The Writing Life II

Academy Accepting Entries For Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships - Deadline.com

2012-02-13T14:27:00.000-08:00

Academy Accepting Entries For Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships - Deadline.com:

Round Bend Press: The Death of Raymond Gwerder

2012-02-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

Round Bend Press: The Death of Raymond Gwerder:

This is amazing

2012-02-13T13:31:00.001-08:00

Starry Night (interactive animation) from Petros Vrellis on Vimeo.

Gray

2012-02-13T10:31:00.000-08:00

Another gray damp day in Puddle City.

Have the week prep in order. Tough weekend, though, with first drafts of projects to look at.

But today is today and I have things to do and enjoy.

Animal-Made 'Art' Challenges Human Monopoly on Creativity | Wired Science | Wired.com

2012-02-13T08:47:00.000-08:00

Painted by gorilla

Animal-Made 'Art' Challenges Human Monopoly on Creativity | Wired Science | Wired.com:

'Phantom of the Opera' marking 10,000 shows in NYC - WSJ.com

2012-02-12T14:36:00.000-08:00

'Phantom of the Opera' marking 10,000 shows in NYC - WSJ.com

Interestingly enough, I have a very oblique memory-connection to this mega-hit.

Hal Prince

In the mid-80s, when I was playwright-in-residence at the New Rose Theatre, my play about Moliere, The Comedian In Spite of Himself (which later became Sad Laughter), premiered. In the audience one night was a NY actress (whose name escapes me now). She was so impressed with the play that she talked it up to her producer-friend Hal Prince. She wanted him to bring it to NY and she wanted to play in it.

So he asked to see a script. She got a script from the theater and sent it to Prince.

Some time later I received a note from him. He liked the play, called it "first rate work," but passed because one, he didn't respond obsessively enough to it, and two, he was already obsessed with a big new show he was getting ready. Yep. Phantom of the Opera.

Obviously he made the right choice ha ha. At the same time, it's satisfying to receive a compliment from such a major theatrical producer. Compliments and a buck will get you a cup of coffee (if you know where to go).

Streep as Thatcher

2012-02-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

I've come to expect great performances from Meryl Streep. Her track record is so extraordinary. However, I was not prepared for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, an interpretation -- an inhabiting -- so nuanced and deep and credible that I can't imagine any other actress in the running for the Oscar. Streep, a studious and particular actor if ever there was one, outdoes herself here, and aided by an extraordinary team including makeup artists, is not even recognizable as Meryl Streep when first we meet her character on screen. Just an amazing performance!

Galen Rupp's American 2 Mile Record Is Highlight Among 5 World Leaders at 2012 USATF Track Classic

2012-02-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

Galen Rupp's American 2 Mile Record Is Highlight Among 5 World Leaders at 2012 USATF Track Classic:

I love watching this kid run. He's like a "nice guy" Prefontaine.

Is 'Prescription for Disaster' Our 'Most Optimistic' Climate Future? | Common Dreams

2012-02-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

Is 'Prescription for Disaster' Our 'Most Optimistic' Climate Future? | Common Dreams:

"New climate information from French scientists indicate that global warming of 2 C is the "most optimistic" scenario. Yet this is the amount of warming James Hansen has referred to as a "prescription for disaster.""

Why did the app for my local movie showtimes change? It no longer lists my local theaters and showtimes.? - Yahoo! Answers

2012-02-11T10:48:00.000-08:00

Why did the app for my local movie showtimes change? It no longer lists my local theaters and showtimes.? - Yahoo! Answers: "

Yahoo! is going downhill so fast with incredibly stupid changes in My Yahoo! and other things, it is astounding. Who are these folks making such terrible decisions?

Mellow

2012-02-11T10:25:00.000-08:00

What a relief to have the midterms behind me as early as Saturday! Makes for a relaxing weekend. I actually did a little work on my new outside-in project, which must remain a mystery for a while. It's so different from anything I've done. Makes it fun and interesting. And that it's fluff makes it without stress.

In a comment below by Eric, an actor/journalist friend from Portland's Golden Age, I've been "outed" as "Charley Bob." Here's the origin of that.

I'm a Jr. and grew up on my middle name, Bob. I've always written under my first name, Charles. I went by Bob until I came to Portland after a divorce in the late 70s, when I introduced myself as Charles, my writing name. I've been Charles ever since. Now only a very few people still call me Bob, my brother among them.

Decades ago my brother had come to an opening of a play of mine. At the reception afterwards, the director took me aside and pointed out my brother across the way. You know this guy? he asked. Why? I said, curious. Well, said the director, he keeps coming up to people and saying, Hi, I'm Bob's brother. What a weirdo!

Once this story got out, some in the theater community began to call me Charley Bob, which I rather like.

Updated

2012-02-11T10:04:00.001-08:00

The stage plays area of my archive has been updated.

Amazing Videos of Earth at Night from Space | Wired Science | Wired.com

2012-02-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

Amazing Videos of Earth at Night from Space | Wired Science | Wired.com:

On Location: Louisiana's pull on Hollywood strengthens - latimes.com

2012-02-10T16:59:00.000-08:00

On Location: Louisiana's pull on Hollywood strengthens - latimes.com:

It never fails

2012-02-10T16:46:00.000-08:00

Can't mention enjoying drinking, even if it was 20 yrs ago, without some do-gooder sending me reprimands. Amazing.

Another cup of coffee

2012-02-10T15:36:00.000-08:00

I didn't really intend to read all the midterms today but I'm down to two, so I might as well. Really frees up the weekend. Over half the class did a commendable job and three so far wrote first rate, professional scripts. Not bad at all. Yet a few still don't "get it" and I worry what their mental block is and how I can surmount it.

Blog visitors

2012-02-10T14:27:00.001-08:00

Gorbachev: Putin has exhausted himself as Russian leader | World news | guardian.co.uk

2012-02-10T14:09:00.000-08:00

Gorbachev: Putin has exhausted himself as Russian leader | World news | guardian.co.uk:

Always liked G.

Errands on a gray afternoon

2012-02-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

We're out of headcheese, which is as good an excuse as any to get out of here and run some errands. Might be able to stretch it into an hour or so ha ha.

Taking a break

2012-02-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

Good start on the midterms. A good batch so far.

One of those gray damp Portland days my protagonist in the novel likes to bitch about. In my younger drinking days, these were perfect times for hiding out in a bar, particularly if any of several writer friends were around to bar hop with, from the Gypsy to Seafood Mama's to Nobby's to Tavern & Pool to Joe's Cellar and back again.

Daytime drinking was always a lot more fun than nighttime drinking. The gainfully employed were at work, and the gainfully employed tended to be more boring than all the unemployed writer misfit artist musician drunk types, who were far better storytellers than accountants and salesmen.

Best of all I liked bar hopping with my soul brother Richard when he was in town, we had so much history together and could communicate something that broke us up into hysterics without a word, just with a look. And when we were on a roll, that's mostly what we did, laugh for what observers would think was no apparent reason. Of course it was life's very absurdity that we were laughing at -- and with.

The great mistake of treatment programs is to try and get the drunken participants to deny such past pleasures. They throw the baby out with the bath water.

Richard ended up being the most miserable sober person on the face of the earth. He died so soon anyway, maybe he should have kept drinking, except he had reached the wino stage, so that wasn't cool either. He just couldn't find happiness once he quit. Interesting what very different responses we had when we quit.

Fond memories today of mellow gray drinking afternoons. Happiness is too hard to find to deny it where it exists. Especially when you survive the experience.

Open face

2012-02-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

Made myself a very comforting breakfast, bringing back memories of my mother's comfort food for sick kids, a poached egg on toast and warm milk.

Two pieces of toast on a plate. Dampen with milk. Add a slice of fried scrapple to each slice. More milk to dampen. Add a fried egg on top of each slice of scrapple. The end.

It's the soft toast that makes it so comforting.

Getting closer

2012-02-10T06:31:00.001-08:00

The Art of Heinrich Kley

2012-02-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

The Art of Heinrich Kley:

Coffee, debauchery, perspective

2012-02-10T06:14:00.000-08:00

The extraordinary images of Heinrich Kley

A good cup of coffee, the L.A. Times waiting for me on Kindle, and the morning begins. And I find one headline after another that documents the brutality, debauchery and scandal of our day. It's good to put things in perspective at this point, lest one go crazy.

From Medea to The Iliad one doesn't have to read far into classical literature to learn that in "the good old days" the human species was as violent and cruel as it is today. No wonder CJ, my protagonist in the new novel, drops out and divorces himself from the culture, at least as much as possible. As he notes, you have to wear blinders to survive in this world.

Midterms to read today, and I look forward to it. Sure beats watching the news.

Upcoming Awards Calendar - theenvelope.latimes.com

2012-02-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

Upcoming Awards Calendar - theenvelope.latimes.com:

Light at the end of ...

2012-02-09T22:10:00.000-08:00

I just ordered what I hope is the final proof of the novel. Great editorial notes from Terry Simons, my publisher. Made the changes tonight.

Terry's take on our meeting: A day in the life.

Oscars 2012: Comics on why Billy Crystal rocks the Academy Awards - latimes.com

2012-02-09T22:08:00.000-08:00

Oscars 2012: Comics on why Billy Crystal rocks the Academy Awards - latimes.com:

Why Are Men So Violent? | Psychology Today

2012-02-09T22:03:00.000-08:00

Why Are Men So Violent? | Psychology Today:

"Are men warriors by nature? History, not evolution, may explain male violence."

It ain't much but it's home

2012-02-09T21:55:00.000-08:00

My office desk at the university.
And the wonderful view of the hallway I have from it.
(Test photos with new phone.)

Mimi Alford Interview: JFK Intern Breaks Silence About Affair (VIDEO)

2012-02-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

Mimi Alford Interview: JFK Intern Breaks Silence About Affair (VIDEO):

This is a brave, coherent woman. She was "outed" several years ago, which is why she's now telling her side, and I don't blame her. Her book is honest and introspective and perfectly believable. More than anything, her book documents a cultural reality of the time about the power structure of male-female relationships, which in some places hasn't changed all that much. It's easy to take pot shots at this woman but I applaud her bravery and her attitude. I read the book. It's moving.

Midterm weekend

2012-02-09T11:01:00.000-08:00

I collect midterms today. Typically I love reading them because most students finally have stopped shooting themselves in the foot over format and verbosity issues, the first two learning curves facing them. Two midterms went on to win short screenplay contests! So it's generally a great moment, reading them and getting the satisfaction that most of them are learning how to write like a screenwriter.

I am showing the class "The Farewell Wake" today. I actually haven't done this before but last term a student argued successfully that I should, as an illustration of story over technology, which is one of the horns I toot. So we'll see how it goes. If it works out, I'll keep doing it.

TS supposed to drop by today with his notes on the galley proof. I am eager to wrap this baby up! I did a bit of work yesterday on the outside-in project and am still having fun with it. A very different headset with that kind of writing. No nervous breakdowns ha ha.

Round Bend Press: I Know What You Went Through Bukowski

2012-02-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

Round Bend Press: I Know What You Went Through Bukowski:

A poem by Terry Simons.

A day of one's own

2012-02-08T09:46:00.001-08:00

No pain today. Great news.

Already did some outside-in project work. Now for some reading. A wet day, good to stay in and move slowly.

10 unforgettable Oscar speeches - theenvelope.latimes.com

2012-02-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

10 unforgettable Oscar speeches - theenvelope.latimes.com:

Meryl Streep explains how her opera training helps vocal control - latimes.com

2012-02-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

Meryl Streep explains how her opera training helps vocal control - latimes.com:

A letter to Charles Dickens on his 200th birthday | Books | The Guardian

2012-02-07T20:02:00.000-08:00

A letter to Charles Dickens on his 200th birthday | Books | The Guardian:

I'm thinking about going on a Dickens and Hardy binge. Been a while. Be a nice change from what I've been doing. May start with Chesterton's look at Victorian lit.

Studying hyperdrama

2012-02-07T14:03:00.000-08:00

Summary of a thesis called "Introduction of the thesis Hyperdrama – communications and culture in digital media (Oliveira, Maria C. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 2005)" contains this:

From these concepts on which hyperdrama is based, I describe the hyperdrama characteristics that relate to post-modernity issues such as narrative fragmentation, decentralization of the figure of the author, rupture of the space and time relationship and the elimination of borders between erudite and popular art, among others. Finally I offer an analysis of the work of Professor Charles Deemer, who uses the term hyperdrama to define the narratives that he develops for the theatre and that contain various simultaneous actions within the same space. Furthermore, I contrast the hyperdramatic language with the interactive narratives of videogames.

Comparing hyperdrama to video games is right on.

Also see Hyperdrama: my obsession with a new form of theater, a free ebook.

Less than 100 is more than zero

2012-02-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

Toughest day of the week is today. Thursday I'm showing "The Farewell Wake." In great spirits despite minor discomfort in the body. Mind over matter and all that. I'm excited about getting the novel done, out of the system and into the world. Not long now. Maybe a month or so.

I've already started an outside-in Kindle project that is going to be great fun. Something I've never done before, not even close, but I can see I will enjoy it more than I thought I would. A genre work. I don't want to say too much about it yet. The good news is, I've got the story pretty much outlined, beginning-middle-end just as I'd structure a screenplay, so the story is solid. I am not as familiar with the genre as I should be and actually don't have time to do a lot of "learning" here, so I'm trusting on my storytelling skills and my dark sense of humor. I'm not looking for mainstream readers either, just enough on Kindle for coffee change. It's an experiment and if it works, I already have an idea for another, and if it doesn't work, well, I had fun trying.

It's a good day despite my belly ache.

Less than 100%

2012-02-07T08:49:00.000-08:00

I'm still not right in the gut. Talked with my doctor's nurse and she said let it ride and see if it gets better.

Lots of reading aloud to do in class today, so I need to be right. Actually I wish I could go back to bed. But off to the university instead ...

Coming soon

2012-02-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

The cover painting is "Love At Ground Zero" by Harriet Kaufman Levi.

Alsea couple rescued after GPS sends them down remote, snowy road | OregonLive.com

2012-02-06T13:47:00.000-08:00

Alsea couple rescued after GPS sends them down remote, snowy road | OregonLive.com:

Beware the GPS!

Preview: The Farewell Wake

2012-02-06T08:36:00.000-08:00

Complete film and other options.

Small World, Big Bang (review) by Bob Hicks.

Portland State Currently | News

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

Portland State Currently | News:

Charles Deemer, English adjunct faculty, had Eight Oregon Plays published by Round Bend Press. The plays were originally produced between 1980 and 1998. Deemer also has published a free ebook, Hyperdrama: My Obsession with a New Form of Theater, at Smashwords.

Entertainment

2012-02-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

The Super Bowl was entertaining and for the most part cleanly fought. The winning Giants were handed 9 pts early, which became the difference, but they did what they had to do at the end. Both QBs were mostly great. Came down to the last play.

A little prep to do tomorrow but nothing pressing, have a pretty relaxed day, I hope. The school week appears to be under control. Thursday I pick up their take-home midterms, so that's my reading next weekend.

Ever onward.

Book promotion

2012-02-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here's a new one on me, which I read in a publishing blog I follow. An author paid actresses $8/hr to read her book publicly while riding the NY subway, laughing occasionally. What a great idea! Maybe I'll try it on TriMet ha ha. (Advertising for this job, she got over 600 responses! Man, there are a lot of out-of-work actresses in NYC!)

Super Bowl

2012-02-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

There was a time when the Super Bowl was a pretty big deal to me. Mostly this was in my drinking days, when there'd be a huge Super Bowl Party at Nobby's, my hangout for sports in those days, and it would be a potluck kind of deal, and part of it would be to announce the winner of the season long contest in picking winners. Ah, I remember the year that a WOMAN won this, to considerable male chagrin. Fun times!

I could never agree with my counselor in treatment that I should dismiss my drinking days as "bad old days." I had far too much fun to do this. I just figure that was then, and this is now. Different modes. And my attitude can't have been as "destructive" as the Party Line insisted since, after all, I'm the only one in my whole damn VA class, some 30 guys, for whom sobriety "stuck." Even one of my counselors relapsed. Yeah, I loved much about my drinking days but I also wanted to live longer, which I have done. Yeah, Super Bowls at Nobby's in the 1980s were great fun.

"Houston, we have a problem."

2012-02-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

A note from my publisher suggests he is less enthused about the proof than I am. Indeed, as a reader, he struck me as less comfortable than others with the story strategy here. At the same time, he's a very perceptive reader, so obviously I want to hear what he has to say. We meet Thursday. He also has his head on straight about how subjective these things can be. He may also have caught something I and others missed. So we'll see.

But I'm the King of the World. So I will need some convincing to change anything "major."

"I'm King of the World!"

2012-02-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

Just finished going through the galley proof. Man, I love this novel. Even though I have dozens and dozens of corrections to make -- about 25% technical, 75% stylistic -- I know now this will become what I conceived it to be. I already know from my four readers that there will be an audience for this, no doubt small, but that's not really the point. The point is, I can make this what I want it to be. What else is a writer supposed to do?

Moreover, I had a good early morning and got most of my prep work done for school. By Super Bowl time, I may even be in the mood to relax and watch it.

Now I begin the grunt work of inputting changes to the novel. Some of the tech stuff -- changes in line spacing, changes in font color -- baffle me. Why did this happen? I know how to fix it but have no idea how it happened in the first place. Mysteries of codes, I'm sure.

And I feel better, at about 75% now. A terrific day!

Nick Fraser's Sundance diary: 'Redford says, Call me Bob' | Film | The Observer

2012-02-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Nick Fraser's Sundance diary: 'Redford says, Call me Bob' | Film | The Observer:

"The BBC Storyville editor on his stint as a judge – and competitor – at Sundance film festival"

Sundance film festival: how it got its edge back | Film | The Observer

2012-02-05T09:59:00.000-08:00

Sundance film festival: how it got its edge back | Film | The Observer:

"Before the 2008 credit crunch, it looked as though Robert Redford's festival of independent filmmaking had lost its way amid flashy budgets and celebrity parties. But with this year's outstanding crop of hard-hitting documentaries and challenging features, it suddenly seems relevant again"

'The Pact' moves screenwriter further up the Hollywood chain - latimes.com

2012-02-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

'The Pact' moves screenwriter further up the Hollywood chain - latimes.com:

"Nicholas McCarthy's 89-minute film plays to mixed reviews at the Sundance Film Festival. More important than audience reaction was the fact the movie was sold, and that he now has meetings lined up at studios and talent agencies."

'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' turns 50: The Reading Life - latimes.com

2012-02-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' turns 50: The Reading Life - latimes.com:

Kesey hated the movie. From a novelist's point of view, this is perfectly understandable.

Downhill side

2012-02-05T06:28:00.000-08:00

Feel like I'm on the downhill side of this whatever-it-was stomach thing ... some 72-hr virus or something,

Full morning of school prep to do.

Started going through the galley proof and making many, many more changes than expected. A few necessary things, including some strange tech things, but mainly it's fine-tuning the literary style, changing words, cutting a phrase here, reformulating a sentence there -- letting the ear come into play more now about the writing. So there will be a second galley proof, just to double check everything. But I'm very pleased, despite all the work still to do. Inputting these changes will be a major chore in itself.

Eager to be at 100% again.

Not enthused about Super Bowl but likely will watch it out of inertia.

Better

2012-02-04T13:29:00.001-08:00

This wasn't something I expected ... better today but still at half speed. Managed progress this a.m. nonetheless on student scripts.

Ill

2012-02-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

Woke up with a pain in my gut, napping and moving slow all day so far.

Oregon students show startling rate of absenteeism | OregonLive.com

2012-02-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

Oregon students show startling rate of absenteeism | OregonLive.com:

Washington v. Oregon

2012-02-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

In the 19th C before statehood, free blacks coming to the Oregon Territory learned soon enough that there were great advantages in crossing the Columbia River into Washington Territory. In Washington, but not Oregon, they could own land.

Now the same thing is about to happen as Washington passes a same sex marriage law, making it attractive for Oregon gay couples to cross the Columbia River once again in order to win greater freedom. The news just interviewed a Portland lesbian couple ready to do just this. And there will be many more.

Galley proof

2012-02-02T16:28:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of my writing career in the 1960s, I did a lot of book reviewing and became a regular reviewer with The Progressive and The New Leader magazines (where I was one of the first to praise the short fiction of Andre Dubus). Now and again I'd be sent a book in galley proof to review, which I found exciting, like getting a sneak preview of something.

Today I received my POD copy of Sodom, which I called a "galley proof" for old time's sake, even though it doesn't resemble one. It's just a paperback. But Galley Proof is printed on the cover, my little joke with myself. I should be able to start it this weekend. I've already made some changes since ordering this. Does it ever end? No. Work gets abandoned, not ended.

Passing the torch

2012-02-02T11:38:00.000-08:00

Learned that a barista at my local Starbucks is a budding playwright. I gave him a copy of Eight Oregon Plays and said I'd be happy to look at one of his plays and give him feedback. Playwrights aren't a dime a dozen, when you find one, you offer encouragement.

'Gasland' Filmmaker Barred From House Hearing On Fracking, Arrested - Deadline.com

2012-02-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

'Gasland' Filmmaker Barred From House Hearing On Fracking, Arrested - Deadline.com:

GRAIL Satellite's First Video of the Far Side of the Moon | Wired Science | Wired.com

2012-02-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

GRAIL Satellite's First Video of the Far Side of the Moon | Wired Science | Wired.com:

Could 'August: Osage County' finally jump to the big screen? - latimes.com

2012-02-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

Could 'August: Osage County' finally jump to the big screen? - latimes.com:

Groundhog Day confusion: More winter, says Phil; nope, say rivals - latimes.com

2012-02-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

Groundhog Day confusion: More winter, says Phil; nope, say rivals - latimes.com:

Future of Seattle's Intiman Theatre is still up in the air - latimes.com

2012-02-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

Future of Seattle's Intiman Theatre is still up in the air - latimes.com:

The sun, the sun

2012-02-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

Apparently we have a string of mostly sunny, dry days ahead. Up into the 50s. Be nice if true. One never knows. You don't get your check as a weatherman because you're accurate. You're on salary, right or wrong.

Too soon to say my first experiment with outside-in Kindle writing is a failure but not much positive is associated with it so far. On the other hand, a second experiment is looking fairly good. All of this will come into sharper focus after I devote more energy to it, which will happen after the publication of the novel and a possible subsequent moment of recovery. By spring I should think my new journey should be on track into the unknown. I rather look forward to it. Reinventing oneself can be fun. I'm even going to use pseudonyms.

Lots of contrary opinions out there about how the publishing industry is shaking down today. So many issues involved. Even the role of the agent is changing, some getting into e-publishing themselves.

A fairly straight forward day in class. Onward.

LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS | True Story

2012-02-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS | True Story:
A memoir about film school.

Learning curve

2012-02-01T12:43:00.000-08:00

There's much more to the ebook publishing universe than meets the eye, concerning issues of rights, reproduction, pricing, relationship to print, etc. I subscribe to two blogs on the subject and am learning fast. But I can see I've already made some dumb choices early on. In the new outside-in universe, I need to play smarter. It is a fascinating subject indeed. And so much is yet unresolved, we are smack in the middle of an on-going revolution. A bit exciting actually.

Art Scatter » Blog Archive » Scatter update: Deemer’s hyperdrama, Mothers of God, women with whips

2012-02-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

Art Scatter » Blog Archive » Scatter update: Deemer’s hyperdrama, Mothers of God, women with whips:

Where did the morning go?

2012-02-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

One of those non-stop mornings of necessary things, from going to dentist, to paying and mailing bills, to writing and printing midterms, to running off on a few chores ... but the afternoon is mine and I'm not quite sure what I'll do with it. Something slow, something quiet.

I have an idea in mind for my first post-inside-out retirement project.

Before class

2012-01-31T11:11:00.000-08:00

So here I am in the office with a bit of time before going to class, where we look at the first script pages they've written. Always a day filled with "teaching moments," as the hotshots like to say. It should be "learning moments" (get the right emphasis).

So "Eight Oregon Plays" is out, and "Sodom..." will be next. Then an entirely completely very different track, I swear to the gods. I need this to happen. Otherwise I'll start babbling in the streets with the other old farts I see.

But what a journey!

And it will be fun and exciting to explore something new, too. I ain't dead yet.

Drug-Resistant Bugs Found in Organic Meat | Wired Science | Wired.com

2012-01-31T08:56:00.000-08:00

Drug-Resistant Bugs Found in Organic Meat | Wired Science | Wired.com:

"If you’re paying premium prices for pesticide- and antibiotic-free meat, you might expect that it’s also free of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Not so, according to a new study."

Eight Oregon Plays by Charles Deemer in Literature & Fiction

2012-01-31T08:42:00.000-08:00

Eight Oregon Plays by Charles Deemer in Literature & Fiction:

Round Bend Press: Publication Day--Eight Oregon Plays

2012-01-31T08:41:00.000-08:00

Round Bend Press: Publication Day--Eight Oregon Plays:

Kenneth Slawenski: J.D. Salinger's Untold Stories: Tales Of A Recluse

2012-01-30T11:33:00.000-08:00

Kenneth Slawenski: J.D. Salinger's Untold Stories: Tales Of A Recluse:

"When a copy editor at "The New Yorker" dared to remove a single comma from one of his stories, Salinger snapped. "There was hell to pay," recalled William Maxwell, and the comma was quickly reinstated."

A day's work before breakfast

2012-01-30T08:24:00.001-08:00

Man, this is great, I got such an early start on class prep that I'm done already and it's not even 8:30. The rest of the day is my own.

Prep tomorrow

2012-01-29T22:28:00.000-08:00

I have a long day tomorrow with school prep since I did nothing today, what with being sidetracked by the hyperdrama ebook. But if I get an early start, I should be fine.

Today was a great day despite the change of initial plans. The hyperdrama ebook is first rate.

Oscar nominations 2012: what the critics say – feature | Film | The Observer

2012-01-29T22:24:00.000-08:00

Oscar nominations 2012: what the critics say – feature | Film | The Observer:

Hollywood women unite to break through the celluloid ceiling | Film | The Observer

2012-01-29T22:23:00.001-08:00

Hollywood women unite to break through the celluloid ceiling | Film | The Observer:

Robert McCrum: as long as words are cool, the novel will flourish | Books | The Observer

2012-01-29T22:23:00.000-08:00

Robert McCrum: as long as words are cool, the novel will flourish | Books | The Observer:

SAG, DGA Results Split Between 'Artist' And 'The Help' Adding Intrigue To Oscar Race - Hammond - Deadline.com

2012-01-29T22:19:00.000-08:00

SAG, DGA Results Split Between 'Artist' And 'The Help' Adding Intrigue To Oscar Race - Hammond - Deadline.com:

'Chopsticks': Not Just for Kids - latimes.com

2012-01-29T16:47:00.000-08:00

'Chopsticks': Not Just for Kids - latimes.com:

Mark Bernstein of Eastgate Publishing

This multimedia novel is being called a 21st century novel. In fact, 15 or more years ago when I went to the first hypertext conference at Yale, authors were already doing this sort of thing, most getting published at Eastgate, which Robert Coover called "the primary source for serious hypertext." THIS WAS OVER 15 YEARS AGO. So pop lit is catching up.

World's Most Outrageous Fantasy

2012-01-29T16:37:00.000-08:00

"How much?"

So some honcho goes over to Smashwords and sees my hyperdrama ebook and reads it for free (the customer sets the price) and digs it, and it so happens he has a say in the MacArthur grants, so he goes back and buys another copy, setting the price at five or six figures, whatever it is. I don't need the grant, I need the money (ala Yeats, who on winning the Nobel said, before saying anything else, How much? Poets know what prizes mean!)

About my new ebook

2012-01-29T16:24:00.000-08:00

This new ebook, Hyperdrama: my obsession with a new theater form, may be in the right place to win some converts. The form needs young blood! Now that I have a personal history and overview that soon will be in all the ebook markets, there's a chance, as there wasn't before, that a theater person among the younger tech-literate set will read this on an iPad or phone or Kindle and become excited enough about hyperdrama to explore more and maybe even do something to infuse the form with young new energy. I know a theater designed for hyperdrama, using my design or another, could attract an audience with good material. And a permanent location in which to see hyperdrama is just what is needed now.

Where are all the young Turks in theater, who should be grabbing this and running with it?

How fitting that I did this just as Eight Oregon Plays is about to be released as a paperback. The old and the new, wrapping up my theater career together.

Smashwords v. Amazon

2012-01-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

I actually prefer Smashwords to Amazon for distributing ebooks but use both. Smashwords, in my experience, does a better job at formatting a doc file to Kindle. Smashwords distributes to everyone. For example, my greatest sales to date have been not at Amazon but at Apple's istore, which has a deal with Smashwords. At the same time, Amazon is Amazon and you can't really ignore it -- and it appears to be getting more powerful in the ebook wars. So I try to cover all the bases with things that matter to me.

Smashwords seems to have higher standards regarding format. I have had to redo things for Smashwords, never for Amazon.

Might as well do both, is my advice to ebook authors (which means avoiding the exclusive deal option at Amazon).

Smashwords — Hyperdrama: my obsession with a new theater form — A book by Charles Deemer

2012-01-29T13:38:00.000-08:00

Smashwords — Hyperdrama: my obsession with a new theater form — A book by Charles Deemer:

Pittock Mansion, site of my first hyperdrama

This was fun to put together because so much of the material is online, to which I link. I also have it at Amazon/Kindle but I want as wide a distribution as possible. I'm looking for converts, not royalties ha ha, and I'm pleased with how the links get activated in Kindle with this book. A genuine ELECTRONIC book and not an ebook form of a linear book. Hyperbook! Hyperdrama! Hypertext!

Hyperdrama (again)

2012-01-29T11:33:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me that I can renew my hopeless rabble rousing for hyperdrama to yet a new audience: the Kindle audience. That is, I've already written so much about hyperdrama and have so much material online, I can write an intro for Kindle that links to all this stuff, and give it away, and maybe find a few converts. I'm working on it now (instead of school work, which I must do later this afternoon).

Round Bend Press: Eight Oregon Plays at Proof Stage

2012-01-28T19:33:00.000-08:00

Round Bend Press: Eight Oregon Plays at Proof Stage:

Peter S. Goodman: At World Economic Forum, Fear of Global Contagion Dominates

2012-01-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

Peter S. Goodman: At World Economic Forum, Fear of Global Contagion Dominates:

"In a riveting address here on Saturday, Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang recalled his place at the epicenter of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, and the experience of the 2008 global credit pullback, asserting that the current situation is worse.

"I've never been as scared as now about the world, what is happening in Europe," he said."

Ah, me.

Last reader checks in

2012-01-28T19:26:00.001-08:00

Favorable, perceptive, good suggestions.

Damn close now.

Sky wonders

2012-01-28T13:52:00.000-08:00

I only ever saw the Northern Lights once, in the 1970s in Manitoba, on a summer of camping coast to coast, up to Canada to be best man at my university roommate's wedding. I was blown away, of course. Pretty spectacular when it wants to be, as here recently during the sun's explosion.

Sundance Film Festival buyers more cautious - latimes.com

2012-01-28T13:49:00.000-08:00

Sundance Film Festival buyers more cautious - latimes.com:

Patt Morrison Asks: The Internet Archive's Brewster Kahle - latimes.com

2012-01-28T13:48:00.000-08:00

Patt Morrison Asks: The Internet Archive's Brewster Kahle - latimes.com:

"Thanks to Kahle's Wayback Machine -- a search engine named in homage to a cartoon on "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" -- you can follow the history of vanished Web pages. "

A great idea and service.

A busy Saturday

2012-01-28T13:03:00.000-08:00

H at a conference all day. I'm reading student work ... making beef stew for dinner ... doing grunt work on the net ... trying to learn the new phone's secrets ... a low key nice day. I expect I'll be having many of these in the months ahead.

First email on phone

2012-01-27T14:26:00.001-08:00

Read my first email on the new phone. Pretty cool, once I get the drift of it. Going to change a few rhythms, I think. What is it the kids say? Awesome.

New toy

2012-01-27T11:56:00.000-08:00

H and I are Tracfone customers, pay as you go fanatics in the cell phone universe. I have an ancient model that I almost never turn on. I use it for emergencies only.

Well, I saw a sale on a smart phone, or maybe it's an almost smart phone, but it had mobile web access and it cost only twenty bucks, so I bit -- and now it's charging and in the manual looks overwhelming. It's amazing maybe. We'll see.

Meanwhile I gave a first reading to about half the scripts and have at least one "natural born screenwriter" in class. Always good to see. Only one shot a video last term, this term four are tackling it.

Now I'm waiting for the plays. But the phone was what I had to sign for, so I can go get coffee any time now.

Did I mention this is a great day?

Just what we need, another conspiracy theory

2012-01-27T10:26:00.000-08:00

I have a conspiracy theory. The Romantic Myth of poets and artists as tortured souls who have to drown their misunderstood selves in booze and other drugs is perpetuated by the powers that be in their own self-interests.

Plato well knew how dangerous poets were. Not in my Republic, thank you very much. Poets are revolutionaries against the very foundations of political power. Don't listen to him, listen to your own heart. Somewhere along the way, a politician learned you could castrate the political threat of poets without having to ban them -- you could just keep them drunk and wedded to notions of being victims of a society that doesn't understand them. They'd go off and do their masturbatory dances of self-indulgence in arenas where nothing substantial could threaten the power structure.

And many poets and artists, maybe most, have bought into this myth ever since, especially the non-mainstream ones who, in fact, pose the greatest threat of all to (unlearned) culture. In fact, the powers are so ingenious they learned how to MAKE MONEY on the very products of their threat!

"the Fiery Chariot of His Contemplative Thought"
(Blake)

Leave it to Norman Brown in Love's Body to show the real threat of the poet to political culture -- the Fiery Chariot of His Contemplative Thought, to use (as he does) Blake's term. Leave it to Brown to separate the mythological war that changes nothing from the war that can be won, the war of the individual to move toward personal transformation, which changes everything.

I didn't realize until my brooding about Marty's death how convenient and even necessary the Romantic Myth of the Artist is to keeping the status quo of the culture in place.

Stone Age Social Networks May Have Resembled Ours | Wired Science | Wired.com

2012-01-27T09:27:00.000-08:00

Stone Age Social Networks May Have Resembled Ours | Wired Science | Wired.com:

Proof may come next week

2012-01-27T09:22:00.001-08:00

The proof of the novel has shipped, so I should get it next week, midweek or late. I really look forward to seeing it. I'm avoiding the book until then, to get some distance from it.

8 Plays should arrive today.

"For the Record"

2012-01-27T09:19:00.000-08:00

In each issue of the L.A. Times is a section called "For the Record" in which errors from previous issues are corrected. Usually these are minor things, a name wrong, a year off by one or two, but now and again something more major gets corrected. What I like is the fact that the section exists -- and in the Kindle edition of the paper, of course, where nothing can get "buried," the section gets the same weight as any other article.

The more i read the Kindle L.A. Times the more I like it. I'm sorry it took me so long to discover it.

I'm expecting two deliveries today, one for which I have to sign and missed yesterday, so I don't want to venture away until it comes unless H is here to sign for it.

A leisurely day! I love it. I am going to get a start on student scripts, though, just to reduce weekend and Monday pressure.

I have no desire whatever to watch the Superbowl. Maybe we'll go to a movie.

Was brooding in bed this morning about the inevitable changes in this blog as my "writing life" changes with the publication of the new novel. The ending of one journey, the beginning of another.

I received a nice email from a woman in Australia. As a kind of test, I wrote a short article for Kindle called "Staying Sober Without AA." 2 folks bought it right away and she was one of them, responding to my invitation to send an email (you can have live links in Kindle articles and books, which is another attraction to them: in fact, you could do a hyperdrama-structured story with a website hosting some of the diversions -- no, no, Deemer, don't go there! ha ha). Anyway, she said the article was just what she needed, the right reading at the right time, and this alone felt like justification for writing it in the first place. I have several projects like this in mind to explore once the long earlier journey officially gets put to rest, some weeks or a few months away now, I think.

Android tablets gain market share vs. iPad - latimes.com

2012-01-27T09:08:00.000-08:00

Android tablets gain market share vs. iPad - latimes.com: