All Tomorrow's Parties

This is entry 100.

New year's eve. Ish. It's honestly just Saturday night up way too late. But technically, new year's eve.

Sending this out from the middle of nowhere. Just needed to get out of the city. A friend helped me out. But there's really nothing to do in the middle of nowhere, so I'm using the old blog as a crutch.

Finished the rough-rough first draft of my adaptation/screenplay. Feeling better about it. I'll be doing a lot of tinkering with it in January, before I officially submit it, but I think the hardest part is over. For this phase, at least.

Hell of a year, 2006. Started this blog with the hopes that I'd have stuff to talk about post-SPF. And I certainly do. But it ain't the fun-ride I dreamed it'd be. It's been strangely... down-to-earth. No ticker-tape parades. No balloons. A lot of waiting around. To sign papers. To get paid. A few meetings and then you go off and write.

And the thrill of telling people about it is sort of dead. It just seems to make a lot of people feel bad. Which I can understand, but then it becomes this game of me trying to downplay the whole thing and play up the uncertainty of it all -- which starts to make ME feel bad! What a bummer.

Fuck it. It's a job. I'm just trying to do some decent work for a company that's hired me.

I'm thankful for everything I managed to accomplish in 2006.

2007, I'd like to reclaim some semblance of a life. The promise of a new sort of life. Something productive and hopeful.

God & Sinners Reconcile

This slays me. They don't make show-stoppers like this anymore.

This reminds me of high school.

Christmas Day 2006. My thoughts are black. But focused.

Check

I can see the end.

I can see the end now.

Achieving the end only means going back to the beginning and seeing how it all needs to be fixed.

But the end is a beginning.

Tick tock. Dec21.

Once a Typewriter

Friar's Club. WGAE Holiday Party.

Gorgeous place that time forgot. The only writer I could spot by visage was Mr. Tom Fontana. He was there early but it took a while for me to muster up the courage to say hello to him. I wedged my way into a circle early on and shook hands with him (VP) and Chris Albers (President), who was talking about HornyManatee.com.

Later, drunker, I ran across Tom again, who noticed me and asked me how I was doing. I took the golden opportunity to blather on about how much I loved Oz. He seemed momentarily pleased that I was a fan of his work, and asked me what my story was. I proceeded to explain the whole SPF thing, and the Paramount thing, and I watched his eyes glaze over. He quickly fobbed me off onto another playwright who he thought I should talk to, and that's the best I can remember. Tom did mention that he started as a playwright but hasn't written a play in many years.

I admit, I find these functions... difficult. A mass of people. Trying to wedge yourself into "conversation circles" and scanning for a suitable conversation entry-point.

Eventually, I resigned myself to sitting in with a bunch of girls from the office. Administrative ladies. This one woman talked about M. Night Shyamalan and how much money he'd put into the WGAE coffer. After I talked about my horror picture, she joked that I'd be the new M. Night, and we all of us had a good laugh over this.

I've kind of grown a bit worn out talking about "it". I know it's one of those stories, and it's inspirational, and some people get a kick out of it, but I'm pretty bad at keeping it fresh. I'm no ingrate. I'm thankful for what I've got. But at the end of the day -- even though I'm not commuting to an office -- I'm still just a working stiff. Working for a big company. Trying to get my job done so I can enjoy some weekend that is far away and theoretical.

Ain't rich. And the future's as uncertain as ever. It is a lonely, desperate existence. And I'm just trying to keep it going.

Silly rabbit...

Holiday

As a new member of the WGAE, I get to go to their holiday party tonight, at dis joint.

Four more entries after this and I'll have 100 on this blog. 100 entries before we head into 2007. 100 brilliant little entries. That seems feasible... at least 4 more entries before new year's day.

My gift to both people who read this...

I Won't Go Down By Myself, But I'll Go Down with My Friends!

I always imagined the day that I got asked to join the Writers Guild of America would be one of the greatest days ever, but it wasn't. Granted, partly because it coincided with receiving some bad personal news, but largely because I'm realizing that the business part of this business is something I do not enjoy at all.

Hell, I'm not particularly fond of the creative part of this business, either! Writing is a personal hell. But there is a nice sense of accomplishment when I can get something right.

Making progress. Primarily by locking myself up for days on end with little to no human contact. I'll have to find a better process eventually or I'm going to die, but for now I'm doing what I have to do to make my deadlines and to keep the momentum going on both fronts. May not make for an exciting blog, but suffering is a terrific part of life. For me, it's the entirety.