Jean Dorff, host of the podcast The Empowering Story, invited me to be a guest to talk about sexual violence and what to do about it. I was invited because of my film, REVENGE IN KIND, which deals with the subject from a few different perspectives. (It's the story of how a female police psychologist takes matters of justice into her own hands.) Anyway, the podcast was a lot of fun and very interesting because Jean is a very well-informed author on the subject of abuse and how to deal with it. He has a lot of insights that are useful across a range of life's challenges. If you'd like to listen, it is on Apple podcasts and here is the link to the Spotify one: Interview with Filmmaker.

Many people have boxes that they've not opened for years. Me too. I am trying to clean things out a bit and found some papers I'd written as a student. While I don't contend they're well-written, the subject matter is still of interest to me. A few of my friends and followers might agree...or not. Anyway, for fun, ego, camaraderie, or whatever, I've put a couple up on this website. But I'm not so proud of them to have them in the navigation menu. I scanned them to make the paper white because the original is as aged as I.

Months ago I posted about making a film of my short story The Foursome contained in my book Moments: Short Stories. Well, I am thrilled to say, we finished it and it premiered last week at the Texas Theatre in Dallas. Here is the poster for it and a link to the trailer. The only way to see the whole movie right now for free is online from Fawesome and they show it with ads. 

Here is the link to the trailer. You can watch the whole 20-minute movie, with ads, on Fawesome.

I used to be on Instagram, Tik-Tok, Facebook, and Twitter/X. Now I am on none of those. I decided that my short time in this life was better spent reading a good book, listening to music, or taking a walk. Am I happier now? You bet, I am! I think the best part of the abandonment was to get rid of the negativity. People like the "OMG stories," and exaggerate them to garner more attention. And now I have more "me time." I've even taken up a new hobby, though I don't know if I'll stick with it. But I will until I no longer enjoy it. It is knot-tying! Every few days I learn a new one and then test myself until I'm sure its in my memory bank. Today's is the Midshipman's Knot. Look it up. It is fun and useful. It is like a little noose that doesn't tighten unless you take pressure off it to slide-adjust it. 

I realize that other people surely know most of the words I post here that are new to me. Well, here's another: numinous—"having a spiritual or religious quality; suggestive of a presence of divinity". I could have used this word when I wrote about an experience after my father's death in the middle of a December. I had just come home from his funeral, where I'd told the story of his saving a lizard someone had callously thrown in the trash. I went upstairs to assuage my grief by holding the pillow on which he'd died. I had placed it in a bag in the guest bedroom closet. Upon opening the closet, there was a lizard on the pillow. I urgently called for my husband, who came and we stood in awe, just absorbing the moment. A numinous moment.

My short is the 10-minute-long film I'm planning to shoot in April. The script is based on a short story "The Foursome" in my latest book, Moments. So far, I have recruited a producer, one of the four actors, and the sound designer. But that is doing organizing business. On the artistic side, the really fun side, I am also making progress, having almost finished a shot list. That is a spreadsheet that lists every shot to be taken in the film, including the angle, movement, subject, and purpose. Basically, it is a run-through of the film in your head. The exercise is not only to make it easier to convey the director's objectives to the cast and crew, but also to help make lists of the equipment and set to make the scenes envisioned become reality. I am preparing the shot list on Google Sheets so that it can be shared with all who'll need it.

Last year, I bought a nuc of bees for a wooden hive . Watching them buzz around my flower beds was a sort of zen process that was so relaxing and refreshing. When the heat of summer got to them, they gathered outside the hive and fanned their little wings to cool off (photo below). Then tragedy struck yesterday. Bees from elsewhere descended on my hive and there was a horrible war, which my smaller group of bees lost. At first I put on my beekeeper suit and tried to nudge the attackers away, but they were relentless as they isolated each defending bee and killed him. With the battle won, now the intruders are stealing the stores of honey. I find myself remarkably emotional about this and am wondering how I could possibly hate one group of bees over another. But I do. I am trying to come up with a positive thought: maybe the honey from my bees will help the other hive thrive in the coming January cold. 

I was looking for the word to describe what one misses by relying on written words instead of hearing them spoken. Without the melody, rhythm, rate, and emphases, one can completely misinterpret the intended meaning. You might imagine sarcasm or emotion when none was intended or you might miss it when it is intended. And this problem is accentuated by texting because even the use of italics and punctuation is usually missing. Bolding and exclamation marks are so overused that they convey little these days. 

So what is the word for these vocalized touches that enable us to fully understand the speaker's words? Prosody.
Although I had heard the word in connection to the reading of poetry, I was unaware of its application to everyday speech. (People who have experience with sufferers of autism or Parkinson's may be familiar with the word because people with those diseases often have absence of prosody in their speech.) I am trying to rely a bit less on texting and emailing so that prosody can play its all-important role.

Where you see wrong, or inequality, or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.
 – Thurgood Marshall
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You may think first of politics when you read this. I did. But several months ago, after I had read and filed this, something happened in my life that made this quotation both more meaningful and a call to action for me. The country club where I play golf opened a new bar and cafe, but made it men-only. Yes, they did. I objected, but was put down by the Board of Directors who heard my appeal. So, yes, I see injustice and inequality and am compelled to do something (working on it). I don't know how all this will turn out, of course. But I can say for sure that it can be mighty uncomfortable when you speak up. Even the people who agree with you in their hearts can treat you like a leper. This experience makes me value John Lewis and all the others who've sacrificed their comfort (and more) to try to right wrongs.

There's a short story in my newest book, MOMENTS, that's about four guys who play cards together and the attempt by three of them to help the fourth—when he doesn't want or need the help. It's a situation many or most of us have been in.

Anyway, I would like to turn it into a film of about 10 minutes. I've just finished the screenplay for it and am scoping out the mechanics of bringing it to life. The part that is most exciting to me is to see what other artists—actors, cinematographer, producer, editor—will do to it. If I can pull this off, it will be great fun. Will keep you posted.