Saw something interesting tonight. At a restaurant, a man came into the bathroom while I was at the urinal, and immediately washed his hands. Then, he used the urinal, did not wash his hands after, and left. I'm still confused by the order of operations. But, something in my past might explain.

Fun fact about me: When I first discovered IMDB in the early aughts, I spent hours browsing the database by year. Somewhere along the way IMDB did away with that feature, which broke my heart. I searched high and low for it, but it's gone. And then I recently discovered that Letterboxd has it!

Yuletide Cat is skeptical of your holiday spirit.

It's the most wonderful time of the year (for Christmas Cat)!

I think the #Sabres plan to sign every goaltender in the league so that no other team has a goalie is genius. No goals against, all the goals for.

This season is the first in probably close to 25 years that I've decided not to watch #sabres games. The way they've started this season justifies my decision, and it seems it will be a long while before I reclaim my fandom. What a shame.

Target lock:

The world sucks right now. As Americans, we're inundated with bad news, violence, stupidity, hypocrisy, embarrassment, and shame nearly every hour of every day. It's exhausting and overwhelming, and it's made me feel helpless and hopeless. But by helping we can create our own hope. A thread. 🧵1/8

At the grocery store today an older woman told me that I was, "... the cutest shopper (she's) ever seen." I had always suspected my look of mild confusion / frustration was my cutest. Now I know for sure.

And as I skeet something snarky about the Bills defense, they intercept Tua. Just like I planned. #tnf

Bills defense looks good for 3 out of every 4 plays. And terrible for the ones that matter most. #tnf

Oh so Miami is like bad bad. #tnf

Turns out there is an ebook sale happening, so Amazon also has the ebook of my short story collection, Through Dark Into Light, at 50% off. It's coming up on spooky season, and this has some spooky stories, so it must be kismet: www.amazon.com/THROUGH-DARK...

It looks like Amazon has marked down the ebook of my novella, Anh Nguyen and the Discordian, 50% off. If that sort of a deal sounds appealing to you, check it out: www.amazon.com/ANH-NGUYEN-D...

I think I might just make this account all cat pictures all the time .

Presented without comment:

No easier way to feel like a betrayer than to give your pet medicine. "Father no! Why are you doing this? You were supposed to protect me!" - my cat as I try to give her 2 mls of sweet-tasting medicine.

New experience unlocked: Had to sign a release for something creative. I was also the only person in a theater to see Fantastic Four. Just me and the mouse I found on top of my seat when I came back from the bathroom. All in all, not a bad day.

A screenwriter's best friends are: Money Time @jaceserrano.bsky.social End list

Alright #scriptsky, I am preparing to query managers for the first time in a long time. In the past I've utilized BL3.0 (which actually did get me hip pocketed for a while) and IMDBPro to research managers. That was 8 years ago. How has the landscape changed? Any advice or recommendations?

"It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money as long as you have got it." - Edmund Way Teale This post is about politics.

Man, remember the days when you could buy a new game system, plug it in, throw in a game, and play without needing to sign up for anything or create multiple logins and passwords that added 45 minutes to setting up the console? I remember.

I'm in an all-day conference for my day job. As my career is writing-based, AI keeps coming up. Whenever it does no one seems to trust or like it. I'm forced to wonder... Why are we using it then? Stop using it if it sucks! No one is forcing you! We don't have to do this!

Oh man this can be good for the DCU. Couldn't even break double-digits...

I think the 1939 Wizard of Oz is bad. It's boring and the music sucks.

Presented without further comment.

I argue this in every writing-related lesson I give, day job or creative feedback. Specificity makes things more real for the reader, connecting them more deeply to your words, and therefore your story. To the poster's original point, grounding a story on specifics allows a reader to see themselves.

Recently did script swaps with @andreaberting.bsky.social, @jaceserrano.bsky.social, @tschrack.bsky.social, and @simondoyle87.bsky.social. They each gave me such great feedback, AND I got to read some really cool scripts on top of it. Many thanks to them and the #scriptsky community for the intros!

Titanaboa between two rocks - Elijah, age 4 (2025)

Last year I decided to start building my physical media collection back up. Latest haul just came in the mail.

Hey #scriptsky, what's the word on the street about writing after-credit scenes in spec scripts? This script I have now is kind of begging for one, but it also feels weird.

The two most compelling movies I've seen lately have both taken place in a single room. Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW and Lumet's 12 ANGRY MEN are great examples of how to make stakes feel important to the characters, and therefore to an audience, while also keeping a story contained. Great stuff.

Huge shout-out to my man @jaceserrano.bsky.social for his notes on my novel. Really detailed, he did some original research to check my writing and offer advice, and extremely insightful. 10/10 will force him to read something of mine again.

I am quite nearly drunk off two glasses of wine. How many pages should I write tonight and will they be any good? (At my first big boy job our boss used to tell us he didn't care if we wrote drunk, but we had to edit sober. Only good piece of advice he ever gave )

I was just thinking today that I should post on here to say that Cauterize was an underrated pop punk band that burned too hot too fast. Also, Creed's WEATHERED is a great album. Fight me.

I'm about to write my first screenplay in 8 years and I need software. I've used Movie Magic in the past and like it, but wondered if #scriptsky has any recommendations? If I can buy the program outright, that's better. Not a fan of subscription services.

Holy shit, Meta even used my little self-published short story collection to train their AI. Joke's on them, my writing will only make their AI worse!

My four-year old had an excellent sequel idea: JUMANJI with cryptids. He is available to write this ASAP if any producers are interested.

boysetsfire please come back to save us (me, specifically)! www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPz2...

I'm doing a rewatch right now and I think about this fact every single episode. Has to be one of the most beautiful shows ever made.

Today is my 38th birthday, so I wrote a plea to everyone to be less efficient and to take more risks: www.craiggusmann.com/38-a-plea-to...

Today is my last day of work for four months, as on Monday I begin a sabbatical. I'm nervous about my finances and staying disciplined during that time, but I am so excited to be able to write full-time!

One nice thing about being a Sabres fan is they can never really break your heart because they're awful all the time. They make me angry, and sad, but they haven't broken my heart in the way the Bills can in nearly 20 years now.

Being a person with deadly, incurable cancer who is nonetheless still alive for an indefinite timeframe gives me an interesting metaphor that helps me deal with things like large-scale corruption in government or commerce. Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.

This Sunday the Philly Inquirer ran an article about how LGBTQ+ people are buying guns to protect themselves from the bigotry and violence the incoming administration has stoked. How sad is it that in order to feel safe, they have to put money in the pockets of those who are making them unsafe?

I think I'm going to start tagging any communication I send from the toilet to include skeets, texts, emails, etc. with (TM) for (Toilet Missive). (TM)

Writers based in LA:   If you or someone you know has been displaced due to the LA fires and have nowhere to go, or if you or someone you know needs dog or cat food or a temporary safe place for their pets, please email [email protected]

And I absolutely cannot wait for it.

I can’t believe I’m going to be 38 in mere days. I graduated from high school 20 years ago? I started my first full-time writing job eleven years ago? I’ve been on the lam for five years??? Madness. Pure madness. Time is nothing. Just like warrants.

I bet Paul Thomas Anderson would agree with me that I, Frankenstein slaps.