Up and Down (Literally)

So we got The Graminator to Henderson (It's 50 miles from my house, round trip) and she was okay but she got confused when we were leaving (not unusual since it was a long day for her) but she was eating well and I'm still hoping we can get her transferred to the closer facility. Then early this morning she tried to get out of bed by herself and fell again. They said there was no further injury so I'm hoping that is the case. I think we all thought that the pain would keep her from trying something like that but apparently the pain medication is working a little too well. Honestly, I don't know what we are going to do. I'm so exhausted, mentally even more than physically. I'm worried about my grandma, my mom, getting grandma moved, working on fixing her room for when she gets home, figuring out how we are going to care for her. My mom is worrying me the most, she has a tendency to keep every feeling tucked deep inside her and I'm afraid that she'll end up ill as well. I can't tell what she's thinking except that I can read the stress coming off of her like a volcano that needs to blow but can't. I'm so afraid she'll implode from the pressure. I just want to sit down and cry but I can't, so I'll go into my feeling avoidance mode and eat my way through it (except there is no ice cream in the house and I'm afraid to leave in case the hospital calls again), Aughhhhhhhhh!
We are heading out there as soon as my mom gets off work (I'd go now but driving 100 miles a day is just too much for me right now and it's important to get my mom out there, no matter what she says). More updates tomorrow.

The Graminator

Okay, here's the latest update. Apparently there isn't a surgery for a broken pelvic bone. You can have hip surgery all day long, even replace your hip, but for a stable pelvic fracture it's just bed rest and pain mediation. She will have to go to a rehabilitation hospital for a while for rest and physical therapy. I guess no surgery is good in a way, she won't have to go through the trauma of anesthesia, etc. My grandmother has Alzheimer's and disturbances to her routine are very upsetting and really cause her to get disoriented. No need to add to the problem if it isn't necessary.

They were going to transfer her to the rehab facility last night but then she had some nausea and vomiting so her nurse called her doctor and they put the transfer on hold until they could make sure everything was okay. I think it was just because she hadn't eaten anything for more than 36 hours and then all she wanted was ice cream. With the morphine it was probably just to much for her stomach.

There are three possible facilities to transfer her to and the only thing we asked was just not to Henderson as my mother cannot drive out there to visit her. (My mother cannot drive on freeways or make left hand turns without a light and she gets stressed when driving 'out of her comfort zone and since she has a heart condition, we try not to make it any worse for her than we can) so they are sending her to...Henderson. Of course. Gotta love the HMO. The case worker told me I can request a transfer to one of the other facilities as soon as a bed there opens up. But since she had to stay at the hospital last night after all I'm going to try again today to see if they can't get her into a closer facility (and by closer I mean that none of these facilities is anywhere near our house but at least the one by Sunrise is in familiar territory for my mom.

I posted a picture of Grandma playing Wii. Isn't she cute?

Thanks for all of the best wishes for my Gran. Your thoughts ad prayers are greatly appreciated. At 87, everything is such a concern. As my dad's friend Gary said to me the other night, getting old isn't for wimps!

Grandma Fall Down, Go Boom

Sorry no post yesterday, I had the best intentions but Sunday night my grandmother fell going to bed. We took her to the urgent care who diagnosed her with a broken pelvis and sent her to the hospital. We left her there at 3:30 in the morning. I was back before 9am yesterday (after I took my mom to work - she couldn't get out of it - and grabbed a shower) but I missed the doctor by minutes. We waited all day and they took her for an MRI at 7pm and now we are headed to the hospital to lay in wait for the doctor (it's 6:30 in the morning so I have every hope that we catch that wascally wabbit.) I'll update you as soon as I know something, anything!

Lazy Writers

Gosh I wish I had written this...it's too funny! Enjoy watching this clip from "That Mitchell and Webb Look" while I have to go write my script the hard way!

Summer Soup

Yeah, I know, recipes should be over at Gourmand Girl but since I've been working on the cookbook I've let that blog slide temporarily. So y'all get a bonus, free recipes without having to change sites!

This is an awesome soup, very tasty. Most people think of soup as winter fare (the thought of soup when it's a hundred and twelve is kind of yucky) but this soup has very light and bright flavors, thanks to the lemon. Plus it's really fast to make so you aren't spending a long time over a hot pot. Try it, it's delicious. I made it with a Greek salad and some frozen spanikopita I bought at Trader Joes. It was a flavorful yet not too heavy meal.

Avgolemono (Greek Lemon-Egg Soup)

6 c. chicken broth (use a flavorful broth, I used a double strength chicken broth)
3/4 c. uncooked long grain rice
3 eggs
Juice of 1 lemon (or more, I used 2 small lemons and it was just right)

Bring broth to a boil and add rice. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 20-25 minutes until rice is cooked. In a bowl, beat eggs and lemon juice. When rice is cooked, slowly add 1 c. of the hot broth to the egg mixture, stirring constantly. (This will temper the eggs so you don't scramble them.) Slowly add the egg mixture back into the broth, again stirring constantly. Heat through. Serve.

Yup, that's it, four ingredients and less than half an hour. I know this soup sounds weird but it's really good. You could add chopped chicken meat or herbs if you felt like dressing it up, but it's great just as is. Enjoy this simple summer soup.

Apologies and a Review

So sorry, loyal readers, that I have been incommunicado but I'm working on several projects with eminent deadlines so I've been writing frantically. The NV Film Commission Screenplay Competition has an August first deadline and I'm polishing the re-write on AJBB for that plus the Disney fellowship deadline is August eighth and I have decided to enter the television division contest this year. You need to write a spec episode of an existing television show so I'm writing an episode of "The Big Bang Theory". Writing a sitcom by yourself is difficult so I hope this one is good enough to catch someone's eye. Anyway, my posts may continue to be sparse for the next few weeks as I get these projects completed.

I did get a chance to get out of the house on Friday and go to the movies with my brother and Val. We saw "The Dark Knight", the latest installment in the Batman series from Christopher Nolan. Yes, our money, along with so many others, went to making this the biggest opening film of all time (so far) and I think it will continue to make money.

I heard a lot of reviews of this film before I saw it so I went in with really high expectations and it did not disappoint. I really like Christopher Nolan's work (loved "Momento") and I have thought Christian Bale was a talented guy (not to mention gorgeous) since he made "Newsies". There was even buzz that this film should get an Oscar nod for Best Picture, with comparisons to "The Departed". I'm not going to go that far because while it was a great ride with lots of excitement and great stunts and special effects, some of the roles were really underwritten.

If you didn't see the first installment in the series, you wouldn't know most of the back stories of the main characters. I think it was a bit of a disservice to newcomers to the series to not give them at least a little bit more of who and why they were. It assumed you knew it all already and while I'm sure many people had seen the first film, it wouldn't have hurt to give everyone a brief 'history' lesson to give the characters a bit more depth. Because of the lack of this history, it felt like the only characters you really got to know anything about and truly care about were The Joker and Harvey Dent. Not that these weren't great characters but their interplay with others would have been enhanced and more nuanced if we knew everyone's stories better as well.

The most underwritten role was that of Rachel Dawes, with Maggie Gyllenhaal taking over for Katie Holmes. If you had seen the first movie you would know the history between Bruce Wayne and Rachel. Instead we are given the love triangle of Bruce, Rachel and Harvey without any real deep emotion because we have no idea what went on before -unless you recently rented the first film. I honestly didn't care who Rachel ended up with because I couldn't really see why either man was so in love with her. I know why the producers didn't want Katie Holmes back, as she was woefully miscast in the first film, but I'm not sure that Maggie Gyllenhaal was a better choice. Don't get me wrong, I think she is an incredibly talented actress but this wasn't the part for her. The writing of the Rachel character was meager at best. Rachel is supposed to be a woman who believes in good triumphing over evil, about doing the right thing. She has become a DA to put the bad guys away, which should make her a bit harder as she faces the reality of fighting crime but she should also retain a bit of naivete which makes our hero's want to be her 'shining knight'. But Katie Holmes was impossible to believe as a law school graduate while Maggie Gyllenhaal was all harsh lines and edges and no wistful hope for a brighter future. Oh well, hopefully the third installment will bring us a well drawn female character.



Okay, the Heath Ledger issue. Everyone wants to see this part for Heath, as one of his last roles. Even lots of Oscar buzz. And he was phenomenal. Put that next to "Brokeback Mountain" and you wouldn't even know it was the same guy. Hands down he was a truly great actor. And he scared the hell out of me as The Joker. I'm afraid of clowns to begin with (I secretly think that all clowns are serial killers, a bunch of John Wayne Gacy's just waiting to put your body in a crawlspace) and Heath did nothing to calm my fears. The Joker was an unrepentant killer with no moral boundaries. Spooky, scary, very bad man. Probably the best 'comic book' villain portrayal ever, because he was so non-comic book. Heath was so brilliant that I almost cried towards the end of the film when he expounds on The Joker and Batman's symbiotic relationship. I will miss him and the fact that Batman won't ever face this particular foe ever again.



I do think that in the Heath madness, another actor's truly great performance got lost. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face was outstanding. His character has to under go a complete transformation from shining good guy to complete bad guy in the course of the film and he was terrific. Really, he is another chameleon actor who you wouldn't recognize from role to role if he wasn't so darned good looking (except in "Erin Brockovich", but then I don't go for the rough biker type). If you don't know who he is, rent "Thank You for Smoking" for a glimpse of his brilliance.

Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine gave sturdy and serviceable performances. Again, I think the lack of back story hindered their performances just a bit. The film's action sequences could have been edited down just a bit to allow for some story time dedicated our hero and his trusted sidekicks to give them just a bit more depth and shading. These men are genuinely talented actors who deserve to be given more material to work with.

Still, this was an edge-of-your-seat action film from start to finish. Grab a popcorn and a soda (but not too much soda since a two and a half hour running time is long and you don't want to miss the action running to the restroom) and sit back for summer's best ride. Go see it in a theater, because the action is big and needs a giant screen and the sound is amazing and you need to hear it as it was meant to be heard. (I loved the use of silence in the film as well, it was a great directorial choice that goes against the norm.) "The Dark Knight" puts the super in superhero.

Politically Correct or Abominably Stupid?

Barack Obama had a fundraiser in Chicago last Friday night. (Actually he had several, this one was at the Hyatt Regency). The opening act at this $2300 a person event was Bernie Mac, the comedian. Bernie did a ten minute set. Towards the end of a set he did a joke that went something like this. (Please note that I am paraphrasing as I was not actually at the event but I believe you will get the gist of the joke.)

-My little nephew came to me and he said, "Uncle, what's the difference between a hypothetical question and a realistic question?" "I said, 'I don't know, but,' I said, 'go upstairs and ask your mother if she'd make love to the mailman for $50,000." He came back and said, "She said she would make love to the mailman or anyone else for $50,000". Then I told him to go ask his sister if she'd make love to the mailman for $50,000. He came back and said, "She said she would make love to the mailman or anyone else for $50,000." So I told him, "Hypothetically we would have $100,000 but realistically we live with a couple of ho's."-

Ba da bum. (That's the blog equivalent of a drum rim shot) Apparently the audience got upset at this joke because it was "offensive to women". This was after Bernie's set included jokes about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity. Okay, so when I heard the joke, I didn't think it was offensive. So I told it to my mom and she laughed, a lot. (Maybe I just tell it better than Bernie?) So then she had me tell my bother and Val and my grandma. And they laughed, a lot. So apparently, the joke was funny to them and not offensive. To people ranging from their thirties to their eighties. Most of whom were women. Granted, we are a small sample, but a pretty good one in my opinion.

Then Barack came on to make his speech (it was his fundraiser after all) and then made this comment.

"We can't afford to be divided by race. We can't afford to be divided by region or by class, and we can't afford to be divided by gender, which, by the way, that means, Bernie, you've got to clean up your act next time," Obama said. "This is a family affair. By the way, I'm just messing with you, man."

An Obama spokesperson later said "Sen. Obama told Bernie Mac that he doesn't condone these statements and believes what was said was inappropriate."

Inappropriate? Has Senator Obama seen Bernie Mac before? His entire act could be deemed inappropriate, depending on who was in the audience. He's not Mr. Rogers and I find it hard to believe that no one who organized this event knew that Bernie was going to use crude language and crude humor. I also find it hard to believe that there were many children in the audience of a $2300 per person evening event. And crude humor will offend some people, no matter what. That's just how it is. So don't blame Bernie for doing what he does, that's why you hired him. Blame yourself for not booking a 'cleaner' comedian.

Look, I'm all for the Obama campaign showing us their values, heck, how else are we going to get to know the candidate? But part of that is showing is also using your judgement and acknowledging some personal responsibility. Don't hire Bernie Mac if you don't want Bernie Mac style humor. Pretty simple. There a plenty of other comics out there. But they wanted the appeal of Bernie Mac. (He has a huge following both as a comic and as an actor.) They hired Bernie Mac. Bernie Mac delivered. Then they ripped on Bernie Mac. Not cool, not cool at all. If it was truly a 'family affair', why book Bernie Mac?

He told a joke. Some people thought it was funny, other people didn't. Hey, that's comedy. But to hire that type of comic, then disavow his style of comedy just because it offends a few people? I guess that's politics.

Doggy Hotel

Apparently, when you are an unemployed writer with a dog, people think you have nothing to do but watch their dog too. So I am once again dog sitting. It's fine, really, I enjoy dogs and this one is a young terrier (she looks schnauzer-ish)who is a really sweet dog. But my dog is getting a little tired of being pimped out as a 'friend' to every dog in the world. Java is thirteen and kind of grumpy (okay, she's downright bitchy) and she doesn't want to play with some upstart young pup. So I probably won't get much work done today but I'm giving it my best effort.

Speaking of dogs, did you see "Greatest American Dog" last night? Some of those people love their dogs just a bit more than is necessary. I love my dog and think she's wonderful but I have never bought her shoes and I never will. (Although she has chewed enough of my shoes that I probably should have bought her some!) Look, these dogs are cute and they can do some fun tricks but ultimately, they are just dogs who want to play and have fun, not prance around in Prada's. But I loved the part where the little Boston stole the bulldog's skateboard. So something my dog would do. Ultimately this show is watchable for the dogs, but I hate most of the owners.

Okay, I'm going to try to get some work done while the dogs are quiet. Call me if you need doggy day care!

The Gospel of Mitchell and Webb

Okay, I have taken it upon myself to spread the word about a television show that totally cracks me up. It's on BBC America (which leads me to believe that in Europe it's on BBC) and it's called "That Mitchell and Webb Look" and stars David Mitchell and Robert Webb. It's a sketch comedy show that is really funny and inventive.

Most sketch comedy shows have about a 50/50 funny rate to me (that is, I find about fifty percent of the sketches funny and the rest only so so or worse). Some seasons of "Saturday Night Live" have been as low as 10/90. "Kids in the Hall" usually ran 70/30. "Little Britain" (also on BBC America and coming soon to HBO) was 80/20. But "That Mitchell and Webb Look" is consistently 90/10 or higher. Some of the sketches are so funny, I laugh out loud (this is a rare feat at home, where a chuckle is the norm).

My favorite sketches are "Numberwang", a convoluted game show that no one knows the rules to, even the host, and the contestants are always "Julie" and "Simon". I would make "That's Numberwang!" my catch phrase if it wasn't, you know, stealing.

I also LOVE the "Lazy Film Writers" (hmm, maybe because I am one?) where they basically write films they know nothing about. "We started writing and the Microsoft Assistant popped up and said 'It looks like you are writing a heartwarming, underdog British sports movie, would you like some help?' so we just typed in some character names and a title". It's so funny if you are at all a film fan. The trailers for the film cracked me up..."From the catering staff that brought you "The Full Monty" and starring a guy who was almost in "Brassed Off"... They also wrote a medical drama but didn't want to research medical jargon so in it the doctors just keep calling for "medicine, nurse, this patient needs medicine, right now!" It's pee your pants funny.

I love the sketches at the swap meet too, where the seller always has some thing that looks normal, but isn't (The wardrobe he's selling is the doorway to Narnia, the cup he has for sale is the Holy Grail.) I wanted to put one of those videos on this post but couldn't find one so I put this sketch on instead...here, the Nazi's figure out that they might be 'the baddies'. Hysterical.



There are other recurring skits, like "Sir Digby Chicken Caesar" and "Ted and Peter", the snooker commentators.

Okay, you definitely need to see this show. It airs Friday nights on BBC America. And if you don't have BBC America, call your local cable provider...then go to YouTube, because they have lots of Mitchell and Webb sketches there. Enjoy!

Living the Dream

Okay, maybe it's not the full dream (that involves a boatload of money and Ben Affleck) but I got a glimpse of my dream yesterday during the second read through of "The Vegas Show", a comedy pilot we are shooting in September. While the script writing is collaborative (as most TV shows are) this second script is mostly mine (just because it hadn't been run through the mill yet, so to speak) so it was awesome to hear the read through and the laughs (in the right places!) People liked the script and thought it flowed well and was nicely paced and didn't have a lot to add, which made me feel really good. Again, I can't take credit for the whole thing but a lot of it was 'my baby' so I was really pleased to hear it out loud.

We are working with some really talented actors on this project. Nathan Ferrier and Elly Brown came on board for this show and I can't say enough good things about them. It is so nice to work with actors who come prepared and ready to work. They are really awesome.


Elly is a dancer/singer/actress who can currently be seen in "Jubilee". She's gorgeous and talented and I would really hate her if she wasn't so gosh darned nice and terrific to be around. Seriously, she's a great talent and eager to learn film making (and she's a good sport too, she was right there in the blazing heat helping out on the "Brick Morgan" shoot.)


Nathan is a really talented actor. Honestly, he needs to be in LA. Casting directors take note. While Nathan is extremely good looking, he's not just a pretty boy. He is really dedicated to his craft, is always prepared, takes direction well and I think he has what it takes to be a leading man or a great character actor. And to top it off, he's a nice guy. (Back away slowly ladies, he has a girlfriend. I know, I know, all the good ones are taken.) It's so neat to work with him because he makes my material look good.

We also have the honor of working with Zach Freeman and Eddie Deirmenjian on this show. It's going to be really cool. I can't wait. Well, I can wait, but only because I don't want to shoot in 112 degree heat. But regardless of the temperature, this show is going to be HOT!

Are You Supposed To Be Tired After A Holiday Weekend?

Okay, it was a lovely holiday weekend but I think I'm more tired than I was before!

Friday was a lovely barbecue - I made slider sized hamburgers, potato salad, homemade baked beans, corn on the cob and a blueberry pie that stuck to the pan terribly (which is probably why the recipe said to use parchment paper but I didn't have any so I used foil but it definitely needed the parchment) but the pie, once scraped into a bowl with some vanilla ice cream was still delicious. We then played Wii. I rented some games and we loved "Carnival Games" which was all those midway game you see at fairs. It was fun. And we rented "Smarty Pants", which is a trivia game. My brother really like that one, probably because he beat me, two games to one. I'll be honest, I usually kick butt in trivia (hey, I was on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" after all) but he was on fire. After Will and Val left I went outside to watch the fireworks around the neighborhood. I was amazed at all the aerial fireworks. (are those legal? They never had those when I was a kid!) The fireworks scared my dog, Java. It was kind of funny, in the house she was all brave and barky but when we went outside she got all scared and wanted to be held.

Saturday I had a meeting at Smidgits where I got assigned by "Captain Kelly" to start handling promotions on a couple of Internet channels. We have a script read through tomorrow. There is a lot of work and I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Sunday Will and Val came over and we ordered pizza (N.Y. Pizza and Pasta, they are delicious!) and played more Wii. This time it was "Beach Sports". There are several games on it too and we played Bocce (Will won, but once again my mom picked it up so fast, she was like some Bocce queen) and Disc Golf (like Frisbee Golf). It was funny to be playing games that are played outdoors but indoors. It was better than playing in 108+ degree heat. (The heat just sucks the energy right out of me.)

Then I watched the movies "Semi-Pro" with Will Farrell and "Vantage Point" with Dennis Quaid. I really liked "Vantage Point", it was an interesting way to tell the story, even though I had some parts figured out ahead of time. It was definitely a thriller and it kept me thinking the whole time so I give it a "rent this" rating. I wasn't as impressed with "Semi-Pro" (gulp, now I bring down the wrath of the Farrell-ites). It seemed that the movie couldn't decided what it wanted to be, a raunchy comedy or an underdog sports movie. It ended up being neither very well. The whole story line with Woody Harrelson was completely lost (or so badly underwritten that it came across as really pointless). I think the writers tried to re-write "Major League" into a basketball movie then added the "Will Farrell" tone to it. Trust me when I say it, "Major League" did it much better. There was one funny line, when Will Farrell's character says "It's just like the Titanic, but it's full of bears." It's the only line that made me laugh.

So when I read back, it seems like all I did was have fun this weekend. But I'm tired. Who knew having all that fun could be more tiring than working?

Happy Independence Day!

For whatever Independence Day means to you, I hope yours is a safe and happy one. Bless the founding fathers (and the women who made their efforts possible) for giving us what I truly believe is the greatest country ever. And if you disagree with me, thank the founders that you live in a country where dissent is not just tolerated, but encouraged.

Happy 4th of July!

Strange Obsessions

Okay, so being a stay at home writer means finding lots of ways to occupy your time to keep from writing. (Not that I do that, no way, uh uh, nope, I am focused and always on the job...yeah, right)

Actually, since I quit my job I watch less television than I did before and while I do read more than before, some of that is 'research'. And while it seems like I write about playing Wii a lot (NOTE: I am hot on the trail of a Wii Fit and hope to own one later on today) I really only play on Sundays with my family. So most of my "spare" time is actually spent working on the cookbook, researching and developing recipes. But all work and no play makes Shae incredibly bored (even when the work is fun). So about a year ago I bought a Nintendo DS, mostly because the SIL-to be Val got one. It looked like fun and a lot of the games were for grownups, like Brain Age. So I would go through bouts of playing it obsessively, then not at all, then picking it back up again, etc. I do that with sudoku too. I hadn't been playing for a while, then Val loaned me her game "Professor Layton and the Curious Village."

It took me a couple of weeks, playing for an hour or so at a time (okay, the actual total was under 10 hours of playing, I know because the game keeps track) but I finally finished the game. It's a very creative game where you roam around the town of St. Mystere and play puzzles to find clues to the mystery. Most are logic puzzles, spatial reasoning exercises, etc. I love those sorts of things so it was right up my alley. I never would have bought the game because it looked like a kids game, but it was actually a lot of fun. It combines the puzzles with the mystery and cartoons in a Japanese anime style. (It's kind of strange to hear British accents in characters that totally have that Japanime look). There are 120 puzzles in the game with 15 more you can unlock by solving various mysteries (you find painting scraps you have to put together, you find gizmos you assemble, etc.). Then you can download more puzzles via the DS's wi-fi connection.

Look, I grew up in the era of Pong and the Commodore 64 so if you told me that at my age I'd be playing video games, I'd have thought you were crazy. But I'm glad that not only is the technology there but that there are games that I would want to play (since Halo is not my idea of fun). If you have a DS, I totally recommend "Professor Layton". If you don't, I recommend you get one, they really are a lot of fun.

Speaking of games, I was talking to my friend Nathan about our holiday Wii tournament and he told me about a Japanese Wii game that sounded to bizarre to be true. And it was. It's actually an April Fool' joke. But it's funny. Check out the video of Super Pii Pii Brothers. I'd almost want to buy this game if it were real...almost.

Definitely, Definitely

I don't want to give much away but I highly recommend the romantic comedy "Definitely, Maybe". It's a warm, touching, funny movie that manages to be smart (rare for romantic comedies) and not formulaic (extremely rare for romantic comedies). Written and directed by Adam Brooks, it manages to be romantic, realistic and political.

It's not often you find a romance set against the backdrop of hope and scandal of the Clinton years but it works as a metaphor for the life of the hero, Will Hayes, brilliantly played by Ryan Reynolds. I will admit to having liked Ryan from all the way back when he was on "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Parlor". He is the only reason to watch "Blade: Trinity". But a lot of the characters he plays are sort of snarky, smart-assed men who are quick with a comeback line. Not that he isn't great at that, just try not to laugh at "Waiting" and he even made "Van Wilder" watchable. But it wasn't until I saw him at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival in a movie called "The Nines" where I saw he had a great deal of depth as an actor as well. (Please rent "The Nines". It's a really interesting film that's funny, creepy, existential and entertaining. It also stars indie gal Hope Davis and the very nice Melissa McCarthy of "Gilmore Girls" and "Samantha Who"). It's great to see someone really using Ryan's talent. And nice to see he got over his breakup with Alanis Morrisette and is now engaged to Scarlett Johannsen. (Man, will they have beautiful babies or what?)

Abigail Breslin (from "Little Miss Sunshine") plays Will's daughter, Maya, and someone gave her the direction to not play it too cute (thank goodness) so she comes off as a really smart but vulnerable little girl. (As opposed to whomever directed her in "Kit Kittridge" because in the trailers for that she practically channels Shirley Temple on crack.) Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz and Isla Fisher (loved her as the crazy sister in "Wedding Crashers") are the women that Will meets, falls in love with, loses, and meets again and again.

I will admit, I love romantic comedies, even some of the bad ones ("27 Dresses" was so formulaic and got universally panned, yet I didn't think it was so awful, but then again I went in with really low expectations). But "Definitely, Maybe" is one I would watch over and over again. I even teared up at one point. It was a really nice story told really well. Definitely, definitely check it out.


This picture is of Ryan from when we met him at Sundance. I tried to snap a shot of him with my brother Will when they were talking but Ryan is really tall and Will isn't so I mostly just got Ryan's head. This is a slightly better picture of him.

What a Week

It's going to be a busy week. I started a new script and I'm also starting a new TV pilot script. (VERY different than my first TV pilot, the sitcom "Glitter City". This one is darker, edgier and sexier. Stay tuned.) We are prepping for the read through of the second episode of The Vegas show next week at the Smidgits studio and I am taking over the official blogging duties for the Smidgits.

I guess the biggest thing this week is the Fourth of July. We are planning a barbecue/movie/Wii tournament. We like lots of activity on the fourth. Mostly because the fifth is the anniversary of my dad's passing and we try to keep my mom from feeling too sad. It's nine years this year. It's strange because it feels like no time at all and yet feels like forever at the same time.

My father was a huge presence in this world. Love him or hate him (or both as I did throughout my teenage years) you couldn't deny his life force. He was truly the smartest man I have ever known and while I would never marry a man just like my dad, I could never marry any one less intelligent than he. He taught me to love to read. He gave me a love of all things technological. He gave me Star Wars and Indiana Jones and taught me how to take care of my car. And he was the world to my mother.

I thought my mother would disappear after my dad died. Literally. She's not a big woman to begin with but she got even smaller. She was eighty pounds and looked a lot like a concentration camp survivor. She cried more than I had seen her cry my whole life. But she got a little better, piece by piece. It was like watching a hollow cup fill back up, one drop at a time. He was her whole world, especially because Will and I were older. I tried my best to take care of her and of Will because I felt that I had to. (I was the oldest and I could hear my dad's voice, telling me to take care of them for him.) And after a while, it felt like the world would turn itself right again. Then my mom was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer and the world spun out of control again. But instead of retreating, we met the challenge head on. Most amazing was my mother. That was the worst experience of my life (so I can only imagine what it was like for her) and she came through it stronger and more her own person than I could ever have imagined. I still remember the day we found out that she was in remission. After I dropped her off at home, I was driving and I had to pull over to the side of the road because I was crying and I felt my dad, telling me that it was all right and that he was proud of me. Now my mom is feisty and she stands up for what she wants more. (Don't get me wrong, she still can't make a left hand turn.) But we still miss my dad.

Maybe it's because I'm back home, living in the house I grew up in, but I miss him more now than before. Maybe it's because I don't have to take care of my family as much as I did before. I now appreciate immensely the job he did for our family. I know he would be so proud of my mom. He would be happy that my brother is getting married and I think he would like Val. He would LOVE the Wii and TiVo. He would HATE the price of gas and he'd be a terrible driver (he was so mad at stupid drivers nine years ago, imagine how road raged he'd be today!)

I hope your Fourth of July is wonderful. Ours will be full of laughter and family time. It won't be perfect because I know that at least for Will and Mom and me, we will be thinking of dad, just a little. But the burgers will be good and the Wii will get competitive and we will celebrate a different kind of independence.

Oh, and there will be sparklers. I'm going to take a picture of my grandma with one. She's going through her second childhood so I can't wait to see her face. Have a great Fourth!