Wednesday, September 15, 1999

Try To Remember



First of all, I'm writing this on my new computer! It's an Emachine 400i with megagig hard-bytes and CB RAMs, cellulite processing and 56K moslems. I also got a 15" color monotone and a 720 dpw printer. I have interstate access and bvd drives as well as sound-guards and cereal proliferies. But enough techno babble.

Today marks my sixth month at my temp job, a fact I celebrated by asking for more money. (They want me to fill out a Raise Review Form first.) In just a few days, I will be celebrating another milestone: my first year in California. I've been thinking a lot about what I have accomplished so far, and while it doesn't amount to much, it feels like a solid start. My chief accomplishments have been 1) getting here 2) buying a car 3) finding an apartment 4) getting a job (to pay for the car and the apartment) 5) buying a computer and 6) buying scriptwriting software.

Now I know it seems as though most people might be able to accomplish these tasks in less than a year, but I am satisfied with my glacial progress. The longer I'm out here the more I realize that this isn't going to be a hit and run exercise and I need to prepare for the long haul. My most recent acquisition -- the scriptwriting software -- is the culmination of my year of preparation. It is the ultimate tool for the screenwriter, allowing me to sit down and write, rewrite, edit, rearrange, etc., without ever again having to worry about or hassle with format changes, pagination, headers and footers and all the little conventions of the screenplay form that have been giving me grief for the past five or ten years. It has already substantially increased my life expectancy. Plus it has this cool feature that actually reads your script out loud using various preprogrammed voices.

Meanwhile the rest of the world continues to whirl by, occasionally offering glimpses of what life is like outside my apartment. Mrs. Norman Green (nee Lauren Lazin) was in town for a visit, to pick up an Emmy or two and visit with her west coast friends and associates. I was lucky enough to join her and a group of successful TV producer types at the Jones cafe just down the Blvd. Lauren looked great as always and her friends were very nice. One of them turned out to be Peter Byck, formerly of Louisville, whose brother Dan went to school with my sister Susan and cousin Cathy briefly dated Dave Todd (who didn't?) and is somehow related to the Sperrys (who isn't?). [Speaking of the Sperrys -- Brian "Prince Hal" Nesin's girlfriend Allison used to baby-sit for Jon Sperry's nephews in the world's greatest apartment in the fabulous Majestic on CPW.]

Another married lady was in town recently, Mrs. Daddy-Bear Kiley-Osborn, formerly of New Canaan, who was visiting her father Tim in the Hollywood Hills along with her latest production, the young Casey Rowan Kiley-Osborn of Park Ridge NJ. I spent the evening with Susie, Casey, Tim, Tim Jr., Laura and the lovely and talented Tricia hanging out around the pool, checking out where Ringo and Babs used to live, looking down at the glittering lights below and watching Casey drool. Fortunately I was wearing cotton pants (they're absorbent). The amazing thing about those Kiley-Osborn kids is, you wouldn't think there could be another one as adorable as the first three, but sure enough, they've done it again. Then again, the parents are pretty adorable too.

By the way does anyone know where Dan Haar is? Let me know if you do. My last email to him got returned.

Happy Anniversary to Warren and Pattie Eastman!

Those are the highlights for this month. Don't forget to write back and let me know how you are all doing.

Love, Hollywood Dick