Happy New Year

There is so much to say about what was 2007, and about what 2008 is capable of being. But what it boils down to is that 2007 was big, and 2008 is expected to be bigger. I just don't have any kind of best of list other than there were plenty of things that I enjoyed, and had plenty of family, friends, and acquaintances to enjoy all the good times with. I have a New Year's ("Substance") Potluck Party to get to, so let's leave things at that. And hope all of you reading this had a good 2007, and an even better 2008. And be safe in all your New Year's Celebrations.

I have a lot, and I mean a helluva lot of photos that I gotta upload to myspace and flickr that date as far back as October. So hopefully, I'll get to post a Photo Parade blog entry by next week at the latest. Also, I wanna write a bit about a sorely missed television favorite: Arrested Development. All in due time, of course. Until then, and once again, Happy 2008 err-body!

Viral Marketing article

Don't have a lot of time to devote to this entry, but this bad boy deals with how the marketing for The Dark Knight and Cloverfield has gone down this year, and plus marketing a film in general. Dig it!

http://boxoffice.com/distribution/2007/12/viral-marketing-promotion.php

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Yeah, folksies, have a good and Merry Dec. 25th. This day otherwise known as Christmas. Be safe and be well, eat some grub, and make sure you remember to not forget to bring your gift receipts when you go back to the mall tomorrow.

Life is Happening

So yeah, I've running around both San Francisco, San Jose, and in between. Last Tuesday, I found out my friend Q.A. and her roommates were having a potluck party in Daly City, and because, I hadn't seen her, James, and a couple of other friends in that circle of SF/Daly City friends. Although I had to get someone to cover my Friday night closing shift. Lucky enough, I found someone who had a morning shift that same day to switch with. But that also meant that I had to open the store Friday morning after helping close the store on Thursday night.

Ho-Boy.

But it's not like I hadn't done something like that before, and it was a necessary evil. So I drove up to DC, and hung out with James, Q.A., and the gang. James' roommate, Bill, questioned my man-hood each time I didn't down whatever drink I had in my hand... I got a damn good drunkedness Friday night. I kept going on and on about my 100 & 150 Font roommates, and how much I missed my Wednesdays. My drunkedness even spread onto Twitter, where I texted in that not only do I miss my roommates, but also my potlucks and general hanger-outing with my fellow City Kids. Yeah, lately I've been lamenting just how much I miss living in San Francisco.

Anyway, I crashed at James' place that night, and Saturday morning we had breakfast at IHOP. It really hit the spot, and then went to the Metreon and watched The Dark Knight prologue and I Am Legend on IMAX. AS expected, the TDK prologue was so very the awesome, and I Am Legend was better than I had been expecting.

When I had gotten back to San Jose later Saturday night, it was for Frances' two younger kids birthday party: Julian (9yrs) and Alexis'(4yrs).

My pregnant sister, Frances, told those of us still at the house at the later stages of the party, that she felt she'd be giving birth any day now... she gave birth less than 24 hours later. I'll post photos of the newest member of the Fernandez brood soon. My sister and brother in-law have four kids: three of them with birthdays in December, and within four days of each other. Tristan is the only one not in December. Shit, she's gonna be 14 next year. Damn, I'm feeling old.

Anyway, I went back to SF on Sunday to join in on the WGA's protest in Union Square. I was there from about noon to three. As I was getting more fliers from the Strike Captain's car on Post St., I coulda sworn I saw Mindy walk by down the cross street, Powell. I shouted to try to get her attention, but I guess she was out of ear-shot. Met and chatted with some a few writers, got about a handful of cars to honk their horns, and froze my tookiss off, and by the end my feet were ice cold. But I felt good about what I did Sunday. And I swear, the short cat-nap I took on BART on the way back to Daly City from downtown after the protest, was the best cat-nap the earth has ever known.

Yesterday, I helped open up the bookstore, and today I'm goin back to SF with my brother, Patrick as he's taking an insurance license exam. I'm goin because I don't have anything better to do. Oh, shopping, and maybe watch Juno while I'm up there.

Hopefully, I'll have something very cool to plug in the next week or so.

Writer's Strike & the Strike-Fro

From the Cabal.
Many of the members in the WGA have grown out Strike-beards, and I will, in a show solidarity, do the same. Except, that I'm gonna grow out the hair on the top of my head. I can't grow a mustache and/or beard very well, or barely at all, but even still, I won't be shaving or cutting my hair until this writer's strike is done. I'm prepared for the unkempt-ness of having a fro again, and the horrible similarities to a bad high school teenager growing out facial hair for the first time.

Anyway, here's a work that I had written something like two or three weeks back, and I wasn't initially intending to publish it. Or at least not here. I'm sure that it's okay that I'm posting it here. Hopefully, I'll have some news on some writing projects I've got cookin. Which is a fact that tis very cool in of itself. But yeah, what's below sums up what I feel about the strike.

Writing and weaving a story is art. It is also a job. Writing is a job the same way an accountant maintains the books, or an auto mechanic fixes cars. The main objective for a writer – of any medium – is to tell as a good a story as possible. But where writing differs from all other professions is in the same way in which not two people share the same fingerprint. For a writer, or group of writers, to be able to tell a story and capture the imagination of an audience requires enough discipline to sit down and somehow conform their ideas into an understandable structure. It can be a very difficult process. But in the end, I’m sure that most all writers relish the challenge of tackling something so difficult. Successful writers wouldn’t be as good as they are if they don’t look forward to that challenge. But what the writers of the Writers Guild of America haven’t looked forward to is this strike. Yet, it is something very necessary.

Producing a television show or film is a very collaborative process, and the role of the writer is a very important one as he or she helps to jump–start that collaborative process. However, despite holding that extremely pivotal position in a production, writers feel they are not fairly compensated for the residuals for their work distributed via the Internet. This work stoppage affects writers, directors, producers, actors, grips, best boys, craft services, make-up, casting, and so many more. In fact, it feels as if everyone is affected. Fortunately, most crew members above and below the line are supporting the WGA and the strike. But what is unfortunate is that most crew members below the line, that live from paycheck to pay check, are out of work. The situation is what it is, and nobody in the industry is immune. It is also a situation in which there really isn’t anyone at fault. To square blame on a particular group of people will accomplish nothing in this strike.

Studios and networks are currently not paying nearly enough residuals to the creative types responsible for producing the works that they, the studios and networks, distribute via the Internet. Soon negotiations for the other guilds will come up, and undoubtedly, one of the major sticking points will also be about the Internet. At that time, those guilds will do what they feel they must do. But now, it is the WGA’s time to act upon what they feel is necessary for the betterment of their guild. That is their job right now. That is their objective right now, and like so many others that have voiced their support for the strike, the WGA also has mine.

A Fearless Journey is JERICHO!!!!!

Yeah, I watched Monday Night Raw last night expressly just to witness the "2nd coming." I grew up watching wrestling and until 6th grade, thought it was real. I stopped really paying attention when I reached 12th grade when the "Attitude Era" had passed. I was a "Hulkamaniac," and after that Bret Hart became my favorite.

If I'm bored, and WWE has something on the TV, I'll give it a browse, but I'm not the avid fan I once was. But I have heard talk that one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, Chris Jericho, was returning this fall to the company.

Here's a clip from when he made his debut (which involved The Rock) back in 1999.



There's no video from last night on youtube, yet, but soon I'm sure. I watched the segment from last night probably about 3 or 4 times before the memory on my TiVo erased it.

There is an electricity about wrestling that can make it so fucking great, and that's why I liked wrestling for as long as I did. Unfortunately, wrestling these days, or at least the WWE, just lacks that electricity. But you could feel the electricity watching Chris Jericho make his WWE return at the end of Raw. I dunno that this'll keep me watching beyond the next couple of weeks, which includes Raw's 15th Anniversary show at the beginning of December, but damn if it wasn't fun KNOWING just how much I "marked-out" last night. Jeez, I hadn't "marked-out" like that in so fucking long.

I already got page 152 from The Homeless Channel, and I've made plans to go to NSSN, so that's at least two items from the Christmas List post. And after watching Raw last night (and as if there was any doubt, previously), Jericho definitely sold me on getting his book.

My Christmas List

So last night, my mom told me that one of my nephews has already written his Christmas wish list. And we both kinda thought that it was a bit early, and since then I've thought about a few things that I'm thinking about getting. So I guess as right now,a list of things I have my eye on at the moment:

An original page from Matt Silady's Homeless Channel

A Nintendo DS Lite (While a friend watched the Hotel Chevalier on my iPod, I played Brain Age last night in a movie theater waiting for American Gangster to start. Which is ridiculously good!!) But yeah, I want a DS Lite and Brain Age, and now I think I might be addicted to Sodoku. I want a DS Lite, and I want it now!!:P

Guitar Hero III for the Wii.

This Peter Jennings book.

This Entourage book.

This Chris Jericho book.

This Joe Strummer book.

This Spirit Archives book.

Working in a bookstore again, it was only a matter of time before I'd come across these "wallet thinners." The last five on that list, at least. I might as well make it a reading list, too, now that I think about it. Anyway, I'm off to get my hands on Y: The Last Man #59. I'm hoping my heart doesn't get broken like it was when I got to the end of #58. Fucking Vaughan! :P

EDIT:
Okay. Just got back from the LCS, and totally forgot to list tickets to Live 105's Not So Silent Night. And I just finished Y#59. And wow, now that is how you take a person down a peg or two.

I am so tired.

First, Halloween, wasn't bad, I guess, but walking aimlessly around downtown San Jose wasn't all that fun either. I'll post pictures soon. I've said that a lot lately, but I will get to it.

Today I checked my email for the first time since last Friday afternoon. I spent Thursday and Friday night at my day job at the ol bookstore. Hung out at the casa de Dang-alang, MAnthony, and T'Money's place after work on Friday. Then spent Saturday and Sunday revising the ol screenplay. When I say the entire weekend, I mean I left the house only twice. Once on Saturday, and once on Sunday. I kept myself in the house for probably what would amount to 30 minutes, but that's mostly because the drive-thru line as Taco Bell and In-N-Out Burger was so damn long.

Anyway, I'm goin to San Francisco for the day tomorrow to talk to a former professor, and hopefully see some friends. Plus I've spent the last couple hours catching up on what I've missed... I've missed a quite a number of things. And I've been uploading some pictures from within the last month that I haven't been able to get to yet. Plus, the WGA is officially now on strike, and they have my full support. I'll share more of my thoughts soon, but right now, FUCK, I'm hungry.

The "I don't know what to title this blog entry" Entry

So I went out with, Gino, Gen, and Alisha to ViVid (night club). I went out as Peter Parker. Took some photos, and post them soon. I know I've somewhere around 125-plus photos to post that which I've taken within the last two weeks or so, and this only adds to it, but I will post them soon. Gino, Alisha, Gen, and Diane: I WILL GET TO IT SOON. Please stop your snickering. nahaha

Anyway. Lotsa girls dressed very scantily walking and dancing at ViVid and downtown San Jose in general. Twas fun, saw Wilson from Home Improvement. The guy brought a piece of paper in the shape of a picket fence, and held it up to his face most of the night. A couple dressed (I use the term, "dressed," loosely) as Adam and Eve. I even took a picture with Quail-Man. Austin Powers was behind the turntables, and Dr. Evil doin a lil dancing near the turntables.

Gino only brought a mask out to the club, and Gen dressed as Snow White, and Alisha slapped on some tanning lotion to darken her skin, and wore a afro-wig to pull off a 70s basketball player. She brought a basketball intending to take it into the club, but we told her it was a bad idea, and she ended up leaving it in the car. She said she created some dance-moves with said basketball. And by the end of the night when we wanted to see it, she said she was just joking... Me and Gino didn't buy it.

At the end of the night, we hung out in Gino's garage talking about two tv shows that we love so fuckin much: The Office (the U.S. version. not that the U.K. one isn't funny. which it is, by the by), and Arrested Development. Good times. And hopefully on Wednesday night, Halloween Night, when we are back to full force (re: the rest of the guys are back in town), more fun times will ensue.

Now to some fucked up stuff: Namely, my cell phone. My VX9800. My texter friendly phone. Hrmm, both screens are plain white now, and it couldn't have decided to gone and done so at a worser time. As I said, it is a very texter friendly phone, and texting a particular person would probably solve a particular situation that I'd like to pursue. Them's the breaks I guess. I mean, I haven't been the most careful handler of this particular phone. But still, this sucks.

Okay, let's end this on a less sucky note. Over on BKV's Cabal,
Nick I. named me the "Best caballero you easily could get a beer...maybe two...with: Joey JP (who also wins for coolest sketchbook theme)" Very cool thing of him to say, and here's my response: "Thanks Nick, and if you're planning to come back for WonderCon again next year, we're increasing that number..."

Hrmm, that response sounds like I'm an alcoholic. Haha. Which no, I am not. I gave an award to NothingFace and DavePress for almost always having good comic recommendations (other than Brian himself) on the Cabal. A tightly knit bunch of Caballeros that we are. I have a handle on boards like Newsarama, and I think on Interpol's site too, and yeah, I think that's it. But yeah, the Cabal is a very cool board if just for the positivity.

P.S. I've just nominated myself for being the Caballero that best knows the way to San Jose. Ridiculousness, I know. :P

Whirlwind Weekend

Well yeah, I haven't abused my liver like this weekend since my birthday back in August. Pretty crazy. Pretty fun.

Here's a quick run down: lots of drinking... yeah that sums it up nicely. I'll post some pictures via Flickr and Myspace soon enough. But yeah, all that really needs to be said is how fortunate I am to have the enormous amount of friends that I have, and how much fun they are to hang out with, have fun with, and yeah, get pissed drunk with. And no, I am not currently buzzed, drunk, or otherwise inebriated. I am completely sober as I write this. And yes, that probably make this all the more a mushy blog entry. But yeah. Twas a fun weekend... yet now I am also thinking that I didn't get much writing done this weekend... FUCK!!

Oh well, just more inspiration for further ideas, nahaha :P

So. Damn. Close.

Yeah. I've already told a few friends that I'm closing in on the finish line on the ol script. I just need to find some time. I wish I could post a photo on the new desk that I've had my eye on ever since I went to Ikea last weekend. But let's just say that I didn't want to leave the model desk that was on the show floor when I was in Palo Alto. Not only because of how much I love the desk, but also because my ass hand never felt so comfortable in a "computer" chair.

Anyway, I've made the recent observation that in my writings, whether screenplay, prose, letters to friends, or IMs, that I have an incessant need to funny it up a bit. I dunno, maybe I'm making too much of it. My neurosis gets the best of me sometimes, but I think I just get worried that sometimes something just sounds too serious if I don't bring some sort of funny to the writing. Then ten minutes after the fact, I come to the assumption that I probably should've let well enough alone, and I wanna lightly slap the top of my forehead and ask myself "Why did I feel I had to write that?"

Like I said: I probably do over think it, but I'll try not to anymore.

The Week's Agenda

On deck for this week:

Monday- Went running/walking this morning. Wrote about five pages today. I was supposed to go inquire about a job after picking up my niece and nephew, but had to take care of some other things online. So that means...

Tuesday- Do a little lifting in the morning. Write another five pages.

Wednesday- Another round of running/walking, and another five pages. Plus, it's new comics day. So there ya go.

Thursday- Lifting, and five more pages.

Friday- The hell if I'm gonna do either running/walking or lifting. But five more pages fasho.

I wanted to finish the screenplay by today, Monday October 1st, but, well that obviously didn't happen. I also need to get my arse in shape. So yeah, this is me going out and doing just that. This week I plan on easing my way into the running and lifting stuff. Mostly just walking this morning. I didn't really run all too much. But just enough to get the ol heart rate goin. And let me just say that if I had sex today instead of running, I think I would've died. I really do. Because my legs and feet just felt so damn heavy. Picture Homer Simpson trying to catch up with an ice cream truck, and you'd get an exaggeration of what was my morning, but it gives you a rough idea. Here's to a good week.

Reading is Sexy

Oh yeah. Definitely.

I caught a rerun of Gilmore Girls yesterday that was already half-way through. The scene I first saw was set in the Yale cafeteria. Rory and Paris were discussing the men in their lives, and I notice something I didn't ever notice before: the graphic on the shirt Alexis Bledel was wearing.

Reading is Sexy

I would so rock that shirt if it came in a size medium for males.

Off the Grid

So I'm finally back online for the first time since last the Thursday night. It feels refreshing to go away after a while. For the most part, I've used my hibernation as a means to focus of getting some writing done. Two Fridays ago, I made a deal with Dang to turn in pages into him every so often to keep my focus on finishing the ol screenplay.

I'm aiming on getting my first draft of said screenplay done by next Monday, and then spend October on tightening everything up. On Friday, the first volume of the Jack Kirby Fourth World Omnibus finally came in. It's my birthday gift from my buddy Ray. It's about a month after the fact, but he finally ordered it couple weeks back. So on Friday, after the mail came in, that Omnibus hardcover was just staring at me, baiting me to unwrap the plastic around it, flip through all the Jack Kirby goodness. But I persevered, and I mustered the will power to finish my page count goal for the week. I'm increasing this week's goal twofold from last week. Fun times lie ahead on the horizon!

What I am.

I have a friend who has told me in the past that real life isn't like it is in the movies. I've always thought about that, but I think it's the contrary. Where do storytellers get their ideas? Where do they think up this shit?

Everyone has drama in their personal lives every so often. There are those in the world who think that their family is the most fucked up family in the world. We don't always get along with our friends, our spouses, our significant others, or otherwise. We all have strangely fucked up dreams every now and then. There are news reports of murderers, serial killers, rapists, burglaries, extortion, embezzlement, hit and runs, charity work, late night heroics in a sporting event, explosions, whatever. In real life, we find these and other happenings so interesting is because there is a varying degree of emotional depth that we latch onto. We latch on because there's something very true about those things. And therein lies what storytellers do: find some sort of truth about their the story, and cultivate it.

I mean, how else would we, the audience, be so captivated by films? We love certain films because there are certain characters that we can identify with and sympathize and empathize with. They have flaws, as do we all. To be able to give that to an audience is a very special thing.

To be able to tap into people's emotion, into relationships, and so on, and bring something real like all of that into something like narrative or fiction, is what excites me. I get a kick each time I see others do it successfully.

As the days are currently passing, I find myself inching closer to finishing my first feature screenplay. Still a ways to go, but I'm committed to making this happen. It is a very special piece of work.

Until then here's a quote from Elaine Stritch from the Emmy Awards last night when she presented an award with Stanley Tucci.

Elaine Stritch:
“I’m not faking this. I really don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

In a nutshell, that's how I think of my life thus far. :P

Gilmore Girls

So this past Tuesday night saw the repeat of the last episode of Gilmore Girls on The CW. I was able to watch the half of it. I remember watching it originally back in May. It was sad then as it is now. I think my favorite period of the show was the third and fourth seasons. I got into the show because of Smallville. Together, Gilmore Girls and Smallville represented The WB's Tuesday night schedule.

It was during the summer that followed Smallvile's first season that I began watching repeats of season two episodes of Gilmore Girls.

When the new season kicked off in the fall, I made it a point to watch Gilmore Girls as well as Smallville. I've been a fan of Gilmore Girls ever since. In fact, I must say that Gilmore Girls has eclipsed Smallville as my favorite of the two. If someone were to tell me that back then, I would tell you to go paint my house. Don't get me wrong here: I still park my arse in front of the television to watch a new episode of Smallville, and I'm still making it a point to follow the series when the show's seventh season kicks off at the end of this month but Gilmore Girls just has that unique charm to it.

Gilmore Girls had a wealth of likeable characters that evolved through the course of the series. It was great to know that these characters really cared about each other. There are some people out there who have issues with the dialogue in the show, but I loved it. I thought it was absolutely masterful how Amy Sherman-Palladino and company did a one-eighty on the Dean and Jess characters. Dean was the good-clean cut kid, and Jess was the bad-boy, and by the time both characters were written out of the show, you realized Dean just didn't know what he really wanted, and was the way he was because he didn't know what else to do. He was indecisive. Whereas Jess shed all his unnecessary baggage, and grew up. I think the execution on that worked so well, some people don't even realize how seamless that transition came about.

Even though I can see Rory and Jess hooking back up together again in their futures, I just think it would be awkward and weird considering Lorelai and Luke got back together in the last episode. Kind of incestuous considering Lorelai and Rory are mother-daughter, and Luke and Jess are uncle-nephew.

Plus Alexis Bledel is really pretty. Shallow of me to say, but the hell if she ain't.

A helluva start

Wow. That was a helluva Monday night. Go NINERS!!!!

It wasn't pretty. But more like "UGHH"... And then it was "Woooooooo!!" by the end of it.

Well, you don't know what you have until you face a little adversity. 85-yard drive with 3:06 in the forth when the offense only managed 30 yards the entire second half before that last drive... That's how you start off a season. It may have been just the Cardinals, but it was a division game, and we lost 4 in a row against the Cards, so hot damn if that wasn't a helluva Monday night!

20-17 Niners over Cards!

...hrrmm, woulda been a good idea to record the game.

Scream

So late Sunday night, and into Monday morning at about 1:30 in the am, I was about to go to bed, but needed something to fall asleep to. I turned on the tv, and rediscovered a nice little movie that was just starting on one of the movie channels: Scream.

I ended up staying up until 3:30 watching the entire film. It would've been nice to have just TiVo'd it, but I TiVo'd a whole mess of Buster Keaton films from last week, and hadn't watched all of them yet, so I stayed up... Besides, I haven't watched a horror movie during the middle of the night since I watched the first two Evil Dead films on consecutive nights a couple years back. Anyway, this time I watched Scream with a new pair of eyes. I mean I feel that I now can appreciate films on a whole nother level post-film school. [Insert warm and fuzzy feeling]

Scream is smart and satirical of the horror genre. And in so doing, it plays right in line with the rules of horror films. But it also sees fit to break some of them: The killer(s) are motivated by the disintegration of the family, and a need to -in some way- rectify it all. And adversely: despite not being a virgin anymore, the heroine lives through the ordeal.... *sigh* Phew, here I was thinking that three months after graduating, it would've all went out the other ear by now...

Kevin Williamson's structure is awesome, the execution by Wes Craven is great, and this is why I love horror movies. It has the ability to tell a good story with the ability to scare the shit outta you, and also doesn't take itself too seriously. But more than anything: it's quite intelligible. Scream is part of the genre that is the teen-slasher movie, but beyond that, its intelligence is what makes it just as good now as it was when it was originally released. My money is that it will still hold up well in the years to come.

Fantasy Football

No I don't participate in any leagues, but my brother, Pat, does. Multiple leagues actually. And today I helped him in one of those League Fantasy Drafts. As opposed to a draft held online, this one was held at one of Pat's friends' house. It was pretty fun, and I think I finally realize just how much fun my brother has with it. And to a greater extent, how much fun it it for everyone else who participates in Fantasy Football, and other fantasy sports leagues.

In the past, I figured that I wouldn't want to devote so much of my time in all of it. I still am, though. Maybe next year I'll give it a shot.

I Remember...

Today is Justin's birthday. In preparation for this blog this week, I've been thinking about him, and about those last two weeks of August, and how life has gone on in these three years since Justin passed. It's so many things: trippy, surreal, and everything else.

I thought about those two weeks in August of 2004 the other night when the Lunar Eclipse was happening. Almost all of it came back to me.

I remember the night Justin asked me to come by his house. He said he had some people coming over. I remember arriving a little late, and actually a little surprised that there were quite a lot of people in the house. Turns out that was the night Justin let us all know he was gonna stop fighting.

I do believe that it was not long after Justin's announcement that I got a call from Susan and Kristin. They called me from Justin's house, and Susan told me that I should come by because there's a good chance Justin could go. I rushed over as soon as humanly possible. Besides Justin's family, it was still only Susan and Kristin that were at the house. The rest of the night saw a a steady stream of people walk up the driveway and through the front door. It was like that every night til the end of August and into September.

Justin was baptized in his room at his house on either Sept. 2 or 3rd. I can't be completely for certain. But I was there in his room that morning. I also remember receiving a call at around half past six in the am of Sept. 4th. It was Kris. He told me that Justin had passed in the in the middle of the night.

Frances didn't think I should be driving, so my sister dropped me off at Justin's house. I remember it was Steven that I first hugged, and then I think any memory of who I embraced therafter, and what order just gets blurry.

The summer of 2004 was by far the most difficult stretch of time for me personally. I had an anxiety attack in April. Went to the hospital twice in three nights. The specifics of what got me to that point aren't embarrassing or stupid, but definitely something I just shouldn't have let get to me. I was 19, and I let my worries and doubts kick me when I was down, and couldn't pull myself up. But in the weeks that followed I began to get over myself, and my fears. That is until Derek died.

Derek died in a freak bicycle accident as he was biking in Almaden Valley in San Jose. I remember looking into Patrick's eyes the moment he told me. My brother's eyes were watery and red. He had just gotten off the phone with one of Derek's cousins, Christel. The last time I saw Derek was a month earlier when he invited Patrick, Bella, and I to the A's 2004 home opener. Derek worked for Ross, which was a sponsor of the A's. I don't know that they still are, but being a sponsor, Derek's company gave him four tickets to the A's opening night gala. Food was everywhere. I remember dipping some of the deserts into the chocolate fountains. I haven't missed an A's home opener since. I love, and I miss you Derek.

I remember telling a few people of my anxiety attacks. I remember telling Justin of my anxiety attacks. He told me how he experienced them. We talked about things. We talked about Mark's father recently passing away. I remember when I let Justin borrow my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vol. 1 dvd. It has the first few episodes of the original 80s-90s cartoon.

I remember back in 2003 when X2-X-Men United came out. Justin, Jory, and I saw it the day after it came out, on Saturday. It was at Mercado 20 in Santa Clara. The original plan was to watch it at around seven or eight o'clock. When I got to Justin's place to pick him and Jory up. Then Jory suggested we should wait til nine or maybe ten. He figured Mercado would be festered with teeny boppers. So we hung out at Justin's for a while. When we got to Mercado later that night, I realized Jory figured right.

The closing shot of of X2 is a crane/helicopter shot above Alkali Lake. There's a voice over of Patrick Stewart as Professor X, talking about rebirth or something other, as well as a faint image of a Phoenix. The whole closing moments of the film, Justin was whispering and repeating aloud and to me: "The Phoenix. The Phoenix."

To my knowledge, Justin wasn't that much into comics. But he did tell me earlier that he went to see the movie the previous night with some other friends. Oh well.

I also remember Justin and I going to see a screening of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen at Mercado as well. It was a late screening. Something around eleven in the pm. He fell asleep somewhere in the middle of it. But it wasn't like he missed anything good. I stayed awake, and I don't know how I didn't fall asleep either.

I remember an episode of the Simpsons, where Jacques, Marge's bowling tutor is trying to seduce her. He's getting ready in his bathroom, waiting to see her. Among other things, he talks to himself about the anticipation being better than the moment itself. Obviously, he's alluding to sex, but what he's saying is certainly true for most everything else. Justin's passing was so numbing. We all knew it was coming, and that impending sense of doom was the scariest. The anticipation. Every night in those last couple weeks, we left Justin's house saying our goodbyes to Justin like they would be our last words with him.

I don't remember my exact last words with Justin because I had so many. I do remember sitting around Justin's bed in the afternoon once. I'm fairly certain it may have been the same day as his baptism actually. I'm also fairly certain that it was Kristin, Susan, myself, and... I think I'm forgetting who else was there in the room at the time, but we decided to have story time. So as it turned out, I was the one who did the reading. I want to say it was the Cow over the Moon story. But I can't commit to that. I do remember reading it to everyone the way that a Kindergarten teacher would read to his/her students: read a page out loud, then show each side of the room the illustrations on the page I just read.

There's a lot of other things that I remember about Justin, and about that summer and fall of 2004. Derek was a family friend, and although his death was tough to take, and I wish he was still here, but my brother was closer to him than I ever was. It was a very difficult time in my life. Personally, Justin's death was like the climax in the third act of a story.

In these three years since Justin passed, there's hardly a day that goes by that I don't think about what could have been. I say that because it's hard to not think about the guy since I wear a yellow Livestrong wristband as well as an orange wrist band that bears Justin's name. The orange band also has the words: "Don't sweat the small stuff." Wish he could've told me that before I had my anxiety attacks. Oh well. =p

I could talk to Justin about any and everything: music, movies, comics, books, sports, news, whatever. He loved The Doors and Jim Morrison, Nirvana and Kurt Cobain, we shared a mutual affinity for movies, The Clash, and he introduced me to Texas Hold 'em, and Da Ali G show.

More often than not, after each time I've visited him at the cemetery in Los Gatos, I would start my car and either Nirvana or the Foo Fighters (the Kurt Cobain connection with Dave Grohl) would be on the radio, and I'd smile.

I woke up this morning to find my mom watching The Today Show. Matt Lauer was interviewing Ellen Degeneres in promotion for the new season of her talk show. Then I remembered Justin was an avid watcher of the Ellen Degeneres Show. I smiled.

I love you Justin, and I miss you. Happy Birthday my friend!

Lunar Eclipse

Anthony texted me this early morning at around three in the am. He said there was an eclipse right outside. I went outside, and sure enough, it was there. Very cool sight. I shit you not when I say that I took a picture of the eclipse on my Canon... needless to say, it didn't come out... Anyway, this week is what would have been Justin's 23rd birthday.

I've been planning on posting something on his actual birthday, Thursday the 30th. So I've been thinking a lot about him, and about what to write. Like I said, I'll wait for Thursday to get all this down.

But yeah, as far as those in North America, only those on the west side of the Rockies would be able to see all phases of the eclipse... pretty cool.

No Foakleys for me!

Simply put... I picked up my new glasses yesterday...

The lenses are new, but a while back, my brother gave me his old Oakley frames he didn't need anymore. Recently, I figured I may as well use these frames... especially since the right side of my old red frames broke.

My red frames broke a few days before my birthday weekend, so I had to wear my back-up frames that weekend, which was two weekends ago. When I got home from the bars, I fell asleep on my living room floor for about a half hour. When I awoke, I got ready for bed, but not before stepping on my (back-up) glasses. The damage wasn't that bad, really. The lenses weren't cracked, scratched, or otherwise broken, but...

Things were kinda, well, crooked for about the next week or so. The left plastic-nose-guard thingy kinda broke off, and it occasionally falls back off, but I've made it fit back in. Actually, that night I stepped on them, I also ended up spending what felt like an inordinate amount of time looking for that plastic nose-guard thingy while in the dark.

Also, before leaving the optometrist with my new glasses, I had a dilation exam. And I'm happy to report that my eyes are nice and healthy. Or at least as healthy as they can be. I mean, I do wear glasses. C'mon now...

But yeah, I got my vision kinda blurred because of the dilation droplets. I don't own any prescription sunglasses, much less did I have any kind of sunglasses on my person when I was at the optometrist yesterday. So it all meant driving home in a most humorous fashion...

I was given -what I have come to dub- "paper shades" to help my eyes combat the sun and the blurriness. And I figured it'd be easier to drive home with my old frames since my eyes were blurry enough that I didn't want my eyes adjusting to the new lenses, all at the same time, too.

But I did decide to do the driving and errand running an hour or two later with the "paper shades" and Oakleys...

Stylish, eh?

Sunday

I had an exremely long Sunday. Longer than I care to remember, and not really wanting to get too into it. But yeah: A's game (we won, so that fact wan't bad), warm day, engine trouble, sun burned, other stuff, and non-stop frustration.

Happy 23rd.

Birthdays means to celebrate one's life.

Today, the 13th of August is my Birthday. And this weekend, including today the 13th, I along with my family and friends celebrated my birthday. As is customary, I have been wished a "Happy Birthday" by many a family member and friends. It's a lovely feeling when someone tells you "Happy Birthday." It demonstrates an act of love and care. For that, I am grateful for the last few days, and I think that it may have started when a fellow Caballero wished me a "Happy Birthday" on the Cabal early last week.... and then came the rest of the "Happy Birthday" well-wishes through the course of the weekend, and of course, today, the 13th. So again, thank you VF, and to the rest of my family and friends, thank you....

Because on Saturday night, the 11th.... well... you know how the morning after you go out drinking, you ask yourself "Did I really do that last night?".... and then you ponder that for a good long while, and then say.... "I did do that. Didn't I?"... and then you go... "Shit!"... And then you wanna find a a blanket or something or whatever, and cover yourself and hide.... yeahhhh... that was my Saturday night. Good times. Good times. Good times.

Here's my cousin Michelle, me, and the Mind Eraser I'm about to devour...


Sunday was Mommy's (aka my paternal Grandmother) Birthday. Her family is her life, and it was good to see most of my cousins come together again on Sunday afternoon. Happy Birthday, Mommy.

That brings us back to today, Monday, my actual birthday... as I mentioned how birthdays are meant to celebrate one's life... well we are also meant to celebrate one's life when one passes away.

This morning, I found out via the Cabal that Mike Wieringo passed away on Sunday. I think the best way I can summarize my feelings is to plainly repeat what I wrote on the Cabal:


I've only started collecting comics here in the 2000s, and although I've read quite a bunch of comics, I don't think I've quite scratched the surface of it all...

Unfortunately, most, if not all of Wieringo's work is one of those somethings I've yet to experience. I've admired his artistic style each time I've glanced through his work. As has been mentioned here, and on other places: his pieces have wonderful hints of hope.

And again... 44?? It boggles my mind at just how unfair life is. Jay, you mentioned examining your own mortality... that type of pondering will always come up in the wake of such a tragedy. I think to an extent, we all are right now. I mean, fuckin 44??

I celebrated a birthday this past weekend, and then this morning learn of Ringo's passing?? This world works in some screwy screwy ways. I hate to state the obvious guys, but always tell your family and friends you love them. At this moment, I'm sitting on a couch in a room full of people I'm close to, and damn... I cannot begin to express just how really surreal this all is.

I'll get caught up on my "must read" list as soon as I'm able to, which in a way, I hope only grows and grows... and while I am, please Rest in Peace Mike.


I just also wanna add that I hope that everyone remembers to live life, and enjoy it. It's a beautiful thing, and share it everyone you know and love. You just don't have to drink yourself into the oblivion that I did over the weekend, teeheehee, yeah... As my dear friend Justin once said: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff.

Where was I when Barry Bond's hit #756?

So I had that Goldilocks shoot yesterday. For those that don't know, it's a Filipino restaurant. Oye, was it long. But a nice and fun experience none the less.

The commercial is about a husband and his pregnant wife ordering and then enjoying some "luscious lumpia," "pork barbecue that looks super tasty," and "Wow. Sotanghon."

Actually, in addition to just being a PA on the shoot, I got a spot as an extra. Not to take away from the cute couple, but I snagged the very important role of playing the person in front of them in line. You see my face for what will probably and eventually be for less than two seconds -maybe even less- but you do get to see my backside for probably four seconds. Maybe five. Oh well.

It was a fun little job to add to my resume, and met some new people as well. This particular Goldilocks we shot at is in Newark, CA. By far and away, this is the biggest Goldilocks locations that I have ever seen with my own two eyes. In fact, it was the second time that this particular store was used to shoot a Goldilocks commercial in.

As the day wore on, I got to know more of the crew and cast, which again, is very cool. I got to meet the couple who played... the couple, and I must say that they did a mighty fine job. And then there's the rest of the cast that I got to meet... the food... I ate a lot of food on set while I wasn't doing anything, and well.... but I think I'm gonna lay off Goldilocks for a while before I get to the point that I just don't wanna ever eat their food again.

For those that have read this blog, and especially for those that know me personally, you already know that first and foremost, I bleed Oakland Athletics colors. But I'm just as much a fan of baseball, and didn't get to see Barry Bonds' 756th homer live like most of you because I was at work. That's history and I wish I could have witnessed it right as it happened. But as luck would have it, it was during our dinner break that Chris, the 1st AD on the shoot, blurted aloud his wanting to check the Giants... and immediately I remembered that I had forgotten to set my TiVo to record the Giants game for that night, and I immediately called my brother, Pat, to check the game. At the time that I called my brother, it was the Top of the 5th inning and Bonds still hadn't hit number 756... and it just so happened Pat and his family had just arrived to my place to visit my mom and dad and I asked him to record the rest of the game for me, which he did. Now skip ahead to no less than 10 minutes later, and one of the managers at Goldilocks pronounces aloud that Bonds just hit a homer.... THE Homer.... It sucked that I couldn't see it live -especially since I begrudgingly sat through Monday night's game and channel surfing to the A's game as well.

I mean, usually I feel pretty damn dirty when watching a Giants game -when they're not playing the A's- but I felt ESPECIALLY dirty watching a Giants game. Just about as dirty as I felt last week after actually going to AT&T Park to watch a game... but anyhow.... I got to watch the recording of the game that my brother started.... which was cool.

I think the whole dirty thing is best attributed to the fact that I've just been wanting Bonds to reach the record so we can move one, and get it over with... not because I love or loathe Bonds.

Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams came to speak to the journalism class that I took this past spring, and well... what they had to say in their reports, and in their book, and what they mentioned in class... is pretty damming stuff, but I'm not gonna put down Bonds until something truly definitive about Bonds knowingly taking steroids comes out. So until that happens, I won't do it. It's something not meant for me to judge. So I won't. But Bonds completing his 756th home-run trot is a seminal moment in sports history, that is for sure.

I watched the recording of the game after I got home, which was something of about 1 in the am. It was a nice end to my long day.

Comic-Con 08 or BUST!!

I was planning to blog about turning in my keys, and finally moving out of 11E in the city, and back to San Jose. But fuck all that emo shit! I wanna go to Comic-Con!

After reading just a few tidbits of my fellow Caballeros' SD Comic-Con stories that transpired last weekened, I'm makin the proclamation right now: I AM GOING TO COMIC-CON IN SAN DIEGO IN 2008. No "ifs, ands, or buts about it!" I am going!

Feelin' Good!

I'm Giddy. Seriously.

I haven't been this giddy in a while. Not since Alisha picked me up to go to the private Incubus show at Bimbo's last fall. I was so excited to look out my window, and see her pull up to the curb knowing I was about to see Incubus live for the first time in about two and a half years. What's more, I was completely unaware how fuckin bad ass that show would turn out. Which of course, is just what happened. I have now been to five Incubus shows, and that private show has become my favorite Incubus concert.

Which leads me to the here and the last few days. The A's just took two games outta three from the Angels in Anaheim. The A's pitched well, and they hit well, too. Despite coming up short in the third game where they had a chance at sweeping the Angels, the A's played well. It gives me hope for the rest of the season. Coming into this morning (July 26th, 2007), the A's are still in third place behind the Angels and Mariners, and 10.5 games behind first place. But in order to win the AL WEST, the guys just gotta start playing well before getting back into the race. It's the whole walk before you run idea, I guess. But if the A's can just play well, then that's all we can all hope for at this point.

Speaking of baseball; I went to a San Francisco Giants game against the Braves. *shudder*sigh*gag*

It was me, Pat, Bella, Kayla, and Mike that went. Pat bought tickets to the game last week after Bonds hit those two home runs in Chicago in the hopes that we would be witnesses to history. Well, history my arse. Bonds didn't even play last night (the third game of a four game series). Boo! And when I say "Boo," I mean "Boo!"

Not "Boo-urns!"

I can't believe it cost $30 to park in the lot over there, and needless to say, we didn't park in the lot. And where we were sitting in the third deck in that loft in left field, we couldn't even see the left fielder, the jumbo-tron, the giant glove, or the giant Coke bottle!! The two best things that I experienced last night was eating that hot dog I ate, and wearing my A's gear to the game. Obviously, if you're a fan of one team, and going into your rival team's home park will make feel a bit lost, what with being in foreign territory and all, but I must say that I felt very full of pride walking around that park dressed in A's colors. A friend of mine who is a Giants fan took a girl out on a date to an A's game last year, and they wore A's gear to the game. I realized then how much I really do bleed green and gold, but what's more is that I was puzzled as to why he or anyone else would do such a thing. There is but one exception why I would wear Giants colors, and that would be to wear Justin's #7 jersey, and that's about it. There was one heckler who tried to get a rise out of us as we were leaving (after the 7th inning ended), but his heckling was pretty weak. Too weak to mention here.

Another thing that has me as excited as I am is the fact that I'm ready to really focus on writing again. I've taken a bit longer than I thought I would. In fact, I thought that after graduating in May, it would be best that I just keep up the momentum, and finish the CAoC script. Yet, as the last two months have shown, I've only added about 10-15 pages, and that was in the first two weeks after graduation. But I've been writing a few other things within the last couple of weeks that have gotten me back into the swing of things, and I feel like I'm ready to tackle CAoC all over again. I'd say I have another twenty to thrity more pages for CAoC before it's done, and being as rejuvenated as I am now coupled with a being able to stay focused, I can totally hit this script outta the park.

Comic-Con is finally back again, but alas, I'm not in San Diego for good ol' NerdProm '07. Oh well, I'll still get to Nerd Out at the midnight screening of the Simpsons Movie that I'm attending tonight! I was originally going to go to Livermore to watch it with Jamie and some other friends after Jamie does his prsentation over there. But it would cost me too much cash to go there seeing as I'd have to go to SF from San Jose via Caltrain and BART. It sucks for sure, but I figure we'll watch the Simpsons Movie together at another time since we're all huge Simpsons fans. My bad, James. I'll nerd out in future screenings just as I'll nerd out this weekened. Especially, if I get to see The Dark Knight teaser trailer that's supposedly attatched to be seen before the Simpsons Movie. WooooHoooo!!

And before I go, I said in an earlier post that Batgirl/Barbara Gordon would soon be MINE, and now, she is!! [insert badly dubbed maniacal laugh]

The difference between a reason and an excuse.

I just read a pair of reviews of Transformers from Aint it Cool.

Harry's review

Vern's review

Here's the thing folks. The movies that have been released so far this summer (beginning with the week Spider-Man 3 came out), have done fairly alright. Knocked Up in sofar is my favorite of the summer. And what I mean by favorite, I mean to say the best all-around film (and that begins with I believe to be the singular most important aspect in film: the story)

Other's will say Transformers, others may tell you Live Free or Die Hard, Ratatouille, and so on, and so forth.

Walking out of the theater with my friends after watching Transformers, the general consensus was that it was a pretty good film. Except for one friend, Kimo, who thought that there was "a little too much humor." I wasn't exactly ready to embrace the film, or tear it shreds that night, but I have since thought about it.

Bumblee. Isn't he supossed to be an actual Volkswagen Bumblebee? Isn't that part of who he is? The reasoning that I have heard as to why Bumblebee is a Camaro is that VW Bumblebee's surely aren't as fast as Camaros are (ie chase sequences). Well no shit! But that's where being creative actually comes in, and if you're Michael Bay (director), or any one of the writers or producers (that includes you, Steven Spielberg), you get creative, and don't put up a front about the fact that Camaros are faster than VW Bumblebees. Not all car chases have to reach 90 mph.

Jean Luc Godard said that all you need in order to make a movie is a gun and a girl. Well, we got a girl in Megan Fox, but what about a gun? What about the fact that Megatron turns into a jet, and not a gun. That's bunk that they turn him into a jet. So the fuck what if it's silly to have the leader of the Decepticons turns into a stupid giant gun. Wouldn't you say a walking talking robot Camaro pissing on an NSA agent is silly? Because it is. And most certainly if Megatron were to transform into a gun, that would warrant the inclusion on Soundwave.

I have no real qualms about the plot considering most of the times, because if I remember right, the cartoon centered on the search of the cube(s) anyway, but still things with the military and the hackers were... well, they tried to fit so much. Just focus on the one human-robot relationship that should actually mean anything: a boy and his new car which just so happens to actually be a robot from another world. Focus on that, and cultivate it, and see where other human interaction fits in. Until then keep the story on the robots. And also, why do we see Optimus Prime's lips? He's supossed to have his mouth shield covering his mouth at all times. If it's to show his humanity, then that's just stupid, because he just looks out and out ridiculous with those tiny ass lips.

So here's the bottom line: I thought it was decent, but like Harry said in his review, I believe this movie could have been so much more.

People look at most studio films, and especially at the action films released during the summer months, like Transformers and look at them as being "blockbusters movies," or "popcorn movies," and say they're supossed to be corny with stupid jokes, and big explosions, and a bunch of "Ooooo-ing" and "Awe-ing."

My reply to that is so what? Is that a reason? Or is that an excuse?

At the end of Traffic, Catherine Zeta Jone's husband in the film tells Dennis Quaid's character that he doesn't see any difference from an excuse and a reason. And I must say that in either case, it's time to stop putting up with this shit, and just make a good action movie. Screw the excuses/reasons. Summer action movies don't and shouldn't have to use corny moments, and stupid jokes to qualify it as a successes. That's just being lazy, and uncreative.

Is it so wrong to have higher standards out of the modern summer blockbuster action movie?

LOL

Hey, I was just chatting with a friend online, and there came a time that I wanted to type in "LOL." I genuinely thought something was particularly funny, and typed in "LOL," then I thought about other times when I felt like I had to actually laugh out loud so if to justify the acronym... Has anyone else ever laughed out loud (even just a snark) to justify an "LOL?"... Or is this just me not having anything to eat in the last 5 hours? =P

Catch-Up

Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. So much to talk about. So much to touch on...

***Went to the Kwik-E-Mart in Mountain View this past Friday, and again just today (err, Sunday).



Me and my buddy Ralph.


I took this one when I went on Friday with my friends, Mark, and when I went back there with my friends Jory and Melissa, they took pictures with Comic Book Guy that, well, if I owned the copyright to the pose, I could very possible sue them for violating said copyright. teeheheee


Aahh, Jasper. This one was a nice surprise to catch... just too bad the glare kinda makes it that you can barely see him...


***Played Texas Hold-'em with the guys on July 4th. It came down to me, Anthony, and Kimo. After Kimo got knocked out, I lost the tourney to Anthony. At least I got my five bucks back. The few hours we played, and hanging out with the guys just kinda reminded me of when I first learned to play at Justin's house. I rememeber Justin telling me that he enjoyed having people over and just hanging out more than anything else. Of course, he was pretty good at poker... Hrrmm, now that I think about it, I think he'd enjoy a Squishee. Maybe I'll visit him this week with a Buzz cola flavored Squishee.

***I didn't finish the CAoC screenplay like I had hoped I would. Or at least not by my end of June deadline. I swear I will get it done. I've resolved to spend this afternoon holed up in the library and get back on track with writing in general. This week, I wanna hammer out the 2nd Caballero Writing Workshop assignment before I turn my sights back on CAoC.

***Saw Ratatouille, Live Free or Die Hard, and Transformers in the last few weeks, and each one kicks arse in their own way. Ratatouille was simply great. It was fun, told a great story, and a lot of heart. Die Hard 4 was bad-effin-f*ckin-ass. John McLane is one of the greatest, strongest, and most relatable character in the history of modern cinema. And I dare say cinema's entire history. While Transformers was, well, it was all that I could hope it could've been. I had fun watching it. That is undeniable, but there are few things that I just can't get over. But to generalize all of my criticism is to simply say that the Autobots were well, weak... The Decepticons are inheritently stronger because they just don't give a fuck. Thus, they are some ruthless and evil sons of biotches. But to cut down on my rambling, I just think that the Autobots were handicapped to such a degree that they were made to appear that much more weaker than they really are.

***The trip to New York that Joseph and I were planning have pretty much fallen through. Which is sad really, because the planning stages fell through before we even had the chance to start with it. But I do want to do some sort of summer trip, somewhere.

***I gotta be out of the apartment by the end of the month. *sigh* It's gonna be pretty sad as the next couple weeks pass by.

***The last two A's games I've went to I got to the game early enough to catch the opponents' batting practice. And at batting practice before the A's-Reds game, I got a ball, but could have gotten two more easily. Oye...better one than none, I suppose. The recent game I went to was against the Mariners... I actually didn't realize I had tickets to the A's-Mariners game until about four hours before first-pitch... talk about absent-minded, eh?

***The Incubus show at the Greek in Berkelely is next Saturday, the 14th. I seriously cannot wait for this one. But I just gotta make sure whether or not I wanna do a P.A. work in the morning and afternoon before the show. Which is kinda more complicated than it should have been seeing as how I already agreed to the P.A. gig.... EEEEEEKK!!... Oh well, I'll work it out.

***I believe that is about it for now. Well, other than the fact that I need to stop being as lazy as I have been, and go find a job, and get caught up on all of my comics... cuz DAYYYYYYYUMMMMM, I need me some money pretty soon, and I don't wanna fall any further behind on what's goin on. A lot of good stuff is being released right now.

****SIGH* I just realized that this little baby was just released last week. I toally forgot about it, and it suddenly crept up on me... I must have this statue. I will have this statue, and it will be mine!!... Oh, it will be mine. [insert maniacal laugh here]

Perplexed

With the details of the deaths of the Benoit family steadily coming to light, my stomach churns, and I shutter what to think and make of the situation. It hurts to see and hear all of that, and that leaves me with so many mixed feelings. It's to the point that I really don't want to think about it any longer because I want to remember Chris Benoit as the great man that I knew of him to be. But it's hard. So very hard.

But what has transpired is more than just a blemish. I don't think I even want to continue to think of a more fitting term.

I am perplexed. I am sad. I am feeling so many things that I just don't know how to describe it all. Maybe I'm just numb.

!!!

Chris Benoit is dead.

He and his wife Nancy, and their seven year-old son, Daniel are dead as well. What the hell?

It is the morning after I have found out. The details have slowly come in, and it's becoming an even bigger nightmare than what it already was. As a wrestling fan growing up, as someone who tries to keep tabs on the current product every now and then, and as a Chris Benoit fan, this is at the end of the day, very tragic. So far, it appears that a double murder-suicide is what apprently took place.

My head is spinning as I try to get a grasp on the situation. To the point that I'm beginning to tire myself out.

But before I end this, I just way to express how much I loved to see Chris wrestle, and everything that he was. The consumate professional who possessed unequaled intensity and respect for not just wrestling, but life as well. Despite the preliminary details of the case, Chris Benoit was a great man who was part on a wonderful family, and I will try to remember him for all the good things that he was. My condolances to the Benoit extended family, and to all that knew him, and all the other fans out there as well.

This is truly a sad day ysterday was, and so will the next few days and weeks. This is all just so tragic. It's times like this that one should always remember to enjoy and live life for the beautiful gift that it is.

I didn't wanna go to bed all sad and depressed, so I watched a few episodes of the Simpsons on DVD to brighten me up a bit before I went to bed... hrrm, I few asleep with the light on. *sigh* Well I suppose that's all for now.

Just rememer folks: "Don't sweat the small stuff."

Lazy

I am trying to juggle so many things right now, that a part of me is just plain lazy to do any of them or anything else. Hrrmm, I wonder if that even makes any sense.

But what I do know is that I need to get back to the ol screenplay. I haven't worked on it for a couple weeks now. There's been some pretty crazy and not so crazy things that have popped up that have taken up my time, but I really need to get back to it. I'm a little over 80 pages done, and I want to be completely done by the time the clock strikes midnight on the night of June 30th. That is the goal, and I intend on sticking to it. I got a bunch of other things I need to get done by the end of the summer, and I don't want this screenplay being dragged out through all that.

As I said that I want this thing completed by June 30, I wanna get 15 pages done by the end of this week. And when I say this week, I mean by midnight Friday night.

Party Like A Rockstar

So Bella's party was pretty crazy. Mostly because I was drunk, and re-reading my post after that night... wel, I was drunk, there too. I mean, remember that line from Prince's 1999??

"I was dreaming when I wrote this."

Well, for me, and the previous post was... "I was drunk when I wrote this."

Turns out I took around 90-something photos on Saturday night. Well, I didn't take all 90 photos, but well, you get the idea. Anyway, thank goodness for 2GB memory cards.

So yeah. I went to Day 2 of Super-Con. Met and chatted things up with Terry and Rachel Dodson. I wish I knew image codes, or else I would post an image of their work. But yeah, the Dodson are good people, and Terry added to my sketchbook. Next time when I get the chance I will definitely try to get a commissioned piece from them.

I also saw Knocked Up last night, too. Funny as fuck!

*sigh* I have a jury summons this week.

It was a Good Day.

I went to the Isotope launch party for Matt Silady on Friday night. It was fun. See someone's publishd work come to fruition is an amazing sight.

Matt, congratulations. Well deserved.

I went to Super-Con this afternoon. Bill Morrision added a great piece to my film noir sketchbook. It is absolutely beautiful. And I got a thing or five signed by Mark Waid, too. I just wush I could've gotten Jim Lee to add ato my film noir sketchbook. Boo!

Even still, I've learned why he is so good at what he does.

He takes painstaking care of his craft. It was so very evident waiting in line for him to do a sketch for me. For in the end, I didn't get a sketch.

That does indeed suck, but I am appreciative of thecare that he takes in his sketches. For that I am very thankful despite not comin way from Super-Con with a sketch by Jim Lee. Again, it sucks. But for those that had said that they would be happy with just a simple head-shot / two-minute sketch.... i call Bougie..... because, you like, I know you want something more. Especially if someone the likes of Jim "effin fucken" Lee is willing to take the time to do, then just let him take the time to do the sketch.

I want a a film noir illustration from the man, If he's goin to take the time to do the sketch that the others in front of me want of him, then I want the sketch that he's willing to do for me.

Jim: Thank you for staying as long as you did for us on Saturday 2, 2007 at Super-Con. One day, I will get a sketch from you that falls under the film noir column. Until then, well, it was a good day. For us adults, we celebrated Bella's B-Day at Farenheit. Twas a good time that we had. Happy Birthday Belle! It's three in the a.m on early Sunday morning.... and shit! I gotta be up in six hours in order to make it to Day 2 of Super-Con 2007! Oh well, just got grt it through as per usual. I know I can stll get a chance at her.

It will come.... and how we stumble upon a bachelorette party, and well, how cool was that? hrrm, nvm.

Online

Damn. Having no internet connection is a double edged sword.

On the good, I can just relax, go out and do whatever and just unplug myself from what's goin on. Yet on the other hand, I'm unplugged from what's goin on. I posted a bulletin on myspace about the photos I posted from last Friday night at Trad'r Sam. It's sort of like Bud Geracie's Wake of the Week... Only, you know, about a night out at a bar...

The bulletin consisted of two lists. One about what is self-evident in the photos, and the other about stuff that only people who were there would know about. I figure I'd go a step further, and rip off Geracie's column once again for the purposes of this post.

-I got a page or two of dialogue on the ol screenplay done. Altogether total is now 75 pages.

-Goin to the Isotope on Friday for the launch party of Matt Silady's The Homeless Channel.

-Today, Wednesday May 30th, is Bella's Birthday. Happy Birthday Bella!

-I took my financial aid exit counseling, and found out the government thinks I'm not scheduled to graduate until May 27, 2008. Interesting?!?

-Super-Con is comin' up this weekend, June 2 & 3.

-I'm gonna have to cut my pull-list down. And it is gonna have to be a very considerable cut. I wonder how Greg is gonna react to that.

-I'm thinking the plan for the next screenplay isn't gonna be what I've been telling people. I think I wanna go in another direction. Comparing the script I'm working now, and the original second project just seems a little too similar in terms of tonality. I've been thinking that I should change it up, if only to prove to myself and to others my range of capability. A lot of back and forth right now. Nothing definite until I finish what I'm working on now.

-On Tuesday, I exchanged the Chucks I got on Monday, and got some Puma's instead.

-I wanna go to the driving range. Anyone down to come with?

-I really wanna pick up the Bloc Party cd's. I feel like an ass for not already owning them.

-Gotta start thinkin about how to break down the short film I wanna make this summer.

-Went to the A's-Rangers game on Monday after stopping by Tim & Cindy's place. It was there "going away party," and well, I wanted to make sure I went so as to say "goodbye." Well, not "goodbye," but you know, wish them well.

-"Fine Young Asians." Cindy: believe me when I tell you that I will make FYA come to life.

-I'm gonna visit Justin today.

Challenges

So I didn't let out a river of tears that I was expecting. It was just accomplishment, and an exhilarating feeling. I still gotta figure out my living situation after July, and what my plans are for the future in general. I know that writing is quite literally one of the most uncertain endeavours that a person can set out to do, but then again, that's why Iove doing it as I do.

I like meeting and exceeding challenges. I've overcome a lot of them within just the last two years or so, and accomplished a lot of things. Yet, there are so many more challenges that await me in the years to come. And that is how it should be. The challenge right now is where i want to live after this July.

Sleepy Time

But not really. I just wrote some emotionally charged stuff on a bulletin on MySpace. I've written nothing quite like it before, and I gotta say that it was something I had to get off my chest. There were two major happenings that made for a shitty few hours before goin out to Trad'r Sam tonight, and the trifecta was completed by the end of the night. But despite this third happenstance, I had a good time.

I knew I was gonna have a good time tonight, no matter what, I just didn't think that the trifecta would have come the way as it did. But hey, shit happens, so you deal with it. i'm sure in the next few days, that will happen.

But for now, it's my FUCKIN GRADUATION DAY!!

Congrats to all graduates everywhere.

Countdown

Not the DC weekly comic, but to well... the weekend's festivities. This is a big weekend for me. Probably more than I realize right now. Ever since walking out of class on Wednesday afternoon, I've been in a daze. I've been just trying to take notice of every last detail out of every last thing that I've come across, as well as trying to enjoy everything too.

I'll say it right now, just so I can prove documentation, but also so that I can just relieve myself of it, but, well... I'm gonna be a wreck tomorrow. Not just because I'm goin out bar hoppin' tonight (in a few hours), but it's my graduation day. A big day. And I'm gonna lose it at some point, and in typical fashion, I will try to hold it in. But hard as it I may try, no dam or levy will contain the river that will hit me.

My family and friends in attendance will likely get teary eyed, too. This is a big weekend that also includes a production assistant job on Sunday for the Mission Street Carnival, and I get paid for it too. And I owe a huge bit of THANKS to my firend James for helping me get this gig.

This is a huge weekend. I'm aware of that. I'm just trying to compartmentalize it all. Right now is just the calm before the storm. And with that, let the countdown begin!

The Last Final

Well I hope so, anyway. My film noir final was supposed to be on Friday, but got an email on Monday night from my professor telling us she was changing it to Wednesday. As in today, Wednesday. Hrrmmm, did that ever add stress on my shoulders. Bougie. Bougie I say! Anyhow, I took the final, and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I just also hope I get credit for the three one-unit classes I took as well. There's no real reason why shouldn't though. I wrote those papers well enough. Maybe I'm just thinkin about everything too much.

I'm just trying to wrap myself around the fact that I'm essentially done with school. I won't flat out say "it" "officially" until I receive my diploma in the mail. But yeah, I'm done. I. AM. DONE. Let me say write that one more time: I AM DONE. There are only so many points in one's life where you feel the curents in your life change. This is definitely one of those times. I'm just trying to soak it all in, and enjoy it somehow.

No more waking up in the morning to go to school. So what now?

I get up in the morning to make that money. With a little help and support from my family and friends, and maybe some strangers, too... I just might be able to make that money by being a writer. I know I have it in me to do it. I feel it. I know I'm not meant to be on this earth for any other reason.

It's scary, it's crazy, it's a helluva challenge. So fuck it: It's time to make it happen.

The Power

As uttered by Tobey Maguire in Spidey 3: "It feels good."

I turned in my 72 pages of my screenplay to McBride today. After printing it, I put the red cardstock covers on, and then the brads... and after all that, I just sat there with a real sense of accomplishment. I know I'm only 72 pages into the script, but it feels good. It really, really does. Just gotta finish her off now. I'm setting up a due date for around mid-June... this summer is gonna be fun.

Days 3 and 4 of 4

So the frat party wasn't all bad, but still not all that great either. But it was interesting, that fasho. Relay for Life was fun, but missed the Illuminaria though. The fact that I missed it really sucks. Then went to Isotope for the Ed Brubaker party. It was fun. When I next have some free / down time, I'll post some photos that I've accumulated over the last couple of days. There's a lot more to write of, but maybe I'll save it for when I post the photos. Besides, I gotta get to reading and studying. I still got finals to think about.

I'm so close to that finish line that is graduation. This week, I just gotta focus on the work at hand. Gotta remind myself to beathe this week.

Days 1 and 2 of 4

Man, last night was some shit in the Filmore. I can't believe I'm prepared to have go out again tonight. Frankly, I should be studying right now, but I figure I can spend ten minutes blogging. Anyway, I'm up to the magic number of page 70 on my screenplay. Although I need to review it all and revise it before I turn it in on Monday to McBride, but it feels good how it is right now. If I didn't have my other two finals to worry about, I'd plow through the rest of this screenplay. But I guess that's what the month of June is gonna used up for.

Anyway, this weekend through next week and and next weekend is gonna be some kind of blur.

Another Wednesday

And yet again, I am up after a night of partying. I want to get back to my screenplay, but I just can't concentrate on it. Maybe this'll help.

I have something to say, something to write. But hell if I just can't harness it! Maybe I'm just too tired to make sense of all the emotion I have right now, but fuck, it is half past 2 in the morning...

I did not drink tonight. That was the goal for tonight, and it was something I was able to manage, and I was able to have a pretty decent time. What a fuckin night. I just wanna get through this last week and a half of school, and graduation, and maybe this load of stuff will lighten up. I hope.

Who Knows...

Tristan's 13th birthday was today. The fam and I went out to have dinner at Buca located at Oakridge. That niece of mine is a teenager now? Gah damn! Not to mention the fact that she's getting taller by the day. Hell, she's getting near my height. Happy Birthday TeeTee.

I'm not as upset about the Warriors losing to the Jazz as I had been about the postseason meltdowns that the A's have had. Likely because, and I've said this before, I bleed green and gold. But the Warriors did have a helluva run, and energized every person around the Bay, and in the words Philip Marlowe: "It's okay with me."

Also if the Warriors losing tonight wasn't bad enough, I didn't get to see the last episode of Gilmore Girls. The TiVo got the channels all fucked with... as in The CW is channel 12, and when the TiVo changed the channel, it changed it to 0-2, instead of 0-1-2... BooBoo! BooBoo I say! Ahh well, the network is repeating the episode this coming Sunday night, so I'll definitely be in front of the Telly that night.

Other than that, I need to get to writing.

The Virgin Post

Get your heads out of the gutter. This is my first blog post here on blogger.

I have been working on completing my first feature length (spec) screenplay. I've been working on it since the beginning of last fall, dating back to my screenwriting class. I've since continued working on the script while in my current screenwriting class.

I don't like that the best way to describe this story as by saying: "It's a personal story that..." Yet, the hell with it. This story is what it is. It's a semi-autobiographical story. I mean, I've yet to learn much of anything. Or at least, that's how I see things, and so, what do I know??

I know enough about my life, my neurosis, and everybody that's in it, so that's what I've done. I'm relatively done with all the stuff a writer is supossed to do before he even begins writing "FADE IN," and am about 50 some odd pages into the first draft. It's got a structure to it that I'm really quite proud of, and I think I've wasted enough time this morning trying to set up this account and making this first post.

But basically, most of the time I'll post stuff about the script, or about how the writing of it is going, and whatever else comes or goes in my life. Like for instance, Diane IM's me about how to set up her iPod to her computer, and coversely, how to set up her iTunes, or that I woke up at 6:30 this am, and went to rented my Cap and Gown for Graduation... surreal stuff goin on in my life right now. Just though I'd write it down.