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August 31, 2004
Is It Wrong?
Is it wrong that I cried when Cowboy got to talk to his fiancée and her son on BB5 tonight? (BTW, if you know what that question means... it wasn't THAT wrong, since you watched too.) Oh, and how much do I LOVE the little Levine kid on Trading Spouses and how cool he was with the country bumpkin'? A lot!
Oh, do I need to mention I didn't watch the Republican Show?
Pff.
I did upload lots of photos from summer activities tonight. See? That's a good accomplishment!
Oh, and I discovered the WORST Chinese restaurant in Santa Monica. Not a cool.
Thwok says, "Life is good!"
Posted by bonnie at 11:37 PM
How Awesome Are My Friends?
So awesome!
The staged reading for Crossing the Bridge was rockstar good last night and I'm very pleased with the amazing, committed work that everyone brought to the project. Wow!
The staged reading for this dramatic screenplay (which had some very cool comedic moments, much to our surprise) by Scott Vance took place at the Fountain Theatre with 100 people in attendance (some standing in the wings, back stage, or in the booth to observe). My kick-ass helpers were Debra and Ashley McCarthy and Rachel Scheer, without whom I couldn't have sat down even once during the evening. THANK YOU.
Awesomest actors on the planet, all but one of whom hail from Dalt's Gang, included the biggest broad I know, Alice Ensor; the non-Chinese cutie Amy Harber; brilliant brother Bill Lippincott; plays-so-young David Lindsay; ever-cool Eitan Loewenstein; mack-daddy mensan Eric Halasz; lovely lady Etta Devine; non-Spock (for this night, anyway) Gabriel Diani; ever-so-versatile Hal Perry; brilliant future super-star (and it won't be long, folks) Jillian Henry; gorgeous perky Jodi Shilling; superman Keith Johnson (also in the role of associate producer for this project); the most givingest narrator Laura Lock; smokin' hot dead girl Pamela Newlands; no-granny-panty-wearin' Robin Gwynne; expert-at-all-things Shon Little; funny every time he opens his mouth Subhash Mandal; very cool Susan Schramm; hysterically funny Tracy Eliott; and flat-out excellent Weston Walls.
Directors, investors, producers, and development execs in attendance all had great things to say about the script and the actors... oh, and a few agents and managers in the audience did a little scouting! Excellent! I love it when great people get together!!
The script is available in PDF for anyone looking to talk with Scott about directing (timeline is December 2004 in NoCal). I think he'll lock down a director by mid-September and then we'll move forward with the casting process. Woo hoo! I LOVE THIS!!
Thanks, everyone who attended. Your feedback is so very appreciated!
Onward!
Posted by bonnie at 12:14 PM
August 28, 2004
Well, that's just sad.
I'm watching I Love the '80s on the kick-ass VH-1 and I see Juliette Lewis, who--I swear--is the other twin to Diane on Big Brother 5. Separated at birth. Wow.
Okay, so here's what's sad.
I'm bummed that BB5 won't be on tonight.
What have I become?
Don't answer that.
Posted by bonnie at 6:21 PM
August 27, 2004
50 Cents a Game
That's how much it costs to play Galaga on the Santa Monica Pier. Hm. Is that what all the games cost nowdays or are they pinging the old folks? Hm.
So, we walked from home to the post office, to the bank, to the pier, and back tonight. Awesome. Starting to have that really good feeling that comes with regular exercise: strengthening my heart, breathing in great stuff, getting more and more confident. It's nice.
Staged reading for Crossing the Bridge (working title) Monday. Lemmeknow if you wanna come and I'll get you the details. Looks like we've got a pretty full house. Cool. Directors especially--we need a director. Shoots December 2004 in Northern California. Very cool little script. Drama. Probably can be done for $500,000. We'll use a SAG Modified Low Budget contract, most likely.
Keith's getting new headshots Tuesday. Cool! Love those "deals." ;) Hee hee. Now we gotta look at some wardrobe options and figure out to do with his kazillion B&W "cop shots." Hm. Trimming down to postcards, perhaps? Man, I need an assistant!
Okay, tomorrow is PHONE DAY. I MUST return phone calls, like it or not! Man, am I my mother's child or what? LOL
Posted by bonnie at 12:44 AM
August 25, 2004
Taking Some Hits
Ah, the emotional roller coaster that is life!
It would be so nice if I could compartmentalize and access my emotions as needed.
Ack! That hurt! Now I'm sad. Where's that overflowing vial of FEEL GOOD? Grr! I'm angry! Where's that NICE AND CALM balm?
*sigh*
Since that can't be done, I guess I'll just ask for some warm, calm, feel better vibes until I remember all of the good things that keep happening (they're there! I do remember them. Just have a hard time accessing them when I'm blue).
Silly, really... but it keeps happening. Damn that ego is a strange animal!
Oh, and just a reminder: usually I'm "better" within an hour or so of blogging about being blue. ;) It's so much fun being a water sign sometimes. Tee hee.
Posted by bonnie at 8:27 PM
August 23, 2004
I Love White Trash Food
I don't know why it is, but when I'm in a sad mood, a blue mood, or simply a reflective mood, I crave the White Trash Food of my youth: Little Debbie Snack Cakes, Hostess Fruit Pies, Chef Boyardee Mini Ravioli, Franco-American SpaghettiOs with Meatballs, Crunchy Cheetos, Sour Cream and Onion Pringles, and Orange Crush.
Man, I'm one sick puppy. I love it.
Posted by bonnie at 10:43 AM
August 20, 2004
Rest In Peace, Dear Friend
As I said at DaltsGang.com about the passing of Lawrence Parke...
I've already cried twice today over this loss, and I'm sure I will cry again. My heart hurts for the gift that newbies forever more will NOT receive now that dear Larry is gone. I knew his health was failing and I treasure the many times we got to swap stories, hug, and raise glasses together in toasts to this crazy business and our blessings for being a part of it.
Some of the most generous, loving things that have ever been said about the industry and the people in it--as well as about life itself--came from Larry's mouth. I am so grateful to have shared a portion of my LA years calling this man my friend. And I am so touched to recall the last words he ever said to me: "I love you, Bonnie."
What a gift I get to take with me!
Rest in peace, dear friend.
Posted by bonnie at 8:59 PM
August 19, 2004
Coping Nicely
So, it seems I'm adjusting to The Life of Grey quite nicely so far. I've told a few people--most of whom hunt-and-peck like bad typists to try and find the silver strands (four of them, which I'm told does NOT a patch make) within my reddish, blondish, brownish whatnot--and they've all said something along the lines of, "You've arrived, " "You earned them all," or "No one will ever notice but you," to me. All true.
And then, when my friend who lost her hair during chemo while I watched (in addition to my new friend who also lost her hair during chemo and got it all back since then, in time for me to meet her) shows me how much she loves the grey she had "before the hair fell out" because it means she got her hair back... including that grey... I realize I've got nothing but stupid vanity issues going on. And, my goodness, if a casting director/writer needs to worry about things like wrinkles, grey hairs, and an extra few pounds... we're REALLY living in some parallel Hollywood universe.
I gave up visual-status ego crap when I stopped acting for a living. Or so I thought.
¡Viva la gris, baby! ¡Viva la gris!
Posted by bonnie at 9:18 PM
August 17, 2004
OH MY GOD!!!
11:10pm, Tuesday, 17 August 2004
BONNIE DISCOVERS A PATCH OF SILVER HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!
OMG, I'M GOING GREY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALL OF THAT STUFF I SAID ABOUT HOW COOL IT WOULD BE TO BE ONE OF THOSE PREMATURELY GREY WOMEN WITH STREAKS OF SILVER HAIR... I TAKE IT ALL BACK! I'M TOO YOUNG TO BE GREY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by bonnie at 11:11 PM
August 16, 2004
Good Giggly Wiggly!
Tonight the Earthlink DSL came on. HOLY CRAP. If you EVER think you wouldn't miss high-speed Internet if you had to go back to dial-up for a MONTH, believe me, you need to take that test just to find out.
I've actually become LESS online-efficient in the past few weeks. Now that I'm back to zipping around like a maniac, I feel scattered and freed. Like I can roam anywhere untamed.
Watch out, Internet! I'm back!
Posted by bonnie at 11:15 PM
August 15, 2004
Phew!
Okay, so I've been bragging about how happy I am to live in a home that has been given a Feng Shui makeover by a professional (Faith's treat to herself before the show got picked up and before she sold her pilot). Every time I say the phrase "Feng Shui," someone decides to correct me. They always do it very kindly, by using "Feng Shui" in a sentence of their own, being sure to pronounce the "Feng" FEHNG.
Well, I finally got sick of it and Googled "pronounce Feng Shui". Dammit, it feels gooooood to be right. FUNG, dammit. FUNG! I can't believe I doubted me! ;) Of course, I guess you can CHOOSE to say it wrong (like this columnist) if you really want to. I'm just glad I'm right. Tee hee.
Okay, enough of that silliness.
Keith is on his way home from Sacramento. Further phew! Thank you to everyone for the good vibes, love, visits, and advice. I really do have some amazing friends.
Scheduling actors for Each To Each prereads like a crazy woman. I always get so excited before prereads. And during I'm always very impressed and amazed at the talented people I know who so openly share their gifts.
Any folks who want to volunteer as casting interns for the day(s) Thursday and/or Friday, lemmeknow. I'll need people from 10am to 6pm both days (any length of shift within that range will be helpful, really).
Cheers!
Oh, does anyone know the OFFICIAL policy on feeding/giving to the homeless here in Santa Monica? I don't want to do anything the city discourages or even arrests over. But with that big park right across the street, I do get asked for stuff. Just wanna know the score.
Posted by bonnie at 10:40 PM
August 14, 2004
Screen Door
Today we got a screen door. I'm so happy. It's like a small town around here. Still need a welcome mat though. Where's my local Pier 1?
Vibes to Keith, who remains in Sacramento dealing with family issues. I miss you, honey. Come home to me soon.
Thank you to the most supportive friends on the planet, including Bill, Cindy, Shon, Amy, Hal, and Eric. So dang awesome, you people.
Posted by bonnie at 6:21 PM
August 11, 2004
Happy Birthday, TicTac!
On this day, fifteen years ago, I showed up at Rick Case Mazda with $5000 and my fingers crossed. I'd been saving for over a year while bartending and attending my first year of college. I had wanted to buy my brother's old BMW but he wanted it paid for in three years, making payments way too high for me to afford. So, I started looking at new cars... and since I'd always loved the RX-7, when I saw the Miata (in a brochure; they hadn't actually brought any to the states yet at the time), I thought, "Oooooh. Pretty!"
Here I was, just-turned 19, thin, stacked, with butt-length curly red hair and a year of college under my belt. I was soooooooo hot for this car. I put it on order (with $500 down, as required) back in early July. They started arriving soon after and mine was due in mid-August. I called or showed up at the dealership every day in August. I was READY for my baby. When 11 August 1989 rolled around, my dealer told me the white Miata "A package" with limited-slip differential that was on the lot was NOT mine. Luckily, the 60-year-old man trading in his "vintage" VW bug was not pleased with the offer for trade in and stormed off the lot. That car was MINE.
The name "TicTac" didn't come about until grad school. By then, the car I'd financed at 12.5% APR (ouch! Love those '80s) had been refinanced and paid off in full and had made a trip to Los Angeles and back (neither time on its own wheels). I'll never forget the day I went into NationsBank (originally C&S) and made the final payment. I got back in the car with my best friend John, who was videotaping the event, and started taking inventory, "This is mine. This is mine. I own this. I own this too!" Oh, so much fun!
This car has protected me from bodily harm while taking on its own damages in several accidents. Bless its little heart. Brought back from the dead in 2000 after the insurance company called it totalled (pff. Don't you EVER tell me a car with $4700 in damages that still has a Blu-Book value of $6500 is totalled!!), the TicTac has purred like a kitten and doesn't complain when I start it up every now and then and then push it hard the way it loves to be pushed.
I still giggle every time I pass a parked car whose car alarm chirps a warning that the throaty exhaust of the mighty TicTac has set off its sensors. LOL It's the little things, really.
Still a favorite photo, from our days in Athens, GA, is from the UGA Homecoming Parade, 1996. The official float of WUOG was the TicTac--equipped with banners, two redheads, and DJ Kitty! That's style, baby!
Ah, my little baby... what a great 15 years we've had!
Oh, and to the two friends I've met more recently in life who share the TicTac's birthday... HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dawn and Mitchell. I love you both. The TicTac loves you both too. ;)
Posted by bonnie at 1:19 AM
August 10, 2004
Bye-Bye SixHundy
Bummer. The vibrate/silent ring mode on the SixHundy died last week and, after dealing with some CSRs at Cingular (on the phone and in the store) as well as someone from Palm One in some tiny country somewhere, it has come to this: I will send back my six-month-old SixHundy by Handspring (with that way-cool Handspring logo and a lot of nostalgia for my original Visor all those years ago) and use the new palmOne Treo (written with a capital T on the damn unit itself). It is still, technically, a SixHundy, but I don't know how I feel about being unfaithful to my original treo by using the same name.
Once I can upload photos, I'll share the moment they met (yes, I took a photo of the two of them facing off). The new one is actually lighter and slimmer by a tad. It's still not my original baby.
*sigh*
I'm sure it'll be fine. Just feeling sentimental.
Posted by bonnie at 4:11 PM
August 8, 2004
"Each Box Is a Surprise."
Ah, the wisdom of the Keith.
He mentions how smoothly some of the boxes-into-the-right rooms thing is going as he brings over another load (the final load) of "stuff" we had stored during this move (Thank you, Nelson!!). I say, "Yeah, that's because of my writing on the side of each box. Office, closet, bed, bath, linens, ent. ctr., lvng. rm, dining, kitchen, kitties... these markings (along with that handy arrow Keith chose to ignore when putting each box upside down or on its side) tell us where to put things so the boxes are already in the right rooms when we go to open them."
This is after he mentions that he can't find his new sneakers (Thank you, Mitchell!!). I ask, "Which box has 'shoes' written on it? I'll get your new shoes for you!"
"I don't know what box they're in," he says (while I wonder if they even made it into the same box).
"Keith! Why don't you LIKE to know how you packed things? That lets you go right to the box you want to open and get out the things you need."
"But my way makes it so each box is a surprise!"
Yes. I guess that's true.
*insert eye-roll here*
We met one of our neighbors Friday. We had walked to the Promenade to see a movie (cheap date--one ticket was free, the other was $7) and as we came up the stairs after our date, Janet was watering her plants. She introduced herself (a 21-year resident) and gave us some good info about our neighbors: Steve (the landlord) will go out of town with no notice and without providing emergency contact information (this explains why we've had no power in three rooms since Tuesday night), a neighbor below us has lived here for 50 years and has a copy of every newspaper he's ever had delivered to his apartment, and sharing the top floor with us are an FBI agent and an attorney.
Handy!
She also said that she had told another neighbor about us (she had seen us moving in). "They are the most organized people I have ever seen. Not only was that move-in completely orchestrated, but they knew exactly what time and for how long they'd stop for lunch and where that would be."
I laughed, because I'd love to believe that we DID have such a move-in-like-clockwork experience, but I actually know some of the chaos that lives within the well-labeled boxes and smoothly-executed lunch break. ;)
That said, we have all but a handful of small boxes unopened by now and the happy news is, NOT A SINGLE THING IS BROKEN. Not one. I think this will go down in history as the first move in my personal history in which nothing cracked or got shattered. No, I do not count the crystals Eric knocked off Faith's light fixture with his head, as I was able to reattach those with no trouble whatsoever. How's the noggin, Eric?
Kitties are luscious. Still no high-speed Internet, long distance phone service, or power in those three aforementioned rooms, but man, does the tap water taste great! And for some reason, since reconnecting in the 310, TiVo keeps trying to grab some really high-brow TV shows. Are you trying to tell me something, TiVo?
The Big Thank You List
* Thank you Aleta, Homer, and David for the truck, the entertainment center, the moving help, the personal deliveries!!
* Thank you Eric for the coffee table, the Krispy Kremes, and the gloved-muscle man work!
* Thank you Debra, Ashley, and Madison for some of the best (and sweetest) elbow grease I've ever seen. Man, can y'all clean a house! Thank you MOST of all, of course, for Thwok!
* Thank you Shon and Jodi for the photos and the "we're helping ALL of our friends move" visit. Great to get unexpected help on such a busy day!
* Thank you Faith for all of the lovely goodies you left behind, including some of the best dang Feng Shui cures on the planet!
* Thank you Nelson for the use of your garage for no less than a month. You really helped us get the bigger stuff packed by letting us have a place to store the little stuff early on. Thank you!
* Thank you Jackie for the garage space you loaned us while on your European cruise. It worked out perfectly for more than just our bikes!
* Thank you Joni (and now Maxine and Bullet) for continuing to hang onto those last few boxes that just couldn't make it out of Georgia. We'll be sending for them eventually, I promise!
* Thank you Val for the DVD series I think I'll finally be able to watch soon (just hooked up the player today... gotta find the remote).
* Thank you Cindy, Carly, and the whole K-gang for the boxes, packing tape, and DELIVERY of said items during one of the most hectic weekends of this whole process! Oh! And thanks for the birthday goodies. Tee hee! Loving them!
* Thank you Conan and crew for the champagne, which allowed us to toast our new apartment with the crew that moved us in. We raised our glasses to the happy new home we've created. Thank you for helping us have that blessing!
* Finally, thank you thank you thank you thank you Liz for everything you always do to help us along. You, quite simply, rock!
Expect a more "formal" thank you to come. But I figure you definitely deserve big public praise too. Y'all kick ass! Thanks for making our new home come together so seamlessly. Really cool.
Anyone up for a walk to the beach? Meetcha there! ;)
Posted by bonnie at 4:15 PM
August 7, 2004
Dial-Up Bites
I'm so spoiled. Three years ago, Keith tried to convince me to get DSL. I told him I did NOT need DSL, couldn't imagine why I would be so greedy as to think I had to have DSL when dial-up is "just fine, thank you," and assured him the cost was not worth any gain of speed.
Man.
Three years after losing that argument, I'm sitting here stuck on dial-up until Earthlink finishes the transfer of our DSL (which, for some reason, takes seven to ten business days) and I am whining like crazy!
Oh, it's just too funny.
Kitties are settling in well. Keith and I have kept our promise to one another that we will walk EVERY DAY and explore our neighborhood. Delightful! Still have a lot of unpacking and placing to do, of course, but it's starting to feel like home. I just LOVE how cool the weather is. Got COLD last night. Had to turn off the fan, close the window, and get the QUILT out! Holy cow!!
More updates once I'm über-connected. For now, just wanted to be sure to check in with a hello. Photos will come. Haven't unpacked the media reader yet. Getting there! ;)
Posted by bonnie at 10:03 PM
August 4, 2004
TiVo Makes Me Late
So, I forget I've paused live TV and think I'm watching in real time and say to myself, "Oh, I have time. I'll leave when this show is over, which will be 11am."
And when you've paused TiVo a few times, that could mean it's more like 11:20am when the show is over. Ah, how can something you love so much make you tardy?
Posted by bonnie at 11:02 AM
X Aus Ted
I have so much to say... but can't seem to keep my eyes open long enough to say any of it.
I'm sooooooo worn out.
Posted by bonnie at 12:24 AM