The Home of Steven Barnes
Author, Teacher, Screenwriter


Sunday, March 30, 2008

Sunday Morning

I will be so happy when I figure out how to really share Google Calendars with Tananarive--both of us using the same account. I can't quite figure out how to do it, other
than just giving her my sign-in info. Oh, well, I reckon it's worth it.
#
I cleaned out my garage over the weekend, getting it set up as a home gym again. Wow. One ten-foot truck full of stuff to the dump, and another to storage,
pretty much did it. Now I'm laying jigsaw mats down. I've figured out how to use a Bruiser Density cycle without killing myself (short yoga after each workout, long yoga very
other day). Tananarive will have her Fat-Ripper space (alternating jogging on our treadmill with various kettlebell exercises. Jacks the metabolism like crazy).
But for me, I have have an odd feeling that I've found an exercise series that is about perfect for my current needs.
#
So I started working on the BET Hannibal script. The paperwork has dragged, but what the heck...the project sounds like great fun, the people involved are
good folks (Reggie Hudlin, Vin Diesel) and I haven't written an all-out ass-kicking piece for quite some time.
#
Tananarive and I are back in the same place and the same time thank God, with six weeks to finish writing "In The Night of The Heat" which is now listed as
"Blair Underwood Presents" Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes, rather than a three-way collaboration. Blair is a very honest guy, and was always worried about the public
perception. You know: who wrote what? Well, now it's clear: he produced it and stars in it. T and I wrote it. Clarity is a good thing.
#
In many ways, I'm coming out of a stress period that has been pressuring my life for the last four years: preparation to move South, the ghastly error I made (not realizing
I couldn't write for Hollywood any more) and the three years of walking an emotional tightrope, trying to be realistic about our odds of working in Hollywood,
at least before we ran out of money. A quite reasonable question: why pay Hollywood prices if you ain't making Hollywood money? Trust me, T mentioned moving to
Atlanta several times. And I understand her position. But there are really only three places for writers to live: New York, Hollywood, and Anywhere Else. I don't want to
live in New York. I can only work television and film in L.A., really. If I live anywhere else, I am dependent on my book writing income, and I'm not willing to
trust that any more. I want more "legs" under my financial foundations. Writing books, television, film, non-fiction, teaching, counseling, and so forth. My goals are
very very clear right now, and Hollywood is a place where my particular talents could pay off nicely--if I can position myself. And that seems to be exactly what's happening.
We'll see, but right now I am optimistic.
##
The Question of the Day: What is the biggest, happiest goal you ever had--that actually came true?

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey steven - how much sharing are you looking for? Is adding an email address under 'share this calendar' and setting the permissions to 'make changes and manage sharing' not share-y enough?

I was under the impression that you could do things like add a calendar just called "writing tasks" and let it be edited by anybody you chose. Seems like a handy feature. If there's some kind of functionality you're looking for, try emailing the gmail team, or maybe there's an add-on for firefox that does it.

Mike R said...

Marrying and having a wonderful relationship with a fantastic woman who makes me happy.

Daniel Keys Moran said...

Marrying my wife and having children with her. Whatever #2 is, isn't close.

Anonymous said...

getting my ass out of Tennessee
in the '50's and into college
after my sophomre year in high schol
on a Ford Foundation Early Entrant Grant
I started working n softening my father up to the idea of my leaving home early
when I was 12
making sure to mention in a casual way "when I go to Shimer. . . "
at every evening meal

I knew I'd won when he and my mother started saying
"when you go to Shimer . . . "

and after I got the scholarship
it was a done deal

I think if I'd had to stay another two years in XClarksville
I'd have gone round the bend

JoAnne said...

I had two of the most wonderful kids on the planet. And I raised them pretty much alone. Sorry guys. ;-)
Oh and finding and getting a remarkable chunk of acreage under my feet. Truly a perfect place for friends and future grandchildren to come and play.

Silo9 said...

Answer to the question you asked. I lost 70 lbs using IF, and CST. Thank you to you and Coach Sonnon who showed me the way.

Spilling Ink said...

My biggest and happiest thing that came true is my twin daughters. You should have heard all the negative doctor-talk when I almost lost them at only 12 weeks. Gloom and doom aaaaaall the way. I held on to those kids for twenty more weeks. I didn't believe in the negative outcome and I kept talking to my babies. I told them about the lovely nutrition they were getting, exactly how it was building their bodies, what their nursery looked like, etc. The three of us shocked the doomsayers like you wouldn't believe, Steve. The babies were quite healthy, delivered naturally without dangerous interference, and weighed twice the predicted amount (and no, I did not have gestational diabetes to cause that). My kids were born in a room full of very surprised doctors and neonatal folks. They are the biggest, happiest AND luckiest thing that came true. They are twelve now. They have both been on the honor roll at their school all year. One of them wants to go to Harvard Medical. Yep. The docs were wrong. Big-time. :-) Sometimes mother really does know best.

Anonymous said...

My husband and I were able to buy our own home right about this time last year, which was such an exciting moment for us. Although we're in our 30s, we both felt truly grown-up for the first time after signing our mortgage paperwork.

Christina Springer said...

Have you tried Hiveminder? http://hiveminder.com/

You could each have your own account. Make yourselves a group. Then share tasks and planning.

It works like a to do list. I find it doesn't quite think like I do. But, it allows me to assign tasks - like "prepare recycling" to other members of my group. This means - my husband.

Anonymous said...

Getting my wife to marry me. The night I met her was the luckiest of my life. We met at welcoming square dance for freshmen. The first dance was a circle dance where the women went around in one direction and the men the other. You swung from partner to partner for about 15 to 30 seconds each. My wife as I swung her had the greatest smile on her face and I decided to look for her after the dance. When I found she was talking to another woman and being shy and inexperienced I didn't know what to do. If I asked her to dance I would be kind of insulting her friend. That's when fate intervened. The caller announced the next dance was a Troika where two men dance with a woman or two women with a man. That solved my problem. I asked them both to dance. I ended up introducing them to a friend of mine and we spent the rest of the evening together. Two weeks later I told her we were going to marry. Two and a half years later I actually got her to say yes.

Marty S

Frank said...

Steve,

Have you tried Doodle for scheduling?

Frank said...

I got to play a guitar in a band for an audience!

Twice!

I also had a short story published and it wasn't vanity. Of course, I didn't get paid either.

But hey.

John said...

Here's what I found on Google calendar sharing:

http://www.google.co.uk/googlecalendar/tour5.html

You've probably been through all this, but just in case . ..

Good luck!

John

Anonymous said...

My biggest and happiest goal was to have a child. My daughter arrived on March 26 (her due date) and she is the best thing every. While I've been awake since last Wednesday, everytime I smell her or touch her hair, I'd stay awake forever if it meant that I could do right by her.

Shawn