Zinc Street, Ontonagon, Michigan. Population--seven hundred. Help is wanted at the "Holiday" gasmart. On Bolo Road, you can find Dave taking medical marijuana for arthritis, Scotty with six or more vehicles parked for need of repair, and Dorothy (60) and Toto checking out Damian (36, professor turned playwright).

And the excitement never ends.

It must be in "Pure Michigan!"

I find I am in dog heaven.

My father told me when I asked him if my dog would go to heaven, he told me. "Yes, Lynn, your dog will be in heaven just as you say."

I love my dad!

"What is one man's colon is another man's comma." --Mark Twain
I can imagine Jon Stewart finding a response to that:
"What is one man's colon is another man's middle colic artery."
Or
"What is one man's colon is another man's Rupert Murdock."

Taxes

I get to finish my taxes. Just found out from the person who is attempting to refinance my house that I have two thousand unrequited dollars spent on the students at ONHS. That the Federal Goverment is only interested in paying for two hundred and fifty dollars for per classroom across the nation. And a lobbiest can write off two three hundred and fifty dollar bottles of wine at dinner with a senator. I am not a "job creator."
I think this is why Jonathan Stewart makes me laugh. I would rather laugh.
I will do my taxes.
It's done.
Best news this summer!

Screenwriting

My goal is to research "story." In doing that I have been reading the following:
Syd Field's The Screenwriter's Workbook (2006) / Screenplay: foundation of Screenwriting: A Step-by-Step Guide from Concept to Finished Script (1994) / Four Screenplays: Studies in the American Screenplay: An analysis of four groundbreaking contemporary classics: Thelma & Louise; Terminator 2; The Silence of the Lambs; Dances with Wolves (1994) / The Screenwriter's Problem Solver: How to Recognize, Identify, and Define Screenwriting Problems (1998)
I have also been looking at Jeffry Schechter's website and downloading some of his writing aids: http://www.mscbuys.com/guide
I have been reading http://www.dailyscripts : Aaron Sorkin's "Social Network" and am reading Tony Gilroy's "The Bourne Supremacy."
Do I feel any better about taking too long to pull together what I feel is a camera ready story? Yes, I do.
What I am clear on is that I require a vast amount of back up to quell the doubts:
"No one is taking you seriously anymore, Lynn."
"You will not finish this play--it will not sell."
"You are not smart enough to complete this project."
All those things said, what I feel is that I am so happy that somewhere inside of all the doubts is the promise of a finished, powerful story. It feels to me like someone four years old is speaking plainly to adults that would like to hope.
She's a powerful little four year old.

I am looking at the photograph of myself at age two, as I sit on the lap of Maime Barta Lawler. She made bread. I watched her kneed the dough. I smelled the yeast.
I am not alone when I smell yeast anywhere on this planet. The yeast is my connection with Maime Lawler. The woman who sat in a courtroom in her housedress and explained why she did not want the restaurant owner to take her front yard for a parking lot. She hobbled before the court record taker and said, "I would like to smell the roses from my garden."
Maime made her way back to her seat and sat down.
The court records show that the land that was to be redistricted as commercial, "is residential."
The woman who took records on the hearing was heard to say,
"Maime's rose garden takes precedence over the restaurant's parking lot plans."
Perhaps loving nine children and rose petals are bigger than convenience.
I miss my grandmother. And I miss my mother.