It's an honor just being nominated

Great news (for me)! My Ugly Betty spec made it to the finals in the 2007 Screenwriting Expo 6 Screenwriting Competition Television Category. Whew. That's a mouthful.

The list of all finalists and winners in all categories is here.

My script went Top 10, which means I get into the Expo for free. And, much more importantly, I get bragging rights. Now I just have to find the right people to brag to. To whom to brag? Oh, and I have to find my grammar skills.

I've also made the decision to make my specs available for public consumption. Click on the links right over there on the right hand side of this page to download them. Why don't more people do this? Is there some legal or moral issue I'm completely overlooking? I love reading other people's specs. Everyone should post them.

I've been thinking a lot about point of view lately (how's that for a subtle segue?). Yesterday I was watching a House somewhere in the middle of Season 3, and it jarred me to see Cuddy in a scene alone with a patient. I could be wrong, but I think that's the first time there's been a scene from Cuddy's point of view - sure, she's done lots of scenes without House, but Wilson, Cameron, Chase, or Foreman has always been there too. Not so coincidentally, Cuddy's first POV scene is in the episode where it's revealed that House might actually be in love with her. So now I know, big things for Cuddy are coming in the rest of Season 3. Of course, you've all seen it, so please don't tell me if I'm wrong!

I also watched an episode yesterday where Cameron recites a mnemonic for the bones of the wrist. Actually coincidentally, the title of my last post was a mnemonic for the bones of the wrist. Scaphoid, Lunate, Triquetrum, Pisiform, Trapezoid, Trapezium, Capitate, Hamate, since you asked. And yes, I had to look it up.

Sorry about all this House talk. I think I'm addicted. I blame Jane E. She started it.

Slacker Excuses will not be seen in this edition. Instead I bring you:

Things I have dropped from my TiVo-like-device

Dropped
Private Practice (OK, I never added this one to begin with)
Big Shots
Bionic Woman
Reaper (My dream is that Reaper will do badly enough that they'll have to bring back Veronica Mars mid-season. What? It could happen.)

Hanging on by a Thread
Chuck
Dirty Sexy Money
Gossip Girl
Grey's Anatomy

There to Stay
Pushing Daisies
House
Bones
Heroes (though it has not been very good so far this season!)
ANTM (I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it)
The Office
My Name Is Earl
Ugly Betty

Doesn't say much for the quality of the new shows this season, does it? The weird thing is, there are lots of great actors and there's lots of great writing in so many of these shows - it just doesn't seem to be translating into great TV for some reason. Maybe I'm jaded.

Would you rather be called Pappy or Harriet?

I just reread this sentence from Things I've Bought That I Love blog for like, the third time, and it still makes me laugh:

"I have to wear clothes when I sleep. Even if it's hot out. I wasn't raised by some French grad students or whatever."

Do go check out the whole post. That blog is so great for someone like me, who can only afford to shop at Loehmann's and Target - they have the best underwear though, so even if I was a tribillionaire I'd still go there. Anyway, Things I've Bought is like going on a hedonistic spending spree without the Everestic credit card debt and self-loathing to show for it.

I'm feeling good about writing right now. I left my Ugly Betty alone for a week to concentrate on fine-tuning my Grey's. Came back to Betty on Friday, and lo, it wasn't so bad after all. Some of the dialog even made me laugh out loud. Huzzah.

Slacker excuses
Total computer meltdown hard drive annihilation situation. Am now rocking a brand new Macbook (hello credit card debt!) and thanking God, Steve Jobs, and all else that's holy for a prophetic vision telling me to back up, like right now. I managed to save everything, right down to my calendar full of competition deadlines.

Oooh, I also went to the desert which was so hot and beautiful. I totally need to get those pictures online. Everyone should go visit Pappy and Harriet's Pioneer Town Palace - three buck beers and mesquite barbecued everything! Totally yum.

Which way's gravity, ma?

Still plugging away at my Grey's Anatomy. Seems like I will never be finished, though I only officially started it exactly one month ago. I'm reaching the point where I'll have to send it off to be read by my many TV addict friends, and my Mom. I just can't look at the words with any sort of objectivity any more.

I'm actually pretty excited about finishing it because then I get to write Ugly Betty, which has much more room to be kinda playful and fun, and the characters are much bigger (= easier to nail). I still haven't thought of a good story yet though. Not that I've really tried.

Finally, I'm rolling around spec pilot ideas in my head. I've got my setting and my main characters mostly worked out, but I want to come up with a unique style a la Betty/Battlestar/Ally McBeal (even though I didn't really like that show). Something that sets my script apart. Hmmmm. Mull.

Sorry to everyone, this blog was all me me me. Who cares right? You're just here because you're supposed to be writing but instead you're scouring the internet for various tidbits to keep you from thinking about your own less-than-satisfying life so far. Yikes, I think I just started channeling Douglas Coupland a little.

As my gift to you for getting this far in this post, let me recommend a little blog that I just heard about for the first time yesterday. Things I've Bought That I Love written by Mindy Kaling aka Kelly from The Office. How can you resist tidbits like this: "I find myself zoning out at work while people are diligently coming up with Jim-Pam storylines and thinking about my legs in these shorts."? Go there now and stop wasting your time on my boring blog!

Slacker excuses
Spent the day at Six Flags on Tuesday. Thought I might be too fraidy to go on the grown-up rides, but I did them all. Tatsu is pretty freakin' cool, but my favorite was Riddler's Revenge. Oooh, and X turned my world upside down - literally.

Real bad writing

Some days I write very very very badly. It's shocking actually. I'm having one of those days. Trying to plow through a rough draft of my Grey's but, well, it stinks so far. So what do I do? Write through it, hoping to get to a place where my writing improves? Or just quit for today and wait until tomorrow?

I think I'll go with plan B.

Also, news from Jane Espenson has thrown a wrench in my summer of writing. She reports that show runners are almost all demanding spec pilots or some other original writing sample for new hires.

I do have a screenplay of course, which counts. But I'm thinking an actual TV pilot might be a better way to go. So, do I abandon my summer of Ugly Betty and Bones (not to mention my half-written Grey's) in favor of a spec pilot?

Oh, the choices, the decisions, the drama!

I think I'll go watch TV.

Slacker excuses:
Watched "An Ice Cream Show" on PBS (hee, it's really called that: "An Ice Cream Show") and am now making plans to travel around the country getting fat on artisan ice cream. Yum.