job search/ birthday/ motivation

Aug. 10 Job search: I was talking to my dad, and he said that I shouldn't apply to that restaurant job where I get paid as a full- time cook. It's at Dallas Pizza in Capilano. The pay is $12.90/hr. He says, though you can make $3 more an hour than I do now, there still is no pension or benefits there. There's no point. So stick with that job you already have.

He also said that if I wanted to stick with restaurants, I should go to NAIT and take the culinary program there. No, I already spent thousands of dollars and got a college diploma in my true love, writing. I'm not going to spend money on something I don't love.

Am I putting obstacles in front of myself by not passing my resume to the restaurant? I have to focus on that office job. I did apply to the Edmonton Journal and Avenue magazine.

Aug. 11 Birthday: Well today is my birthday. Through the power of Facebook, my friends knew my bday. Daniel Luu, Angela, my co- worker Jennifer all wished me a happy bday on Facebook. Jen also told me that at work. My manager Stella remembered. She actually looks through our job applications and knows our bdays.

A pleasant surprise was when my friend/ old co- worker Silvia showed up at work.

S: I have a friend who has the same bday as you, so I bought some stuff for her. Then I saw it's your bday on Facebook, so I got you this cupcake.
So I thanked her, and ate it. lol.

Stella gave me a jar of Lays chips. Then I went home and ate the Toonie Tuesdays from KFC. Then we went to Dairy Queen and I picked out a cake with a tiger on it. What was interesting was that the sales girl gave me a free sundae: "Do you want a free sundae? This is a mistake, so you can have it if you want." What good luck. lol.

Dance: Today I saw the season 2 premiere of So You Think You Can Dance Canada. It was fun. You know what? It's different from the American version. I watched like the whole 2 hours of it, and they didn't show any really bad auditions. They did a fast forward of some bad ones. A little montage. I'm looking forward to the Edmonton auditions.

I saw the commercials for it, and they showed that Ukranian dancer, when I was at the auditions. They also showed that contemporary dancer guy who I also saw at the auditions. I've seen this guy take my bus on my way to work. Then I saw him at the auditions. However, we didn't talk. But he is the guy who has his mouth drop open like he got a yes or something in the commercial.

So maybe I shouldn't be annoyed about seeing all these bad dancers get to dance in front of all 4 judges. That only occurs in the American version. Maybe I should see the Edmonton audition ep before I judge. When I auditioned, I only got to dance in front of one judge Blake McGrath.

Talent: Interesting timing when I'm watching this show, because I'm reading my screenwriting book, and it talked about characters and what their talents are. It could be athletic, academic, technological, etc. Well in the script I'm trying to get produced, the lead character's talent is athletic.

In the book, there is the question: "Are writers born or made?" Well I find that people are good at something. With lots of training, hard work, and desire, you can become great at it. You have to have an interest in something first. I'm interested in reading, and watching TV. That lead me to writing for TV.

In Screenwriting for Dummies, it talked about showing Harry Potter learn magic in school and how he trains. It's like the audience is experiencing and learning with him. Same goes with The Karate Kid and Star Wars. They have the mentor teach lessons to the protagonist. This also reminded me of reading the Edmonton Journal covering the Mayerthorpe undercover cop story. It's where they lure the murder suspect Dennis Cheeseman into this fake criminal gang.

The thing is, he wasn't talented. He just unloaded cigarettes and stuff out of trucks. The RCMP officers who play criminals then praise him about his loyalty. He gets lots of money for doing something easy. In my script, my lead Shawn has this athletic talent. Then he actually goes and trains and works hard, and he becomes great at it. He then gets paid lots of money for this skill. I don't know. Maybe I want to say that TV has to make things more interesting than real life. Who wants to see a guy unload dvds from a truck and get complimented for it?

Well it would be interesting to see how undercover police work, but if you get rid of the police aspect of it, it wouldn't be that interesting. I even remember Tru Calling. Tru's little brother Harrison did that, however they never showed it. They just kind of mentioned it in passing.

Aug. 12: I remember when Tru was talking with her big sister Meredith about Harrison.

M: Maybe it was a girl. Or a truckload of dvds. Or maybe a girl with a truckload of dvds.

Writing: I remember talking to the producer John.

Me: So do you think the script is funny or anything?
John: Well nothing really jumped out at me.
Well that's fine. This is an action, drama, crime. There is a little comedy in it, but that's not the main genre. What would be bad is that I write a comedy, and John said it wasn't funny at all.

So the other day, I got rejected from another production company. What's interesting is that I sent that version of the script to 3 companies because they asked for it. 2 of them rejected it. Only one production company Crowsnest said somewhat of a yes. John Kerr said that: "There is potential."

Now I'm watching So You Think You Can Dance Canada. I'm thinking about writing a character and his talent. I'm not going to write about dance, because there are already a bunch of dance movies out there.

Joke: They showed Blake McGrath teaching dance choreography to the contestants.

Cut to the dancers strutting forward.
B: Wait, stop. You are not auditioning for a cruise ship.
lol.

What's interesting, is that I watched 2 hours of this ep where everybody auditioned. They only showed one bad audition.

Charity: Somaly Mam is this woman was a sex slave, and then she started her charity called the Somaly Mam Foundation in preventing human trafficking of girls and young people for sexual purposes. The other partner is Beyond Borders, the Canadian link in the international group End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes (EPCAT).

Aug. 13 The Listener: I was watching it, and I realized that Craig Olejnik has a tattoo on his right wrist. He was passing papers to this woman, and I saw it. I don't know what it is. It's a quick glimpse. It could be a Chinese character meaning "centre."

Agim Kaba: After The Listener, I went on the net and had CSI: NY in the background. I see this guy Agim Kaba. He was really hot. lol. He's from the soap opera As The World Turns. Check out his pic:

http://tvmegasite.net/images/daytime/atwt/autos/auto-agimkaba.jpg

What was interesting was that the first scene in this ep reminded me of something I wrote back in 2003. In CSI, there are 4 guys playing poker. One of them is dealing it differently in order to cheat. The other three guys get in a fight with him, and the guy is thrown out. Then there is a knock on the door. One guy slides open the peephole, and he gets shot.

In my script, a poker game goes wrong my protagonist wins the game fair and square. Then the bad guys go and points a gun at him so he won't take his winnings.

Aug. 14 Motivation: Today I finally sent my resume to See Magazine. Yesterday I read in 24, my horoscope was: "Your quest for employment requires a new approach. Increased motivation and schmooze- fest will work." It's hard to get motivation.

Well I thought I found some motivation when my co- worker Maygen came back to her job and she said she needed more hours. I thought I should go get another job, so Maygen can take my hours. Now my motivation is gone, because she will be going back to school and won't be working here.