Well, dear readers, it is Labor Day, the day in which we do no labor. The only labor I will be doing is entering the second half of the fixes to the new book, at which point I can get it into the design program. I also had the lovelier than lovely look at the final book cover for the new book and it made me VERY happy. I’d say it was perfectly perfect. I also managed to actually view a motion picture last night, in fact, almost two – I still have to finish the second one. The first motion picture is one I haven’t seen in years, maybe even two decades and maybe even more. Yep, I wrote about it in the notes twenty-one years ago, back in 2002. The motion picture was The Bad News Bears, starring Walter Matthau and Tatum O’Neal. As I wrote then, it’s really terrific – hilarious, emotional, and Walter Matthau gives one of his finest performances and he isn’t afraid to be unlovable. Tatum is great, the kids are great, Vic Morrow is great as the jerk coach of another team, and whoever’s idea it was to score the entire movie with music from Bizet’s Carmen it was a genius decision, and Jerry Fielding’s arrangements are fantastic. Of course, the big difference between the time it was made, 2002, and now is that all the racial slurs would be scrubbed from the film, fart jokes would be added aplenty, some gross out bathroom humor, and some raunchy sex talk, too. Also, it would have a completely different ending, because the original ending wouldn’t test well. Wonderfully and sensitively directed by Michael Ritchie. If you’ve never seen it, now’s the time and it is highly recommended by the likes of me. After that, I watched the first forty-five minutes of The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3, a fantastic motion picture with a great screenplay by Peter Stone. I never tire of watching it and I’ll have more to say about it after I finish.
Yesterday was a very short day, since I didn’t fall asleep until six in the morning and didn’t arise until two in the afternoon – so, I did get eight hours of sleep. I answered some e-mails, then went to Gelson’s and got the makings for tacos and faux chicken stroganoff, then came home. I had the Muse Margaret conversation and ran only six things by her and we decided which to do and which not to do. So, the first half of the book is fully proofed and fixed and hopefully I’ll have the second half today, get through that, have another Muse Margaret conversation, and then it will go into the design program, then have one final proofing. Then I made tacos for Taco Sunday. I bought pre-made shells and heated them up in the microwave. I made ground beef and onions, cut up a tomato, and had shredded lettuce. I had four count them four tacos and they were excellent. The shells only have sixty calories each, so it was actually a calorie friendly meal and under 900 calories total.
After that, I continued my second proofing and have only about fifty pages to go. I’m finding a few things we all missed the first time around, so that’s good. Then I watched the movies, proofed a bit more, and then it was time to write these here notes.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven, I’ll hopefully enter fixes for the second half of the book and if I do then I’ll have another conversation with Muse Margaret, I’ll have faux stroganoff, but other than that, I’m doing no damn labor and I shall watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is getting the book design ready for the company that will actually assemble everything so that it’s all conformed to the previous books, then we’ll give it a final proofing, and they’ll also prepare the eBooks. My hope is still shipping so that copies arrive before Christmas. And as with Preview Harvey, if orders are placed through Kritzerland there will be a really fun bonus with all copies. I have some meetings and meals and some rehearsals, too.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven, hopefully enter fixes, hopefully have a conversation with Muse Margaret, eat, and watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films of Mr. Walter Matthau? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have a Labor Day with No Labor.