Ranting

Renée chides me for not giving Loren Meeker a MIO bag. Does Renée pay for those? Why doesn't she order them then? If they are in our budget, why is it Renée's business? Are we not trying to cut costs? I am trying to save my dept. money, and we have all made cuts. We are paying for all bicycles this production; don't we have to make adjustments somewhere? Do we not all have to bear the burden?

Volunteer Party

8/30/09 I like going to parties where I have duties; they keep me on the straight and narrow. We had a part like that today at Nostrana, a volunteer party. I took pictures and talked to people: volunteers, colleagues, and miscellaneous. I had a pretty good time, but I am aware that I am on duty. Some people are so grim, like Laura. She probably means well, but she is very serious.

Rachel is fun; Bobal is smitten; Jude is entertaining; Patty is good at her job. It turned out to be a pretty day. Minnie sang a forgettable song and then Dinah's aria from T in T. Gael sang Largo al factotum and Grenada. Babydoll stayed in the truck.

Mother gave me good advice re: the receptions. Send a note to Jada. Say we need a meeting, or tell her I want to do food. As it turns out, no more food for Jada. The English girl is taking over and has Cristine Ebersole working with her.

La vie bohème

Here is the thing: I like details to be perfect. I don't want anything out of place, and all the corners must be clean. So when I read copy that isn't clean, it annoys me. I think people should pay attention to grammatical details. I am kind of a nazi that way. Right now I feel really good. If I can sell that Mitsubishi, I can breathe a sigh of relief.

Where is that post in which I discuss the dramatic tension at the opera? The one that is supposed to be the basis for the screenplay or series? What is going on so far? Clare and Chris is ongoing . . . Stevie B. is a vegetarian . . . Daryl is big and tall . . . Jennifer is ambitious, acts privileged, is fun, talks a lot . . . José is the senior now, Señor Suave . . . J-tree is pissy as usual, her bossy R Zellweger self . . . Noelle is looking very sexy with her Brigitte Bardot hair . . . Scot is a snot . . . Rae is a comfort . . .

I have to not superimpose what I hear onto the people about whom I hear them. Let Fran be Fran no matter what anybody says . . . and that goes for everyone . . .

Erik is fun, Stanley Tucci could play him. Michael could be Philip Seymour Hoffman. Did I say James yet? James would be David Spade. Omigod, how much fun could this be?!!! I'm thinking The Devil Wears Prada meets Robert Altman-type cameothon. It would take a very influential, very up-and-coming director/producer . . . Sofia Coppola

I

A Passion for Writing

Would it not be great if I wanted to write so much that it threatened my job because I took so much time doing it? It would be a lot more rewarding than play Sl & MW for 2 hours a day.

I would love to see things in a humorous way. Like when Claudie and Julia whisper after I have left the room. It's high school at Hampton Opera Center. How can I make that funny? Who would play them in a movie? Marcia Gay Harden could be Julia, and Claire Danes could be Claudie. Rachel Bilson could be Lauren. Bonnie could be a British actress. Tracy would be played by Rachel Aniston or Jenna Elfman. Chris would be played by Al pacino. Emma Thompson would be Clare. Noelle would be played by Naomi Wyatt, and an English actress whose name I can't remember would play Eliz. Liz would be Emily Blunt, and a heavier Renee Zellweger could do Jennifer. Elizabeth Peña plays Valeria and Jada Pinkett Smith is Deborah.

There is more to this somewhere. Imagine writing so much that I can't find my stuff. That is hard to imagine.

A Win

She assessed the situation and decided she could beat the other girl. She had more experience, more confidence, and more imagination.

What A Big Blunder Looks Like

Yesterday I wrote a message to a brewing co. in which I denigrated the product of our current sponsor brewer. That wasn't necessarily the bad part. The bad part was including that e-mail in the e-mail I sent to the corporate relations manager, which I did inadvertently. He, in turn, sent me a reprimand and included my boss in the e-mail. So now I suppose I am in trouble.

How to look at this? Well, I am ambitious. I don't like being in a mostly clerical position so I branch out and try to do other things, and sometimes those things backfire, like this one. If I just did my job, I would be bored and resentful, so I try to be helpful in other ways. My efforts don't always wind up being helpful. Sigh.

My reaction was to write to apologize to the crm: Sorry, Jim. You are absolutely right, and I was out of line. It won't happen again.

In analyzing what I said, I didn't really slam Widmer, I just really praised Ninkasi. I got too enthusiastic, however, for a professional setting, and I would rather Jim and Clare hadn't seen that part.