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?

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!

Busy Weekend

It's going to be a busy weekend. I have to go check on Val and Will's place, so their crack addict neighbors don't know they are away (hopefully the crack addicts don't read the fnnygrl blog) and then I have to go to buys some props for this weekend's shoot. We are (finally) shooting Brick Morgan, the spoof trailer we have been working on for a year. (Most Smidgits are only a few weeks from concept to completion but this one has been around a long time. I guess it needed to simmer a while.) Kelly told me yesterday at the meeting that I'm directing, which is fine. It's a lot of green screen stuff since we have a lot of special effects in this one but I directed some green screen work on the Jerseynaut so I think it will be okay.

We are shooting Saturday and Sunday all day (which means I'll miss the RWA chapter meeting gosh dang it). It's funny to me that we need two full days of shooting for a trailer when we can shoot a whole episode in a few hours usually. We shot two Chef Shelly's in a half day and The Sign in about three or four hours. But those were simple setups whereas this has a lot of action sequences. I guess it's understandable since a trailer is usually cut from hundreds of hours of footage and we don't have hundreds of hours. I admire Mark and Kelly for all the editing work they have to do after the 'easy' task of filming is done. Learning to edit is on my "to-do" list during the 'year of writing dangerously'. I guess I need to get on that too, huh?

I like filming because the more I do it, the better I get at it. And that's what learning is all about. But it's going to be two very long, hot days. Bless the actors especially John Baniqued. he has the patience of a saint and is always so willing to do just about anything we ask and risking life and limb on many a set. John, you ROCK! Brick Morgan is all about you my friend! Brick Morgan is back, Summer 2008!

Deadlines!!!

Okay, I can't post long today (or watch Hulu either!) because I have to finish the second episode of the new Vegas series that Smidgits is working on. We are shooting the pilot episode soon and we are trying to figure out if we have enough money in the budget to shoot two. (Saving some money on actors and locations if possible by doubling up). And since the budget meeting is Saturday I have to get the script to Kelly by tomorrow and of course it's not finished because I procrastinate. So I gotta get my butt in gear. Longer post tomorrow, thanks for bearing with me loyal readers!

My Dream Job

If you get a chance, check out Christopher Lawrence's column on Mondays in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. It's a TV lovers dream. He's a television critic. Yes, he gets to watch television FOR A LIVING. (I'm so jealous!)

I've been reading his column for a while now, it's funny and smart and has lots of great info. This week his column was about watching TV on the internet. He recommended some sites like Hulu, Fancast, and Veoh to watch current and classic television shows (they have some full length movies as well.) I knew about Veoh because they have feature some of our Smidgits videos but they have changed formats recently to focus more on the "big guns". I checked out Hulu on Mr. Lawrences recommendation and I love it. Except I really should be writing, not watching even more television.

I sent Mr. Lawrence an email thanking him for his great column and he wrote back suggesting I catch "Kitchen Confidential" on Hulu. I did. It's a great show, really funny. Catch the first episode and you'll never look at a French chef the same way again. Check it out.

Back on Track

Okay, so I have been home a week now and I think I'm finally back on track. It's tough to be gone so long and it was really tough not to write anything for that long and then get back into the swing. I am only two weeks away from the deadline for the Nicholl Fellowship which means I only have a week really to get "Arnie" in ship shape. The deadline for the Disney Fellowship appears to be June first so I have only six weeks to write a spec television script. Hey, I work best under pressure, right?

I wrote several new sketches for Smidgits this week, including collaborating on a new movie spoof called "Brick Morgan" which will shoot in two weeks and my homage to the ninja genre called "Blind Date with a Ninja" that should shoot in three weeks depending on the availability of the Ninja. It felt really good to write and have my stuff read by the cast and crew. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I also came up with two new movie ideas. I'm firing on multiple cylinders now!

For those that were wondering, my mom and grandma survived my New Mexico adventure, although the freezer is bare as apparently they ate lots of TV dinners while I was gone. I did all of the cooking last week as my mother has been working lots of hours at the bread store (who knew the discount bread biz was so demanding!) I'm still planning this weeks menu but I thank gosh I'm back in the land of Fresh & Easy. And my B.J. gave me a hug and welcomed me back, isn't that nice? I just love that store. Please support your local Fresh & Easy, I want them to do well.

If anyone is interested, I'm hoping to catch "CJ7" at the movies this week. It's the new film from Steven Chow of Kung Fu Hustle fame. Love him, think this one looks pretty good. If you want to go with me, let me know. Hope to see some of my loyal readers soon. Love to you all and now it's time to get a writin'! Love to you all.