There's a conference that some people of interest want me to attend, and I was resistant to the idea at first, but then I came to my senses and realized it would be a great idea. The conference is by invitation only, based on a review of scripts by a board of directors. Several hundred scripts are submitted to the conference every year, so there's just a tiny chance my play would be accepted, but if it is, I'm looking forward to it.

That's the gist of what my producer: male version and I talked about tonight. I have the feeling he got wind that I was hesitant about the conference. Or maybe he just wanted to chat about future plans. I'm not sure.

It looks like the next reading is going to take place either the second or third week in May. I'll post more details as I learn them, but if anyone's interested, I know someone who might be able to get you in.

I'm connected like that.

Another run today; I luckily didn't have to rush off to the men's room in the middle of it like yesterday. I think that had something to do with the fact that I ate nothing but healthy food up until I went to Mom's house for Survivor.

I'm averaging about 5 miles per run, which is about where I was before I took this vacation from fitness. I'm ready for a longer run this weekend. Since I've done nothing to explore the new city in which I now live, I've been doing searches and google maps to try to find a good route by the river. Before I moved, I regularly ran around the lake in my home town, and I like the idea of continuing the tradition of running by the water.

My house is about a block away from the river itself, but the section doesn't appear to have a continuous sidewalk (part of it is along an interstate, which isn't really the best place to be running), but my cousin Diane has assured me that there are plenty of areas along the banks where people go running.

If I can map out a decent trail, I'd like to do a 10 or 12 mile run on Saturday. I'm going to start weightlifting again on Monday at my new gym (typical of everybody who ever joins a gym, I stopped going immediately after signing up), and hope to get back into the habit of eating right and exercising daily.

Most of this is motivated by the scale and the mirror, but this race is looking very attractive. I don't have a membership at the Y right now, and my new gym doesn't have a pool, but I think I could probably get to a pool pretty easily on a regular basis. I know that I can swim 0.5 miles (I've done it before in laps, though, not open water). I haven't biked seriously, but I have a bike in excellent condition that only needs a tune-up to be a decent racing bike. The river, even the section on the interstate, would be a perfect ride. I could make a ride out of the distance between my house and my cousin Beth's house, which would accomplish two tasks: getting in biking shape and going for regular visits to see my cousins and their daughter.

I've talked about triathlons before and never followed through, so this will be the only time I mention it here unless I've signed up or completed it.

The new play is taking a turn. I can't say that the characters are speaking to me or demanding things or any of that, because it doesn't work that way for me. I don't have a muse, and my characters just sit there, tapping their feet and looking at me sideways like Sonic the Hedgehog if I don't write something for them to do or say.

No, it's the fact that the outline makes the story seem much more interesting than the events would play out onstage. I haven't gotten to the middle of Act I, and I can't imagine putting an audience through that kind of boredom. I like the idea, but I think it's a short play that I've forced into a long format.

I started fiddling around with a play that's been produced twice (TeKay directed it once!), and thought that I could flesh out that story a little more.

I can't remember who said it, but someone writing about creating stories said that you can start with a severed head in the back seat of a car and tell the story in two directions: either show how the head got there, or show what happens because the head is in the back seat.

The short piece is definitely a "story about what happens after the head is severed" play, and I plan on keeping it that way. The reason there's a story is secondary to the two main characters and their relationship with one another.

Another great thing about this play is that it's about two men, and is incredibly violent. I think that's a nice contrast to the woman-centric, love-centric play that is currently in pre-production. I don't think I have to worry about being typecast as any particular kind of writer, but I like thinking about who's going to slug whom rather than how someone will phrase something to try and keep from hurting her feelings.

Blood! Gore! No actual severed heads though, which is a real shame.

Tomorrow, I might go back to the Boringest Script Ever, but tonight, I'm writing boy stuff.