INT. MORRIS’ LIQUOR EMPORIUM - NIGHT

Robbie, an attractive girl in her early-20’s, stands behind
a cash register flipping through a magazine. She wears a
billowy skirt and a white t-shirt containing a logo for the
store. Behind her, there are shelves on which a large sign
hangs that reads "Liquor Arrives Tomorrow!"

Robert, a nervous looking man about the same age as Robbie
enters. He wears a large coat, and his hands are in his
pocket. He wanders about the store, which is filled with
various snack food, some beers, and various other
knick-knacks. In the back corner of the store is a small
area from which the store can sell pizzas and subs.

Robert, having finally gotten up his nerve, approaches the
cash register.

ROBERT
Gimme...gimme all the money in the
drawer.

ROBBIE
Anything else I can - wait. What?

ROBERT
The cash. In the drawer. Give it
to me.

Robbie does nothing.

ROBERT
Please?

ROBBIE
(Sarcastically)
Well, if you’re going to be polite.

Robert now makes it apparent that there is what appears to
be a gun in his pocket, pointed at her.

ROBERT
I don’t have to be.

Robbie processes what is going on.

ROBBIE
Whoa. Okay. I’ll give it to
ya. But I gotta warn ya, it’s not
a lot.






2.


ROBERT
Why not?

Robbie motions behind her. Robert reads the sign.

ROBERT
Well...how much is there?

ROBBIE
I don’t know...maybe a hundred
bucks?

ROBERT
Um...um...okay...okay. Give it to
me anyway. Please.

She opens the drawer.

ROBBIE
Paper or plastic?

ROBERT
Paper. Or, wait. Do you have any
of those reusable bags?

ROBBIE
No. I’m trying to convince the
owners we should.

ROBERT
Yeah. Paper, then.

She starts emptying the drawer. He watches her closely.

ROBERT
You know...for what it’s
worth...you’re the prettiest girl
I’ve ever robbed.

ROBBIE
(Sarcastic)
And you’re the sweetest guy who’s
ever robbed me.

She hands him the bag of money.

ROBBIE
Here’s your money. Any other
demands?

ROBERT
Well, I didn’t really plan on this,
but...is your pizza any good?




3.



ROBBIE
With that gun, the price’ll be
right.

Robert smiles and laughs a little. Robbie joins him
briefly, then realizes what she’s laughing at. She changes
areas in the store to make him his pizza. He follows.

ROBERT
So what’s your name?

ROBBIE
Robbie.

He laughs.

ROBBIE
You think my name is funny?

ROBERT
No, no. It’s a pretty name. I
just think it’s funny...given the
situation.

ROBBIE
What about the situation?

ROBERT
Well, in this situation you would
be the rob-ee.

ROBBIE
Wow. You’re real funny. What’s
your name, funny-guy?

ROBERT
Robert.

ROBBIE
Robert the Robber?

ROBERT
So it would seem.

ROBBIE
That’s really fuckin’ stupid.

ROBERT
Shouldn’t you be making a pizza?

They both laugh. She preps the pizza, and opens the oven to
turn put it in.




4.


ROBERT
I’m sorry. For this.

Robbie turns back to face him, leaving the oven door open,
on which her skirt now rests.

ROBBIE
For sticking a gun in my face?

ROBERT
Hey, I never stuck it in your face.

He puts his arms up in an effort to claim his innocence, but
he has forgotten to take his hand off the gun. The gun is
revealed to be a brightly colored squirt gun.

ROBBIE
Seriously? You didn’t even paint
it black?

ROBERT
I couldn’t afford the paint.

ROBBIE
Wow. Did you load it?

Robert fires at her, hitting her in the chest leaving a spot
of water on her nipple. She feigns offense. They share an
awkward laugh. Robbie’s skirt is now noticeably on fire,
and Robert has finally noticed.

ROBERT
Uh...are you hot?

ROBBIE
I don’t know. Am I?

ROBERT
No...I mean...yes...you are...

They share a smile. Robert notices the fire again.

ROBERT
Oh shit. You’re...um...You’re on
fire.

ROBBIE
So are you. In one night: money,
pizza...maybe the girl.

ROBERT
No, like. Your skirt. Is on fire.

Robbie looks down, notices the fire.



5.


ROBBIE
Oh my God! Put me out, put me out!

Robert looks around, panicked. Starts trying to squirt the
fire with his gun.

ROBBIE
That’s not gonna work! Get a fire
extinguisher!

ROBERT
Where?

ROBBIE
The counter!

Robert runs back to the counter, slides over, gets the
extinguisher, runs back and puts the fire out. He sets the
fire extinguisher down as they both calm down.

ROBERT
Well that got out of hand.

They both laugh.

ROBERT
I should probably get
going. Forget about the pizza.

He starts to leave. Robbie grabs the fire extinguisher and
a marker and starts scribbling something on the
extinguisher.

ROBBIE
Robert. Wait.

She meets him in the middle of the store. They kiss. They
pull back, look each other deep in the eyes, and kiss again.

ROBBIE
Thanks for putting out my fire.

She shoves the fire extinguisher into his chest.

ROBBIE
Let’s do it again sometime.

ROBERT
How will I...

She looks at the extinguisher. He looks too. We see that
she has written her phone number on it. Robert turns to
exit the store, throwing the bag of money back on the
counter on his way out.

i'm engaged.

This summer I will be working on the show "Tecumseh" which runs at the Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheatre in Chillicothe, OH from June 6 until August 30th. I'm appearing in the show as a Frontiersmen (I think I die twice, more on this later), and I'll be working as an Actor/Tech.

I just thought I'd update you all.

Also, "Only in the Green Room..." is in a waiting phase, but should be completed within the next couple of months.

It has been quite some time since my last update, so I suppose that it is time for another one.

I'm home for Christmas. I don't head back to Albion until January 20th, 2008, and so, with the exception of about a week in the middle of January, I'll be around Holt if anyone wants to hang out.

Kelley and I are still going beautifully strong, and I'm more in love with her every day. I can't wait until next semester when she comes to Albion with me. That will be very nice.

Over break, I'm working back at Williams-Sonoma, as well as directing a feature film. We start shooting on Tuesday, and I just bought a camera for the process. I'm really excited to get started, it's going to be an incredible experience. Which reminds me, if anyone out there reading this is going to be in Lansing at any point from now until December 22nd, and would be interested in helping out on the film, even if it's for one day, we'll always be willing to accept an extra set of hands around the set. Just drop me a comment with your email address and we'll coordinate when you'll be around, and what you'll more than likely be doing. Also, on Friday, December 14, we're going to need extras. If you're interested in that, follow the same commenting/email procedure, just note to me that you want to be an extra.

Other than that, not a whole lot is going on for me over break. I'm excited to be able to read for fun. This is going to be a busy, wonderful, fun, relaxing six weeks. I can tell already.

Another week has passed us by. I am still at Albion. I'm still working my butt off. I'm still in love with Kelley-Katherine, and I still want to make theatre my life. Things haven't changed much, and yet, I find myself with the urge to update in the journal with my thoughts and observations on my life.

On Friday, I went back to Holt High School for the first time, to witness the homecoming football game. This wasn't the first high school activity I'd been to since graduating, it was the second (having gone to an Okemos football game the week prior), it was the first Holt event I'd been too since becoming an alumni. I've also noticed this when officiating high school soccer, the gap between high school and college opens fast and it opens wide.

For me at least, there's been this absolute disconnect between high school emotions and how I felt about things, and college emotions and how I feel about things. In college, I've got a much more "real" sense of what it is that I'm working for. In four short years, the world gets real. I need to leave this place with a set of skills. How employable those skills are is a personal question, for what I want to do with my life, they seem extremely employable. But I know that I'm working towards something. In high school, I often found myself wondering what the point was. Why did I go to class everyday? Why did I do all my homework? Why was I even caring remotely about how things went academically for me? High School's a short four years, why shouldn't I live it to the fullest?

To a certain extent, my wondering these questions got me in too a certain amount of trouble. I think back to a point in Honors Chem when my grade dropped drastically, because I didn't see the point in an assignment, translating to me not doing it. I realized the point shortly thereafter, and worked hard to get my grade back up. Or during senior year when so many times I had to fight myself from just "going through the motions". I realize now, and I suppose I realized then, that what I was working for was to get into a good college.

Throughout grade school, you're always working to get to the next level. Pre-school prepares you for school. Elementary School prepares you for Middle School. Middle School for Junior High, Junior High for High School, and finally High School for College. But what does College prepare you for? Life. These next four years, I'm setting the tone for my entire life. If I take every course I take, every subject I tackle with absolute seriousness, then I'm setting a tone that I'm going to be the absolute best at whatever it is I make my life's work. One can look at this, and look at the building block structure of it, and understand that the tone of my life must have been set that first day. The first day I arrived at Pre-school, my Mom tried to walk me in, and I tried to refuse. Telling her that I could do it myself. I knew where I was going. Though I didn't actually know, I was going to charge head on in too that building, and find my own way.

I feel that continuing to translate into my life. When I look around, the things I feel, the things I know to be truths in my life, don't line up to others my age that surround me. Lately, Kelley and I have been having serious conversations about our future. I don't know many other couples our age who even seriously broach the topics of conversation that we do. I know what the world says we should be worrying about, and I know what I'm concerning myself with. Though they don't line up, it doesn't bother me, it's always been my prerogative to charge head long into the world, against what it says, and finding my own way.

To me, that's the way I'll achieve happiness in this life. By going against the odds that say I'll never make it as a full time writer. That I'll never be able to act proffessionally, that no one will truly pay me anything that's worth it to make films. By going against these things, into the world, and creating the art that I feel destined to make. Some people will hate it, others will like it, and there is a good possibility that it won't ever make it on to the radars of some people. That doesn't bother me. It doesn't scare me. It only makes me more excited, more secure in the idea that I must make my own way in this world. The common molds of society don't fit me, and I don't ever want them to.

I've been at Albion for almost exactly one month now. As I sit here and think about how my life has changed in that short time, I really like how things are now. I'm feeling more relaxed, more focused on my goals. There seems to be a lot less excess crap going on. I don't know what's causing this difference, but I have a feeling it involves leaving high school, and now actually doing my own thing. Making my own way in the world. Perhaps the other college kids that may be reading this can confirm that for me.

In my time here, I've recognized that I'm actually going to be all right in the world. I can work hard for what I want, and lo and behold, I'll probably achieve it. And if I don't achieve my specific goal, I'll land on my feet, and my goals are lofty enough that I'll end up somewhere higher than where I began. There's a lot of money floating around Albion that I'm planning on taking advantage of. To get some things produced, to make some films, to research for plays and then actually write them. The longer I'm here, the more it's confirmed that this was the absolute best place for me.

The small theatre department has allowed me to already make some very valuable connections. I chat with most of the faculty about theatre, I've got the lead in a show, and there's a decent interest among people in the department to actually read my plays.

And beyond Albion, things with Kelley are going amazingly. I love her, and before I left for Albion a month ago, I gave her a ring which I called a "hope for the future" ring. Last weekend she gave me one, too. We each wear our rings everyday, and everyday I miss her more, but I love her more, too. We talk every day. Some days we have very happy conversations, other days we fight, but always, we don't end our conversations mad at each other, and we express our love.

This is the most secure I've ever felt in a relationship. It's odd. Kelley and I fight. We have big ones, small ones, some as big as your head. And when we fight, I still know ultimately everything is going to be all right with us. Our love is strong enough. I've never really been able to fight with anyone before. Ultimately I end up holding it against them. I never do with her. There are no grudges. We fight and that's the end. We adjust what needs to be adjusted, and we continue on, a happier and stronger couple than before.

Yes, I've returned to livejournal. It's been a long time. We'll see how long this keeps going. I don't even know how many more of you are still out there, reading. If you're there, how are you? It's been a while.

I work at Williams-Sonoma now. I got hired on Friday. I'm going in to sign the papers on Monday.

I'm dating this absolutely awesome girl. She also has a job at Williams-Sonoma. She was hired on Friday as well, not only as a sales associate, but she's also teaching a Saturda night cooking class.

I absolutely love hanging out with her, and my favorite moments are ones of simplistic bliss. I'll be sitting in her kitchen, usually reading something, and she'll be cooking. We sit in silence, enjoying the presence of the other, periodically, we'll both steal a look, but words are hardly exchanged.

She's awesome. My new job will be awesome. Ultimate was awesome the other night. I Hate Hamlet is going splendidly, and I kicked Script Frenzy's butt. Life is good, kids, I hope yours is too.

I love awesome books.  "Time's Arrow" by Martin Amis.  Read it.  Now.

"Life's gonna suck when you grow up, it sucks pretty bad right now..."

Amen brother.

Is anything going on before Prom?  Is anyone interested in setting anything up?  Let me know, I'm more than willing to do any leg work necessary, I just need to know what people want to do...