ACCEPTED

Home sick today. Can barely breathe as both lungs have been propelled from my body by racking coughs but I am thankful for one thing. Cable TV. I've been watching bits and pieces of movies all day... Hollywoodland was interesting. I never knew much about the late great Superman. What I know now seems kind of sad. I then switched over to Accepted with Justin Long.. who is a superQT and Lewis Black is, as always, hysterical. Although technically a comedy this one too made me sad. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's about this group of kids who form their own "pretend" college because they can't get accepted anywhere else. Their desperate scheme turns into something of an innovation - students become teachers, students have a say in what they want to learn - tests and scores aren't the only things that matter, passion and creativity are the primary objectives. It's inspiring really except that, well, it's only a movie. And it got me thinking, and frankly somewhat depressed, when I realized that I've been so much more inspired in my life recently by film, by fiction and that although in its own right it's a beautiful thing, there's something wrong with the fact that real life rarely seems to offer the same inspiration or possibilities. A college that really cares about the creative minds of its students shouldn't be fictitious. A government that encourages independence and creativity and free-thought instead of cookie-cutter humanoids who blithely go about their days working the same soul-stripping monotonous jobs and then numbing themselves out on their time off while the gov't lines and relines its pockets with greenbacks.
Why can't a man like Robin Williams be president; why can't we say F**k you to a ridiculous job and go out and discover our own truths apart from labels and other people's expectations? Where is our quest, where is our adventure that doesn't fit so neatly between 9-5? Why do leaders of foreign countries think that Britney Spears is more important and more influential than our own president? Well, that one's simple. Because she's on the cover of every paper and magazine in the country. Isn't there something just a bit strange about the fact that we idolize, we crave celebrities, actors, Hollywood - all these things that aren't even real more than our own lives? Everyone wants so badly to be what they're not that we have a whole industry - a billion dollar industry at that - based on it. DOESN'T ANYONE ELSE SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT? One of the first things I used to ask people when I met them was, "What's your dream?" Most of them didn't even have an answer. Maybe they forgot. Maybe they seemed to difficult to achieve. Maybe money and dreams just don't go together very well - like oil and chocolate syrup. I don't know. But I'm tired of it. I think we all deserve a dream and I think that dream should be much MUCH easier to achieve. It shouldn't depend on how rich your parents were, whether you could afford to go to an ivy league school or whether you have a 4.0. We should ALL be able to have and create whatever we want in our world. I still believe that's possible (somewhere deep deep down beneath all the apathetic cynicism). If we believe it; if we pursue it with passion; if we help each other out. I have friends who can't conceive of a world without war. Why not? I mean really it's as simple as everyone agreeing not to fight, right? Who's the asshole in a world full of peaceable people that still wants to shoot off his pistol? And why do we still have so many assholes? I wish I had a solution. All I have are more questions and possibly more delusions. After all, I am taking a lot of herbs for my cold, so don't mind me....

DUST SWEAT & BLOOD!

Well, it looks like blog4reel is finally up, technically live, and I am surprisingly not a basket-case even though I've been having to deal with one problem after another with our new host, which at the moment, I'm not very happy with. But as I'm reserving judgment I'll avoid slamming them for the moment. True, I am wanting to stress a little but really I DON’T want to cause stress sucks - bad for the body, bad for the spirit - so I’m blogging about it. Josh’s blog reminded me the cathartic benefit of blogging. So I’m thinking blog4reel is so small… nothing comes from San Antonio except for the Spurs, of course. We don’t get recognized for our culture, our art. How will people respond? There’s so much out there.. but then I know you writer’s are a unique wonderful group of people and I believe that you’ll see the fun and the potential in this project. Plus it's just exhilarating to explore new territory.

I’ve been writing since I was probably 8 years old… I would write these not so elaborate journals – all about my crushes and new hello kitty pens; I would write poems about things that meant something to me, evidently – things like bubblegum. (Note: If I hadn’t lost that poem in the move from Washington to Texas, I promise I would have posted it for my friends’ amusement-slash-derision. Alas, no such luck!)
For the past several years all I’ve been writing is scripts. And because I wanted to bring one of them to life I decided I would make it on my own. At that same time, my friend in college sent me his blog. Blogwhat? I had no idea what he was talking about, but I was instantly sucked into his story, it was like reading a great novel, only it was real. I know this person. And it was a fun and beautiful thing to see this person’s life unfold. Naturally I wanted to blend all these loves of mine and blog4reel was born. Thanks again to Josh – now a blog4reel ‘blogstar’. I think you’re brilliant! And thanks to all the bloggers who are willing to share their lives and take risks. For you… I have a quote that always reminds me to take the path that requires the most courage:

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcomings, who knows the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end the high achievement of triumph and who, at worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows his place shall never be with those timid and cold souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

- Theodore Roosevelt

Cloning is Cool!

That is if I can clone myself, like they did in that old Michael Keaton movie that I can't remember the name of at the moment. All I know is I'd be a happy camper if I could have at least a half a dozen work horse me's, one me for the bf, one me to write, one me to film, one Buddha-esque me to keep the other me's relaxed and at one with the universe and then I could chill on the beach and travel the world at my leisure. But alas, there is only one me and frankly that is probably enough for the world at large.

Cloning is not cool, however, on my dinner plate. Just sayin'...
I'm sure everyone's heard by now that the FDA has now approved cloned meat. My primary issue with it is that, as a consumer, I feel I have a right to know what I'm eating - I mean who the hell knows what's going to come of all this twenty years from now. I'd rather not be a guinea pig. What about you? I'm messing with the new polling feature - it's at the top of the page. Place your vote!

Off to bed... sweet dreams.