It’s amazing what the body can put up with, given an appropriate amount of time to acclimate. To whit: I’m now fairly comfortable going on 5 hours of sleep a night. I’m not saying I want to make it a habit, but since this crazy schedule is going to persist for the next two or three weeks, I’m at least pleasantly surprised that I’m not considering suicide right about now. In fact, I even feel a bit energized.

Books read: Two.

Both good books, glad I read them too#–I now have a good idea what’s been bothering me in Ozark Mile. I won’t really go into detail except to say that I have the wrong character "petting the dog". If you’ve read Lew Hunter’s Screenwriting 434 then you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, sorry… you’ll have to read it!

I also read Syd Field’s Screenplay#–a good read, but I prefer the Hunter book. Either is a good choice if you’d like to know more about writing screenplays: I didn’t necessarily learn anything new, but I felt validated (turns out the method I came up with on my own is almost identical to the Hunter method).

I feel obligated to admit I didn’t buy either book: a friend of a friend is moving, clearing out excessive junk, and I was the lucky benefactor. I hadn’t read either tome, so I thought "What the hell? Why not?"

I just finished reading The End of the Affair by Graham Greene and absolutely loved it. His characters are always so flawed, and yet so inviting. It’s interesting to me that many of his main characters are writers#–especially in light of his own exploits in hire of the British MI6. I wonder how much of his writing is based on his own experiences and how much is made up. If you haven’t read his books, pick one up. I recommend waiting on this one until you’re comfortable with his use of language#–he has an odd twist to his vernacular that takes some adjusting, and this book is just so good, I hate to see anyone squander even a moment rereading a passage for clarity.

today i went to the Strand Bookstore and bought three books:

True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor
by David Mamet

A Practical Handbook for the Actor
by multiple authors

Fargo
by Joel and Ethan Coen

I’ve actually read the first two (several times) but wanted to return to them…when i feel i’m getting a little into my head as an actor, these two books remind me about the simple, simple virtues of action. i will post reviews soon…