Weblog Sin Pies

By Charley Daniels

I played in the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational Saturday and wrote about it for Hollywood Reporter’s Past Deadline blog here.

That little post doesn’t go into much detail about my personal experience at the tournament. I was planning to do more of writeup for this site at some point in the not-too-distant future. “Planning.”

Here’s the short version:

I hung out at the same party, pulling hors devours from the same trays, as some celebrities like Don Cheadle, Jennifer Tilly, James Woods, the guy who played “Donkey Lips” in Nickelodeon’s Salute Your Shorts, Corey Feldman, Montel Williams. The list goes on. More importantly, I was drinking beer delivered by the same cocktail servers as those drunk by poker players like Erick Lindgren, Gavin Smith, Amnon Filippi, Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Alaei. The list goes on. Yes, me. Charley Daniels from Grants Pass, Orygun. Rubbing elbows, etc. I made eye contact with Norm Macdonald.

It was a cool night. My table was a little boring on the celebrity front. Best we could do was former Miss USA Shandi something-or-other (apparently she’s best known for her stint on Dancing With the Stars) and Andrew Firestone, who sat right next to me and said he was there because he was on “some reality show.” The topic came up because I asked him if he hangs at the Peet’s on Larchmont. He doesn’t. I see a lookalike there sometimes. Very nice guy. Firestone, not the guy who looks like him. Well, maybe that guy’s nice. I don’t know him like I now know Andy F. And I don’t judge him even though he was not only on The Bachelor, he was The Bachelor — or one of them at least. As Isabelle puts it, he was the only normal bachelor. That makes sense. In an Isabelle sort of way.

Bit of poker talk below the fold (this is my new way of saying “after the jump.” It’s newspaper jargon, even though “news” isn’t even on the list of things this site knows the definition of).

(Continued)

By Charley Daniels

Someone was talking about Christmas truces the other day. I apologize for not remembering who it was. At the time, I thought, “Wow, that’s a really great story.” And I meant that, although I must admit I was a bit skeptical about how true it was.

I mean, soldiers from opposing sides in a war go from killing each other on Dec. 24 to singing carols and giving each other presents on Dec. 25 and then back to killing each other on Dec. 26. It sounds like a movie plot that you would find ridiculous. And it ends sadly, true, but that middle bit is the part we should try to focus on and maybe even emulate — and not just on Dec. 25.

The link above mostly verifies the truce story, and that makes me happy. Granted, it’s from Wikipedia, so you never know, but the references seem legit. Aside from that, I’m going to just go ahead and believe it. I’m going to have a little faith this x-mas eve day. And thanks to Cardhouse for reminding me to read about that.

Probably won’t be much posting from me for the rest of the year, but you all have my permission to make it the greatest week of 2007. In fact, I order you to go out with a bang. I predict that 2008 will be the best year of my life, and I hope you’re similarly optimistic. If you’re not, I hope 2008 proves you wrong, because if every year isn’t better than the last, what the hell are we trying to do here?

By Charley Daniels

Whew! Wheeehew! I did it, man. NaBloPoMo didn’t defeat me, even though it tried. And my November journey came full circle, as yesterday I was finally able to lay down a long, loud honk of solidarity for the writers whose trust I abused earlier this month. I’d tell the story, but it’s essentially the same as the one I linked to above, except instead of there being no writers, there were at least two dozen. Oh, and I was in the left lane for this version of the story (the studios are on the right), so it didn’t have the maximum effect, but I needed a coffee and that was on the left on the next block. I don’t think that’s too big of a deal, though, and neither did they, because my honk was still accepted with enthusiasm

It’s a victory all around.

Tonight I’ll be watching Bender’s Big Score, which I’m so effin excited about that I forgot how to swear properly. Tomorrow I’m going to a screening of No Country for Old Men, followed by a Q&A with Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin. I’m pretty excited about that, too.

Perhaps my most important plan for tomorrow, though, is I’ll not be posting a blog entry here. In fact, my posts here may be pretty sporadic through the rest of December, as I’m still super busy and likely to be swamped right up through the new year. Come January, however, blogging is basically all I’ll be doing. I plan to get this bad boy in shape, like I’ve said so many times before. The difference is, it looks like I’m going to have the time and, Josh willing, the energy to do it.

By Charley Daniels

Well, I did it. Or I’m doing it. Giving up my full-time job to pursue those ever-elusive “other things.” Excited? Yes. Apprehensive? Yes. Ready for anything? I’d better be, because who knows what’s going to happen.

I’ve been running myself ragged this month, and it’s starting to show in all of my work. Let’s recap. For starters, there’s this NaBloPoMo ordeal, which hasn’t really taken a lot of effort (as if you couldn’t tell), but knowing there’s one more thing to do each day is mentally draining, even if the task itself doesn’t usually amount to much. So there’s that. Then I’m at the office from 10 a.m. to at least 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. The last few weeks have been especially busy there, so I arrive at work, sit at the computer, begin editing, eat a sandwich while editing, find a place to stop editing, turn off computer, go home. Once I get home, it’s BuzzDash and Digital Theatre time.

Lots to do, not enough hours in the day. So getting rid of the full-time gig is the best option. At this point I’m uncertain about my future with the Nielsen Company. We’re trying to work out an arrangement where I can become a part-time employee, but to be honest it sounds like a long shot. And even if they get the bosses to agree to allow me to be part-time, there’s no telling if we’ll be able to come to an agreement that suits me and the company. They’ve asked me to stay at least until they find a replacement, and I said I’d do what I can, but that come January, I need to have at least three days a week off (that’s work days, not weekends).

So I’m doing it. I’m leaving stability and comfort for instability and happiness. In theory. To be honest, I have no idea how this is going to work out. I’m really excited and, honestly, scared to death.

By Charley Daniels

I looked up from my keyboard today and said aloud, to no one in particular, “I’m wasting my life.” But after some careful thought and some self-directed pep talks, I started to feel more optimistic. I came to the conclusion that yes, I am in fact wasting my life today, but what would my life look like right now if it weren’t being wasted? What would I be doing that I’d consider worthwhile? It made me feel better to realize that there’s no answer to that question at this point, so this waste of time is more like the type of hiatus you must fill while you’re in line at the grocery store or while you’re waiting for water to boil. It’s necessary. Unavoidable. Because what would your life look like if it were all boil and no buildup? Maybe James Dean’s? Elvis Presley’s? Jimi Hendrix’s? Chris Farley’s?

Not that I think you should stick yourself in a rut to avoid dying young. Not at all. I don’t really know what my point is, but as far as justification for my own rut, I like how dramatic this explanation is.

The real story is I’m lazy and I’m comfortable and I’m scared to upend all that. But not quite afraid enough to not do it, which makes it even scarier.

In other news, our company holiday luncheon (sounds fun already, huh?) is on a Tuesday at noon. We go to press on Tuesdays, so guess who has an excellent excuse not to go? Someone up there [points to corner offices] loves me. Or hates me but inadvertently made me happy. I win again!