Feed Me

Hey, in case you happen to have forgotten, or you don't get here quite often enough to see every post, I'm a film student and need your help. Or rather, I need your money. But your money can buy you stuff, too. My stuff. So go to my DinerTalk store and buy stuff - it helps support the cost of the film, and it looks good, too. And then, people say, "Hey, what's that on your shirt," and you think it's a mustard stain or something, but when you look down, you see the word DinerTalk and you go, "Oh, it's a film by this awesome student filmmaker. You should check it out." And they will! And then my film will gain a cult following and I'll be successful.

In short, Your Money + Me = Success! The formula is easy to understand. :-)

Thanks!

http://www.cafepress.com/dinertalk

Spring 2005

My class list for the season is as follows:

Tuesday - Ethics of Creativity
Wednesday - Developing the Screenplay
Thursday - Directing the Camera
Friday - Advanced Production

So, first, I have a class in which we discuss stuff ... that's pretty much all there is to it. Apparently, a few short papers are required, but nothing to the extent of formal essays on ethical dillemmas facing artists; thank God for Arts and Public Policy ... the greatest program ever. Then there's Developing the Screenplay, where I can use materials that I have written over the course of the past six years to write a screenplay I was hoping to get around to writing some day anyway. Fantastico! Directing the Camera is gonna be fun because I've already decided to do some West Wing-esque camera moves for both my scenes - hell, I've already conceived of a fantastic story for my second project in the class. And finally, Advanced Production. This is gonna be a hard class because I have to take the work extremely seriously - to not do so jeopardizes my chances of getting the allotment or screwing myself out of money that I'll wind up borrowing from the bank to make the film. All things considered, the semester looks to be interesting and a bit easier than the last three years of my higher education.

Little Shop of Horrors

No matter what Bill or any of the other members of the classes above me might have to say, Little Shop of Horrors is still the best show that our drama club produced in the time I was at North County. The music was fantastic, the set looked unbelievable, and the work behind the scenes made me as happy as I can recall ever having been. I would love, for one night, to be back on that stage for another performance of that show.

Don't know why I've been thinking about the show that much, but it's been on my mind for a while.

6:42 AM

It's 6:42 in the morning and the rest of the world is just waking up. I haven't gone to bed yet. I've been having trouble sleeping lately. Not staying asleep, but going to sleep. Contacts out, glasses off, lights out, covers drawn up, and I lay there, thinking about things. My mind doesn't rest now.

Outside, the river looks beautiful. I can't take a picture because the camera couldn't possibly capture the beauty of this morning. As the first pale light of the morning sun illuminates the cloud-covered sky, the water reflects this, creating the illusion of silvery water upon which toy boats float. The cityscape is like a mock up - a miniature model of New York City in some perfectionist's train garden. The buildings all around on this side of the river - and over in the city, too - let up puffs of smoke, perhaps the furnaces in their basements have just kicked on to provide the slight warmth for the day to those who will inhabit the facilities. It's cold out, but if it weren't for the smoke rising from the buildings, it wouldn't look it. It would look instead like the perfect morning - pink horizon, soft blue-grey skies and shimmering silvery water. I hate the cold, but this is New York and despite all my protests, I rather like it here.

I'm going to try to get some sleep now. Knowing that the skies are getting brighter might hinder my efforts, but I really am tired. The days are so short, and the nights are so long - and here I am, caught in the time warp between the two worlds. Rest well, friends.

Away Message

The worst part of having used the internet since I was 13 is that I've met and talked with hundreds of people from all around the world. Message boards, instant messaging, e-mail. You can keep in touch with anyone in mere seconds. And the problem is that no one ever contacts me. My buddy list is made up of thirty people who are always away. My inbox of four different e-mail accounts brings in about four e-mails per day - all from Columbiahouse, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or some other online store I've used.

Only one person I know ever IMs me on his own. Only one person I know ever calls me on his own. Dan.

Of all the friends I've made in my lifetime, of all the people with whom I've become acquainted, Dan is the only one who takes the time and energy to periodically check up on me. The only one who ever responds to me when I IM him while his Away Message is up.

An age of instant communication can determine who your true friends are. Who are yours?

Me, LLC

I am my greatest asset. I am the most valuable thing I will ever own. I contain an infinite sum - a vast wealth, a virtual money tree - of ideas. As yet, however, I cannot think of a way to make this asset - me - work in my favor. It's not enough to have an idea - you have to package the idea. I have a billion ideas that can be packaged, but the problem is finding the right wrapping paper.

I want to write, but I have then things trying to find their way onto the page at the same time. I just wish that for one month, I could focus on singular tasks and complete them - start to finish, top to bottom. I want to have the clarity of focus to write my stories all the way through. I want to be able to plan out my upcoming projects one-at-a-time and begin the process of implementing the steps necessary to achieve my goals.

And I want to quiet my restless mind. That is the biggest obstacle in my path. I cannot keep my focus long enough to finish a page of material, much less an entire script. I'm gonna go back to working now.

January Update

And as a new year kicks into full swing ... I sit on my lazy ass all day. With games and movies galore, I am in a veritable college guy heaven. I've played through KotOR already and just started KotOR II a few hours ago. I've watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and the entire first season of West Wing. JJ and I are on pace for about five episodes a day of WW now, speaking of which, I need to watch another two or three in a little while.

I'm now on a 2-to-5 schedule. I wake up at 2pm and go to bed at 5am. This ... can't be good. The fantastic thing, though, is that I feel I'm actually doing more than I would usually get around to doing. Classes have become a hindrance, something I feel keeps me from actually being productive. The time we spend in classes learning about the things we need to do, we should be out and about doing instead. I don't want to take a directing class - I want to direct. I'm getting tired of pretending - I want to be doing. All talk and no action.

And I need more light in here. This room is entirely too dark. One lamp isn't going to cut it. I need another. Anyway, I still have a few hours left in my day - I'm off to go accomplish small feats of fantastic nothingness!

9/11 Commission Report on History Channel

I've been watching the 9/11 Commission Report on the History Channel and I'm stunned. I'm simply amazed at what we know about the breakdown in security in this country that led to the deaths of thousands of civilians. Moreso, however, I'm stunned that we can know so much about how the Bush administration ignored warnings about these breakdowns and the impending attacks and STILL have re-elected W!!!

I am just amazed that the states most likely to be affected by terrorism - they're usually the ones who have major cities in them - can have their concerns overruled by "red states" bent on imposing their flawed religious interpretations of morality upon the rest of the country. It's so angering, I probably shouldn't even talk about it anymore.

XBox Live!

I signed up for XBox Live! with a two month free trial. It rawks. :-D

I played Star Wars Battlefront non-stop yesterday and, to be honest, I think I'll do it some more today. Winter breaks are nice because you finally have an opportunity to slow down and have more "me time." Which is always nice. Gaming, watching West Wing on DVD, sleeping 'til 1:40 in the afternoon. Fantastico!

I have a wall filled with action figures now! I'll have to show it to you all when I get around to taking the picture. Hope all is well with everyone in the New Year.