"Those Aren't The Words, Er"

The city of Boston gets a lesson in pop culture:

The Mooninites Do Boston.

Check out the Mooninites here.

I Gotsta Get Paid!

First paycheck in a month. Whew! Just in time for student loans to tear a hole in the fabric of space and time in my bank account.

Bizarro's doing much better with PT and his drug cocktail, and I've met with my two classes for the second day today, after filling in for a colleague yesterday who was out for a family emergency. Didn't sleep too well last night and it was really tough getting up early this morning. Luckily I don't have to be anywhere before 1:00 tomorrow.

There are some interesting new articles up on Brave Humans so check it out.

I feel like my short story is almost done. It's now officially under 7800 words, so I think it's more of a short story than a novella. I've trimmed the fat and made some improvements to character description. Thank you, JEB, for your input on that! Still don't know where I'm going to send the thing, but I'm working on it. It is still a little longish and many short story competitions have 5000-6000 word limits.

It's been awhile since I mentioned my proposed teacher training video for Korean hakwans. A few days ago I contacted my old recruiter and pitched the idea to him, asking if I could get a summer gig to teach and finish shooting. He sounded interested and is going to get back to me after he reads my entire prospectus. He founded the recruiting company, and I'm hoping he'll want to invest in the production of the video, possibly as Executive Producer (putting up money and contacts, basically). I'm very excited but not counting any chickens, yet.

I'm also going to try to get more labels up. Whatta pain.

Untitled

I've been a little bugged because I seem to have lost my writing mojo in the last couple weeks. Tomorrow I'm covering another teacher's class and I'm doing a Korean tutoring session at 3:00. I was just sitting here getting stressed out about all the stuff I have to do tomorrow, not having a lot of time for writing. But then it hit me: it's okay for me to do other things and not feel like I have to smash my head against a brick wall. Not that I can sit around forever and wait for the Muse to show up, but it's perfectly okay and in fact necessary do other things that feed my soul. I think one of the reasons I had such a hot streak was that I allowed myself to really enjoy the holidays and totally decompress. I can't be on a hot streak 24-7 or I'd end up like Mozart, dead three years ago from exhaustion and burn-out.

Back on the Charts

Seems Dirk Benedict is cashing in on used books:

Dirk's Comeback

In other entertainment news, watching SAG right now. The Office just won for comedy ensemble.

Girl from Ipanema

It's snowing again, and I'm fantasizing about being on a beach somewhere, with palm trees swaying in the sea breeze, warm sand between my toes, a fruity umbrella drink, and a good book. Ahhhh, paradise. Jet Blue's got some cheap flights to points in FLA. Anyone want to go on a spring holiday?

I was so busy ranting about Friday that I didn't comment on my actual first day of classes, which was Wed. I have two good groups - very different from last semester. Many more non-C&P majors, and a few folks from other countries (Sweden, Singapore, Australia). And a woman who's older than the average college student, ready to tap into her dreams of being a writer. hmmm...sound familiar?

The other downside to the weekend, aside from Bizarro's conditon, is that I have apparently already picked up the stomach bug. Figures. One day back to school and I pick up the first germ that comes knocking. Hopefully it will run its course...wait, let me rephrase... hopefully it will be over in another day.

What a Frakking Day

Today did not go as planned. I was all set to go in and teach the 2nd day of my classes, when we lost power in our apartment, followed 15 seconds later by Bizarro howling in pain from the bathroom, where he'd thrown out his neck and back. I could tell looking at him for 2 seconds that he was in exactly the same place I was a year ago: excruciating muscle spasms, unable to move. I canceled classes for the day and stayed home to wait on him and drive him to the doctor's office and Target to get his scripts for Vicadin and Flexaril (pain killer and muscle relaxants). Meantime, the power-outage was due to the on-going problems with our hot water tank, which seem to have been resolved by the time we got back from the doctor/Target run. (Yeah, no hot water again this morning.)

I also wanted to have my personal statement for this job application done and sent out today, which didn't happen. That was entirely my fault; I haven't been able to get this thing in good shape despite my best efforts all week. It was a tough week to be writing something like that, in the first week of classes. The good news is that two of my three letters o'reference were sent out at the beginning of the week and are probably already on file with the rest of my stuff. I'll send the statement out tomorrow and they'll have it on Monday. Good enough.

I'm feeling a bit ornery from the day's irregularity (of scheduling, not gastronomically speaking). Although I will say I'm not feeling particularly energetic after the pizza we ordered for lunch (Bizarro needed comfort food and I was starving for lunch by the time we finished our medical-related chores).

And oh yeah - it's friggin' 10 degrees outside! I had to clean 4 inches of snow off the car. And get this: Target is done selling winter boots! Apprently they had a 75% off sale last week. What the f*ck people? This is Upstate Friggin' New York! Winter doesn't go away until May! Bring back the goddam boots!

Okay, I have purged my ranting for now. I need to get back to my statement and drink more water. Feeling dehydrated from the cold and the pizza. I know that doesn't make any sense, but it really does.

Poor Bizarro - he's the one in pain and I'm the one bitching. At least he has his good friends Vicadin and Flexaril!

Absolute Vindication!

As of now, both of my sections for the semester are FULL. I STILL have students trying to get into the section that filled up today (from 13 to 15 in a couple hours). Low enrollment my ARSE.

Well, so vacation is over but it's okay. I'm really looking forward to the semester and meeting my new students. It's better for me to have some structure, anyway. The last month was enjoyable and I did get a lot of writing done, but my days have been relatively formless, and I have to be on guard against laziness.

Expect the number of blog posts to drop off to a weekly basis.

Back to the novella/short story.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Finally, after 3.5 days of no hot water, the guy came to fix it today. There's a problem with the circuit breaker, apparently, since we've had this problem before.

Finally, after waiting all day yesterday for iTunes to get the newest episode of BSG, I grew tired of waiting and watched it in miniature on Sci Fi's site. Today I downloaded it from iTunes. Wow! Hot is right. What a great episode. Posed many more questions about the Final Five and where exactly the skinjobs came from.

I've just about finished my personal statement for the tenure track job. Meantime, I got a call early this morning from an associate dean of that same school, asking me to teach a class in another program (ESL) as a pinch-hitter. It doesn't look like the schedule will match up with what I've already got this semester, but I have an idea I'm going to bounce off him when he calls back. It could be a VERY busy semester for me, but it would be worth it to have the summer off and be available for other things. Plus, the networking at that school would be a great thing to have.

I'm endeavoring to shorten my "novella" into an actual short story. Whenever I see or hear the word "novella" it reminds me of a race of robotic beings called the "Movellans" from the Doctor Who universe.

Gods, I'm such a frakking geek.

Self-Taught

Check this guy out.

He is apparently self-taught. I'm going to go cry, now.

More info on Lim Jeong-Hyun.

And of course, the Pachelbel Rant.

Back to Woik...almost

School's back in session on both Hills today. My first class is on Wednesday (both classes, actually). Am I ready? Almost. Have to finish updating my syllabus and send it off to be copied for Wed. morning - then I'll be ready.

I have to finish writing a personal statement for another job I've applied to for next year (full time, tenure-track). If I end up getting that job, I'll probably have to do something different with this blog. We'll cross that bridge if and when...

In the meantime, check out this article on why you should watch Battlestar Galactica. Couldn't have put it better, myself. Take that, Dirk Benedict!

Thanks to JEB for the words of encouragement on my writing yesterday.

I officially started the first draft of the screenplay for "Beauty Is" last night. I was also informed by my husband that my "short story" is more like a novella. See how much I have to learn? I also discovered that after writing prose for the last couple weeks, it was hard to readjust to writing screenplay format again. Wow. I have a new respect for how difficult it must be for my students to bridge that gap (which I was always harping on last semester). Good experience for me to have.

Speaking of which, it's time to get my day on. Hopefully last night's new episode of BSG will be up upon iTunes soon. That'll constitute a nice break later this afternoon.

Frakked By A Cylon

I've been catching up on Battlestar Galactica's first season this week, and am about to dive into Season 2. I was perusing online and found this article by Dirk Benedict, who as you may or may not know, played Starbuck on the original series from 1978-1979.

He sounds to me like he's disappointed because he wasn't asked (I can only assume) to be included somehow in the new series, as was Richard Hatch (the original Apollo), who plays a part-time character (and does a fairly good job of it, BTW). Although Dirk makes some good points about the branding of America, he loses his perspective with this show. He makes the current BSG sound like some dreadful, soul-less, evil step-sister to his original, charming, infinitely more appealing, last bastion of the innocence of America. (Nevermind that the world we live in is vastly different from the world of 1978, as painful as that is to those of us who remember it.) I used to think of Dirk as a pretty cool guy who'd survived cancer and who was very upbeat and inspirational to many folks. With this essay, he has definitely fallen a notch or two in my eyes, and probably in the eyes of many fans.

Technical Difficulties

We've been offline more than online at home, thanks to a totally unreliable wireless internet signal. I've had a few of the flunkies at the place "help" and one even came to our apartment and had nothing useful to offer. After a week, I called the supervisor and finally got her on the phone today. She's supposing there's something about the position of our apartment, since apparently no one else has complained in our building. I can't help but wonder if any of the folks in my building even use the internet. Anyway, supposedly she's going to check into boosting the signal and I'm also going to come into their office tomorrow so they can figure something out. They keep trying to blame it on Airport but Bizarro's having the same trouble and he's on a PC, so I don't want to frakking hear it.

Some good news: I'm acquainting myself with Battlestar Galactica's first season, in preparation for the 2nd half of the third season, which starts on Sunday. Don't know why I had such a resistance to this show from the beginning; it totally rocks my world. If you haven't seen it, yet, do yourself a favor. Tremendous writing, human drama, and a few not-so-hidden commentaries on how unprepared we were after 9-11 (IMO).

I'm at Borders' cafe right now, trying to get some work done before I go back to our freezing cold apartment. I swear, sometimes I wonder why I pay rent.

Tomorrow I'm having my friend Pam over for dinner and "The Office." She's been gone for a month, so it'll be good to get back with her.

I did cull a list from the Golden Globes, but I've left it at home. I'll post it next time.

Inspiration

Earlier I wrote about my friend Alex Loudon, who is an inspiration to me in art and in life. Here are some other inspirational pieces that have re/entered my life recently:

1. M. Night Shyamalan's THE LADY IN THE WATER. I'd not made it a priority to see this film, not because I dislike M. Night's work (far from it), but I didn't expect it to be so much more than his other films. I have always admired M. Night's vision, but this film is his masterpiece, to date.

Based on a children's bedtime story that he made up for his kids, which he has also published, the story is timeless and speaks to so many human needs, especially the need to find one's purpose and calling, and yet not be limited by the perception of that calling. It is a "magic in the backyard" kind of story that I have always loved (THE WIZARD OF OZ, E.T., TIME BANDITS, and Madeleine L'Engle's series of books which began with A WRINKLE IN TIME, to name just a few).

2. Yet another of Wong Kar Wai's films: AS TEARS GO BY. Certainly not my favorite, but fun to see because it's one of his much earlier films. Essentially a Hong Kong gangster flick, but with the depth and intensity of human choice that I've come to know and love from WKW. So far, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE tops my list of WKW films, followed very closely by FALLEN ANGELS, with CHUNGKING EXPRESS on its heels. Next comes DAYS OF BEING WILD, followed by HAPPY TOGETHER and AS TEARS GO BY. There are a few others I haven't seen yet, which are going to be harder to find here in the U.S.

Incidentally, Christopher Doyle, who shoots all of WKW's films (and oh, what an absolute genius he is), shot THE LADY IN THE WATER.

3. Jet Li's FEARLESS (or is it "JET LI'S FEARLESS?") -- Clearly his best film ever, with some powerful acting and a beautiful story of how a violent, power-hungry, vengeful guy becomes a human being. The local Hollywood Video manager and I always chat about Asian films whenever I get him at the checkout, and he told me the other day that apparently a lot of folks didn't like the film because of the lack of action in the second act. Numbskulls. They missed the point of the entire movie.

4. Tchaikovsky - ROMEO AND JULIET Overture. I grew up with classical music (both heard and played), including a certain amount of Tchaikovsky. However, until a couple months ago, I wasn't much interested in his music. I've always been a Mozart devotee, as well as Beethoven, although I have appreciated some composers closer to Tchaikovsky's period - Rimsky-Korsekov, Debussy and a few others.

Anyway, a couple months ago, the local NPR station played the R&J Overture, and the announcer described it as the five-act play in 21 minutes of music. I'd heard it before, but for some reason, driving in my car, this particular time it really captured me. Everyone's heard the love theme, which is poorly overused, unfortunately, but the entire piece is really a thrilling, moving experience. I found a CD that had the entire piece (which was difficult, as a lot of the CDs at Borders only included the love theme. Idiots.)

I played it for my class when we had an in-class writing day. I provided a geeky little summary and description of the music and how it came to be, which only a few of them browsed. I did have a moment of satisfaction when, as the love theme crescendoed, one of my students lifted his head from his notebook and said, "Oh, THAT'S where this is from?"

I've included ROMEO AND JULIET in one of my "Music for Writing" iTunes playlists, and I am soaking up as much Peter Ilyich T. as I can these days.

This has also re-awakened my roots in Classical and Romantic music, which I am so pleased to be experiencing all over again.

I love being inspired. I also love simply being entertained. I watched JU-ON 2 yesterday, which did exactly that. Tonight I am going to watch DARK WATER (the Japanese original, not the Hollywood-ized pablum). J-Horror intrigues me; at least the forerunners of the genre do, such as RINGU and JU-ON.

After the Golden Globes tomorrow night, I'm going to make up a short list of "must see" DVDs. Until very recently, I've been quite lax about going to the movies. I have to get used to going alone, since Bizarro despises going to the cinema, unless it's an art house. Can't say as I blame him, with all the horrid ads, behind-the-scene/ pre-preview shows and TV (yes, TELEVISION) show trailers stacked up before the actual previews. Sucks to be paying $8.00 for a movie (or more in bigger markets) and then be forced to watch commercials!

That is all.

Think Green

It's a rainy Sunday morning. Last night Bizarro and I went to his company "holiday party" which was described as a mid-winter party. Held at a local hotel banquet room, the drinks were expensive (the wine was cheap - meaning the $6 a bottle variety, served up $4 a glass), the food was mediocre, and we ended up being invited to "the captain's table" because we sat at a table by ourselves. We should have sat with Bizarro's coworkers from his unit, but for some reason he didn't want to. So he ended up in a straight jacket at the table with the muckity-mucks, where I was chatting with everyone (what do I f'ing care who they are, I don't work there any more and even if I did still, they work in a totally different unit). We did migrate to the table of Bizarro's coworkers, after dinner, but then the band started playing and people started dropping off like flies. The band, ah yes. Here's a hint: they're called "Silverado" and they wear cowboy hats. Southern-fried rock / country band. Not bad for what they do, but clearly only about 1/4 of the crowd was interested. We were home by 10:00.

The other night I was thinking about a woman I'd met in Korea. She's an incredible person - a champion martial artist, a successful writer, a budding actress (with extra and bit parts on TV and movies), and such an authentically beautiful person. Here's her website; please look her up: Alexander Loudon. I have been re-inspired by her to attend to my dreams and keep a positive mind. I feel fortunate to have spent some time with her in Korea.

I'm going to spend the rest of today writing (after I watch Meet The Press, to hear people arguing about Bush's new "strategery").

Another Day, Another Dollar

I've spent all of today in my easy-chair, working on the short story that I'm writing as the first act of a new screenplay. Besides sending screenplays into competition this year, I am trying another route to getting an agent: get a short story published and then use it with a treatment for a feature length screenplay based on the story. This is assuming, of course, that I get a short story published. I am inspired by Bizarro and I am thinking positively.

To be honest, it's been ages since I wrote any prose, and I'm amazed how well it's coming along in the first draft stage. My style has been influenced a bit by books such as Tales of a Female Nomad, which are told in first person. I'm enjoying writing this, at any rate. It's a nice break from screenplay format.

So, to get clear, here are my current projects and their status:

1. "Sentinel Station" (VERY working title) - sci fi feature length screenplay - 5th revision completed. Will be getting feedback from fellow writers for the final draft this month. It desperately needs a new title, and I am really hitting a wall on that.
2. "Beauty Is..." - Mystey/Coming of age feature length screenplay - outline completed - first draft coming soon.
3. "Looking for Skylab" - friendship/coming of age short script (based on real events)
4. "Dream Job" - Chick flick meets Lost in Translation - short story soon to be feature length screenplay.

I'm spinning all these plates right now and it's a lot easier than you'd think. Having so many projects assures that I always have something to work on, and sometimes I can work through a block on one story by working on another one.

I'm going to the mall soon to look for something nice to wear to Bizarro's office holiday party this Saturday (yes, it's being held in the 2nd week of January). Then I'll meet my huz-binnd at Borders and do some market research for the short story.

Week 2

I started week 2 of the new year with a workout yesterday. Went up to the exercise room and did 20 minutes on the eliptical. I really wanted to get on the treadmill for another 30 minutes, but only one of them was working and it was being used, so I did 10 minutes of stretching and then another 15 in the sauna. Better than nothing. I gotta let the office know a couple of those nautilus machines aren't working.

I got all my stuff put together in a binder for my mystery screenplay that I am ready to get to work on. The outline is done, now I have to get a first draft cranked out. My goal is to have it done by end of the month.

I also have to get copies made of my sci fi screenplay and get that sent to a couple readers for critique. I have a number of contest deadlines coming up in March and that has to be ready to go.

Also went back to that short script I'd started in Sept. (which I described in the last post). Somehow I'd trashed the original document, so when I went to open the alias yesterday, it wouldn't work. I ended up re-typing in the pages I'd already written and had thankfully printed out. Not sure where I'm going with it, but it will be good to have another short script that could possibly be produced on a low budget.

I'm reading a wonderful book that JEB gave me for Christmas. It's called Tales of a Female Nomad, by Rita Golden Gelman. She has been traveling the world for awhile now, and has some very interesting experiences to share. She started her life as a nomad after her ex-husband wanted some "space" in their marriage, which ended in divorce. With two grown children in their twenties, she decided to start living a life of adventure and hasn't stopped. She's in her seventies, now. Check out her exploits: Rita Golden Gelman's Website

Reading this book has re-inspired me to revisit my time in Korea. As soon as I get my media drive and a copy of FinalCut, I want to start cutting together my video footage, and I want to go back and shoot more. That was such a pivotal, life-changing year, and three years later, I have so much to reflect on. I think a personal documentary is calling my name.

I'm still hoping I can find a way to make a doc about the EFL/TEFL expat life there, but perhaps that will take a bit more time. If I can manage a trip there, I'd shoot for both projects. I'm really hoping I can swing it. There is the possibility that I might be asked to teach that doc. course in Seoul in the summer, but the timing is rough (June-July, for 5 weeks) and if I am to do any of my own project in other parts of Korea I would be there even longer. I don't want to be gone more than a month.

We shall have to see what unfolds this year.

Time for more coffee.

Pizza Face

I'm scarfing a piece of leftover pizza from last night's dinner with Momazoo at "Pietro's" in Elmira. I've actually put a sauce on for later, but my blood sugar's gonna drop if I don't eat something now.

It's hard to keep my 3-squares a day regimen on those days I get up late and go out to run errands with Bizarro. Like today, for instance. We both had to go to "The Office Despot" to get some stuff. Me: 3-hole punched paper and cover stock for my screenplay WHICH I FINISHED LAST WEEK! I also needed some larger brass fasteners than the ones I have, for the screenplay's binding. I also needed a couple other sundries. Bizarro needed a few things for his on-going re-organization and lifestyle change.

I'm now working on a short script that I'd started back in September, which is pretty autobiographical. It's about me at 11 years old, the summer after we'd moved to NY and my father died. My best friend from Boston, JEB from other posts, came to visit me and my mom with her family. The script is based on that situation, but I've taken the necessary creative license to make it work as a script.

Speaking of writing, I'm going to take down the writing blog since it wasn't really doing much. I'd rather wait and see if I can get some things published or produced. If I can't, I'll throw them back on a blog.

I'm annoyed with the neighbors again. They were fighting last night, but after Bizarro hollared for them to shut up, they did. Whenever the BF stays over there, they end up in a fight and he smokes a few packs of cigarettes. The smell is horrible and seeps into my kitchen and bathroom. I've broken the stench down through olfactory analysis thusly: 80% cig smoke, 10% some unidentifiable cooked meat of questionable heritage, 10% one of those sickly sweet and artificial plug-in air fresheners. I hope my landlord was serious when he said he wasn't going to renew her lease in June. Good god. I just want a nice, quiet non-smoking grad student to move in there and leave us be. I'll invite him/her over for dinner once a month and bake cookies for the poor starving grad student who fits the bill.

Gotta eat pizza and go buy a black ink cartridge before picking up Bizarro at the Borders.

Follow up on 624

I have been informed that in fact the house I grew up in will not be on the chopping block along with the others on that dead-end street in Rockland, MA. The town had closed off an extension road at the far end of the street, and put in a proper road farther up the main drag. It appears that they are making that old extension into a park, extending out from the woods that are across the street from my old house.

Check out the satellite image - go to Google Maps and click on satellite. Then type in this address: 624 Forest St., Rockland, MA

The green arrow that Google provides isn't accurate; it points to Forest St. but not the house. You can see 624 as the 2nd house on the street (there are only 4). Then you can scroll down and you'll see that little road that connects two larger streets, set between two clumps of woods. In the photo it looks like a semi is waiting at the corner (there's a sand and gravel place down the road, that's why). Anyway, that's the extension that is now closed.

If you're curious, that big body of water off to the right is the Rockland-Abington Reservoir. If you follow the main drag - Hingham St. - (to the left of the reservoir) farther up, you'll see where it connects to Rte. 3, which heads South to Cape Cod and north to Boston.

Day 4

I'm still getting over this virus that I thought I'd kicked. Figures. It's been sunny and in the 50s and I've been indoors feeling like crap. I think what's really going on is that my body is demanding some downtime, which is a good thing.

I went to the grocery store on Jan. 2 and was appalled at all the Valentines Day stuff that was already out. We are a nation of consumers without a soul.

Speaking of which, shame on the media for showing so many pictures and clips of that video of Saddam's execution. I had a wrangle on my brother's chat board about capital punishment. If you're interested, click on the link for P. Cambio's Political Blog at the sidebar, then click on the ezboard link that's at the top of his blog.

On a more positive note, though, I am feeling really charged and positive about 2007. I feel like this is going to be my year to shine. I feel as if there's nothing I can't achieve this year. I don't think I can ever recall feeling this revved up at the beginning of a new year.

I'm really going to re-focus my mindset onto positives rather than being constantly weighed down. As the song goes, "Everything's alright yes, everything's alright." (from J.C. Superstar). We've started some "home improvement" projects here and I can feel the difference in the energy of our home already. Thanks to Bizarro for being so dedicated to that!

Time to go for a walk and get more writing done. The last two nights I was up past midnight writing. I need to get back on my regular sleep cycle!