Who, me?

25Apr08

A lot of this is well-trodden territory, but my friend Kirsty in Scotland posted a sort of Zagat’s Guide to Kirsty just now and I learned a bit (as it turns out, sort of a strawberry fiend). And, should I go rogue, it might be helpful to have some biographical information on record.  I must, hypothetically, be stopped.  

• My name is Paul Montgomery.  I’m 23.  Plus one in August.
• You’ll often see me listed as Pol.  It’s a long story, but you can spell it however you’d like.    
• This is me here.  
• I share a birthday with H.P. Lovecraft and Al Roker, a dichotomy I find wholly significant
• I studied Screenwriting at Drexel University in Philadelphia, and I’m currently wrapping up my senior project script, a peculiar piece about a saw-the-lovely assistant-in-half trick gone wrong, that no one really knows what to do with at the moment.  
• I live with the ‘rents in NE Philadelphia.  I get along with these people, but I’ve begun stacking my books vertically on the floor next to the bookshelves, so I need to branch out.  Saving up to move into an apartment with my friend and associate Andy.  He’s color blind but otherwise trustworthy.  
• I’ve a seasonal job with a lovely company downtown, but we’re off-season, so I’m looking for something to sustain me until July.
• I’m debating whether or not to apply to graduate school for a creative writing MFA.  At the very least I’ll need to find a writing group to keep myself motivated.  I’d also be keen on studying photography.  Real amateur, but it’s my ship in a bottle.  
• I read comics and try to visit the shop once a week.  I don’t collect them or keep them in plastic sheaths.  I’ll read anything written by Brian K. Vaughan, Mike Mignola, or Geoff Johns.  
• I desperately want to be English.  It is obvious, I’m sure.
• I hum or sing “Portobello Road” from Bedknobs and Broomsticks when alone
• I love having written fiction, but I only approach the act of writing itself under great duress.  I’d gladly offer up seven years from the end of my life to have a fraction of the discipline someone like Stephen King has.  Writing even on Christmas, for cripe’s sakes.  
• Television junkie.  I love the industry.  I’ve written a spec script for the US iteration of The Office.  Not sure i’m done with that market quite yet.  
• Magic, sort of a big deal.  The history at least.  Reading a bio of Houdini at the moment.  I’m nostalgic for show biz curiosities.  Carnivals, Broadway of the 1930s, MGM.  
• The word Victorian causes palpitations in this particular chest.  But I like iPods and Blu-Ray too.    
• My role model as a writer is undoubtedly Roald Dahl.  Wrote the best stories for children with perhaps the best philosophy on that audience, but also wrote some terrifically lewd stuff for older people.  
• The best novel I’ve read is The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.  
• The best movies I’ve seen were written and directed by people like Frank Capra, Wes Anderson, and Guillermo del Toro. 
• Joss Whedon, sort of a god.  Damon Lindeloff’s getting there.  
• I have a tattoo on my hand which hopefully translates to “create.” 
• The Decemberists have never put out an album I won’t listen to obsessively.  
• Sort of crazy about podcasts.  iFanboy, Radio Lab, Tekzilla, Creative Screenwriting…
• I have two dogs.  They’re goldendoodles (one part poodle, one part golden retriever).  They’re called Abbey (for ‘Abrakadabra’) and Bailey (for George Bailey of It’s a Wonderful Life.)
• My calendar centers around the arrival of the new WIRED. 
• Other role models:   Snoopy, Willy Wonka, Kermit the Frog
• My fears include snakes, crowds, rejection, and receiving an unsolicited severed hand in the mail.  
• The least of my ambitions is to be taken seriously.   

Listen, you’ve probably got a blog.  It is 2008 after all and none of you are my grandmother.  Post some bullet points about yourself, and if you’re worried about sounding vain and self-involved you can always link back to this invitation.  They’ll see how much longer my own entry is and you’ll be off the hook entirely.  

Filed under: bullet points   |  5 Comments