Friday, April 11, 2008

Friday, April 11, 2008
Waxing Moon
Saturn Retrograde
Pluto Retrograde
Cloudy and warm

I’m trying really hard not to live in the Land of I Don’t Fucking Care, but when six things annoy you before 9 AM, it’s difficult. All building-related crap, and I said, more than once to the Annoyers, “I don’t fucking care. This is not my problem, and I am within my legal rights to refuse.”

What? They think I never looked up these laws in the law library of the State Supreme Court? They must think I’m a fool. I am many things, many of them not nice, but I do my homework.

I’m also angry because I haven’t felt able to really hustle for work for the past six or so weeks. I’m leery about committing myself to many deadlines because I can never tell, from day to day, what new fresh hell I’ll have to deal with on the home front. And that has to stop, because this is the way I make my living, and if these scumbags prevent me from doing it – I need to make sure it comes out of their hides.

I’m trying to adjust my focus in the knowledge that the next few days will be complete, unmitigated hell, and then I’m giving myself a few days to recover, before getting back on the bandwagon again. I’ve got submissions backing up, I’ve got to get all this admin work done, I’ve got a few writing deadlines, ones I felt comfortable accepting, I’ve got to hustle for more work because the bills just keep coming, I’ve got to get up to Maine to check on my grandmother, and I’ve got to house hunt. I need 38 hours in every day, not 24, but the scumbags aren’t allowed to have more time.

Up to page 61 on the re-creation of the screenplay. I have a clearer sense of the world I built and the conflicts, but I feel like I’ve lost some of the dialogue I really liked. Without having the original draft for comparison, I’ll never really know, but it’s gone and, as Jill Shalvis pointed out, there is a period of mourning.

Took a one o’clock train to the city yesterday – for once a fairly quiet ride. Met Theatrdiva at Thalia, along with another friend of hers, and we had a wonderful time. We could have easily sat there talking until midnight. It was great to be around creative people again, and talk both business and creative. That’s why one comes to NY – to be in an environment with lots of other creative people and generate good work. With the way corporations have turned this town into a theme park over the past decade or so, it’s harder to survive as an artist (cost of living is ridiculous). And people burn out. But there’s still lots of creativity going on, and when you can balance the Projects of Your Heart with the Projects That Pay Good Money – and, better yet, when some of those projects are one and the same, you remember why you live here in the first place.

I think we’re getting ready for another artistic renaissance like we had in the 1920’s and 1930’s, the days of the original Provincetown Players and Washington Square Players and all of that, because of ballooning costs. For awhile, it looked like indie film would go that route, but even so-called “indie films” have gotten overblown. Let’s face it, a true indie film is one where all your friends pitch in with their parents’ summer houses, borrowed cars, pots of spaghetti and extra rolls of duct tape, and you max out your credit cards. A true indie film doesn’t start by being studio-funded. I think small theatre companies, small, personalized film companies and small, independent publishers are going to start up again, because they’re sick of the corporate culture, and corporate culture is death to the arts. I have a really bad attitude when it comes to corporate money: “You liked my work enough to hire me. Now sign the checks and shut up.”

I gave them a backstage tour of the show on which I used to work. It’s always fun to show people around, because there’s so much wonderful stuff involved. I caught up with people I haven’t seen since October, when I left. I grabbed a quick dinner and went over to the show I was scheduled to work. Everyone was happy to see me. Caught up and what’s going on, all the changes that are happening in their various lives. Told the one actor my instinctive reaction when his character was shot on the TV show: “How dare you shoot one of my actors!” and he was delighted. He said now he would always feel protected, no matter where he worked or what he did.

Show was fine – it sped by really fast tonight, for some reason. Fought my way through the crowds to the train, got home far later than I expected (switch problems). Couldn’t sleep, so I had a late start this morning.

I’m doing some writing this morning, then packing and taking another carload to storage, and helping my friend, whose windows are being done this afternoon. She was up until 3:30 trying to prep the apartment, and at the end of her rope.

It will be a. . .challenging weekend. But the creative conversation yesterday was refreshing and has the wheels turning in some new ways. Theatrdiva is a very inspiring person, in the best possible way.

Devon

Devon’s Bookstore:

5 in 10: Create 5 Short Stories in Ten Weeks by Devon Ellington. This ebooklet takes you from inspiration to writing to revision to marketing. By the end of ten weeks, you will have either 5 short stories or a good chunk of a novella complete. And it’s only 50 cents, USD. Here.

Writing Rituals: Ideas to Support Creativity by Cerridwen Iris Shea. This ebooklet contains several rituals to help you start writing, get you through writer’s block, and help send your work on its way. It’s only 39 cents USD. (Note: Cerridwen Iris Shea is one of the six names under which I publish). Here.

Full Circle: An Ars Concordia Anthology. Edited by Colin Galbraith. This is a collection of short stories, poems, and other pieces by a writers’ group of which I am a member. My story is “Pauvre Bob”, set at Arlington Race Track in Illinois. You can download it free here: