All Quiet on the Home Front

This week we've been visited by the big boys from corporate. So we're not allowed to surf the net & I haven't gotten home at a reasonable hour at all this week. I have no idea what's going on in the blog world & it's a little unsettling. I've come to view this scribosphere as a niche for myself while I "slave" away at the day job; so I miss the blogging. They should be gone by Friday & I'll be back as soon as they're out the door. ;)

Weekly Update

Screenwriting: Done with my short, but I'm not sure if it turned out right. I'm going to not look at it for a couple of days & then see if some major changes need to be made.

Weight Loss: Lost 1 pound. Not great, but expected since I cheated over the weekend & had trouble adjusting to it this week. Today's my mom's birthday & we're having a celebratory cookout with family, so it might be hard to stay on track. :( Uh - oh. I think I just caught myself trying to pre-excuse cheating today, too.

Height: 5'3"
Weight: 170.5 lbs.
BMI: 30.2% (Will I ever move to just overweight? Just. The goals we latch onto when we're obese.)

WOW. Am I Slow or What?

My blogs were getting a few anon posters & I actually thought they were real. (& getting kind of confused by them. What? You like my blog & now you want to give a link to furniture? Huh?)

Hence, the tee I really should wear most of the time: Brunette & Still Spacey. Can you believe my mom gave me that nickname as a kid? Spacey. Mean? Nope, just Korean. We're incredibly blunt/rude/unknowingly offensive sometimes. In high school, I once told a friend's sister that I loved her hair color even if it did look dyed. She called me "Bitch" behind my back. I told her "I really am" to her face.

Oh, well, time for the word verifcation thingy. Glad someone else figured out how to do this first.

The Best Blog Ever

No, I'm not talking about Josh Friedman's I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing (although it is a great blog, so far).

I'm talking about PostSecret. (I only came across this blog bc of a comment made on John August's post on Dr. Phil & what we would put on our tees. Thank you, Dara.) It's a website dedicated to posting pics of postcards mailed in by anonymous readers who want to share their secrets. The secrets can be, and are, anyone's regret, hope, funny experience, unseen kindness, fantasy, belief, fear, betrayal, erotic desire, feeling, confession, or childhood humiliation. As long as it's true & never been told to anyone, they welcome the secret. Since they can't publish all of the secrets being mailed to them, they're creating a book from them & it should be available by Dec.

I'll be waiting in line for it & I might just send in a secret.

How Can Anyone Watch FoxNews?

On imdb studio briefing today:

Pat Robertson Says He Was "Misinterpreted" by the Press

Televangelist Pat Robertson on Wednesday charged that the media had "misinterpreted" his televised remarks about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Appearing on his 700 Club show, which airs on Disney's ABC Family channel, Robertson denied that he had called for Chavez's assassination. "I said our special forces could take him out," Robertson said. "'Take him out' could be a number of things including kidnapping. There are a number of ways of taking out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted." However, a transcript of Robertson's earlier remarks indicates that he had used no such language. "If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war," he had declared. On his Fox News television show Wednesday, anchor Brit Hume took rival news channel CNN to task for prominently featuring Robertson's remarks, insisting that Robertson's influence had dwindled and that "he may have no clout with the Bush administration." However, at least one blog listed 10 live guest appearances by Robertson on Fox News programs during the past 10 months, a figure that was also mentioned by MSNBC personality Keith Olbermann Wednesday night when he featured Hume as his daily "worst person in the world."


Van Susteren Says Aruba Case Calls Attention To All Missing People

Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren responded Wednesday to criticism of her sustained coverage of the Natalee Holloway missing-person case in Aruba, insisting that it is symptomatic of a larger "epidemic" of missing persons. (She cited no studies to substantiate her claim that the number of missing persons has grown.) Referring to the decision by Bob Costas to refuse to preside over a Larry King Live show on CNN about the Holloway case, Van Susteren remarked: "I am certain he does realize how important it is to investigate missing persons and that he knows of the power of the media in keeping up the search. I bet his decision not to guest host was not meant to insult the many suffering families or law enforcement agencies working around the clock to find them. I will continue to watch Bob Costas... he seems like a nice guy." She also remarked that she realizes "that our competition has slipped considerably, and I also know that the 'oldest trick in the book' is to get ratings or readers by saying 'I would never do that story' since by making that statement or writing an editorial about it, you look 'clean' in your mind."



Brit Hume: One of the biggest idiots getting air time today. If Newlyweds were still on, I think I'd choose Jessica Simpson as closer to genius.

Greta Van Susteren: Just as she's sure that Bob Costas didn't mean "to insult the many suffering families or law enforcement agencies working around the clock to find them," I'm sure that although she's a manipulative bitch, she's not as cunning as she thinks.

Apologies to Everyone I "Talked" to on Monday - Wednesday?

Today, I'm in a good mood. Realizing that was the first clue that earlier this week I was definitely not in a good mood. Maybe it was the horrible weekend. Maybe it was going off the diet, then coming back on & taking my body a while to adjust again. I really think it was that last part, but, you know, it could've been anything. I am a girl & I consider the ability to reverse my moods an inherent prerogative.

But even saying that, I'm never too much of an asshole to admit when I've been an asshole. I know I was an asshole to Shawna, so I apologized today when re-reading it. But I'm also sorry to anyone else I was curt with, even though I can't recall any more instances at just this second bc I have a problem with reading way too many blogs & really need to cut down on that.

I'm mostly sorry for that last sentence, but since I had to write it, I think you should have to read it. After all, if you don't read this shit bc I am an asshole, why come here at all?

;^)

What We All Have to Look Forward to, I Guess

Does Hollywood breed/exacerbate oddity?

CNN is reporting that a former Hollywood Producer, Terry Carr, first dumped a box full of personal mementos, then abandoned his wife while she was in a convenience store restroom, and finally suffocated his daughter to death by having a heart attack & falling on her while she was asleep.

WTF?

Why You Shouldn't Rely Solely on Spell-Check

Michael Moore Checks In at Fat Farm

Maverick film-maker Michael Moore has enrolled on a crash course at a $3,800-a-week celebrity fat farm in a bid to loose weight. The Fahrenheit 9/11 director has booked into the Pritikin Longevity Center And Spa in Aventura, Florida, where he is learning to cook healthy meals and will undergo "life re-education", according to PageSix.com. Moore is reportedly aiming to loose 12 pounds during the first three weeks.

No More Heroes?

CNN is reporting that :

"A French newspaper says Lance Armstrong used the performance-enhancing drug EPO to help win his first Tour de France in 1999, a report the seven-time Tour winner vehemently denied.

The paper's investigation was based solely on B samples -- the second of two samples used in doping tests. The A samples were used up in 1999 for analysis at the time.

The governing body of world cycling did not begin using a urine test for EPO until 2001. For years, it had been impossible to detect the drug, called erythropoietin, which builds endurance by boosting the production of oxygen-rich red blood cells.

EPO tests on the 1999 B urine samples were not carried out until last year, when scientists performed research on them to fine-tune EPO testing methods, the paper said.

The national anti-doping laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry, which developed the EPO test and analyzed the urine samples in question, said it could not confirm that the positive EPO results were Armstrong's.

It noted that the samples were anonymous, bearing only a a six-digit number to identify the rider, and could not be matched with the name of any one cyclist.

However, L'Equipe said it was able to make the match. It printed photos of what it said were official doping documents. On one side of the page, it showed what it said were the results of EPO tests from anonymous riders used for lab research. On the other, it showed Armstrong's medical certificates, signed by doctors and riders after doping tests -- and bearing the same identifying number printed on the results."

I am disheartened at the thought that this may be true.

Weekly Update

I went camping this weekend & decided not to bring the scale with me. I thought that I had posted a little note saying I would be away, but since it’s not here I’ll have to conclude that either I dreamt it or I’m just kidding myself.

Screenwriting: I’m almost done with the first draft of my short. I’m debating whether or not to go ahead and post it or wait until I’ve finished the second draft. It’s not really something that could be made into a feature; so I’m not worried about anyone selling it out from under me. The only thing keeping me back is my own pride. I don’t want to put up something that turns out to be garbage. I’ll keep mulling it over.

Weight Loss: Lost 3 lbs this week. Not bad. I’ve been getting up at 5 am & working out for an hour every morning. That probably balanced out the fact that I cheated while camping. Yeah, I know, no cheating while on induction. OK, but at least I admitted to it.

Height: 5’3”
Weight: 171.5
BMI: 30.4%

Weekly Update

So sorry! I went away for the weekend & I should've posted about it before I left.

Screenwriting: I've completed the index cards & I think I've accounted for every necessary scene. I know it'll prob change during writing, but I like getting as much nailed down as possible. It's probably going to be a pretty short short, but I'm looking forward to it. If I can keep up with the 5 page a day count, I should have it done this coming up weekend. Then I'll take a couple days off it, review, make any changes, & post it. (?)Suprisingly, to me at least, the cards took so long to get organized bc I kept having thoughts about the thriller/mystery. I think intentionally stepping away from it for a while has really helped me. When I'm taking a break from the short, I'll be working on the treatment for the feature &, hopefully, get started on it as soon as the 2nd draft fo the short is complete.

Weight Loss: 0 lbs. Plateau city. BUT I'm not giving up. & I've decided to use my mornings again to work out.

Height: 5'3"
Weight: 174.5 lbs.
BMI: 30.9% (working on it, still working on it)

Earlier Post Now Deleted

One of the moral rules I try to live my life by is the Newspaper Headline rule. If you wouldn't want what you're doing or about to do put on the front page of your local/national paper, don't. I have added a second rule. If you think someone might be hurt by what you have to say, don't. Jim, not your fault, mine. I'm a big girl & I should know better.

TennScreen

I attended my first screenwriting group last night. (If you've read prev posts, I said that I would go two weeks ago. The first week I chickened out. The second I forgot. Or maybe I chickened out the second week also, & now I'm just kidding myself. Oh, well. I went last night. That's the important part.) The group is called the Tennessee Screenwriting Association. They're non-profit, staffed by volunteers, and they allow 3 people each week to talk about their scripts. You can choose to read a treatment, have others cold read your script, or just pitch some ideas.

Last night, two went through synopses & a tandem had their first 14 pages cold read. The first synopsis was by the president Bob Giordano. He said he was about 60 pages into his script, but I could tell that he had fully worked out the finer points of his story. He understood all of the character's goals and motivations. & although he opened it up for anyone to pick it apart, not one person could really find a flaw. The next two presents didn't go so well. I won't go into it bc that would be rude, but I bring it up bc this group offers something all writers need: other writers to call bullshit.

So, I'm going to join. It's only $25/yr. & after joining & waiting for my turn, I'll be able to present my own ideas. All I want is someone to call shit, shit, & this group has that kind of truth.

And I Thought Those Geniuses Would Get Away

The manhunt is over. The Hyatte's were caught in Ohio. It seems they took a cab to try to get away after hearing the van was already known to the police. How could they possibly guess that cab drivers might watch the news? I'm amazed at their resourcefulness.

What the Hell is Going On?

I read cnn.com at work everyday to keep up, because I generally don't have time for the evening news. Today, an article appeared about young teens playing "The Choking Game." Apparently, they like the sensation of choking themselves until they pass out. (The article doesn't mention the origins of the game, but I'm sure we all know where this came from.) I am deeply concerned about the state of our youth in this country. This game is only the latest in a series of incidents/trends occuring to young teens.

One of my favorite movies of all time is Fight Club. I take a lot of flack from fellow scribes for loving a movie that so obviously violates the "rules" of filmmaking. But my admiration for this movie has nothing whatsoever to do with the twist ending. & I suspect that many teens who were drawn to it would say the same thing. Fight Club is a great movie because it so completely illustrates some of the unspoken truths (themes) that many of us feel at one time or another: we work jobs we hate to buy shit we don't need, our lives are ending one moment at a time, it's not until we lose everything that we are free to do anything, the things we own end up owning us, we are filled with near-life experiences, and we must hurt ourselves to "feel" something, anything.

It is for the last truth that teens play the Choking Game, cut themselves, take dangerous road curves at 55 mph, etc. . . The only way this is going to stop is if we adults stop treating the symptoms & start healing the disease. But, of course, first we have to realize that these games are the symptoms.

Hazzard's Got Nuthin' on Us

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Well, the ongoing March watch didn't make the national newsline, but thank god for crazy rednecks and their fugitive husbands.

I told my family just a couple of days ago that I was planning on moving out to L.A. sometime next year to pursue a screenwriting career. My father doesn't think it's a good idea. He's afraid something might happen to me there. I think he's right. Maybe I'll move to Kingston/Hendersonville & become a security guard instead.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

The World's Shortest Personality Test

You are dignified, spiritual, and wise. Always unsatisfied, you constantly try to better yourself. You are also a seeker of knowledge and often buried in books. You tend to be philosophical, looking for the big picture in life. You dream of inner peace for yourself, your friends, and the world. A good friend, you always give of yourself first.

FFF #2: Where Is This Going?

Purgatorian threw out the 2nd installment of Flash Fiction Friday. I started on it this weekend, excited to have an assigment like back in college. But the more I worked on it, the more unwieldy it became. It's already over 800 wds, I haven't started the second act, and my mind keeps buzzing with more interesting hurdles to put in. In fact, last night I finally decided to turn it into a screenplay. So, here's the beginning of the first act & let me know if you think it's not worth the time.



I put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, shut it, locked it, and turned around to find Icky and Taz practically bouncing on their feet.

"Come on, Reese," motioned Icky. "Let’s get this shit started."

"All right, all right," I said while sitting down at Icky’s computer and turning it on. Icky only had a Dell Inspiron, Celeron chip, 2 MB notebook, but it would have to do this time since my computer was confiscated by Sheriff Wiseass two months previously. It wasn’t my fault. It really wasn’t. Icky, Taz, and I have been hacking into Mr. Morganstern’s home computer to change our homework and quiz grades since almost the first week of classes. Not because we didn’t have the brains to get good grades (well, Icky and I do), but because we knew the ugly idiot was too dumb to realize the grades were changed in the first place. If Taz hadn’t tried doing it on his own while Icky and I were at debate practice, we never would’ve been caught at all. But, really, it’s not as if we actually got caught. The time stamping gave us the perfect alibi and no one who knew Taz could believe he would even know how to turn on a computer.

"Icky, what the fuck, man?"

"What?" Icky said, trying to sound all innocent.

"What is this shit on your computer?" I asked, waving my hand in front of his desktop. A picture of a hot tub with a naked Kathy Bates covered his screen.

"EEEGGHH," piped in Taz. "That’s fucking disgusting."

"Come on, you guys. You know that’s my favorite movie, man."

"You’re such a fucking liar," disagreed Taz. "Ever since we fucking watched Misery you’ve had a total boner for that fat fuck. The only reason that shit is your favorite movie is because that fat cunt’s naked in it. It is fucking disgusting, man." It is pretty obvious that Icky's had big one for Kathy Bates since we watched his mom's old tape. Looking over at him during the dinner scene, his lips were barely concealing the drool threatning to slip out. In fact, his whole room was a shrine to Kathy Bates. His walls were plastered with a poster for almost every movie she's in. While the rest of the entire grade school population went to see Waterboy for Adam Sandler's hijinks, he could only talk about what great "scenes" she had.

"You don’t know what you’re talking about, Taz. So why don’t you just shut the hell up?"

"Shutting my fucking mouth won’t make that fucking obsession go away, man. & I fucking told you, call me Tony, T-O-N-Y, Tony. That’s my name."

"Your name’s Joseph Antonio, Taz," said Icky, shaking his head. "Calling yourself Tony doesn’t make you any more Italian than you already are. And spending all your waking hours watching The Sopranos has really warped your brain, idiot. No one in the real world uses "fuck" in every single sentence they utter. You’re a total moron, you know that?" Taz had been Taz since we were 4 and he spent every afternoon running zig-zag around the park like an idiot. Last year, his parents got HBO and he's tried getting everyone he knows to call him Tony since. But he'll always be Taz.

"You're-"

"Shut up, you two," I broke in. "I’m in."

Since Stern "caught" Taz breaking into his computer, he’s taken to using a password on everything. Fortunately, the ugly idiot didn’t realize that anyone who knew his schedule well enough to hack into his computer whenever he wasn’t home would also know he’d use his favorite word as the password, "facetious". ("Isaac, please don't use such a facetious remark in my class." "Joseph, being facetious will get you nowhere." "Reese, facetious is as facetious does.") We couldn’t afford to change any more grades, but we were determined to find something on the guy to make his life hell. After all, he tries to do the same to us.

"So," asked Icky. "you found something?"

"No," I said impatiently. "I just need you to shut up while I’m looking. Standard stuff, really. Nothing much on the hard drive. Uses DSL to get access. Visits the same places every time he’s on. Pays his bills online-"

"Ooh," interrupted Taz. "Let’s use his credit cards to buy some fucking awesome digital equipment."

"Taz," muttered Icky. "We don’t want the cops on us again, man. We just want to play with his head a little."

"I don’t know how much playing we’re going to be able to do, guys. He only keeps a handful of things here. Stern’s pret- Whoa."

"What?" questioned Icky and Taz in unison.

"Jesus Christ," escaped Icky’s parted lips while Taz just sat there slack-jawed. The screen glowed with Stern's personal bank account. The balance seemed to be flashing big, bold numbers: $800,000.

Weekly Update

Screenwriting: As per previous post of "Starting Over, Again" I'm turning one of my short stories into a short screenplay. I'll be working on that right now. I'm adding a progress bar to the right & I'll start shading it in as soon as I start writing the actual scenes. That may take a while since I plan on taking plenty of time to go over each scene by index card & make sure I know how to lay it all out.

Weight Loss: I only lost 2.5 lbs. this week. Is that normal? To go from losing 10 lbs the 1st week & then only 2.5 lbs the next? (I accidentally started drinking diet pepsi for a few days before I realized I'm not supposed to have caffeine. Was that the problem? I think I'll email Atkins today.) I'm still going to go through with all of the phases anyway. & I've also decided that induction will last as long as it takes to get me down to the "normal" BMI scale, which starts at 140 lbs for me.

Height: 5'3"
Weight: 174.5 lbs.
BMI: 30.9% (yep, still obese, but I'm working on it.)

Starting Over, Again

I've been discussing my screenplay issues with Greg, my writer friend here in Nashville, & I've decided to take a break from this spec. No, I'm not quitting screenwriting. I think I might be too close to my treatment to look at it subjectively. My actual screenplay has deviated from it & I'm not entirely sure which is the better choice. & it's possible that either I didn't spend enough quality time working on my treatment to make it effective or my lack of ability in actually writing a screenplay is becoming apparent.

To, hopefully, disprove the latter option, I'm going to write a short screenplay. For some time, I've wanted to turn one of my short stories into a short screenplay & I'm going to take the time to do it now. I have no idea how long this will take since my short story is only 6 pages & I'm actually planning on taking it from a different beginning to explain some of the internal struggle of the protagonist. As soon as I'm done with it, I'll register it & post it here.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty (unless you really did it, & I think you did, buddy)

It didn't make national news, but Nashvillians have been waiting for this for almost 9 years. Perry March was finally arrested. His story was that his homemaker wife decided overnight that she needed a vaction from him and their 2 children, packed her bags, and left without saying goodbye to any friends or family (& phone records show that she spoke with her mother at least 3 times a week). I don't know a single person who ever believed his story.

Police are refusing to reveal if they have new evidence. I hope this makes CourtTV. If it does, I'll be tivoing it every day.

Dave, I Always Knew There Was a Family Resemblence

Thanks, Purgatorian, for a link to an awesome test.

The 3 Variable Funny Test


Here are my results:

the Cutting Edge
(69% dark, 47% spontaneous, 16% vulgar)
your humor style:CLEAN SPONTANEOUS DARK

Your humor's mostly innocent and off-the-cuff, but somehow there's something slightly menacing about you. Part of your humor is making people a little uncomfortable, even if the things you say aren't themselves confrontational. You probably have a very dry delivery, or are seriously over-the-top.Your type is the most likely to appreciate a good insult and/or broken bone and/or very very fat person dancing.

PEOPLE LIKE YOU: David Letterman - John Belushi

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 82% on dark
You scored higher than 76% on spontaneous
You scored higher than 5% on vulgar

I'm a CODING Idiot I Said, Not a TOTAL Idiot

Just 2 minutes ago, I'm looking over the paperwork at my desk & see my mouse moving up & down on my computer all on its own. Now, it's possible that some hacker happened along to my computer while I'm at work or it's also possible some hacker is following along on blogs & noticed that I'm in Accounting. I've also blogged about how I'm a coding idiot. This may have led someone to think that they can hack into this computer & steal all kinds of bank info. No, stupid. If you really knew anything at all about accounting, you would realize that the person who sends out the bills DOES NOT receive the payments. It is a basic accounting rule for any business, large or small. Not to prevent hackers from finding info, but to prevent employees from committing embezzlement. I have ZERO bank info on this computer. I do not have access in any way to a network that allows exchange between my computer and the Accounts Receivable department. In fact, they work on an entirely different network all together.

So, good luck & good day.

Firefox Forum Kicks Ass

For Firefox viewers, you can now see the website clearly using Firefox. Those guys are amazingly speedy in their replys. That is the one thing above all to appreciate in a company. If they ever decide to try their hands at screenwriting software, I will be the first in line.

BTW, I still have tons of HTML mistakes in my coding, but since it doesn't affect the viewing of the blog I'm not changing anything more. & if you guys ever have trouble viewing it in Firefox again, let me know. (I'm actually going to be trying out Firefox myself & see which I like more, but I may miss something.)

FYI

It's eom (end of the month) & we have to get all the billing out. Make sure our records are straight. It might be a couple of days before I can get another post up here.

I've gotten a response from Firefox on fixing the code, but, as it listed over 200 problems, I may not be able to get to it anytime soon. Sorry.