Don't touch her...

I had a wonderful talk with Kaycee last night. It amazes me that she can call me from Japan and sound like she is across the street. Technology! I sing your praises. We talked for quite a while, until the battery on my cell phone died actually, and I worry that the cost of the call could have gone toward her college loan payments or something. But I am glad she did it.

Things are a might bit stressful around here lately as you may have gathered from yesterday's post. Time heals the wounds but care must be taken not to let them be reopened. We'll see how that goes...

Chris Jay sent me his screenplay this week in a format I can download and print and -surprise!- it is excellent. He has been trying to convince me and others that it is really rough and not anywhere near completion, etc. Well, if this is rough, bring on the fine tuned Cammero version. Chris' writing has improved leaps and bouinds over the past couple of years and he's on his way to becoming genuinely great. The characters are well motivated, complex and human. I was shaking when I finished my first read through and more than a little intimdated by the idea of acting in this thing. I've never been asked to do so much on stage or screen while doing so little. The feelings it evoked in me were eep and slightly disturbing. The best and most surprising thing I found in the script was the women's roles. Chris can write a woman (if only he could learn to make love to one-just kidding). That's harder to do than you think. Men in fiction seem to have clearly defined motivations while women can come across as cyiphers or stand-ins for a concept of femininity. Chris does not do that here. These are living, breathing human beings and reading about them is a very cool experience. I hope I can do the job it will take to translate them to the screen.

I hope Chris doesn't mind me writing about him here. I didn't give away anything about the plot or even the title of the film. My enthusiasm may have gotten the better of me. I imagine him reading this post and screaming at the screeen of his office computer, throwing chairs against the walls, breaking a window, sticking out his head and screaming something very Swearengen at the sky. Something about me and farm animals and my mother maybe. It's not important. What is important is this project he has invited me in on. I feel honored and genuinely excited to be a part of this thing. Chris, you stun me.

Practice tonight should be interesting. Lots of stuff to talk about and think about.

Does anyone know anything about Portland, Oregon?