006 and I will tell you that the character is in good hands. The new actress will bring something new to the character and with time will settle into her own style but she, like we all did and do, needs time and a little support. You won’t be disappointed, I promise! And just a little side note here, her first day on set just happened to be a day that Coop had to be half naked in bed, LOL!

If you have any Lizzie stories or memorable meetings with Crystal, I would love to hear about them!

All my love to you and all my warmest thoughts too. Let’s have an awesome 2006 at the Light!

WINTER WEATHER

2005-12-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

It’s Friday, December 9, 2005 and everywhere I look there is snowfall. It’s truly Christmas in New York City. Now for those of you who love this winter weather, it’s the place to be, but for those of you who don’t, you’ll love my new weekend adventure. I am getting ready to head off to Los Angeles for the weekend (on business mostly)! Before I depart though, I want give you a quick recap of the past few weekend adventures.

First off, Happy Holidays to everyone and my apologies for not getting them out sooner. Trust me, you all were in my thoughts but it was just all the traveling and cooking that kept me away from the computer. My girlfriend, Sarah, and I traveled down to the Richmond area for the Holiday and split our time half with her family and then the other half with mine. It’s different though, you know, being so close to someone that you start to share holidays. It takes some getting used to, but I have to say that TWO dinners are better than one! Besides lots of family bonding and sleeping (as I specialize in that primarily), I spent the remainder of my time horseback riding. It’s kind of a new fad for me that Sarah’s family has helped me with, and now I can say that I can officially ride “bareback”, LOL! This may not be the prettiest sight yet but at least I am staying on. Overall, my Turkey Day/Weekend went pretty well. Please let me know some of your HOLLA-day stories or some of your Horror-Day Stories, all are greatly appreciated.

This past weekend I was able to go down to Richmond yet again as I was extended the invitation by the CBS affiliate (who also put on our Paramount’s Kings Dominion weekend) to take part in their “Kick-Off Christmas Parade”. Although I am not originally from Richmond, I have been down there quite a bit so they (CBS-Richmond) figured just being from Virginia was good enough, LOL. I am sorry that I didn’t put a comment about this up sooner, giving those individuals who were close enough to travel to the area sufficient notice. For those of you who were at the Parade, you all were so kind and fun to spend the afternoon with. Now before I go any further, I have to say thank you SO much to both Sheryl Miller and Rob Cardwell for being awesome yet again! Thanks for the gloves ya’ll and let’s do this again SOON! The whole crew down there was amazing and I wish I had more time to go through and mention everyone by name, but I must begin to wrap this entry up as I need to head out the door in a moment.

I have finally received word about the airdate of the new NBC show “BOOK OF DANIEL” that I was fortunate to work on in my spare time from GL. The kick-off date is January 6^th (Friday) at 9pm and will be followed up by a second episode at 10pm. From then on, the episodes will air Friday nights at 10pm. Please watch and send me your feedback. Speak as freely as you wish, no offense will be taken, I PROMISE! I will just say that it is a different character from Coop in some ways.

As far as what’s to come on GL, what did everyone think of the new Ava/Coop story line twist? Love to hear some feedback! I will mention, as I have seen some buzz about me needing to be shirtless again (always makes me blush), that Lizzie and I have some very sensual stuff coming up SOON! It was definitely HOT enough to make me blush a few times WHILE we were still shooting it. Crystal Hunt is so much fun to work with and professional too, YOU ROCK GIRL!

Anyway, that’s all for me now, I must head out to the sunny West Coast for a few days, but I will return next week with some fun stories to tell, I’m sure. Happy Holidays again everyone and I will speak with you all again soon.

P.S. I hope that everyone who has been asking for autographed pictures has received them??? Please let me know if there are any problems with this and I will thus have to let my Thunderous Voice Rain Down upon those in charge…..or maybe just ask nicely???!!!

FORTUNATE SON

2005-11-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

After an absence of just under two months I realized that although I have been extremely busy, I have kept everyone out of the loop of sharing in my fortunes and some of my misfortunes! Some of you may already know what these are and I am sure that many more of you will have no clue. What is more important though is that you have stayed with me and followed my adventures and have shown me so much love and support which is why I continue to post these entries. I hope that although this one will be brief you will enjoy it and will be eager to get to the next one just as if you were reading the “Harry Potter” series, LOL!

It’s about seven in the morning of Friday and I here at work getting ready to start the day’s events. What makes this Friday more exciting than the rest is that right after I finish taping, I will be heading to the airport to take part in a fun and charitable weekend out in Las Vegas! I know “Charitable” and “Las Vegas” really don’t belong in the same sentence but I trust it will be. I will be joining Gina Tongoni (Dinah) out there and we will be representing the GL cast…more to come after the weekend!

As far as a quick recap of the events that I will later get into more detail about, there was the King’s Dominion event down in Virginia that was an absolute BLAST! Many of you may have read about it and some of you may have experienced it and will know how amazing it was. There were so many more fans and friends there than we had originally expected, making the event a complete success and showing CBS that if they hold these events, the fans will come to them (my “Field Of Dreams” moment).

There was the St. Jude’s Event/ GL weekend that were both so much fun and this time around being my second year, I was much more prepared, LOL. How awesome were David Andrew McDonald (Edmund), Jerry Ver Dorn (Ross), and the surprise appearance of Grant Aleksander (Phillip)? Those three men are so incredible as individuals and unfortunately for us are also moving on to other opportunities. They are and will be sorely missed! I have to say to a good friend of mine before I forget “Candice, thanks for the Milk Duds…You ROCK!”

On a pretty amazing note, I have landed another acting job! LOL, don’t worry, I am not leaving the show or anything, because it’s actually filming right here in New York. The project is called “The Book of Daniel” and will start airing in January of 2006 on NBC. I landed a recurring role very unexpectedly and have enjoyed it immensely. After tuning into it, I hope you will too. I have to say that it’s a character that most people won’t expect me to be playing (or maybe they would, you decide). The show is lead by the amazing Aiden Quinn and will feature other familiar faces that are both Film recognizable as well as Daytime too i.e. MEEEEEEEE, LOL.

Speaking of recognizable people, I have to say that ever since our studio moved to the CBS building on the West Side of NY, there have been some famous people passing through here. “BET” (Black Entertainment Television) is located right across from our studio in the building and their guest rooms are located on the same floor as ours. allowing us to see who’s in and who’s coming. Well, as of this moment I have met Stevie Wonder, 50 Cent, and got an autograph from Mariah Carey. I also have a pretty funny story about Kim Zimmer (Reva) and Stevie Wonder which I will get to in my next entry. One of my MISfortunes that happened recently was the night out with Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan)…lets just say I wasn’t myself the next day, LOL. Nothing but love for ya Tommy and I’ll get ya the next time out!

Alright I hate to go, but I must since it’s time to earn my keep. I hope that everyone has been good if not great and I would love to hear some Halloween stories if you got’em. Also, what’s everyone doing for Thanksgiving? I hope to see a few responses soon and I’ll get another entry up when I return from Vegas. Thanks for the love and support and I am getting to all my fan mail so please keep it coming. If you haven’t received an autographed photo yet and have asked, you will soon.

TECH ISSUES

2005-09-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hey, guys -

I know, I know, I promised a report soon BUT I am having some serious computer issues -- I'm sure you all know what THAT'S like. I hope to be up and running shortly. In the meantime, I just want to say that King's Dominion was a blast (Stephanie already has HER report up on www.StephanieGatschet.tv) and I am so looking forward to seeing everyone at the GL Fan Club Event in October! I'm going to try to post real soon!! Bear with me!!!

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

2005-08-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

To begin this LONG OVERDUE entry, I believe that there is only one true way to explain the feeling of this void that is not one of my own excuses and that is from one my loyal readers:

Okay so when are we going to read the next part of your journey in June..Especially since it’s now August, John! I know you are busy but it only takes 10 minutes…okay maybe more to write an entry but you have had umm an whole month but its okay I forgive you for not writing and the reason is because like my friends and I said...you're cute so you can slide but keep up the good work on GL (especially the shirtless scenes...those are priceless) and keep reaching for the stars.

Now the writer of this specific entry will remain unknown to ya’ll but I know exactly who you are Ms. "you ate my milk duds at the charity softball game before you could give them to me"…..LOL, I would’ve done the same thing too!

I am going to try something new from now on with these blogs and that is to make them a bit shorter because, in all honesty, the reason I take forever in posting follow-ups is because they take quite a bit of time to put together with all the details I include, so by the end I am really not so eager to compose another one quickly after. That is a pathetic reason, I’m sure, and some of you may think this is a cop-out but it really is tougher than you think to put one of these together, honest! Anyways, "John’s Journal in June" is no longer a valid title to use so I’m officially switching it to "June’s Answers in August"…if you have a title that is a bit edgier, then I would love some suggestions that might be more fun (your homework from me).

Before I get into my past adventures, I want to take a moment to update ya’ll on some current events that are and will be taking place very shortly. The 2005 Guiding Light Fan Club weekend will be taking place in October and tickets are now being sold for each event that takes place over that specific weekend. For more information on the events that are planned, go to
www.cbs.com and click on "Daytime" and go to Guiding Light’s site which will have everything listed for your viewing pleasure, promise!

I will say that after last year’s weekend (which I barely survived and you can read about in my early on blogs) I guarantee you that you will enjoy yourselves if you’ve never gone before and the proceeds of all ticket sales and auctioned off items go to a charity of the artists' choosing. What could be better than that? You get to see your favorite stars and the money or donations you give go to helping those who are less fortunate, so really everyone wins. You meet us (sometimes for the umpteenth time, LOL), we meet you and we all have an incredible weekend filled with pictures and even embarrassing moments if we’re lucky!

The other event that is coming up rather quickly is "Super Soap Saturday" taking place down at Paramount’s Kings Dominion Theme Park outside of Richmond, Virginia. Now I am REALLY excited about this in particular because this is right next to my hometown. I grew up going to this Theme Park and I have to say that it is HUGE and an absolutely crazy time! There is a water park along with loads of water rides throughout it that are a definite to get you soaked. They have some of the fastest rollercoasters including the "Shockwave" which is a standup looping rollercoaster, along with a new one called "Drop Zone" that is supposedly the world’s highest free fall ride. For the families that are interested in coming to this event, the park has a fabulous kid zone too. For this event refer back to the "CBS" website too and it will have everything you need to get there. The other bits of current information I wanted to pass along deal with autographed pictures and responses to fan mail. Some of you may have used a service called "Soap City" to relay comments to us here at Guiding Light but that has changed. The higher ups have discontinued using that website and are now just focused on receiving fan e-mails through the GL Fan Club (http://www.officialglfanclub.com/). I have recently just started working with someone who will not only get all of your comments and e-mails to me, but will work alongside me in getting photos and response e-mails back to ya’ll in a more timely fashion….or rather just get me started in responding.

Alright, in my defense I have to say that I have been reading all of your e-mails since the beginning, but I just wasn’t aware of how to respond to them. When sending e-mails, if you want an autographed photo, I must emphasize that you include your mailing address and be sure to give me roughly about a month to respond and get the picture you. Let me remind you that I JUST STARTED this (8/17), so it will take a bit to get this up and running but once going, it’s GONNA BE HOTTTTT!!!!!

The last bit of information I want to throw your way is that I caught wind that someone has started a "John Driscoll Fan Forum"??!! I am very flattered and appreciate this really, but I don’t have any real information to pass on to everyone so I am asking that if you know, have seen, are a member of, or at least have a web address for this site to pass it onto me and I’ll post what I can so that those who want to be a part of it can be! Maybe finding this site is as easy as just "google-ing" it?

So, continuing on to the crazy adventures that were had down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee along with my excursions and "not so bad and actually really easy move" from Brooklyn where I had five roommates to my new apartment on the Upper East Side of the island...

"I'm looking forward to reading about your trip to Gatlinburg. I've never been there, but my best friend and her husband went there on their honeymoon back in 2002 and they loved it. Another place that would make a great vacation is Branson, Missouri. I was there in April of 2001, my senior year in high school, for the Missouri State Beta Club Convention and I loved it." – Susan

"I'm also looking forward to hearing about the move. As excited as I am about moving to NYC next year (if all things go according to plan-which they never do), I'm rather nervous about it too. I don't know anyone up there! haha." – Erin

……I know how ya’ll hate cliffhangers but this will all wait until my next "sooner" blog post (I think ya’ll will be surprised too, LOL). Until then, please keep the comments coming in and I’m glad that the Coop/Lizzie story line is such a big hit! I think I heard that like 74% of the viewers’ love where this story line is going. That’s amazing that we have so many supporters out there of us together…I guess Crystal (Hunt) and I have pretty good chemistry huh? On a final note here, I have noticed that several people have mentioned that they would love to know how I personally broke into this business and that perhaps I might be able to give them a few tips. I would love to but that too will have to be a future Blog. All the best ya’ll and I hope to see you real soon at one of the events!

SO MUCH TO SAY

2005-06-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

Much time has passed since my last entry and in all honesty I can only say that I have been preoccupied and even somewhat lazy. But not without good cause and reason as I have had some major events occur which have taken up the valuable time I use to type out Blog entries. Some of these events are of more notoriety than others. Now although I will attempt to list them all, I will clearly not have enough time to touch on all of them the way I usually describe most of my adventures as you’ve all come to expect. So please kick back and relax and ready yourself for the first installment of “John’s Journey in June!”

Many of you music fans may notice the heading of this specific entry and say “Gee that sounds familiar”? Well, I say “right, you are” and that is because I have become accustomed to listening to music while typing and today’s choice artist is “Dave Matthews Band”. The right music can really motivate a person to accomplish a great many things and seeing as how my Blog site has been dry for quite some time, I need some serious motivation, LOL! Since may last posting back in the beginning of May the Daytime Emmy Awards have taken place; a couple of us from the show went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for horseback riding and whitewater rafting; I moved from my Brooklyn apartment into the city itself; CBS and ABC went head to head in a fierce softball match which benefited a great charity (though I got pretty thrashed with injuries); I began the arduous but exciting process of meeting with agents to seek representation (as I only have a personal manager at the moment); this past Saturday, June 25th, Ricky Paull Goldin (Gus) and myself made a personal appearance in a city most likely not really near you (LOL, wink); and finally yesterday, June 27th, was my birthday and what a surprise I received!

For years I have read about the Daytime Emmy Awards and all the glitz and glamour which surrounds it; the beautifully flowing dresses, the fancy limousines, the not so traditional tuxedos, the award show itself and the stellar after-parties. Well, let me just say that after surviving my first Daytime Emmy Award show, it’s all so true. This was a first time encounter for me and I was going to experience it to the max! The weekend itself started with a party at the New York City Mayor’s Mansion (Mayor Bloomberg) Thursday night as a sort of icebreaker/award ceremony for achievement open to all guests and artists from in, out and around town. My girlfriend and I attended this event and were instantly bombarded by the photographers for press pictures. Now I realize that I just answered the question that many of you have on your minds: Is John gay? LOL, no I am only kidding, the questions most people ask: is are you single? I have to laugh at this question but I will tell the truth (it’s hard for actors to tell the truth, we lie for a living). There is someone special in my life and I’m sure that if you are a person who reads the soap magazines you will have already seen a picture of the two of us together.

Anyway, we arrived right after Susan Lucci (Erica; AMC) and let me just say that she looked amazing in person! The Mayor’s Mansion was beautifully located on the upper east side of Manhattan and was simply alive with daytime personalities, industry individuals, political figures, and family/friends. I have to say that besides talking to the “Guiding Light” people it was difficult to meet others because I just didn’t know where they all were from and I certainly didn’t want to walk up to some mogul individual and just say “Hello, my name is John Driscoll and I’m from “Guiding Light,” who are you?” Knowing my luck, it probably would have been the mayor himself! After about an hour more of talking and trying to meet and greet, a large contingent of us went back to the Waldorf Astoria to a Charity function that was put together by Ricky Paull Goldin benefiting one of the hospitals in New York City (forgive me for not remembering which one) and it was just amazing. There were speeches and awards given for achievement; there was singing and dancing; and let us not forget that there was tons of food to be eaten along with fans to meet and enjoy the experience with! It was a great night but the real excitement was still to come the following evening at Radio City.

Friday morning was a bit stressful for me as I was trying to make sure that I had all the parts to my tuxedo in one place as did my girlfriend and her dress (which was dynamite if I do say so myself, LOL). Work that day only went for a half day to give everyone an ample amount of time to get ready. Now, let’s be honest here for a moment and realize that this is not meant to single anyone out….but rather to single out an entire gender, LOL! Why don’t we just admit that the reason for a half day of work was so that the women of the show had enough time to gossip, compare dresses, get hair and makeup wonders done to themselves so that they might have an original look for the evening, have a little cocktail at the studio to take the edge off and finally swoop down into the awaiting limousines to be taken to the “ball” like Cinderella. I’m sure that the statement I just made might receive a bit of criticism so all I ask in your responses is to please be gentle.

As the first group of us arrived at the hotel where the pre-Emmy dinner was to be held, I realized that this is an event bigger than any individual, show or award. It is a tradition that has gone on for years and will go on for years long after my run on the soaps. But right now, in that moment, I was fortunate enough to be a part of it and to cherish and remember everything about the evening at hand. I stepped out of the car and was again immediately greeted by fans and photographers leading into the main foyer of the hotel. Mandy Bruno (Marina) and I posed together for some family photos before continuing up the stairs to the waiting room where hundreds of people were already gathered awaiting to be let into the dinning room. Everyone looked so good, sharp and stunning, but I have to say that you could tell the NY actors from the LA ones. Not to be too critical but the demeanor and wardrobe of the NY actors and representatives was a bit more classical or traditional while the LA actor and representative’s was a bit more “loose” in body language and attire. Hey, whatever, it’s a personal choice you know? Whatever you feel most comfortable in.

Dinner was served and although most people seemed to eat, many individuals chose to move about and mingle with those from around the enormous room. When I say that this room was enormous, I am talking about seating roughly close to one thousand if not more, maybe two. People would pass by and quickly say hello and move on in the normal industry greeting as I like to call it: “Helloooooooo, how are you (insert kisses or handshake)? You look fabulous (clearly quickly analyzing you), have fun tonight (ending conversation) and we will DEFINITELY talk later (yeah right)”. All of this taking a total of maybe ten seconds, so it feels more like an assembly line of greetings. I’ll have to get used to that but as you can tell, I usually have more than ten seconds worth of things to say so maybe I won’t get too accustomed to it.

Once dinner was finished we all were escorted down the stairs to the beginning of the two and a half block red carpet walk to Radio City Music Hall. At this point it is usually best to try and do this with another person if not a group of people. There is always safety in numbers and also if you are not as recognizable as an individual, maybe a combination of characters will cause more of a stir for fans as well as for the reporters along the carpet. Mandy Bruno, Stephanie Gatschet (Tammy), Scott Bailey (Sandy) and I banded together, braved the carpet and actually had an absolute ball!

I have to laugh because one of the first things I did realizing that I’d have to be extroverted to get any attention or press time was to jump on the police guard rails that separated us from the fans, a gap which was at least ten yards on both sides, and started to shout to the crowd. I have to say that you all (the fans) are awesome. I found out that some of the people had been waiting there for hours just to catch a glimpse of their favorite actor. I watched some celebrities waltz by a group of fans that obviously would’ve been happy for a look or a nod of recognition, maybe even a quick picture, but for some reason kept right on walking. That struck me as just being a really awful thing to do. Anyways, so I’m up on the guard-rail, pinpointing people in the crowd, shouting questions to them, telling them I can’t hear them, asking them to scream louder and just interacting with them. Later on down the line, after a few interviews and pictures of our little group together, Scott and I had the brilliant idea of jumping the rails and running over to the crowd to sign autographs, take pictures with people like I love to do, talk with them quickly and even snag a kiss or two, LOL! It was amazing, just to see everyone so happy and laughing and enjoying themselves. I think there must have been a larger smile on my face because this was a first for me and I wasn’t going to spare any detail. When Scott and I returned to the line, Mandy and Stephanie simply smiled and said “show-offs”. WHAT??? We actually had a film crew follow us down the line and film us chatting and taking pictures because WE WERE THE ONLY ONES WHO DID THAT!

As the red carpet came to an end we all entered the Music Hall and were herded into the auditorium for the start of the show. Oh, and by the way, how many of you saw Crystal Hunt (Lizzie) and her dog in matching dresses? How cute was that? Alright, back to the show, so Crystal and I sat next to each other along with her parents while Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan) and his mom (so sweet) sat right behind us. Tom had a huge contingent of family and friends with him in the audience. All of “Guiding Light” was seated roughly together, give or take a few rows.
I would have loved to see Grant Aleksander (Phillip) win, but I do also know Christian Le Blanc (Michael; Y&R) who did win and he is a truly talented soap actor, so that was a tough one. Regardless of who won and who did not, the whole thought of sitting in the audience and being on camera for the whole nation to see you (yes, mom and dad back in VA) was pretty cool. I received a few text messages during the show from friends who saw me and said that they were proud of me. That is always appreciated so thanks guys and gals (you know who you are)! I did manage to snag a few pictures of Ellen DeGeneres and Simon Cowell for all you fans of their shows.

After the award show, everyone filed out to either walk the two blocks to the Waldorf or hop in their limousines to the after party. At this point, I have to mention that my girlfriend was meeting up with me and she had an absolutely horrible day! She left her things at a girlfriend’s place down in the Lower West Village on Thursday where she had gotten ready for the Mayor’s event in hopes of saving time by coming back Friday to get ready again for the after Emmy party. Well, to her dismay and that of her friends, the place had been broken into and her things were strewn all over the floor. Cameras were stolen along with phones, laptops and even my girl’s wallet/purse. All her cards and cash gone for the night and no way to pay the stylist who had come to do her hair and makeup; so I took care of all of it and made sure we got to the after-party and assured her we would get it all back. Clearly, with this brief history of the situation, you can understand that she was in no mood for BS of any sorts or to really party but she managed to continue and see the night through.

Everyone at this point looked much more loose and at ease (possibly due to alcohol, LOL) as the mingling continued. CBS was the host of this year’s Award Ceremony and clearly went above and beyond as far as the decorations and entertainment was concerned. The catering was splendid. I do believe the chocolate fountain had the most visitors of any presentation; hey you can’t go wrong with chocolate, I guess! We did have one little scare though that evening. Tom’s grandfather passed out and had to be taken to the hospital. I am happy to report that he is doing fine and was soon released. The whole evening continued on with laughter and dancing and merriment long after my girlfriend and I left, and I have to say that it was just mind blowing. I can say that I have achieved another personal goal and survived yet another crazy adventure in the realm of soap entertainment.

Alright, well I believe that I have been long winded enough and there is still so much to discuss….but not now. The next installment of John’s Journey in June will tackle our trip to Tennessee and include a close call rescue on the mighty river, how I went horseback riding, then quickly moving to my relocation from Brooklyn into Manhattan and the joy that was. I hope that ya’ll enjoy the blog, and I promise to get the next one out sooner. Until then, I wish you all the best and please feel free to ask questions about this one and past ones. Let me know your thoughts about the Emmy awards. Whatever it is that’s on your mind, please feel free to share it!

And now comes the part of the Blog where I pull a post from my site from a fan or just a passerby (somewhat of a new tradition). This one comes from Nikki and stopped me in my tracks. Nikki, thank you so much for this post, I can not think of a higher compliment to receive and so again I say congratulations to you and your husband on your baby bundle of joy:

Thanks for your great performances on Guiding Light! I don't get to watch during the day, so I tivo it and watch at 3 in the morning when I am up with my new son Cooper (2 months old this past Sunday). We actually found the name while searching the census list of top 500 names, but when my husband asked, "What about Cooper if its a boy?," I couldn't help but think that your character's name would be the perfect fit for my then baby-to-be : ) Anyway, thanks for keeping things interesting on the show. You are doing a great job in drawing back younger viewers like myself. Keep up the great work! –Nikki

All the best, -John-

IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE!

2005-05-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone! It’s about seven in the morning on Wednesday and I couldn’t think of anything better to do than to bang out another BLOG entry (I know my life is lame, but don’t laugh at me). In particular, I wanted to talk about a rather good day I had at work this past Friday (May 6th) along with an adventure I’m going on this weekend. I know that this entry will shock most of you considering that I just posted an entry last week and you all are SO accustomed to reading them on a monthly basis, but I’m getting better you have to admit!

Last week was a somewhat heavy week for me. I had three days of shooting involving some interesting conversations with Lizzie, along with some crazy business decisions (no I won’t tell so don’t ask, LOL). Of all these days though, Friday was by far the best day for me as well as the scariest thus far…I had to Strip Down! Yes, the day has finally come when Henry Cooper Bradshaw reveals himself (not the Full Monty mind you). When I read the script for the first time I was like “alright, I can do this…oh no, what’s mom going to think?” I have yet to tell her; thankfully she doesn’t read these entries. Anyways, I spent the few days that I had before Friday’s shooting in the gym trying to tone up any problem areas so I didn’t look too scrawny on tape. I think it was actually more of a mental thing to make me feel better than anything else. I mean c’mon, how much improvement can be done in like three days, LOL!

So I got to the set that day and had my lines down with ease, but the butterflies were just not subsiding, in fact they were getting faster and multiplying like crazy. Everyone there at the studio that day was getting a kick out of watching me pace up and down the hallways, making little jokes here and there. OH, and to top it off, when I went down to the make-up room to get done up, they had to cover me in body tanning paint so I didn’t look so white…that’s a real morale booster. Obviously, New York had a long winter and I didn’t make enough trips down south or to the local tanning joint to put some color on myself. After that little set-back, it was time to head up to set and get the show on the road….now fast forward (can’t give too much away). Yadda yadda yadda -I’m in a suit- blah blah blah -I’m out of the suit - and scene! As soon as Crystal and I were done, we literally walked off set only to be met by Ellen Wheeler (our Executive Producer), Jan Conklin (producer) and Brian Mertez (the director of this episode) who just simply said, “Unbelievably Cute”.

I guess everything turned out better than we all expected. I mean, I have to say that at least on my behalf, the acting felt smooth, natural, and oh, so riddled with sensuality, LOL! Crystal has this sexiness about her that when she turns it on, can melt even the coldest heart. It’s unbelievable. It’s a shame that we don’t get to play that more often. Perhaps after this show airs, which will be the beginning of June sometime, viewers just might be calling on us to show a little bit more. Let me just say that having all three of them giving both Crystal and I these simple compliments made my day, and more importantly helped me believe that the story that we (Crystal and I) are telling really is working. I think that it is important for any Executive of any show to make it a point to mention that their performers are doing a good job, especially in daytime soaps where time is money and everyone just wants to get through the day. Most of the time this (feedback) doesn’t happen so sometimes actors leave the building thinking that the work they did was complete crap when, on the contrary, it was quite good and the film saw a different story. Ellen is a very good Executive and her coming out of the booth to spend five minutes with Crystal and me spoke volumes about her character as a person, not just the “boss,” I came in to work that day nervous and uncomfortable and left feeling great about the performance I gave. What an awesome feeling! Now let’s see if I can just figure out and duplicate what the hell I did.

Moving on to the adventure this weekend, a good friend of mine is graduating from college and unbeknownst to them, I will be in attendance at the ceremony. They asked me months ago, and I told them that I would be there, but as it got closer to the date, I realized that I might be able to have some fun with this….I know, it’s shrewd and manipulative and screwing with their emotions but that is the kind of fun friendship we have, LOL. I really do hope that they will not read this Blog entry until this weekend or at all, otherwise the joke will be on me, but if this all works out, then what a surprise it will be! Their mother knows that I am coming to town and will be the one to pick me up from the airport, so now I just have to figure out what (timing wise) will be the best way to surprise them. The friend is a female, so if you have any suggestions of things to do or bring that might be appropriate for a college graduation, please let me know.

One last thing before I go, Procter and Gamble Productions has started a new promotional campaign push for both ATWT and GL. This push involves steamy posters here in the NYC area of various favorites from the two shows, and theatrical trailers at selected movie theatres in the Detroit and St. Louis involving your favorite couples and duo’s. So be on the look out while you are traveling through or back to these areas. You never know when you’ll turn the corner and find us staring back at you.

“I have to say I think you are the sweetest and the most funniest. I got to meet you in Marco on the sunday cruise. I also need to say Thank you for the dance. Yes I am still on cloud 9 as Julie said. Our pics turn out so good. By the way My dad said it was the best birthday present ever,he really enjoyed himself. Thank you so much for the great time. Hope to see you next year!” -Heather

All the best to you all and keep the comments coming!

CINCO DE MAYO

2005-05-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

Although the title of this particular entry is called “Cinco De Mayo” it will have nothing to do with the holiday other than it just being the actual date. It’s been about a month or so since my last post and I guess I waited so long because there wasn’t exactly a great deal to discuss until the past three weeks. So I decided to wait for all the excitement to pass and then include it all in one journal entry. You’ll not only read about this past weekend’s trip down to “Marco Island” in Florida, but also the Ricky Paull Goldin and Michael Park Cabaret show that was an absolute smash hit!

I’m not sure if many of you know, but Guiding Light has experienced a few losses in the recent weeks and months. One of those losses was Stephen Martines (Tony Santos) whose character was last seen falling from a cliff in an emotional struggle between Tony, Michelle and Danny. Stephen parted ways with Guiding Light to pursue other avenues of work in the entertainment industry and all of us at the “Light” wish him well, “BEST WISHES, STEPHEN”!

The other loss we experienced, which was a bit more surprising and emotional, was that of a Mr. Bill Runyon. In April of this year, Bill lost his battle with Lymphoma (Cancer). Now I never knew Bill personally due to the fact that he worked at the studio and left before I got there, but his effect on everyone at the “Light” was a lasting one. Bill was the Assistant to the Executive Producer. Bill was a young guy, only in his thirties, who had a promising career ahead but he also knew how to let loose. Following his passing, there was an assortment of pictures that were posted all over the studio and main office in his memory depicting him in various poses with many other GL employees, all having lots of laughs. Now, unfortunately for Mr. Runyon, while he was undergoing treatments, bills were accumulating which he was in no shape to handle or deal with physically or financially. Getting wind of this, Bill’s friends and family jumped into action to give aid in hopes of raising money to lighten this burden. The “Ricky Paull Goldin and Michael Park Cabaret” was thus born. This was an event for fans of both Guiding Light and As The World Turns to come to and enjoy, with half of the proceeds going to Bill and the other half going to The Ron Marsico Family Fund (a family friend of Michael Park’s). It was a great event with lots of laughs and good music and an incredible turnout of fans for both shows. There were guest appearances by Ron Raines (Alan Spaulding), Kim Zimmer (Reva Shayne-Lewis), Mandy Bruno (Marina Cooper), and of course Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan) who sang an interesting rendition of Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places” which unbeknownst to me had five verses….I always thought it just had three, LOL.

That night was a night of great music and camaraderie benefiting a gentleman who unfortunately would never know how it all went. Bill Runyon actually passed just before this event was to happen, which deeply saddened many people. But it was because of Bill that so many of us (those who knew him and those who didn’t) were able to get together and raise quite a bit of money which was then donated in Mr. Runyon’s name to the Lymphoma Cancer Research effort. Bill Runyon has passed on but because of him and the donations that were collected, soon a cure will be found to save others. Thank you, Bill from the bottoms of the hearts of “Guiding Lighters” everywhere!

I know that was a bit of a heavy opener for this entry, but I felt that if you were a fan of the show, then you would understand why it needed to be talked about.

Anyhoo, moving on to a more upbeat and exciting event that took place about three weeks ago, the “Men of Guiding Light and As The World Turns on the Discovery Channel!” Some of you may be familiar with the show “The Party Planner” hosted by David Tutera on The Discovery Channel. Well, Procter & Gamble Productions approached “The Party Planner” about helping put on or rather “plan” an event spotlighting the men of their shows. The location was the popular club CroBar on the west side of Manhattan, and the men of daytime not only were featured but we basically helped put the whole thing together…well, we may have had a little help, LOL! To check out the outrageous night, just watch “The Party Planner” with David Tutera on The Discovery Channel June 6^th. I promise that it will be a night of television/bloopers you’ll never forget.

This brings me to the most recent adventure that a few of us from the show were able to attend, “MARCO ISLAND”! About fifteen to twenty Daytime Stars made the trek down to the Gulf Coast Island of Marco for a weekend of boating, wave runners, dolphin watching, fine foods, fans, and lots of Beach Time! I was fortunate enough to only work on Tuesday of last week, allowing me to fly down Wednesday and stay until Monday of this week. Let me just say that I took advantage of sleeping in and laying on the beach and putting some color on this white behind of mine...not really but a good visual non-the-less. On Thursday morning, Frank Dicopoulos (Frank) played a pretty good trick on Michael O’ Leary (Rick) and I during a radio interview. Michael and I were at one of the local radio stations doing some PR for the weekend, trying to get some last minute fans out to see us and partake in the good times, when a not so innocent Frank, who had disguised himself as a very uneducated fan, called in. As you can probably guess, the conversation quickly went downhill from there. To sum things up, Frank or “Jon” as his character referred to himself, basically said that Michael was older and had put on weight and had killed almost every patient that came into his hospital except for maybe one. He then turned the conversation on me constantly calling me “Croop” and saying that I was young and handsome and had a “PURDY MOUTH”….what the $%&# was this guy talking about! Ultimately we figured out who it was when Frank’s daughter, Olivia, got on the phone to say hello and that’s when everyone in the radio station lost it…yeah, very funny guys, ALRIGHT the gag’s on us! It was a pretty priceless moment, I have to admit now, good job Frank.

Another moment that really stands out in my mind was when Michael O’ Leary, George Alverez (Ray), and their families, along with myself, went out dolphin-watching for the day and ended up on this secluded beach we seemed to have all to ourselves. The Fifty-eight foot yacht pulled up to this private dock with us on board, where we were then instructed to change into our suits and disembark and “follow the sandy path to the other side of the strip of land which will come out onto this beach which, well, you’ll see….”

So we followed the path which had coconut trees growing over it just like sabers at a wedding, and at the far end of the path we could see an opening which seemed beautiful. As we got to the opening, the most beautiful beach setting welcomed us. White sand as far as we could see both left and right, ith the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico in front of us. I think the older people were just as happy to see this site as the kids in the group. We all dropped our towels and shirts and shoes and took off for the water, it was like a minor doseof heaven. By the end of the tour, it was unanimous; we were all going to buy some land and beach!

For all you daredevils and lawbreakers, there was some fun, too. Once the rest of the group who couldn’t come down until Friday night arrived, there was no stopping us. You must understand first -- that midnight to us New Yorkers is like nine in the evening down there, it is an older community with a few fun spots. So with this in mind, by midnight we were all still raring to go. Doug Hutchison (Sebastian), Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan), Gina Tognoni (Dinah), Stephanie Gatschet (Tammy), Sarah Brown (Carly GH and Julia from ATWT), and myself decided to go swimming in the Resorts pool and hot tub after about an hour of “catch-up partying.” We must have been down there for at least an hour and a half, and were so loud. We had to have woken a few people up, but we really didn’t care, we were just happy to be down there. From the pool, most of us went for a walk on the beach and just laughed and joked around with each other, blowing off steam from work. By the way, just a side note for all you Sarah Brown fans: be on the lookout for her big screen break out role in the Martin Lawrence comedy “Big Mama’s House 2” set to come out next year, I believe.

Anyways, the last real crazy event we had was a guest bartending charity event at one of the local hot bars called “Blue Fusion”. Now I have to say that I suck at anything having to do with alcohol whether it’s drinking it, getting it, buying it, and most especially making alcoholic drinks. But I did my best and pulled through. Actually I just wore a really revealing shirt and hoped no one said anything about the crappy drinks I was making, LOL! It was so much fun and yes, once again Tom got up and sang his thirty-two minute rendition of “friends in low places” by Garth Brooks…thank goodness all those in attendance were already pretty drunk. It was a wild night for all of us.

When Monday came, I was so tired from this vacation that I am still recovering and most likely will be for a few more days. Before I exit though, I have to say thank you to a few special individuals that gave me some really special gifts while I was down there; Donna Baker for giving me such an extensive picture book of my GL career thus far from events such as our Fan Club weekend back in October of 2004 to the Virginia Calendar signing in January of 2005 to this past weekend in Marco Island. Donna, thanks greatly. Rick McComb, thank you so much for the Edgar Rice Burroughs book of “Tarzan” and the box of Milk Duds, my favorite candy in the world (yes, ya’ll he read the interview, LOL). To my Mondo Milk Dud Girls who brought me five boxes of the beautiful chocolates, they are going to last for a few days as long as my roomies don’t find them. Pat Berry, who put the whole Marco Island weekend on, thanks for having me this year and I’d love to come back next year too! And Frank Dicopoulos for being the older brother that I never really wanted but I now have to deal with even on MY VACATIONS!!!!! I love ya, lol.

LONG WINDED????

2005-04-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone had a peaceful and relaxing Easter Break or Spring Break or if you don’t celebrate Easter and weren’t on Spring Break, just a great couple of weeks (since my last entry actually). I had a two week period off from the show and really took advantage of it…Back to Virginia, Baby! It was peaceful and relaxing and involved mass consumption of crappy foods, lots of going out with friends, doing laundry for free, sleeping in, driving cars (not public transportation), and even visiting a retirement home to talk with and surprise some unsuspecting grandparents (not mine) as a favor to a family friend. Overall, it was a great trip but like all trips, it ended just as it was really beginning. OH, and by the way, I have a bone to pick with a certain reader of this site……LOL!

To start things off I do have to mention a few great events that will be coming up in 2005 that fans can attend here in New York City where you'll have the opportunity to meet your favorite Daytime Celebrities; not just from Guiding Light but from other New York soaps too!

First: The 1^st Annual “Evening with Daytime Stars” benefiting the MS Care Center of Greater NY hosted by Ricky Paul Goldin on May 19, 2005. The event will go from 7pm to 10:30pm and will feature Celebrities from Daytime Soaps, Daytime Talk Shows, and high profile professional athletes. This special event will be held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in their Empire Ballroom. This is a great cause and we’d love to have everyone who has time and change to spare to come out and have a great evening with all of us. If you have any questions about this event you can contact Linda Weingar at “Pro Events Inc.” at (813) 814-0301 or check out their web address at www.proeventsinc.com.

Second: is the Shorefront Friends for Hospice Softball Game which is Saturday, June 11, 2005 at Midwood High School Field, Avenue K and East 16^th St., Brooklyn, NY. The gates open at 11am and the game starts at 11:30am. This game pits CBS NY daytime against ABC NY daytime! That’s right, GL & ATWT versus AMC & OLTL once again and if I heard correctly, CBS is the reigning champs so come on out if you can and support your soap, your side, your team, or your player(s). If you’re an ABC fan, then the more the better because honestly, they need all the help they can get, LOL!

Third: The Guiding Light Fan Club Weekend taking place from Friday October 14, 2005 to Sunday, October 16, 2005. This annual event which many of you are already familiar with packs so much charity work and some incredibly fun times into one amazing memorable weekend, and is once again fast approaching. There are so many events that take place over this weekend that I can’t even begin to mention all of them but please check them all out at http://www.officialglfanclub.com. To add to this same weekend, the 11^th Annual Daytime Television Salutes St. Jude’s Children event will take place Friday Evening the 14^th of October. This event includes all your favorite stars from CBS, NBC, and ABC daytime so this will truly be a weekend to remember.

For more on all these events, please check out the Guiding Light official web page at the address I listed above and get all the details about what’s coming up. PHEWWWW! Alright, so now that I mentioned all of that, I can let ya’ll in on a comment I received. It’s nothing horrible but something that’s very true about how I feel. Let me know what ya’ll think about it (including the writer):

“It seems like you talk how my husband talks (if you have conversations like that-) pretty much it drives me crazy. It's takes him 45 mintes to tell a 15 minute story. Half the time I'm like- here let me finish that sentence for you, now let me finish that one! Oh but God love him.”- lara ann

….um….well what are you trying to say here? My entries are too long? My stories are boring you? You want to finish my stories up for me? WHAT ARE YOU TELLING ME!!?? LOL, I’m only kidding with you, Lara! I think it’s funny that you included that because I know it’s a fact. I’ve been told that many times and I just can’t seem to help the fact that I try not to omit any details from any story and I don’t seem to care how long it takes. I appreciate your honesty, Lara and so, in honor of your comment, I will keep this entry short. One last thing before I go though: I recently filmed a “Lowe’s Home Improvement” commercial which should start airing in mid-April so be on the look out for it along with an interview by E! Entertainment talking about “The 50 Hottest Southern Stars” which airs again on April 7, 2005 at 8pm and then on April 10, 2005 at 6pm on the Entertainment channel. I believe you can preview this segment at www.eonline.com/On/special/50SteamySouthern/index.html. So if you’re looking for a good laugh, check it out and let me know what ya’ll think, of course! I hope that so far 2005 is finding everyone in good spirits and I look forward to more of your comments. All the best!

VIVA LAS VEGAS, BABY!

2005-03-17T03:53:00.000-08:00

Although roughly two weeks have gone by since my escapade out to Las Vegas with a majority of the GL cast, the memories are still very clear of the most excellent weekend that was had by all. Even though it was my first time ever visiting that city, I’m sure that if I had been there one hundred times I’d still have the feeling of not seeing everything that it (Vegas) had to offer. There were so many places to visit and so many laws that just didn’t seem to apply there, it was almost one of those places that you think can’t be real…believe me when I say that it SO WAS! I’m pretty sure that I'll be heading out that way again when I get some time on my hands and pick up where I left off, wink! I have to say thank you to not just “Pro Event’s Inc.” who put the weekend on, but especially all the fans that came from near and far to be with us and party it up like rock stars in “sin city”!

Let’s start at the beginning of the trip so that all of you realize how this was a trip that almost never was… SNOW! The night we were all supposed to leave, NYC got hit with quite a snow storm which grounded some flights and delayed others. Ours was a flight that was delayed, not just a short delay but rather a two-and-a-half hour delay! There were two different flights carrying the GL crew out there, one had Stephanie Gatschet and her boyfriend and the other flight (my flight) had Tom Pelphrey, Doug Hutchison, Ricky Paul Goldin, David (one of our assistant producers), and myself. So how, you may ask, do a group of males in the entertainment industry entertain themselves for two-and-a-half hours before a flight to Vegas? We told stories of our relationships and our favorite shopping spots in the city, all while Tom and Doug were discussing manicuring tips on how to not damage your cuticles ……..uh, HELL NO! We pre-gamed at the nearest pub in the airport (luckily for us it was next to the gate) to get this flight started right, LOL! So already you can kind of get an idea as to how this trip is going to go for us by the start of this story, right? Anyways, we’re all being a bit loud and obnoxious but at this point we all just really wanted to get off the ground. Finally we take off and the “in-flight” festivities begin. Tom, Doug and I were seated next to each other, which might not have been a good idea (at least for me), because at some point I became the brunt of most jokes…you’ll understand why in just a minute, of course. Tom and I discover “in-flight” gambling which leads to a rather intense game between the three of us which I soon become tired of after losing frequently to “tweedle dumb” and “tweedle dumber”. Then comes my big mistake, I FALL ASLEEP! I truly believe that I have narcolepsy or something close to it because I fall asleep anywhere at any time of the day or night. I realized that this was a bad idea after waking up to the two morons beside me laughing hysterically and me feeling something heavy and wet in my arms (which I had crossed to sleep). Yeah, they proceeded to order the little cordial bottles and keep drinking on the flight which then ended up in my folded arms like a trash collector. Apparently the “NEW GAME” was let's see how many bottles of liquor John can hold without waking up….clever but not humorous. What do I do is, I dump the bottles and go right back to sleep, but only because the pair of jokers beside me stopped drinking finally. Thank Goodness!!!

We get to Vegas at like 12:30 am and Tom and I are staying with a friend of mine that first night and then at the hotel the rest of the weekend. Now I have to be up REALLY early the next morning and back at the airport at like 7 am to catch a flight to Los Angeles to do an interview for “E! True Hollywood” then hop back on a flight at like 2 pm to get back to Vegas to have dinner with the GL cast at 5 pm just before we head to the first Fan event which starts at like 7 pm. Well, all works out fine (I end up not going to sleep for fear of not waking up for my flight) and I get out there and back in time for dinner and the first event which was a Luau, how fun! Tom and I walk into the room together and we get only about six feet in before people start flashing cameras and questions start flying. It caught us off guard but was totally cool. We were laughing it up and just being ridiculous for everyone and loving every minute of it. There were so many people there from all the soaps and I’m sure the fans just loved it. Now before I go on, I have to mention this one little girl who was so precious. She and her mother and friend were from Belgium and couldn’t speak a great deal of English but just enough for me to understand the general idea of each statement. The mother was trying to have the little girl pose with me for a picture but she was just so shy I had to smile at this. So I thought of a great way to break the ice with her without having to talk…give a nice gift from me to her. Since this was a Luau event each person was given a lei of fake flowers, all of those except the soap people who were given real flower lei. So for the little girl, I pointed to her lei then to mine and I motioned to exchange them. She somewhat understood this and so I took mine off first and put it on her, she smiled and began to take hers off and put it on me….she smiled again at this. Without warning her mom said something to her which I didn’t understand and she literally jumped into my arms for a hug and kiss on the cheek. It was the cutest moment of the weekend and it had only just started. From that moment on, every time I saw her that weekend she came over to me and gave me a hug and kiss. I think that there is now an idea of us going over to Belgium for an event because of this weekend, LOL.

For those of you who are familiar with Vegas and the hotels, everyone either stayed in the Bally’s or the Paris. I was in the Bally’s with Tom but I’m not sure who else was there. Maybe they thought we’d be a bad influence so they kept everyone else away from us? Anyways, I couldn’t believe how well kept the casinos were, I mean it always looked like daytime inside with the type of lights they used, there were no clocks anywhere except your own watches and phones, they pumped extra oxygen into the casinos so that people didn’t get tired as quickly, the drinks were always coming as long as you were playing games, and there was always a band on stage like every 45 minutes to an hour. THE PLACE NEVER SLOWED DOWN! Each casino had something that the other one didn’t whether it was a club, an amusement park, an aquarium (which I went to at Caesar’s Palace) or some fantastic show. I think in the end I only made it to the aquarium, a few clubs and some very nice restaurants. All the events kept us pretty busy and tired too. I think in the long run it was a very safe thing to stay so busy because it kept me from losing any real money. I only gambled $10 on slots while I was out there and the reason is because I don’t know what the hell I’m doing when it comes to gambling. I mean the dealers work so quickly out there that before you know it; you could’ve sat down with $500 and in ten minutes might have lost it all. I basically just watched everyone and I think I’ll head down to Atlantic City before I start seriously gambling out in Vegas.

Saturday was the last day of events and it was all pretty crazy. The first was a “Q and A” with the stars where the soap people sat up on stage and the audience could ask questions about the show, people’s personal lives, whatever we were comfortable enough to answer. It was great actually because not only did the fans learn more about us, but we learned more about each other and the shows that each person was on. I think in the hoopla of everything a question was asked about the men’s butts on stage so Tom and I proceeded to pull our pants down (leaving boxers on, of course) and somewhat moon everyone. Not sure how that happened but I think Tom gave everyone a little extra, LOL. After the Q and A, there was an auction that followed and everyone gave up some personal items either of theirs or their character's. The jacket that I wore when Lizzie Spaulding fell into the cement was auctioned off along with scripts that the entire cast signed. All proceeds went to various charities that were sponsored that weekend and I’m not sure about exact numbers but I know that a couple thousand dollars were raised so “Thank you to all who participated and even were lucky enough to win a soap memento”. No worries though; those who didn’t will have so many more chances to win great prizes in the future.

Now… where was I in the story, oh right! Between events on Saturday I was so tired I had to crash for a bit, but was up again in time for a dinner with some people from both Y&R, Days of our Lives, and other soaps. We all headed to the last event which was great because it was a karaoke type event where the stars would get up and sing and make fools of themselves for ya’lls viewing pleasure. I will say though that Mandy Bruno and Steven Martinez did an amazing job so “BRAVO” to them. Unfortunately I didn’t get up to sing due to losing my voice and already getting over being sick at that time (no excuse, true story so no friendly banter please, LOL). After the event was finished, everyone started making their plans for that evening’s outings and believe me when I say there were so many choices. Ultimately, I went out with a few people to a club called “Pure” at Caesar’s Palace that was an outside club and looked over all of Vegas. The place was jumpin’ when we got there which made a pretty good impression right off the bat. Nadia Bjorlin from Days of Our Lives was in our group and she had a connection there that hooked us up with a table of our own. Let me clarify when I say “table," I mean a glass table surrounded by four huge velvet covered chairs that sit about two-and-half persons each with our own security guard to look out for us and our things. The cocktail waitress brought over mixers of all sorts and then bottles of liquor and a huge ornate metallic ice bowl that was emptied every 15 minutes and stocked with new ice….ok this place really was off the hook!!! Right beside us on either side was a giant heat lamp and a large rectangular open fireplace that was like 8 feet long behind us to keep us warm (believe it or not, Vegas gets cold at night). Whenever anyone in our group needed to use the restroom, the security guard would escort us to the restroom and back again to make sure that nothing happened along the way, this really was the VIP treatment. The view of Vegas was amazing with the Casinos in front of us and the strip right below us. The stars were bright and the music was a house/trans style with bodies all over the dance floor. Now for a kid from the suburbs of Virginia and a college fraternity guy no less, this was all crazy and so unexpected. I loved it all, don’t get me wrong, but I think I’d still take a down home bar with cheap bottles of beer and great tunes any day to dance alongside. So we were all out until like five in the morning and finally we had to head out and save some energy for the final day of fun before we all left and went our own ways. So Sunday morning or afternoon I should say, I got up and headed down to the casino in Bally’s to see who I could find and managed to get a few people together and head to the “Cheesecake Factory” for lunch and cocktails. Now for some reason I have developed a taste for Bloody Mary’s, especially the strong spicy ones. I know that I just said I’d prefer a down home bar with cheap bottled beers but I have a very eclectic taste in drinks so again, LOL, no wise cracks. After the lunch, we headed over to the Aquarium and had an amazingly intellectual time there and I even managed to buy a gift or two for my niece and nephew there that I think they’ll like. Once we did the sightseeing thing, it was time to head back to the hotel to grab our stuff and head to the airport for our red eye trip back to NYC. This time back, it was Stephanie, her boyfriend, Tom (who won $150 before we left) and I. The trip home was so much quieter and even with a layover in Atlanta; we made good time getting to the studio at like 8 am for Tom and Stephanie to work.

Now obviously certain details may have been left out or overlooked but that was my Vegas Story and I’m happy to say that I not only survived but didn’t have to mortgage my parents home or even lose my shirt (except the night I was on the platform at that club with the stripper and…never mind that, LOL). Again thank you to all who made it out there and I can’t wait to see you again (Erin, it was great meeting you too, sweetie). For all who couldn’t make it, there will be events in the near future for you to attend as well as a competition that I’m putting together for a lucky fan, BUT we’re not getting into that at this time! I will leave ya’ll with a quote from this adventure and I can’t wait to read your thoughts on this entry. All the best ya’ll! J.

“Hey John! I’m back from Vegas so I finally got to read your much anticipated blog entry. I had worried that after “Softer Moments” ended up being highly publicized you may have been a little shy about this whole blog thing. But you’re a brave one—not many people would put themselves out there as you have. It speaks volumes about your character. Anyway! On a lighter note, I had a blast in Vegas—mainly because you were there. You were a lot of fun as always, and I was glad to be there for my friend Paula to meet you for the first time. She was greatly impressed! Before we went, she kept saying she couldn’t wait to meet you and Tom, and she was not disappointed. Also, it thrilled me to see that the GL crowd FAR outnumbered the other shows—maybe even all put together! That was a sure demonstration of the spirit of the show that you were all willing to turn out for a great cause (and for your fans).” - Amanda

NECESSITIES

2005-02-24T05:45:00.000-08:00

I am back. That’s right, after one month of nothing, it is time to get back in the blogging saddle and bang away on the keys about my so called crazy life i.e. “John’s Journal”. Now I promise that this one will not be a sappy sad reflection of negative events but more of a “moving on”, “got it out of my system” entry. I will say though that I was so surprised at the repercussions of my last “Softer Moments” entry. I was just feeling the need to get all of this crap off my chest, not looking to make waves or turn heads.

“Softer Moments” meant so much to me as far as honesty, though at the time I didn’t consider it to be more than just a scratch pad of emotions and thoughts strung together to make what I felt was very little sense. I submitted it to the people at Televest, our PR agency, who always proof read it and make sure that it’s not too obscene or gives any plotlines away too early. This is all done with very little communication between us; I type it, then send it, they read it and post it…done. This time though, I received a phone call from them asking if I really wanted to post this piece of “honesty” for all to see? “Yes, that’s what I signed on for by doing this journal series; my life and all the moments that are in it, both in good times and bad”. Personally I just couldn’t keep writing about all the so called bubble gum “I’m on a daytime soap” or “my life is perfect and glamorous now”stuff (though there have been and will be times I have to, LOL). NO! I am a regular guy who has an AMAZING opportunity to work with truly amazing individuals (writers/directors/actors/etc.) while living in a very hard city, facing everyday problems and concerns just like everyone else. That’s the real John Driscoll and if people don’t like or agree with me then please don’t read or respond to this journal, it’s that easy!

As comments poured in, we (Televest and I) realized that I may have hit on something that was a breakthrough. I really couldn’t say too much about it, but maybe, “Wow, that’s pretty cool” and then as I read all the supportive posts and stories similar to mine, it hit me. I am not alone when having these days and yes, I will get through this, so don’t be so hard on yourself (but also don’t forget it either)!

“All of us have had issues regarding friends and plans. Please do not be too hard on yourself. The reasons we do things are always a mystery. But try to take comfort in the fact that most people, myself included, can relate to your situation.” –NHFan

“First, I want to say that I admire you for putting your feelings and emotions out here for everybody to read. It takes a lot of guts to open yourself up the way you have.”-Susan

“I also wanted you to know how much we appreciate your hard work on GL. We really do! I'm an actress too, and I know that when you mess up one thing, thats all you can think about. You may eventually get that one line right, but then the rest of your scene goes to hell. But just to let you know, I've never seen you have an "off day" on GL. You always do fantastic work.”-Erin

“I read your post about work and it's kinda strange to read. I mean, most of the times we don't think about acting as a "job". I mean, we just see waht's on the air and that's it. Keep your chin up, I've watched you a couple times and I think you do a terrific job!!! Maybe I'll finally stop watching Days and make GL my soap of choice. I've heard such great things about it since Ellen Wheeler took over.”-Matt

These were just a few of the many responses that were received and I just have to say “THANK YOU” from the bottom of my heart, sincerely, for all your time and efforts responding to this. Whether you’ve been with me from the beginning “kick-off” blog or just tuned in because of the article in "Soap Opera Weekly" (I’ll get to that shortly), it makes no difference, your thoughts and opinions are read and taken into account and certainly appreciated.

As for the article that was written in “SOW”, well that came shortly after “Softer Moments” was posted. I was surprised actually that they (SOW) wanted to interview and get my thoughts and comments about this one in particular. I really don’t honestly remember all that I said and I’ve been so busy that I actually haven’t read it yet, but apparntly the gist was good and obviously so was the response. Let me just say if it wasn’t mentioned in the article that the meaning of “SM” wasn’t to point fingers at anyone or make anyone out to be a bad person, but rather my personal issues and thoughts about a certain work day in my life. I do want to thank SOW for taking the time to read my posts and sit down with me to understand my reasoning for it, when, because of the nature of the business and the rush rush rush of deadlines, we sometimes don’t get an opportunity to explain certain actions that are then misinterpreted.

Unfortunately, I must cut this Blog a bit short as I am at work, BUT, never fear because I’m back in the Blogging saddle with brand new crazy adventures. Trust me when I say that my next one will be STELLAR (and longer)! Most of the cast will be heading to Las Vegas this weekend for a charity event appearance so there will be stories to tell along with my thoughts and input as well as yours about the Daytime Emmy Awards and your thoughts on the nominations!!!! So sit back and get ready for more literary excitement with me. All the best and thanks again to all!

SOFTER MOMENTS

2005-01-17T07:38:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here at the computer, with so many thoughts on my mind, knowing that this entry is not going to be like what we’re all accustomed to reading. I’ve got the I-Pod playing in my ears, a song that is both inspirational yet sorrowful, and I’m wondering if I should really be putting this out there? There are a few bright spots to talk about, but I just feel that if I don’t get the not-so-bright-spots out, they will only fester and affect me later. Ultimately, this is MY journal and so it’s time to talk about the everyday moments in just a regular guy’s life and the ups and downs that I know we all have faced at one point or another.

This past week of work went pretty well for me. Every day was different as far as how the filming went (subject matter) and the times that we wrapped up that day's episode. I enjoyed shooting the scenes between Harley (Beth Ehlers) and Coop (me) on Wednesday the 12th; they seemed very natural and heartfelt. Beth has a way of helping you really feel the scenes with her magical character persona. I can honestly say that if I worked with her every day, no two days would be the same, and I could learn something new each day. Basically, the scenes felt good and hopefully they will turn out the same. Friday the 14th didn’t exactly turn out how I would have wanted it too. Let me first say that Lizzie (Crystal Hunt) is a very charged performer, and when she’s ready to go, she’s ready to go. She has done some amazing work, some very emotional work, and on Friday it called for some of that work yet again. We were first up in the day, but I had to film more scenes than she did, so I went straight to hair/make-up, then I had to head up, get changed and get ready for the morning’s shooting to begin.

Now usually, Crystal and I would have an opportunity to run our lines a few times so that we could hear the tempo and just make sure we had worked the kinks out of the dialogue. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, so when it came to a very climactic scene, very charged scene, we or rather I, had some hiccups that caused some serious shooting delays. Because of all the physical actions that were involved and how sporadic the dialogue was, and the lack of a "line run-through," I kept blanking on two simple lines, and so we had to re-shoot this one scene close to ten times. I’d like to say that the whole situation felt very much like quicksand. Once you screw-up, you become aware of the place in the dialogue that seems to be giving you all the trouble, and so you focus on nailing just that one place. As a result, because you’re so focused on that one spot, you begin to take for granted other spots in the scene and they become rough spots because you’re not concentrating and thinking, or rather "listening" to your partner. After all, that is what acting is all about right? We listen to our scene partner and "react" to what they tell us and hopefully make it seem very natural. Well I got so thrown that I wasn’t focusing, I was beating myself up inside, apologizing to everyone on set, and became so aware of the entire scene that every line of mine became a trap in my mind. For those of you reading this that are actors/performers as well, I’m sure that you can understand what I’m talking about. All the producers were in the booth watching this and I’m sure they were commenting as I could see the looks on everyone’s face who wore a pair of headsets. Eventually Crystal looked at me and asked, "Would you like to run the lines?"

"Um, yeah that might be a really good idea," I said.

Once we ran the lines, I was able to get back on track and we completed the scene. I was never so happy to finish one scene since I started on the show. I guess I was really scared of what the producers would say to me being as how the previous week, I was late to work for the second time due to my alarm clock malfunctioning, and now this quicksand incident. The lateness just happened to be on the same day the Executive Producer (Ellen Wheeler) was directing. This was the second time on HER day to direct, that I was late. UNBELIEVABLE! Also, there were several people in the cast who had appointments they had scheduled for later in the day that needed to be rescheduled due to our hour and a half loss of time with my scene. People were very much on edge and tempers were beginning to get very short. They told me not to worry and shake it off, but it was because I couldn’t get two lousy lines straight that the backup occurred and people got pissed. Anyway, that was my week of work going into the weekend, not a great start, I have to say.

The other issue that is really on my mind is about friends. It’s about the friends and special people who we let in and the way that we treat them both good and bad. This weekend was hard for me because I had some very special people in my life get hurt by the things I either did or said. Maybe it was more along the lines of what I didn’t do or say. If I had to pick my biggest flaw, it would have to be that I’m horrible at communicating i.e. calling "friends" back and following through with previously made plans. I think that I actually hurt three or four special people in my life in one weekend, ONE FREAKING WEEKEND. It all came down to laziness and fear of confrontation with each person because I had managed to make plans on Friday and Saturday night with each one of them. I went to dinner and bowling on Friday night with the cast when I had agreed to meet with a friend and their group for drinks downtown. When they called to find out where I was, I was already a bit intoxicated trying to forget about that morning’s bad filming episode, and so I was short on the phone and said some hurtful things that I wish I could take back. All this because they wanted to hang out with me and I went back on what and where I said I was going to be. On Saturday night, another friend of mine in Brooklyn had off work and we had agreed earlier in the week that we would get a bite to eat, some coffee and just hang out and talk. Well I didn’t do that, I went into Manhattan and never called them to tell them I changed my plans. They waited all evening for me to make a call telling them I was ready to go and it never came; some friend, right? To top it off, that same night, friends from Connecticut came in and wanted to go bar hopping and have some fun. I told them I’d call them and that we’d meet up in the city somewhere. I never called them back and as it got later, they called me and I never checked my phone until well after I had missed it. Why did I do that? Why was I so caught up in myself and lazy that I didn’t get in contact with those that I call my friends? I’ve spoken to some of them since these incidents and I was so scared of the conflict that might come that I didn’t know what to say except "sorry". What an asshole thing to do, you know? That seems like such a typical young guy thing to do. Now before you say it, yes I am a young guy but this shouldn’t have happened with friends. I could tell that I hurt them on the phone, but they were so above it. "No worries, next time we’ll hopefully get to hang out," or "You better just make it up to me/us," why couldn’t I just be above being so childish like they were? Why am I so scared of confrontation? I guess I could say that it stems from seeing/hearing my parents fight at an early age and not wanting to be like that ever or say hurtful things to those I love and care about. Granted my parents love each other, I know that, but sometimes people just know how to push each other's buttons and so a fight does happen from time to time, it’s natural.

I could go on about this, I’m sure, but I’m going to move along to some upbeat events that happened since my last entry. The "2005 Hottest Hunks of Daytime Calendar" signing event went extremely well in Virginia. People from all over came out to see Gavin Houston (Remy Boudreau) and myself, and it honestly gave me a very warm welcome feeling inside. My family also came out in full force and bought a few Calendars to send to friends and extended family too. I can’t even tell you how many individuals I met and talked to (a couple individuals wanted us to talk to their friends on their cell phones) who really appreciated not only the work we were doing, but supporting a great cause and coming to an area that rarely gets visits such as these. Whether or not it was my hometown, I would go to whatever state, county or mall to meet individuals who support us. You’re the reason why we ("Guiding Light") have been around for over sixty years ultimately. Come to think of it, maybe we should hold an online contest to see which geographic location would like us to come to their area for a "meet and greet". Let’s say the top two finishers get….us out there. Something to think about maybe; let me know what you think of that idea! Anyway, I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who came out to support us and the Charity we were with and if you haven’t purchased a copy and want to get a copy of this calendar, just go to www.proeventsinc.comand follow the instructions.

I have to say that I’m feeling a bit better now that I’ve gotten some of this out on the table, granted there is still so much more but perhaps another time. I have started responding to some of my "blog" comments but unfortunately some posts will not allow me to respond due to the fact that they aren’t registered users. If I haven’t sent you a response yet, patience is a wonderful virtue that I’m still learning myself; I’m getting to all of them. Finally, thanks ya’ll for listening/reading these posts and again a special thanks from Gavin and I to those who made it out to see us last weekend (love you Mom, Dad, Gene, Erin and the rest of the Driscoll and Haynes clan).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2005-01-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Out with the old and in with the new for 2005. I hope that everyone had a safe, fun and festive holiday season. I know that I certainly did (of course I’ll be sharing a bit of it with ya’ll), but there are some really exciting things that are coming up quickly that I also want to talk about. Are you interested in what’s coming up on the show? GREAT, we’ll get to some of that as well. Oh, and for those of you that have been with my “Blog” site from the start, apparently the “favorites/getting to know you” segment that I wrote didn’t go unnoticed by the Soap Magazines. Lets get started!

Every year we always tell ourselves “alright don’t go overboard on the holiday shopping this year”…yeah, well that didn’t go so well AGAIN for me. It seems that even though I made a list of things that I wanted to get for family and friends, I always seemed to find something else that I thought they might like or need. Whether it was electronics for the guys on my list, toys for my niece and nephew, or clothes, fragrances and jewelry for the females, after a while it all just seemed to mesh together. After realizing that I was hauling something like fifteen bags around, I thought, “this has to be enough”. Then the fun part really begins….wrapping everything. This area is usually a hit or miss with me and I say that because it really is true. The presents either look like they should be sitting in a Macy’s window OR something a third grader wrapped with four hundred pieces of tape basically laminating the whole damn thing! Needless to say I managed to get everything wrapped on time for Christmas morning. I have to say that my little nephew on Christmas morning had no clue what to think when he saw all these great big shiny boxes. He helped everyone unwrap their gifts and ended up wearing all the bows on his head and shirt and looked like a giant bow with two little eyes by the end of the day, it was pretty cute. As far as gifts for myself, it was pretty much to the point. I received some great workout equipment that I can take back up to New York, a few historical documentary (WWII) dvd’s, some clothes and lastly, some home essentials for my apartment. Yes, that is still a work in progress and will continue to be so for a while longer.

New Years was kind of an up in the air event this year for me. I was sick again between Christmas and New Year’s, so I ended up staying in Virginia for all two weeks and just relaxed. New Year’s Eve, I spent with my sister and brother-in-law and a few bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne at midnight…yum. My brother-in-law is a gourmet chef so needless to say; we had a great meal that night and I was in bed shortly after the ball drop. When I saw how many people were in Time Square, I was pretty happy with the choice I made. I just wasn’t in the mood to get shoved all around and fight for space that night. Yes, I was a bit lame, fine I’ll give ya’ll that one but it was still a great way to start 2005 off.

Moving on to the show now, how many of ya’ll like our holiday episodes? They were so much fun to shoot especially with Frank Dicopolous (Frank). He is such a character in person as opposed to Frank “the police chief” on the show. That whole kazoo bit on the New Years episode had to be shot like three or four times because we never were doing the same song or Frank would say/do something that would make Beth (Ehlers; Harley) laugh and then the chain “laughaction” (worse than just a chain reaction) would happen. I had a few problems concerning my trench coat and the bottle of champagne in my pocket….yeah, I know! When I went to take it out the first time, I think I said something like “look what I’ve got here; Surprise!” and was fumbling inside my coat at waist level to pull the bottle out. Well, on the monitors in the control booth it looked like a different story and that dialogue didn’t help. That got a few laughs on set too. Anyways, on to the present tense and the issue of Coop and Lizzie and their growing romance or game with one another. Our announcement of going on a date has just recently aired but I’m sure how our date goes will be a bit of a shocker. I’ve been reading all the comments from not just the Blog site (thank you for all of them), but on the CBS/Guiding Light/Letter Rip column. People seem to be pretty torn evenly about seeing and not seeing this coupling happen. All I can say is keep the comments coming because they really are taken into consideration when plotting each character’s story. I still believe my main function on the show is to be tormented by that little dog of hers, LOL!

As far as some upcoming events or articles to watch out for, I have some information to give you. For all of you avid watchers of our show who more specifically live in the Baltimore, Washington D.C., Virginia area, both Gavin Houston (Remy Boudreau) and myself, will be appearing at the Dulles Expo Center this Sunday (January 9th) from 1pm to 3 pm to help raise money in support of the “Florida Hurricane Relief Fund”. We will not only be signing autographs but the brand new “Hottest Hunks of Daytime 2005” calendar will be on hand too. I would love to see as many of you all out there to say hello to and take some fun crazy pictures with, it’s the nerd in me coming out! The exact address of the location so that you all can google it is: 4368 Chantilly Center, Chantilly, Va. 20153 and we will be located in the “North Building” of the Expo Center.

Let me just say that ANYONE CAN COME to this event but I just figured that it would be more convenient for those individuals that live in the areas I mentioned. The other really cool part is that you can make a day of this because there will be an arts and crafts event going on at the same time and this place is HUGE! Tickets to get into the building will be $7 and the calendars are $10 from what I’ve been told, with proceeds going to the charity fund, but we are absolutely FREE to hang out with! The other really exciting thing for me is that I received a call the other day about an interview with “Soap Opera Weekly” and they wanted to feature me as the back full page of the “getting to know you” segment. This segment is just a huge list of quick questions that are fun and informative. When I found this out, I had to laugh since I didn’t think this would happen for quite a while so I did it myself on this Blog site. The people for “Weekly” apparently read it and wanted to dive deeper with the questions, so BE ON THE LOOK OUT at your nearest convenience store for the article and I will also let you know if I see it.

Before I complete this novel I’ve been writing, I wanted to thank all of you for not only the comments on this site but those of you who have also written letters to me addressed to the studio in NY or e-mails on the GL website. If you have asked for a signed picture/headshot, I am actually in the middle of getting some specifically made for sending out to you, but it will take a bit of time. Please bear with me and I’ll send them ASAP. This is all still very new and I wasn’t prepared for sending my pictures out, LOL!

Now, I have to laugh at all the comments I’ve been receiving on this site because some are really great and some are really funny. Regardless, I love them all and hope ya’ll keep asking them. The music choices you’ve asked about, my age (not sure I want to give that away yet but feel free to guess), whether or not I have a girlfriend, what it feels like to be an uncle, how I got started into acting, what it was like moving to the city, etc???? I’ve tried to answer each comment but for some reason I can’t seem to access sending a response but I WILL FIGURE IT OUT….it just might take a bit first ;P

I look forward to seeing those of you who can make it out this weekend, as well as hearing from you on the comments board here. All the best to you and yours in 2005 and let me know what’s happening in your life too. Who knows, you may have more in common with me than you think! Oh and before I forget, enjoy the twists and turns the upcoming Lizzie and Coop saga take ;p

I'm Not Dead!

2004-12-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

Hello again everyone! No I am not dead. Yes I was pretty sick for a bit. Yes I was busy with work, and Yes I have been caught up in the holiday shopping craze. But I am back in the “Blogger” saddle ready to vent! I guess the last entry I put in was back around Thanksgiving, meaning that there’s a great deal to talk about….oh boy! I’ll try and hit everything between then and now but it might be an abridged version, mind you.

Thanksgiving for me was wonderfully crazy at the Driscoll (my last name for those who don’t know) household. We not only had a houseful of guests, but we were still receiving our last bits of furniture since our move into the new house. On the day of the feast, we put our twenty-seven pound bird in to cook for about seven hours and started in on making everything that goes along with it. Well, after making the kidney bean salad, green bean casserole, steamed broccoli with melted cheese, we were coming up on the fifth hour mark of cooking the bird and keeping everything else warm when the unthinkable happened. Apparently the severe winds that we were having caused a few trees to fall, causing a power outage in our area, putting about twenty-five thousand homes out of business for about two hours, NOOOOO! A quick decision was made to take the bird over to my brother’s place about fifteen minutes down the road and finish the cooking there, and the rest of the food we would wait and see what happened before getting too hasty in our decisions. As I said, about two hours later the power did return and we were back in business. So the end result was a salvaged Turkey Day with family and friends that will go down in the history books, whew!

Back in early October, I was fortunate enough to be chosen along with a few other daytime soap males to participate in a charity photo shoot that would be pieced together into a calendar called “The Hottest Hunks of Daytime 2005”. The calendar proceeds would go towards “Florida’s Hurricane Disaster Relief Fund” which I believe is close to the billion dollar mark in business and home damages. Now I honestly couldn’t believe that I was being asked to be a part of this shoot because deep down I really am a nerdy kind of guy, LOL. I mean come on, I love video games (in my spare time), I’m always singing in the shower, my clothes only match when they need to, and after spending time with my little nephew, my family and I have come to the conclusion that he and I are both on the same maturity plane (he’s nine months old). How could I have possibly been a candidate for this?

Regardless of all these thoughts, I did the photo shoot and in early December went down to Tampa, Fla. where the company was headquartered and did a huge promotional kickoff to the charity event with a few other guys. It was so much fun to meet everyone down there and to be part of a great effort that is so desperately sought after right now. The fans were incredible (even if they didn’t know who I was, LOL) and getting the chance to talk with so many people who either were effected or knew others who were and hearing their stories reaffirmed the fact that this was a great idea. If any of you are interested in getting a copy of the calendar the website is www.proeventsinc.com. You will be surprised at all the familiar faces that turned out for this event.

On a lighter side note, my mother got a bit worried when I told her I was doing a calendar shoot so she said, “that’s nice, dear….what month will you be…..oh, October, thank goodness it’s cold in October (meaning lots of clothes)." My whole family now wants a copy of the calendar along with friends of ours and neighbors. I asked the people if I might get a few copies for my relatives and friends and they came up with the idea of doing an autograph session with a few other guys from the calendar right in my hometown to make it fun and memorable. So in early January, some of the hottest hunks of daytime are going to be coming to Northern Virginia to participate with me in a meet and greet/autograph signing session. I’ll keep ya’ll posted and let you know the exact details so if you’re in the area you can come on out and we’ll meet in person, SWEET!

Anyways, while in Florida, I had the opportunity to go horseback riding for only my second time with Crystal Hunt (Lizzie) and Scott Bailey (Sandy). I have to say that after the first fifteen minutes of uncomfortable bouncing around in the saddle, I got the hang of it and figured out how to sit without pain. Tigger, my horse’s name, was a fast one! She hated being last or even having anyone in front of her, which made for an exciting ride. I have to admit that I was nervous at first at how quick she was, but once I learned how to ride her at a full gallop, we took off! We would take turns just like barrel racing, really sharp and quickly, and even though I was the one with the reigns she still let me know that she had some control by running me into loads of branches….yeah, they didn’t taste very good. Overall it was an amazing experience, one that I’m sure I’ll do again very soon.

Alright, I think that brings us back up to now. Work has been going really well and the storyline between Lizzie and Coop is starting to get pretty intense. The interactions between the two have been hot and cold with the cat and mouse game that we are playing with one another. She one ups me most of the time, but you’ll see, I’m going to get her back one way or another and I think you will really enjoy it!

It is time for me to say "so long" now. I have to get back to my scripts and my Christmas shopping. I’m sure I’ll have some horrific story about some nightmare experience I had at some store, and I guarantee you that it will be while buying a gift for a female. All the nightmare shopping stories guys have always occur while shopping for women, it never fails. Well wish me luck and I am wishing ya’ll a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

You've Got Questions, We've Got Answers!

2004-12-02T09:18:00.000-08:00

So how many of you were really disappointed at the conclusion of the last “Blog” entry? All I can say is that I credit it to the fact that I’m now getting accustomed to Soap Opera climactic cliff hangers. I’ll try not to do that again. Yeah, I know it was cheesy, but I had to try something new, LOL! Alright, so as I promised before, I wanted to make this entry more fun, possibly interactive (future responses) for all of us.

I know that we’ve all read “Cosmopolitan”, ”GQ”, “Seventeen” (depending on our ages) magazines and learned a lot about our favorite celebrities from either the “Q and A’s” or the “My Favorite” columns. Well, I don’t think there are any future plans for a “GQ” spread on me, so I figured I'd do one just for the hell of it so that people could get to know more about John Driscoll the person.

Full Name: John Edmund Driscoll
D.O.B.: June, 27
Astrological Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Fairfax, Virginia
Current Residence: Brooklyn, New York
Family: youngest of three children (pain in the butt by the way!)
Pets: Bird (Pah Poo), Cat (Kitty), and Dog (Mickey) all deceased God Bless’em!
Hobbies: Reading, writing (casually), any outdoor sport, singing, dancing, going to the movies, working out, and just listening to good music.

Now for the “My Favorite” categories:
My Favorite Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
My favorite Actor: there are so many great actors I watch and try to pull from.
My Favorite Book Series: Princess of Mars or Harry Potter (I’ll admit that I still have kid moments, besides I’m an uncle now)
My Favorite Color(s): Midnight Blue or Forrest Green
My Favorite Food: Chinese cuisine (General Tso’s Chicken baby)
My Favorite Movie: Henry V and any Kenneth Brannaugh production
My Favorite Song: Any rendition of Amazing Grace, sucker for classics
My Favorite Car: any style of Lincoln, I love big cars!
My Favorite Music Group: U2 followed by the Goo Goo Dolls
My Favorite Season: Fall, better fashions and beautiful scenery
My Favorite Candy: Milk Duds, they’re chocolate covered pieces of heaven, LOL!
My Favorite TV Show: Iron Chef, I can’t cook to save my life so I live vicariously through them
My Favorite Clothing Style: Abercrombie & Fitch, it really is all about comfort
My Favorite Pastime: doing any kind of charity work (American Cancer Society, Ronald McDonald House, Meals on Wheels, Animal rights groups)

And lastly: My Favorite Daytime Drama: Guiding Light, it was a tough one b/c they’re all so good, but I have to go on the great acting here, LOL!

This is obviously a very abridged list and there are so many other topics I could touch on, but this will have to do for now. If there are any other specific areas that ya’ll want to know about, just ask and I’ll get to them when I can. I was hoping to talk about my Thanksgiving Holiday and the adventures that brought, but I think I’ll save that one for next time. Hope everyone else had a wonderful Turkey Day and guess what….only twenty four more shopping days until CHRISTMAS! Now if you’re like me, then you’ll most likely wait until the last possible moment to do all of it and basically give the gifts in the bags that you purchased them in (it has happened before), LOL!

November 22, 2004

2004-11-22T07:34:00.000-08:00

Finally, I have the opportunity to write another "Blog" entry. As promised though, this one is going to be a bit different. But first, I have to talk about my weekend back in Virginia. By far, it was the fastest weekend I’ve ever had.

I’m not sure why this always seems to happen and I’ve talked to so many people who agree with me; parents always seem to get nicer things when ALL the children move out of the house. In this case, it's a brand new house! Yeah and it’s HUGE! I couldn’t believe that they’ve been holding out all these years on getting a bigger house. They always used to complain about "oh, we can’t afford that", yeah right! I’ve never really moved before, so this was a big deal to me. I mean I moved from DC to CONN to NY, but that was just me, not our entire family/house. As soon as I got home on Friday night, I walked in, saw the new hardwood floors and had to pull a "risky business". Oh yeah, I slid across an entire room in my socks and LOVED IT! I was like a little kid on Christmas, until I realized rather quickly (mom yelling at me) that there was lots of work to be done. This also happened to be the same weekend that my little nephew was to be baptized, Sunday Afternoon, and we were going to have a house full of company arriving on Saturday night. So pretty much all of Saturday was spent opening boxes, figuring out what was in them and where it all went, getting ready for more furniture and necessities to arrive, and setting up bedrooms for our guests that I had to go pick up. It ended up being a complete blur.

Sunday was more of the same, setting up and getting ready for the baptism (I was the Godfather). After the baptism, all the friends and family went to the golf course "club house " for the reception. Everything was set up beautifully, but I was pretty nervous because I was singing a duet of "The Prayer" (Celine Dion and Andrea Boccelli). Unfortunately, I had to leave right after to make it to the airport in time to fly back and work this morning (Monday). The crazy thing is that I’m actually flying home again tonight to spend Thanksgiving with the family and just relax for the week……phew! At this point, my energy is coming from the coffee and doughnuts. LOL, whatever works I guess!

So now that ya’ll know about my weekend, let’s get to some fun stuff! I was thinking that most people only either know me from the interviews they read in the soap magazines, or if they went to the "GL" fan club weekend or just what they see from the show……not reality! I thought it would be fun to do a mock "Seventeen Magazine" get to know you type of deal. If ya’ll think this would be fun and you enjoy it, GREAT! If you don’t…..well tough, it’s "John’s Journal", LOL! Alright let’s begin…….. next time ;)!

November 8, 2004

2004-11-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

It’s Monday morning and I am sending this next entry in from the comforts of my family’s home in Virginia. Man, it feels good to be home! Although this is supposed to be a short vacation for me, my family is also in the process of moving to a new community about ten minutes from our current residence. It’s a nice area; bigger home and it’s situated on an eighteen-hole golf course. But I grew up in this house and I have so many memories of this place. I’m not sure how easy it will be to let this place go and see someone else move into the house that represents my youth. On the up side though, with the holiday season rapidly approaching, I have so many other things to look forward to.

My little nephew (who will be referred to as the "little guy") has his baptism coming up in two weeks and there will be quite a few people coming to see this event. Of course I’m happy to see the "little guy" but yesterday (Sunday the 7th) as soon as I walked in the door from the airport and put my bags down, he was thrust into my hands and proceeded to drool all over my clothes. Now, although I was a bit put off by the sight, babies have a way of getting away with it using the maneuver I’ve come to call the "Smile and gurgle" technique. Yup, the S&G technique works and we’ve all seen it. Babies look at you, smile, and get you all warmed up then gurgle up some crud in their mouth and just let it hang. It wasn’t the most exciting image to come home to, but that's how it goes, I guess. This whole being an uncle thing is a total wake-up call for me, I wasn’t ready for this. Oh, and I can’t forget that my little niece ("little girl") was there too. I wasn’t about to get drooled on twice so I went and found the quietest and darkest room in the house to take just a few minutes to settle in and relax. I will admit though that I am really honored that I will be the Godfather to the "Little Guy". My sister and her husband asked me if I’d do it and if I felt up to being his Godfather? And I said "Um... sure". Something tells me that I didn’t get the full story of exactly what a Godfather has to do…..please fill me in if you know the job requirements, LOL!!!!! So this is what I get to look forward to this week, a whole lot of baby bonding, pre-baptismal stuff, and packing up boxes for the move….fun, fun, fun!

As far as the "Guiding Light" goes, November is going to be a big month for Coop and Lizzie Spaulding. They had us working so much together with the pending danger that’s building with the Spaulding conflict (Phillip mostly). I have to say that watching and working with Grant (Aleksander; Phillip) was such an amazing opportunity for me. His calm and cool delivery of lines and the aura his character gives off is so commanding that it can overwhelm you as a beginning actor. Off screen, he is just one of the nicest and most sincere individuals I’ve ever met. To give an example of this: I was passing by the dressing rooms and he was about to shoot a scene that required some day-players to get a bit physical with him. Now some people would just say, "I’m going to do this action, so just let me control how far we go with it, and just hold on." But Grant asked their input and thoughts about what they felt was natural and then he gave his and they combined the two and rehearsed it several times to really feel it. By the time they got to set and shot it, people couldn’t believe how realistic it looked. That's Grant’s character, he truly cares what you think. I wish that I had the opportunity to work with him some more. If you all have any favorite "Phillip Spaulding/Grant" moments, I’d love to hear about them as well as your thoughts about the whole "Coop and Lizzie" situation (where you’d like to see it go or not go).

All in all, this month is going to be really great as far as the plot of the show. Not just with my character but overall with the building danger that’s being created. The writers are really pumping on full tilt, putting out some great material, I think. I can’t wait to see what happens.

P.S.- thanks for all the Music suggestions; I’m in the process of downloading a few now. I think that my next entry is going to be a bit different, LOL! I’m sure ya’ll will love it. All the best!

Election Day!

2004-11-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

IT’S ELECTION DAY 2004 and I hope that everyone is getting out there to do their civic duty and vote! From what I’ve seen and heard on the news, this has to be one of the closest Presidential races in a very long time………not sure HOW long but a while, LOL! I myself am getting ready to head out the door to vote so I must make this a short Blog (sorry ya’ll).

This weekend was just what the Dr. ordered, I’d say. Halloween was pretty crazy up here in the city. As if there aren’t enough freaks (pardon the expression) on a normal daily basis, add the Halloween festivities and then multiply those freaks by like x1000! I personally only went out on Saturday night, but that was all I needed. Scott Bailey (Sandy), Tom Pelphrey (Jonathan), Stephen Martines (Tony) and myself went over to a Halloween bash that was being thrown by Cameron Mathison (Ryan) of “All My Children” at a club down on the Lower West Side. Just to set the stage, let me tell you about the ……um…..interesting costume that both Scott and Tom picked out for us: Baby Blue 70’s disco suits. We all matched. We looked like wedding singers individually, but combined, we were a cheesy band look-a-like! Since I didn’t know about the party, I had no say in what we wore that evening. Anyway, after the CBS/ABC, industry party, a few of us went across the street to another dance club called “Crobar” (a place I had never been to before) where we received some VIP treatment, always a nice thing, and stayed and danced until six in the morning. Now this wasn’t exactly a place that I would go to on a regular basis, but I just needed to let loose a bit and dance to some fast, energetic beats. As for Sunday, I stayed in, got some busy-work done and listened to all the trick-or-treaters outside my building.

To end this blog, I just wanted to say that I’m glad that everyone who has responded to these journal entries has been so interactive with me and given some really good advice when needed. This new lifestyle and profession that I’ve gotten into can be trying at times, so I appreciate ya’ll listening to my ramblings and vents!

October 29, 2004

2004-10-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

First off, let me just say "thank you" to everyone who has taken the time to respond to my Blogs. Although I haven’t gotten back to you individually, I am trying. This is all ew to me, so you have to bear with me for a bit to get into a routine. Just to let you all know, I am feeling better so again thank you for the well wishes, THEY REALLY WORKED, LOL!!!

This week was slow for me, I only had to work Thursday so it (the time off) gave me a chance to not only get healthy again, but also let me brainstorm some great ideas for my apartment. It’s weird coming down from working every day last week to just the one day this week. It (soap work) really is like a rollercoaster. Anyway, I received so many suggestions about decorating (color schemes, throw rugs, plants to add life, etc.) that my head is now on overload just to process it all. I feel like a walking "Bed, Bath and Beyond". I will say that I need to get the rest of my things from home (Virginia) especially my young Frank Sinatra Mug Shot poster; yeah I’m kind of an old soul.

I did happen to get to see a great short promotional concert this week which was a highlight. "Simple Plan," an alternative pop band, is releasing a new album and the casts of GL and ATWT were invited to attend the show. A few of us went and it was crazy! I met up with Stephen Martines (Tony, GL), Agim Kaba (Aaron, ATWT), and AJ Lamas (Rafi, ATWT) which was great because they’re great guys and we just had an amazing time. I would have to say that I will most likely be getting their CD. I have an eclectic taste in music and I was pretty impressed with their set. If anyone wants to help feed my taste in music and recommend some other great artists please feel free (and I do mean any artist) and I’ll let ya’ll know what I think.

As far as the show is going, I am gearing up to have some tasty, heated scenes with Lizzie. It’s so funny reading everyone’s comments about her and their dislike of her character and then turn around and hang out with Crystal. She really is a sweet person in reality, LOL, I know you’d never guess it though! I really think that her dog "Roxy" is going to be my leading lady, costuming is already telling me that they’re trying to piece a matching outfit together for us…..um, I don’t like that idea. We’ll see soon enough though.

Let me just reiterate my thanks to everyone for the responses on the blog site and add that if there are any specific questions, please feel free to ask. OH, and by the way I’m feeling the SOCK MONKEY idea, thanks JK and CK! Until the next entry, please keep watching everybody!

October 19, 2004

2004-10-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

The past couple of days have been so “Blah” for me. I mean, there were some exciting moments here and there, but the weather really dampened my spirits along with this whole flu epidemic thing. I feel like I’m walking into an infirmary rather than a daytime studio, YUCK! Another thing that hasn’t made this situation any better is the fact that my apartment is STILL NEITHER FURNISHED nor PAINTED. I really do need to get on the ball.

Before I even get STARTED with my apartment, let me just say that I am feeling like all the interactions with my co-stars that are sick are starting to take a toll on me. I’m feeling drained, my face is breaking out, it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning, my joints are so achy, and I have a taste for just soups and drinking hot tea. To top that all off, it’s raining, cold, and windy as all get out up here; MAN THIS SUCKS! To be serious for a moment, I guess I wouldn’t be so worried about this whole flu epidemic if I had hospital coverage i.e. insurance. Every since I moved up here, switching my living area and getting away from home, I have been without insurance so needless to say, I’ve been trying to be careful. I know that once I get the whole “AFTRA” union membership process complete, things will get easier and I’ll be able to receive some coverage but until then, times like this will always remain a bit of a risk especially with the colder weather coming in.

Anywho, moving on to another fun subject, my apartment is STILL in shambles. I have a whole stack of scripts that have been turned into a light stand, a bed that is still without a box-spring and rollers, no clean shades to use, and my walls are still without paint, allowing the drywall to flake a little bit and posters to cover the sparseness (if that’s an actual word). I have been looking through magazines to get ideas on how to decorate my room, but I haven’t made any motions to following through yet because of all these other financial obligations…a polite way of saying “burdens”. As far as a theme for my room, I want to try and keep it light, simple and have a very comfortable feeling to it. Perhaps an olive green or a merlot color, throw some rugs in there on the hardwood floor, add a couple of shelving units... keeping in mind that with any apt. in NY/Brooklyn you must go up and not out to save room. For shades/blinds, I wanted to have light wood if I choose a light color, and dark wood if I go with a dark paint. I don’t know, at this point I’m SO OPEN TO RECOMMENDATIONS!!!!!!

Alright, well this is going to have to be it for now. I will say that the scenes between Buzz and Coop are getting really good. I love the interactions between the two; it just seems to feel so natural when working with Justin so I’m pretty excited for those episodes to air. At the same time, the banter between Lizzie and Coop is getting stronger and stronger; it’s always fun to fight with her. I hope everyone enjoys watching these upcoming scenes as much as I’ve enjoyed filming it!

For more on John and GL go to http://www.Soapcity.com/GL

October 15, 2004

2004-10-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

Alright, my first “Guiding Light” fan weekend was a success! Not only did I survive the actual craziness of the weekend’s events, but I actually remembered quite a few names of the individuals who were there. I have to say that although all the events were amazing to attend, nothing caught me quite so off guard as Stephen Martines’ (Tony) “Unplugged” jam session Sunday night. I didn’t realize that when the cast members walked in the door, we would all be participating in a giant “Who’s Line is it, Anyway?” episode.

I am still so beat after all the interactions of this past weekend – yes, I know that was a week ago. I don’t think I slept more than 8 hours the entire weekend. How I managed to get through it still baffles me. At one point on Ricky Paull’s (Gus) boat trip a fan actually went to get me a drink and told me to sit down and take a load off, so cool in my opinion, but I guess I really looked like S#%T, LOL. I think a big factor about how well this weekend went was the fact that a crew of us (the younger actors) all tried to arrive together as a little posse or group to each event. It made it a bit easier for both the cast (us) to handle the crowd as well as for the fans to recognize all of us knowing each person’s storyline. It was also beneficial for all those who brought cameras because we were all already there and ready to have fun, so there wasn’t much of chasing individuals down to get a picture or an autograph. Oh, let me just say that I didn’t even get my sight back from all the flashes for at least two full days, LOL (a random afterthought). A downer moment for me at the bowling alley was the fact that Tom Pelphrey (JB) kicked my arse in score, but at least I beat him in finesse….but that doesn’t win a game so that really doesn’t matter, oh well. I won’t hold this against Tom; I’m just looking for a rematch.

Stephen Martines, man, where do I begin about his event, LOL? Apparently since his original guitarist had to jet unexpectedly, Stephen made the best arrangements he could to keep his event running. His “fill in” guitarist was named “Popa” and he was a TRIP to listen to. His made up lyrics and his love for oldies vs. Stephen’s passion for hip new age made for quite a head to head spectacle between the two of them. Doug Hutchison (Sebastian) threw in a bit of flair with his “MY MOTHER IS A DERANGED DOG EATING MANIAC” melody that everybody (even the cast) started cracking up about, a much unexpected ditty from Dougie.

When all the actual songs were played, we all (Doug, Tom, Stephen, and myself) were dragged up to the stage and did a Q and A session with the audience which was great because we all had the chance to get a bit more personal about ourselves with a smaller venue of fans. After about forty-five minutes of sappiness…err….I mean in-depth conversation, I had the brilliant idea of grabbing helium balloons and making up stupid songs to phrases and ideas the audience gave us. Needless to say, it got a bit crazy but memorable.

All in all, this weekend was great for me. I met so many fun fans that knew so much about the show and so much about me, to my surprise. I am so glad that I did all the events this year, but I now know that I should pace myself in future years (I’m hopeful to still be around).

Friday October 8, 2004

2004-10-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Alright, my week has now come to a close and I’m actually pretty happy about it. It’s not that anything went really wrong (though there were some... interesting spots to it); I am just really looking forward to this "FAN" weekend and the episodes of next week.

As far as this weekend is concerned, everyone I’ve spoken to at this point has said that I need to get as much sleep WHENEVER I can and get ready to be blinded with flashes i.e. perhaps a good idea to get some dark glasses.

Alright, the low point of my week was that I was late on Wednesday morning to rehearsal. Granted, nothing really came of it (this time) because they (director of the episode and the other actors) were running behind so my segments hadn ’t started, but the point that the producers were stressing was that tardiness will not be accepted... note taken.

It’s funny that this happened though because usually I’m in the building an hour before my call time just to check e-mails, use the gym in studio, or just annoy the writers and casting people, LOL.

As far as taping went this week, Lizzie (Crystal Hunt) and I had some great scenes together. Things are starting to get really charged between the two of us, bantering back and forth, picking on each other, and sometimes giving advice to one another (rarely).

My favorite scene so far is set to air in the next few days involving the Spaulding’s home and a bulldozer that I actually got to operate. I loved filming it and I’m sure that most people will enjoy watching it especially if you’re pulling for the Coopers.

Alright, it’s time to get back to work now i.e. going through my scripts and getting ready for work as well as figuring out what I’m doing tonight at the start of the Fan Club weekend. My next entry I’m sure will hopefully be about how I survived this pandemonium and probably highlight my sparse apartment and what I’m going to do about fixing THAT situation... my work is never done!