Month: January 2005

Eck

Writer guy

A winter cold rode me down for the count. I hope to return in better spirits Monday.

Friday I sent an email to the prospective agent. Eight weeks is a reasonable amount of time for a reply, considering a self addressed stamped envelope was enclosed. Without speculating on an outcome – since anything is possible – I’ve learned one important lesson about agents. The time between initial contact and a response often reflects their interest level. The less time passes, the more encouraging the results.

Reviewing the spreadsheet of agents contacted is also revealing. After a year, 45 percent of agents queried have yet to respond. So are they a no or a yes? Good question. It’s a hard call to make. Fourth months ago, I double tapped a subset of those who hadn’t responded after six months, and one replied. Maybe a triple tap is in order. 😉

To the moon Landlord!

Writer guy

Today marks a new chapter in the ongoing love/hate relationship with my landlord. I respect the landlord, and love the fact that whenever someone calls about a problem, he resolves the issue personally. However, I also hate the fact that whenever someone calls about a problem, he resolves the issue personally.

Let me explain. The apartment is one of many carved out from an old mansion. Trust me, it sounds much neater than it is. Take a bunch of old apartments with 100 year old plumbing, Rube Goldberg wiring and a basement that hosts Hell’s backup boiler and the fun never stops!

Virtually every week, a new refurbishment, patch job or emergency project begins. Some finish quickly, others not. A few are temporary by design, stopgaps until there’s more time for a proper fix. Great attention is paid to stopgap fix it jobs. One such stopgap is now in it’s fifth year. And while it’s true the “estate” appears much nicer than many of the neighbors, it’s obvious that the real progress continues eluding the landlord. Perhaps, the landlord might pay for help.

Instead, he plows weekends, evenings and holidays into the place, year after year. Thus far the only professional who works on the place is the plumber, and thats only where it involves Hell’s backup boiler. Not that the landlord didn’t botch that once or twice himself before admitting defeat.

Compounding the aggravation is the tendency of unrelated jobs leading to more projects. For example, he begins tinkering with one part of the house and then manipulates everything around it, until the footprint of the work is four fold and it consumes the entire day.

As I write this, the front doors are off the hinges, the frame exposed and the landlord is hanging a new door by himself. The official explanation for his presence this morning was the replacement of overhead lighting in the hallway. Best estimates on Project Gutted Doorway? Heh. Break out the rosary or other religious device of choice. My apologies for the rant.

Finding Neverland

Writer guy

Pundits claim that there are films and there are movie. Although all movies are eventually transferred to film for viewing, all movies are not films. Confused? Take it up with Roger Ebert. Presumably, the film category denotes more ‘serious’ subject material and approach. The pursuit of more ‘esoteric’ themes and narratives supersede the drive for commercial appeal.

Well, Finding Neverland is wooing the critics and audiences. It’s a film and a good one and more importantly, it’s just good. A dramatized version of the events leading up to the creation and production of the classic tale of Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie this is a home run.

Finding Neverland funny in spots, smart in others, poignant and pointed. The acting is strong on all fronts – Johnny Depp has never been finer. Dressing up the life of a writer is no easy task, but this story does, capturing all the wonder and excitement that inspired J.M. Barrie to explore his friendship with a mother of four boys, one named Peter.

Three things that work for this film:

1) Execution of story – very strong narrative work

2) Acting – excellent and consistent performances from all players

3) Pacing – nary a dull moment

Three Things that need improvement

1) Nothing

Verdict – suitable for nearly all ages, this is a must, must see. Full price theater and DVD.

What did he say?

Writer guy

Reviewing the last few blogs suggests the phrase fumbling towards coherence. The Wife even roasted me in the comments. Thank you. Thank you for your support.

Like much The Wife says, the point is valid. The past few blogs were a bit left of center. However, this was deliberate, deliberate by design. An experiment at different writing styles, the exercise forced me into different thought processes. Obviously more time is necessary refine the technique. I’ll get there. Each day is another step.

I’ve shuffled the schedule around again, so writing comes first in the day. This has bolstered productivity. This idea hails from Joseph Heller. He rose at 4am to work on Catch 22 before catching the 7am train. Ten million copies later the day job was history.