I have an iPhone

I bought my iPhone today. I tried to wait until June but I just couldn’t. I like gadgets and it’s been several months since I bought anything new.

I texted my cousin V and told her about my phone. She couldn’t believe I bought one because I don’t like phones. However, I’ve discovered Twitter and now I get it. Short and sweet and just my kind of communication. I’ve been twittering all day. LOL.

Anyway I added a business line to my phone. So now I have three phone numbers I can be reached at. I have a bunch of books I need to purchase in the next few months, all business related. I’ve got a bunch of free books coming my way. I can’t wait to get them. I went by a local cafe and inquired about renting the conference room for a couple hours a month. $75 for the first hour and $25 for every hour after. It sure beats renting a conference room for $200+.

Anyways. I’m strapped for cash right now. My tax refund isn’t as big as I thought it was going to be. Dang. I also have to fix this rental property.

As far as my schedule goes, it completely slipped my mind that I have an appointment to get my bush lasered which conflicts with my Toastmasters. Dang, dang, dang.

I watched The Secret this weekend. It was wonderful. I liked it so much I bought the book. Everything The Secret says can been seen in the philosophies of very successful people. I’m going to put The Secret to the test.

First things first. Think only positive thoughts.

I run a successful business.
I receive checks in the mail.
I am a great leader.
I own a beautiful home.
I have a wonderful husband and three beautiful children.
I drive a Ford Fusion hybrid.
I make $250,000 a year.
I have great sex.
I am in good health.
I write oscar-winning screenplays.

Those are just my top 10. I’m not sure if I need to have great sex. Hmmm. What do you think? Have you read The Secret?

Diplomas and other stuff

I’ve received my diplomas in the mail! Yippee!!!! It took long enough.

I had a bad day yesterday when I got home from work. The products I had ordered from my business were sitting right smack dab in front of my front door for the whole world to see. So, I called my supplier and inquired about who does the deliveries for the company (i.e., Fed Ex, UPS, USPS). The lady on the phone was helpful and left a note on my account for my suppliers telling which ever company delivering my packages to leave my boxes on the porch, in the corner to the right of my door. You’d think the delivery man would exercise some common sense and automatically put my boxes there but I guess not everyone is born with common sense.

Then I got my business cards. I opened the box and I did not like what my eyes were seeing. I have a sage-colored border on my business card to match my Web site and the border only extended to the edge of the card on three sides instead of four. So I had to call the company and they gave me a store credit. I will use the credit to order some more cards but I have to wonder if they will turn out right. Had that company had some sort of quality control, my cards would have turned out right the first time.

Anyways. I have to start writing my speech for Toastmasters. I have no idea what I’m going to say. I started scribbling some ideas down today but I’m not sure they will make it to the final product.

I also came up with a script idea for a short film. I started outlining it. I know I said I would hold off on screenwriting but it’s really calling me.

I still haven’t gotten my taxes done. For some reason, I haven’t bothered to get all of my documents together. I need to make an appointment for next weekend at H&R Block. I hope I get a nice tax return this year.

Undefined relationships

I went to a Regional Rally for my business this weekend and listened to a great couple speak about their rise through the company and how they became financially free from 9 to 5 jobs. It was very motivating, so motivating that I’ve decided to focus on my business rather than pursue a career in screenwriting. The way I look at it, if I can build my business up for the next two years to where I can leave my job, then I’ll have more time to devote to screenwriting.

Let me get back to the Regional Rally. The couple (Tracey and Kimberly Eaton) were awesome. Tracey said a lot of things that got me thinking about why I have chosen celibacy. Men have gone soft and not too many of them are leaders anymore. I look at the guys around me and I see men who are into playing mind games, too busy chasing the pootytang, and don’t have much interest in general with having families and taking on the roles of leaders and providers for their families. The guys who are interested in being the leaders and providers for their families are already taken.

Which brings me to undefined relationships. The relationship is not a relationship when the girl calls a guy her boyfriend and the guy calls the girl his sister or doesn’t acknowledge her existence. The girl obviously wants more from the “relationship” than the guy is willing to give because if they wanted the same thing, he and she would be boyfriend/girlfriend and not boyfriend/sister-doesn’t exist. Get it?

I think I’m going to slowly drop out of one of my meetup groups. I don’t think there will be many new meetups with this group to begin with now that there’s an undefined relationship in the works. I don’t want to be privy to the highs and lows of toxic relationships now that I’ve managed to purposefully lose contact with high school friends who were/are in toxic relationships. I need to keep things positive if I want to build my business.

Random

It seams I completely forgot what I was going to write about.

I logged into the IndieSOS forum tonight to read a post about blogging. So far, I’m the only person besides the administrator(s) to post a blog at the forums. It’s a little disheartening since the organization provides the blogging feature to members for free. I’m totally taking advantage of it because I want to get into screenwriting and it seems natural to write.

Anyway. I’ve been thinking a lot about the script(s) I’m going to be writing next month. I think I’m going to start writing the spec script now and then work on the feature script in April. I verify with IndieSOS at the end of this month so I’m hoping to meet some actors who will inspire me to write a short feature film. I’ve read a few directors, like Spike Lee, often write for specific actors in mind.

I went to Yang Chow’s on Sunday with my mom and two of my cousins. My cousin R suggested I join a theatre group. Ha! Not into acting though the pay is good when you can get the work. I’m too private of a person (coming from someone posting intimate thoughts on a public blog).

I watched an interesting commercial last night. It was Mary Kay. It seems the company is looking to attract more sales reps. Now, I don’t mean to write about MLM, but now is the time to get into it. Recessions and high unemployment are the key elements for increased profits with MLM companies.

I just felt like writing about MLM.

As far as shows I really like on TV. I’m really liking Lost and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I’m still not sure about Dollhouse. I wasn’t impressed with the series premier but the show is starting to grow on me. I hope Terminator and Dollhouse will be on next year. For some reason, I have this feeling the shows will be cancelled. Who watches tv on a Friday night?

Spec scripts

I’ve been trying to figure out what ABC show I should spec for. So far, two of the shows I was considering (Eli Stone and Pushing Daisies) have been cancelled. Now, I only have a few shows to choose from and there’s no telling if the shows will be on next year.

So now that Eli Stone and Pushing Daisies are out of the run, I have Samantha Who? Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Lost to write a script for. My choices aren’t exactly my first pick. I really don’t want to write for any of these shows. I considered Samantha Who? but thought it would be too easy. I want a challenge but I have to consider my strengths and I think a comedy is right up my alley.

I don’t know what to do. Part of me says, screw it, and write my own series. That’s what I should do. However, the writing fellowship says to write a script for a show that is still on the air. Again, the shows that are on today, might not be on next season.

Anyway, I have a couple of weeks before Script Frenzy starts. I’ve been wanting to participate with Script Frenzy for a while now.

I just saw a commercial for the new show, Castle. I hope it’s good. It’s a potential show to write for. Hopefully it will last beyond one season.

My Brunsli hairties

I got my Brunsli hair ties in the mail today. They’re so cute. I’m going to have to take some pictures of them in my hair. Of course, them being made as small as possible, they’re still too big for the the amount of hair I have on my head. My hair is long but very thin.

As for my business, I’m still getting it up and running. I’m hoping to do the official launch sometime this weekend, though I will still have more to do like order business cards. I would like to design my own business cards because I want them to be a work of art.

I also put in a bid for a domain name. I hope I get it, though I don’t think I will. The person who owns it seems to be holding out on a mega offer despite dnscoop.com saying the domain name is worth $0.

The good news is my domain name shavonne.org is worth $201! Ha. I wanted to buy shavonne.net but the company that owned it wanted over $1,000 for it. Dnscoop.com says the domain is worth $115. Trying to rip people off. I’m satisfied with my domain name for my blog and wouldn’t change a thing, now.

But I want a domain name for my business! Here’s to crossing my fingers that he will accept my offer.

On the writing front, I'm a couple of weeks behind. Gosh, I don't know how I will get everything done that I want to this year unless I lose some sleep. I have about five months left before I have to start getting my packet ready for the writing fellowship. I need 40-hour days to get everything done but I'm happy I'm out of school.

Mammies, jezebels, and sapphires

A friend wrote me about my post on Hollywood and black screenwriters, which got me thinking about Hollywood and how I really should have finished that statement I had made in response to reading about how one Hollywood executive didn’t “want to see a movie about a black woman saving a town full of white people.”

Hollywood executives don’t seem to have issues with black women saving white folks as long as the black women are playing mammies. Mammies! “Most portrayals of Mammy depict her as an "obese African American woman, of dark complexion, with extremely large breasts and buttocks . . . .asexual, maternal and deeply religious woman whose main task was caring for the master's children and running his household." - Marilyn Yarbrough with Crystal Bennett, 2000

There I said it. Queen Latifah played a mammy in the Secret Lives of Bees. Though her character lived in her own pink house, before she became she started raising bees for honey, she worked as a nanny. The movie also had a sapphire played by Alicia Keys. The only thing the movie was missing was a jezebel; however, the movie did manage to have not one, but two dimwitted black women. It’s like watching a modern day minstrel show but without white actors in blackface.

Now, from Ken Rance’s description of his screenplay, New in Town, the female character is upwardly mobile (white collar) and just happened to start dating a blue collar worker. Sounds more like a date movie than a movie about a woman trying to save a town. But that’s just me. Perhaps that executive just wanted an excuse to not make the movie with a black female lead.

As for the movie New in Town, I don’t plan on seeing the movie, but I probably wouldn’t have liked it even if it had been black casted. I have issues with movies where white collar black females are paired with blue collar men.

Too bad Ken Rance wasn't a screenwriter for tv. Screenwriters for tv have more influence when it comes to casting.

Hollywood and black screenwriters

La Shawn Barber wrote about a black screenwriter and his movie “New in Town.” The movie stars Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick, Jr. What’s interesting about the movie is, the characters were originally written as “African-Americans.”

She asked a question at the end of her post:

“Is changing the race (sex, religion, nationality, etc.) of your main characters a small price to pay?”

I think changing the race of the main characters happens all the time in Hollywood. Renee Zellweger was casted in the role of a former slave girl in Cold Mountain. I suspect the reason is because no black actresses would take the role but I could be wrong.

I don’t recall many movies starring a black female lead in popular movie. I think it’s possible to have a black female lead carry a movie the same way Nicole Kidman.

I was watching a special feature on the Antwon Fisher dvd and Denzel Washington mentioned how roles for black men are more abundant than roles for black women. That’s true. Look at all the movies starring black men compared to black women.

If you read the article about the Ken Rance, the writer of New in Town, he mentioned how one executive didn’t “want to see a movie about a black women saving a town full of white people.”

I finally got to see the Secret Lives of Bees, and the movie made me think about what that executive said to Ken, and I thought “Don’t seem to have issues with black women saving white folks as long--” and I had to stop myself. I guess I just really didn’t like the movie. But the movie was work for four black actresses.

Shonda Rhimes is a screenwriter and creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. Neither one of her shows features a black female lead. Meredith Grey could have easily been a black woman but then the show probably wouldn’t have become popular if she was. Miranda Bailey could have gone off to a private practice in Malibu, but instead, it was Addison Montgomery.

I don’t know, I guess you do have to change aspects of your characters if you want to make some money in Hollywood. Go with what’s generic and appeals to the masses.

My natural hair texture

I’m on a roll today. I got up really early to finish up my part of the team assignment this week. It seems I’m a much better writer when I do it early in the morning. My mind is clearer. I will probably get up at 4 am every morning to get some writing done. I still plan to apply for that writing fellowship despite the reports on the news about layoffs and such. I’ve got to try. I’ll try every year if I have to. I have a bunch of books I need to read and I plan challenge myself with this year’s Script Frenzy in April. If I want to be a writer, I must write!

Speaking of writing, I wrote down the details I had of a dream that would be perfect for a spec script for Pushing Daisies. It would have only explained the beginning of the show (I still have to read a couple of Pushing Daisies scripts to get an idea of the flow) and develop the story better but I think I will try to write a script for that show.

I still haven’t found any scripts for Samantha Who? I think that show would be too easy. However, after reading On Writing by Stephen King, his advice to start with situations rather than plot is sound advice for Samantha Who? Put Sam in a situation and see what happens. Too easy. Maybe I’ll write a couple of scripts after all. The more scripts I have to choose from the better.

I won’t be turning on my tv much for the next few months because 1.) most of my favorite shows I can watch online, and 2.) I need to do more reading and writing. I also have to do more social activities. I’ve neglected my personal relationships the past two years. I feel bad in a way, but sometimes my friends can be depressing and I didn’t need to get depressed any more than I’ve already been since my job change.

I also did some job searching. I checked out the information on the Border Patrol. The commercial caught my attention because I heard it mention working outdoors. I’m not sure I want to work outdoors all the time. I’m not even sure I’d qualify now that I have asthma. I’d have to get back in shape (I plan to do that any) but I’m not thrilled with having to wear a uniform (though I wouldn’t have to worry about what to wear everyday). For every con there’s a pro and for every pro there’s a con. Danggit. I’m going to have to see because the Web site also said that there are more than just jobs outdoors. I would love a combination of the two the change up my days. I’m easily bored.

Okay, now an explanation for today’s episode of Shavonne Tv. Well, I shot the video October 20, 2007. I used Curls Curlicious Curls Cleansing Cream, Coconut Sublime Moisturizing Conditioner, Curls Milkshake Leave-in Conditioner, and Quenched Curls Moisturizer. The products did provide moisture and definition to my curls, but while washing this stuff out of my hair, my hair felt really slimy. It could have been the amount of the leave in conditioner I used but (thought I don’t recall using much). I not sure if Curls products are Ph-balanced, which means I won’t be using this on my sensitive scalp. I do recall the products being “organic” though the smell of them say differently. I personally hate the smell of these products - they smell like their names (coconut and milkshake). I prefer my cleansing products to smell like soap. Clean and fresh and not like something I’d eat.

I wouldn’t recommend Curls products unless you have a looser curl pattern and a healthy scalp. I’ve had mine for over a year and only used them once. I plan on giving it all to somebody else. It was a waste of money as I think all four products were $60. Not bad if the products work for you.

Random thoughts about tv and writing

I was watching Lost last night and as usual I couldn’t quite figure out why anyone would want to leave The Island.

I want to get lost on The Island. Away from my 40-hour a week job and 2-hour a day commute.

What would it be like to only have to work 10 hours a week to meet all my basic needs? Wow. That would be so awesome. I wouldn’t know what to do with my time. I could learn to swim. Go hiking. Fish. Lay out on the beach and get a really nice tan. I would get Sawyer to walk around all day without a shirt so I can stare at his man nipples.

But I wouldn’t be able to eat my new favorite snack- Breyers Lactose-free Vanilla Bean ice cream and Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds cereal. Yum yum. I discovered this by accident. I haven’t been able to get to the store to buy my soy milk and I really wanted some cereal.

I wouldn’t be able to eat my ice creamy crunch. I could live with that if I meant I could live on The Island.

I’ve been squeezing in some time to read Stephen King’s On Writing. I like the book though it doesn’t give much practical advice on writing. What I like most about the book is how he says he doesn’t focus on plot. He prefers situations. I can imagine that was how Lost was created. What if a plane crashed on a remote and mystical island and the survivors discovered other inhabitants? I’ll never understand why the survivors would want to leave The Island. At first, The Island was scary but when the focus shifted from the mysteriousness of The Island and onto the Others, I kind of lost interest in the show. But it’s getting better. The six people who managed to get off of The Island are trying to go back. That’s what I’m talking about.

Anyway. I’m going to try focusing on putting a character or characters in a situation to see where they go.

Anyways, I came across a couple of stories about the status of Hollywood and a couple of shows I’ve been watching. I’m not sure I like the direction Grey’s Anatomy is going. I don’t get Izzy’s dead boyfriend. And I thought it was kind of weird that she was having great sex with someone who’s dead. That’s one hell of an imagination but I can say I know what a good imagination and a sturdy pair of hands can do.