Chapterhouse

Okay, all the white girls can go home. Last night's American Idol lineup was awesome. So much talent, and it all belonged to the Black gals. We didn't have one white girl who could represent, not one. And the girls' competition is the only one to watch, at least as far as I can tell at this point, because none of the guys even came close to the talent of last night's bunch. I can't believe I never watched this show before this season. I know, I know [beating head against wall] what was I thinking.

And you know what - I actually like Simon. He tells these people the truth, but most of them are too invested in their own egos to see that he's doing them a favor.

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Ever since we moved into Maxwell House last summer, we've been trying to get the place changed on the City and County's records from a commercial, multi-tenant property to a residential single-family property. So many times I've been told to do such-and-such and that would take care of it, then we'd get another citation or something for not filing the proper forms. Tomcat even went down to talk to these people once and they told him not to worry, that the court case had been removed from the docket. Well, we shoulda known, because it wasn't, and since we didn't show up, they got a summary judgment against us. [steam coming out ears.]

We received notice of another court date. We also received a letter from the Grand Poobah at Code Compliance recommending the case for dismissal. But we went down to the courthouse on Monday anyway, just in case. Sure enough, they didn't have the letter in their files yet, so the case would have proceeded. It felt SO good to listen to the prosecutor present their case, have the Judge ask what I had to say to that, and then whip that letter out and read it. Heh. After the prosecutor and the guy who was apparently training her looked it over, they sheepishly told the judge that since the letter predated the summary judgment, they had taken that in error, and that they recommended dismissing the whole thing. The judge agreed. Tomcat went up to the bench to get a copy of the dismissal, and then the judge noticed Tom's Masonic pin and asked what lodge he belonged to. :) So now, Tomcat insists that this is yet another piece of evidence that "they" rule the world. [snerking just a little, because ... maybe he's right.]

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At our writer's group yesterday we had a sort of show-and-tell meeting. One of the guys brought this wonderful storyboard he made for the novel he's writing. I had only seen a picture of it on Pooks' blog before (btw, Pooks is joining us!), and I had based my own method on that picture (using sticky notes for each scene, and sticking them in my Moleskine.) Well, after seeing his storyboard, I had to have one of my own, so I stopped by Staples on the way home to get one. Basically, you get a science project board - you know the kind that folds out like a triptik - and you put each scene on an index card and stick them on the board. The top row, going across, is Act I, the next two rows are Act II to the Midpoint, then the rest of Act II to the end, and the last row is for Act III. The cards go on the board accordian style so that you can flip each card up to see what the scene is, and what the conflict is. The bottom of the card is the only part showing, and on that you write the name of the scene and the emotional arc of that scene. Way cool. This is going to help me actually *see* the parts of the story that need more fleshing out.

What I've been writing recently is turning out really well - lots of action and tension going on. Nobody liked the fact that I shot the protag, though. I guess that didn't really *need* to happen, come to think of it. (Now I can actually say "back to the drawing board" only it's a storyboard.)

Okay, I'm hitting the boards now. Have a great day!