In between taking photos and wardrobe changes, I had the chance to sit down in the NBC commissary and talk to Roscoe Born about taking on the recent role as the mysterious man with a past, Trent Robbins.

First off, I can honestly say that it was truly an honor to sit down and talk to such a talented daytime vet. It's refreshing to see him back and playing such a menacing role in Salem. Don't you all agree?

Here's Roscoe checking out the photos from his shoot.

Days Insider: What does it take to play a great villain?
Roscoe Born: It takes knowing yourself and all the facets of your personality and then you bring those facets to life.

D.I.: Do you have fun playing the bad guy?
R.B.: Yes, I do. The bad guy is the guy who makes things happen. Everybody else has to react. He's the one who moves the story along.

D.I.: Any particular actor on "Days of our Lives" that you are looking forward to sharing more scenes with?
R.B.: I can tell you that great stuff is happening. I am working with Stephen Nichols next week and I have more stuff coming up with Deidre Hall. I look forward to sharing more scenes with the "vets" of the show. But, for the time being, I am having a lot of fun with the young people, too. I love working with Ari (Zucker). She's got a great sense of humor, she's real smart, and she's real quick-witted. She listens and we react to each other very well in scenes. If I say something that wasn't originally in the script, she plays along and adapts very well.

So, what do you all think? Who would you like to see Roscoe share more scenes with? I don't know about you, but I am really looking forward to those scenes with Deidre!

Now, working in the business, I know that photo shoots take a long time. It's easy to say actors have it easy, they just have to sit and look pretty, but that really is not the case. There are wardrobe changes, lighting changes, hairstyle changes, and different poses. What might look good on an actor in plain view isn't always the best look on camera. Just look at the clothes brought from wardrobe.

Believe it or not, Blake still had to have wardrobe run back to the set to grab more clothes.

I didn't go because it wasn't my moment. I'm so happy for Ron and his team.

I'm glad I have this blog so I can, in a cyber-public way, thank Frank and everyone at One Life for a great (almost) three years. They were good to me even when I wasn't good back. Sometimes I buckled under the pressure and wasn't... um... always pleasant to be around. I guess I can still be that way. But I'm making more of an effort these days to be aware of the graciousness being poured out on me by others and responding in kind.

I love being back at Days. I sometimes complain on this blog because I always want to be as honest as possible. You all deserve that from me. But that doesn't mean it's all bad. There's a lot of good too.

I had the honor of sitting with nominees Darin Brooks and Rachel Melvin during the ceremony. I also noticed it was a great opportunity for a lot of the cast to get reunited with actors who had been on the show in the past. It's easy to forget that there is a special bond that actors form with one another when working together on a day-to-basis. Farah Fath stopped by to say "congratulations" to Darin for his nomination and play catch-up, and Kyle Lowder snuck in visits with his wife Arianne Zucker at her table, and had a chance to play catch-up with some of his old co-stars.

But, back to my fun interview with Ari Zucker. Ari does share something in common with her alter ego Nicole; they are both full of surprises! I asked Ari what would be the most surprising fact her fans could find out. You ready for this? Ari knows how to change her own car's oil. I have to admit that when she told me this, I laughed. Can you all imagine Nicole in coveralls with grease on her face, changing the oil under a car? I couldn't help but ask if Ari would help me out when my oil change date comes around. She happily obliged!

Ari was also sweet enough to give me a rundown of some of her favorite things. Do you share some of the same?

Favorite Movie: "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles." Anything Mel Brooks, for that matter!
Favorite TV Show: She admits it, she's a "Grey's Anatomy" fan.
Favorite Song: Anything by Tim McGraw.
Favorite Actor: Daniel Craig (How can you disagree with that one after seeing the latest James Bond?)
Favorite Actress: The one and only Madeline Kahn.
Favorite Book: Any of the classics by Ernest Hemmingway.
Favorite Guilty Pleasure: A nice glass of wine with her husband.
Favorite Cocktail: A dirty (very dirty) martini.

I am what they call the Days Insider. My one and only job is to be your NBC.com backstage guide to Days of our Lives!

For my first post, I had the amazing honor of sitting down and chatting with one of the most down-to-earth, (not to mention beautiful) actresses in the business, Arianne Zucker.

Now most of you recognize Arianne (Or "Ari" as she is called by her friends and colleagues) for playing Salem's resident bad girl, Nicole Walker. But after having the great pleasure of hanging out with Ari, I was quick to realize she is nothing like her character; in fact, she is refreshingly the exact opposite.

I met up with Ari on the set where she had just gotten done filming a scene with Tamara Braun's character, Ava Vitali. It was easy to find Arianne backstage. I just followed the trail of laughter and that led me straight to Tamara's dressing room. Arianne was still dressed in character and politely asked if it was okay she change into something a little more comfortable and joked that she was convinced the dress "Nicole" had to wear in the scene shot that day was really just a tank top and a belt. She met me in a room that on-set calls the "library." The room doesn't resemble a library at all, but it met our needs.

Firstly I apologize for taking such a long time in writing this, time is a commodity I have little of but I am going to make a point of pushing this further up my to-do list as when I get to it I really do quite enjoy blogging. Again, not being much of a blogging expert I am still scratching my head as to what I should write.

I have done a little traveling since my last entry to both South America and Madagascar. Both projects there moving forward well and I offer a few more details as things move forward, for the time being here are a few pics I took along the way:

But now I find I want to do it again. With the impending departure of my oldest two and my babies getting ready for jr. high, I’m wistful and emotional as I stuff carrots in a bag or spoon left over spaghetti in a to-go bowl. In these last months of having all four at home, it’s a privilege and a little bit of a trip down memory lane for me. My lunch-making days are numbered. And that makes me kind of sad…

But onto other things…

So I come back to the week with a little better perspective on things. Which is good because last week I was kind of a basket case. I got C.K.’s progress from school. He’s getting an “F” in American Sign Language. Now, I know we made a mistake putting him in ASL. We thought it was the perfect solution to having to take two years of a foreign language. It was not. He’s doing fine in Physical Science, Government, English, Geometry but not in Sign Language. It’s been the class in which he struggles most. Or, should I say, struggles least. Because, if he doesn’t feel like it, he skips tutoring or pre vocabulary practice and just wings it during Friday’s tests. I knew things weren’t great. I’ve been to enough parent/teacher emergency meetings. I’ve had enough heart-to-heart talks with CK about trying harder. So when I got that ‘F’, my stress level went through the roof. Then I got a text message from CK saying it was my fault because I allowed everyone to talk him into taking that class. That was it. I was dressed and on my way into the studio, but I had just enough time to swing by school--- probably not a good idea, but nothing was stopping me. I cornered my son in the back door of the Student Center during break. And there, in front of all his friends, I let him have it with both barrels. Not my proudest moment. I just kept envisioning his whole life crumbling before him. All the hard work he’d done up to that point-- for nothing. The goal of graduating and college just slipping away.

Greetings! I'm Stuart Howard, a Stage Manager here at "Days of Our Lives." The clever folks who run this website feel that I'm uniquely qualified to provide a peek behind the scenes; because to do my job, you need to have one foot in Salem and another in, well, Burbank!

I didn’t respond to that comment very well. I’ve been getting notes on my writing all week. Do I need notes about my diary?

My head just exploded.

I think my husband just went back to the desert.

I’ve never blogged before. I asked advice from my 18 year old daughter. She told me that since this is my first entry, I should do some sort of introduction. But I think I’ll just wing it-- plunge in and do some explaining as I go.

Not only is the house quiet but it’s empty. And I kind of feel the emptiness and it’s a little disconcerting.

I have four kids, one husband, two dogs and a cat. The cat and the dogs are here, but almost everyone else is gone.

My oldest son, CK (age 19) is away with his school’s track team. They spent the night in a motel and have a meet today.

My youngest son, Helio (age 13) is enjoying the end of his spring break with his dad in the desert doing father/son bonding things.

My youngest daughter, Adelle (age almost 12) is at a sleepover.

My oldest daughter, Jensen (age 18) is the only one here besides me. She’s asleep in her room. She was up late here at the house last night with friends. I won’t see her till noon.

Welcome to my blog.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas or Holiday – personally I celebrated Christmas – I am not a Christian, but as it’s a delineation of a pagan festival I am giving myself a get out of jail free card on this one.

(The date of December 25th probably originated with the ancient "birthday" of the son-god, Mithra, a pagan deity whose religious influence became widespread in the Roman Empire during the first few centuries A.D. Mithra was related to the Semitic sun-god, Shamash, and his worship spread throughout Asia to Europe where he was called Deus Sol Invictus Mithras. Rome was well-known for absorbing the pagan religions and rituals of its widespread empire. As such, Rome converted this pagan legacy to a celebration of the god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god during the winter solstice period. The winter holiday became known as Saturnalia and began the week prior to December 25th. The festival was characterized by gift-giving, feasting, singing and downright debauchery, as the priests of Saturn carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession throughout the Roman temples.)

For the second year I opted to neither give nor receive gifts. Instead, I made donations to various charities on behalf of those who would otherwise have received gifts and encouraged others to do the same. There are a lot of organizations that offer this, my favorite, and my main source of gifts, is a great organization called Heifer International. Here you can purchase a variety of animals that are then donated to struggling communities in the developing world. From chickens (or chicks) to cows and goats I love this organization and encourage all of you to consider it when the time comes next year.

I have not yet decided how to use this ‘blog’ there is so much to say in so little space so I think I will mix it up a little, so there will be some personal stuff, some work stuff and anything else that falls in between from opinion to commentary. It’s going to be an great year and I am very much looking forward to 2008 both personally, with my upcoming wedding, and professionally - who knows what is happening there, but its certainly going to be an interesting year.

Check in again soon,
James