Saturday, March 13, 2004

A Journal from Austin, Texas.
A Project of LBFFP Stealth Publishing.

remaining calm with too much input

TMI for me is 'too much input.' I tend toward adult ADD, lack of focus and flitting. Having a film festival and other cultural events can be overwhelming.

The bathroom reflected in its mirrors.

JUST TYPING

To accomplish something.
You must apply steady attention, day after day, week after week.
To build a muscle or your mind.
To write a book or screenplay.
To learn a skill.
Do it, study it.
Repeat.
Only.
I keep starting on a new thing.
At the beginning.

Food Diary.

breakfast

Luna bar (180 calories)
coffee, of course

lunch

vegetarian barbeque, some mustard and onions, a few fritoes and carrots and green onions and a small amount of spinach/artichoke dip

snacks

plastic glass of red wine

dinner
[El Chile]

1/2 of a queso and tortilla app
a bit of ceviche
1/2 of shrimp nachos
1/2 of an order of mole cheese enchiladas with rice and beans
1/2 bottle Argentina Malbec

Today I
- gorged at the Mexican restaurant. Half of a lot is still a lot.

Time flies....

I should have gotten up earlier. Because I didn't get a workout. Because I wanted to sit calmly drinking coffee, have a shower, get dressed, go to Waterloo and get FFP a film pass. Only...they didn't open until 10AM. So I went to Whole Foods and bought some snacks. Then I got the pass and had a bar for 'breakfast' while driving to the convention center. I found a guy pulling out of a parking place on the street and got it. Then I found the registration and got a badge and a gimme bag full of free magazines, a gadget of unknown purpose, samples of CD/DVD cases and various ads and offers. Also a bunch of invitations to parties I won't attend. I get a cup of coffee and go to the room for a panel discussion on documentaries. When that's over I call FFP and then I go home. He's heated some vegie barbeque (wheat roast) for me and I eat that and some snacks. Then we get ready and go to see a shorts program at Dobie. After that we come home, let the dog out, change into a little better clothes and go to El Chile. We have dinner but it's still too early to go to our 8:30 performance of Life on the Wicked Stage, a one man show of Stuart Moulton's. So we go to BookStop and look around for a while. FFP buys one book and a bargain book. Then we go to the show. We visit with friends, enjoy the show, and go home to bed.

Reading.

Newspapers.

I started looking at an ancient script-writing book by Syd Field. I bought it secondhand, years ago when, of course, I thought I might write a screenplay. All I do is buy the books for every new interest. I never actually read them.

The Life of Ernie Pyle by Lee G. Miller.

nothing

Thinking about things.

I have several watches.
Maybe eight or ten.
OK, eleven, no twelve.
Most are cheap.
One a give-away.
One is a Swiss Army Watch.
One a black Swatch.
Two are gold.
They are in the safe.
I rarely wear them.
They do work, if you wind them.
Seven of the battery operated ones need batteries and one needs a band.
A lot of times now, I don't wear a watch during the day. The clocks in the gym and in the car suffice for my loose schedule.
But I have twelve watches.
Each wit a story, some of which I remember.
The black Swatch bought at an Australian airport.
The Gucci (band damaged, no battery) bought by FFP for me in Las Vegas.


(18)

Exercise

Nothing today. I was bad.

It's a Tangled
Web we weave...these
days of our lives.

One year ago
"My stomach felt a little upset from the rich food or the responsibility for the happiness of old folks. Or both. In the strange bed (but with two down pillows I brought along) I slept."

Two years ago
"So, our glorious Capresso machine, coffee love of our lives, is going to be shipped off to some Swiss watchmakers somewhere for yet another overhaul. This will be the third. We treated it kindly, we really did. Well, maybe. We did make hundreds and hundreds of cups. It didn't last long since the last fix. They promise to fix it again for free when FFP calls."