Sorry about the truly horrible photo of the bottle of wine. In case you couldn't read the label in all its blackness, it's a bottle of claret -- "1910 Type."  Wow, was it good. It went great with the fourme d'ambert (another of my favorite cheeses). And both of them went really great with the millionth viewing of Edward Scissorhands. (Followed by the first 30 minutes of Blacula before I fell asleep. If you have never seen this movie, check out the trailer on Youtube. It is a classic Black-xploitation film from 1972. I actually really love this film. It is so terrifically undeniably splendorously "1972". Which was actually a very good year for me. Probably the last good year I had until I was, like, I don't know -- 50???)

Anyway, one of the perks of owning the DVD of Edward Scissorhands is of course all those special features that come along with it. No, I'm not talking about watching Edward Scissorhands while trying to read subtitles that are en francais! Not even I am that masochistic, gang!! I'm talking about the options to hear commentary by Tim Burton!! And Danny Elfman!!! And now I have 2 more reasons to watch the movie again this week! Wow -- who knew that so much good fortune was lurking so near to me all this time since I bought that DVD???

There were also little soundbites from the cast & Tim Burton and I was just flabbergasted by how young everyone looked. Tim Burton looks about 22, you know? I remember Tim Burton very well from those years but he never once looked that young to me back then. But now, it's like, Jesus, he looks like he's just out of film school or something. And Johnny Depp looks about 14!! But I do remember that Johnny Depp always looked really young. Still, it was such a shock to see just how young. Winona looked exactly the same, though, b/c I never think of her as having aged a single moment from those years. When I think of her, I always picture how she looked in Heathers. Or even in the Coppola Dracula movie, which I will be watching sometime this week. She is so beautiful in that film.

Okay. All kinds of good news around here, gang. It's official; I now have a screenwriting partner. A long-time associate of mine in Los Angeles. It is so much fun and so exciting to be working on something so different from my usual fare! And now it gives me more reasons to go to L.A. What could be better than that? (Oh, I know! Going to Paris a lot!)

Also, in December, I have been asked to be the featured writer for the UK webzine, SomethingDark.com . (Check out that link, gang, for their current issue. It is a gorgeous art & literature magazine, heavily into fetish.) I will be contributing a new piece of fiction, a short piece of nonfiction, and a Q&A.

My nonfiction piece will be about my relinquishing of the BDSM lifestyle. (Yes, relinquish means "to put aside, give up, or desist from". You heard it here first, but it's not as straightforward as it sounds.)

My new fiction piece is, appropriately enough, "something dark" but not sexually-explicit, titled "To My Beloved I Am A Stranger." I hope it's okay to quote the zine's editor in part -- he responded to my first draft thusly: "...the eroticism is more psychological, and the physical eroticism is wonderfully implied. There are some very interesting and unexpected twists in the story... The ending is suitably abrupt and jolting, and reminds me of the way some of the films of the French New Wave cinema end... a soaring tale of self-destruction."

I have worked really hard on this piece, folks, and I hope that you'll be interested in checking it out in December. It's free, so why not???

Okay, lucky me! I now get to try to install some additional memory into my laptop. Here's hoping it is as easy as it looks. See ya later, gators. Hope you are having a fantastic "hump day" (meaning nothing more sinister than "Wednesday") and as always, thanks for visiting!!