The Rewrite

I decided to go ahead with a rewrite on Generator. I was going through some post screenplay depression, and none of my other scripts sparked my interest. So tomorrow, I begin.

Had some bad storms today, but nothing uncool.

I played some Gamecube, Timesplitters 3, and lounged around the house while Katie worked on her genealogy stuff. She has over a 1,000 names in her family tree. Pretty impressive. It goes back to the early 18th century, I believe. I have no patience for that. Unless I get someone to start it up, then maybe my interest in it would keep me going. But starting from scratch..I don't think I can do it. I did get a script idea out of it, though. Cool indeed.

My truck accelerates while I'm driving. The entire time I'm driving. Without my foot on the pedal. Ever try braking when the gas is punched? Yeah, it doesn't make for smooth driving. I almost died on the way to Best Buy. But hey, it was Best Buy, so of course I made it there unscathed. Picked up The Rules of Attraction and The Talented Mr. Ripley for cheap. ($14 for both)
Plus I ordered several Italian 'Giallo/horror' movies online. I'm loving the genre so far. I recommend everyone check out a few. I'm thinking of writing one, actually. It interests me very much.

Anyone see Friday The 13th pt. 1? Well, this past week I watched the Mario Bava classic Twitch of the Death Nerve(Bay Of Blood), and every murder from Twitch was recycled in the original Friday a mere 9 years later. What a rip off.

As George Costanza once said, "That's it for me! I'm outta here!"

I, Aggravated

Being just outside Orlando for the past 18 months, one would think I'd be prepared for these hurricane warnings, and all the shit the news throws out there. I am not. Nor was I prepared last year for Charlie. Imagine my surprise when my power was out for 6 days. The water was not fit for consumption, or even for showers. No stores were open, and there was no gas available anywhere. Life became zombie-fied. Add into the equation I was in school at the time, and you really get a sense of just how ill prepared I turned out to be, and how shitty and smelly class was. I spent nights in my truck, with the A/C on. Since the truck has to be running for the air to work, I had to ration out my air service to conserve gas every couple of hours. Of course, I could have alleviated this by filling up my tank, pre-storm. My cell phone sat on the brink of death. I had to drive, again wasting precious gas, to Chick-Fil-A and plug into their outdoor power. (being in construction, I knew there would be back-up power at a place of business) But prior to Charlie hitting, and even on the first night, I smiled and laughed about it. Being from the northeast leaves you with a certain cynicism, and a been there, done that demeanor. I am a cynic/realist. But I also have an extremely dark sense of humor, so I feel this balances out my personality. I'm not a doom and gloom person. (actually, yes I am) At least, I don't bore people with my doom and gloom...

Anyway, I went as far as walking outside with my camcorder(and a pint of vodka for good measure) in the middle of the Hurricane for 2 hours. I loved it. I was the last man on earth. Besides those kids swimming in the apartment complexes pool. What were they thinking? (then again, what was I thinking?!) I crossed the 6 lane highway with ease, in total darkness as the winds and rain tried to dissuade me. The lightning crashed behind me at one point, and I believe a tree was on fire. Ha! It was going to take more than that to stop me! I couldn't see a thing, since all the street lights were out, and there was no moon visible. After gallivanting around town, mocking my very existence, tempting the sky to hit me harder, I made my way back to my apartment. As I turned into a little alcove of sorts which leads to my door, a tree was uprooted right beside me. A big tree. I did not run. I stood next to the tree as the roots ripped and twisted into the most frightening roar I ever heard. I dared it to fall on me. It didn't. It fell forward onto my neighbors car. I called my friends up in Jersey with the in depth report, in which case every one of them told me I'm crazy and to 'Get inside!' Obeying orders, I finally get into my apartment. The power has been out for 4 hours now. It'll be on at any moment, I tell myself.

And this is where my jovial outlook took an exit, stage right. I didn't prepare. No food, water or candles. No batteries for the flashlight. I ate tuna for 4 days in a row. (My cat may have enjoyed this, but that's another story) I turned from fun lovin' storm watcher, to storm victim in 24 hours, and it was the worst experience of minimalist living I have ever encountered. It was the most horrific 6 days of my life. To add insult to injury, it was the first major hurricane to hit Orlando head on in a really long time, or ever. And it was just in time to welcome me to my new southern home. Needless to say, I flew back to Jersey and missed the other hurricane that hit Orlando. But now, it appears another horrific season awaits me. True, Dennis isn't supposed to hit here, but I know the worst is yet to come. And I won't be mocking the skies for awhile(at least until September).

Remind me to tell you about my 25 hour straight, blizzard ridden, drive from Jersey to Florida another time. The God's did not want me down here, and still may not. I can only pray for California when I move there. My girlfriend is positive the earthquake will hit as I pull into LA. Look out!

Boy, I was popular overnight

Suddenly, I got 30 hits from strange blogs overnight. These were not regulars. Don't know what the deal is, but checking my site stats, it makes little sense. All of the visitors have absolutely nothing to do with writing. Oh well, at least it'll bump my total up from it's meager level.

On the screenplay front, I'm still procrastinating on my next move. I think I want to try out my 10 day program that I had such success with on another script, and I want to start something new. But the little voice inside is saying "Finish what ya got, dead beat!" So, it appears picking from a potpourri of shit I have agonized over several times already is the way I must go.

There's the dilemma. Which enables my procrastination. I guess I'm being a little hard on myself. It's only been 3 days since I finished Generator in record time(for me). But I know not to be complacent. Got to get going onto the next project, and soon.

"My goal is to become hopeless"

Famous words of George Costanza. I think I now know what he meant. For months now, I've had a script in my agent's hands. There was a ton of interest from people that mattered. (Including having an actress committing to reprising her role) Having a busy TV schedule, I was told he'd get the script to the right person in the coming weeks. That was in May. I haven't heard back yet. I sent a new draft about a month ago, and he sent me an email telling me "Thanks. Got it.". Now I'd assume, being the sensible man that I am, that he would mention if everything fell through at that point. After all, there would be no need for a new draft if it were no longer in circulation, or if it was shot down. Yet, I can't fathom everything is okay when it's taking this long. It all started in November. Yes, only November from writing something for fun to having an agent and actress embrace the concept. Seems like so little time, doesn't it? So here I am, thinking one of two things:

"It's been two stinkin' months without a word. The dream is over."

and...

"It's only been 7 months, and since then I have acquired an agent to help me out, I have contacted an actress, and she agreed to reprise her role, and I started with little more than an idea in July last year, while in the shower."

Which thought process is correct?

"When your hopeless, you don't care. And when you don't care, that kind of indifference makes you attractive" Costanza

Idiotic

Dawn Of The Dead REMAKE-28 million budget-makes 60 million domestic

The Land Of The Dead-15 million budget-16 million made back so far

My stomach churns when a maverick director who filmed the original Dawn.. can't even compete with a remake of his own work. The Land of the Dead should have made at least double what it's taken in so far. And it should have trounced the Dawn remake.

I loathe people.

From the "No Shit.." files....

You mean to tell me I only have 6 disorders now?!

Gee who would of thought prescribing Ritalin to toddlers wasn't the answer? Kids may have energy, not adhd

Wow. What a stunning find. I can't believe they're now entertaining the possibility of parenting instead of zombie inducing meds.

In other more shocking news, it may be better to engage your kids in conversation and activities then to let them watch 12 straight hours of television. (It's okay for me though, it's obviously research when I watch 10 hours of movies)

/end sarcastic transmission