Odds and Ends – 316.5

I don’t have a strong topic to write on because there are so many different things happening, so I thought I would take this opportunity to get caught up.

First of all, I am not writing about clown crime, so I’m not killing Uncle Earl off just yet (if he even exists, which I doubt). I really thought it would be next, but there are some limits to how much choice a writer has. At times I am ready to tell different stories, and I could try and force the issue, but it will make everything stilted.

Recent events have caused me to dwell upon certain things, and right now there is really only one story I can tell. Maybe it is a good one for my first attempt at finishing in a month, because it is kind of dark material, and so I want it to go fast. Yes, I was writing about vampires last, and there were places where it got pretty heavy, but even if personalities like those of Christine and Lucas are theoretically possible, I don’t run into anyone that bad on a regular basis, and even if I did, at least they would not be vampires. Mark is completely real, so it’s different.

Anyway, I am able to pour some recent grief and some old anger into it, so writing Dark Secrets has been somewhat therapeutic. I wrote twenty-five pages yesterday, which is a new record. I’m not sure it was wise, because my eyes were bugging out of my head by the time I was done, but it’s pretty impressive considering I have a cold.

I am experimenting with some new methods, where maybe instead of trying to write a little every day (and I have done that, because I was writing two pages a night on the days when I had class), I alternate writing days with work days. This is an issue because I hope to be working some in the upcoming weeks.

The class was tax preparation training, so I hope that can provide some income through April, and maybe the job market will have improved a bit by then. It’s kind of a departure for me, but it’s funny because in my second screenplay, the female lead was studying for her CPA, even if it was not necessarily what she wanted to do.

There has been some interesting convergence lately. I was trying to catch up on old magazines, so I was reading one old Smithsonian, and I read about Americans in Prague, and some other articles, but I stopped at the trout article because I suspect I will be sharing it with some of my friends who are fly fishing devotees. I opened another one and read about manuscript recovery and preservation in Timbuktu. I logged onto e-mail, and Henry Rollins had sent his latest dispatch from Timbuktu. I logged onto Facebook, and Kathryn was writing from Prague. Does it mean anything? Not necessarily, but it’s neat just the same.

In other news, I just got back from a Sisters in Cinema meeting, which has been going on for three years and I didn’t even know. I think more networking is going to be necessary for me to get anywhere. Also, I was thinking that when I make agency calls, perhaps instead of saying, “I’m looking for representation. Are you taking new clients?” maybe I should say, “I’m writing my fourth screenplay and I really need representation. Are you taking new clients?” The net result will probably be the same for most, but at least I am making them hear at least one reason to take me seriously.

I turn 37 on Saturday. Still single and childless, and now unemployed. In some ways it’s fairly dismal, but I do have exciting things going on, and I am getting good support from my friends, for which I am so grateful.

In political news, you may remember me objecting to the way Matt Wingard got his district seat, and something similar recently happened with the way Martha Schrader got into the State Senate. I feel I must mention it because she is a Democrat, and I deplore political chicanery across party lines. Anyway, at the time I suggested for a similar case a respected, retired person should be appointed. I was suggesting that as the ethical thing to do, but Andy Parker suggested just making it the law that whoever is appointed can’t run for the seat in the next election, and I think that’s probably the way to go. I mean, I’d like to be able to count on our elected leaders to make wise and just choices, but it’s sort of a pipe dream. At least we’re not Illinois.

I am looking forward to the national regime change, though I feel kind of bad for the mess Obama is inheriting. I take exception to Bush saying that he tried to do the right thing. He just did what he wanted done, and while I am sure that he did want things to work out well, or he was at least miffed when they did not, he never cared enough to change his strategy.

On that note, I’d like to state that I think I am okay with the choice of Rick Warren for the inaugural prayer. I know, people feel it is a slap in the face to homosexuals due to his support of Proposition 8. But remember how I pointed out that California voting for both Prop 8 and Obama was a good sign, because it signaled a disconnect between the orthodoxy that if you care about moral issues at all you have to be Republican? This could be more of the same.

Warren is firmly anti-abortion, but he still invited Obama, who is pro-choice, to speak at the AIDs conference. We need to be able to cooperate and work with people with whom we do not completely agree. There may be limits, but this should not be it.

Fighting poverty is one of the issues closest to my heart, because when you fight poverty you fight crime and promote education and you promote a strong economy and strong families and good health. There are so many social ills that are perpetuated by poverty, and then they perpetuate poverty, so there’s this cycle that is hard enough to get out of anyway, and then when the last eight years of government policy have actually been promotion poverty, yeah, I’m tempted to like someone who makes that a priority. We do share a lot of beliefs. I’m not always sure about how he communicates those beliefs, which may mean that I feel about Rick Warren the way Warren feels about James Dobson. How weird is that? (We don’t have time for how I feel about James Dobson.)

I know what would have been great. If Reverend Wright had risen to the occasion when he had the chance, and if he had acknowledged the anger, and where it was right and yet where it was wrong too. If he could have done that, and worked for sincere conciliation, he would have been a great choice and it could have been a beautiful thing. Since that didn’t happen, now Warren has the chance to rise to the occasion, and I hope he does. I hope it is a beautiful prayer that embraces everyone, even the atheists who think the tradition should be struck down. I hope that can happen. If it doesn’t, well Obama, it will still only be your first day, and honestly it will be the least of your problems.