UNTITLED CHAD DARNELL PROJECT

Really Good Day

It was a really good day.

And the first time I've been back on the Disney lot since our last day of shooting ALIAS.  (Not including the weeks of picketing it.)

-C

If I Never See Your Face Again

I love this song!!  It's my new theme song!!  Turn it up!!

Highs and Lows

Right now I'm on a roller coaster!  And it's awesome.  Cause I'm flying towards something and it's about to go boom.

They Tried to Make Me Go To Rehab and I Said, "I've Got Nothing Else Better to Do."

Season Two.  Start shooting the day I return from the LifeCycle. 

12 of 12 (3): May 2008 - ME

9:30 AM

My Patio

It's starting to rain.

9:31 AM

My Patio

Sadly, the remains of the beach cruiser Jennifer Garner gave me for the series finale of ALIAS sits in rusted pieces.

10:00 AM

76 Station

Getting raped.  "The price of stamps is going up next week from 41 cents to 42 cents. Aw, that's cute, said oil." --Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live

12:23 PM

Somewhere in Hollywood

That mural always makes me smile.

12:27 PM

Capitol Records

In the event of a Hollywood disaster, we know from all movies that this building will be one of the first to go.  Along with the Hollywood Sign and an Angelyne billboard. 

1:34 PM

My House

Lunch.

1:34 PM

My House

Lunch and research.

4:00 PM

My Kitchen

Protein bar.  These are really good!

4:01 PM

My House

Holy frak!  (If you watched BATTLESTAR GALACTICA season three, you know what I'm talking about.  The finale.  I'm all caught up to season four now.)

7:34 PM

My House

Outline cards.  I usually do these when I get stuck.  I should do them when I start.

9:34 PM

My House

Which translate to this.

10:56 PM

Gold's Gym

Lifting tonight. 

12 of 12 (3): May 2008

Once your day is complete and your links are set, please reply in comments or e-mail me in this order:  Your name (City, State (or Country) 

VERY IMPORTANT!!  Please be sure you leave the location!!

Please leave the PERMALINK - this is the link to your entry - not just a link to your website (so that when people go back to the page months later - they find the post).

Click HERE for the Entire 12 of 12 archive (January 2006-April 2008)

Jeremy (Auckland, New Zealand)

Janelle (Gold Coast Australia)

Pete (Lymington, United Kingdom)

Nici (Moenchengladbach, Germany)

Helen (Dogeared), (Devon, England)

vuboq (Silver Spring, Maryland)

BU (Sterling, Virginia)

Ana (Lisbon, Portugal)

Christin (Dresden, Germany)

Elaine (Columbus, Ohio)

Jane (San Diego, California)

Chris (Austin, Texas)

TuxBaby (Amarillo, Texas)

Sunny (Baxter County, Arkansas)

Paksen (Denver, Colorado)

Brian (Phoenix, Arizona)

Susan (Sacremento, California)

Roz (Lambertville, NJ; Allentown, PA; Philadelphia PA)

Gavin (Silver Spring & Bethesda, MD; Washington, DC)

Nick (Washington, DC and Frederick, Maryland)

Kate (Tempe, Arizona)

Claudine (Portland, Oregon)

Cully (New York City, New York)

Roberta (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Rob (Greenwood, South Carolina)

Bill (Hollywood, California)

Michele (Mullica Hill, NJ, Philadelphia and NYC)

Bon (Hollywood, California)

Eden (Melbourne Australia)

Hibe (Hackettstown, New Jersey)

Alanna (Tucson, Arizona)

Dan

Jason (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Matthew Dean (Orlando, Florida)

Genevieve (Rosamond and Lancaster, California)

Dave and Linda (Fresno, California)

Beth (New York City, New York)

Meghan (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)

David (New York City, New York)

Geggie (Norfolk, Virginia)

Joni (Hapeville, Georgia)

Dyanna (Phoenix, Arizona)

Daniel (Phoenix, Arizona)

Christina (Phoenix, Arizona)

Mike

Abby (Anaheim, California)

Liz (Oakland, California)

Derek (Beaverton, Oregon)

Stef (Düsseldorf, Germany)

KC (Los Angeles, California)

Carlie (Melbourne (Camberwell), Australia)

Tornwordo (Montreal, Quebec)

Dejana (St. Paul, MN)

Amanda (Chicago, IL)

Alden (Largo, Florida)

Lizzie (Elverta, California)

Sam (Dublin, Ireland)

MissLea (Bruxelles, Belgium)

Polt (Waynesboro, PA)

Joel (Los Angeles, California)

Amanda (Los Angeles, California)

Allison (Boulder, Colorado)

Sean (Denver, Colorado)

Jeffrey (Philadelphia, PA)

Sheryl (Auburn Hills, Michigan)

Rae (Orlando, Florida)

Michelle (Beaverton, Oregon)

Steffi (Las Vegas, Nevada)

SquamLoon (Center Harbor, NH)

Crystal (Gainesville, Florida)

85 Miles

Let's start with the fact it was supposed to have been 65 miles.

We met in the West Hollywood Park.  Then shot out through Culver City, down the beach, through Manhattan, Redondo and Hermosa - up and all over Palos Verdes and back.

I'm still not sure how we made 85 miles out of this trip - other than the fact it was all hills in Palos Verdes.

My thinking whenever I'm on one of those unending hills is "eventually we're going to hit the sun."  They seem to never end.  I can't imagine living SIX MILES above sea level over a beach.  But the roads wind up and up and up and around and around and around.

The one thing I REALLY don't understand is why I'm the only person out of a group of say a dozen (in a pack) that seems to scream and curse like a child with turrets.  (I, however, more than make up for the rest of the group.)

I want to start my own training ride called "The Pancake."  Meaning: flat as a.  And at the end of the ride, we eat pancakes.

I kept asking over and over and over again (expecting to get a different answer), "so this ride today is actually harder than a day on the ride, right?"  And they all said yes.  So you might ask (as I did for 85 miles) why in the name of God and all that is holy, are we making it so hard on ourselves TODAY!?

It's just about impact training I guess.  The harder the training ride, the easier the ride.

Now.  Back to how we managed to add 20 extra miles to our ride.

The Training Ride Coordinator, (who shall remain nameless, but sounds a lot like JR BILLINGS) created a route that was 80 miles.  And rather than correct his oopsie, just decided to let it fly.  (85 miles with two rest stops no less.  TWO.  Did I mention the ride took nearly 10 hours?)

He also left off roads.  Lefts were supposed to be rights.  Etc.  So I added five extra miles.

I also realized I left my phone behind.  I remember having it in my hand when I was taking the bike off the rack, so I couldn't remember if I sat it on top of the car (which is the same color as my phone) or in my jacket pocket which was IN the car.   And for 85 miles I kept picturing some twink in the Pacific Design Center hearing the beep from missed call and seeing it on the top of my car and saying, "oh look!  Free phone!"

Fortunately, it was IN my car.  And no one called.

After I got home and showered it was 640 and I was supposed to be back in Manhattan Beach for Marlena's birthday extravaganza.  It was like A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET when I sat down to eat dinner.  "Don't fall asleep... don't fall asleep... don't fall asleep..."

I stayed for about an hour.  Great conversations.  Came home (sitting in traffic at 11PM through downtown LA and wanted to cry because it would-not-move!) but not before stopping for a pint of coffee ice cream.  I figured I HAD TO eat it, otherwise all those burned calories were going to waste!

So I feel asleep with a pint of coffee ice cream in my lap.  Watching BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. 

12 of 12 (3) - MAY: COMING MONDAY!

NO BONUS PICTURE THIS YEAR!!  If you are like me, then you find it hard enough to shoot 12 pictures.  However, should you decide to pick a "theme" for your month, more power to you.

The 12 of 12 (3) for this month is a SATURDAY  MONDAY. Please tell your friends. 

If you did it last month, please join again!  If you've never done it before, then now is the time to start! 

If you are new to 12 of 12 - here are the basics:

1) ALL PHOTOS MUST BE TAKEN ON THE 12TH OF EACH MONTH.

2) After you post your pictures onto a webpage of your choice (Livejournal, typepad, MySpace, Flickr, etc...) please post the TIME, LOCATION, and A SMALL COMMENT in the pic.

3) You own the rights to all of your pictures.  The idea "12 of 12" is mine.  While credit is not necessary, please don't credit someone else with the idea.

4) The original concept was at least one body part in the picture.  That idea was slowly faded away.  The important part is that it are 12 pics.

5) When referring to the project, please refer to it as "12 OF 12" - not "12 ON 12."

6) Once completed, please e-mail or post the PERMALINK of the post AND the city and state or city and country of WHERE THE PICTURES WERE TAKEN.  (If you are on vacation, it's where the pics were taken.)

(The permalink is the link to the ENTRY of your page.  If you just send me your website, I have to track it down.  By listing the permalink, it helps for people to go back and view your previous 12 of 12 entries from previous months.)

ANYONE is welcome to join in, even if you've never done it before!  I hope you will.

-C

***IF YOU SEE THAT YOUR LINK IS MISSING FROM THE MONTH OF MARCH, LET ME KNOW***

Looking Up

Today was a much better day than I've had in a long time.  I had an excellent meeting this morning with a great production company.  The conversation was good and easy.  So easy that I came out and said, "you know, everyone in town wants to read the new script I'm supposed to be working on, but I've lost interest in it."

He laughed.  Wanted to know what it was about.  Said he could totally see it as a movie and I should finish it, but also understood that my lack of interest in it is because it's so formula.  But that's what sells.

Then I pitched him the new thing and he got really excited about it.  I can't believe that my current job is to go in and make up stories.  That's all I do.  I make up stories and try to get people with lots of money interested in them.  And what is even stranger, is that these people with lots of money are interested in my little stories and might actually make them.

My manager is in New York for upfronts.  I instant messaged her that I was in love the executive.  We had a lot to talk about.  He produced a horror movie my buddy Melissa George was in.  And we worked mutual friends on PUSH, NEVADA.

I started the new script, which I'm tentatively calling PW (That's it.  Literally - PW).  I NOW remember why I dropped it eight years ago.  There is SO much research to be done.  But eight years ago we didn't have Google, so it's much faster now.  It's a historical epic.  But from what I pitched, he really loved it.

SO I'm going to attempt to get a first draft done before the ride.

Reminder: 12 of 12 on Monday.

Hopefully I'm still alive... our 65 mile ride in the morning just became an 80 mile ride.  Pisses me off... but in reality I'm glad - because this may very well be the longest distance I ride before June 1st.

-C

Keep on Knocking But You Can't Come In

So today I drove all the way to Santa Monica to meet with the production company of a huge movie star.  In order to get to the office, you had to go past two security points.  I'm pretty sure it's easier to get to the Oval Office than this place.

Meeting went well.  This particular actor does mainly big epic pieces.  And he did a movie where the Son of God was beat to a bloody pulp for about two hours.

I had to pull a pitch out of my hot pocket, because I'm not working on anything that this man would be interested in.  They read THE TELLING and liked it, but ultimately passed on it.

So I pitched them this epic, romance set during World War Two.  When I told my manager, she thought I was kidding.

Basically it is either going to be REALLY good, or REALLY bad.

I have a meeting with another horror house tomorrow.

The only other decision I've made is I'm going to do the Honolulu Marathon.  NOW HEAR THIS... I know I've said a kazillion times I'll never do another marathon.... but after this damned bike ride, I feel like I could run a 100 miles with my eyes closed and one leg. 

Trust.  A marathon will be a breeze.

And Ryan is the coach for the marathon.  AND it's December 14 - so assuming (please, dear God) that I get staffed on a show... Hollywood will be shut down at that point for Christmas.

Training starts the Sunday after the ride.

-C

Thank You

Thank you so much to Ea Johnson-Stevens, David Kane, David Daskal and Marci Levine for their donations!  I'm all good on my goal.  (And also to Pamela Nutt and she who shall not be named for Bowling for Angels.)

For some reason, I thought I had posted that I had surpassed my goal, but I can't find that entry anywhere!  So again, thank you to everyone who donated for me.  You really can never know how much I appreciate it.  Just know that it's because of your support that is what is getting me through this thing.

If for some reason, you are sitting there and saying to yourself, but I really wanted to donate to Chad and just never got around to it... then donate to Meg Sligar instead.  Meg has not reached her goal.  (It all goes to help the same people.)

CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO MEG

I'm feeling a little better about this whole thing.  I would be lying if I didn't say I question every day WHY did I sign up for this.  As I've said a hundred times, this is the hardest thing I've ever done.  And frankly, I don't really need any new challenges in my life right now.  I'm good.

I signed up for it after watching the second episode of the series on LOGO (which you can also buy and download on iTunes.  Just search AIDS LifeCyle.)

Upfronts are next week in New York.  The networks will reveal the Fall line-up.  Staffing season is underway and will continue after upfronts.

In a perfect world, I'll get staffed and be able to do the ride.  (Reporting to work after June 7th.)  If I get staffed on show that starts before the ride, I won't be able to do the ride.  Which would really suck.  It's hard to tell how quickly they will staff.  But it IS like feeding time in a shark cage right now in LA.

AND...

If anyone wants to do the AIDS Marathon in the fall, my dearest friend Ryan Greene is going to be the coach for Honolulu and Amsterdam.

Gotta say, after training for this thing, a marathon feels like a walk in the park.

Because Riding a Bike 585 Miles is Rational

Monday, May 5
You may have a yen for travel and adventure that doesn't really make sense if you look at it rationally. You will start to receive the recognition you deserve for all of your hard work. Enjoy your time in the limelight. Refuse to let others make unrealistic demands on your time.

Scorpio

Sunday, May 4
Be sure you know what you're getting into before you're in it up to your eyeballs! Your creativity and uniqueness has caught someone's eye. This new admirer is able to open new doors for you. Look for a major advancement in your professional life.  Don't worry if your breakthrough doesn't happen yet; things will change when the time is right.

17 + <65 Miles

Y'all, I look like I have been beat with an ugly stick.

I did the Griffith Park ride yesterday which was 17 miles.  It was easy and I love the route because we stay in the park.  My back ached from the spin class from hell the day before, but I HAVE TO start doing back to back rides.

I woke up several times this morning before 630AM in time to get ready.  Each time I woke up, I was wide awake and rested so getting out of bed wasn't that hard.

Got dressed and got into the park.  This ride was "Climb Every Mountain."  Stupidly, in my mind I assumed this meant like "climb every mountain" in the inspiration sense.  Like, "you can climb every mountain." 

It didn't dawn on me the ride meant literally CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN.

Darren and I got separated just outside the park.  I stayed with the fast pack as we weaved our way through Los Feliz, Glendale, and up Chevy Chase into La Canada.  That climb is a bitch.  I would be lying if I said I didn't scream bad words very loudly the entire way.  But I was all by myself at this point, so no one could hear me.

When I made it to the top, I met Marla and we came out and down near the Rose Bowl.  We sped around Pasadena, past many of the locations we shot CELEBRITY REHAB (which never aired) and I got us lost.

See there are two (2) Grand Ave.  And I took us five miles out of the way.  Once we realized our mistake we went back around and I almost got us lost again.  Eventually we made it to our first stop and a jalapeno cheese bagel has never tasted better.

Darren and I met up and took off through Pasadena, eventually making our way back to Chevy Chase to climb again.  The mileage on the sheet was off so that scared us, thinking we were supposed to have turned left when it said right - but eventually two miles later we found the turn on the sheet that was allegedly 2/10 of a mile.

At which point my chain came off.

Scared the crap out of me, because it had never happened before and Darren and I were all by ourselves.  But I actually fixed it all by myself.

We climbed up Lida, which nearly made me cry.  Then we had to climb back up Chevy Chase.  Again, I screamed and cursed and asked myself why in the hell did I sign up for this.

We finally had lunch in La Canada and then made our way back home.

At which point I learned my sunscreen didn't work.

My thighs look worse.

Any recommendations for burns?

One Month to Go

A month from today I will hopefully still be alive and fast asleep inside of a tent, celebrating the fact that the first day of the Lifecycle is done. 

With six more to go.

Tonight I took a spin class at Gold's.  Not sure why.  I had planned to go to the free Easton's class.  Then Lisa sent me a message she was doing one at Bally's.  But nay.  I decided to opt for the class I would spend six bucks to take.

With a Nazi from hell.

I can honestly say, beyond the shadow of any doubt, I have now had the WORST spin instructor EVER.  Ever ever.

And I've had some doozies.  There was the guy who got us lost on his "trip," and I wanted to lead a class mutiny  (little did I know he would end up being one of my favorites).  There was "Bob," the Asian man who tried to kill me.  Of course Tori at Easton's, who likes to increase the pressure on your bike.

You may know him.  A few seasons ago he was on THE AMAZING RACE.  His name is Adam and at the time he was in a relationship with Rebecca (who is now pretending to not be a lesbian anymore on WORK OUT.)  All the other couples hated them.  They called them "the little ones." (Because they are both the size of hobbits.  Really fit hobbits.)  He had those two little devil horn braids on the top of his head.  He cried a lot.

Let me explain some spin physics for you.  A body that is five feet tall can bend over a seat one inch off the seat at 90 degrees and hover just above the handle bars.  I mean, their legs are shorter and thus, sticking your ass back just sort of is a resting position.

It is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT for body that is six feet and two inches to do this maneuver.  FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF.

There were no intervals.  No slower then faster.  It was ALL hunched, ass back, chest down fast for AN HOUR AND A HALF.  AND THE CLASS IS AN HOUR LONG.

And I hated his music.

But the real reason?  This little frakker YELLED at ME the entire class.  "You!  You're right in front of me dude!  Are you teaching the class or me?!  LEFT, RIGHT!  NO!  LEFT, RIGHT!  COME ON! (for those that don't know, it really doesn't make a damn bit of difference if you are on your left or right because you are SPINNING.  Besides you little elf, is it MY left or YOUR left!?)

It didn't end there.  He was constantly screaming for my ass to get back and for me to go lower.  You've seen pictures of my bike.  THERE IS A REASON it's a hybrid.

He screamed at me because of my hand placement.  My head placement.  I was looking down.  OH and we weren't allowed to drink water until he said so.  Repeat.  We weren't allowed to DRINK WATER until he said so.

He's a punk ass little bitch boy.

I wanted to punch this gnome clear across Santa Monica Blvd.  I just walked out of the class when it was over and he condescendingly squawked, "BYE!?  BYE!?  Hello!?  BYE!"

I turned around and flipped him off.  With both hands.  And my ass back.