I'm back!

It's currently 12:30 pacific standard time in Atwater Village, Los Angeles. I'm in my "office" which is a little sun room of sorts attached to my bedroom. The purpose of this entry is twofold: A.) I'm procrastinating working on my script. B.) I'm hoping to get the juices flowing. This, essentially, is my layup drill before the game.

Sorry I've been gone for so long. As I'm sure you've read, I had a couple neighborhood friends help out. I thought they did a great job.

In local news, a motorcycle cop was struck, presumably by a car this morning. While in my room, I heard police sirens and a circling helicopter literally buzzing the house. I thought, God damn, the cops are really cracking down on this neighborhood. I went outside and followed the commotion, and there, lying prostrate on his back in the middle of the road was a policeman. Firetrucks and cop cars surrounded him. The chopper circling not 200 feet off the ground.

Honestly, I don't know what the helicopter or the firetrucks were doing besides watching along with the rest of the neighborhood. When I arrived on the scene, a medic was checking the policeman's pulse and I thought, "Holy shit. He's dead." But shortly thereafter the officer lifted his arm and pulled off one of his gloves. Thank God. It appears a car, parked on the side of the streets which are notoriously narrow here, pulled out in front of him, flipping him over the hood of the car.

His name is Lawrence Childress. He's been a police officer for 15 years. He's the father of two boys - Eli, 10 years old, and Martin 8 years old. He's once divorced from the mother of his children, Janet Parks. Lawrence lives here in Atwater Village, just up on Glenfeliz. After the divorce, Janet moved in with her mom in Long Beach.

I wasn't able to get any more information. I don't know how severe his injuries are and I couldn't find any news of the accident online. Lawrence is in our thoughts and prayers. I don't pray, but, you know, this is an hispanic neighborhood and they do love them some Jesus, so I'm sure he's getting a lot of Christian prayer power coming his way.

OK. Time to write. The writing's going great, by the way. I've finished my first act and am making my way through the second. My biggest fear at the moment is that it's running way too long. My scenes seem to be around 5 pages a piece, when usually I average about 2. Fingers crossed, I can fix this. Wish me luck. Send good mojo to Officer Childress.