My Finals are Over and I'm Back!

Well my 3rd quarter of film school is finally over! It was really a challenge this past quarter. I don't know if I made the President's List this time. (I don't think I will get 4.0 this time) but I think I will be okay if I make the Dean's List. But I did finish the first draft of my website and it is up and running for the time being. I'm not too happy with it but I'm okay with the fact that I didn't use a "cookie cutter" template to create it. I designed it totally in Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver. I also screened my PSA for my grade on Wednesday. I think it came off well. However, I don't think it was my best work but it did fall under the parameters that was set by the Professor. It had to be :30 seconds exactly. Which I did. That was the challenge. I do have enough footage to make a :60 sec version. I incorporated the titles that I created in Adobe After Effects all within the constraints of :30 seconds. Pretty soon I will post it on my website once I compress it.

Since the last time I made an entry in my blog, I celebrated my 43rd Birthday. Thank you everyone who remembered my turning another year older. To some people, being gay plus single is equal to being invisible. But I am not that transparent. I'm happy to have reached 43 wonderful years of life. As you can see from the photo (taken on March 3rd) I don't look that bad for my age. Do I? My buddy, Donald, took me to see "300" for my birthday (actually it was both of our birthdays- HAPPY Belated Birthday D-You don't look a day over 24!-Love ya!) and I loved this film. If you haven't seen it, RUN TO THE THEATER! It was a feast for the eyes in terms of cinematography, special effects and half-naked muscle men running around. The story is pretty good too from what I remember.

We also did a "ghetto movie pass" and saw "Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls" starring the very yummy, Idris Elba (the Hottie British actor who stars on HBO's "The Wire") and Gabrielle Union. [Note to Tyler Perry: Sorry about doing the GMP but those people working at the theater are stupid if they can't pay attention to who is going into what theater at the multiplex.] It was a cute film although I keep expecting Madea to pop up in the film because it was dripping with sentiment. Idris definitely is very talented and I hope that he does more films beyond the "thug" roles he's been playing. Gabrielle, well, she is very beautiful and she was playing what she does best: Professional African-American woman who can't find a "decent" Black man. Yawn! Come on Gabby, we know you can act and you proved that in the overlooked film "Running With Scissors" (based on the memoir by one of my favorite authors, Augusten Burroughs). Time to branch out Miss Union! This is definitely a film for the sistah girls! I think Donald and I were the only fellas in there theater who wasn't dragged by females. But it was a nice change from the blood and carnage of "300".

I also saw (on a different day) the new Terrence Howard/Bernie Mac/Kimberly Elise film "Pride" which I thought was really good. As many of you know, I have had a CRAZY, STUPID, MAD CRUSH on Mr. Howard since forever. Yes, I know he's straight. But one can dream, right? [Note to Terrence Howard: if you ever even THINK about "converting": I'm here for you boo! and I make a mean vegetable lasagna] Anyhoo... It was a really good film and Terrence gave a Oscar worthy performance as usual (not to mention looking EXCEPTIONALLY DELICIOUS in his "Speedos") The film was a feel-good story about racism and the power of determination. It's based on the true story of Jim Ellis, a teacher in Philadelphia who turns around an inner-city youth center and the disenfranchised youngsters it serves. I really hope people will go out and support this film. One thing that kinda bugged me was that here again, Tom Arnold is playing the "asshole white guy". All jokes aside, if you ever saw him in the Don Roos film "Happy Endings" you know that the man CAN act and shouldn't be typecast. I've never met the man personally, but I doubt he's really like that.

Okay today is April 1st. Yes it's April Fool's day! But I'm no fool! Tomorrow will be "OPENING DAY" at Yankees Stadium. God how I wish I could go and watch Derek (my other crush) out there on the field! Also I wanted to say to my friends, Lauren and Kevin - HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Also if anybody has been trying to reach me by telephone, I just found out that my telephone service has been temporarily interrupted. I didn't have the money to pay the bill. It's tough when you are on public assistance and going to school full-time. I NEED A JOB!!!!! Anyone know of anybody who is hiring please email me. I'm on spring break until April 16th. Unless you want to pay my phone bill for me, I really, REALLY need a job! Anybody wanna take me to brunch? Holla!