Tuesday, August 26, 2008

My Zack Script

After driving everyone, including you, nuts for months about these, Jamie and I are finally publicly releasing our Zack scripts. Hope they were worth the wait! =)

(You can see the main post about the release on Obsessed with Bones.)

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Intro for "The Man on the Roof."

Jamie proposed this idea out of her "Patty Hearstian" love of Zack. I must be honest that I do not have the same level of passion for his character, but I do have the passion for Bones, for writing, and for a good challenge. Hence, a script was born.

It became apparent rather quickly that Zack would be a case-of-the-week B-story in my script. I wanted to find a way to tell a reasonable continuation of his story but I wanted it, more than anything, to feel exactly like a real episode of the show. I needed to have the Booth/Brennan, the humor, and the feel of a weekly trip into the show.

It will be obvious to anyone who reads my script what I love most about this show. To some, you will even be able to tell exactly who my favorite character is. I really enjoyed writing it. I loved delving further into Zack, a character I'd previously enjoyed but not loved, on the same level as others. I hope I did him justice, and I hope you enjoy the whole package.

(link removed as I've decided to work it into a full novel completely independent of Bones)

Monday, August 25, 2008

Desk Flotsam

Aside from the normal things on my business desk - phone, bills, magazines, pictures - I have a few interesting additions of late.

1 Envelope, ripped open with contents still inside. Back used as a hasty note surface for a business voice-mail message that I accidentally cut off mid-way and can't get back.

4 carved willow statues in the following forms:
-couple dancing
-couple woman in front of man, arms entwined
-woman with wings and a cradled heart
-child with wings and a very thorny rose

And then we have the 5th willow statue. She is laying down, tightly clutching her 3 wire flowers. Her position could be likened to a coffin pose, an image which is helped by the fact that her head is somewhere in the vicinity of her right arm. Below it. Facing down.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Rampant Neglect

I hereby accuse myself of neglect.

AoP is in a sad state of disuse.

I blog about Bones, I blog about health, I am just beginning to ghost-write blog. I also write, ghost write, re-write and research and write for others.

I definitely do not lack for writing.

What I do lack is time. My work doesn't have defined walls anymore. I still have a day job for 4 days a week (hopefully soon to be 3) but I have many many hours of work right here. At this computer. At home. It doesn't end at 5. It doesn't confine itself to Monday-Friday.

Do I mind?

I wouldn't say that. I know that transitioning to freelancing is exactly what I need, for both the present and the future. And I already love many things about it. I love not driving to work. I love that I can go take a walk anytime I want. I love that if I need to go to the doctor or run an errand I don't have to ask anyone for permission.

I especially love the variety of topics. In the scant 2 weeks I've been doing this I've researched and written on everything from photography, to cardio exercise, to Football (UK style). I never lack for variety of topics and that keeps it interesting.

This weekend I have 5-6 hours of work to complete my first big article job. I will get it done, turn it in Sunday and hope they hand me the next quickly.

But tonight, tonight, I will veg. Monday Mourning is calling my name.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Which is more sad?

Which is worse? That David Hasselhoff created a social network based entirely around himself (with almost 14k members) or...

...that I had to sign up? =)

There's just something about that guy. I loved Knight Rider growing up. As I've gotten older I've seen the cracks I couldn't see then and David Hasselhoff has become one of those things you just can't look away from.

One of my favorite silly sites - Waxhoff!

Friday, August 15, 2008

P.S.

Going to find the Modern Marvels link for the previous post lead to me RSSing the feed into my Google Reader.

That's my 113th subscription to the reader. /flex, /laugh, /cry ?

/geekflex

Erm, update

This is mostly cut straight from an email to a very nice person from Germany who wanted to know. That made my day Jeannie!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Right now things are insane! I just found out I didn't make the cut with my TV pilot idea. But that was not unexpected. It was the first thing I had written in years and within a month of submitting it I knew a million and one ways I would have done it differently. It was a great learning experience!

I completed a Bones spec script. Jamie Frevele and I both wrote full scripts. It was her idea, as a way to do something with the Zack story. Her script is very Zack focused and will make the extremely rabid Zack fans happy. Mine is much more like a weekly episode, where the secondary story involves Zack. Unless something major happens, we're going to put them out to fans 1 week before the premier.

I would love to write for TV full-time, but I live in Eastern Tennessee, a couple thousand miles from Hollywood. We'll see though. There are still options open to me. (I like to think so at least.)

In the meantime I have begun working on a novel. I'm loving it. (Wishing I could sit down and do nothing but this.)

I wish I could wipe the slate clean and write all day but I do have a mostly full-time job and I'm in the midst of trying to transition to some freelance writing work but it's not easy. Applying for jobs is taking up all of my free time. I badly want to put up more episode reviews for the old shows but I feel like I never have the time! When we get new shows though, I will definitely be on top of reviewing them.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

And there you go!

Oh yeah, we have enhanced TV for the first time in our marriage. What am I most interested in, outside of Bones perks?

Modern Marvels baby! I'm such a geek.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Tropic Thunder MTV Video

Looking for some Bones promo uploads on Youtube I came across this video. It was shown at the MTV movie awards this year. If you think this video is funny, you will love the movie. Even if you think parts are gross but most of it's funny, you will love the movie. It's a Tropic Thunder microcosm!



The humor in the movie isn't the same type of humor seen here (far less crotch-related themes) but it's on the same level. It's also Not Safe for Work (NSFW).

My previous review of Tropic Thunder (no spoilers)

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I'm so very late in posting this...

A reader on my Mom's photography blog passed a blog award to her in appreciation for her personal enjoyment of the photography. Mom passed it on to me twice, for both this blog and my Bones blog. I hope to pass it on to others soon, but in the meantime...thanks Mom! I'm glad I got you into blogging and happy you enjoy it so much. I hope it leads to great things for you! =)

Monday, August 11, 2008

No matter what I might say about cats...

Gotta love this moxy!

Doing what I do best: new location!

So, I have this blog, and I have my Bones blog, and now I'm a part of a new blog! I get to blog about health topics at a new, spiffy corner of the web: yeahtips.com! I'm really enjoying it. I get to do what I already do everyday: browse the web like a fiend, post about it, and talk to people!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Twitter-dicted!

I'm not sure if that's a word but I likes it lots! I'm sticking with it. I've recently, very very recently, discovered how addicting that little feed can be. I started one a long time ago for my Bones blog, but didn't stick with it. But now I've started my own, all mine, just my own random musings (hey, kinda like here! wait a minute...) and set my Razr up to join the fun.

Time for Binding...

So, yesterday we were supposed to get Dish Network. It didn't happen. Permission issues (we didn't have the paper trail), bah! But in the 6 hour wait for the tech I got a lot of notes made on my next writing project: a big fat scary novel.

I had a nice line of papers, separated by topic, laid out on the couch. Miraculously (not kidding on the miracle) the cat never touched them. Today, having hit something like 30 pages, I decided it was time to bind those suckers. It's mentally and spiritually uplifting to know that you've done enough work, and reached the point, of needing to organize your organization!

Very country!

I can listen to most any type of music, but I particularly love country. I can't embed it (grr) but I'm really into "Sound so Good" right now by Ashton Shepherd.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

While I work hard...

I am working on the initial stages of my novel, while also looking for freelance home-based work. Occasionally, I have to stop and smell the roses, or look at the 'lolcats.'

cat
more cat pictures

Friday, August 8, 2008

Our bright cat...

She has amazing spatial skills! I pet her while she's laying on the bed and laugh that she's stretching so far she might roll off the edge she's near. I stop, she looks up at me, and promptly does just that.

Video camera, anyone?

I love Storms

I could write another, long post on my love of storms but for the moment I'll content myself with sharing this amazing video of a lightening strike, in slow motion. Enjoy!




Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Reg # means it's done!

Once again I have a freshly claimed WGAw registration number that proclaims I have finished my script project! Beyond a certain count of people, I have no idea who will read it. I hope many and I hope they like it! I really enjoyed writing it. Too bad I can't see it live. The movie in my head will have to suffice.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Up next...organizing the 40 1/2 size pages of notes I have made over the last week for a new story. This one is all my own, which gives it a particularly great thrill. It's even more daunting, but I'm excited to be digging in.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Our cat...

We have a very interesting cat. She's just over 5 years old, a grey and white fuzzball. She's on the small side for a cat, but a bit paunchy. We can only take so much whining every time we walk into the kitchen before we give in and give her her all-natural snacks. We made it a week. Once. I think we were out of the snacks though...

The only thing the cat isn't is docile. Lap cat does not apply. She does join us on the bed but mostly it's to suck our heat or clean herself. Loudly. At 3 am. I had no idea how loud claw licking could really be.

My attitude toward her is in constant flux. One moment I appreciate her company, another I'm grating my teeth at the pulled threads in our bedspread quilt or sighing as I pick yet another cat hair off myself, and other times I'm simply amazed at how much she lives up to her 'tardo nickname.

Yes, 'tardo. It's not P.C. in the slightest. She's not human. And she's definitely not bright. I'm sticking with it.

Part of it's amusement at cat quirks. They focus on movement. So it's very easy to completely enthrall her with a tiny bit of light, or flipping the pages of a book, or putting your hand under the covers. But the rest is all her. We've always laughed and sighed at her seeming inability to control her own claws. She extends them, gets them stuck, then seems to forget she has the capacity to retract them so she can move freely. She gets stuck in carpet, in sheets, in the stuffed dog in her cat bed...but none of it compares to her recently aquired ability to get her claws stuck...to her own claws.

She's decided in the last few days, for efficiency sake, maybe, that she's not going to lick one paw at a time anymore. She's going to put her front paws together and lick them at the same time. You can see the realization dawn. At first she keeps licking, while slightly tugging. The tugging begins to steadily overtake the cleaning as she pulls her linked paws closer and closer to her body in the attempt to separate them. You'd think she'd get better at the separation or even learn not to link them but instead she's trending the opposite way...

I really want to 'lolcat' her...

cat
more cat pictures

# Pieces Written

Scripts - 3

4 if you count re-writing Sleeping Beauty, Hillbilly-style, in High School

Novels- 1 + .1 + .7

Can I count my 14 or so mentally composted story ideas? No? Drat.

Short Stories - 2

I'll say two officially, so far (one of those still needs to be typed up)... I lost at least 2 of my old ones and I've wiped the slate clean.

Poems- 3...4? 42?

I won awards for 3. After that I lost count.