Quid Pro Quo Christmas
It's no secret in my circle of friends that I loathe the chaos of Christmas. It is such a selfish season of excess that I find it repugnant. Buy for me and I'll buy for you. Mail me a card and I'll mail you one. Ugh. It's quid pro quo at its worst.I truly do believe Christmas is the time of giving. I just don't believe it's all about stuff!Here's my challenge to you. Kick the quid pro quo habit. Don't just think about it. Do it.Adopt a kid from an angel tree or take a few cases of veggies to the nearest food bank. Clean out your closet and call a charity truck or donate toys to the children's hospital. Buy a few new

A Few Words in Memorium
I lost a dear friend this month and can only just now bring myself to write about it. I've lost many friends and relatives to cancer. Each cancer story is different. Each cancer journey is one of courage and pain, suffering and relief, victory and defeat. But this one -- well, this friend was everything I hope one day to become .. minus the cancer, of course. I wouldn't wish that on anybody.Well, almost nobody.Okay, child molesters probably deserve cancer.People who abuse the elderly.Rapists.Murderers.People who kick dogs.Wait.No.Nobody. Nobody deserves cancer.

A Different Take on Battle Speeches
Sure do admire the respect for a battle speech! This kid's Dad is catching crap about his boy's viewing habits, though. Personally, I think if a kid doesn't climb trees or throw a ball, a heartstring never-say-die film is better than sitting in front of an X-Box all day. This kid may not quit a thing for the rest of his life. Or, he may turn into a tv watching couch potato. Who knows.For me, this isn't one of the greater battle speeches. It's a little cliche. But the purity on that kid's face as he delivers the line "screw 'em!" has a shock value that Kurt Russell's speech doesn't.In case you don't recognize it, this battle speech is from Mira

A Tale of Two Heroes
While I frequently point out that I'm a fan few, I must confess to great admiration for Jamie Foxx. Although I loved him in Ray and could hardly take my eyes off of him in Dreamgirls, it was The Soloist that catapulted the star born Eric Marlon

Changing Themes Mid-Stream
While I'm not sure where the "don't change horses mid-stream" thing actually comes from, I'm relatively sure its source is not screenwriting.I contend that it's okay to change themes in the middle of the writing process but not during the story telling process. You start with a theme and figure out you want to go somewhere else. So, you go back to the beginning and rework the story. Your theme is there from the beginning of your story to the end. If you introduce a secondary theme mid-story, it too has been set up from the beginning. So it's not really a CHANGE.Stories, as we all know, are transitionary during the writing process.. wait. If we all know i