JAW WIRED SHUT HAS MOVED TO TUMBLR!!!

Hello. I've stopped blogging here at jaw wired shut because I'm lazy and tumblr is easy and wonderful. You will find a different sort of jaw wired shut over there. It's a lot like it used to be here. It's pretty much the same, actually. 

  I'm here, at http://stamos.tumblr.com


love,
stamos 



 

Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!

I was just doing some free association writing over on my tumblr (also yes, hi, it's me again, I'm still here even though I did take something of a winter hiatus, but I'm back to overshare here on Jaw Wired Shut for you and I hope everyone has been having a lovely 2012, mine has pretty much been awesome so far I'll tell you more about it later) and somehow a comment about doing some work spiraled into the observation that teachers don't make a lot of money.

I wrote:

I had to write about four paragraphs of copy for an upcoming episode. I do this kind of stuff a lot (I mean how else are fake Facebook pages for characters created?) for the show, but this one was REALLY interesting. I wrote about Schizophrenia and Winslow Homer and Maine and Art and for like five minutes, as I was thinking to myself, “this is fun and I am really good at this” I was also thinking to myself “fuck TV writing I should go back to school” and then I checked my bank account and realized there’s a reason more people don’t return to or stay in academia - it pays shit.

I think I need to add to this. 

That's fucked up. Teachers, professors -- they should make more money. They should make more money than TV writers.  I mean I don't make any money right now, because I'm what is known as a baby writer (seriously, this is sometimes a term for young writers), but like the good TV writer money.  Actually, what I make right now is probably akin to what teachers make (okay really it's a little less probably) and let me tell you, that sucks. If this is what teachers make then teachers are not getting paid enough to lead comfortable lives. At least not in cities or other places as expensive as LA.

Actually what do I know? I don't actually know how much teachers make but I guess what I am trying to say here is that I know it's not enough. It should be more. I know it will never be that way and it's weird for me to suddenly just think of this now, really, but it popped in my head and I thought, "teachers!"

My mom taught art for many years, then special ed, and for the year prior to her death, art again.

Teachers give their lives to other people. They give themselves. They give SO much. They should get more back.

I named this post "Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!" because when I was in high school I took an ornithology class and to study for exams we used little shortcuts (like mnemonic devices, I guess?) to help us remember the birds because yes we learned how to identify over 100 birds by their plumage and/or call and when the Ovenbird sang its call sounded just like "Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!" 

Being a TV writer is really hard, and I suppose on some scale, in the scheme of it all, it is an important and significant profession. But on a much larger scale, on like the whole big scale of everything, teachers are the real heroes.

Zack and Kelly got married!

You guys! Maine is the best place in the world. It really is. I am so lucky to have grown up there and to still be so incredibly close to all my friends who did as well.

So yes - I made it home last week, despite Hurricane Irene's attempts to delay me, and it was the most lovely trip, which was capped off with the one of the best weddings ever -- when my two dear friends Brett and Garrett, (who are, BTW, high school sweethearts -- hence the Saved By The Bell reference in the subject of this post, duh) got married.

It was incredible! Brett was BEAUTIFUL. I mean she's always beautiful but seeing one of your best friends look that beautiful and happy and in love? Well, let's just say I cried all day. Like ALL DAY. It's funny because I think some of my friends maybe thought it was because the enormity of the event had me missing my mom, but in reality, I think it was the profound emotional impact of watching someone I grew up with, someone who is like a sister to me, someone who I admire and adore and love and respect, have a day for her, a day to marry the guy who makes her the happiest in the world and God, are they happy!

Yes of course I wish my mom could have been there because she loved Brett and Brett's mom was one of her best friends, but I felt that she was there watching it all go down and crying along with me! Frankly, I think I was too touched by Brett and Garrett committing their lives to each other to really focus on anything else. I mean -- and I know I'm going to sound like a big sap here -- it really was beautiful. Brett's family loves her so much - she's the oldest of four and the only daughter and the relationship she has with her younger brothers is amazing -- inspiring really. Jesus, just writing about it right now has me tearing up again (although when I told my own brother about my endless waterworks, he responded with "Well, you did cry during cotton commercials when you were a kid").  And look, some of you might be thinking that crying at a wedding is totally normal -- which it is -- but like, holy shitballs I was losing it. I gave a reading during the ceremony, and my only goal was to not cry during that, which I made it through. But the rest? Nope. I think I lost 5 pounds in water weight! At one point at the reception some random friend of Brett's mom came up to me and said "your display of emotion was touching" which was really sweet but then I am pretty sure I turned three shades of red (well, I was really tan so maybe it wasn't that noticeable but trust me, I was blushing my face off).

Anyway. Zack and Kelly got married and it was the best wedding ever (granted I've been to like, four ever and this was the first I was ever in but WHATEVER). We were also maybe the most efficient and on-time bridal party ever. We were so on the ball I think at one point we were, like, 45 minutes ahead of schedule. As I said on my Twitter that morning, and later on in the trolley on the way to the ceremony -- we bridesmaided the SHIT out of that wedding!

Garrett isn't exactly open-eyed in this shot but I pulled it from Facebook as none of the official pics are up yet.

The Descent into LA

A girl I know because she used to work at a company I used to work at, but I worked there before she did and we never overlapped, only happened to meet through a friend (she calls him "Mark" and he truly is that incredible), wrote this beautiful piece in This Recording - "In Which There's Nothing Like Looking at a Picture of a Haircut." It's epic, grandiose, cryptic, abstract, beautiful, and brutally honest - this is a piece that captures the descent into the maelstrom that is Los Angeles better than anything else I've read of late.

Some brutal truths:

After a while you find yourself folded into the city, lulled into a kind of daze. You stop reading books and talk about box office grosses instead. There's no need for philosophy in a place where the weather is this nice. Still, voices from the outside reach you every once in a while, make it hard for you to sleep. The people you went to college with are editorial assistants, non-profit coordinators, teachers, medical students.

And at the root of my every existential-crisis is this:

Because though you have spent the past three years working actively against it, the only thing you ever wanted to do is write. Now you leave work every day with the truth heavy in your soul: no one deserves that kind of life. For every story about the acceptance that came after 100 rejections, there are millions about people who wrote for eighty years and died humiliated, poor, hungry and alone. You should have gone into banking, you should have been pre-med, you should have joined a cult.

Perhaps it is not too late to join a cult.

Back to School (Some Unsolicited Advice for Writers)

This morning at the gym some friends were discussing Turkey (the country, not the bird). Turkey! (I said with excitement). Ah yes, the subject of my college thesis - Turkey's bid to join the European Union. I wrote it while I was living in Switzerland the final semester of my senior year, and logged a lot of hours at the UN library writing. See, I wanted to go into politics...

Okay, so that whole "Major in International Relations" didn't exactly play out how I thought it would, but how fitting I reminisce on my college studies on a day I am going back to school.  That's right - for the next 10 weeks I'm going to be taking a writing class (I believe it's called something along the lines of "Intermediate Feature Film") at UCLA, in an attempt to fine-tune my screenwriting and get another spec from a thought in my head to some words on a page.

I'm really excited - mostly because my writing partner Sarah is taking the class with me, and we first met each other in a writing class about a year ago (awwwww) but also because if there's one thing I'm certain of when it comes to writing, and developing your talent, is that it's a craft you must constantly be working on and taking a class is probably the BEST way to do that. Furthermore, beyond "honing your craft" (as they say), I just think it's such a great thing to put yourself back into an academic setting. It's nice to challenge your brain, go back to that school mindset, and just open yourself up to learning again.

So yeah - that's my unsolicited advice to all the other writers out there. Take a class. Take lots of classes. I've taken a variety - from memoir writing to extreme screenwriting to improv to sketch comedy, etc - every class I've taken has not only allowed me to better my writing, but it's been a worthwhile experience on a personal level. I don't care if you're a baby writer or the most high-paid showrunner out there - taking a class is always a good thing.


Got that, writers? Go back to school!

Wishbone.org - Dare Your Courage!

My good friend Beth Schmidt has created Wishbone - a non-profit that strives to bring opportunity to “at risk” high school students through direct sponsorhip of after-school and summer programs via online donors - and I'm helping her to raise funds. Unfortunately, we have three days left to raise $4, 506. If we do not reach this goal, Wishbone.org will not receive any of the $10, 494 that has already been raised. So please donate! I've included some great info about Wishbone below, but be sure to check out the website for more. And remember - every little bit helps!

What is Wishbone?
While teaching 10th grade English in South Central, Los Angeles (Watts), my friend Beth realized that her students had the ability to reach their goals but lacked the resources to do so. Instead of Steinbeck and sentence structure, Beth dealt mostly with shame, anger, pregnancy, drug issues, dissolved families, and the repercussions of working at a school on the front lines of gang wars. However, Beth realized that when given an opportunity, her students were empowered to pull themselves out of their own circumstances.

Beth ran a test model to prove her theory. She ran a marathon, raised $12,000 and sent seven of her students on out of school programs within their communities. Upon their return from these programs, all participating students had a fresh perspective on their capabilities to realize their goals. These seven students all graduated from Locke High School. They all went on to college. They all started to believe in something greater than their own circumstances.

Beth knew that she had to affect more than these seven students. As a result, the idea for Wishbone.org was born.

Wishbone.org is an online platform that empowers at-risk youth to engage in extracurricular activities of their own choosing.  The site encourages students to participate in self-reliance, researching an out-of-school program that will ignite their passion. Wishbone.org then links the student to an online donor community who can help fund the student's program to promote growth and learning. Once the student successfully submits an application, Wishbone.org matches the student with an advisor to mentor him or her through the program experience.

What does this look like?

Meet Sandra:

“The community where I live and currently attend high school is infested with gang members, drug addicts, and prostitution. I have watched policemen raid my home several times. I have watched most of my male friends who are not a part of gangs lose their lives in my community. During high school, I was challenged by my own community’s struggles, and it was difficult for me to look past the gates of my high school and dream of something bigger. Winning one of Ms. Schmidt’s scholarships in my sophomore year and being able to research any program in Los Angeles to pursue made me have faith in people again. It made me realize that people care. UCLA’s Mock Trial Institute showed me that my journey to become a great lawyer is not going to be an easy ride. For the first time, I was in a competitive environment with 75 other students who were equally as interested and as determined to become lawyers in the future. Because we were all the same age, I realized that any choices I make must be extraordinary."

You can help a student like Sandra today. Log on to TippingBucket.org and make a donation to support Wishbone.org and its efforts.

Stand Up 2 Cancer

You can watch the telecast live right here: