ANOTHER DAY OLDER AND . . .

by Gina Sestak

Good morning, gentle readers.  It's been an eventful week.  Not as eventful as the final day of last year, when my car was totaled by a drunk driver fleeing police, but eventful nonetheless.

For one thing, I had a birthday.  I am now officially old enough to collect early social security - 62(!).

I've had two parties and lunch, and gotten several gifts, mostly gift cards, which is good.  For myself, I bought a prep table for my kitchen, where there's way too little counter space.  I'm hoping I can resist my usual impulse to cover it with piles of stuff so there will be room to cook.

When I was young, I always expected to have life figured out by now, or at least have some idea what I wanted to be when I grew up.  No such luck.  I tell people that I'm very immature for my age.  They think I'm kidding.

So, what have I done with my life?  Not much, I'm afraid.  I grew up.  I got educated.  I got a lot of jobs.  I got married.  We bought a house.  I got divorced.  I kept the house.  The house caught fire.

Sorry.  Getting older leads to introspection.

Ahem.  How I spent my life, by Regina Marie Sestak:

Well, just look back at my early posts.  The whole story is there.

Right now, things are going pretty well.  I got a brand new car, courtesy of State Farm Insurance.  It pays to keep up those premiums!

The new car - a bottom-of-the-line Chevy - even drives well in the snow, which I've been shoveling a lot these last few days.

I'm still writing novels and short stories and still not getting published.  Maybe someday I'll give that up, but not quite yet.  Right now, there are still too many things I want to write about.  And it's not as if I've never been published.  Just not recently.  And not fiction.

I'm still writing screenplays, although none of them has been made into a film yet.  I'm crossing my fingers

but not holding my breath on this year's entries in the Steeltown Entertainment contest.  I'm pinning most of my hopes on Alcyone Pictures, though.  Does anybody want to invest in a movie?

I've also activated my account with Mosser Casting.  Does anybody want to put me in a movie?

See what I mean about being immature for my age?  I should be winding down, thinking about long term investments and looking forward to Medicare, not chasing dreams.  

Instead, I'm working part-time at a law job, making enough to live on (now that the house is all paid off) and investing in dvds of Bollywood films.   Go figure.

Today's clip is from Billu.  Billu (Irrfan Khan) is an unsuccessful barber until a movie company comes to film in his small rural village and word gets out that Billu knows the film's star, Sahir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan).  Then everybody seeks Billu's company, except the elusive Sahir, leading to all kinds of complications.

Billu is one of the guys sitting in the tree, trying to get Sahir's attention.  Sahir is the primary male dancer.       Not to be a spoiler, but it all really does come out right in the end.

Oddly enough, four out of seven regulars in my critique group have had birthdays within the last month.  Maybe it's a writer thing.  Is anybody else celebrating a birthday this time of year?