new pieces~small landscapes from Southern Ireland~

 A year ago I spent 5 weeks in Ireland, mostly in the city of Cork.  These paintings are scenes from (left) Kilarney National Forest, and (right) Inchydoney beach in Clonakilty. 

beginning of screenplay-first 10 pages~

 

FADE IN

INT. HOUSE, DARK, HINT OF MOONLIGHT - NIGHT

The silence is broken by the pitter-patter tapping sound of

little dog feet as they meander through the house and into

the bedroom. Marie opens her eyes and squints over the edge

of the bed where the Chihuahua, raggedy and elderly, stands

waiting.

MARIE

What're you doing down there? Come

here.

Marie picks up the dog and pulls her into the bed. Small,

black and furry, Chica scratches herself vigorously, then

settles next to Marie.

MARIE

(whispers)

Go to sleep.

Marie studies the ceiling for a moment. She reaches her arm

around Chica. Then glances over at the man who sleeps next

to her. He is an older man with a tidy beard, glasses on

and mouth open. An open book is across his chest. He has

strawberry blonde hair; his beard is white. He snores

softly, then snorts in his sleep. She looks toward the

ceiling again for a moment, stretches her leg across the

bottom half of his body, and closes her eyes. Just then...a

small voice calls out.

MALCOLM

Mom?
 

MARIE

What is it honey? Go back to

sleep.
 

MALCOLM

Mom? ....I need you.

She stumbles into the next room. Marie is fully dressed in

torn jeans and a t-shirt. She leans over Malcolm who is in

his small bed. He snuggles a petite brown Chihuahua.

MARIE

What's a matter? You okay? (rubs

her hand across his forehead) Your

head's all sweaty. (pause) You

want me to get in with you?

 

Without opening his eyes, Malcolm scoots backward in the bed

making room for her, pulling his little dog along with him.

Marie crawls into the wee bed with her son and closes her

eyes. Once again there is the little pitter-patter of

approaching dog feet. She leans over, pulls Chica into the

bed too. Malcolm lay holding his dog, she lay holding hers.

They drift off to sleep in the continued darkness.

CUT TO

EXT. STREET SCENE IN THE CITY. - DAY

Marie drives along Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans from Mid

City towards the French Quarter. The historic homes along

the avenue were obviously once very grand and elegant,

French and Spanish architecture, but now there's all manner

of deterioration in most. An eclectic mix of tourists and

local street people peppers the sidewalk. A small wooden

building on the right is covered with grafitti.

Marie wears sunglasses as she drives with the windows down,

her arm out the window as music plays--Trouble in Paradise

by Tele Novella.

MARIE (V.O)

I had dreams. Sometimes....I even

try to remember them.

I loved a boy. He was sun-tanned

and cajun. My soulmate I guess.

(pause) Even now....I wonder

about him...and everything I had,

you know, a long time ago.

She continues along the avenue, driving, music playing.

CUT TO

INT. REALTY OFFICE IN AN OLD FRENCH QUARTER BUILDING - DAY

She quickly climbs the stairs in an old French Quarter

building which is at once elegant and decrepit. She ascends

past the brightly colored signed Jazz Fest posters, some

black and white signed photographs. She rushes toward the

meeting room, looks in, but no one is in there. She walks

across the hall to another room where a colleague, Michael,

sits at his desk with his back to her.

MARIE

I thought I was late.
 

She plops down into a soft chair next to him.

Michael speaks slowly, without looking up, in a warm

Southern accent.

MICHAEL

Hi honey. (pause) The meeting

doesn't start until 10, you know~
 

MARIE

(glances around

for a clock)

Isn't it 10 now?
 

MICHAEL

(condescendingly)

Well, nobody's here, are they?

(Then quickly adds,) Well, Ann's

here!
 

Michael motions toward a young blonde woman sitting in the

room whom Marie hadn't noticed. Ann stands, reaches out to

shake Marie's hand. Marie jumps up to shake it.
 

ANN

(brightly)

Hi I'm Ann with American Mortgage.

I think we met before at an open

house.

 

MARIE

Oh sure! I always hear good things

about you. Give me your card and

I'll recommend you!
 

 

ANN

I just had them made. Here-take a

couple~

Michael is now on his cell phone. He vigorously shoos the

two women away as if they are children. Marie and Ann

quickly scurry out of Michael's office and into the meeting

room.

ANN

I brought this candy basket for

y'all.

She sets the basket down on the large rectangular wooden

table that looks like it used to be in somebody's dining

room. Ann then takes a seat on the far side of the room.

MARIE

Thanks, but....I'm starting to

spread out a little bit in the

middle.
 

MARIE (V.O)

my whole body really, I need to

get back in shape in case I run

into Al Stewart again....(pause)

although God only knows what he

looks like these days.

FLASHBACK TO

Marie and a rock musician laughing in a hotel room. They

are half undressed. She is younger with wild curly hair. He

speaks with a British accent and swigs from a bottle of

Pepto Bismol.

MARIE

Your body's so pale! Don't you

ever get out in the sun?

BRITISH MUSICIAN

Never. I work every night and

sleep during the day.

MARIE

(playfully)

Well okay but I think you need

some sun!

BRITISH MUSICIAN

(sincerely)

What I need....is a photogragh of

your behind.

MARIE

What for?!

BRITISH MUSICIAN

(as if obviously)

Tape it to the back of my guitar.

They laugh and fall into the bed.

BACK TO

Just then, in the midst of her semi-daydream, James arrives

and sits at the head of the table as he is in charge of the

meeting for the day. Michael, then Roy stroll in. Marie,

slightly self-conscious, sits down in the chair nearest to

her.

ANN

Roy! It's good to see you! You're

always so tan.

You put George Hamilton to shame.

Roy smiles/looks pleased with the attention as if he has a

little crush on Ann.

JAMES

Is this everybody? Is Dorian

around?

No one answers.

JAMES

Marie, do you have anything to

discuss?
 

MARIE

Well, I usually sit on the other

side of the table, so I'm a little

disoriented.
 

MICHAEL

I know! You're in my chair!
 

MARIE

(meekly)

Do you want to sit here?
 

MICHAEL

(smiles, shouts)

Of course not!
 

MARIE

Okay, well, I do have a closing

coming up at my listing in the

Ninth Ward, but we had the

inspections the other day, and the

guy found all kinds of things that

are crumbling down, so now I don't

know what's going to happen there…

And I still have my listing in

Chalmette. I've shown it a bunch,

but no takers. It's a really cool

place, too. There's these really

gorgeous Mexican tile floors all

through the house. The owner, this

old guy, Ray, put in all top of

the line stainless steel

appliances and all. Anyway, so

today I'm going on broker tour

with the Chalmette agents.
 

ANN

(jokingly)

Poor you!
 

MICHAEL

(playfully)

The Chalmations!

ROY

(musingly)

You know...before the storm their

accent would aggravate the hell

out of me but now I just really

miss it.
 

MARIE

It's the same accent as ours in

New'Orlins.
 

MICHAEL

(explains)

Well, yeah, but they're the Yats!
 

ROY

(whimsically)

Where y'at?
 

MICHAEL

Makin' groceries at Schwegmann's!

The meeting format begins to digress.

 

JAMES

When I was younger and dating, my

dad would say something like,

"so you going to the Quarters?"

And I'd say, "Well…no…just the

one!"

Colleagues knowingly laugh and chuckle.

Marie reaches into her tiny overstuffed purse and looks

through assorted scraps of papers.

MARIE

(worriedly)

"Oh God! I forgot about this

traffic ticket!

I gotta go pay this before I get

arrested.

(A beat, then thoughtfully)

I wouldn't manage well in jail.

 

MICHAEL

What's if for?
 

MARIE

Expired brake tag.
 

MICHAEL

They've been setting up a lot of

traffic stops in the French

Quarter,

but I only got a warning.
 

MARIE

(seriously)

Well the guy who stopped me said

that he would've just given me a

warning except that it's been

expired for two years.
 

ROY

(chortles)

I think for me it's about 8 years.

CUT TO

INT. DOWNSTAIRS IN THE REALTY OFFICE - DAY

Marie stares at a computer screen in the downstairs part of

the office. Her e-mail inbox is displayed, with messages

such as:

"Open house Sunday-historic gem in the Bywater"

"Learn to meditate with Deepak Chopra"

"Find your inner strength by letting go"

"Improve your focus by clearing away clutter"

"Five tips to re-ignite the excitement in your sex life"

"vitamins for longer life"

"You now qualify for a free scooter chair"

Dorian, tall and elegant, breezes past and stops when he

sees Marie.

DORIAN

(asks, almost

insisting)

Aren't you coming to the meeting?
 

MARIE

I'm going on broker tour in

Chalmette today;

gotta be there in a few minutes. I

just had to pay a traffic ticket

online first.
 

DORIAN

Would you like to handle an open

house for me this weekend?

A condo in the Quarter?

MARIE

(excitedly)

Yes, I would!

DORIAN

(quickly rushes

off upstairs,

calling back)

I'll send you the details.

A sharply dressed woman passes by. Marie quickly jumps up

to follow her.

MARIE

Hey Caroline, can I see you for a

second?
 

CAROLINE

(politely)

Sure Marie. What can I do for

you?
 

MARIE

(awkwardly)

My dad called me about an

apartment for lease. He wants to

rent an apartment that he saw

listed through our company and I

see that it's your listing.

Marie takes a deep breath then exhales.

MARIE

(continues)

He's a pack-rat, a hoarder, you

know? He somehow manages to break

the plumbing wherever he lives and

he may bring home drunk women.
 

CAROLINE

(calmly)

Oh that's perfect because the

owner is a slum lord.

CUT TO

EXT. CHALMETTE HOUSE TOUR - DAY

INTERIOR OF AN SUV DRIVEN BY BRAD, A YOUNG MORTGAGE LENDER.

BRAD

(cheery)

Well, let's head down the road,

(smiles, looks over at Marie to

explain...)

"down the road" means toward

Meraux. We were "up the road" in

Arabi. (a beat, then more

seriously) Katrina sure did

change things around here for us.

My mom and dad's house isn't even

there anymore. It's hard on them

and a lot of the old people still,

all these years later. People who

had to move away can't return for

one reason or another.
 

MARIE

My dad's one of them. He loved it

here. His house was bulldozed in

the aftermath.
 

MARIE (V.O.)

Of course it needed to be

flattened even before Katrina

because of his hoarding.

CUT TO FLASHBACK

INT. SUPER 8 HOTEL ROOM DURING HURRICANE KATRINA. - DAY

A weary Marie and her husband, Marvin, watch the news

intently from the interior of a small shabby hotel room.

News of Hurricane Katrina is ongoing on CNN. The newscaster

specifically mentions the extreme flooding in Chalmette.

MARVIN

(earnestly)

At least your dad's house is

getting washed out.

CUT BACK TO

CHALMETTE TOUR.

BRAD

(soberly)

Entire neighborhood blocks are

gone. (He points out the window)

That's all green space now.

CUT TO....