You are never too old to learn and try something new. A good bye to an old friend. And a good book I recently finished.

Last Friday and Saturday evenings I participated in a story telling evening. As I wrote last week it was a new experience for me and I was nervous.

I agreed to participate in a story telling event that will take place Friday and Saturday evenings (Feb 6 & 7) and I am nervous.

I have never done anything like this. I have taught workshops, done guest lectures, and readings from my books. In all of this I have a piece of paper in my hand, something to refer to in case I get lost. A crutch if you will.

It was roughly 34 years ago today that I released my second short film, You’ll Change.

Oddly enough it also is my daughter’s birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAY FIONA!

As a kid growing up in northwest Portland we lived fairly close to the Forestry Center. Dubbed by the media as the “world’s largest log cabin,”. It was apparently the second largest, but that doesn’t make as good of a headline, does it?

I love the title, The Best Years Of Our Lives. What years were the best of their lives? Were they before the war? During the war? Or are the best years still to come? The film leaves that up to you.

Chris Martin and I talk about two documentaries, you can watch me read from Dennis Barton Is A Bastard, on The Ed Sullivan Show, and there are dog photos... What more could you want?

One of my life’s little pleasures is reading Bizarro. I like and respect everything that I’ve seen Dan Piraro and Wayno do. I follow them on social media and I get Dan’s weekly newsletter.

"I can't believe it! Reading and writing actually paid off!" - - Matt Groening, The Simpsons

If you enjoy really well made films and don’t mind black and white cinematography, or reading sub titles, this film is for you. It’s available on Kanopy, a free service through the library. Yeah, it’s two and a half hours long but well worth it.

Hey there. Over the last few months I have needed to take a break from the internet. Sometimes one just needs to step away. It’s nice to think about things without all of the mental clutter that comes with the internet.

I may leave some social media behind, but I am going to stick with Substack. I like that what I write here goes straight to people that follow me. And it’s a place for me to about write things that interest me, and hopefully interest you as well.

As great as the cast is in this film, it really belongs to Glocken, (Michael Dunn) who is a dwarf. He is our “Greek Chorus. He is the ultimate outsider and he knows and understands that. One of my favorite lines in the film is - “You know, I travel a lot. My folks give me some money, not much, but some. They are more comfortable when I'm not around…” And he states this in such a matter of fact way that it broke my heart. He doesn’t want our sympathy which is what makes him such a great character.

As a writer, I value the unique voices of other writers. I’m not sure how I feel about these books and the way they were written. Unlike AI, which I hate, these books were written by real writers often based on outlines supplied by Stratemeyer. They were written to a proven format and cranked out by the dozens.

Every time I show the film I get people coming up to tell me their car theft stories. The best story I heard was a friend of mine was showing his in-laws my other film about being a father, You’ll Change, and Stolen Toyota was on the same tape. They watched both films and laughed. He told me they really enjoyed it. The next morning they went outside and their car had been stolen.

We live our lives and leave some friends by the wayside as we move forward. Ever now and again a name, a memory from the past resurfaces and we smile. I feel bad that Russ and I lost touch. I’m also very lucky as I have both memories and his drawings.

Since the reunion I have pulled out his drawings a few times. I realize he’s still with me. That makes me feel a little better. I can still hear his voice, and remember the funny and stupid things we used to do. And that is gold.

I’m very lucky, I still love editing, both picture and sound, and with the experience I’ve accumulated after all these decades, I’m pretty good at what I do although I still have so much to learn. And like David Lean, I feel like I can edit myself out of any corner that I got myself into as a director.

Now I just hope I won’t be called upon to edit Gunsmoke again, although somewhere in a box I still have my old Revis film splicer, just in case.

I do remember editing one 16 mm project on two rewinds and a metal viewer that was better than the Super 8 versions, but not by much. I had to make all of my cuts with a razor blade on a metal splicing block and then put them together with these little editing tapes you bought separately.

Then they looked down at Moses standing right next to me on his short leash. Their eyes got wide and they couldn’t get away from us fast enough. Excuse me sir! one of them said as they squeezed past us. I looked down at Moses. He was quietly watching them and his hackles were up. He did not like these guys and they knew it.

I recently watched a documentary on Paul Robeson, and it was wonderful. I stumbled across it one evening when I was checking out documentaries on You Tube. Yes, You Tube.

In fact I have stumbled upon a treasure trove of documentaries that I didn’t know existed and many of them come from a place I would have never suspected.

It takes a different kind of personality to want to dedicate themselves to their art, whatever art that may be, and to live with the decision to do that. I have been “financially challenged” most of my life. I have had good years and I’ve had horrible years financially.