Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

While I probably still credit Steinbeck and Dickens for sending me down the road to crazy writerville, I must admit that Maya Angelou is the writer who taught me the most about the vivid, colorful way that people talk on the page.

I first read “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” in high school and I loved it so much that it was the first adult book that I actually read twice. If I remember correctly I finished it and started reading it again straight away. It was that good!

Rich, layered, funny, sad and sometimes completely weird, Angelou’s characters (which were mostly based on real people from her life since it was a memoir) and their distinctive voices literally popped off the page. It was, and still is, a truly amazing read.

Even if that was the only thing she’d ever done, something tells me we’d still be celebrating Angelou today. But, luckily for us, Angelou was so much more than a writer and a poet and the bold, fascinating way she lived her life should be an example for us all. There will never be anyone quite like Dr. Maya Angelou. So, thank you for the inspiration, the words and most of all, the priceless life lessons you shared with us along the way. RIP sweet lady…

The Magic Drawer

I don’t know if it’s Project X — yes, my fat ass is still trying to stay faithful to the diet that never ends! — or the change in the weather or whatever, but, lately, I’ve been feeling strangely hopeful and upbeat about all kinds of shit that used to totally bum me out.

I still don’t have a steady job — however, the two amazingly-cool freelance gigs I scored have helped — I’m like, dozens of pounds away from my ideal weight, and I just sent a check for $415.00 (plus almost $45.00 more for traffic school) to the courthouse in San Diego for a speeding ticket I got at Easter. So, not exactly a banner month in these parts, but, for some reason, I’m totally 100% cool with it. Actually, the online traffic school really, really sucked and took for-freaking-ever! But, other than that, I’m oddly cool with the hand I’ve been dealt of late.

And better yet, I’m also strangely inspired by it. I don’t wanna get all writerly on you, but, we wordsmiths (oops, there I go!) can have some long-ass dry spells. But not lately, man. For the past week or so, I’ve been almost insanely inspired to write. I feel all giddy again like I did when I first started writing scripts. It’s crazy!

Lawrence Kasdan once said that every writer has a giant locked drawer in their heads, and that everything they ever wanted to write and share with the world or just create for themselves was in that drawer in its completed form. And every once in a while, if you were lucky, you’d get to actually open that drawer and peek inside. And when that happened, well, you’d better have a pen handy and you’d better write fast, because you never know when that drawer could close back up on you. In other words, if your magic drawer is open, you best get writing. So, that’s what I’ve been doing.

Oh, I’m also kind of obsessed with movies about writers lately too. I finally watched my new Criterion Collection DVD of Jules et Jim last week and it was gorgeous, even on standard DVD! I’m sorry, but, could that cast and soundtrack be any more gorgeous? Wow! I’m also about halfway through my second viewing of Young Adult, and I’m finding that I love it even more than I did when I first saw it, so, suck it haters! Speaking of haters, next up is my other favorite crazy writer movie, the classic, love-it-or-hate-it Wonder Boys. I can’t wait!

Anyway, I don’t know what caused my magic drawer to open (and stay open!) but, it’s been kinda awesome. And, on top of all that coolness, my cargo shorts are falling off my ass way more than they usually do — seriously, I had to actually tighten my belt the other day! — so, I guess I’m still losing weight too. Which is all great and wonderful, but, now that I’ve written all this shit down, I think I need to go knock on some serious wood before the universe’s checks and balance department turns on me again. So, see ya next time!

…and Diablo Cody too!

Believe it or not, Joan Didion was not my only literary hero I got to meet this past week! Although worlds away from Didion in terms of content and style, Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno”) is another female writer who just slays me — what is it with all these rad female writers, man? — and, as luck would have it, we got to meet her last night at a post-screening Q&A for her new film “Young Adult”.

If you haven’t heard of the movie yet, you will, because it’s got Oscar bait written all over it. Reteaming with “Juno” director Jason Reitman, Cody’s script is about a delusional, mildly-crazy author of Young Adult fiction — played beautifully by Charlize Theron — who returns to her hometown to snatch back the high school sweetheart she left behind. I know that doesn’t sound like the most original premise, but, trust me, this movie rocks.

It’s funny, dark, twisted, and almost painfully realistic at times and Theron gives what might just be the performance of her career. Love her or hate her, Theron’s hilarious, deeply-flawed character is one for the ages. Just a really classically-great film character. Rock on, Miss Cody!

Later, while asking her to sign my copy of the “Juno” screenplay, I told Cody that the movie reminded me of a female “Wonder Boys” (which is another crazy writer movie that I love!) and she laughed and said she totally agreed. So, if you dig crazy writer movies or even just crazy people movies, you should check this shit out when it opens near you.

And until it does, here’s the trailer to get you all charged up. Enjoy!

Joan Didion’s “Blue Nights”

Man, whenever I wanna feel like a total hack as a writer all I have to do is read a little Joan Didion. Seriously, Didion’s non-fiction writing just about kills me. She makes it all seem so effortless and easy, and then, when you’re lulled into submission by the beauty of her words, she hits you with a sudden, painful truth, and a depth of feeling that just totally takes your breath away.

My first encounter with Didion’s work was “The Year of Magical Thinking”, which I read after my sister Brittany died in 2004. Actually, I think the whole family read it that year. We shared everything in that first, strange year or two after her death, books, magazine articles, movies, anything to help make sense of what happened. But “Magical Thinking” in particular — which deals with the sudden, unexpected death of Didion’s husband, author/screenwriter John Gregory Dunne — really got me through some of the tougher times. Our grief wasn’t the same obviously, but, it was extremely healing to read about someone else’s experience with death and from that moment on, I’ve been one of Didion’s biggest fan.

In New York this summer I started reading “Slouching towards Bethlehem” which is beautiful, and I am just about halfway through “The White Album” which makes me yearn to live, just one day, in Didion’s breezy, rarefied Los Angeles of old. Man, that would be the shit. So cool…

So, you can imagine how excited I was to actually attend a Didion booksigning and discussion last week with my sister-in-law, and fellow Didion fan, Laura. My wife worked the event — Mrs. Yeti has a very cool job working for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles if I haven’t mentioned that before — so, she was there too, and Greta, not much of a Didion fan (yet!), went to see “Puss in Boots” with my brother. So, everybody was happy.

Didion read from her new book — “Blue Nights”, a chronicle of her adult daughter’s illness and eventual death, which, tragically, took place just a year or so after the death of her husband — spoke for a bit onstage and then signed books for the crowd. She might have looked frail, but, when she spoke she was just as clear-headed and direct as her finest essays.

They passed a mic around for questions from the crowd, but, I decided to wait till she was signing my book to ask her what her favorite screenplay was — she wrote and co-wrote several scripts with her late husband — and without missing a beat, she replied: “The Third Man”. Ha! A tight, lean, classically great script…of course she’d pick that. How perfect!

Afterwards, we lingered a bit to help Mrs. Yeti and her co-workers close up shop — the event was held at the absolutely gorgeous St. Vibiana’s Church in downtown Los Angeles — and then headed home, eager to dive into “Blue Nights” and hear what the wee one thought of “Puss in Boots”.

I’m happy to report that both the book (which I’m almost done with) and movie are excellent.