Easy Week, My Ass

 

 Man, this week turned sucky on the work front. Most of my team IS off, but the brainiac isn't. This guy's by far the best developer on our team, and one of the top guys in the company. He knows EVERYTHING. It's insane.

Anyway, he pushed two very hard tickets into the lane, and of course they land with me because the other tester...well, she's not great.

The only thing bad about this developer is that his documentation on stuff is THE WORST. These two complicated tests have a grand total of three paragraphs of information in his documentation. Most documentation comes with step-by-step instruction on how something's supposed to work, then you go in and figure out ways to break it.

So I had to take DAYS to figure out what these processes are supposed to do. Then I get hit with a question by my superior--hey, can I show another tester how to do this stuff, using these tests? Man, don't wanna do that, but can't really say no. It's just going to slow me down.

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We're all sort of bored, so I booked a hotel down at the beach for New Year's. Got a separate room for the kid. He can go swimming, we can do other stuff if you know what I mean and I think you do. (Joe Bob!)

There might be fireworks at the beach, so maybe we'll do that if we can stay far enough away from the crowds. Don't really want to catch the bug. My brother Mike has suddenly gotten "a cold", and thinks he might have it now. Doesn't have a test kit to find out though, and he's not going to the doctor.

Anyway, just going down for the night. I've sort of come to hate New Year's. It was never a holiday I liked, but it just gets worse and worse. So Happy New Years to those who care.

Also, this will be my last post for 2021. If you're keeping count, I posted 82 times this year. Not a record, but it's the most I've posted since 2016(where I posted 97 times). 

How many will I post in 2022?

 

Another Xmas down...

 

 Let's get this out of the way first: Saw the new Matrix. Thought it was pretty bad. Over-long and full of repetition. Like, hey, you love the Matrix? We're gonna throw in a LOT of the same shit with nothing new other than a slight meta angle. And oh yeah, a really terrible Mr. Smith replacement-actor, like, the LEAST intimidating actor they could have chosen.

I stopped and started this movie four times before I finished it, which is a record.

Watched Krampus with my kid since he'd never seen it. Tried Silent Night, but it's a slow, overly talky movie that tries to be Last Night but fails pretty bad. (Last Night is a movie I've loved for years, under-rated and under-seen from 1998--you apparently can't stream it anywhere for free)

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Christmas was lame as usual. I took a day off so I could have four days off in a row. Tried to get some sleep and just refresh my brain, but it didn't really work. The wife is particularly depressed because her parents are both in failing health and she's afraid this will be the last normal Christmas, that is, the last one with both of her parents alive.

So she's extra weepy. We went over there for Xmas eve, as usual, and exchanged gifts. Then came home and watched some various things. I'm so far off the diet that I'm probably going to gain everything back that I lost.

Because on Xmas, everybody gave me candy. I don't know what this shit is, but I got so much candy I could give it out next Halloween and never run out. Got some cool blus and stuff too, here's a pic:

 Back to work tomorrow, which sucks. Only good news is that most of my team is still off, so odds are good that no real work is going to get done.

Not sure if I ever mentioned that both of those places I'd sent my stories to last year declined them. Recently I saw that Weird Tales magazine was open to submissions, so I submitted both to them. I've been reading that magazine off and on since way back in high school and college, so it would be amazing to be in that.

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I've nearly completely lost hope of getting that one actor in T3, so I guess I'm going to start a new draft of it with my backup plan. It's not going to be as strong on the emotional beats but it will be stronger on the dramatic irony. 

I also came up with a very very cool scene that I'm excited for involving my man S Jack. It's the kind of subtle, psychological fear that I enjoy.

Also, it's pretty crazy but my buddy's movie that I just submitted to that aggregator got approved within 1 day and then is ALREADY on Plex. It's insane. Clearly, no one else submits over the holidays. Go stream it once for fun--it's called Midnight Disease.

 

 

Not Much To Report

 

But I gotta find something to say so I can post these awesome Xmas pics, right?

Hey, know what pops into my mind on occasion? I used to have this dinosaur book when I was like 6 years old. Had an amazing cover on it that was bloody, a T-Rex fighting something. Couldn't remember if it was a Triceratops or a Stegasaurus. On occasion I would look for this book, for this cover, but I couldn't remember the year.

I finally spent some time and found it, found a decent copy on eBay and bought it. It got to my house, and I can see why I loved this book as a kid. Great pics, this probably helped my childhood obsession with dinosaurs. Here's the book, featuring that cool cover.

I am more and more worried that the actor I need for T3 is pissed at me for some reason, because he's not responding to any calls, texts or posts on his FB messages(and he's posted AFTER I posted). If I can't get him, it puts a huge crimp in my plans. However, the subconscious came up with a backup plan, though it's not quite as good from an emotional standpoint, it still works.

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I took off tomorrow, and am off Xmas eve, so I have four days off. That'll be nice.

 

 

 

Taxes Are Bullshit

 

So had my review with my supervisor this week. I had filled out my review with a LOT of details this time since the first review said I was working "up to expectations", and let's face it, that's horseshit unless they're expectations were sky high.

We went through the sections and at the end she said I was "Exceeding Expectations". I don't know what you have to do to get Outstanding, but I imagine it involves oral or something.

So she tells me the bonus I'm getting. It's $1100, plus I'm getting a raise of like $5K starting on January 1st. I don't know whether that's a good bonus, as I've never gotten one before. My point is, it arrived today and somehow has been turned into like $681.

They took out 38% in taxes. It's fucking insane. It's hard to keep from being enraged at how much we pay in taxes and how little we get out of it versus how much is wasted by politicians. 

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Went to see the new Spidey last night. It's fun. Too many spoilers to discuss yet. The movie theater was PACKED, and this is one of the few movies I'd go to with packed houses. Went with the wife and kid, and my brother and his girl.

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Have been working out some preprod stuff on the segment for T3 that I'd written a few years back. If I'm going to shoot in late March or early April, I really have a lot of stuff to pin down, but it's hard not knowing where the country is going to be re: pandemic in a couple of months.

Haven't watched any Xmas horror yet, but JB has his new special on tonight, and I have a couple others lined up. I did see episode 4 of American Horror Stories(most of these are one-off episodes) and it's a Xmas episode featuring Danny Trejo as a killer Santa. It's fun enough, but not amazing or anything.

 

 

December Sucks

 

 You know it, it just does now.

I've bought some Xmas gifts. Still have some to do, but it's such a foreign feeling to be able to buy stuff for people. Most Xmases are me just standing in the background with a vague sense of embarrassment that THIS is the only thing I could get that person, if I got them anything at all.

However, my savings have taken quite a hit as I caught up on bills this month, bills that my wife had neglected to pay because she's still off work. Did she tell me she'd stopped paying them? No. So I had to find out through other means that got me pretty angry and yelly.

Anyway, have been keeping busy in the background on T3 and have reached out to even more people about coming back to act in it or be crew or what have you. Most seem excited, but one of the main guys from T2 still hasn't gotten back to me. He hasn't responded to my texts or my calls, or posts on some of the social media we're on.

Like, if he was mad at me(for a reason I couldn't fathom), wouldn't he block me on everything? I dunno, I just don't get it. If he won't do it for whatever reason, it'll put a big crimp in my plan but the crazy part is that my subconscious apparently went to work on that issue and came up with a decent backup plan. 

However, I don't want to have to write two versions of the script, so I'm temporarily on hold while I have a mutual friend reach out to this guy to find out what gives. Hell, I know where he lives and it's a ways out, and it's probably a strange move to just go out there and surprise him by knocking on his door and asking what's his problem, but I might not be above that.

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Watched a flick called The Alpinist based on my brother Mike asking about it. It's pretty good but certainly takes a leftfield turn at the end. (it's a documentary a lot like Free Solo)

Have started the Wheel of Time. First episode isn't great, but it gets better. I read the first 5 books in the series WAY back when it first started but it became repetitive, which is insane when the books are like 800 pages apiece.

Finished the new season of Titans. Not bad again, though they all seem to end on a weak note.

 

Buddy Work

 

So I worked on a buddy's trailer because this was their original trailer, and I think you can probably see why most people wouldn't watch this after seeing this trailer.

I'm not quite done, but it's close, and this is what it looks like now. 

Now, I'm not in love with it. It was pretty hard to do because the movie's not shot all that cinematic, so finding good shots was hard. I showed it to Malf and he liked it but said "Doesn't really fit with the tone of the movie", and I was like, "That's a good thing."

The co-director on it saw it and liked it a lot, so we're going with it. I've been messing with a poster but having mixed results on that, so may have to pass it to someone a little better at that than me. We'll see.

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I'm actually trying to remember what I did last weekend. Oh, yeah, went to that asylum where I wanted to shoot a flick a few years ago. We got out there and parked a short ways away in front of a new neighborhood where they're showing off houses. Hoped we didn't get towed.

We hustled up and into the woods, and the trail is still pretty dicey. No leaves, mind you, but sticks criss-crossing the path so bad they'd whip you as you pushed through them.

At the asylum we noticed something very quick: Someone has been opening up some of the other buildings that weren't open before. We only had time to check out one before we had to move on, as we got there around 3pm and it would be full dark by 6pm.

Also, I forgot to bring my regular glasses. Only had my prescription sunglasses, which made it hard to see anywhere inside the buildings, but would also make driving home super fun in the dark.

We got some decent pics, though I've only color corrected these so far:

 This last one was where I had a red light at the end of the hall and wanted to see if I could make it look interesting. But as I'm doing this, my brother comes hustling back into the building. "Security saw me."

A second later a truck comes rumbling by, slowing down, but it kept going. We don't want to wait to see if the cops are gonna show, and I don't have my glasses to see so well anyway because the sun is almost down.

So we took off. Got back to the car just as it was full dark, and I drove us to BK and then home.

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Wife had surgery again. Same arm, but up at the wrist. It's been getting numb and also very painful, and they said she had advanced carpal tunnel syndrome. The surgery took less than an hour. She's home now, so hopefully it all heals up and she can go back to work, because me paying for everything is getting old.

 

 

Getting serious about T3

 

 Things are starting to get serious about T3. The more I work on the main script, the more I want to finish the whole thing, and I think, "In X amount of years, I am not going to be able to make any no-budget movie simply from a physical standpoint", so I might as well get out there and do it.

I used to say "This is going to be my last movie," on pretty much every movie since GOH. That would have been a decision made based on my wants. Like, I don't WANT to lose any more money making no-budget flicks.

But I'm at the point where "This is going to be my last movie," may be forced upon me based on what I can physically accomplish. Running 10-14 hour days where I'm lugging gear and holding a camera all day are simply things I probably can't do any more. Certainly not for a week's time, like on the T2 wrap.

Anyway, am making good progress on it, just trying to figure out how to tell everything I want to tell and still keep it under 50 pages.

Have begun reaching out to the actors I'd had involved in the Door segment to see if they're still around and interested. Also listed T3 on imdb, though you can't see it unless you're Pro because it's in Development status.

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I did go to my mom's for second Thanksgiving. The wife and kid had tickets to some concert so they couldn't go. It was fun and turkey was good, and I killed my diet again for a couple of days because two days later we went to that restaurant we love that's closing.

It wasn't busy at all because it was the Monday after Turkey weekend. They sat us at the exact table that I proposed to my wife at(without us asking), and she immediately starting getting teary eyed, had to go to the bathroom.

Then I hit the menu and discover that the fish I get EVERY time I go there is gone. I ask the waitress about it and she's like, "They had to take some stuff off the menu so they wouldn't have a lot of food left over when they closed."

Now I want to cry. But hey, every time we go we joke that I should try something different, so I guess now's my chance. I order the filet mignon, which is pricey--$45, and doesn't include any side. I order some sides and my meal is like $60. Whatever.

It was AMAZING. Cooked perfect, tasted great. We had some pictures taken, but we're still going to get back one more time before they go. Hopefully the wife can keep it together.

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Had a dream last night that I was doing a comic book show for the first time in years. I was trying to figure out what to price things at because I hadn't been in comics for so long, and didn't have a new price guide. 

And then the regular shit was happening, like, I got there late so the dealer next to me was partially using my table and I had to get him to move his shit.

I'm glad the dreams of me owning a store have mostly dried up. It sucked being back in that and knowing I'm behind in rent, and how much I had to somehow figure out how to come up with, and then I wake up and think, "Whew, glad that's over..."