Hangin' in like Gunga Din

Spirits good, body fighting infection, we'll see how it goes. I have my iced coffee, my fruit, nuts and cheese plate, and 90 minutes to kill before class. Mellow is the key. Ran into a dean who 15 or so years ago was head of the Eng Dept and the guy who hired me. Had a nice chat. I owe him much. Not sure where the hell I'd be if that phone hadn't jingled with an offer to start a screenwriting program here. I was early in sobriety, struggling to find a safe rhythm, which meant avoiding the high stress, flexible scheduling of the freelance writer's life, which is what I'd been living in recent years. I got a job teaching Comp at a community college but didn't like it much. Then the phone rang. Serendipity. I fell into a job I love and I've been at a pretty long time now. Perfect for me. And they found me online. They were looking for someone and at the time I had the huge The Screenwriters and Playwrights Home Page, the first comprehensive site on the web for this. For the first five or so years of the web's initial popularity, it ruled. And it got me this job because a faculty member said, You know, I think the guy who runs this is right here in Portland. Most of the good things and breaks I've had in my career happened exactly this way. Right place, right time, right person finds you. Total accident. Juniper Tav getting on public television, same thing. Director in town, looking for a project, family connections with Oregon Public Broadcasting, was able to put it all together in weeks instead of months. Amazing really. My first big hit. (My later hits, interestingly enough, were not hits here but on a broader playing field. You'd think at least a little local dribbling would follow but nope. Most here still remember me for Juniper and for my hyperdrama at the Pittock Mansion, both from the mid 80s, and <i>nothing else</i>. Can be frustrating if you let it so I try not to let it.) Yesterday's Movie Game in class was quite successful. We'll wrap it up today, plus read a few student scripts. Then home and maybe even to bed.