Monday, May 21, 2007
Alaska 2007
I can't even begin to put into words how the time up in Alaska was spent. When I wasn't walking around lakes or driving along the coast, I was locked away in coffee shop after coffee shop, writing a screenplay I started years ago but never finished... until now.
The weather in Anchorage was very nice for this time of the year. High 50s to low 60s. Sunny. The sun went down about 10:45pm, but the sky stayed light until the sun came back up about 4am.
I was lucky enough to watch Spring arrive. When I showed up, the trees were grey and lifeless. When I was driving back to the airport at 11pm a week later, the trees were covered in leaves. A by-product of lots of sunlight and the reality that the summer warmth only lasts for so long. Spring itself really only lasts about 2 weeks in Alaska. After that, Summer stays around until late August/early September. Fall lasts about 2 weeks, followed quickly by Winter.
The following are some pictures I took while driving up to Portage Glacier, just outside of Anchorage. I'm not sure what the inlet is called. When I lived in Alaska I was stationed up in Fairbanks, directly in the middle of the state. I had to take this drive at least once while I was there.
Writing the screenplay, which grew from 38 pages to 146 in 3 days thanks to gallons of Starbucks coffee, has been a goal of mine since returning from my Iraq deployment in Fall 2004. It combines a lot of personal experiences with a story I watched on CNN about a deployed surgical unit in Iraq. I wasn't planning on doing anything with the script, but after talking to a few encouraging people, I'm going to try and get it out there. Odds are always stacked against turning it into a film, but I'd never be satisfied if I didn't try. I think it's a good story.
Thanks to Tumbleweed (aka S-Dub, the Weatherman with a plan) for writing some great posts while I was locked away up north. He always seems to find the interesting stuff I never hear about. He always has an open invitation to come back anytime.
Now it's back to work. Back to the Chain Gang. Back to spending millions of tax dollars trying to help save the world.
posted by El Capitan at 10:12 PM
4 Comments:
said...
Well, good luck with the screenplay! When you get famous, don't forget all us "little people" who encouraged you. ;)
11:15 PM
Southern (in)Sanity said...
You should go forward with the screenplay. Good luck!
I love the pictures. I hope to be able to visit Alaska one day.
said...
Forgot to say that the pics are entirely "soul-soothing"!!
1:05 PM Lindsay said...
omg, great pics...I need to visit!
and i'm totally impressed you could write that much in three days...how many gallons of starbucks was that exactly?