I went to see Moonlight & Magnolias at the San Jose Rep today, which is about the writing of the Gone with the Wind screenplay. I loved it because Margaret Mitchell's classic makes a terrible movie according to all the rules. She slaps a black child? (Prissy in the Melanie birthing scene.) She marries this guy and then that? But she loves who?

The screenplay writer pulled in to fix up the project has not read the book, and so O'Selznick is trying to explain Scarlett. The writer cannot understand how this "heroine", who breaks all the rules will survive on the big screen and "Everyone knows a Civil War movie has never made a dime." The writer takes his fee vs. part of the cut because he considers the movie a dog.

"I waited five hours to not know the ending?" is his assessment after being locked in for five days eating bananas & peanuts (brain food according to Selznick.) This is really the way all passion must happen. Someone has to believe so strongly in something they ignore the rules; the practical, their people telling them "truths" they know, but have to get past. Nehemiah did it to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem and O'Selznick did it to bring us Scarlett O'Hara to the screen.

With our passions, we just have to be right a little more often than we're wrong. This is my agent and me in San Francisco, near the Embarcadero across from the Ferry Building. My goal in life is to raise these beautiful kids and spend one year of my life living in Russian Hill, Pacific Heights or the Marina (areas in SF). We were a little braindead that day, but still had a fabulous day and San Francisco was sunny and in all its glory just for us. Unlike when we were in New York and froze! We've been together in Times Square, the OC and we're holding out for Venice, Italy next! Any interested publishers, please inquire here. : ) Don't worry, we're not holding our breath, but we're having fun!