So as some of you know from reading my tweets, I had some skin cancer removed on Friday.  Turned out to be a chunk on my nose the size of a dime.  So much that they had to take skin from another part of my nose to fill the void that was left.  But that’s not really the amusing part.

The amusing part of it all is that the procedure took about four hours because each time they’d cut a bit away and test it to see if the margins were clear.  That testing takes about an hour each time, leaving you to walk around Beverly Hills or sit in the waiting room with people two or three times my age.  Oh and don’t forget the post op transexual.  Then again, I don’t know if she was post op.  I didn’t get a look downstairs, but she’d definitely spent a lot of money getting herself redone.  But I could still see it in her eyes that she was born a man.  When she caught me looking at her her eyes responded “What you looking at?!”  Only a man or someone with something to hide responds that way.  Needless to say, the elderly were more disturbing.  Why?  Because I was sitting in a waiting room with people on death’s door, with hearing aids, walkers and helper monkeys.

All I could think was, how the hell did I end up here?  Turns out it was sun from when I was a kid.  Too many hours out in the sun skateboarding.  Maybe there’s something to kids playing video games all day after all.  Parents, lather your kids in like 50spf if you can hold them down.  Feel free to show them pictures of skin cancer or tell them my story.  If they still don’t buy it, tell them that if they don’t they’ll have to have part of their face cut off by a surgeon which may leave a scar and make them unattractive.  Leave out the part about plastic surgeons working miracles.  I’ve already shown my face to my nieces and nephew.  I hope it will keep them in the sunscreen.  If not, maybe it will still be okay since face transplants are all the rage.  Oh wait, maybe not.  I think that’s just Heidi Montag.

Peace out, lather up and stay in the shade.  From now on I’m wearing  the El Ranchero sun hat featured here.

http://www.sungrubbies.com/product_index_html/product_detail_html/SunhatsElRanchero.htm

Although I think I’ll keep my shirt on since you know, skin cancer grows there too.  Silly Abercrombie farmboy.

So as a writer every day you’re supposed to write.  But most of us always find other ways of spending our time, or wasting our time, instead of getting the job done.  It’s not that we don’t enjoy writing, it’s just you get burnt out sometimes from the grind.  But other times you’re prolific, so it balances out.  Like lately, I’ve been grinding it out big time.  In the last month, I’ve finished a feature, pitched a show, met on shows, addressed notes on a pilot a producer’s interested in, re-wrote my book proposal… feels good to get a lot done.

That said, I’m physically tired, but the mental marathon is in full swing.  I lay there at night lately, unable to sleep because there’s so many ideas going through my head that I want to apply or develop.  What’s a writer to do when he has to sleep?  I don’t want to go all Jerry Stahl on it.  Those days are long behind me.  I’ve been told giving myself a day off in between to re-charge is best.  But I prefer something I’ve been doing since the fourth grade.  That would be skateboarding.  Love it, live it and will do it ’till I can’t walk.  Gonna roll around in a parking lot or something tonight.  Hopefully hit Burbank this weekend.  Then my fingers will hit the keyboard recharged.  They better.  I’ve got a script to re-write and a pitch next week.  Time for a roll…