Devon Ellington's Blog, page 62
June 7, 2023
Wed. June 7, 2023: In A Mood
image courtesy of martakoton via pixabay.comWednesday, June 7, 2023
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Smoggy and cool
Keep on keeping on, right? We’ve had poor air quality alerts the past couple of days, due to wildfires in Canada. The air purifier is back on. Tessa is thrilled, and sits near it. Last night, Willa and Charlotte joined her. Temporary truce.
I am In A Mood, so you might want to skip today’s post.
The latest Process Muse is about Second Book Scaries is available here. The latest Ink-Dipped Advice post on social media adventures is here.
Today’s episode is from Angel Hunt.
Episode 39: An Explanation of the Universe
Lianna learns how little she really knows.
After the mayor responded to my complaint, the machinery noise was cut in half. It’s not completely quiet, but it’s at a level that’s cope-able. So all of their “oh, we have no control on the sound level” that they’ve played these past months was, of course, bullshit.
I finished drafting an episode of Legerdemain. I started an episode of Angel Hunt (the new material to fix the plot hole). I’m finding my way through it, and it will need work, but getting it down so there’s something to work on is key.
I did the background work for the first two Llewellyn pieces.
I tried to work on the short play (which I’ve re-named “Summon Thee”) but I didn’t get very far. My brain resembled drying scrambled eggs.
Milne Library in Williamstown doesn’t have Ancestry on their computers, but Berkshire Atheneum down in Pittsfield does. They told me to come on down any time, check in with the desk, and they’d make sure I got right onto the computer. Both libraries responded less than an hour from when I contacted them. Meanwhile, I’ve been waiting for a response from my home library for 7 days from my initial email and 3 days from the follow-up email. I finally got a response yesterday which was half apology and half scolding for sending an email to make an appointment. Inappropriate. I’m going to head to Berkshire Atheneum later this week as planned.
I got out two plays for New England-only submission calls. I’m trying to figure out if I want to pitch to play readings series in New Hampshire and/or across the state, and what I would bring to each. I looked at some pieces, which aren’t really suitable, but there are a couple that might work. There’s also a local theatre company who accepts submissions all year, but I’m not sure what to send them. FALL FOREVER is aimed at another market, at least initially. Plus, it’s not yet ready to submit. I’m not sure if JUST A DROP or SERENE & DETERMINED are a good fit.
I was looking at BEHIND THE MAN (which is the adapted to proscenium version of TILL DEATH DO THEY PART, which was interactive). I’m wondering if it would work better as a full-length radio play. And, since it had a production in another incarnation, would it even be suitable for submission? So many companies want previously unproduced work, making it harder and harder for a script to earn its keep after the initial production. Anyway, both the stage and the radio versions of BEHIND THE MAN need work.
Then, I got an email from the Cultural Council. They told us they have no idea when we’ll get the grant money (as I said, we’re now in week 13 of waiting, when we were told it would be 4). It was one quarter apology and three quarters “tough shit.” Oh, and they’ve deigned to push back the July report requirement date (since we won’t have our money, so they “understand” it would be a hardship to fill out the report). They never even told us what the requirements of the July report were, just that we had to file this mystery report according to directions they claimed were in the package but were not.
I’ve kept careful track of everything related to the work since I got news of this supposed grant that will probably never turn up, so I’ve got plenty of data to fill out their fucking report. (I mean, I keep careful track of it anyway, for taxes, but I broke it down the way I’ve had to break it down for this type of report in the past and it’s clear and detailed enough that I can slot in the information in any configuration they want).
I have plenty to say about this, but I’ll vent in private (using mostly 4 letter words). That means pushing back some projects and cancelling others permanently, because next year’s schedule is already taking shape.
Autumn is already tightly booked, so I can’t overload it, especially since I’m waiting for confirmation or not of a couple of projects (which would be funded completely separately from the grant, thank goodness). I’ve paid the deposit on the residency, and I’ll put aside the balance throughout the summer, so that’s handled and safe.
Most of the projects could go back on track without the grant money – if there was no WGA strike. Being without one or the other is do-able. But without the script coverage work, script work, AND without the grant money, I have to put projects on hold. And some of them will never see the light of day again, because the window will be gone (such as the reading series).
It also puts more pressure on the serials and the Topic Workbook sales, which have to pick up some of the slack, while I pitch for some quick turnaround, quick pay articles. And I guess I better get the science fiction/Western/horror piece re-released, “Labor Intensive” prepped for its late summer release, and the Cornelia True/Roman Gray pieces back on track.
It’s do-able because it has to be, even though I’m burned out to a crisp. But I don’t have the luxury of burnout, the same as I don’t have the luxury of writer’s block. Sit the fuck down and get it done is the only option.
But I’m frustrated. I hate it when people lie to me, especially about time and money. With correct information, I could have made plans that would have paid off both financially and creatively this summer.
On top of that, my mother’s supplementary health insurance is useless, and I’m being hit with a slew of medical bills they should be covering. So there’s another fight that will waste time I need to use to earn money.
If insurance companies had to pay us for the time of ours they waste, maybe they’d start paying the claims they’re supposed to cover.
The Chewy order from last week still hasn’t arrived. According to Fed Ex, they haven’t even bothered to pick it up yet. When I contacted them, they stonewalled me. I contacted Chewy, gave them the information I had and how Fed Ex won’t give me answers. I asked Chewy to please light a fire under Fed Ex’s ass (and yes, I used those words), because they are a big enough account to get some answers.
This morning, I got an email that the order will be delivered today.
If I hadn’t asked Chewy to put pressure on Fed Ex, they would have waited another two weeks before even picking it up at the warehouse.
We’ll see if the order actually turns up today.
The Goddess Provisions box arrived yesterday, and is great, as usual. The book on Playland arrived. It’s interesting, but has very little behind-the-scenes material, so it’s not as useful as I hoped. Although it did spur my interest in the amusement park that was on the site before it was Playland, that was known for being “rowdy.”
Ellen Byron’s new books FINALLY arrived. I pre-ordered them last autumn, they released in February and March, Barnes & Noble screwed up the order and refused to fix it, so I finally got the books through a different source and untangled the B & N financial mess. They are my treat for the upcoming weekend.
Thank goodness for yoga, because I really needed it last night.
I was about to dump a project on which I’d been noodling the last few days, giving it up as not viable, but I had some more ideas last night, and I’ll do some more work on it, before I make a decision one way or another. I realized what I had originally considered more of a prologue or teaser, and worried about because it was growing, it actually the first act of the piece, what I had thought of as the main body of it is the second act, and it will all make sense in the third act. That will be my stress-release project to play with, because there’s nothing at stake.
I’m enjoying LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD so much that I ordered my own copy. I’m looking forward to discussing it with the NYU alumni book club.
I dreamed I was chased by a bear last night. I looked up the interpretation, and it’s about anger and frustration. Ya think? Yeah, that about sums it up.
Anyway, the heavy machinery didn’t start until 7 AM and the beeping volume is halved, so good. I could actually enjoy a few moments of quiet to start the day, and it made a big difference.
Took the laundry to the laundromat. Prices have gone up to $7.25/load, which makes me think I should look into buying stackable washer/dryer for the laundry room.
Edited four episodes of Legerdemain. Took the manuscript of CAST IRON MURDER with me to work on (since I want to get it out on submission this summer), but I packed the wrong draft. Sigh.
No idea what or how much will get done today, but I better get going, since all my breathing room has been extinguished, both literally and metaphorically.
Have a good one!
June 6, 2023
Tues. June 6, 2023: Stressful Weekend, Stressful Start to the Week
image courtesy of Gerd Altmann via pixabay.comTuesday, June 6, 2023
Waning Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Cloudy and cool
I hope you had a lovely weekend and are ready for our regular Tuesday natter.
Today’s serial episode is from Legerdemain.
Episode 91: Shelley and Daedalus on the Hunt
Shelley gives her mom’s protégé field experience in Cellarton.
Friday morning started decently, although the heavy machinery beeping constantly made it impossible to write well. However, I managed to write the episode log lines for Legerdemain, create episode graphics, and the week’s TikTok videos. I also wrote the episode log lines for the batch of ANGEL HUNT episodes I uploaded last week.
Then things went a bit cattywampus. I wrote about ¾ of a new Legerdemain episode, and then the maintenance guy contacted me. He said he was coming by later that day to do the checks he had to do, but he had the roofers there (along with the landlord) and wanted to send them along. They were trying to get everything done before the rain started.
So I let the lead guy in. They’d already done the back (no more worries about the ceiling in my mom’s bedroom). He looked at the place where the leak started on the porch and has grown, and over they came.
I did my library run, grocery run, and mailed a few things.
The roofers were less distracting than the stupid beeping heavy machinery over at the college library. When I left on my errands, I also saw that they ripped out the gorgeous stained glass window on the library’s second floor and put in a large, ugly, plate glass window. Basically, the building now looks like something the Soviets abandoned when the Soviet Union broke down and they withdrew from the Iron Curtain. Better than with the stripes they painted a few weeks ago and took off, which made it look like it was abandoned by a deranged circus.
What a shame. If they were going to renovate the building, they had the chance to do something beautiful, especially in an art-centric city. Instead, they made it ugly. Intentionally.
Anyway, the roofers finished about 20 minutes before the storm. The thunder already rumbled as they packed up.
And what a storm it was! If you look over on my FB or Instagram accounts, I posted photos of the deluge. We had hail the size of marbles. I dashed out to the back balcony to pull the plants back from the rail – and was trapped in the corner by a terrified small raccoon. He’d been hiding under the bench. We stared at each other in complete shock for a minute, neither of us sure what to do. Then he ran to the shelf unit I use as a screen between our part of the balcony and the neighbor’s, and rolled himself up into a little ball, trying to hide.
I was worried that if I passed him, he’d try to bite me. I also didn’t want him to run inside the building (because the door doesn’t work and is propped open for the summer). I clapped my hands and encouraged him to run to the neighbor’s part of the balcony, so I could duck back inside.
I had to go out again a few minutes later, when the wind blew down some of the plant stands. This time, I wore my Wellington boots and carried a broom, in case he was afraid and tried to bite me, but he was gone.
Poor little thing.
However, I do not want to encourage him to hang out. The space isn’t big enough for peaceful co-existence.
And I don’t want anyone to come and “take care of it” by killing him. Hopefully, he’ll climb out into a tree or down the side of the posts and scamper off.
But I’ll wear the big boots out there for at least a bit.
The streets started flooding. The cross street, just a couple of houses up, was impassable, and there was lumber floating down the street. The hail made a big pile across the street, and on the neighbor’s roof.
I had flashbacks of losing the last car in the flood in Rye in 2007, but the water didn’t reach our parking lot, thank goodness. But it was terrifying to watch the water rise.
The police and fire departments swung into action. A tree fell down on Ashland Street, into the flooded street, blocking off the way to downtown. The police redirected traffic down our street instead. Flooded as it was, it was still possible to drive through, although crossing the cross street got a little dicey. And, of course, there were numbnuts going in the wrong direction on the one-way street with massive traffic going the right way.
84 degrees, and piles of hail everywhere. It was bizarre.
Two hours later, the rain let up and the waters receded almost immediately. Across the street, they used snow shovels on the hail blocking the path.
By 9 PM, the next storm came in, and we sat on the porch to watch the lightning and the rain, although it didn’t flood again.
And the new roof did not let in a drop! Talk about timing.
But it was scary, and I was exhausted by the time I went to bed.
Saturday morning, I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. I managed to cook breakfast, but then I was on the couch, reading, until early afternoon.
I sent an ecard to a friend’s birthday, and then I figured I’d take a look at adapting a bit more of ANGEL HUNT (which had been Friday’s plan).
I adapted chapters into 20 new serial episodes, and then wrote 2 new ones to fix the plot hole I found. I still have a few more episodes of new material to craft; then I go back to adapting three more chapters into episodes, and then I write the climactic sequence and resolution, which will take. . .a few episodes, to say the least. But the end is in sight.
Once it’s all done, I’ve bought myself enough time so I can read it through a few times and smooth out any other plot holes/dropped arcs, and then polish, upload, and schedule. So, there will be an end date in sight.
I already have more episodes of ANGEL HUNT drafted than I do of Legerdemain (which is problematical). I’m figuring ANGEL HUNT will wind up between 150-175 episodes long, although if it comes in shorter, I won’t complain). That means it will run into next spring (since tomorrow only Episode 39 drops).
But I was pretty tired by the end of the day.
I read Dore Schary’s HEYDAY, where he talks about the very first Writers Guild contract. Studios have always treated writers badly. It’s an extremely entertaining book, however.
Woke up on Sunday in full-blown sense memory stress. I dreamt through some of the ANGEL HUNT story points, but I’d also dreamt about the move, and woke up thinking I had to pack and haul stuff to storage, completely forgetting that it was all done TWO YEARS AGO. I should be over it by now.
The library never got back to me about Monday’s appointment, so I sent a follow-up asking how long a lead time I need to make an appointment. I can’t just show up and then the computer’s not available; if I’ve blocked off that time, it means something else (that pays the bills) has been moved. This library is notorious for ignoring emails, and I’m over it. Anyway, I needed to restructure my Monday without that appointment. I can’t stand it when people don’t respect my time.
Found a problem in a beat change in one of the new ANGEL HUNT episodes, and made a note to fix it. Then, of course, I worked on it, because how could I not?
The weather was a little better, so we went out to get plants. I knew I’d spent more than I meant to, but didn’t think I’d actually bought all that many plants – until I started repotting them. The details will be in this week’s Gratitude and Growth post on Thursdays. There’s more out back (although the weather was too icky to put up the hanging basket, and I still want a couple more hanging baskets), and the front looks very cheerful. The back balcony is the Enchanted Garden, and the front is becoming the Conservatory. Actually, a friend who visited last autumn suggested that.
By the end of it I was sore and covered in potting soil. A hot shower cleaned me up, but I was still sore.
In the evening, after dinner, we watched the documentary MUSEUM TOWN, about how MASSMoCA came to be. I didn’t realize it only opened in 1999; I thought it was back in the 80’s. We visited around 2004 or 5, I think, a quick day trip. The Porches wasn’t yet a luxury Inn. The documentary was very well done; showing how the staff built an installation for an artist, and around that process, how the museum itself was transformed from Sprague Electrics to the museum. I hadn’t realized that John Barrett, one of our state senate reps who was key in getting us the grant monies and whom I met at the ceremony, was mayor of North Adams at the time. I know he was vital to getting the museum funding, but I didn’t realize he was the city’s mayor.
Woke up tired and sore Monday morning, but resolved to have a productive week, and then worried I would be derailed again.
I was wondering about trying to get in touch with some people from days long gone by, and then it came to me: Let them forget you. Move forward, instead of looking back. Some people are just meant to be in one’s life for a finite amount of time, and I’m pretty darn sure all the people on that list fit it.
I worked on the Ink-Dipped Advice post for Wednesday, and the June newsletter. The horrible beeping machinery started at 6:30, so I couldn’t even get my early morning writing in with any peace, and I certainly couldn’t get any creative work done.
I did a library run, did the big grocery shop, and picked up some wine at the liquor store. We had an excellent lunch of bacon, spinach, and tomato on large rolls. I did two client projects. I was assigned my next book for review. I started reading THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD, which is my book club’s current pick (and it’s really good). I noodled with some story ideas. I made baked cod with a lemon mustard cumin sauce on a bed of spinach for dinner.
It wasn’t as productive a day as I hoped, but it also wasn’t a total loss.
This morning, I was shaken out of bed by the beeping heavy machinery at 4:57 AM. That is unacceptable. I checked the noise ordinance of the city, and they’ve been breaking it[
{update: the mayor responded personally to my email at 9:05 this morning, thanking me for bringing it to her attention, telling me who she was sending over to deal with the problem, and who to contact if it happens again. This is why we need to know our local elected officials).
So that’s thrown off my morning.
I don’t have any client work scheduled yet today, and I keep thinking I should be more worried about it than I am. I’m hoping I will be able to get some actual creative work done on several projects.
I definitely need yoga today. Not even 8:30 in the morning, and I feel as though I was hit by a truck.
I have a lot to get done this week, and a lot I WANT to get done, so I’ll just do what I can each day and try not to drive myself crazy. If those fucking beeping machines would go away, that would help. Noise cancelling headphones do nothing. I can’t have a Zoom call during business hours or even an in-person conversation. And it shouldn’t be on ME – they are the ones breaking the city ordinance. Add that to the sense memory stress, and it’s not a good concoction.
But I will attempt to dig down and do the work.
Since my local library is ignoring my requests to make an appointment to do research on the Ancestry.com website on their computers, I have contacted other libraries in the area, to see if that is possible. I need to get this work done before my trip down to the Westchester Archives, even though I can’t set a firm date on that, because I’m still waiting for the grant money (we are in week 13 of waiting, when we were originally told we would receive it in 4). Because I research so sporadically on Ancestry, it doesn’t make sense to have a subscription.
Do I have any idea what I’ll get done today? None. I will pick a project and work away at it, and hope for the best.
Have a good one. Let’s hope the rest of the week levels out.
June 5, 2023
Mon. June 5, 2023: Intent for the Week — Tend the Creative Garden
image courtesy of Anja via pixabay.comLots of this and that on various creative fronts need attention this week, so I’m just going to concentrate on each thing as needed, and stay flexible to flow between them.
I’m also going to try to get some rest, and not get caught up in the sense memory stress that’s always hovering on the fringes of whatever I’m doing.
Concentrate on moving forward, not on spinning about what’s behind.
What’s your intent for the week?
June 2, 2023
Fri. June 2, 2023: Spontaneity on a Sunny Day
Seating area at Clark Art Institute Reflecting Pool. Photo by Devon EllingtonFriday, June 2, 2023
First Day of Full Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Sunny and warm
We injected some spontaneity into the day yesterday.
Today’s serial episode is from Angel Hunt.
Episode 38: Guidance, Wanted or Not
When you ask your Guardian Angel questions, you get honest answers.
Anyway, meditation was good. The teacher cancelled last week because she caught COVID (again) at her son’s wedding. It’s definitely the second time she’s had it, maybe the third, and each time, it takes longer to recover.
Sent off an email to make an appointment on Monday at the reference section of the library.
I’d drafted an episode of Legerdemain before meditation; after breakfast, I polished and uploaded next week’s episodes. Then, because it was so pretty out, and it’s supposed to be kind of yucky all weekend, we packed up and went to the Clark Art Institute.
We sat out back, by the reflecting pool. I wrote, including drafts of three short poems. Two will probably be tossed entirely, but one might be salvageable. I took some photos, and was glad I’d been conscientious about sunscreen.
On the way back, we stopped at Chapter Two Books in Williamstown, where I got an array of poetry, essays, and history. Stopped at Provisions, a store I’ve always wanted to visit, and got goodies for lunch: smoked salmon, cheese bacon spread, a baguette, and a bottle of rosé. It was a nice lunch to a fun morning.
Then, I had to get practical. I did a medium-sized client project. Did the social media rounds for Legerdemain. I worked the blurb for my friend’s book until I was satisfied with it and sent it off. I congratulated a friend on her play’s upcoming reading. I was puzzled by another email from someone which was kind of an unwarranted slap in the face. I may just be tired, so I’m going to think about it for a few days before I respond. Dealt with some other email. I need to spend some quality time getting my inbox down this weekend.
Finished the next book for review. It’s excellent. If it had been submitted to the contest I judged, it would have won.
Packed up the books I’m not keeping from the contest I judged, and will donate them to the library when I do my library run today.
As I was falling asleep, I thought of a pithy line. I was worried I’d forget it overnight, so I got up and wrote it down. I have it, but I have no idea what project to which it was aimed.
I’ll figure it out.
Debt ceiling passed, my mother’s money is in the account, which means I have a little breathing room until the grant money arrives, since I don’t have to cover her expenses usually covered by Social Security. Today is the twelve-week mark that was promised as the longest it would take to distribute the funds. And yet. . .
On the errand front today, I have to swing by the library, the grocery store, the post office to mail bills and my residency deposit. I need to finish the residency paperwork (the contract’s in, but there’s some other information they need). I have to do the social media rounds for ANGEL HUNT. I have to do the TikTok videos for next week’s episodes of both serials, along with the loglines of the serials I uploaded recently for both, and next week’s episode graphics for Legerdemain. On the creative front, I’m not doing client work today. I’m focusing on Legerdemain, ANGEL HUNT, and the short play. And getting my inboxes down.
If the weather holds, I’m going to attend First Friday downtown (remember, downtown is four blocks away) to visit the galleries and small businesses I haven’t yet seen, and revisit some of my favorites. If the weather is terrible, I’ll stay home.
Tomorrow, the plan is to make the rounds of garden centers and get some more plants for the Enchanted Garden. And there are full moon shenanigans at night.
Sunday, I want to rest. Yeah, I’ll probably write, but the PLAN is to rest.
Have a good weekend, and I’ll catch you on the other side.
June 1, 2023
Thurs. June 1, 2023: Derailed By A Nap
image courtesy of Christophe Schindler via pixabay.comThursday, June 1, 2023
Waxing Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Sunny and warm
Hop on over to see the latest on the garden on Gratitude and Growth. I even posted some of my own photos.
Today’s serial episode is from Legerdemain:
Episode 90: Drinks & Dynamics
With love on the rocks & murder in the air, things get interesting.
Yesterday was rather a lost day, in spite of the edits on episodes of Legerdemain and REP, and getting laundry done. I worked on the blurb for my friend’s book. I’m not satisfied with it, so I’ll do some more work on it today and get it out to her tomorrow. I typed up a long email response to an old friend, disagreeing with him on a few points, shall we say.
I did a library run, picking up more books than expected, and finding out what I needed to do to set up an appointment on the genealogy computer. I will try to set up something for next week. Swung by the liquor store on the way home.
The noise from the heavy machinery at the library across the street has hit a critical combustion point for me. It’s been months. I’m tired of the constant beeping. I’m tired of being shaken out of bed at 6 AM (well, on the days I’m still in bed). I’m tired of things falling off shelves and the walls because of the vibration. Enough already.
I couldn’t deal with lunch, so I picked up an order from Craft Food Barn, which I’ve wanted to try since we moved here. My mom had grilled gruyere on sourdough, with bacon, tomato, baby spinach, and garlic aioli. I had turkey, apple, and brie. We shared an order of French fries. Huge portions and delicious. The fries could have been a little crisper, but other than that, it was great.
Did two small client projects. Got an email back from my friend that kind of left me thinking WTF? But whatever. Substack was down for a bit, but I finally managed to make the rounds for The Process Muse and Angel Hunt. Realized I hadn’t made the two TikTok episode videos for Angel Hunt for the week, so I did that, and uploaded the one for the day.
And my brain just shut down. I ended up taking a nap (I hardly ever nap), and then enjoying the first Blue Angel cocktail of the season on the front porch. I started reading Dore Schary’s autobiography HEYDAY, about his days working his way up from playwright/screenwriter to studio exec. One of his first screenwriting partners was Ethel Hill, and now I’m curious about her.
The House passed the debt ceiling bill, albeit with drama queen moments. Now it goes to the Senate, where I’m sure Sinema and Manchin will pull some more drama queen shit. I’m trying to be hopeful – June will be so much easier if we don’t default. And all this screaming about another recession? If we have one, this time around, it is completely manufactured by corporations. We don’t have to fall into that trap.
Even though I was exhausted, the nap derailed my sleep, and I’m even more tired this morning. But meditation will help.
There are a bunch of things I need to get done today, and even more I should get done, but I have no idea if they will happen. I’m playing the day by ear. On the agenda for the weekend is some rest, since I’ve been pushing hard the last few weeks.
Have a good one.
May 31, 2023
Wed. May 31, 2023: A Solid Writing Day
image courtesy of Clker-Free-Vector-Images via pixabay.comWednesday, May 31, 2021
Waxing Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant
I’m kind of enjoying these pretty days.
Today’s serial episode is Angel Hunt.
Episode 37: Hunting Your Own
Lianna discovers the position Lucius DeWitt’s put her in, and she is not amused.
I got today’s Process Muse post, on Interruptions, ready to go, and wrote next week’s post. That’s up, polished, and ready to go.
I adapted two chapters of Angel Hunt into 8 serial episodes. I read through the rest of the material, figured out where to insert the sequence to fix the unresolved arc, went over and smoothed out the notes for the climactic sequence and the resolution. I need to get ahead a bit on Legerdemain, but maybe later in the week, I can put in some concentrated time on ANGEL HUNT, get the rest of the episodes sorted out, and then, next week, upload and schedule all the rest for this serial.
Did the rounds to promote Legerdemain. Did the three client projects. My friend wanted to know if I could get her the blurb for the book by Friday (my original deadline was July 15). Good thing I’ve been reading the book!
I found out I was not offered the residency in Buffalo this summer. I’d sort of figured that out (the residency dates began June 1). The letter was perfectly polite and proper, but there was a hint of disdain under it, that they were funding “serious” projects and not “entertainment.” Which isn’t what the guidelines stipulated. But then, this is their first year offering such a program; maybe they’ve learned what it is they really want, and will adjust their guidelines for next year. A month ago, it would have devastated me; now, I’m disappointed, but I’m curious as to what’s in store for me instead. And I wouldn’t have had any chance if I hadn’t tried. However, that project is on indefinite hold, since I have to do onsite research in Buffalo, and I won’t do it without proper funding.
Hey, it’s not like there aren’t other projects to keep me busy.
I did three short client projects in the afternoon, and then finished reading my friend’s book, so I can write the blurb today, polish it, and send it off by the end of the week. I noodled with some ideas for the Llewellyn project.
The idea for the short play that’s due July 1 dropped into my head, almost complete. I checked the guidelines to make sure they could accommodate 6 characters, and they can. It’s silly, goofy, and slightly bonkers, definitely a farce that needs actors who can handle quick lines, but I’m having a blast writing it. I hope to finish the first draft over the weekend, let it sit for a few days, give it a few more passes, and then send it to a friend for her opinion before I do another draft and get it out the door.
The ideas are starting to form for the memorial scene in FALL FOREVER. I hope, in the next few days, they are solid enough to put on the page.
I did not send any follow-up emails from the Playland Painters project. I sent them out close to Memorial Day, and the poor recipients deserve at least a few days to recover.
The National Archives sent me information to be a “volunteer transcriber” for some of their materials, which sounds really, really interesting, but I’m not sure I can take on “volunteer” anything right now. Depending upon which materials are available (say, maybe the journals and letters of interesting women?), it could be a great deal of fun. But again, time. Money (or lack thereof). I have to think about it. It would be an awfully cool credit to have on the resume and the website. And, as I said, the work itself would be fascinating.
Well, it’s not like they’ll have run out of material if I take a few days to mull it over.
As I predicted, the Republicans are stalling and doing whatever they can to make sure the debt ceiling doesn’t get raised on time and the economy crashes. That way, they get everything they want and more, and still destroy people’s lives.
Well, Friday is going to arrive, one way or another, and depending on what shows up in the bank account, I’ll know how I have to restructure the month.
This morning, I was at the laundromat when it opened. I revised the next batch of Legerdemain episodes. I also reconfigured the first five episodes of REP. I really need to end the third episode (the last free episode) with the news that this Rep company will be in space, which is part of the hook and the premise. The early episodes have a real 30’s-40’s touring vibe to them, and then I want to contrast it with the high tech but vintage look on the station itself. But the information that the company will be on a space station needs to happen at the end of the 3rd episode, in the chunk of episodes that are free. It was currently in the fourth. So I reconfigured the first three episodes to be the first two episodes, and the fourth episode is now the third, and the fifth episode is now the 4th. The first three episodes, the free ones, can be a little longer than the typical episode, which I want to keep between 900-1200 words.
So basically, by the time I got home a little after 7 AM, I felt like I’d put in a full day!
On today’s agenda: drafting an episode of Legerdemain, working on the new play, writing the blurb for my friend’s book, library run, noodle on the Llewellyn pieces, read the next book for review. I’d like to do some more work on ANGEL HUNT, if I can. I want to stay in its flow. I have to do the social media rounds for ANGEL HUNT and for The Process Muse. And I have two small client projects to turn around.
Anyway, it’s a very pretty day, and I intend to enjoy it, even if it’s just looking out the window while I’m working! We’re lucky to have such lovely tall windows, and so much natural light.
Have a good one.
May 30, 2023
Tues. May 30, 2023: Climbing The Mountain That is This Week
image courtesy of James Wheeler via pixabay.comTuesday, May 30, 2023
Waxing Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant
How was your holiday weekend (if you live somewhere that had one)? Ready for our catch-up?
Today’s serial episode is Legerdemain:
Episode 89: Gloria’s Opening Night
Shelley refuses to be distracted by a mysterious man’s attention on her sister-in-law’s opening night.
Friday’s errands went better than expected: picked up some good stuff at the library. Picked up my mother’s prescription. Did a better-than-expected grocery shop within the budget. Mailed my residency contract. Picked up a bottle of wine.
The damn beeping heavy machinery over at the college made me want to explode. It’s been months. If I had that kind of equipment? I could have painted the whole thing in a week. They’re just dragging it out for money and the college lets them because they’re sulking about not being allowed to turn one of the dorms into a homeless shelter and getting 2.6 million from the State – money which should, instead, go to the families so they can, you know, actually get OUT of homelessness. So now the college is just being an asshole, trying to be as lousy a neighbor as possible.
In the Westchester Archives Playland Photographs collection, I found a sketch artist named Dorothy Dwin, who had a concession. People would pay her to sit and sketch them. I believe it was part of the WPA’s Federal Arts Program (you’ll see why in a minute). I tried to research her. I found her in the 1940 census. She lived on Lexington Ave. in NYC, as “head of household” although she’s listed as married, but she was the only one in the apartment. She was 37 then (which meant she was 32 in the Playland photograph). Her profession is listed as artist, and as part of the WPA. She was born in Russia, and was a naturalized citizen, and had lived at that address since 1935 (that was a question then, where one lived 5 years ago). She is not in the 1930 census, at least not as far as I’ve found, Nor does she show up in the 1950 Census (although she could have remarried)? There are 24 of her sketches in the National Gallery in DC, but I didn’t find any information about her, so I emailed them.
She resembles one of my Playland Painters. I cropped the photo, and ran that, with her photo, through facial recognition software. I got a 70% hit on one program and an 18% hit on another, so it’s unlikely they are the same person. The hairstyle is similar, but they could both just be fashionable. And the smile is somewhat similar.
Saturday morning, I got my National Archives research credentials set up, because I hoped to find something in the WPA files, but I’m not sure how to search them. It’s not logical; it’s red-tapey. Hey, big surprise.
I did a search through the digital collections of the New York Historical Society, the Museum of the City of New York, and NYPL’s digital collection. The only thing that came up with at NYPL, in the correspondence of literary agent Emma Mills (who died in 1956), and her papers from 1920-1956 are in the collection. But there weren’t any details (in-person only access) and it might just be coming up relating to “Godwin” or “Edwin” and not actually Dorothy Dwin. Emma’s correspondence sounds fantastically interesting, but I’d need to set up in NYC for a few weeks, and I just can’t do that on something that might be a wild goose chase.
But then, THEN, I just put Dorothy’s name in the general archive record at the National Archives– and found out that she changed her name on June 10, 1930 to Dorothy Dwin from Dorothy Golden. And she lived in Brooklyn in 1930. First the age says “34” but it was crossed out and replaced with “27.” So why did she change her name? And “Dwin” is unusual.
Tracking her back as Dorothy Golden to the 1930 census in Brooklyn, I found her by using the address on her change of name petition, at that age/birth year – married to a taxi driver named Benjamin, who was from Poland. On top of that, Dorothy was not born in Russia, as it says in the 1940 census – she was born in New York, and her parents were from Hungary. On top of that, she had a 2-year-old son named Howard. I don’t know why she left her husband and son, complete with legal name change, but there’s some serious re-invention involved.
Moving forward to the 1940 census, I found Howard, now 12, living with his father Benjamin, still a taxi driver. They are now in Queens. Benjamin is married to a younger woman named Bettsy, from Romania.
In the 1950 census, Howard is still living at home. He’s 23 now. He’s a “Wholesale Ladies Dressman.” His dad Benjamin, now 45, is now an auto accessories salesman at a gas station. This time, the wife is listed as “Betty” and was supposedly born in Russia. I found an obituary for a Howard Allen Golden, born in 1928, died in South Amboy, New Jersey in April 2014, but there’s very little information in it, other than he died as an inpatient in the Perth Amboy hospital, the visiting and funeral information.
It’s all fascinating.
I wish I knew Dorothy’s maiden name. I have not yet been able to find the marriage records between her and Benjamin. I might have to go to the library next week to use Ancestry.
Anyway, Friday afternoon, I turned around two client projects. I also made notes on some stuff for the Heist Romance script. I’m starting to doubt myself in some POV areas – I’ve kept the POV of the script pretty tight on Ben – we’re on Ben’s journey here. But I’m wondering if I should open it up to others, especially Tara’s. But it feels wrong. So I’ll trust myself for this draft, and then play with it.
Trying to figure out that memorial scene for FALL FOREVER. I need to come up with a unique memory/anecdote around Lily for each character to share (and it has to be succinct, but in their unique cadence).
Saturday, I had to run out and get ink again.
I unpacked a couple of boxes, and found some interesting stuff, but not what I was looking for. I washed various pieces throughout the weekend, and decided what to put up and what to pack away again.
I was looking through the Cornelia True and Roman Gray stories, starting with “The Ramsey Chase” which needs to be re-released, and then “Miss Holton Apologizes” and then the third story have to be finished and released. They are very similar in tone to India Holton’s trilogy and a few other things that are selling well right now. They were ahead of their time. So I need to get my act together and get them out there while the market wants them.
I went through some old scripts. Some need to be retired; they are beyond help. But I found two: PARALLEL-O-GAME and MODERN CREATION MYTHS that are mostly solid, though unfinished – and without outlines. I need to spend some quality time with them and figure out where to go next, even if it’s different from the original intent. They go in the queue after the scripts that need to be finished, and the drafts that need to be polished.
I read India Holton’s THE WISTERIA SOCIETY OF LADY SCOUNDRELS, which was a lot of fun. And Erica Bauermeister’s NO TWO PERSONS, which is hauntingly beautiful.
I found more of my photos from the Playland Boardwalk Museum, which was opened in 1998 until the Westchester Children’s Museum took over the space. I contacted WCM last week, so hopefully, they can tell me what happened to that collection.
Up early on Sunday and baked biscuits.
I’ve been trying to get into the 1925 Census (which was a state census rather than a federal one) to see if Dorothy and Benjamin already lived in Brooklyn, but no luck so far.
I may have to go to the public library this week and search via Ancestry.
Wrote 23 script pages on the Heist Romance. They’ve been kidnapped to find the treasure and Tara has negotiated a contract for the treasure hunt. Because she’s not doing it for free or for threat.
I hung up summer sheer curtains in my bedroom. Tried to hang a painting and it didn’t work. I think the frame’s warped through all the decades of carting it around the country (it was painted by my college roommate back in the 80’s). Got some of the painting done on the windchimes. Hung up a summer curtain by the back door (it looked very bare without the winter fleece). Put away the flannel sheets and the winter curtains. Washed a bunch of stuff I’d unpacked, and am slowly finding homes for these things.
It was in the mid-80’s, but because there wasn’t much humidity, it was pleasant. Tessa stayed on the porch all day. Read India Holton’s THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEWOMEN WITCHES, which was delightful.
Watched BULLET TRAIN in the evening. What a hot mess. A good example of style over substance. Whatever writer came in to punch up the dialogue in the Lemon and Tangerine scenes did an excellent job – the comic beats built well and landed, without losing the heart underneath. And it was obvious those scenes were doctored by a different writer; they played like they were from a different movie. But there were too many tangents overall, and moving the reason for the big climactic sequence (The Elder vs. The White Death, the different views of family) from subplot into main narrative drive was clunky. There were too many throwaway scenes to give Brad Pitt screen time to do what’s become his signature schtick lately. The action scenes went on too long in every case, and the casual violence was lingered over each time a few beats too long, making it “look what we did!” instead of keeping it as casual violence that’s ingrained in the characters. Adding in the Wolf and the Hornet subplot was a tangent. Other than Pitt’s character being peripheral to the wedding sequence (without ever elaborating why he was there), it could have been cut without hurting anything. It felt like it was in there to add diversity for the sake of diversity, not to layer in the plot. The actors gave it their all, though – nobody phoned it in, and one could tell they were having fun. It touched on a lot of the tropes in train/chase movies, but again, didn’t do enough with them.
However, I learned a lot about what I don’t want to do in my own work.
Sandra Bullock’s cameo (which she did in exchange for Brad Pitt’s cameo in THE LOST CITY) was fun, and the genuine friendship they have with each other offscreen reads well onscreen. Channing Tatum had a cameo (which was also funny, but unnecessary and such a small sub-sub-plot it didn’t matter if it was cut or left in), and Ryan Reynold’s quick bit of a cameo was in return for Pitt’s cameo in DEADPOOL 2. It’s a lot of fun to have those crossover cameos, and I probably wouldn’t have even watched BULLET TRAIN if I didn’t want to see the exchange cameo Bullock did for Pitt. I’m curious if the Tatum cameo was written specifically for him to be part of it, or if that just seemed like a fun place to put him, for those few lines.
The premise of Pitt’s character caught up by accident when he steps in for another agent who called in sick (and the agent was one of the White Death’s targets) was funny, but it didn’t fulfill the promise of the premise.
Up early on Monday. Wrote 13 pages of the Heist Romance script. Polished, uploaded, and scheduled 8 episodes of ANGEL HUNT, which gets me into early July. Adapted another ANGEL HUNT chapter into four serial episodes. I’m hitting a point where I have to insert some material for continuity’s sake; I started an arc that needs to be fulfilled. Not sure where I’ll put it yet. Uploaded and scheduled the promos for this week’s Legerdemain and Angel Hunt episodes where I could.
Finished painting the windchimes. Once they dried, we started setting up the Enchanted Garden on the back balcony. It still needs more work, as we add plants and hanging baskets, but it looks pretty. It’s a nice, peaceful space, and we will enjoy it this summer.
I turned around a client project, so that I wouldn’t be so overloaded with work today. I started reading my friend’s book that I promised to blurb, and got about half way through it.
Supposedly, there is a debt ceiling deal. It’s not as bad as I expected, although the Republicans, as usual, got too much. However, they are trying to stall and whine and drive us over the deadline cliff anyway. This is why bipartisanship is dead, and there can be no more capitulation to them: they pretend to “compromise” and then get everything they want, while still destroying as much as possible, and not living up to their side of the bargain.
They’ve held the country hostage with intent to take the ransom and kill the hostages anyway. On a very literal level.
The Democrats need to stop negotiating with terrorists, and Republicans are terrorists. There’s no such thing as a moderate or ethical Republican anymore.
Reading about what’s happening on Cape Cod, we got out just in time. There was a shooting over the weekend at the beach down the street from where I used to live. People are being forced into homelessness in order to make room for short-term summer renters. Someone I know there told me bridge traffic off Cape yesterday took up to six hours. People are being forced out of dune shacks their families have leased and poured money into for decades so the National Parks Service can rent them to gentrifiers.
Another beautiful place destroyed by greed.
Watched THE BOOK CLUB last night, with Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, and Mary Steenburgen. It was cute, although I felt the third act was rushed.
Barely got any sleep, because Charlotte had anxiety all night and woke me up every 20 minutes, wanting reassurance. Of course, now she’s curled up fast asleep, and I’m wrecked.
I’ve got a large workload this week, partially because I’m expecting the Republicans to destroy everything (again). I hope I am wrong; being wrong will take the pressure off me for next weekend. Since I didn’t really take the holiday weekend (much as I encouraged everyone else to do so), I hope to get some rest next weekend. If we’re not driven over the debt cliff, and I can actually take the weekend, I want to get some more plants for the Enchanted Garden on Saturday and sleep most of Sunday.
But next weekend is a long way away, and I have to get through this week first.
On today’s agenda: draft an episode of Legerdemain, work on the Llewellyn pieces, work on the flash fiction for the art call, finish my friend’s book so I can blurb it, turn around three client projects, and do the social media rounds for today’s Legerdemain episode. I also have to get tomorrow’s Process Muse post polished, uploaded, and scheduled, and get to work on the June posts. I’m not sure I’ll make it to yoga this afternoon, although I desperately need it. And get some filing done! I’m falling behind, and that will bite me in the butt if I’m not careful.
Have a good one.
May 29, 2023
Mon. May 29, 2023: Take Your Holidays
image courtesy of Steve Bidmead via pixabay.comToday is Memorial Day in the US, and a holiday.
Taking our holidays is important.
Yes, I’m doing stuff that needs to be done, so next weekend might be when I take my holiday, but time off matters.
Enjoy!
Oh, and my intent for the week: Prevail
May 26, 2023
Fri. May 26, 2023: I’d Rather Be Reading
image courtesy of nini kvaratskhelia via pixabay.comFriday, May 26, 2023
Waxing Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Sunny and pleasant
Are you ready for Memorial Day Weekend?
I am totally not.
Yet I am.
Today’s serial episode is from Angel Hunt:
Episode 36: Quarry or Guardian?
Is her host a hunter or the hunted?
I forgot to mention that Wednesday night into Thursday night, I had nightmares.
The first was that I was called back to work WICKED, because they were short-handed, only I didn’t have my running notes, and they wouldn’t give me a new set. I pulled myself out of that, totally disgusted with myself because: A) That’s not who they are, they want the show to work, and B) the last time I worked the show was in 2010 and my notes wouldn’t even be relevant anymore.
The second nightmare was that I was back in the Cape house, trying to clean it out and being totally overwhelmed. I pulled myself out of that sense memory stress and reminded myself that I am here NOW. I am in a different reality, and building a different future.
Meditation was cancelled, sadly. I should have just sat on my own, but I went down the Census rabbit hole again. Some Playland information, but also lots of other interesting stuff. There was an author. His English-born wife was an insurance researcher. They had four kids, including twins. Her sister, also an author, lived with them, and they had a lodger who was a librarian. Now, is that a dramedy in the making, or what?
There was the 63-year-old actress living as a “guest” in the house of a laborer at the Amoury, his wife, and their older children. There’s a story there. The teenaged “umbrella boy” at the beach, whose slightly elder brother is an office clerk for a film company, and whose father is a building inspector. The grand opera ballet dancer, born in Switzerland, living with her mother, her stepfather (a gardener at a private estate), her brother (who arrived from Basel, Switzerland and now works as a machine operator at an electric company), her four year old son, and her aunt, who arrived from Paris, and now works as a maid.
There were all the usual stone masons and carpenters and painters and office clerks and bank tellers and barbers and railroad workers. There was an increase in dressmakers and women working in dress factories (mostly Italian), and millinery places, along with more Germans, Poles, and Austrians (getting out before the war), and an uptick in “butcher” as their profession. A German painter and her Polish art dealer husband. A young artist living with her parents (photographers), and her sister is a stenographer for a soap company. Then there were more unusual professions like gravedigger and religious ornamental salesman and marine pilot.
I heard back from the Archives. They are so excited! They didn’t have the photos I had, but they found photos of the same women , but they’re not named. They’re also pulling payroll books and other administrative records, and are thrilled that someone is trying to put names to these women.
So I need my grant money, so I can get down there and do some research! (Yes, I can use the grant for this stuff).
I also put together a residency proposal for next winter. Finger crossed. I’m using this project as one I’d like to work on in residency. If not, I’ll do it anyway. I worked on next week’s Process Muse post.
I did the social media rounds for Legerdemain, checked on the strike news, and the impending debt default. The fuckers decided the Memorial Day weekend was more important than doing their job. Disgusting. Even more disgusting is that the Democrats CAN fix this without caving to the Republican demands, and they CHOOSE not to. So we are going to default and all the people who actually work for a living, all the seniors, all the veterans, you know the people who actually make things WORK, get screwed next week. This is unacceptable. The Democrats’ unwillingness to actually get in the trenches and fight is disgusting. All Congressional salaries should be frozen until they reach a deal AND they should be locked into the Capitol building until a clean debt ceiling raise is passed. Nothing else is even faintly acceptable.
In the afternoon, I did two client projects, and something came in for today (no four-day weekend for me). I may work on Monday, if something comes in; or try to just double down on work Tuesday and Wednesday, for this pay period. I’m making my calculations for the worst possible outcome; if I’m wrong and it doesn’t happen, then I can work from there. I’m also seriously exhausted and burned out, and don’t know if I can sustain without a break. However, I may not have the option to rest. We have bills to pay, and they’re not going to pay themselves, and if there’s a default, any owed monies won’t get here, and I have to make up the difference.
This is what happens when you don’t arrest the insurrectionist members of Congress the day they tried not to ratify the election. They continue with the insurrection. This is why you can’t give ANY of these Christo-fascists an inch and EVERY single one of them has to be completely destroyed. We need to stop negotiating with domestic terrorists.
Today’s agenda: upload/schedule the next 8 episodes of Angel Hunt (which will get me into early July). Maybe do some more work on it. Do the social media rounds to promote today’s episode. Go grocery shopping. Pick up my mother’s prescription. Swing by the library, to pick up a few things that came in. Do client work this afternoon.
Over the weekend, I plan to read the next book for review and also read my friend’s book so I can write the blurb and send it off to her next week. I also want to set up at least some of the Enchanted Garden on the back balcony, hang some pictures, and turn over from the winter clothes to summer clothes. And catch up on filing!
Writing-wise, I’ll do some work on Legerdemain, and, hopefully, tackle the memorial scene near the end of FALL FOREVER, so that draft 4 of that script is done. I’ll have to do some episode videos for the serials, too, and maybe some book recommendations. And do a rough draft of the flash fiction for the artist call.
Next week is about keeping up with the serials, getting ahead on The Process Muse, working on the pieces for Llewellyn, and getting back to “Labor Intensive.” I need to sit down and do a short outline on the story. Some of what I have is going too far into subplots that would work if this was a novel, but it’s a short story, so, nope. Keep it focused.
I’d rather spend the weekend in a book fort, but we’ll see.
Have a good holiday weekend, and I’ll catch you on the other side.
May 25, 2023
Thurs. May 25, 2023: Using the Census for Research
image courtesy of Clker-Free-Vector-Images via pixabay.comThursday, May 25, 2023
Waxing Moon
Pluto Retrograde
Partly Sunny and cold
The latest on the garden is up over on Gratitude and Growth.
Today’s serial episode is Legerdemain:
Episode 88: Jed Smythe’s Apartment
Who’s so tidy? The victim or his kidnapper?
Yesterday felt like a somewhat fractured day. I did more research on the Playland Painters. I think I’ve located the boxes of information I need in the Archives; now, I have to plan a trip down there. I polished, uploaded, and scheduled next week’s episodes of Legerdemain. I submitted comments about the hazards of the machine gun range the military wants to build on Cape Cod – destroying 170 acres of forest, along with creating hazards in the aquifer. I may not live there anymore, but I don’t want to see it destroyed. Enough is being destroyed to appease tourists.
I did a library run. More books than I expected showed up. I’m looking forward to getting some pleasure reading in this coming weekend.
Did the social media rounds for Angel Hunt and for Process Muse.
Wrote the episode log lines for Legerdemain, did the episode graphics, converted to Insta format, and also did the TikTok videos. Might as well do all of that at once. Today, I will upload/schedule what I can for the promos.
Did only one client project, and another came in, so I have two for this afternoon. I’m fine, deadline-wise. I hope something comes in for tomorrow, and then I can take Monday off without fretting.
I meant to look at the 1930 census for “just a minute”. Three hours later, I’d gone through the 1930 census for my hometown, page by page. I have a lead or two that might be a couple of my Playland Painters. There’s also no reason to think they all lived in Rye, but I figured I’d start there, and work my way out. There’s no way to search by term within the census (at least not in the version I could get into without paying for), so I went through it, page by page, focusing on the “occupation” line, and working from there. I took a lot of notes, including notes about anyone who worked at the park, because maybe I can trace back from that.
I also took notes on interesting people and patterns, such as the theatrical manager and his theatrical secretary wife who lived in the building where I grew up! There was also St. Benedict’s Home for Colored Children – how did I grow up in the town and not know this? There were a lot of butlers, cooks, maids, gardeners, and servants listed, as working for “private family” without naming the family. I noticed that the butlers were usually English, German, Southern (Kentucky, Georgia, Missouri) or Japanese, while laborers and other servants were usually Italian, Irish, Nova Scotian, and there was a group from Iceland.
Moving on to the 1940 census, there were more listings for “artist”, both men and women. There was also an uptick in men listing their profession as “copywriter for advertising.” There were also women listing their profession as “novelist” or “fiction writer” or “writer” and I even recognized some of the names. That shouldn’t be surprising; my family moved there in 1966, which wasn’t that far removed from the 1940 census. And more people by then were involved in professional radio.
I found more amusement park workers, although not necessarily painters. There was also the dress model listed as a “lodger” with the “head of household” a woman with her own dressmaking business, and the other lodger a nurse. There’s a story there. There was also the Irish chef and the Polish gardener who listed their place of employment as “insane asylum.”
So many stories.
Some of this may add texture to whatever I write about the Playland Painters. Others may earn their owns stories.
I have more 1940 census sheets to go through today. Those sheets are not just from my hometown, but also surrounding towns. In the 1930 census, I have to go back and go through the other sheets for the other towns.
I also have to make sure that I don’t neglect other work because of this. But I’m tired and grumpy and discouraged, and the research makes me feel as though I’m DOING something.
My hometown library is encouraging me to come down and read what they have that isn’t available for lending, and also will help me coordinate with the historical society next door. They’ve even offered me a “study room.” So I might combine that with the trip to the Archives (which is in a different town).
Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about going back to visit, even with a purpose. I have a rather complicated relationship with my hometown. And yet, a lot of it is positive, so why not focus on those aspects? Most of what’s tied to negative memories no longer exists there.
I had a blasting headache by the time I was done. Read a little at night, caught up on the WGA strike. So, HBO merged with MAX to become HBO/MAX and now drops the HBO part, which is the recognizable part of the brand? And, on top of that, they stopped listing writers and directors in the credits, calling them “creators”? Then, they backpedaled, claiming it was a “technical glitch.”
Bullshit. It was a test balloon to see if they could get away with it, and then split hairs in the contract so they would have another excuse not to pay people hired as under the writer or director banner.
At least it lit a fire under the directors, and they are showing up on the picket line, even if DGA won’t let them carry DGA signs (which is bullshit, too, but probably part of their negotiation agreement).
Tina Turner died, which is sad. She was truly an extraordinary human being and talent.
The Florida Demon announced his candidacy for President – on Twitter – with technical difficulties. Serves him right. He’s a dangerous fascist, and must be stopped at all costs.
What’s on today’s agenda? Meditation. Drafting new episodes. Making the rounds to promote today’s episode of Legerdemain. Returning my residency contract for autumn. Two client projects. Hopefully, uploading/scheduling the next 8 episodes of Angel Hunt (which then means loglines and videos, but I’ll wait on the videos). Maybe finish painting the wind chimes, so they can go out, and we can set up the Enchanted Garden on the back balcony. It was in the 30’s overnight with frost warnings again, so we haven’t been able to do much.
Somewhere in there, I’m sure I’ll spend more time on the census.
Oh, yeah, and I’m out of frigging ink again!!!
Have a good one!
