For The Glory

God is so good and constantly surprises me. I'm not gonna lie... the past few months in Nashville have been difficult. I've been VERY unsure of why the Lord has me here and what He wants to do with me. Honestly, I'm still in the middle of those feelings, and probably will be for some time. It's difficult to wake up everyday not sure of what step to take. My prayer has been that I will wake up and seek Christ with all that I am and not continually search for my place or my profession. That will come through the seeking of my Savior. So... I'm seeking Him. Thats where I am right now, and I'm trying to be ok with it.

Though in a tough place in life, God is so gracious to provide interesting and exciting opportunities that build my faith and fill me with joy. He has always been faithful to do this for me during times like this, and I'm so thankful. One such blessing that I've just been given is the opportunity to do something that both excites and terrifies me. Acting.

You might have read some of my blogs from my time spent in Los Angeles, CA last year (if not, go read them or get out of here. Just kidding. But seriously...). Such an incredible roller coaster ride that I would not trade for anything. It was during this time in LA that I wanted to pursue acting, which didn't really turn out exactly how I'd imagined. There were never any real breakthroughs for me, and I honestly never got the chance to do any real acting. Well... now that I'm living in Nashville where I'm pursuing music, the opportunity to act finally arrives. His timing is perfect.

My roommate, Jason Burkey, had been connected to a director working on a faith-based project called "For The Glory" that is in pre-production and had the opportunity to audition a while ago for the lead male character in the movie. He informed me that as of last week there was a principal part they still needed to fill because they hadn't found the right person, and the director asked Jason if he could think of anyone that might fit. He thought I might be good for the role, so we quickly put together an audition video and sent it to the director. After not hearing anything for a few days, I figured they hadn't really liked what they saw and were going with someone else... until this morning. The director called Jason and I to offer us parts in the film! Crazy.

You can read about the project at www.fortheglorythemovie.com in which Jason will play the lead character of "Kurt", and I will play his friend "Al." I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed me to not only have the opportunity to act, but has also given me the chance to be a part of an inspiring, uplifting film. I know there's a lot of people who can't take faith-based films seriously, and I'm honestly a pretty tough critic myself, but no matter what I'm proud to be part of a project thats at least attempting to provide something positive in a market saturated with filth. I'm excited to see where this journey takes me and how I'm going to be stretched and molded in the process (I mean... I'm gonna have to learn how to play soccer. Crap), and I'm so thankful for this opportunity.

Filming will take place in Virginia right outside of Washington, D.C. from the middle of May to the middle of June, so I would definitely appreciate your prayers as the project gets underway and we all begin to prepare. Not sure, but I don't think it's gonna make it to theaters, so I'll have to let you know how you can watch it and laugh at me when it's done. Thats gonna be hilarious. Dang, it's gonna be a wild ride. I hope I'm ready for it!... and I hope I don't make a fool of myself. If you have any soccer tips, please send them my way. I'm gonna need all the help I can get!

Cause God is SO good even in when I feel blind,
Robby

Whoa!

I almost didn't post a blog during the month of March. That would've been sad... for March.

Relating to my previous post, you might want to check out minute 2:32 in the video below:


Yes, yes. That is my 1.5 seconds of fame folks! Isn't it glorious? I must say that the clap was pretty dead on (thank you music video editors). And, strange enough, I actually just received payment for this project today. I'm rolling in the dough now! Hopefully they'll be more awesome music video appearances in the future, so be on the lookout. I would just keep the channel on CMT or GMA permanently if I were you.

Oh... and Naomi Judd was in Bonefish Grill the other night. I think Wynonna was there, too, but Ashley definitely wasn't (and she's the only one I'd really care to see). Oh well. Maybe she'll come some other time when she reconciles with her mother and sister. I guess she's still bitter that she's not singing sweet country tunes and had to become a wildly successful movie star instead. Some people never get a break.

Cause the Judds love some bang bang shrimp,
Robby

Wrong Baby, Wrong

So, last week I had a couple auditions for various things here in Nashville. One was to play a part in a promo for a new show for Melissa Peterman (she was on the show "Reba" apparently and now hosts "The Singing Bee" which can be pretty hilarious sometimes) and to be the lead guy in an Eric Church music video. I didn't get either of those, but the production company doing the Eric Church video was also shooting Martina McBride's music video for her song "Wrong Baby, Wrong" and needed a few extras for one scene. I did get that job. I know, I know... I'm big time.

Anyway, the scene took place in this tiny little bar called the Piccadilly Club in Dickson, TN which is about an hour drive outside of Nashville (this town apparently has a pretty awesome small town parade during Christmas that I want to go to next year. One year some teens burned a few buildings down... hope that doesn't happen again). It just happened to be one of many recent rainy, freezing days here in Tennessee, and there were about 20 of us huddled in this little bar. It was honestly kind of cozy and, though pretty disgusting, kind of an endearing little establishment.

The premise of the video involved Martina and 3 other girls coming into the bar and dancing while Martina performed onstage. We were pretty much there to be the crowd and just dance around and have fun. Tough job, I know. It ended up being really fun minus the fact that we weren't fed anything for dinner and were forced to resort to eating the props (small baskets of peanuts they had placed on the tables). However, I finished out the evening by going to Waffle House with a couple new friends I met on set (Josiah and Kim... you're awesome. We gotta do it again soon).

Considering I think Martina is actually really talented, I'm glad my first music video experience here in Nashville involved her. She seemed pretty nice for the most part despite the fact that she had been working since 6am that morning, and she has some of the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. I hope they're real. I think they are. Oh! And we found out that the dog tags she's wearing in the video are actually her father's... we didn't get any additional information because she got away from us pretty quickly. Oh well.

Hopefully I'll have some more good stories to come, and maybe I'll even book some of the work that I'm auditioning for. Getting the chance to sing a little bit would be fun, too, so hopefully those opportunities will fall into place.

Making a little progress,
Robby

One Year

One year ago today I was waking up to my first morning living in LA. Dwight and I arrived at my new apartment around 2am on Feb. 5th to fairly dreary weather but exciting new opportunities. It really is hard to believe that its already been an entire year, and it's honestly a little frightening to realize how quickly time goes by.

I will say that a year ago, there's absolutely no way I would have been able to make a video like this (LA would have no idea what to do with snow. If it rains they freak out):

Confessions/It's My Life from Katlin Miller on Vimeo.

Hope you enjoyed that. We're ridiculous. I have a feeling there will be more to come in the future.

Robby

Do it. Find the fun.

My incredible friend Laura Vandal Chancey gave me a little ceramic dinosaur she had painted green that has sat on my desk ever since. In the course of my numerous moves throughout 2009 the dinosaur has received a few knicks and scratches. I think I kind of like it (I just changed my mind completely right then. I just wrote "I don't like that" right before I erased it and wrote "I think I kind of like it")... gives him character and some little battle scars. He's so tough.

I'm currently writing this post to avoid going to the gym to run. Maybe I'll run after work tonight. High unlikely, but I guess it's possible.

Thinking about me changing my mind about my thoughts on the dinosaur scars made me start thinking about change and my life. Growing up, I always thought that I was someone who absolutely hated change. I use to cry when my parents even talked about moving away from Huntsville when we lived there because I so hated the idea of change. I'm beginning to realize that while I hate change in some areas of life, I require change and even seek it in other areas. This trait has become more and more evident in the past couple years when looking at my multiple jobs and living situations. And looking back at my life I see how often I sought out change while holding fast to the familiar in specific areas. I think the familiar that I held onto was relationships. I never wanted to lose any relationship, and my resistance to moving was really my resistance to losing relationships. Friendships. The familiarity and comfort of having people know who you are and you know them even if the activities of life around you are constantly changing is nice.

My tendency towards change regarding activities in life may be my desire to do everything that I enjoy, and as you get older you kind of have to choose what you want to do specifically (something that I definitely have a problem doing) so I just jump from one thing to another that interests me. Hmmm... this seems highly likely.

When I was young I used to draw all the time. Usually it was houses or theme parks. I would also sing constantly and act and sing in plays at church. I'd go diving at the pool or flip around in our front yard. I would play with k-nex for hours or just go outside and explore. I even loved going to school. I didn't miss a single day for something like 8 years in a row, because I wanted to be there. I loved having fun... all the time. And I was good at having fun. Really good.

I don't think much has changed, and I think I'm trying to figure out if it has to change. Can life remain fun forever, or does there come a point where we have so much responsibility and pressure on us that we're no longer able to have fun doing whatever it is we're doing? Is there a way to continue living a meaningful and impacting life while enjoying it fully? I sure hope so.

I do realize that not everything in life is going to be "fun." Much of life is difficult, and we have to work hard through things we don't particularly like in order to accomplish goals. But can't you have fun in the difficult, or is that just attempting the impossible?

I might seem flaky and disconnected from reality at this point, and maybe I am. I don't know. I just feel like we have the ability to live with so much joy, and we often (me included) allow the difficulties of life to steal our fun. Life is hard, yes. But the joy of going through life with Christ and experiencing what He has laid before us to enjoy is so much fun. So I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna have fun.

Did this post make any sense? I kind of rambled. Sorry if its completely incoherent.
Robby

The SAG Awards

They were on tonight. Ricky Gervais was not the MC. They were pretty average because of that.

It did appear that people didn't talk during presentations, which made me happy.

And "GLEE" won. Definitely made me happy.

Robby

Golden Globes

Missed them? Don't be too sad. They were fairly lame... except for Ricky Gervais. He was perfectly inappropriate and uninhibited. I'd expect nothing less, though. I love how he can put some people in their place and then just laugh it off even though you know he's being completely serious. Awesome.

I was surprised by the ambient chattering throughout all of the presentations, though. Is that how every awards show is, we as the television audience just usually can't hear it? I would HATE to be a presenter talking to a room of people who aren't even pretending to pay attention.

Also, I felt like many of the celebrities who received an award were completely awkward, ill-prepared, and not well spoken at all. I guess they're just regular, intimidated, insecure humans like all of us. Crazy, huh?!?! Haha. Oh, celebrity. So weird.

Oh. One more note. "GLEE" won an award. We fast-forwarded through the acceptance speech, cause we really didn't care what they were saying, but I was excited for the cast. I think I'm in love with Lea Michelle (Rachel Berry). She's incredible.

The end.
Robby

Seriously?

I feel like someone is playing a huge joke on me. FOX released the news that they're having open, online auditions for 3 new parts in the show "GLEE." I'm worried to even entertain the thought that the possibility of me being on that show could become a reality, so I'm just trying to not think about it. But can you imagine? I would freakin' love that. Granted, some of the subject matter is a little questionable considering my stance on certain issues, which could complicate things, but dang... it would be so much fun. If they need someone to play Mr. Shu's brother it's over. I'm their guy.

Alright. Thats all the thought I'm gonna give it.

In other news... life is pretty much the same here in Nashville. No big breakthroughs or major connections, but I had figured that'd be a slow process. I'm trying to be patient, cautious, and intentional about every pursuit. Good things take time, and I'm really praying that this will be a good thing. God can do anything, so I'm looking forward to what He has planned.

By the way, my roommates realized last night that they now have cravings for cookies at night. They said this didn't happen before I moved in. I somehow have that effect on people. Not sure thats a good thing (and neither are my roommates).

Robby

Today...

I walked on a little frozen pond. It was exciting... and cold. I was only slightly terrified that the unknown thickness of ice would break through and leave me at the mercy of Katlin's willingness to help me out. That and the fact that I'd be wet... in a frozen pond... in 20 degree weather. Not ideal.




Here's the hill Katlin, Jason and I sled down Thursday night. It was hilarious. Sure, we may have just had a tarp and some cardboard, but it worked. Thats all that matters. Doesn't matter that we got the cardboard out of our apartment's trash compactor either... or that there was hardly any snow on the ground... or that I walked away with scratches and bruises all up my legs and arm. Sledding rocks.



Cause snow instantly turns me into a 10 year old again,
Robby

*You've just read the 200th post of "Right. Then Left." How do you feel? I hope inspired and somewhat gleeful.

New Year. New Place. New Opportunities.

So, I'm writing this from my new apartment in Nashville, TN while looking out at a snow filled sky. How awesome is that?! I moved all my big stuff up here last Wednesday, but I didn't actually move into the apartment until this past Saturday. I'm so excited to finally be in this city even though I have no idea what I'm planning to do now that I'm here. I'm just trusting the Lord's leading and trying to have faith that He'll take care of things... which He will. I've had the desire to move here for quite a few months, but my logical side has constantly talked myself out of it. Now that I've made the move, though, it really doesn't seem like too big a deal. I'm still working at Bonefish Grill just in a new location (which I really like so far!), I'm living with two incredible friends in a great apartment in Brentwood, and I'm attending an amazing church called Fellowship Bible Church. Not bad. Not bad at all.

My main reasons for moving here involved the music industry. I love being in a city surrounded by opportunities, which is one reason I enjoyed my time in LA so much. Even if the opportunities are very difficult to get involved with at least they're here. Thats my take on it at least. I look forward to meeting various people who have worked in or experienced the music industry, learning more about the opportunities available, getting involved with Fellowship Bible Church's worship ministry, and just enjoying a city that I've heard so much about throughout the years. People ask me all the time what my plans are, but I really don't have any specific steps to take. I want to learn, grow closer to Christ and follow His lead, and discover how He wants to use me (whether that be in the music industry or not).

I really don't know how long I'll be here or where the Lord is gonna take me, but I'm alright with that. I know I'm supposed to be here today, and thats gonna have to be enough for me. It's taken me a long time to be ok with following God's lead instead of planning my own (and I've still got a lot of learning to do and faith to build), but after seeing His faithfulness in my life over and over again I can't help but trust Him more. He is good, and He loves me... and I'm so thankful for that.

Robby