House Arrest

Yup.  That's Sir Knavely. 

He wasn't in the mood to model.  Kept mumbling about this gig not being in his contract. 

Too dang bad, buddy.

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The last two weekends, I've put myself on house arrest. 

I took a cue from my co-writer, who did the same thing when he couldn't seem to find the time to get the writing done.

It works pretty well.  I'm now on page 75 of this draft of The French Inquisitor. 

Sometimes I just need to cut myself off from my social life -- and unfortunately, this time around, that's included church (Sorry, PMC!) -- because otherwise, I'll never get around to getting my work done.

There are just too many things to do in Los Angeles -- if you don't stay focused.

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To deepen my understanding for another story I'm writing -- call it research -- I zipped through two television shows over the last month.

First, theentire first season of Desperate Housewives. 

What a great show:  strong characters, a potboiler mystery, real problems.  I recommend it.  You can find the first season on DVD.

Finally, the first season of Entourage. 

Interesting to see my world from another angle:  an actor's rise through the pitfalls and personal drama called Hollywood (a state of mind, not a physical location).

I'm hooked.

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I was talking to one of my close friends today, and I finally figured something out that's been bugging me for a year.

I haven't been able to understand why I get so annoyed by liberals.  And then I realized what it is.  It isn't liberals, per se, who annoy me.  I take some pretty liberal positions, myself.  What annoys me most is unrealistic idealism.

I'm essentially a pragmatic person.  I don't like to do something, nor do I believe in something, unless it's practical.  Fighting for hopeless causes are, in my opinion, a waste of time.  I don't like wasting time.  Thus, I don't argue for causes that I know are impossible to fulfill.

Does this make me a cynic?  No, I believe in going after my dreams, and I am.  But I'm not going after dreams that are guaranteed to be a waste of time.

It's one of the reasons I like the Homer Wells character in John Irving's The Cider House Rules.  It goes with my Mennonite background, I think.  To be of use to society.

If I fight for a cause, I plan carefully first.  There should be a chance of winning.  Gambling against impossible odds is not my cup of tea.