A new one for the dictionary Spano, verb: To grossly over-commit oneself to a diverse array of activities (professional and personal), and, in the face of mounting deadlines, overload on caffeine, shriek at friends, and sing Pointer Sisters disco classics. After Liz realized how much work she had to do before this Monday, she felt dangerously close to Spano-ing out. E.G. Elizabeth Berkeley, Saved by the Bell.
I do like being busy. But the next week or so is going to be funny.Labels: in which our heroine, new words
posted by Liz # 10:27 PM 3 Comments
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{ Monday, January 28, 2008 }RAMBO, by the numbers.
I'm seeing Rambo Tuesday night. Oh man. I think I'm excited. posted by Liz # 9:54 PM 0 Comments
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Two Righteous Gentiles From Mom: the story of a Mills and Boon writer and her sister, who saved Jews from Hitler. They saved them with their reputations as opera nerds! How cute is that! posted by Liz # 3:47 PM 0 Comments
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Looking for Louis Adriaenssens, and other digressions So, for a number of reasons, I've been digging into my past for the past several weeks -- reading through old journals and essays, reconnecting with high school friends, thinking a lot more about my adolescence than I ever really wanted to. It's an odd thing to confront, the person you used to be -- especially since a large part of my adult life has been based on trying to improve upon that person, be kinder and less closed off and just, you know, a good person to know.
Today's reason for looking through computer files I can't even open properly anymore (my new hard drive doesn't have AppleWorks on it) is completely bizarre but delightful -- I'm being nominated for a community service award by an old Warner Bros. colleague. I am not quite sure what to make of this or if I really deserve such an honor, but if it means I get a shiny trophy of some sort, then I am IN LIKE FLYNN.
Anyways, as I dug through old files, hoping to find some document that would help me estimate how much time I spentbeing a goody-goody dork in a Girl Scout uniformhelping others, I found an essay on Victor Hugo that I co-wrote with my senior year French class partner in under-achieving.
While I was in general a fairly average student in high school -- smarter than most, but way too distracted by TV to make a real go of it -- French proved to be the silver bullet of my studies. By which I mean that the more I learned, the worse I got. But my French teacher and I developed a rapport over the three years she spent listening to me butcher her native tongue, and in my senior year, we came to a certain unspoken arrangement. She would bring in New Wave classics or Gerard Depardieu vehicles for the class to watch, even though I was pretty much the only student who cared. And in exchange, I would not take the French AP test at the end of the year, thus bringing down the class average with my undoubtedly failing score.
The rest of the class consisted mostly of junior year honors students who'd been studying French since 7th grade. My one ally was Louis Adriaenssens, another senior and a nice guy with a British accent. Because Louis was a cute, nice guy who would talk to me in a British accent, I was of course highly suspicious of him, not to mention scared to death. But when we were assigned to work on the Hugo essay together, it actually went pretty well -- he treated me like a person, was sweet and friendly and funny, and we became friends as a result. I present to you the conclusion to that essay, in all its adorableness (I think we managed to use three different verbs):
Surtout dans Les Miserables, Victor Hugo a décrit les temps gêné dans l'histoire de la France. Aussi, il est un symbol de la vie française - fiére, forte, et formidable. Il aimait les femmes belles, et la vie extravagante, mais il avait aussi la nature d'un poète, gentil et romantique. Quand il est mort, son corps a étalé sous l'Arc de Triomphe et il a enterré dans le Panthéon, comme l'hero qu'il était.
The reason I am writing this blog post, and mentioning Louis Adriaenssens, by name, is that I just did a search for him on the internets and I CANNOT FIND HIM. Not a lick, not anywhere. In my world -- hell, in 2008 -- people who don't exist even a little bit on the Internet are either living exciting adventure-packed lives that don't include computers, or, well, nowhere good. So I'm hoping that someone out there might know something about whatever happened to him. Louis Adriaenssens, Los Altos High Class of 1999. Maybe you knew him, once.
And at the very least, should something have happened to him, at least there will be one little post on the big wide web, about this guy who was nice to a girl who was cynical and closed off and scared, who didn't see that coming. It's nothing world-shaking. But it's an item of note.Labels: in which our heroine
posted by Liz # 2:55 PM 4 Comments
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{ Friday, January 25, 2008 }There are good days... ...and there are days when you come home from work and let John Simm read you a bedtime story.
Take a guess which today was. posted by Liz # 8:44 PM 2 Comments
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{ Thursday, January 24, 2008 }A tough nut to crack Last summer, I had the pleasure of workshopping a one-act with a delightful little theater company here in LA. They have a pretty great system -- every week, you bring in ten pages of a play in progress, and a talented group of actors and directors stage these scenes and offer notes. It was, in the end, a creatively exhilarating experience, and I'm very excited about being able to work with them again this spring.
But the first set of pages are due in two weeks, and I'm not quite sure what exactly I'll be writing. For the past few months, I've assumed that I'll retackle an idea from last year -- one that was meant to be a full-length play, but stalled out around page 60 or so and might benefit from much tighter structure and a page-one rewrite. It's not a brilliant concept, but it's a fun one with a lot of potential for both comedy and drama. I'm a fan of it.
Then, last night, I woke up abruptly. I kept very still, frozen in my usual sleeping position (lights on, arms curled protectively around a book), very much caught in an extremely clicheed Moment of Inspiration... And hoping like hell that it would go away.
See, the idea I woke up with is good. It's really good. Not only is it rich material with tons of opportunity for great characters and conflict, but the constraints of the concept are perfectly suited to a black box one-act. I even had a great idea for how it should end, an ending that didn't pull any punches but still left the audience with a modicum of hope. And it's topical and fresh and I know that if I hear about another playwright getting to it before me, I'll end up punching holes in the wall. So, part of me really wants to do it.
But this idea is also unflinchingly focused on a subject matter that I find incredibly difficult to read about, think about, watch, or discuss. And the same elements that make this a really good idea are the same elements that make me certain I couldn't phone it in -- I'd have to fully commit, do the research, dig into character development, or it'd just be the worst piece of crap. I know it's good to face your fears, but am I really ready to commit to six weeks, minimum, of this topic? Is this something I'm prepared to confront fully?
The last time this happened to me, I ended up writing a pretty decent play about the apocalypse. And that alone should be reason enough to at least take a stab at the opening, see if this is something I'm actually up for.
So, this entry is just me talking myself into that first step. But I'd like to hear if you guys have any insight. How did it go for you, the last time you did something that scared you?Labels: projects:theatre
posted by Liz # 9:13 PM 1 Comments
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{ Wednesday, January 23, 2008 }My TV turn-offs (or, a few notes on 'bad boys') A few weeks ago, I realized that Project Runway's Christian, who was at first my least-favorite designer this season, had abruptly fierce-ed his way into my heart. I was trying to pin down exactly why I had such a sudden shift in my opinion of him, before realizing a fundamental aspect of his character -- he's not actively mean to other people. He bitches and moans and is catty in interviews about some of the other designs, but he gives other designers advice and seems to be fairly friendly and supportive with all of them.
This was eye-opening on a whole other level, as over the past few years I've been trying to figure out why I always end up on the 'good' side of the 'good guy vs. bad boy' TV love interest dichotomy. You know what I mean. Angel vs. Spike on Buffy/Angel. Jack vs. Sawyer on Lost. Even, very occasionally, Duncan/Piz vs. Logan on Veronica Mars.
Since I've always considered myself a bit of a bad boy aficionado (especially if said bad boy has some type of space ship or crime-fighting ability), I didn't quite understand what my friends were seeing in these characters that so repulsed me. I mean, Spike was evil*! Sawyer was annoying! Logan was... Okay, Logan was dreamy. But hey kids, remember those bum fights?
Anyways, for me there is a world of difference between being a whiny con-man and being Batman. For one thing, you are awesome when you are Batman. (Even if you are much less frequently shirtless.) But I couldn't figure out exactly why these alleged bad boys failed to really spark with me -- that is, until my big exciting Project Runway revelation: being mean to other people is my one turn-off. Doesn't matter how much your abs might ripple or how tortured your back story might be. If you constantly degrade people with cruel nicknames**, or willingly betray them, or attempt to rape your love interest***, I'm not going to want to jump you. It's all right to be a rebel. But hurting folks that don't deserve it just doesn't sit right by me. So just ask yourself, at every opportunity -- is this what Batman would do?
Men, make a note. And, Christian, carry on.
*Yeah, yeah. Let's not kid ourselves. He was a jerk with or without a soul.
**There is a major exception to this rule. And that is the House exception. Don't ask me to explain it. Sometimes, love doesn't make sense.
***Though, in all fairness, you do earn some credit by not annoying me with ambiguous rape. Ambiguous rape is a whole other rant, though.Labels: teacher mother secret lover
posted by Liz # 8:24 PM 4 Comments
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{ Tuesday, January 22, 2008 }Why I mention hipsters I saw Cloverfield last week, which I enjoyed quite a bit despite the fact that there was an element I was NOT COMFORTABLE WITH. (Someday, for this blog, I will fully document MY GREATEST FEAR. But that day is not today.) And the bulk of the media coverage has been spinning the movie as 'a hipster horror film,' by which they mean that the film is a post-modern take on the traditional monster movie, and the main characters are twenty-something urbanites with cutting-edge taste in music and fabulous exposed-brick lofts.
As I've been reading reactions, though, I've slowly come to realize the genius behind Cloverfield's premise -- genius that is no small part of its critical and financial success.
How hipsters and/or people who know and like hipsters react to Cloverfield: "Hey, cool, a movie about me and/or my peer group. Their complicated love lives remind me of my own! And this song is so great that I downloaded the whole album, not just the single!"
How everyone else reacts to Cloverfield: "Hey, cool, a horror movie about hipsters. HAHAHAHAHAH THEY'RE GONNA DIE. And I GET TO WATCH."
Cloverfield: Bringing America Together.Labels: moving pictures
posted by Liz # 11:32 AM 5 Comments
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{ Monday, January 21, 2008 }Am I a hipster? I've been trying to figure it out.Evidence for:
- I enjoy a lot of things ironically.
- I liked Juno unironically.
- I love Battlestar, the definition of hipster sci-fi.
- I definitely loved the Garden State soundtrack at first, but wow, once everyone started listening to it, it became really old news.
- I have, and regularly wear, green Converse sneakers.
- My favorite movie theater in Los Angeles is the Vista.
- I consider my iPod a pretty necessary part of my daily life.
- I knit my own scarves and gloves.
- I started knitting in my twenties.
- I love Bust magazine.
Against:
- I enjoy a lot of things unironically.
- I didn't like The Science of Sleep at all.
- And I love Star Trek.
- I've never been to Spaceland, and in fact rarely go to live music shows.
- I refuse to ever tuck my pants into my boots for fashion reasons.
- My lack of interest and money makes me pretty impervious to most fashion trends.
- My green Converse sneakers were a gift from my mom.
- I don't live on the East side.
- I'm really not that cool.
- And I really don't care too much about that.
Is there important evidence I'm missing? Or am I completely off base in my assumptions? You weigh in!
Labels: in which our heroine
posted by Liz # 11:46 AM 6 Comments
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{ Friday, January 18, 2008 }Wimp. Wow, a ten hour day? This used to come naturally to me. What a wuss I am now.
Though, I will say, a ten hour day feels longer when it starts at noon on Friday, and at 10 PM I'm still waiting for the magic email that releases me into the waiting arms of a Lola's martini. It also feels longer when you are the ONLY PERSON LEFT in the entirity of Editorial at Known Entertainment Journalism Venture. Seriously, it's very I Am Legend in here. And I ain't got no dog. Or overtime. At this point, though, I'd prefer the dog. posted by Liz # 10:05 PM 0 Comments
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{ Thursday, January 17, 2008 }Reason #14 I like living in Los Angeles Also, Reason #3 I like my new job -- on a beautiful Monday afternoon in January, just after a weekend of rain, I had the opportunity to hike up Runyon Canyon while snapping away with my digital camera. Results here. Nothing that will win me fancy photography awards, but there are some nice shots in there. Especially if you're like me, and kind of dig lens flare.Labels: projects:photography
posted by Liz # 8:54 PM 0 Comments
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{ Wednesday, January 16, 2008 }Didn't see that one coming... ...but maybe, after the last week of grooving to her remixed singles, listening to her being interviewed, and getting excited about her possibly being in the dance tent at Coachella -- excited to the point of ACTUALLY CONSIDERING going to Coachella, an experience that almost successfully killed me two years in a row... Anyways. Maybe it's time to admit it: Kylie Minogue's all right by me.Labels: sweet soul music
posted by Liz # 9:37 PM 0 Comments
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Move Over, 'Meerkat Manor' Mom has been keeping me updated on the Cassie Edwards plagiarism scandal, which is full of interesting twists and turns ("She's 73 years old!" "Whatever -- she can still use Google!"). You either have or haven't been following this, but whichever that might, you owe it to yourself to read Move Over, 'Meerkat Manor'. Here, a plagiarized writers discovers that his freelance wildlife article has been repurposed -- as romance novel dialogue. posted by Liz # 12:04 PM 1 Comments
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{ Tuesday, January 8, 2008 }Huh. Kenyans hand back "cursed" loot: The BBC's Odhiambo Joseph in Mombasa says people turned to witchcraft when they realised the police were powerless to prevent their livelihoods being destroyed. posted by Liz # 12:36 PM 0 Comments
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{ Monday, January 7, 2008 }Liz's 10 Favorite Episodes of 2007 Some people think I know a fair amount about TV. So I thought I'd pick my ten favorite episodes from the last year, so I can prove how wrong they are about that. This list is a bit more middlebrow than I'd like, perhaps, but as a TV fan it's not like you're rolling in high-brow options (unless you're a fan of The Wire, of course, which I should really get on becoming). Special thanks to Aimee for brainstorming assistance. Special special thanks to TV. I love you.
- The Office, "Money": This is the episode that pushed "The Office" firmly into dramedy territory. But it broke my heart, so that's all right. And huzzah for agritourism!
- House, who can pick?: Guys. I am so in love with Season 4 of House. By completely reinventing a large chunk of the show's formula, with real consequences and fresh new characters (seriously, by week 3 I knew more about some of the candidates than I did about Foreman -- and liked them more than Foreman, too), House solved all of its later-season problems while not sacrificing the quality characters and writing that made it such a powerhouse. It's all pretty amazing, but if I had to pick one episode? "You Don't Want to Know," because I like magic tricks. And lupus!
- Mad Men, "Shoot": Until about minute 58, "Shoot" is just another extremely solid installment of last summer's best drama. Then, the last scene happens. And it just blows the doors off the barn. I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say the title? All too apt.
- Doctor Who, "Blink": I feel like I've been pretty clear about this one, but to put it in a personal context: this episode singlehandedly revived my passion for time travel narrative. Some of those in my theater company, forced to make sense of my one-act, rue the day Steven Moffat laced up his Chucks (or whatever shoes he wears to write).
- 30 Rock, "Rosemary's Baby": With this episode, the character that most represents me in the world of TV fiction finally changed from Queer As Folk UK's Vince to Liz Lemon. She's a non-functioning adult who has no idea how to invest her money! She fangirls about Carrie Fisher's writing! She is totally comfortable with selling out to the man! It's like looking into the future. (Fingers crossed.) Oh, and it's also a perfect example of what makes 30 Rock so interesting -- its surface kowtowing to the man covering up an incredibly subversive anti-corporation message. The day GE figures out what Fey and co. are actually saying is going to be a sad sad day for American television.
- Friday Night Lights, "Blinders": I caught up with this series over the course of December, and it was the nicest surprise I got all year. It really is true what everyone says. And this episode, which tackles race issues in a blunt and fascinating manner, is a standout. That's not why I picked it, though. I picked it because of the look on Coach's face when he finds out that Daughter of Coach is playing quarterback in the Powderpuff game. Oh, Coach.
- The Sopranos, "Made in America": Yep. Those are what balls look like. I love it.
- Life, "Pilot": This was, totally unexpectedly, my favorite pilot of the 2007 season -- great characters, a world of intrigue, and tons of possibility. The season that followed was solid TV with a lot of good twists and turns, but man, stellar pilot with beautiful cinematography. Charlie Crews and his fruit. Fresh.
- Heroes, "Distractions": Overall, Heroes is pretty nerdgasm-y, but this episode broke the time/nerd barrier with guest star appearances from Chris Eccleston and George Takai. And by taking one of its most annoying characters (Peter) and giving him a mentor who would call him on his crap (Claude), they found a way to make one of the show's primary protagonists magically likable. When Claude punched Peter Petrelli in the face, I knew that they were onto something.
- How I Met Your Mother, "Stuff": I am listing this episode a bit begrudgingly. Why? Because the b-plot of this episode -- Lily makes Barney attend her theatrical debut, and Barney gets his sweet sweet revenge -- is one of my favorites of the series. And the line "Spoiler alert: the robot falls in love" is one of my favorites of the series. And the first reappearance of Slap Bet! But the Ted/Robin storyline isn't the show's finest work, I think -- it's too petty and immature for my tastes. HIMYM is one of my favorite shows currently, so it definitely deserves a place on this list. But I do wish there was a different A-line on this episode, so I wouldn't feel so bad about it.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: I never really got behind Pushing Daisies or Chuck, but they had solid runs. I wanted to include Life on Mars, but while Season 2 in general was good there was no one episode that I loved. Special kudos to Bones, which I watched only twice this season, but found delightful upon both occasions. And, oh, Prison Break. When faced with the problem of "the actress who plays our main character's love interest has just quit the show," some shows might whine and bellyache. Prison Break chops off Pretty Lady Doctor's head and puts it in a box. Well-played, Prison Break. Well-played.
Labels: teacher mother secret lover
posted by Liz # 11:09 AM 2 Comments
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{ Sunday, January 6, 2008 }FINALLY! Added good friends Christine and Lisa to the sidebar. Y'all rock, ladies. posted by Liz # 11:35 PM 0 Comments
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{ Saturday, January 5, 2008 }One of my favorite film scenes of all time... ...is that scene from Finding Forrester when Sean Connery rips into the new pack of fresh white socks and puts on a pair inside out.
Why? Because it is TRUE.
I got socks for Christmas, in case you were wondering. Oh, god. I love them so.Labels: moving pictures
posted by Liz # 9:46 AM 0 Comments
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{ Thursday, January 3, 2008 }Looking forward Oh boy oh boy! It's 2008! The primaries are here! The primaries are here! The primaries are... wow, much earlier than I realized. I've been holding off on getting too emotionally invested in any one candidate, mainly because I've been holding out hope that some governor or senator In Shining Armor would enter the race and whisk me off my feet. But this strategy didn't work for me in high school when I needed a prom date. It's probably not gonna work for me now.
I'm watching the Iowa caucus results roll in here at work, and boy oh boy, go team Obama! A team I've been resisting joining -- until today. This urge to join is similar to how I feel when I sit down to watch sports: excited for the chance to cheer on my team, but a bit sad because I'm sure that my Worst Luck Ever will ultimately doom my chosen champion. (Sorry about the past ten years, Kings, 49ers, Giants, USC, and Democrats.) But when faced with the choice between sitting on the sidelines and getting involved, I'll lean towards getting involved (most of the time, that is -- it depends on how cold it is outside, and whether there's a lot of heavy lifting involved). So volunteering lurks in my future, I think. They're training for precinct captains this weekend. I have always wanted to hold some sort of rank, no matter how meaningless.
This will be an excellent weekend. I tell you this right now. I tell you this even though I have no idea what food item I'll be bringing to the Stone Soup party, even though I don't know if my lightsaber instruction class will let me practice with a broom handle, even though I still have my Bookslut column to write and this one requires a bit of work. I tell you this even though I have no clue as to what kind of difference I can make in this current political cycle, in this current world of ours.
But hey, it's a new year. And my tube top, in case you were wondering? Stayed sexy the whole night through. So far, this year is looking pretty good.Labels: in which our heroine, not quite like the west wing
posted by Liz # 9:11 PM 0 Comments
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{ Wednesday, January 2, 2008 }One of us, one of us... Oh, goddamn it. I was trying to be all cool and scoffy about the new Gawker sci-fi blog. And then I went and started reading the damn thing.
Of course, most of the news they're reporting is Old News to me (save, of course, the news that Peter Petrelli and Claire Bennett are totally doing it off-camera, and OMGWTF oh my). I mean, what have we learned today? The sonic screwdriver is rad? Christian Bale did gun-fu in Equilibrium? Bitch, please.
But it's still nice, as always, to stumble across a new community, take a deep breath, and sigh, knowing that these people are your people. People who make charts and graphs. I can dig it, all right.Labels: adorkable, teacher mother secret lover
posted by Liz # 12:10 PM 4 Comments
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