Monday, February 28, 2005

I Got Those Jealous Catholic Schoolgirl Blues

Okay, my fellow children of the early 90s, let's start this off with a point to ponder: Who would have guessed that an actor who started his career playing a cross-eyed ugly girl that repeatedly said "I'll rock your world" would one day walk away with an Academy Award? (Only in America.) - Yes, as expected, I watched the Academy Awards last night and for the most part I was happy with the results. I just wish "The Aviator" had won for Best Picture. It was a great movie, and Martin Scorsese deserves recognition for it. But anyway...Here I am in Oxford once again.

I can honestly say that I couldn't have asked for a better weekend of filming than the one I just got done with, though of course it started with a bit of a silly mishap. I left Biloxi at 4 a.m. on Saturday morning, thinking I had to be in Oxford for a 9:00 shoot. Once I got north of Jackson, I totally floored it, making the 5-hour drive in just 4 hours and 30 minutes - only to find out that the shoot was at 10. That means I could have slept in for at least another 45 minutes or so. But oh well. It's good to be punctual.

Our first scene featured my new friend J.P. playing the part of the Jealous Girl's Ex-Boyfriend. Basically, the scene was set up like a man-on-the-street interview and he was telling our camera crew about his jealous ex-girlfriend. A truly fine moment of improv, there was a line in the script where J.P. had to say "she always had a big production going on." Once he was on camera, though, he turned it into "She always had to have some Young and the Restless type-shit going on." Total perfection. Those are my favorite moments in comedy and filmmaking. It was a great way to start the day.

On Saturday night we finally got around to filming what I call our "naughty little Catholic twins" scene - a personal fave of all the male crew members. First of all, we decorated the set with every piece of Catholic memorabilia we could possibly find: statues of saints, prayer cards, candles, a portrait of the Blessed Virgin...even a picture of the Pope. Then we had the character of Bruce (played with a certain understandable glee by Matt Privett) get a little freaky with our twins Claudia and Candy before the moment was cut short by an "uninvited" guest. The twins were played by real-life twins Jessi and Abby Cantrell from New Orleans (represent!) They said they'd never acted before, but you never would have guessed it from their performance. They really jumped right in there - midriff-baring plaid skirts and all - and made the scene great along with Jessica Rosa, who plays Courtney the Drama Queen (one of my very favorite "Pink" characters.) It's amazing how much intensity that girl can get out of just a few lines. hehe Everyone left the shoot in a good mood, I'd say. There wasn't one weak link in the entire chain. (Like I've said before, we've got a really jam-up cast.)

Sunday morning: went to 8:30 Mass and then to our 10:00 shoot. It's really kind of funny what happens when you do things in that order. I go to church and I see all these families sitting there with their kids, all dressed up and feeling good. It's so all-American, so wholesome...and I say to myself, "Gee, I'd like to have a wife and family to bring to church someday." Then I go to the shoots, watch all of my previous relationships re-enacted, and say to myself, "Um, no I don't." :)

Our 10:00 shoot featured two characters named Megan and Dusty. A very simple scene, Megan basically goes on a jealous tirade about everything Dusty does. These characters were played to perfection by Emily Wesley and Sam Jacobs. We REALLY couldn't have asked for better casting on this one. They were both very intense and let the scene build as it went along. (I've always thought there was something very sexual about jealousy.) A great moment in irony: Emily wore a shirt that said "Don't Be Jealous" as part of her wardrobe...Now that's just funny. And once we wrapped for the day, Gregg, Sam, and I drove out to Batesville for lunch at the Cracker Barrel - I always feel that's worth mentioning. (2 points for me, by the way. I told the hostess that our last name was Manson, which gave us the juvenile thrill of hearing ourselves paged: "Manson Family, party of 3." Just one more crazy high school thing I've never outgrown.)

Now it's Monday and we don't have our next shoot until tomorrow afternoon. So, I got up early this morning and drove on over to Clarksdale for a trip around the Delta Blues Museum, which I've been meaning to do for a couple of months now. I never would have expected this in my young, angry metalhead years, but I'm really beginning to develop a fondness for blues music. In a way - if I can say this without waxing too faux-poetic - I kind of feel that "Pink" has a common thread with the blues. Both of them, after all, take painful moments in life (and specifically heartache) and turn them into something that other people can (hopefully) enjoy and relate to. There's honesty in it, and in my humble opinion that's beautiful. I picked up a Howlin' Wolf CD in the gift shop and I've been listening to it all day.

Went to lunch with Keith and Jon and now I'm waiting for Kelly to get off of work so we can shop around for a few things we need for tomorrow's shoot with our leading lady. She should be in town sometime tonight, and as always we're looking forward to seeing her. This is all coming together nicely, everyone. I hope all of you are similarly happy with whatever you're involved with right now. Please let me know.

Now then, before I sign off, how about a little quiz to see who can spot the inside jokes?

1) One of the characters in the abovementioned "naughty little Catholic twins" scene is named Claudia. Who knows why I gave one of the sexiest characters in the film this particular name?

2) In the "naughty little Catholic twins" scene, Courtney the Drama Queen pathetically collapses onto a couch in a fit of tears. What inspired this? (Garrett and Mac, I'll be very disappointed if you don't get this one.)

3) The characters in the scene we shot on Sunday morning are named Megan and Dusty. Who recognizes these names?

4) Last one...Five points. One of the many things that Megan ends up bitching at Dusty about is his friendship with a girl named Jude. In response, Dusty says (quote), "Oh, so you're saying I can't have friends now, huh?" What was the inspiration for this particular exchange?

Have fun, kids. Much love to all.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

The Whole "Pink" Thing Becomes Official

I'm not sure how much sense this will make to everyone, dear readers, but I'm happy to report that this past weekend's filming of "Pink" really made the whole thing feel official. Now, of course we've already done a lot of great scenes and worked with a lot of great people - I've enjoyed every bit of the process thus far. It's just that this past weekend was the first time we've shot scenes featuring our narrator, Monica. And, given that she's the glue that holds the entire movie together, the whole thing really feels like it's beginning to take shape now. (Put another way, all of our beautiful little pieces of wood are really coming together to make one hell of a birdhouse.)

On Friday, Kelly and I drove up to the Wolfchase Galleria in Memphis to pick out Monica's wardrobe once and for all. Now, for the record, I knew this would be a challenge before I even agreed to go, seeing as how Kelly and I have bickered back and forth for the past month or so as to what exactly Monica should wear. Naturally, as Monica's creator, I feel I have some understanding of how the character should dress and behave, whereas Kelly argues that she's a girl and therefore more fashion-conscious than I am. (Apparently everything I like to see on girls is either out-of-style or "stuff no girl would wear".) So, we shopped and shopped and shopped some more, and in the end we decided on a black business jacket and skirt with a pink button-up shirt underneath. We agreed on the shirt. Kelly picked the skirt. I picked the jacket, and Kelly said she'd go along with it as long as she got to pick Monica's jewelry and shoes. Deal. I think the whole thing turned out nicely. The jacket/skirt combination suggests a mixing of male and female traits, which is something Monica undoubtedly does. We're all very happy with how she looks onscreen.

As for Christie Jackson - the actress playing Monica - she was everything she needed to be on Saturday when we all got ready to film: difficult, bossy, and definitely diva-ish. Before we even got the lights set up, she'd already requested water, wine, petroleum jelly (for her teeth), and something else I don't remember. It was great. And with her hair dyed jet black (a requirement for the role), she looked like the evil flipside of the typical Ole Miss sorority girl. It was beautiful. I could have cried.

The house where we filmed her scenes belongs to a Mr.Winston Roberts, a VERY Southern architect who not only lives there but whom designed it as well. I hadn't actually seen the place before the day we started shooting, but Kelly and Gregg were right: it was perfect. High ceilings. Big windows. Grandiose fireplaces. Automatic curtains. Big jacuzzi. Arched doorways. Long hallways...We really couldn't have asked for more. (A very special thanks to Keith and Rusty for the hook-up.) It's definitely the kind of place I'll shoot for if I decide to go the wife-and-kids route. And what made it even better was the unexpected humor of Mr.Roberts and his wife. See, when I saw the Bush/Cheney sign in the front yard and the crosses on the walls and heard the Southern accents coming out of their mouths, I got a little nervous, thinking they wouldn't appreciate the vulgarities and crass comments that so effortlessly come spewing out of our narrator. Much to our surprise, though, they laughed and chuckled through all of Monica's monologues, commenting on how true they were. So, I guess Conservative doesn't have to mean Square.

The following afternoon (this is Sunday), we finally filmed the Jennifer Anne/Tony scene - and yes, I managed to get Karlous there this time. (I bought lunch for him at noon and kept him with me for two and a half hours.) Lots of unexpected twists and turns worked their way into this particular scene, most of them involving a pink teddy bear, which became our ultimate tool for setting Tony up as the lamest character in the movie. The actor who plays him, Eric Sampson, was a real team player and seemed to understand that the lamer he was, the better. (Sidenote: I'd written a line into the script about Tony driving a Buick Park Avenue, not realizing how funny some of the people in our crew would find it. It became a major laugh line, which is kind of sad...I was driving a Buick Park Avenue when I first got to Ole Miss.*embarrassed look*) Rounding out Sunday's cast were
Brenden Nasisnceno, a guy named K.B. (didn't catch the last name), and Karlous "F*ck Disney World!!" Miller, who played Sonny, Kurt, and Orlando respectively. They did a great job crashing Tony's party with Jennifer Anne, played to perfection by improv queen Kallie Rolison. They were quite possibly the most enthusiastic group of people we've filmed yet, which came in handy, seeing as we managed to burn up (according to Dr.Shollenberger) four and a half hours of battery power trying to get the scene the way we wanted it...I tell you, my friends, the patience I have for this is all the proof I need that this is what I'm supposed to be doing. My thanks to everyone involved in making this another great weekend of filming.

Okay, on to other things...

Garage Days Revisited

Those of you who met me in college are no doubt familiar with the writing/filmmaking aspect of my creative life. What you may NOT be aware of, however, is the time I spent in the mid-to-late 1990s as the lead singer and guitarist of the Brass Tacks - self-proclaimed greatest garage band west of the Potomac. In 2003, I went to visit my friend/drummer Mike Lujan out in Virginia, where we decided it would be fun to re-record some of our garage-rock classics. And now, for the first time ever, those songs are available for your listening pleasure online. Just go to:
http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?AID=341844&T=632407
and you'll find everything you're looking for. (56k versions of all the songs are available for those of you with slow Net connections.) My singing voice, for the uninitiated, veers somewhere between sarcastic bantering and intentional Billy Corgan-esque whining. So, go ahead and laugh. That's kind of the point.
Those of you familiar with the band may be disappointed to find such band staples as "Darling, I Love You, But...", "Anti-Pisces League", and "Gaudy Christmas Decorations" missing, but there's a good reason for that. One, we didn't have time to get around to "Anti-Pisces League." And two, neither Mike nor myself felt it was possible to record versions of "Gaudy Christmas Decorations" or "Darling, I Love You, But..." that would top the original garage recordings. So, if it's not broke don't fix it, right?
Also, one last thing...this is another thing addressed to those of you familiar with the band. I was in a sort of stagnant emotional place when some of these songs were recorded, which is why, in my opinion, a couple of them (specifically "I H8 Nebraska" and "B.Enigma") lack the intensity of the originals. Yes, I'm admitting here and now that I don't rip through those solos with quite the same angst-filled youthful passion that I did when I was 17. But, I'll get it right next time. These are still great versions of the songs ("Pig Fetus" is my personal fave.) So, take a listen and have a little fun...Let me know if you want to hear more and I'll give you a password that will allow you to access the songs you can't get to without registering.

I think that's all for now. Much love to everyone, especially those of you who've taken time to read this whole damn thing. Oh, and P.S. Jennifer Love Hewitt is on the cover of this month's Maxim. YES!! Sometimes it's good to be alive.



Wednesday, February 09, 2005

What I'm Giving Up for Lent

Okay, so I've been trying to think of something I can give up for Lent, and the whole thing has really put me in an interesting situation. You see, I'm far from perfect, but I don't really have a lot of what you'd call habits. I don't smoke. I rarely drink. I don't do any drugs. I'm not sexually promiscuous. I don't even eat very many sweets. (It's been months since I've had any chocolate, ice cream, or soft drinks.) Sooo...what could I give up that could really be called a sacrifice? What's the one thing I'd have a hard time doing without?
I sat and pondered this question for a while, and for a moment I thought it might be a good idea to give up coming to work. After all, I've been coming to work at Chaffe-McCall every day since July of 2003, which means I must really like it here. AND if the powers-that-be decided to fire me for missing so much work, I could always sue them for anti-religious discrimination. (I'm picturing Mel Gibson joining me outside on the pavement for a nationally televised kneel-in.) Sadly, though, there are too many obvious loopholes in that line of thinking. So, I sat and thought and pondered a little more...and that's when I came up with it: I'm giving up Parker Posey for Lent.
It may sound strange - even gratuitous or facetious - but I'm telling the God's honest truth. I'm giving up Parker Posey for Lent. I'm not going to watch any Parker Posey movies, visit any Parker Posey websites, use any pictures of Parker Posey as my computer wallpaper, or bid on any Parker Posey-related E-Bay auctions. In addition, I'm not going to quote any Parker Posey dialogue or even have any conversations ABOUT Parker Posey or the movies she's been in.
This amazing feat of self-denial may sound somewhat difficult given my very vocal obsession with Parker in recent months, but that's what makes it a sacrifice. And if Jesus can go 40 days in the desert without food or water, I can go 40 days without "The House of Yes". The way I see it, it can't be any worse than the Lent when I gave up cursing for all of 15 minutes...or that other Lent when I...well, let's not get into that. :)
Happy Ash Wednesday, everyone.

Monday, February 07, 2005

"Come On. Be Romantically Self-Destructive With Me."

She's mad at me this morning - at least, she sounded that way in her voice mail. She said I should have made more time for her this weekend, "but I guess you were too busy doing nothing." So I called her back, a little defensive, and said she'd have to understand that everything I'm doing here I'm doing for her. "I'm putting all of this into a movie so I don't have to put it into real life. It's catharsis for me. I'm exorcising old demons so I can come to you with a clean slate." She said it was too early in the morning for that kind of abstraction...I love it when she says stuff like that. Then she said she needed coffee, which made me laugh and call her a Communist. "You think you're so clever when you say that," she said, "but it doesn't really make any sense."
Pride effectively wounded now, I tried to change the subject and told her how I'd had breakfast at Faulkner's grave on Sunday morning. Donuts and milk and a copy of "Mosquitoes" - it was exactly what I needed. And I swear I could hear her rolling her eyes as she told me how amazed she was that I had time to have donuts with a dead man, but not to give her a simple good morning call. "It's your worst hypocrisy," she said. "You expect so much but give so little. You think I'm some kind of project and that you're some kind of privilege." And of course I had nothing to come back with that wouldn't sound egotistical, so I simply told her that I had to get ready for another shoot and apologized: "I'll try and make it up to you. And when I can, I will." This is the poetry that comes from squaring off and circling.

Anyway...

Sorry I had to put all of you through that. My thoughts are getting away from me this morning, and I'm not really talking so much as I'm blurting stuff out. Nonetheless, we had another great weekend of filming this week, despite the fact that we had to push one scene back.
Once again, I spent Saturday morning in Jackson with our lead actress, Christie, going over lines and working on inflection. It's funny, the more I read over her character's lines, the more I realize that the narrator of "Pink" speaks almost exactly the same way I do. I'm not exactly sure what that means yet...I'll get back to you. Then on Saturday night I drove on up to Oxford, where I can only imagine that I got really drunk or fell asleep really early, because I don't remember very much of it at all.
So then Sunday morning rolled around, I went to an early mass, had breakfast at Faulkner's grave, and then took pretty much the entire afternoon to get myself in gear for our 3:00 shoot with Winslow Rumph. I'd never actually met Winslow face-to-face before she showed up for her shoot, but she ended up being perfect for the part of Jenna, despite the umpteen-million takes we had to go through before her monologues came out perfectly. (Only picking, Winslow, you did fine.) I especially liked the color of her hair - kind of a reddish-auburn color. It made me think of that lyric from "Jolene": "Your beauty is beyond compare, with flaming locks of auburn hair." (And the moral of THAT story is that I've been listening to the White Stripes WAY too much. hehe)
Later in the afternoon we were supposed to film an apartment scene that featured five different characters, but unfortunately one of our cast members - Karlous, the Angry Black Pizza Delivery Guy - was stranded in Hattiesburg and unable to make it. This event led to the first real conflict Gregg, Kelly, and I have had amongst ourselves: the question of whether or not we should simply replace Karlous with someone else. Naturally, I said no, Kelly said yes, and Gregg was trying to walk the fine line in-between. (I call it "the fine line between common sense and your girlfriend.") By conversation's end, the whole thing erupted into a semi-test of wills. (I've learned that once Kelly gets started, she just DOES NOT WANT TO LOSE AN ARGUMENT!!! hehe) But, in the end a compromise was struck. We're keeping Karlous on and giving it another shot next weekend. HOWEVER, if he's even one minute late to the shoot, we're putting someone else in his place. Needless to say, I'm going to put him on a leash and take him around with me all next weekend. My Pet Karlous. In my humble opinion, he's worth the trouble. To take him out of the movie would be cutting off our nose to spite our face.
At any rate, despite its momentary conflicts, I'd say this weekend was a good one. The cast and crew for the Jenna scene were right on top of things, and that makes everything better. Now I'm on my way back to the Big Easy to celebrate Lundi Gras with some Southern Comfort and Jager...And I don't think I even have to TELL you about tomorrow. :)

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Pay Attention. There's a Test at the End.

I'm bored at work, so I thought I'd fill out one of these little questionnaire thingies. This one came from Edie. Thanks, Superstar. - J.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6 something. I can't be more specific, because my clock is unplugged.

2. Diamonds or pearls? I'm actually more of a pearl man these days. Probably a side effect of my obsession with Parker Posey's character in "The House of Yes". Plus, Katy Bowman is notorious for her pearls, and Katy does no wrong.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The last movie I saw at the cinema? I guess a European put this one together. Anyway...I think it was "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events."

4. What are your favorite TV shows? South Park, The Simpsons, X-Files re-runs, Strangers With Candy, etc.

5. What did you have for breakfast? Nothing yet. Probably a sandwich later.

6. What is your middle name? Michael (say it with an Irish accent: Moikel)

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Open-faced roast beef sandwiches on thick Texas Toast

8. What foods do you dislike? I used to hate beef stroganoff, but then my mom figured out how to make it a little better.

9. Your favorite Potato chip? Salsa Doritos.

10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? A CD of my buddy Mike Lujan's music

11. What kind of car do you drive? Pontiac Firebird

12. Favorite sandwich? See #7

13. What characteristics do you despise? Dishonesty. Disloyalty. Flakiness. Mediocrity.

14. Favorite item of clothing? My long-sleeved navy blue Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood shirt. I call it "Old Reliable"

15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be? I'd go to Dublin for Bloomsday.

16. What color is your bathroom? I'm not sure. It's covered in Amber's clothes.

17. Favorite brand of clothing? I'm a perpetual K-Mart kid. I never really notice brands.

18. Where would you like to retire? Either Gatlinburg, TN, or back home in Biloxi.

19. Favorite time of day? Right around 8:30 in the morning when I've still got the whole day in front of me. It's kind of a daily metaphor for childhood.

20. Where were you born? Biloxi, MS, on the Golden Gulf Coast

21. Favorite sport to watch? Boxing.

22. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? I'm not sending it, I'm posting it. So it doesn't matter.

23. Person you expect to send it back first? Again, it doesn't matter.

24. What fabric detergent do you use? I use Gain, because it's not as popular as Tide or Clorox. I feel sorry for it - poor little outcast detergent.

25. Coke or Pepsi? I couldn't even tell you the last time I drank a Pepsi.

26. Are you a morning person or night owl? A little of both these days, but more of a morning person.

27. What is your shoe size? 12...and you know what they say about guys with big feet.

28. Do you have pets? Well, there's been a chubby black dog taking up space on my parents' living room floor for about 10 years now, so I guess that's a yes.

29. News you'd like to share with your family and friends? Only that I'm very happy with everything I'm doing right now, and I hope and pray that all of you are happy as well.

30. What did you want to be when you were little? I've never wanted to be anything but a writer/filmmaker.

31. Favorite Candy Bar? Anything Reese's.

32. What is your best childhood memory? One weekend when I was little I helped my grandfather (Pop) clean out his shed - it was a long and tedious, all-day affair. The following weekend I was at his house once again and he said to me, "Come see, J. I've got something to show you." Then he sort of dramatically opened the door of the shed and flipped on the light. Much to my dismay, it was in ruins once again. "But we worked so hard to clean it up!" I said. Pop just laughed and said he couldn't help himself. That was the day I learned that there's no sense in taking life too seriously. Just make your messes and have a good time doing it.

33. What are the different jobs you have had in your life? Oh boy, here we go. This is everything I've ever collected a paycheck for. I've been: a bus-boy, a dishwasher, a mall Santa, a receptionist, a warehouse worker for the Kare Center, a movie theater attendant, a waiter, a buffet server, a cigar salesman, a Domino's delivery guy, a stock boy at K-Mart (3 days, holiday work), a gas station attendant (for 8 hours), a museum worker, a video store clerk, a radio morning show host, a line assistant at the Johnson Commons Sunday Buffet, a typist, a dock worker (for 8 days), a Disney Store cast member, a freelance writer, and now a paralegal's assistant. People from blue-collar towns don't have hobbies, we have jobs.

"People Keep Telling Me It's Bad for My Health, but Kicking Back Don't Make It"

"I never thought my life would be
anything but catastrophe,
but suddenly I begin to see
a bit of good luck for me."

There's something to be said for Newton's Laws of Physics, my friends, especially the one that says that for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction. That's why after nearly two years of sitting around, leading a steady but unremarkable existence, I suddenly find myself busier than I've ever been before. So busy, in fact that I've been going to the gym four nights a week to keep my strength and energy up. On Tuesdays, I walk a mile. Wednesdays, a mile and a half. Thurdays, two miles. And two and half miles on Fridays when I can. I've got to look good for the "Pink" premiere, you know. But first, the filming.
This past weekend I drove up to Oxford once again to film three more scenes. Our first shoot was at Old Venice Pizza Company (my favorite restaurant in Oxford) at 8:00 on Saturday morning. That means we all had to be awake and over to Gregg's house by 7 for a quick rehearsal. Some may find it difficult to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at that hour, but I'm a notorious early bird. And besides that, Ashley Dunn and Becky Delius (the actresses featured in this particular scene) both drove several hours to be there - Ashley from Huntsville and Becky from Nashville. So, I figured the very least I could do for them was to show a little early morning enthusiasm. The guy who acted opposite them, Jeremy Skupien (I hope I'm spelling that right), didn't show up for rehearsal, which had us all afraid that he wasn't going to make the shoot. But, when we got to Old Venice, he was there in the parking lot waiting for us. Isn't it nice how those sorts of things turn out?...The scene, I'm glad to say, went brilliantly. Ashley played the perfect nice girl (or should I say that she was "SOOOOO" perfect? hehe *inside joke*) and Becky managed to elevate man-hatred to an art form. Gregg, Kelly, and I all agree that our cast has been flawless thus far.
On Saturday night we filmed a scene starring Sarah Fineout and Joey Miller as Mindy and Michael, one of the movie's only happy couples. I can't really go into a lot of details as to what their scene is all about, but I CAN say that at one point we all needed a good five minutes to stop laughing before we were finally able to film it properly. I'll take that as a good sign. And once again, our actors were flawless. Joey, I must say, has absolutely NO shame. And Sarah, quite impressively, improvised a full five minutes of dialogue that re-invented itself with every new sentence. A director can't ask for any more than that. As a sidenote: one thing I really liked about this particular scene was the way it was shot - a combination of stills, steady-cam, and anchored shots. I've noticed that as I get more comfortable with the filmmaking process, the more elaborate we get with the angles and style of each scene, and I think that's a good thing. It challenges us to be more inventive and, I believe, will prevent the movie from becoming boring.
Sunday morning saw me up and at it once again, starting with 8:30 Mass and then another shoot at My Favorite Shoes at 10:00. This scene was a variation on another scene we shot last weekend (the scene I ended up acting in), only this time I was working with Annie Gaia (i.e. Leisa). She and I were cramped up in this little room, bouncing dialogue off of one another, and as anyone who knows either Annie or myself could attest - that's a LOT of ego for one little room. It created a nice tension. Originally, we were going to shoot at Uptown Coffee, but there was too much crowd noise and Annie ended up getting pissed at the girl who worked there. So, we re-located to the shoe store, which ended up working better anyway. There's something to be said for serendipity, no?
Lunch at San Francisco Bread Company (very nice, and like half the cast was there...including Marta Dees, whom I focus all of my passion for black-haired girls on now that Jac's married), then I started off for home. Got back to New Orleans a little after 8 p.m. that night and, ever since, I've been tied up with phone calls about cameras and scheduling and re-writes and blah blah blah. Yes, my life is finally hectic..but I wouldn't want it any other way. Quite honestly, my friends, this may have been the best weekend of my life.
"Never guessed it got this good. Wondered if it ever would."

Goodnight, all.