Step one, as is always the case, was creating the script. I caught parts of Clooney on the Actors Studio over the weekend, and I agree with his sentiment that you can take a good script and make a bad film out of it, but you can’t turn a bad script into a good movie. So the first of many sacrifices I’ve been in the process of making has been slashing my social life down to the bone. By the grace of the Humblebragging Gods, there’s always something to do in this town and somebody I haven’t hung out with in awhile (and that’s not even counting private affairs). But as I look at the Mountain I’m trying to climb, I’ve become hyper focused again about the difference between spending half my day ‘just chilling’, and half my day writing and rewriting.
So what can I tell you about the story? Well it’s part stand up style special, part documentary. From a functional point of view that means the majority of the film can be shot in one day. I have no dreams of being Louis C.K. or Chris Rock, but especially with this subject matter, using my sense of humor and comedic timing is the absolute way to go. As I started to think about blueprints, the irony was not lost on me that in many ways I’m going down the path of the original Tyler Perry blueprint (film your stage shows and market the ish out of those bad boys to your core audience). Not that I’m the type to complete dismiss anyone’s hustle, but I was reminded of one of my favorite lines of Malcolm’s from the Autobiography: ‘…anytime you find someone more successful than you are, especially when you’re both engaged in the same business – you know they’re doing something that you aren’t.’
My superhero alter ego aside, this is also a Mountain that I would be insane to even attempt to climb alone. I know who I want to direct it, I know who I want for a crew, at the moment I’m satisfied with the list of people I want to interview for the documentary sections of the film, and have little doubt the brothers and sisters I already have a personal relationship with are going to be willing to help. As I’ve started the early process of building my team, I’ve made sure to drop a little caveat for my non-Muslim friends, of whom I have many: I need your support to make this happen, and you know me well enough to know I’m not ‘seeking’ to burn any bridges. But that said, the nature of the subject matter and my point of view will rattle somebody’s cages (if I’m doing my job right). But just because I can say something, I don’t want any of my people to catch heat because they have to answer to some person or group that has no jurisdiction over me. So I need your support, but if you have to be a ‘silent partner’ or you have to sit back of the theater so your face doesn’t show up on camera, trust, I take no offence. I’ll be glad to know you have my back.
So the first brick has been laid. Now, in no particular order, I have to drop at least 10 pounds, perfect a song, touch base with Film Independent, IFP, SAGIndie, research Wichita, get a ‘number’, and start writing the sci-fi story I came to this town to make in the first place. That’s what I can think of off the top of my head anyway. I’ve got a big Mountain to climb.
But as the young people say, I’m trending upwards…
The Malik Aziz Foundation held its annual Black History Month dinner on Wednesday in an undisclosed location in Beverly Hills. This year’s Guest of Honor was Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, who participated in an interview, followed by a Q&A with our benefactors, trustees, and their guests.
The following is a transcript from the untelevised interview session.
(Our Host Malik Aziz enters the room during the fourth course of the five course meal. On this particular evening, he’s wearing a midnight blue tuxedo from the Tom Ford Collection.)
MALIK: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and thank you all for coming this evening. In the play, Richelieu, Or the Conspiracy, you will find in the Second Act, the Second Scene, the following monologue:
True, This! —
Beneath the rule of men entirely great, The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! — itself a nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it!
Our guest of honor tonight is a young Afro-American gentlemen, who is living proof, the pen truly is mightier than the sword. His work has been respected by his fellow writers, as evidenced by his nomination for a Writers Guild award; and also by the coloreds, as evidenced by his NAACP image award nomination.
The Malik Aziz Foundation is proud to welcome to the stage our guest of honor this year, Aaron Rahsaan Thomas!
(Applause as Aaron takes the stage… He gives Malik a look as he sits down.)
MALIK: For those unfamiliar with your past, let’s start with where you’re from, and what inspired you to become a writer.
ART: Wait, wait, wait, hold up, brotha…. Did you just use the word, “coloreds”? And, whatsup with the English accent and the blue velvet suit? What kind of place is this? I thought Popeye’s chicken catered this dinner.
(Malik, shakes his head with discernment.)
ART: Anyway, to answer your question, what inspired me to become a writer was my faith in God, my parents’ encouragement to pursue my dreams and the amount of enjoyment I get from writing. Knaw mean?
MALIK: Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Now, your first Hollywood experience came working on the television version of the popular urban story, Soul Food. What was that like, and do you feel like that experience shaped you either positively or negatively in what your idea of what ‘Hollywood’ is?
ART: My experience on Soul Food was all good. Everything I learned on that show, from how a writers’ room operates, to how you carry yourself as a professional in this industry, was invaluable. Combine that with the fact that I was able to see people who looked like me working together in a business where such “urban” situations are extremely rare and mocked by people like you and I can’t begin to estimate the positive impact it had on me at an early stage of my Hollywood experience. Knaw mean, brotha?
MALIK: Yes, I understand what you mean, but don’t call me brother. Now everyone has different feelings about the ‘film school’ experience. As a part time teacher, I would gather your feelings are better than others. But with the benefit of retrospect would you consider it a good decision?
ART: I consider it a great decision. As an adjunct professor at USC, I’m exposed to some of the most talented and ambitious storytellers in the world. It’s a rush to be around them and it keeps me on my toes to make sure that I’m able to give them something they can hopefully use going forward. Reminds me of a cat I went to film school with who used to be down for the cause. His name was Mali—
MALIK: Moving on! Friday Night Lights. You were there from the beginning. Smash Williams is the cocky, smart mouthed black member of the team in the predominantly white high school. In one of the trademark episodes of the first season (and truly the whole series), Smash goes through something of an identity crisis when he feels singled out, and underappreciated by his coaches and superiors. Did you draw from any personal experience when writing the episode ‘Full Hearts’?
ART: Good question. I think all writers try to draw from personal experience. Certainly, in the case of FNL, we tackled topics such as race and class, which were prevalent in the book and movie that proceeded the TV series. These topics are always interesting to discuss and write about. Certainly, I had experiences to pull from to help inform my writing on Full Hearts, which dealt with Smash going home to confront a past he had left behind, including some humble beginnings. Speaking of humble beginnings, my brotha, don’t you know a little something about that?
MALIK: I’m sorry but these beginnings you elude to escapes me (Malik straightens his conk). Tonight is about you so let’s get back on topic. Your first credit as a feature film writer was the film Cover. For those unfamiliar with the story, it focuses on a woman whose life is thrown into chaos when she discovers her attractive, upwardly climbing African-American husband is in fact, a closet homosexual. Did you draw from any personal experience when writing the film Cover?
ART: Lol…. Okay, I see what this is. The answer? No. That story was built off interviews and based on true stories that happened to real people.
MALIK: Next we come to Numb3rs. Your episode ‘Sneakerhead’ revolves around two characters who have a fetish for high priced tennis shoes. In light of the repeated violence that has taken place as sneaker companies try to release ‘limited edition’ versions of popular tennis shoes, do you feel that this subculture has gotten any of hand?
ART: Yes and no. The shoe companies know exactly what they’re doing. Like Chuck D once said, “I like Nikes, but wait a minute…” The shoe companies profit off the high demand for (really dope) shoes. But, even if the sneakers did not exist, the problem with customers would probably still be there. The demand would simply be for something else. And, because supply and demand aren’t going anywhere, I think the issue starts at home. It has to be ingrained that just because you don’t have a pair of sneakers, your stature isn’t any less. You don’t need them bad enough to trample, fight, or maybe even kill somebody. Full disclosure, I’m a sneakerhead, and what I’ve found is even if you don’t get the pair you want on release day, do a little research and due diligence and things have a way of working out.
MALIK: Assassination Games. If I would have told 13 year old Aaron Rahsaan Thomas that someday he’d write a movie starring the Muscles from Brussels, Jean Claude Van Damme, how would he have reacted?
ART: He would have smiled, been very happy, but not necessarily surprised. 13 year old Aaron had some big dreams. Now, if you told him he’d be interviewed by a brotha from KCK who adopted Michael Caine’s accent while wearing a suit from the Love Boat, he might have been curious…
MALIK: You are as precious to me as you were to your own mother and father; I swore to them that I would protect you. And I haven’t! But moving on, now we come to ‘CSI:NY’. You’ve had a wonderful collection of guest stars over the years, from Edward James Olmos to Ne-Yo. Do you have a personal favorite? Is there anyone you’d like to write an episode for that you haven’t had the opportunity to do so with yet?
ART: It’s all a blessing. Working with talented people who I respect is a joy. And, every episode is a new and different chapter. As for people I haven’t worked with? Anyone who has a good story to tell and believes in telling it well, I’m open to collaborating with. Dropping that knowledge on a sucka, knaw mean?
MALIK: Now let’s talk about this week’s episode. What can you tell us about it?
ART: It involves the world of The Go Game, adult role playing and takes a few twists that you may not see coming. There is one murder victim and someone else who gets kidnapped. Basically, it is truly an episode of television that will change your life. Or, maybe entertain you for an hour. One or the other.
MALIK: Thank you for joining us again, ladies and gentlemen, one more time for Aaron Rahsaan Thomas!
Aaron’s latest episode airs tonight on CBS. Check local listings.
So 99 times out of 100 when I’m sent sides (an audition script), I can look at the product as a whole, look at where the character fits into the story, and build something from the ground up. But there was one screen test I did this year where I had to do things a little differently…
2Pac.
When I first heard about the project (when Antoine Fuqua was still attached), I was actually aiming for the part of Mopreme, one of Pac’s older relatives who in the story (real and fictional) acted as his conscience. Then word went out that there was an open call for the title role, and they wanted an ‘unknown’. To be truthful, I was still a little hesitant (since at this point I’m older than Pac was when he was murdered), but after a few ‘Fuck That!’ conversations and reminders that every biopic I like uses this rare technique known as ‘makeup’, I decided to go in.
So now it’s a question of craft. Creating a completely original character is one type of challenge. But how do you create a character that based off a real person whose own persona is iconic in its own right? We all know what Pac looked like, we know how he sounded when he talked, how he sounded when he rapped. If you do a pitch perfect impersonation, you’re seen as an impersonator and not an actor. But you stray too far away from the public persona, and you’re rejected for not being ‘accurate’ or ‘realistic’. This is why playing real people, living or dead, is generally seen as the greater challenge.
So the sides went out and as a 2Pac fan I recognized it instantly from my teenage years. You have to take me at my word when I say I didn’t rewatch this until after I did my screen test:
So I learned the words, thought about the emotions behind them (frustration) and made some choices. Part two of the screen test was doing any Pac song that we liked. The choice I made in that regard was to stay away from his best known videos, where again we all have an established ‘visual’ performance to go with the lyrics. I lucked out a little since my favorite Pac song doesn’t have the ‘iconic’ video to go with it.
So my last gift for you this year, my loyal readers, is the screen test I did for ‘Tupac’. You can judge for yourself if the choices I made ‘worked’ or if I could’ve gone farther with it. I heard John (Singleton) is calling the shots now, so if you’ll excuse me I have to go butter up one of my fellow Trojans.
So if you’re like me, you’re probably still digesting your giblets. Got an extra day off work. If you’re really like me, you’re avoiding anything that remotely resembles a shopping center this weekend. So what do you do hot shot, what do you do?
I’ll tell you what to do; you can catch “Lady In My Life’ on African-American Short Films! This weekend, the film plays in both my native and my adopted hometown:
Odessa-Midland Station: KPEJ / FOX Date: 12/02 Time: 4:00AM
Kansas City Station: KMBC / NBC Date: 11/27 Time: 12:30PM
Jackson, MS Station: WAPT / NBC Date: 11/27 Time: 12:00PM
Los Angeles Station: KCBS / KCAL Date: 11/28 Time: 4:00AM
I know for a fact the Chiefs don’t play until Sunday night this weekend, all the more reason to get a little joy on the television this weekend before the bitterness and frustration kick in.
Hope everyone is having a nice Thanksgiving weekend!
A friend across the pond has passions similar to mine so when I got home tonight I shot a quick video promoting our mutual interests. You can see that below. The mustache I’m sporting for another week is for Movember; it’s certainly drawn attention to that cause. I guess at the moment I’m socially consciously multitasking.
I’m going through my annual rewatching of my favorite television series ever, The Wire. I won’t spend this space trying to win you over to it, but if you haven’t watched it, you should. Anyway, one of the nice things about watching a show like this is reconnecting with all the minor characters who fill up the world. I just passed the episode (minor spoiler alert) where Omar shoots Brother Mouzone. Thinking he’s on the verge of death, Brother Mouzone won’t give Omar the privilege of hearing him beg for his life, he simply says “I’ve made peace with my God,” and starts to pray to himself. Sure, I probably smile a little wider than most hearing the brother with the bowtie say that line, but the truth of the statement should ring true to everyone.
“I’ve made peace with my God.” Everyone of us has our own set of problems to deal with; we’re all driven by our own agendas, and then have to manage the agendas of others to various degrees. But you lose track of your own peace of mind, you might wake up one day and find you’ve given over too much of your life and personal happiness to someone or something with no vested interest in you.
And on that optimistic note, I wish you a happy week! I’ll try to get up one more post before Thanksgiving, but the short week may prevent that from happening.
One of the things I enjoy most about social media (Twitter specifically) is the ability to converse with people you may not get to in your normal routine of life. I get on the interwebs and have fun (as you probably know since you’re online reading this). One of the unexpected benefits that I’ve found over time is a number of people who are willing to have intelligent back and forths about whatever is on their minds. Especially for an intellect like myself, the way I get better is by being challenged and thinking about how or why I feel a certain way.
Most of my followers are great for this but here are 4 guys you may know, that I follow who make my ‘Twitter barbershop’ (patent pending on that name…)
alpha1906: (Lawrence Ross) Respected black author, we met when he was promoting his book The Divine Nine. A straight up L.A. guy, and dare I say an even more avid sports fan than myself (I don’t really do soccer). In true Alpha style, he has an opinion on everything, but when it’s not ‘nation time’, he can be as silly as they come.
MistaChuckD: On the other hand, it’s ALWAYS Nation Time with Chuck, which is what we all love about him. In this Twitter family analogy, Chuck is the big brother you don’t even bother unless you already got your ish together. You think you know the answer and you go to Public Enemy Number One, and he’ll have you considering things you hadn’t thought of.
Roland Martin: Also a frat brother, Roland is the ‘loud’ one, or the ‘host’ of the get together (pun intended). In real life he’d be the brother who won’t let you bring anything messy into his house or Cadillac (or ascot) cause he takes too much pride in being the cleanest of the brothers. Like the others though, when someone (anyone) gets too far out of line, the jokes will stop and he’ll call you out on it. Everybody needs at least one guy like that in their corner.
And then there’s Toure. I see him as the educated rebel. Some of Chuck’s ability to agitate, some of Lawrence’s appreciation for history, some of Roland’s charisma. But definitely his own guy. When you were kids, he talked you into throwing rocks at the neighbor’s window. If you were a boy he’d be the brother or cousin who you had the most fistfights with. But it was never out of malice; he genuinely needed to know if you had the ability to beat him up. And pushing people’s buttons was just icing on the cake. So that brings us to his newest book, ‘Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?’
Let’s start with the title, or rather the phrase ‘Post-Black’, which definitely irks some people. I even got some side profile from a sista who wanted me to explain it in a tweet when she saw us talking (thanks Toure). I couldn’t do it then but I’ll do my best to break it down here:
‘Post-Black’ as Toure means it (or as I interpret it), is meant to represent the post Civil Rights generation that is undeniably proud of being Black, but at the same time want the freedom to say, ‘But that’s not all I am.” In the book and in discussions he often uses the talking point of ‘what Black people don’t do’ which is part of it, but the full defintion of this should also include ‘what Black people aren’t.’ He goes into the ‘talking white’ point and ‘the closer you are to the ghetto the Blacker you are’ myths; to my point I think he could have gone deeper into how many interracial people and gays have to deal with the identity crisis of ‘You’re not really Black” or “the Black community will not accept who you are”. Moving on…
For the heavy subject matter I thought the book was an enjoyable read. The intro was written by Michael Eric Dyson, who I’m also a fan of. Having said that, if you thought my intro for this piece was heavy, you probably want to skip the intro for the book. I’ve got my Masters degree, and I was still reading Dyson’s part saying to myself, “Brother, I’m lying in bed trying to decompress, lay off the big money words….”
Once Toure takes over, the flow is much easier to get into. I especially liked the chapter about Obama (one of the better pieces I feel that breaks down exactly how and why he’s been on a zero tolerance way of live since he won that primary in Iowa), and his personal stories about returning to Africa (I still don’t know if I agree with his point, but he makes a strong case for why it’s understandable but false that we refer to ourselves as ‘African-Americans’).
I went and shook the brother’s hand tonight when he was in town for a Q&A. He opened up by saying this book wasn’t supposed to be ‘the Answer’ but a conversation starter, and I certainly think it’s that. Damn agitator. (Kidding Toure).
If the writing is unclear below, he signed my copy, ‘Malik, Always be Black however the Hell you want!” Well, it’s like they say, ‘Once you go to the Opera, you don’t go back.’ Or something to that effect. Nevertheless, have a good weekend everybody.
I’ve talked a lot about what I am, and not much lately about what I do. I’ve been treated to some pleasant news which through sheer coincidence of timing came while I’ve been fasting.
The last script that I wrote was a semi-autobiographical story about growing up as a Muslim in pre and post 9/11 America. I didn’t and still don’t view it as the next Will Smith picture, so I only sent it to those who I thought might have an interest in the point of view I was presenting. One of those groups were the Sundance Institute, and I learned about a week ago they liked what I’ve pitched enough that they want to see more. Very flattering. Even my folks back home who know nothing about the Biz recognize that brand name (‘the thing in Utah’ as my father put it), so potentially down the line, that could be a game changer.
Right now it’s just an opportunity so I only gave myself a little time to ‘daydream’ on what could be. What I write in this space on the subject matter is a reflection of my outlook on the world, but if you keep up with me at all, you know when I put on ‘a show’, I’ll give you a show. The story I wrote is not an in your face political statement like some of Spike’s films. Even with the subject matter, it’s not a redemption story like a lot of Tyler’s movies. The comment I’ve heard the most from people who’ve read the script is “I was surprised at how funny this is,”; in other words it’s an extension of my strong suits as a storyteller, the self deprecating clown, the sarcastic geek, the hopeless romantic (think Lady In My Life).
So I completed another pass of the script this weekend, and we’ll see what happens at the end of the year. Through the circles I run in, I know I’m not the only film school geek in the mix, nor am I the only Muslim filmmaker they’re looking at. Nothing is a done deal, but they’re getting my best effort so if I’m meant to go down that road, I will. For the time being, I’ll return my focus to what I can control this week and this month, and hopefully get another pleasant surprise down the line.
The crazy thing about this one is, with the long weekend, I was feeling lazy this afternoon, and almost didn’t go. But it was Saturday night, I guess that makes it right, I said ‘What have I got to lose?’ (You see what I did there right? OK, OK, I’ll get to the review…)
So I’d heard from various friends in NYC and LA about how ‘great’ Prince’s shows were on this tour. I was an 80s kid, of course I was a pretty big Prince fan. Not my number one guy as most of you know, but that’s an apples and oranges discussion. Anyhoo, my gut response was ‘Of course I’d love to go, but who can afford the tickets?’ And that’s when I heard…
$25.
‘Wha?’
You can see one of the icons of music for $25? Well at that point of course I was in!
Prince has been known to have ‘special guests’ on this tour (as if super affordable tickets weren’t enough). The guest tonight was one Mary J. Blige. Now I’m going to be honest: I grew up with Mary J. Blige, I respect her and her voice, but I can’t say I’m the biggest Mary J. Blige fan. I’m not making a 180 after tonight but this is the truth: seeing her live COMPLETELY changed the way I looked at her. The instant connection with the audience, dancing along with her own songs, I think she’s sexier at this point than she was ten years ago. Not for the first time in this review, words don’t do justice to how good it was. I’ve always been a fan of her version of ‘Sweet Thing,’ so when Prince snuck his little 3 foot 3 behind on stage for a quick cameo appearance, I lost it. After the fact I was very thankful no one had a camera on my reaction, geeked on some damn Prince! I feel like docking myself cool points just for admitting it! Anyway, it was ‘the Club’ and ‘Chu’ch’ (and if you know what I’m talking about, you know I didn’t misspell that) all rolled into one. And that’s always been her style, but if you’re a Mary J. Blige fan, you owe it to yourself to see her perform live if you haven’t already. AND THAT WAS THE OPENING ACT!
So after Mary J. wore us out, there’s only a handful of people who you would even WANT to try to follow her up. But when your opening line to the crowd is ‘Do ya’ll know how many hits I got?!?’, you’re one of the guys/girls who can pull it off! And when you can say that while wearing some knee high Uggs with heels, made from Taun Taun fur, dammit you can’t be anybody but Prince! Backed by Maceo Parker (look that name up after you’re not familiar with funk and jazz) and NPG, Prince took us through some of his greatest hits; but being the great musician he is, tweaked every one so it wasn’t exactly like the studio version. Mary J. came back onstage to duet ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, ’1999′ and ‘When Doves Cry’ became great call back songs between him and the audience. We even got fairly impromptu jams, ‘Cool’ by the Time was a perfect blend with ‘Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough’ (which I appreciated), a white guy he pulled out of the front row DIDN’T know the words to ‘Little Red Corvette,’ so Prince got his ass offstage and went into ‘Play that Funky Music (White Boy).’ And he closed the show with an even more local version of ‘Hollywood Swingin” for Inglewood.
We were all more than satisfied; when the first encore was ‘Purple Rain’, well, shit. Justifiably epic live, not much more to add there.
So a Mary J. Blige/Prince bill, for about what I pay now for half a tank of gas. I don’t know where I go from here concert wise…
Wednesday I’ll once again be sitting in as the guest host of ‘Our Town Pasadena’. My guest will be South Pasadena resident and Union lawyer Jake White. We’ll cover a variety of topics including the process of Union lawyers, the current Labor situation, and if the time has finally come for his Clippers to overtake my Lakers as the top team in the city. (Just kidding.)
As usual, you can watch the show live locally on AT&T U-Verse, or anywhere in the world by going to the Arroyo Channel on pasadenacommunitynetwork.com.
9 P.M. Pacific Standard Time. Will be fun as always, tune in. (Thanks as always, Marie.)
Apparently, it’s all over come Saturday. I haven’t written anything here too personal in a while, but since apparently I only have 48 or so hours left, I thought I’d end it on a high note.
If there is no future, then I have to become something that’s not really in my nature, and become one of those people whose life only exists in the rear view mirror. What do I think of when I think about my life? A lot of random things really as I see my life flash before my eyes…
Since I never married, I take a lot of pride in usually upholding all the major ManLaws. There’s enough females out here for all of us. Never speak ill of your homie’s girl cause one way or another, it always gets back to her. Never sell out another man’s private affairs under any circumstances. If it takes a lifetime, pay back all vendettas. Your mistress and your wife shouldn’t live in the same town, let alone the same house. (Not that I know anything about that last one, that’s just what I’ve heard. Let’s move on.)
I’ve had my heart broken and I’ve broken hearts. If you have a soul, neither experience is very pleasant. But it’s life. The first woman I ever proposed to was Lauryn Hill (true story). The look she gave me on that particular night could have cut glass, but evidently she didn’t remember it because when I had an actual conversation with her a couple years later, she couldn’t have been nicer. She was the first ‘star’ I met, so it framed my expectations of celebrity. In my experiences, generally celebrities are pretty down to earth, it’s the ‘Entourages’ that are complete intolerable.
It’s an understatement to say I was an ‘anomaly’ as a black Muslim kid in Kansas who wasn’t desperate to get married at 21 years old (or now either, but that’s neither here nor there). I very much had a ‘Bachelor’s’ Bucket List: New Years Eve in Vegas, the Bayou Classic in New Orleans (pre-Katrina), South Beach Spring Break, Nationals for my Fraternity, Hollywood movie premiere party, D.C. and the GoGo scene, ATL and Buckhead and Club 112 and the Blue Flame. And I did it all, before I hit 30 if memory serves me correctly. At this point, my reputation as ‘Hollywood’ is much bigger than the reality, but I accept how hard reputations are to shake. Certain stories (my first earthquake and the night I threatened to beat up my best friend immediately come to mind) will never be forgotten. But you know, if you can’t stand the heat…
I’ve headlined short films and reality shows, I’ve seen my jokes and suggestions appear in Hollywood movies and TV shows (they weren’t stolen, I gave them away), I’ve gone back to my hometown to watch films I’ve directed shown on the big screen. And I thought I was done writing, but I did have one more story in me, one I wrote for my Ummah. Doesn’t look like there’s enough time to see it through, but I was/am very proud of it. It’s slowly being seen by those who need to see it, but if there is a Sunday, maybe I’ll talk about it then. Or knowing me maybe I won’t.
Live for today, plan for tomorrow. It’s worked out pretty well for me. Now let’s see what comes next…
