Taking the week off...

Been working for Iconoculture for almost a full year now, and I'm going to take my first vacation. Found my brain slowing down a bit over the past three weeks, and so I thought it was time. Plus, the wifey just had foot surgery on both feet, so she's down and out for about a week or so.

On the writing front, the Crips founder book may be a no go. Complications with the contract means that we might have come to an impasse. Too bad, because I think I could have done a great job with it.

THE BESTSELLERS is finally done. Now, only a polish is required, and then it's time to be sent out.

I'm overdue with my Divine Nine update. Next week will be devoted to getting it done.

Went to my martial arts class on Wednesday and have been sore for three days straight. But if I keep it up, and stick to a sensible food plan, I'll lose ten pounds this month, easy.

Right now, I'm setting up my production company for film and television projects. I've decided against the RudeBoyFilmWorks name (still have it, but not going to use it) for AfroBoHo. I just like the sound of it, plus it describes the general themes of my film and television projects.

Speaking of film and television, I have a pitch meeting with BET. We were supposed to meet today, but got our wires crossed. Looks like Monday is the day. Have to say that the BET LA office is pretty nice, and only five minutes away from me.

My TV-One documentary on black fraternities and sororities has hit a snag, but according to my advisors, it's not something that should prevent the production of the doc, as long as it's crafted right.

Didn't get a sponsorship I wanted for my Fall SKIN GAME/MONEY SHOT book tour. So that's a bummer. However, I'm going to sketch out my pub strategy. One transition is that my Money Shot publisher has been absorbed by the larger main company, Perseus. My editor was laid off, so the publicist has just gotten back to me. From my friend at Vibe, I know that galleys for Money Shot have been sent out, because he read one, but I haven't seen a thing. I received both galleys and real copies of SKIN GAME.

So look for more posts in the coming week. I'll be well rested.

My Weekus Horriblus...

Had a great July 4th and weekend. Check the bank account on that Monday, you know, just too see if checks cleared. Hey...what the hell? Why are there three maximum transactions and a BIG point of purchase transaction from some perfume shop? Ask the wife. Nothing, especially since one of the last transactions is taking place while were both in our house. Sooo,we find out that someone has taken her ATM card, and has tried to ransack our account. Four days worth. Bad start for the week. Change of bank accounts, ten days to get our money back, yada, yada, yada.

Skip to this week. Yesterday, I go outside and find the drivers side window to my Jeep smashed. Glass all over. Stereo? Gone. Smoke coming from my ears. Take the Jeep to the window place, a place I patronize because it's in the hood and I like patronizing hood businesses. Window fixed, go to stereo shop for new sounds. Alpine all ready to go, where's the iPod the tech asks? In the glove compartment, I say. No, it ain't, he says. Go back to the glove compartment, nada. Window guy stole my iPod. Cherry on shit sandwich day. Auto insurance doesn't cover stereo by the way. Renters insurance does, but high deduct.

Just another week in LA...

Writing Fatigue...

I don't know about you, but from time to time, my brain just shuts down. I call it writers fatigue, and I had it for the past couple of days. So, I decided to go to bed early, wake up late, and I feel absolutely refreshed. What's on the menu?

1. Knocked out some really good calls for the job. Have a new senior editor, and he's really sharpened my writing. Getting back to writing with a true voice. Actually made my work a bit easier.

2. Doc issues. I'll talk about that later, but I have a slight problem. But the key to remembers, filmmakers have a nice set of rights too.

3. Divine Nine update continues to trudge on.

4. Gave myself a week off from The Bestsellers, but I'm going to get at it tonight and through the weekend. The key word for my characters: choices. more choices. Also, I changed up a few things with my protagonist, making her go through a divorce while going on the book tour. That should put some pressure on her from all angles.

5. Waiting to do the book on the former Crips member. Slight issue with the contract, but those things happen. Still looking forward to working with him.

Graduation Pix...

Just realized I never posted a pix of graduation. Here you go:

Getting stuff done...

Finished sending out permissions for Divine Nine doc.
Almost done with proposal for Skin Game/Money Shot book tour.
I have Icono work to do before noon tomorrow, and then a ton of stuff for the upcoming week.
Ben has sent me notes for THE BESTSELLERS, but I haven't gotten to them yet. I'll start reading them tomorrow and then make changes either tomorrow night or Monday morning.

Feeling pretty relaxed. Might go skating around UCLA on Monday morning.

Kajukenbo...

Next week, I'm going to join my son and start taking Kajukenbo lessons. For those of you not in the know, Kajukenbo is a mixture of karate, judo/jujitsu, kenpo and Kung Fu/Chinese Boxing. One, I like the diversion. And two, I can use it to get in shape. But three, I've got to make sure I don't get f*ed up. This is real deal martial arts, and broken jaws affects my speaking engagements, so I'm getting the best head gear possible.

On the writing front, I'm close to finishing the Divine Nine update; we're about two weeks away from finishing THE BESTSELLERS, and in a sec, I'll start work on the Batman book. But this week, I've got a lot of Iconoculture to do. I'm going to try to knock it out tomorrow, so I can cruise into the 4th.

Publishers Weekly Review of Money Shot

Money Shot: Wild Days and Lonely Nights Inside the Black Porn Industry
Lawrence C. Ross Jr. Thunder's Mouth, $15.99 paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-56025-913-8

In this intriguing account, Ross offers closeups on the lives and dreams of black porn actors. Combining interviews with personal observations and some theoretical gloss, Ross travels to the San Fernando Valley (center of the porn industry), an Adult Entertainment Expo in Vegas and a swinger's party in Oakland. The African-American niche commands about 10% of the multibillion-dollar porn market, and performers with names like Lexington Steele, Sinnamon Love and Sledge Hammer discuss their schemes to carve out a piece of it (as with the mainstream movie business, many actors hope to produce and direct). Ross gets good interviews and his straightforward prose suits the material: “Just like hog butchers who use every part of the pig 'from the rooter to the tooter,' porn exploits every part of the body to make a profit.” The most graphic and disturbing episode is that of a female performer who prides herself on not doing anal (“I think I'm too cute for that”) but then allows herself to be beaten and humiliated in a scene by white men. There are many subgenres, writes Ross, but “white men overtly degrading black women are some of the most popular.” (Oct.)

Sluggish...

Week one of the old lifestyle change went horribly average. Gained about four pounds, and did not an iota of exercise. Been feeling sluggish all the way around. I've really got to watch that because not being in school means not walking around campus. And that means less exercise each day. SOOOOOO... I've just got to take my ass to the gym at 7am. Do one hour of Lifecycle. After July 4th, I don't have any eating holidays until Thanksgiving, so I have a real chance to drop weight. May even experiment with going veggie for the rest of the summer.

On the writing front, need to finish the Divine Nine update and start the Crips book. Finished the sixth draft of The Bestsellers, and now Ben is reading it. Hopefully it's cool because I think I've done all I can with it. Still needs to be cleaned up, but yikes, I'm at my wits end with it.

Stepping back...

Okay, I made the changes in the first act, and I love them. This is rewrite #5 for THE BESTSELLERS, and man, I really do like my first act. But this second act, you know, where the magic happens, is really fucking with me. So what to do? Plough ahead and hope things work out? Be satisfied with what I have and just hope it works out in the end? Nope, I'm just going to relax. I'm going to spend all night writing Icono articles, and take my mind off of the script. After that, I'm going to think about my characters. I'll listen to music that I think would be appropriate for the film. But most importantly, I'll think about one question: What is the script really about. And by Monday, I will send Ben a script that I like. I'm close, but it's not there yet. I'll get it there.

The Bestsellers...

This week, I'm going to finish the sixth rewrite of THE BESTSELLERS. The idea is to send it to my boy Ben on Wednesday for more notes. After that, I'm going to do something I heard Al Pacino talk about on Larry King. He would have actors read his script and tape it, so he could visualize the film. That's what I'm going to do. Listen for the flaws in dialogue, description, and format. After that, I'll clean up everything, send it to my professor Tim, Ben, and a couple of other people to get a verdict. If they give the okay, then I'm going to send it to two agents who want to read it. I'll let you know what they say.

Weight Loss...for real....

All right, now that school is done, I have no more excuses. Time to get my ass in shape. So I'm going back to the whole change the diet and exercise. Watched Celebrity Fit Club, didn't really follow it this year, and besides deciding that I would kick Dustin Diamond's ass if I were on his team, I looked at Warren G and realized that his pre-weight loss weight and height are approx to me. I'm 6'1 and rolling 222lbs. Only dif is that Warren is two inches taller. So...

I'm going to start on Monday. The goal: lose 32lbs in 90 days, just like Celebrity Fit Club. That will get me to 190lbs, which I haven't seen in nearly a decade. So here we go again: My target weight loss for the next weigh in: 5 lbs.

Ah...

Ah, the cap and gown have been worn. The speeches have been given. The pictures taken. The food and drink eaten (damn good chocolate chip cookies TFT!). And now, I'm done, chilling on my couch, listening to Amy Winehouse's Rehab for the tenth time, and thinking of chilling tomorrow as I split time between watching 24 Hours of LeMans and the US Fucking Too Fucking (Sorry David)Hard Open. I'm done, and boy is my brain happy. Now, I have a ton of writing to get to beginning next week, but suddenly, I have a lot of time.

Today is Graduation Day....

So it's finally here. Graduation day. I can really say that I had a wonderful time at the UCLA film school, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Okay, maybe for a five picture deal, but that's pretty self-evident. Now, I will drink a lot and try not to bake in the sun.

One down...

Showcase was last night, and I had a great time. It was nice to see my friend David Whelan get read on stage. Like all of my friends, he's a really cool and funny guy. As for the program itself, it wasn't as tight as I remembered it in the past. One, we had a nice turnout, but the place wasn't full, and I seem to remember it being full the past two years. There were some glitches with the video presentations. None of this was big, but they're things that I noticed. Anyway, a great time was had by all. Oh, and I got to talk to Felicia Henderson, the sister who exec prod. and wrote for Soul Food and a bunch of other shows. She's mad cool and has the career I'd like to emulate. I'm going to interview her for The Divine Nine update and hopefully get a word of advice about moving forward.

Speaking of that, I'm working on my paper right now. Hopefully, by the end of the night, I'll be done. After that, the only thing I have left to do is turn in a signature form, pick up my cap and gown, and wait for graduation on Friday.

My weekend will consist of me lying on my ass, watching high speed cars drive around in the 24 Hours of LeMans. Because you know that in my alternative life, I'm an international race car driver who speaks French, appears in movies for five minute cameos that are acclaimed as brilliant, all the while being the most lauded humanitarian in the world.

Or I'm just a writer with another deadline over the horizon.

Wow...

I hope I'm not turning into those once a week bloggers! I've got to start picking it up. So this week...

We were getting the winning and honorable mention scripts to our judges, and I forgot to include the thank you letter. It was right there on my computer desktop, but I forgot to include it. That is a major faux pas, and I'm pissed that I made it. This contest producer job really took way too much of my time, and the last thing I need is an unenjoyable Showcase because I have to deal with angry judges. So I'll call them all on Monday and hopefully they'll be understanding.

This Friday, I took a quick trip to the Berkeley (I was there and back by noon) where I completed a nice order of HoodieTees. We're now going to be in Rasputin's and a bunch of other stores in the Bay. The guy who owns the store is MAD COOL, and I appreciated the order.

As for writing, I'm doing Icono stuff tonight. I have a twenty pager due this week, and I'm going to try to get it done tomorrow. I have the Showcase on Monday night. On Friday, I graduate.

I'm going to continue working on THE BESTSELLERS this week, and hopefully get it tight for a final rewrite during the week of the 17th.

I'm still finishing my DIVINE NINE update, so the faster I do that, the more time I'll have by the end of June.

UPCOMING SUMMER WRITING PROJECTS (in no particular order):

1. Ghostwriting a memoir about a founding Crip gang member
2. Working on a rewrite of SECRETS & LIVES
3. Finishing SLAVERYLAND
4. Working on the TV-ONE doc development deal stuff
5. Finishing new sports book proposal
6. Start a new script.
7. Keep working on THE DREADED DETECTIVE

No grad school means more time for everything. So no worries about overwork. Except for the doc and Secrets & Lives, and the gang book, I'm under no pressing deadlines. So I'm as relaxed as I've been in two years.

Hopefully, I'll post mid week.

The Home Stretch...

I have two Icono calls this week, and a twenty page paper at the end of the week. It's my last paper I'll ever write in school. On June 7th, the school is having an award breakfast, and I'll be there. I have to fly up to the Bay Area to deliver some HoodieTees to a store up there. I'm going through THE BESTSELLERS for another rewrite via the notes I received from Ben, and I'm finishing the Divine Nine update. We have the Screenwriters Showcase on the 11th, and then graduation on the 15th. After that, I will chill for about two weeks, doing nothing. I will reacquaint myself with my golf clubs, which have stared at me for two years. Vacation for at least one whole week.

Time to declutter...

We've lived in this apartment for just under two years, and boy can you start collecting stuff. But now, it's starting to get on my nerve. So I'm going to starting working to declutter. Goodwill donations, tossing other things, etc. are on the agenda.

Finished my rewrite...

I finished part one of my rewrite of THE BESTSELLERS. I started at page one and completely tore it apart. What's funny is that it SO doesn't resemble the first draft I wrote in my 434. When I read that draft, it's almost like I was trying to not make the script work. I had reality show elements, gimmicks like chaining the two protags together, yada yada. All of that was completely unnecessary to the story I wanted to tell, which was two women who learn and grow while on the road.

I've been writing full time since 1995, and I've always been able to recognize a piece of writing that was valuable. Whether it is a magazine article, or a book idea, or something else, I recognize that this is the script that will accomplish post film school goal number one: get representation. Yes, I think this script should be produced, but who knows if someone is interested in my spec. That said, like my boy in Layer Cake says, create a plan and stick to it. My plan is to send this script out on June 18th to two of my contacts. We'll see their reaction.

In the meantime, I'm going to let my brain rest for about a week. Then, I will go back through the second and third acts and clean up formatting, dialogue, mistakes, typos, etc. Then I'll let me brain relax again and then tackle it again.

In the meantime, tonight I'm writing my observation articles for Iconoculture, completing a brief article on Mixed Martial Arts and inner city youth for Icono, and then prepping for a late week advisory call.

Also, I'm completing a very nice sized order for HoodieTees.com. A Berkeley t-shirt store has ordered a bunch of t-shirts and the owner is mad cool. A few more like his and I may be able to fund a film project or two during the summer.

Lastly, I'm going to start my next book proposal, and then complete Divine Nine update. I have a very special and famous person doing the forward to my update, and I can't tell you how grateful I am. She's just the best.

I'm just starting to plot out my fall book tour. It'll be a mix of Divine Nine lectures, Money Shot lectures, and regular book signings. With Skin Game and Money Shot coming out a month a part, I may just wait until October to start my tour. I have our cool Iconosphere convention in Miami, so I have to schedule around that, but with school done, I will have a lot more time.

Ah man...

Michael Jordan used to say that when he was in a rhythm, the basket looked huge and he couldn't miss. Well, I ain't Michael Jordan, but I am in a complete flow with my rewrite of THE BESTSELLERS. For the first time in two years, I know that my script is reading like a film. I'm not hitting plot points just for the hell of plot points, because I know my characters, and the character objectives and actions are driving the story. No other script I've written has flowed like this. I'm on page 62, and I'm quite sure that this script will come in around 110 pages. The last two scripts, I was gutting my scripts TOO much, and losing a lot. I think 110 is the right length.

I think working on the never ending Showcase rested my brain, and allowed the characters to introduce themselves to subconscious. I had enough time to hear their voices, figure out how they'd interact, and why they were in this universe in the first place. So when I sat down to write them, I could look at my first draft and understand where things went to hell.

I'm betting that I get to the end of the second act tonight, and not because I have to, but because I feel like it. And that's a great feeling.

About twenty days til graduation.

Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken...

I grew up in Inglewood, hence the title of this blog. And way back in the day, there was this little fried chicken franchise called Golden Bird. It was a batter fried concept sort of like another chicken shack called Pioneer. But Golden Bird was special because it was black owned, at least that's what my family told. Anyway, Golden Bird has gone the way of the dodo, but there is this guy who used to run one, and now he has opened his own chicken place. It's in Culver City and it's called Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken.

Now, I've had a taste for Golden Bird, so I decided to take a trip to Culver City to try his chicken. Here are a few things to note:

1. When you go to an ethnic restaurant, and you don't see any ethnics, turn around and leave. Seriously. I walked into Honey's and there wasn't a black person in sight. That is not a good sign. It's okay to have a mix of folks, but if you go into a Mexican food restaurant, and Mexicans are buying, you've to think this might be a bit suspect.

2. I look at the menu and I notice something else. The prices. Now I'm sympathetic to black businesses having higher prices, mainly because we pay higher rates, get less financing, etc. But these prices were HIGH. But I bought it anyway.

3. The wait. Now the restaurant looks great, but they were obviously down two staff. That explains why it took twenty minutes to get a three piece. TWENTY MINUTES. It was three piece of chicken. Six minutes per chicken. The chicken was just sitting there, waiting to be placed in the paper basket.

4. Finally, I ordered a peach pie which looked better than it actually was.

The verdict on the chicken? It was good, but not great. Tasted just like Golden Bird, but maybe that was the problem. What my taste buds liked at ten is different than today. Maybe you can't go back home again.

Scores...

I'll announce the Showcase scores this evening, and that's going to be funny. It's always nice to see people happy about their writing. On Monday, I'm going to spend the day visiting all of the judges who helped us. Our showcase judges were absolute troopers.

Now, I can get back to writing. The Divine Nine update is in a month, and I need to finish the page edit for Money Shot. In fact, that's overdue. The Showcase pretty much took me out of my regular work. I'm itching to write.

This week...

Alright, a bunch o' stuff.

1. The Showcase contest is in its death throes. I'm just waiting for the final score sheets which should be in on Wednesday. After that, it's meet with the producers, have them go over the sheets and my inputs, calculate the winners and honorable mentions, and then announce on Thursday or Friday. Did I mention that we're three weeks from graduation?

2. I have to write a paper for my crit studies course. It will be the last paper I ever write in college, so it better be good.

3. Still waiting on my check for my Divine Nine update. The way it looks now, I'll receive my front end check right when the back end is due. C'est la vie.

4. Oh, big news. The imprint Thunder's Mouth, which is publishing my non-fiction Money Shot, is being dissolved by the parent publisher Perseus. On the surface, it doesn't have an affect on my book, since Perseus says that it will publish all of Thunder's Mouth fall books (mine). But I do feel sad that it looks like my editor Anita Diggs will lose her job. I'm not sure if she's going to take another position with the company, so I need to give her a call.

5. Doing a re-write of The Bestsellers. Killed a lot of gimmicky things in the scripts, like a reality show angle, and made it more into a women bonding script. I like it. Been watching Capote and The Devil in... for structure, character development. Writing scripts without vomiting them in a 434 is kind of nice. Your brain relaxes if you know where the story is going, versus having to pound it out as fast as you can.

6. Did I mention that I will sing Hallelujah when the Showcase is over?

7. As for the diet, still the best damn diet on earth. Eating about 1500-1750 calories a day and dropping about two pounds a week without moving an inch. If I could only get to the gym, I would be amazing.

8. Took the wifey and son to Aunt Kizzy's for Mother's Day brunch. Met Lou Gossett, who engaged Langston for a bit of banter. If Lou had been wearing a Fairly Odd Parents hat, Langston would have been excited, but he wasn't. April and I were thrilled, although I wish I would have had the guts to have accompanied him to the Aunt Kizzy buffet, where when the server asked him what he wanted, I would have jump up and said, "Grits DUMMY!"

More later.

Being Contest Producer...

for the UCLA Screenwriters Showcase sucks big time. I have judges on their way to Cannes, dealing with pilots, upfronts, moving offices and turning off their phones, etc. and they all have to be found in order to get their scores. We're a week overdue, and I've been working at this for ten straight days. I can't wait until this is over and done with. Three weeks until graduation.

What's Up...

April and I took Langston to UCLA so that he could learn how to roller skate. Yeah, I know he's eight and normally this would have happened years before, but when you're mostly an urban family living on a street where people like to drive 70 mph in a 35 mph zone, well, you don't tend to take the kid out to skate out there. Plus, for two years I've been doing nothing but writing and then fitting in everyone else in the few down times, so as I rolling into my final four weeks, I'm now getting back to normal. Or what passes for normal for me. Anyway, skating was fun. I got to test out my new inlines, and no one broke any bones. After that was a trip to Farmers Market where Langston and I scarfed down a Po Boy, and April rolled a Johnny Rockets hamburger.

Speaking of food, still loving this diet, but it's time for me to get on the exercise bike. Lost six pounds, and cheated once with some Popeyes fried chicken (and it wasn't good), and so I'm back on the caloric count. As we rolled through the Farmers Market, I felt nice and light, but the storefront reflection still said, get my ass to the gym.

Oh, and last week at Langston's martial arts school, they sparred. Sparring is always the best and watching these kids fight is not only fun, but instructive. For the most part, they don't get hurt, but some really have issues at home that manifests itself in sparring. At the last class, one eight or nine year old decided to roll his eyes at his grandmother, and was taken to task. He found himself on the mat with a kid who was good, but eye rolling kid seemed to be paralyzed by a sense that being wrong wouldn't allow him to fight back. And so he cried while the other kid pounded him. It was really a powerful demonstration about how karma can hold you back when you do wrong. And also, for this kid, it also demonstrated to him that the world doesn't stop pounding you just because you start crying. So you either have to man up or take the ass whipping. Personally, I vote for manning up.

As for writing, I've got a bunch of it. Divine Nine, a paper for my critical studies course, observations, three advisory briefs for work, and more work on the first act of THE BESTSELLERS. Ah, stuff to do.

Lastly, TheYack.com has really started to pick up. Two of my boys, David Whelan and Phil Guidry, are working with me now, so they'll be able to take over some of the things I do for the website. We're going to start doing some Saturday and Sunday programming. After that, we'll expand out.

Meeting with the USC producing student to see what happened with the pilot script I wrote over the past six months.

Manchester United...

are champs. You have to know me to understand how much joy that brings me.

One more thing...

Been on a diet, cutting my caloric intake to around 1500 per day. Let me say this as clearly as possible: THIS IS THE GREATEST DIET EVER. I'm eating more food now than I ever did eating horribly. In two weeks, I've lost six pounds and haven't lifted a finger to exercise. Ya gotta love that. My secret? Watching all of my calories, eating Lean Cuisines, which taste great, and adding fruits and vegetables to my diet. Also, Lipton's diet Peach Ice Tea is the lick, Dasani water, and Breyers Rocky Road ice cream bars at 180 calories per are a God send. Bought some new skates and look to skate around UCLA this weekend. If I don't fall on my ass, I should burn off another 300 cals each time I skate. By graduation, I should be back to my real weight. What a diet!

Schedule...

I just realized that I hadn't been talking about writing for a bit on the blog. That's because I haven't done a bunch. I still have the Divine Nine update to do; Slaveryland to complete; a second draft of my script The Bestsellers to get to my boy Ben; and now I'm waiting to see what happens with a book deal my agent is working on. But so far, I'm just chilling. I did a few observation articles for Icono, and I have an advisory call tomorrow to prep for. BTW, I think I'm going to do all of my articles on Mondays. I'd like to kick it on the weekend, and knocking them out at the start of the week would allow me to focus on writing trends for the company.

So right now, I'm pretty much chilling. I hope that's okay. Five weeks until graduation.

Oh, one last thing. My contest producing gig for the Showcase ends next week. Yoo HOO!

Nobody Knows Nothing...

I was thinking about the fact that I have five more weeks left at UCLA. It was a twenty four large investment that came out of my pocket, and I don't think I could have made a better choice. But as I sit here pondering the second act of a rewrite, I have the feeling that in the end, nobody knows nothing.

When you walk into film school, you tend to feel that you don't know anything, but your brain is ready to take things in. And you do. You take in theories, processes, methods, examples, criticisms, peer reviews, workshops, and suggestions, and hope that you can make something out of all this. And then you think you do, so you feel a bit superior. The tools are in your brain, so you feel like you've got a handle on things. So it's full speed ahead, toward writing that great script. But then, as you work on making things work, you realize that none of all these classes can make that script work. You've got to internalize the tools and then recognize for yourself, the best way to write the best script possible.

That takes a balls and ovaries, and a bunch of self confidence. Part of what makes a good script will be luck, perseverance, skill, more luck, and commitment. And now, five weeks from graduation, with a fresh MFA degree, it's sort of pleasant to know that no matter what, it's still all in my hands despite the fact that nobody knows nothing.

Festival of Books...

Tomorrow, I will be exhibiting TheYack.com at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, so if you're in the area, feel free to stop by. I almost didn't have power for my display, which would have meant my money was wasted. But after many an angry call, a few kind words on my behalf, and my belief that "yes" exists somewhere for everything, it just takes someone to find it, I was able to overcome a whole bunch of "no's". So I'll be out there at 6am. Check you later at TheYack.com!

Kensington...

I had a great conversation with my editor at Kensington, Selena James. We were talking about my updated Divine Nine, but I also floated SLAVERYLAND by her. She loved it. So that's a good sign. I didn't write as much this week as I planned, but c'est la vie. Sometimes it goes like that. I'll write more this week.

New Logo...

My boy MK Asante, who is rapidly finishing his first book, did me a favor and put my logo on the rudeboyfilmworks.com website. I have a guy named Dan who actually designed the logo, and I've always liked it. He had to change it so that it reflected my new filmworks versus media, but I think it works. My philosophy: find good people and then stick with them for all of your projects.

Stolen!

I'd registered some of my domains at namebargain.com instead of godaddy, so when a few of them lapsed, I didn't notice. Well, one of them was the domain for the production company I'm setting up post graduation. I was pretty, pretty pissed. So instead of RudeBoyMedia, my production company will be named RudeBoyFilmWorks. I registered that domain, and my accountant/lawyer will incorporate it next month.

Stuff to do...

Final stuff for my two books. For the non-fiction, I'm waiting for my subjects to send in their permissions. That is frustrating. I'm hoping my editor gives me a further extension to Monday. And then lastly, I received proofs for my fiction manuscript. If I see any issues, I have to fax them those corrections by April 27.

BTW, what happened at VT was just terrible. I've been to that campus four times over the past seven years. Two times, I lectured on the Divine Nine, once I was there for a conference, and the third time, I kicked it with Nikki Giovanni and her family, as I profiled her for my second book, The Ways of Black Folks. If there's a nicer, stronger person in the world than Nikki, I don't know her. Anyway, she gave the powerful speech at the convocation today and I was just awed. She is a master writer.

Day one of the diet went well. I decided to go about it differently. This time, I'm counting calories. If I eat about 2880 calories a day, then I'll maintain my weight. I ate only 1300 calories today and I felt stuffed. It was WHAT I ate that made the difference. Bought some inline skates to get some different exercise. That'll burn another 200 calories a day. We'll see how this works out.

Getting in Shape...

With most of my deadlines gone, I have no excuse for not getting in shape. The belly is swelly, and although I pride myself for having written five books lying on the couch, it ain't the most health way to stay in shape. So yeah, I know I've talked about staying in shape before, but now I'm doing it. I'm going to drop twenty pounds by June 15th so that my graduation pictures look good. It worked when I was losing weight for my birthday a year ago, so why not now. That will get me to 205lbs. Being 6'1, and 225lbs, stretches the "looking good in your clothes" delusion. So tomorrow it is. No more 7-up cakes, Phillips barbecue, Papa Johns pizza, Snicker bars, Fanta orange soda, and pollyseeds. 500 crunches and 500 pushups a day. Six small meals a day to get the metabolism up. Cut carbs and fat. Maybe even run around the block to get the day started. I am going to get some inline skates. I'll skate around the Federal building just so I don't fall on my fool head.

Project: Slaveryland

This week, I'm going to concentrate on finishing one of two fiction projects that have been hanging around. I started SLAVERYLAND two years ago, and stopped writing it when I started UCLA. But I really like the story and I think it's time to put it back on the front burner.

So this week, I'm going to see if I can knock out an average of 1000 words per day. Right now, I'm at 33,000 words, and the first thing I'll do is read through it and add as I go. The final target word count will probably be between 80,000 to 100,000 words.

This weekend...

Finished doing the copy edit for my non-fiction book. God bless my copy editor. She is good. Finished my observations.

My writing schedule is starting to make sense, and is taking some stress off. Although I didn't finish until about thirty minutes ago, it still feels good to know that I'll have time tomorrow to do my trends.

Mass Market...

Manie just told me that Friends With Benefit is now going mass market. That's pretty cool.

My Writing Schedule...

I've been lagging on creating a new weekly writing schedule, but here it is:

MONDAY through FRIDAY:
9-5pm: ARTICLES FOR ICONO.

I've been doing a lot of calls lately, and while I like to do them, I need to work with the client liaisons to make sure that my writing time is not taken. They're pretty good about it, but I need to set up some straight up writing time.

5-1am (minus Langston's martial arts):

I'm going to pull out these different projects:

SLAVERYLAND: Still @ 30,000 words. Fiction. I would love to get it done because it's really good.

THE YARDIES GO BOOM BOOM: Page one rewrite. It's not really important to get it done in the next ten weeks like a 434 script, but Tim's time is valuable so I want to get as much out of it as possible. I think it'll be about four drafts before it's ready. Maybe the end of the summer.

NEW NON-FICTION BOOK PROPOSAL: I will do this one at a leisurely pace. I hate writing book proposals in the first place, so I'm going to whittle this one over the next two months.

POSSIBLE MANIE PROJECT: I'll know on Friday if we're doing it. If so, then my weekends get busy.

SAT AND SUNDAY:

No more than eight hours of work per day.

DIVINE NINE UPDATE.

I have pledged to let none of this stress me out. I'm going to schedule everything, but I'm also going to relax and do other things. I'm buying some new skates tomorrow so I can get my exercise on. After that, I'm tossing my old mountain bike and getting a new one. De-stress through exercise and relaxation.

Rewriting...

I met with Tim Albaugh and he's going to guide me through my rewrite of The Yardies. Tim is cool because he give you the unvarnished truth about your shit. If your characters are flat (mine) then he tells you. If the second act is crap (mine) then he tells you. But more importantly, Tim is not only a writer, but also a producer. I've said this film school is divided between those who write scripts for contests and those who write to make films. There's big difference. Dave Johnson told me this last spring, and I took it straight to heart. From that point on, I stopped patting myself on the back on being a film student and started prepping to make writing scripts a revenue producing activity. Writing books produces revenue, and that's why I explore various topics in book form. Since last year, I've been working to make scripts the same thing.

Since we don't have an official rewrite course at the film school, I made one myself. It is very important that I understand what a script that is ready look like. Tim made a good suggestion. Find three people who you trust, folks without an agenda, and have them read your stuff. Then take or leave their suggestions. I'm going to do that. Folks who know what a good screenplay looks like, and will give honest opinions.

Speaking of writing...

I've got to turn in my copyedit for the non-fiction project, and then get the photos in by next week.

After that, I need to begin on my Divine Nine update. One other thing, my agent Manie Barron told me about a possible book project that has me pretty excited. I'll find out on Friday.

On Imus: proud to be a National Association of Black Journalist member. The NABJ was in front in putting pressure on MSNBC to get rid of Imus and his moldy act. When people tell me to get over stuff like Imus, or they use modifiers like "jerk" "idiot" etc, instead of saying that he is a racist, then I ask them to tell me what they think is the physical equivalent of racism. Rape? Assault? Stealing candy from the story? To me, racism is like having someone come into your house, slap your wife, and you can't do anything about it. And not only that, he keeps doing it and people who like him tell you that "oh, that just what he does". The powerlessness would piss you off, and then you'd try to react. That's what NABJ did. It reacted. No more slapping around our Rutgers sisters.

The Karate Kid...

So Langston has started a martial arts class, and we never miss it. One, it's run by a great family. And two, this is a world where little boys don't get a chance to test themselves via fighting (without the obligatory guns), and so you need controlled places where they gain the confidence to go into combat to protect themselves, but also the discipline to know when to walk away. So on each Thursday, the kids spar.

The kids spar, and they can be as young as four years old, or as old as teenagers. They wear protection, and they get used to being in the arena. Langston has taken four classes so far, so he was just getting used to spar. But yesterday, it all clicked. Yesterday, he won his first match, using the ole one, two, ball kick to surprise a kid who'd beaten him previously. What's wonderful about being eight is that when you lose to someone you've beaten before, you don't act like an adult and get all mad. Nope. You want to be friends. And that's what happened. Langston's opponent suddenly wanted to talk to Langston and Langston back at him. It's respect that comes from a real place versus one that is manufactured. It would be great if more of our little black boys had the opportunity to learn that. Perhaps they wouldn't look for it when they were grown men and pledging a fraternity.

Next Ten Weeks...

It's time to start create a writing schedule for the next ten weeks. Thank God, but I'm not really under any deadline pressures.

1. The Divine Nine update will be due in June, and I'll start gathering material next week. This shouldn't be that hard to do. It's pretty plotted out and I know what I'm doing. I'm thinking that Monday mornings will be devoted to contacting subjects about the info I need, and then I'll do interviews on Saturdays.

2. My editor needs the photos for my non-fiction manuscript. Still waiting on permissions.

3. Tim and I will meet every couple of weeks to go over my rewrite for The Yardies. That means I only have one class at UCLA this quarter.

More later...

10-17-30-45-60-75-90-WP

10-17-30-45-60-75-90-WP

The numbers to the safe. I should actually name a script 10-17-30-45-60-75-90-WP. Okay, I'm up at 2:30am, writing on my script and I'm pretty giddy. And I think I'm addicted to SoBe drinks.

Yes, I know...

Look, I know I've been talking about getting in shape for as long as I've had my blog. I did it last year, and killed off about ten pounds. Felt good. About one hundred Ben & Jerry's later, that ten pounds is back, bringing about five more of his friends. So it's time to get back in shape, yet again. But this time it'll work. Why you ask? Well, I tend to stress eat. I really don't have many deadlines in the next two months, so I can get my ass up and get to the gym each morning. There's a commercial where a woman talks about having to really diet in order to lose weight, but her husband only has to stop doing something and starts losing immediately? That's me. I just need to eliminate bread, sugar, chocolate, and add movement, three solidly balanced meals and water. I will drop ten pounds before the month is over. So April 2nd is that day. Forty-five on the life cycle, four times a week, and a couple of games of basketball.

As for the writing, we have some minor issues with the development deal sent to us for the doc. Waiting for my boy from William Morris to get back from India. Don't think it should be an issue, but you never know. Remember in life, always have a backup plan. The quarter starts on Monday, so it looks like my only class will be on Wednesdays. I'm stifling a desire to take a playwrighting class. Focus, focus, focus.

Met with an exciting young publicist named Amy. She just decided to go freelance after working at Edelman. She appears hungry and professional, and as long as she's reasonable with her costs, I think I'll add her to my TEAM LAWRENCE. Yep, I'm building a team of folks who can take my writing career to the next level. Everyone you give a percentage to has to move your career forward. I have a great agent in Manie, I'll look for a great agent for my scripts, and now I'm looking for a great publicist. Hopefully, Amy will be that person.

Holla at y'all later.

The Next Ten Weeks...

So I'm feeling pretty refreshed. I felt like I had a brick hanging around my neck for the past nine months, but that's pretty much gone. The quarter begins next week, and this weekend, I'll start consolidating the Showcase stuff. My job is about half way done with the Showcase. I need to get a full list of the confirmed judges, get a fax line put in, and then get the scripts boxed and sent out. One little issue is Easter and Passover in April, but we'll get through that.

As for my writing, I will be doing an update of The Divine Nine. Seven years after it first being published, my editor asked for a small update, so I'll get that done by June 15th, which happens to be my graduation day. So now that I think of it, I have set it up so that I will have writing projects with momentum of their own. Two new books published in fall 2007, and an updated Divine Nine published in early 2008 (I guess).

For my finished non-fiction project, I need to get photos in to my editor, who has been mad patient. This quarter at UCLA, I'm taking an independent study rewrite course with Tim Albaugh, who is also mad cool, and a critical studies course on American television history. Any history is fun for me. The BA is in history and I've never taken a history course that bored me. However, I'm not letting any other courses seduce me. I will miss UCLA a LOT, mainly because you can literally take courses about every aspect of the television and film industry, but there comes a time when you have to concentrate. This is that time for me.

Recently, one of the women in the program asked to see some of my scripts. The production company she works for is looking for ideas. When people dog film school, I point to things like this. When you go to UCLA, it may sound corny, but you really do want to help everyone succeed, and when opportunities come around, you make sure to look out for each other. Hollywood is nothing but relationships matched to excellence resulting in mutual big dollars and success. If you can create enough circles have that equation, you're going to be good. But that's the same if you're in any business. It's what make capitalism the best worst system.

I was filling out applications for a slew of fellowships, and I wrote down that I started UCLA in 2005, I was dumbstruck. Had it been that long ago? It feels like yesterday that I entered, and now I'm ten weeks from graduating. Just in time, but still a bit sad. You rarely get a chance to write in an incubator setting, and I can't point to one negative experience. Yeah, you bitch and moan about various UCLA things, but nothing but gnats on a elephant's...trunk.

BTW, Langston started karate this week and it is kick ass! The martial arts they teach is sort of an amalg of a bunch of different ones. Mixed Martial arts for the eight year old. But Langston had his first fight after two classes. Scored a punch too. It's going to be fun.

All right, time to chill now.

First Writer I'm Hiring...

When I start developing comedies via my RudeBoyMedia company, the first writer I'm hiring is a brother named Leon, who runs the blog Yeah...I Said It. He is consistently laugh out loud funny, and that's a talent.

Ah...

I like gray days, mainly because they're so rare in Los Angeles. But today was pretty nice. After a bit of cajoling from the wife, we went to Doughboys in West Hollywood. It's a restaurant that specializes in soups. LA is like that. You have all of these trendy restaurants that specialize in one comfort food or the other. Hyper price cupcakes, a trend that will die pretty soon, soup places, mac and cheese establishments. All will gain some popularity for a bit of time, get a write up in the LA Weekly, and then die a timely death after people realize that the food was bullshit. But the wife likes these places, so I indulge her. I've eaten bland omelets, giant pancakes, and other hipster food products over the past decade. If there's an hour wait and a line going out the door, we've been there.

On the writing front, I've let the brain relax. But I've started making lists. Right now, I'm thinking of different ways to rewrite my Yardies script. I'm thinking a page 1 rewrite. More Reservoir Dogs and less mundane gangster film. Got time to work on it. Need to print out multiple scripts for various UCLA contests. I didn't enter a single script into the contests last year, and that was a mistake. These contests have a few bucks attached, so I might as well try to get some too.

On the writing that pays the bills, I still have Slaveryland and The Dreaded Detective at various stages of undoneness (is that a word?). I'm going to re-read each and figure out which one to concentrate on. I think it'll be Slaveryland, because I'm looking to make The Dreaded Detective a series. Got time to work on that.

All right, time for some Ben & Jerry's. It's 3:30am in the morning.

Relaxing the brain...

So I've been doing nothing but Iconowork. Kinda nice to chill and look for trends. I'm going to do more of that throughout Spring Break.

More about what I'm writing next week.

Time Warner Cable...

Okay, so it's 12:45sm in the morning, and I'm on hold with Time Warner cable. I've been on hold since 12:20am, which makes me wonder, who are all these people that need assistance at this time in the morning? Time Warner, which just fired its So Cal head because of lousy service, is proving that it can top its bad service at all hours. When we had Direct TV, the longest I stayed on hold was five minutes. Seriously. The calls were almost instantaneous and they almost always solved my problems. Why am I calling TW now? Well, a couple of days ago, I complained that although I've paid for them, some of my channels aren't showing up. I was assured they'd show up eventually. Can I say, natch?

So let's see how long it will actually take for me to get my problem solved. It's 12:48am now. okay, it's now 12:54am. As I listen to the weird Time Warner hold music and their repetitive announcements, I'm more and more convinced that they've hired a company to find out what combination would cause callers to get off the line before getting to a representative. It's 12:56am now. ALL REPRESENTATIVES ARE BUSY SERVICING OTHER CUSTOMERS...I wonder if there's a script written about someone who goes insane while listening to the on hold announcer say that line over and over? Wow, it is officially 1am! Time Warner has kept me on hold for 40 minutes in the dead of the night. I feel like you could run a numbers operation simply based on how long you think Time Warner will keep you on hold. Yeah, I know it's illegal, but it could be done. BTW, I'm watching a Rolling Stones doc on PBS. After that, it'll be "paid programming". Okay, I'm on the phone with a person who...can't fix the problem. They'll send someone out. End of call..1:12am. He said that the long wait was because they're training four hundred new reps. My lucky night.

Frustration...

When I went to Loyola High in Los Angeles, we had to take four years of Spanish. It was great. We learned in the immersion method, and that was supplimented by the fact that Loyola is in a rich Latino neighborhood. So we had to use our Spanish in practical everyday situations. So by the time I graduated, I wasn't fluent, but I was about two years of continuous use from being so. But when I got to Berkeley, I'd fulfilled my requirement, so I let Spanish slip.

Now at the same time as Spanish was slipping from my brain, my sister was mastering it. So much so that she became a translator for the Inglewood police dept. while at UCLA. She so fluent that native speakers think she's Domincan and is rejecting her heritage.

Being competitive, I said to hell with my sister being fluent, I'm going to starting learning again. But I think I may be a bit too old. I can pretty much read any spanish in a newspaper, but in terms of speaking or conjugating, I think it's a bit hopeless. Which reminds me that opportunities are only available for short periods of time. When given those opportunities, you need to master what you need to master, and then exploit the opportunity as much as possible. I try to hold no regrets, but not mastering Spanish is one.

What I'm doing now...

1. Finishing non-fiction manuscript. It'll be done hell or high water by Thursday.
2. I have a 20 pager to knock out for a class at UCLA. Writing it on the movie Shaft. The first one. The second one doesn't exist in my brain.
3. Getting ready for a trip to North Carolina. I'm speaking at North Carolina State.

After that, SPRING BREAK!! I'm going to write, but all of the deadlines will have faded away. I'm going to play my first round of golf in over a year. Hell, I may even pop open one of the beers I bought six weeks ago. But I'm going to be chillin' for about two weeks. I can't wait.

Relaxation...

I have gone one week without posting and damn that felt good. I had been ordered by the wife to relax and relax I did. I let the brain take a week off and boy did I need it. Had stuff to do at UCLA for the Showcase, met with my 434 prof about my script, did Icono work, got a massage (where the masseuse said I was a walking muscle spasm. My neck muscles were so damn rock hard that I can still feel her fingers trying to break up the tension. In other words, I was tense.

But back to the real world. I have Icono work to get done tonight, a trend article I need to write, and I need to finish the non-fiction work by March 22nd. I have a twenty page paper on Shaft due on the 22nd, and I will be speaking at NC State on the same day. I will be exhibiting at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (TheYack.com) in late April. But from March 23 to April 2, I will do nothing. I bought some running shoes, so I may do some running, but other than that, I'll chillin'.

Okay...

I've gotten over the fact that I'm dropping 5G's for one class (not really, but hey). So I'm going to make the best of it. Over the next week or so, I'll finish my non-fiction book, write a paper for my film class, and then begin to start rewriting two of my scripts. In fact, I think the final requirement for UCLA should be that every student has to do a rewrite during their last quarter. That would help to possibly get at least one of their first drafts in decent shape.

Now, it's time to do my observations, and I have some good ones, and then write about a trend I've been following.

Ten Days...

So I have ten days to finish my last writing project. I'll get it done, but I'm going to start relaxing a bit more. I'm under orders from the wife to enjoy life a bit, and so I may take out the clubs and hit a little white ball this week. I haven't played golf in EONS, and I wasn't good back then. So I should shoot in triple figures. But it's the walk that's the thing.

Took the fam to Fred 62 in Los Feliz on Saturday. I'm not normally a breakfast person, but they have a Santa Fe fritatta that is off the hook. I guess I had Mexican flavors in my head, so I later took a trip to Boyle Heights and bought some tamales from a bakery. Delicious. I hadn't been there in EONS, my favorite word for today, but it looked pretty much the same. They were out of pork, but the chicken tamales were great. You can even get a nice pineapple tamale if you like. Tomorrow may be taco al pastor day.

My son is getting so LONG and more boy than little baby child. Still a handful, he's really growing up. He, of course, drew pretty much all day. He keeps asking me when summer is coming, because when he got suspended, I decided that there wouldn't be any television until summer. Great move on my part. Benefits all around.

I just saw a commercial where you wear gloves to peel potatoes. Who the hell figured that out?

Free Love Done...

Okay, so Free Love in Utopia is done. It's a rough, strange script. But it's a first draft that I could see working. Now, the eyeballs go to the non-fiction manuscript. After that, I will drink and drink heavily.

One Class...

Do you know how pissed I am today? DO YOU REALLY KNOW???? In order to graduate from the UCLA Film School, you need 72 units, four quarters of advanced screenwriting, and two critical studies classes. I have the 72 units, the four quarters of screenwriting, and I'm taking one crit studies course this quarter. It didn't dawn on me, in the ninth week of a ten week quarter, that I could have taken a second and have been DONE!!! Right now, I could be taking my last class at UCLA, but instead, I will spend $4500 for ONE FUCKING CLASS next quarter. I should be on the Keith Obermann's Worst Person in the World for that bonehead move. If I had an axe, I would chop down a tree I'm so pissed. Now, another option is to say screw next quarter and take the class during the summer. Well, one: I don't feel like taking any classes after I walk across the stage with my Masters. Two, I have the development deal that will go into production this summer. And three, I SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET THE FUCK OUT NOW!!!!! I am rapidly becoming dumber by the minute.

So, I could try to petition, but from what I've heard, that shit ain't gonna fly. I'm just so pissed. Did I mention that before????

I am an INSANE Idiot...

The definition of insanity, someone once said, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. To date, I've written five books. And I keep forgetting, even though my editors keep telling me what to do. When your editor/copyeditor sends your manuscript back to you, it's full of editorial marks. Being a former managing editor, I know those marks like the back of my hand. Now here's the critical part. Those editorial marks are NOT for the author to fix. They are for the folks in production as they typeset your manuscript. What you as the author have to do is answer the story questions she asks, and insert those sentences or paragraphs into the manuscript with post it notes. It's pretty basic, but for THREE straight books, I've forgotten and have made ALL of the corrections to my manuscript. Something that should have taken a few hours took me DAYS to finish. DAY that were wasted. And I didn't even realize it until my editor looked at my manuscript and wondered why I'd made all of those changes. Each book, I make the same mistake. I could really kick myself for wasting so much time. Anyway, maybe I'll learn ten books in?

Fiction Manuscript...

Okay, my day started at 4am. I had been in Little Rock to speak at Philander Smith, and had a great time seeing my boy, Dr. Walter Kimbrough. He's the prez of the college and one of the coolest brothers (frat or otherwise) that I know. I was taking a Southwest flight to San Francisco so that I could go to a conference I'd committed to last year, but Southwest did something it never does. It had a delay. An hour and a half delay before flying out. Seven years of flying the LUV airline, and I can count on my fingers how many times they've been late out of the gate. Anyway, that left me on the plane all day.

Tonight, I finished my second big thing, which was correcting all of the issues my copyeditor found in my manuscript. That is probably THE most tedious thing one can give me as an assignment. With my previous books, I'd take my manuscript over to the Magic Johnson's Starbucks in Ladera and chill all day making corrections. Can't do that now because I just have too much to do. And boy, you never understand how annoying it is to have to correct your comma usage when you do it a thousand times. Grrrrrr. Anyway, that's completed.

Tomorrow, I teach workshops all day to black Greeks. Then Saturday, they want me to do some other things, I think be on a panel. So what's left?

I have a couple of advisory calls to prep for next week. I have my normal articles to write. As for my script, it's due on March 9th, and I'm about forty pages away from being done. And I need to finish making the changes my editor asked for with my non-fiction manscript. So the beat goes on. When I complete all of this in two weeks, I again will relax and chill for about two weeks, doing absolutely nothing.

Michael Arndt's Words...

I really liked LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. I thought it was a well-written script, and an enjoyable movie. And yet, when Michael Arndt accepted his Oscar and said that the director was the true author of the film, I almost heaved my Ghanaian royal stool through my television. What was he saying? Hadn't he received the memo? Screenwriters are fighting, here and in Europe, to be thought of as more than the whore who writes stuff so that the real talent can make it into a film. But Arndt just thumbed his nose at that. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying screenwriters are the author of the film. It's a collaborative effort. But we are AN author of the work. We write the basic blueprint for what happens on the screen. Boy, the more I read about working screenwriters, the more I understand how screenwriters gave up the copyright to their works.

What my blog is worth...with thanks from Isaac Ho...

My blog is worth $10,161.72.
How much is your blog worth?

Writing Free Love...

I've noted before that I tend to write passive characters in my scripts. But this time, I decided to go back into my ACT I and strengthen them. I didn't want to wait until the full rewrite. So that's what I did. I'm still on page 51, and this script will go to 100 pages max. During this once over, I realized that my protag wasn't facing obstacles that were big enough to determine his action. It was more writers objective versus character objective. So I fixed that. I'm going to see if I can finish this first draft by Friday.

Writing Free Love...

I've noted before that I tend to write passive characters in my scripts. But this time, I decided to go back into my ACT I and strengthen them. I didn't want to wait until the full rewrite. So that's what I did. I'm still on page 51, and this script will go to 100 pages max. During this once over, I realized that my protag wasn't facing obstacles that were big enough to determine his action. It was more writers objective versus character objective. So I fixed that. I'm going to see if I can finish this first draft by Friday.

SECRETS & LIVES DONE...

So the third and final (at least for the near future) draft of SECRETS & LIVES is done. This is the one Krystal will use for her thesis, so I hope it works. After March 15th, we'll probably do about three more drafts in order to get it ready by graduation in June.

Next on the weekend agenda, for tonight, is to do my Icono observations. Tomorrow, I will complete the copyedit for the fiction manuscript. My editor at Kensington asked for it, and I feel bad, but I was pretty swamped. But once that's done, I'm left with two projects. One is Free Love in Utopia, which is due on March 9th, and the other is the non-fiction manuscript, which is due on March 15th.

Now, I've looked at March 15th as my liberation day, but it may not be. I'll probably take a week off, and then start working on the TV-One project. That's due in June also. And, if my agent can come to an agreement with Kensington, then I'll be expect to do an update of The Divine Nine. That'll be due around June too.

April is at the Oscar's, so my and the kid did the lay about thing. I had to write, so he chilled and played Nintendo all day. Then we gorged on pizza. Between that, we played a lot of rock, paper, scisssors, watched The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and then he was knocked out at 8pm.

Manchester United eeked out a win, but Cal got blown by USC. Another disappointing basketball season.

Next week, I'm going to start getting the judges for the annual UCLA Screenwriters Showcase.

Did anyone even notice that Will Farrell came out with Stranger than Fiction?

The undergraduate screenwriting class I teach is about to end, and I hate to see them leave. It was fun as hell, and the students are great. It would be nice to teach it next quarter.

Good day today...

Agreed to a development deal with TV-One at breakfast. That was cool.

Free Love In Utopia is coming together. When I write a script, as you know I'm a minimalist. One of the problems of writing a script in ten weeks is that at some point, you begin to lose your minimalist tendency as you race to get it done. But like when you cook a huge meal, I'm trying to clean up as I go. Think conflict. More conflict.

Still to finish:

1. Copyedit for fiction manuscript
2. Third draft for pilot ep. This is a real one, so I need to format it correctly. To date, I've just been writing it.
3. Get my observations in.
4. I have an advisory call to prep for on Monday.
5. Get ready to close Free Love in Utopia. I think I can get close to finish.
6. Prep for Greek conference

After this weekend, SECRETS & LIVES and the fiction manuscript drop off the calendar. If I can finish Free Love, I can spend a week cleaning it up versus writing it. After that, I just have my normal Icono and non-fiction manuscript. Technicially, I should be done with hard deadline writing projects on March 15th.

But of course, that's not how things work. For TV-One, I need to finish a treatment, due in June. And my publisher has proposed an update of The Divine Nine. That's to be determined. That would be due in June also.

BTW, gotta thank my boy Dave for the progress bars.

Free Love...

I've found that with Free Love in Utopia, I'm writing a delightfully weird script. Since I didn't have time to plot out each and every scene, it's making a few turns that I didn't expect. I don't know if I'd recommend this as a course of action, but hey, this is the last 434 script I'll write at UCLA. I'm going to use my last quarter to rewrite two scripts: Free Love and The Bestsellers. The idea is to make sure they're tight when I send them out. I think the biggest mistake folks in film school make is send out their scripts when they're not ready. And honestly, now that I think about it, I really wish I hadn't sent out MEN OF THEIR TIMES to the folks who read about it in Variety. It wasn't ready, but you're excited when someone wants to see it. But, you live and learn, and no harm done.

Anyway, I have a breakfast meeting tomorrow morning, and I'm almost done with the second act of Free Love. The idea is to write a script between 95-100 pages. Not one page more. Last week, I gave The Yardies script a read, and realized that it came out to 112 pages. As Whitney would say, hell to the no. I could EASILY cut ten pages out without a worry. I just may do it. The chairman of our department, Richard Walter, likes to say that you must learn to love to cut stuff out. That is what I like to do. I love to cut. In fact, it's damn near orgasmic (not really, but you know, as a writer) to cut out words that makes my script tighter. Anyway, the progress meter is broken, but I'm at page 51. I'm going to finish the second act tonight and then see if I can finish the script by the end of the weekend. Also due this weekend, SECRETS & LIVES. I need to format it correctly and finish doing the third draft.

My Birthday...

Hey all,

Today is my birthday, and I'm going to celebrate by...writing! Yes, the projects don't stop, can't stop, won't stop. I'm about two acts away from finishing my 434 script, but it got good notes in class yesterday.

So while I would love to just chill today, alas, it's not to be. So I march on. BTW, I think my word counter folks didn't pay their bill, so I have to find another progress bar. I've got to ask my boy Dave to send me the code in easy form so I can understand.

Brain didn't cooperate...

Fully intended on getting my Icono quota done today and then the copyedit, but writing sometimes doesn't work that way. My brain just couldn't get it done. So I played with Langston all day, got some Krispy Kreme donuts (not good for my training on Monday) and some wings from WingStop. I'm behind the kabash now, meaning that I have to get this done tomorrow, along with at least one other thing. The pressure is starting again, and I can feel it in the back of my head. But, what are you going to do? It doesn't go away, and it's better to have pressure to do stuff than the pressure of not having anything to do. So suck it up and get it done. I think mangos would be a good way to get the writing juices going. lol

Writing Schedule for Saturday and Sunday...

1. Write ten observation articles for Iconoculture: I want to get those out of the way first.
2. Complete the copyedit for my fiction manuscript.

I need to get those two things done on Saturday because on Sunday...

3. Take Krystal's notes and reconfigure Secrets & Lives
4. Finish promotional questionaire for non-fiction manuscript.
5. Get to the end of the first act with Free Love in Utopia

If I can get all of this done in these two days, then I can concentrate on finishing Secrets & Lives over the next couple of weeks, and the editorial notes for my non-fiction manuscript. My new D-Day for having a relaxed writing brain is March 15th.

Developments:

TheYack.com: Two companies sent me proposal about working with them. Actually, three companies, but I'm still waiting on the proposal for one. I'm not gathering volunteer moderators for the site.

Dickie V: Tool for Duke...

So Duke is out of the Top 25, on a four game losing streak, and in jeopardy of not making the NCAA tourney. So I decide to hear what good old Dick "Dickie V" Vitale has to say. Now if you're not familiar, Dickie V love a few people. "Coach K", the "General" etc. So the ACC is expected to get about seven teams into the tourney, with Duke missing it. But no, not according to Dick. Nope, he thinks that the ACC will get eight in. And who is the eighth team? Duke. If Duke loses five straight, then he'll probably say that the ACC will get nine in. If they lose six or seven straight, then the ACC will probably get ten in. No matter what, Dick V is as good a lobbyist for Duke that money can buy.

Suspension...

So my kid gets a three day suspension for getting into a kicking competition with another kid. I was pretty pissed, because I told Langston to cut out all hitting, and so he's paying the piper. After a meeting at the woodshed, he's been also electronically stripped. Now, it's back to good ole fashioned reading and drawing to keep one entertained. He's sad as a result.

I'm playing hardball. I told him that getting suspended is a failure, and we don't have failures in this family. I want him to remember this suspension as being the worst idea ever. And of course, as a young black boy, he should be much more afraid of what my reaction will be to bad behavior than anyone outside my house. If you don't, then you will have issues later.

Now, on to my writing. Working through my fiction copyedit, and hopefully I'll be done by tomorrow. I meet with my 434 teacher from last quarter about The Bestsellers. Met with my current 434 teacher Richard yesterday. That was really sad because he lost his mother yesterday. Richard is really one of those people who genuinely cares about his students, and wears his heart on his sleeve. So I felt really bad for him at this time.

Graduation is on June 15th. I think I'll have a party then and get drunk.

The State of the Black Union...

This weekend, Tavis Smiley held his annual State of the Black Union program. For about five years, it's been running on C-Span, and has been sort of a national dialogue between the African American intelligencia and black America. And for many years, it was great. I loved how you could hear from an African American professor like Cornell West and Minister Louis Farrakan, and some young kid doing something. It was must see tv at least once a year. But not this year.

I watched the program and basically yawned. In someways, the Black Union program reminds me of Sundance. Used to be there for indie filmmakers, and now Paris Hilton throws parties there. Same with the State of the Black Union.

Last year, Tavis and others came out with a book called the Covenant, which is supposed to be a blueprint for African America. It reached #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list, and I think something changed in Tavis, the conference, and the participants. This year, there was a LOT of shilling of stuff. A new book, the old book, everybody else's book. Hey, no one can shill a book like me, but it was getting over the top. Speaking of over the top, there were a lot of corporations sponsoring the State of the Black Union, which leads one to wonder if the State of the Black Union is for sale? If so, who is profiting?

Lastly, it was the same old people, saying the same old things, on the same old stage. Nothing new. Just a bunch of rhetoric, sound effects designed to create crowd pleasing applause, but substance no deeper than the nutrional value of cotton candy. There is a point where you can talk too much, and god knows I've been there. But if the State of the Black Union is to be something substantial, it's going to have to morph into something beyond a "Hallelujah fest" that sells books. Because right now, the State of the Black Union is pretty sad, and its participants should take a closer look at whether or not they are part of the solution or problem.

The Quota for this week...

1. Non-fiction manuscript: Finish about 1/3 of what my editor wants me to do. Sorry for being so vague, but can't really go into it.
2. Fiction manuscript: Finish and FedEx the copyedit back to editor by February 15
3. Free Love in Utopia: Get to the middle of Act II, around page 45.

Second Draft of the USC Script Turned In...

So that is done. The final draft is due February 23, so we'll see what notes Krystal has for it. Now, it's correcting the copyedit for the fiction manuscript (which is due on Feb. 15) and Iconoculture observations.

What I'm watching:

1. Watched Squid and the Whale yesterday. I was mildly entertained, but not wildly enthused. A lot of people at UCLA really liked it, but for me, some of the story was a bit plodding. But hey, that's me.
2. My favorite show: EXTRAS. Much better this season versus the first. And Stephen Merchant is hilarious as the agent. Sad to see the season end (and maybe series end?)
3. Manchester United is still in first. The Lakers play later tonight trying to get a split on the road trip.
4. 30Rock is on TiVO and while the last episode was weak (the one with Paul Ruebens), I still look forward to it.
5. Gordon Ramsey's F Word should be taping tonight.
6. April's working The Grammys tonight, so I'll watch that.

It's raining cats and dogs today, so I think we'll stay in. I wanted to go play basketball with Langstno, but that ain't gonna happen. Maybe a few games of Sorry!

I'm With Obama!

Now that Barack Obama has decided to put his hat in the ring, I'm with him. But beyond this, I think this is going to be the death knell for the Civil Rights leaders who have ably led our community for so long. For many of them, they are now at a crossroads. Do they allow jealousy over Obama's ascendency to put them on the wrong side of history, or do they get on board? There's going to be a lot of pressure from the Hillary Clinton camp to be loyal to the ex-president, but there comes a time when you have to support one of your sons. Unfortunately, I think a lot of black Civil Rights leaders will actively (and in some cases subtly) work against Obama in order to limit his support. And they will probably guarantee their demise. African American Gen Xer's are having their moment, and if the black Civil Rights boomers don't understand it or work with it, they'll be left behind.

Act Breaks...

The problem was that I was writing a five act drama for television, and we don't write five act dramas for television at UCLA. We don't write television drama scripts at UCLA, period. So I had to, like a mechanic used to working on V8 engines and suddenly presented with a Ferrari V12, use my smarts, example scripts from current show, advice from working television writers, and hunches to figure it all out.

Now, I had the first draft as a template, but it had inherent issues. I tend to write very passive characters with passive actions in my first drafts. I don't know why, but I think it's my brain sort of getting to know the people in the script. Like when you come to a party where you only know the host, but everyone else knows each other. You get a drink, sit by the wall, and sort of survey the scene versus getting into a conversation with people you don't know.

After I met with Krystal, we went over some ways to make the second draft better. She made great points, but we did something that stymied me for a long while. There's an event in the first draft that is big, sort of an inciting incident. She wanted to put it almost first, within the first five pages, and as I kept trying to hammer out this draft, it didn't work. It then dawned on me that this event was an act break rather than an event simply within ACT I.

Well, after that, the script began to make sense. I'm still working on it, but the rest of the act breaks are harder, more satisfying, and propel the story forward (as all good scenes should). I also realized that my main character needed a defining moment for herself in those first five pages, and that gives us a sense of who she is. So I write on. Hopefully, the full second draft will be done by the end of tomorrow.

Back from Mississippi...

I'm back from Mississippi, and although I tend to have a love/hate feeling with being in the state,because of all of the bloody history, there's one thing I can never dispute: The people of Mississippi I've met are the nicest anywhere. Seriously. Just plain nice. I spoke at the University of Southern Mississippi last night, and it was the second time I'd been there. I spoke there about seven years ago, and had a great time then too. But I've been up since 4:30am, so I'm bushed.

Got home, and picked up the kiddo. He did his poem beautifully, and received two awards-one for citizenship and the honor roll. The Citizenship one was curious since Langston decked that kid for bad use of sarcasm, but it's Catholic school, so it must have been forgiven.

Both April and Langston have a cold now. April is really f*ed up with a head cold, and Langston is beginning. Didn't mean to spread my sickness, but for once, I wasn't the last to get it.

The USC script is FINALLY clicking! Here was the problem. I tend to write a very passive first draft. My characters are passive, the action is passive, etc. I know this going in. What I always have to do is look at it again, and then figure out how to rearrange the puzzle pieces so that things are more active. It takes time, and so I asked Krystal for a bit more time until Saturday. Now, my main character is there, where she was sort of an observer, which makes her very boring. So this second draft will be much better than the first one.

For now, that's what I'm going to work on. I'll slip her the draft on Saturday, and then try to knock out my fiction manuscript copyedit by the end of the weekend. Two birds with one stone. After that, finish the non-fiction manuscript and get Free Love to the second act by the end of next week.

Invictus...

Did I mention that my little first grader has learned Invictus in only five days? He will be saying it during Poetry Day tomorrow. I'm proud.

In Atlanta on my way to Mississippi

Right now, I'm sitting in Atlanta Hartsfield airport, waiting for a flight to Jackson, Mississippi, so that I can drive 100 miles to the University of Southern Mississippi. I left LAX at 11pm after having been flisked so thoroughly that I should have received a dozen red roses from my frisker.

What's cool about this trip however, is that I can do a little Icono research. It just so happens that I have a call on Friday with a client based in the Gulf Coast. So I'm going to do a bit of field research while in Hattiesburg.

My USC script will be ready this Saturday. Funny, but my projects (which are overwhelming at this point) are "knock on wood" falling one by one. I'm getting sleep so the brain is working more efficiently. Let me tell you: NEVER get in the habit of doing all nighters. It will wreck your health and your writing. Just go to sleep and start again in the morning.

My girl Donna's going to be out at least another ten days, so I have that added weight at Icono, but so far, it hasn't been too bad. We'll see as the ten days continue.

So I creep along to my March 15th D-Day. By that date, everything on my table should be done. And I do mean everything.

I was going to my 434 class two days ago (by the way, I'm fighting a massive head cold that I conveniently gave to April) and I realized that two years at UCLA flew by. I've had a ball, and while I'll be sad to not have the day to day interaction with my fellow students, it's time to finish up and fly. I came to UCLA to get the tools, and while I'm not anywhere near creating anything except a first draft, I feel I can use the tools to ultimately craft a script that sells.

Alright, I'm looking for more plugs so that my battery won't die. Check y'all later.

Worked out...

Worked out with the trainer yesterday, a cool white kid from Northern California. We did the circuit and my muscles feel sore as hell now. One hour of workout, and I could feel every ounce of every bad thing I'd eaten over the past week, try to squeeze out of my body. But I had to get off my ass and get moving. I'm starting to get big. Not just a little bit big, but belly jiggling big. So on Monday, I do the whole body fat thing.

On top of my other work, my fiction manuscript is on its way for copyediting. So like Al Pacino, just when I thought I was out, they bring me back in. I have a ton of work to do for the next 45 days. But this time, I'm doing things differently. No more 24 hour awake nights. I'm going to schedule out my days better. I don't mind getting up at 5am, and I'll need to do that in order to get things done. After these 45 days, I should be free until I graduate in June.

You'll also note the change in the 434 script. I may have mentioned it before, but my comedy script didnd't seem right for what I want to say in my scripts. So the new script is called FREE LOVE IN UTOPIA. About an Iraqi vet. Much more relevant. I decided to workshop the first four pages for the class I teach, as an example of how to do dialogue, format, etc. And I also wanted them to get used to hearing criticism. I have to say that they gave WONDERFUL critiques that were spot on.

At Icono, I'm a bit worried about my girl Donna. I haven't heard back from her, and I'm hoping she's just taking some time to relax versus being hurt. But it's not like her to not call. One of the weird things about being a remote company, where nearly everyone communicates via email or telephone, you tend to panic if you don't hear from someone for a few days. You find out that your lifelines are a note here and a phone call there, and if you don't hear that familiar voice, you really start thinking about it. Anyway, I hope she's okay.

My Super Bowl pick? The Colts. 34-17 Rex Grossman is terrible.

Back in LA...

All right, I'm back from Minneapolis, where the beer is cold and the black folks are absolutely freezing.

This weekend is not only the Super Bowl, but my son's birthday. We're taking him and his friends to a go-kart racing place, so that should be fun.


Now, let's get to the writing changes.

1. Icono: Gotta trend and five obs to do.
2.Okay, I was going to do a comedy spoof script, when it suddenly dawned on me that I didn't want to write it. Not that it wasn't good, but in light of what is happening in society, it seemed a bit frivilous. So I'm writing a new script called Free Love in Utopia, which is about an Iraqi veteran. So that's going well.
3. Need to finish second draft of Secrets & Lives USC script by Monday.
4. Got the edit notes from Thunder's Mouth about the book. Great notes, but still a lot of work to finish. I have until March 15th. Also, they want to know about my next book proposal. I'll finish that one after I finish what I'm working on now.

That's what I'm focusing on for the near future.

Chillin' in Minny...

Flew into Minneapolis for the annual Icono company confab. My girl Donna, who does advisory for the African American unit, was in one of those VW commercial type accidents. She and her partner were hurt, so that has been pretty depressing. But they'll be okay. A little pained, but okay.

It's around 10 degrees right now, but I'm not looking to venture outside of the hotel anyway. More later...

Where I am...

Thanks for being patient, as I've tried to let my brain rest a bit. I'm still waking up at 4:30am each morning, but at least I've been getting to bed around 11pm. So, I'm getting a bit of sleep, and my body isn't trying to crash around mid day. So here's what I have on tap.

Icono: Last week was a weird week for me. I had good observations to write about, but the brain just wasn't firing on all cylinders. But I have an understanding editor, so no worries. Anyway, things are going along pretty smoothly, and I'm getting ready to flow out to Minneapolis next week for our all company confab. I'm actually looking forward to it because since we work in isolation, it's kind of like a field trip to see folks in the flesh. But being that I'm TERRIBLE with faces, it'll be a bit of torture for me as everyone will know me and my name (there are only three black folks in the company, and the other brother is about sixty) so it's not to hard to know me. But it should be fun.

Lecture: Spoke at Morehouse on Monday and I must say that these Morehouse men are impressive as hell. I made the determination that Langston will be going to Morehouse. I will be building a building at Morehouse. The Ross Center sounds good. The Lawrence Ross Center sounds even better.

USC Script: Met with Krystal, who has to be the only other person who is as busy as I am. She is acting as a showrunner for a USC pilot they're shooting, and also doing her thesis, which is my script. We have a hard deadline of February 22nd. I took down her notes, and I'm going to bang out a second draft by next week.

434 Script: Took a break from it. I know this story so well, I think I'm going to write about thirty pages this weekend. Really, it's sort of a no-brainer script, at least as a first draft.

Showcase: We have our first Showcase meeting tomorrow. This is where we let all of the first years know the deal. It's funny, I remember looking at the dour faces of the second years last year, and wondering why they were so lifeless. I understand now.

TheYack: The Publishers Weekly article came out and I've been deluged with different companies suddenly wanting to partner with us. We'll see what people have to say. I'll talk next week and then talk to my Anderson Business mentor about the needs I have for TheYack.

The Book: My editor is still reading the book. I need to find a new foreward person since my initial one flaked. Also, she wants some more analysis. Fair notes. I just need to know how long I have to do that analysis.

Slaveryland: Going over the manuscript, and I still like it. Actually, I REALLY like it. I have note inserts that tell me that I've been working on this novel for two years, which is a long time for me. But I think it's my next fiction manuscript to shop.

The wife and the kid are heading up to the Bay Area tomorrow. One of our best friend's, and the person who introed the wife to me, is having her 40th b'thday. So there's going to be a party. I'm flying up on Saturday so I can get my Icono work done in peace.

The Divine Nine is selling like hot cakes on Amazon. I got a random royalty check from William Morris for some book club revenue. That was nice.

My beloved Manchester United lost a heartbreaker to Arsenal. It still hurts.

I know I'm forgetting something, but I'll think of it later. Oh, I'm working with a trainer for the first time tomorrow. Getting my fat ass back in the gym.

Time Warner Cable and Internet is Terrible...

Ever since Time Warner took over from Adelphia (not a great company either), my cable and internet has been truly f*cked up. I have been dealing with sporadic outtages of both, to the point that I'm sponging Internet from a neighbor's unsecured line. Reboot, boot, reboot, doesn't matter. This is a perfect argument against monopolies and for market competition.

Still the funniest ad I've ever seen...

Here's an uncut version of the Office Linebacker.

Slaveryland...

With my brain relaxed after sleeping most of the day, I've turned my attention to Slaveryland, my fiction manuscript. I haven't opened it in six months, but it still reads pretty good. I think this will be the next fiction manuscript that I have my agent shop.

I was doing a bit of a recap of my writing career and I started to get a bit amazed. I started writing full time in 1995, and since then, I've had five books published in both fiction and non-fiction, and I'm about to graduate from UCLA's film school. Not too bad. The next decade will be just as exciting, I'm sure.

This Weekend...

For the past couple of months, my sleeping pattern has been insane. Really insane. I've pulled so many all nighters that my body really wasn't even looking forward to sleep. But after I finished my book, I found myself still up at 5am without a lick of sleep. And I think it caught up to me. The past week, I had huge aches and pains, along with a massive sore throat. And being that April's at work, I still had to gut it out and do all of the Daddy things, such as pick up the kid from school. But last night, I went to bed at 4am, which was an improvement for me. I woke up at 10am, and I've decided to stay right on the couch for the whole day.

That said, my brain feels nice and free. It'll be more free with more sleep.

The Book Is Finally Done...

Fin. The End. Done. Outta here.

I can finally sleep at night.

So close I can taste it...

Okay, in this process of writing my non-fiction book, I have found that some of my actors aren't the most reliable people. Seriously. I'm technically done with the book, but I want to include three others. However, they've flaked damn near every day, so I don't think it's going to happen. It's a pity because I wanted their voices heard, but I can't force people to do what they don't want to do, even when they say they want to do it.

On other fronts, tomorrow is MLK's birthday and I always take a minute to thank him for giving me all of these opportunities. I don't believe my achievement come from my individual genius, but the sacrifices of others who paved the way for me, so I'm grateful.

It's 434 time at UCLA and we pitched last week. Listening to a room full of people pitch their scripts can be both exciting and eyeteeth pulling painful. I imagine that as first years, we gave the same long winded pitches that the first years in my particular pitch session gave, but whew, that can hurt your soul. In one class, I started the pitching and I hoped to lead by example. My pitch lasted exactly thirty seconds. Not a second more. For some, the opening sentence didn't end until a minute later. People tend to think that if they simply talk more, then what they're trying to describe will be clearer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Stand up, get to the point, sit down. Next. Yeesh.

I'm contemplating whether or not this will be my last 434 script at UCLA. I graduate in June, and I may spend the last spring quarter doing a rewrite versus doing another first draft. But I would kind of miss the whole 434 process if I did decide to skip it.

My 434 for this quarter is going to be a comedic spoof of a genre. That's all I can say. lol

On Tuesday, with the book finally done, I will begin working out again. I gained WAY too much weight during this helacious period of writing, but I get back on the work out horse on Tuesday. I even have a UCLA trainer for three times during the week. Gotta look good by graduation.

Anyway, it's 4:40am, and I'll probably be dead tired this evening. I know I was dead writing all day today.

Interviews...

If you live in Chicago, look for articles about the movie Stomp The Yard, and quotes from me in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. I'll also be in Newsweek next week. My stance, I support the movie but worry about its long term affects on Black Greek life. That's not the responsibility of the producers though. They just want to create a good movie. And from what I've seen so far, it appears they succeeded. But we're going to have a whole buncha folks coming into our ranks, only wanting to shine on stage. And that would be a shame.

What I'm listening to right now...

A little old school...

Ahh...

Went out for beers last night. Had a pretty good time. Found out that I didn't win the Sloan, but that's okay. The two who split the prize are REALLY cool. Plus, I can't complain about not winning. I've been overwhelmingly blessed to date, and the contest itself sort of goes against my film school mantra which is to NOT compete against my classmates. Compete against your self. Continue to write against your last script.

Today, I have about two hours of interviews with Lexington, and then about three more hours with two other stars, and a professor. And that should finish my book.

As for my UCLA schedule, Mondays will be a beast, but tomorrow will be pretty interesting. I have a critical studies class, and then I meet with a television agent from Gersh about possible representation. Wish me luck. After that, I have my 434 pitch meeting. The way it works out now, I'll have class on Mondays, and one hour of teaching on Fridays. That leaves the rest of the week free, which is phenomenal. Nothing will get in the way of Icono now.

Oh, I did a couple of interviews for the Chicago Sun-Times and Newsweek about the new movie Stomp The Yard. There was some controversy about the film because my Fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, initially called for a boycott of the movie because it used our images without permission. The makers of the film are Alphas, so things got sticky. I actually support the Brothers via making art, but as an Alpha, I was duty bound to support the boycott. But after about a week of haggling, Sony and Alpha kissed and made up, and it's all good. The next question, however, was whether showing black fraternities and sororities stepping good for our overall health. My inclination is that probably not, if it's not balanced against what our real purpose is. We over emphasize stepping by a LOT, and I mourn the fact that current generations of black Greeks don't recognize it. We're not entertainers, but a lot of us don't know that. I love stepping, but never as a substitute for who we are. Hell, the Sun-Times reporter was asking me about mid 30s folks who were traveling the country to step! That's a damn shame. We've got to do better.

re: My Book...

I can see the light. The book will be done by the end of the week. And thank the Lord because I'm exhausted from writing it. Classes begin at UCLA on Monday (and also for Langston), and I've agreed to teach a section for an intro to screenwriting class for undergrads. That's going to be fun, and as folks say, you never learn as much about something until you teach.

I have some Icono work over the weekend, but this will be the last time that I'm so burdened with a book, Icono and school. Book done, Icono becomes really fun. I still love my job talking and writing about what I know. I have to go to Minneapolis for the all company meeting in three weeks, so that should be nice and cold. But hey, I'm an Alpha. In the meantime, I'm predicting what a lot of y'all will be doing in 2007. But I'm a bad mutha like that. I've found that I can now hear bits and pieces of conversation, internet discussions, and think to myself, 'hey self, that feels like something I should investigate.' Been getting some praise from our clients, but they don't even know. The AA section had been dead for a while before I got there, and I'm about to blow their mind with the things I'm finding.

But this weekend is going to be a BIATCH. I'm about to close the deal on the book with Red Bull, too many King Sized Snickers bars, and about 48 hours of writing straight. By Monday morning, I should be hallucinating. But hell, this is the last time that will happen. These last four months were the writing equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest. I did it, but I ain't doin' it again.

Sorry Y'all...

I've been writing my ass off to finish my book. I'll post more in the next week or so when the book is done.

Happy New Year Everyone!

I just have to say that I have been incredibly blessed and 2006 was a great year. Too many things to list, and too many friends and family to thank. But here's hoping that 2007 leaves you healthy, wealthy and wise.

There are certain bands...

...that define you as a person. I don't know what it is or if you can define it, but this band right here was and is, me. It's how I feel, have felt, and will feel. Saw them live in 1983 on the Sunset Strip as a teenager, and they codified my love of ska. Enjoy...