Ruminations on the merits of domestic terrorism

I started back as a faculty secretary at the community college I work at yesterday. I came across a "strange" manilla envelope addressed to a faculty member that no longer taught there. Return address- the college. Contents- hard and crunchy. I called security to have them take a look.

The chain of events- threatening letter, targeting the faculty member's granddaughter. Evacuation of the building where I worked, police intervention and full investigation by a National Guard unit in cooperation with the FBI. Apparently, this was the third in several years of such letters. Washing of hands, laundering of clothes and shower when I got home. The contents?

Cat litter and cat shit. Someone has been angry for a long time. I have a feeling that this might be the last time- this letter went through the U.S. mail. Hell, even the anthrax guy got nailed (post-mortem, but still).

Similar scenario to the angry ex-military guy who lives across the street from me. He's vandalized our front garden twice now, thinking that we called the police on his family for possible late-night domestic violence (true the first time 2 years ago, not true the second 2 months ago). We can prove nothing, and the $2000 of damage done is only partially covered by insurance.

I mention these instances only because it's caused me to think about the lack of consequences propelling the unstable. It's nothing new, to be sure, but the very notion of causing damage to another person (physically, emotionally or otherwise) strikes me as something that would require a great will. Or unstable mind. Or both. They make it seem so easy. Better than taking responsibility for your own miserable life, I suppose.

I can't imagine the thought process of going through with sending repeated "karma's a bitch" letters with catshit in it, or being the neighborhood loud mouth, maybe knowing full well you're the shittiest parent in the metro. It might be entertaining to figure out said "thought-process" (if there's even thinking involved), but, yeah. That happened.

a new hope?

Huh. One teleplay contest didn't pass me on to their Quarterfinals. I'm not really pissed off about it or anything, but it was disappointing to wonder for a few weeks what it might be like to be a Quarter- or Semi-Finalist. Just need to remind myself that my writing does not hinge on a contest to make or break me.

It was nice on Friday, though, to get an email responding to my query from Alloy Entertainment (the company behind "Gossip Girl" and "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"). Not my cup of tea, but the company focus on young women and teens, along with acquiring properties of such books and media, makes me a little hopeful. One of their divisions, The Collective, requested the pilot of "MechaWest"- though it seems that this division has a focus more on taking stories and books, then converting these into television or film (and other related media). So, I guess that's nice. My premise must have been interesting enough to whet their whistle, or they just need to do their due diligence and look at anything that might sell. Either way, mission accomplished. The last 6 months of intermittent solicitation and education have culminated into something tangible. I added a BLUE color code category on my MechaWest Submission Spreadsheet. WHITE= no response yet, YELLOW= not sure about this one, RED= no unsolicited/ not interested, GREEN= Synopsis/Query sent. BLUE= pilot sent for consideration! Ding, ding, ding!

I'm proud of my pilot, and have worked really hard on it. I'm glad someone that has some power (and hopefully desire) to manifest a possible production this piece can really do so. The likelihood is slim, but we creative types always cling to that which seems impossible. If we gave up on the "impossible", nothing would ever get done.

Put that in your pipe-dream and smoke it!

It's amazing what an unsolicited submission through a Canadian animation production company can do for your demeanor.

I'm surprised that I ran across several of these in my research- companies willing to look at one's unsolicited untried synopsis just through an email submission.  Having it be through email must cut down on tears and rants over the phonelines, to be sure.

Otherwise my recent inquiries have gone unanswered.  I'm sure a few will be a matter of time, but I will have to brace myself and actually get on the phone to them.  Yes, Canada too.

But, the hunt has become a fun thing to do.  And the small glimmer of hope that a call or a quick view of my synopsis will trigger a "ting!" in someone's head to inspire them to request my pilot fills me with a creative energy making me want to keep going.

The second wind at Mile 11.  Except I don't know how long this marathon is.

Bored to tears

Maybe it's the Charlie Parker jazz coming through my speakers, but I am finding it hard to get moving today. Trouble is there's not much to move towards, work-wise in any case. The clock slowly ticks until I can go home, and Facebook, email and tepid research just isn't cutting it today.


I was politely rejected by a production company yesterday, which is all right. But I am daunted by what it's going to take to get my work out there and sell it.

I'm entering a few contest soon and submitting a spec script to Nickelodeon for their Writing Program, but I have to get real and produce more work instead of hinging my pipe-dreams onto these few and far between "clothespins of hopeful happiness". Just saying. I know I need to continue to work and work and work at it.

Mantra: "It's never too late".

-or-

"What do they know?"

Why I am not a Salesman...

I had dinner with an old friend the other night. He asked me what I was working on lately and I told him about "MechaWest".


If there was a more incompetent show pitch, then I don't know about it. He listened well enough, but, man, I felt like I was all over the place talking about my story. It was silly, and it reminded me that if and when I ever get the opportunity to pitch my pilot, I better be a world more lucid than I was at dinner.

At least I was enthusiastic.

My dad was, and still is, a salesman of electrical supplies for about 40 years. And a homebody; not a big storyteller. He believes in his products though, and he wouldn't sell anything otherwise.

I need to take a lesson here, and practice, practice, practice. And actually script it out (I used to be an actor afterall). Better yet, my brewery tour guide experience might serve me better; you know, follow the outline and speak to your tour group, taking them on the journey of a lifetime.

And play them with beer samples afterwards. That couldn't hurt, either.

Three Week Break!

Today marks the start of my three weeks away from work! I'll rest up, finish Christmas shopping (very little to do, as my family and I always go for the small gift exchange), and generally lounge around the house.


I was thinking that creativity would be a hallmark of my time off, but the threat of MAME ROMs discovered last night looked me square in the eye and kept me occupied until 2:00 am -for you young folks, that's pretty late for me MAME is a game system that can take .zip files of the codes for classic video games and put them on your personal computer. I've had PacMan, Donkey Kong, etc. for a long while now, but only did a search for ones that didn't work before last night. Cyberball, Tron, Disks of Tron and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom will keep me occupied while the cats nap nearby on these cold winter days.

I'll endeavor to be creative, and finances will dictate if I can have my MechaWest pilot professionally read this month or next, but I feel good about where it's at. I may jump into another episode and outline the one that introduces Maggie.

If you happen to read this, and I'm not sure if anyone will in any case, but have a very happy holiday season, enjoy your time off from school, work, etc. and relish in family friends and other loved ones. I plan to do just that!

The Insomnia Caper

Woke up at two-thirty in the A.M. with "monkey mind" (you know, all the horrible thoughts that prevent you from going back to sleep. If you make it past 3:48 am, then you're golden, apparently). I went to bed early enough last night due to a headache and now I am fairly functional for my day job.


The blessing is that I finished a new scene for my "MechaWest" pilot in the wee hours this morning. I'm several drafts into this, and wasn't happy with the overall layout or getting to the gist of the adventure at hand. These several scenes help cut to the chase; my only fear is that they may be a bit too long. I'll let it marinate today and move on like I should.

Speaking of which, I am a writer. My only works displayed thus far on DA have been character commissions for the most part. I'm more than a little reluctant to post my drafts of MechaWest, being unfinished and all. I'd really like to find something worthy of display that I can truly call my own. Something in writing. Something.

Already getting ideas, but I have to make my lunch for today. Later!