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Scratchpad Archives [Spring 2004]
[a collection of humbling thoughts]
[2.19.04]
I thought my 3-5 page screenplay was mediocre, but upon reading some other ones by my peers, oh boy, they're terrible! Anyways, a commercial in screenplay format:
INT. LECTURE HALL
HISTORY PROFESSOR is giving a lecture on Civil War. PETER, a student, chomps on a huge APPLE FRITTER and slurps his GRANDE STARBUCKS COFFEE very loudly.
PROFESSOR
Ahem. You, in the green shirt. There is no eating in this lecture hall. And what is that hideous thing you're eating?
PETER
Sorry Professor, it's an APPLE FRITTER from STARBUCKS, only $1.65.
PROFESSOR
What are you, a spokesman for STARBUCKS?
PETER
No. I just patronize them daily.
PROFESSOR
Get out of my class.
PETER picks up his books, his APPLE FRITTER, and his GRANDE STARBUCKS COFFEE and walks out of the lecture hall.
FADE TO BLACK.
TEXT: Do you love your STARBUCKS FRITTER?
Display STARBUCKS LOGO
[2.18.04]
I'm thoroughly impressed with the prose of V.S. Naipaul in A House for Mr. Biswas. It makes me want to devote my life to writing prose, although I would be reduced to living a pauper's life if that was to really happen. Anyways, here's a short (real short) story from me:
Nobody asked Drew to go anywhere for Spring Break. He knew of the trips to Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Cancun, and all the other sunny places that catered to the restlessness of youth each March. And yet, nobody had bothered to ask if he wanted to come along.
Drew heard that Jocelyn and her friends were going to Florida for a week. He asked her about it and she told him that she was excited. As usual, the conversation ended there with no curiosity given to Drew's own plans.
Making a list of all the places he had never gone to in his three years in New York, Drew decided Spring Break would finally afford him the opportunity to fully experience the city. On the first day of the break, he decided to visit The Met. On his way there, he lost his wallet. He spent the rest of the day looking and went back when he couldn't find it.
[2.16.04]
I've been studying more than usual (which isn't that much) because of a Music Hum test I have this evening. I am pretty clueless when it comes to music, but the past two nights, being able to learn some terms has allowed me to appreciate the evolution of Western music from its Gregorian chant monophony to the six-part polyphony of Palestrina. Then again, most of these songs are very Christian - although the troubadour songs and motets provide some secular relief. I hope I don't mess up too bad on this test.
I was reading some past entries and it feels like loneliness is the major theme running in my thoughts this year. That's pretty sad. I think it has to do with writing entries when it's late at night. This entry is being written during daylight, so perhaps you can note more vibrancy and optimism this time.
Looking back on this past weeked, I'm pretty happy about the way things turned out. I guess overall, things left me a bit bittersweet, but for the first time in a long time, I was pleased to sense something sincere within myself - a moment's return to innocence perhaps? Haha, back to the "real" world now.
[2.11.04]
I was trying to write the 3-5 page short script for my screenwriting lab, and the toughest part was trying to figure out a "want" for my main character. I think my inability to come up with a valid "want" is reflective of my current state of mind - I have no idea of what I really want.
It's a strange feeling for me because I like to deride Valentine's Day as a commercially-constructed holiday intended to help Hallmark boost its quarterly earnings, but at the same time, I feel the tinge of sadness looming near when another February 14th is spent alone.
But I'm not alone. Alone was when I used to spend all of recess sitting on the jungle gym bars by myself while the other kids played together. That was in 1st grade, when I didn't know English and all the kids were white at my Iowa K-6 school.
If I had four good books, a thermos full of Yukon blend Starbucks coffee, and no deadlines/obligations imminent, it might be enough to induce some sort of calm in me.
Then again, I'm pretty restless because I have no idea what I really want and that's like being spineless as a character. I can only be random. I like you, or do I?
[2.4.04]
My friend Jay Mung, a man of many wise words, talked about how going out multiple times during the week really helped to slow down the time and make life enjoyable. "When you don't go out and just go through the routines of the day like going to class, studying, and then going to sleep, then everything goes by so quickly," he said, "but when you go out, you just kinda remember what you did instead of having everything go by in a blur."
Although I've gone out from time to time, I feel that my life has been going at warp speed. I've barely written anything to remember the things I've done, and the only traces of my activity has been in the snippets of digital pictures or the e-mails I've kept in my inbox.
I don't know if living a life this fast is a good thing. My senior friends are sighing breaths of sadness as they see the light of graduation at the end of the tunnel. I feel like I'm only a few blinks behind.
I used to make pasta for myself every Thursday nights as a sophomore. It was a most peaceful feeling cooking alone in the kitchen of the Barnard suite I lived in. I'd chop the vegetables and use my Crate&Barrel bowl. Maybe I just need some time markers to remember my being here.
[1.28.04]
Some things I should keep in mind if I am to pursue a career in advertising.
The advertising industry on a global scale consists mainly of conglomerates. I will list them in the order of size and market value:
1. Omnicom Group (includes big names like BBDO and DDB)
2. Interpublic (known for McCaan-Erickson Worldwide, Lowe & Partners Worldwide, and Foote, Cone & Belding Worldwide)
3. WPP Group (led by powerhouses J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide)
4. Publicis Group (some European companies as well as Saatchi & Saatchi)
5. Dentsu (consolidated Japanese firm)
6. Havas (features Arnold Worldwide and some European agencies)
While most of these conglomerates rely on advertising and media for revenue, they also make a lot from public relations and CRM, which stands for customer relationship management (helping companies deal better with their customers).
Cary Grant in North by Northwest, Madison Avenue, and glossy scented magazines.
[1.13.04]
I have resolved to become a better writer this year. I have struggled to write with clarity and with any coherence in the past year. I think the problem has been the muddled, fragmented state of my mind, which I hope to remedy through my exercises in writing.
I wrote once that I was afraid to eat alone at restaurants, but after my craving for bibim-kooksoo in the summer led me to eat alone in a virtually empty Mill restaurant, I have embraced the dine-alone routine.
My estimated expenditure on food for the fall semester was almost two thousand dollars, a hefty sum considering my lack of a meal plan. I will make a stringent effort to reduce the expenses for this semester. To my advantage, I now have a pot to make pasta and other foods. I have also become adept in making coffee on my Krups machine, which will reduce unnecessary trips to Starbucks. Most importantly, I realized that my dresser had enough space on top to serve as a dining table for one. In a room as small as mine, every square foot counts. I had a pleasurable experience tonight eating bean-stalk soup with rice (home-prepared and microwaved here) on the dresser-turned-table. I hope my independent frugality endures.
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