I had my first experience with credit card fraud this morning. Some tricky prankster charged over $1300 to my American Express account in a Las Vegas leather shop on Saturday, just over two hours after I spent just over $100 on groceries at Ralphs in Culver City. It may not seem like a frightening thing to you, but think about it: if the charge had gone through and AMEX hadn’t suspected it was a bogus purchase, I’d have almost a grand and a half worth of leather goods in my name and nothing to show for it. How disappointing would that be? I guess it would be pretty difficult for me to be in Culver City and then in Las Vegas two hours later, which might be how the charge got flagged. That or they realized I’m not gay or female. But mostly not gay. Er…or female.
I’m pretty conscientious about my accounts. I check them constantly for unauthorized purchases, and in fact have been dealing with one merchant who keeps charging my card even though I canceled my account with them. After four months of negotiating with the merchant and credit card company, I finally got the account closed and a new card issued. Better luck tomorrow, stupid unresponsive merchant!
In the meantime, I am in talks with a guy, we’ll call him a Producer, about writing a sitcom pilot. The good thing is I’ve been writing my own sitcom show, so I’ve got the basics down, plus I like to think I have something funny to say about 85% of the time I’m breathing, not factoring in sleep, though I understand that I occasionally talk in my sleep. Who knows what gems are popping out of my subconscious. Actually, I am not sure it’s such a good idea to find that particular information out. My philosophy is, never wear spandex and never visit a dream therapist. Together, these two activities can form a lethal band of suckitude around your very existence, eventually rendering you a stocky, balding, occasionally funny man.
Anyway, sitcom. I have no doubt that I could write a decent sitcom script, given a few weeks and some Mountain Dew and chocolate donuts. Not that I watch much television. I feel my life is better spent watching DVDs of TV shows, which actually reduces actual television watching time by about 22%, since one is not made to sit through commercials. I’m hopelessly attached to the screen once a show is on, though, which is why it’s very bad for me to start a new disc of a boxed set–I’m liable to watch every episode on that disc straight through. I recently experienced this phenomenon with Season One of Arrested Development, which was provided by Greg Piper in a dutiful and capitalistic exchange of goods for services. You’ll notice his website is now completed (a few tweaks aside, it’s done).
So I’m hoping that becomes a reality. In the meantime, progress on Book 2 of The Cold Goodbye continues. It’s really become a rock solid story, much more so than Book 1, which was more setup than anything else, and it requires a lot of wading to get to the good stuff. But taken together (once complete), I think the book will be like a full meal, with an appetizer and some bread to start with, leading to the exquisite main course, which involves hypnosis, parasites, earthquakes, and futuristic video detective work. I think you, Yes you!, might even enjoy it.
Onward and upward, I always say. See you tomorrow.