Ahh, sweet memories from last year's New Hampshire Writers' Day Conference.

For information on this year's event, scheduled for Saturday, March 25, 2006, surf over to the New Hampshire Writers' Project website: www.nhwritersproject.org.

Maybe I'll see you there....



Had to add the Cold Cuts flyer--on Monday, February 27, at 7 pm, at 229 W. 49th Street, NYC, the staged reading will feature pages from "Keep Your Distance" by playwright Lawrence Goodman, a fellow Goddard-ite and new friend. For more information, surf over to www.tengrandburger.com.

Giggling God

I had to laugh myself when I read how "easy" packet number one came off (blog entry below). Best laid plans....

Not this one. Not because the content is any more difficult, it's simply that this is a rigorous program. Twenty-six hours a week, minimum, is what we've committed to our Goddard full-time, low-residency studies. Unfortunately, squeezing that kind of time into my schedule in the midst of a family crisis that erupted this past week has become a nearly unbearable, unachievable goal.

Yet, it is with the strength, encouragement, and support of my fellow Goddard-ites that I soldier on (thanks guys--I couldn't survive this without you!).

That much I had to share, lest anyone think this program is a cake walk. It's designed to challenge and to stimulate. It's doing both those things and more - helping me to reach the next level in my writing and critical reading abilities. I just have to accept that at times it may be more difficult than at others.

Family comes first. After that Goddard and my own students at UNH. If there's anything left, perhaps I'll take a jog. Or a nap.

Perhaps best laid plans would be best laid to rest. :)

Thanks for stopping in.

Peace,
Dana

Grad School, Take Two

So, packet number one's off. I'm officially on my way to completing the first semester requirements. It wasn't that difficult, really. The hardest part is that I have found that I miss the camaraderie of the residency. But some of that has continued. A couple people and I have stayed in constant communication via e-mail as we write and procrastinate from writing.

What is a packet you non-Goddard-ites may wonder....

Basically our semester is broken into six segments. Segment one is the Residency Requirement. Nine days on campus. Great food (kudos to the chef and his staff!), excellent workshops (the professors are top notch!), and fun times with fellow classmates (let's not reveal just how much fun we had...yet!).

The next five parts are broken down by the five packets we mail off to our advisor every three weeks. Up to forty pages is sent off for critique, analysis, grading, and review. My first packet consisted of the following:

- A five-page Process Letter in which I spent the first four pages talking about the process I went through in studying and writing over the course of my first three weeks at home. I also brought up questions that I have about where I am going in my creative work; things I am seeking specific feed-back on from my advisor. The last page I used as a simple table of contents. I'm guessing it was unnecessary, but it made me feel better to include it. I'm anal about these things; what can I say?

- Two two-page Annotations. These are short critical papers analyzing a detailed item that I picked up on close-read of a novel and of a poem.

- One five-page critical paper. I was pretty critical of the lack of depth Neil Simon used in his female version of "The Odd Couple" play. Sorry, Mr. Simon. No disrespect meant. I simply needed a thesis, and I decided to explore the use of humor not as a method for dealing with the underlying pain, but of skirting the real issues. I think I proved my point. Perhaps someone else may have chosen to prove the opposite.

- One one-page plot line sketch that I used as a teaching tool in my Advanced Screenwriting Class that I am teaching at the University of New Hampshire as part of my teaching requirement.

- And twenty-five pages of Creative Work. Most of those pages are character breakdowns for my protagonist, antagonist, pivotal character, and for two minor pivotal characters in my new feature-length screenplay that I am writing for the program.

While it's off, I have begun working on Packet # 2 requirements. I began my scene cards for my screenplay today. I will type those up into outline fashion (script outline, not academic outline) for submission. I have also started an annotation on the movie "Gypsy" (the original movie from 1962 with Natalie Wood and Karl Malden, not the Bette Midler TV re-make). And, of course, I am still teaching.

And while I am blogging it may have occurred to folks that I am procrastinating from my other duties. In particular, I have about forty more pages of grading ahead of me--as my Advanced Screenwriting students begin their feature length scripts with me in another week or so....

Thanks for stopping in. And, hey, if you think of one, please leave a joke for me. I hardly come up for air these days, and when I do, I find I most need a good laugh. And no, it does not have to mask underlying pain; but if it does, let's simply skirt the issue rather than deal with it.

Cheers,
Dana

I just had to add this one little tid bit: I recently found Metallica's "Garage Inc." and am soooo excited to be loading the songs on my laptop now. I have been looking for this album forever. One of these days I'm going to have to dig out that free iPod that came with my iBook and load this stuff onto it. I wish I understood technology better. Okay, that's enough procrastination for one day....

So this is Grad School...

Well, I'm here. Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. (I would put the handy dandy instant click to the website thing in, but my apple doesn't seem to like blogger dot com, and that option doesn't exist for me unless I return to PC world; guess you'll just have to Google it if you're curious. I know - and yet I can get a photo in...just weird.)

I arrived yesterday afternoon after driving two hours north on I-89, avoiding rocks and slow semis in my rented car. Moved furniture around my room, hung mini white post-holiday lights, reported my phone as dead, only to learn I'd plugged it into the wrong outlet. Met some great people at dinner and a reception last night, but that hasn't made me any less tense.... Anticipation. It's a killer.

Was up and ready to start my day at 4:30. Still almost an hour to go before breakfast. Not that I'm hungry. But waiting this long for my first cup of coffee may kill me by the end of the week.

An actor friend suggested I post blogs about my grad school experience...so here is installment one. I trust installments two through whatever will be more grounded in substance and education.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers!

Happy Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve and I've been awake since the dawn of time due to a cat's meow.

Happy holidays everyone. Hope that in addition to getting all the things you hope for, you are also blessed with a healthy dose of PEACE, which is something I am seeking this coming year. (Can one actively seek peace? Anyway, I'm going to try.)

Think I'll try getting a few more winks, too, before it's time to drive my son to the "mountain" for his first job; he began last week at Pats Peak working in their tubing park. Suddenly he's starting to see the compelling reasons to whip his grades into shape...I think. I can only hope.

Be well. Be merry. Be nice.

Cheers,
Dana

PS Just posted these thoughts at the Cinema Strikes Back website. Thought I'd share them here, since I am such a fan of the actor, director, and of the documentary:

CHAMPION is the tops! Not because it's a fascinating look at a compelling actor (which it is), nor because the direction is first rate (it's that, too), but because of the impact it's had on my fourteen-year-old son. Since seeing it in August CHAMPION has been on the top three of his favorite movie list. Danny Trejo provided inspiration in his revealing story about his struggle to survive in this bizarre world of ours; and Joe Eckardt's direction provided the fly on the wall view audiences seek, while capturing the true grit that is Trejo personified on the silver screen. My only recommendation is that The Film Emporium consider producing an edited PBS-documentary length. The tight 56:40 length would edit out the occasional redundancy and might help secure wide-spread distribution, which is what this documentary needs. All our teens need to see Trejo for the couragous hero he is.

This Lousy Book

Yes, this Lousy Book has, indeed, finally entered its final chapter. The remains unearthed in Ohio have been identified as those of Philip and Sarah (thank you David for your post).

Some have wondered how I became involved with this case. It all started with an exceptional young man, a talented and gifted actor, who showed up to audition for my short LEMONADE STAND. He amazed us -- me, and the two producers/directors. And continued to stun us with his incredible energy and enthusiasm, as well as his knack for memorizing the entire dialogue in a scene, not just his own.

One day, taking a break between shots, Philip asked me a question about something in the script that we'd be shooting the next day. I said I didn't know and would have to look it up. He was thunderstruck. "But you wrote it! How can you not know what happens next?" I told him as a writer I tended to write things down and clear my head for the next creative item to germinate and grow, and that as an actor it was his job to know and memorize his lines. "I'm just no good at memorization," I finally confessed.

I'm not sure the explanation ever sat right with him, though I did notice Philip paying attention to all the different jobs people performed on the set - the lighting, audio recording, directing - everyone had his or her job to do in order to pull the whole thing off. I think he was starting to see just how much a team effort the small video had become.

Later, somewhere down the road, I was called on by RachelFind to produce the Public Service Videos since they had found my name in a Google search; apparently there are numerous quotes of mine that the wire services had picked up after the children went missing. When Anne at RachelFind realized I was in radio and TV AND that I knew Teri, she figured she'd found her New England Producer. Even though my LA manager at the time had told me that producing was and is what I am meant to do, at that time I had never produced anything. Anne wasn't deterred. And even though I cried a release of tears, and wrestled with uncertainty as to whether or not I could handle my emotions and somehow figure out how to produce the segments, I said I would. And somehow I did - with the help of Teri, Shawn, and Anthony at WKXL.

My thoughts and prayers are still with Teri, her new husband, and their beautiful family, especially as they travel out to Ohio. Teri is one of the most remarkable people I've ever met. I don't know how she pushes on, and yet she does so with grace.

Thank you for stopping by. May you enjoy this holiday season.

Finally a closed chapter?

I just received a call that the New Hampshire Attorney General's office is holding a 3:30 press conference regarding the Gehring children. As we hold our collective breath to see whether their remains were finally recovered, we can tune into WKXL radio for a complete report.

For those of you who are not aware, WKXL generously donated their sound studio and audio editing expertise for a number of radio and video sound tracks for a series of Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that have been running all summer and fall in the Midewest markets. I was called on by the volunteer-supported Rachel Find organization to produce and write the series. My intern at the time, Shawn Laplante, edited the video PSAs, and Teri Knight (the children's mother) and I recorded the Voice Overs.

Let's hope and pray that this is a story that can finally have a resolute ending for Teri and her family.

Thank you for stopping in.

--Dana