Writer's Block and The Muse

I have been very lazy about posting lately and that is NOT a good thing for a person who has a blog.  I'm still suffering from some serious writer's block, not to mention watching another beloved relative dealing with a devastating disease.  It's bad enough seeing my darling Annie forgetting how to cough and struggle for breath, but now a dear brother-in law has been diagnosed with ALS.  You can imagine the specter of that one.  This person has been a member of our family for longer than any of us can remember and watching him deteriorate and come to grips with it is very sad.

A born optimist, I try not to let this kind of thing get me down to the point where I cannot be helpful to those that need me, but for some reason this has struck me fairly hard.  Already suffering from the stupid writer's block, this has added another dimension to the problem, a lingering depression that is hard to shake off despite the smiling, cheerful face I turn to the world.  I can't afford to be down because I am the one that gets everyone up.  It's just that simple.  So if they can struggle to stay alive, then I should be able to get moving and write, right?

Well apparently not so simple because I seem to want to do everything but put my mind to doing the work that I need to do to get past it.  I have read several books that touch on the subject and purchased a CD that gives subliminal messages to line up the right and left brain while listening to heavy rain on pavement. I've listened to part of it once and haven't touched it again.  I'm not sure it will work, but just posting these thoughts on here tonight is a start.  I am suddenly feeling hopeful.

Last night I went out to dinner and took along a script that needs serious revision.  It is not the one I sent out for professional critique (I haven't been able to touch it since I got it back and that's when all the trouble started), but a romance/comedy that I think has possibilities with a good general overhaul. I have all but decided not to write anymore screenplays, but to concentrate on novels/fiction instead,  however I really want to give the ones I have written a chance to survive before I switch, so...

Anyway, the fact I got some work done yesterday has made me very happy and I think it might have been the breakthrough I needed.  It was also very flattering that some guy, who was having dinner on his own (a sometime actor with a sag card) came over and started up a conversation.  He was terribly complimentary but said he was hesitant to ask me out because he felt I would find him too old.   When he told me his age I laughed at the fact I had four years on him and told him so.  I probably shouldn't have...but I'm not a good liar.  He was flabbergasted and told me he thought I was amazing.   We talked for a while longer and shook hands and he left.   Fifteen minutes later he comes back and said he wanted to see me again and asked for my phone number.  I was hesitant to give it to him, but did, thinking he would go home and think about not wanting to date a woman older than he when there are so many young ones out there.  Besides that, he's not really my type, but he did stroke my vanity and in my present state, that is one thing that always picks me up.  I already have an archeologist who is pursuing me and he's not my type either...so what's one more so "not my type" ringing me up?

Now, since I've gotten my feet wet again putting down these few sentences and getting a few things off my chest, I shall turn to the Muse, after all, that is the purpose of this blog...to muse about the Muse.

In that vein, I've been reading a little about his current projects and know he is in Shreveport again, filming Olympus is Down.  I do hope they keep that name for the movie.   It's certainly better than White House Taken/Down.  But dumbing down for the masses is so prevalent in Hollywood, they feel  they have to hit you over the head with the titles so that you will understand it's an action adventure.  I think people can be trusted to understand that when they say Olympus...they are talking about the seat of power (as Mt. Olympus was the home of the Gods who ruled ancient Greece) and a good code name for the White House.

What's in a look?  A lot.

I must say I was disappointed to see Gerry cut/darken his hair and shave for this role, but it was to be expected for an ex secret service agent.  He has to play to type.  The problem is that I had gotten used to seeing his longer mane and found the look he employed for Mavericks (yes I know it is now Chasing Mavericks...but rebel that I am I shall still call it Mavericks)...quite good for him, particularly when his hair wasn't sticking out in all directions.  I also like facial hair on him.  He is one of the few men that can get away with it and look good.  I also understand he shaved for a commercial he did for a blade company. Hopefully we will get to see it!

Buttoned Up

I saw the trailers for Mavericks and it looks promising.  I had heard some things about the project that didn't sound too encouraging, but I expect it may give the Muse a chance to display his charms. He certainly provides the physical eye candy for the movie...so I hope his acting is  good too!  His watchability quotient is high with me still, so I will go see it opening weekend and hopefully it will prove a person who mentioned it wasn't very good, wrong.  As male egos go in Hollywood, one has to take these kinds of critiques with a grain of salt.  Perhaps this person (who was involved in the project) didn't have a good experience in whatever it was he did for the film.  I didn't ask, as I am a closeted admirer of the Muse and showing undue interest in the conversation going on across the table that afternoon at the Chateau Marmont would have outed me.

With Playing the Field and Mavericks both coming out soon and a slew of new projects on his docket, I think it is safe to say that we will be hearing a lot about Gerard Butler for quite a while.   I am still waiting to see that spark of the "romantic" lead I saw in him years ago come to fruition on some project.  I get that he is good at the action stuff, but in my eyes, until he plays a serious romantic lead, I'm not sure he will live up to the early promise.  I like who he is as a person, but more than that I want to like what he can become on the screen. When I go to see one of his movies,  I want to come away in love with his screen persona again.

Sexy coming through the character?

I thought he was very good in Coriolanus, a little less so in Machine Gun Preacher, though he had some very bright moments and he was a wonderful King Leonidas in 300, but he hasn't made me believe him quite like I did in The Jury and in Dear Frankie, where the look in his eyes was enough to make me believe he was that tall, quiet stranger who could say so much with a look.  I will be looking for that quality to shine through again in each of his movies and hope fame hasn't killed it in him.

He's still one of the sexiest looking actors out there, even among the crop of young actors who are all the rage now, but I want to see a sexiness from him onscreen that doesn't shout it out ... the kind that needs not speak it to be it...the kind that just "is" because it is a part of who he is and it naturally melds with the character he plays.

I know he is keeping a low profile these days and I think that is good for his career.  Like I've said before...maybe he is growing up a little.  Oh, not in the "stiff upper lip" kind of way...but perhaps in the not having to be so "out there" all the time to be famous, kind of way.  I want (and he should want) his fame to come as much from his performances as it does from his persona.

Either way, I'm still here, maybe not to comment so much on his personal life, but always on how"I" react to what he does on the screen (and off) and on his ability to make me "feel" something for the character he is playing.  I actually want him to "be" the character not just to "play" him... and in the end...I want to be cheering for both of them to triumph!

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate