Pumpkins and Halloween Movies

Every year we gather at my sister's house to carve pumpkins and eat some desert. Here's what we did last night.

The pumpkins of Halloween 2005


And the pumpkin carvers.


Dale, Dasie, Lori, Kena (baby), Liza, Bella (baby), Glenn, Jake, Chip, Colby, Steve.


The Great Pumpkin
Rating 8/10

I played this Charlie Brown movie for the kids. One of my favorite CB episodes. Of course my favorite is yet to come which I’ll play in coming months. A Charlie Brown Christmas and Be My Valentine Charlie Brown. These episodes or movies never gets old for me. I cringed at the language though. They say “stupid” a lot in Charlie Brown. And my kids always have to point that out. But still another one of those childhood memories that I cherish and shared with my kids.


Mad Monster Party
Rating 7 out of 10

What a blast from the past!

An oldie. One of my favorite movies to ‘catch’ while growing up. I ALWAYS wanted this to come on TV (this is before the data of VCRs mind you) so that I can watch it. It was one of those special occasions during the holidays that Mad Monster Party would chow up on a Sunday afternoon. I’d sit there captivated by the live action of these characters.

I gave this movie an edge by telling my kids there were monsters like werewolves and zombies. We then turned out the lights and watched it in bed. This kept them a little timid despite the whole corniness of the movie, which motivated them to watch it and wait for something really scary. And nothing really scary happened. Believe me, it is absolutely corny, campy and nearly unbearable. BUT, it’s such a big part of my childhood that I still rate it quite high on my list of favorites. The kids enjoyed it but got distracted as they watched it but they did enjoy the wide range of ‘monsters’ like the Invisible Man, Dracula, Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde, etc.

Netflix Summary: Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller lend their vocal talents to this bizarre stop-motion animated parody of horror films. Dr. Frankenstein makes plans for his retirement and convenes a meeting of all monsters to announce his replacement. As word spreads that the doctor is going to choose his young nephew-protégé for the position, the visiting creatures plot a coup d'état that would leave Dr. Frankenstein retired … permanently.

Goldfish Updated + pictures!

He has a name. Jacob gave the survivor a name. Today is the 10th day he has been here. He looks okay. But you never know. I hope he survives. I'm doing what it takes.

And here's what started it all...



Five goldfish in a fishbowl.

Now there's one in a fishbowl.

And his name is Gordon.



And here are a couple of pictures

Colby and Jake huddling under an umbrella. It was an outdoor wedding and it rained.



One morning Bella kinda smiled for me and let me take this.



Compare that to this smile we got from her...

Pizza fiasco, Aura reading, shoes and paintball.

All the above during a lunch break.

I decided to actually leave my office for lunch on Thursday afternoon. And boy, I should have stayed in.

I walked into this pizzeria for what smelled like really good pizza. I waited in line to order while the guy behind the counter cashed out a customer. He asked me what I wanted and I said 1 slice of pizza. That’s all I could afford since one slice was $3.50 and all I had was a five spot. The slice is HUGE by the way so it was worth the $3.50… If you ate it. He took my order and sliced one off, picked it up by the crust, carried it to the oven and shoved it in.

AND HE DIDN’T USE GLOVES OR WASH HIS FINGERS!

I was dumbfounded.

He came back and I handed him my money and you could see the doughy powder from the pizza on his fingers as he took my five bucks.

After a few minutes of me pacing, trying to figure out what to do or say, he got it out and used a pizza spatula to retrieve the slice from the oven. Still, you should wash your hands or something. You’re handling food!!!

I didn’t have the nerve to say anything. I mean this guy was a big beefy Italian guy that could have pounded me on the head from behind the counter.

So I just threw it away and had some chocolate for lunch.

GROSS!!!

But before that, I was able to stop at Skechers and IX Paintball.

Donna wanted some Skechers because hers were worn out. There’s a Skechers store by my office which is like a warehouse of shoes. It’s so huge its ridiculous.

I found her a pair of Bike-Spokes in lt. blue to replace her old ones.



It was buy one and get another for half off but the Bike-Spokes had tags on them that said they were excluded from the half off deal.

But I figured I’d try anyway. There were three people at the register and I looked at each of their auras. Yes, I read auras. Usually just the aura around a person’s head. (I also read Tarot for those that don’t know). But for fun, I decided to get the best read of each person based on their aura. And I did. I saw a blueish aura around this one guy. (You’re probably really thinking I’m weird right now aren’t you? –a guy who reads tarot and auras. Usually women do this. I learned from another guy.) Anyway, I picked him. I read his blueish aura as communicative, and the light blue aspect of his aura seemed relaxing or laid back. The girl, she had a harsh red about her and I decided to stay away. I think she was angered by someone she had to help.

I asked him if I could get the deal with another pair of shoes and he said, ‘like tomorrow?’ I was like, no, if I buy another one of THESE right now. He shurged and said, “sure”. So I scored and got her another pair she can wear with one of her scrub uniforms for work.



Then I sped over to the Paintball store and got five of these Gen X Global paintball pods.



You can never have enough pods.

At least I was able to get some money spending in. I haven’t bought anything cool in a while. And I just got paid!

Another nose bleed, some TV watching and the fight to stay well.

2:00 AM and another bloody nose…

Mommy! I have a bloody nose!

This time, he called Donna for some reason. I was tired. She has the day off today, its all good… I think.

Poor kid. He needs to go to an E.N.T. Maybe this will all be solved if he gets the inside of his nose cauterized. I hate that he’s having bloody noses. That’s a lot of blood for a kid to lose isn’t it? And he’s sick as well. He and Bella stayed home yesterday. They were bored stiff.

But during his boredom, he was able to do this jigsaw puzzle for ages 6+. I helped him in the morning (yesterday) and he was REALLY frustrated with it. I didn’t think he’d continue when I left the house. But at 2:30 PM he called and said he had a surprise for me. He had finished the puzzle all by himself. 200 or so pieces. WOW! I was so proud. My mom said he worked on it all day long. Try doing a puzzle with your 2 year old sister trying to ‘help’. It ain’t easy!!!



In the world of TV watching…

I caught up on a few shows last night. I watched the Finale of “Over There” and watched last Sunday’s episode of “Grey’s Anatomy”.

These two shows are definitely my two shows that I look forward to watching. Included on that list is “How I Met Your Mother”. Although the latter show has lost some steam it seems.

“Two and a Half Men” has grown on me and I think I’m liking “Out of Practice” with Henry Wrinkler.

We also watch “Survivor” which is also losing steam.

I can’t wait for “House” to get back on the air and the season premiere of “That 70s Show”.

I have like four episodes of “Joey” to watch on TiVo, I haven’t seen “West Wing” this season and got hooked on “America’s Next Top Model”. Blech. What a waste of my time. But I can’t help seeing these ignorant girls strategize their way to the ‘top’. This is the dumbest bunch of girls of all the seasons of this stupid show.



In the world of HOW THE HECK AM I STAYING ALIVE…

Well… I’m getting that sickly feeling now. Being around two sick kids makes it hard to stay well yourself. My eyes are hot and watery. My body is fatigued and achy. Ugh. But believe me, I’m hanging in there and trying to convince myself that I’m 100%! That helps sometimes. Especially when there’s a ton of work to do from work.

And that’s it.

Out.

Talk about being tired…

Boy am I whopped!

After a night of sleeplessness and Jake’s bloody nose, here’s what followed.

I got the kids home around 5:45 and was too tired to think of something to eat. I was going to go with fast food but that’s always a hit and miss with the kids. So I sat them down and fed them PB&J sandwiches for dinner. How horrible am I? BUT… they gobbled it down with milk like it was their favorite dinner dish ever.

Both my kids are sick. Feverish, cough, runny nose, etc. And when they are sick, they are cranky. But give ‘em credit, they didn’t fight to go to bed.

They took some cough medicine, brushed their teeth, changed and got in bed with out any problems what so ever. What a pleasure that was.

Bella wanted to ‘sleep on your tummy’ as she says. Which relates to sleeping on my chest while I pat her on the back. But I couldn’t do that or I’d fall asleep and had to do little things like put the dishes in the dish washer, etc.

So I told her I’d come back and kiss her nite-nite when I was done.

They were asleep so fast neither called or complained about anything.

Finally I plopped down on the recliner to watch the ball game. Finally… rest!

8:30 rolls around and Donna gets home and guess what… I’m STARVING!

Bella wakes up and I go and get her while Donna takes a bath. She lays on my chest as I finish the end of the game and she cheers when the White Sox storm the field to celebrate their World Series Championship.

So around 9:30 I decide I need to eat. Donna and Bella hit the bed, I go to TOMMY’S.

Which is the biggest mistake ever. I hate doing that. But its my go-to food when I’m starving. I hate it. I hate what it does to me at night, what it does to me the following day, and what it does to me overall. Damn its good, but damn it hurts so bad!

By 11:00 I’m so tired I need to get to bed. I check on Jake, cover him up and find that perfect spot in bed that will lead me to the promised land of sleep.

11:05 PM

“I HAVE A BLOODY NOSE!”

Yep. FIVE MINUTES. FIVE MINUTES INTO MY DREAM LAND I HEAR THE CALL.

I rush over to Jake and the blood is POURING out of his nose. He’s feverish and bleeding. I get a wet cold towel and put it around his neck, find a comfortable spot on his bed and hold his nose.

I held it for 45 minutes.

At least SIDEWAYS was on HBO again. It was between SIDEWAYS and GARDEN STATE and I decided Sideways was more tame to watch. More relaxing. I needed relaxing.

Finally the bloody nose stops. The cool towel helped Jake’s fever as he felt fine and he wasn’t complaining about laying there with a towel on his head.

Finally I get to bed dreading another call before morning. It is midnight.

Then suddenly I hear Donna say…

“Glenn, It’s late.”

Yup. Just like that It’s morning and I overslept.

I’m tired. And I have to go to work.

I want to cry.

And this... is enough to make me cry laughing!!!

Thanks to Eric Martin who sent this picture to me...



God that's funny!!!

I watched a couple of movies here and there…

Here are some...


Purple Rain

You’re kidding right? Prince… acting? He can’t act. He really can’t. He’s horrible. And so was the supporting cast. But damn, the music is great!

That’s the only thing that kept me watching. I mean, I admit, I loved this movie back in Highschool. It was great. Breakthrough. Dark. Taboo. Sinful. It was everything about music and sex and drugs that our parents didn’t want us to see or experience. So it was great!

Now… if it weren’t for the music, it would be nothing. And the music is great!

Where the heck is my Purple Rain tape anyway? I think I’ll need to download some tunes and burn a CD.

Just to remind those that don’t remember… here are some of the songs:

Take me with you. – One of my favorite Prince tunes!
Let’s go crazy
Purple Rain – of course
When Doves Cry

How I remember when I thought Apollonia was hot. She’s too 80s… too… pretentious… too… eh to me now. Funny.

Morris Day is so stupid and funny you just have to watch it.


Starsky & Hutch

Funny movie. Really funny. I’m a big fan of Starsky & Hutch the original and thought that the comedic team of Stiller and Owen would do a good job. And they did. This movie wasn’t made to be like the original Starsky & Hutch but made to stand on its own. Which was good. Both the characters as well as their relationship seemed new and the duo definitely owned it. Huggy Bear played by Snoop Doggy Dog was absolutely brilliant! They also included several nuances from the original series into this movie just for laughs. Just like the whole Mime thing.

And Owen singing David Soul’s “Don't Give Up On Us” just made me die laughing. I won’t explain, you just have to know what that’s all about.

Fun rental for S&H fans. And fun rental for Stiller and Owen fans. And fun rental for those who have never experienced either!


Sideways

I recently reviewed this movie and gave it some serious thumbs up. I watched it again the other night and maintain that it’s a damn good movie. One of my all time favorite character driven films ever!

If you haven’t seen this movie then you should. WATCH IT!


True Lies

This movie has never grown old for me. The partnership, the secrets, the espionage, the strip tease by Jamie Leigh Curtis and for good measure Tia Carrere is in it and Tom Arnold is hilarious! Oh, don't forgot that our California Governer takes the lead in one of his better films next to Terminator 1!!! Great action movie!

Insomnia, a goldish update, phone pix and a rant…

WARNING. THIS ENTRY MAY EVENTUALLY OFFEND SOMEONE.

Insomnia, a goldfish update, phone pix and a rant…

Yes, all the above in one entry! Whew.

My brain is fried. Work, lack of sleep, writer's block... It's deep fried!

I couldn’t sleep last night. I fell asleep during the 14-inning marathon of game three of the World Series. I woke up to see the last inning and stumbled into bed around 11:30???. At that point, I was wide awake. I tossed, turned and sighed my way to 2:00 AM. That’s the last I saw of the clock.

And then I heard a scream…

“I have a bloody nose!”

Yes, it was Jake. With another bloody nose. That’s two in two days. This time it was FOUR AM! For an hour I kept pressure on his nose. That’s too long. It should stop around ten minutes. Twenty at the most. It was thinning out and it wasn’t heavy around the forty minute mark but it kept giving me spots on the napkin. So I maintained pressure. Finally, I laid him back in bed and just when I found coziness back in my bed, Donna’s alarm went off. And to our dismay, Bella woke up. I was supposed to get up early anyway but by this time, I didn’t have the energy to get back up. I told Donna to get me at 5:45 while I tried to force a quick nap.

Bella was good, she just kicked back in the dark, poked at me and pat my back. But I just couldn’t get back to sleep.

What a night. I didn’t have any serious caffeine. I even had a Smirnoff Twisted as I watched the game.



So I don’t know what kept me up. I remember dreaming a bunch. I remember thinking up scenes for my script. I remember reliving some paintball action from Sunday. I even remember realizing that I’m finally falling asleep.

But then I woke up two hours into my precious night and I had to deal with father things.

And it wasn’t one of those stare at the ceiling fan moments. It was one of those I’m dead tired and can’t sleep, tossing and turning type nights.



Okay… Goldfish update!

The goldfish is doing well. But how can you tell? I’ve had it for ten days now and its swimming around, eating, and looking like a goldfish in the cloudy water. Yuck.

I’m cleaning the bowl once again tonight. Pat me on the back for keeping this sucker alive.



Phone Pics

And to ALMOST wrapup this entry here are some pictures from my phone.



Dat’s me talking to Dale.



Dat’s my favorite niece, Makena wanting me to give her my phone.



And dat’s Jakey! What else am I going to do while he poops in a restaurant bathroom?



Dat’s my baby, Bella!

Ain’t she cute wearing a PINK hat and DRESS. A PINK HAT AND DRESS. I mean, that is what girls wear don’t they?



Which leads me to this comment about people born into ignorance and well… are just plain idiotic. My cousin James calls these people “DUMB”. James is so nice. I call them “IDIOTS”.

But that’s besides the point. Kinda.

We were at a wedding. The same one where we got the goldfish. Well, Donna was holding Bella. Bella was wearing a pretty pink dress, black shoes, and that pink hat you see above.

Someone, who will remain nameless, came up to Donna.

Now this someone KNOWS us. He knows that we have kids. He knows that my sister has kids. He knows my sister has a little boy named Colby and I’m assuming he knows I have a boy named Jacob.

Well… he comes up to Donna, who is carrying cute little Bella who is wearing PINK and to emphasize that yes, she is a girl, she was wearing a PINK HAT and to REEMPHASIZE that she is a CUTE little girl she was wearing a PINK DRESS!!!

And what did this capable human being say???

He said… Get this… He said…

“HI COLBY”.

Ahh… how nice. How nice of him to acknowledge the kids. But wait. Bella isn’t Colby.

Okay, okay… OKAY… To his defense, there are girls named Colby. It’s only the 4,811th ranked name for a girl (ranking) so yeah, there are girls named Colby. No, its not a common name for a girl, but yeah, there are girls named Colby. Of course that ranking was census 1990... It could have creeped it's way up to the top ten in the past fifteen years.

But this, as I mentioned, is a capable human being who, well, knows that my sister has a son named Colby. MAYBE he doesn’t know Bella. I’ll give him that. MAYBE he doesn’t know JACOB… I’ll give him that. MAYBE he doesn’t know Makena… I’ll give him that. But he OBVIOUSLY KNOWS THAT SOMEONE HAS A KID NAMED COLBY.

So being 'capable' he must have put two and two together and thought to himself… hmmm… pink dress, pink hat… little kid... this MUST be Colby.

Yeah – you’re hanging on a thread with that defense you dork! (No wonder Donna said “NO” when the dork asked her out when she worked at Nordstrom!!!)

He took a stab. But man… he really missed didn’t he?

But as someone in my family mentioned… he did marry my cousin JENNIFER.

NEED I SAY MORE?

Yeah, let this entry bite me in the ass. If it does, then I’ll tell you how I really feel. IT AIN'T GONNA BE NICE.

Those damn goldfish…

Last Sunday a wedding I went to used goldfish in a fish bowl as their centerpiece for several tables. It was unusual to say the least. My first impression was that I felt SO sorry for these goldfish! And then to add to my feeling sorry, I witnessed several people tapping the fishbowls with their plastic forks in order to get that ‘newlywed couple kiss’ reaction. Didn’t they learn in grade school that this was harmful to fish? The noise is deafening!!! Another problem was that there were three or more gold fish in every tank. This is not sufficient space for a fish is it? And what would happen to them after the wedding?

Well, here’s what happened to five of them.

To my dismay, my dad, who was visiting CA for the wedding, brought home one fish bowl for the kids that included five goldfish. I figured this was five fish too many. And I also figured they’d be dead within the week.

Let me preface this by saying… I hate goldfish.

But I wasn’t going to let them die.

I did everything I could (within means). I got food, water cleaner stuff, a siphon and learned about caring for goldfish from the internet and pet store. The guy at the store said the bowl was okay, but they should have more space (different people have said different things from 1 gal per goldfish to up to 10gal per goldfish). These weren’t huge fish so for right now, it would be okay he said.

One problem is that they can’t (or shouldn't) survive in a bowl. Yet there were several bowls of goldfish at the wedding. And I couldn’t just go up and spend money on a fish tank.

The bottom line… with care, you can get them to live in there forever! WITH CARE!!!

I made sure they had enough surface area, I cleaned only a certain percentage of the water every other day, I fed them appropriate amounts of food, I made sure they had light. I left new water out for a while to get it to room temperature and to get rid it of chlorine. I treated the water with water treatment and siphoned the crap from the rocks as food goes right through these guys as waste since they don’t digest food very well… and what happened?

Last Sunday night I was forced to adopt five goldfish.

On Tuesday afternoon I walked in after work and found that two were dead.

On Thursday morning, one more was dead.

This left two.

Okay, two in a large fishbowl seemed sufficient amount of space.

Every morning I wake up, and every day I come home, I look at the bowl with dread, hoping that I won't find a fish floating on the surface.

Seriously!

I was growing attached the these guys. I sit there at my computer and there they are. Right in front of me.

When I changed the water, they don’t scurry away anymore. They were like used to me going in there and siphoning out the crap at the bottom of the bowl in the rocks.

Last night I said to myself with pride, ‘you guys made it’. They lasted a week! I felt proud, I left no stones unturned as I fought for their survival – at least two of them.

Yesterday, one looked sick. I told Jake that he didn’t look very strong. He wasn’t as alert as usual, he wasn’t swimming around as much, and he just looked weak.

This morning…

I have one fish left. ONE!

STUPID DAMN GOLDFISH!

I hate em. But man, I did what I could. Really. I did.

I hope other people had better luck with their fish.

Oh the humanity!!!

Joke

I had to share this one.

A father is in church with three of his young children, including his five year old daughter. As was customary, he sat in the very front row so that the children could properly witness the service. During this particular service, the minister was performing the baptism of a tiny infant. The little five year old girl was taken by this, observing that he was saying something and pouring water over the infant's head. With a quizzical look on her face, the little girl turned to her father and asked, "Daddy, why is he brainwashing that baby?"

I couldn't stop laughing. Profound ain't it?

A phone pic pixtorial

I haven’t done one of these in a while. I just hate the whole workflow for downloading pics from my phone. I have to download each pic, one by one, from the phone. Then download them, one by one, onto my computer because they are in separate email files. Then resize and resave them. Then upload to my webspace. If it weren’t for the slow process to download FROM the phone, it wouldn’t be so bad. But each picture you have to wait… wait… wait… and wait somemore.

But these were cool pictuers so I did it. Especially the last picture of the bunch.

First things first…

What's a phone pic pixtorial with good old ME!!! I think I was listening to some really kick ass tunes. I captured the moment with my phone. We've all been there, but have we all captured it with a Verizon LG Camera Phone??? I think not.



And this is how Tuesday morning looked. Dark and wet. I love it. I hated the traffic. But I love going to work when its still dark out.



I wish I had my camera-camera at Target the other day because Donna looked so hot as she stood there all irritated about accidentally putting her sweater on before taking her backpack off.



And a yummy treat. It's so funny - you take these kids to 31 Flavors, they sit there and eat ice cream like its some serious thing. They really concentrate. Its great quiet time. But then the sugar kicks in.



Here's the cookie that is bigger than Bella’s head. She tends to pick out the chocolate chips which just results in a big mess.



And finally, the “Dynamic Dark Duo” ready for Halloween. Pic taken by my sister’s phone. Colby in Batman gear and Jake in Vader gear.

It's raining in Southern California

Yes, its raining in LA. It’s so dark during the day, the thunder wakes the kids up and we have to deal with leaks from a roof that needs to be repaired.

On Sunday, a loud rumble woke me up. Next thing I know, Jake is calling. So Donna went to sleep with him. Later, Bella shot up in bed and looked at the window and asked, “Was daaat?”

I said, “Rain” and she buried her face in my arm and said, “Old me, papa. Old me.” So I held her the whole night. Both of us had a bad night because when I took my hand off her back she noticed and said, “Old me.” It was very uncomfortable.

I love the rain. But I hate leaks in my house and car accidents on the freeway. I do love this song though…

“Raindrops are falling on my head” by BJ Thomas

Raindrops are falling on my head
and just like the guy who's feet are too big for his bed,
nothing seems to fit
those,
raindrops are falling on my head,they keep falling

so I just did me some talking to the sun,
and I said I didn't like the way he got things done,
sleeping on the job
those,
raindrops are falling on my head they keep falling

But there's one thing, I know
the blues they sent to meet me won't defeat me.
It won't be long 'till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep falling on my head
but that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red.
Crying's not for me, cause
I'm never gonna stop the rain by complaining
because I'm free
nothing's worrying me

It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep falling on my head
but that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red
crying 's not for me
Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complaining
because I'm free
Nothing's worrying me

Stupid Alcohol

It's what... 1 AM? or something. And damn night out with shots of whatever they put in front of me is going to give me a hangover tomorrow... or today.

And after tequila and goldshloger(sp?) shots... 2 more beers ain't gonna make a difference.

But it was a nice night that I spent with a well rounded group of people.

A doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, a psych major going to paralegal school, a graphic designer for some big line of clothing that only women know about, a mortgage banker, another budding lawyer and a budding child educator... and then there was me.

What a fun night out.

Unfortunately... its not going to be a fun saturday because... despite all the water and 3 advils I have taken... I'm going to have a hangover.

g'nite.

Is it me…

…or does this whole non pseduo science that has a church but is not a religion sound just a teeny weeny PSYCHOTIC!?!?!?!!!

I mean, it could just be me...

re: Katie Holmes and her pregnancy...

In other reports, when it comes time for the actress to give birth in several months, it has been suggested that Holmes will attempt a silent labor in keeping with Scientology tradition.

The practice encourages mothers to be to forgo painkillers and to refrain from screaming or even talking as they bring their children into the world. Scientologists believe that the silence reduces trauma during birth and prevents irrational fears later in life.

Let’s break this down just a little bit…

“...forgo painkillers and to refrain from screaming or even talking as they bring their children into the world. Scientologists believe that the silence reduces trauma during birth and prevents irrational fears later in life.”

I’d like to see the report that says, “STUDIES HAVE SHOWN…”

Let’s see how this report would read. Maybe something like this… Studies have shown that taking painkillers and screaming or EVEN TALKING as a woman brings their children into the world has resulted in the fear of eating cotton candy while ice skating, the glow of cell phone backlights, the fear of a poker chip standing on its edge and even the unfortunate fear of clouds that look like minvans.

Jacob is afraid of having a bull live in our back yard. I blame this on Donna taking painkillers during his birth.

What do you say to a legend?

So there I was… all alone in this room sitting next to this 95 year old man. He shook my hand and took my piece of paper while I fumbled for something to say.

I think my voice cracked as my face turned red when I did figured out what to say.

“Hopefully the team does well this coming year.” I fussed.

I was only fortunate enough to sit there as a ‘fill in’ so he wouldn’t be alone waiting by himself. My boss, feeling the same way I did, didn't know what to say so he sent me in instead. I felt like my knees would buckle as I entered the room and shook his hand. His hand felt old, twisted and worn but extremely soft and smooth.

He smiled as he handed me back my piece of paper.

"Well, they’ll do good. Not great. But I think they’ll do well." He confessed.

It was then we were joined by two other people more important than me. So I got up to make room for the party of FAMOUS guests that would arrive.

Dizzily, I went back to my office. I took a deep breath as I sat and read the piece of paper with his note on it.

It read:

For Glenn
Best Wishes
John Wooden
UCLA

Okay… wow. WOW! WOW!!!

I was alone in a room with John Wooden!!! He smiled at me. He shook my hand twice. And he told me in all honesty UCLA Basketball will do well. Not great. But well.

I’m beside myself.

Wow.

Melting away

There are two things that my kids did this weekend to make me say… ‘awwwww’.

This is why they are great. It reminds me about how special they are.

On Saturday, as I was putting my paintball gear into the washer before putting the dishes away and preparing for dinner, Jake was asking me to play video games with him. Which I had been doing on and off all day long. I told him that I had a lot of things to do and when I’m done I’d play. He responded with…

“Can I help you so that you can finish faster?”

WOW. My heart melted. I told him I’d do it as fast as I can and play with him for a few minutes before dinner.

Then… Sunday around 4:00 I had to lay down due to a migraine that came out of nowhere. I asked the kids to sit on the bed and watch a DVD while I closed my eyes for a short nap. They agreed and we all got in bed.

Isabella proceeded to sit close to me, kiss me on the cheek and rub my back for a few seconds caring for me like Donna or I care for her when she’s sick.

“Better papa?” she asked as she felt my forehead as if feeling for a fever.

I said, “Yes, better. Thank you, baby.”

Again… my heart melted away.

A short script coming...

Okay - I'm sure you've been there and done that on many of those sleepless nights... here's one of mine...

FADE IN:

INT. BEDROOM – MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
It’s way too deep in the middle of the night to be awake. But GLENN (38) lays in bed with his eyes wide open, watching the ceiling fan spin only fast enough to circulate the air.

Without a single blink, Glenn continuous to stare at the fan, forcing his eyes to stay open. Small particles settle on the surface of his eyes. He’s desperate for a blink to lubricate and moisturize his eyes.

But he maintains the stare for as long as possible.

Finally, he blinks. And as he does we hear a--

BEEP

He blinks out the dryness then holds up his digital watch, presses the back light to see the stop watch display – 40 seconds.

He resets it to 0:00. Closes his eyes for a few seconds, opens them and presses the start button--

BEEP

And stares at the fan again.

THE END

Free Form Writing in the Form of a Screenplay

Instead of random ramblings, I did some free form writing in the form of a screenplay.

Here’s what came out with no thought, rhyme, reason or inspiration. It just came out.

I titled it…

“SWIM”
An unedited first draft, free form piece of writing in screenplay format.
By Glenn Magas

INT. BEACH – DAY

It’s miserable out there. Miserable. The rain, the clouds, the towering waves. Its just not the place to be. But GLENN (38) stands there amidst it all, staring out into the threatening deep black sea. His wetsuit clings to his body his board under his arm, his mind – focused.

GLENN
Peter Piper Picked a Pepper and here goes nothing!

He charges toward the breaking waves, lifting his feet as they dig into the cold water. Then he disappears under the water.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. ROOM – DAY

The white room seems cold. Colder than the storm on the beach. Glenn, with breathing tubes in his nose, stirs under the white covers.

And we realize quite quickly, it’s a hospital bed.

A woman’s voice whispers.

WOMAN’S VOICE
Swim

Glenn, as if startled by the whisper, licks his lips.

GLENN
Donna…

His voice is dry. A struggle. Desperate.

GLENN
Water…

The room spins. Glenn grabs hold of the side of his hospital bed trying to get leverage.

GLENN
Help…

Suddenly, the room stops spinning and the door swings open.

DALE and DASIE (both 30ish) walk in, laughing.

Glenn reaches to them. He sits up. He yanks the tubes out of his nose.

GLENN
Dude… what the hell?

He gasps for air.

GLENN
Daze, where’s Donna?

Dale and Dasie don’t respond. They just laugh to one another as if sharing an inside joke. And from their perspective, Glenn is just laying there. Unmoved. Comatose.

GLENN
What the fuck! Dale! Where’s Donna?

Dale and Dasie take a seat and flick on the TV. Dasie flips channels.

DALE
Wait, wait… he likes that show.

On the TV screen the HBO show, “THE COMEBACK”, with Lisa Kudrow is on.

Glenn looks at the TV. Squints to get a clearer view. Lisa Kudrow is on screen.

GLENN
What? No I don’t! I don’t like… I told you I’m not sure if I like it. Chip said it was cancelled anyway.

And with that, CHIP (30ish) enters the room with Cotton Candy.

GLENN
Chip! Didn’t you say “The Comeback” was cancelled?

Chip sits on the foot of the bed, his back to Glenn.

CHIP
Oh, cool. The Comeback. Doesn’t Glenn love this show?

GLENN
I told you I don’t know! Hey! You guys.

They don’t answer.

GLENN
I have to pee.

Glenn swings his legs out of bed and just before he steps down looks on the ground.

GLENN
What the hell?

And paintballs, a few inches high, cover the floor.

GLENN
Dale, I thought you said Anarchy balls were sold out?

He turns back to look at Dale. But Dale isn’t doing what he thought – sitting there. He’s having sex with Dasie.

GLENN
Dude!!!

JACOB
Hi Papa.

Glenn looks at the door as Jacob (5) and Bella (2) shuffle their feet in the sea of paintballs.

GLENN
Jakey! Hi Bella… Where’s mommy?

Bella looks at the paintballs on the floor with glee.

BELLA
I want BeeBall.

JACOB
It’s not baseball, Bella. It’s PAINTball.

BELLA
Peeball.

JACOB
PAINTball.

BELLA
I want PeeBall.

Jacob picks up a pink one and holds it in front of Bella’s face.

JACOB
Here. Eat it. It’s yummy, Bella.

GLENN
Jakey, no!

He doesn’t listen.

GLENN
Jacob, NO!

Bella timidly takes a bite. She has to bite down harder in order to break it and she does. Pink paint pops out of the coating and paints her lips. Jacob laughs.

BELLA
Nucky!

GLENN
Chip, take that away from her!

Glenn turns back around to see Dale, cuddled up with Dasie on the chair as she smokes a cigar.

CHIP
Don’t eat those! Eat the Dynasty balls. They taste like apple!

Glenn timidly steps out of bed. He leans down and holds Jacob by the arms and looks into his eyes.

GLENN
That is very bad. I can’t believe you did that. I can’t believe you let Bella eat that. Think, Jacob. Think about that.

But Jacob doesn’t seem to react, he stares right through Glenn at something else.

Glenn turns around to see Chip playing an X-Box Game – Burnout 3: Takedown. Cars smash and crash on screen.

JACOB
I want to play!

And with that Jacob walks right past Glenn and joins Chip on the foot of the bed.

Glenn is confused. He looks around the room, contemplating the situation, predicament, the oddity. His brain firing up all possible explanations but its not coming.

He stands up.

GLENN
Where’s Donna!!!

And as if on cue, the door swings open.

And DONNA (30ish) enters.

She walks over to the bed and looks down and for the first time Glenn sees what Donna sees. He sees himself, a bandage around his head, tubes up his nose, an IV feeding him through his arm.

Glenn stands behind Donna.

GLENN
Honey?

Donna takes a look at his chart. Takes his pulse and temperature.

GLENN
What’s going on?

DONNA
You were supposed to take me to the Eagles concert tonight.

A tear drops from Donna’s eyes.

GLENN
I’ll take you. Anywhere.

She doesn’t answer.

Glenn doesn’t know what to say. He’s trying to let it register. Finally, as if he should have asked long ago he whispers…

GLENN
What happened?

From behind him, Bella speaks up.

BELLA
Papa?

Glenn slowly turns toward Bella.

GLENN
Can you hear me, Bella?

She looks right at him.

BELLA
I ruv you, Papa.

Suddenly everyone turns. Glenn looks around the room, at the people, they’re all looking at him.

The door opens and Liza peeks in.

LIZA
We’re going to be late for the reservation.

GLENN
Lees?

Glenn is on the verge of panic, tears, desperation.

Dale, Dasie, Chip and Jake rush out the room. Donna scoops up Bella. Glenn watches them disappear out the room.

Bella looks behind, back at Glenn.

BELLA
Swim.

BLACKNESS

The swirl of a liquid world surrounds us. The muffled sounds of voices echoes. The familiar sounds of waves crashing and the sight of a surfboard cut in half floats in the darkness that is the sea.


JACOB’S VOICE
Swim, papa.

Hands struggle in the dark, feet kick as the last reservation of air in the form of bubbles escapes from someone’s mouth.

Glenn’s mouth.

His eyes filled with fear. His body tossed and turned deep under water. His arms stroke hard trying desperately to reach his only goal. The surface of the water.

It seems like eternity as he struggles and finally reaches life – air.

The rain pounds down on his face as he gasps, suffocating from water deep in his lungs, struggling to stay afloat the dark ravages of the deadly waves.

INT. BEACH – MOMENTS LATER

Glenn crawls onto the wet sandy beach. Waves pound down on him forcing him down as he crawls to safety.

He coughs up the remaining salt water, clearing his chest then rolls onto his back and looks out at the sea.

Half of Glenn’s surfboard washes up.

BLACKNESS

JACOB
Why don’t you go surfing anymore?

INT. LIVINGROOM

Glenn, Jacob and Bella draw on pieces of paper laid out on the floor.

GLENN
I had a vision.

JACOB
What’s that?

GLENN
Oh… just something that told me not to anymore.

JACOB
So you just play paintball?

GLENN
Yeah. I guess.

BELLA
I like BeeBall.

JACOB
It’s not Baseball Bella, PAINTball.

BELLA
I like PEEball.

GLENN
It’s okay, Jake. She can say it the way she wants.

JACOB
Just as long as she doesn’t eat it right?

Glenn laughs.

GLENN
Right.

BELLA
I want eat PEEball.

Jacob and Glenn laugh as we leave them at their art work.

And above, behind Glenn, Jake and Bella, on the wall we see the surfboard on display like a priceless piece of art. At least half of it.

DONNA (OS)
Time to eat!

FADE OUT

THE END

Sleep deprived, caffeine driven ramblings

“It doesn’t taste English.” – Jake’s response to being served an English muffin for breakfast.

I hate month end. I did a lot of work on it here (at home) just because I hate being all stressed out at work. It puts me in a bad mood. And knowing I have month end at work, I try to leave home on a good note. If your mood is bad, it’ll totally affect mine. I’m very codependent in that sense and I hate it.

That being said… Dale and I are working on another one of my scripts called “Misdirection”. Its at about page 60 right now with no real solid ending as the ending really sucked. So its going through a serious rewrite right now with subplots being nixed and characters being revamped. The lead, a struggling close up magician, is really a solid lead role. So I like it. And the supporting characters help drive the store and support the lead. Which is great.

So many times writers send me a script (shorts and features) where the lead gets over shadowed by the supporting characters. Its almost as if the writer should pick any other character and make them the lead because they are so much more interesting. Their lead eventually just tends to walk around and watch and listen to the other characters. The other characters are more dynamic, have better dialogue and do more while the lead takes it all in. Its weird.

Lately its been hard to be creative. Maybe it is due to work. Who knows.

What else?

Oh, I was 11-14 on my football picks this week. Not bad. I want to go 100% at least once in my life. That way I can brag that on Week 5 of the blah blah blah football season, I picked every winner. That’d be cool. I need one upset too. Some huge underdog that I pick that just makes the week awesome. That’d be cool.

Saturday Night Donna and I watched “Day After Tomorrow”. I give the movie a 7 out of 10 rating.

It was one of those movies that I never thought I’d watch. I’m not too into ‘end of the world’ type movies. I wouldn’t put it on my Netflix queue nor would I pay money to watch it in a theater. But it was on HBO so we TIVO’d and watched it. It was… it was okay. I really like Jake Gyllenhaal. Dennis Quaid was, meh. It needed more Sela Ward who I liked from the show, “Sisters” and “Once and Again”.

Not only do I not like ‘end of the world’ type movies, I hate lost kids movies. So I identified with Quaid’s character and his absolute desperation to rescue his son. Because I would do the same. I just don’t like seeing the separation because it makes me sick to my stomach.

What else…

Here’s the rundown of the shows that have caught my eye this season and that I’ll try to watch faithfully.

Monday
How I met your Mother
Two and a half Men

Tuesday
My Name is Earl
House

Wednesday

Thursday
Survivor
Joey
Will and Grace
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Friday
Inconceivable

Saturday
Curb Your Enthusiasm

Sunday
Grey’s Anatomy
West Wing

Finally…

I watched “Dodgeball” on HBO and thought it was totally funny. Again, a movie I never thought I’d actually watch. And I channel surfed every once in a while but kept coming back for more Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. Hella-funny!

I give this a 7/10 as well.

And that’s all I have to say.

We're on fire!

Two days mini vacation…

And all of Southern California is going up in flames. Surrounded by flames coming from the Valley and East into Burbank, we can see and smell the smoke and feel the hot sun joined by Santa Ana winds. It’s the worst part of the year. Fire season.

But I took two days off, Thursday and Friday, and got things done.

Like sleep.

But yeah, on a serious note, I reedited my script and am ready to submit it to whoever. Competitions, agents, production companies, etc. I need to go through one more edit for spellings and stuff but right now its 99.99% done.

If you’d like to spend an hour or so reading 102 pages, I’d love to hear the feedback.

Here it is:

“ZEN and the Way of the Space Dog”