The Good ish...

Karmaloop is a great site for "urban" gear.
Lots of great stuff.
Know about it.

Site Update

Yo.
Little things have happened at the site.
Big things will happen in the future.

Books updated

If you look to your left and scroll down a lil' you'll see I updated my reading list.
I'm reading a lot of short stories. (I'll post my favorites soon.)
A few plays.
Oh, and The Movie Magic Screenwriter manual.

[Click each title for details.]

Blackberry Curve

Okay, so, I can't get the iphone.
Here I come Curve.

[click the pic for more info]

Awww, NYC

I miss reading on the subway.
I have to read LOTs of stuff these days.
It'd be nice to plop down on the B train and read from 145th street to 7th ave.

Playwright nabs genius grant

Playwright Lynn Nottage received the MacArthur Genius Grant.
She's a wonderful writer and generous spirit.

Congrats!

The Fiction

I'm taking three writing classes: playwriting, screenwriting, and short story. Lots of reading and writing, but I want to figure out the similarities and differences among these genres, and it's extremely helpful to have these three elements side-by-side-by-side in this setting. The classroom functions as a place where I'm encouraged to explore and (I hope) get better with each assignment/challenge. It seems more doable when you're surrounded by people who want you to push, play, explore, and try. To learn.

I'm trying my hand at fiction writing for the first time ever.

I've been reading a series of short stories the past two days, and, I think, something's starting to click...maybe.

I majored in English as an undergraduate, which means I read and analyzed literature--lots of it. I hunted down metaphors, constructed thesis topics to write papers. I read stories to discuss the work.

As an aspiring playwright I watched and read plays to study technique, plot structure, etc. I read / watched plays to apply various techniques to my writing. I consumed to imitate, to develop, to hone.

So, now, as I read these short stories, I can feel my thinking shift from the English major to the playwright--if that makes any sense. I'm reading fiction to imitate, to develop, to hone, and that is blowing my mind. No joke.

I'm excited about this, and I wish I could clearly articulate what's happening, but it's all too new, too vivid, too close. I'm a thinker. In enneagram land I'm a 5. I need to churn, turn and push this information around before I can post.

Whew.
Lots to think about, yo.

A quick thought about aging

There's a nytimes feature about SNL cast member Bill Hader. It touts his roles in two successful movies this summer: Superbad and...okay I can't gather what the second one is (I'm tired. Can only commit to skimming this article right now.)

BUT

The reason for this post about this random dude who I'm not particularly interested in or entertained by:

I'm scanning the article and read that he's 29 years-old, and I'm thinking, "huh? oh, man. I'm getting older." And this thought stems from the mere fact that people have stopped referring to stars in my age group as "young" or "prodigy" or "neophyte." Do you remember when we were neophytes? Well, no longer my friend. This 29 year-old dude is just another ol' fart doggy paddling in the Hollywood pond.

Oy.

Ick

I'm sitting in a cafe working on a few projects.
I've been here for a few hours typing away.
People have come and gone, eating lunch and sipping coffee.
Can I just say I'm SHOCKED by the number of seemingly decent women who eat with their mouths open and SMACK their jaws like sticky vaginas.

This is really bothering me.

Who raised these people????
Trifilin'....

Friday, baby!

It's really early as you can see from the time stamp of this entry. I'll let you assume I'm doing something productive.

Doing the damn thang

I’m taking three writing classes this semester: playwriting workshop, screenwriting, and short story. Now you (and even myself on occasion) might say, “holy crap that’s a lot of writing!” But I’m not so worried. I think it’ll be okay. If anything, the coming weeks will be a great way to test how many balls I can (successfully) juggle.

Right here. Right now. I’m incredibly inspired and committed to the process. It’s really cool to see the similarities and the differences between these genres. And I think writing a screenplay will influence my plays; and my playwriting will influence my fiction; and so on, and so on. It will prove to be a lovely dance.

Iphone me!

Apple recently announced a price drop for the iphone. Suddenly a gadget that was out of my price range has suddenly appeared on my front yard, smiling and waving at me. It's 300 bucks (down from 600). The $80 plan isn't so bad. And it's a pretty phone. It was a greedy, triflin', gold digger when it was 600 bucks, but now it's a hot piece of action.

So.

Well, I'm a student now.

So.

I won't shouldn't can't make that kind of purchase.

So.

I'm gonna stop thinking about that phone right......now.

Because sometimes singing with Judy makes me feel better

OMG, and totally love Rufus Wainwright's version!

I Love to Sing-a

One of my favorite cartoons:

ipod touch

Apple has introduced yet another gadget I can't afford: Ipod Touch. It's a fine piece of technology.

[click the pic for more info]

Ummm, hipsters suck

Ha!

Zahara Jolie-Pitt and papa

My friend sent me pics of Brad Pitt running around Central Park with his daughter Zahara Jolie-Pitt.



It's weird/not-ha-ha-funny that almost every picture of Zahara captures her looking into the camera. She's not engaged with her parents or siblings. She's always looking directly at me with an expression that reads: "who are you and why are you pointing that thing at me??"

She's a cutey though....

[Click the pic for more]