Running News

Congratulations to Emil for another successful marathon. My running life consists of reading Emil's race reports and thinking of better times ahead. Kiley battles a twisted ankle preparing for another 50-miler — in addition to coaching the San Gabriel Valley TNT fall marathon team. A determined man, Kiley will defeat injury, race like a champ, get all his team across the finish line, while composing light opera and inventing a device that knows when you want pizza and calls ahead. He's that versatile. Yesterday, I aqua ran for thirty-five minutes, taking it easy. I actually felt stiffness in my legs this morning. From aqua running, of all things! But that's the closest I'll get to real running for at least three months. Back to work, complaining about my neighbor's party last night where they cooked steaks, meaty scent drifting all over the building, and didn't invite us. Tonight we're barbecuing a bicycle tire and inviting them. If they can't make it, we'll leave "dinner" by their front door. Chow.

Tom Ruegger and the Vulture Project

Awoke this morning and shuffled to the kitchen minus crutches, moving at the pace of a very healthy 106-year-old. I look forward to greater adventures in the days to come.

Worked all last week on my animated script, then jumped into editing the short story. I finished Monday night, sending it out at almost 8k words. That comes out to 43 pages in New Courier font. A very exhausting process as I had to expand, add clarifying information and erase material simultaneously to stay under the word limit. Once again, a big thanks to the readers. An altered ending proved, I think, more satisfying and truer to what had been set-up. Electronic high-fives to all.

Which led me to yesterday morning. Paul Rugg, Sherri Stoner, Deanna Oliver, Tom Ruegger and myself gathered at a local studio for vulture recordings. Forging a long improvised story proved challenging, but Tom hauled us forward to a resolution. He seemed quite happy with the day's catch, and I have no reason to doubt we hooked more than we released. I felt weary and torpid the whole session. More sleep should improve my perspective. Meanwhile, Tom will add a lick of animatic and a dash of music to today's work and produce something to shop around.

And the studio was free of bees. I really liked that.

Hospital Cafe

While it appears I'm in a hospital, this is actually a station at the Hospital Cafe, a Hollywood eatery that aims to simulate a medical dining experience. You lie in bed with an IV pumping you full of drugs, and eat Jello-o and dried chicken while watching Hawaii 5-0 reruns. Ginger ale is served in a short plastic cup. For an additional fee, your waitress-practitioner will speak English, though at the level of a Saigon bar girl. ("You likee pillow, G.I.?") Actual minor surgery is available, but must be booked in advance as the doctors fly up from Trinidad. You leave the Hospital Cafe drained in fluids and cash, but ultimately feeling less than when you entered. The Hospital Cafe. Institutional food at a Five Star price.

Post-Surgery Knee News

Knee size is down considerably, but I have an odd rash all over my left leg. I think it may be from  goop the surgery team smeared on. Since it doesn't itch, I'm not sweating it. Intense pain whenever I accidentally torque the knee, but otherwise it's holding up fine.

General immobility has helped writing as I knocked out a thirty-page draft on a short story this week. I'm 1,500 words over the submission limit for this anthology I'm gunning for. But I'll take a machete to the story on Monday.

My TNT friend Ernesto is coming by tomorrow so I can get out of this place, eat breakfast and enjoy the June rains.  

Left Knee Ouch

Much post-op discomfort. The knee has needs that include painful movement to prevent locking up. I'm already sick of crutches. But there's no way out but straight ahead. On to July!

In the world of TV animation, things are tough. An old artist friend told me that a big studio required animation-testing before hire. He was asked to board several pages of script for free. (Then not hired.) This is a guy with years of experience, doing everything from roughs to directing. But the Man gets to make the rules.

Darn that Man.

Knee Op News

All went well. At least they operated on the correct knee. Tired and in mild pain. Thank you all for prayers and good thoughts. My hospital gown featured three wolves and a moon. More info on the 'morrow.

End of a Running Era

And the beginning of a better one as I completed my last run on the old knee. And a good one it was, too.

Mile 1: 12:07 with 1x2 run/walk ratio.

Mile 2: 10:56 " " " " .

Mile 3: 9:58 " 1x2 & 1x1 run/walk ratio.

Mile 4: 7:56 with no r/w.

That's a negative split with a sub-eight mile at the end. I can live with that for the next several months. So long Rose Bowl and surrounding hills for the duration. See you in the fall.

Scary, though. Now I have no excuse not to be completing writing projects. Not that I can't find a new one, but self-awareness will nag cruelly.

Chow Down

Back in 2006 when I broke a bone in my foot, I must've put on 15 pounds in three months. That's about the same amount I've put on since my initial injury back in September. With no heavy cardio exercise for a month, post-op must become post-eat. 

At least, post-eat junk food. 

Another day of medical fun as I spent the morning getting blood tests, x-rays, EKG, and a brief examination from my doctor. Plus a phone call from the orthopedist's office and a reminder from the MRI Institute to please bring my MRI to the operation. That made me feel like a man who has bought a bus ticket, only to have the bus company remind him to bring a map. 

Let's go get it done. 

Knee Op and Animated Bureaucrats

Lots of paperwork, sign this and that, all for an operation that's supposed to take an hour. Then off to the drug store for antibiotics and heavy-duty pain pills.  Tomorrow, I have blood tests, x-rays and a physical.

Ran three miles today, completing the last mile in 7:57. I haven't run a sub-eight mile since last August. This will be a positive memory to take into recovery.   

In addition to massive legal documents, my paying job has a well-defined chain-of-command that includes the story editor, two producers, head of the division, another guy, and a guy overseas. The gate guards are also on the distribution lists and add such comments as, "needs more guard characters," and "why doesn't this scene have a check-point?" 

Short story lengthens on. I think I need to kill off characters quicker. Nothing personal, but they're holding up the ending. 

A Farewell to Legs

Ran three miles yesterday, walking two-minutes for every one minute of running. For the last mile, I dropped the walking and focused on moving quickly, feet underneath the body, with rapid turn-over. I logged 8:39, my fastest individual mile since last September. No knee pain yesterday or today.

Surgery this Friday. If running is out for the next several months, it'll be easier having completed at least one decent mile.

Today was the L.A. Marathon. A couple friends ran, but I haven't had time to check results.

Happy Memorial Day! I think of departed veterans Kurt and T.J. Imagine you knew a man from Cleveland, Ohio. He had one sibling, an older sister. During Vietnam, he volunteered for a dangerous assignment, operating far behind enemy lines. After the war, he battled drugs and alcohol. Eventually, he sobered up and went to work for a vending machine company, traveling around Los Angeles in a van fixing candy, coffee and soda machines.

Now imagine you knew two men with the same criteria. That would be Kurt and T.J. Kurt served in Marine recon, operating in Laos along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. T.J. was a 4th Infantry Division LRRP (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol), creeping around North Vietnamese base camp areas in the Central Highlands. Their Vietnam service overlapped by around six months. (July 1967 to January 1968.)

Once I introduced them to each other at a party, figuring they'd have tons to talk about, but after a few polite minutes they went their separate ways. In any case, I'm honored to have known them and appreciate the sacrifices they made.

PS: I was going to put up more films, but have too much writing. So: Saving Private Ryan, Anthony Mann's Men in War, Band of Brothers, and We Were Soldier's Once, plus A Bridge Too Far complete a few of my war genre favorites.

Knee Rehab and Writing

A few more days before I hear back from my paying job. Meanwhile I'm ascending the scale poundwise as I prepare for a torpid month of recovery. Last time off my feet, I blimped out in depression. This time, I'd better unblimp as my repaired knee will thank a lighter me once it's run time again.

Dashed through my research and started the short story anyway. Despite being fed up with prep work, I believe it helped. The interactive outline method, coupled with questioning the characters has lent my writing more heft. I really want to layer this story instead of blasting out a tale heavy on action but light on anything else such as themes, metaphors, symbolism or other boring things.

This time I'm more willing to wait and see what emerges. And maybe have a couple of snacks while I'm at it; bag of pretzels, a power bar, apple, turkey dinner; the usual.

Close to Countdown

Surgery could be around May 20. My orthopaedist tried talking me out of continued running, failed, then acknowledged it was a standard warning administered to runners. He admitted his goal was avoiding knee replacement surgery. I said 'me too.' We parted on good terms. Working on a short story using an interactive outline. Rather than the school outline of Roman numerals, numbers and letters, the interactive form engages you with questions as to why you're considering this or that plot point. I'm always challenged to examine why I've included something, without having to know all the answers. ("I don't know" is acceptable.) Also, I've added a feature where I'll question characters on something unrelated to the story. For instance, I'm currently writing a horror story set on a small ship. But I'll ask my characters to react to waiting in a long movie line only to discover the film is sold out. How they react tells me who they are. I also have them speak to one other on some political or news topic. This is time-saving since my usual approach was to write a draft, then another, and gradually find the voices. Knowing characters better allows room for growth. And if they cross me...out of the story! I don't like doing that, but sometimes they leave me no choice.

Knights Who Say "Knee"

Ha, well, there! I've begun the process to have my arthroscopic knee surgery. Because I have an HMO with a large deductible, it's possible I won't be co-paid into poverty. My doctor's paperwork chicks are checking on that. I'm believing it will all end in a marathon sometime in 2010. Onward into medical land!