Congressional Hearing on Green Jobs

Watching some video on Congressional hearing - if you are sweeping the floor in a solar panel facility, it is a "green job." If someone drives a hybrid school bus, that is considered a "green" job. If someone puts gas into a hybrid school bus, that is a "green job." If a college professor teaches environmental studies, that is a "green job,." If someone drives any school bus driver, that is a "gre...en job." Employees at a bicycle shop, yes - a "green job.". Since I am more a left brain thinker, these would not be my classifications. But there are a lot of right brain thinkers in Washington, D.C., which is why we are in such a financial mess, and these classifications make sense to them as does the thinking of some that it is ok to leak intelligence information that hurts our foreign relations and makes it more difficult for U.S. employees in foreign countries to do their jobs. I think the latter is treason and to me, "green jobs" would be MANUFACTURING, INSTALLING, AND MAINTAINING solar panels, wind turbines, etc. not sweeping floors and driving hybrid busses. If somebody can help me understand the classifications, please give it a try. Maybe I got sucked into a parallel universe - LOL. I just know a lot of things coming out of Washington, D.C. simply don't make sense to me!

Pluto in the 6th House

Since I've recently endured this, I can say it is very difficult as it finally moves to the Descendent.  It was like being dead for months, in a coffin, no energy, no desire, just existing.  Pluto has now moved over my Descendent and the day it hit, I felt the jolt of life returning and that day, made sure there was total truth between a friend and me. Isn't that what Pluto does?  Brings out what was hidden.  And, it was so easy to do.

I'm working on the Aquarian Age novel, so doing very little blogging.  Perhaps soon, I'll be doing more.

Another Year

Just stating I haven't been on here since last August (2011).  I got involved in completing a great amount of research and the days passed by so quickly.  I wasn't on Facebook; really wasn't available to the world.  Am back now, so perhaps will be more opinionated soon.

The next project is lobbying for a natatorium (indoor olympic size swimming pool) in Waxahachie.  Ellis County needs one and Waxahachie is the largest city and also county seat, so that seems to be a great place for a swimming center.

The new library in Ferris opened and I took my youngest grandchild to the ribbon cutting.  She spent a lot of time at the old cramped-space library and this was a wonderful new place to be.  I'm so proud of everyone in Ferris, Texas, for pushing to get it built.

It seems that writing will be my major focus from now on and the research was related to that.

Today's my birthday and it is so nice to receive the happy birthday wishes.

A Story of Leo, A Person with Dyslexia

I was asked by an educator to email him a few documents I had written on dyslexia.  I sent three docs: the story of Leo, a form I created to help teachers quickly identify children who may be dyslexic, and a copy of a letter to the editor I have used in Ellis County, TX, where I live.

The following is the story of Leo, "Who is the Student in My Classroom?  Could He/She Be dyslexic?"


By Lee Gabor, M.Ed.

Leo is an interesting child. Unfortunately, he has severe dyslexia. But we don’t know that when Leo comes to our school. Since we are not trained to recognize dyslexia in our students, we don’t look for characteristics that could lead us to test Leo.

The school district would like to offer staff development in dyslexia, but with reading, math, science, and social studies so important, there simply are not the resources to give teachers even a one-hour class.

Leo’s school has almost 1000 students. There is no doubt that teachers there lack time to learn about dyslexia at their own expenses during the evenings or weekends. They care, but their most precious commodity is each minute of each day. The career demands on them are enormous, even over-whelming. And most have families who deserve quality time and attention.

Teachers are only human. They do the very best they can. Education is a profession full of caring people. However, when we are stewards of many children, it is difficult to deal individually with Leo’s apparent problems. He isn’t on track with the class and can actually be disruptive.

In the primary grades, it is not Leo’s behavior that frustrates teacher as much as the fact that he won’t pay attention and he draws during class. Other students find his illustrations attracting and want to pay more attention to Leo’s contribution than to Teacher’s. Teacher gets upset with Leo.

He does not want to complete his lessons. Since he avoids reading and certainly doesn’t write much, Teacher may not have the evidence that he sometimes flips his letters.

Obviously, Leo is becoming more shut down and more of a behavior problem. Although he is not learning well, the system moves him up from primary to upper elementary grades. Since he cannot read well, Teacher takes him out of art classes and places him in the remedial reading classes. Is it possible he has been labeled LD (learning disabled)?

Leo is very energetic in the sense of looking around the class. He pays too much attention to what is happening outside. He seems to be day-dreaming. Parents have also seen this and, after discussing this with other educators in the school, a decision is made to put Leo on drugs. His records now show he has attention deficit disorder. The drugs help him to phase down somewhat during the day. The chemicals change his behavior but do not help him to learn. At least he does not adversely affect the classroom environment as much as before.

Even with the drugs, Teacher sometimes gets irritated with Leo. He is doodling on his notebook or on the paper inside. He is drawing sketches of machines and cars or, perhaps, people. We tell him to pay attention and quit messing with his notebook. We are frustrated that the other students want to see what he has drawn. Leo is an interesting and unique character and magnetizes the energy of his peers. This makes Teacher’s job doubly difficult.

Leo is day-dreaming AGAIN. As the days go by, we begin to mention to him more times to pay attention. As our frustrations build, so does our vocal volume. Soon we are yelling at Leo more than once a day. We may even send him out of the room to sit in the hall.

We have decided Leo has very little future potential. Teacher examines his record from previous years and recognizes in 3rd grade, he failed the TAKS (Texas) Reading test. Teacher doesn't know it, but Leo's failure was noticed in Austin. The State’s Penal Authorities marked a tally for him. They predicted he will go to prison and that tally meant a cell was scheduled to be built for him. State Corrections people think by the time Leo is about 16, he will quit school.

Unfortunately, Leo's reading problems cause him to receive low grades in elementary school, in high school, and on any academic university pre-inventory test.

What will happen to Leo? One of two things: he will either move down the road to quitting school, doing manual labor, and possibly going to prison OR on his own volition, he will struggle to use his abilities in some to create a successful life that reflects his talents of unique perspectives on his surroundings and the ability to put those into some visual form.

Leo is not a student in a local school these days, but the behavior patterns in school are the same for the Leo in our writing as they are for dyslexic students in our schools. What can we do? The goal is to identify students with dyslexia and intervene. Other documents from Lee Gabor include methods of identification. Parents must insist that the school board, the school principal, and the teachers identify and provide intervention. Nothing less is acceptable.

Fortunately for him, the Leo in our writing lived hundreds of years ago. Since he was, at that time, free of the constraints, labels, and drugs we use in modern education, he was able to develop the talents he possessed. Also, at that time, careers in art were considered as important as those in banking, education, medicine, etc.

We know him as Leonardo da Vinci, one of the world's greatest artists and inventors. He had such severe dyslexia that his writing was mirror-image backwards.

THE POINTS:

With dyslexia affecting 10% to 15% (according to experts in the US; some experts in Europe estimate 5%) of the general population, EACH class MAY have a child with this challenge. We must observe closely, use interventions, and refer students for testing.

Students who are identified as dyslexic can receive specialized training to alleviate the effects. This is NOT a disease, so there isn’t a CURE. We must modify the degree of difficulty the child has with learning.

With dyslexia no longer a major limitation, we all are able to see the many potentials and opportunities of our children for successful careers and futures. This, along with the newer ease of and confidence in learning, helps the student to build/gain self-esteem. We must encourage.

Districts and individual schools who offer training in dyslexia identification can help teachers recognize this potentially devastating challenge early in the student’s educational path. We must train educators AND parents.

Software for Writing Projects and My Writing Career

Jennifer asked me about software - here is a quick explanation as well as info on how I have started my new writing career:

For the screenplay, I used an old version of Movie Magic Screenwriter (I also do Astrology and knew back in 2006 I would be writing a screenplay, so bought software in preparation). Any software dedicated to screenwriting automatically sets margins for descriptions as well as for dialogue, etc.  This, to me, is much easier than trying to set Word.  In fact, I tried to use Word and had such a hard time with it, I quit and went back to MMS. 

I think I bought MMS when it was on sale at The Writers Store, online.

I am using Word for both the screenplay logline (finished) and synopsis (working on today).  The logline goes directly into the query (whether hard-copy letter or email to producers and/or agents). Once finished, I will convert the synopsis into PDF format so that I can attach it to an email or print it, if hard copy is desired.

I use Cute PDF for converting text written in Word into PDF.  Years ago, I downloaded CutePDF free from the Internet and use it ALL the time!.  Also, since I wanted the finished 120-page screenplay with Title Page in PDF format (as well as printed hard-copy), I used Cute PDF to convert it.

On my computer, When I click on Print, I can choose PDF as a conversion or print onto copy paper.  When I downloaded the program and installed it, Cute PDF automatically set itself as a print choice.

MY WRITING CAREER AND MORE SOFTWARE INFO
I grew up wanting to be a newspaper reporter and began college majoring in journalism.  After three years, I left college, was married, and had my son, Rocky (and later, a daughter, Kristina).

Shortly after Rocky was born, I needed a job and begged the managing editor of the local newspaper in our town to give me a chance as a reporter, stating I would work without pay for a week to show him I could do the job.  He immediately hired me and I was a reporter on a daily for four years, covering a lot of political and business news as well as writing features (just had a nose for news, so didn't have to be told what features could be written).

After four years as a reporter, I had the opportunity to return to college.  I graduated with a degree in elementary education (the school didn't have a journalism program).  Since teacher pay was so low and I had two children to support, I became a full-time entertainer and opened a talent agency. 

Those careers continued for the next 25 years.  When I closed the agency and retired from performing, I did free-lance technical writing.  Then, I was (I almost want to say kidnapped, since I never really planned to teach) drafted to teach by a principal with DISD - they were desperate.

I taught, returned to college to get a Masters degree, and became Academic Coordinator for two years, then resigned in June, 2008.  Before resigning, I started writing again, only my interest was fiction.  I had already been offered the job as News Editor at the Ellis County Press, but my dad had been ill and I didn't take the job.  Also, I had already experienced working on a daily and didn't need to re-experience covering county politics.

I wrote my first short story in 2006 (Zigzags) submitted it to an online contest at WritersNotebook.com and won first place, earning me a software program geared more for planning and writing short stories and novels as well as non-fiction books.

I have that short story somewhere in a file on my computer.  Until a few months ago, it was available on the contest website, but that site appears to have been terminated.

With that software program, Page Four (a great program), I wrote a romantic novel based on the Vietnam War.  I write fast and am wordy.  When I wrote the novel, Love Never Dies, it expanded to 130,000 words.  When I tried to sell it, everyone I contacted rejected it, stating nobody would read such a lengthy novel from a first-time novelist. They want initial novels to be about 90,000 words. 

I tried my hand at editing it, but found the task too difficult at the time, since I was so close to the novel.  I put it on the backburner.  When I finish the screenplay sales attempts (hopefully next week), I plan to go back and either re-write the novel as a screenplay OR severely edit to 90,000 words, or, as my granddaughter said, if the screenplay sells, fiction publishers may be willing to read a 130,000-word novel from a newbie. 

How did I get started in screenwriting (and this is my first attempt)?

I started the short story about 9 pm and wrote very quickly.  The deadline for the contest was at midnight and I submitted it a few minutes before the contest closed.  With that success, which thrilled me, I next wrote the novel over the 2005 Thanksgiving weekend plus a few weekends after that (wish I had stopped with what I had at the end of the Thanksgiving weekend - I had about 90,000 words at that point).

I started sending query letters and hard printed copies of the novel (expensive to do) and hoped for the best (all eventually rejected - too long!)

In the meantime, in January of 2006, I joined Dallas Screenwriters Association and attended a workshop they sponsored featuring William (Bill) Martell, who has had 18 of his screenplays produced as movies.  The workshop was fabulous and gave me the confidence to try screenwriting in the future. Among my photos on Facebook, there is a pic of me with Bill. Also, one can Google him, go to his website, and sign up for his newsletters, which are full of tips for screenwriting.

During that time, I was still employed by Dallas ISD and stayed very busy.  With the novel rejected, I stopped writing.  After resigning from the district, I got into various activities and put writing aside.  The photo of me with the camel in my FB albums contains a description of my activities since leaving DISD.

In early June of this year (2011), in my own astrological chart, my Midheaven (career) finally moved from Taurus to 0 degrees of Gemini, which is the communication and writing sign.  I've known I would start writing more diligently once June of 2011 came around.  Therefore, over these past years since June 2008, I've been writing down ideas and getting prepared for this next stage of my life.

On June the 11th, I began the screenplay and the plot easily flowed.  The first draft was very easy to write (both descriptions and dialogue).  It totaled almost 160 pages. To make myself create a quality work, every day I read lots of articles on the Internet and also read books I had purchased (a few years ago) on screenwriting.

After writing the draft, the hard part was going over and over and over the pages to whittle it down to 120 pages and to strengthen the dialogue.  Editing is not the fun part, but it is necessary.  It has been difficult for me to do, but has helped me develop discipline.

I just recently finished the screenplay and, as mentioned, have had to write the logline and, now, the synopsis of 450 words.  Both of these have been very difficult for me.  I think they also get easier over time..

To summarize, I loved the four years I spent as a reporter.  Winning the short story contest was unexpected and thrilling and spurred me on.  I enjoyed writing the novel and will do something more with it.  The screenplay is finished, logline is finished, and synopsis is almost finished.  I WILL sell the screenplay to somebody. The rest of my life will be spent writing and I have tons of outlines and ideas ready to go. 

My philosophy about the writing:  I am a great believer in trying something and if it doesn't work, practice, practice, practice until a quality product is the result.  Therefore, if the screenplay queries don't incite someone to request and read the screenplay, I will know 1) either my logline and synopsis aren't good enough or 2) the concept is not good enough.  At that point, I'll continue working on the screenplay until it becomes something that can sell.

I think writing is 1) having something to say, 2) not being afriad to say it (after all, God listens and reads and if what we do is good enough for God, it doesn't matter what others say), 3) not allowing the self to stop trying, and 4) at some point some level of success will come.  Any finished product is worthwhile.

If one reads how many rejections famous writers have received, it is easier to realize we jsut have to keep going.  Also, recently, I re-read James Michener's Workbook and it is astounding how he had to tear apart his work and re-write.  And, Michener actually did physical cutting and pasting. We have it easy when we use comptuers and word processors.

One can Google "free writing software" and there will be lots of full, unrestricted programs, as well as trials of programs.  If screenwriting is a goal, I strongly recomment joining Dallas Screenwriters Association, at least for awhile and attending both any workshops, all the meetings, and all the readings, to get a hang of what screenwriting entails.

There are lots of writing websites and many offer free newsletters with tips. 

All of that is fine, but the only truly meaningful action is to write, write, write!

I hope this info is helpful.  The most important words I can write are: just do it - like everything else, writing improves with practice.



I watch a lot of movies, many really stupid, so I know there is somebody out there who will want to produce my screenplay.  It may take awhile to find that person, but I'm persistent.

Refusing to be defeated by a logline

In the world of Hollywood scriptwriting (or even writing screenplays for documentaries), a logline is written to "sell the qeury letter."

When one completes a spec (speculation, not asked to write) script, one sends a query letter to appropriate producers and/or agents to tantelize them to request to read the screenplay.  The query letter cannot be more than one page and includes a logline, very brief description of the characters and plot, as well as very brief bio information. Loglines are typically about 28 words.

If the query letter, with the logline, are written well enough, the scriptwriter hopefully will have one or more requests for the screenplay.  Once read by a Hollywood "reader," a form is typically completed that either recommends the script move on up the pipeline for others to read or recommends a rejection letter or email be sent to the submitting scriptwriter.

It is said that the logline makes or breaks the potential sale and the purpose of selecting a script to buy and movie to produce is "high concept" or "something that will put butts in the theater seats on a Saturday night."

I've written my first screenplay, Texas Trilogy: The Legacy, and that was hard enough.  For most of us, it always is challenging when we attempt to do something we've never before done.  I'm thrilled I finished the script, especially since it usually takes about three months to write one and I completed mine in two months.

Ice cream and a small piece of dark chocolate were my reward for finishing the project.  At my age, I always reward myself with food, kind of like giving treets to a dog when it behaves well!

I'm anxious to move on to the next script.  However, there is business to complete before doing so!

Writing the logline is causing me to want to tear out my hair.  The pressure is on.  If my logline isn't good enough, nobody will want to read the script and I think it is a very good story, with strong characters (espcieally El Limpiador, The Cleaner), interesting localities (in Dallas, of course), and lots of conflict.

To better aquaint the reader of this blog posting with quality loglines, which are those written by professional screenplay writers who have experience, let's look at five samples.

"Seabiscuit" - 29 words - The extraordinary story of a thoroughbred racehorse - from his humble beginnings as an under-fed workhorse to his unlikely rise and triumphant victory over the Triple Crown winner, War Admiral.


"Pirages of the Caribbean" - 39 words  - A 17th Century tale of adventure on the Caribbean Sea where the roguish yet charming Captain Jack Sparrow joins forces with a young blacksmith in a gallant attempt to rescue the Governor of England's daughter and reclaim his ship.

"Spy Kids" - 43 words - After segueing from a life of espionage to raising a family, Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez are called back into action. But when they are kidnapped by their evil nemesis, there are only two people in the world who can rescue them... their kids!

"My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding" - 47 words - Toula's family has exactly three traditional values - "Marry a Greek boy, have Greek babies, and feed everyone." When she falls in love with a sweet, but WASPy guy, Toula struggles to get her family to accept her fiancée, while she comes to terms with her own heritage.

"Titanic" - 19 words - A young man and woman from different social classes fall in love aboard an ill-fated voyage at sea.

These samples range from 19 words to 47 words.  My understanding is a new writer submitting a first screenplay should keep the words to about 28.  This information comes from the many books I've read on screenwriting, as well as the many articles on the Internet I've downloaded and reviewed.

Also, notice some of the samples include names of characters, but the one for Titanic doesn't.

Where am I today on the logline for my script? Here it is:

An epic tale of the struggle of a good-hearted daughter, overpowered by guilt, to keep the family’s drug trafficking empire from the clutches of the Mexican cartel who murdered her kingpin father.  33 words, which is five more than 28.

Since this is a trilogy, there are two more screenplays to write that feature some of the same characters (along the timeline, various people are murdered - drug trafficking is a very dangerous business, which is the theme of and reason for the trilogy).

At this point, since I must complete the synopsis of about 450 words (some producers and/or agents require that with the query letter), I may have to go with the logline I've written.  I don't feel totally satisfied with it, but them I'm well aware of the many interesting characters in the script, as well as all the action.  It is so hard for me to convert a 120-page screenplay into about 30 words.  It is difficult enough to whittle it down to 450 words.

The relevant question is, IF you are someone who likes crime adventure movies, "Does my logline make you want to read the synopsis or the 120-page screenplay?" If not, my logline needs more work.

I want to get these query letters out this week.  Therefore, the logline must be finished today and I'll give myself through Thursday to finish the 450-word synopsis. 

And that means rewards of ice cream and dark chocolate both today and tomorrow.  Arf, arf! 

Stupid Things I Do and Did They Really Do That?

One thing I do that is absolutely not smart: I write something on the computer, I do research for someone, or I look at something on the Internet and copy and paste it to Word on my computer, then, when saving it, I STUPIDLY just save it to the desktop, knowing later I'll come back and move it to the correct file folder.

Today is one of those times when I'm moving files to their respective folders.  Almost everytime I do this, I promise myself that next time when I initially complete the action, I put the results in the correct file right then and not save to desktop.

I've made and broken this promise to myself many times.  I get into a rush and, yes, it is faster to save to desktop.  Is faster the same as smarter?  Absoltuely not.  Why?  Because with some of these docs or items I saved quickly with some crazy name, I must now take the time to open the doc to figure ot what it is and, therefore, to where it should be moved!  That is NOT an efficient use of time.  Sometimes I have to rename the file as I move it to a folder. It would be more efficient to at least get it into the correct folder, even with a crazy filename.  When I'm searching for it, I would at least start in the right place.

I'll try to do better, but won't promise to do so regarding this matter, since I've broken this promise so many times.  I'm not proud of breaking promises to myself, but I only do so regarding a few issues - won't eat more chocolate, will lose weight, will file correctly, will get rid of some of the thins I have that I no longer need. (like the size 8 clothes that are too small, but just in case I lose weight, I need them!). 

Breaking promises is stupid.  If I'm going to break them, I shouldn't make them to begin with.  So, I promise to try to do better in this area!

So what do I think is really stupid and I hope I am absolutely wrong! On a newscast last night, the announcement was made that the new Martin Luther King Memorial in D.C. is open and, among the 16 or so sayings of Dr. King is NOT anything from the "Dream Speech."  Could this possibly be true?  I cannot believe they would leave out that great line about looking at character instead of a person's skin color.  The reporter must be wrong.

At the same time, the original sculptor for the statue was eliminated because he refused to create a huge, overpowering piece of art, stating (I'm paraphrasing) that Dr. King was a humble man and would never have wanted his image to be so "out there."  Instead, Dr. King would have wanted the words to stand, not the image.  I can agree with that..  I think when people reach the place of being truly great, they have lost a lot of their own ego and their beings are broken into pieces that others can easily absorb.

I'm sure we'll hear more about the memorial over the next few days, since it is suppose to be dedicated (with grand opening) on the anniversary of the Dream Speech and March on Washington, which, to my regret, I didn't participate in.

If the reporter is correct, I can only say, 1) as stupid as I am sometimes, I'm not as stupid as to leave out Dr. King's MOST FAMOUS words and 2) is everyone on drugs except for my very close friends and me?