Moments of surprise

On the walk from where I live to the post office that's open late, I pass an office building that's three times longer than it is tall and sweeps in an "S" from one end to the other, its facade a meld of silver and blue that adds to the elegant feel. Its rear entrance is typical-anywhere style -- wide driveway leading up to a multi-level garage with a minimum of landscaping. But where it faces 410, a space nearly a hundred feet wide and running the length of the building is covered with oak trees and thick grass, and during the Christmas holiday the trees' trunks are wrapped in tiny white lights that glisten in the darkness. There is no fence, so you can enter this fairytale world and wander about minus any care -- except to make certain you don't trip over an extension cord cable. The noise of cars speeding down the freeway seems softer. The night feels darker and yet lighter at the same time. It's a rare moment of grace in a city that doesn't care for such things, unless they can make you a buck. It's one of the reasons I like taking that 2 mile trek to the PO -- that and they're open till ten.

I completed a rewrite of my editing job -- changing everything I wanted to that didn't affect the structure and correcting some inconsistencies while adding in this whole subtext -- and sent it off to the writer/director last night. It's a cleaner, leaner 109 pages long and moves quickly enough -- though I do think it'll wind up being a 112-115 minute movie since there's so much action. We'll see how it goes down.

I'm at a stage where I can do nothing on the two projects I'm obligated to, so I'm taking another walk. That seems to help me smooth out my mood and make me open to Brendan's ideas. Plus, it's good exercise. I've found I prefer strolls that are about the same length as from my apartment in West Hollywood to The Grove in the Fairfax District of LA -- about 40-45 minutes each way...and that fits both the PO and The Quarry perfectly. Right now it's about 60 and not a cloud in the sky. I better put on some sunscreen.