Saturday Update

I think I may have a disease called schleroderma, and yesterday, I was kind of obsessing about that.

It's not a new idea. I have had problems with the skin on my toes and hands the past few years. It's something I've come across while Googling my symptoms before. 

I also did a ton of Googling when I had my blood clot, so maybe I came across it then as well. Blood clots aren't listed as a symptom of schleroderma, but I Googled yesterday to see if there was a connection, and they do say people with schleroderma are more likely to have blood clots.

But who knows. I might not have schleroderma. Or I might have it, and the blood clot was totally separate. 

In Broadchurch news, we are onto season 2.

Tim and I both correctly guessed the identity of the murderer...I think by the second episode of season 1, Tim claims I get the credit, because I said it first. But when I said it, he didn't argue against it. And he said something like, I was thinking the same thing. So, I feel we both get the credit. 

In contrast, when we watched Us, and I guessed the twist, Tim was more surprised at the idea, and he didn't tell me he had the same idea. So I give myself sole credit on that one.  

I feel a bit skeptical about season 2 of Broadchurch. 

One thing I'm wondering is if the creators intended to have season 2 or 3. Were they planning it when writing season 1?   

I get this idea it was supposed to end with the first season. But then they had so much fun making it. And the show got such good reviews, so they felt unwilling to let go.  

Watching the first episode with the new characters, new decisions, new backstories, etc. Were these in the mind of the writers during season 1. Or were they pulled out of thin air for season 2?

Another thing I'm wondering about the show...and this is less of a potential criticism...is whether the actors knew who the murderer was when filming? Was it one of those things where the actors themselves don't know their own character's secrets? 

Maybe the actors who weren't playing the murderer knew they weren't the murderer. But maybe they didn't know which of them among themselves WAS the murderer. And maybe the actor playing the murderer knew that he was the murderer.

I wonder about all this, because I remember learning that Terry O'Quinn in Lost didn't realize he was no longer playing Locke. And this led me to believing in this whole theory of Locke being the Man in Black all along.  Since Locke possessed by the Man in Black was acting so much like Locke...and adding all the time travel stuff...,

But then I realized it was probably just an actor not getting enough information on his character. 

Yesterday I was about to Google and try to get some answers to my Broadchurch questions...if they are out there. But then I realized I might run into spoilers. So I shall wait until we finish the series.

There are some new actors in season 2. Tim recognized Eve Myles, and I was able to quickly tell him she was from Torchwood. I felt compelled to add a disclaimer. I told him I was quick knowing it, because I had looked at IMDb for the episode. Otherwise, I would have been sitting through the episode thinking, she looks so familar. Where do we know her from????

Tim also asked about Charlotte Rampling. What do we know her from? 

My quick answer back: Racism. That's where I know her from. I told him it had something to do with saying something racist regarding the Oscars. I had to Google to remember what it was exactly.  

Rampling went with that idea that if we are colorblind and ignore things like race, the truly talented people will rise to the top and get their rightful rewards. Are the Oscars racist, or is it simply that all these years white people have shown more talent with acting?  And writing, directing, producing.....

With this mindset.....

Are we really supposed to believe that Jodi Whittaker is the first woman out there to have the talent and abilities needed to play the Doctor?

No. There have been plenty of actresses out there who could have done the job well. But someone...multi-someone's had to have the realizations that it actually doesn't make sense for a Time Lord to keep regenerating into white British men.  They had to put effort into diversity, because there is NO colorblindness or gender-blindness. Without that effort, the Doctor would probably continue to regenerate into white British male bodies way into the next 200 seasons of the series.  

Well, I just did some Googling to see if maybe I'm wrong about the Doctor always being British, and I ended up finding that Whittaker isn't the first time the Doctor has been a woman. Joanna Lumley played the Doctor in a Red Nose Day Sketch.  That's not a big step forward in terms of gender equality, since it was just a sketch. But at least it shows...some logical thinking.

Speaking of Doctor Who, I've been taking a break from the Peru travelogue in Dog Food For Chairs and am now reading Doctor Who posts from Dog Food for Chairs. This post is a history of the show in terms of being Broadcast in the U.S...and personal fandom history.  And this one goes deeper into the new series. 

I'm glad I'm back into Doctor Who and have a blogger I can turn to for information and encouragement/enthusiasm. Hopefully that will help me keep up the fan-feelings so that when the next season comes out, I've not lost the interest again.  

What else...

In YouTube news, my eleven-year-old nephew has a channel now, and I watched two of his Minecraft videos. One was very suspenseful. He played hardcore and spawned in a place with no animals. He injured himself falling and was running low on hearts and hunger. He made a boat and went off his spawn-land and found a ship wreck. I assume he was looking for food. Then he ended up drowning. 

I would share the link, but I don't think his mom would appreciate that. And sadly, I'm not popular enough to bring him more views anyway.  I'm more likely to anger my sister than I am to make my nephew a YouTube star.

Another thing I've been watching on YouTube is videos from the Learn French with Alexa channel. Yesterday I did one about adverbs.  For some reason, I'm very bad at learning pronunciation with Duolingo. I tend to pay more attention to the reading/writing aspects. So...the videos help me with the speaking.

In my screenwriting news. It's mostly bad news. Or...I should say stressful and unhappiness news.

I finished with a round of proofreading/revising The Dead are Online (version A) and am now onto version Version b. That's not an issue.

The issues began with me seeing something on Twitter about writing a one page pitch-summary of your screenplay. I HATE HATE HATE all that...loglines, synopsis, query letters, treatments.

That's why I decided to go the contest route. I felt maybe I could have some success and not have to do all the hateful, evil stuff. But I started getting idea that I'll eventually have to do face my nightmare. 

And I finally paid some attention to this TV show bible thing I've been hearing about. I did some research into it. It seems like the kind of thing that would be extremely fun if you were doing it...just for fun. But doing it for other people to actually read and judge?  It sounds incredibly intimidating and NOT fun.  

So I had THIS writing angst going on.

Then I started blabbing to Tim about it, and somehow we got into the conversation of TV writing jobs. When I first started writing these TV pilots, I had this willful ignorance about the whole concept of success. I pictured if my writing-a-TV-show dream came true, it would involve me getting a nice check; then going on with my life, and watching the TV show when it came on TV. OR not watching it, because it would be too nerve-wracking to do that. But I would know it's out there...and that would be really cool.

I should not have been that ignorant, seeing that I'm a fan of TV and have read enough to understand the whole concept of writer's rooms and all that.

But it's like Hawaii. You hear that there are tall buildings...that there are regular cities there. But despite that, you get off the plane and are disillusioned that it's not 100% beaches, palm trees, and vacationing. 

Anyway, though. I started to face the idea that if a miracle happens and I have any screenwriting success, it might involve actually having to work at a job with people and all that.  

I suggested to Tim if such a thing happens, we might get to move to somewhere cool like Canada or Atlanta. Tim questioned this and said he thought writers usually work in Los Angeles.

I Googled and from what I saw, it looked like he might be right. 

This was very unhappy news for me.

The idea of living in Los Angeles didn't appeal to me...at all.

And then I felt super stupid for even worrying about it. I know that my chances of success are very slim.

Okay, but then I feel bad for having that negative mindset. And that makes me feel even worse. I feel annoyed at myself for feeling that way and hurt by imagining that all of my family would agree with my negativity. 

Then I stupidly start talking myself into not-hating-the-idea of living in Los Angeles. That then turns into, how stupid can you be? Why are you talking yourself into being okay with something that is not going to happen? But then....

If it's never going to happen, why am I spending money on screenplay contests?

I don't want to quit.

So I'll keep allowing at least a small part of myself to dream big.

In a way, maybe the Los Angeles thing is a good thing. Because if I end up having good luck and success, it will be a very nice turn of events in my life.  But if I end up having bad luck and no success, then at least I can say...well, at least I won't have to move to Los Angeles.

Although it would be really cool to live close to Disneyland.