John August

Archives for 2009

You can wash shoes

Random Advice

random adviceSneakers, gym shoes, tennis shoes, trainers — whatever you call them, those athletically-inclined shoes on your feet can probably be washed in the washing machine. Really. But almost no one I know does it.

Rather, most of my peers wear shoes until they get unacceptably dingy, then buy new shoes, on the mistaken belief that dirty shoes are “worn out.” But they’re probably not. They’re just dirty. So wash them.

* __First, take out the laces.__ You’ll wash the laces in the same load. They’ll get twisted and tangled no matter what you do. But they’ll get clean.

* __Take out the foam inserts.__ They won’t get clean, and might fall apart. Consider replacing them with new insoles.

* __Use half the normal amount of detergent.__ You won’t need more, because you’ll also…

* __Add one scoop of an oxygen bleach, like Oxy-Clean.__ This is the secret ingredient that makes them look new-ish.

* __Wash them on a normal cycle, warm water, with a towel to dampen some of the banging.__

* __Let them air-dry, unless you have a special rack for your dryer.__

I’ve had success with every pair of shoes I’ve washed, but can’t guarantee you’ll have the same luck. Leather, suede and such variants might dry out or crack. The worst-case scenario is that washing the shoes will cause them to fall apart or become unwearable. But considering they were more-or-less unwearable when you put them in the machine, that’s not such a loss.

Real running shoes — the kind you take out on the road — do have an expiration date, a point at which the the foam and shock-absorbing features break down. So keep in mind that washing these shoes could hasten their demise, or at least mask the signs. But once retired from “real” running, these shoes are probably fine for normal wear.

When your shoes finally pass into a zone where you just don’t want to wear them anymore, make sure to donate them to charity. Shoes that most Americans would consider worn-out are always needed in poorer parts of the world.

Getting your kid into preschool

Los Angeles, Random Advice

random adviceIf you live in Los Angeles and have offspring — or if you’re visibly pregnant — most conversations with other parents will probably involve preschool. Even if you don’t have kids, you’ll find yourself on the periphery of these conversations shortly after turning 30. And annoyed.

It’s not just a mom thing here. Most of the screenwriters I know, I know because they have young kids in preschool. The fathers of my daughter’s classmates wrote most of last summer’s blockbusters.

And it’s not just an age thing: I have lunch every month with Dick Zanuck, 74, who has produced 40+ movies and run a studio. What do we talk about? Getting his grandkids into preschool.

At least for LA, preschool is the new college.

Yes, it’s absurd. I poked fun at it in a deleted scene from The Nines (which you can find on the DVD). But it’s the reality. Even if your kids are going to go to public elementary school, you still need to find a private preschool. So here’s my advice.

1. **Buy The Whitney Guide.** It’s a listing of most or all of the preschools in Los Angeles, with standardized criteria and philosophy statements. You won’t pick a school because of this book, but you’ll be able to narrow your choices and decide which criteria are important. And you’ll have a clear idea about the costs, so you can tailor your list appropriately.

2. **Talk to a lot of parents.** Strike up conversations at the playground, the car wash, or any place you find parents with kids. Ask all your neighbors. You want recommendations about good schools, but more importantly, you want parents who can recommend you to a school. Kids don’t have SATs. A preschool is really admitting the parents, not the kid. Most preschools have an interview, but recommendations from current parents help a lot.

3. **Talk to people who talk to parents.** Some of our most helpful advice came from the woman who ran the weekly kids’ gym. Pre-preschool classes like gym, music and swimming are run by people who interface with thousands of kids and parents over the years. They know the scoop.

4. **Visit preschools while they’re running.** If you have a two-year old, you’ll be overwhelmed to see how swarming a bunch of three- and four-year olds can be. But what you’re looking for is some order in this chaos. For each class, the teacher and teacher’s assistant should feel like they’re on top of it. The kids should be having fun.

5. **Different is good.** We’re the only two-dad family at our school. That’s not why we got in, but it didn’t hurt. If there’s something unique about your situation — your wife is an astronaut, your husband is blind — don’t minimize it. Most schools are looking to become less homogenous, and something distinctive will help them remember you.

6. **Have a safety school.** Like college, there’s a chance you may not get into the preschool you want. In many cases, siblings of current students have first priority, so there may not be room for new families. That’s why it’s important to apply to at least one school you feel pretty certain you can get into.

Aren’t all preschools basically the same? I mean, they’re mostly just singing songs about sharing and gluing things to paper. The reason to pick one school versus another is how comfortable you feel letting these people take daily custody of your kid. You want a place that shares your basic values and priorities — and will pick other parents you can stand to be around.

That’s one part of the puzzle I didn’t anticipate when we were first looking at schools. When your kid is in preschool, you see these parents constantly: at birthday parties, at fundraisers, at playdates and parking lots. So you really hope they’re not annoying. It’s another reason you want to spend a lot of time talking to parents when picking a school — to get a sense what kinds of families go there.

And finally, despite everything I’ve said above, you need to remember that where your kid goes to preschool will not make or break her life. In fact, it’s possible to change schools if the first one doesn’t work out.

Tony Gilroy in The New Yorker

Film Industry, Genres, Story and Plot

The New Yorker has [a terrific article](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/16/090316fa_fact_max) by D.T. Max about screenwriter Tony Gilroy, whose films range from Dolores Claiborne to The Bourne Identity to Michael Clayton (a [personal favorite](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/michael-clayton)).

I particularly liked his discussion about the challenge of writing a thriller:

> Gilroy believes that the writer and the moviegoing public are engaged in a cognitive arms race. As the audience grows savvier, the screenwriter has to invent new reversals—madder music and stronger wine. […]

> “How do you write a reversal that uses the audience’s expectations in a new way? You have to write to their accumulated knowledge.”

Definitely worth a read.

When you move, change the lightbulbs

Random Advice

random adviceEnergy-efficient lightbulbs, both compact fluorescents and LEDs, have improved tremendously over the last three years. They’ve always used a fraction of the power of incandescents, but now they cost less, dim better, and offer color temperatures that are much more flattering.

That said, the light is still different. Not better, not worse. Just different than what we’ve come to expect.

That’s why if you’re moving into a new place, you should change the lightbulbs immediately. Put in CFLs and LEDs. This way, you won’t have an expectation about how things are “supposed to” look. And given their much longer lifespans, you may not have to change a lightbulb for quite a few years.