close on: CHRIS' FACE - as he cast's a furtive glance*

* in her direction.

so i'm dating again. didn't want to, but shit happens.

so they say.

it's a shame, but so many things are, aren't they?

ahh...oh well.

ancient mating rituals resurfacing as text messages and furtive glances, sips from plastic cups full of stoli and cranberry.

spasms: facial muscles fatigued.

forced conversations: keep it going...keep it going.

anyways, i'm dating again...

writer/director mandia

so i got the job!

won;

accepted;

hired;

etc.

going to write and direct a half-hour documentary for the series, "operation in their boots."

produced by Brave New Foundation, and it can be seen on various public broadcasting stations across the country.

that's right, real television.

in short, i'll be telling the stories of returning warriors and their struggle to get educated.

and i'm damn lucky to get this gig.

well, can't sit around here and shoot the shit, work's to be done.

el nino

in 5 years this kid will be impregnating your daughters.

pen. paper. war. 2001-2004.

and you get some interesting images.

thinking prose? well, didn't really get into the whole reading/writing thing until a few years ago. up until then, it was art. composition. monets' and manets'. edward hopper and william turner.

"wanna come up and see my etchings?"

well, @ the behest of a buddy, i scanned some pix penned by pissed off christoff in combat zone. running my hand across the paper, i can still feel the deep groves left by the pen.

a reminder - some kid made these...

fallujah, 2004. contractors dead. strung up. few days later we raze the town.

hadji hooches - think harem - kuwait. camel spider hauls ass over my calve. (pardon the angle).

coffin racks; uss pearl harbor, 2001. Philippine Straights.

camp fallujah, 2004. a/c broken. we get some jack daniels - get drunk - and puke.

the whores of singapore stand under the low hanging eaves. a big yellow moon overhead. porcelain skin. just girls. kids.

every ground pounder's got his favorite cover. bent. faded. smells like starch. a gift fm: salazar.

pet pigeon inside a house on the edge of the tigris river. lost. scared. owners left him a bowl of agua and seed. in this big empty house, with cracked mirrors and 'taters in a pot - stove still warm.

desert boot; pistol factory, haditha. 20+ mosquito bites. wasp the size of a goddamn finch. Mattis relieves Dowdy. doc gives me cipro for a gnarly stomach virus.

off the coast of yemen; w/13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. 6 on. 6 off. the squid on watch asks if i'd actually pull the trigger...

w/out a doubt, fallujah, combat operations center. rocket hits a large generator - zero-dark-thirty. think a Marine was killed, but i memory is so foggy back then. 10 days later i'm smoking a Punch on the coast of san pedro, ca.

"then and now," rough cut

"then & now," a little ditty my friend/fellow Veteran, Mike McCann and I co-wrote for the Veterans Creative Art Festival.

filmed and edited by the talented Danny Liverman.

a mere 3mins, but it came out fairly well.

unfortunately you've gotta have a facebook account to view it @ the moment.

but don't fret, i'll have a youtube version up most ricky tick

click here for the vid

and a few screenshots for the curious...

"Get Some," @ Newport Beach Film Festival 2009!

great news, the short film i wrote for USC, "get some," was selected to participate in the Newport Beach Film Festival.

very cool. we might even win a few awards.

ya never know...

check out their site: www.newportbeachfilmfest.com

just strange

this, yeah, this here...it's pretty damn strange

TERRIFYING TV: Showrunner Ed Bernero

great story.

TERRIFYING TV: Showrunner Ed Bernero

so, i took a break from writing

sat outside - in the backyard - and had some one on one time w/Clem.

my fuzzy-footed rooster, cochin banny-type.

purchased @ a gas station in wilmington, ca.

unfortunately he didn't say much.

no, no, no.

the high-pitch cacophony of shrieks occurs @ 4:15 am.

on the dot.

every.

god.

damned.

morning.

but we chatted.

he stared.

and pooped.

and blinked.

and pecked @ my nipples.

and went through a series of tourette-like head jerks.

which has been captured, via a sony cybershot, for posterity.

hey, whaddya expect? i've been laid up for the last few days w/the pig flu...

i'm asking you to believe

hope

ack

sick. most probably the flu.
wouldn't doubt H1N1 - swine flu.
but i'm sick as a dog, not a pig and it's quite unpleasant.
crept up yesterday like fat baby on his momma's teat.
sucked the life outa me.

mowed the lawn yesterday - felt like i ran a marathon.
started w/a sore throat, then headache, then i woke up today in a cold sweat - and not from some PTSD related nightmare - although i did have a strange dream; something about the West.
anyways, pain killers are close confidants @ the moment.
that and green tea. multiple glasses of OJ. soup.
vitamins and such.
it's been awhile since i've been this sick. dog sick.
coughing up things best not described with prose.
goddamn we're fragile.
hypodermic needle-shaped viruses invading our cells, throwing everything outa whack.
anyways, @ least it gives me time to read carl sagan's - 'demon haunted world.'
yeah, look @ the positive...that's what they tell me.

don't get the mogwai wet

haha...funny stuff

in their boots

just found out about, "operation in their boots."

'...a documentary series about the impact the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are having on people here at home.'

sounds like an excellent opportunity to tell a story, hone your film-making skills.

only caveat - you gotta be a OIF/OEF Vet.

good shit.

glad to see someone's interested.