SCREENWRITER'S UPDATE - HOUSE ORDEAL

Hey Bloggies, hoping all is well.

We dropped the contract on the first house in Houston, near the Galleria, because it failed the "hydrostatic inspection". The test is about $350 and I highly advise getting it if buying a home, unless it's brand new. Basically, they plug the waste line outside the house, fill every sink, tub, and drain, and watch the line for thirty minutes. Most of the lines had dropped an inch per minute, meaning water was leaking out under the house (homes are mostly built on slab there, no basements). They included a bid for $15,000 to excavate and install new lines, and by then we had cold feet and moved on.

The search continued until we found Oak Forest, northwest of the city but still close. An older part of town, it reminds me a lot of the midwest in architectural style. Contract #2 failed because the buyer just sat on it, so we moved on. #3 is in action now, it's an exceptional place even with a large studio I could teach from, but we're waiting on response and I don't want to get my hopes up. We'll see.

Other than that, I've been moving a lot of dirt here, cutting weeds -- all the things you wanted to do with your home but don't until you're going on market, in a panic, lol! Been lucky with the temps in the 70's, so we did end up having one week of spring!

In other news, two bloggies got rescue dogs this month, really cool! Seems Sarah Z. writes at a hectic pace, she's always all over my Facebook news board, hehe! John August seems to be taking his blog in a new direction, almost in a "Dear Abby" kind of way to things not even related to screenwriting, and I'm not surprised to see he's good at it.

FADE OUT...

SCREENWRITER'S UPDATE

Hi everyone, I hope your spring has sprung by now and you're holding fast to those New Year's resolutions of three months past!

Just an update -- we did a whirlwind tour through Houston, Texas, and contracted on a house in the last few hours of the trip. I'm sure our realtor, Tiffany, was relieved, because we had almost convinced her we would never make concessions on the location and ammenities. In Houston you'll live close to town and all the good attractions and have no yard or grocery nearby, or you'll be out on the edge with a yard and a nearby Starbucks and a long commute. We settled for the latter. None of this applies if you have a half a million bucks or more to drop.

The big coincidence is that the production company I'm hoping to work with is a mere ten minutes from the house! Screenwriting friend Sarah discovered the prodco and they requested her script, so thanks to her for turning me onto them in the first place. Just when it looked like I might go back to full-time painting and teaching art, a whole new door has opened in my screenwriting realm.

Of course, having a local address is not going to open the door, but it can't hurt. I have three scripts to rewrite, plus the move, projects at this house and the new one, so I won't approach the company until late in the year.

Concerning the rewrite, if you're not a screenwriter, this process takes longer than the initial "first draft". After getting some valuable feedback you go back into the story and make necessary changes in the script. Three scripts could take me 90 days, tack on the same for the move and renos and I'm looking at October.

As for the three rescued kittens -- Comet, Donner, and Blitzen -- they're domesticated, growing fast, and part of the family, so they're going with us, bringing the total to six cats and one dog. They love running around our screened porch, snuggling, all of them rub on Caesar the dog, it's amazing. Saving those "little bits" is still the best thing I've done all year.

Even though you may have ditched one or two resolutions (who needs to work out everyday or banish carbs?), everyday takes us one step further in its own, strange, and sometimes meaningless way. To quote Britney Spears, "When I drove around in my car, I felt like I was going somewhere."

Profound, lol!

FADE IN!