Good news for the week is that I got my first does of the Pfizer Covid 19 vaccine. Felt a little sluggish for the day, but overall no adverse reactions/symptoms. Feels good to know there’s some kind of resolution to this year of mess.

Alright, let’s get started with what’s been going on in our tiny ass apartment the last 36 hours or so…

Last night around 9:30 pm I was in our bedroom watching THE WALKING DEAD when I heard my wife scream my name at the top of her lungs.

Naturally I was absorbed in my show, so I didn’t respond right away…which prompted a second scream.

Really busy week behind the scenes - my wife had to report to work, which left me balancing between our kids’ school and my work; and, I did a lot of work on the website that I look forward to revealing in a few weeks. Just want to give a quick update about what I’ve been doing lately.

Quick jot of what I did today. Going to keep this post short, sweet, and to the point. Got a lot of stuff I’m reading/viewing and taking notes on that I want to write up soon.

Sometimes an imbalanced week of competing priorities can offer just enough clarity as to what your next steps should be. For me I think this week was a good cleansing of the mind. I still got some stuff done (not as much as I wanted).

I’ve been writing pretty hard lately. Every night I start at 8/8:30 pm and work until midnight/1:00 am, only to get up at 6:30 am with my kids. To say I’m exhausted is an understatement. To say that I’m pushing myself to the max is, well, right on point. Luckily, I’m in the brainstorming phase of my latest project, so I don’t feel pressure in making sure every word is perfect. In fact, when I’m actually writing I feel the most relaxed and at peace.

Our first week back from vacation and we’re already in the think of misery - balancing working from home, helping two rambunctious boys with online school, looking for jobs, searching for a new place to live, and trying to write something that makes sense and that people would want to read.

I think it was Joyce Carol Oates who said the greatest enemy to writing is interruption. I can definitely attest to the truth of that observation. This week was cray.

Got up ridiculously early because my youngest son literally gets up before the birds. Add to that a healthy mix of work and teaching and helping both boys with school and working on my new pilot…I’m blurry-eyed as I write this post. But, dammit, I’m going to keep writing.

The most challenging thing about traveling, in my opinion, is maintaining some type of routine or schedule that supports your writing or creative endeavors. My week’s been a mess. The time change - AZ is an hour ahead of LA - is still something I can’t remember. I don’t know how many times I’ve logged into Zoom an hour before a meeting was supposed to start.

Cloudy day in Arizona. A rarity for sure. Otherwise a normal Monday while living under Covid - kids on Zoom for school, wife on Zoom for work, I’m on Zoom for work, too. Hell, we even put my in-laws in another room and ate dinner via Zoom just to be consistent.

I’m not going to start this post off with my usual observation about writing, creativity, and life. Instead, I’m going to blurt out an interesting idea I had while my family and I were driving to Arizona.

I’ve been doing a ton of reflective journaling lately in preparation for a new pilot - one that’s a love story to a scene and group of people from my formative years in the Chicago punk rock scene.

What a crazy week! I didn’t get accomplished what I had hoped to, but I’m super happy with what I was able to get done.

Well I crapped on my goals for this week…but for good reason.

Beautiful Sunday in Los Angeles. My wife and I took the kids to the park, had lunch, and played around. Since COVID struck we spend most of our time in our apartment, so anytime we can get out is a good day.

As someone trying to “break in” to screenwriting, I love to read interviews of those screenwriters who either won a prestigious award, been accepted into a coveted fellowship, or who worked their tail off and got staffed or sold a script. I always gain a bit of insight into other people’s processes and enjoy learning about their take on the craft and business of screenwriting. It’s a great way to find mentors to emulate - a key characteristic of Marcus Aurelius’ principles of self-discipline.

Exhausted! First day of school with my students. Glad to see they’re all doing well and are safe from COVID - my schools are in communities in Los Angeles that have been hit incredibly hard. Between helping my own kids with their work, teaching, and writing, I am exhausted.

Writer Twitter is a funny thing. Most of the people from the screenwriting/writing community who converse and interact on Twitter are nice, normal people who are willing to dispense knowledge on the craft and biz of screenwriting. Many offer encouraging words to each other.

I think inevitably every person who creates arts for a living - painter, writer, actor, dancer, etc. - compares themselves to other creatives. It’s a part of maturing as an artist, I guess. Everyone knows it’s not healthy to compare your successes to that of another’s, but we do it anyway - and if someone say’s they’re not; they’re lying. In contemporary society, comparing oneself to others is just a part of the human experience.