2003-07-03 - 6:06 p.m.

Days, it�s been days, I tell you.

Busy/hectic/hectic/busy.

And yet� I�m more-than-slightly preoccupied with the need to update here.

Sending hello�s to all y�all for your nice notes/guestbook signings and emails.

Shucks. You�re a big goofy group of sweetness and I want to leave a tiny inheritance to each of you. Please submit mothers maiden names and your atm pin codes and the dough will follow.

One would think, were they thinking, that there is no method to my madness� you�d never think that the rambling mess that ends up on the page begins as anything other than a landslide (hi stevie nicks) of words, separated by dots, dashes and paragraph breaks� and for the most part, that is true-- wait, what was my point?

Oh, whatever.

Anyway... let me tell you about this recent

WHAT WAS I THINKING thing-

FILMS WITH FAMILY THEMES:

My girlfriend/same-sex partner/lady-lover/meal-ticket/built-in date and I had been putting off seeing a documentary that we reallywanted to see, as documentary filmmaking is a thing that�s in our lives, but the subject matter was� difficult. Sure, documentaries about baby chicks or jello or happy families don�t necessarily make for riveting viewing� so it usually has to be unsettling or compelling or something else ending in �ing�.

Finally, we saw �CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS�, which I both advise you to see and warn you against seeing if you have any issues that might get tweaked. Uh huh.

If y�all haven�heard of it, I�ll cut and paste a description here:

�Capturing the Friedmans is an involving documentary that takes a notorious case of persistent, widespread child molestation and turns it into an engrossing character study that uncovers ambiguity and bias in unforeseen places.�

Exactly. Good times. Good times. Right? Yeah.

So, disturbed� and calling it a day after the FRIDAY MATINEE of CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS last week, it stuck with me. And stuck. Then stuck some more. Oy.

The very next night, we had a double-date with another girl/girl couple, one of which happens to be my writing partner on the script we just finished (yeah, us!) and we were going out to booze-it-up just a bit, celebrate our script completion and� quite possibly see a flick.

Of course, I was still in �de-briefing� mode after �CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS�, and had a hard time clearing my head of it, when one of the ladies suggested �FINDING NEMO�� and not only �FINDING NEMO�, but seeing it at DISNEY�S EL CAPITAN THEATER on Hollywood Boulevard, where scores of Mom�s and Dad�s bring their excited children to watch Disney Films, see an exciting �Stage Show� with singing and dancing characters beforehand, and then go right into a DISNEY STORE where plush and poseable miniature versions of those characters can be purchased and brought home.

So, yeah. We boozed, we ate� then we made our way down to the EL CAPITAN and sat in rows between little timmy and suzie and their mom�s and dads�. And watched FINDING NEMO.

Has the IRONY of the similar yet different themes struck you yet?

IN CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS, the father, ALLEGEDLY wreaks havoc on the lives of his sons, ALLEGEDLY molesting at least one� and then going on to ALLEGEDLY molest a few to several of his �computer class� students in the basement of his home.

One of the sons is ACCUSED of ALLEGEDLY molesting the students as well.

A father-son story, indeed.

In FINDING NEMO, a young son (fish) is taken away and the father goes on a scarey adventure to help rescue him.

The IRONY and the SIMILAR yet DIFFERENT-ness (ish) caused a total and complete brain-freeze/melt-down/yikes/oy in my tender/fragile little soul.

In the end, I�m very sad about the ALLEDGED MOLESTATION of CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS, and yet�. Filled with hope that the Father Fish in FINDING NEMO had the purest of intentions, and never layed an improper gill/fin on anyone.

That, ladies and gentlemen� is the contents of my head.

Uh oh�. Times up.

I promise an EXTENDED UPDATE upon my return to town after the weekend.

Items I PROMISE to cover : Bill and Sue Update- �Sue goes to a Lezzie Bar� and

A recent encounter I�m calling �Dinner with Danger� (which I know sounds like a Lifetime Movie Title� and it should)

Have a happy and safe and sparkler-filled FOURTH!

xoxoxo