Without a Trace and the Three Coats

Yesterday and today I worked on Without a Trace as an FBI agent. It has been quite the little gap in time since my last stint in blue. Early this morning I was a NY pedestrian and my god was it freezing outside. I was wearing a blouse, a sweatshirt, an overcoat, and a wool heavy coat and was still cold. It might have been about 45 degrees. Yes....I am a wimp. The day only got worse when I was being harassed on the phone by my landlord who said my rent was late...when it really wasn't. My stress though was finally relieved when I heard some of the regular agents bad-talking another extra named Helen. She is the most antagonizing creature alive. She picks fights it seems with everyone. And I never realized before that nobody really liked her. I always thought she hated me (especially after I told her maybe something was wrong with her hypothalamus because she is cold all the time). Yesterday she practically screamed at me cause the lamp was on next to her and it was too bright against her computer screen. Even though I was reading and found the light helpful, I did not turn it on, yet I received her wrath. She is very selfish. Anywhoo, the extras were commenting about how she got in a tiff with a new guy on set and Helen was making a big deal about how rude he was when in reality, she is extremely rude and very off-putting. It was such a relief that no one really got along with her and it wasn't just me. I finally felt like I bonded with everyone on set.

Without a Trace and the Mysterious Tablet

I had gotten into quite the routine of coming to work on Without a Trace. I had my assigned place by the wall socket to plug in my laptop that I now felt comfortable enough to bring to set. My sister has a slingbox, so I could watch TV on my laptop. Very convenient especially when prime-time shows start. However, today was not like any other day because for some reason, I decided to look in my pocket.

I had bought a new suit a few months ago because I was tired of wardrobe commenting on how the my last suit's jacket was too short or it was too light. I went to buy a nice Theory coal colored pin stripe suit at It's a Wrap which is a store that sells used wardrobe from television and movies. It's about a $600 suit that I got for $70. Not too shabby. But for some reason, I had never bothered to look in the pockets, which were mostly stitched up, until today. I felt a little bump in my right butt cheek pocket and decided to investigate. What I pulled out was a white powdery round tablet about the size of a pill. I showed it to another guy on set and he told me that it looked like ecstasy laced with heroin. ( I later looked up online that they don't lace ecstasy with heroin. ) He also guessed that the pants came from Jennifer Love Hewitt. Apparently I look the same size as her. I was flattered, sure, since she is a size 4 and makes a lot of male top ten attractive bodies lists, but I just had to remind him that I was about 4 inches taller and the pants were not hemmed at all. I was completely floored that I, Mary Howard, had been walking around with ecstasy in my pocket for months! What if I had been stopped by a cop and searched? I believed him of course because frankly, that's exactly what it looked like to me as well. The edges were too powdery to be a regular pill and why would someone have a random pill in their pocket. I also noticed from experience that it was not tylenol or any other form of advil or aspirin which is the only pill that makes sense to have on oneself.

Luckily for us, there was a reformed drug addict on set named Christian who could shine a light on the situation. After his careful analysis of sniffing and scratching at it with his fingernail before licking the debris, he told us it looked like a dry cleaned breath mint. He didn't rule out ecstasy, he just gave us a more likely substitute. I still wasn't convinced. There is only one real way to find out. Any takers?

Without a Trace and the Stalking of Lee Pace

I was working Without a Trace once again, but today instead of staying cooped up inside during my walk-away lunch, I decided to take a stroll through the Warner Bros. Backlot. I have a path that I take to get to the gift shop where I have been known to waste many a paycheck on discounted DVDs or Anamaniacs cels. I pass by the set of Chuck hoping to see Zachary Levi and pray for the slightest chance that he will remember me for once and ask me how I've been, and then I walk up past the Pushing Daisies set hoping to see Lee Pace. If I ever did see Lee Pace, I had sworn to my friend Kate that I would not only get his picture, but also give him her phone number. She believes they are destined to be together from their laid-back nature to their love of board game nights. She even cries whenever she sees him on TV because she thinks he is such an amazing artist. Pathetic, I know, but completely understandable. He is adorable. And would you believe who I saw while passing by? Kristin Chenoweth and her tiny dog......and Lee Pace in his cute little Pie Maker apron. I stayed calm and kept walking as I reached for my cell phone and scrambled to dial Kate. She didn't answer at first so I had to call my mom in order to release my couped up energy and excitement from seeing him. Kate dialed in while I was talking to her after listening to my message. She was going mental. She was insistent that I go up and talk to him and hand him the phone so she could as well. I did not have the balls for that insane feat..not everyone can go up and talk to celebrities with such ease as Miss Kate Gorman. In fact many of us have something called nerves that intensify into a strangle-hold when we come into proximity of something or someone too amazing for one person to handle alone. We decided that I had to at least take his picture. Terrified of bringing any attention to myself, I decided that I had to take a picture while pretending to talk on my phone. Not an easy task to do with a cell phone camera. The timing had to be perfect and the zoom prepared before passing. I walked by him 3 times in order to get this pic. I would have done 2 more laps, but how inconspicuous can I be if I'm parading by him constantly on my phone. I thought 3 times was pushing it. You can kind of see his left profile. Not an amazing picture, but still, he is there, and it made Kate's day. Now that the show is cancelled, I no longer have the opportunity to stalk him, and am very thankful for this one chance.

Without a Trace - I am an FBI Agent

September 15th and 16th was the beginning of what has been quite the little run so far as a regular FBI Agent on Without a Trace. Going to work on this show began to feel like a regular job for me eventually. Same people, same faces, same crosses. But again, there is nothing like your first time.

I met a friend on set named Aileen. She was a newbie like me, and I haven't seen her since, so I guess she didn't get a regular stint like I did. We hit it off straight away and probably breathed a little life into the dull routine of Without a Trace. People instantly took notice. At one point we started speaking French on set...only the curse words of course. "Tu es un sac de merde!" and so on. Moments later, the director Jonathan, who looks a little bit like Santa Claus except shorter and much crankier, says something in French...like "can we hurry up merci beaucoup". He was eavesdropping. It was hilarious. This man seemed to hate life and everyone on set, and yet he was entertained by us enough to join in on our French fun. Later in the day one of the extras asked the 2nd 2nd if she should point to the photo in the scene as if to talk about it. He answered yes. I was far back closer to Jonathan and heard him say, "We should fire her. Does she seriously think she wants to be an actress? Who asks that question? Idiot!" (it was something to that effect...I may have paraphrased.) Needless to say he was an insulting jerk and I found him to be hilarious because he was blunt and honest and highly entertaining.

The next day I returned, but there was no Aileen...she was replaced with another token Asian girl, Cindy. Cindy and I became friends because again...we were the only non-regulars and therefore we bonded. We ended up working together almost everyday for the next few weeks. Very random, but it's always nice to have a buddy to do the crossword puzzle with.

Without a Trace - Pre-FBI Agent

I worked Without a Trace today as a pedestrian and memorial service attendee. We were filming on the Warner Brother ranch which is where they have all these house that they film in like the Pushing Daisies house and the house from Christmas Vacation and Lethal Weapon. We turned the Pushing Daisies house into a Church Basement type room. So deceiving.


There was an additional PA on set who graduated from USC in Critical Studies...just like me. Though he graduated in 2003 I think. He is writing some screenplays and doing this for money. He was pretty cool and gave me some good advice. He told me that he has never had to hand out his resume to anyone. Every job he has gotten, he has gotten because he knows somebody. He is positive that all those interviews I went on were filled by people who knew someone. I agree. He also told me about how he was working as an Office PA on Freaky Friday and was offered a small part. It got cut though...but he still got paid. Jealous. I've seen him a few times since then, but he never remembers me, which is strange because we talked the whole entire day. Not everyone has a memory like I do.

I got bored later on and while looking at my phone, noticed it had a stop watch. I decided to see how long I could hold my breath. My siblings and I used to have these contests in the car during long drives. I held my breath for a minute and five seconds. I texted my results to my cousin Drew and friend Alex. Drew held his for a 1:30 and Alex 30 seconds. Amazing, I know...after reading this I'm sure you are all going to see how long you can hold your breath and compare your results...if you aren't...you clearly are not as cool as us.