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  1. I said we're mad, not crazy

    06/27/08 10:43:38 | 0 Comments

    Thanks to everyone who responded here, in email and PMs. I really wasn't expecting such an immediate and impassioned response. Let me clarify something: I'm not hurting because I'm busy. I live for busy. I find it invigorating. I still wish to murder the guy piling book recommendations on my desk and filling up my inbox with Kim Kommando links, but that's just the wildcard. Busy is good. I promise you with my yoga, meditation, and the zen-like serenity that comes with having an inner-cat, I find plenty of time for me. Pampering, indulging, and the simple act of just being that can range from burning a little incense and listening to Miles Davis to twiddling my toes until the furball at the end of the sofa takes the bait and pounces. My question wasn't "ACK! FREAKIN OUT, FREAKING OUT! CAN YOU WAIT FOR THE NEXT CAT-TALE ?" My question was: Chapter 1 is nearly ready, but Chapter 2 might be a while. Do you want it to start now knowing that it might be a...
  2. We're all a bit mad here, said the Cat

    06/26/08 06:06:27 | 0 Comments

    Don't worry, this isn't a rant. Even though the guy who couldn't process that I'm busy last time has moved to sending me links and asking if I've played a video game he set me up with.

    It's also not a whine about how busy I am. Even though I got 2 emails this morning, one from a spinoff with a new chapter for me to look over and one with an absolutely WONDERFUL proposal that I have to run with even though it means yet another project on my overcrowded plate. It's too good NOT to pursue. It simply is. How could I whine or complain about that?

    It will all get done. Not many of these little Gotham todos have deadlines, other than the big one that life is finite. So, here's the real question...

    Right now, Kitty is...
    proofing edits for CT39 making up the big Tolstoyesque compilation file for that nice guy/gal from the forum who requested it which will also help with TBA #1, the little TBA that could
    and...
  3. Writing with feathers

    06/24/08 08:11:20 | 0 Comments

    I think it was L. B. Mayer who responded to the glut of big budget costume epics with the phrase "let us have no more movies where they write with feathers." Which brings us to tonight's word: Period.

    Writing period is a hard needle to thread. There is a misconception even among some professionals that if we're in the past, everyone speaks with great formality. Some of the early adaptations of the Brother Cadfael novels are downright painful that way:

    Monk: I am Brother Petronis, cook to this house. It is from me you will come each day to collect your master's daily fare.

    Servant: I know my duties. Today my mistress has a dinner prepared. She begs only a little sage and basil to season her dish.

    The same mistake was made for a different reason in HBO's John Adams series. Pretty much all of John and Abigail's dialogue is taken from their letters. The letters are a very famous and illuminating look at an extraordinary...
  4. I know you’re busy, but…

    06/23/08 08:58:09 | 0 Comments

    If there are five words in the English language that add up to justifiable homicide, those are the ones. I know you're busy, but… At this point, it's not the ones bringing me additional work who I plan to kill, it's the ones giving me a list of books to pick out which ones I want from the library, and putting a bookmark into the one they thought I'd like to read. Yes, I am busy. Despite that, I am not putting CT on hiatus, I am not blowing off the cat who just interrupted this blog writing with a none-too-subtle plea for attention, I did answer emails this morning, I did manage to go to the grocery store, and god willing, I will get a manicure some time this week. That's only possible if I get to make the judgment calls about what goes where in the priority matrix. So, CT fans. there is a lot going on right now behind the scenes. Armchair Detective may begin this week, or it might be next week. It will be starting soon. There are some other goodies in the...
  5. Cliff Gardner

    06/20/08 07:55:17 | 0 Comments

    The Sondheim acceptance speech about collaborators reminding me of a different kind of wonderful person, the Cliff Gardners.

    There's a wonderful episode of SportsNight where a ratings expert is subtly leading two network suits out of the studio. He asks if they've ever heard of Philo Farnsworth. He invented television. Not metaphorically like Milton Berle or Lucille Ball. He literally invented the technology. But the guy our ratings expert really admires is Philo's brother-in-law Cliff Gardner.
    Gardner told Philo "I want to be a part of this." But he didn't have Philo's knack for science and gadgets. He knew that. He understood his limitations. He wanted to be a part of it, but he couldn't contribute in that way. So he taught himself to become a glass-blower, realizing that Philo was going to need glass tubes. "There ought to be an award for people like that."

    Everybody can't stand center stage and sing the big...
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