"So what's a pretty girl like you doing in a joint like this?"
Now, I know my temp job sucks, but I didn't think it was all that bad. Some people who stop by are really friendly. I was stocking stuff the other day, and a man comes down the aisle and says, "I just wanted to say hi!" I say, "Well, hi!" and as he walks off, I mouth, Who the crap is that. Some of the friendliest people. And a really cool old Scottish guy who will up open like a sweetheart if you get him to talk.
Have I mentioned how much I love Mat Kearney? He's pretty much amazing.
I broke 8,000 words tonight on Whatever You Ask. I'm ahead of the game if I had the whole month, but there's the whole trying to finish before May 14th thing. I've managed to mentally plot more of Act II out, though, which is helpful. Act II isn't so much of a hassle to write if you do have a midpoint that you're trying to build the story too. Then it's not just about complications. It's about plot and development and all that sort of good stuff.
I'm just thinking about a lot of stuff, really. And it's not really about writing, but it's coming out in my writing. That's sorta cool.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Can't Break Her Fall
She says today is gonna be the last one
I know there's never gonna be an easy way out
She's rolling round the town with a fast gun
And I know I can't be there to catch her when she falls
Well half way down is half way out of here
We're either halfway drowned or half way 'round the pier
When you're that far gone
I walked the steps to her apartment with the window by the shore
And saw her curled on the tile through a crack in the door
I've been searching for the words I don't know how to say
I've been searching for the words to make it go away
I spent all of last night and the night before that
With my feet in the sand and the wind on my back
Watching a ship sail out to a blue wide sea
There must be more than this with a kiss we can't see
Well half way down is half way out of here
We're either half way drowned or half way round the pier
I can't break her, I can't break her fall
She's lying in the back room, crying on the bathroom floor
Singing I can't take it, I can't take any more
Just one reason, one to believe in
That's not that far gone
Not that far gone
I held the back of her head and laid her in the bed
And watched the sheets raise and fall to the rhythm of her breath
Turn the lock on the handle and slipped down the stairs
To the cover of the night with diamonds in the air
I'll say a prayer in my breath and take a left at the water
To the rhythm of my feet a sister and a daughter
To the rhythm of the sea with the breeze in the autumn
As it blows through the trees my hands into the water
Well half way down is half way out of here
We're either half way drowned or half way round the pier
I can't break her, I can't break her fall
She's lying in the back room, crying on the bathroom floor
Singing I can't take it, I can't take any more
Just one reason, one to believe in
That's not that far gone
Not that far gone
I can't break her, I can't break her fall
She's lying in the back room, crying on the bathroom floor
And I can't take it, I can't take anymore
She says today is gonna be the last time
And I know there's never gonna be an easy way out
- Mat Kearney
I know there's never gonna be an easy way out
She's rolling round the town with a fast gun
And I know I can't be there to catch her when she falls
Well half way down is half way out of here
We're either halfway drowned or half way 'round the pier
When you're that far gone
I walked the steps to her apartment with the window by the shore
And saw her curled on the tile through a crack in the door
I've been searching for the words I don't know how to say
I've been searching for the words to make it go away
I spent all of last night and the night before that
With my feet in the sand and the wind on my back
Watching a ship sail out to a blue wide sea
There must be more than this with a kiss we can't see
Well half way down is half way out of here
We're either half way drowned or half way round the pier
I can't break her, I can't break her fall
She's lying in the back room, crying on the bathroom floor
Singing I can't take it, I can't take any more
Just one reason, one to believe in
That's not that far gone
Not that far gone
I held the back of her head and laid her in the bed
And watched the sheets raise and fall to the rhythm of her breath
Turn the lock on the handle and slipped down the stairs
To the cover of the night with diamonds in the air
I'll say a prayer in my breath and take a left at the water
To the rhythm of my feet a sister and a daughter
To the rhythm of the sea with the breeze in the autumn
As it blows through the trees my hands into the water
Well half way down is half way out of here
We're either half way drowned or half way round the pier
I can't break her, I can't break her fall
She's lying in the back room, crying on the bathroom floor
Singing I can't take it, I can't take any more
Just one reason, one to believe in
That's not that far gone
Not that far gone
I can't break her, I can't break her fall
She's lying in the back room, crying on the bathroom floor
And I can't take it, I can't take anymore
She says today is gonna be the last time
And I know there's never gonna be an easy way out
- Mat Kearney
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
How to listen to U2 on a broken shuffle
My iPod wasn't working today. I have a shuffle, so it won't even tell me what's wrong. I ran errands and such today, walking of course, and my iPod stopped working after a while. So when I started walking back and, in frustration, did what I do to technology that's trying to revolt - I shook it. And that worked! Amazing.
Today was a positively beautiful day.
I didn't write again on Whatever You Ask yesterday after I posted. Because I'm lazy. Today I wrote 1200 words, though, so I made up for it, I think. Finished Act I. Act II will be difficult, getting those complications rolling, but hopefully once started it will go along, er, smoothly.
I caught an episode of On the Lot finally. I'd only heard things before tonight, mostly that it wasn't really very filmmaker realistic. Tonight they showcased 5 of 15 after they had five days to write, shoot, and edit their own shorts. They weren't too bad. Better than I could do in five days. My favourite one, for anyone who saw it, was the baker musical. But seriously, my first thought was, Oh my gosh Carrie Fisher looks so old!
I met her once, you know. Got to shake her hand. Stood in line three hours to do so, but I was star struck like I said I never would be.
I'm trying to get into Zoetrope, Francis Ford Coppola's writing community. You review others' scripts so that they'll review yours. I just don't know. From the batch they sent me, none of the loglines are that appealing, and the one I'm reading now is, well, not slow going, but not engaging either.
Finished watching Sideways. It didn't necessarily redeem itself after I picked it up again, but the story definitely improved. If it could have held that tone and style throughout the entire film, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
I got my paperwork for my camp job sent off today. It's not that I'm not doing things here, I'm working and writing and spending time with friends and family. I just have too much time. Things would be easier with a license. I really should work on that...
Did I mention that it was a gorgeous day?
Today was a positively beautiful day.
I didn't write again on Whatever You Ask yesterday after I posted. Because I'm lazy. Today I wrote 1200 words, though, so I made up for it, I think. Finished Act I. Act II will be difficult, getting those complications rolling, but hopefully once started it will go along, er, smoothly.
I caught an episode of On the Lot finally. I'd only heard things before tonight, mostly that it wasn't really very filmmaker realistic. Tonight they showcased 5 of 15 after they had five days to write, shoot, and edit their own shorts. They weren't too bad. Better than I could do in five days. My favourite one, for anyone who saw it, was the baker musical. But seriously, my first thought was, Oh my gosh Carrie Fisher looks so old!
I met her once, you know. Got to shake her hand. Stood in line three hours to do so, but I was star struck like I said I never would be.
I'm trying to get into Zoetrope, Francis Ford Coppola's writing community. You review others' scripts so that they'll review yours. I just don't know. From the batch they sent me, none of the loglines are that appealing, and the one I'm reading now is, well, not slow going, but not engaging either.
Finished watching Sideways. It didn't necessarily redeem itself after I picked it up again, but the story definitely improved. If it could have held that tone and style throughout the entire film, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
I got my paperwork for my camp job sent off today. It's not that I'm not doing things here, I'm working and writing and spending time with friends and family. I just have too much time. Things would be easier with a license. I really should work on that...
Did I mention that it was a gorgeous day?
Monday, June 04, 2007
985 area code? Who's that?
I didn't hit 5,000 words yesterday like I said I would. You know why? Because I'm lazy. Because writing is work, and last night I didn't feel like doing anymore. But I just hit 5,008 this morning, and I'll probably plug a couple more hundred away before the end of the day.
I saw Catch and Release the other day with my best friends. As a flick, it's decent. My friends would disagree because they found the romantic plot underdeveloped and, well, sorta wrong. And really, I would have to agree with them. Susannah Grant also wrote Erin Brockovich, which is a far superior movie, but I think her writing skills were once again validated by Catch and Release. Because when I thought about the romantic plot I had to agree with my two friends about its shortcomings, but that only happened when I seriously turned my attention to it. Maybe there was just enough going on in the movie (or too much, if there wasn't enough time to develop the romance), but I was engaged enough to not notice the fact that Jennifer Garner and "Fritz" (okay, better name than that please? What is this, the Von Trapp family?) rarely talked or had any reason for any romantic interest. Suspension of disbelief. I'm still not quite sure how Susannah Grant did it, but she got me to enjoy the story enough to let it slide that the romance was a little contrived, unrealistic, and pretty much superficial. Which is funny, because I'm not sure if my two non-film student friends would agree.
I'm in the semi-middle of watching Sideways, as I had to put it on hold about 2/3 of the way through yesterday. At least I hope I'm at least 2/3 of the way through. Optimistically I only have 10-15 minutes left. The thing is, I'm all for stories about men in mid-life crisi and conflicts with present and past marriages and yes, especially about writers, but I am so bored. I think what they did with the wine motif is amazing and intelligent. I really like that part. There just seems to be very little movement in the story, and honestly, one of the main characters is a real jerk. I know we're not supposed to like him, there's no way he could have been written like that and we're supposed to like him, but he's one of the main characters, come on. The two main guys get in the same argument over and over and over again, the one guy that we like is slowly descending into an awful pit of depression, and the other one's a complete jerk. Maybe the ending will redeem the movie, but right now I just feel disappointed. The wine motif was so great. Couldn't they have come up with an equally great movie?
"I think the first duty of all art, including fiction of any kind, is to entertain. That is to say, to hold interest. No matter how worthy the message of something, if it's dull, you're just not communicating." - Poul Anderson
On the to do list today? Fill out all my paperwork for my camp job - which I'm super excited about!
I saw Catch and Release the other day with my best friends. As a flick, it's decent. My friends would disagree because they found the romantic plot underdeveloped and, well, sorta wrong. And really, I would have to agree with them. Susannah Grant also wrote Erin Brockovich, which is a far superior movie, but I think her writing skills were once again validated by Catch and Release. Because when I thought about the romantic plot I had to agree with my two friends about its shortcomings, but that only happened when I seriously turned my attention to it. Maybe there was just enough going on in the movie (or too much, if there wasn't enough time to develop the romance), but I was engaged enough to not notice the fact that Jennifer Garner and "Fritz" (okay, better name than that please? What is this, the Von Trapp family?) rarely talked or had any reason for any romantic interest. Suspension of disbelief. I'm still not quite sure how Susannah Grant did it, but she got me to enjoy the story enough to let it slide that the romance was a little contrived, unrealistic, and pretty much superficial. Which is funny, because I'm not sure if my two non-film student friends would agree.
I'm in the semi-middle of watching Sideways, as I had to put it on hold about 2/3 of the way through yesterday. At least I hope I'm at least 2/3 of the way through. Optimistically I only have 10-15 minutes left. The thing is, I'm all for stories about men in mid-life crisi and conflicts with present and past marriages and yes, especially about writers, but I am so bored. I think what they did with the wine motif is amazing and intelligent. I really like that part. There just seems to be very little movement in the story, and honestly, one of the main characters is a real jerk. I know we're not supposed to like him, there's no way he could have been written like that and we're supposed to like him, but he's one of the main characters, come on. The two main guys get in the same argument over and over and over again, the one guy that we like is slowly descending into an awful pit of depression, and the other one's a complete jerk. Maybe the ending will redeem the movie, but right now I just feel disappointed. The wine motif was so great. Couldn't they have come up with an equally great movie?
"I think the first duty of all art, including fiction of any kind, is to entertain. That is to say, to hold interest. No matter how worthy the message of something, if it's dull, you're just not communicating." - Poul Anderson
On the to do list today? Fill out all my paperwork for my camp job - which I'm super excited about!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Ka-Pow!
When I was younger, I wanted to take karate lessons. You know how some little girls wanted to be poofy dresses and some girls wanted to wear overalls and play baseball with the boys? Basically, I wanted to be the butt-kicking princess. I forget why, but my parents didn't want me to take karate lessons. Maybe they knew how dangerous I could be... Well, I came back from a break at college, and the boys were taking karate lessons - with dad! Let me tell you, I've been ruminating on gender theories for a couple of weeks now, and there will be a post about it.
I really thought I was getting over some of my more clumsy attributes, but an orange juice and a white skirt would disagree.
I finished the divorce party short. It needs quite a lot of help, still, but the rough is done. My friends suggested a happy ending, and I thought about it, I really did, but with the themes of second thoughts and consequences just wouldn't work as well then. Sorry, girls. Two days of work on Whatever You Ask has brought me up to a word count of 4703, and I'm pretty determined to aim for 5000 before I go to sleep. Friends did just come on, but I think it's a rerun. Well, obviously it's a rerun...
Only a week and a half of my temp job left, yay! I've been seeing our shopping carts in all the weirdest places.
I'm about ready to finish Act I of Whatever You Ask, so those extra 300 words should roll easily. I was worried about falling into cliches in Act I, but I've managed to either reasonably disguise them when they appear. My dialog hasn't been as snappy as I had hoped, and I'm not nailing the playa character quite so well. Is that because I haven't met enough guys who actually can flirt well or because I'm not so good at playing the game myself anymore? I'd like to say it's the former, but I'm not sure I even care.
Number of times I've listened to Joshua Radin/Jack's Mannequin/Mat Kearney songs I've listened to over again? Who's bothering to keep track?
I really thought I was getting over some of my more clumsy attributes, but an orange juice and a white skirt would disagree.
I finished the divorce party short. It needs quite a lot of help, still, but the rough is done. My friends suggested a happy ending, and I thought about it, I really did, but with the themes of second thoughts and consequences just wouldn't work as well then. Sorry, girls. Two days of work on Whatever You Ask has brought me up to a word count of 4703, and I'm pretty determined to aim for 5000 before I go to sleep. Friends did just come on, but I think it's a rerun. Well, obviously it's a rerun...
Only a week and a half of my temp job left, yay! I've been seeing our shopping carts in all the weirdest places.
I'm about ready to finish Act I of Whatever You Ask, so those extra 300 words should roll easily. I was worried about falling into cliches in Act I, but I've managed to either reasonably disguise them when they appear. My dialog hasn't been as snappy as I had hoped, and I'm not nailing the playa character quite so well. Is that because I haven't met enough guys who actually can flirt well or because I'm not so good at playing the game myself anymore? I'd like to say it's the former, but I'm not sure I even care.
Number of times I've listened to Joshua Radin/Jack's Mannequin/Mat Kearney songs I've listened to over again? Who's bothering to keep track?
For those who have friends - and need them too : )
Guess what I'm done
Writing you songs
You'll give up your job at the bank
Proving money's not fun when you're gone
So this is the first verse
It's not very long
But I'm ready to move on
Guess what I'm done
Writing your book
The ending got twisted around
But for all the hell that it took
The electrical wires
They'll hum in the walls
In the room that I rent now without you
I've got friends who
La La Lie
Will help me pull through
La La Lie
La La La Lie
The spaceman that can't get high
I'm coming back to my girl by July
Yeah yeah yeah
So guess what I'm done
Drawing your pictures
I'm dulling the day with a drink
In a parking garage by the theatre
We met for a movie
Every scene was a sign
We made out through their meaning
Well I've got friends who
La La Lie
Will help me pull through
La La Lie
La La La Lie
The spaceman that can't get high
I'm coming back to my girl by July
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Guess what I'm done
Writing you songs
I'm far too unstable to settle
I doubt that the doctors are wrong
So I'll wait by a palm tree, a palm tree, a palm tree
Well I've got friends
La La Lie
To help me pull through
La La Lie
La La La Lie
The spaceman that can't get high
I'm coming back to my girl by July
This song for a long goodbye
I'm coming back to my girl by July
- "La La Lie" by Jack's Mannequin
Writing you songs
You'll give up your job at the bank
Proving money's not fun when you're gone
So this is the first verse
It's not very long
But I'm ready to move on
Guess what I'm done
Writing your book
The ending got twisted around
But for all the hell that it took
The electrical wires
They'll hum in the walls
In the room that I rent now without you
I've got friends who
La La Lie
Will help me pull through
La La Lie
La La La Lie
The spaceman that can't get high
I'm coming back to my girl by July
Yeah yeah yeah
So guess what I'm done
Drawing your pictures
I'm dulling the day with a drink
In a parking garage by the theatre
We met for a movie
Every scene was a sign
We made out through their meaning
Well I've got friends who
La La Lie
Will help me pull through
La La Lie
La La La Lie
The spaceman that can't get high
I'm coming back to my girl by July
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Guess what I'm done
Writing you songs
I'm far too unstable to settle
I doubt that the doctors are wrong
So I'll wait by a palm tree, a palm tree, a palm tree
Well I've got friends
La La Lie
To help me pull through
La La Lie
La La La Lie
The spaceman that can't get high
I'm coming back to my girl by July
This song for a long goodbye
I'm coming back to my girl by July
- "La La Lie" by Jack's Mannequin
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Floods, Pirates, and Screenplays
I didn't start Script Frenzy on June 1st. I'm a big procrastinator like that. I'll blame it on my hectic schedule yesterday. I had an eye doctor appointment for my contacts (which, PS, are the most frustrating things in the world when they won't stick in your bloody eye. I'm quite used to being able to do the things I want, and when something like a little piece of flexible plastic defies me, I am not a happy person. Yes, that is strange.), took my brothers see Pirates 3 for their birthdays (it was better than the second but not as good as the first. Still very enjoyable, and I almost cried like three times. I don't even know why), went out to eat with the family and did a little shopping before going over to one of my friends' houses for the night.
We were sitting in the movie theatre watching the previews when the trailer for Evan Almighty, a modern recontextualization of Noah, came on. My older younger brother and I were finding some of the references and jokes pretty funny, but when the trailer ended with clips of the flood and the credits, my younger younger brother said loudly, "That is so unrealistic." I tried to shush him, because, I don't know, he's not used to movie theatres and is purposely talking loudly to be heard. He goes on to say, ignoring me, "God said He would never again destroy the earth by a flood." At which point I think I forgot that I was in a movie theatre and died laughing. Isn't there some quote about comedy just being the truth said at the right moment?
I haven't finished the divorce party short yet, but today I *did* start Whatever You Ask, my Current Draft for Script Frenzy. Right now I'm at 1905 words, and I'm sure I'll get to 2000 by the end of the day because I'm a little OCD like that. If I keep that up, I can totally finish before the middle of the month. Which is the goal. The opening went a little better than I had hoped. I was afraid I was going to resort to using a cliche to set up the relationship between my main guy and his girlfriend, but I managed to twist the cliche I consciously used. So it's a compromise. I have to be careful to make sure I don't start adding purple prose to my stage directions and descriptions. I know quality is of secondary importance in these NaNo style events, but I want this Current Draft to be better than Making It. Though I doubt that will be hard. So progress is good. I really need to discipline myself to shut off the internet when I'm working though. Huge distraction, and I'm a professional procrastinator.
Thanks for everyone who gave me a boost of encouragement over the past couple of days. I really needed it. : )
"I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper."
-- Steve Martin
You know where I want to go? I want to go to that ice hotel in like Greenland or Norway or where ever. That would be pretty much awesome.
We were sitting in the movie theatre watching the previews when the trailer for Evan Almighty, a modern recontextualization of Noah, came on. My older younger brother and I were finding some of the references and jokes pretty funny, but when the trailer ended with clips of the flood and the credits, my younger younger brother said loudly, "That is so unrealistic." I tried to shush him, because, I don't know, he's not used to movie theatres and is purposely talking loudly to be heard. He goes on to say, ignoring me, "God said He would never again destroy the earth by a flood." At which point I think I forgot that I was in a movie theatre and died laughing. Isn't there some quote about comedy just being the truth said at the right moment?
I haven't finished the divorce party short yet, but today I *did* start Whatever You Ask, my Current Draft for Script Frenzy. Right now I'm at 1905 words, and I'm sure I'll get to 2000 by the end of the day because I'm a little OCD like that. If I keep that up, I can totally finish before the middle of the month. Which is the goal. The opening went a little better than I had hoped. I was afraid I was going to resort to using a cliche to set up the relationship between my main guy and his girlfriend, but I managed to twist the cliche I consciously used. So it's a compromise. I have to be careful to make sure I don't start adding purple prose to my stage directions and descriptions. I know quality is of secondary importance in these NaNo style events, but I want this Current Draft to be better than Making It. Though I doubt that will be hard. So progress is good. I really need to discipline myself to shut off the internet when I'm working though. Huge distraction, and I'm a professional procrastinator.
Thanks for everyone who gave me a boost of encouragement over the past couple of days. I really needed it. : )
"I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper."
-- Steve Martin
You know where I want to go? I want to go to that ice hotel in like Greenland or Norway or where ever. That would be pretty much awesome.
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