Day 48 - 8/9/21 - Mon.

A new insight from Day 48: I'm more productive writing in prison than I ever was on the outside. But while the time is plentiful, the other challenges are far from a joke.

Journal Entry:

“Pretty decent night’s sleep; had to drag myself to breakfast for cereal from the Flintstone Era.

BREAKFAST: Cereal (Not fruity pebbles), Coffee Cake (Tasted funny, ate two bites), Apple (in reserve). Dug into the Law Library, calling Steve tomorrow (note: Nope, waiting till I’m sixty days in). No need to dig into a bunch of sh*t if he’s not even going to look at it. (Not true, must prepare for other future appeals.)

Working on Outer Justice, this Journal, and ??? today.

LUNCH: Something I believe was chili, baked potato, white rice.

Read a weird second story in Just After Sunset, very graphic (even for S.K.), animalistic, violence. I loved it. Some of it reminded me of the script I wrote for Why? in college all those years ago. Anyway, back to this World, the S.K. story takes place on Vermillion Key. I wonder if it’s real. Did my two kitchen shifts. Got what might be a good opening for Outer Justice. We’ll see. At least the project is finally coming alive for me. Publishing the stories as Kindle Books is a great way to get it done and maybe find some kind of audience. Maybe someday, I’ll take a shot at producing it as a TV/Streaming show; maybe not. I’ll write it like an expensive Netflix or Network show, not a low-budget one as I’ve done in the past.

SUPPER: Chicken fried rice, green beans, bread (Gave it to CC; still have no PB).

Got through to T. on the phone. I didn’t know what to say, because I wasn’t expecting her to pick up. At least the phone is working. M. plus the puppies are a handful, I’m sure. Working on the Outer Justice opening. Then outside for maybe some laps. Did two laps, chilled the rest of the night. Got Bangor Daily News today, and a letter from my Aunt Pinnie. Once I get three, I’ll answer them back.”

Notes for Day 48 (Four Years Later)

Short entry, but some interesting stuff going on. The script Why? I wrote in college in 1989. We had done pre-production on it, and if we had filmed it, it would have been my first production. The classmate I wanted to play the lead part kept putting me off and finally said, "I don’t know, I want to do it, but it’s awfully violent," and it was—that was the point. This thing had been so built up; if completed, the staff talked about showing it at Graduation. Because I was really trying to make it a class project. I was so pissed, mostly at myself for not pushing harder to get it done. A lesson that really sank in. I never went to graduation because of it or revealed to anyone that's why I skipped graduation—until now. So reading the same level of violence and actually similar scenes in a Stephen King story some forty years later just seemed, I don’t know. I just wished I had pushed more and recast the part if that's what it would take. It probably didn’t help that I had a crush on that particular classmate, but anyway, as long as I’m revealing everything…

The final thing I want to note is how often I used the phones. Our inmate calls, even with limited minutes, were at that time free due to COVID. So there was always a line to use the four old-school pay phones. As time went on, and especially once I went to Lewisburg, I rarely used the phones. It was usually an exercise in frustration, and I didn’t really have anything to say most of the time. It was easier just to live in the “This World” than even try to keep up or communicate with the people still living in the “Old World.” Besides, I really felt most people had forgotten about me. I know I did with family and friends that went to jail or prison. Just how I feel, honestly, just a sad reality about today’s society.