The Fourth Kind

I just finished watching the trailer for an upcoming movie called "The Fourth Kind" and I swear it scared the living hell right out of me!! 

Never has a simple trailer left me so rattled before. I think it was the use of fast editing and shaky focus that made the (so called) archival footage a hundred times more intense. 

Early reviews of the pre-screener version say that the movie is more creepy/weird than scary, so I'd still like to give it a chance and see it when it comes out, because the topic interests me...

But seriously... holy shite, man...

I was *this close* from covering my eyes before the trailer was over.   Of course, that's just me. 

They Liked It! They Really Liked It!

Whoo-Hoo! 

We just wrapped up our conference call with our producers, and they luuuuuurved the new outline! Thank gawd! We're thrilled to pieces!!

We were both a little nervous because we had put SO much work into this outline. Our greatest fear was that they'd come back to us and say that we really missed the mark and needed to hack out another 20 pages or something. 

But they didn't. 

Instead, they loved it! And just as rewarding was that they both commented a number of times that they could tell how hard we've worked. It's really nice when stuff like that is recognized.

What a friggin' relief!! We're both soooo happy!!

However, this doesn't mean that we're completely out of the woods yet. 

Naturally they had a small handful of suggestions. One was something that we had presented to them at our last meeting -- killing off the Jason character. It seems that he really is dead wood. (No pun intended.) And another idea they suggested will help us to increase the conflict during the second act and then we'll return to it later on to provide a bigger pay off as we transition into the third. (I won't get into all the details, but for those of you who have read previous drafts, it has to do with the infamous bridge scene.)

YAY! SO exciting! We're one step closer to writing! Fun! Fun! Fun!

So anyhow, we're going to dive back into the outline again tomorrow, and will hopefully have this revised version for them sometime within the next week. 

And on that note, we're heading out to enjoy a late lunch and Cel-e-brate Good Times - C'mon! :)

Roses and Thorns Aug. 15 - 29

I was planning on doing that rose and thorn thing every Friday... but last week just slipped by so fast, so this will have to be a two-in-one.

Also, taking a note from last time, I'm going to mix it up a bit so I'm not thinking of all the bad stuff as I end this post, leaving things on a sour note.

Rose
Finishing up our outline!

Thorn
The last few days leading up to our finished outline. Ugh. 'Nuff said.

Rose
Mom C finally getting that half a peanut removed from her lung that's been plauging her for almost four months! Can you imagine?! (Glad you're okay!)

Thorn
More health issues for Mom K... but what else is new? (Right, mom? :P) She was told that she can't drive anymore because her diabetes has caused too much nerve damage in her feet, and so she can't always feel them. But don't worry, she's on some good drugs that seem to be helping.

Rose
Hundreds of new species were recently discovered in the Himalayas, including a flying frog and a 100 million year old gecko. That sort of stuff really excites me!

Thorn
Frog-O-Spheres. I recently read about how frogs and snails are being confined to cramped inadequate conditions and are being sold in Brookstone stores throughout the US. Many of these little creatures are left dying on the shelves or within a week after they're purchased. I wrote a letter to the company who thoughtlessly sells these ridiculous death traps. Idiots.

Rose
The 'big' grocery shop. We generally stock up about once a month, and being the foodie that I am, I kinda love it. I like thinking about all the different recipes I want to make, and zipping around the store with the grocery cart. I know it's lame, but I don't care.

Also, even though it deserves a rose of it's own, I'll add that on the same day we did the big grocery shop, I also bought myself a new stereo/surround sound system and got it for half price!!! Tres exciting! I've been suffering with music coming out of one speaker for months.

Thorn
Besides bringing a thousand grocery bags and a new stereo upstairs after the big shop, I'd have to say that the biggest disappointment was the Malaysian Tropical Stirfry with Lemon Grass and Shallots. It was a delicious-sounding recipe that I got out of Vegetarian Times. I picked up all ingredients, including things that I've never tried before, like jicama. Yeah, I guess you could say that I'm not really a fan of jicama... and neither is Jim. If I were to make it again, I think I'd use sweet potato instead.

Rose
Bertram Beach. It was my favourite beach when I first moved to Kelowna... but then the fires of 2003 happened, and for whatever reason I haven't been there since. Well, we recently reunited with Bertram this week, and it was WONDERFUL. I love, love, love that beach!

Thorn
Knowing that summer is coming to an end and I've only rediscovered Bertram this week. Something to look forward to next year, I guess.

Okay, I guess that's all I'll write for now. I'm sure I could go on, but I told myself I'd only list the first five roses and thorns that came to mind - so that's that.

Psycho-Travel

I like to consider myself a moderately adventurous person. 

Pour that tray of slimy oysters down my throat? Sure, why not?

Paraglide off the Alps? Hell yeah!

Sell everything I own and move across the country without any job or prospects? Might as well... I've got nothing better to do.

Drop acid with the one-eyed hobo? Just kidding. Everyone knows I like my drug-dealing hobos to have two eyes... at least!

But I think the truth of the matter is, I'm really not very adventurous at all. I came to realize this as we were preparing for our weddingmoon last year, and then I was forced to acknowledge it again today as I made reservations for our little anniversary weekend getaway.

So, for example, last year I became obsessed with researching every city, hotel, venue, cafe, you-name-it that we were planning on visiting while in Europe. I wanted to know everything about everything. I really don't know why? Maybe because I was just excited... I wanted to learn as much as I could, because the more I learned, the more excited I became about what to expect. 

Okay, so perhaps that's a bad example, because most travellers will want to do a bit of research before they go to a foreign country. But something tells me that I tend to go a little over the top. 

It seems that when I know that we're gong away somewhere new, the internet instantly becomes this vast playground which feeds my ever-growing obsession to know more and more and more with each Google search.

Here's a better example... before I went back to Toronto a couple years ago, I researched the oyster bar my friend was taking us to.  I heard that it was the best in the city, and so I wanted to confirm. Not that I'd scoff at her if it wasn't... although you probably don't want to be taking any chances with oysters. Yeesh...

So anyway, once I knew where we were going, I'm sure that I probably visited every page on Rodney's website at least twice. I wanted to know the history. I wanted to see photographs of the interior. I wanted to know what my oyster options would be. I wanted to check out the full menu. I wanted to find out the prices. I think I even tried to locate customer reviews on another couple of sites.

Of course I know that no matter how much research I do, it will never compare to the actual experience of doing something new. Even so, it seems that I try to pack my mind with so many images, reviews and info that it's as if I'm cramming for some kind of pop quiz. 

For example...

Did you know that Kelowna gets more hours of sunshine than any other city in Canada? 

Yup. That's a little factoid I picked up (and recited countless times) before moving out west. It was one of the things that totally sold me on the Okanagan.

Here's another...

Did you also know that there is (or at least there use to be in 2002/2003) a cap on how tall buildings in Kelowna could be built? 

That's actually a little tidbit that I misread while obsessively researching this city. The way it was phrased, I thought "building restrictions cap" might be an environmental term which meant that the city wasn't allowed to sprawl any further with new subdivisions - which was in fact another selling point to me at the time. I was excited to escape the GTA's little boxes on the hillside. Little boxes made of ticky tacky. Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes all the same. (Actually,  that's a Pete Seeger song I used to hum to myself on the bus by while watching the sea of little boxes fly by.) Unfortunately, I very wrong in that silly lil' idealist assumption. Urban sprawl restrictions? Ha! So... very... wrong...indeed. :P

Anyhow, I guess I'm saying that any fun or exciting thing I've ever done in my life has been incredibly calculated and researched to death, until I've sucked the adventurousness right out of it. 

Why do I do this to myself? Why can't I just wing it?

It seems the only two things I have ever done spontaneously was jumping off the Alps - and even then, I poured over that brochure at least a dozen times - and then of course there was the time that I dropped acid with that one-eyed hobo. (Again, I'm just kidding about that one-eye hobo thing... or am I? ;) I think it'd make for a very interesting story about how the two of us explored the city in a psychedelic haze, searching for his missing eye. Hmm...)

Anyway, getting back to why I began writing this post in the first place -- like I started saying earlier, I just finished spending about an hour or two researching Harrison Hot Springs. 

Actually, I've been researching and revisiting the same websites over and over again for the last two weeks - but today I finally made reservations. We're both really looking forward to this little escape; however, I admire Jim's approach versus mine. He has barely looked at the websites for either of the two hotels I suggested. I guess he knew that I had already carefully weighed all our options. All he had to do was simply agree that he felt Harrison Hot Springs Resort sounded better than The Executive Hotel, because although it costs a little more, it actually has five private hot spring pools on site, while The Executive only provides day passes to the nearby public hot springs pool down the street. So in the end, it seemed worth the extra cash for the added convenience. 

So now while Jim is quite happy with our decision and really looks forward to checking everything out in person once we get there; myself, on the other hand, am like some kind of neurotic maniac. 

I have already stalked through every page on the resort's website. I have checked out every picture, watched all three virtual tours, reviewed every available package, added services, and their respective prices. 

And then as if that wasn't enough, I went on to check out a couple Harrison tourism websites. I clicked on links for eco tours, adventure tours, hiking, kayaking, wilderness watching, white water rafting, gardens, shopping, weather, arts, festivals and events. 

I also read traveller reviews and compared them with reviews written about other hotels. 

I checked out the menu for the Copper Room, the prices, the dress code and even managed to dig up a video of the band that will be performing, so I'll know what kind of music they play. Then I looked up independent articles and reviews of the restaurant on a couple different food and travel sites. 

I'm sick. It's okay, I can admit it.

But seriously, why can't I just go somewhere and simply enjoy it for what it is once I get there, without obsessing over all the details beforehand? It's like I get so excited that I want to know everything I possibly can, so I'll be aware of all our options.

Is this normal? Because I really feel like I can't be spontaneous. I can never wait n' see. I have to be able to see it, feel it, and imagine how it's going to be. Right. Now.

I swear to gawd, I'm making a pact with myself that the next time Jim n' I go somewhere, I'm going to suck it up and book through Hotwire.com so I won't know what to expect. It will be an adventure... even if it ends up being the HoJo on Granville.

And now, even though it is completely irrelevant, I'm posting this video of Pete Seeger singing "Little Boxes." Because if I have to have this song humming through my head for the rest of the evening, then you should too.  Plus, it's such a cute little ditty.

Il bel far niente

I slump down on the couch. My back flat on the seat. 

Legs like a starfish with sliding feet pressed flat against the carpet. 

My core yawns tight and then relaxes, sending a tense tingle of energy through my chest.

My mind spins dizzy. All thoughts fall paralyzed.

With a vacant stare, I watch the air conditioner gently tickle the red curtain. 

Not far away, its silent understudy shivers against the wall. 

Imitating. Practicing. Pretending. Perfecting the curtain's wiggle. 

Patiently waiting for a chance to be something more... something vibrant... to show her true colours. A quiet grey wallflower waiting for her turn to explode into a red curtain.

Alas poor shadow, I hate to be the one to tell you, but I fear you'll never get the chance.  

For you were born a shadow - and forever a shadow you will be. 

Even so, I still love to lay here and watch you dance. So dance your little heart out until the sun pours its affections elsewhere, and the evening sky tucks you into bed.

I look beyond the slotted blinds, to catch the breeze stealing kisses from all the maple leaves, not unlike Ben Harper or Georgie Porgie Puddin' and Pie. 

I stretch out further.... f   u   r   t   h   e   r.

My head pushes backwards into a cradle of cushions, muting my mind in pillow-like softness. 

My hair falls down past my shoulders, wrapping itself around my neck like a threading scarf.  

Loose strands revolt. They rise up against my cheek. I can't be bothered to fight back.

I listen closely to the white noise... white noise... white noise...  occasionally punctuated by the outside world.

Just as I am at my most relaxed, my stomach makes a quiet threat. 

Shut up stomach, I say. Must you really? Right now?! Seriously... Can't you see I'm busy doing nothing!

I make a feeble attempt to rally my union of arms and legs - but they give me the cold shoulder. They are on strike, refusing to cook. 

Just great. Now what am I going to do?

Like a perfect husband, Jim reads my mind. He suggests we order out. 

Stomach roars a little louder, passing her message along to lazy lips who incoherently mumble in agreement. 

My exhausted brain is too tired to think of what to order, except something that requires minimal effort - like an IV bag of red wine perhaps? 

My mind slinks backwards hiding in the darkest corner of my empty skull, hoping that someone else might take the initiative. 

Like Jim. 

Or perhaps one of the cats.

Eyes flutter closed. 

The inside of my eyelids are stained rouge. 

I saw red and am reminded of the song by the same name, with the grim lyrics and happy reggae tempo.

"I saw red. I saw red. I saw red. One more sacred lover that I shot dead."

Like that same dead sacred lover, I focus on the stillness of my body -- with the exception of angry stomach, who is pulling a horrible temper tantrum, demanding to be fed.

Shut up, I say! Shut up!

I remind her, "Gimme, gimme never gets! Only gets a spanking." At least according to Daddy-O's beat poetry. 

Following in my father's footsteps, we also plan on making up dysfunctional nursery rhymes and telling them to our children. I can't wait. We already have one prepared called, "Poppy Says..." 

Someday I might sing it to you. 

But not today.

Right now, my ears only want to focus on the white noise... white noise... white noise... interrupted by the occasional clatter of outside distraction.... and the sound of Jim ordering pizza for dinner.

Sister Story - Part Three

And so the clouds parted and a chorus of a thousand angels sang, "Haaaallllelujahhhh!"

We FINALLY sent that nightmare of an outline off to our producers about an hour n' a half ago. What a relief! We seriously just crammed about two months worth of work into only 2.5 weeks. 

I *really* wanted to wrap it up last night - but I knew that it was time to quit shortly after midnight when Jim tried to console me because he thought I was crying... but I wasn't crying. My eyes were just red and glassy from staring at the computer all freakin' day long. 

I know there'll still be a ton of tweaks required, but at least we're that much closer to the writing process. We absolutely have to hit these tight self-imposed deadlines if we want to go to camera next fall. (Which still might be a long shot, but we're going to do everything we can to aim for it anyway.)

Anyhow, now let's pick up where I last left off....

So yeah, my sister called me with news that she had applied to Le Cordon Bleu and was going to Ottawa to do a tour of the school. She checked out the prerequisites on their website, which included writing a short essay describing why she wanted to go to that school. 

Because of her learning disability, Amy has never been much of a writer. Actually, when we were younger, I used to be convinced that she was illiterate - and I think to a certain degree, she partially was. This recent upgrading has especially worked wonders for her. So, that being said, she asked if I would kindly proof her little essay for her. 

Well, I have got to say, I was completely blown away! She put her whole heart and soul into that essay and really made it sing. I am ashamed to say that I didn't know she had it in her. Of course I tweaked it up and also added a few things here and there, which I felt would help expand upon her love of cooking. But even my words were not really my words. I know she would've included those things herself had she thought of them.  The fact of the matter is, that beautiful heart-warming essay was all Amy.

Too bad the people at Le Cordon Bleu didn't bother to read it. 

But I'll get to that later.

So anyway, I sent the essay back to Amy and wished her luck... but also included a little P.S. that added, "And for the love of gawd, please watch your language! You can be Chef Ramsay after you graduate!" 

In case it's not obvious, my sister sometimes has such a mouth on her, that I'm sure she could make ol' Ramsay blush. She's Hard. Core. But she's gotten much better now that she has little ears around the house.

The next day I waited with bated breath to hear back from her. I was nervous, excited and even just a little bit envious, as I share my sister's passion for cooking. I'm sure that in another life, I would pursue the same path. (I'd also be a tattoo artist, an iconologist, an art therapist and a waitress.)

Amy called me once she got home. To basically sum it up Amy-style, she blew their effing socks off. 

I'm sure they could taste her passion the moment they met her. And I'm sure that passion tasted not unlike the most gourmet meal that the best chefs at Le Cordon Bleu could possibly produce. Attending this school would be a dream come true for her, and her contagious excitement probably oozed from her pores, and spread to all those she met - because it sounded like they were simply delighted to be in the presence of someone who wanted to go there so badly.

Apparently most students simply apply and then just wait to hear back, never bothering to personally contact the school for a tour. So they were already impressed with Amy's enthusiasm before she had even arrived.

While Amy and dad were toured around the school, (dad also loves to cook, so I think accompanying her on the tour was quite a thrill for him as well), the guide (or host or admissions person... whatever you call 'em) was quite taken by Amy's knowledge and use of culinary terms, as she explained to dad why the tables in the pastry kitchen need to be cold. 

"Oh, do you already have your diploma as a pastry chef?" the host asked her.

"Nope."

Instead, like some kind of miracle sponge, Amy has somehow managed to absorb every little detail she has seen on the Food network over this past year. It's definitely true what they say about how people learn much better when they're interested in the subject.

By the end of the tour, the guide (host/admissions person/whoever) was so wowed, that he told Amy, "I want you to come to this school. You MUST come to this school! We have three seats left for next year's program, and I am going to hold one for you until you make your decision."

Amy asked, "But, don't you want to read my essay?"

Once again, he was floored. Apparently applicants aren't expected to complete the essay component until they are being considered for admission. Amy had already jumped ahead. He apparently laughed and accepted it, but felt that he didn't need to read it. He had already seen enough.

So, when it was all said and done, Amy left with a smile on her face, a song in her heart, and the exciting news that she was eligible to enroll for September. The only snag... the $25,000 fee for the one year chefs program. Apparently Le Cordon Bleu is one of the three most expensive schools in the world. And... oh yeah, it's not eligible for OSAP either. (The Ontario Student Assistance Program.)

Now, not everyone has $25K in change just waiting to be smashed free from their lil' piggy banks. I mean, perhaps you do. But I generally think that most people don't.

The guide/host/admissions guy suggested that she could take the one year program over three years. It's more affordable, but it takes longer, and in the end it costs more. 

Amy doesn't want to wait three years. Not to mention, Troy is hoping to get posted out west within the next year or two, and there's only one Cordon Bleu school in Canada, and that's in Ottawa. (About an hour n' a half from where they currently live.) 

What to do? What to do?

Opportunities like this don't come by every day. And naturally, their bank scoffed that it was a little too much to pay for a one year program, and therefore they wouldn't grant them such a large loan.

In the meantime, Amy has been racking her brain, while others suggest that she just go to community college instead, or maybe wait until Troy is posted and then try applying to another cooking school. 

But it's just not the same, and I don't blame her for scrunching her nose at these options. 

So a month or two has since passed, and Amy recently called me up to say that she has finally figured out a plan.

Ah yes... I know this is what I've been hinting at. Amy's "controversial" plan. At least it's controversial to some of her friends and relatives. 

Y'see, Amy's father-in-law works for a company that drives trucks in Afghanistan. To my knowledge, it's not a military-related service, it's just some company that is over there driving supplies or something to and fro in a particular city. Sure, this city is not immune to bombing from time to time, but it's apparently nowhere near quite the same level of danger as where the soldiers are actually fighting. And naturally, the pay for a six month gig is considerably more than what most people earn in an entire year. 

So now perhaps you can see why I wrote the first two parts to Sister Story. I wanted to illustrate the kind of girl Amy is. She's got HUGE balls. I'm sure if I were to tell you that I was going to Afghanistan, well, you might freak out and think that I was absolutely insane. But Amy... well, I know my sister, and I can see it. She's a tough cookie.

Additionally, Amy has never been so blessed with such a wonderful opportunity that will get her out of the mall and into a career that she loves. She deserves this opportunity more than anyone else! Why should financial need stand in her way  - especially when there is a way to earn that kind of coinage.

Now, Amy has two children, a 7-year old daughter and a one year old son. It's not an easy decision to leave them behind for six months to go drive a truck in a war torn country... but how else will she ever come up with the cash? The way Amy looks at it is it's not forever. She's also not naive about Afghanistan. Her hubby has done two long tours over there - she's heard the stories, and she's not afraid. In her opinion, six months will go by fast enough. 

Amy plans to not only pay for her schooling with the money she earns, but she also wants to help out mom n' dad (who'll no doubt be taking care of the kids whenever Troy's at work), as well as put some money aside for the future.

I know she has what it takes, and as scary as the whole Afghanistan thing may sound, I completely support her a thousand percent! If all goes well, Amy will be leaving for Afghanistan next April. Her FIL and BIL will also be going with her, so she won't be alone, and will at least be in familiar company.

Of course, like I was sayin', when it comes to certain relatives and friends, this plan of hers is kind of a controversial one, especially since she is a mom of two little kids. But then again, there are lots of military moms out there too.

So I dunno... I'm curious... What do you think?

Promises, promises...

I promise to return to regularly scheduled blogging (hopefully) by tomorrow. I just can't blog right now without feeling overwhelmed with guilt.... which I am feeling at this very moment. Well, sorta...

I was also feeling bad for not blogging the last couple days, so hopefully this quickie post will remedy that second source of guilt, until I can resume with Sister Story and other random nonsense.

I'm pathetic - yes, I know. I can't help it. I feel guilty for making people wait, because the longer the wait, the bigger the build up for the conclusion... and it really isn't that fabulous or amazing. Believe me. Although it is kinda interesting... well, at least I think so. But then again, it's my sister, so of course I'd be totally interested in how she plans to get into Le Cordon Bleu.

Anyhow, enough - I can't get into that story again right now. Like I was saying, I can't write a 'real' blog post until we finish this outline. And come hell or high water (whatever that means) this outline MUST be done by the end of today. Or at least that's what my self-imposed deadline is. Jim is thinking that we'll probably have it done by tomorrow or Wednesday. Gawd, I hope he's wrong...

Last Monday we told our producers that we'd probably have an outline within "a day or so".

Umm.... *looking at calendar*.... yeah....

I told Jim to do a follow up phone call with them on Thursday to explain that we'd be a little longer. They're totally cool n' all, but still, we just want to get this shite done and start WRITING for Popsicle Pete's sake!

I feel like my head is going to explode... and that's actually significant improvement over how I was feeling yesterday morning.

Alright... I better get back at it. I promise to be back soon. Maybe even by tonight if I can convince Jim that we should just settle with a couple not-so-brilliant ideas here n' there. After all, we're going to have to write another draft after this one, so we need to leave some room for improvement... right?

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Program...

To bring you this special news bulletin.

Well, there's nothing really special with what I'm about to write. It's just not about my sister. I'll get back to that story later.

So anyway, yesterday I was at the office for a few hours, and while I was there, I asked Tamara's Magic 8-Ball if we'd come up with some great ideas today. 

The responses were...

- It is unclear.

- Ask again later.

- Better not say at this time.

Sheesh... Thanks for nothing Magic 8-Ball! 

However, today I am pleased to say that "All Signs Point to YES!" We made some pretty significant breakthroughs this morning (and hit a few brick walls this afternoon... but never mind that now). 

One of our breakthroughs involves giving a sex change to our little boy character and transforming him into a little girl instead. I won't get into all the reasons why, but suffice to say, when I presented the idea to Jim, he was very keen. In fact, you might even say that he was excited. It just makes A LOT more sense. 

On one hand it's hard to kill your babies. You know what they look like. You know what they sound like. You even give them affectionate nicknames, like Porkchop. (Which was a subtle nod to a lil' boy I once knew.) But these are the sacrifices you sometimes have to make for the greater good. A young girl named Maggie is going to work sooo much better! I don't know why we never thought of it sooner. 

Unfortunately, as great as that idea was, it still doesn't help us with all the nagging plot points we've been trying to tweak up.

 

I swear to gawd, this process is endless! Not because we're perfectionists, but because we just keep encountering all these awkward stumbling blocks.

For the last two weeks it's been nothing but,"We can't have this scene and that scene back-to-back. Maybe we should insert this other scene in between."

"But this other scene shouldn't happen until after this first scene takes place, so we can't insert it up there. What if we remove this scene from way down here and move it up instead?"

"No, that doesn't make sense, because that will impact this scene and that scene, and then too much time will pass between these two sets of scenes. Plus, that also puts it too close to this other scene. So maybe we should just create a new scene to stick in between?"

One step forward... two steps back. One step forward... two steps back. 

Sigh.

And when you consider that the movie is about two hours long, and every scene ranges between 15 seconds to 5 minutes, well, there's a lot of finagling to do.

I mean, don't get me wrong - every day we're making huge leaps of progress, but it's just such a time-consuming process. Just when you think you're close to being finished, you realize something which changes everything. 

Naive me, I thought we'd be done our outline on Monday, and now it's looking like we'll still be plugging away over the weekend. Then again, the last time we reworked the structure it took us two months. This time we've been pressuring ourselves to wrap it up in only two weeks, because the sooner we get this next draft written, the closer we are to jumping into the next phase -- which is actually another phase of rewrites... (Yeah, I know!) 

Of course, as everyone knows, you can't force epiphanies. They prefer to materialize at their own pace. 

So yeah... not that I'm complaining... but I will say that I'm friggin' exhausted! 

On that note, I think I'm gonna pull my bleary-eyed self away from this computer for a while, and will resume with Sister Story tomorrow. In the meantime I'm sure you're all simply losing sleep at night, tossing and turning, trying to imagine what her controversial plan might be to get herself into such a prestigious school. Am I right or am I right?

Sister Story - Part Two

Okay, I'm coming up for air again, and thought I'd see how much of a blog post I could pound out before we have to get back to work. 

Right now we're just struggling with a few third act plot points, and then we can hopefully send our outline off to our producers for them to pick apart. 

You'd think it'd be too easy to simply switch a few scenes around, hack a few others out, and add a handful of new ones in. 

Not so.

It's really like working with this intricate, fussy jigsaw puzzle. We're currently trying to figure out how to bring our supporting character, Finnley, into the third act. We thought it'd be great if we could create a scene where there was suddenly some sort of undeniable proof or a perfect situation where he was finally compelled to believe Donovan, after throwing doubt in his face throughout the first two acts. This was something we just came up with this afternoon... but now... how to make it work? That is the question... 

So, I'm just gonna take my mind off of it for a while, and continue on where I left off yesterday. 

Now, if you haven't read yesterday's post yet, then I suggest you do... since it's part one n' all. Of course, if you don't read it, the world isn't necessarily going to implode on itself.  Although it probably does help to have slim summary of knowledge about the kind of gal my sister is before you read part two. 

That being said, if you wanna jump back and read Part One, go ahead.  I'll meetcha back here in five. 

Okay, ready?

So, like I was saying in part one, Amy has a goal... but finding a goal hasn't been an easy task. Amy has always struggled. She has a learning disability, and unfortunately, twenty-some years ago, kids with learning disabilities didn't quite get the help they needed in school as children do today. Amy was pushed through year after year, after year, after year, after year.... always passed along to become someone else's problem. I don't know how the hell a child can fail nearly every test and project all year long, and then magically get promoted to the next grade. The school system failed her in a huge effing way! Pardon my (implied-use-of) language.

Making matters worse, I was somehow able to coast through school without too much of a problem. (With the exception of math. Actually, it's ironic that our script is about a mathematician because I've always hated math. Nonetheless, I still always managed to pass with about a B average... well, at least until high school anyway. :P) 

So anyhow, whenever a teacher would meet my sister two years after I had come and gone, they could never comprehend why she was such a troubled student. In parent-teacher interviews, she was constantly compared to me, which obviously only diminished her self-esteem and caused the riff between us to grow. 

I am honestly amazed that we ever managed to mend the vast ocean of animosity that festered between us for so many years. Because as a result of Amy's educational hurdles, we ended up being raised very differently. I think our parents... no, scratch that... I *know* our parents unintentionally overcompensated for Amy and were much harder on me, as some sort of skewed way to balance the scales. Amy would probably even admit this herself, as would several other relatives who witnessed the inconsistencies first-hand. It really did us no favours and only caused the resentment to grow. 

Of course, how could our parents have known the massive impact this imbalance would have on the two of us? Like mom once cried during one of our famous battle-royals, "Children don't come with handbooks!" 

The first time she used that line on me, I conceded. Mom n' dad were only doing the best they could. 

The second time she used it, I snarled that she had already used that line on me once before, accused her of probably ripping it off Oprah, and then continued to scream about the harsh unfairness of life in the Krieger household. 

But no one said that life was fair. And all things considered, life certainly wasn't fair to my sister.

If our teenage angst was the kindling, and being raised differently was the fuel, then by the time my sister's now-ex, Charlie, entered the picture, he was the spark that that set the fire ablaze that burned between us for years. (Almost ten years, in fact, as she started dating the asshole when she was only 15.)

But as we all know, a fire stimulates regrowth. So when Amy finally ran from that abusive shit head in the middle of a cold winter's night, with nothing but the clothes on her back and their baby in her arms, she opened her life up to massive regrowth. And truly, she has grown in the most incredible ways. 

Amy is such a different person now, you'd never even believe it. Back in the day, I would chat with her on the phone once every six months (if that), and the conversation was always painfully limited.

Me: "So, what's new?"

Amy: "Oh, not a whole helluvalot."

Silence.

Charlie hated me. (Don't worry, the feeling was very mutual.) So she wasn't allowed to talk about much other than the weather, because heaven forbid she might confide what was really going on behind closed doors. However, these days we chat about once or twice a week.  And while Amy will always have the edge of a pit bull who has seen her share of dog fights, she now has this absolute lightness in her voice. 

She's since found herself a loving husband, and has slowly rebuilt her shattered (not that it ever really existed in the first place) confidence.  She also recently went back to school and upgraded her skills. (I should mention that after the principal at our high school encouraged her to drop out -- which my parents obviously wouldn't allow -- she managed to barely graduate grade 12 by taking a basic correspondence course.)

Anyhow, Amy wanted to upgrade her skills because like a lot of people, she has always felt that she needed a "real" career - she just didn't know what that career should be. She knew that she wasn't necessarily cut out for college -- not that it ever stopped her from trying. In the past she had also looked into various trades, like heating and refrigeration, and even considered the military (following in her husband's footsteps). But it was during her recent mat leave when she discovered where her true passion lies... in the culinary arts. 

With the Food network on 24 hours a day over the last year, Amy's love of cooking and being creative in the kitchen absolutely exploded. She was jotting down new recipes left, right and center. Whenever we'd chat on the phone, she'd often tell me what impressive dishes she had prepared for dinner. While her husband was overseas for nine months eating fried camel (I'm not kidding), she'd have our parents in almost every night, just to have company to cook fancy meals for.

By the time Troy got home from Afghanistan, Amy knew the path she wanted to pursue.... cooking school.  But not just any cooking school. Amy had her eyes on the world's BEST cooking school - Le Cordon Bleu. 

Okay, sorry to do this to you folks again, but I think I've written enough for tonight. 

Let's pick up where we left off tomorrow, because there's still just a wee bit more left to this story yet... 

Sister Story - Part One

We're taking ten... which means that I'll probably have enough time to barely start this blog post before Jim is calling me back inside to resume working on le script. 

We are currently bogged down in the depths of rejigging the structure. We worked until about 11 o'clock last night, and then started up again first thing this morning. (However, all this brainstorming somehow has a way of making the mind very weary, so I slept in an hour later than usual.)

Anyhow, we're about 2/3 through the second act, and are both really happy with the progress we've made.... even though we know that our producers will offer some fresh perspective and help us reconstruct things even further once they get their hot little hands on what we've written. 

Ah yes, but this is not what I came here to write about. No... today's blog entry, my dear friends, is about ma soeur.  Last night I asked Amy for permission to write about her, and gave her a quick summary of what I wanted to say. Fortunately (for me), she laughed and said yes. 

Why did she laugh, you ask? Well... you'll see soon enough.

I always loved the quote from the movie Capote where Truman says, "It's as if Perry and I grew up in the same house. And one day he stood up and went out the back door, while I went out the front." 

I felt that it perfectly described my sister and I... only we actually did grow up in the same household - you'd just never know it to meet us. Mom's favourite saying used to be, "You girls are like night and day." And we were. Actually, in many ways, we still are. 

If you're reading this, then I assume that you already know me pretty well, and therefore, I shouldn't have to describe myself to you. So instead, allow me to introduce you to my younger sister, Amy.

Amy is best described as a pit bull. She's got a wee bit of a temper, but she always means well. She is fiercely loyal of those she loves. If someone speaks ill against anyone she cares for (or even if it just kinda sounds like they are), Amy will not think twice about ripping their head off and spitting down their neck. 

To this day, Mom and Amy still insist that she once came home from school with bloody knuckles after kicking some guy's ass who was mean to me on the playground. I have absolutely no recollection of such an event, so I can't guarantee or deny it's validity. I guess I'll just have to take their word for it. Then again, I had a long laundry list of people who got their jollies by picking on me in elementary school, (what can I say? I was an easy target...), so if Amy was apparently protecting me behind my back, then I don't think she was doing a very thorough job. ;) Ha ha.

Of course, there was always a thin line between being defended by Amy, and needing to defend oneself against Amy. I think I survived most of my teenage years by locking myself in the bathroom - the only door in our little house with a lock. And I still don't understand why *I* was the one who got in trouble one warm summer evening, when our African Grey Parrot performed his new catch phrase in front of company -- "F*ck off! F*ck off, Amy! F*ck off!" You'd think my parents would've questioned what Amy was doing to provoke me. Ah well....

My all-time favourite Amy story is what I fondly refer to as "The Subway Story".  This is the story I asked Amy's permission to tell. So obviously in Amy's defense, if she was the same person now as she was back then, I definitely wouldn't have gotten her permission with such an easy laugh... This took place half her lifetime ago, and she has grown up significantly since then.

Now, we all know that most kids tend to get a little cranky, angsty, moody or what have you, as they hit puberty. Well, when Amy hit puberty, her temper suddenly soared. One day when she was about 14 and working at Subway in the mall, a woman came up and ordered a sub. Well, I guess Amy was relatively new to the job at the time, and apparently she didn't make this woman's sub fast enough. When it came time for the customer to pay, she refused. She told my sister that she took too long and so she didn't want the sub anymore. 

Now... if it were me in a situation like this, I'd probably feel like shit for the rest of the day. Actually, I'd probably feel like shit every time I ever encountered that woman again for the rest of my life... at least until I was certain that all had been forgotten.

Not Amy.

Amy lunged across the counter, fists swinging, yelling that she was going to kill the effing bitch... or something to that effect.

Ah yes... that's my girl!

Actually, I wouldn't doubt that Amy would've kicked this woman's ass if it weren't for her quick-thinking boss who grabbed her by the pants and attempted to reel her back in behind the counter. Unfortunately, this wasn't much of a deterrent, and only resulted in him almost pulling her pants off. 

Oh man, I would've given anything to have been in the food court that day!

Now, I know what you're thinking.... Surely, she must've been fired! 

Nope. 

In fact, Amy continued to work at Subway for years to come -- although, I think it was because her boss was probably afraid to fire her after witnessing such a psychotic outburst. I mean, wouldn't you fear for your life too... even just a little? Fortunately, Amy's customer service skills blossomed in time, and she eventually became the Assistant Manager over at New York Fries, where she has worked ever since, up until her sick leave and subsequent maternity leave.

Anyway, last week Amy finally returned from mat leave, and before she could even print off her resume (because NYF went under in the year and a half she was gone), she was offered her pick of the litter from a half dozen job opportunities at various stores in the mall.

Truth be told, aside from her occasional rants, (which haven't happened in quite a number of years - she's mellowed out a lot in her ol' age ;) Amy has an amazing work ethic. It seems that people (at the Pembroke Mall anyway) are simply falling all over themselves to hire her. A few store managers were even prepared to fire current employees just to accommodate bringing Amy on board. (The store she ended up choosing actually did fire someone to make room for her...)

But the real point of this post is more about how Amy doesn't plan on working at the mall forever. At 28 years of age, she finally has a goal. A good one at that. I've never been more proud. She also has a controversial plan that will help her achieve her goal. And while I'm still very supportive believing that the end justifies the means, a handful of others are not quite so thrilled.

But since this blog post is already long enough, (and since I've spent well over ten minutes writing), I'll have to get back to working on le script and save the rest of my story for later.

To be continued...

The Time Traveler's Wife

So, a couple years ago Jim n' I went to the Toronto Film Festival, where we managed to score prime seats in front of the producers for Lars and the Real Girl. As we waited for the movie to begin we overheard (eavesdropped on) them chatting about how they just went into development with the Time Traveler's Wife. 

Two years later and now we are the ones in development, just as the Time Traveler's Wife hits theaters. 

Jim n' I both managed to read the book this year, (Jim finishing it up only a few days ago), just in time to check the movie out on opening weekend.

First, if you haven't read the book... I highly recommend it. (Not that my word means anything, but...) I absolutely loved it. After I finished the last page, I was left with this yearning in the pit of my stomach for a good day or two. I wanted to spend more time with Henry and Claire. I wanted the story to go on for another 500 pages. The ending is so bittersweet, it just stuck with me. (Without giving away any spoilers, I will say that the ending in the book and the movie are slightly different, although I do understand why they did what they did.)

Anyhow, shortly after I finished reading the book, the trailer was released on the Apple site. I have to admit that I was actually a bit disappointed when I first saw it. It looked like they had transformed this amazing novel into more of a cotton candy chick flick. I was bummed. The book is so much more than a sappy romance! 

Nonetheless, I decided that I still wanted to see the movie. I braced myself for possible disappointment, but fortunately I was delightfully surprised. That being said, I will add that the movie wasn't without it's flaws. 

IMHO, (which again, means absolutely nothing, but whatever, this is my blog and you wouldn't be reading this if you didn't want to know what I think), I felt that it might've been nice if they had made the movie just 15 minutes longer to allow the audience to build up a greater emotional connection to Henry and Claire, by lengthening or adding a few scenes. 

While some people on IMDB complained that they felt the first part of the movie moved too slowly, Jim n' I both agreed that we felt it moved fast... almost too fast. The best way to describe it is as if they had written all the biggest plot points out on a deck of cards, and that they were quickly dealing them out one right after another. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Each scene was only about a minute or two long, without a real meaningful build up... or at least I just didn't 'feel' it, y'know?

If I hadn't read the book first, I don't think I would've been as attached to the characters. Actually, I can't honestly say that my heart ached as much during the movie as it did when I finished the book. 

I also think that if I hadn't read the book before the film, I might've found myself as lost as some of the people I overheard murmuring  to their partners as they exited the theater,  "Okay, I think I understood.... so he met her when she was a little girl, but when she meets him as a young woman, he hasn't met her yet?"  Although I do think the filmmakers did as good a job as they could explaining the whole time traveling paradox. I guess not everyone goes to a movie to think... (which could mean trouble for us.)

Anyhow, the whole experience was a very good lesson for Jim n' I, since our movie also deals with tricky concepts of time that need to be made *crystal clear*.  We need to ensure that we don't overwhelm the audience with too many scenes, and give them time to absorb everything. 

We also need to come to terms with the fact that there's going to be a large anonymous peanut gallery out there that's not going to like our movie. And (at the moment) I'm totally okay with that. Movies are so subjective - to each his own. In fact, I know that some of our friends n' family probably wouldn't enjoy our movie if they didn't know that it was written by us. (And I also know that every one of those people would blatantly deny that truth too. ;) 

But yeah, like I was saying, the IMDB peanut gallery... gawd, I don't know if it's insightful or scary to read the stuff people post on there. Although I've come to realize that about half the people who post on IMDB are either children or morons. 

Case in point, in regards to Henry getting a vasectomy, one person posed the question, "I don't understand. Did Henry get his penis cut off?" Ha ha ha. Yes. That's exactly what Henry did. He got his penis cut off.  

Good grief.

So yeah, I don't know where I'm going with all of this, except to say that I enjoyed the movie, enjoyed the book much more (of course), and learned a thing or two in the process, which will hopefully help us as we finish banging out our structure for DE.   

On another somewhat related note, I recently saw the trailer for The Lovely Bones, which I also read earlier this year. All I can say is WOW! I think that movie is going to bring the book more to life than my pathetic imagination did while I was reading it. I really have high hopes for that one, and can't wait until it hits theaters in December!

Roses and Thorns Aug. 8 - 14

One year at summer camp, I had a counselor who, every night before lights out, would ask us to provide a rose and a thorn for the day. I always thought that was kind of a neat way to share your day with others, as well as gain a little insight on what made or ruined the day for your campmates.

So, with that in mind, I thought it might be a fun way to sum up my week.

Okay, so here you go...

This Week's Roses...

* Well, first and foremost, I love all the little breakthroughs that we came up with for the script, even though the process itself can sometimes get a little thorny.

* Clear smoke-free skies, at long last!! It was so nice to get outside and go for a walk or run again and not feel like you're sitting downwind of a campfire, sucking back mouthfuls of ash and smoke.

* Hiking over Knox Mountain with Laura. I haven't hiked over Knox in a year (or two?), and it felt really good to get outside, enjoy the nice views and even nicer conversation. :)

* That Charlie Bit My Finger video, which I must've watched at least a dozen times by now. "Chawwwwlie! That really huwt!"

* Today's rainfall. We SO desperately needed it! It actually rained so much that the nearby pond overflowed, spilling out into the field. And I swear I caught some of those ducks actually smiling at the novelty of it all, as they swam around on the grass.

* The funny Banff squirrel picture that's been everywhere in the news this week.



This Week's Thorns...

* I can't believe that bastard Michael Vick is getting paid millions of dollars to play football again after what he did to those poor dogs. There is no justice! *deep breath* Okay, for the sake of keeping this blog PG-rated, I just deleted a very sweary rant three times now. I can't help but find myself really pissed off about the whole thing.

* While I'm on the topic of abusive @ssholes, I also recently read about a girl who worked for a pet store and had her manager take a picture of her proudly holding up two dead bunnies that she had just drown, because they were apparently attacking each other. Then she posted the picture on Facebook for everyone to see. Needless to say that both she and her manager lost their jobs. What is wrong with people!?!? Seriously... Nothing makes me angrier. Okay... *deep breaths* These thorns are really getting me riled up. I think next time I should start with my thorns and then end with the roses.

Rosy Interruption...

Sorry, I needed to interrupt those angry thorns with happier thoughts. So here's another rose:

Earlier this week (or maybe it was last week? I can't remember), I found out that the Vegetarian Times magazine that recently started arriving in the mail was actually a birthday gift from my cousin Jodie. Isn't that thoughtful of her?! What an awesome idea! There's so many great recipes, I can't wait to try them! Unfortunately for poor Jode, I didn't realize that the magazine was a gift from her (although I really couldn't explain why I was suddenly receiving it.) So for the last couple months, she had been asking me if anything unusual had come in the mail for me lately, and I kept responding with, "No... I'm sorry Jode, your gift hasn't arrived yet." I'm so dumb. I'm glad we finally got that sorted out.

Okay, now let's resume the thorns...

Actually, no... let's not. The only other one that popped into my head is an article I read about a baby moose and well, I'm not going to finish the story. I honestly don't mean to seek this stuff out... I just came across a lot of really bad animal news this week for some reason.

Okay, I'm just going to shut up now.

But since I don't want to end this post on a negative note leaving a bitter taste in your mouth, I suggest you immediately scroll down and watch Charlie Bit My Finger Again. ;)

Charlie Bit My Finger

I somehow stumbled across this adorable video clip today, and quickly learned that it is (was?) in fact the most watched video on YouTube. (At least according to a news clip that was posted a year ago.)

Back when this was deemed the most popular video, it had over 44 million hits. Today, it has more than doubled, coming in at 114+ million. Crazy!

So, what is the most popular clip on YouTube, you ask?

Well, see for yourself...

iPod Game

I kinda felt like just listening to some tunes this evening, so I thought I'd make it interesting and play that iPod game I've seen surfing around for the last couple years.

To play the iPod game, you just put your iPod on shuffle and then answer the following series of questions. I've never played before because I've always been afraid of what kind of music might come up that'll embarrass me. Not to mention, I haven't updated my iPod in a while. For the last few months I've mostly been listening to CDs or making my own playlists at playlist.com. (Super great site, btw!)

Anyhow, here we go...

1. What does next year have in store for you? Guaranteed - Eddie Vedder
--Wouldn't it be nice if everything over the next year was guaranteed? I'd love nothing more than for all this movie stuff to fall perfectly into place.


2. What does your love life look like next year? I've Got to Use My Imagination - Forrest Gump Soundtrack
--Well, gee... Now that can be taken a number of ways, can't it?


3. What do you say when life gets hard? Love You To Check It Out - DJ BC and the Beastles
--Hard to find a decent interpretation for this one. Maybe it works because I always love to try n' check out the silver lining in any difficult situation. I'm usually a half glass full kind of gal.

4. Song that reminds you of good times? Crash - Dave Matthews
-- Ah, this is easily one of my top five most nostalgic songs. It's one of those songs that no matter how many times you hear it, you're always left with a tingling feeling in you chest, wishing that just for a fleeting moment you could experience that era all over again.

5. What do you think when you get up in the morning? Wake Up Exhausted - Tegan and Sara
--Ha. Now, if that isn't a perfect fit, I don't know what is! Wow!

6. What song will you dance to at your wedding? Hey Joe - Jimi Hendrix
--Maybe not Hey Joe, but definitely "Hey Jim"... in which case, the "Jimi" side of things kinda works. Okay, so it's a stretch.

7. Song that reminds you of your first kiss? Thank You - Dido
-- Perhaps that's what I might've been thinking at the time, but in retrospect, I think a "NO Thank You" was more in order. Hindsight is always 20/20. However, as for the lyrics, "And I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life"... I do have to admit that my first kiss happened on a very memorable day. One that a close friend n' I still talk about with great fondness and laughter.

8. Your favorite saying? Time and Time Again - Counting Crows
-- Nope. I can't say that "time and time again" is a fav saying of mine. But I still really enjoy all those old melancholy Counting Crows songs.

9. Favorite place? I Bet It Stung - Tegan and Sara (again)
-- This song really doesn't work for the question either. Although I think if the same album comes up twice during this survey, I should be allowed to skip the song, right? Or is that somehow cheating?

Oh, I don't care if it is... this is my blog, therefore I make the rules. I'm skipping this one. Let's see what's next...

Round Here - Counting Crows (again)
--Ack, another repeat album! But this time it actually works. My favourite place? Round here. Sure. Why not? I can safely say that 'round here' definitely is one of my favourite places to be.

10. Most Missed Memory? Let's Call It Off - Peter, Bjorn and John
-- Well, I don't know about that? I'd say calling off a relationship doesn't necessarily provoke the kind of good memory you'd "miss" - even if the end of that relationship opens you up to far more wonderful things. Know what I mean?

11. What song describes your best friend? Living on a Prayer - Bon Jovi
--This song actually does make me think of one of my bestest friends. Heather loves Jon Bon Jovi. In fact, one Christmas I even sent her a Bon Jovi doll (and defaced his box with some pretty funny comments - if I do say so myself. None of which I'll repeat here.)

12. What song describes your ex? A Black and White Storybook by Roots & Pallete - Counting Heartbeats
-- We were like black and white, which is why our storybook didn't end happily ever after.

13. Where would you go on a first date? Tomorrow Morning - Jack Johnson
-- Boy, that's some kind of first date if it goes on 'til tomorrow morning! That's all I have to say about that.

14. Drug of choice? Sunny Hours - Long Beach Dub Allstars
-- Sunny hours in the summertime sounds like the perfect drug of choice to me.

15. What song describes you? Don't Look Back In Anger - Oasis
-- I think that's pretty accurate. I don't look back at much of anything in anger. Everything happens for a reason, and I'm grateful for every experience good and bad that have shaped me into who I am.

16. What is the thing you like doing most? Incomplete - Alanis Morissete
-- Leaving things incomplete. Ha. It's kinda true. One of my favourite things to do is painting, and yet it takes me forever to complete a painting or any sort of artistic project. Unless I have a concrete deadline motivating me, I could spend over a year working on a picture that should only take a few weeks.

17. The song that best describes the prime minister? Tangerine - Led Zepplin
-- When choosing between varieties of mandarin oranges, I vote for Clementines... not Tangerines.

18. Where will you be in 10 years? KRS-One - Sublime
-- The only thing I can really take from this song is that they sing "I know..." about 17 times. So, with that in mind, "I know" that I'm gonna be in a good place 10 years from now.

19. Your love life right now? A Day In The Life of A Beastie Boy - DJ BC and the Beastles
-- In case you didn't know, DJ BC and the Beastles is actually a mash-up between two songs -- one by the Beatles and the other by the Beastie Boys. Believe it or not, it really works well. So, what does this song say to me... that we make a perfect blend, and I wouldn't trade a day in my life to be with anyone else but my beastie boy. ;)

20. What is your state of mind like at the moment? Decom-Posure - NOFX
-- I don't know what this song says about my state of mind at the moment, but I really like the lyrics, and was actually singing them out loud earlier, "She's a painting outta focus with no good sense of intention she's authentic/ She's a model of disaster with a heart of revolution/She's so innocent, but guilty's her plea/ everybody wants to save her from herself, they really want to save themselves/ She's got the grace of a tourist with the heart of demolition/ She's a poem without meter or rhyme a random design / Of a flower like a rose, no one really knows/ She's a masterpiece deserving restoration or condemnation time will tell us/ If she's a lifer or a decomposuer she is a rose no one really knows"

21. How will you die? Argue - Matchbox 20
-- Gawd, I hope not! What an awful way to die as a result of an argument. BTW, the next song is Object of My Affection by Peter, Bjorn and John. I think I'd rather die from being loved to death, wouldn't you?

Local Logo

Hmmm...

I love the line, "Phred Martin was not available for comment because he's out of the country."

Yeah, no doubt.

City's logo has striking similarity - Kelowna News - Castanet.net

Fussy Felines and Budding Breakthroughs

Okay, so our cats are just weird. There's no other word for it. I suppose we all have our quirks... but these two have the oddest habit, I just can't explain it.

We usually fill our cats' water bowls with the same water that we drink - the aqua from the big blue jug. Y'see, our water here in Glenmore sometimes runs a little yellow. I mean, not always -- most of the time it just smells like chlorine or some other bad chemical that has been added in mass doses to bleach the water of it's yellowy tint. Anyhow, my point is we don't trust our water. It's just gross. So why force our cats to drink water we won't?

Alright, now that I've explained that, I have a confession to make.

Once or twice (actually more like 4 or 5 times) in the last few years, I've given our kittens water from the tap instead of the water jug. I know. I know. I'm a mean momma. I guess I just figured that if I'm rinsing their dishes out, then why bother walking into the dining room for water? Thirsty chats aren't going to notice a difference.... right?

Ha. How naive.

There was a time when I used to give Emmy n' Luna tap water every day. Of course, that was back when I lived downtown, like five years ago, before I started buying da big blue jugs. Although, I have to say, I found downtown water a lot clearer than our yellowish Glenmore water.

However, these days both Emmy and Luna totally turn their little button noses up at tap water in their bowls. In fact, they'll even go to great lengths not to drink it.... by drinking water from the toilet, sucking at the sink, and licking the bottom of the bathtub instead.

Okay, so WTF?!

You dummy cats! You think that toilet water or bathtub puddles are gonna taste better than the fresh tap water I just poured into your bowls?

I don't get it.

They are such weirdos, I swear.





Anyhow, that was how I spent part of my morning -- refreshing full water bowls because the fussy fuzz heads were apparently dying of thirst something fierce, and couldn't keep their little faces out of the toilet. And boy, when I put the refilled bowls down, you should've seen them lap up that blue jug water! Jim always looks at me as if it is common sense to only give them jug water... but I don't see how they can tolerate drinking out of the toilet just to avoid the same water that's sitting in their bowls?

Okay, now that I've bored you half to death by blabbering on about our pets' peculiar habits that I'm sure nobody gives two hoots about, I'll finally switch gears.

So we spent our morning at the office doing a bit of contract stuff, and then Jim n' I headed downtown where we spent the better part of our afternoon. We grabbed lunch to-go and then pulled up a bench beneath our butts at the boardwalk. Over chicken and hummus pitas, (Jim had the chicken, and I the hummus, of course), we talked about how blessed and thankful we are for everything. This conversation really seems to be a daily ritual. We try our best not to take a minute of this wonderful opportunity for granted.

Once we were done thanking the universe, our minds naturally transitioned to yapping about the script. I mean, what else do we have to discuss?

As we chatted between chomps, we eventually made the mistake of tossing some leftover pita crumbs to a couple nearby birds. Normally I know better than that, but my belly was full and I was feeling sympathetic as a couple slowly gathered 'round. Yes, yes, I know... we were asking for trouble. By the time those two birds multiplied to six, we decided that we had better move along before too many more of their friends showed up to the pita party.

This left us playing musical chairs for a while.

First we strolled down to another bench by the beach... but I guess someone had squished this big dragonfly earlier in the day and it was left flattened right beside where I had to set my feet. I tried keeping my legs up on the bench, but it still made me kinda sad every time I looked down at it's mashed little corpse. Needless to say, we soon decided to keep movin'.

The grass was nice n' lush, so we were going to just plop ourselves right on the well-manicured ground... but then we started thinking about this guy I knew who had been accidentally stabbed by rogue needles - not once, but TWICE - in City Park, while lounging in the thick grass...

Hmm... where else can we sit?

We finally moved on to the bleachers right next to the skate park/water park. Perfect. (Well, except for the swastika scratched into the paint probably by some ignorant 12 year old. Not to mention all the graffiti written in white marker about so-and-so being a c*cksucker or b*tch. Ah yes, lovely.)

It was here that Jim n' I had an awesome brainstorming session and came up with quite a number of breakthroughs. I'm really big on getting out to a change of scenery. It seems that our thoughts really get flowing when we're not spending our entire day inside, slouched on the couch. So yeah, it was great. I mean, we still have a number of things to figure out, but it was a terrific start. Much better than yesterday.

After about forty minutes or so, an older couple came over and each claimed a plank on the bleachers right above us, where they decided to take a nap or catch some rays or something. I don't know why they didn't go to the other set of empty bleachers beside us... but whatever. Just chalk it up to one of those little oddities in life, I guess. Since we figured that we had made substantial progress by this point, we decided to head home. Plus, our parking spot was going to expire soon too.

On our way back, we decided to pop in to Brandt's for a sunny afternoon brew. The clouds had parted and the weather has been just wonderful - warm, clear and smoke-free - perfect patio weather! (Although we still sure could use some rain! Seriously!!) So over a pint, we talked a while longer, took a few notes, and made another breakthrough or two. Tres exciting indeed.

And then of course afterwards we gushed a little more about just how lucky we are. I mean, we've definitely worked long and hard for this -- we started this script together in early 2006. But to see it all pay off and watch our dreams slowly come to fruition, well... it's simply amazing.

And so now here we sit, swaying gently on our balcony swing... me blogging, while Jim wraps up the last few pages in the Time Traveler's Wife. We're hoping to check it out when it comes to theaters this weekend.

So yeah, all in all, it was a very productive, perfectly awesome day. Life is good. :)

Writing and Reading... But No Arithmetic

Golly, I'm bushed.

Ha ha. "Golly." Why don't people use that word anymore? I think it's quite charming.

Anyhow, like I was saying, I'm feelin' bushed, tired, sleepy, dozy, fatigued, lazy. I feel like my mind was working in overdrive today. I got up a little earlier than usual and spent a couple hours wrapping up some contract work. Then I spent the rest of my day restructuring our first act and brainstorming various elements of our story. We need to introduce a few characters earlier on, and we also want to tweak some other things. Believe it or not, this process really gives your mind a workout. It's like dancing with a puzzle (if puzzles could dance) -- one step forward, two steps back. Cha-cha-cha!!

Overall, I've kinda been enjoying the brainstorming process. It gives you a chance to think outside the box away from elements you had previously cornered yourself into. Although I'll admit that it's sometimes challenging to conjure up great new ideas that perfectly fit the way you need them to. That being said, this is only our first day. I'm confident that the ideas will come in time.

As for Jim, today's process was a bit more of an uphill battle. He was doing a lot of contract work today as well, so he didn't get to spend as much time brainstorming as I did. When he finally did have a chance to sit down and discuss the script, I think he was somewhat reluctant, and finding it a little exhausting because the perfect ideas weren't flowing right away. But these things take time - certainly more than a few hours - and we've allocated ourselves a whole week, so I'm sure we'll come up with something swell soon enough.

In other news, I finally got around to buying The Life of Pi yesterday. That bright exciting tiger has been roaring at me from the shelves for the longest time. It was one of those books that I knew I would have to read someday... I just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

Well, let me tell you... I wish I hadn't waited! I started it yesterday evening and could hardly put it down. I love it! The story. The style of writing. I love everything... and I've barely cracked the spine. I almost felt that if I left it alone for a single moment, I was going to miss something. We watched half a movie last night, but I found I was staring at the book on the coffee table almost more often than looking at the TV. I couldn't wait to get back to it.

This has been a big reading year for me. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't been much of a reader in a long, long time... well, at least not a reader of novels anyway. I've been reading lots of other types of books, but rarely the sort you can lose yourself in. You don't hear many people say, "Wow! 'Essential Reiki' really gripped me from beginning to end!" or "The 'Encyclopedia of Essential Oils' has such an intricate plot - you'll never guess where it's going!"

So anyway, my goal was to read 10 books by the end of the year. A modest goal to some, but hey, it seemed reasonable enough for me. By March, I had chosen my first book and since then I have read maybe... 15? I don't know, I'd have to count them out.

Okay, in no particular order:

Memories of John Lennon
Tuesdays with Morrie
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Wicked
Diary of Anne Frank
The Great Gatsby
Alice, I Think
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Lovely Bones
The Almost Moon
The Time Traveler's Wife
Angels and Demons
The Flying Troutmans
...and 99% of Forrest Gump. I still haven't bothered to read the last chapter. I guess I was more interested in jumping into a new book than finishing the one I had started? However, in my defense, I've read it once before, and I can't help it -- I just love the movie more.

Okay, and now I've started The Life of Pi. So how many is that?

*counting quietly to self*

Sixteen. I'm on number 16. Well, that's if you count the fact that I never finished the last chapter of Forrest Gump.

I know it's odd to say that I enjoyed the movie more than the book - typically it's the other way around. But y'know what probably bothered me the most about that book? I didn't like that Forrest was this big dumb moose of a guy, who said "shit" all the time, and who was always putting himself down for being an idiot.

Now, it's not that I'm opposed at all to swearing or a little self-deprecation here and there.... It's just that the movie's interpretation of Forrest was much more heart-warming. But that's just me. Forrest Gump is my all-time favourite movie, so I guess it's hard for even the original novel to compete for my love.

Anyhow, enough rambling... I've gone beyond tired now. Now, I'm just hungry. So, on that note, I think I'm going to start figuring what we should make for dinner.

So Much To Do - So Little Time

Mmm... Jim is on his way out to pick up Chinese from the Wok Out restaurant next door. Or is it Wok In? I can never remember. Either way, he's gonna wok over there and pick it up. We haven't really celebrated yesterday's little milestone yet... well, not that yesterday was actually a milestone... I think we're just looking for any excuse to pig out on Chinese food and cheesecake and not feel guilty about it.

Anyhow, yesterday our producers came to town, allowing us to have a meeting face-to-face. I still can't believe that they drove for 4 hours from Vancover to Kelowna, just for a three hour meeting, and then drove the 4 hours home again. I guess if it proves anything at all, it shows that they're serious, which is awesome.

I've met T a handful of times before. He's a super laid-back, really down-to-earth nice guy. Neither of us had met A before.

Oh, wait... Maybe I'm going to have to change their initials, because I don't want all my future film posts referring to T & A! What kind of movie are we making here!? Okay, let's just call 'em TC and AS instead. There that's better!

Why not use their full names, you ask? Because this is my blog, and so it's my prerogative if I want to keep some things vague or private. ;)

Anyway, where was I?

Oh, yes... so Jim n' I had never met AS before, but she seemed very friendly and nice. She really loved the script, which is good and obviously important. I guess if she didn't enjoy it, she wouldn't be getting involved now, would she? (Or at least I would hope not.)

So during our meeting we discussed the main structure/story changes we want to tackle.

Remember what I was saying in my last post about Maggie's fella, Jason, getting the ax? Well, we've since decided that he's back, baby! Now with a bigger role than ever before. Lucky him!

Basically what we're doing right now is a preliminary edit before we submit our script to Telefilm and request additionally funding for even further rewrites, etc. Yes, further rewrites... That's what development is all about. But like they say, "writing is rewriting" (and rewriting and rewriting....) And don't we know it!

So yeah, we discussed a bunch of main structure changes n' stuff, and then a little later on our executive producer/investor, who I'll call MM, managed to join us. There's only one word to describe MM, and that's "totalsweetheart". He really is. You can't just call him a sweetheart. He is a totalsweetheart. To the core.

This was his first time meeting TC & AS. Everyone seemed to mesh really well. I cannot even begin to tell you how absolutely BEYOND grateful we are to be working with such a wonderful team of people.

So far on this journey, we've encountered the odd sleazebag here or there. Meanwhile, an acquaintance of ours suggested that "sometimes you want a sleazebag on your side."

Well, I'm telling you -- NO, YOU DON'T! A pompous asshole who lacks integrity and talks poorly of others, is not the sort of person you want standing behind you when you're trying to pull off the biggest project of your life. They're not going to go to bat for you, and will only hang around while the getting is good and there's money to be made. Not to mention, who wants to spend over a year working alongside someone who makes their skin crawl?!

I really believe that 'like attracts like'. And because we're good people and have been putting our positive energy out there, we've managed to attract this stellar team of individuals who want to support us. I feel like we've won the lottery.

So anyhow, now we gotta get down to business. Jim n' I felt it was feasible to get our first edit done by the end of August. We received a lot of really helpful feedback and so we're ready to jump in and incorporate those changes to make our story stronger than before.

Although this is exciting, the truth is the last time we did a major rewrite, it took about three months. We now want to accomplish this same task in about three weeks.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that I've still got a bunch of contract work to wrap up? I did manage to put a bit of a dent in it today, so that's good. I just gotta get this stuff off my plate ASAP. I feel kinda bad that I won't be able to help out any more... but obviously the script has to take top priority. I suppose it's not my fault the company never bothered to hire another writer after I quit a year ago.

But THAT, my friends, is another story...

The Post Without A Name

For the last ten minutes I've been sitting on my swing, watching this really dark smoke cloud expand above the mountain. At first the clouds were all thin n' dusty, dressed in hues of orange and pink caught from the setting sun... But with time they've grown thicker, more intense. From the corner of the soft cloudy sunset, this dark spot just started curling up, eating into the blue evening sky.

This is what it looks like now...

Okay, I think I'll finish writing this post inside...

Actually, before this smoke cloud, it was pretty nice out today. It felt like the first time in a while that the sky wasn't all grey.

But enough small talk about the weather! I came here to write about our first official conference call with our producers yesterday. I think it went really well. They were very complimentary, but also had a ton of insightful suggestions. We managed to get through most of the script scene-by-scene, and I think I took about 8 pages of notes... or maybe 6. I can't remember and it doesn't matter...

I'm so excited to write! Jim is... well, not tres excited like moi, but he's looking forward to shaping things up too. One thing he can agree on is that with each subsequent draft, we always see the story get better. I can't wait to see how this next version will turn out!

As you may or may not know, for the 6th Sense M. Night Shyamalan didn't decide to make Bruce Willis a ghost until had written his 10th draft. (Oops... sorry I didn't give a spoiler alert. But if you don't know the ending to that movie by now, then you've been living under a rock.)

Of course we both know that this writing process will mean some hard cuts... but I'm totally up to the challenge.

As the director-to-be, Jim has a slightly harder time letting go of things. As we wrote each scene, he'd visualize how he'd shoot it. So since he can already see the whole movie shot-for-shot in his head, he sometimes gets a little more precious about saying goodbye to certain scenes and characters. Fortunately he eventually gets over it. :)

Actually, a mutual decision Jim n' I made tonight was that we should cut out Jason – no, not Jim's brother ;) -- but Maggie's husband. He wasn't much of a significant character anyway, until the third act... we can probably live without him. Why not just make Maggie recently widowed instead?

Basically, we're sending the script to phat camp -- cutting the fat n' tighening it up. I love this sort of stuff. Jim, I think, just wants to get it over with. He's more excited for actual production.

Okay, just so you know... there are four phases to getting a film made:

Development – The first step in making a movie - what we're in now. So, it's basically reworking the structure of the story, and doing lots of editing n' rewrites, some more editing n' rewrites, and maybe just a little bit more editing n' rewrites. Okay, and then you attach some distributors and s'more producers to the project, and then some other stuff happens that I honestly know nothing about....

Packaging – Okay, I guess this is when a bunch of stuff happens... like the producers figure out how they're going to market it, maybe? And I think they also begin casting during this time too. They say if all goes smoothly *fingers crossed* we should start casting in January or February. But really, who knows? We currently have a one year plan to get this movie to production, but something might happen and then it'll takes three... you never know.

This brings me to...

Production – This is when the movie gets made. Shooting n' all that stuff that is far more interesting to directors.

Post-Production – Editing the movie together, adding music n' whatnot, etc. Our producer says that you always make three films: The one you write. The one you shoot. And the one you cut. Post-production is when you cut.

So, remember that stuff I was saying earlier about directors getting sensitive when people edit their artistic vision? Well, this is why you sometimes have the "director's cut" for a movie.... someone obviously hacked their vision to pieces, leaving it to shrivel n' die on the cutting room floor.

Ooh... how melodramatic does that sound?! Ha.

Alright, so anyway... this is where we're at. Nothing too exciting as of yet... but y'know, I never said it would be.