My Dream Date With Jill

If you got all excited when you read the title to this post, I am sorry to say that Curly and I are still strangers. Sorry Dawn.

So (gotta stop starting my posts with “So” or my seventh grade English teacher is going to hunt me down and castrate me) – anyway, I have been looking for a posting topic that would be something I could turn to every week, once or maybe twice. Something with a recurring theme to keep the VLs at bay.

Jill suggested that I might invite questions from the various women that visit the sight, in an ask Grumpy format. Relationship woes, Ask Grumpy. Dating issues, Ask Grumpy. Foot Massage technique, well, you get the idea. Alternative, I could pick a dating experience from my past and blog on that instead, using that to illustrate some point about keeping a guy happy or making him unhappy.

And I like these ideas. For the first idea, y’all can send in your questions, and I’ll do my best to answer based upon my dime-store psychology (which incidentally has been more often displayed on other people’s sites, in response to their posts (and you know who you are, Steph)), and on the fact that I am a man with a lot of dating experience (which is the result of being 36 and single and living in NYC).

So after suggesting what I consider to be a pretty good idea, if I do say so (I do, I do), Jill came up with an idea for the first post, which to me, has nothing to do at all with the topics she suggested. Here is her question for the first post:

Please describe your concept of a "perfect" first date with Curly. :)

Now, for the unitiated, Jill Is curly.

So the question is, what in the world does the perfect date with Curly have to do with these blogging ideas. Anything? I can’t figure it out.

And why does Curly think that she would be a perfect date? And is she asking what I would consider a perfect date with her? Or the average guy? Or, more likely, is it what Curly would consider a perfect date with a guy that she would consider a perfect, um, guy to date.

Cause I aint no puy-fect guy to date. And I don’t aspire to be. And worst of all, would be to set the bar so high with a perfect date that no relationship following that first date could ever match.

Of course, you could argue that all of those things are simply considerations in deciding what would be that perfect first date.

I think I need a beer. Discuss.

A little evening humor. Too bad not to be good.

A man walks into a bar and orders a triple scotch. As the bartender pours the drink, he remarks, "That's quite a heavy drink. What's the problem?"
After quickly downing his drink, the man replies, "I found my wife in bed with my best friend."
'Wow," says the barkeep. "What did you do about it?" "I walked over to my wife, looked her in the eye, told her to pack her stuff, and get the hell out."
"That makes sense," remarks the barkeep... "And, what about your best friend?"
"I looked him right in the eye and yelled, "Bad Dog"

If a Tree Falls In the Forest, It Better Make Some Noise

As lame as it seems, this makes Hot Baby real (even though I was there, we shot it, we recorded it, we spent the money).



So the movie is being edited, and I haven't seen a lick, but I am anxious. Jeff (the director) says it looks great (especially for the little movie it is) and he seems happy. I am hoping to get an assembly edit within the next few weeks. (BTW - I can't believe I figured out how to do the screenshot thing in like five minutes).

********

Also, My Brother will have a Spotlight screening the evening of Friday, October 6th (complete with after-movie reception) at the Harlem International Film Festival. Anyone in NYC is invited. The screening is being held at the Magic Johnson Theatre.

Grumpster

Cruise Control

So because I am (1) clueless on Blog Etiquette, and (2) because I have probably the most readers right now that I will ever have (well, maybe, but definitely, “that I have ever had”), thanks to Steph’s patronage and Jill’s , ummm, patronage, I almost feel the obligation to provide frequent updates, or new blog entries on totally new topics, for the VLs.

Who are the VL’s?

The people who read blogs are the VLs. I am a VL. Stephs’s a VL. (Wouldn’t ya like to be a VL too?). Stands for Vicarious Lifer.

Anyway, the VLs need to be fed. The more often they are fed, the hungrier they get for more updates. More vicarious living. And to think I was supposed to go to Germany for a film festival for six days and potentially not be blogging the whole time I was there (I’ve decided to bag the trip cause I am way to busy and I need to replace my lost passport, anyway).

So anyway, this post is a response to a reader (who shall remain nameless, Jill) commenting that there isn’t anything for her to respond to in at least thirty six hours).

Now if I can figure out what to blog on? I know that Steph has some kinda blog entries which take the place of personal blogging, like movie quote Fridays, and soggy cereal in the toilet bowl Mondays (oh, wait, wrong blogger). I don’t have any such things on this blog, though I posited the idea of covering entourage episodes, largely to a deafeningly silent response. Also, the fact that the season was basically over and the fact that I know both producers of the show, and the guy who plays the head of WB on the show would make me a little ansy in case they wandered across the blog via MySpace.

So what I need, ppl, is an idea of what can fill in the blanks (yes, I have blanks occasionally – as long as I never shoot them) on those days when I don’t feel so inspired on any one topic.

Like today. This is a blog on blogging, which is kinda like peeing while in the bathtub. I don’t know how its like that, just came to mind.

So what are people’s ideas. What would be a good way to fill in these blanks? Guest bloggers? Surveys? Something movie related? Pictures of ex-girlfriends posted without permission. Footage of Heidi Kristoffer?

A little help?

Too Much?

Just a quick question about Blog etiquette. Would it have been totally irresponsible for me to post a pic of Candidate Number one with her entry. I wouldn't have labelled it and no one would likely recognize her (though I guess they could cross check it against the website for The 10).

Would that have been too crass.

G

UPDATE
She (Candidate Numero Uno) just called me to reschedule getting together from Wednesday to some time early next week. Something about a client coming into town for this new-agey healing thing she does when she isnt acting.

I know myself, prolly wont reschedule. I get annoyed by that kind of thing. Maybe I will, but because Im a little on the fence about the whole thing anyway... She was very nice on the phone about it, so I don't think its subterfuge. I dont know.

Will the Candidates Please Step Forward.

So I've mentioned I am single and looking. And I head out on a typical Saturday nite. Maybe I knew something was up, because I changed my mind last minute and decided not to take the motorcycle....The Better to DRINK You with, My Dear.

Went to the wrap party for the 10 (all misspellings herein intentional to avoid mad googlers) last nite. Interesting that for some reason, while the director and many of the producers were there, none of the stars of the movie seemed to be in attendance. Jessie Alba, Paul Rud, Fam Janssen, Gretch Mol, Win Ryder, none of them bothered to go. I find that kinda lame, and though I wouldn’t blame any single person (for example, I know Paul Rud for example, is filming on the left coast so he obviously has a good reason not to be there, and that list is full of working actors who presumably could have had conflicts and so they didn’t attend?) But it was kinda an o’fer – none of them were there. I was ultimately one of the financiers of this movie (in the sense that I found some dollars for them, not my own money) – I hope that the actors will be interested in promoting it when it comes out more than they were interested in coming back to thank the people that made the movie.

The party was at Gypsy Tea, and was a cool vibe except for the terrible karaoke guy they hired whose computer seemed to go down once per song. The place got packed, and that’s when the candidates started arriving. They must have read my previous blog about being completely uninvolved (except for my strictly on-line romance with Curly, of course). Or maybe my vibe is just “Single.” I clearly didnt need the "I am Single" T shirt last nite.

Candidate Number 1:

She is an actress, and actually had read for parts for two movies I produced (maybe she gets off on rejection?) She is in the 10 (so that’s why she was there) and is quite cute and very sweet. Not sure whats going on there, we sat and talked a bunch during the party. She seemed to want to dance, and it was too crowded for me to show my moves, so I let her go. She also seemed to be playing the field a bit – told me so – said that she should be networking (which is fair, for a young actress at the wrap party of an indie with a Hollywood A list cast). Now the obvious negatives, she is an actress, and that typically a non-starter for me. In fairness though she doesn’t come off as particularly self-centered at all. She does come from a show biz family though. Incidentally, she just this moment emailed me to get together this week. Like just now. Wonder if its supposed to be a date. She did say she wanted to go for a motorcycle ride. For the uninitiated, that involves a women putting an enormous, vibrating hot machine between her legs. For some, I guess thats Old Hat.

Candidate Number 2:

A girl I met through my friend Bill, when he showed up at the party on the late side. Bill was one of the people involved in raising money for this pic as well. He showed up with five women, cute and otherwise. One of them is a TV exec. who spent the evening alternatively flirting with me and some twenty five year old kid who looked twelve (this was after the actress and I had parted ways). She was smart and cute and a bit of a wise-ass (which I clearly like). I didn’t have overwhelming attraction to her, physically, though, but she seemed fun and I would have gone home with her last nite, but I don’t “try out” as Crash said it best. And I certainly wasn’t trying out against a 25 year old kid. And so when we left this rooftop party on 31st which we hit after Gypsy Tea, and we were splitting a cab with Junior, I declined to get in to her apparent surprise and sent them on their way without me. Frankly, Scarlet, I was exhausted by that point anyway. But I took her number and I know she’d get together if I bother to call it. Maybe I’ll email her. She’s a good biz contact anyway, something I may not want to “fuck up,” pun intended.

Candidate Number 3.
I don’t know her name (and I don’t think it ever registered, she came with Bill too and I just blanked after the introduction). She was one of those same- nighter girls that I never would call which is why I didn’t take her number when I put her in a cab (she looked at me very confusedly while getting in the cab, because I spent quite some time talking to her and I guess she thought that she had it like that -um, she didnt).

Cute enuf, a little long in the tooth for me, and girls in their late thirties (guessing, but that’s what she looked like) are a little scary to me, living on the upper east side, probably with two cats, and lotsa books. And yoga mats. And stuffed animals. And frankly I have to draw the line somewhere. Pass.
*************************

But it was a fun nite. Felt strangely tired (maybe from going to the gym earlier?) despite a few vodka redbulls (it was also my third nite out in a row, not my normal). Johnny disappeared pretty early, after making the rounds with the producers, and a few people he knew. He apparently went on a booty call, as per his late nite text. Gotta hear what that was all about.

So what do people think. Bachelorette Number One, Two or Three (obviously not three, and I don’t even have her number). So one or two. Problem is, I don't have this overwhelming attraction, on first blush to either of them. So maybe Bachelorette One, Two or Zero.

G

Why Blog?

So completely different topic. Well, completely different sub-topic, on the main topic, which is usually the dating life of a movie producer with (1) an awareness that he should have balance in his life between work and play, and (2) an awareness that he doesn’t have any balance in his life between work and play.

This blogging thing, though. What about it? Do people date off of their blogs? Meet people in person and become friends? Am I developing my own personal JDate? Egads.

I guess underlying these questions are, what is the whole point of blogging? At the wrap party for Hot Baby, last nite at Liberty, Heidi Kristoffer and I were discussing why I blog. She asked if it was simply therapy (as if I need it, the implication clearly being made) or were there other reasons. And while I replied without much thinking about it that the reason was indeed therapy, I don’t think that it’s a complete answer.

The other peripherals, I’m not sure. I definitely didn’t intend to begin to meet people in person by blogging. But now, getting invitations from people to meet them, entreatments, flirting, etc. makes it seem like that this might be a reason for people to set up blogs. Now, I already have my friends set, and I couldn’t possibly fit anyone else in before there is a death in the inner circle, so that’s not much of a draw for me. Who knows, though, there is always the possibility of an exception.

One reason I set the blog up, beyond to just have a space to vent, was to have a forum to combat what BITTER is always saying (or was, she seems to have stopped now that I have my own blog) about me on her blog. It became readily apparent that it was something my friends and even some colleagues enjoyed reading so that they could keep up with what is going on with me.

But I put the question to all of you that have blogs. Why do you do it? And has the reason why you do it coincided with any success?

Grumpster

Browser Rant

This ugly ass blog template, courtesy of Blogger, is temporary. I need to find a compatible, decent looking template that actually allows people of all browser denominations to fuckin read the stupid shit that spills out onto the screen. Now that would be a start, wouldn't it.

And I call u bitter, Steph.

Anyway. The call is out, so if you can direct me to a template source that might have something in a 42L, 34W, for a movie producer dude who is semi-computer literate and that is fully functional on the multitude of browsers that people use when they are shirking work, their signif. others, or whyever else anyone in the world would want to read about my life (other than people I know that I don't call back as often as i should), well, send it my way. I'll throw it up there. I don't care if it features Pee Wee Herman, as long as it looks better than this kelp-green standardized haiku spewing bullshit that has now, joy of joys, become the visual representation of my online personality.

As if I had one.

Grumpy (as hell).

Going Shopping

Im tired. Very tired. Took the rents to dinner for my Pop’s birthday at BLT Prime. Good Ribeye and this great beet and goat cheese appetizer. Ran into Uncle Shelly, by chance, and said hi. He’s kinda a weird bird, but he’s family.



Im not tired from dinner. Its time to finish My Brother, a very daunting task given that we have very little money with which to try to accomplish this task. A lot depends on being able to finish it, like our theatrical release schedule and maybe the goodwill of our distributor (which is very important because so much judgment goes into the distribution of a film). We have a portion of the money to finish up, and finishing up is no mean feat. But we need a bunch more and finding money isn’t the easiest task in the world. On top of the other obligations I have (finishing off Hot Baby (to the extent I remain involved while the film is being cut at Apple), getting another project or three set up, going over the biz plan with Nick Brooks for our venture, and dealing with various sales, festival and distribution issues for My Brother and for The Insurgents, I am just tired. Pooped. I have this fatigue level that never seems to be totally gone. I think once My Brother is out the door, maybe then it will be gone. Been such a long process of doing it, ups and downs, winning the Grand Jury Prize at the American Black Film Festival, getting half-offers that never became full offers, getting great offers that became shitty offers, getting shitty offers I had to turn into decent offers.

Cant you see I’m tired.

And then all this relationship crap with E. Or without E. My parents, at dinner started talking (well, my Mom did) about my ex. Jeanne. Great girl. She’s gone (oh, my, oh, my) and she aint coming back, which is fine with me now, two years later. But makes me think about being 36 and this handsome (haha) and smart and funny and totally single. Like, it must be by choice on some level. I know that I must have a part in my singledom (Curly, you know what I’m talking about).

So whats the cure for this. I can’t seem to find the right gal. And going for a quick fix, someone to spend time with in the meantime, doesn’t help the situation.

So I’ve decided that I am going to order a mail order bride. Does anyone know which countries have the best bargains these days? Cambodia? Pakistan? Staten Island?

G.

*****
My links arent working. Any help? I am using the following format and they dont work? Help, geek girls or anyone else.
"(a href="http://mybrotherthemovie,com">My Brother

IE BUGS: PLEASE DONT STAND BY

Still having big problems with the site when viewed on IE. Can anyone help? Bitter tried to lend a hand and solved all but the IE based problems, but my friends who use IE are still telling me that the site is screwed up. If you have any ideas please let me know.

The Job's The Thing

Wrapped Hot Baby ten AM this morning in the great state of Pennsylvania. We bid our adieus to a fine crew and I was asleep (as was Heidi Deidi) with John Gallagher driving us back within 20 minutes of pulling out of Becky’s Drive In Movie Theater. Great location, nice people, but boy was I glad to be back and glad to be off my aching feet.

Having wrapped shooting, I still have a bunch of paperwork to do – budgets brought to actual, payroll, etc. and that’s going to take a good part of the week. Also, I’ll be turning my attention back to Rev. Jesse and My Brother and all the other plates that I have spinning. But also, now that I am finished, something occurred to me.

I am totally uninvolved and without real romantic prospects for the first time in many months. Now that I will have a little time, I have less of a need for it. Guess I’ll keep working.

So what to do. Im totally uninterested in dating websites (sorry Curly) and think that they are just not a good fit for me. There were a few women working on the movie (one cast, one crew) who I could be interested in but I didn’t sense strong reciprocal interest. Or maybe I couldn’t decifer it through all the other shit that is going through peoples minds when they are working on a movie together – and beyond that, I am the Producer and that’s a whole different can of worms.

Anyone have any ideas? Otherwise its back to the drawing board, and just this evening, I am feeling low on chalk.

Joe and Emily, posing

Here's a pic of Joe in makeup, with Emily Grace as Doreen. This one is for Frank and Steph, for picking my page up and shaking out the kinks.

The Entourage, In review

So I am thinking of starting to review the weekly entourage episodes (rather than reviewing my various sexual encounters). Since (1) they seem to vary so much in quality, from exceptional to laughable (and not in a good way) and (2) I have more insight into how they are laughable than you faithful readers presumably, perhaps the review would be a good use of blog space (not that its limited so much). On the other hand, since I know the people who produce the show at Leverage, and I run the risk of them figuring out that I've panned their latest episode (especially when I am potentially pitching a TV project with them to HBO) and (f) many of you could maybe give a shit about (f(little a) Entourage, or (f(little b)) what I think of Entourage, maybe I wont do it. Why dont y'all let me know.

And Im going to take a lack of a comment as a NO!

G

Win a Date With Petey

Win a Date with the chameleon-like Brian Vincent - just make your comment below and he's all yours.

In CHARACTER

So here's a pic of my scene that I'm in for the movie I'm producing, Hot Baby. My bit part, been a cop now, also a bartender, a biker dude, an audience member and a perverted business man.

Also makes it quite clear that movie making has not been good for my lifestyle this summer. Been to busy to eat right, and trips to the pool/gym too far in between. And so, once this movie is in the can, need to start to hit the gym in earnest again.

God, Im starting to sound like a woman.

Anyway, there will be more pics from the shoot in the next few days.

Greg

	Web YOUR DOMAIN NAME

Cheesy mustache not included

So here is a pic of me on set with Heidi Kristoffer, who plays Jen in the picture. They shaved the beard from my normal goatee (feels weird to have a clean chin after four years) so that i'd have just the mustache as a country cop (a bit part). Whaddya think, should i go with this look?

Greg

	Web YOUR DOMAIN NAME

Long Days Journey Into Nite

We shot very late last nite, so late that when we finished, it was, in fact, this morning. As expected (but a bit, OK, a bunch more so) last nite was a cram job schedule wise, and we shot all nite until dawn. The stuff we got looked great, but everyone was exhausted by the time that the nite was over. I had to drive Joe Coots (pictured below as Jesus (pronounced Hay-seus) and Brian Vincent (playing Petey) back to the city after the shoot. Didn’t get home until 730 AM or so, and woke up for some reason as 1200. Now Im an eight hour guy, so from time to time today, since I woke, I’ve been hitting the wall. Now, as I am writing, even after a fourth coffee, is one of those times.

Got yet some more crazy texts from E. Last nite, one told me that I could sleep at her place after work if I wanted? Don’t know where any indication that I might have been into that could have come from. In any event, we were swamped last nite and I worked all nite, and the last thing on my mind would have been some half-baked 8AM booty call with E. So I didn’t respond to the text, taking the advice of Bitter, who said I was just feeing her and that I should cut her off completely. I felt she was right, so I didn’t reply at all.

Of course, never one not to pour gasoline on smoldering embers, E sent me some wacky emails today., She started with telling me that now I know how it feels to be chased by someone (thanks E, I already knew). And that she felt “calm sadness” that I avoid her.

Good, at least she is calm.

Of course the calmness only lasted minutes, and was broken by a second text. Here she thanks me for being so cruel to her, which I am using to build my personal life experiences (really?). Also, that I am a coward?

Now she’s said this coward thing a few times, and I still don’t get it. How am I a coward? Because I avoid her? Not really sure? How would a woman see this as being cowardly. I mean, we’ve had the DISCUSSION.

Then another text, “Not U R mean coward.” No clue what this one means. Can anyone who speaks psychochick tell me how to decifer this (which is admittedly the Eastern European dialect of it). Heidi, you used to speak pyschochick, didn’t ya?

After the last missive, I was kinda pissed. Called her up and left her a message, saying basically that I didn’t know what she was talking about, that she should get over it (yeah, I know) and that she should stop sending me texts. She responded “Don’t worry, I Understand.”

We shall see.

	Web YOUR DOMAIN NAME

A pic of the Hot Baby Killer - First look, Kiddies

	Web YOUR DOMAIN NAME

Please Stand By

So it looks like Ive been carrying liquid explosives into my blog, cause its all fucked up. Anyway, my sister Steph is working on the code, and hopefully the temporary picture change (unfortunately to a picture that is smaller that I already had at imageshack, due to lighting (and definitely not to a follicle deficiency) makes me look half bald. But its temporary and has the added bonus of having a picture of my biz partner John (no that isnt Peter Jackson) and a random American Idol contestant, Mario Vasquez (he attended one of my film festival screenings).


Anyway, so I am working on it and as I sit here on set in NJ, and we have what should be the longest day of the shoot - we are shooting the bloody, urine-soaked (a little at least) climax (no, Jilly not that kinda climax) of the picture tonite.

Grumpy

	Web YOUR DOMAIN NAME

That Which Does Not Kill Me

Lemme know what you think of the new layout. Still tweaking it with Sis’ help.


Im out at this party, for lets say, the PM of Jamaica (boring party, no music, no jerk chicken, nothing), Anyway, so I’ve been invited by my PR person, who is throwing the party (the country of Jamaica is her client) and she thinks that it might be a good networking event for me given what I do. In fact, it might have been but it wasn’t – there were lots of music industry bigwigs there, but I didn’t know who they were so I didn’t meet them.

Anyway, I always say that almost all movie productions have a “OMIGOD” tragedy one time during their production and the world stops. Then, because on a movie, you have to keep going or you don’t finish, you move on.

Have ya guessed where I am going with this yet?

So…I am at the dull party and this dude has just started hurling on and in front of the couch. Tan, drippy puke – keeps pouring out of his mouth, almost silently. Didn’t smell either, but he was making up for it in volume.

Anyway, I keep sidetracking. Sorry. I get a call. It’s the UPM, Martin (don’t blame me, I didn’t name him).

M- “Greg I got some fuckin shittty new.”

G (me) - “Oh Yeah.”

M- “Can you go somewhere you can talk”

G – “Just Tell Me” as I brace myself to hear that my lead actor was incinerated by BBQ, or worse, we lost a day of footage.

Actually what happened was that a truck picking up a load of very expensive equipment was broken into and probably close to 100,000 (I am guessing) dollars worth of equipment was stolen. Now, of course, we have insurance, and of course, there is a deductible, but generally, I am not totally sure what the fallout from this event is.

Seems the PA must have put the gear in the truck and walked away to get a YooHoo or something. Anyway, he didn’t event realize the van had been broken into until he got to set. And then, to top it off, we didn’t have the equipment we need for tomorrow either.

Just generally sucks. But as I said, you keep going. Like Climbing Everest – very schedule dependent, and you cant stop or you die.

Makes me wonder a bit if the kid maybe ….nah. I met him, he doesn’t seem like the type. Just, you’d hope people would be a little smarter than to throw a bunch of visibly expensive equipment in a truck and then walk away from it. Even if it was just to go take a piss – why wouldn’t you drive somewhere where noone saw you load the van before you did so. Just common sense.

Hope there isn’t any more fallout from this other than the loss of the deductible.

	Web YOUR DOMAIN NAME

Setting Pretty

830 PM. Tuesday Nite (Cue Fireflies, thank you) - Sitting on set in Wachtung, NJ. Now, we all know that NJ gets a bad rap for being the ugliest state in the country, and on the drive down, from the Holland Tunnel, let me tell you dear readers, the case is well supported. But now that we are down in bucolic (yes, Happy, I can spell it too) Wachtung, I can say that there are beautiful parts of NJ no more than thirty minutes away. It is a beautiful spot, the home of the parents of the director, Jeff, and the landscaping along is worth the visit. Add in a huge outdoor deck, a great outdoor kitchen (from which our catering emanates), a pool, several out-buildings, its just a great spot to shoot. I’d like to write a whole movie based at this location – simply the most comfortable I have ever been on a shoot – even those that are twenty times the budget. We’re here four more days after today – wish it could be the whole thing.

Everything’s going real well – we have Emily, Adam and Heidi working today. Heidi is an actress John G and I have worked with time and time again – shes just the right kinda spunky, and shes perfect for one of the parts in the movie. She has, in equal parts, smart cookie and smart ass, and the camera can tell. She was the bi-coastal star of the hit show, Pieces (of Ass). She also reads this blog, so everyone google her and leave her a comment saying Hi Heidi Deidi.

Otherwise, we were a bit slow, problems with an 8MM project and some new location holdups. But basically, things went well again, after a great day at the hospital in Irvington yesterday.

On the My Brother front, finally at the point of final decision. Reverend Jessie came down to see the movie (yeah that Reverend) and wants to get involved and get the word out. We’re going out to Chicago (who is paying, I have no idea) to do a press conference. Want to make that happen sooner rather than later so that it can help get the movie seen by more people…

Also had dinner with Nick Brooks and a banker and that is looking somewhat promising, but we shall see. Nick has great enthusiasm, however, and that’s always helpful.

Anyway, gotta get my burger, we’re bbq’ing and I love BBQ.

	Web YOUR DOMAIN NAME

Processing Information

Two days into the shoot, and besides the general problems of any set/production that result from having a bunch of inexperienced production people running things (an unavoidable consequence of the fact that the movie is low budget, and so we cannot afford more seasoned production staff), things are generally going pretty smoothly. We’ve been putting things together on time, the sets have looked good, and the casting seems to be working out nicely. I felt, perhaps unfairly, that there was some negativity about our outlook from certain members of the production, going in, because of the issues with Jim getting sick, casting Tex late, etc. However, either way, those potential clouds have parted and the production is starting to gel in the way it needs to so that we can make a good movie.

E. has turned into a text stalker. She texts met three or four times a day it seems, usually with seemingly innocuous questions like “Is J. Phoenix American or French” (American) or what is the name of the great little urban drama you showed me last month (Fresh). Peppered in with the salt, however, are zingers like “I miss you too much” and “I very much whant (sic) to see you” and Are you trying to make me die?” (huh?). After an alarming text last nite, I gave her a call to see what was up. She doesn’t seem to think that its “over,” somehow, despite the fact that I haven’t called her but once in six weeks, haven’t seen her in that time, and told her before then that it wasn’t working for me. She told me that she wanted to know if I would come over this week, or we could meet somewhere and get together. Or she would (for the first time ever, come see me at my place). I begged off, saying that since I am in production I couldn’t get together this week, but that we’d talk soon. She said that she thought that I’d already made my decision about her (uh, yeah, hello) and I didn’t know what to say. I thought that it was obvious, mostly because I told her that it wasn’t working for me.

Now its somewhat flattering to have this beautiful woman haunting me – but at the same time, its disconcerting. How clearly do I need to say that its over for this woman to get that its over. When I got the call, I was, as is my tendency, a bit nostalgic (remember that there are things about her, even beyond her looks, that I liked) but then I remembered some of my general issues with E.

Like – shes a selfish lover. I swear to god, she had me on orgasms at least six or seven to one, maybe more.
Like- when she is upset the gloves come off, and quick.
Like – I just don’t think she is that nice a person, or that honest a person.

These are good reasons, to me, not to get re-involved. Because of my tendency not to be able to detach from relationships that don’t work for me, its pretty imperative that I demonstrably do so because I don’t want to get all tangled up. I thought I had done that.

I guess she didn’t agree.

	Web YOUR DOMAIN NAME

Cutting the cheese

Last day before production begins. Everyones been working really really long hours and been very stressed out.

This just in- this production (which I didn’t budget) is underbudgeted. Slice it anyway you want, we’re spreading the cheese very very thin. Im good, I think, at doing that, but the problem is that some of my own, er, cheese is now being spread as well, and Im from the school of producers that doesn’t believe in investing your own money in your projects. Just not the best idea because, among other things, it makes you subjective about your project. That can cause fatal errors in judgment. And producing, dear readers, is all about judgment.

We did lock our last lead today (thank god – was getting very worried). The part shoots Sunday and we chased a bunch of actors, including the guy who played Zed in Pulp Fiction, who woulda been great. We ended up with a fine actor who came by recommendation and Im relived and pleased to have him aboard. All in, we have a good little cast for the movie, including stars from the last three Sundance special jury winners, and some other key players. We did a full table read last nite, and it went off great. People were laughing in all the right spots, and saying ick in all the right spots. If we can make our days on this short schedule (always a challenge on a low budget project) we should be in good shape. Now, can we make our days? I guess we’ll begin to find out tomorrow.

G

	Web YOUR DOMAIN NAME