Farewell July 2012

As I reflect back on this month, I think about all the goals I set for myself and how I've fallen short. I learned a lot about myself.
 
It's the last day of July and I'm spending it being as productive as possible. I took a math test today (which I hops I passed) and my final will be on Thursday. I'm two days away from never having to set foot in a community college again. It feels awesome.

Next on the agenda is my YouTube channel. Today I bought a green screen...which is actually just a green sheet and put it up with my boyfriend's help. I ironed it and everything, it looks really good. We're even working on some skits I can do.

My main concern is coming back strong. I don't want some weak introduction that doesn't interest anybody. I want to come back and blow everyone away...or at least make them interested enough to keep coming back. Is that a tall order?

As for big kid college, all I can do it wait. It's sad, so I try not to think about it. I really got bummed last night but that happens sometimes, even on good days. I'm going to work my butt off to make this work. If I succeed, I'll tell you exactly how I did it. If it doesn't, I'll tell you anyway so you won't make the same mistakes. See you in August!!
 

Distractions Can Be Therapeutic

I sat down the other day and wrote myself a plan. School is coming to a close in three days and I'm going to be left with a LOT of time on my hands.

As I said in an earlier post, I'm going to re-launch my channel. I'm not going to have a lot of help besides my boyfriend so I'm looking at doing a bulk of the work by myself. In between working and writing my script, I'm going to produce one video a week. I'm thinking of doing it ever Thursday.

I want to be an actress and a writer and in my mind, I already am. I have to convince everyone else that I can do it. I decided that no one is going to discover me on accident. I have to get out there and make myself known, right? Maybe that's a lot harder than I think it is, but I'm going to try. 

I'd rather try and fail than not try at all. That would just be a tragedy. I've been under a lot of stress about college and how I don't get to go. I really wanted to go and I felt ready. Every time I think I'm ok with not going, I get in that mood where I just want to cry. I don't think anyone wanted to leave more than I did...I just didn't get to. 

You're probably wondering how long I'm going to whine about this. Well, probably for the rest of the year. That's right, I have to wait a full twelve months before I can set foot on a college campus. I can't even apply for two more months. What am I supposed to do? I can keep crying, or I can find something to do to pass the time.

I can go back to YouTube. I miss it. I miss the attention and the fun of it all. I miss running around my neighborhood and the park with a camera and having people stare at me like I'm crazy. I miss meeting people for the first time and having them say, "I've seen your videos." Maybe a constructive will numb the pain I feel inside for being a huge failure. 

I didn't mean for this post to get so dark. I came here to talk about my videos and all the cool things I want to do. I wasn't trying to kill anyone's good mood. I'll be back tomorrow with nicer things to say. In the meantime, whatever.

3 Things I Learned About Writing or The Sad Truth About Writing A Screenplay

Some of you may or may not remember the blog post where I declared that I was going to finish the second draft of my screenplay by July 15. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, you can read it here.

Surprise, I'm not done. BlueCat is a mere two days away and I haven't even reached the climax of the second draft. Shame on me. So what have I learned from this situation? Three things:

1.) You can't write a GREAT screenplay in a month: Sure, you can try but mostly likely you're going to produce a misspelled mass of watered-down plot and dry characters. Unless you're already finished and only need to check your grammar, don't beat yourself up if you can't get it right in a month. Just research any of your favorite books and movies. Authors can take up to ten years getting a story right. I'm not saying it will take you ten years, but it might.

2.) You have to give yourself a break: Looking at your script with fresh eyes is one of the single most important things you can do. Don't believe? Ask anyone! All of the advice is the same. Put your script away and give your brain some time to recharge. Don't even think about it. When you finally sit down to write, new inspiration will come cascading out of you like a bloody nose.

3.) Read: This last one seems like a no-brainer but everybody knows that all great writers read A LOT! I have to admit, I haven't been reading. Blogs, magazines and emails don't count. I'm talking about sitting down with a novel or a screenplay and losing yourself in the story for a couple of hours. Reading keeps your brain active and working. Think of your brain as a car engine. You wouldn't drive a car without gas or oil, would you? Then why would you try to pump out page after page without giving your mind anything in return? It's a game of give and take, so start giving!

I hope this advice helps my fellow writers as much as it is helping me. I'm pretty bummed that I can't enter the contest but I would feel worse wasting my money and everyone's time.

 

 

Should I Re-Launch My Channel? Of Course!

I do. Do you?

I started YouTube in 2007 as a way to escape the horrors of my fast food job. What begin as a pass time quickly turned into a new passion.

Sadly enough, I stopped making videos regularly when I went back to college the following year. I found myself with little time for the shooting and editing that YouTube required, not to mention the fact that my computer just wasn't advanced enough to handle the HD camera I bought.

Since I went to school to act and write, it makes perfect sense to go back to YouTube since I've graduated. I keep reading articles that say if you want to be successful, you have to take matters into your own hands. YouTube has created a way for many people to do just that. Plus, since I can do whatever I want, there's nothing stopping me. I have the camera and the editing capabilities, but I also have the drive. 

I spent the whole morning thinking of creative ways to re-introduce myself and I'm excited about it. I can brainstorm new ideas and re-invent old ones. Even though I didn't care too much for the recent Spider Man movie, it taught that old ideas can be made new again.

Speaking of new, we're getting close to release of Season 1 of Chronicles of the Dead. Don't think that just because I haven't mentioned it in a while that it's not happening anymore. Check the channel out and watch our cast and crew interviews!

It's true that I'm in for a LOT of work, but in little over a year I was able to obtain 930 subscribers with videos that I made on a digital camera...

Can't afford an HD camera? Get this baby!

 ...this camera to be exact. It has one of the best video recording features of any digital camera I ever used. Plus it was dirt cheap at Walmart! I can't wait to put myself out there again. :)
 

Do What You Want!

As a recent graduate of MSJC, I've been asked that fateful question many times over:

"What are you going to do now."

My answer? Whatever I want!

Seriously though, I want to act and write for film and TV. I wrote that in the header of this blog for God's sake!

Anyhow, there's a neat website that helps you discover careers just by picking out your interests. Click here to find it. 

Some of the best advice I heard all year was from Charles Evered who came to speak in a theatre class at my school this past Spring. He said that us "creative types" used to get slammed because we chose careers where you couldn't make a lot of money. Since the economy crashed, no one is making any money; the playing field is level again so you may as well do what you want. I'm taking that advice.

A while back, a friend of mine didn't get the part she wanted in a musical. She was devastated. After a two-hour rage and a crying fit, she announced that performing arts wasn't her calling and she should find something else to do with her life. 

I had to set her straight.

There's competition EVERYWHERE. You can't get away from it. I don't care if you want to pour concrete for a living. There's always going to be that asshole who thinks he pours it better than you. You might frequently find yourself in the running with other more qualified people to do simple jobs like flip burgers. That's life. You might as well pick something you're good at. Pick something that you don't mind competing for because you know that no one could do it better than you.


Do What You Want!

 

If You're Thinking About Killing A Bunch Of People...

...DON'T DO IT!

Seriously, get some help. 

I think that society has suffered enough tragedies like this one. If you came forward and said there was something wrong with you and you're thinking about killing people...it would be taken seriously. Someone will care about you. Someone will do something. You don't have to shoot a theater full of people to get your point across. 

Life isn't always easy or fair. Life has become about competition and getting ahead. Teamwork has almost become a joke. It's one man for himself. It's a dog eat dog world and sometimes you want to stab the son of a bitch that cut you in line - I get it.

But killing people, even killing yourself should never be your final answer. There's no coming back from death. You get one shot and once it's gone, it's gone forever. I don't know what led this guy to do this thing, but he wasn't stupid. He had college degrees. He was studying neuroscience...maybe in hopes of understanding his own self...I don't know.

Every assumption has been made about this young man. People say that he wanted attention. People say that he was just crazy. Maybe he was. I just hope this doesn't happen again. I would hate for the people I care about to end up the victims after someone decides to snap.

10 Lies About Blogging

In this day in age, any idiot with an internet connection and a decent vocabulary can be a blogger. Some people were successful and went on to make tons of cash while others fell by the wayside. Why does that happen? I'll tell you why.

LIE #10 - Anyone Can Do It: Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING in life works on a first come, first serve basis. If you're the first person to do something, it doesn't matter how shitty it is. People will flock to a new idea in ravenous hordes and milk it for all it's worth. Then you'll have a bunch of other asshole know-it-alls step in and try to codify shit. After that, people will accept the new standard making it harder and harder for the low man on the totem pole to move up while the fat bastards on top soak up all the sun for themselves.

LIE #9 - You Can Get Paid To Blog: Unless you're working for a company that requires you to blog as part of your job description, the chances of this are slim to none. Think of everyone you know, right now. How many of them work at the mall or restaurants or on campus? Probably all of them. Now how many people do you know get paid to blog? Probably none. Even if you were lucky enough to land a gig like that, you would NEVER get to write about anything that interests you. You'd be married to a list of topics that you're not passionate about.

LIE #8 - Provide A Service: So you want to write about investment banking or relationships. Maybe you want to write about cars or the best ways to save money. That's all well and good, but guess what - there are a million other people already writing about those things and they do it better than you. See lie number one if you've already forgotten what I said. Don't waste your time trying to "out-do" someone else. You have no idea who that person blew to get where they are so save your jealousy for later. If you still want to waste time writing about a topic that has been done to death...go ahead. I won't even say I told you so.

LIE #7 - Post Regularly: Honestly, you're a nobody. No one is going to care if you miss a day or two. Post as frequently or as sporadically as you choose. The sun is still going to shine. And don't be so hard on yourself either. People have better things to do than hang around on your blog, jerking off, and waiting for you to post something. If anyone is that obsessed with you, you have bigger problems than blogging.

LIE #6 - Communicate With Readers: I suggest you never talk to anyone, ever. Some of the most popular bloggers never respond to their comments. They let the comment section fill to the brim and never give it a second glance. If people find out that you're just a normal human being like them, they'll lose respect for you and go somewhere else. If people start complaining that you never respond to comments, just write a blog and respond to everyone all at once. Use terms like, "you guys" or "ya'll" if you're southern. Readers will be satisfied. Make sure you thank them too, but not individually. No one deserves that much attention on a blog. That's what mothers are for.

LIE #5 - List Things In Steps: The word on the street is that people like lists. This isn't true. Lists remind people of work and work makes people sad. Why the fuck do you want to write a blog that makes people sad? I mean, hey, if that's you're goal by all means go for it. Dream big! Life can't be broken down into steps. We always have to multitask. That's why God gave us two hands. Steps give the illusion that you're doing things one at a time but you're really not. Just be up front and tell people how life really is.

LIE #4 - Blogging Will Get You Work: Will it, really? Do you actually believe this lie? I've heard this SO MANY TIMES and read it SO MANY TIMES on so many different blogs and I'm here to tell you, this is bull. People always say they use their blog to get jobs. What jobs did they get? Honestly, what job could you possibly get from blogging? Is someone going to come here, read this, and go....EUREKA! Lets give her a job. We love her snarky bipolar demeanor. She's a shoe in! Ha....no. Don't get your hopes up, kid. Money doesn't grow on bandwidth.

LIE #3 - Entrepreneurs Need A Blog: No they don't. There are plenty of successful business owners who launched their start-ups without hashing out every single detail of their journey on a blog. Those are the kinds of juicy details you want to keep to yourself. It's a struggle to start a business. Some people start with nothing and end up with everything and then people want to PAY them to know how they did it. They certainly aren't going to give away a details for free on a blog. Blogs are meant to supplement and validate people's egos...that's all.

LIE #2 - Writers Who Blog Get Published: Of course they do...every time they click that orange "publish" button. If you're talking big leagues, you're wrong. Publishing companies have no idea how blogs even work so their chances of finding you are nada. If you want to get published, send them a query letter the old fashioned way. If you wait to get discovered, you're just plain stupid.

LIE #1 - Anyone Can Blog: This isn't true either. It takes a certain kind of twisted narcissist to become a blogger. I mean, you really have to be fucked in the head to think that you're so special that you should publish your mind-shit on a daily basis. Yes, I said MIND-SHIT. Take a look at bloggers. They are some of the most pompous assholes around. We're almost as self-centered as actors. A humble person can't blog. They'd be too modest in their posts and they'd gush about how no one reads their blog and they'd fish for compliments. Fuck. All. That. I'm here and I've got shit to say so listen up! 


Are you ready to blog? If you read all the lies above and you still want to blog, congratulations. You're a true blogger. What are you waiting for?

Fuck School :)

I'd love to just drop out of school, but that only works for white males. You've never heard of a woman or some ethnic person dropping out of school and becoming a successful anything. The world doesn't work like that for the rest of us.


Now that the entire world knows that I suck at life, I'd like to give you advice on college. Have you ever gone to the casino and gambled away your hard earned money hoping that you'd hit the jackpot? College is the same way. Each year, people all over the world go to college to "learn" and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars that they don't have in exchange for a degree that isn't worth the paper it's printed on.


When I was little, growing up in the 90s, everyone boasted about staying in high school and getting a diploma. I was told that a diploma would set me apart from those "other" people who dropped out. So I stayed in school. I got all the way up to high school where I told that a diploma was no longer good enough. They told me I had to go to college too. Well, that's four more years of school and I needed money, so I went to work instead.


I advanced as far as I could at my job and I got valuable experience, but I went back to school in 2008 finally ready to get that college degree. Only now...college degrees are like assholes - everyone has one! Suddenly having a BA means very little. Even if I wanted one, I can't go to college for an entire year. What now? Work?


I tried to get a housekeeping job at the Hilton. Basically the job consisted of emptying trash, cleaning toilets, making beds, and other housekeeping duties. I applied for the job, sent my resume and waited. I got a response saying that I didn't meet the minimum qualifications for the job. 


What????


I used to be an ASSISTANT MANAGER at a restaurant...and now I can't even get a job scrubbing toilets? What has the world come to?


I think I know what's in store for me....

Out With The Old!

Let it burn!

You may or may not be surprised to know that I didn't work on my screenplay today. 

Nope. Not one little bit.

What I did do was rid myself of 15+ years of teenage angst and bullshit in the form of depressing journal entries and sad poems. My boyfriend helped, which I appreciate very much so. It feels like I exfoliated the dead skin and I'm letting the beautiful skin underneath show. I needed this.

The stuff we burned couldn't be thrown out. I had the kind of stuff that was embarrassing in that "for my eyes only" kind of way. I have a shredder too, but it probably wouldn't have given up for pulling overtime.

I had a million notebooks. It was like I had the entire Walmart stationery aisle under my bed! I gladly donated the empty notebooks to the church down the street for any kids who maybe can't afford new school supplies. I only kept enough paper to finish up my summer math class.

As for screenplay, I think this experience will help me. I think I might be Phoebe except for the whole vampire thing. She has to learn to live on less and that's what I'm doing right now. She needs a good full-time job and so do I. She needs to not spend money mindlessly and so do I. I feel like everything I do I can translate to her. I know how she feels because I am her.

I think if you find yourself cluttered with junk, get rid of it! There's no point in keeping it all. Give it away or sell it if you think it's worth money. Just get it out of your space. 

My boyfriend was really happy about me getting rid of that stuff. A small part of me did it for him because I want him to know my past is my past and I don't need to look back on it anymore. The other part of me knew that it was time. :)

Soy Una Escritora o I'm A Writer

No, I'm not mad...but I do want to learn Spanish.

I have about a million things I want to do and learning Spanish has been one of them for a while. 

Although I can understand it, I can barely speak it. When I was in high school, we learned some Spanish but it was from Spain and nobody talked like that. I lost interest once I found that out. It's like learning English they speak in England here in America. We don't call french fries, chips!

Anyway, I'll have to do it on my own, like everything else. Taking a Spanish class in school is out of the question. Once I finish math, I'm out!

How's the screenplay coming? Well, it's coming great. I think I'll be able to hit my July 15th deadline with no problem. I'm already on page 71 of my second draft and I've got 118 pages total. Looks like I'm going to have to cut a lot of things down. I don't want to exceed the 125 page limit!

The day was definitely not wasted. I got homework nearly done, wrote, learned some Spanish, and discovered coconut milk (which is really very tasty!)

How much Spanish did I learn? Perhaps enough to translate my own blog! No, I'm kidding. But I can say this:

"Soy morena y inteligente." :)

Buenas noches!

If It Was Easy, Everyone Would Do It

I haven't worked on my screenplay today.

Before you judge me, let me just say that I don't have a valid reason except that I was too tired.

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I walked from my house to Walmart and back. Walmart is in the next town over which is 4.8 miles away. In short, we walked 10 miles in three hours.

I always hear songs about people walking a 1,000 miles for their love and I call bullshit. Do 10 first without dropping on your ass, then we'll talk.

I fully intend to work on my screenplay for the next two days. I'm setting a goal for myself right now. I want to complete my second draft by July 15. That's only a few days, but if I don't set a goal, I'll never get anything done. BlueCat is only a few short weeks away and I want to spend as much time as possible perfecting my third draft before I ship it off to be judged.

As soon as I'm done, I'm going to nag my friends to read it. Those of them who love me will tell me like it is. I'm really excited about it. I'm also excited about working out and eating better and picking a new school. My moods change like the seasons.

Who Is Taylor Kitsch?

So I'm scrolling through articles on Yahoo and this one comes up.  

OK, so I haven't seen John Carter, or Savages or Battleship but this article made me mad. Why? I'll tell you why!

Firs of all, I don't know this actor. He's relatively new to the screen, yet he's being "blamed" for the three failures mentioned above. Second, there's suddenly speculation that he won't get anymore leading roles because he's a "bad actor."

Excuse me? Why isn't anyone coming down on the writers or directors for these box office non-hits? John Carter was written by Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews and Michael Chabon -- THREE people! Are you telling me that three heads put together couldn't make one good story? It can't be from lack of talent because each of these guys have impressive resumes. Perhaps this movie was laden with too much green screen and CGI.

Battleship was written by Erich and Jon Hoeber...the same guys who wrote Whiteout which was named one of the worst movies ever. Every movie these two wrote are garbage and you've probably never heard of them. The way I see it, they should be thanking big name actors to take a chance on their poorly executed stories.


Finally, Savages. I haven't seen this either, but the biggest complaint I've read in reviews is the ending that Oliver Stone chose. Who knows what he was thinking? When I think of Oliver Stone, I think Scarface. I can't help it. The trailers for this movie uninterested me and it's NOT because of the actors, it was the corny dialogue.

I'm not saying that all writers are talentless hacks and I'm not saying that a movie can't be ruined by a weak actor but what I will say is this, if Taylor Kitsch is such a horrible male lead, why do they keep casting him? Fix your script and you won't have to blame the actors when a movie bombs!








 

How Do You REALLY Write A Second Draft?

You just fucking write it.

No, seriously. This is hard. Instead of blogging right now, I should be working on Undead Again. I have the file open in another window and it's glaring at me. It's begging me to finish it and I really want to, but it's so difficult. People who don't write used to think I was crazy for going home after school and pounding out 50 pages or more.

"Why are you doing all that work?" They'd ask. And I was like...what work? I'm having fun. I'm making up stories. What did you do all night? Jerk off? Yeah...thought so.

But back then it was easier. I could write the worst story ever and be proud of it because I made it. I'm not naive though, I knew my stories were bad. I knew that the characters were flat and that story dragged in places but it didn't matter. What mattered is that I made something all by myself.

Now I'm in the big leagues. I can't just churn out garbage so when I write a sentence that doesn't seem right, I scrutinize it to hell. No story is perfect. Everything has some kind of flaw, but it's not wrong to strive for perfection. My goal is to be get a little better each day. Over time, I want to grow and be able to look back and measure my growth.

If you could read some of the stuff I wrote as a teenager, you'd laugh your ass off. The stories were ridiculous and my choices of words and description were just plain dumb. However, I will never get rid of those stories. I was even thinking about getting copies so I can show people. It would be fun to laugh at myself.

You can look up all the articles you want about rewrites and how to do a second draft and how to fix this or that...but it all comes down to you. Only you can fix what's wrong. The best advice I've heard was listen to yourself. Trust your gut. If you feel that something isn't working, change it. If you trust your instincts, they'll never lead you down the wrong path. 

My Job Hunt or How To Screw Up Your Life!

I got my confirmation call today. I will NOT be attending CSULA this fall. Thank you, Mr. Chairez, for ruining my life.

It's a sad day for me. Even though I knew in the back of mind this would happen, it just sucks that it had to come true. I promised myself I would finish college because I so rarely finish what I start. It's a bad habit that has cost me lots of time.

I'm trying to look on the bright side of it though. I'm still finishing this dreaded math class (algebra has been the bane of my college existence) and I'm still going to go to college and maybe this is my chance to get something better. CSULA isn't the holy grail of schools and with my GPA and academic record, I could probably be doing a lot more. Like my boyfriend said, this is probably God's way of slapping me and saying..."what are you doing with your life?"

In the meantime, I need a full-time job in LA. I hope that isn't a tall order. I'd need one wherever I live. Perhaps it would be possible to obtain a full-time position at the place where I already work. I shouldn't even look until August when summer school is over but I like to get a jump start on things. Hopefully I'll get something. 

I have a math test tomorrow and I'm ready. I'm going to move like this day never happened.

 

 

12 Foreign Films I Like

Over the years I've seen the foreign language films that blew my mind. Others not so much. The hardest thing was being able to read fast enough to enjoy the visuals. I even learned a few new words. So, here is my list of the 10 foreign films I like.

12.) Noriko's Dinner Table

 Language: Japanese



I randomly watched this movie on Netflixs in May. I thought it was going to be a horror story about a girl who decided to eat people. Look at the cover to God's sake! What was I supposed to think?


Noriko is a 17 year old high school student who decides to ditch her boring life in exchange for one more exciting. She starts working for a company that officers a type of escort service for the lonely: Pretending to be their family members! It's insane. Meanwhile, her real family goes nuts looking for her thinking she's one of the 54 girls who threw themselves in front of a subway bus in a mass suicide. If you like weirder stuff, which I do sometimes, check it out.

11.) Inglorious Basterds

 Language(s): English, German, French and Italian



I'll be honest and say I didn't see this all the way through. I fell asleep. But, the part I DID see was pretty amazing. I can't read when I'm tired (it was 3am on school night) and there are FOUR language to keep up with. You gotta love Quentin Tarantino. Does this count as foreign? Anyway, the first 20 minutes of the film grab you by the neck and hold you in place, daring you to take a breath. I plan on finishing this because I want to know what happens!


10.) Hero

Language: Mandarin

I like foreign action! I like sword fights! I like seeing the protagonist get his revenge! There's a few twists in the movie as well. I haven't seen a lot of Jet Li films (other than the one he did with Aaliyah) but I like this one better. Are you surprised that it's Quentin Tarantino again? I'm not sure this counts as foreign, but since I can't understand Mandarin, I'm gonna say yeah!


9.) Yellow

Language(s): Spanish and English

I got this movie for three dollars at the local Big Lots. What made me buy it? I stood there and watched a trailer for it to help me decide. I used to buy movies blindly and take a chance, but with my iPhone I don't have to do that anymore, haha! This is a story about a girl who loves to dance. She leaves Mexico and heads to the USA to make it on Broadway. The movie is completely in Spanish the first half, and suddenly she's knows English the second half. Cool, I got to stop reading and relax, haha! I liked the movie and I'm probably going to watch it again soon.

8.) Y Tu Mama Tambien

 Laguage: Spanish


This movie is about two best friends and a dying girl who go on a road trip for a reason I can't seem to remember. All I know is there's a lot of sex. A LOT of it. Maybe that's why I liked it so much. If you take the sex out, there's no reason to watch. That sounds bad, but it's the truth. The ending is sad. I hope I didn't ruin it for you!

7.) The God's Must Be Crazy

Language: !Kung (Click Language) and English

I saw this movie when I was a kid and it's one of the funniest movies ever. These two white people get trapped in Africa and accidentally drag this poor Bushman along. Everyone's just trying to get back to their families and that can be understood even with a language barrier.


 
6.)Bad Education

Language: Spanish


A man who pretends to be a woman! Just kidding, but not really. It's a story about two friends who want to make a movie together. I don't want to give a whole lot away but.....have you ever seen Brokeback Mountain? Well....yeah.








5.) Tomboy

Language: French


This movie made me want to cry. We've all been kids who just wanted to fit in and be accepted. This little girl goes as far as pretending to be a little boy so she can fit in with her friends. Even though she has a strong relationship with her parents and her little sister, she still has that hole inside that nothing can fill until she accepts who she is. I loved this movie.

4.) Azumi

Language: Japanese


I watched this movie because there's a girl on the cover holding a fucking sword! That's cool! What's even cooler is the story. Azumi and her friends are assassins who have to kill this guy that looks like an Asian version of David Bowie. I loved it!



 

3.) Pan's Labyrinth

Language: Spanish


I typically hate movies that leave me wondering, "What really happened?" But this isn't one of those movies. I always have this preconceived notion that a movie with a kid in it must be a kid's movie...but it's not. Is this little girl hallucinating and trying to escape communist Spain or...is she really a Princess?


2.) Let The Right One In

Language: Swedish

I didn't know what the expect when I saw this. I didn't think it was going to be good. The American version of this movie doesn't even compare. I think this movie inspired me to write Undead Again. What if you lived next door to a vampire and she wanted you to invite her in?


1.) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Language: Mandarin

I. Love. This. Movie.

But every time I ask someone if they've seen it, know what they say in response?

"Oh, is that the one with all the flying?"

Umm...yeah. But it's a LOT more than that! Who can't relate to Jiao Long? Her parents expect her to lead a certain kind of strict life and she longs for freedom and adventure. I've felt like that. And then there's the warrior Shu Lien who wants nothing more to settle down and get married but she can't escape her warrior life or confess her feelings. It's more than just people flying around...although the flying is pretty neato. Check it out!!

Eat. Eat. Eat.

I've been a bad girl. I've treated my body like crap for LONG time and it's finally catching up.

I ate fast food three or four times a day. I drank sugared everything. I ate candy like I was Willy Wonka. I stopped exercising. I stopped feeling good.

I've never been diagnosed for depression because going to the doctor is a luxury that I can't afford. Things that make it worse are bad eating habits and low physical activity. I know this. Everyone knows this. But breaking the habit is really REALLY hard.

At the mall where I work, we have a vending machine FILLED with stuff I shouldn't eat. The food court is PACKED with empty calories and heart disease. A short walk will land you at McDonald's and we already know how healthy that is. 

Life is too short to not enjoy it, right? So why should I torture myself trying to "eat right?" Then again, if I don't, I'll probably get really sick or die super young. You can't enjoy your life if your heart stops. 

I guess I'll take baby steps and try the moderation thing. Gee wiz.

Age Is A Number

I don't understand it. 


When I was 16, I used to think anything over 23 was old. I used to be stupid.


When I was in my early 20s, I used to think my time was slipping away. I used to think that life was leaving me in the dust and that I needed to hurry up and do something with myself. Youth fades.


But now, I'm 29 and I just think I was stupid. I don't feel old at all. Even though I'm surrounded by people younger than me all the time, they never seem to see me as older. They say I don't look 29 but I think it's because I don't "act" 29...however you're supposed to act when you're 29. I don't know.

I watched the new Spider-Man movie (and reviewed it here). My boyfriend pointed out the fact that Andrew Garfield was born the same year as me but plays a high school student.  


I come off youthful because I'm child-like and it fools people. I can see differences in my face when I look at pictures from when I was 18. My face was fuller back then. I had baby fat.  I'm clearly aging, but my actions make people think I'm teen-aged or very early 20s. Cool, I guess! HAHA!

This is me when I was 28. :P

So...how's the script coming? It's coming. One of my characters is a 13-year old girl. I used to be 13. My other character is 23. I used to be that too. I guess that gives me street cred.

This blog didn't really have a point. 

The "Amazing" Spiderman - My Review With SPOILERS!

I wanted to like this movie, I really REALLY did.

But I was disappointed.

I'm not typically a fan of remakes (especially ones done so soon) but I wanted to see what this "re-boot" thing was all about.

First of all, this Andrew Garfield version has the exact same storyline as the Toby Maguire version. My boyfriend pointed out the fact that they're "supposed to." Whatever. Fine.


Still, if I were Raimi, I'd be pissed...

In short, here is my personal list of pros and cons:

PROS:
1.) Emma Stone is a much better choice as the female lead than Kirsten Dunst. Sadly, she does very little in the movie besides swoon over Spiderman.
2.) Great set-up in the beginning. We get a real sense of who Peter Parker is as person. I liked that we get to explore what happened to his parents. 
3.) There were lots of funny moments.

CONS:
1.) I didn't like the lizard villain because his character was flat. They tried really hard to make him matter and make the audience care about him and his missing arm...but it felt forced. I guess they want to play with him more which explains why they didn't kill him off. I still think Willem Dafoe was a better villain in the Toby Maguire version.
2.) So the lizard is going to expel green gas all over the city? Excuse me? That was just silly. I never felt the city was actually in danger during this scene.
3.) Why does Spiderman pull off his mask and show his face to everyone? This bothered me.
4.) Just because you try to "re-launch" a movie doesn't mean we're going to forget about the first one.


If I was able to take bits and pieces of each movie and put them together, I could make a decent story.


Overall, I give this movie a 3 out of 5. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't amazing (pun intended). In the words of my boyfriend, "It was better than Abe Lincoln." Agreed, boyfriend. Agreed

Good Help Is HARD To Find

Last semester I committed Academic Suicide by taking a college level math class at night.

I didn't have a choice. 


Once you've been at a college for too long, they start giving you hints that they want you gone, like giving you a horrible registration date and cutting off your financial aid (I never had financial aid but I've seen it happen).

I tried as hard as I could to pass that class and I honestly don't see any way I could have done it. I studied, payed attention in class, asked questions, and even went for tutoring at school.

Sometimes my math was so hard that even the tutors couldn't do it without consulting a professor. It was just a weird class. 

It didn't help that our "teacher" didn't teach us. I get that we're all in charge of what we learn, but if this guy isn't going to do his job and expects us to learn everything by ourselves...then why were we forced to take his class? You can't transfer without college level math completed. I've been debating about whether to write a letter to the school or not and if I did, who to send it to.

I left a very honest review about him here. See if you can guess which one is mine. :P 


While everyone else is basking in the summer sun, I'll be making up Math 105 with a teacher who is more thorough, Mr. James. He has his fair share of bad ratings, but to each his own, right?


Next order of business: My spec!

I'm still writing the second draft in between school, work and sleep. I'm not sure how it's coming because I haven't stopped to read it. If I try to read it, I will want to change things and I've promised myself I wouldn't do that.

Two days ago I went crazy researching articles and how-to guides on writing a second draft. I found lots of help but it was all very muddled and contradicting. Some of it was just plain rubbish. I'm going to try and steer clear of said blogs and articles in order to keep myself sane. 

In the meantime, check out this new interview for Chronicles of the Dead. :)

I Need to Compete!

I want to enter writing competitions. 

My boyfriend and I have decided to trash the Script-A-Thon contest in exchange for BlueCat.  What's the difference? First of all, there's less winners which means competition is steep. Second, you get feedback on your script even if you don't win and I value that. Third, the grand prize is ten grand. I'm in.

But what about other smaller contests just to get some exposure? I was looking at Writers Digest and they have contests going on all the time; at least once a month. The winner gets published in their next issue. I think that's great and I'd love to get involved. 

I've never entered any of these contests before. I've never sent my work off to be appraised and rejected...well, just once and I was really sad. This is going to be very new and scary but probably totally worth it in the end.

Are there any other smaller writing contests out there that I've overlooked?  

It's coming! Annnnnnd it's gone.

My mom yelled at me yesterday to clean my room. 

I didn't do it.

She yelled at me again today and said that I was a lazy and filthy so-and-so. 

I wasn't going to clean my room because I didn't feel like it. This made her upset. We finally agreed that if she made me breakfast before I left for work, I'd clean the room.

Problem solved.

All it takes is a little motivation. I knew that if I cleaned the room, I wouldn't have time to eat and I would end up going to work hungry (which I HATE doing). She was nice enough to offer even though she didn't really have to.

How does this relate to writing?

Sometimes, I don't want to write. Sometimes I wake up and think, "what's the point of it all?" Another manuscript that won't make it past the eyes of my friends. Where's the fun in that? 

But then I realize, all I need is some motivation. I'll reward myself with things if I write. Sometimes I look at other blogs posts like this one. Other times I just wait until I feel like writing.

I always say "keep writing" because that's what writers say. I feel like I say it because I'm a writer and I'm expected to say it. What I've learned is, you don't have to write if you don't want to. The world isn't going to end if you decide to take a day off. You can relax. Besides, how are you supposed to have any fun when you're forced? Writing should be fun, not a chore or an obligation. 

I feel like writing now. :)

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter - My Review! (SPOILERS!)

Making a book into a movie is always tricky business. Anyone who didn't read the book may think this is a decent movie. Those who have read the book (like myself) will know that this movie is bullshit.

I'll be the first to say that we all know this is a fictional story. Abraham Lincoln didn't slay vampires. However, the least they could have done was stay true to the text Seth Grahame-Smith created. 

The "new" writing isn't the only thing that bugged me. A lot of the editing was weird. It was like they spent all their money on special effects but forgot to get an editor who could make it all look good together. Some scenes would awkwardly fade into others or cut much too soon.

As far as characters are concerned, they made Henry out to be some frat boy. In the book, Henry is Abe's mentor. Abe seeks Henry for guidance. But in the movie, Henry is just a horny dirtbag. I couldn't respect him.

This movie is heavy in action (and CGI) but lacks the emotion that the book invokes. I never felt like anything was at stake. Abe learned how to slay vampires in a montage that took less than a minute. It was cheesy.

I knew this movie was going to fall below my expectations the minute the trailer was released. I still walked in expecting gold because I paid hard-earned money to see it.

The only good thing I can say is that Benjamin Walker is a good actor and he'll probably go far despite the fact that this movie is shit.