Comic Relief: Laughing off the nightmares.

I am on a Boise-bound Greyhound. I forgot to bring a book to help pass the time and the bus' wi-fi is on the fritz, so I read something already downloaded onto my laptop--the screenplay for Psycho (1960).

What a humorous experience… getting creeped out reading that suspense-filled script while surrounded by strangers.

I sent a text to my friend, warning, "I just read Psycho. I might need to sleep with you tonight."

She kindly informed me that I could sleep with McCoy (her Scottie dog), or her cat, Chloe.

I might need both. I chuckle as I think of the humorous line from Ghostbusters (1984), "Dogs and cats...living together..." I can see the humor in this.

In texting with my friend, I learned she doesn't have the Internet at her place. A weekend without the Internet? Now I am frightened for reals.

Motivation: Yes, dream, but take action.

"The universe doesn't give you what you want in your mind; it gives you what you demand with your actions." 
~ Steve Maraboli

Although I believe it is important to visualize and dream, without taking action (even baby steps) the "universe" cannot step in to help those dreams become real.

Sharing the other commercial.

Here's the other commercial filmed while I was an extra. I can't find myself in this one, even though I was "right there" for many of the shots. No matter... I had a blast and would do it again if given the opportunity.

Comic Relief: Commercial

Last September I was on extra while filming commercials for Lagoon Amusement Park. Here's one of them. (I won't attempt to tell you where to watch for me...I'm barely a blip in the background and it took me a long time, going frame by frame, to find myself.) I got a kick out of the story-line of the commercial and wanted to share it.  Be sure to pause at the very end to read the humorous fine print.

Action!: Sitcom writing team.

Last week an associate contacted me and asked if I would be interested in being part of a sitcom writing team with the hopes of pitching the series to network executives. Am I interested??? YES! A dream come true!

Maybe watching The Dick Van Dyke Show planted that dream when I was young.  I loved watching the team of television writers (Dick Van Dyke, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam) making wisecracks and brainstorming ideas.

Over the years, while watching sitcoms, I often thought, "What a blast to be with comedic minds and hammer out that script."

While studying screenwriting, sometimes students brought in their hopeful scripts for television comedies. After reading the pages, we sat around the table and discussed ideas to make it even stronger, often howling with laughter. Those were my favorite times in class.

Last Friday we had our first team meeting and discussed ideas about the premise, characters, background, and funny situations for the series. Our level of laughter increased when certain ideas gelled. So much fun and synergy, just as I imagined. I felt excited and grateful for the tremendous opportunity.

After the meeting, however, reality and fear set in.

Reality...

• I have never written anyone else's ideas or stories.
• I have never written a television script (it has different formatting, timing, and beats).
• I have never written a comedy.

Fear...

• What if I tank?
• What if I disappoint the others on the team?
• What if I'm not funny?

Of course, the inner negative critic had a heyday over that.  

• Who do you think you are?
• Who are you kidding?

But I don't care about all that. I want to do this and have to give it my best shot!  Thanks to Amazon and the public library, I found some books about writing for television, and writing comedy. I'll be cramming before our next meeting.

Opportunity knocked and I yanked it through the door.  Now I need to work hard to make sure it is tied securely to a chair and not escaping!

"Block" Buster: Want it!

Quoting Bill Cosby: "Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it."

Last week opportunity knocked and I grabbed it by the hand, pulled it through the door and invited it to stay. Afterward the reality sank in, I don't know what I'm doing! And the negative critic chanted, Who do you think you are? You can't pull this off. Fear engulfed me. What if I stink at this?

But you know what? I don't care. I want it more than I fear it.

(Stay tuned for Wednesday's Action! post.)

Motivation: Sacrifice

"You can only become great at that thing you're willing to sacrifice for." ~Maya Angelou

Comic Relief: I don't need anything... except this...

Humor gives me a brighter attitude, so whenever I throw a pity party, I like to imitate the following scene from The Jerk (1979). "I don't need anything ... except this ... and that's all I need!"

"Block" Buster: Good enough.

"Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." (Attributed to Voltaire)

I tend to look for the perfect idea, and of course the perfect time to write. The perfect place. The perfect mood. When I fall into that mindset, I don't write.

I'm striving to become a "good enoughist" rather than a perfectionist. Any idea, time, place, and mood is good enough to write.

Writing something, sometime, somewhere, anyway is better than writing nothing at all.

Comic Relief: Make 'Em Laugh

Donald O'Connor sings "Make 'Em Laugh" and brings a smile to my face. I needed that!

Clip: Singin' in the Rain (1952)