True Story

Okay, so a couple hours away from the next year. I'm going to take a quick trip down memory lane.

Back when I was in school, I was in the second from lowest classes for Maths, essentially, I was in with the dunces. One day, I just ask them what year is New Years Eve and New Years Day in the same year. Simple question. They can't figure it out, I tell them, every year. They start taking the piss out of me, for how wrong I am, to an excessive degree and try and figure out which year it is. The teacher enjoyed this chaotic lunacy even as they denied the truth so quickly.

I can't believe how stupid people are.

I am man, hear me winge

It's 1:56 am, my bed is a mountain of clothes and I've ate a third of the pringles in the can on my own. I think it's time to tell you what I think, whilst condensing your opinions into the spam folder.

Everyone thinks next year is their year. Confidence after a day or two of splurging their organs into a vault of decadence that is acceptable in this day and age. I myself am not innocent of these war crimes and will thus be tried at the Hague in a matter of days. We are usually invincible on certain days of the year; our birthdays, halloween, close friends birthdays and work dos. Oh, and that thing called Christmas, not even atheists can escape it's mighty clutches as 'tradition' brings the movement to its very knees and cock slaps it in the face. *

Right now people feel like shit, they will never do it again, until new years eve. Then they shall change, we will all appear a week later as sparkling hopeful souls of the future (except rational people, they know we're going to fail)

All you smokers, look forward to angsty workmates bouncing around like constipated five year olds as you take another toke on them death sticks (fuck it, we're all going to die anyway, it's all painful in the end)

Meanwhile, I am perfectly confident that I can change, because I've been wanting to change since the summer and rational (that's rational-stupid people, it's like the North-East (that is as in cardinal direction, not the North-East of England) of personality traits). My uncle said today he was going to start going to the gym three to four times a week, we'll see how he feels after two weeks of muscle soreness. People take the judgement of todays magazines and advertising as a route to punish themselves by afflicting morals upon themselves.


 If you don't enjoy it, don't change. Find something you might enjoy and do that.

There are plenty of things that won't stick for me, but they're the little things. I won't stay clean shaven for the entire year, I won't make it out of the week. I won't read every book I have. I will never read every Ancient Greek text in history, I won't even get through the first two. Clothes will always be on my floor.

But I will change because I feel unhappy, I'm not where I wanted to be a year ago. I was extremely hopeful for the future (despite it being completely unplanned) but I have learnt with this excess of free time (even the fun things are becoming a chore, these days) that I want something, I can't wait for it to happen. I have to do something and I will. That is why I am starting what I will be doing in advance of everyone else (some people are doing the same, very smart, rational-stupid people). I know I won't be touching alcohol in substantial quantaties for a little while, which is good. I'm not too attached to alcohol, unless you've plugged an I.V drip into my arm (it is cliché, but the other alternative ways of inserting alcohol inside me is pretty gross).

Next year will be bigger for me, but at the same time I am aware that it won't be my biggest year. It is getting the ball rolling, it'll probably take me another three to four years. It might take longer, but I have said I have until 2015 till I wuss out on some stupid suicide threat (I won't do it, anyway). Haters can picket their hate, but I'm going to go far, of course writing about it (in this sense) won't get me far.


I probably leave (for this year) with one thing, idolise peoples achievement not who they are. You won't be disappointed that way, but I find that it is pretty impossible when I listen to Childish Gambino. Because I think Donald Glover is who he wants to be:

I won't stop until they say, "James Franco is the white Donald Glover"

I wouldn't mind being a called the White Donald Glover, he is a rapper, stand-up comedian, comedy writer, actor and this combination should make you wince. But, it doesn't, or at least not to me. His music, his jokes, all his performances come with nuggets of truth behind the tunes, jokes and lines.

I actually love this guys writing, I have no idea why, rapping isn't my thing. He is a master of word play. For some reason he started at my age and I think, why not me? I can do that (not rap, but some of the other things...)

I got a book by Woody Allen for christmas, inside are execerpts of his notebooks (it's weird, he writers his stuff just like I do, not style, but ideas.

Anyway I play you out with Childish Gambino, if you can't get into it, fast forward to 2:59. I don't know how people become master storytellers, anyother way without hard graft. What makes things so masterful, working hard on something and then it comes together as if that person makes it effortless,

Anyway, see you when I see you.

*I suppose that's fine, I've never heard anyone being called a 'Bad Athiest'.

Aim

I've got goals, I have a mission. 2012 is my year, everybody else can fuck off, I call 'shotgun', I've bagsied it.

I have been relatively inactive for seven months, and now I'm going to try my hand at being a polymath. I took a friends thing 'Bucket List' and turned it into my own thing, I'm not going to post my version, I'd prefer it to just be mine. As you can't tell, I'm not very good at sharing, I like doing my own thing.

What I can say is that my aims on this list are all achievable and possible, but there is a slim chance that Bowie, Floyd or Cat Stevens are going to tour ever again.

I have always felt out of touch with my generation, I don't like our music, I don't like how we dress, I don't like how we talk, but I am not sinking in nostalgia at the same time. Just something else. When people in Junior school were into STEPS with 'Tragedy', there was me going 'Have you heard the original, the Bee Gees are way better' (The Bee Gees are way better).

Instead of buying a Nirvana t-shirt in my teens like everyone else, I bought a P.O.D. (Not a great choice) but it worked for me, I guess. Gelled spikey hair.

I've finally got back to reading scripts again, a few weeks ago I read Tarantino's intended version of Natural Born Killers. I saw the first ten minutes of the film by Stone, but it was crap (I don't understand why Stone has to act like a child who has mastered powerpoints and must show off). I liked Platoon, didn't like Salvador or other pieces. Tarantino's script was not great, it didn't interest me at all. But when I read it, I could see David O. Russel directing it.

Yeah, that's pretty much this blog post, pretty aimless.

Writers that I like

Aaron Sorkin, David Mamet, David Milch, Matthew Weiner, David Simon, Peter Berg, Ann Biderman

These aren't all of the writers I enjoy, but a few. They do things that I believe is the most important point of screenwriting, they're characters don't talk like they're in a tv show or a film.

Why aren't there more people like them out there writing quality pieces of work. This is language that flows, that slams and binds. The language can be how people really talk or how the writer would love people to talk, there is no other way around it.

I gravitate to their pieces of work:
The West Wing,
Southland,
Deadwood,
The Wire,
Mad Men,
Friday Night Lights

The actions show us the characters, their words tell us their world. They all different, and most importantly, they know what they are. The same cannot be said for all television as too much depends on templates.

Getting back into the funk

Trying to get back to writing after seven months of not writing anything. Was it tough? Yes and I didn't even write anything new, I just transcribed an old script to get me back into it. Did I enjoy it? No, but I'm thinking I have to drag myself kicking and screaming, which could only be done by the greatest of mime artists (physically).

Hunter S Thompson transcribed  Ulysses, I transcribe my own script.

I hope I start enjoying writing again, it's been too long.