The L.A. Dime

Sophia spent her first Halloween at her Oma’s store, The Tabletop, watching a parade and greeting trick-or-treaters. She also got in a little tummy-time today, working on those neck and arm muscles. Mommy reports an average of six hours sleep over night, plus a few more in the morning after she eats.

Here’s a short YouTube film about The Heroes of the Writers’ Strike.

The 2004 Academy Award-winning writer and producer of Crash is slated to speak at Spalding University’s Brief-Residency MFA Program.

Robert Moresco will discuss Crash and the craft of screenwriting at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday Nov. 6, at Louisville’s Brown Hotel.  A reception will follow. The forum is free and open to the public. The discussion will be lead by the Kentucky Film Lab’s founding co-director, Brad Riddell, and his colleague on Spalding’s faculty, Sam Zalutsky.

The early leader for my presidential vote is not Hill, or Barrack, or John Edwards. It’s Stephen Colbert. I only wish I lived in South Carolina.

Visit The Cheese Fry to read why one former Patriot fan has become a hard-core hater, and may even be cheering for Payton Manning (whom he also loathes) next weekend.  You may also want to dispute his top-10 scariest movies of all time.

Sophie’s taken her first flight to Florida, met her her Great Grandpa, Werner, for the first time, taken her first sink bath, and here is she wearing a dress for the first time, visiting with her Uncle Ralph and Aunt Corinna.

Sophia demonstrates her Trojan spirit thanks to a gift from her pal, Malik.  And her holiday spirit, thanks to Mom-Mom Saundra.

The Writers Guild of America is in the process of authorizing a strike by its members should negotiations regarding our contract with the studios break down. I’ll have more to say about the reasons why our Guild is prepared to take this stand when the time comes, but here’s an interesting poll by MSNBC asking what you will do with your time if the Guild strikes and no new cinema/TV content is being generated. Share your thoughts in a comment, too, please.

For more info on the writers’ cause, read this short op-ed, and this article, both from the L.A. Times.

Lots of goings on of late. #1, Sophia has had tummy and sleeping troubles, so we’ve been experimenting with formula and even stronger pots of coffee. She’s weighing in at 10.5 pounds at nearly 6 weeks. She’s now on Nutramigen, a formula that contains no soy or milk, and is over twice as expensive as the regular stuff. It tastes and smells terrible. We’ve also discovered that while she can be a real sweetie, she’s got a mean temper. When she’s had enough diaper changing, face washing, or wardrobe changes, especially all three at once — she doesn’t just get upset, she gets pissed. Oh, and her favorite spot in the world seems to be her changing table.

Two men and a baby filmed at Hamlin House Friday night as Tina took a trip to Knot’s Scary Farm with her friends, and my friend, Jan, came over to help daddy baby sit for the first time. Things went well until the very end when the little one got pissed and daddy nearly broke his knee cap on the tile stairs. He was not carrying the baby at the time. All is well aside from a slight limp.

High School friend Elizabeth Houston, now Callahan, visited last night with her husband Bob, son Henry, and eight-week old daughter, Julie. Wonderful family and fun catching up. Beth says Julie sleeps through the night already. Must be nice.

This past Sunday night, Brad, Sophie and a few of my dear friends participated in the annual “Light the Night” Walk – an event that raises funds to fight Leukemia & Lymphoma. This is an organization that I have supported for years as my dear Grandma passed away from Leukemia at age 65. I write to all of you this morning to see if you would be able and willing to support this cause – I realize that you obviously have lots of other financial obligations and/or a charity that you support but I wanted to post my donation site just in case.

Thank you to all of you who have already supported this cause…and for walking along side me this past weekend.

If you’re interested in donating, please visit this page.