PAGE AWARDS 2007 SEMIFINALIST

Hey all,

I just learned that my "Stars and Stripes Forever" script advanced to the semifinals in the "Historical Film" category for the PAGE 2007 Awards.

Finalists will be announced on 8-30-07 and winners will be announced on 9-15-07.

I don't know how to feel at this point. I wonder if semifinalists will get script read requests from production companies, agents, etc?

I'll learn soon enough.

On the flip side "Stars" didn't make it to the quarterfinals of Blue Cat, Scriptapalooza, & Nicholls. I'd subbed "Heaven's Mandate" to Scriptapalooza & Nicholls also, but it didn't make the cut neither.

Interesting to see how different contests have different responses.

Shigata ga nai.

"It can't be helped" as a Japanese saying goes.

Must get on with my fiction now.

Aftermath

Thanks to an impulsive decision to watch a few episodes on Geoffrey's, my roommate's, Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 DVD set, I got only 3 hours sleep.

The morning sky was really starry when I left with Scott, Saladin, and Geoffrey.

I dozed part of the way and chatted with the guys as Scott, the generous guy who gave me a seat in his rental, drove us to Albuquerque. We all split up outside the departure terminal at the airport.

After almost 7 hours of airport/jet travel hassle, I finally got back home. :-)

I was fortunate to go to Taos ToolBox 2007 when I did. Walter and Connie are fine writers and teachers who're also great to hang out with.

I received useful feedback in the critique sessions and had my understanding of writing and the business refined.

I also got to meet a lot of serious writers and kibitz with them. I'll look forward to seeing how far each of us goes down the road.

If Taos ToolBox 2007 will be the first and last to be held, it was a good one.

Thanks again Walter and Connie for having me.

On another note, being able to record an account of a writing workshop has been fun, especially since this will most likely be the last workshop I'll attend. The stories I could've told when I attended my other classes...

Having a blog then would've been nice.

I'm at the point now where I simply have to write and submit. If I do something else again, it'd likely be a film director workshop. Don't know when I can do that. I'll just have to see how the future turns out.

Ciao.

Day 13

The final day of crits.

I got up early, exercised, ate breakfast, then went to the crit session.

We had only 3 stories. The sessions went well around lunch.

Walter and Connie then talked about a few things like getting close to our characters, cultivating our story ideas, the good fiction conventions to go to, and how not to act around editors and agents.

I sent Walter my evaluation of the workshop.

I'm going to pack this afternoon since I'll be heading to Albuquerque airport at 5 A. Ugh.

Too bad the Snow Bear Inn proprietors neglected to make the laundry available despite being asked and left messages.

Two people have left already.

We hung out for a few hours, then headed to a nearby Bavarian restaurant. I got a chicken and vegetable dish. We all chatted about writing, WW II, and other miscellania.

When we gathered to leave, Walter's car battery died. We all pitched in to jump start his car, then got back to the inn. There we all said our final good byes.

Ciao.

Day 12

Busy day.

We critted 4 stories, then Walter and Connie talked about fiction careers.

Those who want fame and money should do something else. If one sticks at it long enough, one's career will go through more than one peak and valley. A body just has to keep writing novels.

The golden age of SF was the 1980s with Star Wars and Star Trek. Now there's fewer markets, publishers, etc. But it could emerge again.

A person just has to follow their passion--and keep their day job.

Some of us saw a Carey Grant film, "Father Goose". Funny. And we saw the first few minutes of "French Kiss." I'll have to see that sometime when I get back.

Oz, Traci, & Kim served potato chips, brownies, ice cream, etc. again. Couldn't resist. Damn. I'll be glad when I reestablish my regular diet.

Walter and Connie are the first fiction people I've met who use film examples to teach. Nice.

I have a final 3 stories to read and one last assignment: write a 100 page scene, character description, etc. with no adjectives and no adverbs. No problem.

Walter and Connie want to take the group to a nearby Bavarian restaurant. Hope I'll like the brautwurst.

Connie talked about showing "French Kiss" tomorrow night, but I have to pack early and get to bed in order to leave at 5 A on Saturday. Ughhh...

Later.

Day 11

Busy again.

We critted 3 stories today. Connie and Walter talked about where they get stories. Walter also gave us some rules on alternate history and using magic and aliens.

Much of it is instinctive, but it's good to have the principles articulated.

We had another movie night in which we saw Chinatown with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. Great film--in a tragic kind of way. If the bad guy controls the cops and courts, the last option left is taking the law into your own hands.

Unfortunately, Jack's character was too devastated to do that.

Nichevo.

Now I have four stories to read and a little writing exercise in which I write the same scene three times with the same character, but in different emotional states.

Ugh.

Day 10

Full day today.

We critted 3 stories (all the writers were happy with their comments) and had lectures from Walter and Connie.

Walter talked about worldbuilding for SF and fantasy. Nice and concise. He also gave us a great handout for generating random worldbuilding sheets. He'd added a writing prompt I used in my recently critted teen fantasy: a bowling ball. :-)

Our most recent assignment was to turn in a worldbuilding sheet based on 3 random prompts. I just turned mine in before blogging. Interesting exercise.

Connie talked about the use of the "past perfect tense" and "foreshadowing" in stories complete with techniques and examples.

More tools for my toolbox.

We got out a little earlier than normal, but the evening was full.

I got my endorphin fix, ate dinner with 3 ice cream sandwiches, then attended a birthday party for fellow Taos ToolBox workshopper, Kelly Robson. I had a slice of carrot cake, two pieces of chocolate cake, and a few scoops of French vanilla & chocolate chip ice cream. Having a sweet tooth can be bad. Good thing I don't indulge too much.

Anyhoo, the party was nice, and we all chatted for a while before reluctantly going back to our readings and assignments.

I took care of one story, leaving just two to read in the morning. I'll be able to polish those off quickly.

Signing off.

Day 9

I woke up and critted 3 stories and squeezed in breakfast before today's lecture/critique session.

Walter kicked things off with a concise lecture and character. And he also gave us a great 4 page hand out on generating backstories for both minor and major characters.

We then had 4 stories critted. Mine was first: a teen fantasy about an ugly duckling girl who competes with a high school beauty queen for a Spanish exchange student with a love potion that's not a love potion.

Considering that I don't normally write YA fantasy or a lot of girl characters, the story went over well with a lot of people in the group. I got a lot of great suggestions on taking it up another notch.

The other 3 stories were also critted with five minute breaks and one 20 minute lunch. I'd say that today was the best session so far (probably thanks to the weekend break).

Hopefully people won't get too ground down as this final week goes by.

Connie capped things with a lecture on different character POV, like: 3rd person omniscient, authorial, stream of consciousness, etc.

Very interesting.

I did my fitness thing, but was a bit worn out when I did. Maybe the altitude's affecting me more than I realize. Being active for 7 of the last 9 days must also be taking a lil' toll, too. But one has to stay energized.

I've got 3 stories to read for tomorrow and another assignment: write a 100 word scene 3 times with the same character, but using a different POV.

I'll be curious to see what I come up with.

That's all fer now.

2007 PAGE Screenwriting Contest Quarterfinalist

I just got the news that my "Stars and Stripes Forever," made it into the quarterfinals of this year's PAGE contest.

I was told that 3,411 entries were received. My script made it into the top 25% (a total of 872 scripts). Because so many excellent historical epics and biopics were entered, the contest created a new Historical category; so my story is entered as both a Drama and Historical script.

It's an American "Master & Commander" tale about a real-life navy lieutenant who struggles to destroy an American frigate captured by pirates before it's used against the United States.

Incidentally, I wrote the first draft of this script in a Winter 2005 UCLA screenwriting class under Jack Sowards.

Thanks Jack.

Semifinalists will be announced on July 30.

I've also entered a bunch of other contests. I'll look forward to the reports. :-)

Boris

Day 8

Got up today.

Exercised, got some pancakes from Oz, Traci, & Kim, and did laundry.

We had a temporary electric shortage for 40 minutes. No biggie. Happens from time to time on the mountain, mostly during rain, snow, etc. It's been clear all day, though.

I went to Taos to with Walter, his wife, Connie, and just two other workshop people to catch a 12:30 P showing of the latest Harry Potter.

Can't go into detail for a review. It was OK. Pretty dark. But Ron & Hermione didn't have a lot to do in this film. I also had the feeling this was just a transitional film. Nothing much going on to forward the main storyline of the impending confrontation between Harry and Voldemort.

The book was compressed well enough into a 2.5 hour film, but some important stuff was cut, which would've explained why certain characters did this or that and what a portal or other object was. This was a bit more dependent than the other films on people having read the book beforehand.

It was still worth seeing once. I'll be curious to catch the next installment.

Afterwards, we went to a local pizza joint. Most of the rest got a huge pizza slice. I tried a calzone. It was OK, but had too much ricotta cheese for my liking.

I've been back at the Snow Bear Inn, taking care of chores, like a synopsis for an existing novel, which would be used to sell it. Then a case of fatigue hit. Guess I'll read the 3 stories Monday morning.

Later.

Day 7

Full day today.

Got up early and exercised, then had a surprise treat of pancakes with blueberries cooked by some workshop classmates--Oz, Traci, and Kim (3 cool ladies) in the ski lodge unit next to mine.

Afterwards, Oz snapped a picture of me. I don't usually pose for pictures, so this is a rarity, and here it is, courtesy of Oz. Thanks a million!

Once I got my mug snapped, I went into Taos with Connie and some others to sight see, eat lunch, and buy groceries. I stocked up on breakfast and lunch for my last week here. I also found two books in a bookstore for two film scripts I have in mind. And on the same shelf no less. I wonder what the odds are?

We got back to the ski lodge in time to wait for George R.R. Martin to arrive. He got delayed by traffic piling into the "Pow Wow," a local Indian festival.

When he finally made his way up the mountain, he gave a talk that covered the reasons why people read fiction (to learn about different subjects, escapism, etc.), about how there's fewer readers and publishers, and how authors who aren't New York Times Best selling writers are becoming an endangered species.

The fiction field seems to be entering rocky waters.

I then rode with Connie, George, and some other people in her car as the whole group went to Taos to eat at a New Mexican restaurant. Two good meals in Taos today--for a price. Good thing we won't be eating in restaurants for the rest of the week.

Small note: Before I rode back with Connie and George, George mentioned that HBO was developing his fantasy book series "A Song of Fire & Ice" into a long running TV series. I don't have HBO, and don't plan on getting it. I'll have to wait for the DVDs to come out then. George said he told his agent that if anyone would produce his books, it should be HBO since a TV series would do a better job than a trilogy of feature films and HBO has produced some good projects. "Band of Brothers" (based on Stephen Ambrose's book) is one case in point. I love it myself.

Several (me included) are planning to go into Taos tomorrow on Sunday to catch a noontime showing of the latest Harry Potter. Looking forward to that.

I just have to find the time to write up a 2-3 page synopsis of a published novel and critique 3 of 4 stories for Monday. One of the four is mine. I'm planning on doing my synopsis on the alternate history novel "Gettysburg" by William R. Forstchen. Newt Gingrich's name is on the cover also, but I feel it's Forstchen's story.

Hailing frequencies closed.

Day 6

Light day. No coyotes were scavenging through garbage and howling in the morning like yesterday (though I slept through it).

We had only 3 stories to crit, and I turned in a 4500 word teen fantasy story. It's about an ugly duckling teen girl who competes with a beauty queen for a Spanish exchange student with a love potion that's not a love potion. It's the third female protagonist story I've written, my third fantasy, and my first young adult story. Different from my usual work. I'll be curious to hear what the ladies in the group think.

Connie gave another talk on dramatic irony. Walter talked about literary contracts and outlines/synopses. All good stuff. Ironically, the dramatic irony wasn't something I'd had covered in my other workshops/classes. :-)

I exercised a bit, but cut it short to have a personal conference with Walter about my fiction plans. I was glad to hear I'd mapped out a good strategy for myself: get 3-5 pro short fiction sales, then go ahead with novels.

I've got an outline to do over the weekend, prepare to read some stuff for Monday, a George Martin talk to look forward to, and outings in Taos.

We had a grill cook out with hamburgers and hot dogs (along with brownies, potatoe chips/doritos, peanuts, and potato salad). I need to get more vegetables and fiber.

And we topped the evening with another movie night, watching a Carey Grant flick (forgot name) where we had things like clumsy exposition, raising the stakes, reversals, etc. pointed out to us.

Good times.

Jack B. Sowards Tribute

I just learned that Jack Sowards, my main UCLA screenwriting teacher, passed away a few days ago on July 8, 2007.

Jack was 78 and had Lou Gehrig's disease. He wasn't feeling well during my final quarter, and I was concerned for him. Looking back, his passing was foreshadowed.

He was an actor and a writer from the 1950s to 1990. His credits include episodes for Bonanza, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, and Star Trek TNG episode "Where Silence Has Lease."

He'd also served in the military during the Berlin Airlift crisis of 1947 and the Korean War. He's survived by his several children and grandchildren. He had a full life to put it mildly.

Jack was the most memorable screenwriting teacher I've ever had. I was lucky to have him for 4 of my 6 quarters in the UCLA Professional and Advanced programs. He taught both my first class in 2002 and my last class in 2006.

Not only did he give great feedback on people's stories, he was also a fount of wisdom, experience, and anecdotes about life and his time in Hollywood.

I'll miss you, Jack.

Thanks for everything you've given me.

The following quote from today's CS Weekly newsletter was something he'd said in class one day. I'll keep it in mind always.

"In Hollywood people don't fail, they quit."
– Jack Sowards (1929 - 2007)

Day 5

Critted 4 stories today.

There was no lecture, but Walter had us help plot out a partially done novel outline written by a person in the group. It took almost two hours.

The exercise was interesting, but the story idea didn't hook me, and I thought we could've completed it sooner.

I had to skip my fitness break today. C'est le vie.

I'm writing out my second week story right now. I think it'll be OK, but I'm a bit blocked now.

Oh, we're expecting George R.R. Martin this weekend. There was a little trouble finding him a room in the area since Bastille Day is coming up, and a lot of the local inns seem to be owned by Frenchmen.

Très curieux.

Later--

Oh!

I also turned in a summary of a restructured story. Walter bade us to do an exercise in which we identify a turning point in an existing novel/film, reverse it, and write what happened from there.

I chose Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith.

Here's my reworked version:
-----------------------------------------------------------

Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (Revised)

At the beginning of the film, Anakin and Obi Wan board General Grievous’ ship to save Chancellor Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious). Count Dooku confronts them. Dooku knocks out Obi Wan, but Anakin cuts off both Dooku’s hands, takes Dooku’s light saber, and angles both their light sabers at Dooku’s throat. Palpatine urges Anakin to kill him.

Divergence: Rather than kill Dooku, Anakin spares him and lets him flee. Anakin goes on to save Palpatine and Obi Wan and land Grievous’ ship when it crash lands on Coruscant.

Dooku escapes with General Grievous to a Trade Federation battleship. As they clear the Coruscant system, Dooku tells Grievous of Palpatine’s treachery and Darth Sidious’ original plan to lure Anakin to the Dark Side and let Grievous be destroyed along with the rest of the Separatist leadership.

When Sidious contacts Grievous, the biodroid general pretends that Dooku isn’t with him and the Separatist leadership. Sidious says that Dooku betrayed him on the ship over Coruscant, so Grievous must kill Dooku on sight. He also orders Grievous to lay a trap on the planet Utapu for any Republic forces chasing him and relocate the Separatist leadership on the planet Mustafar.

Dooku has droid prostheses attached to his wrist stubs and contacts Master Yoda. Dooku tells Yoda that Palpatine is also Sidious and that he wishes to renounce the Dark Side. He also warns Yoda that Sidious seeks to lure Anakin into the camp of the Sith.

Yoda tells Dooku to dangle Grievous as bait. He assigns Obi Wan and Anakin to go after Grievous to keep Anakin away from Sidious. Yoda bids Dooku to give himself up at the Jedi Temple, but Dooku says he must attend to other matters first. Yoda worries, but orders Mace Windu to arrest Palpatine after Anakin leaves Coruscant.

Before Anakin leaves to pursue Grievous, though, Palpatine has Anakin come to his office. There he tells Anakin that he’s afraid of Dooku and treachery from the Jedi. When Anakin disbelieves him, Palpatine says only the Sith have the power to raise people from the dead, playing on Anakin’s forebodings of Padme’s death, then reveals that he is Sidious.

Anakin is torn. Dooku then appears to claim his revenge on Sidious. Anakin watches as Sidious and Dooku battle ferociously. Finally, Dooku has Sidious at his mercy. But before Dooku can strike the final blow, Anakin cuts him down. Anakin then pledges his allegiance to Sidious in exchange for his help in saving Padme’s life.

At Sidious’ order, Anakin attacks the Temple with clone troops. Sidious also issues Order 66 to all Republic clone forces to kill the Jedi across the galaxy. Mace Windu sacrifices himself to let Yoda and Obi Wan escape with their lives. They make contact with Senator Organa, who takes them to Utapu. There Grievous shelters them.

Sidious orders Grievous to abandon Utapu and await further orders on Mustafar. Unaware of Yoda’s and Obi Wan’s location, Anakin goes to Mustafar to destroy the Separatist leadership. But before he goes, he assures Padme that he is all right and that he will end the war once and for all.

After Anakin leaves, Obi Wan contacts Padme via Holonet transmission and tells her that Anakin has attacked to the Temple and killed many Jedi there. Padme disbelieves him, but flies after Anakin to confront him herself.

Anakin arrives at Mustafar and goes to the bunker, where the Separatist Council hides. Instead he finds Obi Wan, and the two men fight.

Grievous and the Separatist Council meantime attack Coruscant with all their remaining ships. Under cover of the assault, Yoda confronts Sidious in his chambers and battles him.

Obi Wan eventually gets the better of Anakin and leaves him with his limbs amputated and set afire by a lava river. Padme arrives then. When she learns of Anakin’s injuries, she goes into shock and collapses. Obi Wan takes her with him.

Back at Coruscant, the clone forces destroy Grievous, the Separatist Council, and their armada. Yoda also fails to kill Sidious, and steals away from Coruscant on Senator Organa’s ship.

Sensing a threat to Anakin, Sidious hurries to Mustafar. There Sidious finds Anakin and takes him back to Coruscant, where he is transformed into Darth Vader. Sidious founds the Empire and begins construction on the Death Star.

Meantime, in a remote medical facility, Padme gives birth to Luke and Leia before dying of a broken heart. Yoda, Obi Wan, and Organa split the twins to wait for them to grow up in safety.

The stage is set for Luke, Leia, and Han to lead the Rebellion against the Empire.

DAY 4

Got up again and did my 3 crits. I was told that there was some rock blasting by a construction crew that happened to pick this week to come. I slept through it. Word is, the Snow Bear Inn proprietors told 'em to come back another week. We'll see.

Today's talk was about "irony" and how it's present in the best stories, whether fiction or film. Interesting.

After the crits, we had a breakdown of Samuel Delaney's "Nova" novella. Technically, it was written well and economically, though it wasn't in my taste. Generation thing, I suppose.

I've got 4 stories to crit for tomorrow. I hope to do at least one tonight and I have to start brainstorming on my 2nd week story. No movie night tonight. :-)

I suggested, and Walter seconded that the group go see the new Harry Potter movie. We set Sunday afternoon as the prospective day. I can hardly wait.

It was sunny earliery today, but we got a few scattered rain storms, so it's cloudy. That's not necessarily too bad since we have to watch out for UV rays in the mountains. The Snow Bear Inn is almost at 10,000 feet. I forgot to say that it hailed yesterday. All the snow is gone today.

Oh, this is also the final week for my film production class. I got the final lecture and articles. No assignments. Woohoo! Just final questions for the teachers on anything about the film biz. Now if I could only find time to read the material...

Later.

Day 3

Got up early, read 3 stories, and got some breakfast. Before the crits, we got a lecture on information flow in a story and plot devices. All useful information, even if I heard most of it before.

We critiqued 4 stories today, one of which was my Peacemaker tale, which I'm prepping for WOTF. I'd say I got a mixture of fair, useful, and unperceptive comments. On the whole, I got an idea of what to do with the next draft. It's true when they say writing is rewriting. But I'm on the right track with this story.

I've begun thinking about the second story I'll turn in for next week. I would've done more if I hadn't succumbed to a temptation to watch Casablanca with most of the others.

I knew how it ended, but I've never seen the whole thing till now. A lot of today's Hollywood execs, directors, producers, writers, etc. would learn a thing or two if they watched this film. I'd say Connie picked it to reinforce some points in the lecture, like "reversals," "character convergence" (when characters that mix like fire and oil come together, that is), "plot twists," and sundry other good storytelling things.

Great film.

But I still have to do some background work on my next story.

And critique 3 stories when I wake up tomorrow...

Later.

Day 2


Got up early, critted 3 stories, got some toast with jam, and showed up for an 11 A lecture on plot.

Connie and Walter brought up some good plot structures, many of which I'd heard elsewhere. The talk lasted for maybe 40-50 minutes. We then critted the 3 stories, with 5 minute breaks in between and a 15 minute lunch.

We wrapped up around 4 P. The people in the group offered the best comments they could, pointing out bugs and offering suggestions. Walter & Connie capped each round, each talking at length. The three writers seemed to come away satisfied. No one left crying.

I'm coming up tomorrow. I'll be curious to see how the session goes.

I'm getting used to the...unique layout of my half of the room I'm staying in: a bathroom light that has to be flipped down to turn on, a light switch by my faucet that turns on nothing I can see, a light down the hallway that turns on the faucet light, etc.

I just got a key for my room, but the TV in my half has no antenna or satellite box--not that I have time for it any way.

I did some active stuff to get my endorphins going, then chowed down on burned lasagna, rock hard garlic bread, and salad. I indulged in a little ice cream and soft drink, but I'll cut it out now.

Connie showed us excerpts of "Throw Momma From The Train," pointing out all the (slightly) exaggerated writer bits.

Now I have to crit 3 of 4 stories. The fourth's mine, so I'm off the hook there.

Later.

Day 1

Thanks to procrastinating till the last minute on my packing, I got a whole 4 hours of sleep before going to the airport and getting on my flight to Albuquerque.

I dozed a bit here and there, read a novel, and ate a sandwich every four hours though I didn't want to.

Pretty warm when I got into Albuquerque, but it's a dry heat. My bag turned up at the airport ahead of me. That's a first for me. I noticed when I saw it by a baggage office rather than at the baggage claim terminal, where I waited for ten minutes and saw other people from my flight collect their stuff and leave.

I then boarded a shuttle van to Taos, New Mexico, and ended up being the last of 7 people dropped off because the Snow Bear Inn was the furthest drop off point. :-/

I did get to talking with the other passengers, one of whom was attending a mainstream fiction workshop in a motel in town. Caroline Chung-Wipff. We exchanged e-mails and promised to exchange short stories. I'm looking forward to reading her tale about... two Korean orphans caught up in the Korean War, if I recall correctly. I'll send her my Richard Takashima tale I'm prepping for WOTF after getting comments from Critters and Taos.

Anyhoo, after about 3 hours, I finally got to the Snow Bear Inn. The temperature fell something like 20 degrees fahrenheit. Bracing, a bit like the Rockies in Colorado. I can imagine what this place would be like with snow...

I found my room, chatted with Walter, Connie Willis, and some other people, and ate more food.

We have three presubmitted to stories to critique for tomorrow. I'm going to crash, then write up my thoughts in the morning. Fotunately, I'd already read all the manuscripts before coming. I just have to refresh myself on each one as I get to it.

I'm curious to see what Walter and Connie have to share with us.

Hailing frequencies closed.

Sit Rep

Busy, busy, busy...

On the 4th of July, I managed to see: "Ratatouille," "Live Free or Die Hard," and "Transformers." Quickly, I'd say for each in order: "another cartoon classic," "better than I expected," and "glitzy pop corn fare." I don't know if or when I'll get a chance to write something more extensive about any of these, though.

I've completed the 5th week of a six week film production course. Big expense considering I was already going to Taos. I'm not complaining too much, though, since learning how to create one's own production company is handy. :-)

The class is offered by the ESE Workshops program. Two very knowledgeable producers/instructors are teaching it, Rona Edwards and Monika Skerbelis. I'd met Rona at an industry panel in LA last August, which helped prompt me to try her online course after she started it up.

I was able to get the Week 5 work done on Thursday after getting the assignments this Wednesday. Big contrast after spending something like 96 hours over the last week on my Week 4 assignments when I wasn't working and reading stories for my upcoming Taos workshop.

I wrote phone pitches for 5 scripts (though I needed to do only two).

Then for the two required scripts, I had to research for each 6 candidates for writers, directors, actors for two roles, all their reps, and prospective production companies/studios to submit to, their contact info, the list it all out.

Gods...

But I persevered and turned in my lists on Wednesday. And now I have a game plan for when I start marketing these scripts. :-)

This Saturday, I have to help out a bit at work, do some final chores, and pack.

I can hardly wait to go to Taos this Sunday. Assuming the wi-fi holds up, I expect to keep a daily blog of my Taos adventures from 7/8 to 7/21. So stay tuned.

Though I hope things don't fall apart on the homestead when I take my leave...