Word Play

I haven't had fun with a post in a while...and I'm writing about the financial world at present, so a little break is necessary.

I love when people say words wrong. Growing up in Missouri and with family from bayou country in Louisiana, I thought it was reserved to a few textured U.S. regions. After traveling the United States, including all four corners, as well as the Southwest's Four Corners Region, I've discovered that it is everyone. So, here's a short list, and please, feel free to suggest any I've forgotten.

All time favorites:

1. Probly. (Probably) We're probly gonna go to the store in awhile. As in...it's possible, but not proble?

2. Egspecially. Exspecially. (Especially) Am I the only one who's noticed that people actually say egspecially? Egspecially if you're probly going to the store later.

3. Bob Wire. (Barbed-wire) As if it's your neighbor's name. We put up some 48 inch posts with Bob Wire on the back 40...it probly took us all day. Now, I love Bob, but when him puttin' up wire, well, he egspecially sucks.

4. Excape. (Escape) Yep, this goes hand in hand with egspecially.

5. Supposably. (Supposedly) This is probly my all-time favorite...

6. Expresso. (Espresso) Egspecially a favorite when I go to a small coffee shop and it's spelled wrong in vibrant colors on the arbitrary chalk-board.

7. Libel. (Liable) I'm libel to probly do that there if we can get bob wire, which will supposably help on the back 40.

8. Libary. (Library) Really? Lie-berry? Maybe that's the reason you've never been able to find it in town or on campus..."Is that it? Dang...that's the library...I need the libary...stupid r's."

9. Zuology. (Zoology) Maybe I'm nitpicking, but if it were Zu-ology, it would probly need another o - egspecially if you're supposably talking about the scientific discipline.

10. Realitor. (Realtor) Really. It's Realty. Not to be confused with reality.

Well. That's all the fun I'm allowed for today. Now I must go to the DMV - someone supposably stold my license plates off my motorcylce. I went to the cops and said I thought it was probly Bob Wire, but he must of excaped while I was having an expresso down at the libary while waiting on my Realitor to call me about some property with a back 40. I'm libel to kill that Bob Wire if I ever see him again, egspecially if I find out he's really a Zuologist.

ETC

ETC. It fits perfectly into every list that has no end in sight...

...but today, ETC carries far more weight than a summation for additional parts contributing to a whole - these letters represent a name...

Emmett Travis Coleman. Emmett finished up his work on earth today, after giving a diagnosis of cancer one heck of a wrestling match.

"Dad" to one of my best life-long friends, Nick Coleman, and friend to an impressive mix of individuals, including myself, not only was he a believer in dreams, but a believer in the people who dreamed them. I can attest to his generosity first-hand. There simply wasn't an instance in which I visited the man while with his son that we weren't treated like royalty...or perhaps like the celebrities that we hope one day to be. Regardless of the fact that Emmett knew very little about the business aspect of "the arts," he was always interested in learning more and rejoicing in the small successes that Nick and I tried to present. He served as a benefactor while we struggled to make a film in our home state of Missouri, offering us the finances for a place to live so we could use our time to work hard and not get paid for it. And when frustrations would mount, he'd call us away from it - 2 hours down the road, for a round of 18, the shuffle of some cards, steaks and baked potatoes.

His personal story is a gem, and I'm sure Nick will get around to penning it someday. His time served in the military was rooted in a desire for American citizens who "had bigger dreams" than he did - and serving in Special Forces, he brought home the heroic goods...including a back injury that I first noticed in 2004...Nick telling me, "I have no idea what it's from, but he's had it for as long as I can remember." It was grenade shrapnel...from Vietnam. They finally cut it out a couple years ago.

I found it incredibly strange that last night I struggled to find feeling in anything I did. Work. Play. I missed out on a best friend's birthday party for a reason that continually eluded me. I would doze off, only to pop up, not the least bit tired, and when Kristi and I finally went to bed, I just stood in the dark bedroom, confused about my options - go to sleep, or stay awake. Ultimately I knew that something just didn't feel "right." Today I struggled to find direction, and dozed off after lunch, staring...then I woke up this afternoon, feeling different, and Nick called. When I saw his name on the phone, I knew it wasn't good news. I tried to rebuke the feeling by answering the phone like a dork...something I'm so good at...but my will was crushed by the Supreme, and not only am I OK with that, I welcome it. Doesn't mean I like it...but I openly surrender to it.

And I thank God for letting me know ETC.

Blue.

I'm rollin' in my favorite color scheme because today is my birthday.

I'm not real big on birthdays, but I am thrilled that I was able to finish up my work day before 3:00 p.m.

Truth be told, an aunt of a dear friend offered a new perspective on birthdays that I hadn't really thought of before...as a "more often than I prefer" skeptic, you wouldn't think of a Birthday as the holiday of holidays. Yet, being an individual of great faith, it is the anniversary of the first official day that God blessed me with life. And I must say - thinking of it in that way is just grande.

It has been a good day. After midnight I got a little more writing done on a screenplay that's nearing completion. I slept well. I got a little paid writing done this morning. Kristi brought me an Inn 'N Out Double-Double, fries and lemonade for lunch. As I finished up my work Chloe got home from school - I could hear her rocking guitar hero, then she came into the room in the spirit of flea, playing in only her cotton briefs...seriously...guitar around the shoulders and cotton undies. I was a little confused, but hey, there are few bass players that you would hope your daughter would aspire to - Flea is one of them. John Paul Jones is the other. (He's also a trumpeteer, that Flea) *New Paragraph.

Dru got home and is lying in his bedroom floor with a chair on his face.

It has just been a good day!

31.

Seriously. It's right around the corner. This Wednesday. 30 didn't seem so bad...but 31? That's really the ability to say, "Hey, I'm in my 30's."

My present this year...getting rid of more "stuff." However, I think I may be investing in these beauties...

I've wanted them for quite some time, and I just noticed they went on sale. I've honestly never seen a baseball shoe that looked so fast. To those of you who have never run in a race, whether down the court, track, field or first base line, certain shoes are faster than others.

The closer a shoe is to being like your bare feet with exceptional traction, the faster it is. Thus the reason you see sprinters in what amount to stiff slippers with spikes at the front of the foot. This baseball shoe is the most similar to that style that I've ever seen, and well...I just gotta have it. And don't argue with me. I'm 31.

Now if I could only decide on a color... ...

Holy Holbrook...Thar's Wigwam's in Them Thar Hills

Have you seen the movie CARS?

(I'm all out of order, so bear with as I confuse the days and speak of them in retrograde fashion.)

I was working in the desert this week, and I kept thinking of Lightning McQueen, but more specifically of Doc Hudson (aka Paul Newman).

If you haven't checked out this animated gem, I highly recommend it. I've yet to see a Pixar flic that I didn't enjoy, and because of my sweet spot for motorheads, I really, really loved cars. In fact, the film was about three of my favorite things: Cars, the western American desert and getting off the beaten path.

It's crazy to see and experience the world that existed before Interstate 40 dominated eastern and western travel through the Wild West. Much of what once existed is now found in piles of rubble or as ruins of rock and grout. However, the small Arizona town of Holbrook offers one of the coolest Old Route 66 sites you'll ever see, and when you DO see it, you know immediately how those Pixar dudes scored their motivation to hammer out this, James Sheldon's favorite, Pixar effort. (Maybe if I keep writing Pixar, people will find my blog about Pixar as opposed to the official Pixar site! That would be Pixariffic!)

So, we picked up some montage stuff on Sunday at the Wigwam Motel, and got a little bit closer to becoming a full piece of fabric on Wid Winner and The Slipstream. After Alex (who I'm now calling Sascha) got what he wanted (and you can always tell that he got what he wanted, because he smiles real big and bats his irresistible lashes), we travelled back east toward the world's cultural epicenter, LA. Did I say epicenter? I meant blackhole...

On our way back, I know Sascha Gaynor was hoping for a few more slices of incomparability, and the "betchas" (I betcha) were swirling through the production vehicles as we approached the famous Ghost Town of Two Guns, Arizona. The stop here would become an epic journey across (we didn't know at the time that it was) an old, abandoned portion of Route 66, the historic Route 66 Bridge over Canyon Diablo, as well as include some stellar shots at the old Two Guns Zoo, where I got to do what all actors live for...throw rocks and get sunburned while being photographed...if that sounds sarcastic, let me reitterate...that, to me, is about as close to perfect as a day can get.

So...what about Saturday? Saturday was THIS. Two fellas in the middle of the desert, talking about Tang, Freeze-dried Ice Cream and surrounded by petrified wood, erotic mannequins and horny ostriches. If you were excited about the prospects of a movie about a homemade time machine, it only gets better when you think about this guy:

Don't ya just wanna take a sword and whack his head off?