// Living My Script Dream //

2008 Seattle Seahawks Scrimmage Game

2008-08-02T20:29:00.000-07:00

The Seahawks start the season 1-0!! Today at Qwest Field, under a blue sky and perfect football conditions, the Seahawk offense battled the Seahawk defense...and you guessed it...the Seahawks won!! :)

Heather and I found out about this scrimmage game a while ago, looked into the cost of it, and decided it would be something super fun to take Evan and Hollyn's cousin, Alexis, to. We got permission to have Alexis join the Andersons for a few days, so we drove up to Seattle on Friday night and stayed with a friend of Heather's in Kirkland. They were super hospitable and we enjoyed our time with them very much!

Next morning we were up early and off to Qwest field in time for the gates to open at 9:00am. As we arrived there was a decent sized line and I feared for the worst, but as we entered the stadium we found that a number of sections still had seats in the lower rows! We grabbed some great ones in the 4th row up, just off the 50 yard line. Seats I will never again see if I have to pay for them, as they would typically cost a fortune!

We were also joined by the Baylisses...whom some of you will remember as one of the other co-founders of Edge Gear Clothing. Jack and I were also roommates during that time, and it was great to get to see my old friend and his family.

We spent a ton of money on food, souvenirs, and more food...but it was well worth it. We got to spoil cousin Alexis, we got to spend time with old friends, and we got to cheer for our beloved Seahawks who appear ready for another Super Bowl run despite the shake-up at the running back position this offseason.

Here are some pics of the event.

Cousin Alexis with Hollyn and Evan. Ready to cheer on the Seahawks!

Qwest Field. Plenty of GOOD seats available for us!

4th row on the 50-yard line. I would never be able to afford these seats for a real game!

Now that's a fan club.

Go Seahawks!

Evan got a fan mask and thought it was funny when we'd slip a garlic fry in the mouth hole!

Deion Branch doing some rehab work. I yelled to him "Be ready by week one or you're on the bench and I'm coming in, baby!" He doesn't look to happy about that, huh? (ok, that was a joke!)

I think our cousin was having a great time!

Seahawk cheerleader in the making.

I don't share my garlic fries with anyone! OK, maybe I do!

Girl power!

The kids down in front cheering on the Hawks.

Yes, Evan...they really are that big and fast!

S-E-A-H-A-W-K-S!

They are just too dang cute.

Happy times with my baby!

Player stretch time. Heather wanted a pic of the players' butts, so...here you go!

Coach Holmgren overheard chatting with this assistant coach about a wirey looking fan presumed to have blazing speed and quick hands! I was so ready to jump in if called upon!

There's the man. #8 - Matt Hasselbeck! (walking with backup QB Seneca Wallace) After the scrimmage Matt was the first one to round the field and give greet the fans. Evan and I BOTH got high 5's from him!!

My buddy Jack snapping pics too.

#22 is our new RB, Julius Jones. Lots of other big names walking just yards away from us.

THE Seahawk...getting a pet from the kids.

Hawkie hairdo!

Lofa Tatupu - the heart of the defense!

This was our first time in Qwest Field. Awesome. Great football weather day!

Cutest football fan EVER!

Our friends' twin boys were adorable in their Seahawk gear with fauxhawks.

One of the twins pokes Evan in the rear with his new foam cheer finger.

New best friends...Hunter and Alexis.

After a while a few people in the front row left, so Evan and I got as close to the action as a fan could get.

Blue eyes and blue skies.

Really BLUE eyes!

Evan's never really liked football so here's hoping the scrimmage makes it more tangible for him.

The kids watch a train going by after the game.

Good thing Evan had the mask on backwards or he might'a got a surprise nose pick.

The Blue Thunder band was rockin' all through the game.

We ran into the Seahawk again as we left, so the kids got a better chance to pet it.

Newest member of the "12th Man"

BFF and new 12th Man members

This cool wall plaque is made up of all the helmets of high schools in Washington State.

The game is over and we're headed home. What a fun time!

Two years later...where am I?

2008-07-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

OK. So tonight I got a swift kick in the twig and berries with the realization that I've had this blog for over two years and I'm only marginally ahead of where I was back then and nowhere near where I wanted to be with my scriptwriting by this point.

For starters...there's the glaring elephant in the corner that this blog has morphed into more of a journal of our family adventures than anything that has to do with writing. Uggg.

But I love my family. And the truth is, aside from work, it's where I put the majority of my free time because I love it. Maybe it's just part of the drill when you have little ones. I mean, it's not like a 6 and 3 year old are hiding out in their room all night listening to goth music and hating on their parents like I think they'll do ten years from now!

So for now I'll keep hanging out with my little ones, watching Spy Kids 2 for the four thousand'th time...and I'll take a little solace in those few days a month where everyone is off doing something else and it's just me and my laptop for an extended period of time!

But the truth is...I have been feeling the itch to write again lately. And not just to write, but to MAKE time to write. And that itch sometimes grows into a such a pester that it forces me to dig into the uncomfortable times, the early morning hours or the "write through my lunch break" times, to keep that juice a'flowin' and build a little momentum again.

"Inside" was my first script. I completed it and pitched it to a few execs. A rep for TNT said she thought it needed an adjustment through an overhaul of one of a major character. I agreed and a rewrite is about 60% completed.

"Like Brothers" was my second script. It, too, was completed and then found to have a flaw too fundamental to gloss over. In it's first form it got a read from Warner Brothers, and the review told me many things I already knew. Some good, some bad.

What's frustrating is when you feel like you are either A. Talented enough, B. Driven enough, or C. A combination of A. and B. and you know if you could dedicate your full efforts to something then you could succeed! But there's this little thing called a DAY JOB standing in the way.

But I started this blog in July 2006 with a post about Mike Rich, a talk-radio DJ here in the Portland, OR area that worked during the day and wrote at night only to craft a fantastic little script called "Finding Forrester" which lead to a number of other scripts and I'm sure the retirement from talk-radio.

I guess this is just a time for me to reflect on how quickly time passes and realize it isn't going to stop itself and wait for me to get on board! I gotta grab it by the ears and wrestle it into submission. And get a few more scripts done!!

Here's to the next two years and to being in a different spot...much different!

Score One for Lawn Owners Everywhere

2008-07-19T15:55:00.001-07:00

I'm not usually a fan of killing animals, but there's one particular critter that causes me more grief than others. The lawn mole! So imagine my surprise the other day when Evan starts shouting for me to come outside cause there's "two of those black animals with brown hands." I was like "what is he talking about" so when I got out where he was imagine my surprise to see two moles either fighting or mating on top of the lawn. I hated to do it, but I love our lawn, so I told the kids to run inside and I went and got a shovel. By the time I got back the moles had separated and both were attempting to head back underground. In the middle of the day I couldn't lose my chance to rid myself of one of these pests that have tormented our nice green lawn. A few whaps later and one of the moles was dead.

I've never seen one before, so the kids and I took a close look. I had to give quite the explanation to the kids how we don't normally kill animals, but...

What can you do? Here is the mole.

Grandpa Don in Town & Evan's Soccer Team's Pool Party

2008-06-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

With so many members of our family in the "teaching" profession, summertime often brings family visits. This time it was Grandpa Don coming down from Yakima to hang out with Evan and Hollyn for a few days. Man did he spoil them rotten. He took them to see WALL-E at the movie theater, took them putt-putt golfing a couple times, took them out for dinner one night, bought them a ton of toys and candy, and loved on them both like a good Grandpa would. It was great to have him down for a couple days!

Today it got up to 100 degrees in Vancouver, which happens maybe a couple times a summer, so it was the PERFECT day to have a pool party at the coach's house of Evan's new soccer team. Usually we have a party at the end of the season but Coach Chris felt like a party at the beginning would help the kids get to know each other better and I couldn't agree more. We had a great time playing in his pool. Hollyn, especially, loved jumping from the edge of the pool over and over again.

OK...I had to throw this pic in too. Evan was getting ready for bed and apparently feeling a little feisty. He put on his black thermal jammies and then modified a pair of underoos for his Ninja mask.

The Mt. Hood Scramble!

2008-06-18T22:38:00.001-07:00

Where to begin?! Earlier this year I participated in a "diet contest" at work. One of my co-workers and I would often egg each other on to put in greater and greater effort. It was all in good nature and I guess it worked, as each of us lost over 20 pounds in 12 weeks. When the contest stopped though our desire to maintain a new active lifestyle did not.

Meanwhile, back at home one night, Heather and I were watching a reality show that covered an adventure run at Camp Pendleton called the "Mud Run." It looked like a freaking blast, so I showed the website to my co-worker and we both thought it would be an awesome thing to do.

Flash-forward about a month and my co-worker found another adventure run here in Portland and DARED me to do it. She wanter to enter too, but would be out of town on the date of the event. I had about a month and a half to prepare and I had been running quite a bit to lose weight in my diet contest, so I figured "why not."

Unfortunately, as I began running more frequently...AND...began running on different types of terrain, a ligament along side my left knee (known as an ITB or Iliotibial Band) became inflamed regularly and never allowed me to run more than two miles at a time. Even the week before the run the issue had not been remedied and I visited the doctor to see if there was anything that could be done. He said take a lot of Ibuprofen and hope for the best.

Sunday, June 15th, was a gorgeous day up on Mount Hood! Sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-60s greeted the 400'ish other crazy runners. The race started at 10:00am, with a course that stretched out 6.8 miles criss-crossing along White River and working up and down the surrounding sno-park. Terrain was mostly snow, but also included trail, gravel, boulder, thick brush, and rushing river. What had I gotten myself into!?

As the race began I took a slow pace to try and not go out of the gate all amped up and flare my knee right away. With the narrow trail winding throughout the landscape I often found I could only run as fast as the person in front of me, sometimes coming to a walk when the masses would bottleneck at a tricky area such as the river crossings or rock drop or such. I was actually really enjoying the run, the atmosphere, and attitudes of the other runners as they would yell out whenever danger was near, such as 2-3 foot holes in the snow that were barely visible and could easily been stepped in as you ran along the trail.

As expected though...about two miles into the run my ITB flared up and the fun run quickly turned into an agonizing walk. It was at this point that we looped back by the start/finish line and I was cheered on by Heather and the kids, who also came up and entertained themselves while I was running. It was a nice encouragement to see them.

The next two miles were the toughest from a mental perspective, as every step was uphill (sometimes STEEP) and moving further away from the finish line was annoying. Many, many times I thought "Man, my knee is killing me. I can't keep going. How much further up this mountain do I have to limp!" I just had to keep telling myself that every little step I was making was one step closer to the finish line though, even if I was moving further away.

Then came that glorious turn-around. I had reached the top of our trail and it was all downhill from here...back towards the finish line, so the mental challenge was over but the physical challenge was just beginning. Every step I made, on slippery snow, downhill, was agonizing on my left knee. I was so bummed not to be able to run! I know I had more gas left in the tank! But the knee wouldn't allow it, so I tried to keep it stiff, like a peg-legged pirate, to alleviate the rubbing of my ITB. It was useless on the snow though! Matter of fact, I actually started overcompensating so much that my right ITB started hurting. I was like "oh great!" But I just kept going. One step, slide, stumble, whatever, at a time!

And then...FINALLY...there it was...the finish line! With Heather and the kids waiting, cheering, happy to see Daddy make it alive! What a fun and challenging day. I'm still sore three days later, but I'm glad I took my co-workers challenge (and 1400mg of Ibuprofen) and conquered the Mt. Hood Scramble. The race took me 2 hours and 20 minutes, and I swear when I crossed the finish line a guy told me I was 199th, but tonight the results have been posted and I'm 277th. Oh well, I knew I was slow as molasses, and I'm still just glad I did it. You can bet there will be other races once I get my knees all figured out!

You can view all the pics from the Scramble here. If you want to search for me, I was racer #6, but most of those pics are cheesy and lame. The one that we thought was cool is posted below, as are the other pics we took.

When we arrived cars and runners were everywhere.

That's me at registration. Wait, am I crying ALREADY!?

Such a gorgeous day up on Mt. Hood!

The participants are lining up behind me. Better take one last pic with the kids in case I don't make it back alive!

You know you're old when even the stretching hurts!

Here goes nothing!

Off we go! I wish I had a camera out on the course to show you more of the trail!

This picture was taken by the official race photographer, Brian Conaghan. One of the many times we criss-crossed over White River. It was usually thigh deep and you had to be VERY careful of your footing or you were gonna fall face-first into the river!

Here's me looping back at about the 2 mile mark.

That there is PAIN as I kept trying to run on a bum knee.

6.8 miles later I get a high-5 from Evan as I near the finish line.

At least I wasn't last...barely!

The group was very laid back and fun. The organizers had free soup, beer, gatorade, watermelon, and plenty of prizes.

BTW...many runners brought their dogs who also ran the route. Nothing like getting passed by a dog.

While I was running the kids played and entertained themselves.

No...Evan is NOT peeing!

What good kiddos!

A little well-deserved post-race rest.

Wait a second...shouldn't "I" be getting the back rub???

Father's Day Present - A Portland Timbers Game

2008-06-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day this year Heather and the kids surprised me with tickets to a Portland Timbers game. It was a gorgeous Saturday night and we and 8,000 other local soccer fanatics took in an international exhibition with the Timbers downing an Italian squad called Juventus Primevara by a score of 1-0. It was an extremely fun night filled with good food, exciting soccer, and family smiles.

F-U-T-B-O-L... S-M-I-L-E-S!

A very happy Father's Day present!

Joey Webber was introduced as the Timbers new official team mascot, following the retirement of long-time team icon “Timber” Jim Serrill earlier this year.

Evan lent the Timbers some good luck by rubbing and holding a slice of timber.

We had the first row of the back section so we had a pretty good view.

Hollyn really took to the cheers the fans did. She was solid on the clapping parts!

I'm not sure if Evan is more excited about the cotton candy vendor or the game?

Of course I was pretty excited about my pretzel and nacho cheese too!

Great Wolf Lodge

2008-06-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

A few years back we were looking for a central location to hold a reunion of friends from college scattered on both coasts, and we had looked into waterparks in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. One of the ones we liked best was the Great Wolf Lodge, so imagine our surprise a few years later when GWL built a new Lodge in Grand Mound, WA (about 80 miles north of Vancouver). Introductory pricing only made the deal more attractive, so we booked a room for last week and here are the pictures. Sorry they aren't in the best order!

The Great Wolf Lodge

What a beautiful entry! The kids were very impressed.

The suites off the side of the waterpark.

We tried to snap a shot of the big Typhoon slide and other tube rides that come out of the building.

We got started in the kiddie pool.

Watch out brother!

Back at you sister!

Evan wasn't too impressed with the kiddie slides.

Pose for a picture. One of the coolest parts of the parks was that every little thing seemed to control something. If you pulled on the blue/white ropes (like Hollyn is holding) water squirted six feet in the air out of holes nearby.

Thank God the tubes were lifted to the top for us. I can't imagine carrying them up all those stairs.

Blacklight arcade...cool.

Evan loved skee ball almost as much as Hollyn.

But not quite!

Mommy hit the jackpot on a game and won the kids a ton of tickets!

Back to the waterparks for day two!

The kids catch a little night-time story time from a GWL employee.

The wave pool was Evan's favorite part.

What a fun trip so far!

Wally the Wolf gives Evan a hug.

Happy kids...

make for a happy family!

Goodnight kisses from Hollyn.

and from Evan.

Relaxing after a fun first day.

Evan watches Spy Kids during a little rest time.

She's a pretty tired girl from all the fun.

Day two starts with the Wolf Walk, where we learn all about wolves including how to howl!

Evan needs a little help with is origami wolf.

Crawling like wolves to scare the Lodge's reception staff.

The clock tower.

The kiddie pool.

This fortress had a huge bucket on top that filled with water...

and dumped it every few minutes...

on the people below. We must have done this a half dozen times.

Evan was thrilled to run into a classmate at the Lodge. They played together a lot of the second day.

Daddy was on kiddie pool patrol.

She's not a fan of paparazzi.

Evan LOVED punching the waves as they crashed into him.

The tubular twosome!

Midday snack brought cotton candy ice cream.

Evan took in an "edutainment" class called Bouncing Bullfrogs.

His origami frog gets some swirly eyes.

Evan got to scoop soil, plant a plant, throw in some rocks and a fake frog to complete his first terrarium.

Evan's crayon pressing of a bullfrog.

We had so much fun.

Kisses for Daddy!

Evan had a hard time keeping one of his swimsuits up!

Our little mermaid.

We finalized the trip with fake tattoos for everyone.

Evan got a shark.

Hollyn's took some special colors and glitter.

Pretty green and purple mermaid.

Mommy got a green frog and Daddy got the Chinese character for Happiness.

The Lodge has a program called MagiQuest where kids earn points by exploring the Lodge for magical treasures. In one of the rooms laid a slumbering dragon that thrilled Evan!

Kindergarten Graduation!

2008-06-07T22:14:00.000-07:00

We can hardly believe that Evan's first year is already over. Man did it fly by! And we are SO proud of Evan. He learned so much and had so many great adventures. His Graduation ceremony was the other night and it was very special. We were so glad Grandpa Gary and Grandma Jeanie could come, as well as our neighbors. Evan had a blast and I think he's super ready for 1st grade!

Hollyn waiting for the ceremony to get started.

Evan sporting his official Kindy grad shirt!

The ceremony gets underway with a handful of patriotic songs.

Martin Luther King Jr., Abe Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson

Statue of Liberty, George Washington, and ?

Each kid got a collage in a PowerPoint presentation. Top left, crazy hair day. Bottom left, Thanksgiving. Top right, on the playground. Bottom right, being cheesy. Center, the handsome graduate.

The Graduates (Evan is top right)

Evan with his teacher Mrs. Gaines

Evan with his neighbor friend, Madison

The kids were so tired by the time the ceremony ended.

Evan gets some awesome Transformers from Grandma/Grandpa

Grandpa Gary and Evan

Didn't take long to open those presents!

Our Princess is 3!

2008-05-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

We can hardly believe that our precious baby has turned three!
Here are some pics from the birthday party we had last weekend.

Mommy and Daddy help blow out the candles.

A special card plays Disney's "I Know You" - a song Heather has sung to Hollyn since she was born.

Hollyn with Great Grandma Nehls.

We couldn't believe how great the weather was on Saturday.
We even broke out the slip-n-slide which is always a hit!

Cousin Kaycee gets her first taste!

Evan's classmate, Seth, throws down a mean knee-slide.

Fruit skewers, hotdogs, chips, and juice! Everything was delicious.

Pretty baby girl!

Cousin Ashton with a little peek-a-boo on the play fort!

This three year old can do all kinds of fun stuff on the fort.

Away she goes.

Bathtub Dora enjoys some pampering from the resident beauty experts Cousins Alexis, Hollyn, and Kaycee.

Hollyn bestowed her crown on me cause it kept slipping off her head when I'd push her on the swing.

We sent probably 20 balloons skyward, which looked awesome in the sunshine.

The cousins all played so great together.

Great Grandma gets a hug from the birthday girl.

Camping Practice

2008-05-27T21:40:00.001-07:00

In an effort to have a more active lifestyle, Heather and I have discussed spending more weekends out and about camping in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. But before we ventured out to some remote location and got stuck sleeping in our car, we figured we could take advantage of a recent hot night to practice a little camp out.

We picked up a nice-sized family tent from Craigslist last summer. It's a miracle we were even able to get it set up right after having it in the garage for almost a year! Air mattresses made this night MUCH more enjoyable than the first time we camped out after we got the tent.

A couple giddy kids took a bit longer than usual to fall asleep, but once they were out they slept peacefully through the night.

It got a bit chilly in the heart of the night. Luckily I had the perfect cuddle partner in the morning!

Mommy needed some cuddle warmth too.

So the breakfast wasn't quite outdoor-cooked, but it was still a good practice run.

I think we're ready to take our camping to the next level.

That's one way to learn how to whistle!

2008-05-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

The picture says it all. #1 out...

Bloomsday 2008

2008-05-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

One of the more fun (and busy) trips we take every year is our annual walking of the Lilac Bloomsday Marathon in Spokane, WA. The 7.6 mile fun-run/walk is something Heather's family has done for almost 20 years, and it's always a great time. Add to that a mad dash to run around and see both of our Grandmothers (as well as uncles, aunts, and cousins) and you've got a recipe for a fun, tiring weekend full of picture moments. Here are a few of the better ones...

Hollyn grabs a powdered donut at the exhibit hall where we pick up our Bloomsday packets.

You know if Hollyn gets one, Evan gets one (or two) too!

Great-Grandma Harriet can't get enough hugs from her girl.

Or her big boy!

Uncle Roger is almost as good at hugging as he is at tickling.

Evan has really taken to climbing trees. The higher the better. He certainly doesn't get that love of heights from me!

Cousin Alexis shares some lip gloss. Hollyn loved doing pretty-pretty stuff with her older cousins.

Of course, so did cousin Ashton.

Evan gives Great-Grandma Norman a big hug.

All the cousins showing their cool side on a hot day.

Evan and Hollyn - Race Day

When you're in with 50,000 people, wearing BRIGHT yellow is the way to go.

It's a looooong way down to the starting line.

Evan and Kaycee keep up with Grandpa Don on a hill.

Evan enjoyed a few of the sprinkles provided by onlookers.

Daddy pushes the jogger...a little lighter when Evan chose to walk.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. Everyone got a little sun.

Roadside entertainment - Evan wouldn't get within 10 feet of the "belly dancers" but that didn't mean they didn't run to him when they saw Mommy taking a picture. Evan's face was as red as his shirt after he realized they got so close to him!

Coming down the stretch towards the finish line!

What a great time we had as an extended family!

Evan after a big lunch after the marathon!

We stopped just outside of Vantage, WA at a Wild Horse Monument to overlook the Columbia River.

Evan, King of the Rocks!

My lovely girls.

The boy never stops climbing or exploring.

Mommy climbed the rocks too and caught Evan for a picture.

Back from Spokane to Selah, WA to visit Grandpa/Grandma Nehls.

More great-grandparent hugs and love.

Evan gives a specially big squeeze.

Evan explains to Grandpa Nehls that 7 years old is right around the corner.

Our last leg of the trip, we stopped at the Stonehedge Monument replica on the Columbia River.

We were a little tired, but always enjoy sharing little family adventures.

The shirt says it all.

A horizontal tree is just as much fun to climb as a vertical one.

Time for one more squeeze before heading home. Mt. Hood is off to the right in the distance!

A sunny day at the Bonneville Dam

2008-04-27T21:18:00.000-07:00

So, a week ago it snowed, and this Saturday it was almost 70 degrees! What's up with this crazy weather? It was so beautiful this weekend, we had to get out and do something. Heather nominated a quick trip to Bonneville Dam to see the fish hatchery and ladders. It's about a 45 minute drive down the Columbia River Gorge, past Multnomah Falls (where we got engaged) and it was gorgeous. Here's a few pictures from the day.

The kids grab a quick snack before we go see the fish.

Quite the first impression to see this HUGE sturgeon fish at
our first exhibit. The kids were freaking out.

Evan wasn't so sure if he would want to try to land
one of these guys while fishing!

The trout ponds were packed with trout of different ages/sizes.

For .25 you can get a handful of fish food pellets
and watch the trout fight for some food.

Who knew the ducks like the pellets just as much!

Note the sign just off screen...Do not climb on handrails.
That's my little lawbreaker!

Outside at the fish ladder.
We didn't see any fish working their way up the ladder.

Evan was impressed by the maze the fish work their way
through, especially the "four" tunnels they get to go through.

Not a fish to be found. Oh well.

The Dam set up a little house that promoted energy efficient usage.
Hollyn just thought it was a cute little house.

Family pic!

The kids were impressed with the water.
We also drove down the road below, got closer to the river,
and saw where a sea lion was grabbing salmon.

Show me NO money!!

2008-04-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

OK, as one of my four readers razzed me...NO, I'm not going for the world's record in "longest time between postings!"

My life over the last few months has been streamlined down to THREE categories in which I spend my time.

1. Family.
2. Work.
3. Exercise/Diet contest at work.

I can't vouch for that order being accurate though!

But the 12-week diet contest at work ended today, so my priorities are shifting a bit and I thought I'd take a second to fill you all in on how it went, as well as some exercise tips I picked up along the way.

Let's get right to the results of the contest. There were two parts to it. 1. Biggest % change in body weight. 2. Biggest change in body fat %. Each side was worth $500 (thanks to my CEO who threw in $500 of his own money to the prize pot!). The big question was always "would ONE person win the whole $1000?" I was definitely trying to!

But alas...despite all my success in dieting/exercising...I came home with $0! One lady won BOTH sides, beating me on the body weight side by .38% which equated to 0.8 pounds! So close, so close. On the body fat side, she crushed everyone, and I ended in 3rd place anyways, so I don't feel so bad about that one. But missing the $500 on the weight side by 0.8 pounds was rough!

Now...before you start mentally chastising me for not trying hard enough and getting that last 0.8 pounds off, I have to inform you that the reality is I actually had no business being that close in the first place. I knew the competition was getting stiff a couple weeks ago, so in advance I took today off work so I could have the ability to hit the gym this morning for a killer "last chance" workout. And that I did! I worked out for 3 hours, losing 3.5 pounds just this morning! So...could I have lost another 0.8 pounds? Sure. But I don't feel bad that I lost by that little.

OK. So here's the numbers.

Starting weight on 1/14: 206.6
Ending weight on 4/4: 175.4

Body fat % on 1/14: 26.7% (yeah, it had gotten that bad, folks!!)
Body fat % on 4/4: 21.0% (still not great, but headed in the right direction)

That's a 15% change in weight and a 22% change in body fat!!

And where do we go from here? Well...our fitness efforts shift back to the whole family again. Heather will focus on cardio only for the next month or so to get ready for the big Bloomsday walk we do every year (www.bloomsdayrun.org), and I will switch back to more of a balanced workout between weights and cardio. Also, with summer coming we're excited to get the kids in some fun activities too. Gymnastics, soccer, basketball, etc.

So, what did I learn over the last 12 weeks? Here's some tidbits in no particular order.

1. Cardio exercise is better suited for short-term weight loss.

2. Resistance training (lifting weights) has so many long-term benefits I would encourage it to anyone of ANY age.

3. You don't have to lift "big amounts" of weights to be effective. I had more success with slow, steady, deliberate movements. A trainer I worked out with a couple times showed me how to combine long, full-range contractions with short, final-squeeze contractions to really get the burn.

4. When doing cardio, make sure you stay in your fat burning zone to optimize your efforts in fat loss. There are calculators out there to determine this range, but it's essentially:

Calculate your MHR (max heart rate) by subtracting your age from 220. Example: 220-37 = 183

Determine your RHR (resting heart rate) by taking your pulse for one minute when at a complete rest. Then subtract your RHR from your MHR. Example: 183-56 = 127

Calculate your zone percentages. Example: 55% of 127=70; 72% of 127=91.

Add RHR back to both zone numbers. Example: 70+56=126; 91+56=147

There you have it. With my numbers, I have to keep my heart rate between 126-147 to most efficiently burn fat as I do cardio! Your goal is at least 30 minutes with 60 being optimal.

5. I found two times of the day to be the OPTIMAL for doing cardio. First thing in the morning and after lifting weights. First thing in the morning has some detractors, as they say you compromise muscle loss when you exercise on an empty stomach. Others say when you have no fuel in your stomach (after a night's sleep) your body quickly turns to its fat stores to fuel you as you do your early a.m. workout. I, personally, subscribe to the latter thought! Later in the day I found it most helpful to do weight training first, to burn through any food consumed that day, then doing cardio when you're back at an empty fuel status.

6. I don't have many tips on food/diet, except to say that I am a FIRM believer in a balanced diet. I am not a fan of any plan that withholds a certain element out of the diet (i.e. like Adkins restricting carbs). Find balance by limiting fat intake to healthy fats, use carbs to fuel your body, and get enough protein to build muscle mass.

7. One other thing I will say about food intake when dieting... you will ABSOLUTELY harm yourself in the mid- to long-term if your diet consists of "starving yourself." It's just not worth it, don't do it! Aim for a weight loss of NO MORE than 2 pounds a week, by reducing your calories by roughly 300 below your BMR. BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate, which you'll find a ton of calculators if you just Google it. My BMR is roughly 2000 calories a day, so for me to lose weight in a healthy way I reduced my intake down to 1600-1700 calories, and then created a larger calorie deficit by exercising. Remember, it takes an overall calorie deficit of 3500 to lose one pound.

I'm sure there's more, but I'm drained! It's off to dinner at Red Robin with the kids.

I should take two seconds to thank some very important people who enabled me to do all this.

1. My wife. Absolutely. Without her, NO WAY this happened. So many times she watched the kids while I spent hours at the gym! She sacrificed just as much energy as I did to give me the chance to do this!

2. Evan and Hollyn. It got to a point this last week where Hollyn saw I wasn't home and asked if I was "at work or the gym." She missed her Daddy a lot and vice versa. Evan wasn't effected quite the same way, but definitely understood what I was trying to accomplish. As a family we had many discussions around being "unhealthy" (not FAT) and hopefully I've set a good example for the kids to understand. When you swim in our gene pool, you need to understand that making healthy choices needs to happen sooner rather than later.

3. My MP3 player, Jon and Taylor - two LA Fitness trainers who actually know what they're doing, fish and brown rice, my co-workers and extended family who encouraged me regularly, Saucony running shoes, patella tendon knee straps, and on and on.

This story would have ended so much better with a deposit in the bank, but alas I will settle for being a healthier, happier person. On to the next fitness goal.

A Wintery Day in Seaside

2008-02-02T21:31:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1 Cubed Scion xB
1 Dash Winter Storm Warning
4 Parts Anderson Peapod
A Dozen Elements of Fun

Stir in a tank of gas and what do you get? A quick day-trip to Seaside filled with fun times and some snowy weather!

Heather and I have been itching for some beach time lately, so when we heard that a winter storm watch was in effect for the Oregon Coastal mountain range we knew we had to fire up the Scion (with studs) and head out on a day trip. We figured worst thing that could happen is we'd be forced to turn around and come back home. Luckily even though the go was slow a time or two, we made it no problem.

Here's some pictures.
We chose to go up the Washington side, through Astoria. The snow made everything beautiful.

Winter Wonderland

Although there wasn't snow at Seaside, we were lucky it wasn't windy. A little cold and rain is nothing a few native NW'erners couldn't handle.

Not much happening on the sand, let's head to the Aquarium.

We neglected to get pictures of Evan and Hollyn feeding fish to the Sea Lions, but let's just say they had a great time.

Our baby looks too much like a little girl here!
What a sweet princess though.

One of the workers came out and did a little show-n-tell with an Octopus. Heather was holding Hollyn and said she was shaking with fear and excitement.

Evan just told the Octopus that Mommy tried calamari recently.
Uh, oh...could be trouble.

No better way to learn than poking!

Since Evan loves all things dinosaurs lately, he was particularly enamored with this 34 foot, 9 yr-old, Gray Whale skeleton just outside the Aquarium.

Lewis & Clark got nothing on this little explorer.

You can't go to Seaside and not ride the carousel.

Evan riding bear-back.

Since one of Evan's favorite movies is Jurassic Park,
you know we had to play this when he spotted it at the arcade.

Ummm, who looks more intense with the hardware here? Scary!

The only thing cuter than Hollyn is TWO Hollyns.

We were so bummed when we found out that the bumper car place on the main strip was closed. Imagine our surprise when we discovered another little bumper car place in the arcade.

Cap off the day with some cheese pizza and a philly cheese steak sandwich before we head home.

Deliciously sponsored by Pepsi!

Walking With Dinosaurs

2008-01-20T20:21:00.000-08:00

Just back from a wonderful night out with the family. As partial birthday presents to Evan and Heather, I bit the bullet and paid for four tickets to "Walking with Dinosaurs." It's an extremely entertaining puppeteer and remote control robot version of the dinosaur timeline. Awesome! And we all loved it, especially the kids. You could hear gasps all over the Rose Garden as kids were introduced to dinosaur after dinosaur.

Here's the trailer for it:

Quite the initial impact to be greeted by these chompers!

Waiting for the show to start.

I originally told Heather I only bought tickets for Evan and I.
She was thrilled to learn that her and Hollyn would get to come too!

Evan's about to become dino-lunch. Note how the lights look like eyes.

Heather noticed this young paparazzi stalking her most of the night.

Hollyn LOVED taking pictures of the dinosaurs. Every time a bigger, better one came instead of being scared she'd say "oohhh, better get picture."

Some of these dinosaurs were so huge. The pictures don't do them justice.

The sets had pop-up inflatable plants that changed over time, as well as tons of lights and effects.

Although the show is really aimed at kids, I couldn't help but enjoy it a little too, especially with my girl with me!

Some of those dino-roars got REAL LOUD.

Evan didn't mind!

We had to splurge for some goodies during the show.

I can't recall the "period" but I found the discussion of plants and insects "co-evolving" particularly interesting.

There was quite the battle scene between a younger and old Triceratops.

Big T-Rex stole the show. The kids literally clapped.

The T-Rex was a mommy and was defending her little one (upper left corner of pic) from the other dinosaurs.

Evan was enthralled in the T-Rex battle.

Mommy and baby T-Rex reunited to ooowwws and aaahhhs.

Then they gave a few final ROOOAAARS to their fans.

What a wonderful night. Expensive, but well worth it!!

PS. And for those of you who just have to know how it all works, here's a video that shows them building the dinosaurs.

Holiday Fun

2008-01-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

Thought some of you would enjoy pictures from festivities over the last month including getting our Christmas tree, Christmas day, and a beach trip with Heather's family to Lincoln City.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

2007-12-24T20:52:00.000-08:00

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

A PS. on my thoughts on the Writers' Stike

2007-11-30T20:35:00.000-08:00

I came across this great analogy on Craig Mazin's blog, The Artful Writer. It specifically addresses residuals, which is a fundamental reason why the writers are striking. It really helped me visualize why intellectual properties deserve to be compensated.

I hear this complaint quite a bit these days: “I don’t have to pay the architect every time I walk into a building” or “I don’t have to pay my plumber every time I use the sink he fixed.”

That’s right.

You don’t.

But authors of movies (and I consider the authors to be the screenwriters and directors) create something quite different than “blueprints for a single building” or “fixed sink.”

Imagine two guys. One guy writes terrific recipes. The other guy is a fantastic baker. Together, they create a magic cake.

Bear with me.

What’s special about the cake is that you can cut a slice from it, and a new slice will just grow back in its place.

You keep cutting it and serving it, and you never run out of that cake.

Wal-Mart decides to start selling slices of this cake.

They pay the two guys a good amount for the cake, as far as that sort of thing goes. Maybe a hundred bucks.

But Wal-Mart sells each slice for three bucks, and they keep selling them and selling them.

Over and over.

Millions of slices of the same damned single cake.

Shouldn’t the two guys get some small amount of money back on each sale? Maybe four cents?

Maybe eight?

But definitely something?

Movies are a special class of intellectual property. Like music or novels, they can be endlessly reproduced and sold in millions of multiples. One movie can be sold and resold and repackaged and redistributed and rebroadcast and redownloaded and reprojected over and over and over…

If the seller can endlessly exploit this single, unique product, shouldn’t the true authors of that work share in each endless exploitation?

A plumber can only fix your sink once.

An architect’s building is built once.

But not a movie. Not a television show.

So if someone asks you why we deserve to get paid each time someone buys a copy of a movie, tell them about the magic cake.

The Thousand Mile Journey

2007-11-28T20:56:00.000-08:00

Every year my wife and I load up our kids and head to Yakima and Spokane, WA to visit a lot of family and share some holiday cheer. This year it was Thanksgiving, next year it will be Christmas.

We thoroughly enjoy these trips, although they can be a bit tiring on the kids. 1,000 miles of driving over four or five days can wear their patience thin on sharing toys in the backseat or watching The Wizard of Oz for the third time.

But one of the BIG highlights of the trip is always seeing Heather and my Grandmas. We really want our kids to get to spend time with their Great-Grandmothers and nothing puts smiles on everyones faces than pictures of family with family!

Here's some of my favorites.

Bath time with cousin Ashton

Cousin Braden shows Evan his toys

Does any kid NOT love Legos?

Hollyn charms Uncle Roger

Not sure who wanted a sister more...Hollyn or Brogan

My little cowgirl

Her, uhhh, big cowboy?

The swordsmen plan their attack

Cousins Kayla and Brogan

Evan cheeses Grandma Harriet

Heart-warming hug

A tired, but beautiful blue-eyed girl

Hollyn's got kisses for Grandma Norman too

Evan loves his great grandma too

Back in Yakima Evan enjoys time with Grandpa Leland

And Hollyn is wow'd by Grandpa's whistling

When your future's this bright...

You gotta wear this many sunglasses!

We kept looking for a chance to get a family picture for this year's Christmas cards.
Roadside in a snowy Satus Pass worked as good as anything.

We explored the partially frozen river running nearby.

This is what the river looked like before Evan destroyed it with a stick!

All in all...another wonderful holiday trip. Special thanks to Auntie Monie and Uncle Bill for letting us stay at their house in Spokane. And much love to all the family we got to see.

Update on My Writing

2007-11-28T20:39:00.000-08:00

AKA the shortest post ever.

I've been away from writing for months. But things have been settling down lately and I spent a little time lately working on "Inside."

By way of refresher..."Inside" is the story of an agoraphobic architect called upon by the FBI to assist in the rescue of people taken hostage in a building he designed. Think of it as "Die Hard" meets "Copycat." Its premise originated from a documentary I saw on a structural collapse of a Hyatt hotel that killed a bunch of people combined with a bout of agoraphobia I suffered years ago.

Anyways...it's amazing to me how every time I'm away from my writing for a period of time a fresh set of eyes makes me wonder how I could write the crap I write! Hopefully that means my writing is getting better. Only time will tell.

More updates on "Inside" and "Like Brothers" as I continue working on them.

It's About Time!

2007-11-27T19:02:00.000-08:00

It really is about "time" you know. About time I got back on this blog. About time the WGA writers get what they deserve. About time the Andersons get a new car. And on and on.

I've been off the blog for almost two months and so much has happened.

In the next couple days I hope to find time to post about:

The Strike! (go WGA!)
Update on my writing.
Holiday travels.
Our new car, otherwise known as...the Lunchbox.
Changes at my work.

Let's start with The Strike.

So, as far as this whole writers' strike goes, I would consider myself an interested party with a slightly better than layman's knowledge of what is going on in Hollywood right now.

Essentially you have the AMPTP (The Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers) and you have the WGA (Writers Guild of America).

The crux of the argument is an outdated contract where WGA members do not receive residuals for their work on new types of media like online downloading and such. The studios claim there is no money generated by this type of downloading, but here is one of the best videos I've seen where their own words are used against them.

One aspect of the strike that isn't talked about much is the fact that the writer's contract is up first, then the director's and actor's contracts come up for renewal (next spring/summer, I think). So a lot rides on the unity across many facets in Hollywood and evidence can be seen in the picket line support by many actors, directors, and even showrunners (usually the executive producer of a TV show, usually a producer/writer whose duality creates a major conflict of interest).

www.unitedhollywood.com recently posted a great video with a lot of big name folks lending their support of the strike's effort. It's only 1:45 long and you'll recognize many faces. Good for all the people who have a lot to lose who have stepped in to show support for the writers!

So how does this effect me? Well, aside from watches reruns of shows that have had to halt production, it really doesn't. But it COULD effect me in a big way if I were to ever be lucky enough to sell a script and become a member of the WGA.

God only knows how many thousands of hours I have spent sitting at my laptop plunking away at my scripts. How many hours I have sacrificed sleep or time with my family, to continue molding a story that originated and gestated in MY BRAIN.

And if, by some miracle, I am able to sell a script, you can dang well bet I want every bit of residuals I can get under an updated WGA contract. Every kid that downloads "Like Brothers" onto his iPod or whatever technology exists...I want my FAIR share. My .08 or whatever small percentage we get! I just can't see how that isn't insanely fair.

For more information about the strike from WGA members closer to the fire than I, feel free to check out:

Hollywood United
The Artful Writer

There's rumors that the WGA and AMPTP are back at the table working again. Here's hoping the WGA gets a new contract! If not, stay strong strikers! I can't imagine the extent of your sacrifice, but one day I hope to thank you!

2007 Portland Memory Walk

2007-10-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

Today was the Memory Walk to raise funds to help find a cure for Alzheimer's. We asked many of our friends and family to donate to the cause, and were thankful to raise $410. We also enjoyed an opportunity to walk with some of Heather's family; her cousin Stacy and her kids Skylar and Aiden.

The event kicked off on a partially sunny day and we were thrilled not to have to deal with rain. Evan was getting ready to talk this guy into letting us use his umbrella. That would have been a lengthy effort.

While we waited for the event to begin Aiden hoped into our double jogger and gave his legs a rest.

The walk took us from Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland over to the Portland State University area and back. Near PSU there were many trees enjoying the crisp Fall day and sending their leaves down on walkers. Evan and Aiden enjoyed trying to catch them as they fell and thanks to Mommy, Hollyn ended up with a lap full too.

The walk was over almost as quickly as it had begun, but the event raised somewhere near $150,000, so it was well worth the effort. Afterwards the kids posed for a sun-blinding picture before our family and the Nehls went our separate ways.

Our efforts today were in support of Heather's grandpa, Leland Nehls. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier this year. He is a great man and has meant so much to Heather. Our prayers have always been with him, and now our support is too. Thank you so much if you were one of those who supported us financially in this walk.

Deep Sea Fishing

2007-09-16T08:14:00.001-07:00

I'm always looking for new ideas for anniversary presents for my wife. Last year we had an "Little House" anniversary, and spent a night in a log cabin up on the way to Mt. St. Helens. As Heather is a HUGE fan of Little House on the Prairie, that idea was a smashing success.

One of the new hobbies we've enjoyed lately is fishing, and Heather and I have talked a few times about is going deep sea fishing, which she was a big fan of doing.

Unfortunately for me I had a pretty insane deep sea fishing experience when I was younger (about 7-8 by everyone's recollection). That trip resulted in us getting caught in a storm and me throwing up for hours. I also said some pretty dumb things on that trip, which my extended family has never let me live down.

So deciding to take Heather deep sea fishing for our 7th anniversary was a bold move, but luckily one she was completely psyched about.

We charted a boat called the Kimberly Ann, which runs through Dockside Charters in Depoe Bay, Oregon. The boat is about 36' long but only charters for six fishermen. On our trip there were only three other people beside Heather and I, so it was very fun. We left Depot Bay just after 6:00am and our captain took us south along the shoreline while most other boats either headed north or went further out to sea.

Within 15 minutes Captain Richard slowed the boat and started scanning for the fish. He found a spot and said, "There's a bunch of fish below us, go get 'em." We all let our lines out and pretty soon one of the other men on our boat hooked the first fish.

For the next four hours Captain Richard moved us between his favorite spots, and although the fishing was "pokey" as they say (ie. slow), we were still able to all catch our limits before the end of the day.

Most of the fish "we" caught were black bass (11), with two sea trout too. I say "we" because Heather caught FAR more fish than I did. She actually proved to be the most prolific fisher on the boat. The other guys were joking that I needed to stand closer to her and do whatever she was doing. She definitely helped us get our quota.

Just towards the end of our trip one of the other fishermen got a bite and man did his pole bend over. Captain Richard said "ok, that's not bass, you got something bigger going there." And sure enough, after a nice little fight, that guy pulled up a ling cod (pictured below). I was an impressive fish and definitely makes me want to do another trip some other time for something bigger than rock fish like bass.

One of the other great moments of the trip was the arrival of a few whales nearby. We tried a couple times but never got a great picture of them. It was still fantastic to see them rise and roll every once in a while though. Also you can see in some of the pictures below that the ocean was super still. We couldn't believe how little motion we had and how fantastic the weather was.

All in all we had an awesome time. The five hours went by so fast, we didn't want the trip to end. And although I was thrilled that this trip was a little bit of redemption from my last one, I was more excited that my wife had a great time and we returned safely to our children once we were done.

Back on dry land we spent the rest of the day with my parents in Gleneden, OR. Evan loves the beach and he could probably spend all day digging in the sand and building whatever. Hollyn hasn't quite taken to the beach like her brother, but this time we got her to enjoy it a little more than any other time.

We love the Lincoln City area and wish we could visit there more often.

Jeff's Wedding

2007-08-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

My buddy Jeff Flanagan just recently got married. The ceremony was held outside and was a beautiful event. Our best wishes for a happy life together to he and his wife, Danielle.

The Year Was 1989!

2007-07-24T22:05:00.000-07:00

How old did I feel when ordering take-out in a Chinese food restaurant and I look up to see this sign?

I was graduating high school in 1989! Babies born that year can now legally buy cigarettes! Are you kidding me?! Why do I still feel 18 but have balding hair that tells me I'm nearing 40?!

Man, growing up stinks some times!

A New Day Dawning

2007-07-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

It's weird to reflect on the past 5+ years of my life and realize how much has changed since my son Evan was born. My wife had only just started trying to get a full time teaching job, and I was happily working at a quaint little software company in downtown Portland.

A few years later Heather was still looking for full time work, and taking every sub job she could get her hands on, and my company had been bought out, had relocated to Tigard (40 minutes away from my house), and had turned into a place I no longer wanted to be a part of.

A few more years later and Heather was frustrated yet still looking for full time work and I had moved on to another quaint little software company, only this time MUCH closer to home. And, oh yeah, we had Hollyn.

I reflect on all this only to say that our family life is about to take another big turn. In four short weeks Heather starts her first full time teaching contract, Evan goes off to school for the first time, Hollyn goes off to daycare for the first time, and I make a concerted effort to get my script writing back on track!

Heather will be teaching Kindergarten at a private, Christian school, and while it may not be the ideal job for her, it is one she's extremely excited about and giving 110% effort into making sure it's a smashing success! Parents all over the U.S. can only dream that their child's teachers are as motivated and passionate as my wife.

Evan will more than likely be attending the same school, although not in Heather's class, to ensure he doesn't get pummeled every day for having a teacher who's his "Mommy." He's been looking forward to school for a long time, and we think it will be great for him to be around so many new kids that are his age. I'm sure he will learn sooooo much, even though he's already a very bright boy! I just hope the teacher can contain his "enthusiasm" and harness his energy.

Hollyn will be the biggest adjustment though. Not so much for her, but for me. I know she will be fine. She always is. But her poor Daddy is going to break in half the first day we have to leave her at daycare. We've already toured I think eight facilities and I just haven't found one that is the perfect blend of facility, programs, personality, and cost. I really wish we could take her back to the KinderCare that Evan went to, but it is just too expensive since she isn't potty trained and 2 1/2 yet. Maybe after that point we make a change, but until then it's one of these other places. She's only ever been at home with Heather, and she's my little, sweet, delicate, baby, Princess girl!! How I will not sit outside that daycare facility with binoculars and a thumping stick for anybody that messes with her will be beyond me!

But life will go on. As it has for many, many parents. And next thing you know I'll be attending her graduation, then walking her down the aisle to whatever knucklehead can persist through the craziness I throw his way! ("Hey, son, have I shown you the video from Hollyn's first poopy diaper!?")

And I really am looking forward to getting back on track with my script writing too. A friend asked to read my stuff a few weeks back and I sent him both scripts. He liked "Inside" even though the rewrite is only 60% done, and he loved "Like Brothers." Said it reminded him of Clive Cussler, so I felt good about that and am encouraged to get a few more scripts under my belt to keep my skills moving forward. I'd love to be sitting here next year at this time with a really well polished script in my arsenal that I could enter in some of the summer script contests. We'll see if that happens.

Here's wishing you and yours a good mid-year and happy second half of 2007!

My Trainer's Bigger Than Your Trainer

2007-07-24T20:03:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to one of the trainers that Heather and I meet with every once in a while who just won an amateur Mr. Oregon title and will be competing for a chance to turn pro in the next few months. I'd say by the looks of things he knows a thing or two about lifting weights and nutrition. And he's as nice a guy as you'll ever hope to meet.

Early summer fun

2007-07-05T19:50:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't love a picnic at the park?! We took the kids and a pizza down to Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver for a little fun in the sun.

Vancouver's Hilton hotel is sponsoring a free summer movie series played outdoors at dusk in a couple locations downtown. The premiere event was a showing of "Happy Feet" on July 3rd. It was a BLAST! The kids stayed up 'til 11:00pm and loved every minute of it.

With no formal plan for the 4th ever coming up, we packed the kids up and decided to head down the Columbia River Gorge. It is so beautiful this time of the year. We got off the main highway after a while and took the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway, stopping at one of the falls near Multnomah Falls. We spent some time "exploring" a running creek and having a wonderful picnic lunch.

We were just about to leave this spot by a railroad track when we suddenly heard a faint train whistle. Seconds later this train came roaring by. We waved to the conductor, who waved back...and boy was that train loud.

Back home on the afternoon of the 4th, Evan spent some time cooling off in his little pool. He found one of the millions of little, green tree frogs in our area and put it on his shoulder.

By nightfall the kids were roaring for some explosions! They weren't disappointed. A few families in our neighborhood go all out on the 4th, and this year was no exception. There were fireworks of all sizes for hours. Kids and parents alike had a blast.

A-2 beats Pocket 10's

2007-06-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

Uggg.

Placed 5th in a 60-person tourney this weekend. Vancouver Police Department put together a nice little fund raiser for the Special Olympics. I played very well (slow start, strong finish) until the last hand that I should have played less aggressively. I had a pair of 10's, two other players who were short-stacked went all in, so I went for the kill. I "should have" gone in with a sizable raise, but instead I went "all in," and unfortunately a fourth player jumped in with an A-2 and caught another Ace on the flop! Arggg!

Anytime you can play for 4+ hours for a good cause it's worth it though. I would have rather won one of the Nautilus-donated prizes given to the top two finishers, but such is life.

Heather Gets a Job!!

2007-06-04T19:32:00.000-07:00

So remember the days when I used to blog about script writing stuff? Those were fun, huh?! I should get back to those some day soon! But until then, I have to post about a VERY significant milestone and throw out a little diatribe about why the Vancouver School District is spiraling out of control.

My wife has been offered and has accepted a Kindergarten teaching position at Mt. View Christian Center. It's a full-time K position and she is super excited to get in there and share the knowledge she has with children and start their educational experience out on the right foot! We've prayed for a full-time job for a long time and we are thrilled for this opportunity.

But why has it taken so long to land an opportunity? I mean, after all, my wife has completed her Master's Degree with emphasis on Reading and Literacy, which are supposed to be hot spots for today's education systems. AND...she's subbed for years in the Vancouver School District. AND...she's loved there and gets requested by teachers to be their sub all the time. AND...has numerous letters of recommendation from teachers and principals, some very well thought of in the district. So, why so long?

"MY" opinion is because the VSD is doing too many things wrong and not enough things right when it comes to their hiring practices. Is it because their hands are tied politically? I don't know, but I know some stuff is seriously messed up. My first glimpse of this was when Heather was not offered a position one year, yet ended up having to start that year for the lady who got the position because that teacher didn't have her certification paperwork in order. HEATHER OPENED THAT CLASS because the teacher couldn't even prove she was certified to be teaching! Yet, the other lady got the job. What the heck?

And don't even get me started on the career fairs that they host all over the U.S. looking to meet their "regional diversity" numbers. I mean, who would know this area's kids better than my wife? Of course, some no-name from Tempe, Arizona, who will get up here, realize how much it rains, and bail in less than a year! Give me a break.

Here is the sad reality. I've heard from seasoned teachers that the VSD won't hire a good substitute, because then they don't have that resource in their sub pool. And I've heard from an insider near the HR department that when they had their last big recruitment day, which Heather attended, a couple of the male higher-ups were overheard to say that only the cute one's should be brought through for an interview. Of course many other people were given interviews, but come on, who says that!

So why would they want a young woman who has passionately dedicated her time to the furtherance of children's lives, who is as educated or more than the teacher next to her, who gets along with her peers to the point they recommend her with no reservations, and who eats, sleeps and breathes making herself a better teacher who will positively impact the lives of every youngster that crosses her path!?

Why indeed. Vancouver School District, Teresa Manthe, Lee Goeke...shame on you all for letting a resource like Heather get away!

Hollyn's 2nd Birthday and Fishing

2007-06-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

The turn of summer brings warmer weather and lots of activity. One of the big events for us is Hollyn's birthday in late May. This year we pushed her birthday party back a weekend and joined it with her cousin Ashton's, who also turned 2. Yep...they were born just a few days apart.

The weather was INCREDIBLE and we had a wonderful time full of family and friends. This year the family included Heather's parents, her brother and his two kids, her grandparents, her aunt and uncle from Spokane and my parents.

With an 85 degree day and lots of sun, the recipe for fun was a swimming pool and a slip 'n slide! Here are a few picks of the event.

Everyone had a great time, despite a few sunburns! (Yeah...sunburns in Vancouver...who'da thunk!?)

The fun didn't end on Saturday though. The next day most of the family got together again for a hearty breakfast then went out to a local lake to go fishing. Heather and I have been getting into fishing more and more lately, and most of Heather's love for fishing came from seeing the love for it in her Grandpa's eyes and having him teach her how. It's fairly rare that we get to enjoy Heather's grandparents as company at our house, so we took the time to invite them out to fish. Here are a couple pictures from that.

And here's two from a couple weeks ago when we went out to Battle Ground lake with my parents.

San Diego 2007

2007-05-21T19:11:00.001-07:00

So we made it to San Diego in our canary-yellow PT Cruiser, and without wasting any time we headed straight over to the San Diego Zoo. Man, is that zoo immense. I venture to say a few little legs didn't even see half of that place, but we sure enjoyed what we saw.

Here's Evan tickling a bronze statue of a gorilla.

More of Evan "monkeying" around.

The giant panda bear really was impressive. Hollyn greeted it with an affectionate "oooohhhh."

The little warthog babies were cute in an ugly pig'ish sort of way.

This hippo was very impressive in its size and how graceful it would float through the water. At one point it came straight towards the glass and intimidated Evan a bit.

The statues were a great chance to rest and take a couple pics.

Can't recall what these were called.

If you look close over Evan's left shoulder you'll see an alligator lying on the ground. Evan thought that was pretty cool.

Tribal Evan!

Not quite a fit, but still cute!

The petting zoo was a smash. Evan got to hand feed straw to goats and sheep. Hollyn gave it a whirl too, but ended up just throwing the straw on the goat's back most of the time.

After the zoo we went looking for a place to find some dinner. A hotel worker told us Mission Beach had some nice places, so we found a little pizza joint right off the beach front. Evan loves playing in the sand and water, but Hollyn isn't quite so fond of it all.

The next morning brought a 30 mile trip north to Legoland. What a fun place for little kids to go. Almost everything there is made of legos.

Hollyn shoots water into lego-alligators...with a little help, of course.

This rope ride ended up being a bit more "work" than Daddy thought it would be. We pulled ourselves to the top, then let go for a fun little drop. Evan loved the rush.

Evan earned his "driver's license" on this Volvo lego race course. We told him he had to drive us back to the hotel but he said no.

These "helicopters" weren't quite as fun as I thought they'd be. Two controls allow you to go up-n-down or left-n-right, but it's done in such a gradual manner, it really wasn't as exciting as it looks.

Posing on the lego lion.

More lego statues.

This water canon ride would have been a lot more fun if Evan and I would have had ANYONE to shoot at. Instead it felt much more like we were sitting ducks. People standing by waiting to ride could fire on us from the sidelines. We still had fun though.

Evan's favorite part of the day was probably just splashing in the water area. He would'a stayed in there forever if we would have let him.

Hollyn enjoys a relaxing swing while Evan runs wild in the background.

Every so often a bucket would fill and dump on whoever stood below. Evan took great delight in being its victim.

We capped the day by riding this fun roller coaster. At this point it felt like we were shooting straight down!

Evan thought it was cool that the lego guy had "lego guy hands."

Day 3 in San Diego was SeaWorld, and the first thing Evan wanted to see was the SHARKS! SeaWorld has a tunnel that runs through the shark tank. Pretty creepy having all those teeth that close to your head.

No contest who the big mouth here is!

SeaWorld had a bunch of great shows. The first we saw was called "Clyde and Seamore's Risky Rescue" and featured a couple sea lions and walrus. Hollyn thought the sea lions were pretty funny.

The next show was Dolphin Discover. Very cool stuff, but we learned the hard way that Evan was devastated we didn't sit in the first 12 rows (soak zone) to get splashed. Heather took him back to a later showing just to make sure he got drenched!

The pride of SeaWorld is obviously the Shamu show. Truly amazing to see these huge whales glide through the water and explode into the sky.

Here three or four whales blast the audience with their tails.

All in all this vacation definitely rated as a 10. The kids had so much fun and we made so many great memories. We definitely pushed the limits of what we could pack into a six day trip, and although we are still recovering, we wouldn't have changed a thing. Hope you all enjoyed the pictures.

Disneyland 2007

2007-05-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

Seems unfair to have to summarize our adventures so far in brief photo descriptions, but unfortunately if I tried to write out all of our wonderful moments it would take forever. So hopefully the pictures tell the bulk of the story.

Waiting for the plane. Sunday, May 13th, 7:00am.

Snack time on the plane.

Waiting for the Disneyland Express Bus.

The view from our room. Disneyland Hotel, Sierra Tower, Floor 10, Room 2864.

Downtown Disney from the "park facing side" of the tower we stayed in.

Our first destination is Bug's Land in the California Adventure park. Evan's first autograph is from Flik.

Our first "adventurous" ride is Flik's Fliers, which goes round and round in circles. It was a gentle, but fun start.

A little bumpier ride came next as Heather and Evan jumped on Tuck and Roll's Drive 'Em Buggies, your classic bumper car ride.

Evan zipping through the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.

Daddy makes sure to be extra careful climbing the three story, cargo-net floored, trail fort with precious cargo on his back.

Mommy and Evan waited an eternity to get a chance to shoot the Grizzly River Run white water raft ride.

We all took a ride in a fixed cabin on the Sun Wheel (huge ferris wheel).

As our first night came to a close Heather took a turn with Evan on the Jumpin' Jellyfish ride, which pulls you about 3 stories up and drops you numerous times.

We settle down after sunset to enjoy Disney's famous Electrical Light Parade.

The first night winds to an end with some much needed rest.

Day 2 - On our way through Downtown Disney we swing by a Lego store to pose with a few statues.

We finally hit a bunch of characters and grab the autograph books. Goofy, Cruella DeVil, and Buzz Lightyear.

Next we hit the much anticipated Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride. You ride in a cart and blast away at Zorg and all his minions to earn points. We rode this ride a total of three times, but it would have been easy to stay on it all day.

Hollyn's favorite ride was It's a Small World. Even after just waking up from a nap, she lit up immediately when she saw all the small dolls singing and dancing.

Mommy and Evan zip around on Gadget's Go Coaster. It was a one-loop trip, but the first coaster Evan ever rode on, and MAN...DID HE LOVE IT! He was hooked and rode many others.

After a morning of fun it was time to cool off in the pool. Our main pool offered a gentle kid's slide, which Hollyn proceeded to try and climb before falling and splitting open her lower lip. Undeterred she was back in no time to continue sliding.

Walking to the Disneyland Park feels like miles away, so on day two we hopped the Disneyland Monorail and saved ourselves some effort. Luckily, we were first in line for one of the trains, so we got to ride in the captain's section. It was a great ride with fantastic views.

Our family with Mickey just past the entrance to the Disneyland Park.

Evan took turns with both Mommy and Daddy on a bit more challenging roller coaster. The Matterhorn Bobsleds takes riders up a few stories in the pitch black inside a mountain only to drop you down and around it and hair raising speeds. We all loved it!

An autograph from Wendy Darling (from Peter Pan).

Daddy and Evan sneak a shot just before taking off on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a very fun, curvy roller coaster through an old mining town setting.

Here's Evan peaking his head out of his car on Autopia.

The ruler by which all Disney thrill rides are measured...Space Mountain was a ride I would have never considered on day one, but after seeing Evan's passion for ALL the other roller coasters (including Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones), I figured "why not?" All I can say is..."thank God for the motion sickness patch!" What an insane ride!

We ran into a few more characters but were only able to get Donald Duck's signature. Chip and Dale were just too quick to catch.

The kids enjoyed any chance to stretch their legs. Here they have a blast running through Disneyland's Main Street!

Who can go to Disneyland and not ride on Dumbo?

There are so many more pictures from Disney it's a shame to only show these few. But alas...here's where they end. We packed up and waited for the rental car that we would take to San Diego.

We were supposed to get a mid-sized car like a Pontiac G6, but they gave us this fun little PT Cruiser Limited Edition with a sunroof. Not bad to head to sunny San Diego about . More pictures to come from our fun down there (San Diego Zoo, Legoland, SeaWorld, and more!).

Moving You Forward, 5k Breast Cancer Walk

2007-04-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

No script news to report, but did want to share that we spent the morning in downtown Vancouver (yes, there really is one now-a-days) for the "Clara Jean, Moving You Forward, 5k Breast Cancer Walk."

Heather had seen a flier for the event in our gym and thought it would be something we'd enjoy participating in. We each have Aunts that are cancer survivors, and although they both still battle the disease and don't live in Vancouver, we thought supporting the event would be fun and something we could do to show our support for them.

The weather was a bit chilly. The walk route took us along the Vancouver waterfront, Columbia River shoreline, so there was a bit of a breeze coming off the river. But overall people were having a great time and we enjoyed the morning and hope it sent an extra special blessing to our Aunts Janice and Dee.

Up next...Bloomsday '07...a 12k fun run/walk in Spokane, WA that we try to get to every year. This walk is a fun annual event for a number of people in our family, so we're really looking forward to it. Well, all of it but "doomsday hill" a mile long stretch well over half way into the walk that is straight up hill!

"Inside" rewrite = 60% done

2007-04-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

Things have slowed down a lot lately for two reasons.

One...I shifted a character who was integral in the last 60% of my last draft and made her more of a supplemental character in this draft. So, essentially, I'm completely rewriting the story from the last 10 pages or so forward, which is leading towards a brand new Act III that I haven't even figured out yet.

Second...I've been under deadline on a project I'm putting together for my wife for her Grandpa who turns 84 on the 19th. He was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's and he means a LOT to my wife, so the project we're putting together for his birthday is very significant. Without giving away what it is (in case family eyes are reading) let's just say it's taking some cherished memories from the past and bringing them into the future and beyond.

I should be wrapping that project tonight, so hopefully I can dive back into cracking out the final 40 pages of "Inside." As usual I have about a half dozen ideas floating around my head for the next script I'm going to work on!

"Inside" rewrite = 45%

2007-03-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

Not much to say right now. My wife and I are working out pretty much 4-5 times a week at the gym we joined. I'm playing basketball on Monday nights and was playing soccer on Thursday nights (but that ended this week with our one and only win!). Beyond that I've officially been promoted at work to Marketing Manager, which is more a promotion in title than anything, as I've pretty much done the work for the last year or so. But I'm still writing at least three days a week, which is terrible by Hollywood standards, but is the most I can dedicate unless this were to become something that paid the bills.

Just wanted to check in and let you know that "Inside" is coming right along! I'd like to get it finished up in the next month or so, then get cracking on my next idea. I'll keep you posted.

Dedicated Time; "Inside" Rewrite 20% Done

2007-03-04T20:18:00.000-08:00

So...dedicating my lunch hours to writing is starting to pay off. I don't do it every day, but at least three days a week I head into my work's conference room and plunk away with little-to-no distractions. (The conference room is brand new and on a different floor, so few people take advantage of it yet.)

The result...in just three weeks I've managed to rearrange the scene list for my first script "Inside" and have rewritten about 20% of it.

Sorry I haven't posted on the blog much lately, but I'll keep you updated as the work gets done. I'm excited to get done with this rev of this script and begin work on something new. I have a bunch of ideas, including one I'm not supposed to write but would have a blast doing. More on that later...

Love Interest or No Love Interest

2007-02-20T18:40:00.000-08:00

A shift in my daily schedule has created some much needed and consistent free time for script writing, so today I reached WAY back and picked up the first script I wrote called "Inside."

"Inside" is essentially a merge of "Copycat" (the Sigourney Weaver movie) and "Die Hard." It's the story of an award-winning architect turned agoraphobe called upon by the FBI to assist in the rescue of hostages taken captive in a high-tech building he designed.

The story contains a few interesting elements. One, part of it is somewhat based on the true story of the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse that occurred in 1981. Second, the protagonist's main character issue is based on my own years of suffering from mild agoraphobia. (Cause you know the saying..."Write what you know!")

ANYHOW...get to the point, Eric!

So, Lainie Gallers, a TNT executive I pitched to last summer said she was interested in "Inside," but would rather see it without the love interest; the love interest being an old flame caught up with the wrong crowd who has to do right by helping save Architect and assisting in thwarting the kidnapping even at the risk of losing her own life.

There were some logistic issues in the "why, how, who" Lovie would get caught up in, so I saw Lainie's wisdom in pulling her out and letting Architect figure out how to be the hero by himself. But my question to my two readers out there (hi, mom and grandma) is this...don't you kinda HAVE TO HAVE a love interest? I mean, I know you don't "have to," but it just seems like a key cog in the machine.

Regardless, I spent my new "free" time today reworking my scene list for this movie, pulling out Lovie and trying to figure out how to keep adding tension and helping Architect to save the day on his own.

Oh, and Lainie, if you're still interested, I'm happy to send over a copy after I'm done with this next rev!

Super Sunny Saturday

2007-02-17T20:17:00.000-08:00

It's been rainy and gray for the last few weeks here in the NW, so what a break that the day we had planned to head up to the mountain for some sledding with some friends ended up being 60 degrees and sunny!

We took Evan and Hollyn up to Mt. Hood and met up with my buddy Dave Lawson (yes, of poker fame below) and his family (Connie and Annabella). What a blast we all had, and what a gorgeous day. Instead of blab about it, though, I'll let the pictures say it all!

And The Winner Is...

2007-02-11T13:45:00.000-08:00

The winner of the 2007 Golden State Foods' Portland Charity Poker Tournament is...

DAVID LAWSON!!!!

That's right. The guy who organized/hosted our satellite event to get one of us into this big event (read the post below)!

Dave said it was surreal. As the event went on and more and more people got knocked out, he kept thinking "wow, I'm doing pretty good!" And next thing he knew he was sitting at the final table with a huge chip stack and a good shot at 1st place.

Dave said the 7-hour event was incredible. Pros in attendance (for promotional and entertainment purposes) were Phil Laak (the unibomber), Jennifer Tilly (yes, the actress), Kenna James, Marsha Waggoner, and Arnold Spee. Here's a pic of Dave between Phil and girlfriend Tilly.

Congrats to Dave for winning 1st place, $5,000, the trophy,
and some serious bragging rights!

I'd Go All-In With My 7-2 Offsuit

2007-02-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

But of course that's why I'm not the one heading to the Golden State Foods Foundation's "PDX Charity Poker Tournament" this weekend.

This charity event benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities in SW Washington and Oregon draws between 150-200 contestants at a buy-in price of $500.

That level of play is a weeeeeee bit too expensive to my group of friends, so my buddy Dave Lawson came up with an idea for 10 of us to play a "satellite" game where we each buy in for $50 and winner takes all and is obligated to go to the charity event. Go figure that Dave was the one who won and will be representing us this weekend! Of course if there's anyone I trust to honor the "payback" feature of our satellite it's Dave, so that's a good thing. We set it up that the 9 losers still have a chance to make some money if the Dave goes on to place in the top 10 at the charity event. The odds are slim, but Dave's a solid player.

SO EVERYONE WISH DAVE YOUR BEST LUCK THIS SATURDAY!!

And anyone wanting to donate $500 to be my sponsor should feel free to contact me at my yahoo email address! Although that would make YOU the bigger gambler! :o)

An Update on the Fence Debacle

2007-02-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

Scroll down to read the post about Heather's accident during a recent winter storm to get the full details, but essentially we crunched a "county" fence a little while ago and have been figuring out how it was going to get fixed and who was on the hook for the cost.

At the time of the event my wife called the police to report the accident, a fact many of our neighbors decried as foolish, since a consensus was we could get ourselves towed out and the county would never know who dented the fence. But that's just not the kind of people we are, so Heather called the police. A nice Sheriff came out and did not cite Heather, but unfortunately was required to issue a case number. That case number then put us smack dab in the crosshairs of the county.

We immediately got quotes from third party fence companies, and realized we were looking at around a $400-$500 bill. Insurance would cover it, after a deductible and 40% increase in our rates, so we chose not to go that route!

To compound the problem the county called back and said if we were going to go with a third party fence company, we had to ensure they were licensed, bonded, insured and paying prevailing wage. Oh...great...thanks. I had just gotten a neighbor to commit to fixing it for $300-$350 and now that option was gone! I felt like I was being screwed by the mafia or something.

So a phone call was made to the contact at the county and things got a little nasty really fast. I implored to this man that we were trying to do the honest thing by working with them, and yet they were forcing me to pay a premium to get this stupid fence that serves no purpose other than to contain a wetland fixed. Like I said...the phone call got ugly.

But eventually cooler heads prevailed and the head contact agreed to meet with me to take a second look at what really needed to be replaced/repaired, and next thing I knew I had a handshake on the fact that the county would fix it for no more than $450. He said they'd start working on it right away, so I told my wife to keep her eyes open for any workers and to document what they did and how much time it took.

An hour or so later a few guys showed up, so Heather went out to chat with them. The main contact was there and he informed her that after meeting with me he had talked to his boss about the few items that needed to be replaced and they had concluded the cost would be closer to $200. Heather was elated! But then main contact guy said the news got better. He said for a cost as low as $200 it would not be worth all the admin, invoicing, billing hassle, so the county was going to just do the repairs at their cost.

FANTASTIC NEWS! We couldn't believe it. Things had looked so bad for a while there and many people were shaking their heads and saying that we should'a just lied to the county.

Doing the right thing prevailed though! And the county did right by us too! Good for them for rewarding honest citizens! And good for us (my wife) for being an honest citizen!

Where's my CUP!

2007-02-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

So the wife and I have made a new commitment to getting fit!

"What's new" you say? You've made that commitment before, only to FAIL! And it is the new year and everyone and their dog has made a new years resolution for getting in shape.

True, true. I'll give you those.

And I'm the first to admit you should check with me in June to see how we're doing. But in the meantime I'm off to a pretty good start. I got invited into a great network of 30'ish year old guys that enjoy multiple sports and have the connections to play them on a regular basis. So, it seems like the calendar is suddenly full of Basketball on Mondays, Indoor Soccer on Thursdays, and the occasional Flag Football tournament on the weekends!

Muscles I never knew I had have been screaming at me lately, and I've felt a compelling urge to call the Icy Hot organization and ask them if they'd like to sponsor a middle aged, balding, wannabe athlete!

Here's some pics of the recent fun though. Playing soccer with me is my buddy Kevin who I've known since 6th grade. And those football pics were taken at the Nautilus Corporation's main campus, which has a "professional" quality field on it that is open to the public. Pretty amazing place to play.

Stay tuned for more updates. The wife and I are meeting with a professional trainer next weekend, and our brand new gym (LA Fitness) opens up in a few weeks and then the pain really begins!

Driver's Safety Never Prepared You For This!

2007-01-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

For those of you not familiar with the NW, most of the rumors are true, about it raining here like 360 days a year (which I gladly propagate if it means less people keep moving here, cause it really is one of the most beautiful places to live!)

Well, lately we've had a bit of a cold spell to go along with that moisture and the results have been some rather slippery conditions. Case in point...the family Explorer going swirly as my wife was driving home with our daughter today.

Believe it or not there was actually VERY little damage done to the Explorer. (Ford, if you're listening, we're happy to do a paid endorsement!!) And thank God everyone was unharmed, albeit a bit shaken up.

Our next door neighbor was kind enough to give us a tow out, and now we'll just wait and see how much the City/County/State (whoever) tries to charge us to make the repairs to their fence.

All I can say is thank God nobody was hurt, and that my wife was able to control the car to at least minimize the damage.

Holiday Fun!

2006-12-12T07:38:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd share a few pics of some holiday fun we've been having. God bless.

Here's the kids putting together a Gingerbread Train.

Adventures with our Christmas Tree.

And here's somebody that apparently got a little "rummy" with her eggnog! J/K!

A Month Later!

2006-11-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe I haven't posted a blog in almost a MONTH, but it's true. My script writing has gone cold, but that doesn't mean I haven't been in the movie business. I've been spending my free time downloading our family movies from digital 8 video tapes to DVD. Big thanks to Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum software and a 250Gb external hard drive!

Since I don't know how long it will be 'til the next post, let me take this chance to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderfully Merry Christmas! May God bless all of you in the end of 2006 and help you achieve your dreams for 2007!

The Final Version?

2006-10-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, yes. I'm still alive! My hiatus has no good excuse, and "script sell" detox is going well.

I've dedicated myself to reading more scripts now-a-days, and spent some time just this afternoon reading a draft of "Chronicles of Narnia."

I noted a handful of sections in the draft I downloaded from Daily Script that differed from the final movie. One scene in particular where Lucy shares tea with Mr. Tumnus and he eventually reveals he is trying to kidnap her. On the one hand I felt the movie did well to take the "kidnap" reference out because it immediately shifts the relationship of Lucy and Tumnus to a place I don't think it could recover as well from. But on the other hand the draft scene did a better job of concisely relating the danger that Lucy was in from the White Witch.

Discovering a couple of these better "draft" scenes solidified in my mind the quote from William Goldman where he says the "the single most important fact, perhaps, of the entire movie industry" is that 'nobody knows anything.'

What I know is that I'm dedicating what little spare time I have for the next little while to reading script after script, and I hope through a bit of osmosis that my own ability to judge what scenes should be left in or out will sharpen.

ICK...SICK

2006-10-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

Have been under the weather for what feels like a week. Kids have it too! Luckily Heather hasn't gotten it. She's keeping the boat afloat right now.

Nothing new to report. Work is good. Keeping me very busy.

Attended the memorial service of a friend this last weekend. 32 years old. Very, very sad and untimely passing. I knew Dave in high school and a little through college. He was a great guy. Always a smile on his face. You couldn't help but love him. I hadn't seen him in years, and apparently he had suffered some health issues and had flown to Cleveland for a surgery to fix stuff. He never woke from the surgery. God give his wife and extended family peace in a very difficult time. David J. Andrew was a great man. See you in Heaven someday, bro.

Doing a little graphic work tonight as a favor for a family member.

NEED TO WRITE MORE!!

I'm hoping after a weekend of R&R I'll be back on track and ready to kick my rear in gear.

To Partner or Not Partner?

2006-10-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

Talked to an old friend of mine yesterday. One of my best friends, we've known each other since the 6th grade. We started the same new school that year, and from then on people always got us confused for each other. Our paths split and merged a couple times during the next ten years, and it's cool that we are still friends after all these years.

Kevin is like a kindred spirit. He has the same quirky, dorky sense of humor. He has the same entrepreneurial spirit about him. Matter of fact, a few years ago we briefly started a business together that turned out to be a great idea, just a decade or so too early.

I hadn't talked to Kevin in a while, and catching up I found that he's still got a fire burning inside him to run his own business, be his own boss, do his own thing. During a recent business trip for his day job, he had lunched with a very, VERY successful business man to try to gain his business. Kevin asked the guy how he started his business and the guy said it was basically him and a friend and they just got along so good together they felt like they had to find a way to do something together. Lucky for them after many years of hard work it's made its way into a $70M business.

Kevin and I are like brothers. When we get together, we are instantly taken back to 6th grade. Matter of fact, when attending college together, numerous times we walked the line of getting throw out of class by our professors because we just couldn't settle down. Lucky for us there were just as many times when we would put our energies to creative mastery, as to professorial torture. They loved to hate us, or hated to love us. Sometimes both.

So Kevin throws out that it might be interesting for us to try and start a business again. Kinda like picking up where we left off, only a few years later. But I had to be honest, so I told him I just wasn't in that space anymore. I've seen the sacrifice/money it takes to cultivate a good idea into a profitable company, and I'm just not ready to make that sacrifice or incur that cost.

What did pop in my mind though, was how great Kevin and I would be writing together. Kevin and my imaginations, when combined, could be described as Farrelly Brothers or Wayans Brothers'ish. We're silly. Just plain goofy. And we snowball off each other like crazy.

But Kevin wasn't so sure about it. He used to write in high school. And he was a very imaginative writer. But he hasn't written since. And as he himself said, "if you don't use a gift, you lose it, and I think I've lost that ability."

To be even more honest, I'm not sure if I'd want a partner. I know one of the pros is that you stick to a schedule and you have someone pushing you and all that. But the con of creative differences and scheduling around someone else might not be very fun.

Anyone out there have an experience with working a partner? Pros, cons?

I'd have to sell him on investing his time in a new arena he's never considered before. (ie. scriptwriting) But I think if he bought in we could write something special together, even if it was us brainstorming together and me going and writing it.

Anniversary Surprise

2006-10-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love the most is to plan a good surprise. Birthday, Christmas, Anniversaries....all prime suspects. Well, 9/30 was my wife and my 6th anniversary, so it gave me another chance to plan something fun.

We usually take off for the weekend and hit the Oregon Coast, but lately we've been feeling that we should get a little more "outdoorsy," so that as our kids get a little older they get an appreciation for nature.

Living here in Vancouver, Washington it's pretty shocking that I've never been to see Mount St. Helens. I mean, she blasted away when I was ten, and I vividly remember where I was, and she's only about 90 minutes away from me. But the opportunity never came up, so I've never gone.

Over the last year or so my wife has mentioned a couple times that we should go, so when it came time to start planning, I definitely had the "where" covered. I just needed to figure out the little details.

My wife is also a huge fan of "Little House on the Prairie." She owns every book and knows just a little bit too much about Laura Ingalls Wilder to creep me out.

With such a love for that era, I figured "why not hook us up with a log cabin." I found a great little campsite called Eco Park and reserved a cabin.

Activities were easy to plan as the highway that leads to St. Helens has at least four visitor centers, and the campground had plenty of trails to hike and such.

We were pleased to find out when we arrived at the Mount St. Helens Silver Lake Visitor's Center that it was National Park Appreciation Day and entrance fees at all the observatory/visitor centers were waived. SWEET...I like free stuff.

Anywho...I'm already rambling.

The net result is the cabin was great. Log cabin with propane heat and lights (just like the olden days, right?!).

The campgrounds were frequented by elk, a point we figured quickly as we hiked around and discovered elk poo everywhere (as my son points out in the picture). On a hike we were lucky enough to spot a herd of about a dozen down a ridge in an open area. It was surreal to watch them watch us. Late, late that night we could hear them "bugeling" to each other. We also heard a coyote, which tends to wake you up a bit.

The surprise went over well, as I packed EVERYTHING and didn't tell my wife where we were headed. I told her I had to pee when we got to our exit, and she bought it until I wasn't looking for somewhere to pull over and she spotted a Mount St. Helens sign and got a huge smile on her face.

Trip was fun. The mountain was VERY impressive. Our sun caught a movie of the eruption at the first visitor's center, and was a little disconcerted when we got to the mountain and found the lava dome smoking. He goes "uh, oh." It was classic.

The surprise was a success. We had a great time. We didn't sleep well, but saw and did some wonderful things.

Let's Make This Official

2006-10-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

So a couple posts ago I mentioned that my wife had given me a great example of fortitude as she was able to complete something she had been working on for a very long time.

My wife began working on her Master's degree about 7 years ago, and even lost a year's worth of credits when she moved down to Vancouver and transferred to City University. She worked her classes all the way down to her final project, but hit a "snag" when she got pregnant with our first son and inevitably lost motivation to finish that project when he was born.

That last project has essentially floated out there all this time, with my wife picking it back up only to let it go again around the time of our daughter's birth. It was really only through persistence, and the help of a mentor from the University, that she was able to pick things up again recently and push it all the way through to completion!

It was priceless to see the ear-to-ear smile on her face as I opened the envelope and read the words "Master's Degree in Education with Presidential Honors." My wife knew she had a 4.0 GPA for quite a while, but didn't realize she had finished up with her grades high enough to qualify for honors.

For all of us out there who have started something and are struggling to complete it, take the example of someone who stuck with something for six years and finally completed it as inspiration.

If I Can't Make It, Maybe "He" Can

2006-09-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

A friend at work came across a casting call for "Into The Wild" here in Portland on Friday. The call was specifically for boys 3-6, so I loaded up my son Evan to see if he could have better luck getting into Hollywood than I've had.

We explained to Evan that acting is like "pretending." He seemed to get the whole concept and seemed cool with going to see some people who might ask him to pretend to be "angry" or "silly."

We were #117 of what I can only imagine was a thousand or so youngsters. Rumors had it that they were looking for a very specific look. (Great...Evan has one of those!) I think I overheard that they were looking for someone to play the lead (Chris?) as a youngster, who sneaks out of his house and into a neighbors house when they're gone.

We were there for about an hour or so. Everyone seemed very nice. We had our 30 seconds with the casting director, Marty. And then we were off. Evan was mad at me afterward because nobody asked him to pretend anything.

Today was a second day of casting calls (for adult extras), so I would imagine that if we haven't heard anything by now, we won't be hearing anything. Oh, well. At least we had a little adventure. And I have an excuse to put up a picture of the cutest boy in the world!

What Did Mommy Do?!

2006-09-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hollyn is amazed by Mommy!

And is very proud of her too!

Examples of Fortitude

2006-09-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

OK...let's just admit it. Presently I'm clocking in on the old blog at about one posting a week! And to come clean...I don't see that changing all too much in the near future. Not that I think the two of you reading this care much! :o)

Truth is...it feels like Winter to me lately, and every Winter I tend to go through a little gloom and doom mini-depression. Something about going to work when it's dark and coming home when it's dark. And although we're not at that point yet, my soul is ahead of schedule this year and I've been bummed lately for no reason.

My writing has come to a stand still. My dieting too. Early August seemed to be the fruition of some minor dreams, and late August seemed like a haze of "where do I go now."

Luckily today I was presented with an OUTSTANDING example of fortitude. My wife accomplished something she's been working on for a LONG time, and she deserves some serious kudos for seeing it all the way through to the end. We don't have the official word on it yet, so I won't spill the beans here and now. But hopefully I'll be able to post more about it real soon. Regardless, she crossed a milestone she's literally been working on for five YEARS!

Gives me some perspective on my writing and encourages me stick with it. So please bear with me as I detox through the whole "sell" mentality of the Writer's Conference and get back to the joy of writing for writing's sake!

Lincoln City, OR

2006-09-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

I apologize for taking a full week since my last post.

The wife, kids and I spent a long weekend on the Oregon Coast with my parents in a town just south of Lincoln City, OR.

Lincoln City is by far our favorite coastal town. We've done Seaside, Astoria, Depot Bay, etc....but nothing compares to Lincoln City. It's got great beaches (especially for agate hunting), a wonderful outlet shopping mall (for my regular Reebok shoe purchases), a killer casino (Chinook Winds Casino), and lots of quaint little Mom & Pop shops. We try to get down there pretty much every couple months, and it had been about seven months since our last trip so you know we were dying to get down there.

Usually one of the only downfalls of the Oregon Coast is suspect weather, as there's a little rumor out there that it rains a lot up here in the NW. But this weekend, it was BEAUTIFUL. 65-70 degrees, clear blue skies, no fog! It seriously couldn't have been nicer!

So you'll just have to forgive me for not getting to the blog sooner.

Besides, there's not much news on the script front. No word from Cory at Benderspink. No word from anybody.

My resolve is quickly turning to the fact that I need to worry less about shopping and concentrate much harder on reading/writing on a regular basis.

To be very honest, I haven't written much of anything the past few weeks, and lately I've been feeling like if I don't "make" time to write, it will never happen.

And I'm battling that with the thought of "how can I invest three month's worth of time into something that's not good enough to sell anyways?"

I really need to get the whole thought of "shopping" my scripts out of my mind and just focus on writing for fun again. Who cares what ever happens to it once it's done. Just do it and get it done.

That's just where I'm at right now!

The Fulfillment of Manhood

2006-09-07T07:17:00.000-07:00

I woke early today. Birds chirping. The sun rising gently. Something about the air seemed a bit more crisp and clean. There's a feeling in my soul this morning. A feeling that things are somehow better today. Sure I'm a man who believes in a God who watches over me and delights in giving me good things, but today is more special than that.

Today is a day that only comes once a year. OK, I guess every day is a day that only comes once a year, but not like today.

Look at the faces of the men around you. On many you'll see a different glow today. Heck, you'll even see it on some of the women in your vicinity.

Why are these people enlightened today? It's really quite simple.

Today marks the start of the 2006-2007 NFL Season!

Ahhhh....breathe it in! It's a more glorious aroma than some high blend morning coffee. It's more delicate on the palate than a French pastry. It's more healing to an aching heart than a Toni Braxton CD.

The season kicks off tonight when the Miami Dolphins travel to Pittsburgh to clash with the Steelers. I can't wait.

My observations for the season:

* Seattle will get back to the playoffs, if not the Super Bowl.
* Arizona will be a playoff team, even after Warner goes down early and Leinart has to take over at the helm.
* Philadelphia will drastically improve over their 6-10 record of last year.
* Dallas will start very strong, struggle in the middle, and implode by the end of the year.
* Washington is in big trouble because of Portis' injury and tinkering with their backfield.
* Eli Manning's team will out perform Payton Manning's team this year.

So raise your glasses to the beginning of another fun-filled NFL year. Here's to Sunday BBQs with friends and the Seahawks getting revenge for getting jobbed last year!

Peach Melba vs. Mango Raspberry

2006-09-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

Years ago I loved to get a drink at a fancy burger restaurant here in Vancouver called Red Robin. It was called a Peach Melba and was basically a peach milkshake with raspberry syrup mixed in with it. Don't know why I took to them so much, but I did. They were awesome, but eventually Red Robin stopped making them. A number of times afterwards I was able to explain to the waiter/waitress what it was and still get one, but it eventually became more and more difficult so I stopped.

Well, imagine my surprise when I was in a McDonalds yesterday and saw they have a special shake flavor right now called Mango Raspberry. Mmmm...sounds good. So I tried one. Holy smokes!! It took me back to the peach melba. I loved it!

So although it's not the healthiest thing out there, I beg all of you if you're nearby a McDonalds anytime soon, to give it a try and encourage Ronald to keep it on the menu for a long time!

My Plight Is Nowhere Near This Difficult

2006-09-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

My wife is a substitute teacher for a number of school districts in the Vancouver area. She has been a sub for about six years, but has been doing everything in her power for the last couple years to become a "contracted" full-time teacher.

The district she has worked the hardest for is the Vancouver School District. She has held short and long-term sub jobs and even a few short-term "terminable" positions (basically taking over for contracted teachers who need to take some leave).

She has jumped through every hoop the district has put up to try and get a contract, but year after year we watch painfully as they fill their empty positions with fresh-from-college people (some from completely different States) who we can't help but believe aren't nearly as qualified as Heather. One year in particular Heather was called in at the last minute to start the school year for a girl that had been hired that didn't even have her paperwork in order yet. Heather had to open that girl's class while the girl got her certificates. It was a very frustrating time! Even after the girl got her paperwork in order, it was obvious to Heather that she didn't have a clue how to run her classroom. Heather helped her out a lot, but it was still very frustrating. Why was that girl hired, not Heather?

We've learned through the years that logic and fairness play no part in hiring in the VSD though. Heather has letters of reference from a few of the most highly thought of principles in the district. She even had a petition started on her behalf and signed by nearly everyone in one of Vancouver's nicer schools.

What we've determined is that the gate keeper is a lady in Human Resources that seems to make all the hiring decisions. So even though Heather has a principle saying she's great and they'd love to have her at their school, it doesn't matter as this HR lady has the ultimate power.

Ultimately, it's proving incredibly frustrating. Here we are with school ready to start in a couple days, and still no job for Heather. And to make matters worse, a couple days ago we heard through the grapevine that Vancouver was desperately looking to fill some last minute openings. HELLO!! And this after Heather had left two notes and two voicemails within a week for this HR lady.

It's hard at this point not to become a conspiracy theorist. Has Heather been black-listed for some reason that they're not sharing with us? Does VSD not hire their subs because they're afraid of losing a good sub? Does Heather not meet some "profile" that would make her more hirable (ie. race, gender, etc.)? Is Heather too qualified (she is about 10 hours of work away from having her Masters Degree and is thus more expensive than a fresh off their Bachelor student)? Has Heather somehow inadvertently pissed off this HR lady?

WE JUST DON'T KNOW!

And so here we go again. Round and round the merry-go-round. Heather does everything she can to get into Vancouver, and we watch as they give the positions to under-qualified, not-nearly-as-passionate people!

I'm More Than Preferred, I'm Ultra-Preferred

2006-09-02T19:25:00.000-07:00

For those of you who've been reading the blog since the beginning, you know that from April 1st to June 30th I embarked on a new diet to drop some pounds and get my cholesterol in line so I could get the best rate possible on some life insurance.

I didn't really need the motivation. I'd been overweight for the last couple years, and had been feeling it more and more of late, so the extra financial nudge was just the cherry on top.

Well, as I noted before, the diet was a success. I was able to drop almost 25 pounds, and although I haven't watched what I've been eating so militantly anymore, I've been able to keep it off the last two months. And better yet, with the assistance of my herbal supplement genius father, I was able to drastically reduce my cholesterol numbers also.

So last week a doctor came out to run my wife and I through our life insurance physicals, and the results are in. My hard work was worth it as I qualified for my provider's "ultra-preferred" rates! That's $7 less a month, every month, for as long as we own the policy. I can dig that!

For any of you out there dealing with high cholesterol, don't buy into the whole prescription medication thing. There are natural herbal supplements that will drastically decrease your numbers. If nothing else look for a "Cholesterol Essentials" supplemant, which is a combo of all the things that help.

You Want Insensitive!

2006-08-28T15:16:00.000-07:00

I read a news blurb today that said the Conan O'Brian intro to the Emmy's last night was "insensitive," and criticized the Emmy's for airing it.

OK. I get the point. The skit aired just hours after a horribly unfortunate accident in Kentucky in which 49 people lost their lives. Honestly, I see the tragedy there.

But seriously! A "pre-recorded" skit, created as a spoof from a storyline in a pre-existing TV show (Lost), which never even showed the plane crashing! Grow up, America! Our country is so overly sensitive now-a-days it makes me sick.

Judge for yourself though. I thought the skit was hilarious, and while watching it never associated it with the crash in Kentucky.

Summer Fridays are Over

2006-08-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

Got an email yesterday from our boss saying that today would be the last "Summer Friday" here at work.

Ooooooooh, drat!!

My wife and I have obviously really enjoyed these half days to start off our weekends, and I had hoped that maybe they would be extended into September a bit. Regardless, I am more than grateful for the days we got! What a very cool perk.

Also, I know I teased you all a little in my last post about some big news that was coming. Well, I got it Monday and have just been trying to find the time and words to get it up here.

Essentially, I got my first official "coverage" on Like Brothers.

I won't say what studio or what person, but it was accurate enough, and essentially showed me that I need to continue working on my skills as a writer. Yes, there were good notes. This person liked certain elements of the story and liked a couple characters. He was particularly fond of "Tank," the grizzly, old, ex-Army Ranger friend of Kyle's father, so that made me happy. Tank is a hoot, and I loved writing his dialogue, cause it was easily the closest to my inner-weirdo! I'm very glad this person saw him as a strength. But along with the good comes the bad.

This person found some elements of my story to be too cliche and underdeveloped. And said my writing style was too amatuer. And as much as it pains me to write that on this blog, because I know other execs read this, and I don't want one person's opinion to influence another's, I also swore I would take you all along on this journey with me, and I don't want to hold back the news I'm getting even if it's not the greatest!. (man, that was a really long run-on sentence!!)

Although I was very disappointed my first coverage was so lukewarm, I have no problem facing the truth and realizing that my journey will be more than just a first step. I'll keep reading, I'll keep writing, and some day I'll have a story that will hit the mark.

And I'll keep praying that one of the other people out there who is still evaluating Like Brothers will have more faith and vision than this last person, and can see how it has the potential to be at least as big as some of the other things that have gotten the green light. After all, Mike Rich was rejected by everyone on "Finding Forrester" until it won the Nicholls, then he's the cat's meow! At the recommendation of a friend I recently watched a movie from 2004 called Cellular, which grossed $32M. I can't help but feel that if Like Brothers got the right two guys to play Kyle and Dillon, it would do easily better than that!

Oh well. Time to focus on what's ahead. I'm still working on a page one re-write of "Inside," taking into consideration some of the feedback I got from people at the conference.

Until then....have a great weekend all!

PS. Fantasy football geeks out there. My draft went very well! I'm in a "keeper" league, so I came to the draft with Hasselback, Larry Johnson, Portis, Chester Taylor and Fitzgerald. I ended up drafting Culpepper, Simms, Maroney, Mike Bell, Driver, Galloway, Glenn, Winslow Jr., Crumpler, and a handful of others. I got a good group, and am poised to repeat as champ!

It's Real to Me!

2006-08-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

No post today since I'm knee deep in cheat sheets and draft strategies! That's right, folks, it's Fantasy Football draft day, and for the next five hours or so I'll be donning my General Manager persona and battling with nine other guys to draft as many NFL studs as possible. I am the reigning champ in our league, and it's pretty rare to pull off a repeat, so I have my work cut out for me.

I will have some interesting news later this week though. Sorry for the tease, but I'm building the drama!

Hope you're having a great weekend.

More Than Meets The Eye

2006-08-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

I'd like to think I'm a triple threat.

Of course, I'd also like to think I'm devilishly handsome and flawlessly witty, but anyone who knows me will assure you I'm neither!

So what is my definition of a triple threat? Well, it's not the traditional one of acting, singing, and dancing! (Although I can belt out a wicked 80s rock ballad when forced.) But I'm talking about writing, speaking, and marketing. Yep, along with being a blossoming writer, I'm also a functional interview (more on that below) and a top notch student of the world of marketing! And I'm hoping that some studio out there finds that combo reassuring and makes it that much easier to entrust one of their projects to my care and abilities.

For viewers of this blog that don't already know this (although I'm fairly certain my Mom and Grandma do already know this, but I'll say it anyway) I have my Major in Business with concentrations in Marketing and Management, and a Minor in Economics. And while I don't say that to toot my own horn, I do say it to draw a parallel between the worlds of business and Hollywood. I have spent many years focused on creating a product the market wants and then promoting it to them when it's ready. And in the time I've spent writing scripts, I find the similarities between the two worlds striking.

Instead of Marketing's 4 P's, Hollywood has its 4 Q's. The 4 Quadrants - Men, Women, Old, Young. And the goal is to craft a masterpiece that can hit the bulls eye in the center of the 4 Q's and make as large an audience turn out to watch your story as possible. The favorable byproduct, of course, is making a bunch of people a bunch of money...not to mention influencing a lot of people with an original story.

Now I know the studios have their own marketing people and all that, and I'd definitely never step on any toes there (read: I'm the consummate team player!), but wouldn't you think it would help me just a little, teeny bit to have that capability built in, that in the back of my mind I'm always considering my audience and giving foresight to how my movie would be potentially marketed? Maybe I'm wrong, but I would think that would be an asset.

So, what did I mean by functional interview? Mostly, just that given the opportunity to do it, I do a decent job of getting up in front of whomever and telling them whatever. I've seen how many writers are extreme introverts that would rather get a root canal than meet with studio execs or worse, the media! And granted, I've got my own issues with public speaking and all that. I've posted before that my closest demons are deeply rooted in the realms of social anxiety. But that doesn't mean that with a few Zanax and the prayers of loved ones I can't stand up in front of whomever and speak intelligently about whatever needs to be heard to keep the train moving forward. Right? Well, at least good enough to be "functional."

So there you have it! A young writer, who's mindful while he works of what the overall goals really are, who can do the things that need to be done when it comes time to hit the stage and sing and dance.

Now if I could just be funny too!

Facts About Hollywood I Didn't Know

2006-08-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

At the Willamette Writers conference I heard numerous people refer to William Goldman's book Adventures in the Screen Trade, so as soon as it was over I jumped onto Amazon.com and bought it. I just started reading it and within a dozen pages I've already learned some cool "Hollywood History" tidbits.

Did you know:

1. Previous to 1910 stars were not promoted by name. If you were a fan and wanted to write to one, you'd labeled your mail to "The Butler with the Mustache" or "Girl with Curly Hair."

2. In 1910 a girl named Florence Lawrence was stolen away from her current studio by another one who promised to promote her actual name.

3. By 1912 many stars were being promoted under their actual names and began demanding higher and higher salaries.

4. By 1919 a star named Fatty Arbuckle became the first celebrity in history to get a million dollar per year contract. (DANG! A million bucks in 1919! That's serious cabbage!)

5. Thomas Edison invented motion picture, and most early movie studios were NY-based.

6. Studios had to pay a fee to Edison for the right to make movies, and because movies were in such high demand, many pirate companies emerged and tried to evade the fees. They did it by moving as far away from NY as possible. Hello Hollywood.

These bits were just with the first dozen pages! I can't wait to read more of this book! Thank you, Mr. Goldman!

Forgive Me

2006-08-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

Forgive me for the long weekend. It was my birthday, and apparently the added year of wisdom is being offset by a year's less energy!

For those who don't know, I'm 36. And in the words of Jessica Simpson, "36 is like mid-30's, and mid-30's is like 40" (or something like that!).

And after a minute or two of introspection, I find that at this stage of my life I'm very happy with many things. I have a beautiful wife, two gorgeous children, a great day job, and JUST enough energy left over to invest in a hobby that I really, really enjoy.

So is it wrong that I want more? Am I being greedy?

I sure hope not! Cause I do. I really, really do. I want to become a good writer. And I want to become a great story teller. I want people to read/watch my movies and be taken to a place where their imaginations can't help but take over and be captivated for 90+ minutes. Oh, and by the way, I'd be thrilled to get paid to do it!

UPDATE ON SCRIPT STUFF:

No news from the four other people who are currently reading "Like Brothers." I was just getting to a point where I was wondering when I should start following up, and then today I saw that Warren Leonard, over on his site, The Screenwriting Life, happened to be discussing what to do when you've handed off your script and your waiting for feedback. How timely is that!? Warren and his viewers always have great feedback, so I posed the question and have already gotten back great advice!

Four. Five. Four.

2006-08-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

You have to remember that I spend my days as a "marketer." My nuerons are consumed with target markets, advertising, doing whatever I can to get my product into someone's hands.

So...after I had finished sending "Like Brothers" off to the four executives who had requested an actual, physical, paper copy of it...I thought "hey, don't I have the email address of that one guy from the workshop that I never got to pitch to?"

And, uh, huh, yep, there it was! An exec who was kind enough to give out his email address to the lot of us attending his class, so I thought, "time to do a little self promotion!"

I drafted up a quick, consise email; after all, these guys are BUSY people, so I simply said..."Hi Agent E, I enjoyed your class, and just sent my script off to A, B, C, and D. Thought maybe you'd like to see it too?"

And it worked! He replied back with simply..."Eric-send along."

So, by Tuesday night, I was up to FIVE execs who were checking it out.

AND THEN THE HAMMER FELL! For the first time. I had been waiting!

Late yesterday I got my first rejection. Well, technically, I think my first rejection came in 5th grade from a girl named Julie Zea, but that's a whole other story! This was my first HOLLYWOOD rejection.

Jake Wagner from Energy Entertainment emailed and said that although he could tell I had worked hard on it, he just wasn't enthusiastic about "Like Brothers." I thanked him very sweetly for reading it so neatly, and asked him most completely for notes and thoughts so deeply...actually...I just thanked him and said if he had any feedback or advice, no matter how brutally honest, I'd welcome it. I also mentioned I hoped it would be ok to contact him in the future with any new work I come up with.

Although he didn't provide any feedback, he did say to "definitely send along any future loglines." So, I guess that's a bit of a moral victory, cause if he thought "Like Brothers" was junk, I doubt he'd even entertain my future loglines.

Regardless...Jake's email didn't faze me at all. Although I'm very confident in the story I've crafted, I am mature enough to look in the mirror and see a newbie in the world of script writing! Yes, someone might love it. Yes, they all might not. But I won't stop moving forward with it.

Please keep praying for the four other people currently reading it!

Cheers,
Eric

Time For A Recap

2006-08-07T10:39:00.000-07:00

So before I get into an "overall" summary of how things went at the conference, I should catch you all up on what happened yesterday. Because my 'scheduled' pitch meetings were all within 90 minutes of each other, I was able to attend more workshops, and thus didn't have some of the down time I had compared to the previous days where I could take a couple minutes and update the blog.

8:30-10:00am - Ken Atchity's workshop on "Writing the Perfect Treatment." Ken is a bit of a "one-stop-shop" guy, as he manages and produces for both literary and film writers. He was (or is) also a professor, and he speaks with a ton of authority on the subject of treatments. His workshop was very informative.

I had to leave Ken's workshop early, though, to get to my first pitch session. 10:00am with Dave Alpert. Unfortunately when I got over to the pitch area I was informed that Mr. Alpert had packed his bags and left the hotel earlier that morning, leaving all his pitches high and dry! There was more of this type of behavior than you would think at the conference, but then again....that's Hollywood!

So I went to the front desk staff people and desparately searched for another agent/exec to replace Dave. I'd rather talk to almost anyone than get my $15 refunded. As luck would have it a producer named Sean Robbins (who I had been hearing impressive things about) was apparently available at 2:00pm. Remember that....we'll get back to it later.

My next two pitches were with:

11:15am - Navid McIlhargey, Silver Pictures. Navid was WAY cool. I'd had him in a couple workshops, and he's very, very laid back and down to earth. He was very candid about the fact that he handles BIG, BIG movies, and especially action movies. That's great, but I figured "Like Brothers" wasn't quite "huge" enough for him. Regardless, I knew he was a nice guy, so I figured we could shoot the breeze and see where it went. Irony of all ironies, Navid seemed fairly interested. Maybe he was just cutting me a break because he had heard a little about me from an old friend who works down in LA. (hat tip to Tiffany Hauck, editor with the TV show Boston Legal, and old elementary/high school friend of mine that I've recently reconnected with, for emailing Navid and telling him that I'd be at the conference and looking for him. That was very, very, very cool, Tiffany! You're right, Navid is a cool guy.)

Navid actually said I could submit my script to him and he would have one of his story editors read it and give me coverage (ie. notes). In the world of conferences like these...having a big time guy tell you something like this is pretty much the BEST you can get! Essentially, now it's all on the shoulders of the script itself, and that's the best you can ask for.

Navid was a very cool guy, so here's hoping his story editor thinks "Like Brothers" is good enough and we can work together to make this thing into a box office smash!

11:30am - Lainie Gallers, TNT Networks. Fresh off my meeting with Navid I turned right around and met with Lainie. She was a very sweet, very straight-forward lady who helped me understand a bit more about pitching a film to "cable" rather than Hollywood. Once I heard that TNT's budgets aren't usually more than $5-$10 million per film, I knew "Like Brothers" had no place there. (I mean, come on, I got exploding Seaplanes, guys rapelling from ferris wheels onto moving mono-rails, etc.)

So instead I went right into a loose pitch of "Inside." (As an aside, I still can't believe how much I was able to pitch that script! I hadn't even prepared to talk about it, but it got brought up at least four times!) Anyway, Lainie liked it, but not quite enough. She said it had a very solid foundation but she had two big edits for it. You can bet since I'm just beginning a complete re-write of that script anyways, that I'll include her edits and whenever it's ready I'll do whatever I can to get it back in front of her eyes.

By this time it's almost noon, and that's lunch. Ken Atchity was the lunchtime speaker and he really lifted everyone's spirits with an encouragement that all of us should consider ourselves as "legit" just by having come to this conference and been doing what we were doing. It was all warm and fuzzy.

After lunch the next workshop was scheduled from 1:15 - 2:30. I figured I'd attend, although I knew I'd have to leave early for my pitch with Sean Robbins at 2:00pm. What I didn't realize, as I hadn't paid attention to who was leading this workshop, was that the session was being given by SEAN ROBBINS!! Pretty hard to meet with a guy and pitch to him when he's in the middle of teaching a work shop! (Nice job to the front desk staff person that signed me up for that slot, btw!)

Anywho...as irony would have it...the workshop itself turned into a big pitch session. But first, a little about Sean.

Sean is a big time, I mean BIG TIME, guy. He's a VP of Production at Broken Road, and he's one of those guys you can't get a script to unless it's through a manager, agent, lawyer, etc. Sean made no bones about the fact that he never leaves a conference like this having requested a script. That's someone else's job. But he does come to hear what's being thrown around the industry, and to teach a few schlucks like us what life is really like in Hollywood. He's high intensity is only matched by his willingness to tell it like it is.

Sean immediately started the workshop by apologizing that he was not 100%. Said he'd been burning the candle at both ends, and we'd be getting about 25% of him, but that he'd give us the best 25% he could give. Then he proceeded to blow everyone in the room's sock off!!! He makes Red Bull and Mt. Dew look like decaffenated selzer water! He paced the aisles and rows of the 15 or so attendees, and grilled us all on how we pitched our stuff. We went one by one and as soon as we were done he'd yell "NO, WRONG" (in a loving, laughable, yet still painful honest type way). He taught us how to get succinct and deliver only what needed to be said. He also would ask the rest of the class who would go see that movie. That was sometimes the most painful part. But the truth hurts, right?!

I strategically waited 'til after about the 5th or 6th person pitched to mentally figure out how I could alter my pitch to give him what he was looking for, and then I volunteered to be butchered by him. Amazingly, I nailed it. He said so. Said I hit pretty much everything he needed to know. Unfortunately he asked who'd go see it and only a couple people raised their hands. He said the group "might not be a very 'action-friendly' crowd, but it's good to know how people react." The second unfortunate part is Sean must be friends with Andrew Trapani, (see So What's It Like To Pitch To Hollywood") who had come in later into the workshop and was sitting in the back. On about the 5th pitch Sean had started asking Andrew if he'd read it. So, even though I nailed my pitch to Sean, and I think even impressed him just a tiny, tiny bit, he said to Andrew, "Andrew, what do you think?" to which Andrew replied (nicely enough though) "Yay, I actually heard that pitch earlier, and although it's interesting, it still sounds a bit 'familiar' and a little too 'Commando' for me."

AAAUUUGH!! My movie's not "Commando" at all, but Andrew was my first pitch and I think the Army Ranger part of my movie came out a bit too strong. And here he is down playing me in front of a big-time player who I kinda, sorta, maybe think I might have impressed a bit by nailing my 30-second pitch! Oh well...what can you do?!

Next on the schedule was a workshop called"From Black to Red: How Studios Make Their Money," by Dory Benami. That class was cool, and informative, but too much about numbers and felt a little like a college accounting class. Compared to Sean's high energy, that one was hard to stay awake in!

So that was it! Workshops over, Conference over, Pitches over. Now what???

Well...for those of you keeping score at home....I directly pitched to NINE people (Ten if you count my mini-pitch to Sean), and of those people THREE directly requested a copy of "Like Brothers" to either read for themselves or be read by a story editor at their company. Beyond that ONE person took my pitch synopsis, to evaluate later, cause she liked my idea but wasn't sure the story had enough juice for her. Beyond that ONE person gave me the email address of his story editor and said to send over my logline (sort of a one-sentence summary of the movie idea). And beyond that ONE person took my card and said he'd email me cause he was interested in "Inside".

The yin and yang of it all is, while I feel like I accomplished a LOT at the conference and am thrilled out of my knickers that so many people want to see more of me or my work, I also feel a bit like I'm a guy who just took the first step on a million mile march! These guys are all so into what they do. They live it, eat it, breathe it, sleep it, etc., and here am I trying to eek out an hour here or an hour there to write more, let alone studying the industry, knowing the trends, learning how to become a better writer. That part was all just a bit overwhelming and a bit of a splash of cold water.

Heather and I spent a little time last night talking about the future and where we go from here. Obviously, as long as I still have a day job, the best I can do is pretty much keep it where it's been running the last few weeks, although I'll definitely dedicate every spare minute these next couple nights to making sure I follow up with the respective people from the conference. But how much more bandwidth I can dedicate beyond all that remains to be seen!

I guess part of me was praying there would be a way to gently transition away from Marketer by day and Scriptwriter by night. And by gentle transition I mean one of these guys saying "We love 'Like Brothers,' who should we make the million dollar check out to?"

Thanks again to all of you for your support, prayers, thoughts, and emails over the weekend though. The conference was FANTASTIC, and I'll thrilled I went. I will continue to keep you posted on any follow-up with the people who've requested more info from me! Let's keep hoping and praying for good, good things!

And to Jeremy's comment, I reply..."I'm the littlest among the little people, so there's no way I could ever forget anyone!"

Sorry....I'll Catch Up Tomorrow

2006-08-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

OK...long day! It wasn't as productive as yesterday, but I still had a couple good things happen.

I'm exhausted right now, though, so I'm heading to bed.

I'll try to get up early and fill you in on how things went on the final day, as well as where I go from here!

Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers! I definitely got over the nervousness and was having a blast quickly!

I Wish It Would Never End!

2006-08-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

I have to admit I'm a little bittersweet about today. I have been having so much fun at this conference, I don't want it to end! But on the flip side, I'm exhausted. Ramping up for each pitch session is emotionally straining, and after getting up then coming down again and again and again, you end up feeling like you've been stuck on a roller coaster all day long. But do you really wanna get off?

Today's event are as follows.

8:30-10:00 - Workshop from Ken Atchity (a manager I never got to pitch to but really want to find a way to get some time with him!)

10:00 - 11:30 - Four pitches. Dave Alpert, Partner at Circle of Confusion. Chris Sablan, Agent at Original Artists. Navid McIlhargey, VP of Development at Silver Pictures. Lainie Gallers, Network Exec at the TNT Network.

12:15 - 1:00 - Lunch.

1:15 - 2:30 - Workshop about Schmoozing for Dollars.

3:00 - 4:15 - Workshop on How the Studios Make Their Money.

4:15 - Conclusion of conference, raffle, prize drawings, etc.

5:00'ish - Head home and pray somebody I impressed here the last three days wants to take my work to the next level!

For those of you who haven't been keeping score at home, I'll be sure to do a recap on my pitches and what resulted from each one.

Thank you all for your emails, prayers and overall support. Please continue through today. My meeting with Navid is particularly important. Navid is BIG TIME. Silver Pictures works exclusively with Warner Brothers, so they only tackle big, BIG movies. I'm praying he sees the potential in "Like Brothers," although I doubt it's got the goods given the quality of other projects they are already working on. But you never know!!

Life Without Air

2006-08-05T14:42:00.000-07:00

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Finally, a chance to breathe!

Today has been insane. I've been trying at every chance I get throughout the day to add agents to pitch to, and I swear I've spent more time in line and in pitches than in workshops so far.

First off, I did get to attend Cory Hebenstreit's workshop "Character Development: How to Make Them Pop." Even though it was at 8:30am, and it seemed most people were nose-deep in their coffee, Cory rocked! If I ever had a man-crush, it would be on Cory. He was insightful, funny, extremely knowledgeable, and kept us entertained and educated for 90 minutes. I'm psyched that he's one of the people that requested my work, cause even if he hates it, he'll still hopefully give me some great feedback.

OK....so that workshop ended and I had to head off to pitches. They went like this:

1. 10:15am - George Heller - Partner at FourSight Entertainment. George was a cool guy and said he liked "Like Brothers" and wanted me to send the logline to his story editor. While geeked out about that for hours, I later found out other people were told the same thing, so I'm not quite as thrilled about it as I was. Oh well, hopefully his story editor likes it.

After George I had a quick chance to call home and check in, then it was back-to-back meetings at 11:00 and 11:15. They were:

2. 11:00am - Mark Burrell - Partner at Half Shell Entertainment. Mark was cool too. His bio seemed to indicate he was only really looking for comedies, so I approached him with the attitude that I wasn't going to pitch anything to him, but just wanted to shoot the breeze about the industry in general. Quickly it came out that although they do a lot of comedies, they can still handle other genres, so I gave him the 10,000 foot view of "Like Brothers." I could tell it was too expensive, so I immediately shot into the fact that I had a cheaper action flick and threw out "Inside." Mark seemed very interested in "Inside" and asked me if I had a card. He said he would email me. Will he really? Who knows!

3. 11:15am - Jake Wagner - Literary Manager at Energy Entertainment. I made a fool out of myself with Jake at first, because when I was doing my last minute brush up on his bio, I suddenly mistakenly thought "wait, 'literary', does that mean he only deals with authors?" Told him I didn't want to waste his time, and he cooly said he handled movies too and we were good to go. I pitched him "Like Brothers" and he loved it. He said (and I quote....to the best of my zanax-influenced brain) "that was one of the better script ideas I've heard so far at the show." SAAAAA-WEEEET!!!

I had a bit of a break after these guys, so I attended the last few minutes of a workshop, then headed off to lunch. After lunch I called home and checked in. Heather couldn't believe it when I told her that out of five pitches so far at the conference, I've had 'something' requested from four of them!

My last pitch today was supposed to occur at 1:30pm, but the person was a no show. That turned into a bit of a fiasco. Lisa Zambri from Contra Films was someone that I was very, VERY interested in talking too, as I had heard from numerous people that she was here looking for big-budget action films. So, I showed up at 1:30pm, but there was no Lisa. The staff tried to track her down, but nothing. They told me I could reschedule with her, but I said what if she is booked and doesn't have any other times. They said I could get a refund. I told them they could keep my $15, I just wanted one minute of her time.

While I was waiting in line to look and see if I could reschedule, I saw a couple younger females head into the pitching area, so I got out of line to see if one of them was Lisa. Sure enough it was, but by this time the 1:45pm people were coming in and my window was closing. I ran over to her, told her we had missed each other (read: she jacked me and didn't show up for our pitch time), and that I really wanted to find a time to get with her. She was very nice, and said we'd make something happen, but to check with the front desk to try and reschedule.

The front desk people said Lisa was booked up, so I knew I'd have to effort it on my own and make it happen. So...about 20 minutes later I was sitting out with another writer, chatting about our experiences, and I see Lisa come out and start to walk off. I jumped up, got her attention and we figured "it was now or never."

Unfortunately, that really threw me. We headed back to her table, but I was already a bit flustered. I sat down and buttered her up (not intentionally, but truthfully) by telling her that I had heard she was a good fit for "Like Brothers." I started the pitch and she immediately got confused. (I think I was so amp'd and flustered that I was talking a mile a minute)

Anyways...I butchered the pitch and to make it worse, Lisa just couldn't see the struggle/motivation that would sustain Act II. Luckily I think she was on-board enough with the idea in general that she asked if I had a synopsis she could take back and see if she could make work. I gave her that and a card, but I won't hold out hope that I'll be getting a call from her.

Right now it's 3:15pm, so I'll attend the last workshop of the day. What a wild, wild ride so far!! But I can tell you that instead of feeling nervous today, I am having a blast (Lisa's butchered pitch withstanding). Whether she got it or not, she took info on it, and that makes it FIVE out of six people so far! And I have four more pitches tomorrow too, so you can believe I'll start by feeding them the "a lot of other people are asking for it, so you should too" line! Hey, it's Hollywood, and I'm playing the game now!!

So What's It Like To Pitch To Hollywood

2006-08-05T06:47:00.000-07:00

My very first pitch yesterday was with Andrew Trapani from Intergrated Films & Management. He was exactly what I anticipated "externally." Mid-30's, tan, gel'd hair, very hip looking, and well-polished. But what I wasn't expecting was how NICE he was. The pitch went a little something like this: (mind you this is a "short" pitch, only 10 minutes, whereas if you were having a pitch meeting IN HOLLYWOOD you'd pitch for quite a lot longer.)

Me: Hi, I'm Eric Anderson.
AT: Hi, Eric, I'm Andrew. Go ahead and sit down.
Me: Thanks.
AT: So how's your morning going so far?
Me: Pretty good. Had a little weirdness trying to sign up for more pitches.
AT: Really? Like what?
Me: Oh, I guess their server freaked out, and it did it right while "I" was at the head of the line signing up for more people. I thought the rest of the line was gonna kill me when they had to shut down after I was done.
AT: Nice. Sounds fun.
Me: Yah, it was good times.
AT: Well, I basically consider this time as "your" time, so we can talk about whatever you want to talk about. We can talk about the weather, sports, your script, whatever you want.
Me: Cool. Well, since I'm here with a script, why don't I go ahead and just pitch that and we'll see where that takes us?
AT: Sounds good, go for it.
Me: (( insert Eric's pitch here ))
AT: Hmmm, that's not really something I'd be looking for.
Me: OK.
AT: What else have you got? Have you written any other scripts?
Me: (( panic in my head, as I didn't think we were allowed to pitch more than one thing and I hadn't really prepared a backup ))
Me: Well, I actually wrote something a few years ago before I really knew what I was doing, and I'm doing a page 1 re-write on it. It's basically the story of....(( insert my quick, off-the-cuff pitch about "Inside" )).
AT: Cool. I like that part about the guy with anxiety. I think that one might have a little potential. I'd work on fleshing out the part with the whole anxiety stuff, and see where that takes you.
Me: Awesome, it's definitely next on my list. Hey, um, I know you guys (execs/producers) all sort of talk amongst yourselves at this show. Do you know of anyone that might be more interested in an Action script like my first one?
AT: Hmmmm. Yah, actually, you might want to talk with so-and-so and, uh, check with so-and-so (who I'm already signed up for today) cause I think her companies does a lot of flicks like that.
Me: Great. Thanks. Well, I really appreciate your time. I think it's so cool that you guys all come up and do this kind of stuff.
AT: Oh, it's my pleasure.
Me: Do you guys give out cards?
AT: Ummmm, I'll give "you" my card. (implying he doesn't give 'em to everyone)
Me: Awesome, thanks. Well, thanks again, it was very cool to meet you, and thanks again for your time. Good luck with everyone else you're meeting with. I hope you find some good stuff!
AT: Me, too. Thanks. Have a good one.

BENDERSPINK RULES!

2006-08-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

I have to make this short, but essentially my meeting with Cory Hebenstreit with Benderspink ALMOST didn't happen.

The pitch meetings got completely off-schedule after the lunch break, and when I went to my 2:30 pitch, they were calling the 1:45 people in. I figured I still have 45 minutes or so and wanted to head back to the workshop I had been sitting in, as I was really enjoying it and it was being given by a person whom I'm pitching to on Sunday.

I went back to the class, enjoyed the rest, and at 3:00 headed back to the pitching area to await my meeting with Cory. As I arrived I asked one of the people in the mob what time they were currently calling, and he said "I think the 2:30's are just finishing and they'll be calling the 2:45's anytime."

I about DIED!

I immediately ran into the ballroom and found Cory (sitting in a corner by himself looking annoyed). I begged for his forgiveness and quickly explained what had happened. He was VERY cool about it all.

Just as I was getting done begging for forgiveness a guy in the back yells "We're about to let the 2:45's in," so I begged Cory to let me do a 1-minute pitch and blasted through it like my life depended on it!

IT WENT GREAT!

Cory seemed interested. Said he'd like me to submit via their website, and to mark it to his attention. I asked if I could give him my card and he said that would be fine. I handed it to him and he said "wow, cool card."

In and out of that meeting in 3 minutes, my head is still spinning! I can't believe someone from Benderspink is willing to read my stuff. What an answer to prayer!

Gotta run. 3:30 session is about to kick off. More posting tonight!

Cheers, and thanks to ALL of you for your support, love and prayers!
Eric

The First Little SNAFU

2006-08-04T09:56:00.000-07:00

So, I head over early to try and sign up for more 1-on-1 pitches. The conference only allows you to sign up for six in advance, then opens it up to as many as you want once the conference begins.

I came over with a list of roughly 12 more people to try and set up times with, and after waiting in a SLOOOOOOOOW moving line for about an hour, was only able to land two more.

To make matters worse, the server running the "session system" to all the conference's laptops fritzed out right while I was up to bat and getting more sessions. I swear I thought the line of 30+ people behind me was going to kill me and think I took down the system.

Anywho....it's 10:00am. My first pitch is in 30 minutes. I'm anxious as heck, but I feel really good about how I've polished my pitch and committed it to memory in a way that doesn't sound stale and regurgitated.

Not sure when my next installment will be. I have a workshop session immediately after my pitch, so maybe after/during lunch I'll find time to tell you how Pitch #1 went.

PS. Thanks to my wife for all the beautiful things she said below. They are undeserved. I'm just a guy that was raised right by loving parents and grandparents!

From the "Good Woman"

2006-08-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

So, this blog belongs to my husband, Eric. And as his wife, I think I should get a moment to share some of my feelings for him and his scriptwriting efforts. This man of mine is the greatest! Aside from being an awesome husband and dad, he's a great marketing coordinator, a loving son to his parents, a fun son-in-law to my parents, a loyal friend, and a dependable neighbor. You can look at any aspect of his life and find a person who has been touched in a postive way by him. His family knows that they can always count on him to put their feelings and wishes ahead of his own. His friends know that no matter how far apart they may be, he is only a phone call or email away, especially during Fantasy Footbal season (is it just me, or does football season last all year?). Our neighbors know that if they need to borrow something or ask advice, he'll drop what he's doing and come over. We have a neighbor who's husband is in Afghanistan, and her and her teenage sons often have need for computer, cable, or video game advice. Eric is always there.

My point in sharing all of this with those of you who read his blog, is to let you know that the majority of his time is spent helping others enjoy their day. Whether it's playing Hot Wheels with our son over and over and over and over, tickling our infant daughter until she's laughing hysterically, or joining me for dumb-old-my-wife-should-be-doing-these errands around town, he is generally there with a smile on his face. He holds my hand in the car, when we're walking to get the mail, or just falling asleep at night. He does this because he know it makes me happy.

And through all of this, he has managed to do one more thing. Write a script. Something that he has wanted to do for a long time, but never had the time. As busy as our days are, raising 2 children together, family committments, work committments, he found the time to write a wonderful script. He did it without taking time away from our family. He did it without taking time away from friends and neighbors. I think he's awesome. I think that this world, our neighborhood, our family, and most of all our children are blessed having him in our lives.

So, I just wanted you to know what a "Stud Pickle" he is. Keep encouraging him. He's the best. Keep checking his blog, as he will be updating you all on his endeavors!

Conference Schedule

2006-08-04T05:40:00.000-07:00

OK, folks! Today is the day! It's now or never. GO TIME!

We went over to where the conference is being held last night and picked up my registration packet. It looks like it's going to be a great conference. Lots of pleasant people. I picked up my info and here is my schedule:

Pitches

Fri
10:30 Andrew Trapani
2:30 Cory hebenstreit

Sat
10:15 George Heller
11:15 Jake Wagner
1:30 Lisa Zambari

Sun
10:00 Dave Alpert
11:15 Navid McIllhargey

Workshops

Friday
8:30-10:00 Writing Dialogues and scenes.
10:30-12:00 Pitch to win.
1:30-3:00 Talking Heads NOT; Writing Great Dialogue
3:30-5:00 Tentpoles Movies; Why Hollywood wants them and doesn't.

Saturday
8:30-10:00 Character development- How to make them pop.
10:30-12:00 Next Big thing in action movies.
1:30-3:00 What's hot and what's not.
3:30-5:00 Selling to hollywood/selling celluloid- how studios sell and market films.

Sunday
8:30-10:00 Write the perfect treatment.
10:30-12:00 Character or Story.
1:30-3:00 Scmoozing for Dollars.
3:30-5:00 How studios make back their money.

For those of you reading this that share my beliefs, please pray for me for the next few days. This is an extremely exciting time, but ultimately I just want to make sure I'm doing what God wants me to be doing with my life.

OK. Deep breath! Here I go! Wish me luck.

What I Need to Feel Confident!

2006-08-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

This Saturday Night Live "fake" commercial popped into my head this morning. Don't know why; it just did. It came at a good time.

I was getting ready for work and it hit me...the conference is tomorrow!! And boy did the butterflies start to fluttering! I still can't believe in less than 20 hours I'll be pitching my heart out to numerous Hollywood executives! It's quite surreal!

Anywho...remembering this skit made me laugh, so I thought I'd share it.

Fast and Furious

2006-08-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry things have been quiet on the blog. As you can imagine, I'm feverishly trying to wrap things up and get ready for the Willamette Writer's Conference on Friday.

Checklist left to accomplish:

1. Finalize pitch and commit it to memory, but not in a stale "I don't really feel this" kind of way.

2. Final, final, final read-through and tweak of "Like Brothers."

3. Print out thousands of copies for all the execs/producers that are going to want it!

4. Do a little more research on the people I'll be meeting with. That list is made up of:
a.) Cory Hebenstreit - Benderspink
b.) Andrew Trapani - Integrated Films & Management
c.) George Heller - Foursight Entertainment
d.) David Alpert - Circle of Confusion
e.) Navid McIlhargey - Silver Pictures
f.) Jack Wagner - Energy Entertainment
g.) Lisa Zambri - Contra Films

As you can see...lots to do-da-day!

Wish me luck!

It Wasn't a Strike...But It Was a Good First Pitch

2006-07-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

I just got back from my pitch class with Cynthia Whitcomb, and I'm happy to say it was a success on multiple levels.

1. I learned a LOT about things to do and NOT to do in pitching. Props bad, enthusiasm good. Script dialogue bad, brevity good. Overall, it really helped to go back over a lot of this stuff and put it on the front of my mind with only five days before the conference.

2. I wasn't a complete anxious mess when I stood up and delivered my pitch to the group. There were probably 50 people in the room, and we had to walk up in front of everyone, give our pitch, then stand there while Cynthia gave us feedback. Typically that kind of activity is a recipe for disaster for me, but it went smooth as butter this time!

3. My pitch went over pretty good. Cynthia noted one omission she felt was important to include, and also thought I should strengthen my title to something new. But other than that, not much to work on compared to some people that seemed to miss the mark pretty badly on their first attempt.

I will say though that after listening to probably 25 pitches today, there were some really creative people with some really good ideas for movies/novels. There were definitely a few duds here and there, but by in large, I was very impressed.

Now my homework is to tighten up my pitch and dedicate it more to memory so I don't have to refer to notes to deliver it perfectly.

Here's the pitch I delivered today:

"Like Brothers" is an action/suspense movie in which two best friends turn deadly enemies in a tangled fight for survival.

Kyle Mathews and Dillon Green are former Army Rangers and boyhood friends who become bitter enemies through a tragic act of betrayal. A fight for survival erupts when Dillon surfaces years later and kidnaps Kyle's daughter and wife. Kyle must face his toughest enemy in this race against time to save his family. Who will survive?

Kyle, a successful businessman with a beautiful wife and daughter, begins to experience a strange series of stalking incidents, but before he can make sense of them, his daughter is kidnapped. Dillon has resurfaced and is hell bent on extracting revenge. As Kyle draws back on his lethal skills, and through a twist of luck, is able to save his daughter, the stakes are raised when Dillon throws caution to the wind and takes Kyle's wife hostage. A race towards insanity ensues as Kyle will stop at nothing to rescue his wife, and Dillon will not be thwarted in exacting his revenge.