(Dear Alex's old hair...I'm so glad you're gone.)

Okay, so, remember a couple days ago when I said my popularity on IMDB.com had never been higher? Well, this week, it's 290% higher than that, putting me at #3,794 out of like, two million people! To keep this in perspective, Jennifer Aniston is #14, Scarlett Johansson is #20, Jada Pinkett Smith is #583, some actress who has been on over 900 episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful is at #5,310. I am #3,794 this week. CRAAAAAAAAZY... I think I know why, though--a film that I had a small role in last year came out this week. The film, Still Waiting..., has gone straight to DVD, but I can see on IMDB that the movie is the #35 most searched film this week. Still, I have definitely never been higher on their list—and may never be that high up there again (God willing, I will be, though!), so I just had to share. Anyway, that’s crazy.

Not only that, but this Damnwells record is blowing up, too. I can't announce exactly how many people have downloaded the record thus far, but let me just say that the response has been phenomenal. (Like, if we would’ve sold it, we’d be in the Billboard top 20-style, phenomenal.) We've been asked to play at SXSW next month and this Friday evening we're going to be opening for Mason Jennings at the most gorgeous venue in Iowa City, the Englert Theater. We've got another show with the full band coming up in April at the Mercury Lounge in NYC, are discussing video concepts with a director friend of ours, and we are so thrilled about it all.

The craziest part, though, is that Alex and I are just sitting here in Iowa (well, when I say “sitting” I mean running around going to classes, writing papers, working on projects, rehearsing for plays, teaching classes, etc.), and we're just kind of watching things happen to us. It's so weird. We are finally seeing some interest in the things we're doing, but we can't even sit back and think about it because we are so busy with our school work! I love that, actually--I'm so thankful that I have other things to think about, aside from "must get successful at this, must get successful at that." Los Angeles was like a pressure cooker in that regard. I feel like I couldn't even leave the house without thinking in the back of my mind that I might get "discovered" that day. I put so much pressure on myself to always try and look pretty or act a certain way, because a casting person or a big time agent might see me at the grocery store or something (ridiculous, I know, but LA does wacky things to people).

It's just funny: when you take some of the pressure off yourself to be successful, that's when you actually begin to see something come out of it all...

I’ve got to tell you, it’s a pretty cool feeling.