life update 2.16.08

Hello fellow Indoobians. I wanted to turn some of my recent adventures into little short stories, but these events are piling up faster than I have time to sit down and write them. And I didn't want to neglect or forget to document them. Such things are a bit too much to let Twitter handle on it's own.

But let's journey briefly and chronologically, shall we?

February the 12th, I helped my friend, Unique, make cupcakes for the first time in her life. Actually, it was the second. Before I showed up, she burnt her first batch by breaking the first rule of baking that isn't listed on any recipes but apparently needs to be: don't leave the house. While they baked, we watched a movie about another kind of baking: Pineapple Express. Unfortunately, I had to given to my severe dislike of watching a bootleg (I don't care of the quality is top notch, it's still stealing and illegal). Fortunately, it's a movie I've already seen legally, so I'm not too bothered by it. By the time the movie ended, the cupcakes were done and were a success. I didn't help with the frosting, she handled that on her own without worry.

February the 13th, the so-called Unlucky Day, was actually a pretty decent and enjoyable day. Kitten and I went to see my best friend, or more appropriately, brother-from-another-mother whom I shall call Mr. Phoenix (for the time being, and with no relation to the actors) and his band Taken From Ashes (formerly known as The Final Approach) perform at a local pub. So local, I didn't even know it was there despite my driving past it several times in any given month. An hour long set was played with about 9 or 10 songs including an awesome metallic/rockish cover of Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise. This was an event I should've brought a camera for, so I could really show how things went down. It was undoubtedly fun, and TFA sounded great. Better than the Toad's performance.

February the 14th, Kitten and I reclaimed it as Friendship Celebration Day. Sure it's a corny title for those singles who don't have anything better to do, but to those who would've followed our exploits that day would think we were a couple anyway. We ventured to the mall and found a belated birthday gift for my brother-in-law, went to the movies to catch Push (which I still haven't written a review for), and later went out for pizza at a quiet pizzeria. Word to the wise for the future, local family-run places might not be as busy during such times compared to the commercial restaurants. Okay, that might not be a fact, but I was right in picking a not-so-busy place to hang out... even if that is our usual weekly not-so-busy hang out spot anyway.

Friendship Celebration Day continued as I ventured to Mr. Phoenix's new place. He and his girlfriend (who has a sense of humor painfully similar to my own, but I won't destroy her because of this since she's on my good side, Mr. Phoenix's better half and seriously enjoys cheese) treated me with nachos and chili dip as we caught up on life, talked about the performance from the night before, and watched Pan's Labyrinth. 'Twas a good time. For his birthday this weekend, he gets a free month of Netflix on me. Enjoy it. Now.

February the 15th, I was asked to fix a friend's computer. He got excited that I was coming and called his friend to come over so I could fix his too. So I stopped by his house and got one computer running, but not the other. I don't consider myself a computer expert, but I've been known to get by. This loss was discouraging, so I took it to the "Nerd Patrol," as I usually do when a problem is beyond my capabilities. I don't normally speak negative things about people, whether I know them or not... and I won't start now. Let's just say I don't like the character who "helped" me very much and I must now be alert of who's working at the desk the next time I return. Pompous pretentiousness isn't a very good customer service trait. Actually, it's not a good trait at all unless you are an evil villain. Hmm... looks like I met some inspiration.

It would seem like an incredibly random act for me to do this, but I signed up to sponsor a child with the Christian's Children Fund. It's something I actually thought about doing for a few years, but was never in a financially stable place to do so. But things are going good and I've since taken care or gotten rid of useless bills, so why not spend that money on something worth it? It's legit, I checked. My passion is still charity for the arts (in schools), and Lord knows America has it's own major problems. But the Indoob is global-people from around the world stop by. So this is me reaching back out to the world. And maybe someday I can go visit the little guy. More on this later.

I'm planning a road trip that I'm seriously (hopefully) going to take this summer. To where? The Mall of America! There was talk and plans of making plans to go last year with a few friends... but that fell through in a few different ways that's not necessary to discuss, and needless to say, I never left. But this year, I'm making plans with whom I'd call a "doer" and not just a "talker." I love my friends, but I need more doer friends than talkers, because I don't want to keeping talking about it. I need to do it. And I'll be sure to bring a camera or two to show it.

My dad (who is a doer) suggested I start writing letters to some famous doers asking for "not a hand out, but a hand up." People like Tyler Perry, who is definitely a success story if I ever heard one, from living in his car to owning several cars (I assume). Perhaps he'd like to lend a helping hand to someone like me. I know I definitely wouldn't mind working for him at his company. My dad also suggested contacting Will Smith's people. Both of which have their own successful production companies. My aunt suggested Oprah. Also worth a try, and we share a birthday... that's gotta get me some points, no? Whether I get in contact with any of them or not, this is my season for progression. And I refuse to lose my dream of doing and being something great.

So yeah... that was my weekend. I also ordered the second season of 30 Rock (shame on me for buying out of order, but it was cheaper and I still love you Tina Fey) and the Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection (more on that later). So please excuse me in a week or so whilst I laugh myself to creative, comedic and witty enlightenment with these awesome stories, actors and writers. But I'll be sure to pre-post some posts about stuff. Maybe. Somebody hasn't been sleeping much which affects his work during the day because he's too busy writing... so something's gotta give. And yes, I liked that movie.

ready to read about writing right: "how to write a movie in 21 days"

The truth about me is pretty sad: I'm practically an anti-reader. It's true for a lot of people I know, they have a hard time picking up a book. I don't have a hard time picking one up, I just have difficulties opening it. Then, the chances that I do open it, it's finishing it. That's why I think it was such a big deal that I finished reading Watchmen. But I can hear critics saying now that that isn't considered a real book. Well, I beg to differ. It made it on the top 100 novels and it's the only graphic novel on there. Sure, it's mostly pictures, but you really can't figure out what's going on without reading it.

Anyway, you know you are a sad reader when your friends have to mail you books to read. Peopel can suggest books to you all day, but when it's hand delivered to you by your local postman, then perhaps it's time to read the words cover to cover.

Granted, I still haven't finished Our Uncle Sam by Erik Greene... but I say that's a wee bit different. I started reading that because our cable went out before I decided to pop in a DVD. Again, I know... I'm a sad reader. I've been tryin' to told ya!

So my friend, whom I dub as my "cinematic soul mate" (and I could write an entire post about, but I'm not going to but will thank her for this book and a birthday card she stuck in it), sent me Viki King's How to Write a Movie in 21 Days. Hopefully I can read it in at least 7. If I'm not mistaken, I think she wants this book back, so I will get my reading on so I can ship it back to her ASAP whilst I look into buying my own copy. Or buy her a brand new one since I'm too lazy to ship anything myself that can't fit into a envelope. I have no shame.

By receiving this book, I think it means it's time for me to head back to the "studio" to start penning a script. February just began. In my dream world, perhaps I'll wriet a script every month. Hey, I'm a firm believer in making my dreams come true, so if I could write a script every month... Good googamooga! Of course I'd come back to them a month later to tweak and tweak until I see no more need for tweaking until others say so. I haven't forgotten my mentors Mrs. Rogers and Jaden, plus countless tips I pick up from various trusted sources.

But first, I must read. That's one piece of advice I haven't followed that even my idol, Sam Cooke, said to do: read as much as you can. I seriously doubt I can count Wikipedia.

a wonder (and) full weekend

Last week was pretty busy and a little on the rough side for not only me, but my family, church and a few friends. I don't normally get into the person aspects of my life, but I do see the Indoob as somewhat of a documentation. But in retrospect, I must say that some positive things came out of such a long week, and I felt the need to recognize them.

For most of the week, I've been doing some much needed work on my church's website. You can check it out if you want, but as you'll see, I haven't updated it in a long time. It hopefully will be fully updated by Thursday, or Friday. And I'm no pro at web design, I just know the basics and that's all that is. Besides, I'm the only one my dad knows that is capable and I currently work for free.

Thursday, my friend whom I shall codename as "Kitten" (although she probably wouldn't mind if I used her real name) dropped off a gift of appreciation for just being her friend. Internally, I felt like weeping, but really I just don't know how to handle unexpected niceness like that. I think it's a guy thing. Pineapple is my favorite fruit... so...


My first chocolate covered fruit!



And check out this sentimental special note that almost surely brought the tears.

In case you are struggling to make out the words, it says "Thank you for being there for me. You really are the best friend anyone could ever have." She's awesome.

Friday night, the Kitten and I met up with my other best friend whom I've affectionately dubbed "Dearest" and had dinner at a buffet that Kitten and I actually ate at for lunch. So yes, I went to the same buffet twice in the same day. No judging, thanks. Anyway, we met Dearest's boyfriend whom I heard so much about, and now I can officially approve. But the highlight for me was to have two awesome, beautiful women who happen to be the best friends I've had for some time, share a table with me. Another minor note, we seem to share a love for discussing poop. Buy that book, it'd be awesome to see that on a best seller's list. You know you're curious. Anyway, the Dearest mailed me a letter I recieved possibly a couple days late, also telling me how great of a friend I am. Look at the time she put into writing me! This is what I love about my friends... the time they take to show me that care is worth so much more than what money could buy.


Saturday I watched an awesome movie called The Notorious Bettie Page. I knew very little about the real life person, and Jaden at ScreenwritingforHollywood indirectly recommended I look into it. I fell in love with the way the movie was shot, that's the first thing. Secondly, between the actress playing her and Ms. Page herself? Absolutely beautiful. Before the movie was even over I was at my laptop writing up a draft of a treatment to a brand new story this movie inspired. The interesting this it has nothing to do with Betty, pin-up models, or anything that movie dealt with. It really doesn't have a title, but it's about a young man who moves from the city to an old southern country town and converts a run down barn into a makeshift movie theater. I was going to use this set up as a way to showcase several short films that I, or others have written and filmed. But the concept took on a life of it's own as I started fleshing out who this guy was and why he was there and things like that. Honestly, that's my favorite part about storytelling.

I finished with great timing... Kitten wanted to go out to dinner as well as test her car in the snow. I live on a hill so she had trouble getting to my house, but she made it just as I wrote the ending sentence. We ventured out to Friendly's which closed early. Too bad for them.

During service on Sunday, I was happy to see some people hadn't seen in a while. That's always nice. It also struck me, while someone was talking, not to hold grudges which apparently I think I may be doing. So later today, I will fix that error. Nobody's perfect, but if there is something wrong with ourselves that we are aware of, why not get it right?

Afterwards the entire family went out to the Olive Garden--where everyone is family. Good times. Dame (my brother-in-law) told me about an idea that he (and my sister, his wife) had been thinking of for sometime. Basically, he'd like to start a production company with me, mostly to help out around the church but to eventually branch out and help others. I'd take video and graphics duties, while he did mostly audio work like recording and sound production. He's the church's keyboardist and wrote a few songs. So we'd be a dangerous combination. So we chatted about that later that night while also discussing some recently favorited songs, or styles of songs. I'm currently getting into Go-Go music, similar to this:


The night got better with a phone call from not just a best friend, but one I consider a brother-from-another-mother. We chatted for a while, and for once, about me and my life. It was nice to get some of my own drama out even if I hate admitting I have it. But even while I was telling him my story, it came out as a comedy because it made him laugh. Imagine that.

Lastly, one of my newest friends who doesn't have a nickname yet, I chatted with online as we watched the last hour of the Golden Globes. Woot woot for 30 Rock and Tina Fey. I've been strongly recommended to see Slumdog Millionaire and have even been given a website to watch it for free. But I have morals. And if the movie business is something I want to get into, then it's like robbing from myself. It'd be different if it were a legit site, like, Netflix, Hulu or something. But 'twasn't. Yet I do want to see this movie really bad.

Oh, and now Sam is back and fully functional. There's a picture of him being towed away, but I'm too tired to do that right now. There's more than enough links and pictures to make this a fully interactive post, no?

So, my lesson to all is that although things may look bad, they could always be worse. Appreciate everything and reflect on the positive because who wants to sit around being sad and depressed?

last picture post of 2008 - presents, popcorn, poop and cheese

As many Indoobians know, I'm known to be pretty lazy when it comes to the taking and posting of pictures specifically for purposes of sharing with the Workforce. Nevertheless, I did a few snaps today (literally minutes ago) and will share them. Some include Christmas presents, others... well... you'll see.


Here we see the first of three T-shirts I requested. I sometimes still wonder if this shirt really applies to me, but why not? I like it because my year of birth is 1986... so... yeah.


Most people that know me personal and have seen me on the street, might say "Hey, that's one of the brightest shirts I've seen in his collection, other than white of course." Okay, maybe they wouldn't say that word for word, but this is a new bright color for me, and according to my sister, this was the only color available. No problem, I wanted this shirt bad enough, and yes, I love this movie!


I didn't think I was going to get this shirt, but fortunately my sister shares my sense of humor. And I told them all I'd wear it to church that Sunday, and I did! Well, no one noticed since I had a button up over it, but I stuck to my word and people who read it love it. Plus, who else can say they have poop on their shirt and be excited about it?


What an interesting next shirt to debut... but this is from my mother and one of the few long sleeve T-shirts I have. I've never been a fan, but I like this one. This is actually the back of the shirt and it's quoting Joshua 1:9 "Be Strong and courageous for the Lord your God is with you." I want to say the symbols are Chinese, but I can't be sure. The left one means strength, the right means courage.


This was my last gift given to me, today actually, from my Dearest Insta-friend of... how long has it been? Over 5 years maybe? The "insta-friend" part I'll explain another day, but the reason for numbering the years is important to what this is a picture of. You see, my friend boasted about these delicious apple muffins she would make back in high school, but I never got to taste them. So after all these years, about 5, she finally made me a batch. She made 6, there are 2 left, and I was nice enough to share with my parents. This is one reason why I decided to take the pictures because there wouldn't be any left and I know the picture doesn't do the muffin justice, but trust me, it's delicious. And I enjoy sliding that box out like it's some luxury food item. Don't mind the other things you see in the picture, especially the cookie tower.


Here's a look at my TV I bought myself last year for Christmas (I think). Anyway, it's showing season 5 of Seinfeld, which my other dearest friend whom I call Kitten bought me. She also bought me the Scene It: Seinfeld edition, which I have yet to play. I don't have anyone around here to play with, but now that I think of it, I might be able to play with my siblings, or wait until I can group up with Seinfeld fans that I know. Either way, I can't wait.

This is from "The Lip Reader" episode. My TV is definitely not big, but it was affordable and suits my needs. Plus it's thin and widescreen. Very nice.


My gift to myself this year. Due to the movie coming out next year (and rave reviews I hear about it anyway) I decided to up my geek points and buy it. It arrived Christmas Eve and I read it in three days. But you knew that already. As for the movie... I recently heard some news that doesn't bode well.


I touched on this before regarding my love of cheese, one of my favorite kinds is white cheddar, and Smartfood Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks. I eat so much that I've noticed a difference in cheese levels. People might think I'm crazy, but I say try it for yourself. Here in this picture we see the 1.5 oz, 3 oz, and the most popular 5 oz bags. They are all empty. I ate the two smaller bags a couple hours ago for this investigation. Anyway, my theory is that the smaller the bag, the more cheese is coated. Now I gave the sizes, but I usually refer to them by the price. The 5 oz bag WAS $2.49, but I'm thinking due to slumping sales or trying to keep up with the economy, the prices rose, and now as you might make out, it's $2.89. "BOOO!" I say. But it doesn't stop me from purchasing whenever I get my cravings. The next size up USED to be $2.99, I don't know what the oz size is. 7 oz maybe. And then there is the family size. Usually those are the most expensive. Now listen carefully, the bigger the bag, the lesser the cheese. There is one exception. There is a wee 25 cent bag... possibly .5 or .75 oz. It's really small and stupid. Sorry, I just don't like it. No cheese and the last couple times they tasted burnt. Anyway, between the 1.5 and 3 oz, it's hard to tell which has more cheese, but check it out for yourself. I'm content with my 5 oz still, and sometimes sprinkle this on for extra cheesy fun.


So for my last picture, it involved once again hanging out with my Dearest Insta-friend. We were out dining at what you can clearly see as Friendly's, and my usually ordering involves mozzarella sticks. Well, they have mini-mozzarella stick. I had chicken quesadillas too... but as you see, they didn't last long enough to make it to print. But my mother never told me not to play with my food, and this show it. Plus it kept my friend in tears as I voiced each mozzarella stick sitting in their saucy hot tub, discussing what happened to all their cheesy friends.


Well if you don't hear anything else from me by tomorrow, I'll be back next year.

six fals--ahem--true facts about t. sterling watson

I saw this on someone's blog back when I first started my blogging life, and thought to myself, "How interesting," and then I went back to work before my boss caught me. I did start to think about all the many quirks and uniquenesses... or uniqueni? All the oddities that make up my original personality. Or at least things I don't come out and tell people about everyday.

So thanks to the lovely, multi-talented, most commenting Indoobian geek that is Melissa D, I must share some truth that makes me, me, just like she shared some truths that make her, her. So let's imagine Wonder Woman has thrown her magic lasso around me as I start spewing random bits about me. Can we pretend she's being played Kate Beckinsale? No wait! Rachel McAdams! Or...or... Paula Patton. Mmmmm... Sorry.

1. Trend Setting Quirks
At the time, I used to wear a watch on each wrist to stay "symmetrical."
I was also really into all different kinds of vests and loved pockets.
I wear my socks inside out.
95% of all my socks are black.
Every pair of pants has it's own belt.
I get my ears pierced every 10 years (I have 3 because there was a sale that day).

2. Hyper-observant
I get most of my observational skills from my dad, watching everything that's going on almost all the time, even when I'm not really paying attention, I still notice. Then (another) important lesson from an improv class I was taught, was to observe people and the quirky things they do, which only made me that much more aware of everyone and everything around me. Over the years the force has only grown stronger with me and I've used my powers (mostly) for good as I listen to people misspeak, catch typos, hidden jokes, all which comes in handy for trivia games or catching liars with their pants on fire. (A fictional idol of this would be Shawn Spencer from the TV show Psych.) Yet for some reason, I seem to always miss errors in my own work even with proofreading.

3. American Idols
In no specific order, except for maybe the first 3... Sam Cooke, Bill Cosby, Will Smith, Groucho Marx, Yakko Warner, Bugs Bunny, Common, Dave Barry, John Legend, Stephen Colbert, Black Thought, Tyler Perry, Andre 3000, Kevin Smith, Mitchell Hurwitz and everyone behind Arrested Development oh yeah and the beautiful Tina Fey.

4. White Noise Night Lights
I have difficulties sleeping in complete silence (and sometimes staying asleep when it goes silent), unless I'm under the influence of NyQuil. There have been occasions I'm capable of silent sleeping, but if I can help it, I'd put a DVD on repeat (I love TV shows on DVD!). If not, there's always my iPod, iSaac. All hope is not lost, if I got to sleep under the stars listening to nature, I'm sure I'd have a peaceful sleep once I'm at ease knowing some beast won't eat me.

5. "The t. sterling Show!"
When I was wee, I'd imagine I had my own reality TV show with invisible cameras in the walls or following me around everywhere. This was way before the crap that's on TV now, and I've since fine tuned my imaginary show to be a mockumentary of my own life, with part of it being a late night talk show when I sit down at my desk to watch TV and manipulate my computer and the Internet... like I am now. People still say I need my own show, I tell them "in due time." This blog is the closest they'll get for now.

6. I'm a Little Cheesy
I enjoy food maybe a little too much. I've raised awareness regarding Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn's white cheddar issue: the "$2.49" (it currently cost 40 cents more, but go along with me) has the best cheese per popcorn ratio... the bigger the bag, the less the cheese. The 99 cent bags have decent amounts of cheese too, but those cruddy joke-of-a-snack 25 cent bags have almost no cheese whatsoever. I've been told that I'm the only one who has noticed this. That and Ritz Bits Cheese/Peanut Butter sandwich crackers are toasted a bit longer in the little individual bags versus the box size. I don't know why. I love my cheese and always keep a white cheddar shaker nearby to add to a variety of foods that I eat. I have four pizza restaurants on speed dial (two know me by name), and I've had mozzarella sticks at most diners/restaurants that serve them (or something cheesy related).

Now I'm supposed to tag 6 people to carry on with 6 truths of their own. I will attempt to pick 6 that I haven't seen yet, and by no means do they have to do this... but it'd be nice! I don't have a huge selection of bloggers I know either, but eh... here goes. Even if they don't do it, and some I don't expect them to, check out their blogs... so consider this a plug.

1. Karen
2. Shane
3. Friar
4. Melinda
5. Kim
6. Simon

Here are the rules:
1. LINK TO THE PERSON WHO TAGGED YOU
2. POST THE RULES ON YOUR BLOG
3. WRITE SIX RANDOM THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF
4. TAG SIX PEOPLE AT THE END OF YOUR POST AND LINK TO THEM
5. LET EACH PERSON KNOW THEY ARE TAGGED AND LEAVE A COMMENT ON THEIR BLOG
6. LET THE TAGGER KNOW WHEN YOUR ENTRY IS UP

Woot woot, y'all.

is it considered "insomnia" when you're on vacation?

I'm wondering why I'm still awake at this un-ungodly hour (it's almost 7 in the AM)... But then I remembered, I didn't go to sleep the night, or morningish before until about 5 in the AM. Furthermore, I didn't awaken until about 3 in the afternoon. Okay, actually I woke up from about 10 to 10:30 to talk to a friend on one of her breaks... but other than that, I stayed unconscious for most of the daylight hours.

I'm considering this an "unofficial" post because I wanted to do a "Christmas present wrap-up" (wow, that was an unintended pun)... I was going to accompany it with pictures, but you guys know how lazy I am with the pictorials. It's so bad right now, the camera doesn't even have battrees in it. I hope I didn't promise pictures of the snow. It's almost gone. And could you believe the crazy New England weather we're having and about to have? SIXTY DEGREES ON SUNDAY. What the stank is that about?

Anyway, I thought I'd give an update as to how my script is going. It's not. I bought myself an early Christmas present that arrived Christmas Eve. "What could this be?", a curious nosy person might ask. Well, I'll tell you. Remember a couple weeks ago with the first trailer trash post with the last trailer being that of next year's Watchmen? Well sometime after that post until about 3 hours ago, I previewed the original graphic novel, Amazonned it, waited patiently (for once), unboxed it, and read it within 3 days. December 24th to 26th. Technically 4 days, but I slept most of the 26th.

Hey, I just gotta say... That is an awesome story right there. And now I'm ecstatic to see this movie. If there is a midnight showing, I think I may show up to that. I pretty sure I donned some geek points for this too... but whatever. Still not big on comic books, but this one's different. It has an end. AND now I understand why many felt that this comic was unfilmmable. Man... I can't wait to see this.

So due to my reading this, with a mix of holiday festivities, I haven't done much writing. That should hopefully resume tonight (Saturday) or the latest Sunday night. My other issue was getting my CD/DVD drive on ol' Silver to work. I think I broke it somehow when I was trying to burn a multi-disc collection for a friend of mine. This suck worse than spoiled milk already poured into the cereal. I had one disc burnt already, and had 4-5 left to do. I can't explain what happened (partly because I don't know) but I tried everything I can do that doesn't cost money. I already admitted to being a geek, but my skills couldn't crack this problem and that saddens me. I'm considering the Geek Squad. It's where I go when I can't fix something I broke. But it's weird... I can fix other computers... but mine? I'm at a loss.

So I've got one week to do some damage to a script. I'll extend it until January 4th. I kinda can't wait because it was torture listening to Fall Out Boy and not jotting down a few lines... and as we speak I'm finally really listening to The Roots' Rising Down and feeling the rap schemes fall over me. In my head, taking their versus apart in slow motion allowing me to see/hear/understand why their lines/raps/verses are so hot, and how I might possibly be able to write my own. Still a craft I'm honing in on. My goal: to make a reader/hearer's face wrinkle up/frown or make them say "wow" or "whoa" and even "that's [any positive slang]" ...but I also still dig getting my sense of humor in my poetry as well AND telling stories. Perhaps I'll devote March or April to coming up with some really good material.

In the meantime, I must continue to hit the scripts. It's not that I'm creatively stuck. If anything, I'm more inspired to write other things... but with scripts I feel I'm more productive with a plan. I need to have the characters written out first. At least the major ones. I can always add or change some later. I already know "The Writing Retreat" has some weak points in it, but you know what? I'm not worried about that right now. I just need it "complete" then I will do some tightening. I also have been assembling a team of readers. I have 2 and a possible 3rd who would probably be interested.

Anyone else interested in giving me critical critiquing of some scripts I've worked or working on, let me know and I be sure to send you what I have looking for some honest advice. I won't be sending anything until January... so there isn't a rush. Well, not for you.

I think I'm feeling sleep come on. I think I will "nap" since I think I'm going to get a phone call at 9 or 10 this morning to hang out. And I actually want to go places tomorrow like maybe dine at IHOP for the last time until the new one close to home opens and price shop a Mac at an Apple store. Yes yes y'all!

'tis the season

So I've been having the hardest time writing this particular post, because as most Indoobians know, I go into great detail, painting wordy pictures just to get to a point. And each time I begin writing this one, I go from talking about a lost article/essay I wrote for a high school newspaper, to childhood memories and epiphanies after watching a favorite Christmas-themed film from my youth, to how I've learned to cherish and appreciate my dearest loved ones and the material things I've been blessed with over the years. All and all, the post got seriously mushy and sentimental. Like a movie found on the Hallmark channel. And that is a stone's throw away from Lifetime! [Shudders.] Granted, having some sensitive material isn't harmful and shows that I do have a caring heart from time to time, but I want this blog to put smiles on the faces containing eyes that are reading. So all that stuff isn't bad... I just don't feel like writing that today. Plus I have a reputation to uphold being a lovable sarcastic smart mouthed jerk.

So I'll save my count-your-blessings and APPRECIATE speech for another day (because there are some people who really need to look at their life so far and realize they have nothing to complain about). Instead, I'm going to talk a little bit about charity.

With the festive holidays fast approaching, I don't want people to forget about the less fortunate. I went to the mall, as I usually do every few weeks, just to wander around and my friend noticed what she called "the baby tree." It's got wishes from children (actually children and adults) who are in hospitals, shelters, or being sponsored by foundations or something. These are hanging from the tree like ornaments, and the wishes are what that child wants.

My friend does this kind act every year, picking a boy and girl. I immediately decided to pick one too, so I looked for a wish that wouldn't make me broke... like a PS3 game, and wasn't too general... like "educational toy." I picked an 8-year old boy who wanted a book of all the maps of the world. Simple, specific and convenient. The tree was set up a few feet outside of Borders! So my crew and I went in search for a book, and found one in the kids' section with the help of a tall salesperson who looked like he goes surfing in the summer. Buying the book was a good feeling. Similar to warm and fuzzies. Fortunately it wasn't mold I had eaten this time. After the purchase, I dropped it off at the information desk like instructed on the little card I detached from the tree along with the original wish. The lady there seemed frustrated before I got there about something, but apparently by me giving this gift, it cheered her up tremendously, like I got the book for her or something. Silly lady. It's for the kiddies!

I keep saying this, but I really need to start bringing my camera with me and taking pictures to document these random adventures specifically for Indoobian purposes. Plus this would prove I leave the house and I do have friends.

So to conclude what I attempted to not be a long post: don't be afraid to do a random act of kindness, even when money is involved, and especially around this time of the year. Pay it forward, anyone? More on charity another day. In complete unrelated news, I'll debut a fresh new poem later this week. Maybe poems... maybe.

disc jockeying

Would you like to travel with me to another official Purchase College memory? Of course you would! I'll make it brief and not too un-relatable.

Basically I'm longing for my days of being on the radio. Even a college run radio station (which is nice to hone in on a craft). I think having this Indoob blog is the next best thing I have until I start podcasting (who knows when that will be). Or when I get the nerve to do my own Internet radio station broadcast (once I remember what website has that). But I remember my... hmmm... 4-5 shows I had in the beginning of '05... My, those were good college times. I even had the perfect schedule where I only schooled 3 days a week. But that had nothing to do with the radio.

It'd be no shocker I played the heaviest metal I could find, and being a liberal arts college station, they didn't care much about censorship. Okay... so I lied. Not about the censorship, but most Indoobians would know by now my brand of music. The only thing I seem to detest these days is country music UNLESS certain terms are met. Usually Shania Twain had to be involved. But that's another story.

I ran into New Eden Radio tonight by way of someone I once talked to online some time ago. I doubt if she remembers me, but if she does, plus points for her! Anyway, it turns out she's now a DJ for the station, so I checked out the live stream. Not bad. She goes by DJ Blue Eyes. (I'm going to guess the "Eyes" is spelt with a "z" cuz that's how all the kewl kidz do it 2day. (And yes it hurts to purposely misspell those words.)) So by checking out this site and giving her show some ratings, I would recommend this to a few people because of the music she plays. Not my favorite cup of tea, but it's tea I can drink and even suggest to others. I'm in it more for how the DJ communicates with the audience. I like banter. Good banter is hard to find. (This coming from the guy who rarely listens to the radio since he works at home and always listens to an iPod he named iSaac.)

But back to my memory story! I never liked being alone on my show. So my most favorite and popular guest co-host was DrugFree. He actually had his own show which he hosted with someone else (but had me as a special guest a couple of nights and we'd take turns plugging each other's shows). I must say that it's so much more fun having someone else on the air to talk to. I tried talking to the person on the other side of the glass, the "producer," but they were never listening. Anyway, my buddy (Rich was his real name) and I would talk about random but relevent things going on at the time, or campus life. At times it ended up becoming a comedy routine and I think I ended up playing the straight man, chock full of sarcasm. But it worked. My parents surprised me one night, calling me during my show to tell me they were listening to the Internet stream (they were about an hour away at home). They remarked on the conversation we had about eating potato chips on the air, and if we should've been eating them at all while being on the air or even in the booth. Needless to say, you had to be there. I wish I could've gotten recorded copies of our shows... but alas, that wasn't possible. Both our shows had a small fan base. DrugFree's show ended up going to TV while I moved back to Connecticut and discovered filmmaking (which was partially introduced thanks to my major in broadcast communications). Soul Sundays with Sterling Silver would've been a great show... if I stayed.

The moral of this story is that my dream of being a radio DJ/personality is not dead. Sterling Silver with rock the airwaves once more. I'm a fan of morning shows, since they have fun people up. I mean it's only like a 4 hour block, right? Then I can spend the rest of the day doing whatever I want. Like filmmaking. But my show would be awesome! It would be mighty! And of course I'd have fun people on the show with me, even if some of those people weren't "real" ...meaning, characters I've made up that would be great exclusively for radio... such as Jamal Jamal. Wouldn't you love to know about that guy? Sure... but not tonight.

good food, good people, good times

My grandmother is awesome.

Besides being a wonderful cook making delicious foods, especially the scrumptious fried catfish she made tonight, she says the most wonderful things. Sometimes wuite hilarious things. And of course with her southern flair on her speech. (People meeting her for the first time think she's Jamacian because she talks so fast.)

I came in tonight, knowing I was out with a friend and she asked a very simple question: Did you have a good time?

She asked me that before and it just seemed so... abnormal. Why? I'm not used to anyone asking me anything when I get home. Maybe I'm asked if I picked up the mail... but not really much about wherever I've been. This may not seem like a big deal to anyone, but its the little things in life I've been learning to appreciate.

Back to my original story... My grandmother asks if I have a good time... This would make a great cinematic moment for me to reminise on the past couple hours I spent with my great "instant friend" Kathy, as we talk about life past, present, future and obscure over mini burgers, huge salads and quesadillas. Turns out I wasn't fully clear on what I ordered and it got back to the manager, so he came by and told me my meal was free as they gave me fresh new steak quesadillas. What I didn't know was they had onions in them. I can't complain. They were free! I wanted to make sure out waitress was tipped well, so it ended up equalling the original total's 20%, instead of the 15% of the discounted price. Did I lose anyone? It's not that important anyway.

We also had these delicious desserts in shot glasses. I had a delightful cinnamon treat, Kathy had a brownie one. A picture will soon follow.

Anyway, after a very quick flashback, I told my grandmother that I did indoob have a great night tonight. She said "That's good" and went back to watching TV. And my mother was eating one of my steak quesadillas.

weekend productivity

I would go on a day by day of what this weekend entailed, but it's not really that necessary. Instead, a brief summary of the highlights?

Thursday night, I rearranged my room. I do this every 12-18 months. Sometimes you just need a change, right? I'm hoping this is the last time I do this because I hope to move out this year. I don't know how likely that is. But now my laptop and computer is set up so I can't access it as easily with it being right next to my bed. So hopefully, I will sleep better without this major distraction.

Friday I went out to lunch with my friend like I normally do, nowadays. Afterwards, I was going to go car shopping, because I really need to replace Sam. My dad called and needed my help with something, so I never shopped for the car and went home. I continued to do more work on my room. Technically, even right now, it still isn't done. There are little things like organizing my CDs and random things I don't want to throw away. I did throw out 2 full trashbags of stuff. I need to do the same for my clothes. Instead of throwing them away, donating to charity or something? Yeah, that sounds good.

I don't think I did much the rest of Friday... not that I can remember. Saturday I went out car shopping finally. But not after a noon iced latte with my friend... and a random encouter with a drunkard asking for 50 cents. It was rather discomforting, but as long as he didn't mess with my friend, I was alright. I just wanted her away from him, and fortunately he didn't even talk to her. Anyway, we traveled to 2 dealerships, technically 3... but just to look around. I completely forgot all that I learned about how to get a good deal. But fortunately, later that day I re-learned what I needed to know, so I think I'm ready to go back shopping first. But I MUST get a car this weekend. My plan is to visit at least 2 dealerships, but I already saw the car in mind, so I just may go from there and pretend I saw another car with a better deal elsewhere... which is partially true... but if no one comes out to talk to me about your car, why would I come back?

I recommend reading http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html (Edmunds.com's Confessions of a Car Salesman). It's a lot of reading, but it's useful if you are looking to buying a car. Almost makes you mad at car salesmen. But educational, and a bit humorous nonetheless.

Later that night I went to hang with my cousin. She and some friends were celebrating her boyfriend's birthday. We had a good time. I was supposed to go somewhere else, but that ultimately got cancelled. It wasn't too bad. I was just happy to be out. I even played DDR. I didn't want to but they made me. No doubt I need practice.

Needless to say, I watched quite a bit of movies over the weekend. Check the MySpace blog for that.

Now here it is Sunday. My usual churchin' went on. Had a good time. Once I came home, I fell asleep. Longer than expected. But I was pooped.

Now it's time to start the new week. My last week with Sam, hopefully. Am I sad? Not entirely. We had some good times, but it's time to move on. I've got work tomorrow too. WOOT! Now I won't be bored. I'm weird, I know.

"i'm goin' crazy-crazy!"

Wow... Who knew getting some friends to meet together would be so difficult?

Sigh.

paris strikes again

I think I neglected to mention that I wrote not 1, but 2 scripts inspired by Paris, Je T'aime. Yeah, that movie really had an impact on me.

In slightly related news, I idly seeked acting schools for a friend when I happened upon the New York Film Acadamy, which I actually have heard of several times. Most of the time, from my beloved IMDb.com ads, but I never really looked into it. Well, only once.

Anyway, I'm definitely interested in going there some day. Looks like it'll be a new focus since I discovered The Second City is no longer in New York City. I'd educate you on what The Second City is if you don't already know, but I'd suggest you look up half of the SNL alumni and you'll find out what it is and why I want to go. But I can't let that get me down. There's still L.A. which I'm presently not interested in. Or I can goto the hometown itself, Chi-town. It's a thought. But NY is still my focus. It's really where I want to be.

In the meantime, I will continue my local schooling here in CT, and continue my writings, and perhaps I can get some decent school and work established before I make my move to the City. Sigh... dreams.

Some very important DVDs should be arriving within the next few days, or so I hope. From Paris to a super Marx Bros. collection. I'm so excited. I wish a buncho of my film buddies were here, I'd throw a Marx Brothers marathon. Sad to say, I don't think my circle of friends here know much about them nor would appreciate them. Well, ya know never know. But I have my doubts.

Kathy is telepathic... She texted me just as I typed "circle of friends" because she's one of those people. It's scary in a good way. She also is interested in this much raved about Paris movie. Well, I hope she will fall in love with it too.

Paris, je t'aime

I came across this awesomely wonderful movie last week after waiting months until I finally decided to rent it. Isn't that the weirdest thing? Waiting forever to see a movie that after watching it, you wish you watched it sooner? It's happened before with movies like Boondock Saints and Casablanca although I don't think it's fair to include that one because I didn't get interested in seeing it until a couple days before I actually saw it. Whereas Boondock Saints had been sitting on my college roomate's dresser for practically the entire year before I finally saw it and was amazed that such a fun movie had been siting there that long.

You live and learn I guess. And really that's just a generic phrase because it doesn't have a great of relevance to what I'm writing about today. After watching Paris, Je T'aime I had been inspired to write my own little short story that would've been included had I been given the oppurtunity to take part in such a cool event.

The movie is comprised of 20 smaller short films directed by 20 acclaimed directors and starring several actors from across the world, specifically French, English and American... Others I'm sure, but I don't remember. The title in English means "Paris, I love you" in case you don't know. Hey, I didn't know. All of the stories deal with the subject matter of love in the City of Love, if you didn't guess from the cover art. Again, I thought it was great. They were all about 5 minutes each, and I saw that as a challenge and achievement because as a storyteller, you want to keep your auidence captivated and you need to hook them fast. Well, 5 minutes is a big difference from 90-120 minutes. I'll be owning the movie within a week.

I thought about the story and after being woken up to get breakfast and coffee, I decided to write my own story that I hope would be worthy to be apart of this movie, or maybe a spinoff. I used an experience in my own life as inspiration, having the story take place in a parking lot where two people who are in affair have something very important to tell each other. The events in the actual story didn't happen to me, but I wouldn't be surprised if it actually has happened to someone before. I let one of my filmmaking friends take a read, and she wants to shoot it, which I'd completely allow her to do.

Later on that day, I wrote another one. This one is actually practically almost entirely based on a portion of my life of someone I know. A character tells a story about an unrequited love to an interviewer that he can't help but think about over the years he knew her. Aptly titled "The One That Got Away." This one scares me a little. Why? I'm afraid that out of some crazy circumstance, the person who is being talked about will realize it's her and then come find me. Not that that would be a bad thing... But I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has ever had such a feeling. Now that I think of it, I have another friend I'm looking for and could possibly use film to find them. In fact, it's inspiring me for yet another script. And similar to "Got Away" it would be another "one-sided" story, but it'd only consist of one side of a phone conversation since the person would be talking to someone 3,000 miles away.

The trick that I'm afraid will work is having my name attatched to these stories, and those lost friends will recognize it and reach out. I know friendships have a way of fizzling out, but I've wanted to reconnect with the ones I felt I had strong connections with that kept me grounded.

That will probably be another movie. Like Martin Scorsese once told me, "start with the short films first [kid] and work your way up to the bigger ones." I paraphrased...