Why Papa John's Pizza will never see ANOTHER $$ from me!

It all began because I was hungry and didn't feel like cooking! It has been raining here all day (all week actually) and I really didn't feel like going back out in the rain to get dinner. You would think that living in Brooklyn (were you can get the best pizza in the USA) that I wouldn't bother ordering from a chain pizza joint. Since my favorite family own pizza shop only takes cash I had to find a place that took cards. I have never been a fan of Dominos so I figured I give Papa John's a try. I had seen their commercials and knew you could order online.

So I ordered 2 specials and a beverage, and a side! First time I put the order in (with a tip added to the total) I don't get any confirmation, so I decided to place the order again without a tip (I figured I pay the tip in cash). This one goes through. Luckily someone from the store calls me and tell me that two orders have been placed and wanted to know if this was a go. I tell the guy "no, I didn't get a confirmation with the first so I placed it again." I tell him I only wanted 1 order. Fine. He says "we'll cancel the first one!"

A few minutes later the delivery guy calls and tells me he will be here in 4 mins. Cool, I tell him just bring it to my apartment door. Then he tells me that it's policy that they don't come into apartment buildings and that I would have to come to the front of the building. For a $35 order, I expect door-to-door service. Damn even Dominos does that! I tell him if he brings it to the door I will give him a nice tip. I'm figuring $10 is worth it. He tells me that I have to call his boss and okay it with him. So I call the place back and tell him I can't come to the front door and he says tell the driver its okay. I get back on the phone with the driver and relay this message. (Why couldn't the boss just do this himself?)

Okay, so the driver finally arrives to my apartment door and he doesn't have change for a $20 (all the small cash I have on me!) All he has is $3 on him, but he will go down into the car and bring back my change! I make a quick decision: if he didn't want to bring the pizzas up in the first place, he won't be back. Against my better judgement, I say "Fine, take the $20 and have a good night!"

So I go in and find that between the two boxes is a paper solicitation for an dog breeder of Siberian huskies! WTF? Who wants to find that WITH a food order. I'm thinking the delivery guy has a side job. But this is just tacky! It's reminds me of pet hospital next to a Chinese restaurant (see photo - yes it's real and it's located on East 14th Street between Aves A and B)! To a person with a vivid imagination, that is the last thing I want to see! It gets better: the receipt with the order is for the first order (yes the one that I put the tip on the card) So, if you are following me, this delivery guy has just made a $25 tip on a $35 pizza order!

Since I ordered online, I go to check both my bank to see if either of the orders have been cancelled. Neither order has been cancelled. So I go back to the phone and call Papa John's and find out what the deal is. The manager tells me, after putting me on hold for what seems like ages, that the first order was cancelled and it should show up on my account in 24 hours. Needless to say, this has been the most expensive pizza order I have ever placed thus far!

So, I do what any disgruntle customer would do, I fire off a letter to the company on their website! It funny that when you place an order the site runs fast and easy. But if you are trying to lodge a complaint... slow as all hell!

Its been raining all week here. Im getting over a bad cold I've had for the past 2 weeks. This pizza fiasco was the cherry on my day!

I'm Back! Has it really been a year?

It's been over a year since my last posts! I've been going through a lot of life changes but I'm well now. So much has happened in a year's time. Where to begin? Okay here goes: BP Oil spill in the Gulf! Those poor animals and the people whose lives depend on the tourist! My heart is goes out to you!

True Blood-LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT! Who won American Idol this year? Who cares! Adam Lambert ROCKS that's all I know! LOST went off the air! As well as 24, The Tyra Banks Show, ER, Law & Order (the original one).

Ricky Martin came out! Good for him! But really, was that REALLY that much of a surprise? I love you RICKY! iPhone, iPad, iPod, iCARUMBA! But if Steve Jobs wants to send me a iPad I am totally okay with that! The world has gone iCRAZY! Wendy is still going strong (even though she is on hiatus until the new fall season starts! Still love you WENDY my Bewigged Goddess!

Movies: The Hurt Locker was the best movie last year that so few people saw. I did see it on DVD and I can understand the hoopla! I loved The Princess & the Frog, but found PRECIOUS very disturbing! Great performances though!

Food: Did somebody say SHAKE SHACK!? (Madison Square Park for NYers, Times Square 8th Ave @ 44th for tourist) I had my first Shake Shack burger and nearly came! It was the best burger I've had in a long time! And yes it's even better than my former favorite The Little Burger Joint (inside the Parker Meridian Hotel on 57th Street) I still love my cupcakes! Billy's (9th Ave at 21st street) (of course!).

Books: I've read many books since the last time I posted I cant think of anything that sticks out that much besides Michael E. Schiefelbein's VAMPIRE series (Vampire Vow, Vampire Thrall, Vampire Transgression, Vampire Maker). VERY SEXY!!!! Why doesn't somebody make a series about these Vamps? Oh, that's right, it's not for tweens but for adults! Believe it or not the only vampire novel I read prior to these was the Bram Stoker. Another book I recommend is Rodney Lofton's No More Tomorrows: Two Lives, Two Stories, One Love! It hit me like a ton of bricks!

I hate using the computers at the public library. Right now I'm on my laptop. Two weeks ago I was in the library on the computer and this guy next to me was surfing the web watching porn! I don't even want to know what he was doing under the jacket draped over his lap! That's not the place for that kind of nonsense! I complained to security but they said that they could do nothing about it because they can't block websites! Funny, but when I was going to school, the IT dept did just that! What has gotten into people?

Music: did I already talk about that? Loved Soldier of Love (SADE) and BlackSummer's Night (Maxwell), The Fame Monster (Lady Gaga) and The Element of Freedom (Alicia Keys)!

Nuf said!

Filthy Thesis Madness!

Slowly, but surely, my thesis film is beginning to take shape. I was finally able to find 2 dogs (one owner) who didn't object to the subject matter and will allow her pups to appear in the film. That is one less headache for me now.

One of my professors gave me a compliment the other day and I've been beaming about it ever since. I had told him that the owners of the first set of dogs I had cast had decided to bow out of the project due to artistic differences after reading my script. Professor Ezovski said, "It's only because it's filthy!" Most people would have taken that as an insult but not me. I know that John Waters has been called "the King of Filth" since his introduction to the indy film world back in the 70's with Pink Flamingos. So for Professor Ezovski to say that to me made me feel like I could one day be "the PRINCE of Filth!" Who knows?

But I still need to raise the $2,200 to start shooting and then I'm done. I know that it doesn't seem like a lot of money but I really can make this film for this amount of money. Maybe I should send my script to Mr. Waters and see if he'd finance it? Hmmm, that's something to think about. I went location scouting with my Production Designer, the wonderful Elba Estela, last weekend and I'm hopeful things will start to come together soon. I also met with a Product placement broker the other day and discussed options for product placement as a means of financing the piece.

EVERYONE who has read the script says that it is definitely a great script (and not really filthy, depending on how you define "filthy" and NO ONE is ingesting doggy doo in my script either! Ewww! Even I have my limitations) and would do very well in film festivals. I'm hoping to hit the LGBT festivals the moment the film is scored. If I could only find the one location that I need to shoot the piece I'd be able to rest a little easier. If there is anyone out there reading this blog (and I know that millions of you do!) who lives in NYC and would be interested in allowing a small film company to use your apartment for 2 (possible 3) days to shoot, what will one day be a masterpiece (and be the talk of Cannes and Sundance), please email me and we can take a meeting to discuss the details. Anyone who lets me use their space to shoot will get a credit as an Executive Producer! Now wouldn't that be something to brag to your friends and family over the holiday get-together's? "Yea, I just EXECUTIVE PRODUCED a film by an up-and-coming filmmaker. More a pino grigio anyone?"

Anyway I hope that I can get this thing done before Christmas so that I can edit it and submitted for my grade. That would be Lover-ly! Honestly, I've been so stressed out this week trying to get this thing together I almost forgot to call my mother yesterday to wish her a Happy Birthday. The day before that I lost my eyeglasses and walked around half blind for most of the day. I even filled up my frequent guest card from Crumbs (1 punch on card for ever order of coffee and a cupcake you order). Next week I will be able to get a free cup of coffee (or tea- LOVE that Earl Grey with soy milk!) and a cupcake of my choice. Speaking of which, yesterday I had a "Brownie" cupcake which is another way of saying "DEATH BY CHOCOLATE." Today I had the Caramel Apple and it was so good I got stares from the inhabitants of the lab were I was editing as I ate orgasmic bite after, orgasmic bite. Just thinking about it as I type this entry is giving me...never mind... I'm determined to keep this a clean blog.

Anyway I realized the other day that if I don't get this film finished soon I'll never be invited to the Independent Spirit Awards and walk the "green carpet". Or I'll never meet interesting people like John Waters (or for that matter, John Amaechi.) Just so I can tell J.W. just how much his films have influenced me as a film maker and tell J.A. just how much his book meant to me as out and proud gay black man. Either way, I will finish this film even if it means I go without dinner for a week or two. After suffering from "cupcake nirvana" this week, I could stand to loose a few pounds. That is how determined I am to get my thesis film done.

The sacrifices one must make for one's art.

Script Changes, Cupcakes, J.A. and Halloween!

Sometimes I forget holidays on days when I have to go to school or work. Holidays seem less important when you live alone or have no children of your own to enjoy them with. Or, in my case, when you are low in funds that Holidays are just meaningless at times. It's not that I don't like holidays, it's just that I never saw the excitement in going out and dressing up and acting a fool in the streets. Maybe I just too jaded in my middle years. I remembered that today was Halloween when I got off the subway to go to my internship (in the West Village). Need I say more? It's hard to miss what day it is when you see many costumed folks walking the streets. And not just children either, I'm talking grown folks!

Yea, I guess I'm just cynical in my old age.

I'm at school now working on my After Effects project for tomorrow. My project was to do DVD authoring and create menus for my reel that I will soon have finished by the time the thesis film is done. In the meantime, I have to compile a set of clips together that will go into the demo reel portion of the DVD. I also had a long discussion with my thesis advisor yesterday about the ending of my screenplay, "Poppin' In." She had suggested some changes that now that I've had a day for it to sink in, I realize now that I have to make some minor changes to the script before I start shooting. As for shooting, I'm still going over resumes for crew members and I'm having my first read-thru with my full cast over the weekend. Which I just happened to schedule on the same day as the New York City Marathon. Oh, the joy the streets will be on Sunday. For the first time this week, I really wish I could clone myself in order to get more work done and somehow, get some sleep time in too.

I started a MySpace page this week along with a Facebook page as well. After I put in all the information on the MySpace, I realized that I should have signed up for an account as a filmmaker in that section of the complicated site. Oh, well. I kinda like the layout of the Facebook better and it's easier to navigate too. I hate doing something because everyone else is doing it, but I've been told by persons I respect that in order for me to get more of presence for my blog as well as for my film company, it's a good idea to get accounts on these pages. Who knows what could happen. Maybe I could get more work after I graduate out of it? Maybe I could meet the man of my dreams? Maybe it could turn out to be a nightmare? (I'm going with the "halloween" theme here -- work with me). Maybe I could be stalked by an ax murder and my body could be hacked up into tiny pieces and shipped all over the world? Yea, I'm morbid sometimes? I'll have to keep you posted on my MySpacing and Facebooking! (are those even words?)

Anyway, yesterday while I was at my internship I was searching for a previous segment to be included in a special we are doing for World Aids Day and I happen to come across the interview from the April 2007 episode that would have made me tell "massa where the slaves were hiding" just to have been at: John Amaechi at the Center! One of my colleagues actually did the segment and met him and told me that he was super nice. Ah, that lucky girl! But in my infinite wisdom, I know that guys that look as good as John Amaechi, wouldn't even give a second look to me. But one can dream. One... can...dream :-)

Anyhoo...

Today's cupcake selections from CRUMBS are the Twinkie and a Strawberry Sprinkle Cupcake. In a word: LIPSMACKING! I know that if I keep making trips to CRUMBS like this and eating more cupcakes I will be as big as house. Which is fine with me, since no one is looking at me anyway, I may as well get fat and plump. At least with extra weight on me I can keep warm in the winter sleeping by myself.

I wonder if John Amaechi sleeps in a king sized bed? I wonder if he ever read my blog? I wonder if he ever ate a cupcake from CRUMBS with a nice spot of Earl Grey? Hmmm. I know I would never have to worry about keeping warm in the winter with him. Ooh, I sound devilish >:-)

Oh, and BTW, I was just kidding about the selling out the slaves bit. Just me being Silly Billy!