We had Jacob’s official birthday get together (you were SORELY missed, Tiff! Beyond any words!!) today over at Mar Vista park. I was baking the cake for this. Friends, and some of Jacob’s family (cousins, specifically) gathered. There was a bit of a picnic. Various UCLA theaterfolk, of course, came out. People brought food. There were a few babies in attendance. All in all, a lovely afternoon in the company of good friends and meeting new ones. The cake was a hit. It was almost completely consumed, which is the best way to tell. The afternoon ended with a rather long variation on kickball that featured no set teams, score, or specific competition. It’s difficult to describe, but it was fun enough that play went on for over two and a half hours. I was 0 for 3 from the plate, almost made a web gem when I was manning first, and pitched a good portion of the exhibition. For a bunch of actors, writers, and other fellow roustabouts we did not openly embarrass ourselves, which was promising. Then it was back to the homestead, a visit from Gilda the dog, and dinner followed by Mad Men. Not a bad Sunday. Tomorrow is chasing after some freelance writing gigs, getting down to brass tacks on the feature Jason and I have to write, and hoping we gain some new forward momentum with meetings on either the TV or Feature side, soon. I have to admit, I’m completely baffled as to the time frame we’re on, currently (it seemed all rush, rush, rush. Now, who knows?) I’m also feel deep into uncharted waters in terms of the writing career stuff and that kind of “blindness” (for lack of a better term) is really a process for me to manage. It takes effort, continual effort, and doesn’t seem to get easier as I work at it. In fact, it seems to grow harder. I feel so caught in between states and don’t know what exactly is the priority because of that. I thought it was writing (which, yes, I understand intellectually it always is; but I meant for the transition out of school, as opposed to getting set-up with more steady work outside the writing) now I’m not sure. Or its passed from that. Or, it hasn’t and I’m just not seeing it. All entirely possible. This isn’t exactly an area I can go off and research, like I’m used to. Instead, this is all about accruing experience, without losing my head, which can be painful and frustrating, but shouldn’t ever be defeating (I hope I’m made of stronger stuff than that.) Anyways, that’s where I’m at. Tomorrow is, as always, a brand new day.
Got to bake a cake today from scratch. It’s been some time since I’ve done any serious, for a bunch of folks baking. I gotta say I’ve missed it some. Definitely still out of sorts and getting tired of it. We did get the DVD’s up on the wall over the TV, which was the last project between both me and Jacob that was lingering. That means that the DVD’s are out of my room and I should be able to finish the last little bit of setting up my room/office. Also have a lead on a few freelance writing gigs. We’ll see. Sometimes, you get fried on remaining hopeful while keeping your expectations low. It happens. This, too, shall pass. It always does and I just need to let it come and then go and not make it worse. On to the review:
CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE WITH VANILLA FROSTING
Mmmmmmmm!
One hundred percent homemade. No poseurs-from-a-box allowed in the B.O.H.
This, by the way is not the cake I baked today, though it looks a lot like it.
What better combo is there? I used to be a chocolate on chocolate guy. (Cecil’s Deli in St. Paul has the absolute greatest chocolate on chocolate three layer classic. That icing. Man! I’ve been trying for years to replicate that icing. I got in the ballpark once in Chicago, but I don’t know what I did.) But eventually, I migrated to the start contrast, born to melded in cake bliss forever combo of chocolate cake/vanilla frosting. Let’s take another look:
Callback: Mmmmmmmmmm!
I don’t even know what’s on top of that slice. Some kind of hat like icing decoration that is entirely unnecessary. The chocolate and vanilla just look perfect together, don’t they? And you know what? It tastes like one big Oreo. Which, come on, who doesn’t like that?
I utilize a recipe for a “Black Magic Cake” that I got off the internet. I’ve tried others. This recipe is by far the most moist and dense, chocolate flavored cake out there. Do not use instant coffee, as it calls for in that recipe. Do yourself a favor and either make or buy strong coffee. One cup’s worth is all you need (one measuring cup, not a mug.) The real, strong, bold flavored coffee makes all the difference in the world. Trust me. What you arrive at with it is a very moist, deeply flavored cake that’s really hard to overcook. The actual cake is beyond heavenly. As you can see, it’s a very basic recipe that can be whipped up (no pun intended) rather quickly and efficiently.
From the there I utilize a pretty standard homemade vanilla frosting recipe from an old cookbook that II got as a gift some years ago. The cookbook deals exclusively with the making of every kind of chocolate cakes known to man. The cookbook is a wonderful resource. It’s by a woman by the name of Michelle Urvater, but the name of it escapes me at the moment. The recipe I use details the most basic vanilla except that I always put in extra Vanilla extract or actual vanilla bean, depending on. I like a nice, vanilla/sweet twang when you bite into the velvety cake.
Anyways. If you love cakes at all, make yourself one with black magic cake and vanilla frosting; then watch everyone flock to you!
The result: pure deliciouness. Okay, I’m gettingh/?
Here we are. Getting settled in Culver City/Palms and the new pad. Making my way in this crazy, mixed up business. Officially an M.F.A. It’s all a little weird still. I was just talking to a friend and classmate, who I hadn’t seen in awhile. He’s been out since winter quarter and went to New York this summer, as part of a festival, to stage a play of his – himself. He’s in the same, weird financial in between state that it seems those that are just graduating and getting some interest/work opportunities/rep meetings are all in. Too busy to really commit to a real job, but not really getting paid anything, at all – yet. I was relieved to see him because I had heard through the grapevine he might take a gig in D.C., which is one of the places he worked prior to coming west. Instead, he came back because it seemed like the wise thing to do. Anyways, we commiserated over the strangeness. I would say that the common theme is that its not a very comfortable position to be in. This is largely due to the fact that you have no clue where the whole endeavor is headed, or how long it might take to get there, and speeding the process up is mercurial at best or wholly out of your hands, normally. Yet, it can be exciting and it can all see like it’s about to come through – that elusive corner will be turned and you’ll be working….as a writer….just as you dreamed for so many years.
Anyways, suffice to say you keep your head up high, you work hard, you keep your expectations low, but your hopes reasonably high, you stay in touch and don’t isolate too much, you ask for help when you need it, and you look at each day as exactly that – a day in which anything can happen, but, when you close your eyes, you get to start all over again.
All right. That was a waaaay longer introduction than I expected. So, without further soapboxing, let’s get down to it! It is Friday night, after all.
-I’m going to say this once and try and leave it alone after that. How in the name of all that’s holy did David Freese incur a season ending ankle injury, on a heretofor uninjured part of his body, on a rehab assignment in double A ROUNDING THIRD BASE?!?!?! It’s like this kid has turned out to be the boy in the bubble! I’m afraid if the wind blows too hard when we visit Wrigley he might break a bone or blow away. It’s just unreal.
-If it weren’t for Adam Wainwright, I think the redbirds would be having a much, much different season. Waino is indeed Bueno.
-Jacob and I are watching DEADWOOD. He’s never seen it and I’ve only seen it once, when it aired. It’s been fascinating to watch it again. Man, did HBO screw up, or what, when they took it off the air prematurely? The show is beyond brilliant. Milch truly outdid himself and so did the actors. I’m floored by two things – first of all, Milch dumps every spark for the ENTIRE SERIES into the first four episodes. It’s amazing. There’s one major event, that in my mind I would’ve sworn before watching it, that it had occurred in season two. I mean I would’ve bet good money. Season two, Doc? Try episode two! My jaw was on the floor. I had no recollection it had come that early. I was blown away. (And I’m not the only one, I was talking to a writer-friend the other night and he’s rewatching it to and had the same reaction)
-We have a lot of projects in play right now. Lots kind of hopping around. It’s nice to have this TV stuff vaulting ahead of the pack. It’s all pretty cut and dry, which is good. But it would be lovely to knock some things off our plate. One thing I think we’re learning is that once something gets on your plate? It’s really hard to get it off, even if it’s going nowhere.
-Jacob’s a big fan of THE LAST WALTZ, too. That means he’s really good people.
-We have a pretty kick-ass apartment. I wake up and can’t quite believe how well it all worked out, and we seem to be falling into a good rhythm. I have to say I was against Culver City when I first moved to L.A. for some reason. The one time I had visited years earlier, I had stayed with a friend in Culver City; but never got a good grasp of the place and it seemed real scattershot – one block was cool, the next was rough. I could get that in Chicago, I wanted something different. But, Culver City is pretty awesome. It helps our apartment is so excellent, but downtown Culver City, while not huge, has some neat restaurants and bistros and cafes. It’s got a good feel to it. And, the Albertson’s? The best grocery store, I’ve seen in years. I was actually surprised. It’s a vast place. It even has some bulk foods like whole foods. A-Ma-Zing!
-Did I tell you about the new Swell Season record yet? Well, why aren’t you listening to it right now! The new Arcade Fire’s pretty good, too. Though it’s early.
-I’m a notoriously bad unpacker. Like I leave boxes unpacked for months after a move. It’s a really bad habit. SO, here’s a reminder to myself to push through and finish the job this weekend. There’s hardly anything left and I’ll be a happier man if I do.
-We’re thinking about getting some plants. We get great light and we’ve got some perfect spots for them. Any suggestions? (Preferably low maintenance, but not cacti!)
-Can you believe David Freese?!?!
-I’m quite excited that I’ll be doing more cooking here at the new joint. I’ve already busted out the risotto witch is my fast and easy dinner – through some chicken and peas in there, or beef, some parm and away you go. But, over the long haul, we’re talking BBQ, we’re talking Slow Cooker, we’re talking the whole nine yards. Which is good. It’s been awhile. Plus, it’s the type of place where I could have some friends over and it would be comfortable. (I owe some folks some home cooked meals.) We’ve even got enough room and seating to have movie nights for a select few folks.
I think that’s about it for this week’s edition of randoms. Be good to yourself. I’ll be back to regular posts tomorrow.
There is a particular relief that comes when returning from some time away from the L.A. grind, its intensity and volume, and plugging back into the flow of the work right away. I always consider it to be like shifting gears and when that shift happens smoothly, well it just makes me much more relaxed about being away and about getting things done as I catch back up. I was a little slow today, but clicked over into a decent run at the keyboard sooner than I thought I would and then settled into a nice long jaunt with an outline that’s needed attention for a bit. My guess would be that keeping up on work, a bit, while away helped. This was the first time I made that effort. I didn’t go too crazy, but when I had an hour here or an hour there, I kept the dialogue going with jason over several projects we’re in the early stages of developing and I prepped the work, a bit, that I did today. The screenwriter Mike Werb, whom I had first year-Spring Quarter at UCLA, encouraged us to always put in an hour, even on vacation to stay loose. This is the first time I’ve attempted to do that on a more regular level throughout the time away. Seems to have worked nicely. I feel relaxed from the vacation, but not disjointed getting back up to speed.
Los Angeles is a city of nooks and crannies…
I went to a wedding celebration on the fourth for a couple, both UCLA grads a little ahead of me whom I’ve gotten to know. It was held at the bride’s boss’ house in Silverlake on the east side of L.A. Silverlake is a neighborhood that’s a bit on the grittier side, but hip – kind of like Wicker Park in Chicago (think mid-90s Wicker Park.) It was a lovely party at a fabulous house. The couple are very dear folks and it was wonderful to toast their recent marriage, which occurred in a small ceremony up in Northern California a few weeks back. That as family, this was friends. Anyways, the bride’s boss is a fairly successful writer-producer on the TV side. So, I shouldn’t have been too surprised by the house – though not necessarily ostentatious or anything, it was quite lovely. The thing being where this house was located and what I tend to forget about L.A. as a city.
You see, its easy to forget that Los Angeles the city is really Los Angeles, the odd grouping of enclaves, little communities, strange nooks and crannies that don’t seem to add up. Case in point, this party in Silverlake. I arrived and searched for parking. Quite honestly, the neighborhood streets around the house quite literally seemed a little ghetto. I was a little uncertain as to what lay ahead. I parked and walked up a steep, but really short hill to a cul de sac. Again, everything looking rather run down and unassuming. I could feel the not too distant freeway and the years of skid rowness hanging on the neighborhood. You see, despite the desired zip code of this area, there’s been no work done on its ambience. So, what you have is that post-industrial, detroit-like feel to all things concrete or green that the city is charge of. In other words, the place is a bit bombed out.
I arrive at the top of the hill, in the cul-de-sac. No more than four mailboxes or so ring around this dead end. I can hear the music through some tall shrubbery. There’s a few steps up to a white kind of doorway/wooden arch. That’s all the frontage there is – you can’t see anything else in regards to the property from the street. So, I head up the stairs, pass through the doorway and shazam! This is roughly what I see (pictures of course are not from the 4th, but rather an L.A. Times spread on the house):
Hello, beautiful home with your stately, manicured lawn and the perfect shade of blue with that white. Seriously, I had no clue you were hiding back here. There’s no sense of you out on the street in front and, well, quite honestly you seem quite a bit out of place compared to the other homes I passed walking up here!
But the real surprise, the “L.A. is all nooks and crannies, you never no what you’ll get until you walk around that corner” was this view:
Yes, I know! It looks entirely European. This, ladies and gentlemen, is smack dab in the city of L.A. That’s Silverlake resevoir, which when up close to, does not look all that appealing. This is closer to downtown than I live by forty minutes! Huh. This is from inside the house, obviously, and not the fourth. Well, imagine that hill that’s up by the main entrance to the house. Now imagine standing on the top of that hill, which is where the front walk is and this – but in a wider, much more panoramic, lit up way is the everyday view. After walking through the rest of the not so ready for primetime neighborhood, this is what you find.
I tell you. It made me instantly curious for whatever surprise lay around the next bend!
Took the day, blissfully, off. There will be more than enough to do in the weeks ahead. I know it’s been light posting, but, well, you know it’s been a rather unique week that’s taken me a little bit away from the day to day routines.
As promised, here are the photos that I have of graduation:
On the outside are Cynthia and JJ from the writing group and my friend Megan is next to me. Those two sweet looking blondes are two of the raunchiest comedy writers you will meet. That's including all the comedy writer's I came to know at Second City. Material that, while hilarious, would make a hardened sailor blush and gasp.
Taken by my Dad, who shows a hidden talent for frame composition most directors would kill for.
For the record!
Meanwhile, waiting for the call to line-up I was capturing the moment with my iphone:
JJ. again, and friend Jason Molloy on the left.
The Playwrights! There are only three per year, so they tend to hang with the Screenwriters or MFA Actors. Jacob Bursten-Stern on the left and Adam Simon on the right. Jacob is the playwright I'll be relocating to a more affordable living situation with, and Adam's from Chicago. So they're good guys.
Good Lord, what have I done now?!?!?!
JJ, on the left, and Jason, on the right, just chillin'.
JJ, Jason and Cynthia. Three/Fifths of the 431.
The 431 (a.k.a. the writing group.) From L to R: Me, Cynthia, JJ, Ed, and Jason.
My friend Meghan, looking thoughtful
Then back to the event, and my Dad’s photos. Which are, in my opinion, much better than mine. (Good Job, Dad!)
The approach. As the saying goes: "There is no turning back now." That's my writing partner behind me with his hands raised to his family, who were the best cheering section by far on the day, in terms of volume and dedication. Well done Latshaws!
Moments from donning the mantel "Master of Fine Art."
There we are, waiting to be called up.
Crossing to shake Dean Terri Schwartz's (Producer, Sister Act) hand after being called.
Descending the fabled stairs at Dickson Court, a newly conferred M.F.A.
Stunned, elated, and exhausted, searching for my seat. Wondering, already, if I should get my M.F.A. in Playwriting to deter the inevitable.
The Graduate with his Father and Mother. Not sure about that look on my face. Shock, possibly?
So much to gab about, so little time tonight to gab about it. So, without further ado, let’s hit it:
-I’m hesitant to say anything about the Cardinals at the moment. (Did you see tonight’s box score, Dad? Not bad. Not bad at all.) Let’s just simply say: YAY! And leave it at that.
- Mouth? Still sore. But, starting to settle in. Body? Still discombobulated. Though I think that’s more from the 48 hour write-a-thon I found myself in, before the final 434 on Thursday. BTW, that script is looking quite sharp. It was a rewrite of one of Jason’s – a spare, dark psychological thriller. Near my sweet spot, so to speak. He did a pass, after I wrapped up on Thursday and the script sparkles in my opinion. Truly sparkles. I want to see this movie. See what a director could do with it.
- The delightful Ms. Antone is in town for the weekend from Prescott, AZ. Always a major league treat! We hustled out to see a play at the Pasadena Playhouse. It’s called boom by Furious Theater Company. It was not the best thing we’ve seen. A little annoying. Tough to say if it was the direction, though, or just the play itself. Overall, I’d say the production was quite well done – acting and set design. But the story turned on a rather trivial and tired joke at the end, with far too much wackiness before that to really hinge on something so – plain. One notable to the evening is that this production featured Julia Duffy, mostly known for her work as a series regular on the funny and endearing sitcom, Newhart .
-Tonight, my niece, Ellen, had her high school graduation party. I wish I could’ve been there, or, more importantly, there on Sunday when she graduates. She’ll be off to Saint Mary’s of Notre Dame, in South Bend, next fall. Congrats, Ellen!
- I’m just glad Ellen made it home, safe and sound from her senior trip – a mission trip to Guatemala that some students do as their senior project. All the students do some sort of aid work as their senior project. This particular trip took place this past week. Which meant that they were trapped in Guatemala after the volcanic eruption and then tropical storm. You can read about it here.
-Always makes me a little melancholy when someone I love, who’s heart is still full of wonder and isn’t hardened to the roughness and inexplicably tragic in the world quite only to get a random glimpse of it before they should. I made choices that I’m not so proud of when I was quite young, lead an extremely reckless and self-destructive life when I was in high school, college, and my 20s. This life brought me out into that rough and inexplicably tragic world far sooner than I should’ve been. When I look back on some of those things, string them together in their proper context, and look at them again in clear eyes, I wouldn’t wish that for anyone’s teenage years. Not what I saw. Not what I did. Not what I learned – about myself, about others, and about the world.
-I have three days to rewrite the play. Should actually be a mellow experience. A nice victory lap on my MFA career.
-I’ve made the decision to search for a 2bd/2ba apartment with my buddy Jacob Bursten-Stern, a fine playwright, former HS basketball star, and good guy. I’ve known Jacob for the full three years of school. We both worked together, as well, at the UCLA Film Archive during our first year. We go to lunch every few weeks, talk shop, etc.. He’s also a very good friend of Tiffany’s, a playwrights who plays poker, has good taste in TV shows and – with Tiffany – kept me in it to win it with playwriting this year. We’ve been discussing this, after Tiffany suggested it, for a couple of weeks. Kind of amiably considering it. Bottom line came down for both of us, at different times, this week and the fact of the matter is that we can find a place in Culver City that’s big and will go for $1300 to $1500. Split that in two, plus split the bills and all of a sudden, I cut my monthly by a third, which is nothing to sneeze at. So, for July 1st as the target date. I hate to give up living alone. But, I’ll have plenty of time for that later. Need to stay in the hunt and this will help that – tremendously.
-Been a frustrating week on the business side of things. That’s all I’ll say for now. It is what it is. Suffice to say, this business is not a very above board, say what you mean style of business. Deciphering the different layers of “I said this, but really meant this.” Or, “I agree to this, but what I really wanted was this.” Is a major pain, most all the time. But, it’s also par for the course, unfortunately, and you just have to grin and bear it. Best advice? Keep writing.
- YAY REDBIRDS!
-Coach John Wooden, The Wizard Of Westwood, passed today. He was considered not only one of, if not the, greatest basketball coach/es. More than that, though, he was a teacher, a mentor, a molder of men. As Vin Scully said: “He is a genius in his ability to inspire There are a few giants who walk among us. He was truly one of them.” Coach Wooden’s spirit pervades all of Westwood. Not just in a basketball sense, but in an inspirational success. One of my favorite Wooden quotes:
“Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”
Below is an brief video from UCLA’s tribute page for Coach Wooden. In it he talks further about failure:
“In life there will be peaks and valleys. The strength of a person’s character depends on their ability to accept both success and failure. Gonna have both.”
That is a lesson former Sony Pictures Head and famed Producer, Peter Guber, who will speak at graduation on Friday, taught quite eloquently in his opening lecture for his class ‘Navigating A Narrative World.” I believe he mentioned that he had learned it from Coach Wooden, but I’m not sure. It is, I feel, the core lesson that UCLA teaches and a resounding truth to life that is all too often overlooked. In all things and in all lives there will be peaks and valleys, you must reconcile that in your heart, have faith and learn to grow from both.
At the end of the tribute, Coach Wooden intones a beautiful poem on letting go of the fear of dying.
Kind of a lost day, today, but I mean that in a good way. I told myself I was going to tackle some basic chores around the house – cleaning and laundry chief among them, some grocery shopping would’ve been good. But, I arose a little later than I thought I would and was slow out of the gate, got wrapped up in email correspondence and just, kind of, let the day go. These days happen. Usually after power sessions like the one earlier in the week. So, I’m not too concerned. All right, enough rambling about the non-state of my day, let’s get down to it!
-Went to see a fellow Bruin Scribe’s latest short film tonight – Lily, whom I have lunch or breakfast with every now again, commiserate with and tweet (on twitter for the non-tweeters reading) back and forth with a little. It was screening at The Bridges Theater on campus, along with a directing student’s thesis film, both Produced by Producing student Justin Begnaud, who is producing the serial killer script that Jason and I will draft over the summer. Lily’s film was awesome. I think I mentioned her other short won the audience award at the Milan International Film Festival recently. She’s a hard worker who goes out and makes it happen. She’ll be shooting a feature soon and i can’t wait to see it.
-Alan read the first 35 pages of the script we just handed in and loved them. Really, really loved them. I think he was a little blown away. That always feels good.
-What is up with the Cardinals? They won tonight, but not before starting pitcher, Brad Penny, after hitting a grand slam (yes, that’s right a grand slam) left the game in the fourth with a tweaked back muscle. Which Brad had admitted he tweaked a week ago, while pitching against Cincinnati. The teams been winning sporadically, the situational hitting has been atrocious, the pitching brilliant and the bullpen an adventure. But now, players are hiding injuries! (Mr. Penny was the second pitcher in the course of the past couple of days to go down with a more severe injury b/c he neglected to say anything the first time he was hurt. It boggles the mind! This is a multi-million dollar enterprise. You’d think they’d get a handle on something like this! Quite hiding injuries guys! This has been going on for years. Time to stop. It’s killing the team. Just killing it.
-A 13 year old boy become the youngest person ever to top Mt. Everest. I guess he climbed Kilimanjaro at 10! Man, talk about the best “what did you do last summer” essay when he hits school next fall. Seriously, though, if you can dream it, you can do it.
You. Just. Have. To. Try.
-Has anyone been watching Friday Night Lights, the television show (which is back on NBC now, from DirectTV) ? It’s on tonight actually and is in its fourth season. If you haven’t been – and I wouldn’t be surprised if you hadn’t – FNL is one of the most unsung shows in Television history – do yourself a big, big favor, listen to me, and go watch the first season on DVD. You will be hooked. Such a fantastic, heartfelt, stirring show, all about Texas small town High school football and the people of Dillon, Texas. It’s downright criminal that this show wasn’t a huge, smash success. It’s really struggled to find it’s audience, despite being possibly the greatest primetime soap ever. And easily tied for first or just barely a step behind The Wire as greatest television show ever.
-Facebook is about to log its 500 millionth active citizen, worldwide, in the next few weeks. Chew on that number for a minute – 500 millionth! The social media site has only been in existence for six years and was started in a Harvard dorm room (or stolen in one, depending on who you talk to about it.) If it were a country, it would be the world’s third largest – 2/3rd’s bigger than the U.S. That’s a lot of power (personal info on each user) that just a handful of people control. Staggering to think about, isn’t it? With all the privacy debates raging about Facebook, I wonder if they’ve grown too large for the U.S. government to sanctioned or demand changes from. I mean that in more of a philosophical way. Sure, you could pass laws and they’d have to be followed, but is the genie out of the box already?
-Real quick, on Facebook, THE SOCIAL NETWORK, a studio film about the founder of Facebook and the story behind its creation. Well, one of the stories. It’s a major Hollywood production – directed by David Fincher, screenplay by Aaron Sorkin and stars many young, up and coming or just breaking talent. Should be an interesting film. It was very hot screenplay a few months ago. They’ve been shooting some at UCLA.
-LOST ends, of course, this Sunday night with a huge, four hour event. I know of several parties with invitations out that are going on. It’s been awhile since I can recall a show ending that has generated this much attention and outpouring. Sure, this season, compared to last, has been a little off. Maybe it’ll play better, years down the road when all the hubbub and expectations have faded.
This weekend, my dear, dear friend Elissa, (from Chicago) was in town. She’s a big time, hard-working class action/worker’s rights lawyer back in the windy city and an old movie buddy of mine. It was a treat to see her. I’ve been thwarted, more times than I care to count, in attempts to return to Chicago to visit friends their. Either, I had the money, but couldn’t get away because of some deadline, or I didn’t have the money, but had all the time in the world (usually in the summer.) It’s been frustrating, to say the least. On just a personal level now that almost three years have passed, I’ve been dying to go back just to see the city again, visit the old neighborhood, and just be on its streets again for old time’s sake. I lived their so long that I would experience, if it’s possible, the thrill of visiting Chicago; which I remember so fondly from when I was little and would come with my parents, as well as in college in Milwaukee when we would jet down for various escapades. It was, and always will be, my first “big city” – the capital of the midwest – and carries all the thrill and electricity when visiting that it means to go to a big, cosmopolitan place where roads from all over converge. L.A. feels slightly different than that. First of all it’s big, so much bigger than any other huge capitaleseque city I’ve ever been in. There is nothing close or compact about it. Secondly, and more importantly, it’s incredibly de-centralized. Incredibly, almost maniacally so. Therefore, it feels more like a grab bag of towns, villages, and a few small almost-cities loosely arranged in one general spot everyone refers to as “Los Angeles.”
Regardless, I digress. With Elissa in town, I traveled over to Echo Park, where she is staying with another old friends of hers, Julia, whom I know also from Wicker Park in Chicago (the old ‘hood.) Julia’s been out here awhile – since 2002, or so. We had not crossed paths yet. Turns out Elissa is here because all her close girlfriends were getting together here to kind of have an informal reunion. Some had moved on from Chicago and it had been a long time since they had all been together in one place. In the midst of this, Julia had just moved and was throwing a kind of house warming party, which is where I caught with Elissa and the rest of the crew – most whom I know fairly well from Elissa. It was great to sit and chat and catch up. Elissa’s always been such a good friend. For a long time we went to the movies weekly – usually on a Tuesday night, or Wednesday. I mean over years. She was in law school by then. We had met through the bar business. She had been a Server when I first met her, then got out to go to law school. It was a wonderful ritual.
Echo Park, though, to give you an idea is way on the east side of L.A. Remember back in the 80′s when latino comedians like Paul Rodriguez and Cheech Marin would make jokes about ‘East L.A.?” (I think they even made a movie, right? Born in East L.A.?) That’s Echo Park. It was the barrio once upon a time. Now, it’s one of three neighborhoods in L.A. where there’s been some gentrification – not completely – but some and a ton of Hipsters flooded the area. Most all of L.A.’s music scene is actually centered in and around there – the bands all live there, the clubs where they start out are all there. It’s its own world almost, because it’s so east. So, heading over to see Elissa was an adventure – which in L.A. is always fun. Again, vast being the key word. In traffic, this neighborhood is over an hour away; but without traffic is more like a half hour. The terrain is a bit bit different – very hilly and the streets are quite twisty. It’s much grittier (in certain parts); but really just reminiscent of places in Chicago that were a lot rougher – like Humboldt Park in the late 90s, Wicker Park in the early 90′s, and Ukrainian Village in the mid-90s. So, in a lot of ways, it felt like I was traveling back to Chicago (and in time) by going to the party.
Julia’s apartment is in what must’ve been a mansion of some kind, or, possibly, a municipal building. It was this epic columned, old, stately two story, high up on this steep hill (we’re talking four flights of stairs just to get to the front door.) The building had been carved into 2 bedroom and 1 bedroom apartments some time ago. The interior was very vintage. Julia’s apartment had some detail that was period (maybe 50s, maybe 30s.) She was up on the second floor, with an amazing view. At the party their was a tarot card reader, so I got my cards read. One word that came up in my reading, unprompted, was “teacher.” The spiritualist felt strongly that being a teacher was a part of my future. (Also, Jason – as long as we are cautious in our negotiations – financial success, professionally, should be coming soon. Very soon.) The last element was that I would find love, as long as I wasn’t guarder – but rather open to it – in the next two weeks to two months. So, somebody remember that and we’ll check back in August, see how things turn out. I think my odds are good.
Tomorrow is hump day, of course, and I don’t know about anyone else; but I’m looking forward to getting through it. Seems like there’s been a ton of meetings, lots of development stuff on various projects, which while quite a bit of fun, is also pretty exhausting overall. Though, I can happily report, we are fast approaching a time when – at least for the better part of two months – it will just be writing time.
Lots of good, positive stuff happening on the feature side with Right Brain. We were in today for another story breaking section. A marathon four and a half hour session, on the magnetic whiteboard, 3X5 carding the plot/scenes of the screenplay (Chinatown in the Desert.) All four of us – Alan and his boss, Seth - who’s head of development there – Jason, and myself. I’ll say this – we’ve been firing on all cylinders and it’s been feeling excellent every step of the way. Today was a lot of fun. We’ve been through the plot of the story several times. I’d say we have three very different versions that we’ve worked through. But each time we’ve made it better and tighter and more exciting. I know that Seth and Alan are both very high on our work and our work ethic. Which should be a good thing for us going forward. We are at the outline stage, then we’ll have one more meeting in the first week of April. Once the outline checks out, we’ll go to pages and write the first draft. From there, if we do our job (and deep down I know we will, because we can deliver), we’ll hopefully be out to actors and directors early this summer. Which would be incredible. I don’t want to get ahead of the curve, there’s still a long road and a lot of work to do, but it’s nice to be working directly for the next stage; instead of the idea of the next stage. Does that make sense? Either Right Brain will make this or they won’t. It’s their decision. Which is refreshing and motivating. It just doesn’t always happen like that.
So, we’ll see what happens. Think happy thoughts and say some prayers. I can safely say we’ll take all the assistance we can get. Tomorrow we have a meeting with Tony on the John Doe feature. Our outline is in place and in excellent shape. We’re basically ready to go off and write that one. So, we should be underway on that one sooner than later. That one’s so close to reaching a cruising altitude. Can’t wait.
All right. I’m tired. After the long, but fruitful session, I went to play poker with the playwrights – which is always a blast – at Tiffany’s house. I came out ahead tonight, which was a first. It wasn’t looking good in the first half, but I bounced back. Always love poker night. Buy in is five bucks, so it’s not like we’re breaking the bank. And though we all act tough playing, if we didn’t have Adam’s gentle, but firm guiding hand, we’d probably slide into playing hearts or euchre or go fish or just gabbing away over the buffet of snacks we lay out on the table. Though tonight was special – Tiff made awesome chicken BBQ sandwiches for us. Gotta love it!
Car is fixed. Can I just say that I’m a big fan of AAA?
In Los Angeles you can’t hail a cab from the street – they don’t stop, and taking the bus – while possible – could take you all day just to navigate the simplest of routes. Not to mention require you to take three to four busses to get where you need to go. It’s a car city. Wait, make that a car county. Because that’s what L.A. is – a county. Not a city, per se. So, when your car breaks down – and it will at some point, happens to everyone – you better have someone to call. Some roadside service to help you out.
I gave a call at noon. AAA was out in twenty-five minutes. Checked the battery – it needed to be replaced. That’s the third new battery in five years with that car. Not to sure about that, but that’s a whole other matter I’m not gonna get into it. I had the Triple A guy change the battery – all told from the moment I called to the moment I was rolling out the driveway to run some errands it was forty-five minutes. Not bad. Works for me. At least it wasn’t the electrical or ignition. (Thank you, God.)
Been busy, buys, busy, despite it being technically exam week, and therefore – for the graduate screenwriters – first week of spring break. We had an excellent story meeting at Write Brain (of Nala Films.) They are over the moon about our work on Dead Man’s Hand (or Sacred Ground.) We’re trying to not get to ahead of ourselves, but I think we’ve really made some fans over there. That’s a good feeling – keeps you wormking hard when you get some genuine feedback.
After that meeting, I scurried over to a dinner party in Beverly Hills – so I missed Justified (and forgot to DVR it.) Here’s hoping it’s up on Hulu or FX’s sight, or better yet, my good friend – On Demand. The dinner party was lovely – a few producing program friends – both current 2nd year producing program soon to be grads and a recent alum and her directing alum fiance, both wonderful folks. We had a lovely dinner and, of course, talked about film and TV and UCLA for most of the night. The directing alum works for Sundance and the producing alum is an assistant/associate producer/good friend of the creator/showrunner of Pushing Daisies, among other shows. They’re all good folks and dear friends. All attendees are foodies at heart, so a good time was had by all.
Another story meeting tomorrow with a young director (for John Doe.) Should be a good one.
