back in blogville
I'VE BEEN ON A BIG KITE FLYING KICK IN THE LAST FEW DAYS.
I used to love to fly kites when I was a kid. But for some reason I hadn't flown one in many, many years. Not sure why. Then a few weeks ago I won a raffle at my nephew Jack-o's Little League opening day carnival fundraiser. In one of the two summer "gift baskets" I won a couple cheap kites—which the kids at Team Dewey proceeded to break while I was up in LA with Tamale.
I've been gone for the better part of 5 weeks. I went on a pair of trips to Scottsdale, the first on a Greyhound to interview the guys from Flight of the Conchords (who were great, by the way—but more on that later). The second trip to Scottsdale 3 weeks later was a little more swanky, as Tamale and I got a ride in the Mooney 4-seater airplane owned by Dr. Brian, my brother-in-law, who flew us out on a Friday and came back to get us the following Monday, after he'd flown back to LA from Tahoe that morning. What a guy! I'm blessed with a trio of solid brothers-in-law.
The reason we were going to Scottsdale this time was to give a couple New Orleans presentations, using photos, music, videos and letters to share my story of volunteering in the 9th Ward to about 40 people at a couple house parties hosted by my good friend Eddie Elliott and his wife Stephanie. It was the same sort of double-bill, stories and music kind of experience we had back in '04, when I was the "opening act" for Eddie's musician friend Sim Flick, who once again drove out from San Diego—this time with his new wife, Allison, who I got to meet for the first time. It was great hearing Sim's new music—the man's got serious talent—and hanging out with the Elliotts and so many of their friends. Plus, Tamale and I got to stay with Gentleman Jim once again, this time meeting his new girlfriend Shonda. Love is in the air!
Meeting all these interesting new people and seeing old friends softened the blow after I realized that my New Orleans story needs work. More focused storytelling. Better editing of the photos and videos. More Katrina facts at my disposal. Better understanding of what I'm trying to say to my audience.
The last 5 weeks have also seen me fly to a Texas wedding with Tamale just outside of Austin. (I could write a solid magazine article, at least, about that trip.) Speaking of magazine articles, I've written and turned in 4 freelance pieces since our last posting. And I've even played Mr. Bob at a couple elementary schools since I got back to Temecula 5 days ago. I also got an offer, albeit a low-ball offer, to produce and star in Barstool Poetry, an online reality show featuring regular 3 min. "episodes" that would take me out into the bars of America this summer. Oh, and I started Power 90...again.
Here's what my day's looking like tomorrow: I'm writing an obituary on Roy Scheider for the Emmy website; I'm working on my book proposal for Barstool Poetry, which SuperAgentSteve at Writer's House seems to think has the potential to be the next PostSecret; I'm researching a certain iconic rock star in preparation for a treatment I've been asked to write for a very accomplished documentary producer; and I'm doing some digging for the LA Weekly piece I'm writing on the late, great Killer Dana—the once epic-surfspot-turned-chronically-polluted-beach where I learned to surf 40 years ago. Not to mention the regular handful of emails to return and phone calls to make.
Yes, things are still flowing nicely on our end.
Especially when we're taking the time to fly kites. With or without the kiddies.