skylarking

Posted on By Wil

XTC came out of Fred on XM as I took Ryan to school this morning.
“Dear God, sorry to disturb you, but… I feel that I should be heard loud and clear. We all need a big reduction in amount of tears and all the people that you made in your image, see them fighting in the street ’cause they can’t make opinions meet about God, I can’t believe in you”
“This song is from one of my favorite bands of all time,” I told him.
“What’s it called?”
“The band or the song?”
“The band.”
“XTC,” I said, “and this song always reminds me of my first day in regular high school.”
Ryan looked surprised. “You went to regular high school?”
“Yeah,” I said, “for one semester when I was your age, just before I got Star Trek.”
The light ahead of us turned yellow, then red. We waited.
“Did you like it?” He said.
“No. I hated it.”
“Why?”
“Because I was really shy, and awkward, and nerdy. I had never been in regular public school before, and I felt like I was in a foreign country,” I said, “it was even worse, because I was famous from Stand By Me, so the kids at the school thought my shyness was arrogance.”
The light changed.
“Anyway,” I continued, “it was already hard for me to make friends anyway, and when nobody would give me a chance . . . ”
I trailed off, and joined Andy Partridge, “I won’t believe in heaven and hell. No saints, no sinners, no devil as well. No pearly gates, no thorny crown. You’re always letting us humans down.”
“Would you change it, if you could?” Ryan asked.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I missed out on homecoming, and prom, and football games, and all that stuff you’re going to get to do, but I had a good time being on Star Trek. I don’t know if I ever would have made friends in high school.”
We pulled up in front of his school.
“You only get four years here, Ryan. Don’t waste them.”
“Okay,” he said, “I love you. I’ll see you after school.”
“Love you too,” I said, “have a great day.”
I watched him walk across the lawn, and didn’t drive away until he was out of sight.

all in

Posted on By Wil

At times like this, I wish I had a publicist.

“Bravo will take over Las Vegas where twenty-five Hollywood stars will all vie to win the first ever “Celebrity Poker Showdown,” a new six-part, one-hour original series hosted by Kevin Pollak airing Tuesdays this Winter, it was announced today by Jeff Gaspin, President, Bravo.
“Great celebrity poker games have taken place privately for years and this series offers viewers a rare opportunity to witness a new side of their favorite celebrity,” said Gaspin. “‘Celebrity Poker Showdown’ maintains Bravo’s goal of offering a popular concept from a unique point of view, adding to Bravo’s growing original programming slate.”

in between days

Posted on By Wil

I’ve made some nice progress on the Just A Geek rewrite. I’m up to chapter eight as of this morning. It’s the chapter where Aunt Val dies, and I’ve already had to stop twice because it makes me cry. I don’t know why, but I’ve missed Aunt Val more in the last two weeks than in the whole two years she’s been gone. Anne and I watched “Dead Like Me” night before last, and during a scene in a cemetery I was overcome with sadness and cried. Hard. I just saw this crane shot of all those tombstones, and I thought, “Man, I really miss Aunt Val,” as this thing in my chest turned and knotted and exploded with grief. It was weird.
I worked for about 90 minutes on Tuesday (maybe it was closer to two hours, I’m not sure) heavily editing Chapter 6, “Slow Emotion Replay.” I tried a new direction: there are some weblog entries that can stand on their own, but others are better if they’re cut up, and incorporated into the narrative. I like the format of a little narrative, followed by a weblog entry, then some “behind the scenes” info . . . but I honestly think it would be better if I rewrote the whole thing, and folded the weblog entries into the narrative. I sent two copies of Chapter Six to Andrew for comments, one old version and one rewrite. He agreed that the weblog entries are a vital part of the story, but the way they’re included right now, it sort of breaks up the “flow” of the story, and he liked the new direction. If I made it more of a straight forward story, it would flow better. It would also be a substantially different book than the one I’ve been working on for over almost a year. Hrm. It’s something to seriously think about.
Yesterday was Anne’s day off, so I didn’t write much at all. Instead, we spent the morning running errands and had lunch down at Barney’s in Old Town. I’m gonna get onto their Beer Bragger’s Board someday. Mark my words.