Done

Obviously I’m finding it extremely hard to write both my blog and screenplays at the same time. Maybe I don’t have enough creativity to stretch that far. Here’s what I’ve been up to in the past months:

 Elevation:7000 had a moment of triumph when it was selected as a Quarterfinalist for the Nicholls Fellowship. It didn’t make it any further, but my contact information was circulated through members of  “the industry” and I’ve had letters of interest from both Game 7 films and Energy Entertainment. I’ve sent my script to both of them. No word back.  C’est la vie!

Stoner Chicks was submitted to Bluecat Screenplay Competition and was subsequently ripped to shreds. I’m working on a rewrite, and trying to find a better focus for the stoner storyline. I’ve started a writer’s group amongst friends in an attempt to get clarity and some audience perspective.  We read some scenes out loud and it was good to hear a few laughs 🙂

I want to get back to finishing my Single Parent Movie review list, but  I seriously feel that being so involved with screenwriting has damaged my descriptive ability. There’s such a stigma against long-winded writing in screenplays that I’ve gutted a lot of the “pretty” out of my paragraphs. Directors/Agents/Producers aren’t reading your script for enjoyment of the English language, they want you to get to the POINT. In 3 sentences or less, what do you want your audience to see, feel and understand about your story? NOW GO. 😉

This type of writing is exhausting, especially when I’ve had to censor myself so harshly. I’m a Pisces! We LOVE pretty! We ADORE flowery! It makes this ugly, terrible world go round!  Spewing bullsh** is our forte. But getting the same criticism over and over was hurting my little fishy soul. I had to change. I had to work harder. I had to get some type of professional approval.  So I did, and I did. I may be a better screenwriter now, but I think I’m a crappier blogger. I don’t know how to feel about that.

Speaking of ugly, I’m having a hard time dealing with the world right now. I’m just DONE with it.

I’m thinking of cancelling my cable, which I had originally started upon the anticipation of basketball season. Since the NBA is cohort of greedy bastards, I doubt there will be a season this year. And I’m sick of it. When it becomes only about money, I’m done. I’m done watching the idiots on Jersey Shore get paid to embarrass my country overseas. I’m done watching a bunch of single women get publicly humiliated on Tough Love and Why am I Still Single? I’m done watching the increasingly awful stories on Intervention. I’m done with watching people crying over “not losing enough weight” on The Biggest Loser.  Up until last night, the only show I’ve really been enjoying is House Hunters.  I guess I’m at the stage of my life where I wonder what it would be like to own a place. I liked seeing all the different locations and options, but last night it was too much.

I watched back-to-back episodes:

Episode #1: a single, middle-aged Black woman whose budget was $150,000 (similar to what I would have if I could buy a house).  All they could show her were apartments and townhouses; No cute cottages, no big yards, no white picket fences. She tried to haggle with the buyers, but none of them would give in. She finally settled on a shoddy, 850-square-foot townhouse, built in 1975. I could feel her disappointment as she signed the papers.

Episode #2: Two 20-something White girls, living in their Grandma’s attic, decide to buy a place with a budget of $400,000. I know there’s 2 of them but that’s MORE than double what the first lady had to spend. They chirped and twittered around the gorgeous properties the realtor showed them, fretting over ugly cabinets and not enough closet space. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to turn it off.

Between all of the above, and the fact my kid won’t watch anything except Nausicaä  at the moment, I think I’m done with cable.

DONE.