It’s funny how after a year of drought, every time it rains becomes noteworthy. This has been a fairly typical summer for rain. Some heavy storms, the odd squall or typical rain shower. And yet every time it rains now, we sit up and take note because we know a time may come when we’ll want it to rain and it won’t.
I finished the first draft of a new short story this morning. It came in at 5100 words, which means it will probably be about 4000-4500 after I’m through revising it. At first, I had no title. Then I came up with a title that I thought fit it well. Then, this morning, I changed the title again to one that is even better: “Severance Package.” How’s that sound? It’s a grim tale, let me tell you.
I finished Red Snow by Michael Slade (what a relentlessly brutal book!) the other day and started Love Is the Cure: On Life, Loss, and the End of AIDS by Elton John this morning. It’s not an autobiography but at times it’s a memoir. It starts off by telling about how he became involved with Ryan White’s situation, what bad shape he was in at the time, and how Ryan’s outlook helped him turn his life around and get off drugs. There’s no evidence of a co-author or ghostwriter. Profits from the book go to his AIDS foundation.
Yesterday, our local community association had an information luncheon, something they do once a month. Often the talks are about fire safety or crime prevention. Every now and then they get someone really cool to speak. One time it was a couple of local Crime Scene Investigators. This month it was two Deputy U.S. Marshals who are stationed in the area. They gave a presentation that explained the history of the service (the oldest law enforcement organization in the nation, established in 1789) and their responsibilities, which are wide-ranging. People might be familiar with them because of the Witness Protection Program (In Plain Sight), but they’re also responsible for protection of federal judiciary (which is why Raylan Givens sometimes ends up guarding that goofy judge on Justified), fugitive apprehension (e.g. The Fugitive), seizing and managing forfeited assets (e.g. the Madoffs) and prisoner transportation (e.g. Con Air). They work both domestically and internationally, though they’re often limited by politics internationally, especially when someone flees to a country that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S. I’ve never seen the A&E show Manhunters, but it is (or was—not sure if it’s still on) about the New York/New Jersey regional fugitive task force. They told us several stories about fugitive situations they had handled locally, many of them familiar to us from the news. At the end they showed us their gear. Their equipment vests weigh 75 lbs empty. I got to hold an AR-15 for the first time. They have these little orbs, like Magic 8 balls that contain surveillance equipment that they can lob into buildings where someone is holed up. Fascinating stuff. I took notes. You never know when a U.S. Marshal will need to show up in something I’m writing.
Had to laugh when I saw Rizzoli’s mother serving steel cut oats on Rizzoli and Isles this week, after writing about them on Monday. Blue car effect, I guess. Lots of interesting things going on with The L.A. Complex, too. As soon as the new girl’s agent presented a start-up package costing $1200 for head shots and other materials for representation I was thinking: don’t do it. It’s a scam. It’s like those shady literary agents that want to charge to represent you. When is Raquel going to tell someone she’s pregnant? I was glad they resisted the amazing breakthrough with the catatonic patient scenario.
Another strong episode of Covert Affairs, too. Given the obvious tension between Annie and Auggie, I was glad to see that they didn’t take the easy route and have Auggie’s girlfriend break things off once he read her in. It seemed to be headed that way, but they didn’t go there. I like Annie’s new boss, but I wonder if there’s a showdown between her and Joan coming.
Only a few more episodes of The Closer left. Chief Pope is acting strange lately. Guess he’s nervous that something will jeopardize his move upstairs. I have a theory about the identity of the leak in the department. [POSSIBLE SPOILERS] The camera lingered on Gabriel’s key card after he talked to Raydor. I think that’s going to mean something. I also wonder if his aspiring lawyer girlfriend is the real leak—that she’s hearing stuff from him and passing it along in hopes of skewering Brenda, allowing Gabriel to move up. Just a theory, reinforced by the information that Gabriel isn’t returning in the spin-off.
