I rented the movie "I Robot" and I think I might have to get the DVD. Not that the movie is that good, but the comnentary by director Alex Proyas and Akiva Goldsman is so fantastic. They actually tell you what when went into the writing of the movie, and as a lesson in how to write a screenplay it's very informative.

I think it's the best commentary I've ever heard on a movie. Usually they are so boring, but this one is very, very good. Akiva Goldsman wrote "A Beautiful Mind" and I think was also brought in to write "The Da Vinci Code". I have a book where he's quoted and he said he attended Robert McKee screenwriting seminar and after that, sold his first screenplay. Funny huh? Just like the guy in the movie "Adaptation".

The weekend of June 11 has three seminars that I badly want to take. I'm already paid for a seminar called "Creating the love relationship" that you want, which has an 85% success rate. I met a woman who met her husband shortly after she took the seminar and she said he was 95% of what she wrote up she wanted in the seminar.

Robert McKee is also doing his three day "Story" seminar that weekend here in San Francisco, a location that he rarely uses. Then there's a seminar on that new energy psychology technique I discovered called "EFT". If you''re not into energy psychology, it's like the latest and greatest new thing. I took a 3-hour seminar on EFT in April, but couldn't stay for the whole thing.

So I'm like love, screenwriting or emotional freedom ... hmmmmmm. I'm already registered for the love seminar and they've already cashed my check. But Robert McKee, I mean when is he ever going to be in San Francisco. And EFT, who doesn't want emotional freedom.

But ... I guess love wins out every time. 85% success rate ... that's an amazing stat for a seminar on how to find your perfect love. And 95%. I don't think I've gotten more than 50% of what I've wanted in a relationship. I know you can't have 100%, but I didn't think you get 95%. I thought it was more like 50% and up to 75% if you were really, really lucky. But 95% .... that's like a frickin' miracle!

I finally finished my paper and it ended up being 8.5 pages. I'll read it tomorrow on the way to work and edit it, and make any changes tomorrow night. It's not the best paper, but at least it's over with.

It's a beautiful and warm sunny weekend in San Francisco, and I'm stuck inside finishing my greek drama paper and studying for my greek drama final on Tuesday. My screenwriting teacher on Wednesday asked me if I was still taking classes, and when I said yes she said, "That's why you can't find time to write."

I think Julie is right. I probably won't take a class next fall, and I'm definitely not taking a class this summer. I don't mind taking one day or evening seminars, but not a full month three month commitment. I told Julie I wanted to take a film class and she said to take the two-day film school class they offer at Learning Annex. She said it was just as good.

I really do want the experience of making my own film just to check it out, and a two day commitment is definitely better than a semester commitment of two days a week.

Just to relieve the boredom of studying, I typed of three pages of my "Changing Timelines" novel. That's 800 words, not bad I guess. I was changing my story while writing it then decided to go back to the way it was originally written, since I was going to have to cut a whole page out. I hate when you change one action and then find out after ten minutes that you've eliminated a whole scene with the one change. I hate that! I'll change the scene in the second rewrite.

God I hate studying! I do. It's so boring. I could be out and about gallivanting around and enjoying the day. Actually I'm feeling bette than I thought I would be this weekend, considering I had two filling replaced on Saturday morning. Everytime I have dental work, my mouth hurts for days but this new dentist I'm seeing is gentle with his injections.

I had a silver filling replaced with a composite, and I'm having an onlay put it on my other filling. My other dentist only every did crowns, but this new dentists can do onlays. If I have enough money left in my flex spending, I might have him later on in the year replace more my mercury fillings with composites.

It looks a nice day out and I may go out later to walk in the park, but there's more studying to do and I still have to finish my paper. I'm feeling very sorry for myself right now.

On Wednesday, I volunteered to sit on a screenwriting pitch panel at The Academy of Art College. My screenwriting teacher teaches a couple of classes there and she asks her ex-students every semester to help her out. When you sit on pitch panel, you learn a lot about how to actually deliver a pitch so it’s good training.

The guy who sat on my pitch panel with me actually got his screenplay optioned on a pitch panel. He went to some pitch panel in Hollywood, pitched his movie about a dozen times, and got a call from a couple of young producers. The young producers works for the guy who just produced Jet Li’s newest film “Unleashed”.

So my pitch panel buddy has optioned his screenplay, but said the Hollywood lawyers’ fees ate up most of it. He wanted to have a professional contract in case his script is ever made into a movie. And now he’s do rewrites for free with the young producers and he said the process is going really, really well.

Interesting huh? My pitch panel buddy said this is his sixth screenplay, and when he told me his idea I was even impressed. His screenplay is very topical and is a thriller having to do with GPS technology. It kind of reminded me of GPS technology “Panic Room” type movie, low budget but very, very exciting.

I was really happy for him, and I was like wow, someone I know actually got his screenplay bought by Hollywood. Okay, maybe not for very much money since options I hear start as low as $35,000, but still he got paid for his work. Pitch panel buddy guy didn’t want to say how much he got, but he said it wasn’t much. But if his script get made into a movie, he said his Hollywood lawyer got him a really, really good deal. He better have gotten a good deal since he said the lawyer spent 1.5 months with the producers trying to hammer out a contract.

And then I started to get depressed. Okay, maybe I got depressed because afterwards we went to the W hotel for drinks and sat on the couches in the lobby and I watched couples grope each other as they we were waiting for the lift and I was like “I want to be groped in the lobby of a nice hotel by some guy waiting for the lift and a night of some majorly serious shagging”. Okay, maybe not any guy and for god’s sake not the old wrinkly 60 year old dude who looked like he was wearing a dark brown shag rug on his heard and who was feeling up the 20 something girl, but some cute guy who was very smart an very sweet.

But no, I think I got depressed thinking I’ll never be a writer who makes a living as a writer. I mean, what are the chances of that ever happening. Sure I can get paid, but not enough to quit my job and have as my next career – creative writer. And I’m like maybe my writing is just a hobby that I have and then I don’t have to stress about ever finishing anything. I can just start projects and never finish and not worry. But that’s an even more depressing thought isn’t it?