It's strange how things suddenly can start coming together. Over the course of the last month, I landed a part-time job at the area Apple Store and had a deluge of freelance copywriting work come in. I now find myself earning a somewhat decent living again, which is a huge relief. Here's the updates on the other stuff:
Reading:
Bram Stoker's Dracula. From time to time I like to read a genre "classic." Thus far, I've been disappointed with most. Dracula however lives up to it's reputation. The clever storytelling method and moments of genuine creepiness have me turning the pages. It does leave something to be desired in terms of character development, but I can see why this tale has stood the test of time.
Watching on TV:
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It's a sad commentary on our news media when the best television journalist we currently have is a comedian. Stewart and his crew do a fantastic job at entertaining while using sarcasm and wit to delver deeper into today's crucial issues than most other so called news programs.
Alphas...I'm way behind on this one, but the three episodes I've watched have been engaging and highly entertaining. I heard it's been renewed for another season.
Parenthood...Great writing and very real characters. As a married father of two kids this show frequently hits home for me about life's very real ups and downs.
Watching at the Movies:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Everything I could've hoped for in an Apes reboot. This more than made up for Tim Burton's attempt at this franchise. Hail Caesar! I can't wait for the next one.
Watching on DVD:
Source Code. I would highly recommend this to anyone that enjoys suspense with a sci-fi twist. It's a time loop movie where a character keeps reliving the same scenario...like Groundhog Day gone terribly awry. Good stuff.
Listening:
Checking out Stevie Stevens Flamenco-a-Go-Go right now as I type. Pretty decent. Haven't picked up much new music lately. I've got a long list of stuff I have to get though including: Sixx A.M.'s new one and George Lynch's Kill All Control.
Writing:
About to kick off writing the screenplay to The Forgotten with my writing partner Evan Young and some invaluable guidance from an industry veteran. Also just started plotting out a new comic book project called The Bad Guy. It seems to be coming together nicely so far.
I feel I'm resonating on some good frequencies these days. I'm in the zone, so to speak.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
What's going on?
Reading - Just finished The Profession by Steven Pressfield. Great book. Frightening that it might prove to be somewhat prophetic about the state of our nation and the various other superpowers and their militaries in this world. Also reading Driven to Distraction by Edward Hallowell, a book about ADD. Pretty enlightening.
Watching - ON TV - ALPHAS. Very impressed by the first episode. Loved the quirkiness of the characters and intriguing plot. Will keep watching.
Watching - ON DVD/BLU-RAY - Inside Job. Buried. Inside Job was an insightful documentary about the rampant culture of greed on Wall Street and how it has infected both our government and higher education system. Eyeopening stuff. Have decided to look into third parties in terms of my political choices after seeing it. Buried was very well done and intense, featuring the best performance from Ryan Reynolds that I've seen. Not for the faint of heart.
Watching - IN THEATERS - Thor. X-men: First Class. Green Lantern. Not necessarily in that order.
My favorite of these was X-men: FC. Possibly the best in the franchise. Great performances by Michael Fassbender as Magneto and James McAvoy as Prof. X. I wish all the X-men flicks could've been this good. I'll rank Green Lantern as number 2 here. Sure it's been panned by critics and isn't making as much money as the studio had hoped, but this was a really fun, sci-fi superhero movie. Very impressive visually and well put together. I think Martin Campbell did a pretty good job of taking a character that isn't known nearly as well as the big 3 at DC (Supes, Bats and WW) and getting viewers acquainted with Green Lantern and his universe. Could it have used a little more drama and some better character moments. Yes. But, my only real gripes were the under use of Peter Sarsgaard as a villain and the lack of a real mentor/apprentice relationship between Sinestro and Hal Jordan. Onto the Thunder God. Thor was good, but should have been great. Chris Hemsworth did a fine job with what he was given, but he was not given enough to sink his teeth into. Tom Hiddleston, however, was and really shined in the film. Loki was the best character in the fllm. Natalie Portman was ridiculous...or rather...her character was. Not sure what they were thinking with her character, a supposedly brilliant physicist that acted more like a smitten college student heart throbbing over the ripped up blond Norse god she repeatedly hits with automobiles.
Writing - NOT MUCH - Just coming off a six week stint at an ad agency wherein I was commuting 4 hours each day and working for eight. I came home absolutely exhausted and barely had enough time to eat, tuck my kids in for the night and speak with my wife for twenty minutes before we passed out and started the routine all over again. My plan is to get back to a screenplay I had started right before getting that ad agency gig.
Watching - ON TV - ALPHAS. Very impressed by the first episode. Loved the quirkiness of the characters and intriguing plot. Will keep watching.
Watching - ON DVD/BLU-RAY - Inside Job. Buried. Inside Job was an insightful documentary about the rampant culture of greed on Wall Street and how it has infected both our government and higher education system. Eyeopening stuff. Have decided to look into third parties in terms of my political choices after seeing it. Buried was very well done and intense, featuring the best performance from Ryan Reynolds that I've seen. Not for the faint of heart.
Watching - IN THEATERS - Thor. X-men: First Class. Green Lantern. Not necessarily in that order.
My favorite of these was X-men: FC. Possibly the best in the franchise. Great performances by Michael Fassbender as Magneto and James McAvoy as Prof. X. I wish all the X-men flicks could've been this good. I'll rank Green Lantern as number 2 here. Sure it's been panned by critics and isn't making as much money as the studio had hoped, but this was a really fun, sci-fi superhero movie. Very impressive visually and well put together. I think Martin Campbell did a pretty good job of taking a character that isn't known nearly as well as the big 3 at DC (Supes, Bats and WW) and getting viewers acquainted with Green Lantern and his universe. Could it have used a little more drama and some better character moments. Yes. But, my only real gripes were the under use of Peter Sarsgaard as a villain and the lack of a real mentor/apprentice relationship between Sinestro and Hal Jordan. Onto the Thunder God. Thor was good, but should have been great. Chris Hemsworth did a fine job with what he was given, but he was not given enough to sink his teeth into. Tom Hiddleston, however, was and really shined in the film. Loki was the best character in the fllm. Natalie Portman was ridiculous...or rather...her character was. Not sure what they were thinking with her character, a supposedly brilliant physicist that acted more like a smitten college student heart throbbing over the ripped up blond Norse god she repeatedly hits with automobiles.
Writing - NOT MUCH - Just coming off a six week stint at an ad agency wherein I was commuting 4 hours each day and working for eight. I came home absolutely exhausted and barely had enough time to eat, tuck my kids in for the night and speak with my wife for twenty minutes before we passed out and started the routine all over again. My plan is to get back to a screenplay I had started right before getting that ad agency gig.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Still Alive
Ok...it's been ages since I've posted. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) I don't have all that many followers of this blog yet so I don't have to feel like I've let anyone down.
As the title states, I am still alive. In fact, things have been coming into focus a bit better lately. I recently had my trusty iBook move on to Mac heaven. This forced me to finally get a new Mac, which I have to admit I am loving. I feel like I've got a powerful new weapon to use in my War of Art.
Today, I began work on a screenplay. My first real, genuine attempt at writing a screenplay as opposed to a comic book script. It feels pretty damn good to kick this thing off. I've been plotting the story and characters out for several weeks now.
I'm also in the home stretch of a new graphic novel that my good buddy John will be illustrating very soon. Very psyched about that as well.
I'm still unemployed, but have decided to take matters into my own hands and begin building a career as a freelance copywriter. I've got lots of connections in the advertising and marketing industries so it's time I start hitting them up for some gigs.
I'm undecided as to whether or not I'll be continuing this particular blog in the future. I want to focus my blogging efforts a bit so that posts are a bit more specific instead of just these random posts about what I've been up to and what's going on in this writer's little world. If I change things up, I'll let you all know about it.
Reading: The Other Wind by Ursala K. LeGuin
Listening: Whitesnake - Forevermore (yes they are still around and creating great bluesy, hard rock full of clichéd lyrics about love, loss and rocking out)
Watching: Due Date - one seriously funny movie. Robert Downey is amazing.
As the title states, I am still alive. In fact, things have been coming into focus a bit better lately. I recently had my trusty iBook move on to Mac heaven. This forced me to finally get a new Mac, which I have to admit I am loving. I feel like I've got a powerful new weapon to use in my War of Art.
Today, I began work on a screenplay. My first real, genuine attempt at writing a screenplay as opposed to a comic book script. It feels pretty damn good to kick this thing off. I've been plotting the story and characters out for several weeks now.
I'm also in the home stretch of a new graphic novel that my good buddy John will be illustrating very soon. Very psyched about that as well.
I'm still unemployed, but have decided to take matters into my own hands and begin building a career as a freelance copywriter. I've got lots of connections in the advertising and marketing industries so it's time I start hitting them up for some gigs.
I'm undecided as to whether or not I'll be continuing this particular blog in the future. I want to focus my blogging efforts a bit so that posts are a bit more specific instead of just these random posts about what I've been up to and what's going on in this writer's little world. If I change things up, I'll let you all know about it.
Reading: The Other Wind by Ursala K. LeGuin
Listening: Whitesnake - Forevermore (yes they are still around and creating great bluesy, hard rock full of clichéd lyrics about love, loss and rocking out)
Watching: Due Date - one seriously funny movie. Robert Downey is amazing.
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