Reading: The Ghost Brigade by John Scalzi
Music: Tenor Banjo Mixed CD
TV/Movie: Bird of Paradise/We Went to College
Link o' the Day: hulu.comHulu.com

In looking back over five years of being at Journalscape (five years! My first post was April 6, 2003) I have noticed a pattern. Whenever there is a long absence from these pages, it's often because there has been a significant change in my life. A change of job. A change of residence. Family tragedy. Etc. I tried a few posts after my dad passed away, but I evidently wasn't ready yet.

Well I'm ready to try this daily (or nearly-so) again. So bear with me.

I've found that journal writing is good for my all-round writing. Some may consider it a time sink. Time better spent on a piece of real writing. Well I've gone through periods of non-journal-writing and I've found that I do better creative writing when I'm also journal writing. Anyone else see this in themselves?

The last book I mentioned I was laying out was A Collectors Guide to Zorro from the 50s and 60s by Rochelle Dubrow. That's already come back from the press and I think it came out quite well. Whew! That was a lot of work. I have since finished the 2nd edition to Guy Williams: The Man Behind the Mack by Antoinette Girgenti Lane and a revision of In Sicilian Company: An Autobiographical Novel by Argentina Brunetti.

I just finished the first proof to Jan Wahl's Through a Lens Darkly and the author is now going over it. I'm currently wrestling with Hank Moonjean's Hollywood memoir Bring In the Peacocks. Coming soon will be another book of interviews by radio personality Mel Simons.

Folks who follow SFWA news may have heard about the recent relaunch of the SFWA Bulletin. Yes, I had a lot to do with that. I'll go into that maybe tomorrow or the next day. (Gotta save some stuff for future posts.)

Hell, lots of stuff been going on this summer. Lots to write about.

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I love Turner Movie Classics. Today I watched two movies from 1936. Bird of Paradise starring Dolores Del Rio and We Went To College. The latter was an amusing, light comedy with the sort of ending you'd never be allowed to get away with today. (The professor's wife whose ditziness cause the MacGuffin-esque plot confusion gets turned over a knee and spanked with a rolled up newspaper. My God. Can you imagine if anyone but Nora Ephron tried that in a movie today?) The former was a desert island romance. Startlingly risque, but this was before the ratings system. I think the only thing that kept Del Rio's lei in place was the collective will of the League of Decency.

And we must all now celebrate the return of The Critic!

Well.. in re-runs anyway on the Reelz Channel. I love this channel, and while I may know every episode of The Critic by heart, I am always happy at the thought that someone is just becoming introduced to it.

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Speaking of TV and movies, today's link goes to hulu.com. Ever want to just sit and enjoy an episode of WKRP In Cincinnati or Firefly but couldn't find it on cable and didn't feel like buying the DVDs? Now all you need is a good internet collection and you can watch hundreds of TV shows and full-length feature movies. Real movies. Not those $1 crap movies you see at Wal*Mart. Check them out. Yes, there are commercials, but they are blessedly short, and there is a little countdown with each ad to let you know how long you have to run to the bathroom. (Or you could just hit pause.)

Anyway, share and enjoy.

Cheers!