am i the only one who hears that?
One year ago: I see Trekkies. Even better are my Phantom Menace comments.
Two years ago: I get my first messenger.
Three years ago: I have dreams about action heroes.
Today's news question:What holiday is celebrated on May 20 in Cambodia?
(Don't send me your answers. This is just a little way to expand your horizons. Honest.)
There is exactly one notary public available in my area on Saturday. Okay, maybe there's more than one, but the Mailboxes Etc. guy -- generally Mailboxes Etc. has a notary, but not on the weekend; in fact, this guy couldn't even spell notary, he spelled it "Woterie," I kid you not -- told me about the notary who was available on Saturdays.
We drove to the Mailboxes Services (how many of these mailbox places are there?) office and I got my application to the Disney Fellowship notarized. With only a day to spare, I'd like to point out.
Note to self: get act together during the week, visit closer notary.
So I managed to apply to three contests/fellowships this year: Nicholl, Austin, and Disney. We'll see.
My horoscope for this month has said such things as "Your value in the job market is skyrocketing and your progress comes more quickly than predicted. After the trials and tribulations of the last two years, it must be especially sweet to learn that May brings such a nice turning point." All of my horoscopes have talked about what a great year this is going to be -- particularly career-wise. It's nice to read that, because it's the magical method of getting my career in motion. See? The stars have willed it!
My career is the only part of my life about which I have magical thinking. Well, yes and no. I have magical thinking regarding my career about how someone will find something I've written and say, Oh my God, you're brilliant, I have to work with you. And that's only because -- dare I actually say this out loud? -- that's usually how it has worked in my life. I've been a very impressive worker, whether you're talking about me in eighth grade or at Stanford or interviewing at Apple. I've done whatever it is I've done and I've gotten recognition for it. The whole beat-down-a-thousand-doors thing? I've never had to do it.
I don't have magical thinking about the writing part of my career. That is, I don't think the writing is going to get done on its own. The writing gets done when I write. I know of plenty of people who talk about writing at some point in the future -- you know, they're writers, they're just not writing right now. I may not get any more writing done than they do, but I don't kid myself that it's going to get done without my putting a little effort out.
My mother always said to me, "You have to work." Meaning, you have to have a job. I've always interpreted this, fairly or not, to mean you're nothing if you're not currently bringing in a paycheck, so you can probably guess how well I've dealt with all the times over the past several years when I haven't been bringing in a paycheck. I attach a lot of significance to whether or not I'm getting paid for what I do -- and beyond significance, I attach a goodness value. It's not a good mindset, especially in an industry that's often feast or famine. I enjoy writing, I enjoy screenwriting...but I don't feel I'm successful unless I'm getting paid for it.
Keeps me going, I suspect. I have to validate what I'm doing, what I've done.
Last night Fernando came over with his new digital camera -- we're just new digital camera central around here! -- a Canon S-20. We both took a huge bunch of pictures of La Pookie. I can't wait to see how his came out.
Then we went to dinner at Delmonico's, mainly for dessert. Fernando was only having dessert, so we had to make our dinner choice based on that. Conveniently, Delmonico's has really good dinners too.
Anyhow, at some point during the evening we got to talking about David Duchovny's new contract with The X-Files, where he's coming back for about half the episodes of Season 8, at about $350,000 to $400,000 per episode.
We discussed whether it was a smart move for Duchovny to make. On the one hand, he's been bored out of his mind with the show for years and he's suing Fox. On the other hand, that's a lot of money. Shouldn't he have come back for all of the episodes, tried to make as much money as possible? As Fernando said, "It's a pretty cushy job."
I don't know what I'd do.
There's the school of thought that says you should determine what you do in this life by what you want to do and what you find interesting. Darin is in this camp. I remember being astonished at running into someone who actually lived by that philosophy.
But then there's another school of thought, one that's probably more prevalent: you should get as many bucks as you can. Maybe it was my upbringing (Depression-era parents who emphasized security over risk); maybe it was growing up during the Reagan era, a time of unbelievable greed (possibly only rivaled by...right now). But not taking the money? Could I actually take the risky unknown over a bird in the hand?
(Mind you, this is not a question of whether he deserves the money or what. If they're willing to pay him the money, he's worth it. The Friends cast held out for a million each per episode and only got $750,000. Me? I think they got gypped. I crack up whenever I read one of those letters saying, "What are they whining about? That's more money than yadda-yadda-yadda." Newsflash: the cast of Friends is underpaid. It's the most successful sitcom of the past decade; the syndication is worth billions. The actors, who are responsible for a lot of the show's success, deserve every penny, if not more.)
I remember my friend Damon saying to me, "How much is enough?" How much do you have to have before you say, I can do what I want to now? The people I knew at Apple who were working solely for the big paycheck were usually the unhappiest ones. The more they made, the more trapped they got: as I once joked, Expenses rise at 1.1 times the rate of the rise of income.
When I'm working as a screenwriter and I'm offered a lot of money for working on junk, do I take the Michael Caine route of saying, "Well, I need a new swimming pool"? Or do I say, Life is way too short, and remember the adage, "When you take a job for the money you will earn every penny?"?
Forum: What's your attitude toward money?
Today Darin and I went to visit my friend Jesec, who was holding a barbecue. Darin and I periodically do this to one another: we accept social invitations on one another's behalf. This usually makes the other half queasy, as in: who are these people, do I have to talk to them, couldn't I just stay home and watch mold grow? But no, we must be strong, we must be sociable.
We brought the best ice breaker there is: Sophia. She hung out on Darin's shoulder while we talked to various people. We discussed not only movies but LASIK surgery and babies and other topics real people talk about. I didn't know anyone there except Jesec, who was busy barbecuing the whole time, but I managed to make conversation anyhow. Yay me!
DIANE and DARIN drive down 101. Diane spots a vanity
plate on a Dodge Caravan: MY VNITY.
DIANE
That's funny.
DARIN
What is?
DIANE
That plate. My Vanity.
DARIN
Oh, that is good. 'Cause
it's a van.
Beat.
DIANE
Wow. I totally hadn't
gotten that.
DARIN
What did you think it was?
DIANE
Just, you know, "my vanity
plate."
Beat.
DARIN
Wow. I hadn't thought of
that.
DIANE
And people wonder why our
relationship works so well.
The answer to Wednesday's question: At the moment New York Republicans aren't quite sure who they're going to put forward to challenge Hillary Clinton. Rudolph Giuliani, mayor of New York, has been all set to run...except with recent announcements that he's suffering from prostate cancer and a broken marriage, maybe he won't run after all. And boy, would the Republicans really like to know one way or the other.
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Copyright 2000 Diane Patterson
Send comments and questions to diane@nobody-knows-anything.com