writing/ blogs/ Flashback

June 11 Writing: I joined a writing group on LinkedIn called TWO BITS. It's "writing advice to writers from writers." It's good like "How do you end a story?" The advice was like initially your character is like this and at this place in the story.

By the end of the story, they have to change and be at a different place. Others have said they hate cliff hangers. Answer most questions, but leave a little bit of an open ending to leave the reader satisfied, but wanting a little bit more. I get emails saying there have been replies to the forums. It kind of helps my writer's block.

Blogs: I have my blog www.badcb.blogspot.com since Jan. 2008. So it's been 3 and half years and I'm still not famous. I read that the screenwriter Diablo Cody had a blog and someone told her to write a screenplay. She then wrote Juno and became a success. I have read and clipped out the newspaper article "From blog to book in 2 months."

My sister has a few blogs, but each blog is solely on one topic. My blog/ weekly emails is about a variety of topics like TV, movies, writing, music, rants, jokes, my job, my life, family, friends, and flashbacks. Maybe if I wrote solely on one topic, I would attract more people. I have like 137 comments on my badcb blog. I say 50 of them are spam.

I did start www.thevertexfighter.blogspot.com which is solely about The Vertex Fighter TV movie. I plan to write a blog post every day on that site. It's only 4 days old with 4 blog posts and no comments.

I guess I should have started on The Vertex Fighter blog like in 2008 when I was pitching the script, but the script wasn't really finished. I had badcb which proves that I am a prolific writer. It also tells anyone who visits my blog that I love to write.

This new Vertex Fighter blog does make me focus more on my goal of getting this script produced if I make myself write about the progress I make everyday. If not progress, write something about the script everyday so it would stay on my mind.

June 12 Customer service: I was reading the newspaper about how like 70% of people leave a store due to bad customer service. The biggest pet peeve is being put on hold on the phone for too long. It mentioned that Wal- Mart is the worst with customer service, but it's still the world's largest retailer.

I remember talking to this guy Mitch about how my friend Heather said: "I'm sure everything from Wal- Mart is made from some kid in China."

Mitch: Then again, China produces a lot of things.
So you can't totally blame Wal- Mart.

Unpaid work: I was thinking about The Simpsons where Homer was driving Bart.

Homer: That's the thing with being a dad; long hours and no pay.

Rain script: I'm going through my Rain draft 3 that I saved into my email. I'm also looking at my old school agenda that has all my handwritten Rain draft 3, before I typed it up. I'm going to recycle the pages, because I don't need the hard copy when I have the digital copy in my email. This was from Feb. 2010.

It was about a bad guy from Rain's past who's looking for her and finds her. I then looked and saw that my Rain rewrite was in June 2010. That's where I changed the story about how Rain gets revenge. When I read draft 3, it's very mediocre. It's 60 pages of not much happening.

I learn to write by writing. I only used a few scenes and dialogue from the old draft for the new rewrite. I haven't worked on Rain in a month. I was busy with my job, job search, and pitch package. Writing Rain is like my last priority.

Heist movies: In Ocean 11, Ocean 12, and Ocean 13, the movies are about a group of people with certain talents used to accomplish a heist. There was a TV show called Heist in 2006. There were only 7 episodes and it got cancelled. I read a Fast Five movie review that it also about a heist.

June 13 Flashback: I picked up the Metro today and there's a new book called Flashback by Dan Simmons. It will be released on Jul. 1. The blurb says: "This thriller is set in the near future where a bankrupt America is addicted to a drug that allows its population to relive the best moments and memories of the past. Simmons deftly explores how you can lose your future to your past and the inertia that can result from an addiction."

I like the part "lose your future to your past." It's about reminding yourself to live in the present and look forward to the future.

My flashbacks: I got this flashback of going to my friend Christina's birthday party. She was turning 11 and her mom was like 27? Or 28. I was 10 yrs old and I was thinking: "Wow, her mom is young. Most moms are in their 30s." Now that I'm 25, I can look back and see things differently. That means Christina's mom had her when she was 16 or 17. She got pregnant as a teenager.

Christina also had a little sister who was 9. That's the statistic with a teen mom. Once a teen girl gets pregnant when she's teen, there is a 25% chance she will get pregnant within the next two years, and she did.

Step by Step: Then I got another flashback of the old sitcom called Step by Step about a family of step siblings. The parents went to this kindergarten class with their daughter. They meet this other young couple who has a son in the same class.

The parents noticed that the couple is young.

Mom: Where are you from? The local college a few blocks from here?
Man: Well I'm 24.
Woman: And I'm 24 and a half.

I was a kid when I was watching the sitcom. I didn't do the math back then. But now that I'm 25, I'm doing the math that the young couple would have probably had the kid at 19 yrs old and that's young.

Employment article: I got this email through my blog. It's more about employment trends for teachers.

Hi Tracy,

I’m a frequent reader of your blog and wanted to let you know that I just posted an article on my site that I thought you might find interesting, “10 Telling Employment Trends in Academia”. If you think your readers might like it, too, would you consider sharing or mentioning it on your blog? I’d appreciate it if you have time to check it out.

(http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2011/06/07/10-telling-employment-trends-in-academia/)

Thanks!

Florine Church

headlines/ The Listener/ good deed

June 9 Headlines: Here's my batch of headlines. I got this from the Edmonton Journal Sunday Reader back when they had little pieces of news.

Transportation: "Cops: Man Tries to Run Down Woman after Wedding Proposal" -USA Today headline

According to Chicago Sun- Times, a man really wants to be a bus driver that he went as far as stealing a uniform and got a bus. He drove around the city for several hours while picking up riders. Chicago Transit Authority found out when the mystery driver returned to the bus to the CTA garage, and hit another bus as he was parking it. The suspect is known to a bus driver whose uniform was stolen the month before.

In the New Orleans Times- Picayune, a 29 yr old woman Jennifer Gille got into a cab in Louisiana. She took off her clothes and told the driver to driver her home to Michigan. He refused and drove to a police station. She stole his cab. Then a few blocks later they found the her and the cab and arrested her.

Arrests: The Edmonton Journal said: "Fired and fired." According to the Salem Statesman Journal, in Silverton, Oregon, a man learned he was about to be fired. He then torched his boss's car. He was arrested.

In the Edmonton Journal, a headline said: "Star witness admits he is a thief, a liar, unreliable." Anthony Bennett said he is an unreliable witness. He's a drug dealer and an addict. Basically the article said the prosecutor asked: "Are you a thief?" "Would you agree with me that you are still an unreliable witness now?"

AB said: "Yes, I am." Kind of reminds me of the girl on Jenny Jones when JJ asked her: "So you got pregnant when you were 13?"

Also in the Edmonton Journal: "Beastly sounds land man in jail." A 49 yr old man was doing animal impressions like a sheep in the middle of the night. Neighbors complained and the German police arrested him.

Bike: I found this in the National Post: "Biker caught with pants down, charged for not having a helmet. The 40 yr old man was wearing a shirt and riding his bike in Hamilton. The man fled police when they tried to stop him. They caught him later and arrested for dangerous driving, flight from the police and 2 counts of breach of probation, and not wearing a helmet. Hamilton Police sergeant Barry Mungar said it was a "strange occurrence."

According to the New York Post, a 68 yr old Florida man Richard Bialon was swearing at his bike in a Palm Beach gas station. Onlookers called the cops and they arrested him.

In the National Post, there is a blog called the Great Typo Hunt blog. Jeff Deck and Benjamin D. Herson went to the Grand Canyon. There was a sign with typos. It turns out the sign was created 70 yrs ago. The Park Service went to federal court and the Typo blog people had to pay $3,035 for wrecking the sign. They were banned from all National Parks for a yr.

June 10 Saturday Night Live: A few weeks ago there was a sketch about how Dominque Strauss- Kahn is in jail with two black guys.

Keenan Thompson: It was really nice talking to you. Now we're going to rape you.
KT, Jay Pharoah, and Domique Straus- Kahn (I forgot who played him) said in unison: Live from New York it's Saturday Night Live!

This is from a few months ago, but Miley Cyrus was on SNL and did a really good sketch making fun of Disney acting, by giving an acting class. The lesson to be a kid on a Disney show is being the loudest person in the room, disrespecting authority, and wear really bright clothes.

That is so true. I was reading twop.com about "TV moments that angry up the blood" and how people hate how kids disrespect authority.

Modern Family: There was an episode called "Mother's Day." A ball was tossed to a the gay couple Cameron and Mitchell are at the park, and a kid asks for them to throw it back.

Cameron: Oh what? You don't think I can throw a ball?
Me and my sister (unison): He can't throw it.
He throws it well and it hits a rider off the bike.

I didn't expect that one. lol.

The Listener: This show wasn't on at all last week. So I'll write about the episode called "Vanished." A baby gets kidnapped and an Amber Alert is issued. They also mention Ontario. It was really good because it was original and unpredictable. There is this woman who draws pictures of things that happen. Then it turns out, the woman hears dead people. Dead people tell her what to draw.

The baby is this big business man's daughter. The business man was played by Yannick Bisson. You may have seen him as the lead on Murdoch Mysteries and the CIBC commercials. His wife died, and the dead wife was talking to the psychic artist woman. The baby is being held for ransom.

The business man has fathered a daughter named Regan 20 yrs ago. He didn't raise her and R's single mom did. Later the mom killed herself. Regan kidnaps the baby (her half- sister) and holds it for ransom. Toby, the IIB were able to track her down due to the pictures and T seeing the images.

Businessman apologizes to Regan, and Toby was there. R then gives the baby back, and she is arrested.

Actors: I can't believe it. I was watching Degrassi for some months, and there's this Asian guy who is the manager at Holly J's restaurant job. Then I thought: "Isn't he the same guy on the low- budget show called Train 48 that was on in 2003?" I then looked it up and it turns out it is Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, and it is the same guy. I haven't seen this guy in 8 yrs, and I remember him from a random TV show.

The thing is, if you're a good- looking actor, I would remember you easier. I was watching a Castle ep called "Law and Murder." There is this black woman Miss Jenkins. I do remember her because she had a scene on The Mentalist. It was a memorable scene even though she was a minor character because she was panicking and the lead Jane helps calm her down with hypnotism.

I saw a Criminal Minds episode where this overweight woman was a serial killer. I was channel- surfing and saw her on The Mentalist repeat for one scene. I didn't remember her the first time I saw her on The Mentalist because it was a short scene, and not memorable. It's kind of a hit and miss with my memory. It's usually pretty good.

Coincidence: My sister and I were watching her Buffy dvds, the season 2 ep called "Ted." Buffy and her mom are going to watch Thelma and Louise at the end of the ep. My brother wants to go watch TV and then the movie Thelma and Louise is on.

Look alike: Doesn't Buffy's mom Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) kind of look like Susan Sarandon from Thelma and Louise? They look relatively alike, they could play sisters.

Here's Kristine Sutherland:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0840133/

Here's Susan Sarandon:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000215/

Good deed: This was from a few months ago. My grandma told me that when she was waiting for the bus, this 30 yr old guy came up to her and offered her his bus transfer. She showed him her bus pass so it wasn't necessary. It's the thought that counts.

Anthony Weiner/ flashback/ blog

June 6 Anthony Weiner: I read in the news about Congressman Anthony Weiner who said a hacker hacked onto his Twitter account and posted a photo of his genitals on the account. It was quickly taken down, and AW went on CNN to talk about how a hacker did it.

Now I was watching CNN with my brother, and AW admitted he sent the lewd photos to this college student. He had sent lewd photos and had inappropriate chats to 6 women on the internet in the past 3 years. He had gotten married this year.

I'm going to give him points for being honest... eventually after 5 days with the story about a hacker. Well it's not as bad as Arnold Schwarzenegger fathering a child with a housekeeping staff member. Or Eliot Spitzer cheating on his wife with a prostitute. Sending lewd photos is not as bad in comparison.

Job: My dad asked me if anybody had left my job. One person did to move to another city, a new employee did because she got full-time hours somewhere else. Another new employee may be leaving because she's not showing up for work. One old employee managed to get a second job. A lot of us have a second job.

Flashback: I got this flash back in gr. 11 Social class. This girl, I think her name is Sarah. I'm not sure. She and I are friendly acquaintances. She whispered to her friend Garret, and I overheard. I was sitting 2 desks behind her.

S: I may be pregnant.

I didn't really react to it. I don't really know her. I wasn't even thinking: "I have to tell my friend about this." I didn't tell anyone about it until now, 10 years later. See, I can keep a secret. I didn't tell because it's none of my business or anyone else's. Also she wasn't like popular, so maybe people won't be interested.

I think also the key words were "may be." She didn't say she was. By all means she may not be pregnant. Then later, it turns out she wasn't pregnant so everything's cool.

Feng Shui: I was cleaning my desk which has piles of papers and books. Do you believe in Feng Shui? It's an ancient Chinese practice of how you arrange things in your house affects your life.

Birdhouse: I threw out this painted birdhouse my ex- boyfriend gave to me 3 yrs ago. He had bought this expensive paint for school, but never used it. He then used it on the birdhouse. It's been on my desk for 3 yrs and now I'm throwing it out because there is no use for it.

Writing: I also threw out 24 pages of my Garret script that I printed out on scrap paper back in 2009. It was like The Fighter, but with different names. It did teach me to stop printing out scripts until it's completely done or I'll be wasting paper. (Even if it's scrap paper.) I could save all those drafts onto my email account by sending it to myself. In Legal Issues for Writers class, I was told to copyright my work by keeping drafts of it.

Job search: I also threw out 7 scrap pieces of paper that listed all the places I applied to in the past 2 yrs.

2009 office job search (Jan. 2009-Aug. 2009): I passed out 110 resumes in 8 months and got the Call Centre #3 job. I mainly passed to hair salons, banks, insurance companies in downtown, and in person. I applied to some places in my neighborhood. I only got 2 interviews. It was a little effective because I did get hired to one place.

2009 office job search (Nov. 2009- Dec. 2009): I did the same as above. Pass out resumes to mainly banks in downtown and in person. It was not very effective.

2010 regular job search (Jan. 2010-Mar. 2010): I passed resumes to downtown restaurants and stores. I set up some online job profiles. A little effective because I got some interviews.

2010 regular and office job search (Apr.2010- present): I did most of my job search online. I send out 100 resumes a month. I started using a notepad to write down all the places I applied to instead of some old agenda paper because I applied to so many places.

June 7 Job interview: Today was crazy. I had a job interview at 11am. I left at 10am and I was supposed to take the #8 bus, but I took the #2 bus because I still got to the area anyway. I then asked a young guy in a business on how to get to the office and he gave me the right direction. But then I asked the #8 bus driver and he pointed in another direction.

I then calmed down and regrouped by using the washroom, and asking another man and he said what the young guy said. I then found the place. I was 15 min. late for the interview, but I was still interviewed. There are 12 applicants for 1 position. I think the interview went okay, but I don't know if I will get hired. I did call the business on my cell phone to say I was lost, but when I called it said the number wasn't assigned.

I told the boss, and he thought it was weird that it wasn't listed. It was the right number when I asked him at the interview. It worked when I called him earlier on my home number.

I spent 2hrs of my morning on this interview and that includes riding to and from there on the bus and the actual interview.

I was somewhat familiar with the area. The lesson is that either I should have gone the day before, and/or actually studied the Google Map on the day I was supposed to leave and printed it out so I could show it to the bus driver. I did study it the day before. Lesson learned.

Blog: I created a new blog called "The Vertex Fighter." It's to promote my TV movie of the same title. A producer told me any exposure is good. I have been brainstorming titles months ago, but when I was trying to get this website up, it helped narrow down what title has been taken. Check it out:

http://thevertexfighter.blogspot.com/2011/06/vertex-fighter.html

Prior to my www.badcb.blogspot.com, I used to have a blog where I wrote one post on Mar. 4, 2006. The old blog's template looked exactly like this one, all green and blue. Today I have now deleted www.rebel3496.blogspot.com.

My one and only post said this:

"Wow, my first blog. I decided to use the font Courier because that is what's needed to type movie scripts. I intend to be a writer. If you know me personally, you would know that I'm going to spend a lot of time writing about news, movies, tv shows and many more things.

Here's something I was thinking about when eating lunch: How guys marry their girlfriends after she gets pregnant because it's the "right thing to do". Doing the right thing is more like admitting to a crime you committed and turning yourself in or getting your priorities straight and instead of going to a party, you stay home and you study. But to all the guys who marry their girlfriends after she gets pregnant, ask yourself 'Would you marry her even if she didn't get pregnant'?"

Rape: So I'm sure all of you heard of the politician Dominique Strauss- Kahn who is accused of attempting to rape a hotel maid. Prior to it he has been accused of sexually harassing other women. I would say he is the worst politician. Infidelity has been committed by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Eliot Spitzer, but what they did wasn't a crime. It was immoral. Looks like Anthony Weiner sending lewd photos of himself seem so minor.

It doesn't excuse AW for it, but in general nobody really likes politicians.

help/ Being Human/ Willa Ford

help/ Being Human/ Willa Ford

June 3 Help: I was thinking about how I want to be self- reliant and be successful on my own, but I really need a lot of help. I have people help me, but they can only help me so much before I have to go on my own.

My sister helped me with my math homework everyday so I could pass high school math. That takes hours of her tutoring me. However, I am the one who is taking the test by myself.

My friend Angela helped me with my resume in 2008. I emailed it to her, and she revised it and it looks great. I'm the one who's emailing my resumes to companies and going to job interviews by myself.

My friends Kristy (an English major) and Nialle (who is in Professional Writing) read and edited my portfolio so I could get into college. However, I was the one who wrote the three pieces. When I got a passing mark on the portfolio, I had to go and take the test by myself.

My parents pay for my college tuition, but I'm the one who is going to class everyday and doing the homework.

I go to Writing Help at the library for maybe an hour or so a week at the college when I was in Professional Writing. I usually get an assignment, I write the whole essay, and then the Writing Help person reads it and edits it. But I'm the one who did all the work.

Helping others: When I got that job at the big company, my friend Michelle asked me how I got it. I said I applied to every big company by passing my resume to all the locations. Then she got a job at a bank. I told her how to get the job, but she's the one who has to write a resume and pass it out. Then she has to go to work, learn how to do the job, and work.

So with the writer and published author Trevor Popik Hafso. We have emailed each other. He asked: "How did you discover who to pitch it (your script) to?" I told him to Google "production companies" and email them by introducing yourself and telling them about the script.

I told him the tip on who to pitch it to. However, he's the one who has to think up a story idea, write the script, write the script pitch, research which production companies produce his genre, email to all the production companies and face the rejection. I can give you the tip on how to start, but you're on your own afterwards.

June 5 Being Human: I haven't been watching much TV lately because there isn't any new episodes. I went onto Youtube to watch episodes of the sci- fi show Being Human. I wrote about it before. It's about a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost all living together. It's very well- written.

I saw the 2nd part of the pilot, and I learned how they all became what they are. They didn't tell the audience how they became monsters, it was shown. TV is a visual medium, show don't tell.

Cut to the 18th century war and Aiden is fighting in the colonial times. He dies in the war, and wakes up a vampire.
Cut to the forest with a tent. There are dead people killed by a wild animal. Josh wakes up and he's been turned into a werewolf.
Cut to Sally lying dead on the floor of the stairs because she fell down them. She turns into a ghost.

Willa Ford: Does anyone remember Willa Ford? She's a singer/ actress. She came out in 2001 with her song "I Wanna Be Bad." She dated Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys. She has been compared to Britney Spears because WF is a blonde solo pop star.

Anyway, WS is hot. Her singing career didn't go that far, but she did go on Dancing with the Stars and became a TV host and an actress. Here's her singing in a 2009 performance of her song "Sexy Sex Obsessive." If you go 3 min. in there's a great dance break where all her dancers do these hip hop moves. I loved the dancing. It was fun to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3E5gERJ_4A&feature=related

I also found her song "Nastified." I heard it way back in 2001. I even remember where I found it. It was through Jenny Hyun's blog. JH is this aspiring singer/ songwriter and I've been reading her blog on and off since.

Here's "Nastified." This song has got attitude and you can dance to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFpPj1Wc2aU&playnext=1&list=PLC539D51F6A768DC8

911 Call: I was watching Yahoo News and there is this woman who's house was being broken into. She was on her cell phone calling 911 with her teenage son. They were hiding in her closet. She is talking to the burglar through the closet door asking: "Do you want jewelery? Do you want TVs?"

The mom Teresa was basically stalling the burglar as the police came a few min. later. It was a 23 yr old white guy who broke in.

20/20: There were a lot of news on last night's episode of 20/20.

Bath salts: Did you know that teens use bath salts to get high? 20/20 showed Youtube videos and interviewed parents of teens who died from getting high on bath salts. The symptoms are chest pains like a heart attack and hallucinations.

Andrew Young: He wrote a book called The Politician about John Edwards. It detailed about how as AY was working for JE as a campaign aide, and AY then had to pretend to be the father to JE's mistress Rielle Hunter's baby. JE spent nearly a million dollars hiding AY and his family, and RH from the media.

Amanda Knox: You may have heard of this story of a young American woman who went to Europe to study and is accused of murder. She may not be guilty due to lack of her DNA evidence in the crime scene. There will more of a trial this fall.

W5: The Canadian news magazine show W5 had confronted a fraudster in an earlier episode that aired months ago. They did an update and the police has since frozen his accounts. That's good news.

A story they covered was a developmentally delayed man was shot 5 times by the Ontario Provincial Police. OPP says he held out a pen knife at them, but the knife was found closed. No police officer has been charged shooting in the past 10 yrs. The Special Investigations Unit investigates.

An Irish woman was with gay friends. The police officer harassed them for being gay. He pushed her and she fell. There was video footage and the officer was suspended.

Actors: A few months ago I was channel surfing and I saw a bit of the movie White Chicks. It's where 2 black guy FBI agents dress up like white girls to protect hotel heiresses from being kidnapped.

Busy Phillips was in it. I saw her in that sitcom Love Inc. where the characters work at a dating agency. Now she's on Cougar Town. Not a total surprise she was in this movie because she does comedy.

I was surprised when I saw Jennifer Carpenter in it. She plays Deborah on the show Dexter. It's good that she went from doing a mediocre movie to a great well- written drama like Dexter. However, I will have to watch the whole movie before I can judge it.

Movies: I saw a couple movies about guys dressing up as women. Sorority Boys was awful about 3 white guys who got kicked out of a fraternity and has to dress up like women to join a sorority. They then have a place to live and food to eat there. I saw it when it came on TV. 3 guys dress up like women who look like guys. I only laughed out loud once.

Juwanna Mann was average due to a black guy who dresses like a woman, looks like a woman. Maybe because he was black. There was actually a good story of a guy who got kicked off the NBA team and dresses up like a woman to join the WNBA.

Inspirational quotes (Part 5)

No one can get inner peace by pouncing on it. ~ Harry Emerson Fosdick
“Stop trying to look beyond the hills, everything you ever wanted is in the valley.” –An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

“How you deal with a problem is more important than the problem itself.”

“There are no secrets to success. Is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” –Colin Powell

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.” –Henry David Thoreau

“Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.” –H. Jackson Brown Jr.

“To succeed…you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.” –Tony Dorsett

“Wherever the fates lead us let us follow.” Virgil

“Champions keep playing until the get it right.” Billie Jean King

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” –George Bernard Shaw

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” –Albert Einstein

“Reflect upon your blessings, of which every man has plenty, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” –Charles Dickens

“Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” –Will Rogers

“We cannot truly face life until we face the fact that it will be taken away from us.” –Billy Graham

“We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival.” –Sir Winston Churchill

“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.” –Benjamin Franklin

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” Henry David Thoreau

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” –Abraham Lincoln
“Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future.”- Charles F. Kettering

“Thing which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” –Goethe

“Will you look back on life and say, ‘I wish I had, or I’m glad I did?’” -Zig Zigler

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” –Aesop

“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.”- Michael Jordan

“Until you value yourself you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” M. Scott Peck

“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”- Aristotle

“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” –Vincent Van Gogh

“Self pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in the world.”-Helen Keller

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on.” –Robert Frost

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” –Ghandi

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second- rate version of somebody else.” –Judy Garland

“An aim in life is the only fortune worth finding.” –Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

“Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.” –John Lennon

“Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

“People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

“Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the gratefully and appreciating heart.” –Henry Clay

“You cannot be lonely if you like the person you’re alone with.” –Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

“The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything.” –Theodore Roosevelt

“The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half inch eraser- in case you thought optimism was dead.” –Robert Brault

“We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.” –John F. Kennedy

“You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.” –Charles F. Kettering

“As simple as is sounds, we all must be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we’ve been given.” –Mary Lou Retton

“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.” –Napoleon Bonaparte

“I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

“We are not here merely to make a living. We are here to enrich the world.” –Woodrow Wilson

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” –Henry David Thoreau

“It is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.” –Henry Ward Beecher

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” –Robert Frost

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” –Nelson Mandela

“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now.” –Joan Baez

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” –John Lennon

“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.”-Marie Curie

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” –Oscar Wilde

“Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save.” –Will Rogers

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” –Winston Churchill

“Character is a commodity that cannot be bought, cannot be stolen, and cannot be borrowed from any other.” –Byron Pulsifer

“Crisis is opportunity.” –Taoist

“Show me a hero, and I will write you a tragedy.” –F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Today I do, tomorrow, I will.” –TV show Criminal Minds

“There is no fate, destiny to deter a determined soul.” –Elaine Wilcox

“Tomorrow will be different, but tomorrow is often a repetition of today.” –TV show Criminal Minds

Martin Luther King Jr. quotes:

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“Intelligence plus character- that is the true goal of education.”

“Hat cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”

“If you’re not doing anything new and different, you’re not really developing.” –leadership development expert Dan McCarthy

“Get busy living or get busy dying.” –Movie The Shawshank Redemption

“Everybody wants to change the world, but not themselves.”- TV show Nikita

“If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” -E. O. Wilson

“Turn inspiration into reality.” -Globe and Mail writer Jonathan Goldstein

“You can have it all, but you can’t have it all at the same time." -16 and Pregnant thread on twop

“To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe.” –Post Secret

“A friend is like a four leaf clover. It’s hard to find and lucky to have.”

“You can have everything you want, if you will just help enough other people get what you want.” –Zig Zigler.

“A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.” –David Brinkley

“If you can find something you love, you’ll probably be good at it- or at least work hard enough so you’ll eventually get good- and if you are good, someone will pay you for it.” –Cubicle Coach from Marie Claire

“The only way out is through.” – TV show Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior

“I invent my tomorrow.” –TV show 30 Rock

“You find the right lever, you can move the world.” –TV show The Mentalist

“Waste a lot of years and delayed a lot of happiness. We carry a shell like a turtle carries a shell. Drop your shell.” –TV show Hellcats

“Anything in life that’s worth doing is hard.” –TV show Desperate Housewives

“Sometimes human places create inhuman monsters.” –Stephen King

“Every journey into the past is complicated. By delusions, false memories, false naming of real events.” Adrian Rich

“Bring the past, only if you’re going to build from it.” –Dominco Estrado

“Ordinary people can bring about change.” –Oprah Winfrey

“What’s wrong with the world and what can we do to change it?”- Oprah Winfrey

“You are bigger than your circumstances.” –Liz Murray

jokes/ job search/ pitch package

May 31 Jokes: Here are some jokes and funny scenes from TV shows.

Parks and Recreation: I was watching Parks and Recreation and Leslie was talking about old slogans for the town Pawnee.

Leslie: "Welcome German soldiers." The Nazis took over and our mayor panicked.
My little brother who's a history buff laughed at that one.

Degrassi: I was watching Degrassi: The Next Generation and Anya likes this guy who's a doctor. She saw his agenda and knows that he will be at this restaurant at this time. A goes there with her friend Holly J. A gets Holly J to fake a choking, and the Doctor will come and perform the Heimlich maneuver on her.

Anya: I faked a pregnancy for you, you can fake a choking.
Iol.
HJ fakes her choking.
A Man gets up to go to HJ.
A (to Man): Sit down.
Dr. comes over and does the Heimlich maneuver on HJ.

Comedy comparisons: Here are some patterns on what's funny.

Midgets are funny: I saw a bit of American Pie: Naked Mile when I was channel surfing and the midgets were the villains in it. Eminem uses them in his music videos. Even that recently canceled show The Cape has a midget who's a good guy, but he's used for comedy on the show. No disrespect to midgets.

The song "Afternoon Delight": I read that on the TV show Glee, a teacher thought the song was about something else. Years ago on the sitcom Arrested Development, Michael and his niece Maybe were singing that during karaoke at the office party. In the middle of singing it, Michael realizes what the song is about.

June 1 Comparing one thing to another: My little brother saw the movie Pineapple Express where two black women are talking.

Woman: At first it was okay, and then it went out of hand.
Woman 2: That sounds like my first husband.

I was watching the Flash Gordon pilot, and this Mexican immigrant has something he wants to show to the TV studio.

Translator: He says $200 to look at it, and $500 to touch it.
Camera guy: That sounds like my last date.
lol.

Speaking Mandarin: I saw the tail end of The Big Bang Theory and Sheldon was speaking Mandarin incorrectly. It was kind of funny with the subtitles because what he said made no sense at all.

On Desperate Housewives, Lee speaks Mandarin to his adopted daughter. There weren't any subtitles, but I remember what I learned from gr.7-gr.10 Mandarin and understood what was said. She said "Thank you dad" in Mandarin.

On Castle, Castle spoke Mandarin to these Chinese bad guys. Det. Beckett had a gun pointed at them.

Castle (in Mandarin): You need to get out of here. She will shoot. She's crazy.
The bad guys run away.
lol.

On Nikita, Nikita freed slaves from this sweat shop and set it on fire. She was saying in Cantonese telling the slaves to run. Well Nikita is played by an Asian woman Maggie Q so she knows how to speak Chinese. The above 3 examples were white guys.

Job search: I have a question about my job search: Is it effective? I look for a job everyday on my four sources: The Edmonton Journal, Job Bank, Job Serve (they email me daily of job postings) and Kijiji. In Kijiji I look under office manager/ receptionist and customer service categories.

On my days off I look at banks websites and apply for customer service positions. I send out 100 or more resumes a month. I write down everywhere I apply to on my notepad. I only look at office positions. I do apply as a receptionist at hair salons.

Call centre: Most people at my job have a second job. There are two servers who don't have second jobs are now looking for one because all our hours have been cut. I have even been thinking about applying back at Call Centre #4. I worked there for a day last yr, and I had 9 completed surveys. The next day they dismissed me saying that wasn't enough.

I got angry and thought about throwing an egg at their window. I didn't do it, I just thought about it. My restaurant job is in the morning, and this call centre job is at night. In between that time is the afternoon so I can still use that time to look for a job.

Long- distance friendships: All my friendships are long distance. I realized it's been like that ever since I graduated out of high school. I never really get to see or hear from my friends unless I call them, or run into them on the street. At least there's Facebook and my weekly emails to keep in touch with them.

May 2 News: Here are some news.

Min. wage: I read in 24 that the min. wage in Alberta is going from $8.80/hr to $9.40/hr on Sept. 1. It will be $9.05/hr for servers who serve alcohol, because they typically get tips. At my work, I do get tips. I am supposed to get a raise when I work there for a certain amount of hundreds of hours.

Abortions: I read in the National Post that there is an increase in abortions for UK women in their 40s. That's because they're going through divorces and back into the dating game. 35% of men and women ages 35-44 yrs old use a condom when they have sex with a new partner.

The good news is that 70% of people aged 16-19 use a condom when they have sex with a new partner. It's good to know that there may be people who are young, but not dumb. You can even wank it in your mind that the women in their 40s who aren't having safe sex are smart enough not to have the kid.

Pitch package: I'm working on my pitch package for my TV movie. I'm researching on how to make one. I also bookmarked some good professional pitch packages as examples like:

Someone to Hold when it's Dark:
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~amoss/full_final.pdf

It's also making me think about my Graphic Communications program I took at NAIT. I could use what I learned to make a good pitch package.

Here's one made by a teenage girl Shae. There aren't any pictures, but it's a girl with an idea for a teen show. Here it is:

http://dorscht-shae.blogspot.com/2009/12/tv-pitch-package.html?showComment=1307066855820#c7293296511457675635

I then posted an encouraging comment on her blog post:

"Hey I just found your blog because I was looking up TV pitch packages. I'm making one myself. There are some really good professional looking ones like this:

http://www-scf.usc.edu/~amoss/full_final.pdf

I like watching Degrassi: The Next Generation. I'm 25, but when I was in high school, I've always wanted to be a TV writer.

If you are truly serious about wanting to produce your show about Lindsay, you should start writing the script. You should check out screenwriting books from the library too.

Good luck. I see potential in you."

friends/ The Mentalist/ job interview

May 28 Friends: I called my friend Jessica today.

Me: Maybe we could hang out since you don't have school anymore.
J: I already have a job.
Me: You mean like a career?
J: Yes.
Me: Congratulations.

That is so good that she had just graduated out of college and got a career in her field. I remember a year or so ago she said she may have to go to the US to get a career. Then I checked her Facebook page and she did mention about her new job.

I then called my friend Dan N. and he says he got his college diploma and now he's looking for a job. At Workopolis there are a lot of staffing agencies and he mentions how he has worked for some of them, and it didn't go well. More evidence that staffing agencies are bad by someone who has actually been through it.

May 29 Blockbuster: I read in the Edmonton Journal that the Blockbuster in Capilano and Bonnie Doon are closing down. Everything's on sale so go buy your dvds and games there now because they're closing by next month.

Pitch package: I have been reading about how to make a pitch package on the internet. It's for my goal on how to get The Fighter script produced. I found a lot of blogs with film students putting up their pitch package on their site. It's good to look at real examples.

Law of attraction: It's weird. I was thinking about my pitch package, but I've also been thinking about the TV show Rookie Blue. It's shot in Toronto and it's about cops who recently graduated out of the academy and are working as cops for the first time. Then I found the Rookie Blue pitch package. Check it out. There are quirky photographs and it was a fun read.

The show is coming back for a 2nd season on Global on June 23.

http://shownd.com/katepeerdesign/10066/Pitch-Package--Rookie-Blue

The Mentalist: I'm thinking about my Rain script which is about revenge. On The Mentalist, I missed the pilot, but I know how Patrick Jane joined the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI). PJ had unintentionally offended the serial killer Red John. Red John then murder's Jane's wife and daughter. Jane then joins the CBI as a consultant to help solve homicide cases and find RJ. This show is really good because it's unpredictable.

In the 2hr season 3 finale called "Strawberries and Cream", J finally catches RJ. They've been looking for RJ for 3 yrs, with some close calls like finding RJ's accomplices. The episode starts off with a man blowing himself up. It turns out someone blew him up and he's not a suicide bomber.

Mekia Cox (from 90210) made an appearance in this Money Mart business, because that's where the bomber worked at. I also notice an East Indian guy as the supermarket security guard, so that's some good ethnic diversity.

As the CBI team investigates, Agent Lisbon is knocked unconscious. She wakes up with a bomb strapped to her. It's revealed to the audience that supermarket security guard is the bomber. He's sitting in his dark office and hears J and L talk. J and L then kick the office door open. I didn't expect that one. The guard took the bomb off L, and he was arrested.

The boss La Roche puts the bomber into the police car. La Roche then shoots the suspect who managed to get out of handcuffs and go for the gun. That's what La Roche said, but it wasn't shown so the audience doesn't know if we should believe him because he shot their only lead to RJ. Didn't predict it.

RJ is behind the bombs and is hunting a rogue CBI Agent Hightower. J goes to a motel room and H points a gun at him. H wants to turn herself in and convince everybody she's innocent because she is. J says: "Give me 48 hrs and I will find Red John."

J then blackmails La Roche to get list of 4 suspects who work at CBI. One of RJ's accomplice works in the CBI, but we don't know who. J says he knows what's in La Roche's safe, when it was attempted to be opened earlier. One of the suspects is Bertman and the other is Agent Van Pelt's fiance Craig, so there's a conflict of interest.

J (voice over): We tell 4 suspects about 4 different rooms where Hightower is. Whoever tells Red John which room to go to will reveal who did it.

That's a simple and good plan. There are complications as the team sets up in a hotel room watching all 4 rooms and waiting for the killer. Bertman is the inside man. An Assassin goes into the room that Bertram knows about. However, Assassin jumps off the balcony so she won't get arrested. There goes another lead to RJ.

It turns out it's Van Pelt's fiance Craig. The rope that the Assassin brought was to get to the room below. Hightower and her 2 kids are staying in a cabin that's gated and protected by 2 police officers. A CBI agent is with her. Agent Lisbon is with Hightower.

VP brings Craig with her to the cabin. C shoots L and I jumped. I didn't predict that. C points gun at VP and H, but they shoot C. C is lying there dying. VP goes to C, and C pulls the necklace that he gave her off VP's neck. It was C's mother's necklace. There was no dialogue, but it was a powerful action.

J was with Bertman in the mall's food court as J figured out C was the accomplice. J then sees a man take a phone call and J learns that man is Red John. They meet each other for the first time. RJ hides a gun with a newspaper and threatens that if J attacks him, he will shoot. I was thinking J could hide a gun in his jacket pocket, but he never carries a gun.

J cries when it's confirmed that the man is RJ as RJ describes killing J's family. 3 gun shots ring out. You think RJ shot J, but J shot RJ. RJ falls down. J had a gun in his jacket pocket. J calmly sits down at a table asks the waitress for the check. The Waitress runs away like all the shoppers. Security guards points gun at J.

Me: I didn't expect that J would shoot RJ. Where do we go from here next season?

May 30 Unpaid work: My job search has really had an effect on me. I was watching The Dark Knight again last night. I rented it and saw it back in 2009. As I was watching this movie on TV, I realized that vigilante work is unpaid work. lol. However, Bruce Wayne is rich so he can work for free by protecting Gotham City and fighting bad guys.

In Spiderman 2, Peter Parker really couldn't afford to do this unpaid work. He wasn't doing well in school, and falling behind on rent. So the thing is you have to take care of yourself first before you can take care of others. That's the thing with me, all my unpaid work like my job search is for myself. Doing chores around the house is for family.

May 31 3.5 floppy disk: This is a mild rant. I was working on my pitch package and I put in 5 pictures onto my Microsoft Word document. I tried to save it, and it said my disk can't hold it due to lack of space. I then deleted, removed, and saved all the other documents onto other disks and then managed to save my one document onto the disk.

I'm sure all of you guys are like: "Buy a USB key already." The important thing is, I did manage to save it and then emailed it to myself and to a producer. It was interesting when I put the pictures of the actors I want onto my pitch package. It's like the script is more real when there are real people I can visualize being in it.

Job interview: I went to a job interview today. There are 100 resumes, and I am one of 10 people being interviewed. I think the interview went well, but I don't know if I will get hired. I got to look at the bright side. I did get interviewed out of all those resumes.

June 1: Today I got an email, and I got rejected from that office job interview. That's fine.