Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Maybe there are.
Maybe there are reasons you can't.
Have you ever spent an hour on your hair?
You used the Karatase hair serum. You got a CHI hairdryer. Used an ceramic/ionic brush. Parted hair into a zillion little sections.
And your hair still ends up frizzy?
Maybe just let it air dry.
Maybe you're meant to have curly hair.
Maybe there is a reason you can't.
Life is short.
Have you ever spent an hour on your hair?
You used the Karatase hair serum. You got a CHI hairdryer. Used an ceramic/ionic brush. Parted hair into a zillion little sections.
And your hair still ends up frizzy?
Maybe just let it air dry.
Maybe you're meant to have curly hair.
Maybe there is a reason you can't.
Life is short.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Write the President?
One of my students got all wound up while he was working on a writing prompt the other day. He was more opinionated than I'd ever seen him. So I said, "Hey, why don't you write a letter to the editor or write the President or something?" He looked stunned. He'd never thought of that. Right away he started talking about how it would probably never get to him, no one would read it. But someone would! Even if it just went into a count -- another one in favor of XYZ or against ZYX -- his voice would be heard.
I could see the wheels churning in his head. So (even though I could tell this was bugging the HECK out of the other teacher in the classroom) I told him if he wanted to write a letter and if he made it really good, I'd get him an envelope with the address on it and a stamp.
Write a letter to the president? Let the voice of an 8th grader from a small town in Texas be heard? There's no reason you can't!
I could see the wheels churning in his head. So (even though I could tell this was bugging the HECK out of the other teacher in the classroom) I told him if he wanted to write a letter and if he made it really good, I'd get him an envelope with the address on it and a stamp.
Write a letter to the president? Let the voice of an 8th grader from a small town in Texas be heard? There's no reason you can't!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Use the Force!
I found this quote. It fits the themes of this blog, so here you go:
“Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk - and to act.”
-Andre Malraux
George Lucas was turned down by every studio in Hollywood for his space western idea. But at the Barton AMC the other day I noticed not one but TWO video games, over 30 years later, based on his space western idea.
Actually here's the direct quote from IMDB: "His script for Star Wars (1977) was turned down by every major Hollywood studio, the reason being that no one would want to see it. In a last ditch attempt, Lucas approached 20th Century Fox who decided to go ahead with the script even though they were convinced it would flop. Star Wars ended up becoming the highest grossing movie ever released at that time. It still ranks as one of the highest grossing movies ever made to this day."
“Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk - and to act.”
-Andre Malraux
George Lucas was turned down by every studio in Hollywood for his space western idea. But at the Barton AMC the other day I noticed not one but TWO video games, over 30 years later, based on his space western idea.
Actually here's the direct quote from IMDB: "His script for Star Wars (1977) was turned down by every major Hollywood studio, the reason being that no one would want to see it. In a last ditch attempt, Lucas approached 20th Century Fox who decided to go ahead with the script even though they were convinced it would flop. Star Wars ended up becoming the highest grossing movie ever released at that time. It still ranks as one of the highest grossing movies ever made to this day."
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
I've loved reading Kat Candler's blogs about the ups and downs of filmmaking. She's realistic, and I like that. I need that. For example, she goes on about how when she made her first feature the Weinsteins were calling her asking for screeners and she was so excited and then she made her second movie and realized the Weinsteins call everyone and ask for screeners.
But good grief. If I'd known in 1999 how hard it is to write a screenplay would I ever have attempted it? Never mind how hard it is to sell it and/or get it made. For my first attempt I sat down and tried to write a big historical movie about some country I'd never been to just because I was a little inspired by some stuff I'd heard from a relative. Since I knew zero about that time period and less about the country, the screenplay was terrible. It went on like 40 pages and then just sort of stopped.
And so did I.
(Whiny voice:) It's too HARD. Screenplays have too much STRUCTURE. I can't write something that LONG....
That summer I was determined: I'd take whatever plot came into my head. Something commercial. And just go to Cape Cod (we were going to Cape Cod anyway-- Cape Cod isn't part of some magical formula you need to write a screenplay...) and sit down and write as much as I could. Just add plot, plot, plot until I had 120 pages or so.
So I did. AND I DID!
I wrote a whole screenplay.
Man, did it suck.
But I did it. And it was fun!
No reason you can't.
And the same for making movies. I haven't been to film school. I don't understand Fstops. But when I realized I was going to move to Austin and no one had ever made a movie about Frank Allison & the Odd Sox yet I realized I had to get cracking.
So I did.
I didn't know Frank. I didn't know any Odd Sox. I didn't even know their names. In fact, I couldn't even find a complete published version of any of their albums. I'd had them, but I couldn't find them. (They were always better live!) I could only find a mix tape I'd made. No liner notes, nothing. So I went to the library and checked out their PIG OUT album, read the liner notes and grabbed a phone book. One magical day I was determined to get things started. The only person whose phone number I had was the drummer. Yikes! (Drummers are scary. They're cool (yikes!) and perhaps a tad violent? (double yikes!) But he was the only person whose number I had. So I called. And he was home! I yammered on about my plan for a short documentary-- there was a Shaky Jake documentary at Liberty Video. Why shouldn't there be a Frank Allison and the Odd Sox documentary? And lo and behold he was excited and he agreed to do it! And he gave me names and phone numbers of more people to call!
Now I've made a movie. A short. It's not Scorcese. But it's made. No reason you can't!
That first historical family script is still 40 pages of blech. But then I wrote another one. And that script where I just started writing plot and so on ended up doing decently in a contest. And my next script- set in a country and time period I DO know about- won a contest! So hey! Sometimes people moan and groan about how hard things are but you'll never get anywhere if you don't get started. Put one foot in front of the other. And soon you'll be walking cross the floor!
But good grief. If I'd known in 1999 how hard it is to write a screenplay would I ever have attempted it? Never mind how hard it is to sell it and/or get it made. For my first attempt I sat down and tried to write a big historical movie about some country I'd never been to just because I was a little inspired by some stuff I'd heard from a relative. Since I knew zero about that time period and less about the country, the screenplay was terrible. It went on like 40 pages and then just sort of stopped.
And so did I.
(Whiny voice:) It's too HARD. Screenplays have too much STRUCTURE. I can't write something that LONG....
That summer I was determined: I'd take whatever plot came into my head. Something commercial. And just go to Cape Cod (we were going to Cape Cod anyway-- Cape Cod isn't part of some magical formula you need to write a screenplay...) and sit down and write as much as I could. Just add plot, plot, plot until I had 120 pages or so.
So I did. AND I DID!
I wrote a whole screenplay.
Man, did it suck.
But I did it. And it was fun!
No reason you can't.
And the same for making movies. I haven't been to film school. I don't understand Fstops. But when I realized I was going to move to Austin and no one had ever made a movie about Frank Allison & the Odd Sox yet I realized I had to get cracking.
So I did.
I didn't know Frank. I didn't know any Odd Sox. I didn't even know their names. In fact, I couldn't even find a complete published version of any of their albums. I'd had them, but I couldn't find them. (They were always better live!) I could only find a mix tape I'd made. No liner notes, nothing. So I went to the library and checked out their PIG OUT album, read the liner notes and grabbed a phone book. One magical day I was determined to get things started. The only person whose phone number I had was the drummer. Yikes! (Drummers are scary. They're cool (yikes!) and perhaps a tad violent? (double yikes!) But he was the only person whose number I had. So I called. And he was home! I yammered on about my plan for a short documentary-- there was a Shaky Jake documentary at Liberty Video. Why shouldn't there be a Frank Allison and the Odd Sox documentary? And lo and behold he was excited and he agreed to do it! And he gave me names and phone numbers of more people to call!
Now I've made a movie. A short. It's not Scorcese. But it's made. No reason you can't!
That first historical family script is still 40 pages of blech. But then I wrote another one. And that script where I just started writing plot and so on ended up doing decently in a contest. And my next script- set in a country and time period I DO know about- won a contest! So hey! Sometimes people moan and groan about how hard things are but you'll never get anywhere if you don't get started. Put one foot in front of the other. And soon you'll be walking cross the floor!
Monday, January 14, 2008
make money without working 9-5?
Make money without working 9-5?
No reason you can't.
In the past week I've made over $200 just by selling books and DVDs cluttering my closers, dusty old stuff from the garage, and a cheesy little post on Pay per Post. I also went to Office Max, and without paying them A CENT I received a new cartridge of ink, 3-hole punch paper (so very expensive- ouch!) and $9. How did I manage that?
Ever buy too much of the wrong kind of ink? I had a bunch of black cartridges sitting around and zero color cartridges. I decided for the heck of it to bring it in and see if I could trade. Turns out-- there's no reason you can't. AND I ended up getting the Office Max version instead of the name brand so that was cheaper. So then I had 3 empty ink cartridges and turns out they're worth money, too. So I ended up getting money BACK!
(Actually I realized later it was a BETTER deal to get three packets of paper instead of the $3 each. But that'll be my plan for next time. Live and learn, huh?)
In the mean time I was happy to have gone to the store to buy stuff, paid zero and left with extra cash in hand!
There's no reason you can't!
No reason you can't.
In the past week I've made over $200 just by selling books and DVDs cluttering my closers, dusty old stuff from the garage, and a cheesy little post on Pay per Post. I also went to Office Max, and without paying them A CENT I received a new cartridge of ink, 3-hole punch paper (so very expensive- ouch!) and $9. How did I manage that?
Ever buy too much of the wrong kind of ink? I had a bunch of black cartridges sitting around and zero color cartridges. I decided for the heck of it to bring it in and see if I could trade. Turns out-- there's no reason you can't. AND I ended up getting the Office Max version instead of the name brand so that was cheaper. So then I had 3 empty ink cartridges and turns out they're worth money, too. So I ended up getting money BACK!
(Actually I realized later it was a BETTER deal to get three packets of paper instead of the $3 each. But that'll be my plan for next time. Live and learn, huh?)
In the mean time I was happy to have gone to the store to buy stuff, paid zero and left with extra cash in hand!
There's no reason you can't!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Food
It's January.
Wanna lose weight?
Wanna eat ice cream?
There's no reason you can't.
When I was on Weight Watchers I learned an interesting fact: You can go to the trouble to buy their recipe books and make their elaborate 5 point pineapple upside down cakes. But pineapple upside down cakes have two major negatives: there's no chocolate, it's not ice cream, it's not easy and it's ulimately not that great. Also I'm not so good with the math.
Dryers makes an Egg Nog ice cream.
Like Egg Nog?
Me, too.
Egg Nog sounds really yummy and fattening, doesn't it?
1/2 cup of Dryers Egg Nog ice cream is 100 calories. 2 points on Weight Watchers. And no more effort than scooping it out of the carton. You gotta stop at 1/2 cup. But what a treat! And you still lose weight.
There's no reason you can't.
Wanna lose weight?
Wanna eat ice cream?
There's no reason you can't.
When I was on Weight Watchers I learned an interesting fact: You can go to the trouble to buy their recipe books and make their elaborate 5 point pineapple upside down cakes. But pineapple upside down cakes have two major negatives: there's no chocolate, it's not ice cream, it's not easy and it's ulimately not that great. Also I'm not so good with the math.
Dryers makes an Egg Nog ice cream.
Like Egg Nog?
Me, too.
Egg Nog sounds really yummy and fattening, doesn't it?
1/2 cup of Dryers Egg Nog ice cream is 100 calories. 2 points on Weight Watchers. And no more effort than scooping it out of the carton. You gotta stop at 1/2 cup. But what a treat! And you still lose weight.
There's no reason you can't.
There's No Reason You Can't
This is a blog for those who've been told they can't.
I'm here to tell you that's bullshit.
There's this movie- a documentary- about some preacher who'd never seen a movie 'til he was 40. He saw Lion King. Then God told him to make a big epic feature film and make it as big and splashy as Titanic. (Splashy! Ha! I crack myself up!)
So he got a crew of inexperienced people and started making it. In Italy, no less.
The movie makes fun of this guy, at least as far as I can tell. I haven't seen it yet.
But there's no reason he can't do that!
You gotta start somewhere.
It's January.
2008.
Some people think the whole world's going to go haywire December 21, 2012.
So you'd better get crackin'!
I'm here to tell you that's bullshit.
There's this movie- a documentary- about some preacher who'd never seen a movie 'til he was 40. He saw Lion King. Then God told him to make a big epic feature film and make it as big and splashy as Titanic. (Splashy! Ha! I crack myself up!)
So he got a crew of inexperienced people and started making it. In Italy, no less.
The movie makes fun of this guy, at least as far as I can tell. I haven't seen it yet.
But there's no reason he can't do that!
You gotta start somewhere.
It's January.
2008.
Some people think the whole world's going to go haywire December 21, 2012.
So you'd better get crackin'!
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