When all else fails, pull random shit from your own life





INT. MOVIE THEATER - LATER
Kalliope and Travis sit watching a movie, the adaptation of Travis's book.  Travis looks very uncomfortable, constantly shifting and looking at Kalliope.
KALLIOPE
Will you stop moving?
TRAVIS
Sorry.  It's just weird. 
KALLIOPE
Seeing your work on screen?
TRAVIS
I thought I successfully avoided this.  I don't know how screen writer's do it.
KALLIOPE
Well you didn't count on the Film Forum, now did you?  Now sh, I want to see how they butchered the train scene.
Travis shifts some more.
TRAVIS
You want some popcorn?  A soda? 
He stands up and Kalliope grabs his shirt, and pulls him back down. 
TRAVIS
(softly)
Ok then.
EXT. TRAIN STATION - NIGHT
Bailey and Hannah standing still, holding hands.  Mid-fight, Hannah is crying hysterically. 
HANNAH
Bailey, don't.  Please.  I cant.  Please.  Don't.
BAILEY
I just can't do this.  I've been here before.  I know how this story ends.  I'm not going to-
HANNAH
Please.
BAILEY
Hannah, get on the train.
FX Hannah flicker's into an image of Megan.
MEGAN
Travis don't do this.  You don't want to do this. 
FX Megan flickers back into Hannah
HANNAH
Does your head still get cloudy?
INT. MOVIE THEATER - CONTINUOUS
TRAVIS
Does your head still get cloudy?  What the hell is that?
EXT. TRAIN STATION - CONTINUOUS
BAILEY
Does my head still get cloudy?  God Hannah, you ripped that straight out of a bad movie.
Bailey and Hannah laugh, their heads leaning on against one another.  Hannah touches her face, and wipes her tears on Bailey's cheek.  Just then, the train arrives. 
FX Hannah flickers back into Megan again. 
MEGAN
Is... Is this it?
BAILEY
I don't know. 
Bailey puts Megan/Hannah on to the train.
BAILEY
I just need time to think.  Ok?
MEGAN
I love you.
BAILEY
(softly)
Yeah. 
INT.  BAILEY'S CAR - MOMENTS LATER
Bailey looks at his cell phone, sees a picture of him and Hannah.  He dials her number
MEGAN
I thought you wanted time to think.
BAILEY
Yeah, well... fuck I don't know.  I just can't leave it like that.  Where's the next train stop?
MEGAN
Yonkers.
BAILEY
I'll be there in fifteen minutes. 
INT. MOVIE THEATER - CONTINUOUS
TRAVIS
What the hell is this?
KALLIOPE
They added a few scenes I guess.
TRAVIS
Where did they come up with it?
KALLIOPE
Sh, it's not that bad. 
TRAVIS
(under his breath)
That's what happened.
KALLIOPE
What?
TRAVIS
Nothing.
Kalliope scoots closer to Travis, putting her head on his shoulder.  Travis closes his eyes takes a deep breath, and he looks back down at Kalliope. 
FX Kalliope flickers into Megan.
Travis jumps up, freaked out, and walks out of the theater. 

5:19 PM | Labels: | 0 Comments

Easy-Speak

EXT. STREET -- NIGHT
Kalliope and Travis walk down a back alley, no one is around.  They are both already visibly drunk.  Kalliope stops and looks at Travis coyly.  She looks him up and down, weighing this option. 
KALLIOPE
You want a hot dog?
INT. HOT DOG RESTAURANT -- MOMENTS LATER
Kalliope grabs Travis's hand and walks him through the restaurant, completely ignoring the counter, heading straight to a back phone book.  She pushes Travis in, looks around to make sure nobody is watching, pushes passed Travis, and opens a secret door. 
INT. SPEAKEASY -- MOMENTS LATER
Travis looks around, and takes the environment in.  There are very few people here, the speakeasy is completely immersed in the past.  No signs of modern technology are evident. 
TRAVIS
You know you kind of got me craving a hot dog.
KALLIOPE
Oh, we'll get hot dogs.  I just had to make sure you were cool first.
Travis stands up and starts to walk to the bar. 
TRAVIS
7 & 7.  Orange, Lime, Cherry. 
KALLIOPE
Oh, we are way passed 7 & 7s.  Sit, relax.  This ones on me.
Kalliope walks to the bar, and Travis pulls out his cell phone.  A waiter comes by.
WAITER
Sir, you are going to have to turn that off.  We don't allow cell phones in here.
TRAVIS
Oh.
(quietly)
Sorry.
Kalliope comes back to the table, with two coffee mugs.  She slides on over to him, not sitting down. 
KALLIOPE
Miss me?
(not letting him answer)
Of course you did, but you can relax, I've returned. 
Travis ignores this and takes a sip from the mug, unaware of what he is drinking.
TRAVIS
Strong coffee.  What is it?
KALLIOPE
That, my dear, is a very delicious 140 proof bourbon mixed with a very not delicious thing they call absinthe. 
TRAVIS
So you take me to a bar, get me drunk, just to go to another bar.
KALLIOPE
You are honestly going to sit there and tell me you have never hit more than one bar in a single evening.  Plus, you seem like an old soul.
TRAVIS
Oh do I?
KALLIOPE
I've got your number Mister Dillinger.
TRAVIS
You think you have me all figured out, huh?
(pause)
I have a few tricks up my sleeve.
Kalliope brushes his cheek and slowly goes to whisper in his ear.
KALLIOPE
So do I.
Kalliope gets up and walks away.  Travis sits there, completely confused.  The faint sound of a piano being played can be faintly heard.  Travis turns to look at her.  Kalliope plays and sings a jazzy, sentimental song. 
INT. SPEAKEASY -- MOMENTS LATER
TRAVIS
That was great.
KALLIOPE
You couldn't come up with a better adjective than that?  You strike me as the type who could come up with a less cliche way of saying you enjoyed it.  Besides, you should be flattered.  I don't let just anybody hear me sing.
TRAVIS
Just close friends and family?
KALLIOPE
Complete strangers mostly. 
TRAVIS
But you have my number, remember?  How much of a completely stranger can I really be?
Kalliope laughs.
KALLIOPE
Finish your drink.  Night isn't over yet. 
Kalliope winks at him. 

4:44 PM | Labels: | 0 Comments

Tales of a 24 year old nothing

At 18, I had it all planned out what life at 25 was going to be like: I was going to be living on my own, I was going to be gainfully employed,  I was going to be with the girl I would wind up with, and I was going to be on my way to setting myself up for the rest of life. Oh, and I wrote a shitty young adult novel. 


At 20, things were all going to plan. I was on my way to the degree, I had just started seeing a girl I couldn't deny feeling was "the one". I was just missing the job, the apartment, and was cocky that my real life would start in the next 2 years.

At 22, I had the degree, I still had the girl, but that was the slippery slope where the momentum and traction didn't keep me up. I was living in a basement, with my girlfriend. The only thing missing in the trifecta that signified the failure of life was the unwanted pregnancy. The lack of a job started to get to me.  No one really tells you that an English degree is pretty much worthless. Yeah, you can dissect Wordsworth  and Faulkner with the best of them, but you have a piece of paper that cant get you a job anywhere, but I was keeping it together, and it all slipped out bit by bit. 

At 24, it  the plan was all shot to shit. There was no job, there were internships. Internships where I had to pay to get to work, and then a slightly better internship of which I'm presently at. I get a title, and i get my travel comped. I guess it's the stepping stone I need. I feel strangely optimistic, and hopefully in not the same 18-year old one.  I'm still living at home, and I'm still in the basement, and it still drives me nuts. I feel like I'm 16 again, and now there's a slight difference:the girl, the girl quite frankly just wasn't the one, and it got messy. It's all part of the journey I suppose.  The big difference is that I'm starting to seriously invest in myself. I'm seriously investing in my writing (see this). I don't know. 24 may be the year that leads me to the rest of my life, in a way that is better than i imagined.

3:37 PM | | 0 Comments

A Brand New Tuesday

Not like anybody reads this, but I updated the look of the Tues, it's a little sleeker, a little darker, a little sexier. 

3:34 PM | Labels: | 1 Comments

The death of me.

Sarah Becker, the first and best example of my relationship with girls. It was in 8th Grade. We were the best of friends, always talking, joking around, everything was peachy until the second she found out I had a crush on her. I told Mark DeLuca, who told Jenny Graham, who told Matt O’Connell, who told Sarah.  That day was probably the end of my innocence.

I’m sitting there drinking my Ecto Cooler juice box, eating a ham and cheese, and out of peripheral vision I see Matt and Sarah, and more specifically Sarah looking directly at me and giggling her high pitched giggle.  She knew, and I knew she knew.  She even knew that I knew.

She comes up, and meekly utters out a single syllable

Hi.

With that my face is redder than the reddest tomato you could ever see.  I can’t speak, I can’t think, and I can’t do anything but be painfully aware of how awkward and small I feel. That is the day Sarah and I stopped being friends, and she started to be the girl I grade-school loved. 

1:54 PM | Labels: , | 0 Comments

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