I saw Reign of Fire on Friday and I really liked it. Too bad the movie didn't have much of a story line, but the idea was great. I've always loved dragons and I like the fact that this movie mentioned that the dragons of legend were actually real.

I loved the special effects, even though some reviewers thought there were hokey. I loved the prayer they made the children say, which was eerie and spooky, because instead of praying to god they prayed to escape the dragons.

If that movie maybe had half an hour of exposition on how Matthew McConaughey came to England, how the chopper chick joined and how the Christian Bale character came to the castle. They had the characters tell you key elements of the story which was boring, but probably is a lesson to me for my screenplay. Characters telling you the important stuff is boring!!! Show don't tell. But it's hard in a screenplay because you want to avoid flashbacks at any cost. I think they could have fit it all in half an hour more of movie footage. Maybe tell two parallel stories of Matthew and Christian Bale.

Best part of the movie of course was when the dragon fried everyone on the outskirts of London. The movie was nice and violent and I loved it.

I'm debating on whether to see The Bourne Identity since I'm a big fan of the Bourne trilogy of books. I can't imagine Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, but the movie is supposed to different from the book. Jason Bourne was a totally brilliant southeast asian scholar turned assassin zealot in the book. He was the ultimate soldier and his intelligence made him totally lethal. I learned alot in that book. The first book especially read like a handbook on how to be spy and top guy terrorist.

I guess I'll break down and see The Road to Perdition since there's such a review buzz around it and maybe even Minority Report, only because it's Tom Cruise and I've seen all of his movies in the theatre. I'm debating Men in Black 2 but friends have told me the original was way better. I hate bad followup movies!

I went to the Michael Sweerts exhibit at the Legion of Honor on Saturday. I don't really care for flemish style of painting with so much of it being dark and flat, but Sweerts was brilliant at painting cloth. His portraits, which I think were revolutionary for the time, were painted with so much feeling and expression, like photographs. His portraits didn't just stare at your front and center, doing all dour, probably because they had to stand stock still for hours on end. Instead, his subjects were in action, looking off to the side, anywhere but staring straight at you. One guy was even getting dressed, the kind of scene nobody else was painting at the time.

The exhibit was small, but that because he's only recently been discovered as a great artist. Perhaps in the future, more of his paintings will show up and a museum will be able to mount a large exhibit.

I love going to museums and people watching. I'm alway amazed at the types of people who actually go the museums. You see the whole range from art experts to the people who are there because they think looking at pictures in a museum is a good thing. I suppose everyone has their reasons for going. I think I go because I like looking at art, having studied some of it but definitel not enough of it to be an expert, and I also love marvelling at artists who draw well.

I've tried to do the art thing by taking art and drawing classes, but I just ended up frustrated at my rather limited drawing ability. The best I ever did is I drew a coffee pot in charcoal that to me, actually looked like a coffee pot. I never got light and shading and I definitely still can't figure out perspective very well. So I envy people who have the gift for drawing and I love marvelling at their skills. Looking at art, great art is like reading a great book, because there is so much pleasure in seeing a master, a genius at work.

I feel the same way about people who can dance well and play instruments. Having tried to do both dance and playing an instrument and failing miserably on my own, I have nothing but great admiration for people who excel in these skills.

I also went to my holistic healer chiropractor who told me my life force was at 93-94% but that I still had some fungal infection in my stomach and kidney. I asked him what he meant and he said there probably fungal growing in those organs. Like how gross is that!!! He said there were no new infestations, but he needed to strengthen my stomach and pancreas to kill off the fungal eggs and larvae. Apparently, when he was working on me before, he didn't want to treat my stomach until I had gotten rid of most of my fungal and parasites, because my system was already in overload. But now that I was practically fungal and parasite free, he could strengthen the organs that he didn't heal completely.

I was happy that no new infestations were being hatched in my body, but when he mentioned the eggs and larvae hanging out in my stomach and pancreas, I freaked out. Just the image of what he said put me on edge. Who wants to go through the rest of the weekend thinking that your heart and pancreas are jam packed fully of fungal eggs and larvae?

Thank god he healed me!!! He also said that instead of the ADD that I had as a child, I had a different sort of brain dysfunction. He told me that the connection between my right and left brain was weak and what this meant was I was fine if I was given a project to work on, but wasn't very good at switching gears and being interrupted. This is so true. It's very stressful for me to being in a situation where I all of sudden have to switch gears and be creative.

Like say I was working on a project and then all of sudden, I find out that something has come up that has to be changed on the project. The stressful part comes in when I have to figure out a new thing, a new change for the project and then going back later and incorporating the new thing in my existing project.

I've had these type of experiences at other jobs before and I've hated them. I hate adding to something at the last minute when I'm on a deadline. I get sloppy and I make mistakes and I freak out because it' s hard and I know I just cannot work under that kind of pressure. I know some people thrive on being able to turn something around that quickly and easily, but I don't. It's just all one big stressing event for me. It's like trying to figure out left from right, which is a way stressful event for me. I have to really think about it sometimes and I hate that I just can't automatically figure it right out.

So, I'm glad about not having the ADD and I'm also glad that in a few months, he said he'll be able to fix this weak connection of mind between my right and left brain. I wanted him to do it but he said I need to get rid of my fungal eggs and parasite before he fixed my brain synapses misfiring. I was glad at least, that he said he could fix it. Not that I'm in a job that has last minute deadline pressures, but I don't think I need my brain synpases misfiring. That so doesn't sound so good.

My healer said the brain glitch happened from some mental trauma and scarring I had as a child. Was it all those horrible experiences I had in first grade of not being able to put together puzzles? Now that's an experience that will scar any child for life that's for sure. I wish I knew.

What's ironic is that now I'm very good at problem solving in my adult life. It's what I think I do best at work, solve problems. Someone hands me an outcome and then I figure out how tot get to that outcome. I even like the challenge of figuring out puzzles and problems because it's so satisfying to figure sometihing out. Will I still get the same thrill if my healer guy fixes my misfiring brain synpases? I hope so. Problem solving is the only thing that keeps my rather dull and boring job interesting.

I rented Oceans 11 and High Fidelity this week. A friend of mind said that Oceans 11 was worth watching because it was boy eye candy. And it is eye candy if you're a Brad Pitt and George Clooney fan. Unfortunately, I'm not. I mean they're good looking and all and I wouldn't kick them out of bed, but they so do not get my pulses racings. The person I loved in Oceans 11 was Elliot Gould. God, the man is so funny. I think I still have a crush on him from his performance in MASH. The guy has definitely aged, but he's aging very, very well.

I liked High Fidelity, although parts of it was kind of boring. I think I need to read the book by Nick Hornsby to really appreciate this story. The two nerd boys working at the record shop just totally annoyed me. Especially Jack Black. Half way through the movie, I totally wanted to kick him to death. I guess he played the annoying music nerd very well for me to have that kind of reaction. The skinny guy, whoever he was, was annoying as well, but not as annoying as the skanky chubby guy.

The funny thing about High Fidelity was that John Cusak's character could actually have all those pretty women as girlfriends. I mean, yeah, like only in a Hollywood movie. His character did try to explain how he manages to get very pretty women by being a SNAG, sensitive new age guy, but he even admitted it was a total lie. God, I hate guys like him!!! I hate guys who pretend to be sensitive, which is 99.9% of all guys, and in reality really aren't. It's so bad!!! I'd rather know up front I'm dating an insensitive freak, so at least I'm prepared and there are no surprises.

Most women will tell you that the jerkiest guys they know are the ones they thought were nice and sensitive, and ended up treating them like shit anyway. Them boys are the worst, only beacause it's shocking. Better to date the non-sensitive types who are more honest about who they are instead of faking their personality to get chicks. I stay away from the sensitive types as a rule now, just for this very reason.

I knew that High Fidelity was originally set in London, so for me the american adaptation didn't quite work. American women just aren't like English women and anyway, two of the actresses, the actress playing John Cusak's girlfriend and Catherine Zeta-Jones had accents.

I liked the idea of the top five list, although I think alot of men use it as a line. I find it particularly suspect when a guy tells me after sex that I've made some top 5 list. Like I'm sure the guy says it to every woman after sex. I think there's the public top 5 list and then there's a a secret top five list that that only they and their guy friends know about. The public top five list is just a ruse to either impress chicks or convey some kind of false impression.

But does every guy have a lists of their top five whatever in their head? What a concept. Every once in awhile I think about what top 5 cds I would take if I got lost on a desert island, but my list keeps changing depending on my mood. Then I tell myself I wouldn't be so stupid as to get lost on a desert island, so making the stupid is futile.

I heard this song on NPR this morning. I love how NPR pimps CDs now. Frank Sinatra was singing this song from a 6-cd box set I think called "Sinatra at the Movies". The old guy had a great voice and okay, maybe the pimping does work or maybe because I'm in that "new class of people who listen to NPR", but I am seriously thinking of buying this box set.

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"Someone to Watch Over Me"
Writer(s): Gershwin/Gershwin

There's a saying old says that love is blind
Still we're often told, "Seek and ye shall find"
So I'm going to seek a certain lad I've had in mind
Looking everywhere, haven't found him yet

He's the big affair I cannot forget
Only man I ever think of with regret
I'd like to add his initial to my monogram
Tell me, where is the shepherd for this lost lamb?

There's a somebody I'm longing to see
I hope that he turns out to be
Someone who'll watch over me
I'm a little lamb who's lost in the wood
I know I could always be good
Someone who'll watch over me

Although he may not be the man some
girls think of as handsome
To my heart he carries the key
Won't you tell him please to put on some speed
Follow my lead, oh, how I need
Someone to watch over me
********************************

I would add to this song, make him a workaholic so I don't have to feel guilty about my own workaholic ways, make him love to watch football, baseball, basketball, tennis and hockey, well, all sports in general, make him smart and someone who knows how to write decently so I don't freak out when he sends me emails, make him someone who enjoys the outdoors but whose idea of camping is slow room service, make him tolerant of visits to art museums, ballet, opera, theatre, broadway shows, make him cute cute, clean, smell nice and not a sloppy dresser, make him love to travel, tolerates foreign movies but loves to go to movies in general, likes to read, doesn't have extreme political views that will freak me out, did not for Nader in the last election, pragmatic and fiscally conservative politically, idealists from either party need not apply, and please make him drive a car from the acceptable car list (either a bmw, vw, mercedes, saab or other european brand as first choice and japanese brand as second choice and please no suvs or american cars, although a jeep cherokee is borderline acceptable and definitely no trucks). A dog is a plus.

It's my pet theory that mediocre looking men become instantly cute and attractive in my eyes when they're walking my favorite kinds of pet dogs, like german shephards, giant standard poodles, pugs, retrievers, and of course, luscious chocolate brown labradors.

I just added another story to my ISP website. It's my infamous shitty first draft of a screenplay, "Playing Catch with Dad". I didn't inlcude the whole thing since it's 120 pages, but just my personal favorite scenes and other scenes my reviewers have liked.

I really just had one favorite scene in the whole thing, which is when my baseball player dude is walking around Pac Bell Park. I don't know, something about this scene is so great. I still remember my first thrill of walking around Pac Bell Park and how cool it was to see the Bay and downtown scenes from the park. I love that south of market view of downtown and looking out into McCovey Cove and seeing the people in their boats and the occassional ship that floats by.

The best way to see the park is get a seat on the bottom where they serve you food in your seats. Talk about couch potatoing it at the baseball stadium. With that ticket, you have an all access pass to all the levels. You also run into all the sports announcers in the hallway or the bar, if you're into that sort of thing. And there's no line for the bathroom. How hot is that!!! Then there are those freaks at the bar, who just sit in the bar and watch the game all night. What freaks! They can't even be bothered to go outside to see the game. I mean, what's to the point of being at the game? Plus, depending on your seat you'll see Larry Baer or maybe even Peter Magowan walking around, not to mention whatever famous and local celebs are watching the game. Sitting on the field level seats are the only way to go!

I added two more stories to my ISP web page, which can be found at the "My Stories" link at your left.

The first new story is an introduction to a seven volume story I'm planning to write one day called "The Elf Girl Chronicles". I posted the story in my blog sometime last year, but I decided it needed to be on its own web page.

The second story is one I wrote for a writing class assignment in 2001. It's called "Rodeo Spurs on My Heart". I know, stupid title but it's sort of a silly story anyway. We had to look through the paper and find an article that caught our attention and I picked one about rodeo cowboys. I think the rodeo was in town at the time. We then had to write a story using the article as inspiration. My story ended up being about a former cowboy from Texas now living in Cali. His childhood best friend is in town for the rodeo and my cowboy guy takes his family to see him. The two guys have always been friendly, and sometimes mean rivals. This story is a continuation of their childhood rivalry, only cowboy dude's best friend takes the rivalry a little too far. I think sometimes people do that, do things for silly reasons and then end up wrecking friendships and lives in the aftermath. But that's life isn't it?

I have another cowboy story brewing which I will finish one day. It's about an aging cowboy rodeo star who falls in love with a cowgirl horse trainer from Cali. He's about to retire when he falls in love and he has to decide whether to leave his ranch in Texas or to move to Cali. He's a 7th generation Texan native who loves his ranch and his state and she's a new age Cali bred horse trainer. It's like a clash of cultures story because I think Texas culture is like a foreign country. All that land, all that heat, all that history makes for a very different breed of man.

The story is still knocking around in my head and it's been about 2 years now since I came up with the idea and if a story sticks with me this long then I feel obligated to write it. When, I don't know. I'm writing a screenplay and a short story at the same time and both projects are taking up all of my writing time. I have two more short stories scheduled to be completed in the next two months and then there's the novel I started last November that I would really like to finish. But the aging rodeo cowboy story is definitely next in line.