Friggin' Dentists!

Actually, I have a lovely dental staff who genuinely seem to like me and my bro.

But I just hate going.

Blah.

That's neither here nor there, beyond the fact that I'M DONE FOR A FEW MONTHS!!! Yay! :D

I'm still awake after a dental checkup. BUT, I sort of feel that my weekend can begin in ernest now, lol.

And I've got a few things to do with that weekend! :)

First off, I'm about 40 pages into what I'm calling the "Sketch draft" of Brian's & my screenplay, so yay there. Proceeding better than expected!

If you're curious (like my sweet Gnomey, who seems (a) unendingly interested in my writing or (b) really talented at faking it so I don't know I'm boring her to tears, lol) I created the term "Sketch Draft" because "Rough Draft" is a term I learned and it sounds all important and official to me, and therefor intimidates me and blocks my creativity, lol. ;P If I write a Rough Draft and it's bad, then I've got a bad movie on my hands and I'll never make it as a writer and I'm a worthless human and I am, as I've always feared, unworthy to even call myself a writer.

But with the Sketch Draft, I'm just roughing in the script, like a painter who sketches his/her subject on the canvas before applying the actual paints!

So the parts that suck can be easily changed! No muss, no fuss! :)

And if I happen to sketch in some stuff that's actually worth keeping... BONUS!!!

Plus, in my mind (twisted little perfectionist thing that it is) a Rough Draft comes only after outlining and serious, important consideration has been given to how everything is going to fit together and play out... Whereas with a Sketch Draft I can figure it out as I write! :) (Like novelists do.)

Now you may ask, "Why can't you, as a screenwriter, just sit down and write the Rough Draft and figure it out as you go?" And my response would simply be that I've tried that, and all my create-as-I-write Rough Drafts have sucked, and therefor I am not able to do that and I am also a worthless human being, unworthy of professional employment in the Arts or even of love.

So the Sketch Draft seems to solve that problem (you know... allowing me to be worthy of love while still figuring out my story on the fly and all)
, and so -- for now -- that's what I'll use.

If, by happy accident, I only have to rewrite a few scenes to have what I feel is a worthy Rough Draft, BONUS! :D

(The Creative Mind... It's a scary thing sometimes...)

HEY!

While waiting at the dentist office -- and on my way home afterward -- I listened to an intriguing podcast from a new fave of mine Paranormal Podcast!!! It's about a book called Alien Interview and it's FASCINATING!!!

And at the end of the podcast the host, Jim Harold. asked me to tell 5 friends who are into the paranormal about Parnanormal Podcast.

He asks all listeners to, but he also specifically asked ME to... The moment I finished listening to the podcast he came to Austin (from wherever he lives), knocked on my door and said "Hey, Ray Jay! I LOVE the way you listen to the show! You listen like no other listener does, and when you're listening on your iPod I can just sense, from where I am, that you're REALLY listening. So anyway, would you mind telling 5 of your friends who are into the paranormal about the show?"

No, naturally, I said, "Sure, Jim Harold, host of Paranormal Podcast! I'd be happy to!!!" :)

And so I'm doing that here, now. :D

If you happen to be reading this, and also happen to be interested in aliens or psy or ghosts or any of the myriad topics that fall under the mainstream lable of "paranormal" (because many folks are sometimes too stubborn to admit that there might be more out there than mainstream science can quantify) give the show a listen!

You can go to the site if you prefer, or be lazy like me and just subscribe via iTunes.

But one of the things that I find sets this particular show apart is that Jim doesn't always agree with his interviewees, and says so during the interview. I mean, he's not a shock-jock, trying to create sensation or anything like that! But I point this out because he comes off like a very reasonable man who is obviously secure enough with himself and his world-view that he has no problem providing a forum for people with opinions other than his own.

Usually nowadays, it seems that mainstream (and even non-mainstream) media has a tendancy to either promote like-minded views or attack non-like-minded views. But Jim comes across as a cat who's like "I don't know if I can get behind that, but my opinion isn't the only valid one", which is SO REFRESHING!!!

So this isn't just a Believer providing a platform for other Believers to share and express themselves to the rest of the Believers. This is a thought-provoking exercise in exploring possibilities that are out there, beyond the "norm".

Plus, it's really well-produced. Not a dude in a basement with a PC mic, like so many I've stumbled across, lol.

(Although, to be fair, I suppose I have been discovering a generally higher quality of podcast lately...)

Anyway, if this sounds like your cup of tea, you should TOTALLY check it out!!! :) I don't believe you'll be disappointed!!!

And on the supject of the paranormal...

SPOOKY SOUTHCOAST IS BACK!!! :D

I have so missed those guys!!!

It's been an excrusiating couple of weeks, syncing my iPod and not seeing a new installment from them! But this morning I sync-ed (is that a word?) my iPod before going to the dentist and was SO EXCITED to see that I have a new Spooky Southcoast waiting!!! :D

If you haven't listened to them yet, you may not understand... These guys are like family!

If you've followed the blog for a while you know that my li'l bro and I used to have dinner with our mom every Sunday before she moved.

Well my weekly helping of Spooky Southcoast has become almost that NECESSARY for me, lol! When I go a week or longer without hearing the playful banter of Tim Weisberg and science advisor Matt Moniz (and the occasion -- OCCASIONAL banter of "The Silent Assassin" Matt Costa, lol) I miss 'em! Like not hearing from a friend for a while, lol!

Which is kind of funny, because, you know, I got into their show because of their very engaging and serious take on the pectrum of the paranormal. But now I'm actually sort of "invested" in the hosts and their wide range of "guest stars" or "extended family", if you will, lol.

You listen long enough, you sort of feel like the authors and investigators they regularly have on the show are buddies of yours, lol.

So I'm a happy Ray Jay, lol!

Now I have a serious delimma, though...

I usually listen to Spooky Southcoast on my way to work Wednesday night (my "Monday morning" if I kept Normal People work hours) to start my week off right.

But...

It's been a while! So maybe I go ahead and grace my weekend with my NE buddies, lol.

Hmm...

I probably will go ahead and listen tonight, lol. I have so little will power. ;P

But I'll wait till it gets dark...

That's more fun!

:D