It's Quiet Out There . . .

. . . but quiet is good. I'm enjoying being in charge of my own timetable and spending much of my free time clearing out cupboards that I promised myself I would clear out four years ago. Part of that process is transferring hundreds of old video cassette recordings to computer. They're mostly old films recorded off the television in the 1980s and 1990s, which means the recordings aren't perfect, but the adverts are full of nostalgia.

I haven't been idle on the acting front. As noted last week, I'm now on Spotlight, although the number of jobs going through is much less than I expected and I'm suited for very few of them. (I'm the right age but the wrong look for the father figure that comes up most often.) At the beginning of the week I had a long meeting with an agent. I liked him, but I'm still waiting to hear if he likes me, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign.

a famoso, bem-amada Rita Lee

Tomorrow morning I have a callback for a lead in a feature film, which sounds good, but it's one of those films where everyone is just starting in the business and no-one will get paid. They may not want me, but if they do, will I want to give up two weeks of my life for the possibility of future fame? On the other hand, every audition and callback is an opportunity to test myself so, for that reason alone, I'm looking at the script and preparing myself to act the civilised sadist.

Then there's the aftermath of the one-man plays I wrote. Apparently I've been awarded the prize for best new writing. Of course I'm pleased but I haven't yet got the certificate and the Solo Festival website hasn't announced it officially. When that happens, I'll broadcast the news more widely.

In the meantime I shall spend the next week or two practising what Rita Lee - that well-known Brazilian popstar - preached in one of her hits in the early 1980s: nada melhor do que não fazer nada / nothing better than doing nothing. Enjoy the weekend, whatever you're doing.