Strike, day 80
Aspiring screenwriter and reader-of-the-blog Terry came out to walk the picket line this morning. A recent Notre Dame grad, he’s doing SAT1 tutoring as a day job. My friend Amy does the same thing in New York, and it strikes me as a nearly ideal way for a writer to put ramen in the cupboard. It’s decent enough that you won’t hate doing it, but not so rewarding that you’ll forget to write.
Beyond Terry’s visit, it was a completely unremarkable three hours. Angry Cadillac Woman scraped the curb as she raced through, but there was no one remotely in her vicinity. My new theory is that she’s actually just angry at the asphalt, and determined to do it damage through vehicular abuse.
WGA Board Member David Goodman stopped by to visit. No real news — there’s a press blackout. But it was announced yesterday that the WGA will not be picketing the Grammys, which is helpful for me, because I’m actually going this year.2 The last time was fun.
Other topics of conversation: Lucy Liu, India, the Smart car, casting, pilot cutbacks, how nice Notre Dame’s campus is, Malawi, and the “old people school bus” which comes at 8:10 every day.
Tomorrow, same time, same place.
- For international readers, the SAT is one of two standardized tests required to get into nearly any U.S. university. There’s a whole industry devoted to getting kids ready to take the test, which of course defeats the reason for the test in the first place. ↩
- Longtime blog readers may remember that I became a Grammy member after getting nominated in 2005 for Best Song in the TV/Movie/Visual Media category. ↩
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January 23rd, 2008 at 10:38 am
SAT tutoring isn’t just a day job. You can make sickening amounts of money doing it if you’re in the right part of the country. Some parents just have to be sure that their special snowflakes are fully prepared with the best homework money can buy.
It’s not satisfying work, but neither is Legal Temp Document Review, and they both pay the bills and pay ‘em good.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
What is the song which garnered your Grammy nomination?
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
“Other topics of conversation: India, the Smart car
India just made a $2500 smart car aptly named ‘Nano’. can u imagine a $2500 car being marketed in the US?
January 23rd, 2008 at 7:02 pm
What does it mean “to go financial core/corp?” I saw it mentioned a couple times on the unitedhollywood.com site in an article but it wasn’t explained.
Michelle http://www.girlchildpress.com
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Great to read another blog entry, John.
January 24th, 2008 at 10:16 am
I don’t want to seem dumb, but since english is not my first language, what does it mean to “put ramen in the cupboard”?
January 24th, 2008 at 10:53 am
It’s a variation of “put food on the table”, or in other words, to make enough money to put food on the table. Ramen is a type of food. Noodles, actually.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Pedro,
He’s talking about a specific store bought item entitled Ramen Noodles. They’re quite delicious and considered easy for anyone to make — a quick and nice meal to tide over the stomach from groaning. As you might know, Screenwriting isn’t a likely profession for someone looking to make serious money right when they arrive.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Omigod! I’m a “long-time reader of the blog.” I had no idea. Time flies when you’re having fun, I suppose. On the other hand, it’s just a little bit depressing . . .
January 25th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
I cracked up about the last sentence about the SAT’s….I asked my kid what his score was, and he didn’t have to take it. He took the ACT test.
Just who is Angry Cadillac Woman? Does anyone know?