Day 572

Friday, August 8, 2014

Up at 4:45, racquetball until 7:00, then a few hours of writing, 2200 words toward a new ending to TC that will be about 3-4k words long.  Worked only an hour from 1-2, then took care of some chores and picked Alice up at 4:50 in SF.  We're having dinner at Alice's sister's house tonight.  Their cousin Fiona is in town with her daughter.  Tomorrow, Alice's bike gang is getting together for dinner.

Returning some library books I didn't get a chance to read.  Next time.  Alice's back has been bothering her a lot lately.  She has Piriformis Syndrome, which can be quite painful and last for a long time.  We're doing exercises, heat pads, ice packs, massaging, and inversion table exercises.

Dinner at Karen's was wonderful as always!

Alice's Family at Karen & Kenny's House

Day 571

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Up at 6, writing from 7:30-8:30, then work from 9-2.  It was slow today, so I worked on two chapters of the revision to True Colors.  Came home at 2:30 and spent an hour with Sophie on a new novel we're working on together, based on a great idea she came up with about a girl  who knows everyone's deep dark secrets and collects fees from them much like the neighborhood paper carrier.  It's a neat little premise that has lots of potential.  We're calling it Socio-7eventh Grader and it's loosely based on Sophie's experiences in 6th grade.  Between, that, TC revision, Julia Milan and Confessions of a Hollywood House, Vol. 1:  Dogs in the Fog, life is busy.

After an hour with Sophie, I made dinner, wrote, read, planned, then hit the hay by 11.  

Day 570

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Up at 4:30, racquetball at 5, breakfast at 7:30, work from 9-2, then I slept for 2 hours.  I organized my thoughts for True Colors, then went to Mariner Square for my quarter-final and semi-final matches.  Played Dennis first and beat him 15-5, 15-9, then played Alex and beat him 15-2, 10-15, 11-5.  Ivan beat Carlos, so Ivan and I play in the finals next Wednesday at 7:00.  Ivan's a tough player and the #1 player at Mariner Square.  It should be a good match.

Came home at 10:00 and had some dinner, then went to bed.  

Day 569

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Back home after a full weekend of travel.  Went to work from 12-2.  Spent the rest of the day unpacking, organizing and getting back into writing mode.  Watched Captain Phillips in the evening.  I didn't realize Paul Greengrass directed it, though it had his style all through the film.  Very good and Hanks, as always, was a standout.

Day 568

Monday, August 4, 2014

We flew back home today.  Our flight was delayed two hours, so we spent more time in the Calgary airport than we cared to.  Once our plane left the ground at 1:30, we were airborne approximately 2.3 hours, reaching San Fran by 3:30.  We picked up the car and made it home before rush hour traffic.  We both crashed early.  We were dead tired.  A great weekend trip!

Day 567

Sunday, August 3, 2014

At Calgary Chinatown with Heather, Jackie, Connie

Calgary Chinatown

Stopping for lunch at the Regency Palace

In front of Calgary's Jaume Plensa's sculpture Wonderland

Where we had lunch

We started Sunday morning at 8 a.m., had a light breakfast, got ready, then headed to Calgary's Chinatown, the 4th largest in Canada.  We walked around for a few blocks, taking in the area, which had been affected by last year's horrible floods.  Lunch was excellent, especially the deep fried squid dish.  Very good!

After lunch, we headed back to Heather's for an afternoon of games which it rained outside.  We played Therapy, Apples to Apples and a Volcano game Jackie got in Hawaii.  Lots of fun.  We ended the day with a video of The Proposal, which was cute.  A great day!

Day 566

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Today, we drove to Markerville, Alberta to visit with family members at Karen and Janet's house.  We were there from 3-9.  It was a treat visiting relatives I see perhaps once every three or four years, which is no where near often enough.  Many had seven children, the last being little Julia, who is only a few months old.  Mandy's husband last March and from what I've heard she has breast cancer which she isn't treating.  Oh dear.  Not happy situation for her or her children, yet she always smiles and looks on the brighter side of life. I hope she takes care of herself and does more than consult with her prayer group about her cancer.  When it rains it pours.

It was fun talking with Kathy and Jack about the past.  They have many stories to tell and remember the past with great detail.  I also enjoying seeing all three of my aunts in one place.  I haven't seen them together since Kimberley in 2009.

Little Julia

Cousin Mandy and her daughter Angelica

Auntie Kathy with Juila photo bombing us!

Aunties Karen and Heather

The Rock:  Jack Evens

Inside Karen and Janet's house

Kari, Ross and Karen

Kari's Daughter Kita

Day 565

Friday, August 1, 2014

Alice and I drove to SFO at 5 a.m. and flew out to Calgary, Alberta to spend the weekend with my Auntie Heather, Rick, Jackie and Connie.  Our flight was delayed an hour, so we arrived around noon, walked through customs, and met our welcoming party (Heather and Connie) around 12:15.  We spent the afternoon at Heather's, eating, catching up, telling stories and watching a superb Wes Anderson film:

To bed by 11.  

Day 564

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Up at 7, and basically did nothing but chores from 7:30-1.  Packed for our trip to Calgary this weekend.  Worked from 2-6, then headed over to Alice's.  Took two books with me, Lorrie Moore's Bark, and a children's book.  Another quick and busy day.

Day 563

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Up at 4:30, racquetball at 5, writing from 8-1, work from 2-6, racquetball at Mariner Square from 7-9:15, then home to bed.  Busy day.  Revising True Colors.  Changing many things, hopefully making improvements.  Work at Wendel is always busy.  I spent all four hours on one long real estate document.  

Day 562

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Up at 6, wrote until noon.  Worked from 2-6, then back home to continue revising.  So many changes, but they're coming along.  I have one episode left of Hannibal Season 1.  What an amazing show.  It's one of the most impressive TV shows I've ever seen.  

Day 561

Monday, July 28, 2014

Up at 4, racquetball from 5-7.  Dorian played for the first time in over a year.  Brian Rigney also showed up. Steve and I will play doubles again.  When we're on we're good, but when we're off we let game slip by us.  Tiger and Glenn were ahead 9-0 and 13-6, then we came back and tied the game at 14-14.  We couldn't close the deal though and T&G won 16-14.

I came home and outlined a new ending for True Colors.  I have all the new scenes in mind.  Now it's just a matter of reassembling all the pieces so that the story flows smoothly.

Checked out this at the library...oh yeah!

Day 560

Sunday, July 27, 2014

At Alice's for the day.  Revised all day, broke down the first six chapters.  Went from 8-5, then dinner and relaxing the rest of the night.  

Day 559

Saturday, July 26, 2014

At Alice's in the morning, where she, Austin and I visited with Austin's aunt Barbara and her daughter Frances.  Then in the evening, Rhonda and Biff came over for dinner.  We had a great time hearing about their trip to New York and eating some amazing food.  No writing today.

Day 558

Friday, July 25, 2014

Racquetball, working 9-2 then 2:30-6.  Tidied up at night, then went to bed early.

Day 557

Thursday, July 24, 2014

All work today from 8-6.  No writing today.

Day 556

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Up for racquetball, work from 9-6, no writing today.

Day 555

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Work from 9-2.  Working on revisions to True Colors, adding more definition to Lauren and Lani.  When Lani sees people's true colors, her fingers quiver, her eyes widen and her ears move up and down.  Lauren knows this.  The sights Lani sees are much more detailed and varied.  The first five chapters are completely reordered.  Lauren's mom is now the Oakland detective and Lani's father works for the FBI in the cyber crime division.  Lauren's father is the entrepreneur and Lani's mom is still a book editor for a small Berkeley publishing house.

Day 554

Monday, July 21, 2014

Up at 4, gym at 5, out by 7.  Worked from 9-2.  I began True Colors revisions today, overhauling the manuscript for the 8-12 audience.  It's a much different book from what I wrote and not as interesting as I have, but it is what it is and will satisfy hopefully satisfy those in that market.  The book will much shorter and simpler.  As a bonus, I have a new story I might be able to write quickly that might find an eager editor, based on my trip to LA last week and watching Mick the dog on Dog with a Blog.

Began two new TV shows on Amazon Prime and wow are they good:

Both Hannibal and Orphan Black are excellent.

I'm also reading a couple of new children's books:

and

Day 553

Sunday, July 20, 2014

I read the entire day.  We went out for breakfast in the morning, then hung around the house most of the day. It was raining outside.  I'm thinking of my revisions to True Colors.  I'll start tomorrow.

Day 552

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Alice came over to my place this morning.  We went shopping at Bay Street in the morning, then to Oakland Chinatown for noodles and soup.  We then headed over to Jamil and Vivette's place in the afternoon and hung out with a few of my racquetball buddies.  It was sweet.  Afterward, we headed back to Alice's place and watched TV before falling asleep at 10.

Day 551

Friday, July 18, 2014

Up at 5:55.  I must have hit my alarm with the snooze going off.  I'll get back into racquetball on Monday.  Spent the morning cleaning up and preparing for my True Colors rewrite.  I'd like to finish it in 6 weeks, by the end of August.

Work from 9-2, then writing the rest of the day.

Day 550

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Woke up around 7 today, even though I went to bed early. Still feeling sluggish, though went to work at 9 with lots of energy.  I worked form 9-2, then came home, cooked a pot of chili, then finished my book and began work on my revision to True Colors.  Played poker with the neighborhood gang at Mark Slater's and lost $53.  Ran into a flopped straight with two pair against an aggressive player and generally had weak cards all night.  Ray was the big winner.

Day 549

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Woke up at 4, made it to the airport at 6, flew home at 7, arrived at work at 10.  Worked until 2, then came home and crashed.  I was supposed to play racquetball tonight, but had no energy at all.  I went to bed around 9:15.

I watched the final episode of 24 tonight.  What a solid season.  Those guys are amazing storytellers.  It's a great show.  I hope they do another 12 episodes.  The shortened season works well.

Day 548

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

I went back to Occidental Studios in the morning and caught one more scene of Dog with a Blog with Stan the dog blogging while Chloe looks on.  They finished the scene at 10.  I left to spend the afternoon with Ari and Connor near Santa Monica.  Traffic in LA is one of those things you can't get away from.  It's just there like smog, impacting everyone's quality of life and reminding me why I'd never want to live there.  It took over an hour to get to Ari's, even though it's only a 15 minute drive with no traffic.  We had Korean barbecue for lunch at a place near her apartment.  It's always great hanging out with Ari!  It's wild to think I first met Lisa at Ari's age.

At 3 I drove back to Neil's and slept the entire afternoon and evening.  I was exhausted.

Day 547

Monday, July 14, 2014

I woke up at 4 at left San Diego at 4:25.  It took less than two hours to drive to Neil's.  I arrived at his place a little after 6:30.  I showered, dressed, and drove to the Occidental Studios set where I met Dorian's son Hakim, who's an electrician/lighter on the Disney TV show Dog with a Blog.

Hakim showed me around the studio.  It was very cool to see so many people working to create an episode of television.  There were about seven or eight sets tucked inside the main building.  Surrounding the sets were pockets of production personnel in their cubbyholes preparing for the day.  It was like walking down a hall of college dorms with everyone setting up their small space for maximum efficiency.  Hakim's space consisted of a boarded up door with a small room that housed a desk, couch, flatscreen TV, and not much else.  It was conveniently located right next to craft services.

Shooting began at 8.  The set was prepped, then the stand-ins took their places while the four camera operators and two boom mic operators worked with the director (Joel Zwick, Director of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) to block each shot.  At 9, the real actors came on set, three girls whose character names are Avery, Lindsay and Max.

They shot two scenes in the classroom, which took about three hours to capture before they moved on.

The next scene was at the park.

These scenes took most of the afternoon.  The cast and crew broke for lunch around 2.  There were Emmy cupcakes because Dog with a Blog was just nominated for two Emmys, Outstanding Children's Program and Outstanding Character Voiceover Performance (Stephen Full for Stan the dog).

By early evening, the final few scenes were shot in the living room with Chloe and her parents.

The director Joel Zwick was a real veteran.  He's been in TV and theater for decades and knew his stuff.  Everyone on the set liked working with him and appreciated how fast he was.

I also enjoyed watching the Executive Producer Michael Kaplan and his team of producers and writers brainstorming and tweaking each scene while the actors rehearsed their lines.  The director serves as the go-between with the producers.  Joel often came up with solutions to the problems they encountered, along with better lines and smoother word choices.  It was great to watch this cast and crew work their magic!

Stan the dog was a rescue dog who was this close to being put down because he was in such bad shape, but his trainer saw something in him and three months later the dog was staring in his own TV show.  Only in Hollywood.  The story gave me an idea for another book about the memoirs of a Hollywood hound.

Thanks, Hakim for the great day on set!

Day 546

Sunday, July 13, 2014

I had Neil drive me to the airport this morning at 6.  I took a flight to San Diego to meet Steve and Judy, Matt, Brad and Rob and their families.  I picked up at rental car at 9:45 and drove 30 minutes to a very nice house the Hagans were staying at in Escondido.  I arrived around 11 and stayed the entire day.  It was great catching up with everyone and doing a little Hagan family bonding.  The place had a wonderful pool where we played ball with Parker and Lashlee.  I had a couple great conversations with Steve and Rob.  It was really nice to spend the day in a house full of Hagans.  The spirit of Jim and Isabel Hagan certainly lives on!

Day 545

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Went to Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo with Alice this morning and early afternoon.  Banana Republic had one of their semi-annual sales where they're practically giving away clothes.  I bought a new pair of pants, four shirts, two pairs of shoes, a dress, top and necklace for Alice all for about $230.  The shoes are sweet.

Restrung two racquets in the afternoon, had salmon sushi for dinner, then drove home around 9:15 in preparation for my trip tomorrow to San Diego and LA.

Day 544

Friday, July 11, 2014

Steve Basham returned to the club today after a month away in Europe.  We only played one game but it was sweet!

I worked from 9-2, then came home.  Neil Bason was in town.  He's staying at my place for a few days.  He, Alice and I tried out the new French Bistro on Lakeshore called Michel.  Very good!  We had a wonderful mean and conversation, then I drove back to Sunset with Alice.  Great day.

Day 543

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Worked from 9-2, then cleaned my apartment in preparation for the Honorable Judge Neil Bason, who will be in town tomorrow.

Day 542

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Worked from 9-2.  Picked up car from mechanic.  The MINI needed new brakes.  

Day 541

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Worked from 9-2 today, then took the car in to get new brakes.  Tired this week.  I begin rewrites next week.  Talked to Chris tonight at 8.  

Day 540

Monday, July 7, 2014

Drove Alice to the hospital for her colonoscopy.  She was woozy afterward.  I drove her home but the medicine made her sick.  We had chicken noodle soup for lunch and she was knocked out the rest of the day.

I worked at Wendel from 2-6 today.

Day 539

Sunday, July 6, 2014

I worked at home this morning and afternoon, then drove back to Sunset to take Alice in for her colonoscopy tomorrow.  The day went quickly.  Still thinking about my revisions.  

Day 538

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Day 537

Friday, July 4, 2014

I drove to Alice's at 8 a.m.  We had bagels with cream cheese for breakfast, then went downtown for the morning and afternoon.  I needed some new work clothes and found a nice pair of slacks and a comfortable shirt by Michael Kors at Nordstrom rack.  Alice bought a pair of grey Converse All-Stars sneakers at Nordstrom.  We had lunch at the Nordstrom cafe on the 4th floor, which was very nice.  We came home in the late afternoon and watched a couple of movies.

Well-acted, funny, and real.  I liked this film, though I cringed at where it was going, and when Julia LD is confronted with her self-imposed, totally unnecessary crisis, I was done with the film.  I stuck it out, but found the main character's dishonesty a little too heavy-handed for my taste.  Both James G. and Julia LD were strong and likable and the daughter subplot rang true.  The major storyline, however, felt problematic.

We also saw

Very good performances and a major bonus when Sam Seaborn arrived on screen!

Day 536

Thursday, July 3, 2014

I had a writing meeting with Sharon's colleague Ella Marie at 11 my time today.  We talked for an hour about what to do with True Colors.  Because the book is about 5th graders, she really wanted the book to target younger readers.  It's not who I typically write for, but I understand why I must writer to the market.  It will be a much different book from what I currently have, but the basic elements and Lani's special powers will stay the same.  Ella Marie liked the girls and their differences.  I'm eager to get at the revision.  I'll begin this coming week and hope to finish sometime in August.  I have so many projects to work on these days.  There won't be enough time to finish them all.

This was my last day of back-to-back work shifts at Varinsky and Wendel.  Exhausting week.

Day 535

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Slept in until 7:30 this morning.  Worked at Varinsky from 9-1:30 and Wendel from 2-6, then played racquetball at Mariner Square from 7-9:30.  In bed by 10:30.  Tired.  

Day 534

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Up at 6:30, worked at Varinsky from 9-1:30, then Wendel from 2-6.  Came home and watched the latest 24 from the previous night before crashing hard.  Wiped out!

Day 533

Monday, June 30, 2014

Up at 4, racquetball until 6, worked from 9-1:30 and 2-6, then went over to Richard and Lisa's for ice cream in the evening.  

Day 532

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Drove to Alice's with Alice in the a.m. and read all day.  A nice, relaxing day with Alice.  

Day 531

Saturday, June 28, 2014

I'm home this morning and afternoon while Alice is at St. Mary's with Austin for orientation.  It's a day to relax and unwind, get some stuff done that I haven't had any time to finish.  Time is tight and it's only getting tighter.

Wrote an email to Ella Marie, Sharon's partner, re True Colors.  We'll speak this week about direction etc on first novel.  I'm looking forward to our conversation.  Should take 6-8 weeks for the first book to be finished.  It will be 150-175 double-spaced pages long.  All three books will be 30k-words longer than the first book as a stand alone.  If this flies, it will be so nice to have three books outlined for the price of one.  

Day 530

Friday, June 27, 2014

I spent all day in San Francisco at a focus group conducting a mock jury for Howard.  It was interesting.  I was allowed to watch one of the finest attorneys in the country present his case.  He's a great storyteller.  That's really what a great trial lawyer does.  He told a simple, clear story that was so much more effective than the other junior attorney, who had no focus and visual image to work with.  The partner told his story a few times using different scenarios.  They were all simple and easy to follow.  That's the challenge, telling a simple story and taking out all the hard work for the jurors.  It's no different in the writing world where all the tangled ideas and difficult concepts are made clear and simple.  The best stories do that.  I'm not a fan of complicated stories that force readers to work out all the problems on their own.  Some readers may like that, but I don't.  If I don't understand something, I blame it on the writer.

I came home at 7 and went to bed at 8:30.  I was so tired at the end of the day.

Day 529

Thursday, June 26, 2014

This was a very busy working day.  I'm working all next week as well, so I won't get much done.  I worked from 9-3:30 at Varinsky, then 4:00-6:30 at Wendel.  I came home and crashed on the couch.  Tomorrow is a focus group I'm attending in San Francisco.  Should be very interesting.  

Day 528

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Played Brian Rigney in singles this morning, which was fun.  Worked from noon-5.  Wrote emails, caught up, etc.  Finally catching up from being gone a week earlier in the month.  

Day 527

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Woke up at 6, took care of to-do list items, then went to work from 9-12:30.  Came home and had a one-hour conversation with Sharon about True Colors Detective Agency.  She and her partner Ella Marie want the book divided into three novels that targets early readers (8-12-year-olds).  Because the protagonists are 5th graders, that's where the audience needs to be.  She had excellent notes and suggestions for me and said I could probably keep most of what I already have, or save some of the rougher, more questionable stuff for later in the series if the book takes off.  She liked all the Lani Shengxiao imagery and had never seen that before.  It was a productive conversation and had already gotten me thinking about the next draft.  Instead of having Mrs. Strauss die, they'd like Mrs. Strauss to go missing and the girls end up finding her in the end. That's fine.  I'll do whatever they want to get things going.

Sharon's colleague is Ella Marie, who's the creative force behind Sharon's agency.  I'll send Julia Milan to her and get her thoughts so that we can sent that manuscript out to Yolanda.  After a wonderful rest this month, I'm ready to hit the ground running in July with lots of projects.

After our conversation, I went back to work for 90 minutes, then came home and read.  It's been such a great month doing nothing but reading.  I wish I could read for an entire year without doing anything else.

Day 526

Monday, June 23, 2014

Up at 4:04, at the gym around 5:15.  With Steve gone, mornings are not competitive and somewhat dull.  I played singles and then doubles with Brian, Jack and Tiger.  Out at 7:45.

I took care of some chores from 8-11:30, then went to work at noon-5.  I came home and watched a couple of documentaries on Syria.  Syria has been on my mind lately.  It's heartbreaking what has happened to that country.  It's ruined and the people will suffer the affects for generations.  It seems the entire region is cracking into a empty pit deep inside the earth, bubbling and fulminating without end.  I asked later in the evening if the world was more extreme and dangerous now than it was 20 or 30 years ago.  He said no.  It's been like this forever.  I guess he's right.

Day 525

Sunday, June 25, 2014

I spent the day reading at Alice's.  I found a great book at the library called Hothouse, about the gossip, great writers and large egos inside the most prestigious publishing house in America, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Day 524

Saturday, June 21, 2014

I rested at Alice's this weekend.  And read.  I plowed through a graphic novel called Boxers.

It's the story of the Boxer Rebellion in China from 1898 to 1900.  There's a second book called Spirts which I plan to read later.

I also read another book on my ipad called Paper Covers Rock, a young adult book that was well written but not that memorable.

Alice and I went to the movies Saturday night and saw The Edge of Tomorrow, which was Groundhog Day for a futuristic D-Day invasion.  The storyline was inventive and Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt worked well together.  I enjoyed it.

Day 523

Friday, June 20, 2014

Woke up at 5, hit the gym at 5:30, ran around the track for 10 minutes to wake up, then played a couple of easy games with the guys from the B court until Tiger waltzed in at 6:45.  We played one game to 7 before I hit the showers and went home.

I had a two-hour meeting with my racquetball partner Dorian about putting down on paper his memoir and experiences of racism as an entrepreneur in the professional sports world and construction world.  He's a larger than life personality with lots of good stories.  We've been meaning to get his story down for a couple years now.  It seems this is the right time to get the research done and a draft written.  I'm anticipating a 40-50k-word manuscript that captures Dorian's experiences in Louisiana when he was trying to building a community center with federal funds but was stopped by the corrupt power brokers in the parish where the projects was planned.  It's quite a tale and mirrors the obstructionist reaction Obama has experienced while in the White House.

We spent our first meeting talking about Dorian's childhood.  Very interesting.  After our meeting I came home and planned to sleep for only 30 minutes, but I ended up sleeping two hours.  I'm still recovering from the whirlwind D.C. weekend.

I'm doing chores from 1-4, then heading to the city and staying with Alice all weekend.  We have nothing planned so it should be very relaxing.  I'm looking forward to a weekend of nothing!