Year of the Transition

With everything that happened in 2016, my friends and I may have been overly optimistic about 2017. At our yearly New Years Day brunch, we usually brainstorm a name for what the coming year has instore for us. It started very jokingly in 2014: Year of the Butt Stuff. With our heads still up our asses, we foresaw things repeating and named 2015 Year of the Throwback; plenty of shows and movies saw revivals that year, so we felt magical. 2016, however, was a brunch full of shady jokes and insults. We named it Year of the Savage in tribute of that day. Little did we know our true power.

Realizing that with great power comes much responsibility, I led the charge for naming 2017 Year of the Blessing. Things were so rough for us all and the country, there didn't seem anywhere to go but up. However, a true savage never dies, and 2016 still had its claws in our backs. Throughout the year, couples broke up, homes were broken into, jobs were lost or unobtained, and the country looked bleaker than ever as Trump and the Republicans/Conservatives undid everything Barack touched.

It's been mentioned that as we get older, things seem worse and worse because we continue to see the world for what it is and how bleek our lives can be. I don't want to believe that. I refuse to focus on the wackness; I want to see the dopeness.

That said, this year has produced wonderful things. Two of my best friends welcomed their first daughter into the world, and while she had her complications healthwise, she continued to be a shining bundle of joy every time I saw her. Beyonce also had her twins, so.

For a multitude of reasons, many of us in the friend group have moved to new homes in Baltimore. Some upgrades, some downgrades, but we're saving money and in better headspaces. Thanks to this, some friendships have become stronger than ever. One friend even purchased an Oculus headset and I didn't break his tv when I tried it out; if that's not moving up and helping build relationships, I don't know what is.

Job offers popped up: from climbing the corporate ladder with more conventional hours to surveying Baltimore's syphilis infected population. The actors among us are still getting work, some even crafting powerful shows about women of colors struggles through the lens of the Salem witch trials. I even heard someone became a captain without acquiring a need for an eyepatch.

And through we age and lose friends, new ones took their place and proved to be wonderful improvements to your life.

With all the blessings in disguise that have come this year, I revised 2017 to be Year of the Transition. It could be argued that our lives are in a constant state of transition if we are truly living. If that's the case, then I don't think we've been wrong about naming a year yet.

Here's to 2018 and whatever wackiness it may bring.

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Boat Life

Excuse our mess. This is the last old piece of writing you'll get. I want the last five stories of this series to be great, so I didn't want to rush one for today. Instead, enjoy another excerpt from the script I hope to shop around someday... after I revise it a couple more times. Maybe. Who knows?

Int. Lively Cruises Galley - Day

A moderate sized cruise boat. The interior is lined with tables and customers. There is a bar behind a small dancefloor with a small stage off to the side.

Chet and Alanis sing Afternoon Delight to a young, dining Asian couple. They finish; the couple claps to be polite but it's clear they don't know the song or what it's about. He walks away. Alanis catches up with him.

ALANIS

I still can't believe you actually got Reese to clear that song.

CHET

I can't believe they didn't appreciate it. How do you not know Afternoon Delight? We're the same age! Goddamn Asians.

[They laugh.]

No, but seriously, if they don't tip me -

ALANIS

Tip us.

CHET

Right. Well, I'm not giving you 25% of a dollar.

ALANIS

They're not gonna stiff you that bad.

CHET

Whatever. I have to go check on a table of 60-something white ladies and pretend I like older women.

[Chet puts on his camera smile as he walks over to the table of women waving him over and lifting their empty mimosa glasses.]

Ext. Lively Cruises Dock - Day

Ebony continues her deckhand training as a Captain finishes showing her how to anchor a boat. Her attention wanders over to the ticket booth where she sees Claire staring at her. Claire realizes this and quarter turns to take a picture as if pretending she never saw Ebony.

EBONY

Hey, who works out of the ticket booth, again?

CAPT. CARL

The ticket booth operators, clearly.

[He looks over at the booth.]

Oh, right. And occasionally the photographers. Though I'm not sure why she's taking pictures of the boat. Hey, Claire! If you're gonna take pictures, at least take 'em of me with the trainee! We'll probably use it at the Holiday party. (back to Ebony) If you stick around that long.

[Ebony laughs.]

[Carl doesn't.]

So anyway, once you loop the rope around the post, you tie the knot. Now I'm gonna undo everything and watch you attempt to do this, alright? Ebony? Ebony?

[Ebony half-listens as she watches Claire photograph them out the side of her eye.]

EBONY

(snapping back) Yeah, totally. Let me at it.

[Ebony slaps her thighs and poses like a macho man before walking over and tripping on the rope. Carl catches her before she falls in the water.]

Claire looks at her camera and smiles.

Int. Lively Cruises Galley - Day

[The cruise has docked and passengers are filing off, some stumbling.]

ALANIS

God I love when we have cruises with open bar.

CHET

Whoever from corporate thought of a Bottomless Mimosa and Bloody Mary cruise, I thank them for these glorious tips.

ALANIS

See, I told you that couple would tip you.

CHET

Not them, the white people. That one group I was serving dropped a twenty each. I fucking love lil white ladies.

ALANIS

What’d that couple leave you?

CHET

Their phone numbers. I realized halfway through the one guy was gay. Which really confuses me: he should have definitely known Afternoon Delight. Anyway, I might give his number to Greg.

ALANIS

Are you gonna call the girl?

CHET

No. I don't want to upset my Carroll County upbringing.

ALANIS

Do you ever sleep inside you race? I'm starting to think you're self-racist.

CHET

Listen, when you're one of four Asian kids in the whole county and the only Asian girl is your sister, then we can talk.

ALANIS

You poor adopted bastard.

CHET

Listen, my parents may be lame but... No yeah, they're pretty lame. Thanks for rescuing me from South Korea though, I guess.

ALANIS

So what, you gonna go home with one of those old white ladies?

[Chet presents a twenty dollar bill with a phone number on it.]

You're shitting me.

CHET

If I need more from where this came from, I know who to call.

ALANIS

What did you sing for them, anyway?

CHET

Shook Me All Night Long. One of them said it was their daughter's favorite song, so I did it.

ALANIS

Are you ever gonna sing something not 70s or 80s?

CHET

Excuse you, I do 90s way more than I do 70s. Afternoon Delight was your idea anyway.

ALANIS

Thanks for doing that, by the way. It'll probably be the first and last time, though.

CHET

What do you mean? You skipping town and waited to the last minute to tell me or something?

Alanis looks around to make sure the busboys aren't in hearing range.

ALANIS

I heard a rumor that Corporate is cutting out performances on the boat and making most of the cruises buffet style.

CHET

(pause) Bullshit. We’re the main attraction. What else do they have to stand out if not singing and dancing waiters?

ALANIS

They want to expand the speedboat tours, I think.

[Chet looks out the window to see a speedboat tour on its way.]

CHET

Damn those motorized bastards to hell. So what, they're cutting the staff in half after this season?

ALANIS

Or transferring them to other departments, yeah.

CHET

Well, fuck. I guess everything's about to change then.

ALANIS

What do you mean?

CHET

You know the lease on my place is up this month. I'm not staying there another year; it's in a shitty part of town and Bonnie and Evan are moving to Philly anyway.

ALANIS

They didn't tell me that! Jeez, you think you're friends with your coworkers...

CHET

Yeah, anyway. I need to find a new place and roommates. Probably a cheaper place, too. But I don't know what's gonna be cheaper than my place now.

ALANIS

You're gonna quit aren't you?

CHET

Like you weren't thinking the same thing. Besides, I kinda wanna get back into acting. I haven’t been in a show since the winter. Gotta make sure my hype in Baltimore doesn't fade away.

ALANIS

Sure. I'll see you at the next waiting job. Who are you gonna get to live with you anyway?

[Chet gives a look at Alanis like she's supposed to know.]

New House, New Writing Challenge

For the past year, I’ve lived in a 10-person household. The four years prior, I lived in what was basically a 5/6-person post-grad frathouse. While I love all of my friends who have been my roommates over the years and the 10-person house’s beautiful, the whole situation was too much. 

It’s not that we were constantly on top of each other. With nine bedrooms, six bathrooms, and wildly different schedules, the common rooms were dark and quiet most weeknights. If two people were there, however, soon half the house was there. I missed the intimacy of being able to just hang with two or three people without being interrupted or feeling like I needed to exude more energy. It’s a very frustrating situation for an extroverted intervert to navigate. But honestly, that was only the surface level of my annoyance with Hotel Multiverse, as we tried to call it.

Even with all the space available, I wasn’t being creative enough. That frustrated me. I’ve come to accept that I’m easily distracted. Any time I attempted to write in my room, I’d hear voices downstairs and wander down to investigate. As the year went on, I found myself less interested in what was going on in the living room. However, instead of returning to my room to write, I’d just watch something on Netflix to assure myself I was allowed alone time. 

My main motivation for moving out of the 6-person house - commonly known as The Castle - was so that I could branch out and become more productive. When my friends found Hotel Multiverse, my stomach dropped. I should have done more to lead the charge to find a smaller home, but at the time, the recently renovated corner brownstone was too nice to pass up as all the players and pieces fell into place. Luckily, I have started to branch out into the community thanks to Baltimore in Conversation.

When the time arose to talk about renewing the lease on the Hotel, I was up front and said I wanted out. For better or for worse, nearly every other roommate was at a turning point in their 20s; it was agreed that we would disband. 

This week, three of my closest friends from Hotel Multiverse and I move into a place a few blocks down I’m temporarily calling Nerd Row. It’ll be my first time living in a row home, my first time sleeping in a bedroom that isn’t huge. Those negatives aside, I’m excited. It’ll be small and quiet, despite the beagle across the hall from my room. I foresee a good balance of work and pleasure being accomplished in my new place. Having survived the age of 27, I feel confident now to become a successful writer. (I had a dream and discovered I had a fear of the 27 Club, thanks in part to one of my best friends.) 

Recently, a new friend has been pushing me to write more. He believes in me. A lot of people believe in my abilities, but it’s nice to have a stranger give you the confidence you need to get back in the game. However, I can’t keep relying on him. I have to be a self-motivator. With that in mind, I’ve set up a challenge for myself.

Over the past year, I’ve jotted down half-baked ideas on my phone or in my notebook. Some have been expanded upon. None ever got as full a treatment as the show I wrote about my time in The Castle. So, for the entire month of July, I’m implimenting a writing challenge for myself. Let’s call it Pilot Season. Every day, I’ll be posting a new short story or script or essay based on one of my banked premises in an effort to show myself that I do have good ideas to write about. There’ll be some duds, obviously, but I think that’s part of the fun.

I have faith in this challenge mostly because I won’t procrastinate until the day-of to write everyday. In fact, I actually wrote this post two days ago. I even revised it. I know, look at me. It’s like I’m trying to be taken seriously or something.

I hope you enjoy my process during the next month. Remember, I’m like Tinkerbell: I need your applause to keep going or else Eustace will tell me I ain’t shit again and I’ll stop posting. Don’t worry; I’m working on that, too. Baby steps, you know? Til tomorrow, my good friends (and associates).

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