Posts Tagged ‘Corona Del Mar’

Wrapped up my stay with Stagger Lee in Corona Del Mar tonight and made my way north, back to C-City and the grind. Round two with the meetings starts tomorrow. Currently we have three on the books for this week. I’ll cover them as we go. Going to be speaking with the Feature Agents tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll get the fire going as well, soon.

Sad to say good-bye to Stagger. He’s my dear, dear four-legged pal. Always sleeps right by the door to the room I stay in, so he knows when I go to bed at night. Usually he’s there when I wake up, if I’m late getting going in the morning.

Had a fabulous dinner with Polly, Will, and J.P. before heading back. It was the perfect cap to my stay. We had a grand time at Gulfstream catching up. It’s always so wonderful to see them. Before, J.P. and I had an in-depth conversation about the first grade, how much he likes to not go to school, and how he tries to fool his mother into thinking he’s sick. We covered all the bases. (I refrained from getting into the “Doc” story.) He was not too thrilled with the prospect of homework every night. And at dinner, Will and I talked movies a bit. Mainly Harry Potter, but we also dipped into Toy Story 3 (which he hadn’t seen yet, but I recommended highly) and Despicable Me which got a thumbs down, despite the Henchmen. Will is quite the young man these days, too! The only bummer was that Joe and Matt weren’t back yet. I always love my time with Polly, but when the rest of the clan is added to the mix, it’s a special treat.

After dinner, I made my way up U.S. 1, the PCH, through the coastal towns – all quiet on a Monday night for the most part. The last few shades of dusk heavy in the sky against a thin band of faraway autumnal burnt orange on my left, streaking what was left of the Pacific’s horizon, lingering out past the endless beaches and white-tipped waves rolling over the deep blue. The last few beats of sunset fading in the cool night air. Window down all the way rolling up the coastline, alone with my thoughts, all the way back to L.A.

I was going to do a post on the impending Blockbuster bankruptcy, the dominance of Netflix, and a nostalgic look back at the days of VHS tapes, the local video store, and spending hours browsing through tapes, trying to decide what to watch/or racing there, hoping desperately what you wanted to watch was still available. But that all changed when I decided to do a more CDM centered post and review:

HOT TUBS!!!!

How could you NOT love one of these?!?!

Yes, hot tubs. Or, as they’re known when they’re in ground and part of the pool/backyard design – pool spas. I actually like the sound of that better – “pool spa.”

What prompted this switch from the topical to the indulgent?! Well, I have to be honest – I’m about to climb in one and I won’t lie to you, it is one of my most favorite things. Why? There is just something inherently relaxing, therapeutic and decidedly end-of-the-day signifying for me when I climb in one.

I wish there was a bit more to it than that, but honestly it comes down to simply that end-of-the-dayness for me. Here at Casa De Uebe it’s often quite tranquil, of course, being more of a town, rather than a big sprawling city. But also the sky is clear, away from the heavy smog, and when the moon is out, it’s bright and wonderful to gaze up at it as one of the jets works over my aching shoulders after a hard day grinding pages. (Okay, there aren’t many hard days for me when I come down to the Mar. I promise, though, the memory of them haunt me when I’m down here and the pool spa is just the right remedy to chase them away.)

If you’re near one in the not-too-distant-future, I’m telling you: ultimately, it’s therapeutic. That means it’s good for you. Climb right in, without hesitation. And let the tension melt away.

Looks like it’s time for me to climb in…..

Might be a little brief tonight. But, straight from wonderful Corona Del Mar, here’s a collections of things from this week, the daily grind, and the thoughts rattling through my head.

-There’s an etiquette rule, long standing, in Hollywood for meetings. When you’re the Exec/Producer/Rep hosting, you always offer something to drink (the Assistant does) – water, coffee, or soda are usually the choices. Though Soda and Coffee are hit or miss – water is a given. I know we’ve talked about this before. You ALWAYS say yes to the water, as a creative and the guest. It’s polite and endears you to the host, or something to that effect. (This is not the only such little quiet etiquette/social interaction dance ritual that has to happen, but it’s the primary one.) Anyways, that’s a rather overly long set-up to something I noticed this week – the disappearance of the bottle of water. Which was a Hollywood staple of the meeting. Now you get the glass of filtered, cold water in a pint glass – no plastic. This is a big shift (to be so pervasive already.) For example, double-sided printing – to save money and the environment – has not quite caught on yet.

- They have bonfires on the beaches at night in Newport Beach. That’s the public beaches, BTW. I don’t quite know how it all comes about  (do people rent the fire pits?!) But, their they are, one after the other for several miles. So much so that as you zoom down the PCH with the ocean on one side and the town on the other – you can smell the wood burning intermingled with the ocean air. It is one of my most favorite things in the world to experience.

-Apparently the Cardinals don’t want to go to the playoffs this year. Instead they’d rather stumble about and lose to teams they should grind into dust. I’m not frustrated about it or anything. Really. I swear I’m not.

-Anyone watching HBO’s Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets? I saw the time they did the Ravens, a few years back. Jets head coach Rex Ryan is a pretty colorful character and really worth the price of admission. I’m sure you’ve seen some news articles about his controversial “mouth” in most of the episodes. While he definitely goes for the “R” rating (but not on purpose) it’s usually comedic and worth it.

-Still no word on those last two meetings. Which is disappointing to say the least, but not entirely unexpected. Hopefully Monday we’ll hear something.

-The car is officially sidelined until further notice. The brakes are in rough shape – metal grinding on metal, plus their seems to be something amiss upfront between the regular brakes and the parking brake. So, I had to rent a car from Enterprise (Hotwire had a great deal actually.) Unfortunately, I won’t be able to take it to my Mechanic (Who’s seriously one of the best in all of L.A. and completely honest. I lucked out finding him through a classmate.) Thankfully, I now live about five blocks from his garage. Still a bummer though. Los Angeles is a place where it’s almost impossible (not entirely, but ninety-nine percent impossible) to go without a car, so when the wheels go you need to do something about it – whether you want to or no.

-Been looking for flexible jobs – freelance gigs, night jobs, anything that would leave my days open for these meetings. Not much has surfaced yet. I’ve put in an application when it has, but that’s been about it so far. Not much out there right now. Wish it were a little more straightforward (getting some paying work.)

We’ll I think that does it for me. I’m kind of toast and ready for bed. Be good out there!

-

Call it the Corona Del Mar effect. I say I’m gonna do something on the blog, but there’s an unplanned  twenty-four hour delay. It’s the relaxing atmosphere Stags and I cultivate when we’re together. That and the sweet ocean breezes. That helps, too.

Here we go. Tomorrow we have our first pitch. Jason and I are a bit jittery – but that’s more over getting in there so we can do what we do and get a feel for the rhythm of the real game. Tomorrow’s is at Warner Bros. Studios with the producer of Grand Torino, among others. The meeting was bumped up to Ten A.M. so that the man with his name on the door could join the pitch. That’s a good thing. Any time the steps between you and the actual decision makers are cut down, so much the better. This would be our agents or manager probably at work. I’m would bet my bottom dollar there’s some kind of connection. I know we share the same law firm, so that’s something. Anyways, instead of pitching to a CE (Creative Exec,) who then in turn pitches your idea to her Boss, who’s either the head of her department or company (in this case its company,) we get to leap frog to him directly now. The reason why this is better is that he might have a discretionary fund for development from the studio as part of his deal to park his company exclusively on their turf and provide for their pipeline. Which means, if he did (it’s not a given, but it’s a possibility), that the head of the company could lock up the idea with a paid option or outright purchase, before taking it to the studio. That sort of thing. Regardless, it’s one piece in the telephone game of pitching, which means less relying on someone else to regurgitate your idea in just the right way. Got it? Good. Here we go:

-THE WIRE, people. Watch it. All of it. Man, I should’ve listened to my brother years ago. THIS. IS. THE. GREATEST. SHOW. EVER! It’s almost too much to handle. Deadwood’s a close second, tied with Six Feet Under. But, NONE, of them touch The Wire. NONE! I’m on season three. It’s blowing my mind how rich, detailed, and authentic this whole story and characters are – not to mention how they slowly and perfectly grow the world of the story from season to season. Of course, when it’s Denis Lehane, Richard Price, and George Pelicanos on your writing staff, you’re doing good as far as crime writing goes.

- My second niece is off to college. Which, honestly, makes me feel kind of old. Sounds like she’s doing quite well from what I can tell on facebook. Her sister is a Junior and their younger sister, my goddaughter, just turned 16. They are all getting too old too fast. It’s not fair.

-We booked another pitch for next week today, which was great. It’s with a non-writing Co-Exec Producer on Breaking Bad. That’s pretty good.

-We’ve got five pitches total right now. Which, I think, is just the first set. Or, I would guess it is. What do we know? We’ve never actually done this before.

-The thing I’ve been dwelling on, savoring even, all day is this: In the past, if I scratched something together, it was usually to get one person possibly interested. One person who, as a long shot, MIGHT be able to make something happen. In other words, the very few times I got into this situation, it was a do or die situation. That one person or nothing. Tomorrow, walking into the first pitch their will be four more right behind it. None of it is do or die in the moment. We will get better as we go through the first run of pitches. We may be great tomorrow, but we’ll then become unbelievable. It’s strange, but this feels, despite all the rest of advancements this summer, and even before, like the biggest career advancement yet. This is exactly what we wanted when we were struggling with the deal that ultimately didn’t go through. This is really all you can ask for as a writer in this town – the chance to take your ideas to the market and  to write. We’re doing that. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

-Ten years ago was the most pivotal time of my life as I struggled through the biggest change in my life ever. A change that is still having an incredibly profound effect on my life every single day. I’m beyond fortunate to be here, in this city, just enjoying the sunshine and my friends, let alone to be in the midst of my greatest dream – living that, too. I don’t quite know what to say actually. There were many nights – long, hard ones – where I thought this was just not a possibility EVER. Not in my life. To be here. Well, I feel like I died and went to heaven. Thanks to all the angels that have carried, and continue to carry me here.

- Cardinals looks like they found their bats. A little help from the SF Giants and we might just climb back into the division race. One way or the other, it’s shaping up to be one helluva stretch run!

Okay. I’m gonna catch another episode of The Wire. Then I gotta catch some zzzzz’s. Big day tomorrow!

I’ll get the Saturday Review and Randoms up tomorrow – a little late this week. I’m done in Corona Del Mar (and none too soon!) with my old pal, Stagger Lee. I just have to say I love that dog more than words can say. He seems to be in fine shape and was quite excited to see me when I arrived. I know I was. Seriously, I hope to have such a steadfast canine companion one day.  I’ve got a special place in my heart for Stags, that’s for sure.

Thought I would interrupt our regularly scheduled program to share a bit of an update. Sure enough, after Jason and I became a bit concerned that we had entered some kind of weird stand still and didn’t know if we had done something or not to get us there; things suddenly perked up on Friday. In fact, they got down right crazy for a bit. Essentially we have four pitch sessions scheduled for next week. One on each day, starting Tuesday and going until Friday. All at wildly divergent times and all over L.A. – The Warners Lot, Beverly Hills, Culver City, and Santa Monica. All with legit television production companies – the company that did The Sopranos and does Curb Your Enthusiasm, for instance.

So this is it – we’re stepping up to the plate and going live. It’s no longer about trying to get into a position to sell something and getting paid to write. We are finally in that position and will head out to see what happens. It’s truly just a first step in what will be a long road, but it’s exciting to think the impetus for the meetings and work has shifted. It’s no longer the audition, now it’s time to put on the show!

Which makes me pretty sad.

Not so much b/c of all the lovely amenities which come with my visits to Corona Del Mar, but more so because I do love Stags so much. We’ve become quite good buddies and I think he knows I’m going. He’ll come and visit me when I’m writing, just to say hello and get some affection and he’s been visiting me more than usual today.

And for the quiet. The lovely, deep and thrilling quiet that exists here. With that comes a such an easier pace to the day which allows me to get more done, be more focused – which can be a struggle at times. I guess maybe that’s it. I’m good, out of necessity, at winning that struggle on a daily basis so I can get my work done. But, it takes a ton of effort in a place like L.A., which leaves me fairly exhausted most days of the week. Here, it seems like the days unfold more the way they should and I’m not doing as much wrestling with myself.

Ah well, work and life, for now, is back in L.A. Someday it might be just outside of L.A. in a place like Corona Del mar. Hopefully! That being said, I am due back. It is time. Work is piling up. Phone calls are happening. People want to talk. Time, essentially, to put the house in order for the next stage. Plus, there’s life stuff to handle as much as I dislike it. There’s a new apartment to find and a job, more than likely, in my near future. Plus, organizing my loans and setting that all in motion.

I will say this. For about the past year now, but in the past four or five months in particular, its been an extremely fruitful period of work. A level I haven’t personally touched quite before. I feel like its been a true maturation as a writer – lots of hard work and sweat put in that’s starting to peek through in the pages and ideas and problem-solving. I always follow how I see things – the pages, the outlines, the drafts, the ideas – and I feel like I’m seeing them very well right now. Getting faster at identifying solutions and building on ideas.

In Major League Baseball, hitters talk about how well they’re “seeing the ball,”  that and their timing. When you’re tasked with hitting a ball that’s the size of an apple thrown at an average of 90 mph from  a distance of sixty feet and change with late movement; you have to be able to time your swing. Which means you have to react to the ball leaving the pitcher’s hand. You’ve got to see it and read it from jump. If you hang back and wait, you’re more than likely toast. The whole interchange happens in seconds, so it’s all about knowing and acting immediately.

Which is kind of, in a long-winded, tangent of a metaphor what I’m talking about during this furtile period. I feel, as Albert Pujols would say: “I’m seeing the ball real well.”

I am down the coast @ what has become one of my most favorite things to do, especially after a stressful run in school, which is to watch my dear cousin Polly’s dog, Stagger Lee, at her home in the always gorgeous, quiet beach town of Corona Del Mar. It is always a retreat for me from the grind of Los Angeles and the constant stress of the trying to build a career in Hollywood, not to mention navigating grad school at UCLA.

Stags and I get along like a house on fire. He likes to sleep during the day – sometimes getting a little grumpy if I bother him in his bed in the living room, basking in the early sun. But, come five o’clock, or so, when it’s dinner time, the old boy comes ambling into the kitchen – ready to eat and get some well deserved affection. I usually split my time during the day between the outside dining table – a big rustic hunk of wood that always calls out form some writing time, or at the kitchen table, which is wide and square, near the screened door, so that late in the day there’s a breeze, but some light.

The house itself is beautiful and serene and quiet. I am able to envelope myself into the kind of monkish solitude that I so cherish these days, alone with my books and the company of one of the best dogs in the world. I write a bit, I sleep, I watch some movies. There’s a spa/hot tub that always melts away the tension from too much work in the city. I slipped in tonight at twilight and could’ve slept right in its warm cocoon.  There’s also a spacious, professional grade kitchen to cook in. Really a dream kitchen, more so for how smart the layout is. Everything in close reach. Once you get the feel of it, you realize how much care and time went into the space finding its contours and rhythm.

Of course there’s other soul stirring benefits. Such as seeing the Pacific when I go out to collect the mail and, occasionally, climbing the stairs to an upper balcony where I can take in the sunset with a breathtaking view of the Ocean, Newport Beach Harbor, and all of Corona Del Mar. The house sits near the top of  a hill on a quite little residential street surrounded by other homes. To the back, is a view of the Hills. It’s all together a marvel, too, because it’s a normal residential street. The houses, in true California style, are bunched fairly close together. But somehow, Polly and Joe (her husband)’s house feels like it’s on an island, it’s own oasis, untouched.

So, that’s where I am. If you try to call and I don’t answer, well, I’m either snoozing with Stags, reading, watching a movie, a sunset, or in the hot tub. Maybe even writing a bit. I will say this – when I’m here I wish I could always be here. I wish this were my life. The only thing I’d want to add is maybe a detached writing studio with a view of the ocean or turn that upper balcony (I guess it’s more of a lanai) into one.

Thanks to Polly, Joe, Will, Matt, and J.P. – but most of all Stagger Lee – for having me and keeping me in my right mind!

Of course it’s common sense, but repeating it never hurts – Mom, thanks for putting up with me. From those first nine months until now, I’m sure you could’ve never imagined that it would go quite like it has, which has been an adventure to say the least! I wouldn’t be here without you, in so many ways, so thank you for me. I hope you know just how much I love you. I can’t wait to show you L.A. when you come for graduation.

I also think it merits a mention – thank you to my two sisters, Caroline and Claire, who are fantastic moms themselves and probably got more practice than they anticipated when I showed up on April 1oth, 1971. (Yes, I know. It opening day and everyone was headed to Busch Stadium. Until I interrupted it all.)

Then there is Grandma Pedrolie, a.k.a Nanna, who is no longer with us sadly, who was my greatest pen pal ever. Especially in San Francisco, when I was truly on my own for the first time in my life. I still carry those letter with me and can hear her voice every time I read them. I always cherished our correspondence, so very much. And of course, my mother’s mother, Mimi, who also had a profound hand in shaping who I am. Some of the best parts of me come from that woman, who I think is a saint. I wish I could still head to “summer camp” for a couple of weeks, play rummy tile, see a show at the Muny, and go to the swimming hole.

Then lastly to my wonderful Aunt Ginger, who besides being the best Aunt in the world, has also been like my west coast Mom and dear, dear friend, since I’ve been hear in school, going through so many changes and striving to reach such a difficult dream. I’ve been beyond fortunate to be able to escape to Scottsdale so I can spend time recuperating and relaxing with Aunt Ginger and Big Daddy. Of course, I couldn’t close without mentioning my cousins, Aunt Ginger’s daughters, Paige, Polly, and Megan – all married now with their own families, all wonderful Moms as well, who have watched over me in San Francisco and now here in L.A., cheering me on, and making sure, even in Chicago when Polly was there, that I didn’t completely lose my way.

You see, that’s one of the wonderful things about being the youngest. Especially when it’s by so many years. Your whole family watches you grow up. It can be a little overwhelming when your in the thick of it, but when your an adult you finally gain some perspective and you can gaze back over the years and see how they’ve all had a hand in raising you, supporting you, and loving you into who you are today. That’s an incredible gift. Not everyone gets that kind of treatment. It just so happens, in our family, there are a lot more women than men. So, the list is deep for “mothers” that I’d like to say HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to and let them know I love them for all they’ve given me.

God Bless….

Just got done getting caught up on grading my students papers for the last couple of weeks. I’ve been very good to this class. A little too laid back, actually. There’s only two weeks left with them, which means it’s far too late to correct course. Teaching a college class is not very easy, I’ll say that. Or rather, it’s not very easy when you are trying to do other things – like build a sustainable career. Often what it feels like, to me, is a contradictory shift in focus, between my work and there’s. I mean contradictory in the sense that it’s all or nothing either way, there’s just no balance between the two spheres of concentration, or very little balance that’s actually effective. Certainly this is compounded by the ten week quarter. I don’t know who thought up that breakdown to the academic year, or why they believed it would be a good time frame for learning to occur in. Without a doubt, it complicates everything. Alas…it’s the hand we’ve been dealt here at UCLA and you just need to roll with it. that doesn’t mean you get used to it, necessarily, instead I think you just learn to ignore the speed at which everything is happening. By the time you get settled into anything approaching a rhythm, the quarter’s over. For instance one of my biggest jobs these last two weeks will be to prevent those students of mine who haven’t been paying close enough attention to the calendar from freaking out when they wrap their heads around writing seven to ten pages of a screenplay in the next twelve days or so. This being something they’ve never done before, have little concept of, and couldn’t be farther from their skill set (most of them.) This quarter, I do have more than usual (four out of twenty-six) who seem to be seriously interested in screenwriting, which always brings a little vibrancy into the class. In the end it’s all about having fun, which is why I’m so laid back about it.

I wanted to get up a picture post, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. For now, I leave you with one I took:

Corona Del Mar, Sunset, December 31st, 2009