music/ abortion/ job search

FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2009

music/ abortion/ job search

Jul. 29 Music: I heard "Heartless" acoustic cover by American Idol winner Kris Allen on the radio yesterday. I didn't really like the Kanye West original, but man I love this.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9I4fyayqxo

There's also an acoustic cover of Rihanna's "Umbrella" by Marie Digby. I remember listening to this rock version of it done by Mandy Moore. It's more like Adult Alternative music when Moore covered it.

I remember way back in 2002, there was the song "Always on Time" by Ja Rule and Ashanti. John Mayer sang the chorus to it during a concert, and everybody sang with him. It's very good. You hear a black woman Ashanti sing it over synthesized drums and keyboards. Then you hear a white man John Mayer sing it over an acoustic guitar. It sounds so different and it sounds so good.

Jul. 30: There is actually The Fray covering "Heartless" too. I like this and Kris Allen's because there is so much emotion and depth in it. You can totally do a contemporary dance to it. I borrowed Usher's cd "Here I stand." It's average and it's got some good dance songs to it. I went on Youtube and typed in John Mayer "always on time" and found him performing that song. It's great.

Dance: Speaking of dance, I read in the Metro that Blake McGrath is teaching dance at the Shaw Conference centre this week. I feel like the ship has sailed. I mean that I should be focusing on my strengths and that's writing.

Capital Ex: I read in 24 that the highest amount of people coming to it was back in 2005 when it was still called Klondike Days. They should have never have changed it to Capital Ex. lol.

Tosh.O: I think yesterday's show went too far. There was this one joke on it that I didn't laugh and was offended by it. Well Daniel didn't crack it, it was a video of a guy giving the worst best man speech ever at a wedding. Even the Asian jokes that Daniel cracked afterwards weren't offensive to me.

Well it's a web redemption. This regular guy gives the best man speech by saying that he's the older brother to the groom. You can skip this paragraph and go straight to the next one. The guy said: "I am the first one to get a woman pregnant and force her to get an abortion." The audience was like: "Ohhhh." That was so bad.

Yeah well, at least the guy went and got a web redemption. He talked to this comedian and he gave tips on how to redo the best man speech. The tip was this:

Guy: I am not losing a brother. I am gaining a family that hates me.
His brother and his wife, and their parents laughed at that.
Guy: When I first met her (your wife), I thought she was too good for you. Now that I got to know her, I realized she is still too good for you.
The wife laughs at that.

Cut to the show.
Daniel: Well after 7 takes, I drank a little too much.

Cut to Daniel wasted and swearing.

The Asian jokes weren't offensive.

Cut to a video clip of a bunch of people in Japan trying to get on an LRT train.
Daniel: Well at least they're not driving.

Cut to a pic of a bunch of Asians in a swimming pool.
D: They must be on the shallow end. Get it?
Me: No.
D: It's because they're short.
Me: Oh yeah.

Abortion: Anyway that best man speech really "jumped the shark." That means a show has hit it's lowest point. That reminds me of Cheaters. There was this woman who found out her boyfriend was cheating on her and she yells at him: "I even got an abortion for you, I should have kept that f---ing baby."

I felt so sorry for her. She needs counselling. At that time I was like 19. At first I was kind of confused because why would you want to keep a baby by a guy who's a total scumbag? But then I realized that she didn't agree with a decision that he made. She wanted to keep her boyfriend, and she should have really gotten rid of him, and kept the baby.

I remember telling this to my friend Leslie back in 2004. We were at Wendy's and it was the end of summer. We were going to watch the Jet Li movie Hero afterwards. I thought Leslie was going to be agreeing with me and saying that it was sad. Instead it was different.

L: Well actually it's a good thing that she did get an abortion. If she kept the kid and raised it as her own, then she wouldn't even have enough money for her own retirement.

I told this to Ray awhile back.

R: Well it seems that this woman is not ready to have a baby because she put her boyfriend ahead of the baby.

Anyway, I hope people (women) who do watch this show will realize that even if you get an abortion to keep your boyfriend, your boyfriend may still cheat on you and leave you.

That also reminds me of another ep where this woman got pregnant and her boyfriend was cheating on her.

Woman: When I got pregnant, he was trying to convince me to get an abortion even though he knows I'm totally against that. If I find out he's cheating on me, I'm going to leave him. I'm going to be a single mom.

I felt this ep had also a really "jump the shark" moment because the boyfriend stabbed the host Joey Greco. Seriously, I saw it.

Teen pregnancy: I was reading my screenwriting book and it asked the question: "What topics are you interested in? Go write about it." Well I'm interested in teen pregnancy, but I'm not going to write about it because it's too repetitive. Besides the movie Juno, Tyra Banks covering this topic on her show, teen shows doing this all the time like 90210, and Degrassi: The Next Generation did it 3 times.

Writing: I was watching The Listener, and see that Olivia got a second subplot on this show. There were subplots with Oz. That reminds me of the first season of Dark Angel. When I bought the dvds back in 2003, and watched them back to back. A lot of the subplots were people at the work place Jam Pony.

Casting: It was also so cool on The Listener. The girl they cast to play Olivia's sister, looks like her. They look like they could be related. I haven't seen really good casting since Prison Break. Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell do look like they're related.

Jul. 31 Analyze: I was watching 16 and Pregnant. During the commercials, they do cut to the host reading emails from viewers. One email said: "I have the upmost respect for those teen moms. They are raising kids at a really young age."

I thought that was weird. When I asked my sister what if her daughter got pregnant as a teenager, she said: "I would kick her out of the house. I would lose respect for her." I mainly feel sorry for the girls because they ruined their lives. If they gave the baby up for adoption, then I don't really feel sorry for them because they can still live productive lives.

Job search: Today I went to a job interview. I hadn't been to one since last November. It's been about 8 months. I didn't feel confident, but then I thought about psychic Nadia. She said: "You put obstacles in front of yourself." I didn't try to sabotage myself.

When the company emailed me, I emailed them right back. He emailed to set up a time for an interview, and I replied back. I dressed up, and got there on time. I was reading my screenwriting book when the president of the company came in. I got up and shook his hand. I did the interview. I think it was average.

At the end I did a proofreading test. He then told me to go and write about why I should be fit for this job. I then went home and wrote it in an email detailing my education. It was like that Professional Prose assignment in Professional Writing. I then sent the email to him.

Now that it's done, I can then reflect back on it. I remember last summer I was working at Clothing Store #3. I then got a job interview at Smart Set. After the interview, I felt like I wouldn't get the job. I was right because when I called them up later, they said they need all sorts of availability. That's because I said I wanted to keep working at Clothing Store #3 and work the Smart Set schedule around it.

It's okay, because my dad would say Smart Set is a "garbage job." I may not get that job, but I can still easily get another retail job. It was a miracle to get a job at a bank, but there is a difference between getting a job, and being good at the job. That would be a miracle.

I remember way back in 2002, I was watching Much News. Lance Bass from Nysnc was trying to get into space. The host George said: "There's a difference between taking the test, and passing the test."

jokes/ luck/ funny and weird

Jul. 25 Jokes: Last night I was watching Conan O' Brien, and he said: "Did you know that Smokey the Bear turned 65 today? He says: 'Only you can prevent Forest Whitaker.'"

Some of the audience laughed. I laughed.
C: Yeah, I know it's a stupid joke, but it's my favorite one tonight.

That reminded me of The Simpsons when Ralph was talking to Smokey the Bear.
Smokey: Do you know how to prevent fires?
Ralph: At my house, we call them "uh ohs." lol.

Then there was another one where Bart is watching Smokey the Bear.

Smokey: Who can prevent forest fires?
Bart presses "You."
Smokey: You pressed you, referring to me. That is incorrect.

Tosh. O: I saw this a couple of weeks ago.

Daniel: Michael Jackson touched many children.....with his music. Too soon?
Yeah, you said "Too soon?" with the David Carradine joke.

Then this week the joke was this black man singing really badly at a funeral.
Daniel: Looks like this is the Jackson brother who didn't get beaten enough.
That's dark.

Dating: I sent a few emails out today on the dating site. I also was on another site, and a lot of people viewed me. However, they we're old guys. I want to believe in the saying: "Lightning strikes twice." I met my last boyfriend on the internet, I'm sure it can happen again.

Luck: I have lightening strike twice before. One time I emailed Criminal Minds actor Matthew Gray Gubler. Then he emailed me back on that same night. Then I wrote about it for one of my pieces to get into the Professional Writing program, and then I got in. Then I emailed MGG again about it, and he emailed me back on the same day.

There was the time that I met one my favorite music artists Kyle Riabko at Capital Ex in 2006. Then a year later, he came to Edmonton again, and we met again. He actually remembered me. There are entries in my blog called "The Hottest Night of my Life" and "The 2nd Hottest Night of my Life." lol. Same goes about with MGG.

I don't know if this counts as luck. Well back in 2001, I was writing this TV show and there was a guy who is supposed to have a sweet boy next door appeal. Then I turned on the TV and was watching MuchMusic. This British boy band Blue comes on with their first single "All Rise." I hear this song all the time on the radio, and I like it. Then this guy wearing a white hoodie, and denim jacket over it appeared on screen.

I was immediately thinking that he was the character I was looking for. He did have that sweet boy next door appeal. His name is actually Lee Ryan. What was really lucky, was that 6 months later, Blue came to West Edmonton mall, and I got all their autographs and a hug from my favorite member Lee.

Analyze: This does remind me of that first guy who I thought I did make a connection with on the dating site this year. The guy who I scared away when he asked me these series of questions that went from good to bad to worse. He wanted the truth so I gave him the truth. Well he was into MMA like I was. I was into it by watching it, and writing about it.

This guy said he was a fighter. I don't know if he did it as a hobby or professionally. I think a hobby because he did have a college education. He did say he won 11 out of 13 fights he was in. I said: "Damn, that's good." The question is: "Are you looking for a boyfriend or a character from your script?" lol. I was looking for a boyfriend, and if he had similarities to one my characters then that's fine. Eh, whatever we weren't a good match anyway.

Screenwriting: Today I finally finished that reading that Writing Movies book I got from the library. I feel inspired to read my entire Screenwriting for Dummies book that I bought back in December 2007. I did read the Dummies book, but not the whole thing. I remember back in 2006, I checked out this screenwriting book from school, and I took extensive notes on it. I should read my notes.

The producer John said arc in a character's development. In the book, it said that too. That made me think of the lead character.

Jul. 26 Job: I actually worked on Sunday. I hadn't had to in awhile since Ray took my shifts. Anyway it was good. I forced myself to read the screenwriting book and did a little writing. I was thinking about working at Blockbuster. It would be fun to watch movies on a discount. However, I will only take an office job.

Good news: I emailed the actor Giles Panton. He played Joe from Flash Gordon, and we're Facebook friends. I then emailed him asking him to be in my movie. He emailed me back and I then emailed him my script. I had to work on it a bit more today to make sure it was perfect. Now I'm going to email producer John with it.I was also tuning into Heartland. I then realized the Graham Wardle who plays Ty on that show, he could be the lead. I'll tell John about that too.

Jul. 27: Today at work, the two managers, Don, and I worked the lunch rush. It's funny, because there is no rush. It was so slow today, that we were able to manage all the customers with only 4 people. Then another work came today to help out in the afternoon.

Jul. 28 Funny and weird: You know how a few weeks ago I met that TV producer John, and the email was titled "Crazy meeting"? Well afterwards I realized that the guy looked like this customer who always comes into the soup place. John mentioned he has a brother.

The customer who looks like John enters to buy a sandwich.
Me: I have a question.
Guy: Yeah.
Me: Do you have a brother named John?
Guy: I have a brother, and my name is John.

Weird. Two guys who look alike also have the same name. John is a common name.

John: Is the guy like me? Or is he more polite?
lol.
Me: He's a TV producer.

Look alike: Then later that Kyle Gallner look alike showed up.

Guy: So how are you?
Me: Good, what's your name?
Guy: Mark.
Me: I'm Tracy. So did you show those (KG) pics to anyone?
Mark: Yeah, my mom thinks he looks like me, but some other people were like "eh."

Me: So where do you work?
Mark: For the city.
Me: Oh the city of Edmonton.
(I applied to those jobs before.)
Mark: Yeah, I'm a computer technician.

Me: So are you in school?
Mark: No. Are you in school?
Me: I graduated out of college. So how old are you?
Mark: 27.
Me: I'm 23.
Mark: How old do you think I was?
Me: Early 20s.

Mark: You look like you're in your early 20s. Like 23, 24.
(I guess he didn't hear me telling my age.)
Then he left. I was going to give him my email address, I had the paper in my pocket. However, baby steps. Though I felt this was quite a leap for me. I got his name, age, and job in one convo.
It might seem kind of weird that I had already prepped my email address out, before I got his name.

Job search: Yesterday my mom told me to apply to work at Edmonton Public schools. So I went and filled out the applications. It was kind of a lot of work. It reminds me when I used to apply to colleges. I needed two letters of references, so I wrote a paragraph each, and gave it to my managers so they could each sign it.

However, when I gave it to Steven, he read it. He then said he wanted to write the letter himself, and put it with a letterhead. I only wrote it, because I thought they wouldn't have any time to write a letter and it's easier to sign it.

I also did get a flashback of 2005. I was trying to get into the Arts and Cultural Management program. I ended up taking 3 classes and 2 of those classes credits went to the Professional Writing program. Anyway, you needed to get a letter of reference as part of you getting into the management program.

I then asked my manager Sue from Roots to write a letter. She did, but if you read it there were grammar mistakes. I'll give her points that she took the time to write the letter and give me a reference. I'm not going around and saying I'm above her, because she's the one who is managing an entire store by herself and making way more money than me. So what if there were grammar mistakes?

blast from the past/ The Listener/ Capital Ex

Jul. 22 Blast from the Past: This man walks past the restaurant, and I realized it's Aziz. He was my old manager from Treats back in 2007. I came up to him at Sorrentino's.

A: How are you?
Me: Good, I'm working at the Soup place right now.
A: So how's school?
Me: I graduated.
A: That's good.
Me: I came to Treats back in (May) 2008, and you weren't there.
A: That's because they sold the restaurant, and removed me. I didn't really like working there.
He was there with this old man, and they were talking to the servers at Sorrentino's. I then went back to work.

Jul. 23 The Listener: It was kind of like a Law and Order: SVU ep. Toby and his partner Oz respond to a call of a sexual assault. The victim is played by Tatiana Masley. I've seen her everywhere in other Toronto shows like Flashpoint and Renegade Press. She was also in the movie Ginger Snaps 2.

The attacker was wearing a mask, and a hoodie. Then Toby's friend Detective Marks is on the case. She then told us that it could be the same attacker from a few years ago who was let go of a technicality. They got a search warrant, and then Marks searched the storage locker and found the shoes which is good evidence. Then later it turns out the search warrant doesn't cover the storage locker.

The lawyer then says that evidence can't be used because Marks could have easily planted it. It turns out it's the bad guy's land lord who did it. He ties Marks up in a chair. Marks know's Toby's secret that he's a telepath, and creatively tells Toby what to say. He hears her thoughts that she's transmitting to him. Toby has called the cops and Toby was talking to the land lord saying that he was a cop.

Marks was able to get out of the chair, and then starts beating up Land lord. Toby had to pull her off him. That reminds me of my own script. Sort of. It is a little different.

I was reading that screenwriting book, and learned about subplot. In this ep, the subplot was the doctor Olivia confronts her old high school science teacher. Olivia then manages to save the teacher's life, and the teacher thanks her.

Jul. 24: It's like this show answered my script questions. Why did Detective Marks become a cop? She reveals to Toby that when she was 15, she was in gymnastics. She liked this guy there. Then they later went over to his place to pick up something. She passed out and she woke up with him on top of her. She never told anyone, she quit gymnastics.

This ep triggered all her memories. Now here's some more questions. Why did Toby and Oz become paramedics? Why did Olivia become a doctor? It was a really good ep. Toby revealed how when he was a kid, he could hear everything and he knew that his foster dad really wanted to touch him, but he didn't. "It was only a matter of time," says Toby. He then burned down the garage so he would go back into the foster care system. Whoa, that's crazy.

Peter Sarsgaard: The actor Peter Sarsgaard was on Conon O' Brien last week. I had to watch it because PS was in my favorite movie Shattered Glass. He's promoting his new movie Orphan.

C: So I heard you recently married Maggie Gyllenhaal.
P: Yeah.
P holds up his left hand.
The audience cheers. lol.

That reminds me of that SNL joke on Weekend Update. You know how there's Brangelina?

Seth Meyers: Now we will call Sarsgaard and Gyllenhaal this: GYLLAARSAARD

Well something like that. I thought it was kind of weird both of those last names have 2 As in row.

Ciara "Fantasy Ride": I borrowed this cd from the library the other day. I love it. It has my favorite song "Like a Surgeon" which is kind of like Donnie Klang's "Dr. Love." I like the dance songs "Turntables" feat. Chris Brown, "High Price" feat. Ludacris. "Work" feat. Missy Elliot.

Capital Ex: There was a lot of other stuff that happened at Capital Ex. I tried out some salt from the Dead Sea. I washed my hands with it. Now it's been a week, and there hasn't really been a difference on the hands. It's from Premier.

I saw a magic show with this guy named Steve Hamilton. He was funny and entertaining. He goes by Steve the Pretty Good. It was mainly parents and their children watching it. Well at first there was this orchestra of people from the Navy playing music. After that, Steve appeared. He cuts this girl in half. The girl was from the audience.

Some cool stuff was that he was able to bring a live gold fish out of nowhere. Then he was able to pour water out of a cloth that didn't contain water at all. He made a dog out of a balloon, and then stomps on it in a paper bag. Then he is able to pull out the dog out of the bag even though it shouldn't be there.

Check out his website www.prettygoodmagic.com

Job search: I haven't passed any resumes this month until today. I dropped it off at National Film Board, Trend Research (again but instead of aministrative assistant, a market research interviewer), and Vue Weekly as a writer.

Car: I also put my name in a draw to win a gray pickup truck from CityTV. I did that once, but it was to buy 3 tickets for $10 for a chance to win a car. It was for a charity. The charity contest said a lot of people would sell the car for money, than to actually drive it. That's what I'll do.

Screenwriting: That Writing Movies book triggered a lot of memories. In the dialogue chapter it said things like: "Too on the nose" and "subtext." That's what Glynis Whiting said on the first draft of my script. Then when I was reading about conflict, the phrase was: "Raising the stakes." What does the character have to lose? That's what Conni Massing said when I was trying to complete the 5th draft of the script and get it to 90 pages.

Friends: I bumped into my old co- worker Jennifer from the Soup place. She's 16 and she worked there for a month before she got sick, and then got another job. We chatted for a bit. I told her about the psychic, and she told me that she went to Capital Ex during the storm last Saturday.

Tosh. O: Yeah, I've been watching every episode, but I haven't been writing about it. Well here's a joke.

Cut to a guy throwing a baseball at the mayor to catch. The pitcher was totally off.
Daniel: Looks like somebody doesn't have a dad.
lol. You don't have a dad to play catch with.

blackout/ Michael Phelps/ funny

Jul. 19 Blackout: There was a big thunder storm last night. At around late 9pm, the electricity went out. I then listened to the entire Monifah cd on my discman. I woke up today, and the electricity was still out. I went and drank 2 cups of milk so it won't spoil. I also ate half a sandwich from work. Later in the day, I drank the Haagan Daaz ice cream as a milkshake.

I went without TV or internet all day until 5:40pm. My family and I were so happy when the lights went back on. I immediately turned on the TV to Flash Gordon. It was good today. I read a lot of my screenwriting book. I also managed to get that Forbidden Kingdom dvd out of the PS2 and return it to the library on time.

Birth order: I told you that the middle and youngest child are known as the performers in the family. I know that Nick Carter and Christina Aguilara are the oldest in their families and they're peformers. They are both the oldest of 5. I remember watching the TV show House of Carters. There was this old interview when CA came out back in 1999. Ed the Sock was interviewing her.

C: I'm the oldest of 5.

Ed: Your parents must be pretty busy.

C laughs at it.

Rant: Here's a mild rant. It seems since the beginning of the summer like June, 6 charities have called me for money.

Writing: I was thinking about that convo with producer John.

Me: So do you think Shawn is stupid?

John: Well I don't see him as totally smart, but not totally stupid either.

Me: He's just average.

That made me think of the lead character Michael from Prison Break. He's really smart to be able to break out of 2 prisons. Then there is Tru from Tru Calling. She is smart enough to work at a morgue. She was really biding time before she went into med school the next season. There's Buffy the vampire slayer. She wasn't really good in school, but she was street smart. Not every lead character has to be really smart. Look at Homer Simpson.

I've been reading that Mayerthorpe series in the Edmonton Journal. There was a female cop who has to pretend to be interested in the suspect Dennis Cheeseman to be able to get closer to him. She was mainly supposed to be hugging and nothing else. Well if she did more, it would be a sexier story.

It made me think of my story. The cop should do more to make it more sexy and interesting. It's more entertaining that way, at least for my script.

Jul. 20: I also sent two emails to my two Legal Issues for Writers teachers asking about how much money I would make off my TV script. I got a few answers from other people, but I need a consensus.

Quotes: Well today I sent 4 emails on the online dating site. Baby steps. It's like that saying: "You can't win, if you don't play." Or "You never know until you try." I have Just for Laughs in the background. Reading these profiles are like helping me try to find inspiration for my writing. That's like killing 2 birds with one stone.

16 and Pregnant: Today I checked out this MTV show 16 and Pregnant. I've heard about it when I was reading Secret Life of the American Teenager on twop.com. This show premiered on MTV Canada today. I saw a trailer for it on Youtube. Well I was watching the girl Farrah give birth.

I then got a flashback of gr.8 health class. We saw a baby being born. I remember the girls Jamie and Lacey got up and left during it because they couldn't stand to see it. lol. Well I did cringe when Farrah got that epidural. It's a needle in the spine to get rid of labour pains. I can take a needle in the arm, the finger, but the back? I didn't like seeing that.

Michael Phelps: MP was on Conon O' Brien last week. It was interesting.

C: So you have been described as having the swimmer's body. You have big feet like flippers. What's your shoe size?

M: 13 or 14.

C: You have short legs, and a long torso. I have skinny legs and boy's torso.

The audience laughs.

C: What's your wing span?

M: 6' 7".

C: Can you stand up so we can compare our wing spans?

M: Yeah.

They both stand up, and the audience cheers.

C stands in front of M, and C's finger tips end where M's wrist starts.

They talk about how M had to compete against the French team.

M: The French said they were going to "smash us (Americans) like guitars." On my way to breakfast, my coach told me that, and I was getting fired up about it. You don't tell Americans this. I was then able to win against them.

C then does an impression of the French with the accent.

M also wrote a children's book called How to Train with a T. Rex and win 8 Gold Medals. They discussed about M smoking pot.

M: I made some mistakes in and out of the water. The important thing is that I learned from them.

The audience cheers.

Jul. 21 Cute: Paget Brewster from Criminal Minds came on after MP. It was kind of funny, she was wearing this black one shoulder dress with glitter on it. She was running in heels, and then she almost falls over, but Conan catched her. They sit down.

C: Why are you running in heels on a wax floor?

P: I really wanted to join you.

lol.

I remember this one time back in 2004, I was waiting for the bus. There is this Asian man walking, and his 2 year old son was walking behind him. Then the man walks way ahead of him like 2 metres, and stops. The son was looking at his feet when walking. He looks up and sees that his dad is way ahead of him.

The kid starts running with his little legs, then his right shoe falls off. It's a flat shoe without any laces. He keeps running, and he looks from anxious to confused. He starts leaning on his left side. He manages to stop and it looks like he was going to fall over, but he didn't. He then looks down at his feet.

I was like: "Aww..." because he's smart enough to realize his shoe came off. Then I hear a voice say: "Aww, that's so cute!" There were these 2 East Indian high school guys waiting for the bus. One of them said it to his friend, and he was laughing.

The kid then looks behind him, sees his shoe. Then he looks back up at his dad with this expectant look pretty much telling him he needs his dad to help put the shoe back on for him.

Cory Lee: I was thinking about last week's ep of The Listener. The singer Cory Lee was in it as a hotel staff member. You may have seen her on Instant Star where she plays a singer. She also has songs like "No shoes, No shirt, No service", "Lover's Holiday", "The Naughty Song."

She could be the one to play the female lead in my script. There aren't many Asians on TV. You can name Lucy Lui, Lisa Ling, and Sandra Oh. Then I want someone younger, you can name Kristin Kreuk, Lana Lang from Smallville. However, I don't see her in my script. I did some research and it turns out CL is mixed, Chinese and German. KK is Chinese and Danish. I remember listening to CL's song on a Flash Gordon ep.

I went on Wikipedia, and she was in the 2gether TV movie. She was the girl booing the band at the spelling bee. I was like: "Oh yeah."

http://www.corylee.net/newSite/

Funny: It was funny and weird today. The producer John emailed me back after I gave him my update on my writing. I gave him a link to my blog, and this is what he said:

"Hi Tracy,

Thanks for the update last week. I like your blog. With any luck the psychic is wrong about which company produces your script and when, but I guess we’ll just have to see how it all goes. I cannot guarantee the project would be signatory with the Writer’s Guild of Canada (or the WGA for that matter) but I would try to follow wherever possible the WGC or WGA guidelines for payment to writers. The writer’s fees and rates quoted by Conni are more than likely high for a low-budget Canadian independent film, but that is not to say that $35K is out of the question. It all depends on how the film would be financed. As far as a producer credit goes, I’m open to it, but it ultimately depends on what elements, financing, and attachments you would be able to bring to the table and the impact each of these might have on getting the film made and seen."

I can't believe it. He actually read my blog, and made a comment about that psychic. I did write about him, but I didn't say anything bad. lol.

psychic/ Capital Ex/ open

Jul. 17 Psychic: Today I saw a psychic at Capital Ex. I cross this off the list of things that I wanted to do, but haven't. Well I do remember way back in gr.5, my friend Leslie read my palm. Leslie saw my life line, and said that I will live a long life. The psychic Nadia said the same thing, specifically late 80s.

Woo hoo! Well don't go start smoking. lol. Well I always wanted to go to a psychic, and she did seem reputable. There was a framed article of her from the Edmonton Journal. It also said she does readings at the Russian Tea Room. My friend Sonia said she went to the Tea Room for a psychic reading, and the psychic was right. It could be two different psychics. So I put $20 so she could read both my palms. It was crazy.

N is this young and pretty East Indian woman.

N: Your health is good. You will most likely have problems with indigestion, but nothing serious. It will only occur when your older.
(Good, no cancer. Though you should go to the doctor to get a physical.)

N: I see you as technical with using your hands and minds. You're creative. Are you into writing- ?
Me: Yes.
N: I see you going into that direction. Are you in school?
Me: You're psychic, aren't you supposed to know that about me?

N: Why are you making it so hard?
Me: I'm sorry, but I am a skeptic.
N: The palms can only tell me so much. You have to tell me some things about yourself, so I can see your direction. So do you go to school?
Me: No, I graduated with a diploma in the Professional Writing program at Grant MacEwan.

N: Well your education on your hand says there is more schooling to go.
(Maybe I should go take that screenwriting class.)
N: What's your job?
Me: I work at a restaurant.
N: That's not where you should be. It's good for now.

N: I see that you won't be married by choice. You see that it is inconvenient and you don't believe it's realistic.
(Maybe after watching 3 years of Dr. Phil from 2003- 2006 has that effect on me. Though it has certainly worn off since I quit 3 years ago. lol.)

N: You will not be very rich, nor very poor. You'll be stable. You work a lot, you will make a lot of money. You don't work a lot, you wont' make a lot of money. You'll be taken care of financially.
(True. I see that my family will take care of me. I am financially independent, somewhat.)

Me: Will I get that office job this year?
N: It will be Feb., or Mar. 2010.
Me: Oh what? I'm supposed to stop passing my resumes now?
N: Don't stop trying.

N: Your love line has this big question mark. Do you like boys or girls? Do you want to date or just hang out?
Me: Oh my God. I remember this time way back in 2001, people were joking around and saying that you should go to a psychic and ask them if you're gay, and they'll tell you.
(It was back in that band/ choir trip when we went to Vancouver. We were watching this pyshic on TV and that we should ask that question.)

Me: I like boys, and I do want to date.
N: You seem to put obstacles in front of yourself. You seem insecure.
Me: Well yeah, I am only a server.
N: I don't see you only doing that. This is only temporary.

N: You seem closed off physically, mentally, and emotionally and that's what stopping you.
(Well she is correct about that. I remember in 2002, high school pyschology class. We were supposed to rate with people if they seem open or closed, warm or cold. I saw myself as closed and cold, and 2 people rated me that too. Maybe she read me by how I looked. Though the way I was acting towards her seemed friendly).

N: Do you have any questions?
Me: Yeah, well will my TV script be produced?
N: Not with this company. It will be a few years before it does. You're young, and people will see you as someone with little experience. In a few years you will be going somewhere. You will be making sandwiches for a couple of years.
(I have lots of experience in writing. I've been writing scripts since 1999. 10 years. However 2 years of college got me that diploma. It did hold 10 years of writing as a hobby. I learned a lot by writing. You learn by doing.)

N: If you change, everything else will change. You need to be more open, be direct, and stop being so insecure.
Me: It's easier said than done. But I will change.
I was inspired.

Capital Ex: I did think I was being more open today. I went to this Vitamin Water van, because they were giving free samples. I talked to the cute guy there.

Guy: Have you tried this before?
Me: Well the apple one. It's green.
Guy: Rescue.
Me: Yeah.
I tried the lemonade and the XXX drink.

Me: So you got a pretty sweet gig here.
Guy: Yeah, but's it's so hot right now. We also can't put up the tent.
Me: Because it will block the van?

I also let a guy curl a little bit of my hair. I didn't really like how the curls looked. I also went to the station where I washed my hands with salt from the Dead Sea. She was trying to sell it to me. Afterwards my hands did feel smooth. The thing is I have warts on my right ring finger, and I have this skin condition on my right fingers. Last week I was at the doctor to get cream to fix it.

I saw the King Tut exhibit. I checked out the casino in there. I did check out the Baccarat casino in downtown. I watched on W- Five before that casinos all have to be the same. It has to be dark, no windows, no clocks.

Jul. 18 Open: Well I was going to hit the clubs today, and meet someone. However, it looked it was going to rain so I stayed home. Well I did go on the internet to do some online dating. I emailed 3 guys, and one of the deleted my email. (Fake cough in hand): "Rejected!" Well I am getting myself out there. I'm taking risks.

You know that saying: "If you aren't winning or losing anything, then you're not really trying." I lost, but I did try. I also find it easier to get rejected from a TV company anyway. It's not as personal. It's a script they're rejecting.

I am being more open. First I write my weekly emails and send it to all my friends. Then I put it up on my blog for the entire world to read. Though no one does. Well I know that my networking friend Chris does. I just sent an email to the TV producer John and told him about it. So he may be reading it. I told him I have the blog so I could be discovered like Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody.

Rant: Here's a mild rant. I was reminded today when I was talking to Ray. She says her sister does the laundry early in the morning and it wakes her up. She told her not to do that. That reminds me of when my sister was watching Jon and Kate Plus 8.

Me: Is this going to be half an hour?
S: No, it's for the whole hour.
Me: Well I thought it was going to be half so then I could print something.
S: So you can send it to a company where they won't produce it?

Well since that angered me, I went and started printing it in the middle of her show. My printer is very loud, so it forced S to turn up the volume of her show. Ha, ha. Well maybe you shouldn't have disrespected me. I was willing to wait until her show was over before I started printing, but the tables have turned.

Kris Andrews: I'm not totally over this yet. Remember how a few months ago I was asking: "If you were offered to be in a movie, would you do it?" I wasn't sure if KA was going to do it. If you look at his website, and stuff of him on Youtube, you don't know his personality. It doesn't have any interviews, I don't know his likes, dislikes, what TV show and movies he watches. Is he outgoing? I couldn't get a read on him. Now I know that he doesn't want to do a fight movie, though he's a fighter.

writing/ Kris Andrews/ look alike

Jul. 14 Writing: My networking friend Chris gave me a tip about writing: "But he does have a point. A back-story is the best tool you can use to drive a good story forward, and it helps the audience relate to the character's situation. It doesn't always have to be cliched or complicated either. Even if the guy just wants to be a good cop, there had to be someone or something in his life to inspire him to follow that dream."

Last Saturday, I was talking to my friend Ray about this.
Ray: Why do you want to write?
Me: Because I love watching TV (and movies).
Ray: You like to entertain.
Me: Yes. Why do you want to be a teacher?
Ray: Because I had really good teachers when I was growing up.

Quote: I saw this on Secret Life of the American Teenager. It's where they say: "It's easier to get a job when you have a job." Do you believe that? I don't. My brother got his old job back that he worked for the past 2 summers. He's got like a month of half of the summer to work. He was busy with summer school. Anyway, I hope this could kind of inspire me to get a good career. If Patrick can get a job in this economy, and be hired to work for a short period of time, I should be able to get a career.

Jul. 15 Dance: Today I was watching some So You Think You Can Dance, and Travis, the runner up in season 2 went and choreographed a dance routine today. It was nice to see him.

Kris Andrews: I think I need closure. I have still kept all the emails between Kris Andrew's manager Ken Franczek. I first sent the email pitching my script trying to get KA in my movie on May. 1:

Ken:
Hello Tracy;

This sounds very interesting. Please send me the rest of the information and i will review it with Kris.

To Ken Franczek:

Thank you for getting back to me. I have attached the 93 page script in this email. Give it to Kris to read and see if he's insterested.

Tracy Au

May 4:

Hello Tracy ;

When do you intend to film this and how many weeks or months do you believe it will take? Kris has 2 very important fights scheduled. One in June and one in August. With the amount of training required for these fights, time is very scarce.

Ken Franczek

Hi Ken

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm not sure how long it would take to film this, but I am willing to work around Kris's schedule and start filming after his 2 important fights. As long as you agree to be in the project, we will accommodate Kris. Has he read the script? Does he want the lead role or just be one of the fighters in it?

Tracy Au

I'm pretty sure he might be interested in the lead role. We'll talk about it some more this week and we'll let you know shortly.

Ken Franczek

May 11

Hi Ken

Last week you said: "I'm pretty sure he might be interested in the lead role. We'll talk about it some more this week and we'll let you know shortly. Ken Franczek"Well it's been about a week. I called you on Friday and left a message. I also called you today and left a message. Have you or Kris made a decision yet?

Tracy

I am just landing back in Edmonton as I write this email returning from a business trip in Vancouver. My daughter did mention that you had called on Friday however I did not have an opportunity to return your call. I sense in your email that you are somewhat agitated. I will speak with Kris again tomorrow however; I certainly hope that you appreciate that we do have other day to day commitments and are not always able to contacted at your convenience.

Regards Ken Franczek

May 15:

Hi Ken

Well it's been the end of another week, and you haven't answered if Kris will be in The Fighter. You say: "I will speak with Kris again tomorrow however; I certainly hope that you appreciate that we do have other day to day commitments and are not always able to contacted at your convenience."

I'm trying to be patient while waiting for your reply. Please get back to me.

Hello Tracy ;

Once again my apologies for taking so long to get back to you. I only just yesterday had an opportunity to sit down with Kris to discuss this project.

Unfortunately, we are going to have to decline. As you have probably determined by virtue of our delayed correspondence, we are both extremely busy and Kris was concerned that he would not be able to make the type of total commitment required for a project like this.

Both Kris and I would like to thank you once again for considering him and would also like to wish you the best of luck on this endeavor.

Ken Franczek
On Behalf of Kris Andrews

Jul. 16 Look alike: Today that Kyle Gallner look alike came into the restaurant again. I had printed out these two pics of KG and put it in an envelope last week. He then bought a sandwich and I gave him the pics.

Me: Here's the pictures of Kyle Gallner.
Guy: Oh my God. You rock.
He takes a look at them.
Guy: What else has he been in?
Me: The Haunting in Conneticut.
Guy: What else?
Me: Big Love. It's about a polygamous family.

Guy: With Bill Paxton?
Me: Yeah, he (KG) plays the teenage boy's friend.
Guy: Oh yeah, I'll check it out. Can I keep these (photos)?
Me: Yeah, take them.
Guy: Thanks.
lol.

fun/ birth order theory/ cliche

Jul. 11 Fun: Today at work this guy showed up, and I thought I knew him from college.

Omar: Hi Tracy.
Me: Hey, I thought it was you.
O: What have you been up to?
Me: I've been working here for a year. Did you get the diploma or the degree?
O: I dropped out after the first year. I now have a job at the magazine Avenue.
Me: Oh yeah, I applied there a few months ago.

He had an internship there for 6 months and got paid like $1300/ month. Now he's got a paid writing job.

I watched the last 2 eps of the Secret Life of the American Teenager season 1. Well the 2nd to last ep, I only saw the first 20min because I can't get the full- length like all the other eps.

Jul. 12: Today I watched another ep of SLAT. I think I overdosed on this show.

Movie: However, this movie trailer popped up called The Stepfather which comes out in Oct. The premise is has Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl) playing a teenager. His mom is getting remarried to this new guy. The old woman who lives next door saw America's Most Watned and saw a sketch of the stepfather.

Penn's character does research and tries to figure out if the stepfather is a bad guy. It looks pretty scary. One nitpick is that the step parents being evil is a common archetype and has been done. Here's the trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVmrqAMQZA&feature=fvw

Writing: The TV producer John told me that there should be more conflict with the characters. Put the characters in a situation like Sophie's Choice.

Me: What is that? A movie?
J: No, it's a book. It's where a woman has to choose between which kid to send to concentration camp.
Me: Oh that reminds me of the Prison Break series finale where Michael has to choose between saving his brother or his girlfriend. Also in Batman Forever, Batman has to save either his girlfriend or Robin.

That's kind of a cliche. Well it's been done before.

Jul. 13 Birth order theory: I was thinking about my cliche in my script. Shawn has a big brother who's an overachiever. Well it's based on my big sister. I find it too common. In Harper's Island, Henry was the smart older brother, while JD was the troubled younger one. Then it's not until later, it turns out Henry was a sociopath. They did quite a good twist on that one.

I was watching Flash Gordon, and Flash's friend did a toast to his big brother who's getting married. The friend talked about how his brother got into law school and is an overachiever. Well it is birth order theory. The oldest is often the smart and mature one.

Except on The Simpsons, Bart is a trouble maker and doesn't do well in school. Lisa is more like the oldest being smart and mature. Now I'm thinking of the MTV cartoon Daria. Daria is the oldest, and has the traits of the oldest. She has a little sister Quinn who is more interested in being popular.

Then there's Michael on Prison Break. He is the youngest and he's smart. His big brother Lincoln is a criminal. That's different. There's also Tru Calling. Tru is the middle child and helping people out. Her little brother is immature and irresponsible. She does have a big sister Meredith who has it together. Though she does have a drug problem. Later she gets treated for it.

Writing: The TV producer John said: "Link all the bad things happening because the bad guy caused it."

I got an email from this guy rejecting the script, and then I asked if he could mail it back to me. He said sure. I'm waiting for that script to come back. As that's occuring I'm writing scenes for now before I type them up.

I'm also reading a screenwriting book from the library called : "Writing Movies" edited by Alexander Steele. John told me to read "Story" by Robert McKee saying it's really good. I'm on the waiting list at the library. It'll be a couple of months.

Rant: Here's a mild rant. I was reading Metro, and it was about Brittany Flickinger who won Paris Hilton's BFF first season. Now BF says they aren't friends after the show. BF is launching her perfume and fashion line, and trying to get her music out there. I know a lot of reality shows are used to get publicity for people.

I guess my rant is that there is bad TV shows out there like this that exist and needs to get cancelled. I will admit I only watched 3 minutes in total of both the American version and the British BFF show. It looked bad, and I changed the channel real quick. I then go on imdb.com and read people's comments dissing the show.

I'm going to admit something else. I saw some of the beginning of Big Brother 11. Well I watched the first 15 min. of it because I was killing time until I would get a call from the TV producer to meet up. Yeah, well at least it's funny. They also win money, something's that's tangible and real. The only thing that is real about reality TV.

Blood Diamond: It was on the other week. It starred Leonardo Dicaprio playing a South African looking for a diamond to sell. Dijimon Honsou plays a man who's been seperated from his family after rebel soldiers attack his village. It was so gruesome and violent, and realistic. Jennifer Connely plays a news reporter covering the story.

It's a really good story. Great cinematography of Africa. I thought the movie was going to show Part 1 on Sunday, and Part 2 the next day like it said on my TV. Then it wasn't on the next day. I thought it would be next Sunday, but it wasn't on either. Instead, they actually showed the last 30 min. after the 30 min. news show. Well at least Patrick saw it in the theatres and filled me in on the ending.

It had great acting and good story. There are strong characters who have a lot of conflict to get what they want.

The Forbidden Kingdom: I borrowed this movie from the library yesterday and saw it. It's a good movie where it stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li for the first time. I thought that there was a creative twist in the movie about the Monkey King. It's about a teenage boy named Jason (Michael Angarano) and he loves kung fu movies. He then goes to Chinatown and hangs out with the pawn shop owner who sells those movies.

Later it gets robbed by these bullies. Jason had grabbed this stick weapon from the shop, and runs with it. He is then magically transported to Ancient China. He meets Lu Yan (Jackie Chan) and he tells of the story about how the Monkey King had that stick. MK is then stuck as a statue after the bad guy Jade Warlord put a spell on him.

Jason, Lu Yan, Silent Monk (Jet Li), and Golden Sparrow all team up to give the stick back to MK. Great fight scenes, and good comedy.

Jul. 14: It's good today. I actually forced myself to read that screenwriting book. I find it hard to concentrate. As long as there isn't a TV or computer around, I'll be good.

Cliche: I read reviews of the movie I Love You Beth Cooper where a geek professes his love to the popular girl Beth (Hayden Penettiere). I read in the Metro about this genre movie is a cliche. There are lots of movies with geeks getting the popular girl. I read some pretty bad reviews of it.

Here's another cliche: I read the review of The Listener pilot about the cliche of the bad guy turns out to be a cop. I was watching a rerun of The Mentalist, and I realized they did that 3 times in the first season. It's not repetitive though. I really had to force myself to think of the entire season to see how many times they did that.

Unlike Smallville. It's so repetitive. If you ask me to name freak of the weeks, I can name those freaks instantly. If you ask me to list car accidents on the show, I can list them instantly. In fact, the first season of Smallville, Whitney's truck got into 5 accidents. I remember reading on jumptheshark.com back in 2001.

This person says: "Smallville doesn't need Superman, they need better drivers." lol.

news/ crazy meeting/ Harper's Island

Jul. 7 News: This is more celeb news. Did you know that the TV show Nip/ Tuck is cancelled after 100 eps? I never watched it. It's like I always remember the TV shows that I like that get cancelled. Do you know who Brandon Routh is? He plays Clark Kent in Superman Returns. His contract to play Superman has expired.

The only other work I saw of him, was an ep of Fear Itself back in 2008. People on twop.com were dissing his acting in that ep.

Me: Here's an unpopular opinion: I was impressed with Brandon Routh's acting.

BR is doing a lot of work. His movies are in post- production. You can go to www.imdb.com to check it out.

Jul. 9 Crazy meeting: I went and finally met a TV producer and talked to him about this script. His name is John Kerr. I was to meet him at Capilano Mall, but he didn't show up after half an hour. I called him an hr prior to it, and left a message. Then after a 10 min. wait, I called and left a message. Then I got home and got a message from my brother that J was going to be late.

I call him, and then arranged to meet at a place that's really close to my home. Wow, this is my first time I talked with a TV producer about my script and trying to get it produced. It was fun. He gave me a lot of really good tips for my script on how to add conflict and drama to the script. He has watched Never Back Down, and Fighting, and other fight movies.

We also watch the same TV shows and movies and both know what we're talking about.

John: Why does this person want to be a cop? There should be a back story to it. Do you watch Dexter?
Me: Yeah, and why does Deborah (Dexter's sister) want to be a cop?
J: Because she wants to prove to herself, and her dad who's been dead for 20 years, that she could be a good cop just like he is.
Me: It's just like Castle, the woman cop wants to be a cop to solve her mother's murder. I remember going on the internet and people saying: "Why do all the characters who become cops have to have a deep back story? Why can't they just want to be good cops?"

And:

J: Maybe the bad guy could accidentally hurt himself.
Me: Do you watch Smallville?
J: Yeah.
Me: Then do you see how often the bad guy always accidentally kills himself when Clark is around?
J: Yes.

The fun:

J: If you could have any actor in the world to play Shawn, who would it be?
Me: Well I would say a young guy in his early 20s. I was just watching The Listener, and I would say Craig Olejnik.
J: What about Carson?
Me: Do you watch Flash Gordon?
J: No.

Me: Giles Panton. He plays a straight- laced cop on the show, I see him playing the straight- laced brother.
J: What about Mia?
Me: A Asian girl. She would be hot.
lol.
J: What about Banks?
Me: Michael Trucco. He's from Battlestar Gallactica.
J: He's good.

J: What about Alex?
Me: Kit Cope, the MMA fighter.
J: The guy that's attached to this.
Me: Did you look him up?
J: No, I didn't.
Me: He does look like a bad guy. He's got tattoos all over his body.

For an hour and half, we analyzed the script and characters. He gave me these great ideas. There was great brainstorming going on.

Lookalike: You know what the weird thing is? John looks like this guy who comes into the Soup place. They look they could be brothers. John did say he had a brother who lived in the city.

Yesterday, the Kyle Gallner look alike came in and ordered a sandwich. I thought the name was Kyle Gallagher, but then I researched it and it's Gallner. Anyway, here's how the convo went.

Me: Do you even know who Kyle Gallagher is?
Guy: No, is he in a rock band?
Me: No, he's on Veronica Mars.
Guy (laughs): I've heard of that show. I told my mom: "Someone told me I looked like somebody today." She was like: "Who?" I'm like: "I don't know." What else has he been in?
Me: The plane movie Red Eye.

Guy: Is that an old movie?
Me: It came out back in 2005. It stars Rachel McAdams.
Guy: What else?
Me: He was in CSI: NY. He played a blogger for a few eps.

Harper's Island: I just saw the series finale of this mini- series. It's a great series. The last 2 eps were aired back to back and it was crazy and scary. I was really cheering on for the black guy to survive, but he did last to the 2nd last ep. Well the black guy did survive in House on Haunted Hill. Sorry for the spoiler, but maybe you'll check it out.

The entire time, you think the murderer John Wakefield has an accomplice who's killing everybody. The accomplice is supposedly the lead character's Abby's ex- boyfriend Jimmy. It's not revealed until the 2nd to last ep, that it's the groom. I was like: "Oh my God!" I screamed quite a lot like when the black guy Brandon Jay McClean was being strangled by a belt from behind.

I was really cheering for the bride and groom to get together. I thought Abby and Jimmy were going to get together, and they did. It turns out in the middle of the series, it's revealed John Wakefield has a kid. It's a son, and the groom is really the son. Abby and the groom Henry are half siblings. They were friends when they were kids.

You think there are plot holes, like how did Wakefield get out of the jail cell? Well Henry locked him up and slid him the key. How Abby figures it out that Henry did were the little things towards the end like the coast guards saying he told Chris Sullivan and Henry to go to the marina. Then she meets up with H, and he says he didn't see Chris and didn't know where to go.

Wakefield found Henry when he was older, and told him the truth that he's the father. Henry created the wedding to Trish, so he could get everybody on the island. He was so angry that he didn't know the truth. He was a sociopath. He got them on the island so
he could kill everybody. He did say that he loves Abby.

Besides the lovers making it out alive, the mother Shay and her daughter Madison made it out. They found a boat in the boat house, and Chris (aka Sully) helped them get into the boat to sail away. Besides cheering on the lovers to make it, you were also cheering for the mother and daughter.

Jul. 10 Actors: In hindsight, the casting of Henry (Christopher Gorham) and Abby (Elaine Cassidy), they really do look like they could be siblings. Same dark hair, and eyes.

Well yesterday's crazy meeting made me think of all these other actors that could play Shawn. Craig Olejnik is in his late 20s, so he's kind of old for it.

It made me think of Shawn Reaves. He played Tru's brother Harrison on Tru Calling. He is so cute and funny on that show back when it was on from 2003- 2004. Here's a pic. I first saw him when he was 25. He's like 31 now. I guess Harrison is kind of similar to my character Shawn.
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2561120768/nm0714188

I also really like David Anders. He's 28 now. I first saw him on Alias back in Jan. 2002. He was 21 back then. He stood out because he was so young. Everybody on the show is in their late 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and then you see a kid. DA played British bad boy Mr. Sark. He continues to play bad guys in the horror movie Left in Darkness, the TV show Lie to Me, and the reaccuring role on Heroes. DA could play Shawn, if he was 21.

Music: I borrowed the Pink's cd "Fun House." She's got a good voice, and her album is alright. So with the Twilight soundtrack. It has some rock songs I like from Paramore and Muse. I also checked out Yellow Card's cd "Lights and Sounds." I like their song "Only One" from years ago.

funny/ Kris Andrews/ Jamie Kennedy Experiment

funny/ Kris Andrews/ Jamie Kennedy Experiment

Jul. 4 Funny: Today I got home from work, and Avril Lavigne was on Chinese television. She was talking about how Shanghai is a great city, and that she will be back there in 2010 for her world tour. I thought it was funny to see her there. Though I will always remember that interview with Ed the Sock on the Muchmusic Video Awards in 2002.

Ed: So you're 17 right?
Avril: Yeah.
Ed: Yeah, well I guess you're a little too old for R. Kelly.
Her band members, my brother and I were like: "Ohhhhhhh."
Me: Can you even say that on TV? It's funny because it's true, she is too old for him.

I remember telling this joke to my friend Jessica at the Multicultural Centre and she had to cover her mouth because she was laughing at it.

Teen pregnancy: Yeah, I'm always talking about this, especially with my friend Ray. We were at work discussing it.

Me: I went to jr. high with this girl Ashley. Then in high school my friend Angela told me that she saw Ashley at the bus stop, and she looked very pregnant. I'm not really surprised that she got pregnant. Ashley didn't really seem that smart, and she was boy crazy.
Ray: Actually, one name does come to mind with a group of friends of mine. I know that if this girl gets pregnant, she will want to keep the baby and raise it as her own.

Me: When I was in high school, no one had a baby. By all means, there may have been some girls who got pregnant, and then got an abortion. Or maybe they got pregnant, and then moved away. There are 1300 kids in my school so you can't get to know everybody. Did a girl in your school get pregnant?
Ray: Yeah, one girl got pregnant the year before I was there.
Me: What grade was she in?
Ray: Grade 10. She's still with the guy. She kept the kid and raised it as her own.

Throw in the fact that I'm watching Secret Life of the American Teenager. I saw the first season on Citytv, and then they stopped showing it. I know it's on ABC Family, but I don't have that channel. Then last week, I read that it's in their 2nd season. Now I'm watching the 2nd part of the 1st season on Youtube.

The show is about a 15- yr old girl who gets pregnant, and she has to deal with it. I saw one ep yesterday and I saw 3 eps in a row right now. I must stop. It's a really crappy show, from the 7th Heaven creator Brenda Hampton. I only watch it so I can read people's comments on twop.com and know what they're talking about. The comments are really funny the way they diss it. The dialogue is really repetitive and poor.

Kris Andrews: I'm going to admit something to you. A few months ago, I tried to get Edmonton boxer Kris Andrews in my movie. At the same I was trying to get MMA fighter Kit Cope in it, but they were supposed to play 2 different roles. I first learned about KA when I saw him in an ad for the fight Blunt Force Trauma.

I went to his site www.krisandrews.ca and emailed his manager. The manager and I emailed each other. I sent them the script. After 2 weeks, KA turned it down, but they wished me luck. I was disappointed. I tried to comfort myself by saying: "There are 100 guys out there who would love to do your show right now."

That does remind me of that TV show 2gether where Jerry (Evan Farmer) says right before a performance. It's about a fictional boy band back in 2000.

Jerry: I can't perform.
Manager: What? What do you mean you can't perform? If you don't, there are 18 O- town rejects who would love to take your place right now.

Jul. 5 Blake McGrath: The other day I was thinking that he should be in my movie. However, I don't know what role he would play. If he can learn how to dance, I'm sure he can learn how to fight. Jennifer Garner was on the TV show Alias and she learned how to fight. Prior to that, she never had any experience. She took a lot of dance lessons so she was able to pick up fighting. They are both about learning movement.

I was talking to Ray yesterday again about that Girls Behaving Badly sketch. It's a hidden- camera show where actresses play tricks on people. There is this actress who dresses up like she's 9 months pregnant, she goes to a bar, and tries to pick up guys.

Me: Do you know what the weird thing is? The guys didn't mention the elephant in the room that she is 9 months pregnant. They didn't say: "Who's baby are you carrying? Your boyfriend or husband's?" Maybe the actress would say: "I'm a surrogate mother."

Rant: This is Ray's rant. She told me that there is a guy in her school who bought Jonas Brother's concert tickets, just so he could heckle them. He spent hundreds of dollars on those tickets. Ray was mad because those tickets could have gone to people who actually wanted to see them.

That reminds me of years ago I was on Fametracker Forums and this person wrote that he wanted to go to a concert and heckle a music artist. At the same time, he didn't really want to spend any money. Don't be hatin'. I hate Aaron Carter's music, but I wouldn't go to his concert and heckle him.

I hate watching the Dr Phil show, but I would never go there and heckle the guests. I'll do my hatin' on the internet by dissing it on my blog/ weekly emails. I've been to a few concerts, and I haven't heard any hecklers.

Joke: Now I remember this little sketch I saw on Comedy Network. There is this fake commercial like a PSA. Cut to a man, with his boss, and his wife. They are sitting at a table in a comedy club.

Man: I was with my wife. She looked so beautiful. My boss was there too. But then I ruined everything.
Cut to them at the table.
Man: Oh c'mon, even my dog wears better pants than that!

Cut to the wife acting embarrassed.
Cut to the boss acting embarrassed.

These words appear on screen: Heckling. You think you're being funny. You think you're adding to the show. Think again.

Research: I just saw a few more eps of American Teenager. I'll consider this as research because I have writer's block. I'm trying to write a show that's a drama, but without any action.

My other research is that I've been reading the Journal about Mayerthorpe. It's about how the RCMP are investigating how Dennis Cheeseman who worked on the farm, may have been involved in shooting 4 RCMP officers. I didn't really start reading it until I learned about a undercover cop getting involved, and then luring Cheeseman into a fake criminal gang.

Jul. 6 Jamie Kennedy Experiment: Those RCMP agents have to make it believable that they were a criminal gang. It kind of reminded me of the hidden- camera show The Jamie Kennedy Experiment. It's where JK makes these situations and some are kind of outlandish, but all are all funny.

Well it depends. Like there is this young African- American girl who convinces her mom that she's a stripper. JK plays the sleazy strip club owner. The girl and JK tells her mom about the job, and the dad is in on the joke. Her mom totally believed it when they told her about it at the restaurant.

However, it wasn't that believable in this other situation. What if you go to a strip club, and you see your mom up on stage? This mom wanted to play a trick on her son, and JK plays the sleazy strip club owner. The son was at a real strip club, and his mom was up on stage. The mom and JK was telling the son that she was a stripper, but you can tell that the son didn't really believe it.

He was really weirded out. It was so outlandish. No disrespect to the mom, but she wasn't hot enough to be a stripper. She wasn't stripper material. lol. It was too unbelievable even if you have your mom, and the owner telling him about her job, and that he was in a real strip club.

Giles Panton: He is this actor from Vancouver. I was watching him as Joe on Flash Gordon. He's good looking in a handsome way. I then went on Facebook yesterday, and added him as a friend. He confirmed as his friend today. I screamed. lol.

Tosh. O/ job search/ Mike Wood

Jul. 1 Tosh.O: I was annoyed that the show isn't on tonight, but then I went on Youtube, and they put up the latest ep. Here's the first 9 min. of the show. There is a guy who put the movie The Love Guru illegally on the internet, and he is in prison for 6 months. They said that if it wasn't up on the internet, the movie would have made more money. 85, 000 downloads.

D: Even this chipmunk video got 14 million views. 20 are from me. The point, people will watch crap as long as it's free. Well not everybody, I was in The Love Guru, and I still haven't seen it.

Then they showed a clip of it where D is wearing a cowboy hat and a plaid shirt.
D: Looks like I have to shove these love beads someplace special.

Cut back to the show.
The audience cheers.
D: Holy cow, someone's got range.
lol.

Job search: Daniel totally cheered me up. Earlier I was feeling down. Last night at the River Cree Casino, Silvia asked me a good question.

Silvia: So have you got a call back about that call centre job?
Me: No, I haven't. Actually come to think of it, no one has ever called me back since I've been applying for jobs since January of this year.

I then went through the list of all the places I have passed my resumes to. Banks, hair salons, office buildings, call centres, magazines like Avenue. I have applied to a lot of banks at multiple locations. That's how I got that last bank job. My friend Michelle followed my advice, and she got a bank job to that pays $18/ hr. I then counted all the places on the list, and I have passed out 94 resumes in 6 months.

I probably passed the same amount of resumes last year in 2008 after I finished school. Well I passed them out to what my dad calls "garbage jobs" like stores at the mall. I thought this 2009 job search was better because I wasn't looking for a garbage job. I was going for the banks and administrative jobs. I didn't pass any to retail stores. I also passed out the revised resume that my friend Angela edited.

Writing: I also passed out some resumes to TV production companies when I was pitching my script. I may not have call backs from jobs, but I do get emails from TV productions companies regarding my script so that's good.

Crazy news: I was watching Tyra today because it falls into one of my two categories for watching this show, teen pregnancy and prostitution. It was about prostitution. This 22 yr old woman is going to auction off her virginity for something like $1 million. It's so that Natalie can pay to do her master's degree.

Her sister Avia was a prostitute for 3 weeks at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch in Nevada. There is a show called Cathouse on HBO which is a reality show about working there. Avia only worked there so she could make a lot of money really fast because their stepdad stole their money. Fortunately, he was prosecuted.

Tyra did give a final word to the audience that you shouldn't do something you're not comfortable with. Sheesh, I'm 23 and I wouldn't auction off my virginity. Sure, Natalie does her background checks like criminal checks and get to know the guys before she decides. I still find this uncomfortable. I was kind of cringing throughout the show.

Tyra did say her show was for 18- 34 yr old women, but she knows that there are 12, 13, 14 yr old girls watching so it was good that she told them they shouldn't do that. Natalie argued it was her choice to do what with her body. She did 2 unbiased lie- detector tests and she passed proving she is a virgin. She is willing to do a physical body exam too.

Jul. 2 The Listener: I saw the show today. It was interesting, though it's kind of been done before. The ep is where Toby finds a homeless boy named Daniel, and he tries to help him. He resists his help. Then later it's revealed that Daniel had killed a girl named Lisa Greyson. Toby does a lot of investigating.

Then they find Lisa's mother, and she meets Daniel The big reveal is that Daniel is Lisa. He didn't want to be a girl anymore, and his mom wanted her to stay as a girl. I saw this on Veronica Mars. A kid wants to find his dad, and then Veronica finds out that the dad has become a woman.

Lookalike: Oh look, I found another lookalike. There is this twenty- something year old white guy who comes in the restaurant a few times. I was handling his cash, and then I decided to go and tell him who he looks like.

Me: Do you know who you look like?
Guy: No, who?
Me: Kyle Gallagher.
Guy: Oh really? That's a new one. A lot of people tell me I look like the guy from those Dell commercials.
I got a quick flash of one of those commercials.
Me: Oh yeah.
Guy: Well have a nice day.

I don't know if he really knew who I was talking about. Kyle Gallagher was on Veronica Mars and he played Beaver. He was on Red Eye as one of those teenagers on the plane.

Coincidence: Now I noticed a coincidence of an actor from Veronica Mars, and a storyline from The Listener is also like the one on the show.

Jul. 3 Mike Wood: I was at the Edmonton Street Performer's Festival and ended up watching this guy Mike Wood perform. He had a girl from the audience be his assistant.

M: I would like an assistant. She has to be female, 18- 35 years old, single, with her own apartment.
Well I did fit the criteria, except I live with my parents. lol.
He says he has a degree in engineering from the University of Toronto. He is to has the girl Tyra pull on this catapult he created and it will throw the cabbage into the air, and he will catch it with his football helmet that has spikes on it.

He did catch the cabbage. We were to donate $5 to his show, at the end of it I gave him $3.62 because that's all the change I had. It's better than nothing.

Me: Excuse me, but do you have a website?
M: Yeah, www.mikewood.ca.

I checked it out. He looks quite different from the photos.

News: I went to City Centre mall and I saw that the Sunglasses Hut permanently closed down since June 29. You can still go to West Ed mall and Kingsway mall for that store. I saw a sign that said it. Culture Craze closed down too. Throw in Art of Style that closed down. It sold paintings, supposedly for charities. Maybe it's supposed to be only open temporarily. Four Rooms restaurant closed down.

I read in the Journal that there was this McDonald's building in Abbotsfield that closed down last November. Someone had recently started a fire in a dumpster, and then it burned down the building. Well at least no one was hurt because nobody was even in there.

Kingsway: I went to Kingsway today and it looks like Garage finally renovated their store to make themselves look the other stores in their chain. There was a lot of renovations that were done and they moved Coles and Shoppers Drug Mart around. The mall looks great. There is still more construction, but it did look better than the last time I was there which was last year.

Overdose: I had 3 days off this week which is the most I ever had since I started working last year. I overdosed on daytime TV. I probably watched 2.5 hrs of it this week. I saw some Tyra today about how to pick up guys. Have a wing- woman with you to talk you up as how cool you are. I saw a Oprah ep where Tyra guest- stars and they discuss abusive relationships. Throw in some Young and the Restless.

It could be worse, I remember the days of 2006 when I was addicted to Dr. Phil and saw 5 hrs of that show every week. I also overdosed on shopping. I went to Bonnie Doon the other day and I haven't been there in a year. Did you know that there is a store called Hype there? It's like Soular at West Ed where they sell hip- hop clothes.

Good news: There is this one producer who finished reading the script, and he said he's coming to Edmonton next week. He wants to discuss my script with him. Now it has just sunk in, that I am going to meet up with a producer in person for the first time to get my script produced.

coincidence/ True Blood/ River Cree Casino

June 26 Coincidence: Today I met this guy Chris through the internet. He's the guy I'm networking with and we could help each other out in our projects like my TV script. We met in a public place. He then told me how he went to a focus group to watch 2 TV shows to give opinions on it. One was called Soul Mates, which is a romance. One story is happening in present time, and the other was set in World War 2.

The weird coincidence was that the second show he watched was called Dads about 3 dads. I was like: "Oh my God. I used to work at Call Centre #1 from 2005- 2006 and they would send these videos out about this show. The people would watch the show, and then we would ask about the commercials, more than the actual show." It's confirmed that is the same show because when I ask about the show when I was working, the people mentioned the dads' occupations like an architect.

Then Chris told me that his friend David Wong has his short story "John Dies at the End" optioned into a movie. He told me about the comedy site www.cracked.com. I checked it out, it's alright.

Research: Did you know that trainers can make $125/ hr? Well I was reading a review about the movie The Girlfriend Experience. It's about working as an escort. It said the trainer boyfriend makes $125/hr. Well I don't know if that is really true, but it does sound believable. It's research for my script about working at a gym.

Music: I was listening to Canadian Idol winner Theo Tams cd from the library. It's alright, but boring. I don't care for the show, nor the American counterpart.

Daniel Tosh: I was watching his Completely Serious comedy hour on Youtube. Then I went and watched some more videos of this guy. This is research for my script since I will base a character on him.

June 28 True Blood: Today I finally checked out the new TV show True Blood. I went to Rogers Video to rent season 2 of Dexter, but they were all rented out. Then I went and got another HBO show. True Blood is about a young woman named Sookie who works at a bar. They live in a world where vampires and human co-exist. The vampires are "out of the coffin" because the Japanese created this blood so that the vamps can drink it, and won't feed on humans.

There's this actress Rutina Wesley who plays Anna Paquin's character Sookie's best friend Tara on the show. This reminded me of something I read on Fametracker Forums way back in 2004. There was a thread about racial stereotypes onscreen. Little Master T wrote: "And black people? They're sassy! Mmm- hmmm!" I burst out laughing when I read that. It's true, Tara's character is a sassy black woman. I do like her. She also points out about how the manager gets the woman to dress in uniforms not the men.

The girls wear tight white shirts, and little shorts, kind of like at Hooters. Tara then convinces the manager that she doesn't have to wear the uniform because she doesn't want to be sexualized. I heard about this show, but I didn't know what it was until it was compared to the movie Twilight. It's always a young woman who falls in love with a hot vampire guy.

Little things I noticed like Silver (Jessica Stroup) from 90210 makes an appearance in the first scene. Things I don't like about it, are probably the southern accents. I don't like listening to it. I do like listening to British accents. There is nudity and profanity, but what do you expect? It's on HBO.

Sookie is also a telepath and can hear people's thoughts, except the vampire Bill. I think I overdosed on telepathy, because I already watch The Listener. I also seen a telepath on Heroes. I saw the first two episodes of True Blood. Then after that, I watched them again with audio commentary. However, I then started writing when I was listening to it.

This show will be my inspiration. I needed to try something new, like watch something new. I already hit writer's block with my vamp script a few months ago. Now I'm onto something new.

June 29 Writing: Last night I started writing about the script based on Daniel Tosh. I got 15 pages, though a few pages were copy pasted from the Garret script. Let's just say I am imagining what would happen if Daniel, I, and my Treats manager Aziz all worked together at a restaurant.

Blog: So that guy Chris I met through the internet. I sent him a link of my blog/ weekly emails and he said it was "impressive." He gave me his blog link www.boxofmystery.com where he gives movie reviews and other stuff. Interesting to read.

Excitement: My cousin Jennifer is going on a reality show called Jet Set Zero. She will be living outside of Canada and going place to place and living there for 3 months at a time. Kind of reminds me of The Real World. Good for her.

Funny: Today I called my friend L up. Her bday is coming up, and I haven't heard from her in awhile. We then discussed my weekly emails. She laughed when I retold her about that guy I was IMing through that dating website back in March and April.

Me: He then says: "I don't mean to be rude, but do you like sex?"
L laughed.
Me: Why are you laughing?
L: Because it seems like such a random question to ask someone before they even meet them... there is so much pressure.
Me: Pressure?
L: Yeah, to be someone's first.
Me: Oh, I thought he thought that he wasn't going to have sex with me after a few dates.
L: Yeah, it could be that too.

Then I asked her: "Which is worse? A teenage girl who gets pregnant by accident or on purpose?"
L: On purpose, because that is just stupid. That reminds me of Maury where the girls get pregnant because they want a kid to love them.
Me: That reminds me of my old co- worker Jennifer who said she watched Maury where a girl says: "I'm going to have a baby, and all of you guys are going to pay for it!"
L: I don't mind paying for social services, but I don't like how people take advantage of it like that.
Me: Do you still watch that show?
L: No, I haven't watched it in a few years.
Me: Me either.
L: I remember I went home for lunch, my mom used to watch it all the time.

Kit Cope: In other news, Kit Cope has confirmed me as a friend on Myspace today. I'm friends with him on Facebook.

June 30: Now I realized Daniel Tosh still has not confirmed me as his friend.

Good news: Yesterday I emailed production companies if they read my script yet. One person said yes, and they liked it. That's good. That person did say he wants to be a co-writer and do revisions and rewriting on it. I told him I would have to know what his ideas are before I incorporate it in my script. I asked about what the next steps are.

Jul. 1 Funny dream: Last night I had a dream that Daniel Tosh told me how to play a prank on someone. You get a big bucket of ice and throw it on a bed. Then you get a big bucket of blood, and throw it on the bed too. It will look like the person is a serial killer. They are trying to keep this one person alive by putting the body on ice, but the person is bleeding.

I knew it was a dream, and then in the dream, I was telling my siblings about it. I was on the computer and it seems Daniel doesn't like me.

Me: Love me or hate me.
Daniel: Hate you.

Rant: Here's a mild rant. Last week, they didn't show The Listener because they were covering Michael Jackson's death. Then today they're not showing Tosh.O because it's Canada day and they're showing Corner Gas.

River Cree Casino: Last night I went to the River Cree Casino for a staff party- again. We went there last year. I had 3 plates of food, and then a brownie. It's a good place to party. Also UFC fights do occur there. One's coming up on July 17.

I actually checked out the casino instead of the restaurant. On those slot machines it says: "If you have a gambling problem call ......" There's a bar in the centre and two other bars and restaurants in there. There is a section for high- rollers.