investigations, insight, unconditional Love for the greater Oneness, tales of adventure, and shameless optimism from the edge of the not so distant future
I’m taking part in a Naturopathic research study related to my digestive pain (oh how I dream of a time in the future where it does not plague me) and I’m happy that I’m getting a chance to help with some open-minded yet scientific research. There is a small financial bonus at the end (yay) but mostly I’m happy about the free high-end probiotics. Though there is a chance that I’ve been given a placebo, they’ll give me the real stuff at the end if that’s the case.
I just spent most of the weekend in a recording studio working on the highly ridiculous (and somewhat offensive) Jack Cass and his Cow Mountin’ Boys album. I enjoyed the process and really got in touch with how much I love to drum and how much I enjoy comedy.
It really is clever and hilarious. I’ll share some sounds after the final touches….
I’ve got a good routine of work and rehearsals right now, am riding my bike a lot, and hanging out with a charming new gentleman friend. I’m loving the hum of Toronto and getting out of town sometimes for a bit of nature too.
I’ll also be visiting BC for Entheos etc. in a few weeks!
So right now I’m in two bands, a country comedy act and Giant Triangle. GT is the same people as the other act plus an amazing new singer, who made the first image below. The second image is my belt buckle for the comedy act. I feel so lucky I get to do this stuff :)
The latest Writer Pep Talk from the Scriptfrenzy folks is awesome and it helped me a lot today.
You are creative and interesting, and this idea got your attention. It was worthy of your time and love at the start of April and, like all deep relationships, needs you to stick with it even when it gets tricky.
Unexpected connections and paths will start emerging, and the spark that hooked you in the beginning will turn into a light, then a rip-roaring fire of a story. For that to happen, you must continue to give it your time, energy, and creativity.
This is not the time to give up.
Pinky swear that you’ll keep going.
I’ll take your continued reading as a ‘yes.’
…
Make it up. There is no sound is space, hobbits aren’t real, and there is no evidence that a long, long time ago Jedis fought the Empire. The best part about writing fiction is that these facts don’t impact an audiences’ willingness (and often eagerness) to believe in them. Make up your own version Superbowl or Academy Awards if your story needs it. You’re already making up people and time, so don’t get bogged down in what the world already knows about or what might technically be accurate. If you say something is so, the audience will believe that it is so in your world.
I’m up to 74 pages in my script at the time of this post, and I’m going to stay up and work some more tonight. The goal of Script Frenzy is to write 100 pages in one month, by the end of April.
I’m surprised at how the story is unfolding, and how much I’m coming to care about the characters…
The screenplay took an unexpected turn the other day, when a character I introduced for comedic effect turned out to be the female lead. I scrapped my outline and am rolling with it. It’s going well. At this moment I’ve written 67 pages!
The comedy aspect of it is going to be less over the top silly and more about the eccentric characters, much like one of my favourites, the semi-obscure librarian-themed Party Girl.
I’m enjoying being focused on the screenplay, and it’s fun to log into the Script Frenzy site to network with other writers (and update my page count statistics.) The idea is to get to 100 pages by the end of the month.
Here’s where I am today:
And the brief version of what it’s about…
SHAKE UP, WAKE UP An idealistic environmental activist has the perfect job working for a “Green Marketing” firm and is dating the perfect girl. After being hit by lightning in a freak storm, he gains the ability to read minds and finds out not everything is as perfect as it seems.
As posted before, I plan to spend April focused on script writing. It’s unclear if script writing is “my thing” however this is the way to find out. I will still write music as of May and do other things. I may discontinue this blog and change gears in terms of my web writing too, perhaps going back to a research focus.
Time will tell, thanks for reading (I wonder how many people actually read these posts, besides my mom…)
It’s 6:45 AM and I just woke up from the clearest dream of my life in which a song seed was delivered to me.
I was sitting in a cabin on the Sunshine Coast when a gang of real estate developers came by with a form, looking to get me to sign away my property. I said I was just a tenant and they moved along going door to door.
Later in the dream I was in a hallway with many doors, one led to a magical forest with amazing creatures (I’m remembering tiny baby flamingos) and in another I was in a hot tub room with a group of warm hearted people. One of the guys was singing a song and playing guitar and everyone joined in. At the end I remember grabbing the Autoharp and figuring out that it was in the key of G.
The words:
“oh my lord of heart and of sorrow
oh my lord
oh my lord
oh my lord, I hurt and I struggle
carry me
to where I belong”
A crew of people were singing along (we repeated it for a long time with feeling) and when we stopped someone said, “sing it like you wrote it!”
I woke up feeling like I had a responsibility to create this song and deliver it.
I find this interesting because I’ve been avoiding writing “negative” songs, and now feel that honest sentiment is the way to go.
Also, I did see Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland IMAX movie last night, which may have triggered something (at least the doors and flamingoes.)
While in Hamilton, I took a course in scriptwriting at The Factory (best birthday gift ever) and ever since, ideas for a movie have been bouncing around in my head.
Today I’ve discovered this. The timing could not be more perfect!
What is Script Frenzy? Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which participants take on the challenge of writing 100 pages of scripted material in the month of April. As part of a donation-funded nonprofit, Script Frenzy charges no fee to participate; there are also no valuable prizes awarded or “best” scripts singled out. Every writer who completes the goal of 100 pages is victorious and awe-inspiring and will receive a handsome Script Frenzy Winner’s Certificate and web icon proclaiming this fact.
Even those who fall short of the word goal will be applauded for making a heroic attempt. Really, you have nothing to lose—except that nagging feeling that there’s a script inside you that may never get out.
I found a place to rent in Toronto and will be moving in at the end of the month. There is a possibility that someday I’ll go back West (or perhaps elsewhere) but for now it feels great to be here again. Unlike many cities around the world, a woman can walk almost everywhere in Toronto 24/7 and still feel safe. There’s extensive multiculturalism and comparitively very little racism.
I’m reconnecting with old friends and loving the potentiality of meeting so many new ones.
I’m especially looking forward to the return of bicycle season…
My life is full of unknowns, however I have decided one thing: I’m currently planning to stick around in Ontario for awhile, especially because I want to be near the band.
We practice in Mississauga, so I’m looking for work within the zone where I can still get to rehearsals, likely in Toronto.
That said, I am open to alternative awesome occurences.
Is it possible for you to embrace uncertainty, and not demand that you should know what is going to happen to you in your life situation? –Eckhart Tolle
meditating on the bus
abiding within
while rolling along towards a new life
I briefly open my eyes
and see
the big city digital billboard say,
“best do-over ever!”
Last night I met up with a guitarist and bass player looking for a drummer. I jammed with them & it felt good to reactivate that part of my life. Energetically, I need it.
I started a temporary job in a retail electronics store and experienced a gang of professional shoplifters sweeping through, who managed to steal two laptops. A “family” of a couple and a 17-18 year old girl came in and the girl sweetly asked me to show her musical instruments in one corner while a group of two other guys that came in at the same time distracted my co-worker in an opposite corner. Someone managed to break the locks on the computers and get out before we noticed.
It was very frustrating to be swindled, however I was amazed at the skill of the thieves. Some that I’ve talked to about the incident have tried to convince me that stealing from “a corporation” is somehow morally ok, Robin Hood style. This is an ethical grey area.
I personally would not steal, however I understand why some others do.
The journey into Hamilton has been educational and rich in terms of life experience…
I’m in New Jersey for my Dad’s wedding and it’s strange to be back in American “civilization” again. It’s bringing up feelings of people being hypnotized by the work/shopping/TV lifestyle though I know not everyone is really as much of a zombie as they seem.
When I left Toronto to go to a cabin on the West coast 5 years ago I had dark feelings about the state of the world, and felt as if everyone were totally clueless about the fact that our way of life is unsustainable and doomed to change. I wanted to be different and spent so much time seeking to “transcend” 3D density that I got lost. Now I’m back, grounded, and ready instead to go deeper, see what I can see, and do what I can do to make a positive difference in this realm while still being aware that there is so much more at the “cosmic” level.
First step? Get a job & figure out how to take care of my own basic needs. I have something temporary lined up for my return to Ontario next week and am hoping for something more substantial soon.
