July 1st. 4 months until 40. Should I be worried? The other day I was thinking about the novel and I realized, "Holy crap, I'll have written a novel by the time I'm 40!" I was partially impressed with my self for a couple of minutes.

I am really pleased that I've come up with the first screenplay idea I really want to pursue, no matter what anyone says, for the first time in about 2 years. I think it's a pretty good one and so do many of the folks I've pitched it to. I'm going to take some time developing; I'm going to finish the novel first ad let this movie idea gestate for a couple months.

I've been jogging regularly and my body has begun to adapt. I'm not so tired anymore. I've even begun riding my bike to the train station and I still don't feel completely spent. I'm pretty excited about that as well.

Not sure what I'm writing tonight. Nothing introspective, that's for sure. Lately I just want to write. Last week's Basement Song entry about my summer in Hollywood as an intern with Tony's company has me thinking about a sort of memoir, or maybe a novel based on that summer. There could be something there. And then there is that journal I kept during the summer of 1992, right after I graduated. I've kept that for so long there must be a reason I keep stumbling upon it in my file cabinet.

Just reconnected with a guy I knew from working on Invader back in 1995. He's an executive producer on Top Model. Impressive.

Aloha

The weather took a turn for the better yesterday and for the past couple of days it has been wonderful. We took in an independent league baseball game last night in Avon Lake where the Lake Erie Crushers play. The team is made up of single A quality players who weren't drafted or were cut from major league affiliated teams. All of these guys are looking for their break in the minors and are essentially trying to keep in form in case a call comes. Anyway, it was great fun, the team won with a walk off home run and we got to run the bases after the game. How cool is that? My only complaint is that the seats are too close together. In an otherwise beautiful stadium, there just wasn't enough legroom.

Today was relaxed. We hung out at Julie's sister's house playing on the Slip and Slide. Well, I didn't go near that frigid water, but the kids seemed to have fun. Later on we ate homemade meatballs and spaghetti. Man, I am gaining weight by the minute out here. It invariably happens whenever we go on vacation. Tomorrow we're having breakfast with my aunt and uncle and I'm supposed to go to the Indians game. So much for that 12 lbs. I lost.


St. Elsewhere is on in the background. Man, what a wonderful series that was. I am amazed at how much of the show I still recall when the last time I watched a full episode was back when the show was in syndication on the late 80's. It still ranks as one of my favorite shows of all time.

I look back at my career choices and I wonder if I shouldn't have been focusing on television all along. That's where I have been gravitating to for years. I don't know.

Vacations. Man, they give you too much time to think.

Aloha

My first day in Ohio and it was relatively uneventful, which is a good thing. Getting assimilated to a new time zone and a vacation mentality is always what happens on my first day away from home. The flight out here was quiet. The plane was half empty and I sat next to a 60 year old man from Strongsville who owns his own recording studio. With gray hair, a diamond earring and a gold chain, he was much more youthful in appearance than most other 60 year olds I've ever met. He was a nice guy and listening to him gave me an idea for a screenplay or new story. I haven't been inspired like that in a while. I have felt so burned out on movies lately that it was almost a foreign feeling to be formulating a visual story instead of something interior like I've been working on for the past four months. We'll see if I ever get around to writing it. I've come across so many good ideas that I filed away never to see the light of day again. Man, what I wouldn't give to be able to write full time.

Today we went down to the Nature Center in thew Metroparks. Talk about finding inspiration in weird places. I found out the name of the memorial down in the Metroparks that is in one of the chapters of my book. By finding out the name and a little of the history to the Metroparks, I also thought about which character would discuss this information. Thinking of that lead me into a whole new idea about the characters personalities and which ones would describe different things that help propel the story. One character may be more drawn to historical facts, another to how people look, another to music. You see where I'm going with this. These are ideas that I'll likely address in a second draft after I've finished the rough handwritten manuscript. I thought writing this book would be a quick endeavor. Boy, was I wrong.

Tonight I took the kids to see Night at The Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian. The kids really loved it. I thought it was a little uneven and not quite as charming as the first. Amy Adams was quite wonderful, though. She's so fantastic I would watch her in anything. Why hasn't anyone given her a great romantic comedy yet?

Well, that was today. It's cold outside and smells like a campfire. Supposedly it's June.

Aloha

Went to the circus tonight, man was that a strange experience. I can't say the I was totally enthused or even entertained, but I came away with an appreciation of what circuses are and the hard work that goes into putting on the show. This particular circus, Circus Vargas, has been around for 40 years. As I watched the show I thought to myself how strange that no one has made a contemporary film about circus life. I had a couple ideas for kids films and maybe a farce, but I also kept coming back to a star studded Altman-esque idea, something I will never write.

It seemed that everyone had a couple of jobs at the circus. The death defying motorcycle rider whose display of skill closed the show was also the guy taking photos of audience members and trying to get them to buy the picture before the end of the show. Seems that everyone who performed also worked on the crew in some capacity. Trapeze artists also rolled out the carpet, the women who performed magic also sold concessions before the show. In a way, Circus Vargas was like the Boy Scouts.

I may not have been entertained (although there were some unintentionally funny moments) I am glad we went. Julie and the kids leave town in a week and even thinking about it now is getting me misty eyed. At least I'll have the cat... and the mouse that has taken up residency somewhere in our house. I hope it's mouse. I saw it last night scurry behind the dishwasher, then I heard its claws skitter across the kitchen floor while I watched Saint Ralph, one of my favorite movies. If you have not seen Saint Ralph you must rent it the next time you are choosing a movie (unless you're thinking about renting King's Highway, in which case Saint Ralph should be the second film you rent).

This week has been hectic as far as writing goes. I am close to completing some of the reviews I need to do for Popdose. Unfortunately I have not been able to work on the book as much. Yet, I do not feel anxious like I do when I'm not working on a screenplay. Perhaps because the words just seem to flow better when I'm writing the book and I'm not analyzing every single word I write for fear it will be misinterpreted by some future director. I don't know. I believe I am half way through my handwritten rough draft. I dread typing it.

Aloha

I don't want to be negative, but I'm afraid that the Indians season is slipping away. There would be nothing I'd like more than to be proven wrong on this one. But with one of their starters, albeit an ineffective one, and one of their best relievers (who was one of their best starters before he got switched to the bullpen) both getting injured last night, I'm getting that sinking feeling in my stomach.

There is so much talent on this team, yet they don't seem to have any fire under them. While I'm sure that Eric Wedge is a good manager and I've supported him in the past, I wonder if there needs to be a shakeup and if the blame shouldn't fall on his shoulders. It's not just about inspiring, it's about managing. The great manager, when his guys are slumping, he yanks 'em to place a more effective hitter in the lineup. Torre does it. LaRussa does it. And to use an excuse like, "we're a young team" is crap. Martinez, Sizemore and Peralta are seasoned vets.

Instead of any sort of consistency, every night is a different lineup and no one is able to get into a rhythm. That's the way I see it from my end out here in California. I listen to just about every game and follow the gamecast on the Indians web site. Even the radio announcers sound defeated when they call the play by play.

Who is leading this clubhouse? That's what I really wonder. Who is the player in the trenches that acts as the captain? Who do thy draw inspiration from?

Last year I went on a similar rant and the Indians suddenly turned it around. I hope that happens this year. Alas, I just don't see the same spark and at 9 1/2 games back time may be running out.

I was so disheartened that I had left the room. But something told me to go back and watch the last second of this game. Something inside me said that I wouldn't want to miss a miracle if it actually happened. So back to the bedroom I went, where Sophie and Julie were laying in the bed and the TV was on. The Cavs had 1 second. ONE SECOND! They would have one chance to throw the ball in bounds and take a shot and there was only one person who should be handling the ball.



I'm still smiling. It was the most amazing feat I've seen in a very long time and the fact that it was happening for a Cleveland team and not against it was the kicker. Yeah, they blew another huge lead, but this kind of win can create momentum. Let's hope.

Gotta love Marv Albert's call at the buzzer.

I am nearly out from under the pile of DVD reviews I committed to reviewing for Popdose. One of them came out in April... zoinks. Basically I should be cranking these things out but I always want to go back and proof the reviews and revise what I've written. It's not like I'm writing some dumb blog or anything.

The thing is, we're trying to make Popdose something unique, which means doing my best as a writer. I know PR firms have to tell their clients how many reviews they've received, but since I'm not getting paid, I feel like they can cut me some slack. The worst thing that could happen is I don't get nay more DVD's to review and I have to spend all of my time working on the book. Actually, that would be a great thing.

I just want to get done with these reviews so I can focus on the book. I feel like I've hit a wall and I really need a kick in the ass to get back writing. I'm pretty frustrated with myself for slacking off after having such a good long run of consistent writing. It's my mindset that needs to be tweaked.

Anyway, it's late, our cat won't come in for the night so she gets to sleep outside again. I'm off to bed.

Aloha

PS- I can't get the Keith Urban/Kris Allen version of Urban's "Kiss a Girl" from American Idol out of my head. Good song.

Julie has returned and we now go back to routine of normalcy until school lets out. Then , I don't know. I'm not going to lie and say that this summer is going to be easy. Without Julie working get regularly things are going to be T-I-G-H-T, tight. Man it would really help if something could get sold, but even if someone bought one of my scripts, the reality is that the money wouldn't be in the bank for months. So, we bite the bullet. We shall make ends meet as best as possible and hope that the fall brings better fortunes.

But hey, let's not all get down about this. We're not the only ones going through this, so I take some limited comfort in that. For some insane reason I am not gnawing off my fingernails over this. What is this feeling? Hope? Blind faith? Or perhaps I have just lost it.

Oh, and let me as this: I downloaded UB40's version of "Red Red Wine" from their greatest hits album ad it's the single version, sans the ska rap at the end. Who does that? Who puts out a greatest hits album and only included a truncated version of their most popular song? Frustrating. Almost makes me want to listen to Foreigner.

Almost.

Altogether now...

"Red red wine!"

Aloha

Our neighbors, Dee and Larry, recently sold their house and will be moving a 1 1/2 acre home by the end of the summer. The reality of them leaving didn't begin to sink in until today when their daughter moved out of the house. Seeing the U Haul and boxes stacked up on the driveway made me a little sad. Dee and Larry have been in their house since we moved into our house. I'm not sure how close they are to any of the other neighbors, but I've always felt like our two families bonded nicely. I used to watch their dogs when they went on long vacations and one of their other daughters used to watch our cats.

You know the old cliche of the one neighbor always borrowing the guy across the street's tools? That was me always hitting up Larry for a weed whacker or some obscure tool. And Larry was always eager to give me what I needed and to lend a hand when I asked.

They're not gone yet, but it will be sad when they finally do pull away in their moving van.

Julie is now in Atlanta having left yesterday afternoon. It was quite a traumatic day for both of the kids. When you consider that Sophie has never been away from her mom for 10 years and Jacob for 7 years, there is bound to be some separation anxiety. However, they have been doing great today. I'm very proud of them. Today was also a minimum day at school, so I stayed home, too. The family picnic at the school took place at 11:45, so I had a couple of hours alone in the morning to do some writing, which I didn't do because I'm obsessed with my iPod.

My poor little iPod hates me. At least once a day I have the small device hooked up, trying to manipulate as much as I can out of the 8 gig drive. Just yesterday I realized that the jpegs I atach to each song actually suck up memory space. The iPod has been angry and shutting down. I must be nice to the iPod. I can not let the iPod crash on me.

Soon I will explain my obssesive compulive set list that I compiled to write the book. 500 songs, people. 500 songs! Who needs that much music? And why must each individual song contain the correct album artwork... from the original albums. Oh no, no "Greatest Hits" or "Best of" album coners for my iPod, I have to track down the original artwork.

I have finally put the thing to rest. I need to move on or I will go deeper into the wormhole.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, the kids are doing great. Everyone is doing great.

Aloha