I’m signed up for a newsgroup for Salsa dancing in L.A. I expect to get emails about where to go to dance, dance classes, salsa dancing… even a recipe for salsa would still seem relevant. But today, I got this email, which I present to you, unedited:
“I would like to thank all the readers that have contacted me and have offered their support and have acknowledge my blessing in spiritual work, which I offer with alot of love for those who are seeking spiritual guidence. Once again I would like to thank my salsarican family for giving me the oppurtunity to be in their group, because if is not for them I would not be able to help alot of you with my psychic abilities.”
There’s a story in this somewhere. Or at least the plot for a pilot episode of a horrible NBC crime drama… “You loved Medium… now get ready for CSI: Psychic Salsera Unit!”

I got my journals in the mail recently. Ah… blank paper. Nothing quite so welcoming and intimidating. Lots to do, but things are comign together. Wedding rings have been purchased, RSVPs are coming back, I’m blogging on a somewhat regular basis…

I’ve made a vow not to start reading a new book until I’ve posted a review of the latest finished one on the book review blog. So it’s slowly growing. I should do the same with movies. I have seen many since October. Just haven’t had the time to write about them. Or the willingness, as many of them haven’t been that great. But the reviews are coming…

I’ve got to draw a coloring book this weekend for all the little ones coming to the wedding. And much, much, much more.

I’m going to keep a dream journal. Which, I realize, sounds like a whole lot of fun if you’re, say, a young girl in junior high. You know what I say to that? Well, maybe I am! Or not. The point is, I have discovered a device which has given me Timothy Leary meets Hunter Thompson type dreams.
Let me explain the wonders of the Amazing Tempurpedic Swedish Memory Foam Pillow (ATSMFP). We just got a pair of these at our wedding shower, and they are amazing. A bit odd at first, kind of like sleeping on some tightly rolled-up T-Shirts. But I sleeeeeeeeeeep so well on them. As the wedding gets closer, the quality of my sleep has been declining. No dreams. But now, using the incredible ATSMFP, I’m back on dream street.
I’m having dreams like I did in third grade (the one with the kangaroo and the flying hammerhead sharks and the Pool of Mystery)… You should have been there.
Anyway, I need a dream journal now, because the last two nights have involved the following items:
A plot for a new novel, which is unrelated to…
An island resort in a tsunami, with Moses and Gandalf dueling to see whose magic is strong enough to fight the waves…
A little tavern where Madonna was putting on a show, and I could get free tickets for dressing up in a banana costume with a Jack-in-the-Box helmet, but Madonna didn’t give me the tickets even though I danced some kind of jazz ballet thing, so my fiancee went back in with me and we argued with Madonna.
Also, I’ve been reading a lot of Irvine Welsh lately, so there were many Scottish people involved.

The moral of the story is, using the ATSMFP is like a safe and slumber-y way of doing acid. But I’ve never done acid, so I can’t be 100% on this. But, as I said earlier, I have read a lot of Irvine Welsh, so vicariously, I’ve hung out with a lot of losers who do a lot of Scottish drugs. I read on Neil Gaiman’s website today that he uses moleskine’s notebooks, so I’m going to order one to see what it’s like for dream journaling.

The wedding is fast approaching, and I’ve got to buy a few things, including an MP3 player, among other expenses. So of course, my car has started acting up, my printer has stopped printing, and time is getting short. But we’ll make it. We always do!

So, there’s a theater group that’s interested in putting on one of my 10-minute plays… Whee! They invited me to check them out on April 20th so I could see how they work. So of course, I showed up on April 21st. Why?

Shut up, that’s why.

I was in a daze from work, moving, etc. Which is becoming a running theme in my life, and seriously needs to change. Anyway, the good news is, they have another show this coming Wednesday. May 18th. At the Complex Theater on Melrose Ave. This is not so much a plug for them as a reminder for me to get over there on the proper day. But while you’re at it, if you’re in the Los Angeles area, why not go check them out? Because if you do, and you see me there, then I’ll know you read my blog, and I’ll give you a prize! Wheee (again!).

You ever get the feeling that there’s something really cool happening just up the street, but you’re stuck at your job, forced to watch it from six stories up through poorly tinted glass?

Yeah. Me too.

I’m not sure when the best time is to plan a redesign of a website. But it’s certainly not when you’re also cleaning a new apartment, finishing a battle with a cockroach tribe, and planning a wedding. With all of this going on, I’m still trying to pick up a few hints about Dreamweaver so that my site will be a little crisper, a little cleaner, easier to navigate, etc. I plan to get excerpts up by the end of the week, but well, you know how that goes.

I’ve been searching for another wacky picture to keep viewers occupied (and distracted from my slloooowww update). I thought I wouldn’t be able to find it, and then I found this: a little movie clip making the rounds online about a haunted car commercial… (everyone loves a ghost story). So these producers, they’re making a car commercial, and it ends up that the footage is unusable. Why? About thirty seconds or so into it, a weird haze drifts across the screen, obscuring the car as it approaches the camera. Every time they try to re-shoot, same thing happens. So they give up. Some enterprising young PA took some of the footage and put it online. I think the creepiest part is the sound… you have to listen closely… and watch as the car drifts around the curve.

Click here to experience the paranormal!
http://oxalic.net/temp/classic_auto_1.mpeg

I just finished updating and reformatting a one act play called Holding Patterns into a short screenplay. Some old comrades from SIU are moving to Los Angeles and looking for a short to shoot as a demo, so here’s hoping that they like it. It’s sort of my little comment on deeply depressed, homicidal people get the way they are, and how society doesn’t help much. Actually, it’s about a suicidal man, a homicidal man, and a valium-addicted space cadet at the mercy of an egomaniacal phone operator. With any luck, it will be shooting in June or July. As for other things, the book (Hit and Run) is awaiting word from a couple of agents, and I’m well into my new book which I’ll tell you about when I’m done. Which will be soon. I hope.

‘Twas an eventful weekend.

Benedict XVI gave his first mass today. I hope people give him more of a chance than they have been. The media loves to remind us of a few facts about the new Pope:

1. He’s old!
2. He’s really old, and possibly feeble and/or sick!
3. Even he has said he won’t be pope for long.
4. He was in Hitler’s Youth Army (which was a long time ago, so, you know– he’s old!)
5. He’s conservative and set in his ways, which, consequently, is another trait of old people!

At mass today, Father Antonio reminded us that there’s no need to fear Benedict XVI. He will lead as best he can for as long as he can. And whether you agree or disagree with his decisions (and really, wait until he does something before you make up your mind one way or the other), remember that he is leading from his conscience and his convictions. I think the world will warm up to him quickly. I pray that he works to restore some of the respect to the church that has been lost through scandal, and that he works to modernize certain aspects of the church while maintaining the foundation of the faith. That’s a lot to do for anyone.

Here’s what’s coming on monkeywright.com (hopefully by the end of the week). Some thoughts on Pope John Paul II. A new look for the site. I can’t decide whether to go all modern and cool, or keep the current look with a few tweaks. The book section will (finally!) be revamped with some new excerpts added. And, God willing, someone will give me some easy corkboard code to get my message board working again.

There’s a few big changes coming up here in Los Angeles… and I’ll tell you all about them soon enough when the time is right…

To herald the arrival of a tweaked monkeywright.com… coming, as all things, SOON!