30 Days of Turning 30: Day 19

They say nice guys finish last. Which would account for a lot of the a-holes there are walking around Manhattan (and everywhere else). But I think in terms of being nice you just need to find a balance and know when you need to be nice and compromise and when you need to stand your ground and be firm even at the risk of someone calling you a bitch. And I do believe that Tina Fey once said something to the effect that people will call strong women "bitches" but strong women get things done. So if that makes them bitches, so be it. I've spent most of my life being "too nice". As a teenager, I once got a standing ovation at my summer job for dropping the f-bomb for the first time because no one thought I had it in me. I'm used to being the one who takes a step back to ensure harmonious existence rather than cause conflict. Do you know what happens after too many years of doing that? The equivalent of the SERENITY NOW debacle on Seinfeld with Lloyd Braun (sp?). Just ask me what I did to one of my college roommates after she took advantage of me one too many times. It'll make you laugh. And gag. Which brings me to Steve Buscemi. He's played a gangster, a serial killer, a plain old weirdo, a bum on the street, and on and on. In reality he is a really nice guy who just happens to be an extemely talented actor. If you didn't know him as an actor, would he be written off as just another nice guy? I thought about this during Day 19, since the activity that I had never done before ended up being the act of pushing and shoving Steve Buscemi and yelling at him for an HBO promotion for the upcoming second season of Boardwalk Empire. I can't give away the details of why (you'll have to wait and see when the promo airs on HBO this summer but it's going to be really really cool). During a break I explained 30 Days of Turning 30 to Steve over at craft services and he instructed me to make sure that I got some good violent shoves in during the scene, which I did my best to do and hopefully it makes it into the final edit. So some 15 hours in the hot sun, head to toe 1920s attire including very uncomfortable shoes, all on about three hours of sleep doesn't sounds like a good day. But how many people can say that they got to manhandle Steve Buscemi at work?

I've posted a picture from that day, but don't let the smile fool you. I'm not THAT nice ;-)
Day 20 up next!!