Questions

I realize, as I look over a host of my posts, that I seem to ask a lot
of questions, and don't seem to offer many answers. In that regard,
and to compliment what I think I know about playwriting, I'm going to
try to answer some of the questions that I've postulated on the past.

Of course, someone is using my computer right now and I'm writing on
this, so I really don't know what questions I've postulated in the
past. I will deviate from the writing talk for a moment of gadget love
and say that the typing on this thing isn't as bad as I thought it
might be, and might actually be something I could get used to given
enough time.

Okay, so questions I will try to answer in the following week.

1. What are good jobs for writers to have?
2. How does one write well rounded characters?

Kay. There we go. I guess I will also try writing a fee articles fo
online publications. Anything I'm search of the almighty dollar. Rest
assured dear readers, if there is some of my writing online, I will
link it back here.

On a final note, I got my first check from my ads, and I would like to
thank all of you for spending time reading this.

Much love.

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Trying something new

Hello friends,
I've decided to set up my iPod touch to handle some emailing and
blogging capabilities.

I'm hoping this will increase my productivity, but who knows.

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Well now.

Been a bit of time I suppose, since last I came upon this hallowed ground. I have completed year one of Sarah Lawrence College, and it has been a doozy of a year. I hope, and I know I've said this before, that I will be able to keep this blog going better in the summer months, and hopefully establish a bit more of a web presence. That being said, here's a quick summary of the year.

I wrote ten plays. That's right. Ten plays.

1. Hard Fish (yeah, I know I technically wrote this in the past, but I did six whole new drafts of it, and the play is pretty different than the original.)
2. This is Not About Love (a crooner musical with songs I don't own the rights to.)
3. Ninety Minutes to Eternity
4. The Door in the Fourth Wall
5. The Sanity of Byron Constantine
6. Axe Gambit
7. AFK
8. The Prodigal One
9. Faux Real
10. Woyzeck: The Musical

So there we go. The real turning point, in my opinion, was at play five. That's where my professors noticed real improvement and felt they were finally getting a piece of me as a writer in the plays, and that the plays weren't so distant and impersonal. I'm quite proud of a number of the plays. I think "Faux Real" is the favorite for me, though I also really like what came out of my Woyzeck adaptation. I've submitted two plays to the department for a full production, and plan on submitting some other plays to other theatres for development/production soon. SO, if any of my lovely readers would like to suggest places to send plays, let me know.

That said, I'm back here. On the blog. AND, I'm looking forward to a productive summer. For the mean time, I'm headed to the laundry room. It's time to move. Again.

Updates

I've been avoiding updating this blog because I'm not exactly sure what it's about any more. There are so many questions I have and so little answers to what it is that I'm doing here, and in the larger sense of the world. I'm pretty sure that's all I have for the moment, but, and be prepared for this drastic change, I feel this blog may need to shift from being primarily about writing to being about me as an artist, and exist as a place where I try and explore what it is that moves me to create.

Play out

Another play out into the wild! Anatomy of an Anarchist out to Balagan Theatre in Seattle!
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Play Submission

SO, two plays submitted so far. One last week to Washington Ensemble Theatre (the Abattoir) and one today to The Black Dahlia (The Sanity of Byron Constantin). Just posting here to keep a record. Will update y'all when I know more.

Early mornings

I should know better by now.

My body doesn't like the early morning. Here I am, waiting at a Starbucks, hoping the world stops spinning because I want to get off. I don't sleep well on the best of nights, and even worse when I have an early call. Despite my best intentions, wherein I went to bed early, avoided caffeine, I still wasn't able to hit that magic sleepland until the bleak hour of four AM. Part of me is just upset because I wasted four hours tossing and turning. Part is upset because I have to be up and around the suits rushing about.

So I'm off to work at the Westport playhouse today. I'll let you know how it goes.

On a sidenote, I was reading a book yesterday, and got to page 122, and the next page was missing. In fact, the next thirty three pages were missing. Bad publisher! Bad.
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Hot damn

So, precious readers, I had a reading this evening. I will post the little poster I maee anon. It was a nice time. Oddly, the reading was fast. The script is sixty four pages, and the run time was about thirty five minutes. Overall, I think it was a success. Huzzah.

I attempted to make an audio recording of the reading, and provided it came through, I will try to figure out how to post it up here. Some good feedback from the viewers. And some laughter.

Another reading next week. Whew. Busy.

Feeling better. Much thanks for those who checked in me.

Write well. Smooches.
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Fever Dreams

Rabbit rabbit, March first.

So, it would appear, despite my best intentions and boasting, I've managed to find something to upset the delicate balance that is my thermal control.

I think I have a fever.

I also have two plays to do this week. Not good. I mean, they're weird plays in any case, this feverish state might increase the oddity of my output. But when confronted with the idea of sleeping vs writing, sleeping seems more attractive to my beleaguered brain.

So, two plays for next week, "Gift Giver" and "Faux Real". Spencer and Baker respectively.

Oh, and Mr. Scuzzy has provided a delicious graphic thermometer I will post on here with all due haste so we can all track my march progress.
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The Hinterlands

I am a prolific writer. It's something I'm proud of. However, sometimes I find myself in what I think of as the Hinterlands.

It's a place where I try and find a new play to write. Where I explore ideas, mull theories and basically stress out over the concept of being a writer. I ask all those ridiculous questions, should I be doing this. Can I do this?

I'm there now. I have a few things boiling on the stove, but nothing feels done, and (to continue in the metaphor of food) some of it might not end up being edible.

On a side note, I've decided to send out ten plays in the month of March. Time to get my work out there. Hold me to it.
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As it happens

Life in this crazy little burg of Bronxville has hotted up to the point of busy busy. Writing here is going well, with all the sorts of success I could hope for, ie, a decent reception from my classmates and another reading coming up in the next few weeks.

As I type this I'm at a callback for a show, so it must needs be a short update. Much love.
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Repetition

So, as some of you might know, I have been, for a time, one of the writers for a comedy group here on campus, the Lampoon.

I wrote a sketch for them based on some historical events, inspired heavily by a fantastic sketch from a friend of mine, nod to you Scuzzy, and now they want a bunch more in the same vein. They want the same essential joke to be repeated over and over again, and I have to pause for a moment and wonder if this will be funny or a waste of my time when they realize these are not ALL going to be funny. Perhaps one will be... Or none. In any case, how many times can things be funny?

I need to do laundry.
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Zazoo: To Do

First off, let me say that I don't understand how the screen of my blackberry continues to develop scratches.

Second, I am writing some sketches this week for Lampoon. Time to be funny.

Third, I took the one act I wrote for Ed Baker's class and transformed it into a full length.

Fourth, I'm in a show this weekend, playing a cameo role, which, on the one hand I do very very well, but on the other, it takes a serious chunk of my time.

Fifth, I have a play, or something due next week for Spence's class, which means I need to decide whether to produce something new or refine something old. Votes?

Sixth, is lent. What do I give up? Food? Hot damn. Marshmallows? Beer? Meh, I'll come up with something.

Seventh, need to come up with the notion of the dance I have comitted myself to make. Been thinking of this one idea, but I don't have the resources to pull it off. I've been toying with the idea of writing a piece that is about the dance that I couldn't make. Describing what the audience would see without having the "things" in front of them. Ponderies....

Eigth, I'm passing my novel off to a person who was, in the past, an intern at a publishing house. Chaper eleven is still the devil.

Nine, webisodes? Do I have the time, inclination?

Ten, need to get crackalackin on the game I'm supposed to be writing.

Shazam. Ta da, there's the to do.
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Time to update

It is a busy little universe I live in, and it can be difficult finding the time to update. But, that's a cross I chose to bear, and it is of my own volition.

That being said, on with the show.

Classes have become a routine by now, as we begin the third week. I've written two full plays and a one act. I'm no longer directing a show, nor assistant directing a show. I have two job offers on the table for the summer, both great, and wonderful, but I'm not sure I know how to choose. So there's the update, and I'll try to get back and postulate (without answering) more writerly questions in the future.
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Just a Morning

So, dear readers, I find myself in possession of a new phone after the kind folks at at&t decided my phone was magically broken and not tossed carelessly on the floor. Here I am to update you on the actions of the week thus far.

First, school has resumed as of Tuesday. It is nice to start getting back in the swing of things. But, that does mean lots of reading and writing to get done. I have a draft of a play due by Sunday at noon. Huzzah! (That's for Spence's class). This play is one I started last semester, and I think has some good prospects. Spence has always seemed very eager to see where it goes, so hopefully it comes out a little better than some of my efforts in the past.

I also start a new playwriting class, with Edward Allen Baker, and I'm quite excited. Mainly because I hear he is amenable to working on screenplays, and I would like to get a few more screenplays on the playing field. Especially this one my friend Ben (of benanderic.com) asked me to write, though I wonder the intelligence of bringing a screenplay with characters I didn't write into a classroom/workshop setting. Can I adequately defend them? I mean, if the characters present a problem to the actualzation of the screenplay, will I be in a position to fix them, or will I need to be concerned about Ben's feelings on what is, ultimately, his IP? (IP stands for intellectual property)

In addition, I am going to choreograph a dance this semester. I have a meeting on Friday to discuss some of the particulars before the actual formal dance meeting on monday. I am excited sbout having the chance to work on something that is so different from where my prior experience lies, I think college is a place to experiment, and a place to be okay about failing. You know?

My final project, for the moment and not counting the game which I see as an ongoing project, is this web series. I see it as a television series, just online. I want to take advantage of the glut of underused actors, the cinematographical nature of the campus (it's beautiful) and present a show that is an update (of sorts) to 21 Jumpstreet, which was an eighties television series starring Johnny Depp about cops going undercover at a high school. We'll see how that one turns out, but it's in the gate.
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Bit of an update

Bit of a discussion.

So, most of you have guessed my blog is primarily composed on my blackberry, and that's great. I love it. Problem is, my blackberry decided to stop working so well, which has made it difficult to blog. So, forgive me if updating is a bit sparse or I misspell words, I can't actually see what I'm typing.

That being said, I was just reading "Advanced Screenwriting" by Linda Seger (too early to recommend or condemn), and I found something to help explain my dissatisfaction with "Cloverfield". The lack of the payoff scene. So much is set up in that film, and so little is paid off. Ruminate on that.

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"Cloverfield"

Okay kiddos, I saw this fine film yesterday, and needed some time to think about it before I wrote about it. Now, writing about screen writing is always somewhat problematic when dealing with just the finished product, as it is hard to tell how much of the screenplay survived the vetting process of editing and directing.

Let me say, from the top, that this is a fantastic way of re-imagining a genre film. "Cloverfield" is a monster movie, but instead of being from the point of view of the monster or the military or the "hero", this film is from the point of view of one of those little people running around and being squashed and eaten in other films. From that standpoint, I loved the film. However, I felt the story relied a little too much on being vague. I think there is a fine balance point where it becomes annoying, as an audience member, to know so little. For a while the mystery is fun, but the realization that you won't be privy to some of the important details of the movie made me irritateds, and were I to use the cries of Foul from the audience as a judge, I'd say I was not alone. When we, as an audience are invited along for a journey, there is this implied notion that we will be able to know the conclusion of the film.

The filming of the movie was done through a pseudo handheld version which, on the one hand was cool and different, but on the other was frustrating and distracting. I'm sure, in a sense, it was effective in limiting the budget, no soaring camera pans, no steadicam, but it also very limiting. I would be interested to find a copy of the script to see if this filming style was stipulated by the scribe or was a brainchild of the director.

Okay. So I might touch on this topic again in the future, I did appreciate the notion of the different perspective in a genre that has, like it or not, relatively established rules about what make up the movie. Perhaps I can do little piece about that....
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Ads... A quick note

So, as I like to remind you, dear reader, I am trying to procure a bit of scratch from this little blog, so please be kind a click on the links to the right of this.

On a funny note, I noticed that one of the links is generally to the MFA department at Northwestern, which is a school I applied to and really wanted to attend (it was my number two school on my list with gusts into number one). They did not accept me as a student, but apparently want to reach my readers. Hrm...
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"Spring Awakening"

Taking full advantage of my proximity to New York, I went to the Great White Way and witnessed a spectacle called "Spring Awakening."

The music was fantastic. The story was not quite there, the acting somewhat shoddy, and so on.

The story was so jammed with adolescent cliches and gaping holes that I had difficulty following the action. Teens were dropping like flies and there were so many vibrant poignant stroylines brought up, briefly sung about, then never mentioned again. Somewhat disappointing. I would be interested in reading the original piece (the one written in the mid 1800's) and see if it holds the same holes as this Tony award winning production. (Though I'd need to take a look to see if it won best book...)

The most disturbing portion of the evening was watching the lead actor spray down the set, his fellow actors and the front few rows with ever increasing sprays of spittle. I thought it was a joke until I realized he never stopped...

Technical merits are mostly high. I thought the light design was effective and original and genuinely added to the play as a whole. On the flip side, I don't think the set did. It seemed simple and practical, a notion which was tossed out in the second act. The costumes were not spectacular, nor hideous.

I enjoyed the show overall, but would only rate it around the six point seven. Out of ten mind you. So almost passing, well, as I write that, I begin to wonder if it should have passed.... (Never you mind the quandary of grading art, I'm grading it) I give it a C-.

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Musings

So, I have traveled back to New York in order to continue my education in the wily ways of theatre.

However, I am currently trapped on an airplane across from the same two children who have been quite liberal in their high registered vocal applications throughout the flight, and seem to see no new reason to eliminate their emmanations.

To alleviate my frustration, I turn to you, dear blog-o-sphere. A joyous little arena of self indulgence, because you truly want to know what is on my mind. So, here is my big question of the day: I am interested in being a little more open about the projects I am ensconced in work on, but I do have that worry that by putting my ideas on the web for easy viewing, I am leaving myself open for rip offs. Is this legitimate? Or is this ultimately safe as everything is time stamped on a server beyond my control....? Hrm...?

In terms of projects, I am very interested in mercenaries right now, though the contemporary versions thereof prefer the term private security consultants. Perhaps I'll be in a better space to put out some more information about that particular gambit on the flip side..

Play well, and hit me up if you are around the Eastern seaboard.
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