Isn't It Ironic?


Last night my husband and I watched a Spike Lee gem, Get on the Bus, from about a dozen years ago. One of the premium cable channels ran it.

We'd seen it before, of course. It's one of the few movies (dare I say only?) to show the viewpoints of black men. I think it's one of Spike's best.

I admired the performance of Ossie Davis. It must take a special ability to die on-screen, especially for an elderly actor. Roger Guenveur Smith is obviously a favorite of Spike Lee's; he's shown up on many of his films - always, as my husband pointed out, playing an asshole. This time around he was a cop who let the power of his profession plus personal issues surrounding the murder of his father override common sense, although we didn't get to see if he had second thoughts about arresting one of his fellow passengers at the end of the journey.

But my biggest kick came from seeing Isaiah Washington playing a gay man who laments that homophobia and racism will always be with us. If only he knew . . . .

I'll be writing this weekend. I kind of kicked around this week, because I had burnout from a marathon session of reading my manuscript through twice last weekend, once from my personal editor and once from the real McCoy. But because I'm a writer at hurt, that urge is never gone for long. And forget about patting myself on the back because I've made good progress on my WIPs. Hell, I've had three-and-a-half months off. I should have something to show for all that idle time, don't you think?
Have a great weekend!

5 comments:

Melissa Blue said...

Oh, that little "i'm not writing" guilt" will get you every time.

PatriciaW said...

I've been suffering from that guilt because I've definitely been tossing around trying to find my way, and pretty much procrastinating in every way, shape, form possible.

Happy writing!

bettye griffin said...

Mel and Patricia,
I'm happy to report that after my little mini-writing break the ideas are flowing like the Nile! I went to the store after work and got stuck in Friday afternoon traffic, which gave me the opportunity to dictate like crazy. I've still got a page or two worth of notes to transcribe, but I'll have to finish it tomorrow. I'm bushed.

A productive weekend to you both.

DonnaD said...

I met Beverly Jenkins and Francis Ray this weekend. They were such great women to listen to. Beverly declared herself a "lazy" writer who manages to get out two books a year. Ooookaay...

But Francis said it best: "A day without writing is a wasted day." I'm keeping that in mind.

bettye griffin said...

Donna, were Beverly and Francis in the Chicago area?

In Beverly's favor is the fact that her novels are among the thickest out there. With the research involved for her historicals to make sure her characters lifestyles stay true to the era, well, I think two books is pretty damn good!

Francis' philosophy is an admirable one to strive for. I'm satisfied with most days, myself. Oddly enough, the results seem to be about the same for both authors, roughly two books per year (not counting reprints, of course).