My First Day at Military School....

I've been trying to think of where to start with writing about my childhood memories of being the son of a stripper....where do I start? There's years of memories....from the 70's and 80's....so much to tell. I guess I'll start at the beginning.

My Mother started stripping on the burlesque circuit when I was 6 years old. Thinking back, that would have been in 1971 when she started dancing. She had just divorced, and was on her own raising me and my sister. I remember her agent booking her at different burlesque theaters around the country. She was just starting to dance on the burlesque circuit when she sent me to military school.

I went to military school the first 5 years of grade school. It was a boy's military school in Bloomington Springs, Tennessee. The school I went to took boys from the first to the 5th grade. I remember the first day she took me there. I did not want to go. I loved traveling on the road with Mother, and wanted to travel with her on the burlesque circuit. Now, looking back, I can see why she couldn't take me with her; home schooling was illegal back in the 1970's. And she wanted me in a safe environment.

I remember watching her drive off after taking me to the school. It was the end of summer, and I wouldn't get to see her again until Thanksgiving. I can't explain how it felt watching her drive away. Words can't explain it. That first day, I couldn't stop crying. And I cried myself to sleep that night on the bunk bed.

I ended up really loving being at military school. But I still wish I could have travelled with her on the road all those years. I did get to travel with her in the summers. But it never was enough....

My Mother, the Old Stripper, aka PHONE SEX GRANDMA:

52 Days Without a Drink...and Counting....

Well...I still haven't touched a drink.

It's been 52 days now since I've had a drink...and I don't crave it at all...never have....I think that's a good sign.

My brain goes crazy thinking non-stop of all the things I have to do and the projects...it's madness. My brain is always working. It never stops.

For about 50 days now, I can't sleep....I toss and turn, and maybe get about 2 hours of sleep a night....

But I'm getting a lot done....building our YouTube channel, working these projects...the list goes on.

It feels good getting things done....

One Crazy Sunday...

Well, it's Sunday out here in the sticks...and I can't believe the day I've had. Out here in the middle of nowhere.

I think this is a record day for me as a filmmaker....acceptance wise.

I got up late. This frozen shoulder bone has been killing me for months, and I haven't been able to sleep for shit. But after I got up, had my coffee, and a vanilla cigar smoke, I went to check my emails...

My new film THE OUTHOUSE got 2 acceptances today from festivals; at San Francisco's Frozen Film Festival, and Washington's Washougal Film Festival. It'll be the state premieres of THE OUTHOUSE in California and Washington. That makes 15 festivals this year for the new short so far.

Then, if that wasn't enough, I got an invitation for PHONE SEX GRANDMA to Spain's largest Gay and Lesbian Festival.

Then, on top of that, I received an update email of our Dallas screening next week of THE OUTHOUSE.

And on top of that, I have several fee waivers from festivals for my new short THE ACCEPTABLE SIN.

Things are nuts out here. I don't know how I get everything done. I feel like I'm going mad; promoting PHONE SEX GRANDMA like hell on YouTube, getting THE OUTHOUSE and PHONE SEX GRANDMA promoted on the film festival circuit, getting my new short THE ACCEPTABLE SIN submitted to festivals, getting this new project finished for Slamdance next year....keeping all my blogs and social networks going....and trying to make a buck with all of this as well. Plus, working on trying to start shooting my first narrative feature film this fall. And that doesn't even include the lists of things I need to get done that aren't even being touched.

It's a crazy life out here in the boonies....especially when you don't have anyone else working with you, and are doing everything yourself....but I love it. I have total control, and am making my films my own way.

But things are becoming so large, they're getting out of my hands and out of my control. I think that's a good thing.

John Steinbeck once said, "Ideas are like rabbits...you get one or two, learn to control them, then pretty soon, you have a dozen." How true that is.