I see continents sinking below the waves I see mitochondria prank-calling galaxies I see giant purple vampire lobsters battling zombie prom queens…you know, COOL stuff. But that’s not what I see when I close my eyes. Or Raven sitting around with her mouth open. Left entirely to my own resources, I guess I could shoot a decent movie of, say, my feline Posse up to their usual hijinks. Of course, a major part of my problem here is the KIND of film I want to make. I mean, cats are great company on the set, but they’re very poor cinematographers, they hate wearing costumes, and they absolutely refuse to learn their lines. It’s just not right: Writers can write alone, painters can paint alone, but there are some pretty severe limitations to what a filmmaker can accomplish if she’s determined to truly be independent…i.e., not to involve any other humans.

Would be through the list MUCH faster if I favored the number two.Īm working hard on number ten and feeling really aggravated by how difficult it is to shoot a decent movie by myself. Am regretting my compulsion to do all things in groups of 13. Have now completed items number one and number seven. Sensory-deprivation session was just the thing to get me going again. Instead I am headed to the basement for a soul-soothing session in my sensory-deprivation chamber. Am feeling too stressed and put-upon to do quality work. Am halting efforts to complete the List for now. The worst part is that I can’t remember my epic-saga inspiration. Sheezzles! And the worst part is that OF COURSE Mom is holding ME responsible for Raven’s misbehavior-just because I made her!-and has asked me to keep her indoors. Um, able to answer questions in complete sentences? Their conversation was far too long for me to capture entirely, but it went a little something like this:īut ma’am, what I am trying to determine here is, is she or isn’t she normal? Thus, Mom was woken out of a deep sleep and forced to have a discussion with a certain Officer Pleasance regarding Raven and her special needs, especially her special need for full-time supervision. Luckily I had the foresight to stitch our address across the front of her shirt in bright red yarn. Disconcerted by her blank stare and lack of conversational skills, they called in the police. Apparently she followed the cats out to the construction site of the new shopping mall, where guards apprehended her for trespassing and not wearing a hard hat. Raven has just been escorted home by the police. Some kind of commotion downstairs, more later.

Piece of Mind by Rob Reger